* * *
“Give me half of a third… maybe half of a half a bell. OK?”
Garnedell quickly nodded and the three stepped away to give master his much needed rest, although Garnedell did spend some time trying to parse what a half of a half, or a half of a third might be, but struggled to find an answer.
“Do you… know how long he wishes us to allow him rest?” Garnedell finally decided to ask for help.
It was with some relief that he saw Zilnek and Kilniara also reveal with subtle relieved sighs of their own to not understand as well, both shaking their head. Garnedell took the moment to consider carefully before offering another idea.
“It must be less than half a bell, right?”
The other two considered a moment before both nodded quickly, “Yes, that seems correct,” Kilniara replied.
Garnedell nodded and then turned to look back at Joe, seeing his master asleep and resting, “He’s sleeping in a dungeon!” Garnedell whispered with surprised glee before glancing back at the other two and Kilniara also smiled brightly as well, a small giggle of disbelief escaping her lips. Garnedell glanced to Zilnek to share their shocked glee but frowned when he noticed Zilnek was not joining in with their joy.
“What is wrong, Zilnek?”
Zilnek flicked his attention back to Garnedell before responding quickly, caught by surprise, “Oh… uh… well, he took so long. He… is he really seven digits?”
Kilniara quickly reached up to grip Zilnek’s shoulder, some fear seeping through the gesture, “Zilnek… don’t!” She warned softly.
Garnedell shook his head quickly, “You do not have to fear. If you wish to know, simply ask. He has shown me his status before.”
The two siblings glanced at Garnedell quickly before returning their attention to Joe. They considered for several moments before Kilniara spoke up softly, “He must be, Zilnek. He fought all five monster without allowing any harm to come to us or to himself. No harm at all while fighting six Great Monsters.”
By the time she was done speaking, Zilnek was quickly nodding his head, agreeing with Kilniara’s statement. Garnedell also was nodding, a bright smile on both his and Kilniara’s face. Garnedell looked to Zilnek to share his joy but found his smile dropping rapidly since Zilnek was not smiling.
“Are you OK, Zilnek?”
“Ah,” Zilnek looked to Garnedell and smiled brightly, shaking his head, “Just really surprised… and shocked. Don’t worry.”
Garnedell accepted the explanation and turned away, returning to consider the duty his master had placed upon them, “So, less than half a bell. Then… let him rest for almost half a bell then we will wake him?”
The other two quickly looked to Garnedell, pulling their gazes away from each other and quickly nodded, accepting Garnedell’s suggestion. Garnedell turned away at their acceptance and began searching the area carefully, not wishing any harm to come to Joe. Behind him, Kilniara questioned Zilnek with exaggerated flourishes of hand and tail, but Zilnek simply shook his head in bitter anger and turned away.
* * *
Joe woke to his shoulder shaking and his eyes flickered around the room, taking in the strange décor before he quickly realized what had happened and where he was. He stood up and took stock of the situation quickly but without urgency as he recognized the lack of concern on Garnedell’s face as he became aware. The room was unchanged and everything seemed in order as the three seemed to stand at attention before him. Reporting for duty? I guess? Joe decided to relieve their concern with a smile and a question.
“How was everything? Fine?”
The three quickly nodded as Garnedell replied, “Nothing happened.”
Joe felt a bit stumped by Garnedell’s response, not sure how to reply so decided to leave it at that with a simple not and smile. The three seemed to relax a bit, a very subtle slouching in the posture and shoulders that Joe noticed quite easily but left Joe a bit concerned. Glad that they’re relaxed, but what was making them so uptight?
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Joe turned away from them and took a look around the room, pretending to consider it while actually letting his mind try to tease out the meaning for the three’s tension, not wanting to have their relationship so on edge. But no matter how Joe teased at the situation, he just couldn’t find why the three kids... Not kids… seemed to be so tense. He didn’t want to leave it, but asking made Joe worried that it would actually make it worse. They’re already tense. Asking … maybe’ll make them think I’m pushing an agenda? Demanding something? Teach a lesson… only make it worse? Could I defuse it after I learn about it? Would that solve…
“Master?” Joe’s thoughts were interrupted by a timid and quiet query from Kilniara, her body language even more closed as her hands were pressed in front of her, arms crossed over her torso in trepidation.
Joe quickly sighed and turned to face them with his whole body. Well… that … messed up big time. Let’s drop it and move on… maybe it’s nothing? “Sorry… I was thinking carefully of the next thing we must do. I do not wish any more surprises that might harm any of you,” Joe responded with a pleasant smile, hoping to let the matter drop with an impression of pleasant happiness and satisfaction on his part. Gotta remember… I’m some kind of mentor they have to impress… so… hmm. How could… ooh! Praise them for doing a good job… on…?
Joe’s mind went through some ideas rapidly before deciding to choose the simplest thing to praise them for, “By the way, nice job watching out for me and letting me rest! I feel great!”
All three seemed to relax completely at that statement and smiled a bit, glancing towards each other with some relief and bright smiles. Joe felt his face flicker with some confusion over their relief but quickly schooled his looks and decided to move on, turning to a topic they would likely feel much more comfortable about.
“So… let’s go over the fight. I know you guys didn’t do much, and that’s fine… but how would you critique the fight. What did I do well and what could I improve?”
This statement seemed to actually make the three even more uncomfortable than before and Joe grimaced internally as he realized that he’d stepped on some kind of social taboo or faux pas. Wait… a bit like Asian sensibilities then? Don’t critique the teacher?
Joe decided to explain quickly, hoping to forestall their discomfort and scrambled for a reason why a student criticizing a teacher would be socially acceptable. “It’s OK, guys. This isn’t to get you in trouble. The best way to learn is to watch another then try to understand what you have seen. If you can see what they have done well and what they have done badly, then you are learning quickly and well. Someone who cannot see what is bad or good, cannot know what to do or does not have enough training to understand how to make a judgment.
“Besides, if you tell me I did something wrong, I can only learn and maybe become better as well. You will be saving my life. Also, there is no one here who can listen to what you say, so how could I be embarrassed?” Joe finished with a smile.
The three looked to one another with consideration, and Garnedell seemed comfortable enough to start, and began describing the fight, pointing out any suggestions that came to mind. Joe responded positively with encouragement, and soon all four were in an excited debate where Joe spent most of the time simply listening to their ideas only interrupting a few times to correct some possible dangerous flaws or adding a comment to deepen the debate. Joe soon found himself listening to what the three had to say, and found some of their comments a bit disconcerting, especially as they began to praise his speed in combat. He brought the exercise to an end as they moved from studying combat to praising him. Huh… was I moving faster than they expected? Maybe a martial artist isn’t something they see every day? Although… everything here seems to be a lot more combat oriented than anything back on earth… even going back a couple hundred years! We didn’t have monsters… just animals we mostly hunted for food or left alone…
Joe turned towards the dais and led them towards it, “So… let’s see what happens when we finish a dungeon, alright?”
The other three jumped up and scrambled after him excitedly like puppies tumbling after their mother. Joe came to the stairs and waved the other three before walking up carefully, once again placing feet carefully until he reached the top and called for them to follow.
“Step on the same stones I did, OK?” Joe called back without looking, stepping forward carefully towards the throne. He poked it a few times with his spear before he felt comfortable enough to slip into the seat then smiled with a satisfied smirk when he noticed the pop up about sitting in the hobgoblin’s throne. He nodded quickly before he stood and turned to the other three, seeing them standing in front of him, watching him with a hint of expectation and excitement.
“Another title! Sit on the throne, you three!” Joe jumped up excitedly to let and moved to the side to let the three sit as well.
Once all three had sat on the throne, Joe then took the time to look around the dais and found little of importance and turned to the door set in the back wall behind the throne a good dozen feet, four meters, away. Joe looked cautiously at the glowing empty door, taking one last look around the room, walking down each colonnade, inspecting walls and columns before returning to look once again at the door back lit from a glow deeper within.
The other three had followed behind him, excited but subdued whispers and commentary going on behind him which Joe ignored before he finally decided to step back up to the dais and towards the door.
There was nothing innately magical about the doorway. It simply looked like an open doorway leading down a short hallway to a brightly lit room at the end. If anything, it seemed familiar and inviting, almost like stepping into an apartment or room at any typical building, the room lit with the glow of neon shining from its entranceway, although the light was softer and more inviting to the eyes.
Garnedell and the Acokzau seemed to converse with each other and eyed the door with barely suppressed excitement as Joe paused before it. Returning the spear to hand, he stepped into the hallway and tested the path with the spear, testing the air in front of him and the walls, including the ceiling and floor. He didn’t spend too much time testing, having slowly come to the conclusion that it didn’t seem like the dungeons typically had traps, which seemed incredibly odd to him. Traps seemed to be such an obvious and easy defense, but he didn’t let their lack make him complacent.