Joe nodded, having already withdrawn the medallion even before getting too close so as to wave it if the guards would prove recalcitrant. The guard accepted the medallion from the bow before inspecting the medallion with by emitting mana before quickly returning it to Joe. This time, the guard didn’t even look at the medallion. Joe found the lack of security surprising until he realized that the true check the guards always made was with the mana emission, not the visual inspection.
Huh… is mana uniquely identifiable? Another question for Garnedell… I guess.
Joe reined in his curiousity, accepting the medallion and nodding to the guard, offering his thanks verbally before stepping into the inner city with the other’s in tow. Joe led them into the city, following the path from yesterday although he did struggle once to remember his way. Kilniara helped remind him at that time and they soon found themselves standing at the tailor’s shop.
He came in and the reception was much better than yesterday, although it was overly effusive for his tastes and Joe soon became disgruntled with their fawning. Despite that, they were professionals and had Garnedell and Zilnek measured with a promise to finish all the clothing on the same day as Joe’s and Kilniara’s. Joe thanked them as he left.
When they walked out of the door, Zilnek bounced excitedly and turned to Joe, “Are we finished? We can go?”
Joe nodded and Zilnek turned to take off, Garnedell following behind. Joe quickly brought his excited exit short, “Where are you going, Zilnek?”
Zilnek stopped and faced Joe, waving his hand, “I’ve never seen the inner city before!”
Joe nodded but frowned a bit, “Kilniara? How were we treated yesterday while we walked around the inner city?”
“Very badly. Many called the city guard on us. Only your medallion kept us from being arrested by the clan guards.”
Joe looked back and Zilnek, “I think you getting arrested would be a very bad idea.”
Zilnek’s excitement vanished as quickly as the blood fled his face, leaving him pale, “No. Yes… no… that would be a bad idea!”
Joe nodded, “Let’s walk to the city gate together and once back in the outer city, you can take off and have fun. But right now, our clothes are… not very good for this area.”
Zilnek heard Joe’s explanation at and began glancing around at the various people and comparing his own clothing to those surrounding them. He grimaced and nodded again before sidling in closer to Joe. Joe smiled at him and clapped him on the shoulder.
“Don’t worry, you’ll be fine. I’ll make sure of that,” Joe replied, attempting to comfort Zilnek.
Zilnek nodded, and sighed with a bit of relief but didn’t completely relax until they’d made it back out into the outer city. When they did, however, his good mood and excitement immediately returned and he turned to beckon Garnedell after him.
“Come on! Let’s go.”
Garnedell proved more than willing and didn’t even look back, both tearing off into the streets. Joe called out after them.
“Hey!”
Both stopped and turned, and Joe tapped at his coin pouch which brought both of them back just ask quickly as they’d escaped and Joe held out a small allowance for them. Both eagerly snatched it and took off back into the streets. Joe chuckled at seeing them escape so quickly and he turned back to Kilniara, holding out the same amount of coin for her.
“Here is yours, Kilniara.”
She smiled brightly and nodded, “Thanks.”
Then she clasped her hand in his and pulled him along. He chuckled at her insistence, but didn’t resist and they soon found themselves back in the temple plaza. She waved to the temples, freeing his hand.
“Well, go on.”
Joe frowned, a bit confused, “What do you mean?”
“We need to go to the dungeon so you can relax, so go to the temple and get your… thing done, then let’s go.”
Joe’s eyebrows rose sharply at this before he began chuckling, “You are… very smart!”
“Observant. Not sure if I’m smart.”
“Definitely observant, but also smart, to make the connections.”
Kilniara shrugged and smiled but then began to lose her smile a bit by the end, “That’s what… friends … How can I help or be able to support you if I don’t even know this?”
Joe laughed and shook his head, reaffirming her, “You already do. Anything else is a very nice and pleasant extra. I’m very grateful. But… you made a mistake.”
Kilniara looked up at him, “A mistake?”
Joe smiled, “Yup.”
“And what would that be,” she looked up at him, seeming a bit smug.
He allowed his own conceit to shine and turned it into a bit of a game, “Yup!”
“Hmm… and what would that be?”
Joe nodded, smiling haughtily, “So you did forget!”
She frowned then grew a little worried, “What?”
“Where were we last night?”
She stared at him, then her eyes widened even as her face reddened and she turned away, embarrassed. Joe laughed and came to her side before sliding around her and pulling her into a hug. She tried to pull away a bit, growing grumpy, but Joe only laughed and shook his head.
“Why are you mad? We help each other, right? We are a team.”
Her embarrassment receded and she looked up at him with a soft smile, “A team?”
He shrugged, “Sometimes I do well. Sometimes you do well.”
“Except today.”
“Well… that was kind of my point, wasn’t it?”
She looked up at him then smiled softly, shrugging.
He grinned, “Besides, we both did well today.”
“Both?” she looked up at him with some surprise.
“Hmm.”
“And how did I do well today?”
“You looked out for me, offering to go to the dungeon with me and even bringing me here because, despite everything, you know me well enough to bring me here.”
Her embarrassment of failure receded, a soft smile coming to her face until a new blush replaced the old, now shy from Joe’s praise, “I… it’s kind of… well… um… yeah.”
Joe chuckled, “See? We both did well.”
Her embarrassment faded with that and she looked up at him with a smile before softly replying, “Thank you.”
“I think I need to say thank you to you.”
She grinned and the two found themselves lost in the moment no longer aware of the crowd around them or even where they were. Nothing happened. Nothing that any of the many busy observers surrounding them could point to or notice. They simply stood and stared at each other, a soft smile just imperceptibly growing on each other’s faces. But in that moment, everything happened. Everything that created a whole new world and separated itself from existence and gave them that soft and secluded, yet utterly warm and companionable space for them and them alone. The moment did not last long as Kilniara grew flustered and looked away, her blush growing to cover her quite convincingly. For Joe, he’d found the moment both intriguing and wondrous. He’d wanted to stay a bit longer, but did not begrudge Kilniara her retreat. He actually felt calmed by it, knowing that the moment had likely been as meaningful to her as it had been to him. He smiled and offered her a hug of comfort then backed away, not wanting to exacerbate her embarrassment.
Joe smiled and held out his arm, “Ready for our date in the dungeon?”
Her left eyebrow rose, “A date?”
Joe shrugged, “We could do something else?”
“And have you all antsy again?”
Joe grimaced, chagrin visible, “Sorry.”
Kilniara actually giggled at that, shaking her head, “You’re serious about this. That’s not a bad thing. It’s who you are.”
Joe smiled a bit at that, “Well… not really. I’m kind of forced into it a bit more because of … my limited time.”
Kilniara seemed a bit confused by that statement but didn’t reply to it, letting it pass, “Then… it is… just what it is.”
Joe shrugged, “Well, thank you for putting up with me.”
“You’re worth it,” she giggled.
“You, too.”
Kilniara slipped her arm into his and the two headed off towards the beginner’s dungeon. This morning, they arrived much earlier as their trip to the tailor was quickly finished. The line was still longer than usual but they made it into the dungeon a couple hour earlier than the day before.
The stairway down passed quickly as they spoke light heartedly and passed into the safe zone of the first floor. Joe didn’t stop, passing it into the spawn zone heading for their corner. Kilniara didn’t hesitate at all, either, walking with Joe and didn’t release her arm from his. Joe smiled at that, but was a bit concerned, tension ratcheting up as he become hyperaware of the goblins around him. It wasn’t the smartest thing to do, but Kilniara seemed completely unconcerned and actually at ease. Does she trust me that much? Or … Joe helped them wind their way through the goblins and they reached their corner without incidence.
Joe instantly relaxed, tension releasing when they made the corner, and a breathy gasp escaped his lips. He set the bag down on the ground and then slipped a cloak across it, offering whatever cover he could to it. He had no way to get another nor really repair it. After the bag was in the corner and their weapons were ready, Joe and Kilniara prepared to head out.
“Ah! Just a moment, sorry,” Joe interjected.
Kilniara waved his apology away, “Sure. No problem.”
Joe smiled, “Thanks.”
Status
Blessings
Current Job
Available Jobs
Current Skills
All Skills
Log
Joe McConnell
Status
Physical Resistances
Magical Resistances
HP
147.2 (138)
Physical:
Wind
35.26
SP
251.1 (283)
Piercing
17.5 (48)
Water
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
34.76
MP
287.9 (100)
Crushing
18.25 (132)
Earth
31.45
Attack
150.2 (181)
Slashing
18.5 (39)
Fire
32.45
Defense
150.2 (158)
Ice
34.51
Magic
474 (100)
Gravity
31.45
Magic Defense
989.2 (100)
Magnetic
31.45
Strength
164.2 (148)
Light
31.45
Dexterity
157.7 (112)
Shadow
21.00
Agility
153.7 (133)
Space
31.45
Speed
151.2 (115)
Spirit
49.45
Endurance
166.7 (193)
Mental
43.45
IQ
985.5 (132)
Sound
31.45
Wisdom
1999.8 (105)
Electricity
31.45
Will
1370.9
Learning
27257.27
Luck
40.63
Joe popped open his stats as he wanted to see what his absolute base was. With his current job at level zero, his status would show his absolute base stats. What he saw was quite pleasing to him, and he grinned. He still had just the tiniest bit to go with a couple of his purely offensive capabilities, but his physical resistances were still dismal. Makes sense, heh… the average citizen and scholar aren’t going to have great physical defenses. Despite that, Joe was still grateful for what he currently had. There really wasn’t much he had left to do to prepare. He just really had to be cautious of his defense and being hit, which did concern him quite a bit as he’d spent quite a bit of effort training his body to be able to take a hit. Martial arts, especially in hand to hand, was as much about hitting as being able to take a hit. Even if he parried, blocked, or dodged attacks, two of those three defensive methods were to take the hit in a less damaging way or location, usually in the arms or legs. It was as much the pain management as it was toughening his body and skin to be able to handle the strikes.
In any case, he had his next target… or two… after he successfully unlocked the priest change job skill. He wanted to get his physical stats up, and be able to use his weapons. He couldn’t afford to have them kept locked behind skills that would make them essentially useless either by gaining the skill or finding a way to allow him to use the skill in any case.