Forge tossed a gold coin to the dragon.

“Pay attention, Cinder. This affects you as well.”

Cinder took a bite from the coin, then jumped into a chair, joining the rest of the party at the table.

Falcon and Lioness smiled over at the little dragon and Gideon shot him a wink.

“I know we still need to take a proper job before we run a dungeon, but I’d like to figure out what we should work towards individually,” Forge said.

He looked down at his notes.

“I can’t speak to how everyone else spent their points, but beyond the dungeoneering skill, we need to figure out what classes and skills we each need to cover all eventualities.”

Falcon nodded her agreement.

“Other than my combat abilities, I can scout and track.”

“I have healing, stamina refresh, and am skilled with a short sword,” Lioness paused, then continued.

“Also, I was born with the Perform skill. Though I’ve never had a use for it.”

Forge wrote it down, then turned to Gideon.

“Just the sword and a point of Strength,” the swordsman said with a grimace.

Lioness gave him a wicked smile.

“And what skill were you born with?”

“Etiquette,” Gideon replied.

She laughed.

“I knew it! Noble families are born with the Etiquette skill.”

Falcon nodded along in realization.

“And not just any noble families, titled ones.”

Gideon slumped down in his seat.

“It’s unimportant.”

Lioness and Falcon weren’t about to let it go, but Forge smacked a hand on the table.

“It’s his right to keep his secrets. Digging into them would be a breach of trust,” he said.

Lioness turned to him with an unbelieving look.

“Don’t you understand what this means? If he’s part of a titled family, it means he…”

Forge stood up from his seat and stared angrily at the cleric.

“The greatest transgression a Guildy can make is revealing another’s secrets. Do you remember what the second one was?” he demanded.

Lioness shrank back from his intensity and gave him a placating gesture.

“Killing them,” she said.

Turning back to the swordsman, the cleric gave a bow of her head.

“I apologize, Gideon. My excitement got the better of me.”

“I apologize as well,” Falcon said.

Gideon nodded at the pair, then nodded his thanks to Forge.

Sitting back down, Forge changed the subject back to their skills and classes.

“Between you three, we have stealth, perform, and etiquette. All useful for sneaking into places,” he observed.

Lioness cocked her head and looked at him.

“Are you suggesting that you’d be open to taking a snatch-and-grab job from the Crafters?”

The paladin considered the question.

“I know what you’re getting at. And no, I won’t be a party to outright stealing. However, returning an object to its rightful owner would require theft of a sort.”

He gave the group a shrug.

“I know it limits us to only taking honorable jobs, but better that than potentially making the world a worse place.”

Falcon made a face.

“When you say it like that, it makes it sound so sordid. Guildies aren’t supposed to care about the sides. We just act as mercenaries to empower ourselves, so we have the strength to cull dungeons.”

Forge raised an eyebrow at the statement.

“And what sort of heroes would we be if we saved people from being eaten by monsters but spent the rest of our time making those same people’s lives worse?” he asked.

Gideon readily agreed.

“He’s right. I, for one, don’t want to be the sort of person who hurts the innocent to get ahead.”

“The Guild vets the jobs. They don’t accept things like that,” Falcon said.

Gideon shook his head.

“The Crafters Association has hired the Guild to break up strikes, steal designs, and even act as guards to protect their interests. And don’t get me started on the nobles. They might have the kingdom law on their side, but as they’re the ones making the laws, it doesn’t exactly feel just.”

Lioness nodded.

“I think we can all agree that we need to be choosy about what jobs we accept.”

That settled, Forge read off from his list.

“We’ll all need to take the ride skill unless we want to buy a carriage. Also, I’m hoping one of us will take the cooking skill. Having spent days in a dungeon, I would have given anything for some basic spices.”

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“We’ll all need the Dungeoneering skill eventually, and with Forge’s ring, we can take Ride and skip the carriage, which will get us places much faster. That only leaves the cooking skill,” Falcon said.

“Forge, you said you received a couple of points when Cinder killed the bandits. How many points do you have total?” Lioness asked.

“Eleven.”

Gideon laughed.

“You realize that’s five more than I’ve gotten total? I joined the Guild as soon as I took the Warrior class.”

“I have one point banked,” Falcon said.

“Two for me,” Lioness added.

“It looks like I’m the only one with a general class. That means you three need to figure out which class would help the team the most. Rider, Cook, Dungeoneer, or something else useful,” Falcon said.

“I’ll take the Dungeoneer class if that works for everyone. It’s what I want to focus on, anyway.” Forge said.

Gideon gave him a pleased thumbs up.

“That takes care of the immediate problem with us getting our first dungeon run.”

“I want to add a point into Agility and raise my sword skill, but while useful, I don’t think the Rider class has any real benefit to the team,” Lioness said.

“I’d prefer you to increase your healing abilities,” Gideon said.

“Divine skills don’t increase by System points. They increase with time, or if you do something that the gods deem worthy,” the cleric explained.

“What about mana-gates?” Forge asked.

His teammates all frowned.

“Five points is a lot to spend when there are skills we need now. The prevailing wisdom is to first take the skills necessary to gain more points before you save for a mana-gate. And if you’re not offered the Path of Magic, it’s just a waste,” Falcon said.

“You can tell who grew up around the ageless elves,” Gideon observed, prompting a dirty look from Falcon.

Forge gestured to her.

“Besides the increased lifespan, it also increases your connection to the System. So, you can see more when you look at your screens.”

Lioness looked over at him.

“Really? I didn’t know that. Is that worth the expenditure?”

Forge shrugged.

“Maybe. All I know is that if one of you was offered the Path of Magic, it would be a tremendous boon to the party.”

Gideon snorted.

“And the chance of that isn’t worth betting on.”

He looked around the table.

“I’d be willing to take the Cook class, since Forge is carrying all the gear.”

“Gideon good,” Cinder sent to the party.

Falcon grinned.

“Cinder seems to approve of your decision.”

“What about money? These are all good and worthwhile classes, but with no crafters, it means any money we make will solely come from working jobs. So, why don’t I take the Smith class?” Lioness said.

Falcon and Gideon both voiced their approval.

“What specialization?” Gideon asked.

“How about the Bowyer subclass?” Falcon added, batting her eyelashes at the cleric.

Ignoring the ranger, Lioness shrugged.

“The one thing all of us wear is armor. I think that would be the best subclass.”

Forge looked around the table.

“Everyone in agreement?”

The others gave their approval, and Forge opened his System screen and selected the Dungeoneer class.

System Message: Dungeoneer Class Chosen!

System Message: Select Specialization!

Forge scrolled through the surprising number of options. There were far more specializations than he realized, but he already knew what he would focus on.

He selected the Dungeon Looting specialization.

Dismissing the screen, he grinned at his party.

“I’ve taken the Dungeoneering class with a specialty in Looting. That should help with the money situation.”

Gideon stood and pumped his fist into the air.

“Finally. A chance to make some real points!”

He turned to the group.

“My first three points will let me take the Cook class. The next four points to improve my longsword skill, and after that, a mana-gate!”

Falcon grinned along with the excited warrior.

“We’ll let them know we’re ready for our first dungeon in the morning.”

Lioness pursed her lips.

“We have a little money in the team kitty, but between provisions, and whatever gear we’re going to need, we’re looking at a long walk to the dungeon.”

“Chest!” the dragon sent Forge.

“What?” he asked, confused.

Realization hit him. He had completely forgotten about the chests he’d received. While there had been gold, which he’d added to his stack, he had also received gems, mana crystals, and a jeweled dagger.

He raised his hand to get the group’s attention.

“I might have something to help with the money situation.”

Forge summoned the two chests, then, noticing a third, summoned it as well.

He grinned at the group and shrugged.

“I removed the gold and then forgot about them,” he apologized.

The party gaped at the three coffers with wide eyes.

Without a word, Lioness unlatched the lid of the first chest and peered at the gems and mana crystals inside.

Moving to the next, she took out the jeweled dagger and inspected it before placing it back inside.

Lioness casually opened the final chest and examined its contents.

She removed a scroll, examined it, then tossed it back into the chest and sat back down.

The cleric stared at Forge, a neutral expression blanketing her face.

He peered back at her, confused.

“With this, we can purchase a house for us in the city, buy supplies, horses, a carriage, and just about everything we need,” she said.

Forge nodded.

“And you’re just now remembering you have all of this?” she asked.

“I sort of forgot. Cinder just reminded me.”

Forge turned to the dragon, who had moved to the table to peer into the iron-banded boxes.

“He was only a baby when I got the chests. I’m actually surprised he remembered we had them.”

Cinder poked his head up from where he was examining the glowing crystals.

“No forget.”

He smiled at the dragon and turned back to Lioness.

“Is there a problem?”

The cleric’s expression didn’t change, and her eyes never left him.

“Falcon!” She barked.

“Uh…yes?” the ranger answered, confused.

“Please rub Forge’s belly.”

“What? Why? No!” Falcon protested, cheeks turning red.

“I want to see if he can grant any other wishes,” she deadpanned.

The room was silent. Then the cleric’s face finally broke into a wide smile, and she laughed hard.

The others stared at her before Gideon had a fit of the giggles and started laughing as well.

Soon, the entire party was laughing at the absurdity of the situation.

Forge laughed along with the group. It was a release of sorts. While they were all fighters, dedicated to a cause, they were still young and had gone through a lot over the past few weeks.

They talked further about selling the various equipment; but in the end, they decided Gideon would take the dagger and jewels to sell them through his own channels, while Falcon would sell the mana crystals to the Guild.

The scrolls were a problem. They were most likely the most valuable items they had, but they would need to be identified before selling.

Lioness agreed to have her temple identify the scrolls, and with their plan of action sorted, the party broke for the night.

Cinder watched the party leave the small Guild meeting room and turned to Forge.

“Mana-gate!”

“I won’t promise it right now. We might need to raise either my weapon or spell tiers in the dungeon, but after we run it, I’ll make it a priority,” he said.

Mollified, the dragon nodded and jumped into his soul space, leaving Forge alone in the room.

With a long sigh, he left and headed back to his room in the Guild.

It was finally coming together. Soon, he would have his first proper dungeon run with all the dangers that entailed.

The question was: Would his team make it out unscathed?

His mind went back to the service at the Black Wall, held for Mountain Fury.

They had stood shoulder to shoulder in front of four enormous obsidian walls and watched on as a wizard burned Mountain Fury’s name into the stone.

Then came the speeches. As a new Guildy, Mountain Forge didn’t have many people to speak for him, but the team all stood and said their piece, along with a few others that had met him, if only in passing.

Sapphire Phoenix had explained to them that the wall contained the names of hundreds of Guildies.

The terrifying part had been that this was just one black wall. Every Guildhall in the world housed a similar structure.

It really drove home the fact that the life of a Guildy was short, with most never reaching past rank two.

A touch of the runic engraved name ended the somber affair, and the visage of Mountain Fury appeared before them.

The image of the lost adventurer shifted, showing him laughing jovially one moment, and fierce the next.

A fresh stab of survivor’s guilt had hit him, and he had bowed his head to the monk. Life cut short before he could delve his first dungeon.

Sapphire’s words still haunted him as her eyes had fallen on him.

“He died a hero. His last act in life, saving another’s. And he will be remembered!”

Forge felt a pulse of warmth come from Cinder and knew it for what it was.

A promise.

They would make sure his death meant something. They would live for him.