5.
"Garth!? As much as it loathes me to invoke your droning, what is down there?" I entoned. Mhmm.
"That is Lower Main Street 1, this tunnel is intended for all traffic heading to the port from the village. Lower Main Street 2 is intended for all traffic from the port to the village. There are other tunnel systems that connect to these, and the two are connected to a maintenance tunnel between the two." The fact that Xorion didn't interrupt Garth, well it made me listen. I had no doubt that those hatches could keep me out… and whatever they're meant to stop. Then it hit me.
"The hatches are to stop random sea water from spraying up here when the Island lands in the ocean, right!?" I interrupted, unintentionally for once.
"That is correct, though the water should not be so high as that. Most of the tunnels will flood unless whomever excavated them took the proper precautions. Also there is ventilation for the…"
"Garth, are we landing now?" I asked the dust bag.
"No, Dave, we are not." Garths replied, completely disregarding my frustration.
"Then what dangers are currently down there? Xorion I know you know what's down there, do you have a weapon I can borrow?"
***
The short version was goblins, and yes.
I shall spare you the long….
After about two minutes to receive a sword and an hour long conversation to get the answer; we started trekking downwards, towards the port and the goblin stowaways.
"Where did you have this hidden away?" I said while looking over the new weapon. It looked like a short sword, but I was mostly guessing. It had an odd handle, it was some type of bamboo. It was a brilliant bright green, almost like Xorion had just fit it this morning, but I could make out black streaks that ran vertically under the surface. The blade was not typical either…. and this sword badly needs a guard… anyways, it started from the end of the bamboo (which was surprisingly a fantastic grip) and immediately flared out. If my hand slipped up the grip my fingers would come off… Okay, I have no knowledge on how to use this thing. Looking at the blade and then Xorion, I figured out what they reminded me of… "Xorion, is the blade shape based on your horn sha…?"
YOU HAVE LEARNED OF THE SKILL
"Swords"
YOU GAIN 500 EXPERIENCE (Metallurgy)
Swords INCREASED TO LEVEL 1 "Dabbler"!
"Blahgh!!!" I bleated. I really need to deal with that before it kills me in combat. Each time it created a noticeable stutter in my movement and took up part of my vision. Honestly it was kind of startling.
YOU HAVE LEARNED OF THE SKILL
"Short Swords"
YOU GAIN 500 EXPERIENCE (Metallurgy)
Short Swords INCREASED TO LEVEL 1 "Dabbler"!
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"Gahh!" I waved my hands around my head attempting and failing to swat the notification away. I'm sure that I'll regret this… again "Garth, how can I turn off these notifications?"
"There is no feature or function that disables direct communication between yourself and I." Garth replied promptly, and oddly he did not elaborate any further. So, wait that means.
"So it's just you doing that?" I asked dumbfounded.
"Yes, I project these in your vision. It is quite difficult to be subtle at this distance. If I were able to settle into your aura, these announcements will be more intuitive, I can also just make you aware that there has been a change to your Character Sheet." This is why I hate him, he could have told me, but I hate hearing his voice. I realized he sounded almost exactly like someone I'd been hating for awhile… the incompetent ass hat. The worst part is literally letting myself look as if I am the reason people have to dust their homes by letting him merge with my aura. Letting Garth merge… I started making gagging noises.
"This one had envied yooou, but nooo longer. To have such a do-ohhh-gie, merged with your aura sounds unpleasant." The bull lowed out. Dogie? I can infer that it's something that talks or calls incessantly.
"That is correct Dave, this term refers to a calf that has lost its mother or is neglected." Garth replied after literally reading my thoughts.
"To get back on topic," I interrupted. "What else would be involved with you merging with… my aura?" Mumbling the last, not wanting to think too much into things.
"We will have direct mental communication," Garth started, it seemed like he was glancing at Xorion's back occasionally as if he didn't like the Minotaur knowing about this stuff. I don't know how I could tell as he doesn't have eyes. Well too bad, I don't like the idea of looking like a children's cartoon character. He continued after presumably reading that. "This will allow for rapid communication that will allow for rapid Character Sheet management and manipulation. This is one of many things that separates PCs from NPCs, and only true Planar Characters have these. If you had been born here naturally you would not have access to a Guide. You are also fortunate to arvive on Granthel after the Great Update. Before PCs only had Guidebooks, and many PCs had issues navigating the Books. Though those from Earths video gaming community seemed to have little trouble towards the end of that era."
"Makes sense, we have those for video games. Well now you don't need to even buy them, most are free online somewhere." I said taking advantage of the pause in Garth's speech. "So can we separate still after you merge?" Making sure this isn't permanent and can be reversed if it's as bad as I imagine.
"Yes but separation takes time or we can both take damage. It is spiritual damage, this affects your Mana and Qi regeneration. The time this takes is also dependent on how long I am merged. The longer we are merged," I shuttered and gagged. "The longer it takes for us to separate properly. For every hour we are merged, it will take one day to separate."
"Gonna have to go with a fat no for now." That was not happening anytime soon, not unless I'm gonna die… still even then… "So can you give me an indicator in the corner that there are notifications? They are super distracting." Like the dust cloud himself.
"All notifications will no longer be displayed, all will be indicated with the Classless symbol… No symbol has been created… All notifications will now have a verbal generic prompt. {Ping} Dave, please check your notifications." When he started it sounded exactly how an error message reads. Then there was even a chime followed by my own horrible version of 'hey, listen' or 'your health is low'.
For the symbol I did have one idea, it was a part of me and what had led me to how I got here. It was from my time in the Navy, I wasn't a seal or anything cool though. I was a Hull tech. 'A jack of all trades is a master of none, but oftentimes better than a master of one.' That quote was our motto, and I had lived my life by it. I wonder if that's how I qualified for Classless?
"Hold up," I barely spoke above a whisper and I could hear my voice echoing down the tunnel ahead of us. I continued quieter than before, "I need to stop for a bit and get ready. Garth, the symbol is this" I focused and concentrated on the image I held perfectly in my minds eye. It was a hammer and ax crossed with a square point down at the bottom, forming a diamond in the center. If I had still possessed my earth body I'd have the symbol tattooed on my forearm. At that thought my right forearm burned like the few times I had been on fire, or tattooed in a particularly sensitive spot. Not the fiery hell that I died in. I could feel Toughness holding back some of the pain, and I also noticed a green bar on the left side of my peripheral vision, it was shrinking slowly. I looked down at my arm and a familiar sight greeted me back… I had my right forearm back, well the tattoo at least.