CHAPTER 15: COMBAT, NOW WITH FRIENDS

Both Rita and Jenna turned to see who was speaking to them. She was taller than both of them, though still shorter than most of the people in the room.

“We are,” Rita said, recovering first.

Jenna was confused. The woman speaking to them didn’t have the glow that all the healers seemed to have.

“Before you say anything,” the stranger preempted, “I haven’t learned any Spells to heal others yet. But, I doubt that the two of you are looking to make a party for the short term. The next Spell that I’m going to learn will be a Spell to heal others.”

“What’s your combat style like right now?” Jenna asked, trying to figure out how to deal with the situation. She hadn’t thought at all about the future, though the new person made sense. Once she and Rita had learned to fight together, it wouldn’t make a lot of sense to then relearn how to delve alone.

“Right now I mostly use a bow and arrow,” she said confidently. “And before you ask, I can make sure that I hit the goblins, not either of you.”

“And what was your name again?” Rita asked pointedly.

“Oh, sorry,” the stranger said, bluster finally fading, “my name is Cora.”

“I take it that you’re focusing on some sort of Healing School then, Cora?” Rita prompted.

“Sort of?” with the initial fading of confidence Cora seemed to start shrinking in on herself. “I’m focusing on a Subschool of Potions. I’d rather not get into the exact details of my plan, but it’s very compatible with making Healing potions.”

Jenna and Rita both nodded. Neither had told each other the specific details of their own climbing plans yet, so it only made sense that Cora would also be feeling hesitant. “Do you mind if the two of us talk it over?” Jenna asked, already turning away from Cora.

“No, but I’d appreciate if you would make a decision quickly. You aren’t the only group looking for a healer.”

With that not so subtle nod, Jenna and Rita started to discuss. “I can’t think of any downsides to at least seeing how she does in combat,” Jenna brought up. “We don’t even know if the two of us will have a compatible fighting style.”

They turned back around. “Are you busy right now?” Rita asked.

“No. Should I take that as you welcoming me to the party?”

“At least long enough to try some combat training, yes.”

“Which of us should ask the Pyramid for a room?” Jenna asked.

Room prepared for Combat Training. Please proceed along marked arrows.

Jenna saw arrows leading to a doorway that absolutely hadn’t been there before. “Do you two see the directions too?” she asked.

At their nods, the three headed to fight some goblins.

Beginning First Round of Combat.

None of them spoke as their weapons of choice appeared in their hands. Jenna felt the familiar heft of the mace, and a quick glance showed Rita holding two wicked looking daggers and Cora holding a short bow.

A single goblin appeared. It looked like the first goblin that she had fought. Jenna rushed forward, drawing the goblin’s attention towards her.

Before Rita or Cora had a chance to respond, Jenna had torn the goblin’s throat out. For whatever reason, the Pyramid had chosen to give them a single of the weakest goblins as their first round. Jenna shook off the blood as the Pyramid gave its recap of the fight.

Congratulations! You have completed the First Round of Combat. Generating report.

As she expected, the Pyramid had very little by way of commentary. Her swing could have been slightly more perfect than it was, but that was about it.

“Planning on giving us a chance to do something next time?” Rita called out jokingly. Jenna didn’t have time to respond before the Pyramid sent more goblins after them.

Beginning Second Round of Combat.

Rather than the gentle increase in difficulty that Jenna was used to, the Pyramid skipped straight to a more difficult fight than she’d faced yet. There were eight goblins, all of which were wearing armor, light as it was. They each held a sword that seemed sharp, and they moved like they knew how to use group tactics.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Jenna sighed. Now was the best time to learn if she could trust her teammates, she supposed. Better to do so in combat training where the goblins wouldn’t kill her than in a rift where they could.

She rushed forward, taking the role that she knew she needed to occupy. Out of the corner of her vision, she saw Rita fade out of sight. No, that was the wrong description.

It just suddenly became hard for Jenna to focus on her. Hopefully the goblins would be no more resistant to the effect than she was. Jenna knew it was a terrible idea to look behind her to confirm that Cora was aiming her bow, but the urge was present as she charged towards eight monsters that were all rushing towards her.

When the first one stumbled forward and collapsed, Jenna was confused. Seeing the arrow sticking out of its eye, though, she understood.

A second goblin suddenly seemed like its legs had been taken out from underneath it, falling forward. She watched its green blood start to pool around its legs, which only served to reinforce that impression.

The shock of watching a goblin collapse seemingly from nothing nearly made her miss the closest one swinging at her. Thankfully, the instincts that she’d trained over the past weeks kicked in, and she ducked beneath the blow. Jenna swung out with her mace, shattering the goblin’s kneecap on her way back to standing.

Before she could strike again, the goblin collapsed with an arrow through its forehead. Jenna jumped back, avoiding the corpse as it fell. She scanned the room, keeping count of the goblins that she would still need to dispatch.

There were five lying on the ground, which quick math implied meant there would only be three left. When she saw four trying to flank her, Jenna panicked for a moment. When had she miscounted?

She immediately understood her mistake. The corpse of the first goblin was still on the ground. She focused on fighting defensively, relying on her teammates to deal the damage in the fight.

One goblin seemed to understand Jenna’s strategy and moved past her to charge Cora. Jenna spun quickly and tore through the goblin’s armored back. Thankfully, the Pyramid hadn’t been so cruel as to give them good armor.

It didn’t kill the goblin outright, but the missing parts of its back did a lot to slow it down. Jenna turned back to the now two remaining goblins,shocked at how much more useful Rita’s First Tier Spell was than hers.

After all, if Jenna ever had wanted something hard, she wouldn’t use glass. Maybe it had uses later on, but she privately doubted it. She trusted the Pyramid enough to learn the Spells it recommended in the order that it recommended them, but that was different than thinking they had use in themselves. Most likely, the Spell was only useful in how it prepared her to learn a higher Tier Spell.

As Jenna’s sleeve caught on the blade of the last remaining goblin, she realized that she’d grown distracted during the fight. Thinking about the Spells that she would learn was only useful if she lived to do so. She tore out the final goblin’s throat and watched it fall.

“Oh thank goodness,” Rita called out. She must have dropped her Spell, because Jenna suddenly had no issues focusing on her. “I don’t think that I could have held that Spell for much longer.”

“So what will you do when we have to face waves of goblins like that in the rift?” Cora asked, seeming concerned and annoyed. “If you’re only useful for a single fight, then-” she didn’t get the chance to finish her statement as Rita interrupted.

“I practiced my Illusion Spell a lot this morning,” she said defensively, “and I am still stealthy even when I’m not using my Spell.”

Jenna and Cora’s arched eyebrows showcased their doubt. Before their conversation could devolve too much further, the trio saw the alert they were waiting for.

Congratulations! You have completed the Second Round of Combat. Generating report.

There was a lot that the three of them could improve on.

“I don’t think doing a third round of combat would be particularly helpful today, what about you two?” Jenna called out. After hearing their agreement, she spoke to the Pyramid. “We’re done with combat for the day, can you make the goblin corpses disappear?”

Yes.

Jenna rolled her eyes. “That wasn’t an imprecise query?”

No.

“Will you remove the goblin corpses?”

The Pyramid didn’t directly respond, but their weapons faded back into essence as the goblins did.

“Well, I think that we worked well enough together,” Jenna said. “Should we make it official?”

“I have a few questions first,” Rita said. “If I’m not mistaken, I’m the only one who was actually using their Magic during the fight.” Though it wasn’t framed as a question, both Cora and Jenna knew what she was implying.

The two looked at each other, clearly trying to tell who was going to respond first. Jenna broke first.

“The only Spell I know right now is Hardened Glass,” she said, “and while I trust that it makes glass harder, I can’t imagine that it makes it harder than whatever metal the mace is made of.”

“I’m in a similar boat,” Cora continued, “the only potion I know how to make doesn’t do anything on its own. It just lays the groundwork for a better potion to be built on top of it.”

“This does segue nicely into a question I have,” Jenna said. “How have you two been earning contribution points? I can get mine by selling Hardened Glass.”

“Same here,” Cora replied, “I just sell the Potion Bases that I make.”

“Does the Pyramid grade all of them for you too?”

“It does!” Before the two could geek out over their shared desire to make an A Grade Spell, Rita interjected.

“Every night before bed, I just push the rest of my Magic into a crystal that the Pyramid supplies. You two are getting paid for practicing your Magic? That’s so unfair!”

Jenna just stared at her for a moment. “And it’s not at all unfair that the Spell you know is actually useful in the rift?”

That helped dispel the tension. As the three watched and read the Pyramid’s advice, they felt the first bonds of camaraderie start to form.

Jenna’s Status:

Jenna Fredrickson First Year Spells Known: First Tier: Hardened Glass Expected Years Completed: 7 Prediction Confidence: 40% Points: 40 Qualified to Ascend to Next Year? Yes