CHAPTER 17: CLARIFYING THE PYRAMID’S POSITION
That statement floored Jenna. She had forgotten what the Pyramid’s motivations were.
It wasn’t to train the climbers on how to become the best Mages that they could be. No, it’s goal was similar to that, but importantly distinct.
The goal of the Pyramid was to produce the strongest Mages that it could. If she believed it, fully eighty five percent of students in a situation like hers, whatever that meant, had an intentionally worse outcome created by the Pyramid. The fifteen percent who went further hardly seemed worth it, at least to Jenna’s mind.
That did raise the interesting question, though. “What do you mean by a situation like mine?”
Students who are in risk of debt slavery dependent on the number of Years they remain in the Training Grounds.
She had hoped that it wouldn’t be that. The knowledge that, even if she did end up climbing further, it was on the broken backs of others in the same situation as her was almost too much to handle.
“So what is the normal amount of points to begin with in the Pyramid?”
Dependent on student situation and history. For your current cohort, 10000 points is the median number.
“By my current cohort, you mean?”
Students expected to reach their Eighth Year in the Training Ground.
“Cora and Rita, how many points did each of you start out with?” When both of them gave answers around one thousand, Jenna fumed at the Pyramid.
“Did you know that the average person we were interacting with yesterday started with ten thousand points?” she asked, voice intentionally calm.
Note: Prior statement was factually inaccurate. Median number of points is ten thousand. Average number of points was not given and will not be given to maintain information privacy.
“I don’t know if that correction was needed,” Jenna said.
“Can we loan her points? It seems like our front liner being ill equipped would negatively impact our ability to go through this rift.” Jenna wanted to protest how harsh Cora’s words were, but she hoped that they were just trying to appeal to the Pyramid’s sensibilities.
Point transfers not allowed between students
“Well, how much are the different supplies you might need?” Rita asked.
Jenna went through the list of materials the Pyramid had offered her.
“If you want my input,” Cora said, “you absolutely need a mace, but the cheapest rental would probably be fine. The best rewards will absolutely take more than a single day, so ten days of rations puts you at thirty five points spent. That’s enough for one Least Healing Product, right?”
Jenna couldn’t find any other way to purchase more effectively, so she did.
You have purchased: 10 Day’s Rations 1 Least Healing Product You have rented: One First Tier Unenchanted Mace Remaining point balance: 5 points. Enjoy your delve!
Now that the three of them had made their purchases, a doorway appeared in the rift.
“Well, let’s go I suppose,” Jenna said, taking point.
The door opened into a dark hallway. As she stepped inside, torches along both walls lit up, casting the room in flickering shadowy light. She felt the unevenness of the floor and adjusted her footing slightly.
“Do you see any goblins yet?” Cora called from behind.
“Not yet,” Jenna said, beginning her approach forward.
Halfway down the hallway, she saw that the end of the hallway jutted off to her left and right. As she noticed it, a goblin turned the corner and started to charge towards them. Before it had gotten more than a few steps, Cora had placed an arrow through its eye.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
“It would be so nice if we only had single charging targets for the entirety of this rift,” she commented.
“Don’t get your hopes up,” Jenna said.
When they neared the end of the hallway, the group had a choice to make. “Left or right?” Rita asked the question on everyone’s mind. “I saw the goblin come from the right, if that makes any difference.”
“That feels like as good of a clue as any,” Jenna replied, marching down the hallway to their right. Just a few steps down, she came to another doorway. “On three,” she said, preparing to open the door.
Cora notched an arrow before she’d gotten to two. On three, Jenna was glad for the preparation they’d agreed on.
Inside of the room were five goblins. They didn’t look like they were as strong as those they’d fought in the training room, but the trio was trying to preserve Rita’s Magic, and so they’d agreed to avoid using it for as long as possible on the first floor.
Jenna rushed forward, trusting her team to have her back. When she tore out the lead goblin’s throat before she saw any arrows fly by her, she thought that she had been betrayed.
Thankfully, these rift monsters were less willing to die than the practice ones the Pyramid had made. They took a step back in obvious horror, giving Jenna the time that she needed to quickly glance behind her. At least Cora had a good reason for not backing her up.
From the opposite end of the hallway, another five goblins were rushing towards her party.
“I can handle these,” Jenna called, hoping Rita would go to help Cora. Seeing her nod, Jenna turned back to the goblins, hoping that she hadn’t just lied to her party.
The other four goblins had recovered from seeing their comrade fall and charged towards her. They were all unarmored, or at least weren’t wearing armor in the important places. Jenna didn’t waste any more time scanning the goblins, taking them out with quick swipes of her mace across and through their necks.
These had been far weaker than the goblins she was used to fighting. Turning around, she saw that Cora and Rita were clearly experiencing similar feelings.
“So, how does this help me get more Magic?” Jenna asked. She had been expecting some revelation on how fighting would be beneficial to her Magic when they entered the rift, but no information seemed forthcoming. She had expected to see the Pyramid answer her question and was surprised when it did not.
“Were you asking us?” Cora responded. “If not, the Pyramid doesn’t talk unless you’re in the safe room.”
“And if so?”
“I think it’s the end of level rewards that most people say grow their Magic,” Rita chimed in helpfully.
“Everyone good from the last fight?” Cora interrupted. Seeing both of her partners nod, she continued, “Then let’s see what else is inside of this room.”
Jenna cocked her head.
Cora clearly saw that, because she explained, “there are often secrets within the rifts. Sometimes they give you shortcuts through the level or later levels and sometimes it’s just an extra reward.”
“How did I not learn anything about this before I entered the Pyramid?” she asked.
“I was wondering that too,” Rita admitted.
You are a part of a testing group. Some memories relating to the Training Grounds have been suppressed.
“So, apparently the Pyramid can and does occasionally still give messages to people in the middle of rifts,” Jenna said, barely able to restrain her anger at the building.
“Oh? What did it tell you?” Rita seemed genuinely curious, and Cora leaned in closer as well.
“Apparently some of my memories have been suppressed, whatever that means,” Jenna said.
The looks of horror on her partners’ faces almost made her feel better about having parts of herself apparently removed by the Pyramid. Almost.
As they stood around in silence, Jenna felt her thoughts start to spiral. “Well, rather than sit here and consider how dystopian this whole day has felt, can we keep delving? I want to avoid thinking about it for as long as I can.”
The other two agreed, and they moved into the room that Jenna had cleared. After closing the door behind them, they looked around. The room seemed completely empty, other than the torches, corpses, and the three of them.
Cora went around systematically testing different parts of the walls to see if any of the bricks revealed a button to a hidden room. Rita scanned the floor and ceiling, looking for anything that might resemble a pattern.
For her part, Jenna mostly tried to search the bodies of the goblins that she’d killed and made sure that nothing was trying to break down the door. The goblins each had a few gold coins in their pockets, which she held up for the group.
“Are these worth anything?” she asked.
“Hard to say. Probably, though.” Rita called back.
Jenna put the sixteen gold coins in the pouch the Pyramid had given her before delving and continued searching the room with her partners. After ten minutes of searching, they all agreed that any secrets in the room were too well hidden for them to find.
Jenna once more took the lead and opened the door back into the hallway. The goblin corpses there had another few coins, which she also put into her pouch.
At the end of the hallway was another door, this one already open. “Well, at least we know where the goblins came from,” she said, opening the door slightly further. When she stepped inside, the room again looked empty, save for a door at its opposite end.
“Hmm,” Jenna wondered aloud, “what is the difference between a room and a hallway?” It was a dumb and idle question, but it was better than dwelling on the questions she actually wanted answered, like what memories she lost and how she lost them.
When they opened the far door, they found that they were back in the safe room.
Congratulations! You have completed the first floor of the rift! Rewards: Available if you would like to leave now. Would you like to leave?
“No,” Cora answered for the group, and the sign disappeared.
“So we just get teleported back to the safe room after every floor?” Jenna asked.
“Usually,” Rita replied. “Though sometimes it will move you to a different safe room. That doesn’t normally happen in the first dungeon, though.”
“So,” Cora asked, “should we try to finish this floor too before we take a break?” Seeing Rita nod, Jenna walked to the exit door.
“On three.”
Jenna’s Status:
Jenna Fredrickson First Year Spells Known: First Tier: Hardened Glass Expected Years Completed: 7 Prediction Confidence: 40% Points: 5 Qualified to Ascend to Next Year? Yes