When the dungeon came into view I saw an unexpected sight, Jake and Wiggles had been joined by Will, the overly enthusiastic guy from earlier. Will was petting Wiggles while Jake talked to him, but both of them turned to face me when I came out, and Will started waving wildly.
“Hey Ethan! how’re you doing?” Will shouted, and I turned toward Jake for an explanation.
“Will recognized me from earlier and came for some advice. I gave him some of the pointers I gave you, and-” Will interrupted him excitedly, waving a familiar yellow orb. “-And he gave me a orb!” Jake resumed, unflustered from being interrupted. “I still had the orbs I got out for you, so I let him have one to help keep him safe.” Jake paused, and then remembered something “Oh yeah, when I was talking to Will I remembered something I forgot to say. You should bring a backpack or a bag with you to the dungeon in the future, you never know when you need something, especially in the dungeon.” huh, it seemed like obvious advice, but I hadn’t even considered it until now. I jotted down a mental note to get a backpack, I think I saw some at the thrift store. While I was doing that Will said bye and entered the shrine. Apparently he had been waiting to greet me before he left. Once that was done me and Jake left the dungeon and we went home (after a short trip to return the rentals.)
“You know Ethan, you could probably invite Will to delve with you. He seems nice, and he said he was planning on running the dungeon a fair amount.” Nope, I didn’t think my ears would last if I delved with him. Fortunately I quickly remembered something that might work instead.
“I actually had someone in mind already.” I said
“Really?” Jake said in mock surprise.
“One of my co-workers visits the dungeon to harvest samaras, so I was going to ask if I could tag along sometime.” Jake nodded.
“That's actually a pretty good idea, but be careful of wasps, your avatar probably can’t take a hit except on the shield. Their poison won’t kill you on its own but you’ll wish it did, and you won’t be doing much outside of bed for a few days” the last part sounded like it came from experience, and I didn’t even want to consider what it felt like in case my brain did a good job simulating it.
“Don’t get stung, got it.” I took a quick shower the moment I got back, the beetle goop was all gone but the dirt was not. It was still only around six, so me and Jake resumed hanging out. Jake wanted to show me a small series on youtube made after the return called Under Utopia. It had blown up pretty big, being one of the only shows of any kind to come out since the return. It was live action, but the actors used their avatars as the characters they played, and the filming was apparently done in a dungeon at Yellowstone that was filled with volcanic activity and… mangroves. Apparently it was called the sulfur marsh. The show was really cool, and that wasn’t even taking into account that a lot of the action was actually real combat repurposed and dubbed. We binged for two hours before Jake turned in to sleep. He had to be in the dungeon and delving pretty early, and without much to do alone I decided to go to sleep too.
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When I woke up in the morning Jake was already gone. I had to get Paul before going to the dungeon, and I didn’t have his number, so I would have to wait until Paul was at the burger house at noon.
I made myself an omelet and it turned out pretty good, my practice last week had paid off. I lost myself in a few more episodes of Under Utopia. Three episodes later it was nine and I decided I should do something with my day while I waited. I still needed a new backpack, so I decided to start there. I grabbed my wallet, my keys, and got in my car. Inside it smelled pretty musty, but I couldn’t be picky. I turned my keys in the ignition and got a wheezing cough in return as the car tried and failed to come back to life. That’s less than ideal. Jakes car was in the driveway, but I didn’t want to use it without getting permission first, so instead I decided to try to figure out what was wrong with the car. I opened youtube on my phone and popped the hood, and then I got started. I was not a car person, I didn’t know a spark plug from a tailpipe, but hopefully with the expertise of the internet I could do this. After several increasingly specific searches I found a video that dumbed down the components of an engine, and a few videos and a quick check to what model my car was I had a video of someone explaining my car engine for me. It turned out that I needed a new car battery, but I didn’t have one, nor did I know where to get one. At this point it had been an hour and I decided to revisit the car later, walking was good for me anyways. I washed my hands thoroughly to get rid of the oil and grease that had coated them, and grabbed my shoes. The thrift store was a thirty minute walk and honestly it was exactly what I needed, the sun wasn’t too high yet so there was plenty of shade, and the annoyance from working on the car dissipated. There was the same employee as last time, so I waved, and then entered the isles. My mind hadn’t been playing tricks on me, there was a section of backpacks. I selected a simple black one like Jakes, and after a quick purchase I was on my way back, backpack in tow.
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By the time I was home It was nearly time, so I ate a granola bar and, not sure what else to do, started packing the backpack. I grabbed several more granola bars and then realized I didn’t really have anything else to put in it. I started a quick list of what I would need. A first aid kit, water, a pocket knife? Sunscreen? Uuh, alright, I’ll just start with water, and I’ll ask Jake what he has when he gets back, yeah, we have a plan, we're good. Unsure what else to do I set off to the burgerhouse, and thankfully Paul was here a bit earlier than I had expected. Paul finished a customer, and noticing there were no new ones I stepped forward to talk to him.
“Hey Ethan, here for an omelet on your day off. Just so you know you’ll still have to pay.”
“Oh no, Actually wanted to ask you something.” Paul didn’t respond, so I continued. ”I was wondering if you would be willing to let me tag along next time you go delving? I’ve been told not to delve alone.” Paul considered for a moment before responding.
“Well me and my team have been delving the second tier and are making a push for the third, so you probably couldn’t join us.” My heart sank a bit, there went my one plan, now what?
“But I could probably take you with me when I gather samaras tomorrow morning.” my spirits rose back up again, that wasn’t ideal, but it was loads better than nothing.
“Yeah, that sounds great, thanks.”
“No problem, meet me outside the shrine at seven tomorrow morning, alright?”
“Sounds good.” I left the burgurhouse, and halfway toward home I remembered something. Hadn’t there been more classes at the delvers guild? Maybe I should check them out. The lesson yesterday had helped but I could definitely benefit from more focused instruction. I was pretty close to the delver's guild, and there was plenty of time left in the day. I changed course, making my way toward maple lane.
Soon enough I was there, the delvers guild was a bit more busy than yesterday though I wasn’t sure why. The bulletin board was covered in fliers, but one stood out more than the rest to me: More than a board, how to use a shield like a warrior. The class was open to walk-ins, free, and in half an hour. I ran through the rest of the fliers, but didn’t find anything I wanted to do that I could do. There was one class about learning to trust and use your avatar that stood out, but the sign said that it recommended you have the ability to maintain an avatar for thirty plus minutes so I just marked it as something to check out later. I made my way to the class at the west sparring area. This time I was there before anyone else. I was alone for a while, but a few minutes before the class a group of four people arrived who seemed to be in a group, three boys and a girl who looked similar enough that they might be siblings but I could be mistaken, they all had brown light hair, though one of the boy’s hair was a bit more coppery. The instructor arrived soon after, a girl probably a few years older than me with a pixie cut dyed bright red. I knew she was the instructor because as soon as she arrived she cleared her through for a second and then shouted.
“Alright class starts now!”