I woke up the next morning and relaxed for an hour or so in bed before my stomach forced me to go downstairs for breakfast. I put on a clean set of clothes I saved for when we returned to the city and loaded up my pack with everything I would need for the day before heading to the common room. It was still fairly early and most of the tables were still empty when I arrived, but I saw Zack already eating a bowl of food.
“Morning, Zack,” I greeted him while I took a seat at his table.
“Hey, morning,” he said around his food. “The barkeep told me about a bathhouse in the building down the street, I’m gonna head there after I finish if you want to come.”
“Definitely,” I waved a server over and ordered a plate of eggs and sausage. The rest of the team joined us over the next few minutes and agreed to meet back here after we went to the bathhouse. I spent the next half hour cleaning up and then waited for the others to finish up back at the common room.
“All right, do we want to go to the contribution hall first or go see Chief Duskar?” Gary asked once we all gathered together.
“I want to talk to someone at the building where we signed our contracts,” Gabrielle replied. “We can find out what else we can do for the year as Aidor told us.”
“Let’s talk to Chief Duskar first,” Zack countered, “we can probably ask him, anyway.”
Gabrielle shrugged, “As long as we find out what our other options are, I don’t care.” Aaron and I nodded agreeably and Gary led us up the stairs back to Chief Duskar’s office where he knocked on the closed door.
“Enter,” I heard his voice through the door and we quickly went inside and seated ourselves in front of his table when he gestured towards the chairs.
“Welcome back,” he nodded towards us. “I see you’ve all leveled, good work. Interesting specializations and new skills, they should be useful,” Duskar glanced at each of us and quickly wrote down some information. “We won’t be doing any squad or battalion training for another two weeks, so I’m going to send your team to the Ogre Citadel with another team when they arrive back at the outpost. It’s a late-bronze dungeon but it’s a good group training area for two teams of early bronze if you're careful.”
“Actually,” Gabrielle spoke up after Duskar finished, “we heard from someone that there were other ways to fulfill our contract, is that true?”
“Of course,” he looked surprised, “I won’t force you to serve in my battalion, although you would have to return anything you got at the contribution hall before you left. Why do you ask?”
“We didn’t ask to be here,” Gabrielle folded her arms, “your battalion captured us, why do you think we want to leave?” I swallowed nervously when I heard her tone and watched Duskar warily.
“Yes, you were captured trespassing in Ascended Skorv’s claimed territory,” he barked out a laugh, “they were well within their rights to kill you if they had any desire to. Instead, they brought you to the outpost and asked me to allow your team to join my battalion. To join one of Ascended Skorv’s Warbands you must be offered a position in a Chief’s battalion. I promise you, that’s not normally an easy feat to accomplish,” he stopped talking and I realized it did make sense for intruders to be dealt with by the Warband. Although there was no way for us to know that we were trespassing in the first place, other than seeing the outpost in the distance.
“I understand, and we’re grateful that they spared us,” Gary responded after a moment, “Honestly, this has been an amazing opportunity for us, but we have people depending on us to return. Being away for a year isn’t possible right now.”
“I see. You're from the kingdom of Satar, I assume?” he read from a piece of parchment on his desk and I jerked in surprise. “It’s the only human settlement within a thousand miles, do you think I’m an idiot?” Duskar shook his head and sighed before continuing, “You said you can’t be away for a year, why?”
“We have an obligation as adventurers to defend our cities during the yearly monster hordes,” Zack explained briefly.
“Very well, I’ll make sure you're able to be there,” he looked down at his desk and noted it down. “Satisfied?”
“No?” Gabrielle scoffed and folded her arms, “We don’t want to fight in some random war for no reason!” I had mixed feelings after what Duskar said and I wasn’t sure how I felt about it, yet. I stayed quiet and watched Duskar and the rest of my team's reaction as Gabrielle finished talking. The hobgoblin nodded slowly to her outburst and looked around to see if anyone would speak.
“Being here is an incredible opportunity, but it’s true, what Gabrielle said,” Gary shrugged and met Duskar’s eyes. “We don’t know anything about either side of this war, it has nothing to do with us.” I nodded once he finished talking, I felt conflicted but I wasn’t sure if the training was worth it, either.
“I understand. You are children, with no knowledge of the world,” he raised a hand to stop Gabrielle’s protest, “I only speak the truth, humans of the wilds. Your kingdom may have seemed impressive and all-powerful to you, but that’s anything but the truth. Do you know the stage of your emperor?”
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“Silver, I think,” I said when no one else spoke up. I knew the city lords were D-rank and the emperor had to be a stage higher than them, at least.
“Emperor Ovelnis Satar, Middle Silver. A full stage lower than a chieftain is required to be in Ascended Skorv’s Warband.” he grinned and my eyes widened in shock. I knew he had to be strong, but the aura he gave off was barely noticeable and I had assumed he was early silver rank at best. “Now, the pursuit of power shouldn’t be the only thing you care about, so I understand and applaud your reluctance to join without reason.” Duergar stood and walked behind his desk, then clasped his hands behind his back.
“I accepted you into my battalion at Dorv’s request, but I didn’t treat you fairly. If you had explained you're situation to me when you arrived, perhaps I would have acted differently,” he said pensively. “Like most Awakened, I desire a Territory of my own, a task that requires an elite battalion of my own. I plan to train us into warriors capable of thriving in the Lost Lands. To do this, yes, we will war against the Tower Kings, a Territory that invades in all directions. Allies of the Priestess of Purity and enemies of all Awakened. I won’t promise you safety, or peace, but I will give you the strength to protect your own, and the equipment to develop as warriors. Those that stay in my battalion after the campaign will be my brothers and sisters, forged in battle, and our paths will advance together.”
“Think about your decision before you make it, you have time before you must return to your home. Come back in three days to meet the team you’ll be joining for your next mission,” Duergar nodded in dismissal.
“Why do you care about us?” I asked as we stood up to leave. I couldn’t understand why he would try so hard to get us to stay.
“As you advance further in your class, you’ll find that it can’t be done alone. To go further I need strong companions, willing to seek out the peak of strength. Often those that come from the weakest of backgrounds will rise to the greatest of heights.” I found myself surprised by his words as we left the office and headed back downstairs to the common room. In a way it seemed obvious that strength couldn’t be gained alone; just trying to imagine fighting in a dungeon alone sent shivers down my back.
“Contribution Hall?” Aaron asked hopefully once we got downstairs.
“Yeah, let’s see what they give us for these Behemoth claws,” I agreed. All of us already had our packs so we headed outside and towards the contribution hall at the end of the street. We quickly entered the building and waited a few minutes in line before we were able to be seen by an attendant.
“How can I help you?” the hobgoblin man asked politely.
“We have Behemoth claw’s from the Demon’s Wasteland dungeon, where should we put them?” Gary replied as we set down our packs and began opening them up.
“Just on the desk please, I’ll count them as I place them in a ring of holding. They’re worth five contribution points each,” he explained helpfully and I watched curiously as he started placing the claws into the engraved ring. Aidor had shown us his back at the dungeon and I couldn’t help my fascination with the incredible item.
“Sixty-four fangs, for a total of three hundred and twenty contribution points. I’ve assigned sixty-four contribution points to each of you, as well as twenty additional from chief Duskar for completing your mission,” the attendant touched his bracelet to each of ours and I could tell that I had eighty-four points available when I focused on it. I thanked the attendant and followed the rest of my team towards the market area.
“I’m going to the weapon stall to see if I can sell my spear, or trade it for a sword,” I said to Gary.
“All right, I’m going to look at an enchanted belt or bracer,” he waved as he walked towards a stall covered in enchanted accessories. Aaron, Gabrielle, and Zack all shrugged and followed him so I walked over to the drow elf waiting at the weapon stall alone.
“Good morning, Eli, was it?” the man greeted me, and my surprise at him remembering me must have shown on my face because he laughed right after. “It’s not often I see humans in this corner of the territory. How can I help you?”
“I’m looking to start using a sword instead of the one-hand spear that I bought my last time here, I don’t think it suits me anymore,” I explained as I placed the spear down between us.
“Is that so? Well, you are still at the start of your path. If there is any suitable time for experimentation in you're fighting style, it is now,” the drow elf grabbed the spear and placed it behind the counter. “Help yourself to any early bronze weapon you would like, there will be no extra charge.”
“Thank you, I appreciate that greatly,” I said seriously. “My name is Eli of Satar, what is your name?”
“Elrius of Darkhold,” he bowed slightly towards me with a faint smile. “A pleasure to become your acquaintance, Eli of Satar.”
I browsed around his shop halfheartedly, but I had already decided on an Orichalcum short sword enchanted with Lesser Spirit like my spear had been and I left with one shortly after. I saw the rest of my team talking to the merchant at the same stall they went to first and I excitedly made my way over to them. I thought I would have had to spend at least ten or twenty of my contribution points on a new weapon, even with selling my spear, so I was ecstatic to still have all of my points available.
“Eli! This is perfect for you, you're getting it, I’m getting it, Gary’s getting it, we’re all getting it,” Gabrielle chatted excitedly to me as soon as I walked up. I opened my mouth to ask what it was and she held up a ring.
“A ring of holding?” I asked eagerly as I studied the small ring. It looked like it was made of bronze, but it was covered in intricate silver symbols.
“Yes! Once we attune to the rings we can access a storage space the size of a small closet. We can put something in or pull anything out of it with only a tiny amount of Essence, although it costs fifty contribution points,” she ended with a shrug.
“Fifty contribution points to never have to wear my pack again?” I asked in disbelief. “This is the happiest moment of my life,” I said, only half-joking. Aaron laughed and clapped me on my back.
“I couldn’t agree more. We need to save some points for some more rations too, don’t forget,” Aaron said as he walked towards another stall after making his purchase. I decided to keep looking around this stall after the rest of my team left and I eventually settled on spending another twenty points for an early bronze bracer of Lesser Spirit. I happily joined the rest of my team as they browsed the other stalls, and I ended up spending a few hours with Aaron looking at the various pieces of equipment we could get in the future.
Eventually, we made our way back to the Dusk battalion building and I relaxed in the common room with my team. We wiled the hours away discussing our conversation with Duskar and enjoying the break from the week of intense training.