The next day, Berik returned to the mansion. The scaffolding still stood on the east side wing, but he saw no workers. He wondered what they were doing with that part of the estate. But before he could ponder for too long, Coach Beardenbeard jumped down from the wide veranda.
“Bauer! Good to see you! Glad you didn’t run away!” he said. He sipped on a mug of something hot, brown, and delicious-smelling.
Berik smiled. “For a second, I thought it had been a dream. What’s that?” he pointed at the mug.
“A gnomish drink. They call it snefinnikoffi. But us non-gnomes just call it coffee. We brewed up a pot in the kitchen. And that’s where your first quest is gonna be.”
“Oh yeah. My first quest. What do you want me to do?” Berik asked.
The blonde dwarf beckoned him inside. “All in due time. So I figured this would be a great opportunity to explain some things to you and to get you acquainted with some more of your party.”
They walked down the entry hallway but took a sharp turn once they were further inside. Coach led him through a doorway into a wide room only lit by the meager light of the morning sun. The huge oven was unlit, the countertops were bare, and there were no cooking staff running to and fro. There was no food, no smell of baking bread, or frying bacon. There was no warmth. In every sense of the word, this kitchen was dead. Only a lone kettle hung above a hearth.
Beardenbeard took the kettle, poured a measure of the coffee into a mug and handed it to Berik. “Try it. It’ll wake you right up. Wish I woulda had some for you yesterday. You were more hungover than a monkey in a banana forest.”
Berik sipped the hot beverage. It was incredibly robust and flavorful, but it was so hot he had to sip at it. “Just waking up here was incredible enough for me. So where’s the kitchen staff? I would figure a big mansion would have scores of people cooking and cleaning.”
Coach gave a pained smile. “Yeah. Lord Monrovedere can get a little carried away sometimes.”
“What do you mean?” Berik asked.
“He fired his entire staff.”
“Why?” Berik could only imagine such a thing happening because the whole staff decided to mutiny. Had he been taking their blood or something? Was he a secret vampire?
Coach Beardenbeard poured himself some more coffee. “They didn’t do anything wrong. He thought he was just cutting corners, saving his money for what really mattered.”
“Which was?”
“The party.” Beardenbeard raised his eyebrows. “He figured he could save money by doing all the work himself.”
“All the cooking? All the cleaning? And I imagine he’ll tend the garden out front and in back. He’s gonna take care of all that?” Berik asked.
Coach nodded. “He’ll do all the work himself. Which means we’re going to do the work ourselves. So with that breaking news, it’s time to meet the rest of the party.”
He flung open the doors to reveal a grand dining room, complete with an enormous, glittering chandelier and ornate furniture. But most of the exquisite pieces were moved to the back wall, to be piled like firewood at any low-born hovel. A chalkboard on wheels stood in the middle of the room, bearing words and terms that Berik didn’t know.
He saw Rosemary sitting in a chair that was too large for her, looking grumpy and put-out as usual. He spotted Key and Thurnal sitting with her, sipping their own mugs of coffee. A few more people lounged around, but Berik’s attention was immediately taken by a colossal orc who was leaning against the wall.
Dayaka was easily the biggest, tallest, meanest criminal Berik had ever chased down. With wild red hair, green skin, and a face laced with scars, he wore his customary twin clubs on his back. They were the same clubs that Berik had to wrest away from him while he was apprehending the miscreant.
“Dayaka! When did they let you out of prison?” Berik demanded.
The orc turned and saw Berik. He let out a deep, booming laugh. “They had nothin on me. Couldn’t prove anything. So they only held me for three days.”
Berik gritted his teeth while Coach Beardenbeard watched the two carefully but did not intervene. But Dayaka wasn’t going to just stand meekly after seeing the former guard. He marched up to Berik and glared down at him.
“I heard you got sacked,” Dayaka said.
Berik’s face went as red as the orc’s hair.
“Yeah, that’s what I thought. You can’t do anything to me,” Dayaka said.
“I could always press charges,” Berik said.
Dayaka gave a tusky smirk. “You that hard-up for money?”
Beardenbeard finally stepped in between the two. “All right, that’s enough. I should have asked Dougie to screen the applicants better. Dayaka, you said your record was clean.”
“It is clean,” the huge orc said. “Like I said, the court couldn’t pin anything on me.”
The coach turned to Berik. “I didn’t know about any sort of trouble he might or might not have been in. If you want to change your mind about joining the party, it’s not too late. You haven’t signed a contract yet.”
This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.
Berik frowned. “No. I’m staying.”
“Well, there you go! You two better get along now. You’re the two [Fighters] of the party after all!” Beardenbeard said.
Berik and Dayaka might have glared at each other until the sun went down, but the coach led the newbie aside. “Come on. Time to meet the others!”
A short, curvy human woman jumped up from her seat. Her strawberry-blonde hair was streaked with wild blues and purples. She looked human, but there was something undoubtedly magical about her. Her soft brown eyes were wide with excitement. “Is this him? Is this the other [Fighter]?”
Berik found he couldn’t stop staring. He didn’t know where to look. Her leather armor left little to the imagination. “Y…yeah. I’m Berik,” he managed to mumble.
“Great to meetcha! I know we’re gonna be awesome together!” she cried. “My name’s Beacon. Beacon Patch! I’m the party’s second [Rogue]! I’m not so much of a sneaky, stabby kind of [Rogue], though. I’m more like a tracking, scouting, shoot-an-arrow-if-it-moves kind of [Rogue]. A ranger, to be more precise.”
“Good to meet you,” Berik said. He was prepared to leave it at that, but she took him by the hand and led him to a man.
“Alrighty, Berik. Meet Euclid!” Beacon said. The man was well over six feet tall and he could only be called human because there wasn’t anything else close enough to describe him. He was completely bald, and his left eye was covered in a milky white film. Dark robes draped across his gaunt frame and made him look even paler. He stared off into space, unaware that Beacon had said anything to him.
“Heya, Eukey! This is Berik Bauer! He’s our second [Fighter]!” Beacon said, louder this time. Finally, he turned to regard the [Fighter]. The man grasped his hand with his own. His fingers were far too long to be normal. In fact, his arms went beyond gangly. They were obscene. “I am called Euclid,” he said in a sepulchral voice.
Doing his best to hide his trepidation, Berik shook his hand. “Good to meet you. Are you a wizard like Rosemary?”
“No.” Euclid sat down and did not elaborate any further.
Beacon led him to the last person. He ran his webbed hands over his speckled, bald, blue head and down his long green mustache. It grew only on the sides of his mouth, like it was too lazy to grow all the way over his lip. He wore only a simple robe and sandals, much like a pilgrim or a beggar might.
“I’m Nirlid,” he said in a coarse voice. He looked over at Coach Beardenbeard. “Is practice over yet?”
The dwarf laughed. “It hasn’t even started!”
Nirlid crossed his arms and frowned.
“I’m Berik. Second [Fighter]. It’s good to meet you,” the young man said.
Nirlid only grunted.
“I take it you’re the second [Healer]?” Berik asked.
Another grunt.
“Well, that’s great. Forgive me for asking, but are you a sea elf?” Berik asked.
A third grunt.
“Wow. I’ve only ever heard about them,” Berik admitted.
Nirlid shrugged. “Did your mom make you get a job, too?”
Berik laughed nervously. What should he say to that? As a town guard, he encountered lots of weirdos, but he didn’t have to get to know them. All he had to do was keep the peace. But things were different now. Now he had to form a real bond with those weirdos. Those weirdos were in his party, and he wasn’t quite sure how to feel about that.
“No, but she’s very glad I’m here,” he said to the gruff sea elf.
A shrill whistle brought everyone’s attention to Coach Bearbenbeard. He pointed at the chalkboard and looked at the assembled party. “Alright, everyone! It’s time to focus up! We got a few basic rules to go over before we go questin. A few rules, terms, and best practices. Nothing that should take too long.”
He pointed at the two biggest letters written on the chalkboard. “First up: XP. XP stands for experience points. And XP is how you level up. By leveling up, you become stronger, gain new spells and abilities. And by leveling up, you advance in the League. You can only earn XP through Dungeon League-approved dungeons. Whenever you go in a dungeon, well, that means you’re on an adventure. Adventures are the events in which you earn XP, slay the monsters, find treasure, so on and so forth. So, to clarify, dungeons are the locations in which adventures are held. Any questions so far?”
Beacon raised her hand. “The broadcast dungeons all seem to be pretty big. But I’ve never seen one in my travels. And I’ve been to a lot of places!”
“Excellent point!” the coach said. “There are two kinds of dungeons used in the Dungeon League. Some are naturally occurring. Meaning, there was a big scary location, say an ancient temple or a castle or maybe even a cave. The Dungeon League scouts out these locations and brings in all the monsters, traps, hazards, and treasure. But then there’s the other kind. The manufactured dungeons are created by the dungeoneers, exceptionally talented wizards who can summon and create most anything. Those dungeons vanish after the adventure is complete.”
Rosemary grinned. “And we’re lucky enough to have one of those talented wizards to help us train. My uncle was a dungeoneer for years!”
“And we’re very grateful to Mr, Brioche Goodbake,” Coach Beardenbeard said. “Okay. The next thing we gotta talk about is quests. Quests are the specific goals found within the adventures. Sometimes you’ll need to slay x number of monsters. Sometimes you’ll need to figure out how to put a dragon back to sleep. Or rescue a princess. Or sometimes it’s as simple as finding the treasure and making it back out alive.”
“Do you get XP even if you don’t bash any monsters?” Dayaka asked.
“Yessir! You can get XP from doing all sorts of things in the dungeon.” Coach Beardenbeard pointed at the next set of big letters. “Now, let’s talk about HP. That stands for hit points. Your hit points measure how much damage you can take in a dungeon. They’re how the dungeoneers tell if you’re too hurt to go on. If you get too low, they’ll teleport you right out of the dungeon. This is Dungeon League, a sport of high adventure. Not a bloodsport. Any questions?”
Everyone in the party shook their heads.
“Good. Now, another important thing to note about XP is about practice. Practice will be held in older dungeons used by the Dungeon League in prior adventures. They’ll be smaller, less dangerous. Good for perfecting your strategy! You won’t get XP, but you’ll learn about adventuring, monsters, and each other’s strengths and weaknesses. Practice makes perfect!”
There were only a few grumbles from the party, but no one objected.
“Great. Moving on. So I heard a lot of you talking about classes. Your class is how you’re categorized. It describes your adventuring style and the role you play while in the dungeons. All four classes must be represented in a party going into a dungeon for safety reasons.”
Coach Beardenbeard took a sip of his coffee before continuing. “Now, [Mages] and [Healers] will groan at this, but there is a limitation on how often you can use your spells in a dungeon. Those are called spell points. And every spell has a level. So you’re gonna have way more level 1 points than level 2. This is to prevent you from walking into a dungeon and dropping [Fireballs] wherever you go.
But [Mages] and [Healers] aren’t the only ones who get fancy things as they level up. [Fighters] and [Rogues] rely on their weapons to do damage. Which is why, in the dungeon, you’ll earn special abilities as you level up. It’s not technically magic, but it’s still limited in how much you use them. And, like spells, they can be devastating. Any questions?”
The whole party was silent.
Coach Beardenbeard smiled and gave a completely unnecessary whistle. “Fantastic! Now that introductions have been made and the rules have been explained, it’s time for your first practice!”