Matthew heard the sound of Wendy’s carriage stopping outside and hurried to finish putting on his armor. His shoulder caught a little bit as he raised his arm, a flash of pained awareness flickering through his eyes, but it vanished almost immediately and Matthew could pretend that he hadn’t felt it.
Unfortunately, his wife Ginger noticed the minute change in his expression, and she gently rested her hand on Matthew’s shoulder as he slowly spun around to face her.
“You don’t have to do this yet,” she said, her eyes wide the way they always were when she was worried. “We’re doing fine…we still have plenty of savings and you’re going to be getting another royalty payment soon too. Why don’t you take another few months and make sure you’re really all better before you get back to the circuits?”
She paused for a second, then said in a quieter voice, “Lori, Mason, and I all like having you home with us.”
Matthew laughed, wrapping his arms around his wife’s waist and pulling her toward him for a quick kiss. “I like being here too, love, but you know how I am. I’m starting to feel like the walls are closing in a little bit. Don’t get me wrong, spending time with you and the kids is great, but –”
“--But you’ve got to be out there trying to knock on the sky,” Ginger interrupted, smiling. “I know. I know. That Drive is one of my favorite things about you, Matt, but I’m worried that you’re moving too quickly. You probably think it’s silly of me, but you have to understand…when I saw what that Wyrmblooded jerk Galtsbane did to you, I…I…I thought the worst. You were all crumpled up on the stage, and there was this horrible moment right after you fell where I didn’t know if you were still breathing.”
Galtsbane. Matthew felt his own choler rising, then shook his head. His battle against the Alavakio [Dungeon Champion] had been…rather one sided. It stung to admit, but Matthew knew it was true. The [Wyrmblooded] [Coinductor] had been seething about his loss to Canis, especially since there’d been insinuations that he’d taken a dive in that battle. No one would have ever said he hadn’t given it all in his battle against Matthew.
Grinning, the adventurer tightened his arms around Shaina’s waist. “It wasn’t much fun for me either but I’m not going to be fighting Galtsbane again. At least, not for a while anyway. You’ve got to remember, this is just to help me get back into the rhythm of challenges and fighting [Dungeon Champions]. Wendy wants me to get my confidence back. She says that’s the number one problem for adventurers coming back after injuries.”
“Psh. That old woman doesn’t know anything. She just wants to keep collecting her fee from your earnings.”
“She’s been a [Dungeon Challenger Agent] for almost thirty years and has guided adventurers to seventeen distinct {Dungeoneering Pinnacle} trophies, love. I think it’s safe to say that she knows a little bit.”
Ginger rolled her eyes, her expression lightening ever so slightly. “If you say so.”
Matthew recognized that tone; almost twenty years together had burned it into his brain. He rested his forehead against hers. “This is not even a proper circuit, Shaina. It’s a dungeon development committee thing, comprised of a bunch of little no-name dungeons. Heck, the opening challenge is in Oar’s Crest, for Gawain’s sake! I bet you couldn’t even find it on a map if I gave you ten minutes to look for it.”
Given the fact that Ginger had been a [Cartographer] – and one of the best ones on the continent, at that – before she’d decided to stay home with the kids as a [Homemaker], there was no chance that was true, but Matthew didn’t care. He playfully pulled back from her half-hearted swat and made a few exaggerated dodging motions.
“See? I’m back in top form.”
Before his wife could answer, Lori’s singsong voice floated into the room.
“Mama? Dada? Where are you? Are you lost?”
A slightly more warbly voice, belonging to Matthew’s young son Mason, echoed it. “Lost? Lost is bad!”
Ginger nodded toward the hallway. “Alright, top form challenger. Go tell those [Dungeon Champions] that you’re going to be gone again. Grab that hammer of yours and get out of here, before I change my mind and try to make you stay.”
“Then I’d better hurry up and get out of here,” Matthew said, laughing. He opened up the chest that he kept next to the side of the room and looked down at his old, faithful weapon. {Boltsinger} was a short and stubby one-handed hammer, barely longer than his forearm and incredibly heavy. The leather grip around the weapon’s handle was worn and comfortable, and Matthew felt the familiar tingle in his fingers as the weapon’s anti-theft enchantments activated. Anyone but a [Thunderlord] like him would have been darn near incapacitated if they tried to pick {Boltsinger} up.
He stood up, giving {Boltsinger} a few tentative swings. It felt good to have the hammer in his hand again, and he activated
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“There’s the man I fell in love with,” Ginger said, taking a small step toward him. “But you might want to go ahead and deactivate that before you see the kids. I don’t want Mason crying with nightmares for the next week. Especially since you’re not going to be here to help me.”
“Right, sorry.”
It always felt a little…sad to deactivate his domain, but Matthew went ahead and did it. There’d be plenty of time to use it later.
Hanging {Boltsinger} from his belt, Matthew walked out into the hallway to where his small children were. The toddlers – Lori was three, Mason was two – were slowly tiptoeing toward their room. Both of them had wild curly hair and big eyes that definitely came from Ginger’s side of the family.
He crouched down and extended his arms toward them both. “Come here, you two.”
They ran as fast as their little legs would allow them to, laughing like maniacs and both looking like they were on the verge of tripping and falling any second. Matthew gave them both a good, tight squeeze and said, “I’ve got to go on a trip for work for a few weeks. You two be good for your mom, okay?”
Lori squeezed him tight. “You don’t want dada to go on a trip for work! You want dada to play dolls and tea!”
Matthew gently tapped her nose. “Remember, when you’re talking about yourself, Lori, you say I or me.”
She pouted, but rebounded quickly. “I don’t want dada to go on a trip for work. Want dada to play dolls and tea with me.”
“I wish I could,” Matthew said. “But I’ve got to go, sweetie. I promise that when I get back we’ll play lots, okay?”
Mason tugged his arm. “Is dada going to bring home presents?”
“Of course he is,” Ginger said from the door. “Daddy always brings presents home for you two when he goes out to work.”
Lori folded her arms across her chest and pouted. “Didn’t last time.”
Ginger started to say something, but Matthew held up hand and ruffled his daughter’s hair. “You’re right, honey. I’ll bring back extra presents for you since I didn’t do it last time.”
She held up her finger. “Pinky promise?”
“Of course,” Matthew said, returning the gesture with as much seriousness as he could muster.
[You have been given a quest: Bring Back Presents for Lori and Mason! Would you like to accept?]
Matthew hit yes, skimmed the following parameters, and the notification vanished. He gave his kids another hug, shared another kiss with his wife, and walked outside to the waiting carriage.
----------------------------------------
“Piper’s blessings! I thought I was going to have to come in there after you,” Matthew’s [Agent] Wendy snarled from her padded seat inside the carriage. “I’ve been waiting out for here nearly fifteen minutes!”
“Sorry about that,” Matthew said sheepishly, withering slightly beneath the older woman’s baleful glare. “I had to say goodbye to the kids and stuff.”
Wendy folded her hands together and let them fall into her lap. “It’s fine. So, how are you feeling, Sparky? The shoulder heal up okay?”
Normally Matthew would have said that it was fine, but he knew that he could tell Wendy everything. “It still twinges a little bit sometimes when I lift my arm up. It’s not pain, per se, but it’s definitely an unpleasant awareness of my body that I’m not used to.”
“Think it’s going to go away before we kick things off in earnest?”
“I hope so. I figure that even if it’s not entirely taken care of I shouldn’t have any issues with this little pseudo-circuit.”
Wendy snorted. “That’s for sure. These are all little craphole dungeons, you could clear them in your sleep and not even break a sweat. But still, if you’re not a hundred percent, maybe we hold off on some of the promotional opportunities I’m in the process of setting up. I know you want to kind of lay low while we see if you’re still up to this.”
Matthew bristled for a moment, but he knew that Wendy hadn’t meant to be rude. She was just extremely frank and forthright – a side effect of [Straight Shooter] – which was part of why he’d signed with her over all the other [Agents] that had wanted to represent him after he’d made a splash by winning the Mid-Continental Dungeon Running Championship as a teenager.
“We don’t have anything to worry about,” he said as the carriage rolled out of his neighborhood and headed toward the main road that would carry them to their first destination. “I’m still working through my stretches and my rehabilitation exercises. They’re helping a lot, and I’m sure that I’ll be back to my normal self before we even get through this thing. Plus, I’ve heard that there’s a bit of a regenerative effect associated with [Master] class upgrades, and I’m only a level away from that.”
Wendy waved her hand dismissively. “Lots of [Trainers] say that, but there’s not exactly a ton of evidence to support the idea. I don’t want to gamble everything on a benefit that might not even manifest itself, you know?”
She leaned out the window and tapped on the side of the carriage. “Driver! Change in plans. Please take us to Echowood Forest, okay?”
The driver’s reply was muffled, but Matthew felt the carriage stop and turn around.
“Where are we going instead?”
“There’s a new clinic in Echowood,” his [Agent] said. “They have a bunch of high level [Druidic Healers] who specialize in adventurer cases. Their treatment is expensive, but it’s potent and I’ll sleep better at night knowing that they’ve taken a look at you.”
Matthew nodded, then settled himself in his seat and stared out the carriage window. There were some ominous gray clouds in the sky, and the [Thunderlord] felt a twinge of kinship with them.
Galtsbane might not know it yet, but there were stormclouds over his proverbial sky. Matthew just had to clear all these little dungeons first.
Matthew's Character Sheet:
Matthew Cracklelance:
Primary Class: Thunderlord (Allen Donald), Level 52
Secondary Class: Hammer Specialist (Allen Donald), Level 49
Tertiary Class: Fan-Favorite (Adventurer’s Monthly Magazine), Level 35
Additional Class: Loving Husband (Ginger Cracklelance), Level 30
Additional Class: Doting Father (Lori and Mason Cracklelance), Level 20
Might: 183
Wit: 122
Faith: 115
Drive: 178
Competitiveness: 161
Ambition: 100
Charisma: 104
Diligence: 99
Endurance: 129
Agility: 140
Guts: 90