Chapter 39

Bianca

Day 38

Population of Thornhill - 53

This was a bad idea.

Why were James, Sophie, Astrid, and I in the dungeon? To level our combat skills, obviously, but why did we have to level? When Orion pitched the idea to me, I immediately rejected it, but he made some good points.

There would be times when some of us needed to defend ourselves. With Orion soon to leave for Kronfeldt, the frontier town we learned about from the pirate captive and the map, we would only have Cade, Sasha, Bart, and Alex left as our defenders. "As classholders, we had a responsibility to the classless." He had said.

So, here I found myself with a bow—Sasha’s old one—and Orion’s old copper long knife at my side. James carried a pirate cutlass, and Sophie had a spear repurposed into a quarterstaff. Astrid wielded her self-made whip. The blacksmiths had inspected all our weapons and made additional modifications to them.

Anika gave each of us healing herbs instead of potions. She explained that producing large quantities of actual potions was a considerable challenge. The recipe demanded a substantial amount of purple flowers, other herbs, and alcohol, making large-scale production difficult. Moreover, the process was time-consuming, involving endless distillation and a great deal of trial and error. Often, the results were more akin to poison than to a healing remedy.

Our dungeon guards consisted of Orion, Alex, Bart, Cade, and Sasha. They would form a protective barrier around us: Alex and Cade would lead the way in front, Orion would watch our rear, and Sasha and Bart would cover the flanks, ensuring our safety as we ventured into the depths.

“Before we go in,” Orion said, I sensed some nerves in his voice to go with the nerves in the crowd of new dungeon divers, “If something happens. Do not panic. Just stay in formation. We’ll only handle the first two floors. If we see lone stragglers, we’ll figure out a way to include you guys in the fight so you can get levels. Make sure the weapon you have is one you're comfortable using because you’ll get a skill called Path of the Whatever. You are stuck on that path as far as I know. I’ve used mace and swords before in testing and haven’t been able to switch off.”

Astrid and I were already well-practiced with our weapons. Astrid had reached Level 1 in the Path of the Whip, while I was at Level 1 in the Path of the Marksman. I was unsure about Sophie and James; James appeared somewhat clueless with his cutlass, whereas Sophie wielded her quarterstaff with practiced ease.

Orion had this theory that the Paths were some sort of natural means to sharpen our skills with certain weapons. I’ll admit, that I didn’t grasp the idea straight away, but once I unlocked Level 1 in the Path of the Marksman, things clicked. Suddenly, it felt as though my body knew exactly what to do—how to grip the bow just right, how to pull the string back with the perfect amount of tension. It wasn’t something I’d consciously learned; it was as if the knowledge had been grafted straight into my muscles.

I wondered if I should have brought Slate along with me, but he would probably be useless in a fight since he wasn’t specialized in fighting. Instead, Slate was back at camp forming bricks, a task it had been doing for the past few days now, for a new building, a tenement that would feature several individual rooms. It would fit around twenty people at first, with plans for forty, eventually. This was going to be a temporary housing solution to shift people out of shelters until everyone could afford their own houses.

The dungeon doors opened, and I took a deep breath before following the rhythm of the party's march. Beside me, James was swallowing hard, his hands trembling slightly.

“It’s okay. We’ll be fine, we’ll probably be so bored that we don’t end up doing anything,” I tried to reassure the other members.

“Not to fret milady,” James pronounced boldly while his legs trembled, “I will not allow any harm to come to you should the others fail to protect you.”

Our first opponent was a giant black rat, its fur bristling into spikes as it confronted us, a clear warning to stay back. Cade held the creature at bay with his spear, keeping it at a distance. Meanwhile, Orion moved with swift precision, hurling two knives that struck like lightning, each finding its mark on the rat’s front paws.

“Let the newbies attack them,” Orion said.

Newbies? How dare he!

Alex and Cade stepped aside like sliding doors, Cade’s shield and spear poised for action. I drew my bow and released a copper arrow that struck the rat’s back. Sophie’s eyes gleamed with determination as she seized the chance for the final blow. Before she could strike, Astrid’s whip lashed out, landing a sharp crack on the rat’s head, leaving a long gash that oozed dark purple ichor. Aja growled menacingly but remained by Astrid’s side. The rat finally fell when Sophie delivered a powerful overhead smash.

The next rat went down more or less the same way. Orion was trying to encourage James to participate. It felt patronizing for the experienced dungeon divers to just sit back and dangle enemies in front of us. It reminded me of animals bringing dead prey to humans, thinking they were weak hunters.

Better safe than sorry, pride is less important than broken bones.

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“Next level, there will be groups of gremlins rather than one rat at a time. If we get swarmed, don’t run or panic. We can handle this,” Orion said.

Nerves wracked me as I traveled through the dark cells on the next floor. My fear of the green gremlins quickly faded, replaced by pity. Alex would chop off their legs, and the newbies would take turns beating their stumps while Bart and Cade stood guard. We cornered a lone gremlin at a dead end, and Alex quickly dismembered its legs. I hadn’t gotten a last hit in a while, so it was my turn.

The legless gremlin stump looked so pitiful as it cowered in the corner, legless and trembling. I crept closer, bow raised, my fingers shaking on the string, but I couldn’t bring myself to release. Its panicked breaths and trembling body made me hesitate. Slowly, I lowered the bow. Just as I did, the gremlin thrust its hands against the ground, trying to spring forward—only for Sophie to rush in and bring down the end of her quarterstaff, bludgeoning it in one swift motion.

“Sorry about the kill steal,” Sophie winked.

After the close call, Sophie was examining her cards. It looked like she leveled her Path of the Staff ability and was picking out a skill. She settled on Whirlwind Strike.

They would make us walk back to the "escape" stairs before engaging in the final boss room, despite Astrid and Sophie’s complaints, deciding it might not be worth it.

Overall, it was eventful. I had reached Level 2 in the Path of the Marksman and Astrid reached Level 2 in Path of the Whip. James didn’t seem to level in combat at all and Sophie had level 3 in Path of the Staff.

I had an inkling that Sophie had already been down in the dungeon before. Along with Cass.

The following day, the party prepared to continue their efforts in training classholders, now with Marek and Anika joining the fray, while Sophie and I remained behind, focused on preparing the portable wagon for its journey. Ethan, however, was adamant about avoiding combat.

“If I had to defend myself, I’d rely on my touch. If you really need me to be your first line of defense… I think we’d be in serious trouble,” The doctor said.

Orion noted that it would be a shame, given Ethan’s legendary skill held incredible combat potential.

On that day, Sophie and I prepared the supplies for the trade mission. At her current level, Sophie’s portable wagon had internal storage equivalent to a small bedroom.

Inside, shelves were lined with neatly arranged teapots and bags of special tea crafted by Anika. The tea blend contained various filler herbs, and dried firecracker berries and was laced with crystalline yellow rocks that resembled tiny lumps of sugar—this was the primary drug. Anika had mentioned it was less addictive than cigarettes but induced a calming euphoria.

In addition to the tea, Sophie, Molvin, and Orion built an interesting tombola drum with a crank. Nearby, several bins of carved figurines, made by the children of the village, were piling up at an alarming rate.

There was a tiny corner of Sophie’s merchant wagon, which contained dried fish, pemmican, campfire supplies, medicine and potions, rope, several throwing knives, a small tent, and water jugs and waterskins all filled with filtered water.

With all the supplies loaded, Sophie compacted the wagon into its portable form. Tomorrow, at dawn, Sophie, Orion, and James would all leave for the mining town of Kronfeldt.

Each would have to get a clean bill of health from Ethan before they leave.

From what they told me, Orion and Sophie would portray foreign traveling nobility, with James serving as their servant and translator. Both Orion and Sophie had been tutored in basic Lokan, the language of the natives on this continent. There was, however, one issue: Orion’s hair had grown quite long, and he wanted it trimmed to better suit his noble role. I volunteered to take care of it.

Before Orion came over for his haircut, I saw him rehearsing an event with Sophie and James. Afterward, he chatted with Gabriel, a singer, for a while. When he finally approached me, he handed over a pair of razor-sharp shears that he had borrowed from Astrid.

He sat on a trunk near the campfire at the mess hall, his shirt off, revealing a lean, muscular physique. He must have bathed recently, as he carried a faint scent of wood and salt. Beside him, I had a bowl of water ready to dampen the ends of his dark brown hair.

“How short do you want it?” I asked nervously. I’d never really cut a guy’s hair before and didn’t want to screw it up.

“Short. If you can give me a number two on the sides and back, with a taper fade, and leave a bit of length on top, that’d be great,” he said, amusement in his voice.

“I’ll see what I can do,” I replied dryly.

I took a deep breath and gently grasped sections of his hair, starting from the nape of his neck and carefully slicing through the strands. My fingers brushed against his skin as I worked my way up. I’d gather more handfuls of hair, make precise cuts, and then step back to assess my progress. A man’s hair is his pride, and I was determined not to ruin it.

“Take care of Cass for me while I’m gone,” Orion said sleepily.

“Of course,” I replied, cutting away more of his hair. “Like he was my own younger brother.”

“If I don’t come back—”

You’ll come back,” I said firmly, tugging gently on his hair, causing him to flinch slightly.

“If I don’t, you need to make sure he stays safe. It’s important,” Orion said in a serious tone.

“You’ll come back,” I insisted.

“Do you really think this mission is worth it?” Orion asked, his voice tinged with doubt.

“They are our neighbors. Eventually, we will have to deal with them. We should do it on our own terms.” I said.

It was a huge risk, sending three of our classholders into the unknown like this, but I knew if Orion was with them, they would be safe. Sophie with her class could secure us things we needed like paper, ingots, and clothing. James would bridge the gap. It was late spring right now, but I was already preparing for the upcoming winter.

The shears weren’t cutting as evenly as I had hoped. Orion’s haircut turned out jagged, uneven, and rough. I fussed over it meticulously until it looked somewhat presentable, though I had to leave more hair than I intended.

As I moved to trim the length of his bangs, Orion’s head was tilted slightly down, his eyes closed in light sleep. Not wanting to wake him up, I carefully threaded the long strands of hair resting on his forehead through my fingers before cutting them away.

Once the haircut was finished, I ruffled his hair to shake out the loose strands, which made him jolt awake and instinctively reach for the side of his body. After he relaxed, he ran his hands through his hair, shrugged, and handed me a copper coin.

There was no emotional farewell when Sophie, Orion, and James departed. By the time most of us awoke, the trade caravan had already set out, eager to cover as much ground towards Kronfeldt as possible before nightfall.

They had their mission; we had ours. Astrid and I would delve into the dungeon with a few of the regulars, continuing our quest to grow stronger.