Penelope struggled to keep up with her combat instructor's fast pace as they rushed down the dark hall lit only by the softly flickering light of torches every few meters. A large staircase led down into a tunnel where rough cobblestone gave way to smooth cave walls, though the torches were still present in their sconces around every other winding turn so there was still a clear human touch. It never got too dark for Penelope to see where she was walking. Still, she couldn't help but wonder how deep beneath ground they were now, and started to worry about what exactly the artificial dungeon would be like once she got there.
She didn't have to wonder for long, however, as a pale blue light slowly began to appear around the winding turns of the pathway. As the corridor broadened, Penelope rounded the final bend and reflexively shielded her eyes from the bright light shining upon her.
"Welcome, soldier, to the Zodiac's Elite Training Hall of Loria!" Whelma triumphantly declared.
When her eyes finally adjusted, Penelope looked out past the end of the corridor in amazement. Where she had expected a small, dark cave, instead was an enormous cavern, as long as a dozen football stadiums and just as tall, all of it lit by a shimmering ceiling of glittering blue stone which shone as bright as the sky during midday. Yet more startling, however, was the abundance of life growing from the stone.
The floor was layered in a wave of dark, denim colored grass that sparkled in the light as if it were covered in a morning dew. In the distance, a small forest of light blue trees rose up from the wall, obscuring the far side of the large cavern. She could even see what looked from this distance like small birds flying to and fro in the treeline.
Penelope spotted her fellow Inheritors gathered on the grassy field halfway between the forest and the entrance. One of the figures began hopping up and down, waving their arms furiously in her direction.
Pretty sure that's Millie. Penelope started to take a step forward, but was quickly pushed back by the instructor.
"Whoa, careful now, recruit! Let me get the barrier down first." Whelma moved to the side of the corridor and messed with some wards inscribed on the side of the wall. The space in front of the pair shimmered for just a moment, before settling back into place as if nothing had happened. "There we go! The barrier's made for the magical beasts in the dungeons, so it's not dangerous to you or me mind you, but we wouldn't want it messing with the enchantments on your new sword now would we!"
Whelma marched out onto the field with Penelope on her heels. The ground was soft, and other than the slightly too-loud crunching of the grass there was little to indicate that the plant life was anything out of the ordinary.
As they approached the group of Inheritors, Penelope felt a strong sense of deja vu from her first time meeting the group of Heroes. And like that first time, a tall boy with long, dark hair came out to greet her.
"Good morning, Penelope! It's nice to see you again! We haven't had much time to all get to see each other since the ceremony. How have you been?"
"Hi, um, Renslow, right? Sorry, I was a little out of it the first day that I got here. I'm alright now though." Penelope said nervously, acutely aware of the stares she was receiving from the rest of the crowd of teens. Whelma was uncharacteristically quiet during this exchange and, looking over to the woman, Penelope saw that she was just watching the pair with a broad grin on her face, as if watching her attempts at polite conversation were the most entertaining thing in the world.
"Haha, that's perfectly understandable! I think it was a big day for most of us. You should have seen how nervous Oslin got beforehand. He was so overtaxed from anticipation that I was concerned he might faint!" The boy laughed and slowly started to guide Penelope towards the rest of the group. "So, you're the Inheritor of the Rat, I hear! I suppose it's not terribly surprising given the secrecy involved in your appearance. Tell me, when did they divine your role as the leader of the Zodiac? It can't have been too recently, I imagine. The seers and augurs in employment for my family divined my role as a destined Hero when I was a simple child, and I am merely the humble Rabbit.
"Oh. Well not too long ago actually. Hey, did Whelma mention anything to you about a cannon shrimp?" Penelope tried to change the subject to something other than her past.
Graciously, he seemed to accept this and simply responded to her question instead. "A cannon shrimp? Is that what we'll be hunting today?"
"I guess so. Furl seemed to think so, at least, after Whelma mentioned it."
He seemed to take a moment, then turned to call out to the group, "Vellum, my friend! Do you happen to know anything about a creature known as a cannon shrimp, perchance?"
The boy dressed in brown robes who had a haircut that made him look remarkably like a friar stepped forward as Renslow called. Penelope remembered this boy as the one who'd insulted her outfit when she first arrived in the ceremony hall and she glared at him angrily, though he seemed to either not notice or didn't care. "A cannon shrimp is a large crustaceous-type dungeon monster, typically found in underground water dungeons." Vellum recited the description of the creature as if from memory in a stiff, monotone voice. "With access to both water and earth affinities, they are capable of commanding powerful bursts of speed in underwater combat and are known to launch large, fast moving projectiles on land, making even weaker specimens extremely dangerous when threatened. They are generally considered creatures on the higher end of tier two."
He blinked, then some of the tension seemed to leave his body, and he began to speak in what seemed to be his typical, haughty tone of voice. "Even in large groups it is not recommended for combatants below tier two to attempt to fight them without their own supporting party of high-level adventurers."
At this assertion, the group of teenagers began to murmur amongst themselves, their voices laced with worry. Penelope looked up at Renslow for reassurance, but even he seemed troubled by what Vellum had said.
"What better way to test your mettle!" Whelma suddenly cut into the group's discussion with her bold declaration, stepping closer to command the children's attention before things got out of hand. She stood up a bit straighter and her face took on a more serious look than Penelope had thought her capable of. In a moment the wild, boisterous Whelma transformed into the picture of a somber, calculating general. "Your mission today, recruits," she barked, "is to slay a single cannon shrimp within the artificial dungeon, utilizing your unique abilities to find the creature and best it in combat."
After meeting eyes with each of the Inheritors, Whelma relaxed. "You all have divine blessings," she continued, "boons from the gods themselves can best the likes of a mere shrimp!"
Some of the group seemed to be swayed by their instructor's encouragement, but others only became bolder. "This is preposterous! Whelma, the task you have assigned is too dangerous and I will simply not participate." The other girl who'd called Penelope a commoner when she first arrived rebuffed the instructor's enthusiastic speech, crossing her arms. It was a different outfit, but she was still wearing a fancy, multilayered robe with large billowing sleeves that draped over her hands. To be honest, she didn't look at all like she was equipped for combat to Penelope, and she found it utterly unsurprising that the noble girl was the one refusing to work. If anything she was more shocked that the girl hadn't said something more cliche like 'my father will hear about this!'
"Nonsense recruit. Ideally, I won't interfere, but if things get out of hand I'll be here to protect you the whole time!" Whelma spoke jovially. "Besides, why do you think we have an artificial dungeon?" As she spoke, she raised one arm to the side and, in a flash of light, an ornate silver javelin appeared in her hands. In a blur of motion, Whelma pivoted, hefted the javelin behind her shoulder, and launched it through the air. Penelope hardly registered that anything had happened before she was blown back a step by wind released in the sheer force of the motion and the javelin was rocketing through the air towards the cavern wall. When the missile struck the stone, an enormous burst of light sparked into the air, scattering wisps of light and magic off of the wall. When the explosion cleared, the cave wall was completely unmarred, as if nothing had happened at all.
For a moment the stunned group of teens simply stood there in silence. Penelope was shocked most of all by what her teacher had just done. The surprise slowly shifted to a feeling of excitement. Will I be able to do something like that one day? She wondered.
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After letting the display simmer, their instructor spun back towards them with a triumphant grin. "As you can see, aside from modifying the layout and terrain of the dungeon, the wardings are also capable of protecting even the strongest attacks if they are identified as potentially lethal. This protection extends to both the terrain and all non-dungeon creatures. As such, there's absolutely nothing for any of you to worry about! Now, who's ready to hunt a shrimp?" She clapped her armored hands together with a boom, producing a collective jump in the still shaken group.
All of the Heroes, even the uppity noble girl, grumbled their assent, though Penelope guessed that, like her, many of them were simply awash in feelings of newfound respect and fear of their instructor.
"Perfect! Now, as today will serve as a test to benchmark your abilities to identify where and how you need to be trained, I'll be stepping back and letting you all handle it!" She clamped her hands down on Penelope's shoulders, making the girl acutely aware of how the instructor's large hands could probably tear her apart as easily as a piece of paper. "As the Inheritor of the Rat, Ms. Morris will act as your squad's sergeant during the course of the mission." Penelope jolted her head up towards Whelma in surprise, then looked to the group of her fellow heroes, all of whom were studying her with judging eyes. "Good luck, recruits!" Whelma boomed, before giving them one last salute then walking off to give them some room to speak amongst themselves.
Penelope stood there numbly staring at the group for a beat too long before she realized that they were waiting for her to address them. "Ah. Um, h-hello everyone!" She tried to speak confidently but her voice broke despite herself.
"Hello!" Millie shouted back cheerfully, not helping a single bit.
Her mind raced, trying to think of what to say. Never once had Penelope really been in charge of anything before. Even in school, for all of her class projects she'd let someone else take the lead. Maybe that time she convinced her sewing club's administrator to let her have a day where she could sell the refurbished clothes she made counted? Ugh, that's probably not important right now. What sort of advice would someone give a politician? Don't let them know you're inexperienced. Keep eye contact. Lie about your credentials.
"Ok, um, well I guess I still haven't even met you all." Penelope spoke, a bit more boldly this time. "My name is Penelope Morris, Inheritor of the Rat. I'm… not particularly well versed in combat, but I'll do my best as our leader to make sure the mission goes well." She clapped her hands together, mimicking their instructor even if she lacked the size or strength to make her presence quite as commanding. "Let's go over some introductions! Everyone, please take turns saying your name, your title, and your strengths."
She'd half expected for her suggestion to be ignored, and was relieved when one of the other teens stepped forward, though it was mixed with a bit of dissatisfaction that she had to be the one to step up. "Greetings fellow Zodiacs," the noble girl spoke in a clear, sing-songy voice, speaking smoothly like she had been rehearsing this introduction for a long time. "My name is Reyna of house Mires, daughter of Albertus Mires, Lord of the Fell Plateau." To her surprise, the girl turned towards Penelope and actually seemed bashful for a moment. "I apologize, Lady Morris, for any rudeness I may have demonstrated towards you upon your arrival." The girl gave a small curtsy and bowed her head, displaying more humility than Penelope had thought her capable of.
"Um, that's fine. You're fine." Penelope said awkwardly.
Reyna seemed to brighten right back up at this, quickly raising her head as if nothing had happened. "That's excellent to hear, my Lady! I do hope that we shall be able to build a healthy companionship and that you will look graciously upon the Mires name in the future."
Ah. That makes sense. Penelope's good will for the girl immediately evaporated upon realizing that she was just being deferential towards her because of the respect for her title. Apparently being an Inheritor of the Rat really did command a lot of respect.
"Right… Well, by title, I sort of meant your Zodiac Inheritance. Not your noble title."
"And you didn't even say if you're good at anything" Cadfael shouted from the back of the crowd, eliciting some chuckles from a few of the Heroes. Reyna's face immediately blushed a fiery red and she cast an angry glare towards the boy who simply returned a light smile. Penelope guessed that this was far closer to the girl's normal reaction when she was actually feeling embarrassed by something.
"I am the Inheritor of the Rooster," Reyna declared haughtily, a hand pressed to her chest. "And as a level 22 Nadir, I happen to share our leader's lack of combat experience," she spoke boastfully, as if declaring that she indeed had no strengths was something to be proud of. Cadfael rolled his eyes but didn't say anything else.
Wait, level 22? Penelope paled. No wonder Furl had been so surprised when Penelope had said she was only level one. Exactly how uncommon was she?
"Ok… Cadfael, would you like to go next?" Penelope asked.
She'd hoped that the boy who she'd had some conversations with in the past might go along with her plan a little more willingly, but he shook his head. "We know most of each other already, so there's little point in going over introductions. I think our time would be better spent trying to find the beast before setting up a battle plan on how to deal with it as efficiently as possible." He turned towards the group as if the decision had been made already. "Millie, why don't you and Tyria start working on divining where we might find a lone cannon shrimp that will be easy to hunt. Hu, you-"
"If I may?" Renslow interrupted the instructions that were being rattled off. Cadfael looked surprised, and possibly a little annoyed, but he let the boy speak. "Lady Lopnie has left Lady Morris in charge of our group. Furthermore, even if we all have met as individuals, I believe reintroducing ourselves with a focus on our blessings and combat experience could be a valuable way of preparing ourselves for the battle ahead of us." He turned to look at Penelope and nodded at her in respect. "What say you, Lady Morris?"
Cadfael looked like he wanted to argue further, but said nothing. Instead, he stared at Penelope as if he expected her to support his unilateral decision to lead the group. He even had the gall to seem shocked when she took a step closer to Renslow and gave him a small nod.
"...Fine." Cadfael said after a long time. He took a deep breath, then seemed to recenter himself and give his usual easygoing grin like nothing had even happened. "I'm Cadfael Servis. Fourth bastard son of the great king Servis, ruler of Esperilla." He said the last part in a sarcastic tone of voice directed at Reyna, who simply sniffed her nose and turned away. "I'm the Inheritor of the Dragon. I know a little swordplay from guard duty with some of my father's merchant caravans." He unsheathed the sword at his hip, absentmindedly giving it a playful little twirl in his hand.
"Great! I suppose I'll go next then." Renslow smoothly stepped in before the group could fall into disarray again. "My name is Renslow Fairbrook. I am the Inheritor of the Rabbit and have some experience with infusion magic. To be perfectly honest, most of my experience lies in infusing magical items, but I'll be happy to lend what help I can with the few invigorating charms I possess! Thanks to my blessing I am also capable of performing some light healing magic should the need arise, though hopefully it won't come to that thanks to the wards in this place! Oslin, why don't you introduce yourself?"
He waved at his blond friend standing in the crowd. Penelope noticed that other than Hu, who always wore his armor, the blond boy was the only one equipped in a metal breastplate, and overall he had an air of confidence to him that suggested he was a step above the others in terms of combat experience.
"Sure." The boy began to speak. "As my brother said, my name is Oslin Fairbrook. I'm the Inheritor of the Horse. I trained as a mage knight at the college of Loria for a few years, though I never actively served in the line of duty after my future title as a chosen Hero was prophesied. Despite my lack of actual experience, I'm well versed in basic martial and magical combat and am fairly confident in my abilities."
"'Fairly confident' he says," Renslow laughed, "Oslin, you're bloody amazing!" He spoke loud enough to address the whole group. "My brother graduated top of his class at the academy before he was withdrawn from duty! If he'd been allowed to be a knight of our realm there wouldn't be a single dangerous monster left in the estate that hadn't been hunted down and slain!" Oslin blushed at his brother's remarks, but didn't say anything to dispute it.
The introductions continued on in that manner for several minutes before everyone had made their statement. Much to Penelope's relief, it seemed that most of her fellow Heroes had some level of combat training, even if Oslin and Hu's were by far the most extensive, and Hu had even said he'd fought monsters before, though he'd gone silent when the curious teens asked about the details.
After the introductions, Penelope struggled a bit for what to do before Renslow stepped forward and suggested that they split the group into subgroups of front-liners, rangers, and non-combatants and supports. She gratefully agreed to the suggestion and let Renslow take the lead on choosing who went in what group. Surprisingly, there were only four non combatants among the twelve heroes, and even Reyna was sorted into the front-liners after she reluctantly admitted that she had some combat training after all.
"Alright! Now that everyone's sorted, are we ready to move out?" Renslow asked cheerfully. Penelope nodded, and the group started to make its way towards the forest ahead of them.
She felt some tension leave her as she began to walk beside the group and cast a grateful look towards Renslow. He gave her an encouraging smile before he turned to walk alongside his group of supports and began to instruct them on their plan for traversing the forest. Vaguely, Penelope started to remember the most important duty of someone in charge. If you don't know how to do something yourself, delegate it to someone else.