“There is a low level dungeon nearby, we send the virgin adventurer groups there for training. These three-” He gestured towards the three who stood with them, one was female the other two were male. “Have been part of my class for a few years but they have yet to complete their team, I would like you to join their team, you haven’t reached level two yet, so your stats are not yet available but with your skills and perks the dungeon should be of no danger for you.” Cilestius told them.
Three having no idea what the man had said tapped Sumi on the shoulder for a translation, when she started signing to him she drew weird looks from the others but Three was too focused on Sumi's translation to notice.
[It would not be smart to join these people.] Three signed.
Sumi blinked asking aloud, “Why not?”
[The sharp-eyed man pointed out that these guys have been following his classes for a few years, yet they do not have a team. There were plenty of others at that meeting around their age, that they do not have a team yet, indicates they are weak or have other deficiencies, our goal was to find strong allies was it not?] Three signed, staring her in the eyes.
“That shouldn’t matter that much should it?” She retorted.
Three sighed, [At least use signs, and yes it matters. We should not join.]
It was hard not to notice the two were having an argument of sorts, Cilestius swiveled his gaze between the two. “Is there a problem?”
“Three does not want to join the team.” Sumi replied,
Three narrowed his eyes at her response, but switched his gaze to Cilestius and gave him a kurt nod.
Cilestius looked at the two“Why do you not want to join?”
Three folded his arms, frowned but answered, “Weak”.
Cilestius blinked, “You don’t think you're strong enough for a dungeon?”
Three shook his head, pointing in the direction of the three people they didn’t know. “Weak.”
The three of them started shaking, the girl with the dark ponytail stepping forward with trembling fists, “I am NOT weak!”
Three signed at Sumi, [They are the leftovers, either weak, clumsy, or terrible teamwork. Tell them.]
Sumi glared at him, “I don’t want to.”
[Tell them!] Three signed.
“Just tell me what he’s saying!” The dark haired girl told Sumi.
Three nodded in agreement, Sumi grumbled under her breath. “He says, since none of the other people picked you guys for their teams, you guys are either weak, clumsy or have terrible teamwork. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be left over.”
The girl trembled but glared at Three with tears in her eyes, “I am not weak…” She mumbled, then she regained some of the fire in her eyes. “Follow me and I'll show you!” She stomped out the door heading to one of the nearby training halls.
[Why did you hurt her feelings like that! Why are you being so mean!] Sumi asked glaring at him.
[I do not want to hurt her feelings, but our task is more important, Jer has trusted us with finding strong, capable, and loyal allies, he has a plan, he always does. I’m trusting him and I will do what I believe to be necessary to complete the task he has given me even if I have to say some things I would prefer not to.] Three told her before following the dark-haired girl. Sumi stood their with a puffed up chest watching his broad departing back before deflating.
“So that is why he is being like that, now it makes sense. He’s usually such a softie but he takes tasks and promises very seriously, this is so like him, the idiot still has no tact what-so-ever.” she muttered to herself, sighing she followed hoping to be able to repair the damage that would undoubtedly be done.
They ended up in the training hall, following the two out of either sheer curiosity or necessity. The two young men whose name they still didn't know, were friends of the dark-haired girl. Telling Emmi, supposedly the girls name, to send three crying into the arms of his mother.
The word mother had an effect on Three, He glared at the other two, his muscles rippling, his already large size seeming to increase a notch as he stepped forward dark murder in his eye. Sumi quickly jumped in front of the two [They don’t know her!] she quickly told him, [Mother is someone else to each person, they don’t know the hag, calm down!] She signed in near panic before she placed her hands on his chest and tried to push him back. He noticed what she had signed took a deep breath and let the tension flow, his muscles deflating as he returned to his normal size, his actions had an effect however, the two boys had backed up as far as they could until their backs were against the wall, Cilestius had his hand on his sword and was standing protectively in front of his students looking ready for a fight.
Three snorted and walked up to the dark haired girl, she looked afraid yet still had a determined glint in her eye. Three grunted, he atleast respected her determination. She grabbed a wooden greatsword of the rack and headed to one of the dummies, she took a stance holding the sword low and to the side, then in a burst of motion, she swung towards the dummy roaring “Slice!” Her sword had a slightly red glow as she hit the dummy and left a sizable dent in the iron thing. The two boys clapped in excitement, even Cilestius had a pleased smile on his face.
Three just frowned and shook his head, he walked over to the rack and grabbed a very real knife, then he stalked towards the black haired girl, who was still smiling proudly about her achievement until she saw him walking up to her with a knife in hand, her eyes went wide and she backed away, holding a now trembling great sword between them, she stumbled over her own feet landing on her backside. Three stood over her without even having really done anything. He pointed at her dealing a blow to her confidence, “Weak,” He said, the girl got tears in her eyes gripping the hilt of her sword with white knuckles. “You fear, stop think, make wrong, will die.” He told her as best he could with his small understanding of the language. Then he smashed the knife blade through his own hand, blood splashing over her face as she stared up at him with wide eyes. Three then pointed to himself, “No fear, no weak”
Cilestius stepped forward this time and helped his student up, giving her a pat on the back. “It was a good swing Emmi, you have improved a lot since I last I saw, I bet you were constantly practicing even when I wasn’t watching.” The girl sniffled, hair hanging over her face as she stared at the floor, she nodded slightly. “As for you big man, First of all you should get that checked out and there is no need to go to these extremes to prove a point." He sighed as he made an effort to calm his trembling student. "Though I understand what you mean, you think my students are weak because they will freeze up and make mistakes when you are in an actual battle, which may cause harm to either you or your friend in the future, should you team-up with them, correct?” Sumi was quickly translating as usual.
Three looked at him and nodded, meanwhile the other two boys had stepped next to Emmi and were glaring at him.
“They lack experience, it is indeed possible they will freeze up, which is exactly why I want you to join them, you have killed before right?” Cilestius asked.
Three grunted his consent.
“Monsters?” Cilestius carefully inquired.
Three hesitated a moment then shook his head.
“People?” The question seemed to hang in the air, Sumi saw Emmi and the two others freeze as they stared at Three waiting for his answer.
Three remained silent for a moment then nodded. Sumi saw Emmi and the boys back away from him quickly, she glared at them angrily, “He had no choice!” She yelled at them, “He did it to save us! You have no idea what he has done for me!”
“He murdered people!” Emmi screeched, “How is that okay!”
"You don't what kind of people they were!" Sumi screeched, her hands balled into fists. Fingernails piercing her skin at the memory.
"They were still people, PEOPLE!" Emmi countered, pointing an accusing finger towards Three.
“He did it for us! YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO JUDGE HIM!” Her voice cracked as she screamed at the girl, tears falling from her eyes onto the ground, her voice switching to a barely understandable screech. “YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT’S BEEN DONE TO US!”
Sumi started trembling, various colors rippling across her skin, she saw it, froze for a brief moment, then started tearing at her arm, prying loose her arm string by string, sobbing, screeching incoherently. Desperately trying to tear apart the body that was hers , yet not hers. Three quickly stepped forward and wrapped her tight enough in a hug that she could no longer move. Soft sobs and a whispered sentence was barely audible from the small girl, “I just want to be normal again… why can’t we just…” The rest of her words were drowned out by soft sniffling as Three held her to him, using one of his large hands to softly pet her messed up hair.
Emmi and the others stood their frozen, unsure what to do. They seemed horrified by what they had seen, but what they had heard had enough of an effect to shut them up. Cilestius walked up to them and carefully phrased the next sentence. “The people you killed are they the ones who…” He hesitated, then continued, “Are they the reason for the skills the both of you possess?” Sumi had recovered enough from her outbreak to do some half-hearted translating for Three.
Three nodded grimly, Cilestius scratched his chin. “I understand why you think the way you do, but I think you teaming up with them will be an important learning experience for both sides involved. I would still like you to work together with them tomorrow, for now I suppose you need a place to sleep. Follow me.” Cilestius told them beckoning them to follow, “Emmi, Davis, Talin, you guys know the way out, go home and think about what you heard.”After a brief hesitation, he added, “and saw.” They stared at their teachers back as he walked through the hallway the giant with his contrasting skin and hair colours protectively carrying a trembling girl covering her arm.
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
—— Emmi POV——
The three of them sat there shocked for a moment recovering from what just happened. “Wh-what IS she?” Davis stuttered as he stared at the girl being carried away in the distance, “Her arms were made out of cloth and strings! STRINGS! I've never even heard of a race like that! What kind of freak is she!” Talin nodded and bit his thumbnail, “The giant guy is odd, with his black eyes and his extremely pale skin, but you hear of a lot of weird people in stories, walking-talking animals, people with three eyes, or four arms, but people no longer made of flesh and blood? What kind of a monster did they pair us up with...
Emmi wiped her eyes, stepping towards the two. Grabbing Davis the closest to her by the collar. “Weren’t you idiots listening to her?!” She glared at the both of them, “She wasn’t born like this, this was done TO her.” She gave each of them a glare and started walking to the exit. “Gods, boys are so insensitive, if I ever hear the pair of you calling her a freak I will smack you from here to the third moon!”
Davis and Talin ran after her, Davis spoke up “You can’t honestly say that didn’t freak you out.” She almost glared a hole through his head when he used the word freak, “I mean it was strange to you too right? Her arm was made of STRING.” She heard Talin mumble “Makes you wonder what else is up with that giant, his muscles did seem to wriggle... when we mentioned his mother.” She glared at the both of them, “Well I for one am glad to be paired with people as unique as them, they are obviously legends in the making and I will make sure I’m a part of it, I'll also take the lesson the giant taught me to heart!” She nodded seriously then started mumbling about new training schedules, and sword moves. “Lesson she said,” Davis scoffed, earning him another glare from Emmi. Not much later the three of them parted ways, heading to their respective beds.
----- Pov End ------
Three and Sumi were waiting outside the cave, next to a nervous Davis and Talin and an extremely determined looking Emmi. A few other groups stood outside the dungeon preparing their gear, checking weapons, and listening to the supervisor each team had been assigned. For their first dive, adventurers had volunteered to accompany them, each team had a higher level adventurer to watch over them making sure they came out of their first dive more experienced and most importantly, alive. That way the next generation of adventurers would have a proper chance of growing. Not all adventurers agreed with the way things were done, seeing even the younger generations as rivals that might one day take the jobs they themselves were gunning for. The friendlier adventurers rather enjoyed playing teacher for a day, a lot of the adventurers present were regulars that came back each year to help the kids with their dive. Only those above sixteen years of age were allowed to dive, most people vying to be adventurers did their first dive at the ripe age of sixteen, Three and Sumi were a year behind these younger adventurers, Emmi, Talin and Davis being eighteen years of age were two years behind.
They were waiting for their instructor, who was still in conversation with Cilestius. The adventurer that had been assigned to them was a bald dwarf, with a magnificent rust coloured beard that fell all the way down to his stomache. His head had some dwarven runes tattooed on the sides of his head with a line of them running from his forehead to the back of his head, the dwarf had an imposing scar, blinding one of his eyes, another scar adorned his neck, and claw-marks were visible on one side of his head. The dwarf nodded to Cilestius and headed to the group, Three noticed Emmi,Davis and Talin tensing. The dwarf walked up to them then spoke up with a rumbling low voice, “Which of ya be Sumi ‘n Three?”
Sumi spoke up meekly, “me and him.” She had lost a lot of her usual energy, a slow ripple of white passed over her skin, unnoticed by her but not by the dwarf.
“Be ya human?” The dwarf bluntly asked.
Emmi hissed and Three felt his own muscles tighten.
“I-I… don’t know…” Sumi softly mumbled.
“Pfa.” The dwarf spat to the side, “None here care if ya be human girlie, I ain’t human an’ I be feelin’ mighty fine about meself!” The dwarf said patting her on the shoulder, Three relaxed and Emmi’s eyes widened in surprise.
“Ya kno what we ‘venturers think be more important? Wether ya can smack a big arse monster upside tha head, can ya do that girlie?” The dwarf continued.
Sumi grinned, “I sure can mister boss dwarf sir!” Sumi told the dwarf.
“Good,” The dwarf grinned, “Well then ya need to be speakin about yerselfs, tell me what weapons ya prefer usin n what skills n tactics ya already know, startin with u, pointy ears.”
He said pointing to Talin, Three honestly hadn’t really noticed that Talin was an elf, he had heard about the race from the others but the way they told it they were immensely beautiful, had silver, white or black hair, were thin and elegant, with their overall identifier being the pointy ears. Talin however did not resemble the elves he had heard about, firstly his hair was a dark red, and sure he was thin, but there was no real elegance about him. He had some properly defined musculature as-well which was rare among elves, stranger still was how tan the boy was despite his red hair, perhaps he was a half-elf. Also he was rather tall, not as tall as Three himself but surpassing six feet for sure.
Talin just nodded and stepped forward, “My specialty is my bow,” he unwrapped the bundle he was carrying to reveal a humongous war bow almost as tall as the boy himself. “I received this from my father as he did from his, I have vowed that it will be the only weapon I use, I plan to specialize as a ranger once I reach level fifteen.”
“Cilestius told me bout the lot of ya, said you was a special group with a lot a potential, but each of ya got a quirk n that be the reason ya didn’t find ya self a team earlier, so boy, what be ya quirk.” The dwarf said staring him down despite his short stature.
“I’m not yet strong enough to fully utilize my bow.” Talin grudgingly admitted, “I can only shoot about ten arrows per hour at the moment before I start lacking in power. It takes me about an hour to recover.”
“Pfa,” The dwarf spit again, “That be no issue, ya should stick to ya vows, just prioritize yer enemies, leave the normal critters to ya team and shoot da mages or the sumwhat more dangerous critters, next!”
Talin smiled slightly at the dwarf’s reaction and nodded. Davis was the next one to step forward, Davis had long black hair that he tied in a bun, with two locks of hair hanging down the front of his ears on both sides, he had some stubble growing on his chin his eyes were a dark brown almost dark enough to be called black, the boy was on the short side being around 5,8 , he had a squat stature, his skin was slightly tan, overall he had what Three could only call a rough appearance, noticeable were the twin axes sticking out from his back, they were short and the handle was made of a darker wood, with the metal being a dark gray with strange tribal markings.
“I’m a rogue and plan to choose an assassin progression class, I use these two battle axes which also happen to be my ‘quirk’, I refuse to part from my axes the same way Talin refuses to part from his bow.”
“Tha might be more of a issue for later lad, a lot of a rogues n assassins skills are centered roun' piercin' attacks.” The dwarf grunted
Davis’s face soured, Three signed to Sumi, [If he needs to pierce, yet wants to continue using axes, why not add a blade to the top or the back?] Sumi blinked at him then grinned.
“Oi mr boss dwarf sir, and Davis-bun.” “Davis-bun?” Davis muttered to himself, “Three said why not just add a blade to the top or back of the axe so you can go stabby stabby with the things?”
Davis’s jaw dropped as he stared at the girl, then to Three, then back to the girl. “I’m an idiot!” He shouted, “Why the frogbiscuitunderworldstickdwellers didn’t I think of that, You’re brilliant!” He said walking up to Three and patting the large man on the shoulder, “That will do, that will do, brilliant, simply brilliant!” Davis continued heaping on praises almost glowing with happiness, guess he must really be attached to those axes. Three was taken aback by character reversal, from stoic to bouncy, way too much like Sumi. Three frowned at the thought.
The dwarf nodded thoughtfully, “Ya that would work, will need to a bit of tinkerin on those axes once we get back then boyo. Alright next!”
The next to speak up was Emmi, she was tall for a girl at around six foot, only slightly shorter than Talin. Her shoulders were broad, but that did not detract from her femininity, she had her dark hair in a pony tail, bangs hanging on either side of her face. She had amber eyes that glinted in the sunlight, also a somewhat stern face, determined. Her skin was on the paler side, but nowhere near as pale as Three's. “My name is Emmi Furvenhart, and my weapon of choice is the greatsword, My ‘quirk’ such as it is.” She scoffed at that part, furrowing her brows, “Is that I want to be the party leader.”
“That be ya quirk?” The dwarf asked her frowning, “Yes that is my quirk” she answered.
“Why this be a quirk, nothin be wrong with a female leader, no matter, do the rest of you agree with her being the party leader?” He grumbled.
“Me and Talin already accepted her as our leader, she’s actually pretty damn good at it.” Davis said shrugging. Everyone stared at Sumi and Three, Three just shrugged, he didn’t want to do it, and he thought Sumi wasn’t well suited for the job so Emmi might as well do it.
“Fine with us Big Stick, you get to be the boss!” Sumi said grinning at her. Three could see Emmi mouthing big stick, furrowing her brows even further.
“Right then, wha about the two of yas?” The dwarf said pointing to them.
Three stepped forward first, he tapped his chest.“I big, body strong, I shield.”
The dwarf nodded with a smile, “Ya want to be a vanguard? Right at the front of the battle facing the wave of monsters and their bloodlust head-on?” Three nodded his consent, “Ha, ya be a good fit for that me thinks, I also be a vanguard, our role is dangerous but if we do it right yer party be all the stronger for it, what be ya weapon of choice?”
Three shrugged, “Never use weapon.”
“Ya haven’t used a weapon yet eh? Then how about I teach ye about me own weapon, I be usin this baby here called a Mual, it be a heavy weapon so only strong fellas like you n me wield it, to top it off I have this beauty of a dwarven shield to protect meself and me party, altho I be thinkin a tower shield would suit ye best.” The hammer the dwarf pulled out was a really heavy looking war-hammer with golden engraving on the steel head. The shield was a layered square block that was drawn into a point at the bottom, The dwarf explained that he could extend the point with what little mana he had to wedge it into the ground, giving him the extra sturdiness he needed to withstand even the heaviest of charges, he explained proudly that a calvary charge would smash themselves to pieces against a proper dwarven shieldwall.
Three eyed the weapons with interest and nodded to the dwarf, eager to have weapons of his own.
The dwarf smiled at his newly found student and told him they could get his equipment from the cart of spare weapons and armour that Cilestius had brought with him.
Then the dwarf looked at Sumi the last one to speak. Sumi still had her dark-blond messy hair in a ponytail with bangs, bright green eyes, her heart shaped face was almost always glowing with excitement, and her energetic smile could easily light up a room. Her skin was neither tan nor pale and was for all intents and purpose normal, disregarding the fact that she was made from string and cloth or that a color would ripple over her skin if she felt a particularly strong emotion. She was short, barely above a 5,4 , but her presence made up for her lack of size.
She stared at the dwarf, “Mr dwarf boss sir, you still haven’t told us your name!”
The dwarf blinked, Three blinked, The rest blinked. “Ya be right girlie! I be so into this teacher thing I forgot!” The dwarf let out a deep barreling laugh, “Well let me introduce meself, better late then never I always say! I be Grimli Bruntherfust, pleasure to be makin yas acquitance!”
“A pleasure!” Sumi said grinning, “I be Sumi, I be havin a body made of strings and cottons and cloths, I be havin a strong body, I have no beauty of a warhammer to call me own, mr dwarf boss Grimli sir.” The short girl said imitating the dwarfs accent with a huge smile. The dwarf wasn’t offended in the least and roared with laughter patting Sumi hard on her back. “I knew ya be a fun lil human girlie, Ya still be a bit to tall for dwarves or I’d be introducin ya to me son n the family,”
Sumi grinned down at him “I’d be honored to be introduced!”.
“Well the party be filled with physical abilities, how would ya like bein a mage, throwin fire n thunder around?” The dwarf said still grinning.
“Sounds like fun sir!” Sumi said saluting the dwarf.
Grimli laughed and nodded, “Well head on over to the mage then he be teachin ya a couple spells the quick way to get ya started, the rest of yas get prepared and get some suplies, me n giant over there will be gettin 'im a weapon n shield and I be teachin him how ta use them, in three hours we be headin inside the dungeon!”
Each of them headed off to do the tasks assigned to them, Three had to admit he was somewhat excited about entering the depths.