Chapter 169

It was a good thing that Aiden fought with a staff because that meant he had one handy with him to help him walk to class after he had stuffed himself at breakfast.

“Erg.” Aiden let out, a half burp, half exclamation. He rubbed his belly with one hand.

The walk had taken longer than they had anticipated thanks to the crowds but they eventually were able to make their way to the training hall. They were only a minute or two late and there were enough other late students that Jay and his group were able to blend in as they tried to take their places for the morning workout.

Except they couldn't. The room had been set up quite differently than the usual workout arrangement. Tables and chairs had been set up throughout the room, five seats to a table. There were more than enough tables to seat everyone but no one was seated. Everyone was packed in to the entry side of the room and appeared unsure of what T'lly wanted of them. Should they sit down? Remain standing?

The crowd had decided to remain standing. T'lly hadn't asked anyone to sit yet and it was better to stay on her good side this early in the morning.

T'lly was already up front and smiling, not a good sign Jay thought. T'lly didn't smile for the same reasons normal people smiled. Jay wondered what she had in store for them that morning.

“Attention! QUIET!” T'lly yelled as the crowd of students quickly quieted down. They had all learned over the past weeks that T'lly expected quiet when she was speaking. Failure to do so never ended well for the offending students.

“As you already know, yesterday was your last full day of mandatory classes. Congratulations,” she said but in a tone that made it seem like no big deal.

A few students clapped – those would be the ones that couldn't read a room or T'lly's mood. The other students stared quietly and waited for T'lly to continue. T'lly glared at the clapping students until they went still.

“For the rest of the week you will be given the opportunity to attend a number of lectures. I would recommend that you use this time to work on your weak areas. Remedial classes will also be offered for those of you who are really struggling,” T'lly explained as Warren arrived, walked up next to her, and turned to face the class.

“We will be giving each of you your final evaluations starting today. It is your responsibility to make sure you attend an evaluation. T'lly and I will be available at our offices over the next few days. Form an orderly line outside of them and we will take you one at a time.” Warren patiently explained.

“Fail to attend your evaluation and you fail! Fail your final graduation exercise and you fail! It's up to you now. We have spent weeks passing on knowledge that the Guild has accrued over a number of lifetimes – now is the time where we test you to see what you've learned,” T'lly yelled to the assembled crowd of students.

The room was silent for a beat before Warren spoke up loudly, “You may all be seated. At each table are forms for each of you to fill out that will allow you to sign up for any of the lectures on offer. We've also provided booklets with a list of lectures offered and their time slots. You have thirty minutes to select and sign up for whatever interests you. You may begin.”

There was a loud commotion as everyone headed for the tables at once. Jay and his group managed to snag a table just before a younger mage managed to do so herself. She turned and took the second nearest table as Jay's group claimed the closest one.

“Time is ticking! Twenty nine minutes and counting!” T'lly yelled and managed to impart a sense of urgency to the surrounding students.

Jay's attention slid from his friends to his course catalog and he quickly picked up a booklet that had been left in front of his chair on the table.

“Guild Graduation Course Catalog” read the front of the booklet in bright yellow block lettering. Jay opened it and took a quick glance at the offered classes. They were split in to various categories.

Multi-group Raid Mechanics and You!

DPS Calculation Basics for Beginners

Intermediate Triggers, Traps Series B

Jay flipped to the combat section and skimmed the list.

Magical & Indirect Fire Methods

Major Monsters & Their Weak Spots, an Introduction

Weapon Retention, Best Practices

Jay thumbed through towards the end of the catalog where some of the weirder classes were listed.

Applied Theology & Deific Etiquette

Adventurer's Basic Logistics

Land Orienteering: Magical, Magnetic, and Stellar Methods

Jay grinned. These classes all sounded a bit more interesting than what he had learned in class up until then. He glanced at the front of the book and found that the remedial section of classes looked much like what he had already been taught up until now. Basic traps. Basic monsters. Basic dungeon tactics.

Jay signed up for Intermediate Triggers, Trap Series B. He had come to enjoy disarming traps. He did not enjoy the possibility of being killed or maimed but the actual disarming was enjoyable. If he took the intermediate triggers class he'd be that much more effective when it came to disarming them. A great skill to have, especially when one considered the fact that Jay was basically the go to guy for trap disposal in his group.

He signed up for a few other classes and had just finished up when M'redith set her writing implement down and folded her sign up sheet in half.

“What'd you get?” M'redith asked as she peered over Jay's sign up sheet.

Jay shrugged, “Another traps class and a few other things that looked interesting.”

M'redith read his list, “Secret Secrets & Entrances??”

Jay shrugged, “I like secrets.”

Norri laughed but didn't stop reading her course catalog.

“How about you?” Jay asked as he turned to face M'redith.

She smiled. “I'm going for Emergency Tanking Theory 101, Adventurer's Basic Logistics, and a few others.”

Aiden grinned, “Mmm. Logistics. That means moving food around, right?”

M'redith laughed, “It means moving a lot of things around but also food.”

Aiden nodded seriously and the group laughed, “That's important,” Aiden remarked solemnly.

Norri chuckled.

“Why, what about you Norri?” Aiden asked as he wrote down one of his choices.

“I'm going to take Woodland Creature First Aid, Extreme Foraging, and whatever else I see that looks interesting.” Norri said distractedly as she continued reading.

“What about you?” Norri asked Aiden as the rest of the group turned to face him. He was the last one to finish filling out his sign up sheet.

“I'm taking Healing 102, Wound Prep. It's supposed to help give you guys a better chance at being fully healed once you reach an Infirmary if you ever get seriously injured. There's a lecture on mana management I want to take too,” Aiden explained as he finished his sheet and folded it in half.

“THREE MINUTES!” T'lly yelled from behind Jay. She was close and Jay jumped in his seat as she shouted.

“Goddess I hate that,” Jay said as he settled back in his chair and the rest of the group laughed at Jay's reaction.

Jay's group talked among themselves as time ticked by. Jay jumped in his chair again when Warren yelled, “Time's up! Pass the sheets in to a pile and hand us the pile when we come to your table!”

The directions were fairly simple and Jay was surprised at the number of tables that had to be reminded to pass their sheets in.

Jay's table was not one of them. They had their pile of sign up sheets ready and M'redith handed them over to Warren who smiled warmly at them as he passed, “Hi guys! Good to have you back!” It was just a few quick words, he didn't have time for much else, and he quickly passed by their table and moved on to the next.

Warren gathered his pages in to a pile that he straightened out first before he handed it to T'lly who added it to her pile. She called over a young man who had been standing up against the rear wall and had not been doing anything. The runner came over, took the stack of papers, and ran them off to the administration department for processing.

Once that had been finished Warren waved to get everyone's attention. Many students quieted down out of respect but many also ignored him. Which is when T'lly got involved.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

“QUIET! Haven't you learned anything?! Some of you can not even collect papers in to a stack correctly and I worry for whatever group gets stuck with you! Pay attention! I can still fail you!” T'lly said with a scathing look on her face. That did it and people began to go silent. Inattention to detail could get you killed in a dungeon.

It could get you killed outside of a dungeon too, if T'lly were involved.

The students obediently settled down and T'lly motioned towards Warren to continue.

Warren smiled sadly at the outburst as well as the fact that it had been necessary at all. “I would like to take a moment to impress upon all of you a very important lesson. Something you should take to heart before you even leave this room today.”

He took a breath and made a motion towards the students, “Graduation does not make you a dungeon runner. Graduation just means that you know the bare minimum, maybe enough to not get you or your group killed. Only running a dungeon can truly teach you the things you will need to know. Remember you are all beginners. Graduation marks the very start of your true education – not the end of it.”

T'lly shook her head as if Warren's words were wasted on the students, “And you haven't even graduated yet! So eyes up and focus people!” she said encouragingly, and aggressively.

“For the remainder of today's scheduled workout time slot we would like you all to form up five person groups. The groups you form will be the ones you will use on your final graduation exercise. Once you have formed a five person group you may come up to T'lly or I and give us the names in your group. After you do so you are free to sit and talk quietly with each other until we break for lunch.” Warren finished with an optimistic smile.

The students all remained seated. And quiet.

“NOW!” T'lly yelled and the students all burst in to motion as people swapped tables and went in search of their friends who were sitting nearby.

Jay and his friends remained seated. They hadn't really interacted with that many of the other students. Jay's group had frequently been too busy to do so. That lack of interaction was hurting and not helping them as everyone else split off in to groups of five.

M'redith saw Chenowith and Carly seated off to the left side of the room. They were arguing about something and Chenowith was forcefully advocating for whatever position he had taken. Carly pointed at him twice before she ticked things off on her hand, one finger at a time, until he hung his head and shrugged. The two got up and went off in separate directions.

Jay had caught M'redith watching someone and had looked about until he found Chenowith and Carly as well. Chenowith walked in the opposite direction of them and they could see him introduce himself to a table of young looking students. He was quickly offered a spot on their team which he reluctantly accepted.

Meanwhile Carly had approached Jay's table with a shy smile. Carly was many things but shy wasn't one of them. “Hi guys,” she said with a half wave as she stopped in front of the unoccupied chair at their table. “You find a fifth yet?”

Jay watched M'redith and wasn't sure if he should say anything or if M'redith should. She was the leader of their group, at least on paper. In practice she was often the most logical and practical in their group. Sometimes she was the only voice of reason. No one had set out to put her in charge, she was just the best qualified for the position, and no one had complained when she had been selected as the group's leader.

“Not yet, no. Why? What about you and Chenowith?” M'redith asked carefully.

Carly shrugged, “We're good. We just can't seem to find a group with two spots open. Plus, we don't know enough people to fill three spots.”

Jay wondered at that. They couldn't even find three people that wanted to group with them? Something sounded off. Jay figured that he could stand up and find four random people to group with if he really tried. It sounded like Chen and Carly weren't trying very hard.

M'redith nodded. She wasn't buying Carly's explanation at all either but she also had decided to keep things polite. So she didn't call Carly on it but instead just nodded. Whatever was going on between Carly and Chenowith was their business – as long as it didn't affect M'redith or her group.

“Give me a moment to talk with the group and I'll let you know,” M'redith said kindly and Carly nodded and took a walk back to her original table and sat back down.

“Anyone mind taking Carly as our fifth?” M'redith asked in a business like manner.

Aiden shrugged, “I don't mind. She worked out well in the end in our last dungeon, didn't she?”

Norri nodded, “As long as there isn't a balance test she'll do fine I think. And she was actually nice when we were grouped!”

Jay shrugged as well. He wasn't sure how nice Carly had been but he felt that he could depend on her in a fight, which was his main concern. “I vote we take her. If we don't who knows who we'll get? This way we know what we are getting – heck, we've grouped with her before. We know her.”

M'redith nodded. “All great points. Has anyone considered that she wants in our group so that she can continue to get closer to us? I don't know if any of you have noticed but Carly is very politically motivated. Put another way – do you want to give Carly a chance to get to know us better? Because if not then we're better off with a stranger.”

Jay shrugged again, “She can get to know us all she wants. If she becomes a pain we can always get rid of her.”

M'redith smiled at Jay, “It's not always that easy. But if everyone is still ok with having her around I think we should take her.”

Norri looked confused, “But you just said...”

M'redith nodded and grinned, “Carly is used to treating people like pieces on a game board but she seems to work well in a group surprisingly enough. We know what she's after so I don't mind having her around.”

“Wait. What is she after?” Aiden asked.

Jay tilted his head and M'redith pointed at him. “Want to give it a shot?” she asked with a smile.

Jay nodded but spoke hesitantly, “Politically, from her point of view, getting close to us is just the smart move. She's not out to hurt us, she just wants to build a relationship. Is that right?”

M'redith nodded. “That was great! I'd also point out that she split from Chenowith, something I've only seen her do once before - to join us on a dungeon run. Every other time I've seen her they've been inseparable. Carly must feel that this is important enough to her to strain her relationship with Chenowith.”

Jay shook his head, “I didn't get that at all but if you say so.”

Norri chuckled and Aiden shook his head, “I don't see that but if you say so I trust you. You're like a horse whisperer only for people!”

M'redith shrugged, “It's easy once you get used to it.”

Jay shook his head, “I highly doubt that.”

M'redith stood up and waved over at Carly who got up and threaded her way through the crowd to get back to their table.

“Good news I hope?” Carly asked brightly. She certainly seemed cheery.

M'redith nodded. “Welcome back. Do you want to give them our names or should I do it?”

It wasn't quite the warm reception that Carly had hoped for but it was better than being told no.

“Great! I'm looking forward to graduating! I can't wait to not have to go to class every day any more! And no, I don't mind. I'll go tell Warren now,” she said as she walked up to the front of the room and got in line to wait to speak with Warren.

“Not a very cheerful welcome,” Aiden remarked as he watched M'redith out of the corner of his eye.

M'redith frowned, “What did she expect? A parade? Taking her is welcome enough.”

Jay smiled. It seemed that M'redith would take Carly in to the group but that didn't mean that she liked her. The more Carly acted like a normal human being instead of constantly trying to stir up trouble the more M'redith softened her view of her. There was a limit though, and M'redith may have just reached hers.

Carly returned to the table and sat down with them. The table went quiet as everyone was deep in thought.

Jay spoke first, “You find any classes that you liked?”

Carly smiled and shrugged, “Only a few. I liked the idea of learning Field Expedient Shelters. Chen thought it was a waste though as we always carry a tent around. Maybe I'll take the one on mana management.”

Aiden raised a hand momentarily, “I took that one. It looked like good stuff to know.”

Carly nodded before the table went quiet again.

“How about this afternoon, you guys doing anything instead of class?” Carly asked in an offhand manner.

Jay opened his mouth to speak but M'redith quickly spoke up before he could. “We all have some errands to run. How about you?”

Carly shrugged, “Probably nothing, I'll be alone. Relax maybe? I don't know.”

Jay was getting the feeling that Carly was waiting for an invite but M'redith was steadfastly not offering one. M'redith was fine with Carly being in their graduation exercise group. She had no interest in adding Carly to their friend group.

Still, Carly had changed a bit from her dungeon experience and M'redith was basically offering her a chance to show that she had changed. Only after she had shown that change would M'redith consider being friends with Carly.

“Listen up!” yelled T'lly but not as loudly as she could have yelled it. “Time for lunch! If you have still not formed a group you are in danger of failing! If for some reason you are absolutely unable to find a group that will take you please contact me or Warren and we will work with you.”

T'lly didn't look very happy at the thought of 'working' with people who couldn't find a group.

“Tomorrow morning we will be posting the schedules for the day outside this training hall. Everyone should check them every morning this week to see what classes they have been accepted to! Remember to bring a writing kit and notebook if you are attending a lecture! They will not be provided otherwise!” Warren called out loudly to the group.

“Don't forget to attend your final evaluation or you don't pass!” T'lly called out.

Warren waited a beat and then yelled, “Dismissed! Go eat!”

“Well, time for lunch,” M'redith said as she got up and her group followed her.

Carly nodded, “See you guys at the dining hall,” and then got up and headed towards Chenowith who was talking with a number of younger students.

“Don't you think you were a little harsh with her?” Aiden asked as their group left the training hall and took a shortcut. The shortcut went straight across a meticulously cut lawn and a nearby guard yelled at them to get off the grass. They ran off the grass quickly as the guards weren't messing about lately. No one wanted to make them any angrier than they already were from the constant crowds.

M'redith sighed, “I don't think so. Maybe? We need to make sure she knows this is professional, not personal. We can work together, but that's it for now.”

“Wow. You really don't like her, do you?” Aiden remarked with a smile.

M'redith shook her head, “Not really. I can't relax around her, she's constantly scheming, but she's growing on me. I'll give her a chance but I'm not hanging out with her outside of class. For now at least.”

The group turned a corner and got in to line for lunch.