Chapter 181

Wednesday, Day 44, K'tharkle, Eden

Jay woke in darkness, a mere sliver of light shined through his bedroom window as the sun crested the horizon and sent out rays of light that stretched across the land and chased away the shadows. He heard a bird tweet and peered over at his windows.

A white bird that looked awfully familiar to him had perched outside his window. It tweeted once before it fluffed its feathers and flew off.

So it hadn't been a mere dream - dreams that featured Gaia rarely were. Jay stretched his arms over his head as he lay in bed and enjoyed the warm softness. Today was a big day.

His first day of self-directed learning. Up until then he had been assigned a class to go to every day. Not today - he got to pick his own classes and he was excited to see what he'd get to learn about.

That wasn't the only big thing – there was also the auction later that night to look forwards to. Hopefully they'd make a good deal of money off of it. While Jay was now rich thanks to his Patron status his other group members still needed a steady flow of cash. The auction would provide a veritable bounty of riches for each of them should their item sell well.

Jay finally took a deep breath and got out of bed. He didn't want to leave the warm comfort of the bed but was getting restless. There were things to do!

He rubbed his head and ruffled his hair as it had gotten a bit matted down in his sleep. A lick of hair in the back refused to stay down and pointed up no matter what he did to it. He finally gave up and went in to his front room where he had left his clothing the night before to get dressed.

The dawn had progressed a bit further by the time he was fully dressed and had his backpack on, his staff dangled off of the backpack in its shortened form. He opened the door to a blinding sunrise and pulled the door shut behind him with a click as he stepped outside.

He walked away from the door before he shook his head, walked back to the door, and pulled on it one more time to make sure it had closed and locked completely.

He headed to breakfast along with what seemed like crowds of people. The changes to Kagan's Dome had turned K'tharkle in to an even more popular town than it had originally been. Thankfully almost no one recognized Jay and he could just go about his regular business.

The crowds had much the same idea however and it wasn't long before he found himself waiting in a very long line for breakfast.

He was stuck in line between a group of visiting adventurers and a trio of older children behind him that appeared to be out of place. Jay didn't see any other children about.

Jay watched the sky as it turned various shades of orange and purple as the sunrise produced dazzling colors across the sky. He felt a light poke to his back which was then followed by a more assertive poke. Jay turned to see what they wanted.

Jay was faced with an older looking boy, he was hardly a man and had only just begun to grow a sprinkling of facial hair.

“Excuse me?” the boy said and Jay nodded.

The boy was wearing light clothing and no armor. He had a belt on with a sheathed sword at his hip. His two friends, a boy and a girl, were dressed similarly but each carried a staff rather than a sword. None of them looked to have ever seen combat. Jay remembered when he had first started at the Guild. He'd been completely lost.

He was still lost in a lot of ways but he had learned a lot during his stay and training. What would they want with him though? The boy hadn't spoken yet and Jay raised a single eyebrow as if to say 'go on.'

The boy smiled nervously, “Your hair? You've got a cow lick.”

Jay sighed and mumbled damn it under his breath. He had meant to take care of that with his aura before he'd left his rooms. Well, no time like the present, he thought to himself.

“Hey, thanks for the help. My name's Jay by the way,” Jay said pleasantly as he offered to shake the boy's hand.

The boy shook his hand and Jay was struck by how much larger Jay's hand was compared to his. The boy was on the slighter side for an Eden adolescent.

“Sure,” the boy said as he scratched at an itch on his neck. “I'm Neiman. This is Cory and Bess. Yes that is her real name and I would recommend you avoid calling her Bessy,” the boy explained before Jay could even form a reply.

“You three just start training?” Jay asked kindly. The line was barely moving and Jay figured they might as well pass the time chatting.

Bess shook her head and smiled. “We aren't old enough to join the Guild yet!”

Jay looked confused, “What brings you all here then?”

Neiman shrugged, “Youth group. You know - Church youth group? Gaia's Young Adventurer's Group?”

Jay looked confused. Back on Earth he was familiar with the concept of a church youth group. All the teens would gather together once every few weeks to listen to the youth pastor and do various fun activities together in a faith affirming environment. What would a youth group look like in the Church of Gaia?

The line finally moved and they all took a few steps forwards.

“Really? Is that the Church of Gaia?” Jay asked and the three all nodded as if that had really been the only possible option. “What do you do in youth group?”

Neiman smiled widely. Here was a topic that he felt confident in. “They teach us about Gaia's core concepts, choice and consent and so on. The real fun part though are the outings and retreats.”

“Like today!” Bess said excitedly. “We get to go hunting today! They told us to bring our weapons too!”

“That means we might get to use them,” Cory said worriedly.

Neiman smiled at him and hit him on the shoulder encouragingly. “They wouldn't bring us out if it wasn't safe, right?”

Jay's hair still had a bit sticking straight up like a tent pole and it was a rather embarrassing look. A few people had already noticed and had gotten a good chuckle out of it. He needed to fix that before he dug any further in to how youth groups worked on Eden.

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“Here, stand next to me for a second. I won't hurt you, I promise. Think of it as a reward for pointing out my hair to me,” Jay offered with a smile.

Neiman hesitated for a second before he stepped closer to Jay. He wasn't too close, but he was now closer to Jay than anyone else nearby was.

That was enough and Jay toggled on his Tropical Island Aura.

“You might feel a little something but I assure you that it is safe and more importantly, helpful,” Jay pointed out as the aura went to work on the two of them.

Jay was mostly clean already and only a few motes of light lifted off of him, but his new friend Neiman had been badly in need of a bath. Motes of light streamed off of him and rose in to the air in a veritable light show. The people around them oo'd and ah'd but for the most part kept their distance.

After thirty seconds had passed the light show had all but ended as no more motes of light appeared. Jay toggled the ability off and smiled at the boy. “All clean! And look, my cow lick is gone!” Jay said as he felt at the back of his head with his hand. The hair there felt normal and no longer stood up.

The boy seemed amazed and his friends both clutched at his clothes as if they needed to touch it before they'd believe that it was really clean.

Jay watched as a range of emotions passed over Bess and Cory. Disbelief. Amazement. Curiosity. Envy. Hope. Jay chuckled and saved them the trouble of having to ask the question themselves. “Would you two like a try as well? I take it you all got up too late to use the bath house?”

Bess and Cory looked guilty as Neiman laughed. “We thought it'd be better to sleep in.”

Jay waved Bess over and used his aura on her until the full thirty seconds had passed. Her hair looked a lot better and her skin was clean and smooth. She smiled and blushed in thanks as she made room for her friend Cory to step forward. Jay did the same for Cory and when the thirty seconds had elapsed and the motes of light had faded he smiled widely.

“That felt amazing!” Cory exclaimed with wide eyes.

Jay laughed, “Lucky you, some people don't enjoy the sensation. They love the final outcome, the clean feeling, but while it is being done? Not so much. So good for you!”

The three grinned and stepped away from Jay a pace to regroup now that they were all spotlessly clean.

“That was great! You can do that any time you want to?” Neiman asked in amazement.

Jay nodded, “I can! It doesn't keep me alive like a combat ability would but it keeps me clean and I use it more often than I would a combat ability.”

“How do you fight things?” asked Cory before he realized how tactless that sounded.

Cory looked down and he looked worried at how Jay would take the question.

“In my group my job isn't to fight. I can fight a little, but nothing like what a combat class can do. I stay alive and use my abilities to help the group in other ways.” Jay explained as they all took a step forward in line.

“Thanks for the cleaning!” Bess said as she interrupted Neiman's questioning.

Jay laughed, “It's alright, really. It wasn't a problem. I'm glad I could help you all out.”

The line moved again and as they stepped forward in to their new spot it moved a second time. Two tables of people must have just left. They moved forwards once again and got comfortable where they stood. It might be a bit before the line moved again.

“So do you know what you are hunting?” Jay asked.

“Rings!” Bess said excitedly. “The youth pastor mentioned a ring event!”

Jay raised an eyebrow and tried not to laugh. “Has he explained what that means yet?”

The three shook their heads. They looked so young and fresh faced and excited. They actually looked really fresh faced now thanks to Jay's aura cleanings.

Jay shrugged. They'd learn about it eventually, why not now? “A ring event is when you are forced to stand within a ring marked on the ground. As you stand there waves of enemies will approach the ring and you will have to fight them off. You usually are given a brief rest period between each wave. After you fight all the waves you usually receive a reward. Do you have experience with your weapons?”

The three nodded. Bess spoke first. “We all have a few years training and we've fought some smaller beasts.”

Jay nodded. They'd been training for years? Jay had just started training barely a month ago!

“So today is going to be exciting for you all then! I'm sure you'll all do great!” Jay offered encouragingly.

The line moved forwards and the three behind him stepped forwards in to the spot Jay had just moved from. The three didn't look to be equally excited about the upcoming ring event. Cory especially looked unhappy.

“How about you Cory, you have experience?” Jay asked.

Cory looked up at Jay worriedly. “Sure. A little. I mean I've trained too but it's never clicked for me the way it has for everyone else.”

Bess and Neiman looked a little embarrassed for Cory but stayed quiet.

Jay shrugged, “You have more weapons training than I do probably.”

Cory's eyes boggled, “That's impossible!” he insisted.

Jay nodded and pointed at him. “I started the basic training course a month ago with zero staff fighting experience. I'm not great with a staff but I can keep myself from being hit for a few seconds at a time now.”

Cory looked unsure, “What about when you have to fight though?”

Jay smiled, “That's the secret – when it's time to fight, you fight. You just have to get in there. You won't gain experience any other way. Trust yourself, your trainers, and your group mates.”

Jay thought that sounded about right. Cory didn't look entirely convinced though.

“Or don't! You can choose not to fight. I'd suggest you pick one and stick with it though. Fight. Don't fight. Make a decision.” Jay pointed out and Cory seemed to accept that as useful advice. It did seem like a lot to put on a boy.

The line moved forwards and the group went quiet as they considered Jay's words.

Finally it was Jay's turn at the front of the line and he turned to wave to the kids behind him, “It was great meeting all of you. I hope you have a great time today, try to have fun!” Jay said as the three kids all thanked him for the aura cleanings.

Jay turned and stepped forwards, grabbed a tray, and started to fill it up with plates of food. Blueberry pancakes with real maple syrup. There were cups of fruit salad chock full of various berries unfamiliar to Jay and he took a cup and put it on his tray just so that he could learn what they all tasted like. A plate of buttered toast followed along with a frosted glass of cranberry juice that sparkled brightly.

He picked the tray up and turned to face the rest of the room. Was he alone or had his friends already arrived? He didn't know so he was forced to scan the entire dining hall in search of them. He had almost given up hope when he finally spotted M'redith's arms waving in the air.

Jay smiled. She was beautiful he thought to himself. He held his tray close to his body and began to make his way over to her and his friends.