Chapter 188

The stairs went up, and up, and up, until they finally had reached the top. They were in a small single room building with a single exit. As everyone crowded off of the steps and in to the room a loud scraping could be heard as a stone slab slid in to place over the stairs and covered them completely.

There would be no going back down using the stairs. Thankfully they had brought everything with them and had left nothing behind.

“Victor? You out there?” Jay called out and after a moment he could hear the rattling of keys on a key-chain, then the rattling of a lock, and finally the creaking of a door being opened for the first time in a long time.

They all brought their palms up and shaded their eyes from the bright sunlight that streamed in to the single room they all stood in. Carefully they all joined Victor outside. They walked slowly due to being half-blind from the bright sun.

“Congratulations everyone, you did it! Some of you better than others,” Victor said with a glare at Carly who shriveled under his gaze, “but for the most part you did wonderfully.”

Victor reached out and took Bess' injured hand in his. “I can heal this now if you'd like,” he offered kindly.

Bess snatched her hand back quickly and shook her head, “No! I want to show my friends first! Sorry, I don't mean anything by it. It's not personal.”

Victor might be their youth pastor but he was still a Priest of Gaia. It was best to be polite around them.

Jay smiled at that and nodded at her when she briefly caught his eye. She was a brave one alright.

Victor looked surprised and left his hand held out for a moment before he withdrew it. “Ok. Just don't forget or it will leave a scar, ok? You'll need that healed within the next twenty four hours.”

Bess nodded enthusiastically, “I will, promise!” She was careful not to touch the back of her hand. Her wound might look bad-ass but it also still hurt quite a bit when touched.

“Can I get a heal?” Carly asked as she took a step forward.

Victor stared at her for a moment too long to be entirely comfortable before he spoke. “No. You should wait for the healers at the portal house for that.” He didn't explain further and after a moment Carly took a step back with a frustrated look on her face.

“I have a little something for all of you. Yes, even the adults. It's been a long morning I'm sure, so I brought cookies. There is no milk, sorry, your water bottles will have to suffice. Here's one for you, and one for you,” he said as he passed out cookies to each of them.

They were twice the size of a normal cookie and were sprinkled with chocolate chips. The sugar rush was a much needed boost as they had missed lunch.

Jay took a bite of his after everyone had gotten their cookie. It was soft and chewy, just the way he liked his cookies. The group all stood there and ate their cookies as Victor watched them with a satisfied smile.

“Come on, all of you. Follow me back to the return portal. We're a bit early but eating cookies on the way there should slow us down just enough that we get there at just the right time. As we walk why don't you tell me about the treasure you each received?” Victor suggested.

They walked along an old road in the opposite direction from which they had originally arrived.

“Didn't we come from the other direction?” Bess asked as they walked and before anyone could talk about treasure.

Victor nodded as the group trudged along behind and beside him. “That's true. There's nothing that says the return portal has to be in the same spot though. Portals are incredibly tricky and difficult to understand for the layman or woman. I'm told that there are spots where portals are easier to open and hold open. Those spots change over time. So a spot that was easy to open when we arrived might no longer be so easy now that a few hours have passed.”

The group digested that bit of information as Victor looked at Bess who walked next to him.

“So are you going to tell me about your fancy fireflies?” Victor asked Bess who was still wearing her Circlet of Fireflies.

Bess grinned. “Inspect me!”

Victor shrugged and Inspected her. Her information popped up over her head and it informed him that she did not have a class or level. As he did so however all of the fireflies around her became bright red and began to buzz about in what looked like anger. Victor grinned, “Handy! And beautiful! Do you like it?”

“I LOVE it!” Bess insisted and went from walking to skipping for a time before she slowed back down to a walk.

Victor nodded, “Well that one won't be too bad. I'm sure we can explain that one to your folks, right?”

Bess nodded happily. They could explain or not, she didn't care. The item was bound to her and couldn't be used by anyone else.

“Does it do anything else? Blast people with fire rays or something like that?” Victor inquired.

Bess shook her head and the fireflies danced around her as she did so. “No. They just get red and angry looking.”

“Well, who knows what they'll do if you ever upgrade that item. They do get a sort of angry look to them when you're Inspected,” Victor pointed out.

Victor had been there for the entire process of handing out the loot, he had just been above them instead of next to them. Even though he hadn't been able to roll on any of the loot he could still hear Jay's descriptions when he had read them aloud. Victor was just helping to pass the time and keep the children engaged as they walked their way back home.

“This should be the spot,” he said as he directed everyone to gather together off to the side. Victor placed a small object on to the ground and a light began to blink on it. It took a few minutes but finally a portal snapped in to existence, its surface swirled angrily.

After a minute or two the surface calmed in to a smooth motionless surface. “Here we go, everyone through – go ahead, children first.”

Neiman went first, then Bess, and then Cory. It was then the adults turn and Jay motioned for Carly to go first and she did so without argument. Jay then walked through the portal. As he exited he immediately was shuffled off to the side by an employee of the portal house. Victor arrived behind him and shortly after Jay could hear a snap behind him as the portal was closed.

The mage that had cast the portal looked exhausted and sat down in a nearby chair. He chugged down a glass of water, or wine, Jay couldn't tell.

The room they had arrived in was larger than usual and as Jay looked about he saw a number of people he didn't recognize. As he watched things progress however he quickly figured out what was going on.

The children's parents had all gathered to welcome their offspring back home. Victor walked up next to Jay and stood quietly for a moment. Then he spoke without facing Jay as he watched the children reunite with their parents.

“You did well today Jay, both with class as well as the children. Hopefully you learned something about hidden doors and passages as well?” Victor said with a smile.

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Jay nodded but kept his eyes on the children and their parents. “Thank you, and yes, I did learn a bit more about traps and triggers.” Jay paused for a moment and then asked the question that really was bothering him. “You don't think the parents will be angry that the children got magical items, do you?”

Victor laughed, “Maybe at first. But eventually? No, they'll be fairly excited over that. Those magical items will give each of the three children an advantage over children without them as they grow older, especially if the children choose to join the Guild.”

Everyone was beginning to settle down and Victor waved at everyone to be seated.

The room was larger than usual mostly to accommodate the larger table it contained. Usually the exit portal and table were in different rooms.

Everyone sat down at the long table. Victor took the head of the table with Jay to his right and Carly to his left. The children all sat with their parents along the remainder of the table.

Victor cleared his throat and everyone quieted down.

“In a moment we will join the others in function hall 2 for the after-party. Before we do that however I would like to go over a few things that happened while we were gone. First off – there were two minor injuries.” Victor explained and the parents became a bit worried looking and they each began to look over their child.

“Carly, a Guild trainee, as you can all see to my left, suffered a blow to the face which has left a bit of swelling behind. She will heal up completely – right after we finish here actually.” Victor explained as he motioned to Carly off to his side.

Carly grimaced which did nothing to help her overall appearance.

Victor continued, “The second was a rather painful wound to the back of the hand. Bess handled it wonderfully and refused to quit even though it was quite painful. She then proceeded to help fight the end boss while she was wounded. I am incredibly proud of her pushing through her injuries today and would like to see that her actions are recognized. I have seen grown men and women who failed to handle their injuries as well as Bess did. Well done Bess!”

Her mother quickly examined the back of Bess' hand and was horrified. The wound looked bad and had turned an angry purple. It still hurt too. No matter how much her mother insisted that it be healed Bess refused to do so until she had showed it off to her friends.

Victor interrupted the argument, “She will be fine and there should be no scarring so long as she has it healed by tomorrow. If she can bear the pain then she is welcome to show it off.”

A Priest of Gaia had spoken and her mother quieted down but still looked distressed. Bess' father however was practically glowing with pride and rested one large hand on his daughter's shoulder as he smiled down at her.

“In addition to monsters and injuries there were also traps. Each of your children received instruction from Jay, who is seated to my right, on disarming traps.”

Victor continued and began to count things off one at a time. “Jay is an experienced adventurer, a member of a registered adventurer group, a soon to be graduate of the Guild basic training course, and the Patron of Kagan's Dome here in K'tharkle city. You may even have heard of his adventuring group – the Glimmerhides.”

The room grew quiet as the parents muttered to each other. Some of them had heard of the Glimmerhides and were trying to explain who they were to the others.

“As for loot, there was a slight issue,” Victor tried to explain but Bess' mother spoke up before he could.

“Why are there fireflies following my daughter around!” the woman exclaimed in a worried tone of voice. It was clear from their behavior so far that the mother was the worrier in the family and the father was the more relaxed personality.

“Yes, well. I took your children to the Pointless Ruins. Only common loot drops there. There has never been a known recorded magical item dropped by a monster or treasure chest in the Pointless Ruins,” Victor explained. The parents quieted down a bit as they listened.

“Until today,” he corrected himself and the parents began to all talk at once.

The Priest of Gaia cleared his throat and the talking died down again.

“Jay here has a special ability that managed to turn every item that was in the final rewards chest to be magical.” Victor finally stated. He looked about the room, curious to see who would talk first.

“So, what – one of our kids got a magical item!?” Bess' mother asked as she watched fireflies flutter about her daughter's head.

“No. Not as such. Not one of your kids. All of your kids.” Victor said and sighed as the parents all began to speak at once. “One kid got two,” he pointed out and the noise grew even louder. Some of them spoke to Victor, some to their children, and some to other parents.

It was nothing but noise for a few seconds and Victor waited it out rather than yell over it. Eventually the parents once again grew interested in what the Priest of Gaia had to say.

“I am aware of the items each child was awarded. I would, however, like to stress something before we go any further. Loot rules were decided on prior to the run and agreed to by each member. A registered member of an actual Guild group was present and led the group. Loot was all handed out by the system in accordance with the agreed upon rules. The loot is, by law, above and below, the property of the children.” Victor paused to let that sink in.

The parents all quieted down as the Priest reminded them that it was not up to them who got what loot. That had already been lawfully decided – and the decision was final.

“The items are as follows. Bess received a magical circlet with a visual effect. Cory received a bracelet with offensive capabilities – he'll need guidance with it. Neiman received two items.” Victor smiled as Neiman's parents patted him on the back in congratulations. “One that is defensive in nature, and one that is a named weapon. He will need a good deal of guidance with that as well. The Church is more than willing to provide the needed guidance so that the children don't harm themselves or others with their new belongings.”

The parents seemed mollified at that. The thought of their child swinging a named weapon about or using a trinket that could hurt others had weighed heavily on their thoughts. Having the Church to guide them in their use would make things far safer for the children – and anyone nearby them.

Children seemed to grow up fast and early in Eden and it wasn't unusual to see a thirteen year old ready to start Guild training. The children in the room were 11 except for Neiman, who was 12. Bess and Cory were a little young but Neiman was just about the right age for his first real sword.

“And with that you may now join the festivities and meet up with your friends and extended family. Congratulations everyone on your first adventure – and your first magical items!” Victor said loudly and with a clap of his hands. The door to the room opened and two women who wore odd blue hats escorted the families out.

Jay, Carly, and Victor remained.

“If you would like Jay you are free to join the others. I'm sure the families would all like to talk with you about their children and how they did,” Victor said. “And there is cake,” he pointed out with one upturned palm.

Jay grinned, “Well, if there is cake! Thanks for the run Victor, I didn't know what to expect but that was a fun class.”

Victor nodded and held his hand out. They grasped forearms and shook before they released and Jay followed a blue hatted woman out of the room. As he walked out Carly made to follow him but was stopped as the priest raised a hand. The priest's smile faded in to a frown.

“Carly, please stay,” Victor asked.

“What, I don't get any cake?” Carly asked with a sly smile.

The priest did not smile. “You do not get any cake.”

The door closed behind Jay and he could hear Victor's voice rise in volume and the door behind him rattled in its frame. As Jay left he caught sight of Walter who stomped his way to the door and slammed it open before he stepped inside. He was escorted by T'lly and a Guild guard.

T'lly caught sight of Jay before she entered the room and gave him a nod with a serious looking face that he hadn't seen on her before. It looked like she was going to someone's funeral. T'lly entered the room as well and slammed the door shut behind her.

The Guild guard posted up in front of the door.

That didn't look good, Jay thought as he turned a corner and the Guard passed out of sight.