Chapter 218

The area was strewn with a variety of trap boxes as students seated on the floor with trap tools, pliers, and other tiny instruments attempted to render them safe without losing any part of their bodies. It was a trickier proposition than it might appear thanks to the fact that many of the traps were of intermediate difficulty or tougher.

“I'm Kathy, who are you?” asked a heavyset woman who embodied the phrase 'not fat but big boned.'

She was big boned but well muscled and just seemed bigger than the two men that were teaching nearby. Her hands were big enough that Jay's hand appeared to have been swallowed completely when they shook hands.

She wore a set of dark green leather armor and her long dusty blonde hair was tied back in to a ponytail with a strip of a soft velvety material. She wore rings, and bracelets, and necklaces – none of which would even fit Jay – they would all be far too large.

She may have been large but she was also extremely fit. Jay watched her armor strain as her muscles moved under the leather armor and forced the material to flex and stretch.

“I'm Jay, good to meet you,” Jay said politely after she had released his hand from her massive grip. “I'm the only one with a knack for traps in my group and I've studied basic traps. I was hoping to get some instruction on intermediate ones?”

Kathy nodded and smiled without showing any of her teeth. The sides of her mouth just perked upwards a bit. Jay wondered what class she was and almost Inspected her before he remembered his manners and held back instead. There was an easier and safer way, Jay thought.

“I don't know if this is allowed or not – but would you mind if I asked you what class you are?” Jay asked hesitantly. He wasn't sure how the extremely fit woman might take his question and didn't want to offend her.

Kathy shrugged but kept the smile on her face. “Sure. I don't mind. Some do, but I don't. I'm a Scout type, a hunter of sorts.”

Jay nodded, “You're the first scout I've met I think,” he said as he tried to recall if he'd ever met another. He didn't think so. “What do you hunt?”

“Sometimes beasts. Sometimes men. Other times, both.” Kathy answered unhelpfully. She was clearly ready for the conversation to move along. She might be happy to tell him her class but asking for more than that was pushing his luck.

Jay decided that he had pushed his nose as far in to her business as Kathy was prepared to allow and dropped the matter entirely.

Kathy tilted her head to the side, “You mentioned your group. Aren't you still a student? These sessions are reserved for students only,” she said as her eyes narrowed a bit. Jay felt her mood shift and hurried to explain.

Jay thumbed the Glimmerhide patch sewn on to his collar and drew her attention to it. “I'm a Glimmerhide and a student. Special dispensation. Special circumstances. We were offered the opportunity to form our own group and we weren't about to turn that down. So here we are.”

“And your other four group mates are all hopeless at traps?” Kathy asked seriously as if she couldn't believe it.

Jay shook his head, “Three, not four. We're a four person group. None of them seem to be quite as good at traps as I do.”

Kathy pursed her lips. “Escort group? That's chancy at your levels.”

Jay paused a moment before he realized that she was asking him if they had formed a group of four people so that they could sell the 5th spot to escort people through dungeons. Jay shook his head.

“We escorted a friend through a ruins the other day but we don't plan on specializing in escorts. We just haven't found the right 5th member yet I think.” Jay explained.

Kathy grinned and again did so without showing any teeth. “Maybe I should apply?” she joked.

“I guess if we decide to take applications you could, sure. We don't have a scout yet.” Jay said without realizing that she was joking with him.

Kathy's head tilted back and she laughed – it was more of a deep bark but no one was about to complain, not within Kathy's hearing anyway.

“Ned! This guy said I could apply to his group when they start taking applications! They could use a scout,” Kathy said with a laugh and one of the men nearby her turned to give Jay an inquisitive look before he too began laughing.

“Right! And you'd be thankful for the opportunity too, right?” Ned asked as he kept laughing.

Kathy's laughter settled down and she shook her head lightly, “You're a sweet kid. Thanks for the offer but I'll keep my options open. I do have a little bit of experience.”

Ned heard that and began laughing again. Finally he waved at Jay and spoke, “Kid, don't let her fool ya. She's one of the most skilled scouts out there. Ask her what level she is!”

Kathy flashed Ned a disapproving frown and her eyes glared dangerously.

“What? I didn't say what level you are – I told him to ask. Can't get mad at me for that!” Ned insisted even as Kathy did, indeed, become a bit angry.

Kathy continued to glare at him before Ned gave in.

“Fine. I take it back. Do not ask her what level she is.” Ned said with a shake of his head. “Good luck kid,” he said to Jay and returned his attention to a nearby student.

Jay decided to change the topic of conversation. “A lot of people here – I didn't think they had this many teachers,” he observed. It wasn't a question, he was just pointing something out. Kathy could answer it if she wanted to, or she could move on.

“Oh we aren't instructors. We're full members, pressed in to service to aid the Guild in its time of need. Or something like that. I don't know, they told me I had to do it and I couldn't figure out how to get out of it and so I'm here. As are a number of other full members,” Kathy explained just as Ned looked back over.

“Membership has its privileges but it also comes with responsibilities,” Ned explained, a reminder that being in the Guild sometimes required service, not just a tax, of its full members.

Kathy nodded in agreement. They had strayed quite a bit from teaching Jay intermediate traps but Kathy was happy for the break in teaching and wasn't in much of a hurry to move things along. She also felt a little bad for laughing at Jay and decided to ask him a bit more about his group – people usually loved talking about their groups.

“If I were to join your group, what benefits do you guys offer?” Kathy asked with another closed lip smile.

Jay wasn't sure if she were teasing him or not and she finally relented and put his fears to rest.

“I'm not making fun of you, I mean it. I'm seriously curious.” Kathy said with a solemn looking face.

Jay smiled, “Well, we make good money. We're going to be building a compound so you'd have a house. Other than that we haven't really thought it through. We're really concentrating more on graduating first I think,” Jay tried to explain but only managed to trigger more questions.

Kathy nodded and handed Jay a trap box with a single trap in it. “Open this while you talk,” she said and handed him a traps tool.

Jay took the box and began to look for a slot where the trap tool might fit.

“Good money, huh?” Kathy asked. “What do you think is good money? Or, what was your last haul?” she asked. It was a bit of a tease as she had assumed that they hadn't yet been on a dungeon run yet – they were still students.

The purpose of the conversation was to keep Jay distracted and force him to focus on the trap while still keeping track of their talk. It was a lot harder than disarming a trap in a silent room without distractions.

Jay thought about their last haul. It had been... thirteen gold, each? Ten for the little book of professions and three for the library card. Ashagi had been very good to them treasure-wise.

“Thirteen gold.” Jay replied as he went to insert his trap tool but then stopped. What was that?

The thinnest wire Jay had ever seen was stretched across the opening where he had been about to insert his trap tool. It was almost too thin to make out but after a moment Jay was certain that there was a trigger line blocking the trap tool divot. Jay looked up and realized that he had missed what Kathy had said.

“I'm sorry, what?” Jay asked, “I was distracted. There's a tiny trigger line here but I'm not sure how to deal with it.”

Kathy frowned. “You've got bigger problems than that trigger line,” she pointed out. “You need to be able to stay aware of your environment even when working on a trap. Let me guess – you usually focus entirely on the trap?”

Jay nodded. “Sure. I don't want to miss anything.”

“That's nice and all but you need to practice focusing while still keeping track of what is going on in the room. I asked you if you were serious. Thirteen gold is a lot for a young group. It's not a massive fortune but it is impressive for a group made up of students.” Kathy said with a smile. Jay thought he saw a bit of white as her lips moved but he couldn't be sure. That was as much of her teeth as he had seen so far.

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“Oh,” Jay said as he realized her error. “No. Not thirteen for all of us. Thirteen each.”

Kathy smiled and nodded before she looked up and did some quick math. “Wait, what? Your group cleared 65 gold in one run!?”

Jay shook his head. “More. We paid Guild taxes first before we did the split. The thirteen each was after that.”

Kathy's smile slipped a bit, “That is incredibly lucky. You should find something to invest in! I can help you with that if you need to find help.” She couldn't believe that they had found such a large sum as students.

Jay nodded and shook his head. “Thanks. Already did, though. I have a K'tharkle Bank advisor. I just funnel all my money to him and he does the rest.”

Kathy wasn't sure what to say to that so instead she switched things up. “As for your trap your usual tools won't work. They're too large, thick, and cumbersome. Here. Try these,” she said.

She handed Jay a flat pouch made out of a smooth supple leather that had been dyed a soft yellow color. Jay raised the flap and revealed a number of thin silvery metal tools all tucked in to the leather in a neat row.

“These are much like the tools you normally use on triggers and traps but are much smaller and are designed to handle miniature traps. The trap you have, as you have already noticed, has a barely visible trigger line stretched across the trap tool divot. What do you think will happen if you push on that line?” Kathy asked as she tried to work out what she would do with 13 gold.

Jay used one of the tiny tools to test the line for tension. The line had a bit of give to it and while it was tight it hadn't been pulled fully taught.

“I think if you push on the line it will pull on a trigger mechanism and set it off. I think the line needs to be cut, which should render it safe,” Jay said in as professional a tone as he could muster.

Kathy smiled and nodded, “Good! Now let's see if you are correct!” she said as she motioned at Jay with one hand and the trap box with her other.

Jay returned the tension tool to the leather pouch and withdrew a tiny pair of scissors instead. Very carefully Jay reached in to the tiny divot and cut it with the scissors. He tried not to wince as he did so and was relieved when nothing happened after he cut the line.

“Excellent! You did it! You still haven't even gotten in to the trap itself yet though so don't congratulate yourself too much,” she said with a nod after Jay had grinned at the praise.

Jay returned to the trap and using his usual trap tool he wedged it in to the divot and gently pried off a flat pressure plate from its trigger housing. Carefully, he set the plate aside and looked inside of the trap box.

Most traps were simple affairs and had only what was needed to make the trap work. Jay's current trap however was the opposite. A riot of parts, triggers, lines, and switches filled the box and Jay sighed in despair.

“Giving up already, huh?” Kathy said with a shake of her head. “Just remember – you don't have to figure out what everything does. You just have to prevent the pressure plate from triggering the trap, right?”

Jay nodded and smoothed his hair back with one hand. He had begun to perspire lightly and he wiped his forehead off on his sleeve before he returned his attention to the trap box.

Kathy continued to talk to Jay as he worked to make sure he wasn't over focusing on the trap.

“Earlier you mentioned that you were planning on building a compound for your group? I would, what, get a house? If I joined I mean. I'm sorry to be the one to break it to you but a compound is going to cost a lot more than 13 gold. Probably more like 100 gold,” Kathy explained with an apologetic expression as Jay worked on the trap box.

Jay shook his head and said, “More like 1000 gold, actually, if you count the land.” as he poked at a line with a tension tool.

Kathy boggled at the number, “Right. And you plan on paying that... how?”

Jay had gradually gotten frustrated with her constant talking but knew he would have to just get used to it. He answered without thinking. “I've come in to a bit of money,” he said but didn't elaborate.

Kathy didn't let it go though and continued to talk about it as Jay found a section of the trap that had been hidden under a metal housing entirely. He popped the cover off and quickly realized that the rest of the trap was itself a trap. It was all for show, with the exception being everything tucked under the hidden metal housing.

“Sure, sure. Maybe don't offer that though until you know you can pay for it?” she offered and watched his expression to make sure she didn't push him too far. She was trying to be just annoying enough to prevent him from hyper-focusing on the trap without being so annoying that he complained about it.

“It's a pretty stable income stream,” Jay commented absentmindedly as he severed a line with his tiny scissors.

Ned had been listening to their conversation and laughed loudly at that which caused Kathy to look at him strangely.

“What was that for?” she asked as she half turned to face him while Jay continued to struggle with his trap.

Ned shook his head and smiled, his top row of teeth showing. “You. Never mind. I'll tell you after,” he said as he started to chuckle again.

Ned watched quietly as Kathy and Jay went back and forth with Kathy offering up little comments and Jay responding with short phrases. Occasionally Kathy would lean over and show Jay something new with the trap.

“This. See this here?” Kathy pointed out with one thick finger. Jay thought that narrow things down enough and Kathy picked up a tiny tension tool and pointed at a miniature spool.

Jay nodded. A spool on a pin was gradually winding a line that had been set under the secondary housing. There was no way to access the line. Jay knew that forcefully stopping the spool would be a bad idea and would most probably trigger the entire trap. He could see the line, the spool, but had no way of physically preventing them from working.

“Well that was triggered when you lifted the hidden metal housing. It's not just a spool – its a mechanical timer. When it finally takes up all the slack in the line it will pull a pin out of a secondary trigger and...boom.”

Jay frowned and tried to trace the spool's mechanism back to its original trigger. He couldn't figure it out.

“Don't bother,” Kathy said once she had realized what he was trying to do. “The trigger is built in to the housing – unless you cut the metal open with heavy tools you will activate the trigger every time you lift the housing. It's integral to the unit,” Kathy explained. “Once you lift the housing you have to hurry.”

Jay nodded and hurried to render the device safe. “Why don't they use the integral trigger in the main housing? Why use it only for the hidden secondary housing?”

Kathy smiled, “Good question. Integral triggers are only used for housings that are not meant to be serviced or opened again. Normal triggers are designed so that they can be disabled for service. The normal triggers can be disabled but that is both a bad point and a good point. It allows the trap to be serviced as well as disabled by the owner while still being quite difficult to detect.”

Jay thought about that. It made sense. He didn't think about it too much though, now that he knew he was on a timer.

He used a tiny pry bar to lift a metal latch out of the way so that he could then use a tiny pair of shiny metal pliers to lift a trigger rod out of the hidden secondary trap housing.

The reel continued to wind but stopped after he lifted the trigger rod clear of the device.

“Done!” Jay said and carefully put the tiny tools back in to their places in the leather pouch Kathy had originally given to him.

Kathy nodded and grinned, “Well done! You still have all your fingers! Hey, guys!” Kathy said and Ned looked over, “Check it out, he didn't lose a finger!”

Ned grinned, “Well done! Kathy likes to give students who claim to be gifted the Gobbler so that she can decide for herself. Glad you managed to keep all your fingers!”

“Wait. Gobbler?” Jay asked in horror.

“Sure. Because it takes so many fingers?” Ned answered seriously as if it was a perfectly normal thing for a device to do.

Jay shook his head and not for the first time was thankful that he did seem to have a knack for disabling traps. He would like his fingers to stay attached, thank you very much.

Kathy turned to face Jay but Ned didn't move away and instead listened in to their conversation.

“Good job kid. What's your name again? I need to write it down so that your record gets updated. The Guild keeps track of what classes you've had.” Kathy picked up a notebook and a writing implement off a table behind her.

“Jay. Of the Glimmerhides,” he added as saying just 'Jay' seemed a bit short.

Kathy nodded, the name meant nothing to her, at the same time as Ned grinned and chuckled.

“Did you want to try another trap box?” Kathy offered as she took the box from him and set it behind her to be reset.

Jay shook his head, “I have another instructor to meet up with, but thank you, I learned a lot.”

“Great! See you around then, Jay.” Kathy said with a smile and Jay shook her huge hand with his normal sized hand and walked towards the exit. He tried to keep an eye out for Norri but didn't see her by the time he had reached the doors that led out of the training hall.

-----

“Hey – Kathy?” Ned said after Kathy had finished writing down some things about Jay in her notebook. They had to keep notes on the students they taught. Names, subject requested, performance, attitude, and so on.

“What?” she said a bit snappishly as she slowly reset the trap box Jay had disabled.

“You know that new dungeon they opened in the city here?” Ned asked with a big toothy grin.

Kathy looked at him in exasperation. “Kagan's dome. So what?”

“Well – it has a Patron. The King Himself was said to have made him so.” Ned pointed out.

“So what? That has nothing to do with anything,” Kathy said as she glared over at him.

“Oh yeah? Well guess what the Patron's name is supposed to be?” Ned asked with a sly smile.

“I'd ask what but you're going to tell me regardless so why bother.” Kathy said as she scratched at her neck.

“Kathy. That kid just now? That was JAY – the Patron. He is PATRON Jay of Kagan's Dome. You just offered to give him some investment advice. He's richer than the two of us put together easily.” Ned said and laughed as he turned to help the next student.

Kathy paused in her trap reassembly. She had returned to K'tharkle in the first place just to visit Kagan's Dome. She'd already gone, twice. She'd just met a living Patron. As far as she knew he was the only Patron, she'd only read about them in books. Kathy groaned as she went over her conversation with Jay in her head. She had called him kid. KID!

Kathy sighed. Maybe she would apply for the Glimmerhides if the chance ever presented itself.

She went back to work but couldn't help but mentally kick herself for how she had handled the interaction.