Chapter 64
The first thing the students noticed when they arrived at the training hall were the healers. There were too many of them. Normally the class would be assigned one or two healers but it looked like there were five or six present this morning, and none of them looked like students. These were real skilled healers.
M'redith groaned.
“What?” Aiden asked, not quite following her thought process.
She shook her head, “You don't keep that many healers around unless you're planning on using them. Who do you think will be in need of healing for the next few hours?”
Aiden looked away from M'redith and back over to the group of healers all talking among themselves. “Oh.” he said simply.
Jay shrugged. “Sure it hurts but as long as they heal us we'll be ok right?”
M'redith just looked at him.
“Right?” he asked again, turning to Aiden who shook his head a tiny bit.
Jay sighed and the three walked past the healers and in to the training hall. They said goodbye to each other and headed to their weapon groups.
Moments later a happy looking T'lly walked to the front of the class and yelled. “Quiet!”
The class quieted down and turned to look at her.
“Yesterday we told you to show up today ready to fight and fight you will. Not against each other however.” she said with a grin.
Warren joined her at the front of the class with another man Jay instantly recognized.
Lux.
Lux was still wearing linen clothing and a pair of leather pants. He was carrying his staff this time though. He stood next to Warren with an expressionless face. He had close cut brown hair, brown eyes, and was on the thin side.
“I'd like to introduce a special guest. Would you like to say a little about yourself?” Warren asked kindly.
Lux nodded and took one step forward. “Hello students.”
The students obediently said hello back to him.
“My name is Lux and I am a level 14 Mage with the Church of Gaia.” he said with a hint of a smile.
There was some whispering along with a few groans.
“I can hear that some of you have already figured out what my role is here today. For the rest of you allow me to explain. Today I will be your opponent. It will be your job to kill me.” he said and this time a smile bloomed across his face, “If you can.”
The class quieted down at that. “I'll also be judging you based on your behavior. The Church has many dungeons in need of culling and we are always on the lookout for new talent.” Lux continued.
A student in the back raised their hand. Jay was surprised to discover that it was Norri.
“Yes?” Lux said in a puzzled voice. He hadn't asked for questions but Norri didn't seem to care.
“I heard that you don't get rewards from Church dungeons?” Norri asked brightly.
T'lly winced. The Church could be a bit..sensitive..when it came to their dungeon's loot behavior.
Lux sighed, “That is true. The Church dungeons were once highly sought after but over time something changed. No – we don't know why.” he said a bit testily. “Nowadays the Church offers a minor reward to those willing to aid in the culling. Even though the reward might be less than if you had run a normal dungeon you are all still students.”
Warren and T'lly nodded at that.
Warren took up the conversation, “You will not always be able to choose your own assignments. Sometimes a dungeon will badly need culling. As a Guild Member you may find yourself ordered to cull that dungeon regardless of the end rewards. Culling the dungeon and ensuring the safety of your fellow humans is its own reward – as well as the primary purpose of the Guild.”
The students all looked at each other. It was easy to forget at times that the Guild existed for some very specific reasons and getting rich wasn't one of them – just a side effect if you were lucky. The Guild was tasked with the protection of humanity against the dangers of dungeons and monsters. So far the Guild's basic training had been focused on dungeons but it had only been a few weeks.
“Those of you that perform well will be invited to a special dungeon run in one of the Church's training dungeons later this week.” Lux said as he turned to T'lly and Warren who nodded, “Your run will be in lieu of class and shouldn't take up any of your personal time.”
The students all began to whisper with each other. Although Jay had already started running dungeons that was the exception to the rule. Normally a student wouldn't set foot in a dungeon until after graduation – if they could even find someone willing to take them. Fresh graduates were not popular with established groups; especially since the fresh graduates had zero experience.
Now someone who was a fresh graduate with actual dungeon running experience, such as a Church dungeon, would have a much better chance of finding a welcoming group.
Lux was offering the students a chance at running a real dungeon. There was no such thing as a training dungeon – just easier dungeons. There were easy dungeons that could be used to train students but there weren't any safe-for-trainee dungeons. The experience points alone gained from an easy dungeon could possibly raise a student from level 1 to level 2 and allow them to pick up a new class ability.
It was a big deal.
The students appeared to be more awake now than at the start of the class and Lux smiled and stepped back.
“Ok, split off in to pairs and work through your exercises. We'll pull people out to fight Lux one at a time.” T'lly said as she grabbed students by their shoulders and moved them in to pairs.
Warren and Lux whispered with each other as they pointed or nodded to various students and discussed them.
Jay was paired with Norri and Jay inwardly groaned. Norri was really good with a staff. If he was lucky they'd just practice forms and he wouldn't have to spar with her.
They traded blows as they worked through their paired forms. It was like a choreographed dance where each partner had specific moves and the other person had moves that matched their moves. Jay tried his best to keep up.
After everyone was paired up and practicing Lux took a few minutes to walk about the class and take mental notes on how each student performed.
“Norri!” T'lly yelled from the front of the class.
Norri startled but still was able to deliver a ringing blow to Jay's outstretched staff as they finished their form.
T'lly made 'come here' motions and Norri went up front.
“Time to fight.” T'lly said with a smile.
Norri smiled nervously but stepped up front to join Lux and stand across from him with her staff at the ready.
“The rest of you keep practicing. You'll get your turn soon enough.” Warren said as the rest of the students slowed down their practicing to try and watch the fight about to start.
“Ready?” T'lly asked Lux who nodded. “Ready?” she asked Norri who nodded. “Fight!” she said.
Lux launched forward with a stabbing strike using the end of his staff towards Norri's head. She leaned back at the waist and it whistled past her. Jay raised his eyebrows in surprise. It was a flashy move and it kept her from getting hit – two great features for a martial movement.
Norri swung her staff towards Lux and he leaned back copying her move. Norri however leaned forward as she did so to give her staff extra reach an Lux was surprised to feel her strike nick at his collarbone, breaking it.
Lux grinned and began to whirl his staff in a dizzying pattern occasionally flicking the staff out for a strike with his one good arm.
Norri was amazing but she was also level 1 – Lux was level 14 with all the history and experiences that represented. The fact that Norri was so talented was the only thing that kept her from being taken apart by Lux as his staff began to move too fast to follow with the eye.
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After a minute Norri was down and in need of healing but she had managed to break Lux's left collarbone which also needed healing.
As the healers rushed to the front to heal both of them Lux smiled, “Great bout Norri. I'd like to speak with you after class if you have a moment?” he said. Lux was laying on the ground on his back with his left shoulder folded on to his chest. A healer sat next to him and used one hand to press his shoulder off of his chest and flat on to the ground next to him. Holding it in place the healer then used his other hand to work over the collarbone and heal it – growing fresh bone over the broken section.
Finally the healer released the shoulder and it stayed in place where it belonged. By that time the second healer had completely fixed Norri and she smiled, out of breath from the bout and the pain she had taken from her injuries. Injuries that were now completely healed.
“I'll stay after then.” she said with a bright eyed smile and was sent back to Jay for more practice.
Others were called up but no one else managed to even strike at Lux for a time, all of their blows blocked or dodged. M'redith managed to trip him during her bout though and he had asked her to stay after class as well.
Aiden had surprisingly managed to hold his own against Lux who was not going all out during the fight. Aiden did not manage to strike him even once. However, Lux had found Aiden annoying to fight because he kept healing his own injuries.
Aiden was barely able to keep up with his injuries but the fact that he didn't just stick to using his staff impressed Lux. Aiden managed to stay in the fight far longer than he should have solely through the use of his healing ability. Lux asked Aiden to stay after as well.
Jay was last and the class was allowed to stop practicing and watch. Jay was not happy about that. He had hoped that his bout would be during the middle of the class and people would be too busy to watch him fight. Instead now everyone would watch him fight.
“Ready? FIGHT!” yelled T'lly.
Lux started easy on him with a whirling strike that Lux telegraphed by first swinging it over his head. It wasn't a fast strike and Jay easily blocked it. However, Jay lacked the ability to move quickly enough to translate that in to an opportunity for an offensive reply.
The match was mainly Lux launching strike after strike which Jay would then block or avoid. Jay didn't avoid all of the strikes though and began to accumulate injuries.
Lux sighed but looked Jay directly in the eyes. “Come on Jay, I thought you might surprise me.” he said too quiet for anyone but Jay to hear.
Jay was just happy to still be standing. He knew he couldn't fight and had no illusions over how the match would end. He hadn't counted on Lux taunting him however. What could Jay possibly do?
He had four abilities, he thought to himself. A staff whipped past his head before stopping and poking him in the shoulder hard almost causing him to drop the staff. Jay might get injured but there was no way he was going to drop that staff.
Clinging to the staff Jay went back to his train of thought. Four abilities. Lucky Mascot wouldn't save him. Treasure Sense wouldn't be much help. Fancy Footwork could be helpful but only if Lux used one of his class abilities – something Jay very much did not want to experience.
That left Tropical Island Aura, his fourth and most recent acquisition. It cleaned and dried. It gave off an ocean scent. Sometimes, it tingled. Well it always tingled but for some people it tingled a lot. Too much for comfort. Jay had no idea how Lux would react to it.
In a sudden moment of inspiration Jay realized he had something else though – a trick he did not use very often and something that Lux might find surprising.
As Lux went to say something else Jay stabbed his staff towards Lux's face. Lux went to block the staff just before it struck but Jay pulled it back just enough for the block to pass by, not connecting with Jay's staff at all. As soon as it did Jay held the staff steady but mentally commanded it to extend to its full size.
Seven feet.
Now the staff had started out at six feet. One might not think a foot difference is anything to worry about but Lux had been dodging Jay's strikes with only inches between them. A full foot could do serious damage.
And it did. The students were shocked and hooted when Jay's staff suddenly shot to seven feet in length and struck Lux directly in the mouth. It caught him entirely by surprise and did some gruesome damage to his teeth. Lux had been playing with Jay as Lux showed off his superior skills. Lux had forgotten that even a beginner can get lucky.
Lux's face was a bloody mess but the fight continued and Lux soundly trounced Jay but without doing too much damage. Lux didn't appear to be angry or upset – if anything he looked excited. Lux ended things by shattering one of Jay's ankles and taking him out of the fight completely.
As Warren called an end to the fight two fresh healers came up and worked on the two men. Jay's foot was straightened by a healer using one of her hands which caused Jay a significant amount of pain as the bone shards ground against the damaged muscles. Her second hand was used to apply the healing. No one wanted their ankle to heal crooked.
The second healer worked on rebuilding Lux's gums and teeth, in that order, and a few minutes later both combatants were as good as new.
Lux's face still had streaks of dried blood on it from his previous injuries and he grabbed a cloth out of his pocket and cleaned off his face as he spoke. “Great work everyone, that was fun.” he said with a smile.
T'lly was grinning at Jay before she realized what she was doing and shook it off. “Ok everyone! Take a break then back for another hour of practice and then you can go eat lunch.”
The students filed outside to stand in sunlight for a few minutes before they'd have to return. Everyone took drinks of water from a table set out with cups towards the back of the room on their way out.
M'redith and Aiden stood drinking from their cups as Jay arrived. “Hey guys, that was fun!” Jay said as he forgot all about his earlier nervousness.
M'redith glared at him, “Jay. Do you really think we were chosen by accident?”
Aiden nodded, “Lux barely even tried against me. It's like he wanted me to get picked.”
M'redith laughed, “Of course he did. He's smart. He knows Jay is more likely to join Lux's dungeon outing if his friends are already planning on going.”
Jay and Aiden thought about that for a moment.
“What about Jay? There's no way Lux knew what Jay was about to do.” Aiden said as he turned to Jay.
Jay laughed, “I didn't even know what I was going to do until the very last second, how could Lux possibly know?”
M'redith looked at the two of them, “Sure. And then he took Jay out. He took you out Aiden without even really hurting you. All I did was trip him. Are those really the signs of a useful dungeon runner? Either he picked us all because he's trying to keep us together as a group or he honestly thought we were amazing. What do you think was more likely Aiden?”
Aiden sighed, “I wish you had just left me thinking I did amazing. I liked that feeling.”
Jay laughed, “You're still better than me.”
M'redith smiled a small smile, “Not on defense. I think you're better than Aiden.”
Aiden laughed, “Ok, ok. I get what you're saying. So he wants us all together. For what?”
Jay shook his head, “Come on, even I know the answer to that one. I'm guessing Lux wants to see if his Church dungeons have anything hidden in them the way every other dungeon I run appears to. Right?”
M'redith smiled brightly as if a prized pupil had given the correct answer. “That's spot on. He wants you to see what you can do for the Church. He wants Aiden and I to keep you comfortable and focused. As for Norri I think he was just honestly impressed. She's a monster with the staff.”
Aiden and Jay laughed – they had both had to fight Norri at one time or another and neither had enjoyed the experience.
“Come on, time to head back in,” Aiden said and the three filed back in to class.
T'lly and Warren set up some additional fights for the students and paired them against at least one person with a weapon that differed from their own.
The fights were even more brutal than the ones against Lux. One might think that because he was level 14 that he would do more damage to the students. The opposite was true however as it was his training and experience that allowed him to exert control over his strikes, preventing too many serious injuries.
The students lacked that control and there were quite a few broken bones and missing fingers before the class ended. The healers were busy the entire time and even as class ended continued to work on healing a few students with especially gruesome injuries.
As class ended Lux gathered the four students he had picked out during the earlier fights and spoke with them as T'lly herded the rest of the students outside.
“Friday,” Lux said. “We'll meet here outside the training hall just as class starts. Wear your fighting outfit. If you have armor wear that. Bring whatever you think you'll need in the dungeon. We'll be gone until late Friday night so don't make plans for that evening. I'll go over any questions you have then. I'm excited to see what you all can do.” he finished with a smile dismissing them and not taking questions.
Lux stepped away from the group to speak with Warren in low tones and the group all turned to look at each other.
“Hi!” said Norri finally. “Isn't this exciting! I can't wait to go! Our first dungeon run!”
M'redith smiled in return. “I'm sure we'll have a great time. Glad you'll be with us Norri.”
Aiden nodded and smiled while Jay agreed as well.
“Want to sit at lunch together and talk about it!” Norri exclaimed, too excited to make it sound like the question it was.
“Sure.” Jay said with a grin. Norri's excitement was infectious and Jay didn't want to be the one to spoil it. M'redith squinted her eyes at Jay for a moment before deciding something and smiling. Aiden shrugged. As long as there was food Aiden was ok with it.
As they left Jay looked back to see Lux talking animatedly with Warren and using both of his hands to emphasize his words as he spoke.
“Oh great.” Jay said as he turned back to the group.
“What's wrong?” asked Norri.
Jay shook his head, his way of saying just wait and the group walked to the dining hall and got in line. Jay turned to look and sure enough across from their building stood Lux's staff in the same spot it had stood that morning. Motionless. Waiting. Watching. Standing. Who knows what it was really doing – other than following Jay around.
“There it is.” Jay said as he nodded towards the staff.
M'redith leaned against Jay and stood on her toes so she could reach his ear.
“CREEPY.” she whispered.
Jay laughed. “Ok, fine. The staff is a little creepy.”
They filled in Norri on the staff's behavior as they entered the dining hall for lunch.