Chapter 73
Jay had the carriage make a stop on the way back to pick up bags of roasted cashew nuts for everyone along with a bottle of juice for each of them. The bottles contained a special drink made from lemons and another fruit native only to Eden. They ate and drank as the cart moved along the road, the food helping their heads feel a little better.
It was late when Jay and his friends finally pulled in to the Guild at the front entrance. There were a few Guild guards milling about talking with each other as they took a break from their rounds. An empty carriage was parked on one side of the courtyard where a driver was 'resting his eyes.'
It was not a loud group that exited the cart – Jay and the rest were a bit quiet, their heads still sore from using the skillbooks. Jay paid the driver and the cart rolled back out of the courtyard moments later leaving the group alone in the middle of the wide open space.
“It's late. We have a big day tomorrow. Everyone go and get some sleep. We'll meet back up at breakfast?” Jay said while holding M'redith's hand. Everyone agreed and they as a group walked to the women's residential area and dropped off Norri and M'redith.
M'redith and Jay exchanged a quick hug before she nodded at Aiden and went inside, closing her room door behind her.
“Excited for tomorrow?” Aiden asked as the two left and walked towards the men's residential area.
“Yes. Lux seems to really have an interest in us. Almost too much of an interest. The staff thing is a bit much.” Jay said as they arrived in front of his room.
Aiden laughed, “Can't wait to hear what the deal is with the staff.”
“That's if he'll even deign to tell us about it. Here's hoping. M'redith hates that thing.” Jay said with a chuckle.
Aiden gave Jay a manly half hug half handshake and waved as he headed off to find his room and go to bed.
Jay walked straight to his bedroom as the door closed behind him. He got out of his armor – which isn't as easy as it looked, and got in to bed.
Jay fell asleep quickly. He dreamed of Lux's staff, chasing him through corridors, each looking the same as the last. He ran on until finally he found a group up ahead. It was Aiden. M'redith and Norri were there too. Finally together the four stood together and turned on the staff, which fled. Jay wouldn't remember what happened after that when he woke up in the morning. Whatever it was it helped him finally settle in to a deep sleep.
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Eden, Day 32, Friday
Jay awoke to the pitter patter of raindrops on glass and looked out his window to see that it was raining. Barely. It was more of a light morning shower than actual rain. Still, it was better than the deluge they sometimes got.
Jay got out of bed and got dressed in his usual clothing before he realized that wouldn't work. He took off his clothes again and got dressed a second time, this time with a light under layer, then his leather armor, then his shirt, belt, and load bearing vest festooned with pockets.
The collar for his leather armor stuck up out of his shirt and the Glimmerhide patch was plainly visible if one looked carefully. Jay grinned. He thought he looked pretty good. He grabbed his bag and made sure it held his belongings. He shrank his staff and attached it to the bag as well. Looking about the room he double checked to make sure he hadn't forgotten anything.
Finally satisfied he left his room and made sure the door was locked behind him. There were still things in his room that he would hate to lose – his pictures of M'redith for example, or his budding collection of dungeon completion patches, just to name a few.
Jay walked through the rain happily with his aura turned off and enjoyed the sensation of rain drops on his face. A flash of lightning lit up the morning sky followed moments later by a deep rolling crack of thunder. Jay turned his aura on and walked a little faster as the rain intensified.
Jay had arrived just in time to wait in line. Had he woken earlier he could have bypassed the line entirely. Any later and he would have missed the rush. Sadly he had woken up with perfect timing to wait in line. He didn't care, he was going to get to run a dungeon with his new group and nothing was going to ruin his good mood.
Breakfast was a classic bacon and cheese omelet served with sausage links and steaming hot buttered croissants. Jay took two extra croissants and the chef made a face but didn't stop him.
Jay looked around but found himself alone in a crowd. None of his friends had yet arrived. Jay picked an empty table and sat down to eat. As he ate his omelet Aiden arrived and sat down next to him but without an omelet.
“What, no breakfast?” Jay asked as he looked at Aiden's plate of just buttered toast.
Aiden shook his head but wouldn't meet Jay's eyes. “I'm a little nervous this morning. I don't think I could keep down an omelet.”
Jay smiled but was careful not to laugh. “It's ok. It's normal to be a little nervous. This is my third run. My fourth? How can I be losing track of them already?”
Aiden laughed at that. “Thanks for making me laugh.”
“Feel a little better?” Jay asked.
“No!” Aiden said with a grin.
Norri arrived as they were talking and sat down at the table, her plate holding a giant omelet and four pieces of toast. “Hi!” she said brightly with a smile as she took a bite and began chewing her toast.
“You get enough to eat?” Aiden asked teasingly.
“I'm hungry!” Norri said defensively with a grin. She was well aware she had taken a lot of food, but she was hungry!
“We're all hungry but you're the only one with enough to eat for two!” Aiden remarked dryly.
Jay shrugged, “Eat all you want. Don't want to get hungry in a dungeon. It's not like you can just stop and pick up some food while you're in there.”
M'redith arrived as Norri was explaining how she needed more food because as a Mage she needed the energy for her spells. M'redith made a confused face as she sat down. “I don't think that is how spells work. In fact I'm certain spells don't work like that.”
Norri sighed, “You'll all be sorry later when you're hungry and I'm not!”
Jay laughed, “I don't think our run will be so long that we suffer from hunger. Really guys, this will be fun. You won't even feel it if you do get hungry. You'll be too busy.” he finished with a grin.
Aiden didn't finish his toast but pushed the plate away from him. “I'm too nervous to be hungry.”
M'redith looked concerned, “Really? I don't think I've ever seen you not hungry before.”
Norri and Jay chuckled and even Aiden cracked a smile. The group all finished eating, not really talking about anything serious, until they had finished. Jay took everyone's trays and brought them up to the counter.
“We'll be ok, right?” asked Norri nervously.
M'redith laughed, “Jay can't even fight and he's already run a few dungeons. We CAN fight. We'll be fine.”
Aiden perked up at that. “Ya. We can, can't we!”
“Can what?” Jay asked as he returned to the table.
Norri spoke up before Aiden could, “Can fight. We were just talking about how we're going to be fine.” she said while shooting glares at Aiden to prevent him from mentioning Jay's fighting abilities.
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Aiden took the hint and smiled. “Ya. What she said.”
“You're both terrible liars.” Jay said with a grin. “Well, it's time. Let's go find Lux.”
The group got up and left the dining hall. Outside the rain had stopped and the sun was already baking away the moisture from the ground. It was humid and slightly uncomfortable. Jay turned on his Tropical Island Aura and M'redith made a tiny noise next to him as she felt it activate.
The two of them were happy and dry when they arrived at class but Aiden and Norri had to just bear with the humidity as Jay's aura only covered himself and one other person. Jay saw that Lux was there already waiting for them. He was wearing a set of brown robes and his staff stood upright next to him even though he was not holding it.
Lux looked just as he had last time they had seen him. Brown close cropped hair, brown eyes, and a thin build. Although he appeared young Jay got the impression he was older than he appeared.
“Jay. M'redith. Glad to see everyone made it. Give me just a moment.” he said as he went inside for a few seconds and then returned. “Wouldn't want you guys marked absent from class, right? I just told Warren that you showed up and will be with me for the day. Him and T'lly already know all about it.”
M'redith had been visibly stewing the entire time as if she was barely keeping in whatever it was she wanted to say. Lux led them away from the training hall and out to the main entrance.
“We're going to take a carriage to one of the Church Temples charged with maintaining a dungeon. We'll go over things when we get there. How are you all doing anyway?” he asked as he pointed out one carriage in particular and they all climbed inside. Jay got in second to last and sat next to M'redith as he always did.
Once they were all inside the driver shut the outer doors and the carriage shortly after pulled in to traffic.
M'redith finally snapped, “Seriously? How are we? How about explaining why your creepy staff has been following us all over the place lately.”
Lux raised an eyebrow and Jay was suddenly reminded that M'redith was level 1 and Lux was level 14. Quite the difference in power. M'redith didn't seem to care though.
“Why have you been spying on us?” M'redith asked a little more politely but just barely.
Lux sighed. “Not spying. Merely collecting information. Making sure you don't run in to any more near death encounters as well.”
Aiden laughed, “Isn't spying just collecting information with more steps involved?”
Lux shrugged, “We don't let just anyone run these dungeons, so it's good to get a handle on what people are like before we do. And by we I mean the Church of Gaia. As far as tests go you all passed so you can relax.”
The carriage hit a bump its suspension could not compensate for and everyone was jostled in to each other for a moment. Jay and M'redith shared a grin before everyone calmed back down in to their seats.
M'redith did not appear mollified, “I don't like being followed around by a creepy staff.”
“My staff's not creepy!” Lux insisted, “You keep saying that.”
Norri shook her head, “It actually is a little bit creepy – sending your staff to follow us around.”
Lux shrugged but gave up, this was not a fight he was going to win. “I won't be sending my staff to follow any of you around anymore. I'm sorry you found it so upsetting.”
M'redith had a number of favorite people in her life but it was clear that Lux was not going to be one of them. “So upsetting??”
Jay held her hand and gave it a squeeze until she looked at him. She glared at Jay but didn't say anything more. “So after all of that what did you find out about us?”
Lux laughed, “It's no secret. You're a fresh but close-knit group of friends. You don't mix with the other students often but they all seem to know who you are anyway. No one has a bad word to say about any of you. You spend all your time studying and eating and only occasionally go out. Shall I continue?”
Aiden looked over at Jay, “He makes us sound so.. boring.”
Norri chuckled, “Hey I just joined this group, it's not my fault if you guys are boring.”
M'redith sighed and allowed herself a tiny lopsided smile.
The carriage came to a stop and everyone went quiet. They could hear the driver walk around the carriage and moments later the doors were open and bright sunlight streamed in. They all covered their eyes with their hands as they climbed out of the cabin and let the driver go. He hopped back up and drove the carriage to the side of the building and parked there.
Jay looked up at the giant edifice in front of him. It was a three story building that looked more like a prison than a temple. There was only one entrance that Jay could see with two Church Guards standing blocking the door. The walls of the building were a smooth solid stone as if the stone were made up of interlocking plates.
“Right this way,” Lux said as he walked inside past the two guards. They nodded at each other and Jay and his group followed him inside.
Jay looked about what appeared to be a spacious waiting area. There was a desk at the front with numerous tables and chairs behind them. The floor was stone as were the walls and ceiling. It was all stone.
Lux noticed Jay's inspection, “Spelled stone. Made with the help of Mages. It's very strong, built to protect the city from any monsters that might leave the dungeon due to overcrowding.”
M'redith nodded as if that made sense.
“So,” Lux said, “who wants to go first?”
“What do you mean?” M'redith said as she peered at Lux suspiciously.
“Oh, well,” Lux stammered a little under M'redith's level gaze, “We have some people we can put together to form a group to run you guys through the training dungeon. One at a time.”
Norri shot Aiden a look but he shook his head to wait.
“No. We're not splitting the group. We have room for one extra person. That should be plenty to take care of us as long as we're careful.” M'redith replied unflinchingly.
Lux nodded, “Unfortunately it's policy – need to make sure you guys are safe!” he said with a smile.
M'redith wasn't buying it and didn't change her attitude, “I don't care what your policy is. We have our own policy. We don't break up our group.”
Another person joined them from a side door that Jay hadn't noticed before, “Hello everyone, is something the matter?” said an older looking gentleman. He was on the heavy side and completely bald. He had bushy white eyebrows but no other facial hair. He wore a monk's robes and used a cane to help support himself when he walked.
He held out a hand and Jay shook it, “I'm the head monk here, Orin.”
Lux looked up and bowed his head politely to the monk. Jay had no clue about the inner workings of the Church but it appeared that Lux was not as highly placed in the church as this simple monk was if the respect he afforded him was anything to go by.
Jay spoke up, “Hi! I'm Jay! Lux was just telling us how he wanted us to split up our group for our dungeon run.”
Lux winced as the monk turned to him, “Why would you break up their group?”
Lux tried to explain, “This is Jay, the one I was telling you about the other day?” He made various facial expressions as if hinting for the monk to go along with him.
The monk didn't seem to make the connection, “So what?”
“They are trainees – their groups don't count until they graduate.” Lux insisted after he thought a moment furiously for a good reason.
The monk looked thoughtful, “Is that true, are you all trainees?”
Jay took out his bag and removed his glimmerhide badge wallet. He took out his Guild Group card and showed it to the monk, “The Guild says we're a group no matter what else we might be.”
The monk took the card and looked it over before he handed it back to Jay. “Sorry for the confusion Jay. I'm sure Lux was just confused.”
Lux shook his head and went to reply but the monk interrupted him, “RIGHT Lux?”
Lux sighed, “Right.” he finally said. Lux appeared quite disappointed that whatever he had originally planned for Jay's group wasn't going to happen. Instead of handling them one at a time he'd have to allow them in as a group, something he apparently had not wanted to do.
“Well, now that's settled!” Orin said as he turned to face Lux, “Do you have a sixth picked out for them yet?”
Lux looked a little guilty, “I was thinking I could bring them in?”
The monk laughed, “I have someone better in mind. I didn't stumble on you by accident you know, I was looking for you! You can come in now!”
The side door opened again and a woman entered wearing all white, every last bit of skin covered. Soft white robes with a veiled hood was all the group could make out.
“Is that..” Jay started with a smile, “Angelica?”
“Jay!” the woman replied happily as she brandished her Rod of Wounds, “Ready to help me take this thing for a spin?” she asked as she displayed her prized possession, the Rod of Wounds Jay had helped her win during their dungeon run in Peril House.
Lux sighed. His plans to isolate Jay and make a little money off of him was not going to plan. At all.