Chapter 8
Jay walked along with Dag shortly after catching up to him. Dag turned to watch him walk, frowning.
“Wait.” Dag said, stopping to look through the bag he was carrying before tossing Jay a pair of thin, finger-less gloves. “Here, wear these. Cover up those marks on the backs of your hands.”
“Crap,” Jay said. “I'd forgotten about those. Only had them for a day so I'm still not used to having them.” Jay pulled the gloves on. They fit well and were moderately comfortable.
Dag grunted. “I hope you aren't always this forgetful.”
Jay sighed. “I've had a rough time and no time to deal with it. I still have notifications I haven't even looked at yet.”
Dag fastened up his bag and strode away from him, again forcing Jay to run to catch up. Dag walked fast and didn't appear to be the nurturing type.
They walked through the forest outside of the town of Chos'n, Dag weaving through the underbrush while Jay thundered through the plant life with all the delicacy of a monster truck, Jay's backpack constantly catching on various plants and branches.
“I feel,” Jay began as he again forced his way through some brush, “like I am doing this wrong?”
Dag grunted. “Agreed,” he said but didn't stop walking. Jay frowned but continued following him as best he could. At least he was wearing boots instead of his original sandals. Following Dag would have been even more difficult otherwise.
As the sun looked to be setting they came upon what looked like a depression in the brush covered land around them. To Jay it just looked like snarled shrubbery everywhere.
“Here.” Dag said, stopping next to a pile of sticks and logs. Motioning Jay to help him they dragged the various logs and brush away from what ended up being a deep hole. Jay tried to see what was down there but it was too deep. Dag spent that time securing a roll of rope to a nearby tree and tossed the other end in to the hole.
Jay, like many people from Earth, hadn't climbed a rope since gym class in high school. It wasn't too hard back then, but back then he hadn't been wearing boots and a big backpack. Dag didn't explain and he certainly didn't wait, grabbing the rope and rapidly descending in to the hole.
Jay watched the only other human around for miles disappear down the hole and looked up. “But..it'll be dark soon. Aren't we supposed to camp or something?” he asked out loud to no one at all. Finally he decided that given his choices he was better off with Dag, grabbed the rope, and began climbing down in to the hole.
It took several minutes to arrive in a large room and he was obviously slower than Dag had been. They had arrived through a hole in the ceiling in the room, which had two exits, one of which had collapsed in rubble. The other exit was a closed doorway.
Dag had arrived first and already taken out a torch and had lit a few that were on the walls, giving the room a flickering dim light that danced across the floor and walls. He had also set up two logs to serve as seats. Dag was already seated on one and was waiting for Jay when he finally arrived.
Dag motioned to Jay to have a seat which he immediately did, grateful to finally be sitting down. Jay breathed heavily, winded from the long climb.
Dag began speaking without preamble, “There are many kinds of dungeons. Some are worth exploring for the loot, others for the experience, some are stone cold death traps, and some even have no loot or monsters at all.”
This was news to Jay. Dungeons in games were usually fairly straightforward. You'd enter with a few others, kill things, take their stuff, then kill the bosses and take their stuff. Some had puzzles thrown in but they all followed that basic setup. Fight, kill, loot. Jay would have to be very careful of that. Those stone cold death traps sounded bad.
“What kind of dungeon is this?” Jay asked.
“The worst.” Dag replied.
“What?” Jay asked alarmed, “you brought us to a death trap dungeon??” He almost stood up before Dag waved at him to settle down, grimacing.
Dag grunted, “No. I brought you to a Traveler dungeon. They're the worst not because they are more dangerous or are death traps. They're the worst because they are filled with puzzles but nothing else. No loot, usually not even a monster. They appear to serve zero purpose for the common man. Legend has it that they were designed for Travelers to use, and they don't appear to work for anyone else.”
“Ok..” Jay responded, calming down a bit.
“You are a Traveler. You are not from here. This dungeon is an ancient Traveler dungeon that no one in their right mind would ever bother to visit. Its why the entrance was all covered up with brush. Its a useless area. But maybe not useless to you.” Dag said while dumping some dirt and a pebble out of one of his boots.
“How does me being a Traveler matter if there aren't any monsters or loot? What do I do here?” Jay asked, puzzled.
“Like I was saying, ancient. I don't know the answer to your question. I'm not a Traveler. There haven't been a lot of them over the ages. They show up for a brief time, grow in power, then disappear. There is very little written left to read about them. Most of what was known was lost over the intervening years and ages. What little is known is usually split up across many different groups as no one really talks about Travelers. It isn't something that is usually discussed.” Dag said, taking a moment to make sure Jay was still paying attention.
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Jay noticed. “I'm forgetful, not oblivious. I'm paying attention!” he said only half joking.
Dag made a hmmm sound and nodded, taking a moment before continuing.
“I didn't take you here to figure that out though. This is a training opportunity for you. You've got a lot going on and you're going to have to work on everything over time. You're a prophet, a Traveler, and also apparently an Adventurer, and that is where the problem lies. No one really has that class anymore.” Dag said while shaking his head.
“Why not?” Jay asked.
“Because. You are either born with the class or you learn it from someone who has it. Which becomes a problem when you realize two important things. First, very few people have ever achieved two classes. Second, Adventurers have no combat abilities. They can learn skills but won't learn any combat abilities.” Dag said, pausing to scratch a spot on his neck. “An Adventurer can learn to fight a bit, but not even close to the way a Fighter, Mage, or Scout could dish out damage.”
Jay sat back slightly as he thought through all of that. “So as an Adventurer you still go in to dungeons, but if you have to fight,”
Dag interrupted him, “If an Adventurer has to fight he's in a lot of trouble without a group around to help him. Adventurers are for adventure, finding, solving, looting, everything really but fighting. Do you see what I am trying to get at?”
Jay nodded. He was a prophet, a Traveler, and an Adventurer. Prophet meant he would be instantly recognizable to anyone who kept up with their faith in Gaia. He could hide his marks and title which made that manageable for now. He was a Traveler, and they were neither numerous or long lived from what he'd heard so far. Finally, Adventurer. His class was set to Adventurer which apparently was not helpful in a stand up fight.
“So no fighting until I tell you to. Ok?” Dag asked.
Jay nodded but didn't seem entirely convinced. “I thought you said there weren't any monsters?”
Dag growled, “That is NOT what I said. I said USUALLY not even a monster. You keep making assumptions while not paying attention and if you're lucky you'll get yourself killed.”
“You mean if I'm unlucky.” Jay said.
“No. If you're unlucky you'll end up getting someone else killed. Trust me, that is way worse. The dead don't have regrets, only the living.” Dag replied quietly.
Things were silent for a bit after that. Jay spent the time thinking instead of talking which Dag appeared to appreciate. After a time Dag stirred.
“You'd be useless to a normal group. Five spots in a dungeon group. You have a tank, who tries to take all the hits during a fight, your damage dealers, who are responsible for killing enemies, and a healer, who keeps everyone alive. Normally a group is one tank, one healer, three damage dealers.” Dag stated simply.
“For a group to fit you in they really have only one option. They can't fight without a tank, can't fight without a healer, which leaves replacing a damage dealer with you. You currently do no damage and even trained wouldn't do enough damage to be worth it. A few teams have been known to have non-standard setups, but most groups are going to skip right over you in favor of a damage dealer.”
Jay frowned considering what Dag had just said. Adventurer class had sounded great right up until Dag began explaining how it worked. “What if I don't want to be an Adventurer?”
Dag grunted. Jay was beginning to suspect grunting was a way of showing emotion for the man. All of the emotions, each expressed with the same exact sounding grunt. “There are a few ways of gaining a class. You can be born with it, rare but it happens. Certain classes can be passed on, rare but expensive. You can get a class gem and use it, but that is mostly for very well off rich folk. Most go their whole lives never even seeing a class gem. Finally, you can use an upgrade stone, which has its own limits.”
“Ok, great. So I just need to use an upgrade stone and I can pick a new class?” Jay asked.
Dag sighed and shook his head. “No, Jay. Upgrade stones can be used to pick one of four classes, and they are always the same options. Fighter, Mage, Healer, Scout. You use the stone, select Class, then choose which you want to learn. A couple problems with that. Upgrade stones are used for almost everything. Enhancing magical items, crafting, spell scroll creation, item repair, unlocking abilities, probably a lot more I'm not even aware of. The need for those stones far outweigh their supply. Everyone needs those stones, and anyone needing them usually needs much more than one.”
Dag continued after a moment, “Lastly. The largest problem. You already have a class, and you can't use an upgrade stone to pick a class when you already have one.”
Jay took a few minutes to absorb all of that, finally realizing that he was stuck with the Adventurer class.
“Want to guess where they come from? Upgrade stones I mean,” Dag said, getting up and rummaging about in his bag.
“Dungeons.” Jay said.
“Right. Dungeons.” Dag agreed as he took two bedrolls out, handing one to Jay.
Jay took the bedroll and set it up the same way Dag set his up.
Dag continued, “One dungeon run might produce a single gem. If you are lucky you can sometimes find up to five of them. Usually it is somewhere in between those two extremes. The five party members each need those stones, more than one each. How many do you think they pass on to sell?”
“I'm guessing not many.” Jay responded quietly, sitting on his bedroll.
“No. Not many. If you want an upgrade stone your best chance to get one is to be rich. Otherwise you have a better chance going in and finding one yourself. In a group of course. As an Adventurer you are going to need those stones, and you'll need a group willing to take you.” Dag stopped talking as he tucked himself in to a bedroll, setting out an hourglass before he did so. “Wake me if you hear anything. It should be quiet as a mouse down here. If you don't hear anything and don't see anything then don't wake me until the hourglass empties.”
Jay was about to go through his notifications when he heard Dag grunt, “And pay attention. Don't go naval gazing at your notifications. You're on watch.”
Jay had never been on watch before.
“What if I minimize my interface so its just on the bottom half of my view?” Jay asked,turning to look at Dag.
Dag snored softly, already asleep.
“I'm going to take that as a no.” Jay sat back down on a log to wait, a stillness pervading the air. It was quiet.
Over the following hours Jay stood watch without any problem other than boredom. Being alert for hours on end was tiring. Finally the hourglass emptied and it was his turn. He woke up Dag who hopped up on to his feet like he had slept a whole night. Jay quickly snuggled in to the set up bedroll and was asleep before he knew it.