“She’s to stay on our team,” Nate said, arms crossed as he sat next to Colt; they were in a dingy bar on the outskirts of New Nashville. The small town’s commerce was growing, but go figure that to start with, someone would set up a bar. And, given the state of this being an offspring of Nashville, someone was always playing live music at the little dive place called ‘Last Stop.’
In the corner was the guy right now: an older gentleman strumming a guitar, a young teen playing drums, and a woman belting out and using some Skill or Magic to make her voice radiate outward as if it were under the effects of a microphone.
Colt took a chug of his bear and rubbed his eyes.
“She’s mentally unstable.” He said.
“I said as much,” Nate confirmed.
“And?”
“And the Mayor says that if she’s not in our group, he’ll put her in another. She has talents that are useful for dungeon diving and has no intention of stopping. He was already aware of her ‘mental condition’ beforehand. Apparently, during her citizenship interview, she kept remarking about how realistic this place was…”
“So either we work with someone with a bunch of screws loose, or she joins another group and puts herself in danger there.” Colt summed up the situation. This town, it seemed, had an underbelly to it. Mental welfare was not a priority at the moment in comparison to survival.
There was a pause.
“What do you think?” Colt asked.
“She’s useful. We all saw that. Right now, she is at a higher level than Sarah and me, and she and Nick are the only ones with magic in our group. I don’t know how big of an advantage that gives us, but back in that dungeon, without her, we would’ve been dead. Maybe we can help her. I know we’ll be taking her into danger, but by all appearances, she’ll be headed that way anyway.” Nate put his cup to his lips. Whiskey and took a long drink.
Colt sighed.
“Alright, man. If you think we should, then I agree. I just hate the idea.”
“The world ended, Colt. We’re going to face a lot of things we hate without all the laws and support systems we’ve had. You already did that firsthand when you executed a murderer. Justice is what we can do with our own hands.”
They sat like that for a while. Drinking. Passing the night away and talking. Out of everyone in their little group, Colt felt more and more familiar with Nate. Though he’d pulled back in the Endless Alleys in order to survive and escape the manipulative influence of Bill on the group, he regretted not putting as much trust into this guy as he deserved.
Nate went on a bit for his proposed training regime—asking for additional time with Colt to practice the meditation skill. A request he gladly accepted.
As soon as Nate could get an Edict, the better.
Past that, they made plans to go on scouting expeditions; dungeon divers weren’t limited solely to diving in a dungeon. In fact, there were no restrictions on New Nashville citizens leaving the town if they desired. Scavenging, scouting, and looting were encouraged as the mayor and his administration began to plot out what the future would look like for their people.
Eventually, the time drifted. Eleven turned to twelve, twelve to two…
Even after the apocalypse, the bar came to a closing call.
The two stumbled out of the bar together, having spent the night deep in their cups, letting out a little tension for the first time in a long time.
They talked about who they were before the collapse. They talked about their family. About all the people they haven’t heard from for a long while—wondering what happened to the rest of the world. When two in the morning came, and the bar shuffled everyone out, they were most definitely not the only two who stayed the whole time drinking.
###
The next couple of days were a period of focused and intentional training. Working as a dungeon diver was more of a gig-based job. While the city constantly had scouts mapping out the surrounding locations and checking for dungeons, there was more than a fair share of places to go and explore; for now, though, Colt and his team put that work on hold.
If a true issue came up, the Mayor might issue a mandate to close a dungeon, as ‘dungeons’ leaked and let monsters out. But, given they just faced a D- ranked dungeon that hadn’t been accounted for, nobody wanted to come and ask them to head back out there for some time.
Stolen novel; please report.
Instead, they focused on training.
Mornings began with meditation. Colt spent his time now targeting his movement, Edict. Which… Unlike cut, it was not that easy of an Edict to explore in a meditative state. It did not respond well to him sitting still and trying to hone in and focus.
Rather, after a couple of days of trying and failing to make much progress, he began to work on his skill while running through some exercises Nate and Sarah provided—one from a military standard and the other from martial arts.
This worked far better. And saw an increase for Colt.
———
*Meditate* (Intermediate) has gained a level!
———
Edicts reacted better when ‘meditation’ was done in a way that was tangential to them. Meditate near a knife? Cut responded a bit better. Meditate while moving? It was easier to focus on Movement. Though, he found that in the case of movement it made way more of a difference than Cut.
In the process of this discovery, Nate finally had the breakthrough and got his Meditation Skill. Sarah, too, a day later, while in the midst of her Muy Thai training—a Kata, she called it.
Julia remained without, but Colt didn’t think she took anything he said seriously.
Meditation wasn’t the only form of practice they got in. They drilled with weapons, and complimented it with training and honing combat against one another.
Colt used this ground to advance three skills.
He focused on how he fought with his Knife—making sure not to pull any of his Edicts into the movements, swiftly countering, stabbing, and slipping past the defenses of his blows. Given he didn’t have a desire to cut up his allies, he opted to use a wooden ‘knife’ picked up in town.
When training with his knife form and solely drilling down on how to fight with it, the natural conclusion was to incorporate the other two skills he wanted to focus on: Phantom's Gambit and Olympic Mandate.
Basically, whenever he got the chance, he popped Olympic Mandate. With an hour-long cooldown, there was no other way to be so effective in training it. And the skill was strong, Like taking pre-workout before lifting weights… Or maybe it was more equivalent to using performance enhancers? His body moved swifter, hit harder, and could take more hits while active.
It also had the odd effect of making his skin glow slightly gold.
Four days of targeted training brought results.
———
*Knives/Daggers Proficiency* (Intermediate) has gained a level!
*Phantom’s Gambit* (Basic) has gained a level!
*Phantom’s Gambit* (Basic) has gained a level!
Olympic Mandate (Basic) has gained a level!
Olympic Mandate (Basic) has gained a level!
Olympic Mandate (Basic) has gained a level!
Olympic Mandate (Basic) has gained a level!
———
The end of their first week in New Nashville was quite extensive. Mayor Denny issued them a payment for conquering their dungeon, and all of their party had made skill gains, leaving them more confident in proceeding forward.
Nick broke his Edict into a Lesser status with training and used up the item he’d gained in the dungeon.
For some reason, it seemed a lot harder for him to move forward. Either he didn’t have the same resonance Colt did with cut, or it was a byproduct of more Soul and Class…
Hard to say.
The day before they began to head outside of New Nashville again for the first time since their dungeon, they finally reached a big breakthrough.
Colt sipped his coffee, looking out over the stadium seating and into the city inside. This early in the morning, very few people were up and about. But, of course, his favorite coffee seller had begun business. The guy woke up when the sun came up… Same as Colt and Nate, so the two had a ritual before their early training. Get coffee. Head to the stands. Get in meditation practice.
Behind him, Nate sat on the ground. His eyes closed, his breathing slow and quiet. In his hands was a piece of metal.
Colt leaned on the railing, watching the people in the town wake up. Men and women were going about their day, many of them lost, confused, and trying to find a light in the darkness.
Then, he felt a swirl in the air. A change behind him as the winds of reality twisted and worked; a string tugged, and he turned.
Nate was deep in focus. His mind somewhere else.
As the intensity of the moment deepened, more air began to condense around them. There was a tang to the air, a metallic taste, as the piece of metal in Nate’s hand began to twist and move. Sweat ran down the soldier’s brow, and his breath quickened.
An Edict. Something a little more than his Cut first was. The metal melted in Nate’s hand, and drops of it hit the ground with tiny clangs.
Colt took a deep swig of his coffee, his eyes wide as he witnessed the breakthrough his friend had been working on for a week. The air began to still, and his breathing slowed. Gradually, Nate opened his eyes. They were wide, and he was a bit unsteady. But the work was done. Diligent effort day after day had paid off.
“Congratulations.” Colt offered him with a nod. “Well?”
“Forge. That is my Edict. Forge.” Nate said, looking at the remaining bits of metal in his hand. They had solidified once more.
“Huh.” Colt scratched the back of his head, trying to reach out and focus—he could see that threads wove around his friend more tightly than before. But what the specifics of this Edict meant, or how they would play out in terms of application… He hadn’t the faintest clue.
Nate gave a small smile.
“Well, that’s wonderful. Just in time for our first trip outside the city since the dungeon… Think maybe it’s time we get Sarah and the rest and get started right? Congratulations again, man. When we get back, I’ll buy you a drink at the bar.”
His friend gave a small nod, grabbing his coffee and giving it a chug. An auspicious start to a new day. Today, Nate gained his first Edict, and they’d be able to test it out while monster hunting. Colt smiled wide. New Nashville… This new reality is to see a man work hard and achieve what he deserves—say what you will about the system. If you put in the effort, it pays out. “Let’s go then,” Nate answered, gathering his things.