Chapter Twenty-Three

The rest of the meal was a blur for Harmony. The party girl leaving took a lot of the energy out of the event and removed one of the barriers to Max and Tyler needling each other. The competition between them started to go towards who could drink the most.

"How much money will it cost to hire a new team, Little Lord?" The knight sneered drunkenly.

"I'm not in a rush to go to the capital. I like Hazeldown and the people who are here."

Harmony caught the long look Tyler gave her at that. She returned a polite smile, but it clashed inwardly with worries about whatever Rose and the royals were doing to track down her new pet. Hopefully, Adric was behaving for Ambrosia. She couldn't help checking in on the vague feelings she got through their new bond several times.

The pet bond was decidedly different from the [Familiar Bond]. Hyacinth shared everything with her. It was one of those rare skills you had to select when you first got your class to get familiar. A little gateway would open, and, plop, one would come through. At the first level, the small toad could fit in her hand. With Adric, she could exert influence towards him, yet the same wasn't true in reverse. She was the master, with the promise of, Ambrosia would say, care, but all Harmony could feel was responsibility and guilt.

"Looks like you're having deep thoughts?" Len inquired.

"I was thinking about how my [Familiar Bond] differs from other types," Harmony answered honestly.

She could tell the wizard was looking for a distraction rather than the sloppy drinking hostility between Max and Tyler, who looked like they were moments away from throwing food at each other. Not that Len was completely sober. She wished she felt comfortable enough to do more than sip hers.

"That's because they're from other dimensions. Their progression stalled, so they agreed to these bonds to potentially exceed their limits through partnership. Most familiars are shy about talking about their situation, but Elgin's octopus, Fromport, wrote a fascinating paper on the topic. Making the familiar more widely read than the wave magus."

Hyacinth might be able to only just speak now, but he was her partner. The fact that Harmony didn't know this made her feel stupid. This aspect of familiars wasn't in any of the books she'd managed to read. "Dimensions. Fascinating."

"Farthington claims to be from a dimension of dragons, not birds. But that is all I managed to get from him before he pecked at me. Outside of Fromport's notes, Hazeldown University lacks information on the topic. The schools in the capitol supposedly have more. Then there are the libraries of the evolved kingdoms." That last line, he said wistfully.

The evolved kingdoms always seemed more fantasy than reality to Harmony. They almost always played a large part in storybooks. The tourists were often their youths, but they were all business about leveling in the dungeon even then. The kingdom seemed to exist as a neutral and safe area for them to travel and train.

"I'm sure you'll make it to an evolved kingdom library someday." She assured the wizard.

He shook his head. "I'm not sure I have the temperament to meet the level requirements for admission. I joined Tyler and Max for these dives to level out of Hazeldown. The dungeon haul means I have maybe half a year of dues, so I can afford to maintain guild membership if I ignore university costs. I know I'm close to hitting fourteen, but as you'll find out after you get your stats, it simply takes more time to advance your class."

"Or more risk." Thibodeux and Carter agreed on that. The more crazy or risky an act, the more class advancement one achieves. Professions you could grind out. That was where practice made perfect.

"I nearly died. And that wasn't risky enough for me to level on this last run. Maybe I'm cursed to be level locked. I'm ready to sit for exams but need that last level to do it."

Most people like Jessica hit that problem when they needed to evolve to advance. Harmony had never heard of someone hitting a wall before that point. Len's despair reminded her of her own issues. "Doing nothing isn't going to help. If you feel like you're close, then trust that. Or better yet, trust your familiar. Their otherly dimensional knowledge is sure to help."

She watched Len slip deep into thought at that. As ignorant as she'd felt learning that Hyacinth may be a wise old being from somewhere else, it actually made sense. Hyacinth was always there to save or kick her butt when needed. It wasn't that long ago that her shadow toad helped save her.

A chicken leg flew across the table. Max deflected it easily. "How dare you!"

An actual food fight was a surprise for the maid.

"No. How dare you!" Tyler yelled back.

"I think it would be best to depart, Lord Tyler."

"Too late for that. The Little Lord might not need a boon from the guild by escorting you to see the guild master. He'd rather keep you sheltered and shielded from others than let you out of your gilded cage, Harmony. I had foresight."

Tyler had come home worn out after the man's interrogation. The knight's grin was pompous. It didn't feel like he was giving her any big favor. She wished for one problem she could ignore without it stomping into her life.

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"You didn't?" Tyler huffed.

Max let his widening grin speak for him.

"There were more appropriate ways to do this." Len admonished the knight.

Panic lit the lord's eyes. "Let's go, Harmony." He pushed up from the table, half yanking the necromancer from her seat.

As they turned away from the table, the door to the private room opened.

The air wasn't sucked out of the room, but everyone felt like it was. As though their breaths were being held for them. The short man in simple white breaches and a soft white shirt entered the room. His brown hair was splashed with gray, and he had a face that looked youthful but framed eyes that held an old gaze.

“Guild master Hemlock.” Tyler hissed.

Hemlock smiled. "No need to stand."

Harmony and Tyler found themselves forced back down into their seats. They didn't need to stand for this man, did they? He was here only for casual social business.

"And Max, thank you for the invitation. Speaking with all the party members when rare events happen is important." Hemlock continued.

Harmony realized that was important and reasonable. It's not like she had other more pressing problems to deal with. She could feel Hyacith grumpily waking up in a pissy mood. Her pet, it was harder to sense that one, but there were some signs that he needed to be calmed down. Surely the guild master would understand that she had responsibilities she needed to take care of, and she could see him later. The churn in her soul started to burn like indigestion as the connections with her bonded partners pushed into the swirl.

"I'd happily talk to you about the dungeon run later. I do have some errands I need to take care of." Harmony told the man.

The guild master's smile faltered.

The maid worried she might have said something wrong. [Poise and Bearing] with a little of [Style and Grace] might make this flow smoother.

"I'd prefer if we could get this done now."

That did seem reasonable, but her chest burned. She activated her skills, focusing on synergizing them to help give the most appropriate answer. The energy of the synergized skills flowed into her. It burst through the opposing skill draped over her, breaking the dam that kept her contained. Her class, her profession, her bonded partners, and the skills inside of her all raged. It was a primarily impotent rage in that she recognized that this man had the skills to crush her like a newly budding flower under his heel.

Her [Small Armor] skill felt unsure it could protect her in time. She called her armor out of its space and into place and was pleasantly surprised when her skin didn't feel that shock of being exposed. The armor snapped into place over her new dress. Stylized metal over the inky black starscape.

"I think not." She answered, keeping an edge of anger in her voice.

A slightly shocked response on the guild master's face morphed into a grin. "I can see why the dungeon took such a focus on you. To break my skill and not even have passed your first evolution. If that was all it took to get the old spirit's attention, I would have tested every new guild member to grace my steps these last fifty years. I would still appreciate a brief conversation. The others will stay politely quiet while we talk."

Tyler, Len, and Max nod in unison, still in the throws of the guild master's skill.

She wanted to say no but knew that would cause more problems later. Internally As far as she could tell, she was free of the skill. She should be able to be fully herself while conversing.

"I'm happy to speak briefly with you."

"I apologize for using my skill, [polite conversation] has its uses in my kind of work. It's more of a lubricant toward satisfactory resolutions. Your friends were beside themselves at your death, and the revelation of your survival made them feel protective. Told me it would be best for you to wait before seeing me. You're not a guild member, but I've solved that. I've registered you as a lifetime member of the guild. Simply go to any branch office and request your token."

A social lubricant was not how Harmony experienced the effects, nor was that how she imagined her very recent team reacted to her assumed death. The madam might have been livid for getting the maid who performed miracles on her skin and hair killed, but it wasn't like others couldn't replace her. As for the guild token, a gift with heavy chains like all the others.

"Thank you. That is certainly a generous gift." And it was. Guild fees were exorbitant, only increasing as one went to more advanced areas. Regular guild memberships had stiff stipulations in their contracts. She imagined a lifetime one would be worse. "I wish to consolidate my gains from the dungeon run before attempting again. I'm still finding my legs."

"I think you're doing remarkably well."

"How kind of you to say that. What would you like to know?" Harmony knew the quickest way out of this conversation was through.

"What was meeting the dungeon spirit like?"

"Intense. Old Bones appeared as a fluffy dog to not scare me. But the power there was incredible."

"Will they be expecting you again?"

Harmony scrunched up her face. The darn thing seemed excited to see what she could do in the future, not that she was eager to return. In some ways, the dungeon was the least important problem she had right now.

"It would like to see me again, but after I've improved. I got the feeling it wants to see me better prepared next time I challenge it."

The guild master nodded, and she saw some eager excitement in his eyes. It was the kind of look she'd seen on people who are focused on themselves so much that they don't see the other people in the room as things to care about or be concerned about.

"I'll be happy to assist you when the time comes for your next dungeon dive. As a guild member, you'll find our training resources are some of the best, even in a beginning town like Hazeldown."

Oh, how Harmony so wanted to tell him to shove it. "The next time I need to go in, I'll be sure to call on you." Not that she ever wanted to go back there again. Future levels were low on the necromancer's priority list.

"I'll keep you to that." The man said, and Harmony could feel his skill wash over her again. It was like standing against a wave at the beach. She managed to stay on her feet and felt even more drained. "Next time." He finished, turning and leaving the room.

That wasn't the inquisition she had expected. Had that weak promise been enough to satisfy him? Hemlock was not the kind of man to forget she existed when there was something he wanted. No guild and no dungeon. It would be an easy commitment to keep until her main problem was dealt with.

"Well, that wasn't so bad. He was much nicer than the last time I saw him." Tyler piped up, slurring a little.

The rest of the room also appeared to be recovering from the effects of the man's skill. Harmony looked away before rolling her eyes at the lord's comment.

"Let's get you home." She told him.