Night. After a thorough cleaning session, the four were in front of Altia's house. Or her father's house, as it were. The lights were on in the building but almost off in Nero's head. They were dressed in their best clothes recently bought in Honeywitch. Byron knocked at the door.
"Who is it? Goddamned villagers, always pestering me for trinkets..." The door was thrown open. "Why if it isn't Byron? What happened, did you get a title of nobility? Why are all... of you... dressed like..."
His eyes swim, taking in the fact that all of them were well-dressed. He paused for a long while on Altia, his expression softening before his eyes darted to Nero with a frown. Altia's father was a well-toned hairless ape-kin with a well-trimmed beard and a friendly face. He was strong but not overly muscular like Byron. And he had an Arbitrium. It would be suicidal to travel around the countryside peddling his wares if he wasn't. Nero knew his Level cap was one hundred and twenty-two but he stopped in the nineties.
"Huron! How are you!" Byron clapped the ape-kin merchant's back. "Can we get inside? My boy here wants to have a talk with you."
"A talk with me. Young Nero wants to talk to me, my daughter wasn't home when I arrived, playing with death in the Dungeon but now she's wearing more Essence than what I make on a village visit. Hum...
"Come inside. There are people staring at us."
Not that would do any good to stop the rumors. Nero saw in the corner of his eye some village waif moving her hand in a circular pattern like a bump on her belly and then the gossips with her fell into laughter. Then he was inside. Altia was stiff, her face flushed. It was kind of cute and his inner sadist was sure that if he poked her waist, she would jump and squeal nicely. And probably hate him a lot.
"So, why are we gathered here for today?" Huron asked, his gaze dead set on Nero.
Nero took a deep breath before speaking, "Master Huron, your daughter and I are in love. I wish to ask you for her hand in marriage."
Huron's eyelids slowly closed as he narrowed his eyes on Nero. He frowned slightly before answering. "My daughter's level cap is high. I know your father's is even higher, but..."
"Father!" Altia cried. "Don't--"
He raised a hand and she shut her mouth. Huron studied his daughter's eyes and knew instantly something was amiss. The boy could be a pile of nerves, he understood this. But unless he did something awful to his daughter to justify the rude gestures of the gossips outside that he pretended to miss, it could only mean trouble.
"Not now, Altia. I'm doing what I know is best for you and while you stay under my roof you'll obey my command. Now answer me, boy. What is your level cap."
Nero's heart sunk but after a Knight Colonel threatening him, his future father-in-law wasn't so scary. Until he put both together and thought what would happen if Valaarseface was here proposing to Huron instead of him.
"It's a z-zero, sir," Nero tried to deadpan but he knew he failed. His voice broke.
Huron blinked, then chortled. "You are such a tease, young Nero. To tell a joke like that. Now, I already know the Knights were in your house with a master Gadgeteer and you weren't conscripted so it is less than two hundred, but how close was it? A hundred-ninety-nine, perhaps? That would be golden!" He rubbed his hands together.
The way he spoke and how much it matched the expectations Nero had about himself disgusted the boy. He felt less than a cripple now that he was seeing some progress where only bleak hope existed but his condition was accepted by his parents and his soulmate. In his heart and mind, Altia was no less than that.
"No, sir. Not twelve, a hundred-ninety-nine or forty-two. My level cap is zero. As in one less than one."
Huron exchanged a gaze with the other three people in the room and they all nodded. He pinched the bridge of his nose. "Altia, go to your room. Now."
The girl was about to open her mouth but decided to not fight back. It was Nero's time to deal with her father. She met Huron's eyes, nodded in agreement, then took Nero's chin and planted a resounding kiss on his lips. "I'll be with you. Forever. Do not lose heart for it is mine."
Nero just nodded. She ran upstairs. Huron was fuming with anger. "What manner of a joke is this? Byron! Are you sure this lad is even--"
"You should be mindful of your words, Huron," Rhynne spoke, a veiled threat in her voice. "We've been friends for two decades, but it may all end with one misplaced assumption."
The merchant crossed his arms. "Very well. I still can't believe. Your son, a zero? I didn't even know it was possible."
"Not even the master Gadgeteer that visited us a couple days ago," Byron replied. "But it was thrice tested. There is no doubt of Nero's cap."
He was angry. Not Byron, for once. Huron clenched his fists and breathed heavily. Then he spoke with gravitas. "I didn't think it was possible, but if you are openly admitting this shame, then it is true. My Altia could be a noble's wife. Her cap is high enough. I won't marry her to some stupid village cripple!"
"Mister--" Nero tried to argue but was cut off by a rough shouting.
"Get out! Out of my house, out of my daughter's life! You are banished, cripple. Level zero! You can't even have a Class! Go away and don't show your hairless face ever again around here!"
"Huron, I..." Byron was about to engage but Rhynne pulled him by the arm.
"If we don't have your hospitality anymore, merchant Huron, then we are on our way. Farewell and godspeed."
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She grabbed Nero and ushered the two men out, following right behind. Outside, the whole village was gathered, staring at them. To make matters worse, Katia was at the front. The bully's mother took a step forward.
"That boy is cursed! We are doomed to lose all our kids because of him. It was his fault that Mrs. Simmons' kid died, that all others died! He might even have killed them with these hands of his! I am sure he forces the poor Altia to kill the monsters for him, whispering empty promises to the girl! Get out, level zero! You are a curse upon this village! Out! Out!"
They kept walking without answering to the provocations. Until a rock hit Nero on the head. With his Vigor, it was more of a nuisance than anything but the scalp is a delicate skin with lots of blood vessels and he wasn't wearing his Attribute-improving equipment. His head started to bleed profusely.
"Ouch!" he took a hand to his head and it returned bloody.
Seeing this, Nero's parents went into battle mode.
"[Great Taunt]!"
Byron shouted his Skill and suddenly all hostility around him was directed at him. The first volley of debris that was aimed at Nero flew in his direction. Rocks and the occasional organic refuse pelted the big man, the inflamed crowd too out of their mind to perceive what they'd done.
"[Light Shield]!"
Rhynne's spell covered her party members. A translucent dome of light enveloped them, sealing up to the floor.
"Keep moving. Let's go home," Byron said, wiping something brown from his face.
Nero couldn't believe. In his shock, he just followed his parents. The village folk kept shouting and jeering, occasionally trying to break Rhynne's magic.
"NERO ZERO! Cursed one! Nero Zero!"
Once in the safety of his home, Nero fell to his knees, sitting on his heels. His head hung low, he let the tears flow.
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The boy with the anomalous Level cap wasn't the only one in tears, the heart cut open. In her room, Altia hugged her knees, her back to the door. She felt the wooden boards cave in as her father banged on the door but she said nothing. She did nothing. From the second floor landing, she heard everything. From the window, she watched the humiliation. And right now, she had no desire to talk to her father, no matter how much he whispered sweet lies to her.
The crowd was still shouting the moniker. She was the first to call him that, in the intimacy of the Dungeon. But now it was a knife made of words, digging at the guts of her beloved. The association was easy to make, the terms rhyming. Nero zero. Cesar might have made a false report, but his guilt should be shouldered by his mother. Katia wickedness was showing, as the woman was viciously shouting the accursed pet name.
She'd rather die than to be given to another man. Her father would not decide who she was to marry. But deep inside, she wished for a solution. She wished for a way to make her father accept Nero. For everyone to be happy together.
She found none. The despair ate at her, the cold she felt on her hands and arms was overwhelming. And her father would not stop banging and trying to pry open the damn door. She was hating the fact that his voice sounded abhorrent to her. She didn't want to dislike her father. In the darkness of her room, she turned on her device, looking at her status and finding reassurance at how much they cared for her.
She closed her eyes and she was there, in the Dungeon, lying on an itchy blanket, hugging. Nero was sleeping by her side, both covered in rat guts. The hours she spent watching him sleep peacefully. They rested together several times after that but somehow the first time had a special - and disgusting - charm.
Her father gave up on trying to talk to her. He had high Perception, surely he could hear her crying from the other side. He wished her a good night and went away. Altia silently stood up. She walked to her desk and took a good look as she walked by the window. The crowd was going home, the entertainment gone and attacking the house where two Adventurers with a tier IV class lived, dangerous.
Altia sat down, the moonlight entering through her open window the only lighting. Enough for her to see what she had to do. Altia ceremoniously took a pen, paper, and inkwell. She wrote a letter and left it there on the desk, for anyone to see. She opened a pouch on her belt, took two bags of crystals. She put the bags as paperweights on the letter.
She sighed, the sobs and hiccups of so much crying still impacting her. Looking at her room, she was grateful she agreed to take most of her things to the guest room in Nero's house. Her mouth went through the motions of saying a word reserved for those that didn't intend to return.
Altia jumped through the window and graciously landed standing up on the packed dirt of the street. She stood up and walked, not ran, toward her destiny. Toward her own path.
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Huron heard the floorboards creak followed by the dull thud as the girl landed outside. He had more Perception than anyone thought, way more than any Adventurer would deem prudent to allocate. But it didn't matter. For him, for his Skills, he selected those that used Perception for their effect. And it was nigh impossible to ambush the merchant. Not for a lack of trying. He heard the pen's hard quill scratching the paper and the girl soft sobs. It hurt him but he had a tough skin. He even heard the sound he liked most in the world right before Altia left.
Huron opened the door to Altia's bedroom after a long wait in the now quiet house. It was as empty as he expected. His high Perception also meant that the moonlight was more than enough for him to see everything perfectly. Including the letter on the desk, held in place by two leather bags. He pushed the bags aside. He knew what was inside, he would even dare to tell how much was inside. His eyes fell on the letter.
> Dear father,
>
>
>
> I would like to say, first and foremost, how grateful I am for all the dedication and love you invested in raising me. I can only imagine how hard it was and how much you sacrificed. Thank you.
>
> This world is crooked, I learned it in the last week. All everyone sees is power. Power is everything. Levels are everything. I feel my Level cap as a curse. I am currently level 3 and loathe even raising it that much.
>
> Nero is the man of my life. I vow to love him and only him until the end of times. We delved together, we learned together, we bled together. I loved him even before that. I am sure you know how deep are the bonds forged in the depths of the Dungeon. There shall be no other in my life. If Nero is not, then I am not.
>
> But for the amount you invested in me, father, I still owe you. I obeyed your last order when you wrenched me from my heart. I climbed the stairs. I let you and Nero talk man to man, but you had a discussion with a number. A number a person defines not.
>
> So be it. I am off, free to pursue my own destiny. I hope that when you read this, I'll be already in the arms of the man I love. If you add all the time we spent in the Dungeon so far, we spent a month together. Alone in the dark. Not once he did anything to offend me or my virtue.
>
> Nero's parents were awfully generous. They showered me with gifts as if though I was a princess. They demanded nothing. Nero turned Honeywitch upside down to find me a blue Class. Rhynne gave me a blue Skill, that I still didn't equip. Because it is not the time to level. I need Nero to grow stronger and I intend to wait along with him.
>
> I still owe you. You bought the Arbitrium for me, and I am thankful. Inside the bags next to this letter, you will find 220,000 Essence in assorted crystals of no less than one hundred Essence each. Those are no gift from anyone. Nero and I, we bled for each of these crystals. I think I should pay you some interest and also for the lodging. It is not enough for sixteen years but I beg for a discount.
>
> If you cannot accept me in my entirety, and it includes my now husband, then our partnership is over. I owe you nothing else, and I shall live no longer under your roof.
>
> Farewell and may the Goddess of Business smile on you.
>
> Altia, Nero's wife.