Rin emerged from the dungeon around the same time as the day before. It felt like they’d been underground all day, but judging by the sun’s position, it was only around 10 am.
They rounded the boulder’s edge and Percy leaped up from a park bench near the guard station. The tinker was so happy to see Rin, he practically ran to them.
“It was nice meeting you,” said Deeya, attempting to slink away without creating a scene. “Here’s my portion of your payment.” She pressed a few coins into his hand then spun on her heel and strode confidently away.
Rin stared after her for longer than he realized. When he snapped out of it, Percy stood beside him, studying his face. “Everything went well, I take it?”
“I-I suppose so.” When he saw the five bronze coins in his hand, he gasped. “This is too much! The deal was for fifty coppers and this is ten times that!”
Percy patted his shoulder. “I think she can afford it. Take a look.”
Deeya was climbing into a gilded carriage, pulled by not two, not four, but six gorgeous black stallions. A servant wearing elegantly embroidered livery closed the carriage door behind her, before hopping into his position at the rear of the carriage. The driver’s whip cracked and they dashed away, all while Rin’s mouth hung loose.
“Dayum, lad, ya sure know how ta pick ‘em!” Somehow, the dungeon guard, Gary Fletch, had joined them, though Rin hadn’t heard his approach.
“Wait!” hollered a voice from the left. Bayleigh rushed up. “We didn’t pay you!”
“Oh, Deeya just did. She, ah, if I’m being honest, she gave me enough to cover all three of you. She wasn’t supposed to give me so much—”
“That’s a tip, you dolt!” Bayleigh slapped his arm, smiling. “Here’s the rest for me and Dex.” She passed over two bronze coins.
That’s double what we agreed!
Rin opened his mouth to object, but she held up a hand and forestalled his efforts. “We may not be as rich as Deeya, but it’s still a small price to pay for what you did today.” She awkwardly shifted her feet. “Technically, that tip is from me, not Dex.”
“Oh?” Rin looked around for the other boy and saw a green-robed figure pausing at the edge of the cobbled square, glancing back at them. The healer rounded the corner and was gone without so much as a wave.
Bayleigh winced. “Well, that’s Dex for you. Grumpier than a sow on bacon day.”
“Aye!” said the guard, recognizing the line and providing the finish. “An’ pretty as one, ta boot!”
The girl had to have known the line was coming, but her bright laughter rang out nonetheless.
Percy clapped Rin on the shoulder, jerking his chin at the fistful of coins. “You should understand what you’ve got there, Scamp. A typical laborer can command as much as one bronze for a full day’s wages. You’ve made an entire week’s worth and it’s not even lunchtime. For the more specialized magical occupations, this is a mere pittance, of course. But still, not bad for your first gig!”
“Aye, keep that up, and you’ll be makin’ more than me!” said dungeon guard Gary. “I don’ risk life n’ limb, I s’pose.” The man rocked back and forth on his heels. “But I ‘ave ‘sperience! Ya can’t putta price tag on tha’!”
Rin gave a weak smile, not knowing the proper response. The silence stretched thin into awkward territory when a bold baritone voice rescued the moment.
“How did your dungeon guide perform, Miss Bayleigh?”
Rin spun around to find a town guard approaching in dull half-plate armor.
Sergeant Tony Ilks
Level 22 Town Guard
“Hmm, I have to say I’m disappointed.” She pasted a pouty frown on her face. “He only saved our lives three times, by my count! Three! A pitiful effort. An utter disgrace, I tell you!”
The sergeant bowed his head, hiding his grin. “Thank you for the candid feedback. I’ll make sure to put that in the final report to your father on the council.”
Rin’s head jerked from Bayleigh to the sergeant. “Town council—wha?”
“Of course. We can’t have Cursed running around, stealing good people’s jobs.” The man’s deadpan stare was intense. Rin had no idea if he was being pranked or if the man was serious.
“Oh, do have mercy, Sergeant Ilks,” said Bayleigh. “Rin, he’s joking.”
A smile crept onto the man’s face, but he whipped it away in a flash. “Only half-joking, this time. I’m required to submit a report to the council, although at this juncture I see no reason to include anything but glowing reviews of young Rin here.”
“Hmph,” said Bayleigh. “Well, if that’s the case, please be sure to include the fact that not one iota of experience went to Rin. And he did ninety percent of the work. Every time he killed a monster, the essence zipped right by him and into us.” She raised her nose skyward in faux haughtiness. “He was the very perfection of professionalism.” Then, like a flipped switch, she was back to her bubbly self again, shaking Rin’s hand and taking her leave. “Until next time. Don’t die in there, Potato Boy!”
Sergeant Ilks dipped his head and turned to address Rin directly. “I must say, well done, lad. I half-expected you to whiff it, hard.”
“I tole ya, sir!” said Gary.
Ilks nodded. “This might be a rare occurrence where a Cursed is actually a better fit for a job. Would you be interested in doing this regularly?”
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
“Absolutely, sir!” Rin was unsure how to address the man, especially with the overwhelming gratitude he felt welling up inside. He settled on an elaborate salute, a gesture which elicited a round of chuckles from the three men.
“A-And if I may make a suggestion, sir,” stammered Rin, “I was thinking I should get in more practice. That dungeon boss at the end was quite challenging for the group.” He glanced at Gary. “Are there any gaps in the schedule when I might be able to run through the dungeon a few more times? For practice?”
The sergeant looked to Gary who shrugged and gestured at the empty square. “There ain’t exactly folks beatin’ down the door to this dungeon. It’s beginner-rated. Once they clear it, they never come back. Our busiest days might ‘ave three groups, max.” The guard scratched his head. “Far as I’m concerned, you can take all the slots in between, if you want ‘em. There’s no more groups for the rest of today, fer example.”
Rin beamed. “Then I’d like to go again right now. No time like the present!” He dashed off to the dungeon entrance before they could change their minds.
Sergeant Ilks raised an eyebrow. “You have commendable eagerness. I’ll give you that.”
His words met empty air for Rin was already gone, scurrying down the steps into Bastion’s Boulder. As soon as he entered the dungeon proper, he slowed, examining every nook and cranny.
Alright, flowers. Where are you hiding?
He couldn’t explain why he was so fixated on the dungeon flowers. It wasn’t because of the Charisma, that was for sure. As far as he could tell, it was still a junk stat that didn’t affect anything. It was more the fact the locations of the flowers were so strangely specific, as if they were put there on purpose. They obeyed certain rules about when they would spawn, for one. Second, they occasionally formed in hard-to-reach places, like on top of that stalagmite.
He still hadn’t cracked the code as to why the flowers mattered, but he was certain they did matter … for something. It was enough to capture his curiosity, and a goal emerged in his mind: To collect every last flower in the dungeon to see if something interesting happened.
Rin launched into the first cavern, excited and ready to fight. In contrast, the stone ratbacks were surprisingly sluggish and non-aggressive. For several seconds, the monsters stood there, staring. Eventually, one of them trotted up to him, more out of curiosity than violence, it seemed, and Rin dispatched it cleanly with his sword.
That got their attention, and they whipped up in a sudden frenzy, attacking Rin with the fervor he was familiar with. It didn’t matter because they didn’t stand a chance. It was no time at all before their bodies lay splattered on the ground, bursting into the smoky essence that lingered before fading into oblivion.
Rin sat down against a wall, forcing his blood to cool and trying his best to be patient. A minute passed, and he was rewarded with the telltale swirling that indicated something magical was about to appear. Some of the essence coalesced into a dungeon flower at the right edge of the chamber, but the largest portion did something entirely unexpected, flying straight through the wall at his back.
The boy leaped to his feet and inspected every inch of the wall’s surface. There was nothing there—no secret switches or traps or doors. The thing was smooth stone, not even displaying a crack or fissure, other than a humble hole level with the floor, like something a burrowing mouse would make.
Wait.
Rin dropped to the floor and peered through the hole, expecting to see a ratback nest of some sort. Instead, beyond six feet of solid rock and shrouded in darkness, he spied several twinkling dungeon flowers.
How am I supposed to get those?
He felt like the gods were teasing him. Even worse, the hole appeared big enough for his arm to fit inside, but when he went to insert it, his efforts were blocked. A strange blue veil formed over the opening, like a magical shield snapping into place, blocking his entrance. Not even his sword could pierce it.
Nymera’s teats, what am I supposed to do here? This is far too much effort for some stupid flowers!
He stomped over to the lone flower that had formed at the chamber’s edge and began munching it thoughtfully.
+1 Charisma
The problem was, he was now convinced without a shadow of a doubt. He was frustrated and intrigued in equal measure. The flowers were tantalizingly out of reach, yet their placement was so undeniably intentional they must be important. Nobody puts something in a secret hole and seals it off with an indestructible magical ward unless that thing is very important.
I’m gonna collect every last one of these little bastards.
Unfortunately, after trying everything he could think of, he couldn’t make any headway. Despite his best efforts, the flowers locked in the hole would not yield their secrets. It was infuriating, but there was simply no way inside. He glared at the hole for so long the ratbacks started to respawn, and he forced himself to walk away.
Maybe if I come back later, something will click.
Next up was the cavern with the sand pit. Like the ratbacks, the cave wrigglers behaved strangely. He strode right up to the edge of the sand pit, and they continued merrily on their way, creating their endless sand trails. For all outward appearances, they were blissfully ignorant of his presence. It was a stark contrast with their previous behavior.
When he stepped on the sand, the monsters paused momentarily, clearly detecting the intrusion, but then they resumed their trail-making without a care in the world.
What is going on?
He crept closer until he was a mere foot away from one of them. It tunneled around beneath the sand until it was about to pass directly underneath Rin’s foot. It abruptly paused and, with an almost comical politeness, changed direction to go around his foot, creating a perfect outline of his boot before resuming its circling.
Rin bent down and gently tapped on the sand three times with his forefinger. The nearest wriggler tunneled over and gently popped its head from the sand, shaking off the grains like a wet dog. It opened its maw at him and made a cooing sound. The rock worm was ugly as sin, with a face only a blind mother could love, yet its act was simply adorable.
Rin couldn’t help himself. He pulled some jerky from his pocket and dropped a tiny piece into the thing’s gaping mouth.
The triangular appendages in its mouth flexed rhythmically, chewing the meat with evident pleasure before it swallowed and cooed again even louder.
You have charmed a Level 2 Lesser Cave Wriggler (Stone Type)
Duration: 2 minutes
You have learned an ability: Monster Charming
Charmed monsters will no longer attack you, even when angry or threatened. You may also express basic intent to your charmed monsters, although how they respond will vary.
Rin’s mouth fell open. He brought up his status page and skipped to the very bottom where his abilities were listed:
Special Abilities:
Identify: Grade F
Poison Resistance: Grade D
Focused Recovery: Grade F
Monster Charming: Grade F
He was stunned. He’d never heard of an ability like this. His parents had spoken of Monster Summoning and even Monster Taming, but not Charming.
Why are the monsters acting like this? They aren’t even attacking me anymore!
He was about to close his status sheet when his mind’s eye snagged on his Charisma stat.
Charisma: 6 (+2)
An epiphany dawned on him.
Charisma is for monsters.