It wasn’t until I woke the next morning that I realised how much pain I’d been in the night before. The hot bath had eased my muscles but my injury had been red, angry, and from time to time blood still seeped from it. Now, however, I sat up, glancing down at my bare shoulder. There wasn’t even a scratch or scar from the vicious wound that had been there the night before.
After dressing, I headed out of my room and wove down the stairs to the common room. The Palladium Rise has several floors of bedroom quarters with communal bathing facilities as well as other living spaces. Their vast libraries were what brought the Rise its reknown, but it was dedicated to excellence and housed students and scholars from all over Essaedris. Cambrin and I had quickly bathed before heading to our relative rooms. I’d unloaded a few things from my bag, hoping I wouldn’t need them on my return trip to the sewers, and settled in for a good night’s rest. Cambrin and Ceylas must have both done much the same because when I spotted them at a long table in the common room they both looked a lot cleaner and healthier than the night before.
“Morning,” I said as I sat down across from them.
“Don’t get too comfy,” Ceylas said, putting a spoon in her bowl of porridge. “It’s not table service. You have to go fetch your breakfast.” She gestured to a small buffet breakfast counter that had a few steaming dishes.
“Be right back,” I said, standing again.
“Bring me a croissant!” Ceylas called after me.
“I will accompany you,” Cambrin said, abandoning his own empty bowl. He sighed as we approached the counter. There was a large tea kettle and mugs but Cambrin gave it a dirty look. “That, alas, is not coffee. It is a horrid swamp tea of some variety. Cambrin did not relish it even before I arrived, now it makes us ill.”
It was weird to hear Jake/Cambrin talk about themselves as a united front. I didn’t really feel that kind of connection to Lo’Kryn. I mean his instincts were there, and I imagine his taste buds would influence my opinion of food. Gosh I hope he didn’t have any allergies I should worry about. I paused, letting my mind wander just a little, wondering if I could connect to a sleeping part of my mind that might be him. It didn’t come to me like a voice or even a consciousness, just a knowing that seemed to rise from my diaphram. “If you add raspberries to the tea it tastes much better,” I said, not at all sure how I knew that but already pouring myself a mug and adding three large raspberries from a nearby bowl.
“I shall try that next time dehydration forces me to relent,” Cambrin said, reaching for a small chunk of fresh bread and a dip of whipped butter. “I have returned for bacon. Ceylas convinced me to eat the dry oat mix earlier but if we intend to return to the sewers I need to grease my bones.”
We both dished up a serve of breakfast each. The selection wasn’t anything fancy but it was a mixture of strange fruits, fresh breads, some meats, a porridge broth, and an oat mix. Just as I was about to settle for bread and bacon a stout man in a dirty apron brought out a tray of fried eggs. Cambrin and I both took two each and returned to the table to sit with Ceylas.
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“Did either of you level up over night?” Cambrin asked he used the blade of a mess knife to cut his food. “This morning I was prompted to select my second level Artificer Infusions.”
“I had to pick some stuff too,” Ceylas said. She didn’t lift her gaze from her breakfast, instead, taking time to swirl the porridge around on her spoon. She’d mixed in some strawberries and banana, both fruits I recognised.
“I didn’t pick anything. Let me look.” I closed my eyes, taking the time to concentrate my mind until my character sheet’s detailed came up. Instead of the sheet, a small window popped up and I heard a slight ping sound repeat over and over again as a message appeared.
[You have achieved level 2.]
[Monk or Multiclass?]
There was a sense of choice in the phrasing of the text but I wasn’t sure how to make a decision and I didn’t want to act rashly. This implied that there would be choices as we progressed and that could very much influence how well we’d be able to face whatever the gods or fate or whatever intended to throw at us.
I could multiclass. I’d always been partial to rogue’s and I missed the stealth and slight of hand proficiencies I’d had when I played Jax. But I looked again at my stats where were over average but balanced across the board. I didn’t particularly excel in anything in particular which meant I could be well rounded but not particularly exceptional.
Then I thought about Cambrin and Ceylas. Both weren’t well suited to melee combat. An effective rogue didn’t make for a front man in battle. But a monk? They could be become pretty powerful. I’d already seen the effectiveness of Lo’Kryn’s martial arts abilities. It made sense to stick with those, build those skills, at least for a little while longer while we grew more familiar with this world.
I reached, as if lifting my hand to touch the word. My hand didn’t move, but whatever controlled this system inside my mind still seemed to sense the selection. There were no other choices and as I maintained focus my updated character sheet appeared.
Nikolodeon Kryn - Level 2 Monk
17 of 17 Hit Points, 40ft Speed, 14 AC
Most everything else was the same. As I flipped through the information I noted a couple of new aspects related to something called Ki which presented additional bonus action abilities. A new monk feature, Unarmored Movement, accounted for the additional speed I’d aquired but it only applied if I continued to go without armor or shield. Since my armor class hadn’t risen I wondered how else I was supposed to protect myself from getting hit if my class disadvantaged armor wearing.
I startled as I felt someone nudge my arm. Ceylas elbowed me again as I glanced to her. “Eat your food. We need to get the day going if we want to buy a few things before heading back to the sewer.”
Cambrin put another forkful of bacon into his mouth and cocked an eyebrow. I realised he was still waiting for me to talk about the level up. I pushed some bacon and egg onto my own fork, but spoke before lifting it to my lips. “Yeah, I leveled up. More hit points which is good although I didn’t get to roll them myself.”
He nodded as I began to eat. He swallowed his own mouthful. “Yes, mine appears to have automatically adjusted by average rather than a specific dice roll.”
“I’m glad,” Ceylas said, putting down her cup. “I always rolled terrible for hit points. There’s nothing worse than a glass cannon cleric.”
“I always let you reroll ones,” Cambrin said.
“Twos aren’t much better.”
I shook my head, tuning the two out as I focused on eating my food. I still wasn’t really sure how this game worked. We were living it. The food tasted pretty good. Sleep, I think had included dreams although I couldn’t remember them. And pain really did hurt. It felt real.
I’m not sure if Cambrin was sensing my thoughts or if their talk about the game had made us all start wondering what it all meant. “All we can do is continue to play by its rules,” he said. “We do not know who runs our game, but if we keep playing we may find out.”