"Which class did you get?"

They heard a gruff voice say just further up ahead. The sound of rustling leaves and breaking sticks alerted everyone, as Dave didn't bother to hide and just waltzed straight through the brushes towards them. Ray nervously followed him, both hands pale white from clenching his wooden spear.

They came face to face with a group of three. A rugged man at the front with a huge shield in one arm directed towards them and the other raised in a protective motion towards his group. A younger man with slicked back hair, who simply narrowed his eyes while looking at them and a blonde girl, who moved slightly behind both men. Behind them Dave saw a familiar chapel, which he was sure should be in another direction entirely.

The standoff continued. Neither side was willing to say the first word as tension rose high. A sweatdrop rolled down Ray's nose as he wasn't sure how to react to the group who left him behind to his own fate.

Face scrunched in concentration and bundles of muscles coiled as the shieldbearer was preparing for an ensuing conflict.

Dave decided to ease the tension, but the moment he opened his mouth to speak, Ropey did the same while erupting into a blinding flash of light. Hands rose to protect their eyes as surprised gasps and exclamations filled the clearing. The sensory overload hurt their darkness adjusted eyes.

As the light dimmed down, Dave blinked to reduce the flecks of light in his vision and looked around. Everyone was panicking, some flailed around as others calmly rubbed their eyes in a defensive posture.

"Look, this wasn't on purpose I promise. I am not going to attack you." Dave tried as Ropey uncoiled from his waist and started vomiting out multiple objects. A partially digested underwear, a few rusty nails and an ornately decorated iron key were strewn around covered in slimy ooze. After getting rid of the offending objects, Ropey wiggled happily at Dave, showing off it's new sleek and squishy looking body.

It went through a huge transformation, shedding most of its length as it was now no longer than Dave's arm. It's pink colored skin seemed to glisten, as it partially reflected and absorbed the moonlight on it's tiny scales. Two newly gained adorable beady eyes gazed at Dave.

"Look at you go buddy! You did it! I knew I could always rely on you!" Dave stretched out one of his palms towards Ropey, petting it fondly as it crawled up his arm. Happy wiggles ensued as Ropey wrapped around Dave's upper arm and rested its head on the crook of his neck, nuzzling him.

As vision returned to everyone else, they looked on the scene in utter confusion. A weird snakelike thing adorned Dave now, as he crouched and squeezed his satchel to spray some water on the ground.

"So.. we fighting? It's three versus two against wimpy kid and crouching guy." The sleazy looking guy whisper-shouted.

"I am sooo not gonna fight them Alex. Like ugh, imagine that worm thing vomits on you? Nah, thanks fam." Kelly countered.

The older strongman, John, lifted his arm to quiet them down. "What do you want?" He prompted and looked down on Dave with his arms crossed, trying to cement a higher position in the discussion.

"Roast beef, some chicken.. Maybe a pizza? Magic sap gets bland with time. But if you are talking about the situation right now?" Dave said as he pulled out the wooden box and fumbled at the lock with the key. "Cooperation. We help each other and bring Edmund down. Everyone survives, happy vibes, happy lives and all that jazz."

"And you both are of that opinion?" John said as he sneaked a glance at the teen.

Ray's face was moving between distraught, reluctant and accepting. "Well, how about you ask for Ray's opinion while I just..-" the lock opened with a clank and dropped to the ground. A staple of charms lay inside the box, which Dave grabbed and shuffled through. "Yeah, change of plans. We should definitely cooperate." He hummed as he leafed open the charms and showed them towards the group. Familiar symbols grazed them, with the topmost being a sigil of a seed.

"You get a charm and you get a charm, everybody gets a charm?" Dave tried as John deadpanned and countered. "Why would some paper convince me to cooperate?"

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

Alexander and Kelly started bickering, with both of them recognizing the symbols but having differing opinions about it. "So like, isn't it like the fancy pic in the chapel? Didn't ya look around?"

"I have to agree. John, I think those symbols are important. But why should we trust them that it's not a trap? For all we know the chatterbox still plans his revenge."

"I.. what? Revenge? I only wanted you to apologize for being mean!!" Ray waved his spear angrily towards them.

"Well.. for all it's worth, I'm sorry." John said bluntly as he stared into Ray's eyes. In the background a "m'sorry" and a "whatever kid"' chimed and Ray visibly deflated.

"I think you are the only one who hasn't entered the chapel yet." Dave pointed towards it with his thumb as he looked at Ray. "Go for it, I'll distribute the charms while we wait."

Ray looked back and forth between Dave and the group who stood in front of the chapel. A sigh escaped John as he waved for his team to stand aside, giving Ray enough space to pass by into the chapel. Ray slowly trotted towards the chapel, throwing anxious glances back at Dave like a puppy being abandoned by its owner.

While the trio concentrated on Ray, Dave inconspicuously searched the surroundings for his silent protector. Finding her gaze, he turned back to John with renewed confidence. "I'd like to know what you guys think about the side quests and the mystery. Have you found any clues so far?" He gently fanned his face with the charms in a poor emulation of a noble scion. "How about sharing what you know and in exchange.. I'll let you claim a charm with your symbol?"

Before John could give his answer as the self proclaimed leader of their group, Kelly stepped forward excitedly and started talking.

"So like, I saw those weird murals and stuff? Ai Dee keyy what they want to tell me, but like.. something about some monster dude?" She shrugged and continued her findings. "Then I got some memories from some peeps ya know? Like, they showed me how to feel and it makes people heal if that makes sense? I also got this bashstick!" She proudly finished and showed off her Mace.

Continuing his noble play, Dave graciously sorted through the charms before taking out the charm with the holy light symbol. He slowly stretched it out towards her and waved it back and forth. "How about defeating Edmund, any ideas?"

She blinked at his act, surprised he'd ask for more. Stretching out her own hand to grab the charm she continued. "Well, can't we just like, group up and bash him? He looks kinda squishy?"

Dave stopped his waving motion and sighed. "Better idea than none at all." He said as he gave her the charm.

Dave looked towards John and Alexander, waiting for their input. John stubbornly glared at Kelly, while Alexander had a lot less reservations. "Same thing she said." He pointed at the blonde and rolled his eyes. "I just think instead of bashing him, we dig a hole to trap him? Maybe bind him so we can chill till morning? Not like we have anything to trap him with, but you get my drift?" He finished, stepping forward and holding out his hand for a charm.

Raising an eyebrow, Dave looked at his outfit in detail, unable to decipher any new weapons or telltale signs of his class. "I don't know which symbol is yours. So I'll keep it for last till Ray comes out." His words were met with a tired sigh as Alex stepped back. "Suit yourself, not my fault someone literally gave out all their secrets so easily." He grumbled, throwing a not so subtle jab at Kelly.

"Hey! I thought we are gonna cooperate, what's your deal dude." She countered, with one hand on her hip and the other dramatically pointing towards him.

Ignoring the bickering two, John pushed out his chest and straightened his back as he took a step closer towards Dave.

John was certainly shorter than Dave, but the way he walked with confidence and his robust build with strong muscled arms, easily able to carry the body sized shield with one a single arm reminded Dave of a tank.

"Shieldguy who likes to should orders?" Dave said with a disarming smile as he wiggled his eyebrows.

Frowning at the insinuation John answered. "Yes. I'm most confident in a similar position to the shield bearer in the mural. I'm better at reacting from situation to situation so I didn't pay too much attention to all that magic mumbo jumbo." He held out a hand towards Dave. "We didn't get to introduce ourselves personally. Names John and not being covered in mud suits you. I'll be the shieldguy keeping my team safe."

Instead of grabbing his hand, Dave put the shield charm into John's hand. "Dave. Not really suited for the front line but I'll make sure you want to do your best to protect me. I was thinking about the conclusion to this game and I'm sure I'll come up with the real way to use the charms. Since there are six of us, we could lay a trap before the preparation time is over? Otherwise we could bring the fight to him and..-"

"I think we will be fine on our own, there is no need to force our groups to fight together with tensions being this high. Just follow our lead and I'll get us out in one piece." John slipped the charm into his pocket and turned around to walk to his group.