Widow Hari watched the starry sky slowly transform as the night crawled by. By now the violet moon had already reached it's zenith, and the white moon was slowly ascending from its position on the horizon. The remaining villagers had broken up in to silent little groups of ones and twos sitting around the clearing in the heat of the night as they waited for any news on Little Harry. Cornelia had disappeared at some point, but Widow Hari paid that no mind. Cornelia was a highly levelled scholar after all. If she couldn’t take care of herself there was no hope for any classed individual. Besides, Widow Hari had other concerns.
Tonight, she struggled to pray for the first time in many, many years. It had happened a lot in her early days of zealotry, but she had thought that she had progressed passed it. Not so.
The Gods really tested one sometimes. As a Zealot who has spent her whole life fighting for the causes of the Gods, she should understand this best of all. But it was the harshest test she had ever faced, and she fought against the feeling of unfairness.
Why was she being tested in this particular way? Had she failed the Gods somehow? Everything happened to someone, this she knew. In some ways she knew it better than most. But this test felt too harsh. To take a child from its mother, it was simply unnatural.
Yet these thoughts betrayed a fault in her zealotry, and in herself. When had she come to consider herself better than any other human of the God’s creation? When had she come to believe herself grand enough to bargain with the Gods on an equal footing? Because it was a bargain she had unknowingly tried to construct, she realised. If she prayed hard enough, good enough, long enough; then the Gods would keep her and hers safe. What grand self-delusion. And, Gods forgive her, she wanted her little boy safely back more than the presence, favour, or grace of any God.
“I repent,” she called out to the skies, and then she repeated those words and added more.
“I repent! Please forgive me, please bring Little Harry safely back to me.” And if this was also a bargain, she didn't care. She just wanted her little boy. She had to acknowledge her fault, and then put her trust in her Gods. Those words became a fevered refrain, as she swayed backwards and forwards, hands clasped together in prayer.
<>
“Are you still here, dungeon child?” Agnetha said. Claire could swear that Agnetha’s natural state is annoyance. She certainly hasn’t displayed much else so far.
“Yes,” the master echoed unhappily down in their cavern by the ocean where the three of them were watching the world above through Carlie’s eyes. “Why are you still with those humans? Cores are not supposed to interact directly with adventurers.”
Claire ignored him, focusing on Agnetha.
“If you don’t mind, Agnetha, I would like to accompany you. It just makes it easier to tell you if Claire discovers something.”
“Actually, I do mind.” Agnetha groused. “A child’s life is on the line, and I’m not about to knowingly invite an infiltrator into our counsel. It you want to help, go wait with Widow Hari in the clearing. She’ll be the one prostrated in the presence of the Gods.”
“Yes, Agnetha,” Carlie sighed, trudging away as another nearby dungeon scout scooted closer.
“And take that filthy little fish thing with you!” Agnetha called after her.
Claire had the scout move off. And then directed another overhead scout to move in and to keep them in her view.
<>
As the night progressed, Claire battled with impatience. Her constructs were still combing the island territory for any sign of Bastian’s band, but they were surprisingly hard to locate.
Time was ticking, and Little Harry’s life was on the line. She had no idea what Bastian intended to do with the children he threatened Lily with, but she didn’t want to take any chances. Bastian did not strike her as a diamond in the rough. He was steel flint. Hard and cold with razor-sharp edges all around. And also a bit unpredictable.
“Claire,” Rick said, pulling her attention back to him. “I hate to interrupt you as we search, but I do know that you have enough mental capacity to do more than one thing at a time. We really need to get defences in place in our dungeon. If anything goes wrong, if the child can’t be found, the villagers will turn their anger towards us. Some of them have started muttering about traitorous anomalous cores, and a couple are already considering the financial benefits core shards could bring to them and their village.”
Before Claire could answer, a notification popped up.
Level up class 20 detected.
5 SSV received
“Oh, Widow Hari just levelled up. She’s now a level 19 Zealot. At least I’m still getting some benefits from that posse assembled in the clearing,” Claire sighed.
“That’s good, since you seem intent on destroying your own earnings,” the Master commented.
“What? What do you mean?” Claire asked.
“Giving glowstones away and telling rogues not to steal,” the master grumbled.
“Shoot, Claire, he’s right,” Rick added. “I should’ve caught that.”
“No, I still don’t get it,” Claire said.
“Stealing things is one of the ways in which rogues level their skills. It is, in fact, a skill in its own right.”
Realising what she had done, Claire sighed again. This was one of the disadvantages of being a newbie in this world. At some point she would have to take the time to do a comprehensive review with Rick. She slated it for a time when she wasn’t in danger of being murdered or kidnapped. And when there were no other crises in her territory. At the rate her life was developing, the time for review would be never.
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Hopefully Lily’s rogue nature would entice her back into theft. Preferably within Claire’s dungeon territory.
And then she realised what the Master had done. This was the second time he had given her good guidance. He may not believe that she posses a human soul, and he may have a real personality problem, but he was helping her to become a better core all the same.
“Thank you, Master,” Claire said with gratitude. Then she turned her attention back to Rick’s previous words.
“And yes, Rick, you are right. We should get on improving our dungeon while we have the time. We may need defences a lot sooner than we thought. I do have a question though, speaking of things I don't know. Up to this point all of the skill-share value points I received were always five points. Why did I get 20 points for Widow Hari?”
The master gave Rick a look, indicating he should answer. At that moment Rick felt like he was back in the volcano classroom, and the teacher had called on him. His response would be judged. He could feel his heat intensity rise as he tried to construct an impressive answer to this basic question. It was simple after all. The SSV-points correlated to the tier category (as explained to Lily by Agnetha) your levels have reached.
He was saved by Claire calling out, “We’ve found them! And, thank God, Little Harry is there. He’s by himself, we have to send him help!”
“Help? What help?” The master said.
Claire didn’t answer. Carlie was already on her way and needed to get to Little Harry as fast as her little dungeon-child legs could go.
<>
The suspense of waiting slowly ate up Lily’s nerves from the inside. She kept feeling like she had to do something. Running to fetch the dungeon compass, as Agnetha told her to do, had felt good. It was action; it was something she could do. She took it out and watched the needle spin and then settle, pointing exactly toward the clearing.
“So, that’s what you stole,” Layne remarked. Lily blushed and nodded, holding it out to him. He took it and carefully studied it. Then he turned it around a few times. Each time the needle would unerringly spin to point at the direction of the clearing.
“Put that thing away,” Agnetha said. “We don’t have to advertise it for all to see.”
Layne handed it back to Lily, who dropped it into her satchel.
“Lately, some strange things have been happening around the manor,” Layne said conversationally.
Lily’s fingers bungled where she was busy tying her satchel. “Oh?” she said, trying to remain calm. Her remaining nerves stretched so tightly, she felt like she would break in half if they snapped now. And there was no help from Agnetha. She just sat and stared out into the darkened forest surrounding them as they waited.
“Yes,” Layne continued. “The sage lost his pendulum when he came to visit us. Luckily, we found it again. And my father is convinced that someone entered his sanctum. Although, how that would’ve happened, I don’t know. He always keeps it locked. I suppose a rogue might have been able to do it… Being a rogue, do you have any ideas?”
“It was me,” Lily whispered.
“Sorry, I couldn’t quite hear that,” Layne replied, pointing to his ear.
Lily swallowed and then said louder, “It was me.”
Layne waited patiently as Lily took a shaky breath and then explained again, tears accompanying her explanation. This time she added the parts she didn’t want to tell in front of her father. How she was so worried about him, that it drove her to theft in the hopes of saving him. She confessed the pendulum and picking the sanctum lock in the hopes of finding a healing potion. But she could not bring herself to admit to drugging his father nor switching out the potion in Layne’s bag.
She’s already made a terrible impression on Layne today, and while he might still have compassion for everything else, she knew those two things would be unforgivable. Those two things were direct assaults on his family – against his father and against him. If someone had done that to her or Dane, she knew she would never have forgiven them. It would be a betrayal too stark.
Deception +2
She hated the notification when it came. This was not who she was meant to be; she knew that. That’s why she had wanted to be a healer instead. Why, even the dungeon had asked her not to steal from it. But the system kept rewarding her for being a rogue and look what it had gotten her. Beat up and likely responsible for the disappearance of a child. It was enough to lead one to despair.
“I’m sorry,” she ended. “I’m so sorry. I had never stolen before that, and I don’t want to ever steal. I’ll make it right. As soon as we find Little Harry, I’ll make it right. You just tell me what to do, and I’ll do it.”
She risked a glimpse at his eyes. He was looking at her with something akin to pity. She felt even more ashamed. She didn’t deserve pity. He should be thinking about ways to punish her.
“Well,” he said, “what you did certainly wasn’t right, but I can understand why you did it. All the same, you did do a wrong and should atone for that. How about this. Once this situation is resolved, I will definitely be entering this dungeon. I could use a good rogue. If Agnetha agrees, would you come dungeon diving with me?”
Lily looked at Agnetha, who gave a small nod. Lily smiled.
“We’ll have to get your father’s permission too, of course.”
Lily’s face fell.
“A level 1 rogue picked the lock to my father’s sanctum – I can’t wait to see his face when I tell him!” Layne laughed.
And then another one of the little flying fish things dropped into the clearing, right into Agnetha’s face.
“Dungeon, what are you up to now?” she called out as she swiped with her hand at the bug.
Layne and Lily both drew closer, watching the bug zip in one direction, then back, and then in that direction again.
“I think the dungeon wants us to follow it,” Lily said.
“All right,” Agnetha agreed. “But only because we have no other clues at the moment.”
<>
There was a rustle in the bushes where Bastian and his band sat by their campfire. Then the foliage fronds shook and opened to reveal Stanley walking in, dragging a little girl by the hand.
Bastian took one look at them and gnashed his teeth in frustration, while clenching his hands into tight fists. Then he said, “By all the Gods, will you stop collecting children! I already didn’t want this one,” gesturing fiercely to where Little Harry sat by Hillah in his weirdly adult way, watching the band members. “I told you I just wanted to poke that little wench into bringing back my compass! You’re more trouble than you’re worth, I swear.”
“I’m sorry, boss,” Stanley apologised, shrinking back from Bastian’s frustration. “But my dogs found this one lurking in the shadows. I figured you wouldn’t want that.”
“How are there suddenly so many children about?” Hillah asked in fascination as Stanley pushed Carlie in her direction. “And why do you keep shoving them at me? Just because I’m a woman, I’m supposed to take care of them all?”
“Just shut up and do it,” Bastian said. “My food is getting cold.”
Perez simply frowned and carefully studied the jungle shadows surrounding them.
Little Harry looked at Carlie with interest. "I don't know this girl," he remarked to no one in particular. "She played with the children today, but I've never seen her before. She is strange."
"Not at all like you, huh?" Hillah sighed, getting up for another helping of meat.
Carlie looked back at Little Harry, equally interested. "Aren't you a child too?" she asked.
"Sometimes, I guess," Litlle Harry responded.
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