"Are you saying that you're down here all by yourself?" Kefira asked, eyebrows rising in surprise. The young man in front of her shrugged before nodding. "You came down here without anyone watching your back? You don't even have a light source, how are you getting around? Are you crazy?!"
"More like a fool," Serilla snorted under her breath. The man's piercing eyes glanced at Serilla, surprising Kefira. I could barely hear that comment, and I'm standing right next to her.
"What about you saying hardly anyone ever comes down here?" Sten interjected, gesturing at the new person. Kefira tilted her head and looked at Sten with an exasperated look.
"He's one person. That's not exactly a caravan of merchants."
The young man made to scratch the back of his head in embarrassment, but once his gauntleted fingers made contact with the back of his head, he stopped and pulled his hand in front of his face to peer at it as if in confusion. He dropped his hand and once again turned his attention to Kefira.
"I didn't 'come down here by myself," he said. "I was in a Dungeon with an acquaintance, we got separated, and then I was here. Well, not here, here. I was down there." He turned and pointed in a direction, indicating somewhere far below their current position in the cave system. Kefira's eyes lit up in excitement.
"You somehow teleported to the Lizaldon's settlement?!" She took an excited step forward. Serilla stepped forward with her to maintain the same positioning as her, but Kefira's entire attention was on the young man. "Can you take us there? In exchange I might be able to help you with the tele-" Serilla leaned over and knocked into her shoulder, cutting Kefira off from continuing what she was saying. She looked over at her companion and received a stern glare in return.
Kefira rolled her eyes at her companion, but she listened to the silent rebuke and stopped talking. She turned back to the young man to get his answer, and she could see him fighting an internal battle through the expression on his face.
"The sapient lizard people?" The young man asked.
"Uh-huh," Kefira nodded enthusiastically.
"We~ll..." he dragged out. "The Lizaldons are several days' journey away from here, and I'm not sure if they would be too happy to see me. The last time I tried to communicate with them, a small war broke out..." he trailed off with a sheepish grin. Kefira stared at him with a deadpan look.
"You attacked the Lizaldons?"
"What? No!" he quickly denied, shaking his head and hands. "They were fighting the giant spiders."
"GIANT SPIDERS?!" Sten shrieked, recoiling. Kefira was equally confused. She had never heard of any giant spiders in the region. Granted, the Lizaldons didn't communicate a whole lot about their living situation when they sent their trading expeditions out.
"Oh, yeah," the young man nodded. "There's an entire nest of hundreds of them below their cave town. They have a defensive system set up to keep them pinned up, and it looks like they're used to fighting them. This didn't seem like a normal battle between them, though, as they weren't exactly prepared. They only had a couple of lookouts beyond their defenses."
"Of course, the seasons," Kefira muttered, making connections with the information provided. "So the silk they're famous for is spider silk? How do they conceal that information from Inspect Skills? Maybe it's because they only sell their inferior products, so it doesn't count?" Kefira was distracted and started ruminating on tangential issues. She would have continued her descent into the mental rabbit hole if her companion hadn't cleared her throat and brought her back to the present.
She startled out of her contemplations to look up at her friend. She shook her head and faced back to the new youth once more.
"Ok, but you can still lead us there, right?" Kefira asked, still hopeful. "I have a magic item that can translate their speech so we can communicate, and we can clear up any misunderstandings if there are any."
"That's all well and good, but that still means I have to travel several days back to an area I've been trying to get away from."
"You can draw us a map. You can draw a map, yes?" The youth nodded. "There you go. You can draw us a map, and then we can tell you how to get out of here in exchange." Kefira watched him as he considered the option, stroking his chin. She continued, almost like an afterthought, "then again, we're likely to be the only people you'll encounter for over a week, and there's a large desert that might be dangerous to traverse without a horse or proper preparation."
The young man's fingers froze from stroking his chin as he narrowed his eyes at that statement.
"Hmm, so the real question is do I want to be by myself for another week, or do I want to waste some time and accompany you and your Party back the way I came before leaving the cave in relative safety," he resumed stroking his chin. He stopped and had a determined look on his face. "Well, I don't really have anywhere I need to be, and you and your Party can fill me in on where I've ended up. I guess I'll be leading you back to the Lizaldon town, then."
"Are you sure about this?" Sten once more interjected. "This guy is a complete stranger, walking around in these caves all alone and with nobody to verify anything he says. He's an unknown. How can we just trust whatever he says?"
Serilla gave Kefira a look that said, "I agree with this guy, for once."
"Do you honestly think I can't tell whether he's lying or not?" Kefira asked Sten.
"You have a detect lie Skill?"
"I didn't say that."
"Alright," Sten conceded. "Wait... You have a detect lie Skill?" Sten's eyes widened in alarm as Dowell and Cinna snickered.
Kefira simply waved him off without explaining anything further. Of course, she was aware of all the little fibs that Sten had fed her in order to recruit her and Serilla to his team. None of what he said had been out of malice, though, so she let it go. Sten turned to his two friends and they bent their heads together to whisper together. The young man in question frowned as he glanced at the trio. Can he hear them, too?
"Ok, if you're going to join us, then I'll invite you to the Party," Kefira said. "I'm the Party Leader, and you'll have to follow my lead. We can't have anyone not pulling their weight, and from what we just saw a moment ago, I expect you to contribute. If you pull us down in any way, all deals are off. Can you handle that?"
"Not a problem," the youth declared.
"Right, before we do that, though, what's your name? My name is Fira, and this is my older sister, Sera," she gestured toward her armored companion. "These three are Sten, Dowell, and Cinna."
The young man nodded to each person in turn as they were introduced. Sten merely folded his arms across his chest, but his two buddies gave little waves in return. They were the silent, yet friendly type, as far as Kefira could tell, and Sten usually did the talking for the trio.
"My name is Reivyn," the young man said. "Nice to make your acquaintance."
Serilla and Reivyn appeared to be of a similar Class and specialty, both in heavy armor with a sword and shield combination. One more melee combatant wasn't ideal for their Party makeup, but it wouldn't be a problem. They weren't planning on tackling any technically difficult fights. Kefira would simply let Serilla dictate where and how he engaged for now. Her leadership Skills weren't in such dire need of practice that she would need to micromanage every little detail.
"Alright," Kefira extended an invitation to the Party through the System, and a half second later, Reivyn's name was displayed under the Party page. "Let's not waste any more time standing around. You said it was still several days' journey away from here, so let's get going."
"It might be a bit less, now," Reivyn replied. "I did kill all of the feral lizards along the way."
"Doesn't matter," Sten said. "These are nuisance monsters, like goblins from a Tier 1 Region. They're prolific reproducers. It might be a little quicker for half a day, but then we'll encounter just as many of them as you did the first time 'round."
"Great," Reivyn sighed. "So these guys are the equivalent of goblins in a Tier 1 Region? What Tier Region are we in, now?"
"You really don't know?" Sten asked. Reivyn shook his head in denial. "Tier 3. We're in the kingdom of Drallo, a desert kingdom under the Wispan Empire." Reivyn returned a blank look at the names, not reacting at all.
I don't Sense that he was being dishonest with what he said, previously, Kefira thought to herself, watching the interaction and using her Observation Skills to verify her gut intuition. She really didn't have a detect lies Skill, but years of practice in watching for context clues had built a good foundation for when she finally had enough Perception to unlock such a Skill in the future.
Kefira motioned for Reivyn to lead the way. There was no reason for her to pick a random direction any longer, and she fell in behind the young man as he turned and walked into the darkness, completely unperturbed by his lack of light source.
"I don't know if this is a wise course of action to follow," Serilla whispered. She got right next to Kefira's ear and communicated in as low of a voice as Kefira had ever heard her. She didn't even speak this low back home. Serilla noticed the question on Kefira's face as she continued, "based on his nonchalant walk into the darkness, not to mention probably being able to hear Sten and his friends whispering from over ten yards away, his Perception is either high enough to have unlocked a Skill, high enough to see in the darkness outright, or both.
"That, coupled with his easy dispatch of the feral lizardman, makes me think he's somewhere around mid to high Tier 3."
"That high? Your Skills are probably higher, though, so I'm sure you could take him if he turns out to be a villain," Kefira patted her friend's shoulder. Serilla gazed ahead at Reivyn's back for a few moments.
"I could probably hold him off for a minute or two," Serilla determined. Kefira's eyebrows shot up in surprise once again. "Yeah, that's why I said I'm not sure if this is a good idea."
"Don't forget the entire reason we're out here," Kefira said. "Sometimes, in order to get to know someone, you have to take a chance. My intuition hasn't failed me in a long time, and I'm going to keep trusting it for now. There's no other way to advance the Skills I need without subjecting them to stress."
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Reivyn led the way through the cavern, almost seeming to never tire. Sten's warning about not encountering any ambushes for only half a day was prescient, as they walked in peace for only close to three hours before their first encounter with more of the predators. Serilla only had time to unsheathe her sword and equip her shield before Reivyn killed the three lizardmen.
Kefira watched, wide-eyed, as his body seemed to blur, and then three headless lizardmen fell to the ground. She turned to Serilla, who had frozen in her step forward to join the combat. Serilla put her gear away again and stroked her chin in thought. She gave Kefira a sideways glance, tucking her thumb into her palm as she looked at her.
Tier 4? Kefira mouthed. Serilla just shrugged with a shake of her head.
"30 seconds," she whispered.
She didn't add anything else to the statement, but Kefira knew that she was telling her that she had amended her previous estimation of being able to hold him off for a minute or two if he turned on them. Kefira nodded grimly.
"30 seconds should be enough," Kefira replied in an equally low whisper. "But my gut tells me we won't need it."
Sten ran up, panting, as Reivyn continued with hardly a pause at all.
"When you said you spent several days walking, were you talking about at this pace?" Sten asked, sweat dripping from his brow. Reivyn paused and turned to face the other young man.
"Of course," he replied.
"Well, you gotta slow down, man," Sten said, bending over to catch his breath. "We need to take some more breaks."
Kefira looked toward Dowell and Cinna, and she saw that they were in worse condition than Sten was. They weren't about to collapse or anything, but they were definitely expending more effort than was entirely necessary for themselves. She noticed that Sten was eyeing her suspiciously, and she quickly pulled out a water skin to take a deep drink from it.
"I agree," she said with a gasp. "I'm almost at my limit. I wanted to put on a brave face as the leader, but I can't keep it up any longer."
Kefira bent over to mimic the stance of Sten and his friends. She hadn't been paying attention to how quick the pace was that Reivyn had set. Her Bloodline and Achievements ensured that her Physical Stats were higher even than a typical Martial Class at her Level. Three hours wasn't particularly long for an extended hike, but she usually set the pace and allowed for a break every hour.
Kefira noticed Reivyn glance at her, and she could see a small smirk on his face. Is he making fun of me, or did he notice something? She thought. She Sensed her Skills, but she didn't notice the telltale pull from her Acting Skill that she had grown to recognize when she succeeded at fooling someone. He definitely noticed that I'm not actually in need of a break.
Kefira didn't know if she was happy or worried about each of the new revelations regarding her new Party member. It was a novel experience to be completely unaware of someone around her own age range.
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Reivyn chuckled to himself as he watched the antics of the short girl he had run into. She had declared herself the leader of the Party, and everyone listened to her words, but he could tell that she and her female friend were one group and Sten and the others were another. Reminds me of teaming up my Party with Melissa over a year ago.
Reivyn didn't know anything, beyond the conversation of silk he had overheard, for why she and her Party were down here, but he could tell that this Fira was clearly on a Life Experience quest, grouping up with Sten, Dowell, and Cinna for convenience. She hadn't been completely forthright in whatever she had told Sten about herself. He didn't know if there was any future for their acquaintance, so he wouldn't pry or expose her.
"Do none of you have the March or Forced March Skills?" Reivyn asked, surprised.
"We're Adventurers, not soldiers," Sten retorted.
"So am I, and yet, I have the Forced March Skill. If you get it and Level it up enough, it will help out with your endurance even if you're not actually Marching."
That wasn't entirely false, but it wasn't the whole picture. Reivyn had almost ten thousand Stamina, and walking at a quick pace meant that he recovered just as quickly as he spent his Stamina, as long as he had enough food and water.
"Though, to be completely transparent, I did serve in a Lord's Retinue at one point."
"See, there ya go," Sten said, standing up straight after finally catching his breath.
"Still, maybe you guys should work on it while we're down here. Nothing else to do, might as well work on some useful Skills."
Reivyn noticed Fira nod her head in agreement. Serilla's face remained impassive, but he could tell that she was watching him.
She hasn't taken her focus off of me for more than thirty seconds total in the past three hours, Reivyn mused. She sure takes protecting her little sister seriously. Though the term "sister" might just be one of endearment. They look nothing alike.
Fira was short with long, auburn hair and clear ruby eyes. They weren't a sinister red, but instead, they were like two gemstones. Reivyn had never seen such an intriguing eye color before, and he found himself wanting to look at them over and over again. She only came up to Reivyn's chest, but he didn't know if that was saying much considering that even Sten only came up to his chin.
Serilla, on the other hand, was as tall as Sten with emerald green jewels for eyes. Her facial features, while pretty, were nothing in comparison to Fira.
If there's one thing that could convince me they're actually related, it's the nature of their eye color, Reivyn thought to himself. Even though they're different colors, they're both like gemstones, and that's definitely unique. I can't tell what hair color Serilla has, as she's been wearing a helmet this whole time.
"We ready to go?" Reivyn asked.
"Give me a few more minutes," Fira answered. Reivyn looked at her and found himself captivated by her eyes once more. He wrenched his gaze away and gave a nod.
"You three should do what Reivyn suggested," Fira called out to Sten.
"What? Work on Marching?" Fira nodded. Sten just shrugged and turned back to Reivyn. "So what do we do?"
"It's very simple, actually," Reivyn replied. "You just have to walk in step with each other for an extended period of time until you unlock the Skill. Once you do, you need to keep at it until you get it to Level 15 or so, and then we can push past your limits while Marching, and that will eventually unlock the Forced March Skill.
"Are you and Sera going to unlock the Skills, too?" He turned to the two girls.
"Hmph, don't look down on us," Fira replied, smugly. "We already have both Skills."
"Then you can help Sten and his friends unlock it while I lead the way."
"Well, that..." Fira glanced back and forth between Reivyn and Sten.
"It's decided," Reivyn turned and walked off again. He could sense the small girl stamp her feet through this Spatial Awareness Skill. He snorted in amusement, unusually pleased with himself.
I don't know why I did that, Reivyn thought as he walked away. Eh, it was fun, though.
The Party resumed their March back toward the Lizaldon town. Reivyn handled each small group of ambushing feral lizards with ease, hardly slowing his steps, but he remembered to occasionally stop to allow Sten, Dowell, and Cinna a break.
There were occasionally situations where more than three feral lizard people ambushed the Party. Having more than one person seemed to bring larger groups than what Reivyn had encountered while completely alone. Sometimes more groups would attack the rear area while Reivyn was engaged with a couple in the front.
He was finally able to actually witness the prowess of the Party he had involved himself with.
Fira never did anything other than encourage the others and direct the action, though he could feel the powerful Mana within her body ready to explode out at any time. Sten, Dowell, and Cinna were competent combatants. That was the extent of praise that Reivyn could extend to the trio.
Sera, on the other hand, was impressive. It wasn't just that her Stats and Skills were miles above the other three young men. Reivyn could tell, gauging with his own Expert ability, that she was concealing her true abilities from the three boys, and yet she still managed to make her fights look easy.
It was a fine line to simultaneously look like one was easily handling every situation thrown at them and not overpower the enemies. Each one of her strikes was placed in the exact perfect position, be that whether to parry or kill the target or to display a lower level of competency. She couldn't fool Reivyn, though, as he could also do the same thing if he wanted to.
If I had to guess, she's on the threshold of Expert level, if not already there.
Reivyn couldn't tell how impressive that was for a Tier 3 Region for her age, as he had no experience with it, and the other three fighters were able to fight off low Tier 3 feral lizards without much undue stress. Reivyn had known that the feral lizards were definitely much stronger than goblins and orcs, but he hadn't taken into consideration the fact that they were the nuisance monster equivalent to goblins. It made sense to him in that context, though.
There's probably a half-step monster up above them, like orcs in the Tier 1 Region. Probably something like low to mid-Tier 3, but with the ability to actually think and plan, if not exactly sapience.
The journey back to the lizard town took exactly as long as Reivyn had predicted. The three young men were able to unlock the March Skill quite easily, but they didn't have it long enough or high enough to begin working on Forced March. He could see some subtle improvements in their fighting capabilities as they journeyed, as well, and it was surprisingly due to Fira pointing things out to them while directing the combat.
Sera pretty much did her own thing while sticking to Fira. Reivyn noticed that she hovered around her "sister" quite closely any time he got anywhere near. He just chuckled at her over-protectiveness.
The Party Marched in front of the Lizaldon town, upright and without hiding. Reivyn fell back once the town was spotted and let Fira once more take the lead. She marched right up to the sentries at the gate, pulled out an object, activated it with her Mana, and then let it hang from her waist as she spoke to them. Reivyn could Sense the Mana spring forth and form a sort of barrier between the groups of humans and Lizaldons.
"Greetings, honorable Lizaldons," she said. "My friends and I have journeyed from afar to meet with your people and do trade."
The Lizaldon sentries looked at each other before squeaking out a reply. A sound, similar to the tone of the Lizaldons' voice, appeared from the Mana barrier, translating the squeaks into Haman.
"We greet the humans who have come to trade. You will wait here while we send for an Elder."
Fira nodded her head and motioned toward Reivyn and the rest of the Party to get comfortable while they waited. It didn't take long for another, more stately-looking Lizaldon to appear. Instead of wearing the same armor as the sentries, this one was wearing an elaborately dyed silk robe. He ascended the palisade to address the Party of humans from above. The deeper squeaks penetrated the Mana translation barrier and turned into Haman speech that the Party could understand.
"It has been a long time since human guests have graced our town," the Lizaldon emphasized the word guest. "We gladly extend our hospitality to anyone who comes in good faith."
I feel like he's targeting me, Reivyn grimaced. Fira seemed to pick up on it as well, and she glanced back at Reivyn before returning her attention back to the Elder.
"You all may enter our home, but that one," he pointed at Reivyn, "must remain outside."
Reivyn held his hands up in front of himself.
"A misunderstanding," he pleaded. "It was a misunderstanding."