Shaun walked through the school in a daze. He had managed to complete the dungeon, although it was slightly more difficult than he thought it would be. The fight against the Wyrm was not easy and it took much longer than he had intended. He hadn’t been hurt in any of the fights but he did need to tap into his Death affinity more than he ever had before which left a sour feeling in his mouth.
He was falling into a trap of relying on the affinity more than he should. If he wasn’t careful he would neglect his skills in the D grade and just abuse a power he hadn’t earned himself. Still he had done what he wanted and confirmed a theory, the Wyrm was a different element again, this time it was a poison type and it radiated an aura that immediately started sapping at his health at an incredible rate. He got the loot though, that was what mattered.
As he left the dungeon he knew this would be the last time he ever walked the halls and after his crafting session and the dungeon run he found himself starving so went in search of someone to cook for him. His cooking ability, although not bad, wasn’t great and he wanted some good food.
The thing that made him realise that he had been out of it for a while was that the school had been fully moved, the halls, although nowhere near full, did have people in them. The most populated areas he found were the training areas, classrooms and crafting areas. It was closing in on the middle of the day though from the look of the sky and he hoped the dining hall was also up and running.
When he did make it to the dining hall it was mostly empty outside of the kitchens. Those as usual were full of cooks and chefs, all working hard at making what he hoped was lunch. He walked around and into the kitchen and he got a few looks from those within but they effectively ignored him and concentrated on their tasks. “Is there any chance I can get something to eat?” He didn’t address anyone in particular but spoke to the entire kitchen staff.
“Lunch is in 30 minutes, you wait like everyone else.” The woman that spoke didn’t even look up from her pots and pans, simply said the line as if she had said it 100 times before.
“Right…..And who would I talk to about supplying some monster meat from D grade monsters?” That caused some commotion, people dropped spoons and the woman who had addressed him nearly dropped a pan she was using.
“I don’t appreciate…..” She froze up when she looked at him, obviously she recognised who he was and she turned ashen. “I am so sorry sir. We will get you something to eat immediately, the best we have.” She gave several of her cooks a hurried look and they scrambled, dropping what they were doing in favour of cooking for him.
“I can wait, I have time. I need to speak to some of the students anyway. But about that meat? I am guessing you could make some great meals with it?” He took out some samples of all the meat he had gathered in the dungeon and placed it on a clear place on the counter.
She walked right up to it, effectively forgetting about him. “Its exquisite! I haven’t seen anything like it before. I can feel the potential of it radiating out from the meat. Especially this! Wyrm meat, oh my.” Pulling herself together she took a few steps back from him. “It would be my honour to cook with this meat, but I am afraid my skills may not be up to the task of fully bringing out the benefits of such meat.”
“That’s fine, I have plenty of it. Whatever you do will be a hell of a lot better than what I manage. Should I just empty out what I have for you?” She gave him a small hesitant nod and when she did he just dumped out most of what he had. Given the size of the Wyrm he killed there was enough meat to feed everyone in the school several times over, not to mention all of the other meat he had.
“So much, this will feed you for many years to come. We shall store it until you request meals sir.”
“What? No, don’t do that. Feed everyone with it. Its not for me, use it to cook a great meal for the entire school.” The idea that it would be kept for him was crazy, if they did they would never use it.
“Are you sure? Meat like this isn’t even available to purchase in the stores. If it was it would be worth its weight in gold! You want me to give it to everyone?” The chef looked about ready to faint.
“Yeah, have fun with it. I will wait outside for lunch.”
He left the kitchen quickly after that, they scrambled to store the meat and then reorganise themselves. He took a seat at one of the tables in the corner and waited until it was time for lunch to be served.
It didn’t take long for people to start flowing into the dinning room, he didn’t recognise anyone and waited patiently until he saw Eli walk in. He waved him over and he came bounding over to where Shaun sat. Everyone was giving him ample room, not wanting to get to close, so Eli had no issues taking a seat across from him.
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“You’re a ghost, you know that. You just disappear for weeks on end and then appear out of thin air.”
“That…..is true enough. How is it with the school here? You like it more than the old one?”
“Are you kidding! This place is the best! The dungeons are all close by, the views are so good and the rooms are so much better. I am even getting a better handle on my affinity, so is the rest of my team too!”
“I wanted to talk to you about that. I have some….”
“Sir, we prepared a special meal for you.” The chef had come out with a plate for him, specially made with a piece of Wyrm meat and sides. “It was my first attempt and I am afraid it is not my best work. Any feedback you have will be appreciated and I will continue to work harder.” She gave a slight bow before leaving him to it.
“I am going to go grab food too, be back.” Eli jumped up and went to get his own lunch. While he did he dug into the Wyrm meat.
He had no idea what the chef was talking about, the food was incredible and he devoured it so quickly that it was already half gone before Eli got back.
“That good huh?” He didn’t reply, just gave a small nod and continued eating. “Can I try some?”
He considered for a moment before cutting off a small piece of the meat and giving it to Eli, who put it in his mouth before it even had a chance to sit on his plate.
“Holy shit! Can I have more?”
“Mine.”
“Fine. What kind of meat is it anyway? We never get anything like it.”
“I will tell you later. I need you and your team to come with me for a bit anyway and I will explain.”
Shaun had finished his meal by the time the rest of Eli’s team had joined them in the hall. He didn’t rush them to finish, he spent the time observing them though. Eli wasn’t the only one that had a weird offshoot of his advanced affinity, the spear wielder also had an electric based one but thankfully the others seemed to be mostly normal. The rogue had something to do with nature, the archer air and the mage something to do with water. It could have been worse, could have bene better though.
When they finished eating he gathered them to follow him to one of the crafting rooms for the school. There wasn’t much crafting left for him to do and mostly it was to give them some items he crafted. He didn’t know many of them well but as they were with Eli and he had no one better to give things to he figured that they were better than just making things for no reason.
When they got to the crafting room there was a few people lingering, a teacher and a few students but he ignored them for the most part.
“To start, Eli. Put these on.” He took out a set of leather armour much like his own but of a pale blue. He had made these from the Wyrm leather and boosted them with the core. He had lined them all with his runes and even upped the power using his own ice affinity.
He had even taken into account his growth and changed up some of the runes to give them a good amount of expansion using excess material. The moment he took them out of his inventory they let out a chilling aura that was felt by everyone else in the room. Eli for his part didn’t feel it thanks to his affinity and he quickly took them and ducked into a side room to change.
“You know, I started out as a rogue. I would have killed for this before I changed out of that line of class.” He handed the armour he made out of the shadow material and darkness cores to the elven rogue and shoed her to go put it on as well.
It took a few minutes before they came back out, now fully dressed in their new armour and he was happy to say they looked perfect.
“Are these seriously for us? They are epic grade you know.” Eli wouldn’t stop feeling the armour but he had to admit it suited him.
“I am aware, I did make them. And yes, I made them for you. They are yours. I also have some weapon upgrades for you all.”
He had been busy crafting and used a lot of his materials in the items he made, it had been worth it though. First he handed Eli two swords, one was attuned to ice, unable to get it to a weakened version to match Eli’s affinity. The other wasn’t aspected to any affinity but filled to the brim with reinforcements and spells. Both blades were epic. The rogue got a few daggers which he was able to aspect to darkness using some cores. The spear and shield warrior got a electric aspected spear which he had used a mix of the cores and his own lightning for, thankfully a good match for his affinity. He also got a shield that contained the barrier spell.
The archer got arrows made from harpy feathers and the epic grade wood he got from the resource crystal, all spelled to return to a quiver he had made. Lastly he gave the mage a spelled wand made of a mix of wood and metal and containing a few gems, all apected to different elements and capable of holding mana.
“We don’t deserve these.” The elven rogue hung her head as she spoke, her name was Ferion, which he only knew by identifying her.
“Sure you do. I made them for you so you deserve them.”
“But we left. We didn’t even stay in the event. We all abandoned you after doing so much for us.” He didn’t get where this was coming form but when he looked at the entire group they seemed to share the feeling.
“Are you kidding? If I could have left that event I would of. It sucked. Sure winning got us some cool things but honestly if I could have left with you I would have. Don’t let it weigh you down, this new life is all about doing what you want and having some fun while you do it. Leaving the event was the best thing for all of you, don’t regret that choice, it shows you know what you want and aren’t scared to do it.”
“If you really want us to have these, than we shall cherish them, always.” Ferion bowed her head at him as did the other elf.
“Please don’t do that. Use them until you out grow them. You don’t even know if they will be any good for you yet. Go to a dungeon, have some fun and test them out. Just don’t die.” Everyone did as he asked except Eli who stayed behind and gave him a sad look.
“You are planning on leaving, aren’t you?” Eli looked away from him before he could answer. “You are going to abandon us, even though you said you wouldn’t.”
Hearing how broken Eli sounded at saying that hurt. It was time to say a real goodbye.