The party, sans me of course, had all gathered together in the lounge to digest the information that the instructors had shared with them and to put together their plan for at least the next few months. The focus of the tutorial would shift away from the academic model that was used for the first twenty two weeks toward practical skills and their applications. With the general introduction completed, the team would begin preparing for the ordeals that would allow them to upgrade their classes. They would work with the instructors on an individual basis and train as a group to build the skills and capabilities necessary to complete the ordeals.
Once they completed their class upgrades, they would work to master the enhanced classes and skills with the goal of taking on the final challenge to the tutorial. They would be given a location in the taiga to reach and a mission to accomplish while there. There would be a significant amount of combat, typically including an alpha monster or monsters. Successful completion of the objectives would be rewarded. There would be instructor observers, but the instructors were required not to intervene unless lives were on the line and if they did so the team would forfeit their rewards.
The party was free to organize themselves how they liked to complete these objectives. Folks could break away into smaller groups and appropriate replacements could be sourced to facilitate full parties if desired. Apparently the rewards were increased for smaller party sizes completing the tutorial, so there were some that felt that it made sense to break into smaller groups. But they were all friends and had agreed to work together to find a solution that met everyone’s needs. Evenso, it was a contentious discussion.
As a diligent tutorial non-participant I was not included, which was fine with me. I had completed my own ordeal, if not a formal one, and based on my conversations with the wild elves I was confident that my experience at Ghostlight Falls would meet any upgrade requirements for my class. I was skeptical overall about the final challenge of the tutorial. I was skeptical that the rewards for the challenge would really be valuable enough to me to be worth the hassle at this point. I was skeptical that I could even get the rewards for completing the final tutorial objective in my situation. I was also skeptical about the whole tutorial process given how weak everyone had seemed to me at Queakers’ celebration. I didn’t have a specific skill to gauge the strength of another awakened person, but I definitely didn’t get a credible threat feeling from any of them.
My not being there also really helped avoid the awkwardness when Erin and Karl made severing me from the party agenda item numero uno. “He just hasn’t been a part of the process,” said Karl. “Since he hasn’t shared this experience with us, I just don’t think that it makes sense to continue on with him in the party. Better to start fresh with someone that can really help us succeed.”
Jim calmly replied, “But Karl, no replacement that we could get will have shared more of the process with us than Harris. We know Harris. We have known him for years and I think that he makes our team stronger. Also, I was talking with Leirin and Tanyl at the party and Harris has proven himself an accomplished magic artificer. I also asked them about Caeda for a point of reference and Tanyl just laughed in my face.”
“Well sure his friends are going to say that, Jim, but what evidence do we really have,” Snarked Erin.
“I thought we were his friends,” Sarah replied sweetly, but with a slight edge to her voice.
Karen could sense the tension rising and tried to bring the conversation back to more productive territory. “I think that we are a well balanced team. We all compliment each other, Harris included in my opinion. I don’t think that we should focus on any one team member. I think that we should focus on how we want to approach the remainder of the tutorial and work our way toward specifics. My vote is to keep the team together with no changes. We are all good friends and there is no reason for us to split up. We are more than capable of carrying each other through these challenges.”
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Spoken from the heart. Karen was a true leader and a true friend. She would do whatever she could to see everyone through this experience. My friends’ lives in Region Eleven hadn’t been all that difficult or traumatic yet. They were experiencing a new world, one that was harsher in some ways than the world that they were used to, but thus far there weren’t any death matches or murder hobos or goblin raids to really force the issue. Even I had been in considerably less danger than just about everyone I read about in progression fantasies and lit RPGs in the past.
I think that, unfortunately, the orderly progression of the experience thus far and its relative lack of struggle had warped the perspectives of some of the team. Erin and Karl had a very inflated impression of their abilities and their contributions to the team. Since he was their brother, they also expected to carry Lando to their side. As the team’s only Warrior, Lando would be a lynchpin team member for any party.
Karl and Erin were currently fighters and although they were planning on pursuing the bard and ranger paths respectively, aside from Jim they were likely the best to assume roles as alternative tanks. Queakers was a bit of a wildcard, but the old world wasn’t so far gone that the team was looking to line up behind a bichon frise when lives were on the line. A foolish prejudice at this point, but I suppose none of us knew what we didn’t know.
If the group split up, Karl and Erin would most certainly look to pickup Sarah and Lando would look to pick up Kelly if history was any guide. It seemed like Lyle was leaning toward Karl and Erin’s position. If Sarah and Kelly were interested in a type of a split, that would leave Jim, Karen, Queakers and me in a party. That would actually be a very versatile and resilient party. I wasn’t really a crafter, I was a tactician and I could have worked with that party. I would have also been able to shore up any missing heavy damage and heavy damage mitigation with a few well designed devices, but it didn’t end up mattering.
This wasn’t a fight about individual people or what would work best, even if it sounded like it on the surface. This was a fight about who could be controlled and manipulated. There were others leading this charge from the shadows with their own plans and motivations. We were just pawns that had been dragged into a world that we didn’t fully understand. We had all the vulnerabilities that such situations create and just ourselves for support. In that respect I was a pretty poor friend, because I wasn’t around to provide any support and I liked it that way. I know that it was selfish, but I sometimes have trouble with that sort of thing.
***
Ruven entered Phraan’s quarters with a perfunctory knock. He sat across from Phraan and Elen at a small table in Phraan’s quarters and poured himself some of the well aged elven wine from the decanter on the table. “So how did we fare?” Ruven asked.
Phrann responded, “Exactly as expected. They have strong bonds, but are utterly predictable.”
Ruven smiled, which was a disturbing expression on his severe face. “It sounds like one for each of us then. We’ll have to enlist additional help from Ayre to make any use of Karl, but I think that we can do that for the right price without having to bring her into it.”
Elen sneered, “This party is truly pitiful and we’ll need to make some adjustments. Once the other races get to town we’ll need to find a ringer to boost the team. We’ll also need to find someone to discreetly eliminate that dog and, I think, the red mage as well. Both are too willful to be of any use and that little red mage is a distraction for the rest. I am sure Amrynn could take care of it, but that would raise too many questions. Better to get someone from outside with no ties to us.”
“Agreed,” said Phraan. “This has all gone rather smoothly thus far and I think that if we take a few troublesome pieces off the board we should have no trouble. What of the magic artificer and the thief? Is it prudent to leave them to their own devices?”
“I hardly think that those two are worth worrying about, said Elen. “Too many accidents may draw the wrong kind of suspicion and why take the penalty to the tutorial quest for more student losses. That thief really only has one skill and it isn’t that impressive. And what can that ‘crafter’ do alone with no training or resources?”
The three continued to plan and plot for the better part of the hour, oblivious to another presence in the room listening to all that they shared. In their arrogance they had failed to take basic precautions, allowing an invisible Aquilan to slip in before their chat and out now through the open window without anyone the wiser. He knew Leirin would want to hear about this straight away.