“So, can you make something out of it yet?” Jason asked.
“No, idea,” Brent said and stuffed some more goop in his mouth. “Hold, on. I think— No.”
Meanwhile, Micah was alternating between squinting at his own sample really hard and taking short sniffs of it. He glanced at Brent, who was still eating his, leaned down, and licked it.
Ryan averted his eyes.
He was glad the two of them had new ingredients to experiment with, but that didn’t mean he had to watch too closely.
They’d settled in a former Kobold camp Jason had found when he’d run off on his own, not far from the slime’s cavern. They had a cook fire going, their armors off, and were lounging in exhaustion after the long day in the blistering heat as they maintained their equipment. Or what was left of it, at least.
Ryan used a knife to file down his shield where he could. The missing pieces of Micah’s chainmail armor lay in a pile next to him.
“Ew, it’s warm,” he said. “Spoon? Spoon? Brent do you— Oh, Alex. Can you scoop me out a small portion? I want to try something. And hey, how did you do that earlier anyway? I had no idea shaping spells could affect slimes.”
The guy pushed himself up and trudged over. “I actually didn’t know either, before. I’d only heard of it because of Saga.”
“Oh, right.”
Ryan was surprised they knew about that. Saga had also only survived her encounter with a giant slime because she’d managed to use [Shape Fluid] on it, she'd told him. But if she had told them as well, that was great. He kind of loved that sharing something like that could help others.
Besides, he was glad they were getting along. The others made faces or smiled as Brent and he made idiots of themselves.
“Smaller scoop. Smaller— Oh, wait, let me get some water.”
“I can’t hold this forever, Micah.”
The general consensus seemed to be that Micah had screwed up, but also that he had put in his all to make it right again. It showed in his bruises, missing gloves, and broken armor. But most of all in his exhaustion. After the fight, he’d barely been able to help them with the clean-up, let alone with the fight on their way out. He’d needed help to climb out of the room.
It was times like these that Ryan remembered how much effort Micah had to put in to keep up with them. He got the feeling the others had as well.
But while he had put in a lot of effort to make it right, they just weren’t sure if it was enough.
It depended largely on the value of the slime, but would the loot they had gotten from the fight be enough to cover their losses from the crash? Or what they would have gotten had there been no crash?
Would the information on the slime, its room, and loot be worth the points they would get deducted for that mess of a fight? Especially if they had stumbled upon it without making any mistakes in the first place?
Ryan didn’t know what the others thought, but he sensed their hesitation. They barely knew each other and Micah was naturally a polarizing person, so this was a best-case scenario, he supposed.
They’d bent the rules. As long as everything had gone fine, it wouldn’t have been a problem. Now, they would have to pay the price. Some more than others. Why couldn’t he have just let go of the stupid cart?
He sighed and looked up. He wondered if it even mattered. Exams, grades, rules, loot, what the others thought—what did he care?
He’d had fun today, minus the accident. He’d gotten to fight true Salamanders, see a rare blue one, run after the minecart in the mines and coordinate, ride a speeding one down a dark tunnel while monsters dodged out of his way, the wind whipped past his face, and his heart thumped in anticipation as the light at the end of the tunnel got closer and bigger and brighter until—
He smiled just thinking about it. He would love to do things like that more often; just let loose.
You’re the coolest person I know.
His smile slipped. What did that mean when he was thinking about wanting to change? Would he not be cool anymore?
Of course, not.
Yeah, no, Ryan had known that, but—
He shook his head. No ‘but’. Connor— They could all go screw themselves. He wanted to feel like this more often. But even if he knew that, he didn’t know if he could pull through.
Micah needed to do well. And he and the others all wanted a good grade and great loot. Ryan did, too. He just didn’t know why he had to be the one to make it happen. Micah had done a great job of motivating the others today. Why did he have to be the stickler for doing things right?
And what even was the way of doing things right? What his instructors had taught him? What would get him the best grade? What would make his parents proud? What would make his sister smile, someday?
Ryan wasn’t an idiot. He knew he would never be a [Knight]. If only because the Class was something of history and stories, now.
[Fighter], [Scout], maybe [Ranger], was that good enough? Did he enjoy this? What would he be doing instead if not this? Did he care? Or was it a question of how much he cared and how he cared?
If so, how much and how exactly was he supposed to care about that stupid pile of broken metal? The pieces of chainmail they had collected after the fight? And why the hell hadn’t there been a treasure chest?
He could have sworn the room was something special. He couldn’t get the image of ichor slowly staining tan cloth around the puncture wound out of his head, but he had to be imagining it because none of them had spotted a golden light. That Kobold had just been a Kobold … right?
Micah yawned and stretched his back, making his shirt ride up. A scar ran around his waist and a salve-covered bruise covered his rib. The others told Brent to stop stuffing his face with dead slime goop and hurry it up.
“That’s our loot you’re eating,” Kyle said. “And I earned most it—What? I did. I threw all the stones at that thing. I was the only one really doing damage. Yeah, yeah, not damage. You know what I mean, dipshit.”
The others were still horsing around in good fun. Ryan was the only one sitting on his own. He was probably working himself up over nothing again. And he knew why. He hated having nothing to do. It gave him far too much time to think.
So he did what he always did when he needed to get rid of unwelcome thoughts: He shoved them deep down, shifted his legs, took a deep breath, and tried to meditate.
He didn’t get far by the time food was ready, but at least he got to enjoy the familiar peace of mind.
Dinner was the same as last lunch, and breakfast, and yesterday’s dinner, and what they had eaten before every other big fight: Fried Teacup Salamander with whatever sides Brent had, minus the fruit because they were out. They should have taken more provisions with them, even if it only was three days.
Still, he dug in and savored the flavor. Even if Brent could only make one thing, he was damn good at it. Ryan knew he wouldn’t be able to look at the meat for ages once they got out of here so he had his fill.
[Skill — Lesser Fire Resistance obtained!]
That was also a bonus. He spotted the other guys shift or react as they got the Skill. Micah was squinting at him. And only half of it was from exhaustion this time.
Ryan frowned back. What?
“Cannibal.”
“Huh?” He glanced down, noticed what he meant, and ripped another chunk off with a shrug.
Micah gave him a tired smile. He would get last shift, if only because the others didn’t trust him to stay awake long enough. Not without wasting any more valuable stamina potion, at least.
“Oh!” The guy suddenly shot upright. “Before I forget again, how the hell do you do that with your arrows, Alex?”
“Hm? Oh, you see, I just knock the arrow, pull the string back, aim and—” He laughed when Micah shoved him.
“Not that. You know what I mean.”
“I’m not sure I do?”
“The shimmering.”
“Oh, that. [Protection]. I can only cast it well enough to cover my arrows, though. The spell is pretty expensive. I prefer [Lesser Ward].”
“You have it as a Skill?”
“Yeah.”
“Why didn’t you say so? And why isn’t it on your paper?”
Yeah, Ryan thought with a frown. He got the feeling that should be illegal … or something.
He shrugged. “Tradition? I’ve always been told you should share the most important things but keep a few tricks up your sleeve. Basically, the exact opposite of what our good friend Kyle over there does.”
“Screw you.”
“So you’re still not going to tell us which Class you have, huh?”
“What do you think?”
“Fair enough. [Basic Dendrology], [Lesser Weather Resistance], [Power Strike], I can imagine what it is.”
Micah smiled and hid another yawn. After eating, he sank down against his pack and looked over with heavy eyelids. His voice was quiet when he asked, “Why do you always wear a glove anyway?”
“Because it feels better when I touch myself at night,” Kyle grumbled and some of the others chuckled.
Micah rolled his eyes and closed them. It looked like he was fast asleep in a moment, even if it would take a while before he actually got there. He’d forgotten to brush his teeth, too.
“You shouldn’t do that,” Ryan mumbled.
Kyle frowned and glanced over, unsure if he'd meant him. And if he had, if he'd said what he thought he’d said?
“At night,” Ryan clarified. He had meant him. “That’s when the Tower watches you.”
His face went from confusion, to utter bewilderment, to amusement in a second. “Are you stupid?” he asked. The question sounded genuine. “Did your mommy and daddy tell you that or what?”
Ryan scowled and got up. Why did he even bother? He grabbed his spear, headed over to where Alex was, and asked, “Do you have a moment?”
“For what?”
“Backtracking. There’s something I want to check out.”
“Uh, sure, let me just get my stuff.”
“Hey,” Kyle said to his back, “don’t run away. Answer the damn question! I thought you were supposed to be the mature one?”
Ryan ignored him. In a quieter voice, he heard the guy ask after he’d left, “Are you actually the mature one?”
He must have meant Micah. There was no response. Ryan hoped that meant he was asleep already.
They headed past Jason, who was keeping watch, and back the way to the slime’s room with the bare minimum of equipment. Alex strung his bow as he asked, “So what did you want to check out?”
“I, uh, wanted to look for a treasure chest.”
He stopped walking and gave him a look. “Ryan. We searched. There is no treasure chest.”
“We did,” Ryan agreed, “but we were all exhausted and distracted by our wounds and those stupid Kobolds. And the leftover smoke. I thought it might help to look at it with a fresh perspective?”
“A fresh perspective. Yeah, because you aren’t exhausted anymore. Usually, you get a fresh perspective from another set of eyes. Or by giving it some time.” He put a hand on his shoulder and tried to pull him back. “We can look again tomorrow morning, okay?”
Ryan knocked it off. “I don’t want to bother the others. They’ll be impatient to get something done tomorrow, so it has to be now. And besides, I’m going one way or another, so if you don’t follow, I’m leaving you here and we’ll be split up.”
He took another few steps back to prove his point.
Alex made a face. “So? Then I’ll just go. ‘Turn it around on you. You’ll have to follow me back.”
Ryan grinned and shook his head. “See, I don’t think I would. I’ve already ridden a minecart down a tunnel like a lunatic. I’ve already run off on my own and broken the rules. But you?” He stepped closer and Alex began to fidget. “You don’t like to break any rules, do you?”
Wealthy, cool, handsome Alex wouldn’t quite meet his eyes. “I’ve broken plenty of rules,” he said.
“Sure, you have,” Ryan said and nudged his shoulder. “C’mon.” He turned around and headed the other way without looking back. After a second, Alex grumbled and followed him.
They climbed down into the slime’s room and looked around. It was deserted now, except for a single centipede crawling around on a pile of rocks.
They killed it and began to search. Or rather, Ryan searched while Alex leaned against a pillar and kept an eye on the exits, tilting his head back to make his neck stand out while looking bored.
“Hey, Ryan?” he asked after a few minutes. “Have you found anything yet?”
Ryan shifted a pile of rocks away, dusted off the floor, and inspected the stone there. “No.”
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
After a few more minutes, he asked, “Hey, Ryan. Found anything yet?”
He walked a circle around the walls and rapped on them to listen for any hollow spaces. [Enhanced Senses] would have helped, had there been any. There weren’t.
“No, not yet.”
“Hey, Ryan—”
“Not yet,” he said in exasperation.
“No, I was just going to say if you want a fresh perspective, we missed one.” He pointed up. A single, barely glowing blue blob hung there high on one of the pillars by a small crack.
Oh.
Ryan considered for a moment, pulled his armor up to measure his belt, and asked, “You got another belt for me?”
“I’ve got rope?” he offered, holding it up from inside his quiver.
That would do.
Ryan looped it around the pillar a few times and began to climb, whipping the lashes higher with every other step. The masonry was smoother here than everywhere else on the floor—still not perfect, but he had to dig his fingers in and let his Skill nudge him along to get up there.
At the top, he slapped the goop until it fell and Alex scrambled to catch it. It almost hit him in the face. Ryan winced, disappointed.
Almost.
“And?” Alex called up. “See anything?”
He sighed and looked around. He could see almost the entire room from here and searched the other pillars for any hidden recesses, but didn’t find anything. The walls were bare, too.
“No, I meant, look down!”
“I’m not afraid of heights,” Ryan told him.
“Really—”
Ryan looked down.
“Oh.”
All he could see was the almost paved floor and a lot more of nothing. Cracks ran through it almost like grooves and—
He frowned and leaned a little to the side. He almost lost his balance and scrambled to pull the ropes taut to keep himself steady. One of the loops slipped, but that was why he had three.
“Hey!” Alex shouted. “Be careful. I don’t want you to actually fall.”
Shut up for a moment, Ryan thought and leaned from side to side as he tried to get a different look at the ground. Images came to mind that he had seen in manuals when looking for spells to study. The cracks in the ground really did look almost like the grooves: for the ritual circle of a spell.
He checked to be sure, but there was a pattern there. Licking flames around the edges twisted into a circle made of overlapping crude lines. Would a [Mage] have noticed that right away?
More importantly—
He had freaking known there was more to this room after all! Had that Kobold actually been important? Would it have done something if he hadn’t killed it right there at the very beginning?
A ritual circle. Ryan still wasn’t entirely sure—he was an amateur at best and had only seen a few pictures—but if it was a one, then the question he should be asking was what was it for, right?
No.
How did he use it?
“Alex!” he called down. “We’re going to need paper. Do you have some of that with you, too?”
“Huh? Why?”
“I think I found something.”
He climbed down and showed him. Then Alex ran his fingers along the cracks and lay down to see it from the side. It was hardly noticeable just walking around the chamber, but it was there.
“Wow. Nice catch.”
“Told you so,” Ryan said.
“You two really like rubbing it in other people’s faces, don’t you?”
“You would have noticed it yourself,” Ryan told him. “You’re just too stiff.”
Alex looked up with a weirdly sober expression on his face. “You’re right. Thanks for telling me.”
“Uh …”
“Now, help me find the starting point.”
“Uh,” Ryan repeated and glanced around. “How …?”
“Mana. Feel around with it. The start is most often at one of the ends, in an overlapping field, or in the center.”
Ryan didn’t want to bumble around like an idiot for a while, so he headed straight for the center.
What exactly was he supposed to be doing?
He ran his hands along the cracks and tried to pour some mana into them like a magic item, but nothing happened. Did he have to pour in more or push it deeper? Fill the entire circle? He didn’t have enough mana for that … or reach. Did anyone have that much reach over their spells?
He supposed a high-level [Mage] might, but he was limited to the normal few inches from himself. He frowned and knelt down next to the center. With closed eyes, he just let his mana pour and seep into the stone. What was he looking for? What did Alex expect him to find?
After a moment, he switched to fire mana to save costs. A spark went missing like a kid who abandoned the classroom group to stare at something else and Ryan ran the rest back to see what it was.
More and more of it went missing until he found an emptiness there, an opening to a container that was meant to be filled.
That, he could do.
He pushed as much as he could into the emptiness and a thin blue tendril rose from the ground next to him like a flower bud. It twisted a spiraling circle in the air that described the outline of a dome and—
A slime popped into existence. It was light blue.
Ryan scrambled back to get his spear. It was just the size of an alleyball, but there was no way he was letting it get away. He knew how much trouble it could be if it grew. But by the time he had leveled his spear at it, the slime still hadn’t moved.
Was it … waiting on him?
“Alex?”
“What?” he asked. Then, “What? What did you do?”
What did I do? I—
Ryan stared at the motionless blue slime. He felt like it was staring back at him. He opened his mouth, hesitated, and said, “Go away.”
The slime slowly wobbled backward. He still felt like it was glancing over its shoulder at him, though it had no face. It was just a featureless blue blob. But something about the tilt of its mass …
Alex almost stepped on it. He raised his leg up high and gave it a wide berth as he looked at Ryan.
“Wait,” Ryan called. It stopped. “Come back. Here. There. Go there.” He pointed right back at the center.
The slime went right back to the center.
He’d summoned it. But then …?
“Hold still,” Ryan said and put his spear aside. He held his fingers against its surface and felt the slightest resistance, like an alleyball that was deflated just a tiny bit. “And sorry if this hurts.”
He didn’t know why he was apologizing. He just thought of Lisa and the way they treated Sam.
Ryan flooded it with fire mana and cast [Create Fire].
The fire poured into it like water into water and dispersed. The slime slowly began to grow larger.
It wasn’t a monster at all. Not unmade, at least.
It’s literally a summon.
Ryan looked up. “Alex—”
“Already on it.” The guy had one hand flat against the stone and concentrated as he apparently felt his way down.
Ryan looked over his back and around to make sure the coast was clear. Somebody had to keep— He smiled, almost slapped his forehead, and leaned closer to the slime to say, “Keep watch.”
The tip of its dome shifted as it rotated to look out for any dangers, just like Sam tended to do.
Ha!
Alex let out a sigh and broke into a grin. “Found it," he said. "It’s definitely down there. We just have to get it out.”
They knew what to do. They got up and headed back, first at a quick walk, then a light jog, then a run. The small slime struggled to keep up and eventually fell behind, but that was fine. They could meet it on their way back.
Jason, you magnificent bastard, Ryan thought as he ran. The moment they spotted the guy at the entrance, he said, “We need your stupid pickaxe.”
“Here?”
“Here.” Alex pointed, patting the ground with his hand.
After he moved away, Ryan struck. The pickaxe rang in his hands and stone cracked. [Sure Grip] nudged his hands away, his fingers’ grip tighter, and he asked again, “Here?”
“Here. Loosen it up some more.”
“Clear?”
“Go for it.”
He struck again until the ground broke up and moved on to the next spot. They loosened it all around the center until Alex said, “Okay, we better switch to the hammer and chisel, now.”
They were known to be sturdy, but they still didn’t want to risk damaging their query, even if it meant harming more of the ritual circle around them. Neither of them knew what it did and they couldn't consult the others, but they had made a broad copy of the area around the center before they started.
Ryan was guessing it had something to do with how a Kobold could summon a monster in the first place. It wasn't like they had mana.
But it didn't really matter, did it? Ritual circles were like languages. Their meaning was assigned, not inherent. The copy was mostly just a formality.
Instead, they dug until they could safely reach what lay at the center, pulling up clumps of dirt and rocks and putting them aside. A small pile of stone with two hills formed behind them. His slime sat on one and kept watch for them.
Before long, they spotted the glimmer of something blue on a smooth, hard surface and redoubled their efforts. Ryan simply tore out the chunks and threw them aside, far into the room, and ignored when clumps of dirt broke in his hands and crumbled over his pants. He reached deeper until he pulled out a brilliant, fire blue crystal.
It was caked in clumps of dirt. He broke some off and spotted an anatomical engraving of a stomach inside, like the silver outline of a mold.
Its summoning crystal.
Alex only took one good look at it before he kept on digging for whatever else was below. The smooth, hard surface they had seen. And he dragged out what Ryan had been missing all this time: a treasure chest in the form of a strong box. They moved aside to make room for it, wiped off the lid, and opened it up. Inside, they found another pouch of marbles, a matching key for its lock, and a mana ring.
They smiled, and chuckled with labored breaths, and Alex told him, “Nice catch, [Scout].”
Maybe it was okay not to be bashful for once, or humble, or whatever else. Ryan had caught this, something that was most likely more valuable than anything else they had found before. He smiled back and said, “Thanks.”
The moment they returned with loot in hands, their bemused teammates jumped up in disbelief and started asking questions. Micah woke from all the ruckus and Jason and he immediately wanted to go mining.
“Dibs on the pickaxe!”
“Haha, what?" he laughed. "No, it’s my pickaxe.”
“Yeah, but I called it.”
“Nope, you wanted me to abandon it.”
“What? I would never—”
“Yeah, you did. I specifically remember you asking me how much it cost, I told you I wouldn’t abandon it, and you went, ‘Mm’. 'Mm,' like a perpetually disappointed father.”
“I do not recall.”
“My pickaxe. My rules. You can use the hammer and chisel.”
“Aw, but they suck.”
“Tomorrow,” Alex said when he stopped them from leaving. Because the two of them were tired just from digging a few feet through stone. They weren’t in any condition to go mining now. Not after everything else that had happened today.
So the two reluctantly sat back down and Micah abandoned his interest in the pickaxe in favor of poking the slime. He passed his commands on to Ryan to make it do stuff, like eat the remains of the fire, roll over, or try to reshape itself. It could stretch up as if it were puffing its chest out, and to the sides as if it were slouching, and make a miniature flap, but that was all.
Micah asked him with a smile, “Make it crawl up my arm?”
“Sure, but … Why?”
He waited until it crawled onto his hand before raising his arm and said, “I could use it as a shield.”
His friendly smile immediately looked a lot more ominous. Even a few of the others gave him weird looks.
“You what?”
“It eats fire, right?” he asked. “I could wear it on my arm, and when a Kobold throws a [Firebolt] at me or when we fight another true Salamander—” He motioned blocking with his hand. The slime swayed and almost fell. “And after it grows, I’ll throw it at the enemy and use the distraction to beat them up.”
Oh. That was a lot less ominous than what Ryan had been imagining—using it as a literal meat shield.
“You’re so weird,” Brent said.
“I’m ingenious. Slime shields. Why not?”
“No,” Ryan said. “Stop playing with the slime, Micah. Brush your teeth. Go to sleep. The sooner you do it, the sooner we can wake up tomorrow. We still have a day left for the exam, remember?”
“Yeah, but—” He watched it crawl higher for a moment and looked over. “Can I at least try summoning it once?”
Ryan hesitated. That meant he’d have to kill it, right? He was no [Summoner], so he didn’t have a Skill that would continue to feed it. Eventually, it should run out of mana and burst. He didn’t know how to banish it, though, or even why the crystal summoned it at a distance in the first place.
“Really?” Kyle asked. “You would want to summon a monster?” He sounded curious rather than accusatory, which in turn made Ryan curious.
Why did he care?
“Why not?” Micah asked him.
“You’re an [Alchemist]. What if you become a [Witch]?”
“Huh? Oh. Ohh …” Micah said and looked at the slime in understanding. [Witches] were many things, but mainly, they used familiars and made potions. He slowly set it back down and leaned back.
“I doubt he would get the Class just from summoning it once,” Alex said. “Not that there’s anything wrong with being a [Witch].”
Some of them nodded. It was a common Class.
Kyle shook his head and smiled. “You can say that here, but where I—” He shut up, just like that, and sat back.
Ryan frowned. “‘Where you’?”
His smile was gone. “Nevermind. Forget it.”
What?
“But I still wouldn’t want to be a [Witch],” Micah said as if he hadn’t noticed. “It just doesn’t have the same ring to it, you know? I mean, I couldn’t say, ‘Trust me, I’m an [Alchemist],’ anymore.”
Ryan frowned. “When have you ever said that?”
“And since when do we trust [Alchemists] again?” Brent asked.
Alex chuckled. “Yeah, I think you’re getting [Alchemists] and [Doctors] confused, Micah.”
“Am not.”
Somebody poked him in the side. Ryan looked over and Jason pointed down at the crystal in his hand. “Can I try summoning it after you’re done?”
“Uh, sure …?”
He handed it over.
“Thanks!”
They still had to go to sleep though, eventually. Even after they’d moved back their timetable because of all the excitement.
Jason and Brent took first watch, Alex and he the second, and Micah and Kyle the last. He had volunteered for a split sleeping schedule and told Micah to sleep earlier, but he had troubles following through on his advice himself. He didn’t sleep during the first half of the night and barely during the second.
He was too excited, for once in his life.
Nobody complained when they got up early and ate climbing cookies for breakfast. They packed up, checked their supply of stamina potion, and found their way back to the slime's room to copy the rest of the circle and break up the ground.
The moment they found the second blue fire crystal buried beneath the surface, they noticed the pattern and dug of the rest of them, six in total.
There were probably more of them, in the pillars, the ground, the walls, but they didn't have the time or patience to go digging for them. Instead, they found the nearest minecart and put marbles inside. Because Ryan had been right: They really did have half a day left. And they wanted to make the most of it.
----------------------------------------
They stumbled out of the Tower ragged, stinking, and exhausted hours later when afternoon classes would have ended. Each of them carried multiple loot sacks in hand, hanging at their feet or over their shoulders, and a strongbox on a treasure chest between two of them.
It wasn’t the only new one they had found.
Their teachers met them in the bitter cold. Snow lay where grass would have been in the summer, though the sky was a pure, dark blue from horizon to horizon, without a cloud in sight.
Lanterns lit up the space in a false warm glow. Someone greeted them, asked some questions, and pointed them at the medical tent.
After three days of nearly unbearable heat, Brent cried out in dismay as they stumbled away from the portal. “No, no,” he said, looking over his shoulder, ”please, let me go back. Let me go back!”
“Why is it so cold?” someone else asked. Other teams were still stepping out behind them and hugged themselves with chattering teeth.
Ryan didn’t know what the problem was. He was glad for a bit of cool weather after everything. Finally, he wouldn't be soaked in sweat anymore.
They shuffled across the plaza over molten lines as quickly as they could through the tent flaps. The others sighed in relief when they found it unnaturally warm inside each.
A Skill?
The healers gave them a once-over, took notes, patched up what needed patching, and shephered them to the next tent. Loot. There, their belongings were tallied, Micah got the fisheye for his missing shield, they were given receipts and their jackets back. Then they had free rein to do as they pleased. They would have to write their reports tomorrow before noon with the others.
They probably should have spent some more time preparing, then: talked with each other, compared notes, matched maps and reports, found tactful ways of phrasing their screw-ups, and so on.
They did none of those things.
They showered with warm, running water, switched into clean clothes, went back to their rooms, and dropped dead onto their beds.
Some of them woke in the middle of the night after going to sleep so early, some woke up later, and some only at the last minute when the sun rose and it was nearly time for the exam, but for most of them, their mornings brought with them their true rewards:
Levels, and Skills—
----------------------------------------
[Fighter level 3!]
[Skill — Strong Grip obtained!]
----------------------------------------
[Adventurer level 6!]
----------------------------------------
[Archer level 2!]
----------------------------------------
[Alchemist level 11!]
[Skill — Kinetic Infusion improved!] → [Skill — Kinetic Alchemy obtained!]
[Skill — Controlled Breathing obtained!]
----------------------------------------
—and something new.
[Scout level 4!]
[Mage Class obtained!]
[Mage level 1!]
[Skill — Lesser Fire Resistance obtained!]
[Skill — Swathe of Flames obtained!]