Carmine curtains veiled the windows, dyeing the diminished sunlight red and casting a scarlet hue over the darkened room. Marquess Creston Salvador stood behind his ebony desk, hands clasped firmly on his back. With his head slightly tilted upwards, his gaze fixed on a sword mounted on the wall.
The lingering memories from Silas Salvador reminded Zeke of the history behind that sword. While its showy black and gold scabbard surrounded the weapon in an alluring air, he knew better that inside rested a shattered blade, broken from the final battle of its previous wielder.
Circe pushed through the stagnant ambience, giving the marquess a courteous curtsy, much like the one she did before. “Good afternoon, Marquess Salvador.”
Following her lead, Zeke lowered his head as well. He spoke with an unnatural stiffness, unlike Circe’s words which brimmed with confidence. “…Hello, father.”
Creston soon turned to face the both of them, hands still remained folded behind him. “Good afternoon,” Expected from this stern man, he kept the greetings brief, moving on quickly to the main point of their visit. “…I heard that both of you got caught up in a dungeon. How is your injury, Silas?”
Zeke forced a smile. “It’s manageable, I should be in good health by the time of the engagement banquet, father.”
“…” Silence filled the room once more as Creston stared down at his son. Zeke had no idea what thoughts ran behind those unwavering, frigid eyes, but the weight of his gaze kept him from squirming away. “Both of you, tell me what you did inside the dungeon.”
Circe and Zeke shared a brief glance. As per their silent agreement, Circe spoke first. “We encountered some goblins, Marquess,” the start of their fake story begins now. “Lord Salvador picked up a nearby sword and protected me. After that, we were able to move on from room to room without any hurdle. I also found myself a magic staff to use as well.”
Since the people of this world knew very little about the dungeons, it took Circe almost no effort to manipulate the details. Marquess Creston had only heard about this elusive phenomenon from other people, and he is also one of the many unlucky percentages who can’t enter the dungeons himself.
Creston nodded along with Circe’s explanation, knowing full well how even inexperienced civilians could still defend against goblins when they have access to bladed weapons. “And the boss monster?”
“It was a goblin chieftain, father,” Zeke chose this moment to speak. “Since we both have no combat experience, we were clumsy and made a few mistakes, but we managed to kill it after some time.”
Hearing his words, Creston lifted his chin. Though his facial expression remained unchanged, they noticed a hint of satisfaction in his demeanor. “Now do you see the importance of swordsmanship, Silas?”
“What would he have said if I didn’t make it out fine?” The thoughts ran through Zeke’s mind. “…Probably the same thing, but in an entirely different tone than this one.”
”Yes, I do now,” He replied with a sad expression, regret etched deep in his voice. From the corner of his eyes, he saw Circe’s eyebrows twitched slightly upwards, most likely surprised by his sudden genuine acting. “Father, please allow me to learn swordsmanship again, so that I may protect Lady Ruelle and those whom I hold dear.”
With Silas’ blurry but important memories, Zeke managed to say the exact things that Marquess Creston wanted to hear. The cool swordsman could barely contain his joy, despite trying to keep a straight face, the excited gleam in his eyes remained prominent. “Of course, now that you’ve come to your senses, I will appoint Sir Einar as your teacher once again.”
Not missing a beat, Zeke responded to the marquess with a graceful bow. “Thank you father, I shall not disappoint you.”
Creston accepted the promise with a short nod. “Yes, now you two may leave and get some rest,” As they turned to depart, the marquess suddenly spoke. “Ah, Silas, call your brother in for me while you’re out there.”
”Yes father, have a good rest of your day.” After Zeke and Circe gave Creston their farewell bow, they exited the office.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Lysander had been standing outside the room this entire time. When he noticed the door swinging open, his gaze met with Silas’ own pair of blue. “Father called you, by the way.”
The older brother blinked. “Alright.”
Lysander watched the two disappear behind a corner for a brief moment before entering the office. “You summoned me, father?”
“I did,” Creston stared down his eldest son, whatever hint of emotions he’d shown his previous visitors had completely left his expression, returning it to its usual cold, stoic state. “I have a task for you, Lysander.”
The young knight’s eyes widened. “What might that be?”
Creston narrowed his gaze. “…Keep a close watch on Silas.”
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“Your acting is way better than I thought,” Circe remarked in a hushed voice, grinning with satisfaction. “Well? You said you’re going to learn swordsmanship, what’s the plan? You’re really not thinking about doing it with those three strength stats, aren't you?”
Now that they were alone, Zeke no longer needed to feign injury. He held his cane by the pole, keeping his eyes straight on the road. Despite his efforts, Circe still noticed his minute frown. “Of course not,” his answer almost came out as a growl. “I have until after the engagement party until the lessons start, there’s plenty of time.”
“Yeah,” Circe rolled her eyes after a short huff. “After all that talk about ‘not disappointing him’, it would be pretty awkward if he started to notice that you’re way too weak to even hold a sword right.”
“That’s why I have an idea,” a smirk lined Zeke’s lips, adding a layer of confidence to his words. “All I need to do is find out how it works here, and learn it before the time comes. Then it’ll be like we never lied!”
Despite hearing how assurance he sounded, Circe narrowed her gaze in suspicion. “…What is this? Some secret game mechanic that only the great RetiZn knows about?”
Zeke chuckled. “Of course not,” as they arrived in front of the estate’s library, he gave Circe a poised look. “I’m going to abuse the hell out of this one common in-game mechanic.”
The library remained the same as they’d left it. Not many people come around this part of the household, leaving only for the servants keeping the place clean for its eventual use. It became the perfect place for the two of them to meet without being subjected to anyone’s attention.
When they’d taken their seats, Zeke recalled the Witch’s Codex from his inventory, placing it on the table. “Do you know about the
Dungeon Regime uses ‘Aptitude’ to describe any non-combat skills a character possesses, such as reading, persuasion, flirting, and even being exceptionally good at eating. The players can unlock this mechanic simply by playing through the story, and there will be a tutorial which automatically unlocks an aptitude depending on the character.
“Yeah, I know about it,” Circe tilted her head, now suddenly interested in what he had in mind. “But isn’t it only useful for story mode?”
“You’re not the only one who keeps all the overpowered shit to yourself, Crowfest,” Zeke stressed out her in-game name, looking at her with a face overflowing with pride. Since the story game mode is his territory, he thought this was his time to show off. “When used correctly, the
“How’s that? Speechless, right? I spent literally two months experimenting with the techniques. No one else knows this but me.” He thought to himself, lost in a sense of triumph.
Circe remained silent for a moment, staring at Zeke with widened eyes filled with surprise. Eventually, she spoke, clasping her hands together in amazement. “Oh wow! I never knew that, so this technically means you can learn combat-related skills by exploiting the Aptitude mechanic, right?”
Zeke didn’t expect her to sound so enthusiastic about it, or to suddenly compliment him either. Her words left him speechless, but he quickly pulled himself together, closing his agape mouth as he cleared his throat. Now he felt like a complete fool. “Ahem…Yes, though since getting an Aptitude depends almost entirely on luck, people usually don’t use this mechanic unless they need it for a story…I’m just taking a guess here, but I probably won’t need to do any of the complicated things since this isn’t a game anymore.”
Circe blinked at him. “What do you normally do?”
“Well,” Zeke drummed his fingers on the Codex’s cover. “You know that minigame you have to play to unlock an aptitude? The one where you have to tap when the cursor reaches the green part? Getting an aptitude is just repeating the same thing over and over again until you get good at it, but unlocking an aptitude for combat requires more…details…”
“Yeah?” A slight frown appeared on Circe’s face, wondering silently to herself why he needed to drag his story on for so long.
“First, your combat class needs to match what you want to learn, so if you’re a swordsman, you can’t get a mage-type aptitude,” Finally, Zeke got to the main point. “Then you need to use your class-related skill one hundred times while in story mode, and in a specific area matching your class. After that, the aptitude minigame menu would pop up, then vola! You repeat this like how you normally would until you get your ultra-rare aptitude!”
Despite getting her desired answers, Circe did not look amused. Leaning back against her seat, she shook her head as she sighed. “…And you say I’m the one who needs to touch grass.”
”…What was that?”
”Nothing.” Circe shrugged, dismissing the apprehensive look on his face. Not wanting Zeke to start thinking about unnecessary things, she swiftly diverted the subject and put a smile on her lips. “Well then? Show me what you’ve got.”