Chapter 20) Representing. Or, The Lady Protests Way Too Much.

Miss Swears A Lot, or Topaz Margardia as she finally introduced herself, didn’t open up to me much.

But after both of her baths, blood, and pool. She seemed more interested in hearing me out, showing a surprising amount of patience and asking questions for more details, and what I thought of things.

“So you figure we’re getting set up to go places meant to fornicate us over because we’re debtors.”

I bobbed up and down in agreement. “Yeah, but that other dungeon had a bunch of writing in some language that wasn't like anything I've ever seen before, not even close. So I think this place that both the dungeons are in is either just for debtors, or everyone gets set up for failure.”

She slowly nodded. “So we’re fornicated right from the start and set up for failure.” She let out an amused sounding huff while also looking a little sad. “Not that much difference from home.”

“That’s a little grim, but it seems that way.”

Topaz shrugged. “So, walk me through all the official unlocks, even the magic ones. But I’ll pass on the singing and dancing. Fornicate that.”

She did, however, use a bit of ink and a sewing needle to put the outline of a Gothic looking letter B with a long back and L like arm coming off the bottom onto her shoulder.

Grinning, she showed me the finished bloody tattoo. “Brujas representing. And unlocking [ Basic Tattooing ] put that up on your fornicating wall of skills Tex.”

Not something I want to encourage, but “Yep, everyone gets every option.”

By the time she finished unlocking all four [ Starter ] skills, the three spells, and all the weapons including the rock, she also got [ Perception ] as she noticed the air thinning out and started heading to the exit room.

Standing there, huffing a little in the thinning air, her eyes seemed to keep coming back to the gate in the middle for Tesero.

“I don’t think you want to go there. No one should.”

She slowly nodded. “Yeah, I’m not. But I think it might have been worth it. You could spend part of the day grabbing stuff, like in a game, then run for the exit. But in my last life, I didn't play it safe and I was dead back there before I was even twenty three.

Topaz turned to give me a sort of salute, “And by the way, your Spanish fornicating sucks.” then took a running leap with her weapons and bag in hand into the gate to the Planes.

"Shoot, I forgot to ask her about the name of the exit room."

5: Topaz Margardia. Brujas Representing.

I took the time to make the B in Bruja like the one on her arm.

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Then… I could go to work on the hall of magic, but what I have now works good enough. Instead, I added the items I unlocked from the Mage Dungeon and added the descriptions.

Then I took the time to add instructions for unlocking [ Tattooing ], and the details on the three Mage spells.

Heading down to the exit room. I also made another alcove, off on the side of the room, and added a fourth exit portal, since I could do that, with warning, for Castle Haven.

In English, and my two semesters of high school Spanish.

“Shoot, I should have done that earlier so Topaz would have had four options.”

With some more time to kill, and the room now being off balanced, I make another three alcoves for any more gates I came across, one on the same wall as the Haven gate, and two on the opposite side.

“All lined up and even again.”

I also tried to make another gate, just to see if a new destination was somehow available, but I couldn’t even bring up the ghostly image of one.

Just as I finished the last of the alcoves, the countdown started up again. [ 10 ]

This time I waiting in the starting room in plain sight of the older looking, thin man who appeared in the room with a bit of a stumble as he stepped out of the portal, and then frowned at me in confusion and displeasure.

“Well. Are you the guide?”

Arthur Delling isn’t a bad guy, just unhappy about the situation he’s in. And while he doesn't blame me, even before I explain things to him, he seems a little impatient. “I just want to get this over with.”

He also doesn't want any of the options. "You may have meant well, but you've already been burdened with this Mage ability, but I didn't have a choice in that. Just help me unlock three skills, one weapon, and the armor and I'll be on my way."

I bob a bit since I can't shrug. The last thing I want to do is force anyone to do something they don't want, and since I have done just that by making it so everyone who comes through here gets the Mage ability, I guess I already have.

No need to make it worse.

6: Arthur Delling. Followed the Rules.

While he didn’t take all that long, he did give me enough time before he left to slowly assemble enough red glowing globs into a big stone table in the middle of the starting room with the starter equipment set out on top of it and “The Basics” written on the front.

And on all three of the other sides, just in case someone misses the six inch tall letters on the front. You never know.

Number Seven is very unhappy as she comes spilling out of the entry gate as if tossed through. And I soon guess why that might have happened within a few minutes of dealing with her.

“I want. To speak. To someone in charge!”

I sighed. “So do I Miss. But it’s just you and me here.”

There was more huffing, finger wagging, and fist on hips from the heavily built woman with shoulder length dirty blonde hair. “I have never…”

While she never stopped complaining, she did give me her name, Gloria Arlington, her husband's name, Henry Arlington, and his job, Ford dealership owner, and she took the time to tell me all about her influential friend, the Mayor of Dunkirk, Iowa.

“Gloria…”

She stomped to the left. “They will regret doing this to me.”

“Gloria…”

She stomped to the right. “I will sue them for everything they're worth.”

“Gloria…”

Turning with her hands on her hips again, she yelled. “What?”

“The air starts thinning out a few hours after someone shows up to make sure they get a move on at some point. It won't bother me, but you might have some trouble getting things done when you can't breathe."

That got her moving at last, complaining and dragging her feet every step of the way as I got her through [ Jumping ] and [ Fire Starting ]. [ Mage Bolt ] and [ Mage Guard ], but she refused everything else.

“I am not getting wet or climbing up a wall like a monkey let alone jumping back down. Who do you think you are?”

As for unlocking armor, she refused to wear any, and when it came to unlocking a weapon…

“Are you trying to kill me!”

I let the horned rabbit chase her around for a while until she unlocked [ Climbing ] trying to get away from it, then I dismissed it and took over a goblin.

"Hey, Gloria! Come on down and hit this guy in the head with this club as hard as you can, you need at least one weapon unlocked.”

With great reluctance, she made her way down, took the goblin’s club from me, and swung it with both hands as I ducked down.

She at least got it in one hit.

Finally, without a look or a word in my direction, other than grumbling to herself, she headed to the gate for the Planes.

A Panel appeared as she finished shrinking away into the distance.

“Armor not unlocked. Tutorial failed.”