Chapter 30) Dawn Raid. Or, Back among the dead men.

“Yeah Bernie, let’s get this done.”

I appreciated Bernie letting me off the hook since I wanted to get back to Matt... and Drew.

While Matt thought they would get killed at least once more before they got out of the city, and all that would do was send them back to the entry portal in the temple, I still wanted to help them get out of there as much as I could.

But not if it meant short changing someone new like Bernie, or whoever showed up next.

Now, with new arrivals on hold, no one else was going to show up for at least a little while, but I still had to do what I could for Bernie before he headed off through the gate.

He pointed up at the alcove containing the [ Mage Fall ] unlocker. “So I climb up there and then jump?” He sounded a little dubious.

I bobbed. “You’ll get a notice first. Like you did with the other spells, right?”

That seemed to reassure him.

After unlocking [ Fire starting ] for his third starter skill, since as he put it, "I'd rather not get wet." we headed back for him to get armor and a weapon. He went with an ax.

“It looks pretty good for chopping wood too, if I have to carry around a weapon I’d rather it was a useful tool too.”

Fair enough.

He passed on all the other skills, other than listing them down in a notebook, even skinning which I thought would be good to teach people as a practical skill, but it turned out that Bernie had been a hunter and already knew how butcher game.

My last Trainee Fighter for a while was also happy to only fight a single goblin. “I’m not going to learn a lot from one fight Tex, and you got those two people to check on. Just let me meet the minimum demands for this Fighter thing and load up with stuff and I’ll be on my way.”

I would have to remember to note that he was ‘A good man’ on his inscription, but later since I was in a bit of a hurry.

Stolen story; please report.

Loaded up, he glanced at the portal to Tesero, but I stopped him before he could volunteer, or have to come up with an excuse from doing so. "No Thanks, Bernie, the last thing I need is a third person to help escape.

He smiled, a little shamefaced. “See ya Tex.”

Then he was gone to the Planes.

“Alone at last.”

I’m glad I didn’t short him on anything, since I wasn't sure if all the hurry was all that much needed.

Focus told me that people would be held until the next dawn when they went through the gate. Matt had arrived right after me and I was only a few minutes behind him, but I had still arrived on the same day.

Either the Brackets were wrong, or Dawn was more of an open time slot than a single moment. But in any case, it had been more than a few hours since I got called back. Not rushing Bernie had been the right thing to do since when I went in the gate, I would either catch up with Matt and Drew on the same day or meet them the next day in the temple.

Or better yet get there the next day with no sign of them having gotten killed instead of escaping.

So, I made a Mr. Bones, slipped up close, and used Focus.

Then I clattered my way down the hallway to the entry room to load up with replacement gear for Matt and Drew until we caught up to wherever they had gotten killed to get their stuff back.

Bernie had been a little taller than Matt, but not as tall as Drew. And his build was thinner than either of them so all the stuff in the starting room that was sized for him would be the wrong size for either of the two in the boneyard.

But that didn't matter all that much with weapons. The sword, club, and mace went into a backpack, along with all the starter gear and a few other items I thought might help.

You always need rope on an adventure. I saw that in a movie.

Then I wrapped the leather coat around Mr Bones. Bernie had gone with the armor with all the metal rings.

The coat hung like a tent on Bones, so I slipped it off and put on the thick winter coat under it since that would bulk up Mr bones a bit, and cushion anything that hit Bones. At least a little.

Shoot. “[ Mage Armor ]”

The familiar glimmer showed up, but did I really speak? Or just think the words? Can skeletons speak?

I headed over to the front of the long hallway and held my skeletal hands in front of my skull. “Flaming, Mastadon, Jumanji!”

Soooo… No echo, which was my best idea of finding out if I was really making a sound, but then I never noticed if the hallways echoed before.

I grabbed a shield, and the spear and beat them together and listened to the clattering noise as it echoed down the hall.

Confirmed. The dead are silent. But the spells still work, but do…

"[ Power Strike ]" That thump on the shield made a nice loud sound. And meant that Fighter stuff works without a voice too.

Now I feel a bit dumb for shouting the commands all the time, but then so did Matt and Drew. Which means I can call them out on it and act like I knew it all the time.

I would say it’s a guy thing, but I know women do it too.

After one last check to see if there was anything else I should grab, I headed down the hall with the shield on my arm and the spear in my hand. Then it was through the gate.

To see the familiar gleam of the sun rising and shining into the front doorway of the temple, and two glum looking Fighters in starter clothing who must have come through the gate just before us.

Drew looked up at me and said in a slow monotone voice. “Oh no. A skeleton. Kill it quick.”

Matt got a glimmer of a smile as he sat down on a chunk of stone. "Giant skeletons out beyond the outer wall of the city. They got us a few hundred feet short of a three story tall solid wall covered in golden symbols. Which is one story taller than the giants."

His shoulder sagged, and Drew took up the conversation. "Worse. There aren't any doors in the wall."