I rolled my eyes, “It’s a name that keeps popping up around me. Ever since the alley, I’ve had nightmares involving that name. I keep getting alerts with that name. People know me by it.” I sighed, which mildly annoyed me. “It doesn’t feel right, though. Just like Danielle doesn’t feel right.”
The bard flopped backwards into his seat and looked at the ceiling, “Not the weirdest signal, but I’ll keep it in mind.”
I scratched the back of my head, “So… are we good?”
“Hm?” He lowered his head to look at me, “Sure, whatever.” His hand waved like he was brushing the issue aside, “So, what’s the plan? I ask, because otherwise that wasn’t a need for the sound barrier.”
My eyes rolled of their own volition and I tamped down an exasperated sigh before it could escape. “I got a message when I first woke up in the alley. It said I needed to check on something called a core. Since I’ve been getting weird reactions from the crystals, I’m guessing it’s related to those and…”
Deacon interrupted with a groan and his hand covering his face, “You want to get to the end of a dungeon.”
“Uh, yea.” I said, a little surprised, “And to do that I need to get stronger than I am now.”
His deep sigh was followed by him pinching the bridge of his nose, “Where was the message from?”
I was quiet from, “Someone named Melvin.”
“Right, so a mysterious person sent you a message saying you needed to check out something in a dangerous area…” He started.
“Three.” I interrupted.
“I’m sorry?” He asked, blinking rapidly.
“Three cores.” I replied.
“Oh, that’s fine then.” He spread his arms wide, the stump of his arm visible as it left the sling, “Not going to settle for one, you want to dive three dungeons, which are all currently experiencing increasing monster activity. Not increased, increasing. Not only that, you need to visit the core, which is often fatal on a good day because of the core guardians that are a magnitude stronger than any of the dungeon bosses. Am I missing anything?”
I went through what he said, “And I need to probably access a large crystal like the one in the barracks if I get a chance.”
Deacon slumped a little, arms resting at his side. After a few moments, he spoke, “Well, at least that one seems reasonable.”
“You don’t believe any of what I’ve said, do you?” I asked, an eyebrow arched as if I already knew the answer.
His flat look was enough of a response, but he opened his mouth. “No, I don’t.” The barrier dispersed and he stood up, “But, if I needed faith to do anything, I wouldn’t have had a job. I’ll talk with Grimoire about heading to a nearby monster den or something. Maybe check the adventurers guild for a quest or two. I’m high enough rank that training missions shouldn’t be a problem.” The bard scratched at his chin as he slipped his arm back into the sling. “Might have to bring another trainee or two along to make it official.”
I blinked, “Thanks.” I was surprised, but not gonna take a risk of offending him now by saying anything else.
He waved his hand dismissively. “I know your motivations and can plan around them. You’re more lucid than some people I’ve had to deal with, even if you are still crazy.”
“Whatever helps you sleep at night.” I said with equal dismissiveness. “By the way, what was the weirdest signal you’ve had?”
Deacon blinked and then laughed as he headed for the door. “Release the balloons, the parties starting.” He stepped through and looked behind him, “Goodnight, Dani.”
He closed the door behind him and I slumped a little. It turned into me lying down on the couch, where I promptly stared at the ceiling. “That went better than I thought.”
Unfortunately, the week following did not go better than expected.
First, the guards. They were not just outside the manor, but following her. The two that were keeping an eye on her at least kept up when she went for a run. They didn’t go through any obstacles, but I gave them points for sticking with it. I did notice it was a little easier to move through everything, though, so I took another look at the skills I picked up.
Freerunning
You are adept at running through obstacles at speed. Combines a variety of movement techniques to make running, jumping, climbing, and sliding easier. Requires 25 Agility and 15 Strength. Requires Sprint, Climbing, Running, or another movement related skill.
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Tier 0: The skill helps you pick out different routes and obstacles that can be used to not only move through an environment, but sometimes move faster.
Blinking in surprise at it, I eyed my stats. I hadn’t lowered them back since meeting with Severn, and wasn’t really planning to. According to Grimoire, I could theoretically keep going, but with returns as low as they would be it wasn’t worth it. I didn’t want to wait, constantly preparing to face the problems looming ahead.
I’d never be ready that way.
I didn’t know where it all came from, but much like the message had said… I paused thinking, Has it only been a month? Not even that. How much has happened already? The realization distracted me and I lost my line of thinking. I just shook my head and continued on my day.
The second thing of note was the search. They were thorough, tearing through the whole manor with brutal efficiency. Nothing was put back by the guards, all left for the staff to manage. Nothing was broken in their search, but they weren’t gentle with anything either. I didn’t bother following them around, since I really did have nothing to hide, and I doubted they’d find anything incriminating. I got the impression Danielle’s father was a more cautious man than his daughter had been, and Calmar’s hidden stashes were all liquor related, from what I could tell.
Near the end of the week, Grimoire did manage to find out about a social engagement that would be happening at the start of the month, which was apparently the beginning of the next week. It was to be held at the Duke’s fortress with most families sending representatives. We’d gotten an invitation, but Calmar had been the one to answer them before.
I sent a reply that I’d be there.
After talking with Deacon at night when the guards had left. He wasn’t happy, since he knew I was going to foolishly try to access the crystal. Since it wasn’t a crime, though, and there’d be plenty of times to disappear the plan was set into motion.
Besides, according to Grimoire it was mostly an excuse for the councilors to show off while the Duke made plans in the background. He tried to explain some of the nuance, but all I managed to remember was something about the heirs networking, and someone was going to make speeches. Probably multiple someones.
It was looking to be absolutely ‘thrilling’, in the way watching butter melt into toast, or ink dry on a page. But, if the cost of access was boredom I’d have to pay. Deacon didn’t think it’d be that bad, but even the meticulous butler grimaced at the idea of listening to them.
Meanwhile, Deacon had been actively working on the other part of our plan to get things moving. I hadn’t gone with, but he’d made several runs to the adventurer guild in the city to find information on nearby monster dens and culling quests. There weren’t a lot, apparently because of the Grave Woods, but there were a few.
Nothing was going to happen until after the party, however. Not because we couldn’t handle it, but because the guild wanted to send a couple of Tier 1s with to ‘cut their teeth’. They were apparently still finishing the guild’s mandatory classes for low level adventurers, so I was at least hoping they’d be useful. Maybe with them there we’ll be able to take on more.
The rest of my time was spent getting ready for the party. I practiced dance, which was surprisingly more difficult than before, since I had to match with Grimoire’s pace while practicing. Not because he couldn’t move to match, but because the average noble can’t move like that. I had to match with the others, or it would ‘reflect poorly’ on the Rosecrest name. I thought he was just moving like that to mess with me.
I followed his guidance, though, and managed to match his pace as we went through several common dances that could make an appearance. I didn’t have enough time to learn all of them, so we focused on the most popular. They were all some form of step step move, but in different patterns. Apparently, some of the more complex dances could be broken down into eight or nine different movements that had to happen rapidly, which I did not care to try and learn.
The lessons gave some nice bonuses, at least.
Dancing has gone up to Tier 1
Dancing
An action as common as breathing among civilized society. You move with rhythm, often to your own beat but occasionally your feet match that of those around you.
Tier 0: You won’t be winning any awards, but stepping on your partner’s feet won’t be as much of an issue.
Tier 1: You’ve learned how to move with some grace, and can match the flow of those around you. Your steps are more in time with a partner, and you move instinctively to the beat of music.
+1 Dexterity
+1 Insight
It didn’t get much higher, but Grimoire assured me that as long as I was paying attention I would be fine. Deacon, on the other hand, said I moved like a wild animal in a pottery shop. Instead of giving me tips, though, he suggested I just take the embarrassment and use it as an excuse to step away from the floor. An idea I liked a lot more than Grimoire, and intended to make use of.
The butler did manage to get me to promise to at least try for the first couple of dances, and I would at least do that. If for no other reason than I wanted to see if I could. Dancing was… if not fun, then an interesting challenge to me. Made doubly so since I was practicing with only a metronome instead of any music.
For some reason, I missed music. Which was weird, since any time I went out I heard people playing. Not that I went out much. I mostly just attributed it to more of those random memories and bouts of emotion that happened. It wasn’t like music was available for me to just pop something into my ear and listen to whenever I wanted.
The last thing I needed to figure out was whether to level before the party or after. Talking with Grimoire, he suggested after, especially since I wasn’t at the limit where EXP would be banked, or even dropped. It would also work as an excuse if she was caught with the crystal.
Which, I found out through Deacon, wasn’t as hard for the average person to use as I was led to believe. The menus were apparently illegible to people, which made no sense to me, but there were multiple classes from the adventurer guild to go over how to navigate it enough to level up. When I asked why that wasn’t something everyone learned, he shrugged and said, “Anyone can take the classes, they just cost a thousand crystal each.”
The average person didn’t make enough to manage that easily, not if they wanted to progress their own class, anyway. Anyone rich enough to take the classes were also usually wealthy enough that the costs for a specialist to help them were cheaper and came with expertise to make them stronger. So, basically the only people who cared were those who wanted in the guild. And now me, apparently. I was curious what they taught and if it’d help me.
And like that, the eve of the party approached.
2: 0/200
3: 0/400
4: 0/700
5: 0/1100
2: 0/200
3: 0/400
4: 0/800
5: 0/1600
think my plan was to use the first type for Tier 0 and then Fibonacci on Tier 1 on with mild adjustments. I'll probably save the exponential growth for higher tiers.