“Eight points,” Gideon said as he reviewed his System logs.

  They had all received eight System points for finishing the dungeon, and one of those points was for being the first party to tackle that specific iteration of rooms and monsters.

  “So, seven points, roughly half what we received our first time through,” Falcon said.

  “And it’ll probably shrink further the next Tier One dungeon we cull. But even just a few points are better than what we’d receive outside of a dungeon,” Lioness said.

  Realizing what she’d admitted, she quickly backtracked.

  “That’s not to say we shouldn’t focus on bandits. Not only would we get a point or two, but also loot and bounties.”

  Forge sat back in his seat and summoned his notebook.

  “While my preference is to run dungeons, Lioness brings up a good point about taking on jobs that help people directly. And removing bandits definitely falls under that.”

  Lioness smiled gratefully back at him.

  “Though I would like to come up with a way to take prisoners if possible. Even the worst person is redeemable. They may never reenter polite society, but they can spend the rest of their lives helping the people they hurt,” he added.

  Her smile dropped, but she didn’t disagree with him.

  Gideon tilted his head back and laughed.

  “Always fair, aren’t you?”

  Falcon laughed as well, and Forge turned to look at her.

  “Well, I try to be. Is that a bad thing?”

  “Don’t think we didn’t notice you and Cinder staying back during the boss battle. You intentionally held yourselves back to give us the opportunity to fight,” Falcon said.

  Readily agreeing, Forge nodded at her.

  “Just like you did in some of the other encounters. I stayed back to provide backup as needed. And we all need the combat experience.”

  Falcon stared at him for a moment, then turned away with a grin.

  “Leave it to a paladin to make me feel silly for calling him out on being nice.”

  Deciding to change the subject, Forge pointed at Gideon.

  “So, I know you’re going to use a point to bind your sword. Are you also going to pick up the Dungeoneering skill?”

  The swordsman grinned. “Correct in one. And I can’t tell you how much I’m looking forward to binding the sword and seeing what it does.”

  He held up three fingers.

  “Sword, Dungeoneering skill, and then I’m going to bind that power scroll. That will leave me three points to either raise the tier of the ability, or I’ll hold on to it, and save up for my next mana-gate.”

  “I’m picking up the skill as well, but the rest are going into my Enchanting. My tier is too low to make anything worthwhile, currently.” Lioness said.

  “Dungeoneering and Shortbow, for me,” Falcon said. “The rest I’m saving to pick up Willpower.”

  Her eyes slid sideways to Forge.

  “And am I to assume that means you received 16 points?”

  Forge nodded.

  “Tier Two Dungeoneering, Tier Two Pyromancy, and I’ll save the rest until I get enough to raise a spell to Tier Three.”

  Falcon’s eyes shone.

  “With that, we can run a Tier Two dungeon a few times. Which should be enough to get us to Rank Three, then we hit the plateau. But as Rank Three adventurers, we’ll be able to take the good jobs, and start earning some real money.”

  Gideon nodded along, but Lioness looked at the ranger curiously.

  “Rank Three is the plateau?”

  Falcon nodded her head. “Tier Four skills cost 12 points each, and opening a Tier Four mana-gate costs 20 points. A single dive will only net you a skill point at that rank, so it’s the rank where Guildies work on firming their foundations.”

  Gideon turned to the cleric beside him.

  “If you open your Third mana-gate, you’re looking at a lifespan of over 600 years, so you have time to grind the points.”

  She nodded in understanding and looked at Forge, but he was staring at something out the window.

  His mask appeared on his face, and he called out.

  “Tamer, can you stop the carriage, please?”

  The party looked at each other in confusion, and Gideon mouthed, “Tamer?” to Lioness.

  “That’s the driver’s name,” Falcon whispered back.

  The carriage came to a halt and Forge turned to the party.

  “Feel free to come with me, but please don’t cause a commotion.”

  With that said, he exited the carriage and began walking back the way they’d come.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

  Stepping off the road, he walked through the tall grass of the field, then stopped in a seemingly random spot.

  “Greetings. I am Forge, Paladin of Honos.”

  The party stayed back on the road and looked around, but there was nothing there other than the tall swaying grass.

  “You’re a paladin?” a voice said from within the field.

  “I am. I saw you and wanted to make sure you didn’t need any help. You’re pretty far north, and I wanted to make sure you were okay,” Forge answered.

  “Who are your friends?” the voice asked.

  Forge gestured back to his team. “This is my party. We’re adventurers.”

  “They’re humans,” another voice called out from further away.

  Forge removed his mask and smiled brightly. “And so am I. But that doesn’t mean we aren’t friendly.”

  There was some whispering from the grass, and a gnome stood up from where he’d hidden.

  “Hello, friendly human,” he said with a wave.

  Forge laughed.

  “It’s okay. I saw the spark of the divine on you and saw…the real you. And I just wanted to make sure you’re okay. The northern lands aren’t always friendly to your people.”

  The gnome seemed to consider his words, then cocked his head to the side.

  “Ever hear of KRAM?”

  Forge laughed. “Funny you should mention it. I know Ratface and Plud.”

  Another small figure’s head popped up from the grass.

  “You know Ratface and Plud?!” she asked incredulously.

  He heard his team react with a start behind him, but he ignored them.

  The goblin walked over to him and looked him over carefully.

  “Are you a follower of KRAM?”

  Forge shook his head. “Like I said, I’m a paladin of Honos, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have friends that follow other gods.”

  He thrust a thumb towards his team behind him.

  “See my teammate in white? She’s a cleric of Hypros.”

  The goblin looked past him at Lioness and nodded his head.

  Stepping towards Forge, she held out her hand.

  “Greetings, Forge, Paladin of Honos. I am Ali.”

  Forge reached down and shook the goblin’s offered hand.

  “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Ali.”

  Reaching behind his back, Forge summoned a wine skin and held it up.

  First, taking a sip from the skin, he handed it to the goblin. “May your journey be safe, and your luck bountiful.”

  Ali accepted the skin and took a pull from it, then handed it back to Forge.

  “May your eyebrows be blessed, and may death get lost on his way to your door,” he replied.

  Forge grinned. “That’s a good one. Let me write that down.”

  Summoning his notebook, he removed the pen and jotted down a note, then stored it.

  The gnome had been quiet during the conversation, but he sighed and held up a fist, then opened it wide.

  Two more goblins stood up from their hiding places and moved to join them.

  “Um, it’s nice to meet you. I’m Falcon.”

  Forge turned to the ranger, who had quietly joined him while he’d been talking.

  The others stood a few feet back from them and just watched.

  The gnome stared at Falcon and then grinned.

  “You’re a slinger, right? Is your team with the Guild?” he asked.

  As Forge watched her, Falcon seemed to not know what to do with her hands. She was obviously trying to keep them away from the shortbow that was strapped to her back, and finally settled on hooking her thumbs into her belt.

  “Yes I am, and yes we are,” she replied.

  “I’m Glitz. And this is my party.”

  “Oh! You’re with the Guild, too?” Falcon asked, surprised.

  A goblin that had yet to speak snorted.

  “There are guildhalls down south as well, human,” he growled.

  “I didn’t mean anything…” Falcon began, but Glitz waved it off.

  “Don’t mind him. He’s a jerk to everyone.”

  “You’re not Guildies from Scofrey, are you?” Ali asked.

  “That’s right. Were you heading there?” Forge asked.

  Ali ignored his question and stared meaningfully at Glitz.

  “Any chance you know of a Guildy named Zap?” Glitz asked.

  Gideon’s booming laugh filled the air. “He was actually on our team for a short time,” he laughed.

  Looking doubtfully at Gideon, Glitz turned to Forge.

  “We got a message from Zap and Guildmaster Jackal to come to Scofrey and visit them at the Guild.”

  Forge nodded his head, then stopped and took a knee in the grass, bringing him eye to eye with the gnome.

  “Are you familiar with a kobold named Polto?”

  “Polto? You knew him too?” Glitz asked.

  “I did. I was there when he fell. And I’m the one who brought his body, and those of his team, to Plud,” Forge said.

  “Oh.”

  “I bring it up, because the last thing Polto said to me was that I need to be more careful with how I trust people. So, with your permission, I’m going to summon the mace that Plud gave me to verify your story. Is that okay?” Forge asked.

  Glitz stared at him for a long moment, then nodded his agreement.

  Truth appeared in his hand and glowed with golden light for a brief moment before returning to its normal appearance.

  “Is everything you told me true?” he asked.

  The gnome stared at the mace, then looked him in the eye.

  “Yes. Everything I told you is true,” he said.

  Forge stored his mace. “Thank you for humoring me.”

  Glitz shrugged. “Seemed perfectly reasonable to me.”

  “Oh, and you don’t have to keep the glamour on if you don’t want. We’re all Guildies here,” Forge whispered.

  Glitz cocked his head and stared at him before shrugging.

  The illusion fell away, and a kobold stood in front of him.

  Forge grinned at him. “I wanted to invite you to share our carriage. But it’s going to be a tight fit, and I didn’t want anyone to step on your tail.”

  Glitz laughed. “Very considerate! Thank you.”

  The kobold and goblins followed Falcon to the carriage, while Gideon held a hand up to stop Forge.

  “While I appreciate the good deed, what exactly made you stop and go out there?”

  Forge shrugged.

  “I could see they each had a divine blessing.”

  Gideon stared at him, his mouth fixed in a hard line. “You could see they had a divine blessing from a moving carriage from more than a hundred feet away?”

  “Weird, right? I figured it was some sort of divine provenance, so I had Tamer stop so we could chat with them.”

  The swordsman nodded and turned to watch their teammates work out how to fit everyone comfortably in the carriage.

  “They’re heading to the city we live in and want to speak to Zap, who we know. Divine providence sounds about right.”

  Forge grinned. “Can’t you feel it? There’s a change coming, and we need to be the best versions of ourselves to ensure that change is for the best.”

  “So, an uncomfortable ride with eight passengers in a carriage built to comfortably carry four?” Gideon asked.

  Laughing, Forge took the swordsman by the arm and led him towards the carriage.

  “Just think how close we’ll all be by the end of the trip.”

  “We’ll be close alright. I’ll probably have one of them sitting in my lap,” Gideon muttered.

  ***

  “Hold on. You mean you’re all Rank Three adventurers?” Gideon asked incredulously.

  Draconis, the grumpy goblin from earlier, grinned widely, displaying his needle-sharp teeth.

  “Lots of adventure to be had in the south.”

  He gestured, and an apple appeared in his hand, which he bit into with relish.

  “Don’t worry, you’ll get there eventually,” he said around a mouthful of the fruit.

  Glitz cleared his throat and gave Draconis a hard look, then faced Gideon.

  “You seem to have a well-rounded team. A warrior, slinger, holy knight, and cleric. That’s a good mix.”

  “Meh. They’re missing magic,” Draconis grunted as he took another bite from his apple.

  Gideon grinned right back at the goblin, who sat on the floor with his back against the carriage door.

  “Actually, every member of our team walks the Path of Magic.”

  Draconis stopped and stared at Gideon, then turned to Glitz, who nodded back at him.

  The apple disappeared from his hand, and he crossed his arms over his chest.

  “Well, I’m destined to get magic myself,” the goblin muttered as he scowled at Gideon.

  “Destined?” Forge asked curiously. “What do you mean?”

  He grinned at him, but didn’t continue, and summoned the apple back to his hand.

  “I see you all have realm rings,” Lioness observed.

  “As does your paladin,” Glitz replied.

  The kobold stared at Forge’s hand, and Forge held it up to show him.

  “This is the ring that Polto gave me.”

  Glitz stared at the ring, and his eyes widened.

  “Oh. Oh no. I just realized who you are,” the kobold whispered.

  From his seat between Gideon and Lioness, Glitz looked down at Draconis and laughed.

  He laughed so hard tears came to his eyes.

  “Oh, this is too perfect!”

  Leaning back in his seat, he smiled enigmatically at everyone.

  “KRAM truly is a wonder,” he murmured.