“So, anyone wanna tell me what went wrong?” Mel said once all of us were collected, healed, and mostly conscious, sitting at a series of newly constructed tables. Only Trolke hadn’t stayed for this conversation. Immediately after his healing, he wanted to get started on a building. Apparently Pryte had given him orders for a meeting area. Personally, I wanted to know how Timon had pulled that off and why someone that powerful wasn’t doing the Arena with us.

  “We should have considered the idea you weren’t being open with us about just how the training was going to work,” I said. That was the obvious take away, but there were potentially a lot more. Honestly, I had no idea why it hadn’t even occurred to me that Mel would lie about the situation. How can we learn without some real chaos training?

  “Yeah, that’s just a part of it. Next floor is yer first randomizer. That means nothing can be trusted in it, so ya gotta be on your toes. Now, I’m surprised ya managed to take down Timon, but I don’t want ya to pull anything like that again til the tenth floor, which brings y’all back to my question. Where did ya go so wrong?” Mel asked, his tone shifting back to that of a drill sergeant.

  “In hindsight, we shouldn’t have split up. We’d have been better off sticking together and being prepared for the bigger threats of Trolke and Timon. Especially considering there was no time limit on finding the balls, all we did in our attempt to get them quickly was endanger ourselves by splitting the party unwarranted,” Elicec said, sounding guilty. And while it was true he had given the orders, no one had disagreed at all.

  “Good, that was another mistake, unless yer sure the rules of the floor are going to hurt ya staying together, it’s basically always better to keep ta the group. But, let’s say in the future ya do need to split up. Why’d ya pair yer heaviest hitters together?” Mel asked.

  “Because I misunderstood the conditions of the fight and assumed them being able to find the ball creatures the fastest would be the best idea given what I understood. That was also a mistake I won’t make again. All it did was lead us into a situation where I’m guessing Timon took them both out first entirely by surprise,” Elicec replied. I agreed entirely with Elicec’s assessment, but I still wanted to know just how Timon had managed that.

  “Right in one. I got those two to walk right into my trap, thinking they were tracking the morphos and having no idea I was tracking them. Once that trap sprung, I managed to distract Glorp with an enhanced morpho of my own while Trolke kept the rest of you nice and busy,” Timon said with a devious grin.

  “I’m going to be watching you closer in the future. But I am impressed with your performance,” Rabyn replied, eyeing Timon with suspicion.

  “I’m sure you all will now, won’t help. If my ex couldn’t take me out, no one is likely to pull that off,” Timon said, winking back at Rabyn.

  “Better question: if Timon is so powerful, why isn’t he on our squad?” Elicec asked.

  “Because he has another purpose, and he’d be mostly wasted in the Arena anyway. It’s just not what he specializes in,” Pryte said, joining us at the tables.

  “Yep, and we’re gonna end that line of questions now. I’ve got my head back in the game, so it’s focus time,” Mel said, slowly moving his head back and forth as he scanned the assembled faces.

  “We’re getting closer to this tenth-floor problem day by day. So far we’ve done incredibly well, Jesters not included, on the floors, so is it really going to be that big of a problem?” I asked.

  “Yes,” Rabyn answered before Mel. “The squad I was on the last time I was there was nearly wiped out. Sure, we won in the end, but twelve of the squad were killed, and while I wouldn’t call them incredibly competent, they were prepared. We’re collectively stronger than them, but we’re going to be at a disadvantage when it comes to action economy due to our squad size.”

  “Rabyn’s right. We’ve gotta overcome the numbers advantage,” Mel added.

  “I’ve got a surprise there, but I want to keep it under wraps for now,” Connie said with a gentle smile.

  “Good, we should have Dave’s surprise too. But we still need ta get there,” Mel replied.

  “Are we ready-” I started to ask, but the question died in my mouth as the moose from earlier trotted out of the woods straight up to the table, leaned down in front of Cecile, and grabbed the snack he was eating in its jaws, huffing loudly as it swallowed.

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  “No one moves!” Maud strongly whispered. “Hey, big guy, we aren’t going to hurt you. Do you want more food? I’ve got some nice carrots.” Maud produced several carrot sticks from her pocket and held them out in front of her. Considering she didn’t have any System storage yet, was she just carrying vegetables around in hopes she saw the moose at all times now?

  “Mana Beast, Mana Beast, please enjoy your feast,” Connie chanted. Her words were accompanied by a feeling of relaxation. The moose stopped huffing nearly as much, clearly feeling the same as we were. It reached its head out toward Maud’s hand and grabbed the carrots, slobbering all over her hand as it ate them. Maud grimaced but managed to stay still.

  “How about we come to an arrangement, Mr. Moose? I’ve got enough vegetables that we can share if you’re willing to work with us,” Cecile followed up. The moose’s head turned from Maud to him, the huffing briefly returning before the giant animal lowered its head in front of Cecile.

  “Quick, scratch the back of his head,” Maud said, managing to keep her excitement contained into another loud whisper.

  “Okay,” Cecile replied as he moved his arm behind the mana beast’s ear and started to scratch it. It made a gentle whining sound and pressed its head further against Cecile, causing the antlers to dig slightly into the table. After a minute or so of silent head scratching, the moose lifted its head back into the air, looked at us, gathered around the table, did a one-eighty, and trotted back into the woods.

  “Yes!” Maud said loudly, jumping in her excitement.

  “I agree with Maud’s enthusiasm for that development. The primal mana beast will be a great asset,” Elody said.

  “Speaking of, do you have anything I could read on the topic? It’s not really my specialty, and I need to factor that big guy into our plans,” Pryte asked.

  “Not within my personal storage, but there is a high chance I can convince a Paladin of Conservation to provide us with some materials in exchange for meeting the moose. Even for them, primal mana beasts are a rare sight,” Elody answered. I liked the sound of that, especially if it made us some allies with more paladin orders.

  “Okay, let’s arrange that if possible, and while we’re discussing meetings, Dave, I want to try to set something up with the president after the next floor but before the last. Think we can convince them they have to come here for the meeting? I want to make a small show of force in regard to who really holds the power here. After talking to your kids, I’ve started to think that’s the best move,” Pryte explained.

  “I’m good with that as long as Mel is as well. At this point, a lot of the time table is on how he wants to work this,” I said. I wasn’t sure how well the show of force would go over, but if John and Alex had suggested it, I trusted their judgment. They honestly likely knew better than me; they’d learned far more from their mother than I ever had.

  “We can make that work. Based on yesterday’s performance, y’all’re ready for the next floor. Sure, it could’a been better, but the fact that Dave was still standing at the end was pretty unexpected on my part. I set that up specifically to target y’all and exploit what I knew was yer biggest weaknesses, and even I underestimated what Dave could do with his newest changes, so that’s a good sign, especially if ya can keep it under wraps til floor ten,” Mel said, giving an approving nod as he spoke.

  “So you’ve said it’s a randomizer before. Are there limits on what it can randomize into? I assume we can’t just instantly be killed?” I asked, slightly worried. Considering the way my simulator worked, I had a feeling it was capable of the same types of replication. Actually now that I thought about it, was my simulator even different from the Arena at all other than it being personal? I needed to find an expert on skills, but at this point, what didn’t I need an expert on?

  “In theory, instant death is off the table at this level. Don’t count on that forever, though. Yer gonna be expected ta be able to handle things like starting in acid oceans or environments with no oxygen as ya climb higher. Right now, though, it’s likely just gonna be a mix of all the shit ya been through already, with some added traps,” Mel explained.

  “Well, that’s reassuring, kind of,” I said.

  “Hey, I’ve been clear on this from the start. This is a giant disaster, and we’re lucky ta have gotten this far. I might be a grumpy old man, but I am proud of y’all,” Mel said.

  “Please, I’m the old one here,” Pryte replied.

  “Suppose that’s true enough. Alright, I’ve beat ya all up enough for one day. Go get some downtime and a good meal tonight before we do the ninth tomorrow,” Mel ordered.

  Maud wasted no time in leaping out of her seat and running for the house yelling for my son. “John the moose is friendly!” I really hoped the moose turned out to be as friendly as she wanted him to be. Moose were destructive forces of nature without magic. A magical moose was more than a little concerning.

  The rare primal mana beast that lives through integration and is allowed to grow alongside the world it was born on rarely stays forever with that world. There seems to eventually be something that calls them to chaotic space, some urge leftover tangled deep in the fractals of the mana flow. Someday, perhaps when one of my friends decides they too hear that call, I will decide it is my time to accompany them. I wish to know where they go, and not only that I want to know if they are happy once they get there.

  Diary of Gern Paladin of Conservation

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