Khenal
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Chapter One-Hundred Thirty-Four
🕑 Added 2023-03-07 02:04:51 +0000 UTC_________
**Larez**
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The elf stands in awkward, tortured silence as he waits for Rhonda and her spider to return. Old Staiven seems to be relishing in the silence, seeming to dare Rezlar to break it. The ratkin is lord of his domain, and Rezlar isn’t certain he’s seen higher nobles use silence more deftly than this shopkeeper.
Mercifully, Rhonda and Lucas don’t take too long to return, likely because she only needed a change of robe and hat, and to bring an odd staff with her. Where her shop robe is a bit looser, this one is more close cut, so as to not get easily caught on various dungeon things, yet still loose enough for her to easily move in. Her hat has several little crystals, fangs, claws, and other odd bits tucked into the band around the center cone of it, and her spider is walking around, checking on them all.
Her staff has two small gems near the end, but the entire thing looks deliberately unfinished, though the red and blue of the gemstones contrast nicely. At her hip, she has a small book and charcoal stick, as well as pouches with potions and other nicknacks.
She smiles as she hits the floor, already making for the door. “Come on, Larrez! Freddie is over at the church!” She all but drags him out, and the smirk on Staiven’s face tells Rezlar this is exactly what he expected would happen.
The silence with Rhonda is more companionable, at least, and much less awkward for Rezlar to break.
“So… an Ice Sage?” he asks, curious about a class he hasn’t heard about. He can make some guesses, like the fact that she’s obviously a caster and seems to specialize in ice affinity spells, but he would still like to know more about his potential party member.
She smiles, happy to share the information. “Yes! It’s, uh… pretty rare, as Master Staiven said. I guess the biggest difference between me and a lot of other casters is that I didn’t get Arcane affinity.”
Rezlar frowns slightly at that. “So you’re an ice specialist? But your staff…?” he asks, not finishing his sentence as he realizes he doesn’t know very much about how caster classes actually function.
The goblin smiles at him and holds the staff in question up for him to see. “Looks kinda unfinished, right? That’s because it is! And I’m not quite an ice specialist, either. I have fire affinity, too!” she says with pride as she conjures twin spheres of ice and fire around the tip of her staff. She has them orbit each other for a few moments before letting them dissipate, leaving Rezlar looking rather impressed.
“Opposing affinities? No wonder it’s a rare class,” he says, surprised she’d be able to get a class like that from any dungeon around here. Fourdock is supposed to be unlucky with dungeons, and generally weak besides. Rhonda continues, and keeps him from retreating into his thoughts too much.
“There’s more to it, too, but it gets pretty deep into magic theory.” She blushes a little in embarrassment. “I’ve tried to explain to a few people, but only Master Staiven has been able to make any sense of it at all. But!” She brightens and Lucas chitters. “That just means I need to learn more! Learning is definitely part of my class, too, which is great!”
Rezlar smiles at her enthusiasm. He was never one to delve into books and scrolls, but his teachers often were. He could always appreciate that gleam in their eye when they’d get access to some new scrap of knowledge, even if he doesn’t feel the same drive they do.
Before too long, the group reach the Church of the Crystal Shield, and an aged wolfkin smiles as he recognizes Rhonda. “Ah, are you here for Freddie?” he asks as he leans on his broom, and Rhonda nods.
“Yep! Larrez here is an adventurer, and he wants me and Freddie to join and be a party!”
“Oh, a party?” he asks, turning a measuring eye to Rezlarr. “He seems a stout enough lad for it. Well, don’t let me stop you. Freddie should be in the training yard, I expect,” he says with a smile and opens the door for the two.
Rhonda enters the church like it’s a friend’s house, rather than a place of worship, and Rezlar awkwardly follows. While he will pay the gods their dues, he prefers to try to stay beneath their notice. Getting the attention of mortals is nerve-wracking enough, he wouldn’t want something like a god to pay attention to him!
The various acolytes and scattered worshipers mostly ignore them, though some smile and nod at Rhonda as she leads the way, all of them clearly used to her presence here. She leads Rezlar through a few doors and halls, before they come out into a large room for training the more martial adherents of the sect.
Inside is a sight that Rezlar was not prepared for. Four elves surround a young orc and a spider. The elves look practically identical, except for the weapons they are using. One has a spear, one a sword, one an axe, and one has a pair of daggers, though all are training, wooden weapons.
The young orc has a shield with a spiderweb on it, as well as a wooden training axe. His shirt is off, helping him stay cool in the intense training, and Rezlar can see Rhonda enjoying the view of her friend. At the orc’s side is a larger spider than Lucas, its body more narrow and long, its legs lithe and thin. Three are held up in front of itself with a web between them, like its own version of a shield.
Off to the side, a gnome watches. He glances over at the newcomers for a moment, but doesn’t acknowledge them just yet. Instead, his focus is on Freddie.
“Begin,” he says simply, and all the forms leap into motion. The sword and axe elves immediately engage Freddie and the spider, while the spear elf stays back slightly, poking his spear forward to try to catch openings his companions create. Such openings are rare, though, as a spectral shield manifests at Freddie’s side. The orc’s shield, the spider, and the ghostly version all work in tandem to deny any clean hits from the attacking elves.
The fourth elf, however, is hanging back and slowly circling, trying to stay below notice as he tries to maneuver into a flanking position on Freddie and the spider. With the three harrying them, they can’t turn properly to keep him in easy view. Soon enough, the elf senses an opening and lunges forward.
The spider chitters and Freddie responds. “Phalanx Press!” Two more shields manifest as he rushes forward, bodily forcing the three elves back and giving Fiona the room she needs to engage the elf with the knives. He wasn’t expecting something like that, and is soon tangled in webbing, before the three others can recover and try to save him.
With the tide turned in the orc’s favor, soon the others are incapacitated, and then suddenly vanish. The extra shields fade as Freddie slumps, and his spider goes to fetch him some water as the gnome and Rhonda both applaud. While Rezlar is impressed as well, he’s still confused about what actually happened here.
The gnome speaks up as the applause ends. “Good work, Freddie! I thought I had you with the sneak attack, but Fiona was on top of it.”
The spider chitters as she hands Freddie the water, and he eagerly drains the cup. “She says thank you, Head Priest.”
The gnome rolls his eyes at that. “You both know you don’t need to be so formal with me, Freddie.”
The orc grins as he accepts a towel from the spider and wipes the sweat from himself. “But we have guests, Head Priest Torlon.”
“Your friends and a guest of theirs. I don’t think formality is going to be a major concern for someone Rhonda and Lucas bring along,” says the gnome with a chuckle, before turning his attention to Rhonda, Lucas, and Rezlar.
“You don’t usually bring someone else, though, Rhonda. What’s the occasion?”
Rhonda smiles and gestures at Rezlar. “He’s from the Adventurer’s Guild, and he wants to recruit me and Freddie! He needs a party!”
Torlon strokes his chin as he considers that. “You two did get your classes, didn’t you. Hmm… Freddie? What do you think?”
Freddie gets a shirt on and joins the others, his own spider seeming to like to cling to the shield on his back and peer her face over his shoulder. “I’d like to join… but are we ready?”
Torlon nods. “Yes. Honestly, you’re more than ready. Not ready to leave just yet, but joining the guild would be a good thing to do. Karn is smart enough to not go sending you off abroad. I’m not even sure he has the abilities to accept quests that aren’t local, come to think of it…” he says, trailing off as he thinks, before shaking his head and continuing. “Yes, I think you joining the guild would be a good way to grow, Freddie.”
“Besides,” speaks up Rhonda with a wide smile. “We go delving enough we’re practically members already! This will just make it official.”
Torlon chuckles and nods. “That too, heh. So, this is to be your third member?” he asks, looking at Rezlar. The elf noble tries his best to not shrink under the gaze, and the lack of judgement helps him manage it.
“This is Larrez! He says he’s a fencer! We could use some dedicated damage, right, Freddie?” says Rhonda, and her friend nods.
“We could. We do pretty well, but from what the experienced adventurers say, we take a bit longer to deal with encounters than most.” The spider on his back chitters and Freddie smiles. “And Fiona says it’d be nice to have someone else in melee. She’s right, it’s a lot easier for me to manifest a phalanx with friends closer to the action.”
“Is that was that was?” asks Rezlar before he can stop himself, and Freddie glances at Torlon before answering.
“Yes. I’m a rare variant of Paladin, who focuses on combined shield teamwork, instead of a single shield.”
Rezlar’s eyes widen for a moment at that. Two rare classes? No wonder Karn wanted them both in the guild! “I’m, uh… I’m going to have to work hard to keep up, then. I’m just a fencer. Uh, water and kinetic…”
Freddie steps forward and claps a hand on his shoulder, and smiles at the elf. “I’m sure you’ll do great with us, Larrez. If we’re going to be a party together, we’ll have to work together to succeed!
Rezlar still feels he’ll be slowing them down, but it’s still… nice… to be relied on, to be trusted. His fears of failing to live up to that trust flare for a moment, but a squeeze of his shoulder trips it before it can get a grip on him. Can he live up to their expectations? He’s not sure… but he also gets the feeling they’ll help pull him back back up if he falls, instead of pushing him further into the dirt.
Comments
SciGuy75
Thanks for the chapter! Before long Rezlar's view of his own home will be totally different as he learns more.
Ethan Barrow
I wonder how much Thedium will change in our new friend, looking forward to seeing!!
