Chapter Three-Hundred Twenty-Nine

Spring is one of those seasons I often forget actually exists, probably because of where I used to live.  North enough and high enough that winter would often muscle into the territory of the other seasons, and though I think Fourdock is definitely north enough, being close to the ocean makes it difficult for winter to really try to dig in its fingers and hang on.

I also wasn’t really involved in farming, so it’s not like I had to pay attention to when crops were planted.  But as I look over the expedition reports, I’d say spring is solidly, unquestionably here.  Winter has been beaten back and made to sit in the corner, and summer is still a ways off.  So birds are singing, bees are buzzing, and delving is booming.

I’m not kidding, either.  I thought the delvers over winter were just sticking through with their normal schedules, but that really was them taking it easy.  I think most groups were doing a delve or two a week, now they’re doing long delves, day after day, as long as they don’t break anything, or get some other serious injury.

They still happen, and though I’d like to be able to stop it, I don’t think it’d help the delvers.  Even the most brutal bootcamp doesn’t actually shoot at you, so there’s always a lot in a fight that can only be theoretical knowledge.  But with letting them fight enough to get seriously hurt, they learn how to deal with that kind of situation, no matter how unpleasant it is.

I really do want to make sure my delvers are ready to take on mean dungeons and be able to not only survive, but thrive.  I would be concerned about how many seem to be specializing in dealing with me, if it weren’t for the fact that so many of them probably wouldn’t be delving me at all if it weren’t for the effort I and my scions take to make sure people survive.

There’s a lot of casual delvers, and as I read the reports coming in from the foxes, it’s not surprising to see why.  Even here, people dream of what they think is impossible.  Everyone wants to be that cool swordsman or wizard, the stealthy rogue, the valiant paladin, but most people have classes that definitely aren’t made for fighting.

That doesn’t make them helpless though.  A hammer strike designed to drive nails works just as well against monsters.  It’s just that nails don’t often fight back.  But with the safety of my territory, a lot of civilian classes like to come and test themselves.  It makes me think of people who like to go paintballing or skydiving or things like that.  A way to get a bit of excitement in a mostly safe way, and to keep in shape.

Some professions are pretty simple to see applied to a delve.  A carpenter knows a hammer, a lumberjack knows an axe, a tailor knows scissors.  They might not sound like a weapon, but they’re just two specialized blades.  Two short swords is apparently enough for at least a couple skills to translate, or maybe that one guy is just weird.

Either way, watching the more casual delvers is probably even more fun than the pros.  The experienced delvers are confident and look a lot cooler, but the casuals just have so much more to learn, and it’s fun seeing them do it.  That group didn’t leave enough room in their packs, so now they can’t carry what they want, this group over here has no idea if they can handle the Gauntlet, but trying sounds fun.  This other group might be getting sent out in defeat after getting lost in the tunnels and low on healing supplies.

I wonder how many more professionals there would be if they were able to cut their teeth on a dungeon like me?  I don’t know if all of the pros have lost people in their party, but I’d bet they all had at least an acquaintance that didn’t make it out of a different dungeon.  That actually makes it easy to spot the new arrivals.

With spring solidly in control, the roads are open and delvers seem to be flocking to me and to Fourdock.  The ones freshly here all move carefully, suspiciously, even around the manor.  Oddly, they seem to get even more on edge when the denizens avoid them.  Maybe in other dungeons, the meaner things tend to keep the easier denizens away.  I guess it’d make sense.  Sure, I still get mana for them killing the weaker denizens, but if I wanted to maximize the mana the delvers give me, their time would be better spent fighting the big things, rather than the small fry.

I keep them away because there’s no shortage of lower level delvers to have the easy denizens challenge instead.  And it’ll encourage the stronger delvers to go to the stronger areas.  Even with the forest only at… I dunno, 40%?  Even with it clearly unfinished, delvers are already crawling all over it.  The armory bees are a hit with the delvers almost always taking their weapons and looking joyous whenever they get some of the honey.

From what Honey and Queen have been able to tell, it’s a lot safer to handle than the metal elixir, and I’ve seen a few delvers use it to patch up armor and sometimes weapons.  Just smear a bit of mud or clay on it, apply some armory honey, and you have an instant patch!  I doubt it’s as good as a professional job, but certainly better than just leaving damaged gear as it is.

As far as defeating the stronger delvers, the most dangerous combo in the forest right now seems to actually be mischief foxes and dreamblooms.  My delvers definitely are having trouble discerning illusions from reality, and when that kind of deception is combined with loot from the packrats and ravens, a lot of delvers are learning the hard way that, if it looks like free loot, it probably isn’t.

Which the mischiefs take advantage of, actually leaving a few piles of free loot in areas suspiciously free of denizens.  The mindgames are great, and I’m definitely going to need to spend to put some chests around the forest.  Sure, their locations will eventually be mapped out, but the delvers will never know which is free for the taking, and which is a clever trap to knock them out and defeat them.

I giggle to myself as I watch a group eye a pile of jewelry laying in the middle of a little glade packed full of dreamblooms.  There’s no illusion here, just a simple pile of bait and the implied question: do you dare?

They bicker at the edge of the field of flowers, the three elves arguing about if any of it’s real, if they should take an antidote and just charge out there, send just one, splitting up is bad and you are stupid, no you’re stupid, your face is stupid, and so on.  Before they make a decision, I feel Aranya trying to get my attention, so I shift my focus over to her.

While all three enclaves have their own places to… worship me, I guess, the ratkin enclave is working on a larger place.  A cathedral compared to the shrines of the others.  I’d try to discourage them, but more and more people are showing up to get service, and I don’t just mean attend a sermon… though there’s more that show up for that than I would have expected, too.  Healing is very popular, and it looks like a couple of my clerics even offer rental services as support to parties who need it out in my territory.

But that’s not what Aranya is trying to get my attention for.  Instead, she has another kobold next to her, her scales seafoam green compared to Aranya’s red, and she has an elf and a changeling standing nearby, looking nervous and hopeful as they wait.  But her companions and even her scales can’t keep my attention away from the bow she has.  It looks a lot like the ones my delvers make, but looking closer, it has a lot stronger draw than any of them, and the pulleys aren’t quite optimized to leverage the mechanical advantage.  Still, I wouldn’t want to get shot by someone who can manage to draw it.

“Ah, Lord Thedeim is watching.  Would you please repeat your request?” Aranya says with a smile, though the three gathered look even more nervous, especially the lady kobold.  Seeing as she’s almost certainly from the Maw, I can’t blame her.  Still, she steels her resolve, and speaks.

“O-oh Great Lord Thedeim,” she begins, only to be interrupted by Aranya with an understanding smile.

“You can just call Him Thedeim if you wish.  He tries to get me to do it all the time, in fact.  Just be honest with Him, and I’m sure He’ll do what He can to help.”

The pale green kobold nervously nods and starts again.  “Th-Thedeim…?” she starts, pausing to see if she gets smote.  As she continues to be perfectly fine, she slowly continues.  “I… I’m a hauler, but I don’t want to be.  I… The Maw, it…”  She stutters, trying to find the words, and Aranya pats her shoulders, encouraging the woman.  After a few seconds, she gathers herself and continues.  “I want to advance my class, but as far as I know, there isn’t an advancement for a hauler.  Can… can you help me?”

I consider her for a few moments before carefully touching her status.  While I think I can take a peek without people noticing, it still feels a bit invasive to do, but if she wants my help, I think I need to get a closer look at what I’d be working with.  I don’t know if I can do anything, but I’m certainly willing to try.  Her eyes widen when she feels me, and I can feel her flinch away for a moment before she deliberately and slowly leans into my request.

I look over her status, and the first thing I notice is she has a ton of strength, and that doesn’t even count her abilities to enhance her lifting and hauling ability.  She also has a ton of endurance, which isn’t a surprise either.  What is a surprise is that I can feel two potential ways to nudge her.

One is a concept I can feel is a pretty solid one that exists here already.  It’s a type of heavy archer that feels like it usually comes from being a siege archer or similar that would stay mostly in towers or atop walls and guard whatever’s inside.  The closest translation for what comes after would be a sniper, which often advances further into a variety of assassin.  I don’t think she’d want to go that far, but slow rate of fire, heavy hits, and some camouflage ability would probably be a great thing if she wants to be an adventurer of some variety.

The other one feels a lot more ephemeral, but I think I know what to solidify it into.  Teamsters always make me think of the mafia, but they’re not about breaking kneecaps and making offers people can’t refuse.  They’re all about getting things from point A to point B.  If you want it moved, a teamster should know how to move it.  And though there are merchants and other people, I’m sure, who move things around, I can feel a difference that I can’t quite describe.  Maybe if I knew more about the logistics of moving things, I would, but all I really need to know is there is a difference.

I pull back from the kobold’s status and see she looks shaken, though Aranya helps steady her.  “Easy there, Marle.  His touch can be intense, but not harmful.”  I feel a bit bad as she nods, tears in her eyes, and I just hope she’s just trying to deal with emotions rather than pain from anything I did.

“I can feel He has found two paths for you as well.”

Marle turns hope filled eyes on my High Priestess as she talks.  “The first is a sniper, a ranged combat class specializing in stealth and devastating ranged attacks.”  Marle looks uncertain at that, so Aranya continues.  “The other is an advancement for the hauler class.  No one would dare demand you move something.  Rather they would ask or even beg, knowing you can get it where they need it, quickly and safely.  Those are the paths before you.”

Marle looks back at her friends, looking for guidance.  Without looking at their status, it’s still pretty easy to identify them as some kind of wood workers.  “It’s… up to you, Marle.  You could be a real adventurer, if you want,” encourages the elf, though it’s pretty clear he’d be sad to see her go.  A sniper is a pretty advanced adventuring class, and she’d probably want to take on delves a lot tougher than they could handle.

She closes her eyes and takes a shuddering breath before opening them.  “I want to advance my current class.  I don’t hate hauling… I just hated being stuck.”

Aranya smiles and draws on her mana, and I give her a drop of my power to help this along.  I hope I won’t be stepping on Order’s toes with this, but Marle really does need some help.  I watch her status, and see the sniper path is already gone.  It probably vanished as soon as she made her decision, and it makes me wonder if this is how Order actually decides what class to give people in the first place.  I back out as I feel the change start to work, not wanting to intrude on her privacy more than I already have.

From the outside, it feels incredibly anti-climactic.  Just a slow wave of orange sweeping across her, and it’s done.  Aranya catches her as she falls, her legs giving out as she comes to terms with the fact that things really have changed for her.  “I’m a Teamster…” she mutters, repeating herself as if she can’t believe it.  My High Priestess motions Marle’s friends forward, letting them support the stunned kobold.

“Get her to a seat over there and just give her some time.  She’ll need friends to help her on her new path.”  The two nod with determination and focus on Marle, gently guiding her to a seat as I get a popup.

Class Change.  Interesting.  I should have known.

Order doesn’t elaborate with the message, but I get the feeling he’s more shaking his head and chuckling than frowning and grumbling.  I feel like, instead of stepping on his toes, I’ve accidentally solved an issue he’s been having.  Either way, I don’t get any other popups, and Aranya seems to have the situation in control here, so I let my attention wander back to the group at the dreambloom field.

Looks like they decided the field was an illusion, and they’re all taking a nice nap right now.  I nudge Goldilocks to get a few denizens and deliver them to the gates, and resume watching the delvers do their thing, feeling nicely satisfied at how things are going.  There’ll be something on the horizon to try to shake things up some more eventually, but for now, I’m happy to watch the delvers work to improve themselves, seeking challenge and the rewards that come with it.