Dave never knew his parents. All his life he spent on the streets. From an early age, he had an eye for opportunity. He had to in order to keep fed as a child. Yet he had rules to live by. He had seen what happens to those that do not have them. Those with that any means necessary attitude do not last long. Those with talent with that attitude quickly get picked up by shady organizations. Those organizations that have a one in hundred survival rate to make it to an adult. Many times with fate worse than on the streets. Then there is the other half who get caught. They get dead real quick. Even quicker than the talented ones.
Dave had three rules that he lived by. Never take more than he needed, never lie, and always pay back his debts. At the age of twelve he became an adventurer. That had a whole new assortment of rules. Never mess with the healer. Always listen to the party leader. Never be close to the mage. Make sure you test your potions before your adventure. Always keep a surplus of supplies. But most relevant to him. Never trust the thief with the loot.
The early years were simple. Jobs needing a body that nobody wanted to do. Make the low-level adventurer do it. He was really good at fetch quests. He did not do those wor long as he quickly moved up to monster subjugation. Low-level G and F monsters were too easy for him when he first started. Living on the streets made him keenly aware of what was around him, opportunity and danger often came in the same bag. In order to not get caught a deft and often subtle hand was needed, a hand that was usually able to take some coin out could as easily split a blade in. Then there is the tenacity to take risks. For Dave, he always considered the risk and reward of things.
When Dave was sixteen he joined a proper adventurer team of beginners his age. At first, things went well. The tank, archer, healer, thief party did subjugation tasks with ease. The loot was meant to be split four ways even. For the first month, it was, but then the guild policy of need over greed took over. His share got cut the first time when the tank needed new armor and shield. He went along with it because at the E rank that amounted to only a few copper crowns. It was not long after when he had to take another hit for the archer’s upgrade in a bow. Then again for the healer’s holy symbol. By the time five years passed and the party finally got into C rank, he was still with his E rank equipment. When he went to the guild they called it the thief’s greed over need. To demand more than the party agreed to share. So when he got the guild involved when they tried to short him of that the next time he was kicked from the party.
This put Dave in a peculiar situation. Under graded equipment in one of the most common classes, furthermore most untrusted class, and mid-ranked. So he went solo into the dungeons. He quickly found his old team held him back. With the lack of proper equipment, his improvisation was better than normal at the rank. With his awareness he could easily avoid fights he could not deal with. With his skill, he began bringing in hauls even larger than with his old group because of the mobility a solo has.
It was three months after turning twenty-two that Dave’s fate turned for the worst. With his expanded earnings he subtly returned every crown he ever stole in his life. He bought more appropriate level gear. He even began to start to gain savings. It was the return of a deep dive he had been scouting for months that changed his fate. When he turned in his score he was called up to the guild master’s office. This instinctively told him something was wrong.
When Dave got to the office he found his old team leader sitting on the couch in front of the head’s desk. He was giving Dave a sneer. He did not care, that party was an old part of his life.
“ It has come to our attention that the two of you use to be in the same party.”
Dave gave a simple nod keeping his mouth shut. He never liked being around authoritative figures. They always acted high and mighty, and for good reason.
“ Parker here just recently came out of the dungeon, he had an interesting story to tell.”
Dave gave Parker another look and to his surprise, he was missing an arm. He immediately stood up.
“ You ba**ard, you setting me up again!”
Moments later he found himself on his hands and knees.
“ Now, I will have order in MY guild.”
Dave gave a nod once again and the guildmaster’s aura let up.
“ Parker here says you have a tenacity of greed over need. Saying you demanded double your worth before you left when you did not get what you wanted.”
Dave gritted his teeth and took a deep breath before calming down.
“ When the party was first formed it was four of us in equal splits. At first it was a simple maintenance disparity that I agreed to a lesser share. It was only a couple of copper every dive. As the rank increased the cut I received decreased. To the point of I only getting a half dozen coppers every hundred we earned.”
This time the guild master eyed Parker. Dave noticed a small sneer on his face.
“ Of course he would get a lesser share when he was allowed to ninja any chest he opened.”
Dave opened his mouth wide. He had never ninja anything from the party. Many times he had been tempted to, but he never did. It took a minute for Dave to regain his whit.
“ What is your game, Parker? You know I never picked over a chest. It is you all that kept the greed while I was in need. A new sword, need. A new robe, need. A new quiver even though the old one was just fine, NEED. When I needed new tools to disarm traps it was Greed. When my dagger snapped in half and I needed a replacement, Greed. When we got laid out for that week. You took my cut out of NEED while I had to borrow because it was GREED!”
This time Dave did not find himself on the floor, but he quickly sat back down in order to test the guildmaster’s patients. Still, something was nagging him and he could not put his finger on it.
“ Well now, I can see the party split due to money. It is not the first and certainly not the last.”
With those words, the guildmaster looked at some papers.
“ It says here Dave that your earnings have increased exponentially after leaving the party. In fact the earnings you got exceed that of the combined value of your old party.”
Dave nods, “ Yes, without having to follow Parker’s instruction to take out every monster we come across, I am able to get to the richer hunting grounds on the tenth floor much faster and stay for longer.”
This caught Parker in surprise. When together the deepest the group ever got was the eighth floor before being forced to turn back. Something curbed in the former party leader learning this fact.
“ And records of your returns prove that. In fact the increase is rather startling. However, that is not why we are here. It is what happened when you met your old party again.”
Dave became puzzled.
“ Again, this is the first time since I was kicked out that I saw any of them.”
The guild master took a moment to ponder.
“ According to Parker here, you all encountered each other on the eighth floor. It began when you noticed Janet with child. Your child.”
Dave wanted to let out another outburst but the guildmaster’s look told him that would not be wise.
“ It is true I fancied Janet, but I will swear in front of a priest of Catlin, that I am a virgin.”
This caught the other two by surprise. The priests of whores were well known to tell if one had their chastity or not. If he had the confidence to say that then Parker’s story adds up even less than if it did before. The guild master could not help but put his hand to his temples in annoyance.
“ Janet was the daughter of a noble in Cheshire. Her family sent her to grow stronger so when the time came they could marry her off to an influential knight family of the court.”
Something troubled Dave with that. Then he realized what it was.
“ What do you mean Janet ‘was’ the daughter?”
The guild master sighs, “ I get what happened now, you were the real reason why the team made it as far as they did. If not for the baby, Janet would have left more than likely as well.”
With that, the guild master lifted a bell on his desk. With its ring a high-level assistant came in.
“ Take Parker here to the cells, I will arrange a division of the truth to reveal everything to her parents.”
Parker was about to resist or protest or merely flee, but the moment he stood up he found himself on the floor like Dave was earlier. The guild master gave no further notice to him as he looked to Dave.
“ It is unfortunate to do this to a talent such as yourself but the guild has got to cover it’s a*s. Officially, the guild will confiscate all your earnings and banish you, but it so happens there is a new dungeon in Laroot. If you agree to go there you can escape the wrath of a noble and start your adventurer career anew.”
