I had the skeletons back off slightly and we tentatively moved back to our temporary camp. The four remaining adventurers were exhausted but still remained alert to a surprising extent even as the adrenaline of combat wore off.
We sat down there and talked it out. Apparently, the man killed earlier was Aaron. The remaining members of the party are Elyn the thief Kyara the mage, Enrith the swordsman, and Rek the shield-bearer. Together they had formed the party of Dawnbreaker and set out to level together.
For our part, we explained the situation of the origin of my powers, the situation of Venessa, and the reason for our being there. Namely, to level up, the same as them.
The struggle to make them believe in my ability was quickly culled with the use of it to summon a skeleton in front of them.
I was about to say something but as if reading my mind Vanessa jumped into the conversation.
“We understand that Aaron may have been an important member of your party, but we do not regret, nor will we apologize for, killing him.”
I was just about to apologize for that though, that must just be my instinct from my past life though. It was always better to just apologize for whatever it was and get along with your day. But thinking of it here, that would just lead you to be pushed around. On top of that, over the entire course of this exchange, from first contact to now, we were not at fault. All things considered, they should probably be dead right now.
But because of my decision, not only are they not dead, they are a huge potential liability. If word of my class gets out, even with a good explanation and proof of my spell, things would get messy quick. A normal person would definitely fear having a class of perceived murder and horror living near them.
After a while, a tentative agreement was worked out between us, and the following deal was orchestrated.
They would never tell anyone who we were or what our jobs were, and on top of that, they would come with us in delving for a week, before we return to the city. All drops that come from the delve would be spit way amongst us, and when we returned to town we would go our separate ways.
Technically this was a very favorable deal for them. They get two thirds of the reward and we do most of the work, but I mostly need to focus on leveling up anyway, and if we come across another spider nest, we will be able to actually deal with it instead of just running away.
By the time night fell we had ironed everything out, and we were camped together. I’m not stupid enough to trust them completely just yet, so I had the skeletons keeping a close eye as we slept. No matter the end result, this is going to be one stressful week.
In the morning the delve began. Now accompanied by around eighty skeletons we truly just walked through the tunnels as if it were normal. Every once in a while a squeal of a boar or some other noise made its way to us, but we didn’t slow our pace.
Eventually, as we walked the bodies would turn up and we would just quickly harvest what we wanted and then keep walking. The first night we were woken up by three boars that charged one side of the tunnel we were in, but between the skeletons and the melee adventurers, they were dealt with before they could cause a problem.
On the second day, we talked about their pasts and families. Kyara and Enrith grew up in a farming village, Elyn grew up in the streets, and the parents of both Rek and the former member Aaron were laborers in Re’avire. All went about their separate ways until they registered on the same day in the adventurers guild, and from there they sought to rank up and make a living.
It’s a very nice tale. I’m sorry that they met us. They were together for two months so it’s a bit sad to me that they lost one of their own.
Sadly, losing a party member is not an uncommon thing. Even entire parties being wiped out in a day is not uncommon even in this mid sized town.
I can see why. If Venessa and I had stumbled into that spider’s nest without my skeletons, there is a very high chance that at least one of us wasn’t going to make it out of there.
By the fourth day, we knew each other fairly well. I am obviously trying to share what I can but this whole life in this world is only a recent thing for me. I can only tell them about my recent stories. I haven’t even told Venessa of my origins so I’m reluctant to spill it now.
On the seventh day, I finally hit what seems to be the level cap for my current tier two class of thirty. We exit the caves later that day. Venessa is a second tier assassin right now, and she has been leveling for a couple of years now so I almost feel bad power leveling so hard.
But If I want to make a name for myself in this world… wait a minute. What did I want to do in this world again? Im going to have to sort that out soon arent I. Its always best to have a clear goal in mind after all.
