The two siblings looked up at Joe, both of them surprised before they both giggled. Joe smiled and rolled his eyes at them before looking around. "Sorry everyone! Didn't an to do this wrong!" he called out to the surrounding crowd.
Kilniara began giggling even more, struggling to hold her laughter in while Garnedell reached forward to grasp Joe's arm and shushed him urgently. Joe looked at them and began smirking at them.
"Well, you guys wanted it public, so… now it is."
By this ti, Zilnek was laughing so hard that he had dropped his head to the table while Kilniara held her laughter back behind clasped hands over her mouth. Only Garnedell seed truly embarrassed, trying to disappear into the background and Joe simply smiled, relaxing into the mont with a contentnt that caught him by quite so surprise. Sohow, he'd found a place here, despite the strangeness of it all.
The breakfast al ca shortly after, and all four dug in, enjoying their als with satisfaction and a hint of familiarity that left Joe feeling the warm glow of friends and family. A glow that he had been missing for quite so ti. With the end of their al, Joe then set out an agenda for discussion and planning for the day.
"OK. Well, we need to talk about two things. First, so of our cores are missing, about a half a bag. Anybody know about that?"
The table dropped into shocked silence and Garnedell and Kilniara looked up at Joe with wide stunned eyes tinge with fear. Zilnek had his head down looking at his plate when Joe spoke and he looked up slowly, also shocked but with fear more evident. Zilnek started the chain reaction, flickering a glance to the other two and Kilniara and Garnedell also began glancing back and forth, each staring the other down.
Joe watched the interaction before cutting it short with a roll of his eyes, not wanting to turn this into a he said she said fear fest where they all blad each other before it devolved into tearing the whole group apart.
"Look. I'm not angry. I'm not. Well, I am… a little. Mainly because you guys didn't trust to take care of you or because you didn't trust when I said you shouldn't use them for your growth. I don't know. I don't care. If you guys want them or want to use them or need to buy sothing, just ask. I couldn't care less. Money literally grows on trees for us… or… well… on monsters, anyway.
"All you have to do is ask. Right? But I'm going to tell you again, you really shouldn't use cores for your growth. I never have and I never will. You guys… do what you want."
By the ti Joe finished his entire speech, his feeling of disappointnt was so overwhelming that he just decided to drop the entire thing, exhaustion dropping his shoulders and slumping him in his seat before he then dropped his head back with a tired sigh before finally moving on.
* * *
Garnedell dropped his head in sha and felt a burning rage roiling underneath it all. They beca apprentices to only steal from master! Garnedell kept his head down to hide his sha and anger but knew he would need to speak with his juniors after this. His angry ruminations stopped quickly when Joe continued the conversation, obviously so disappointed he had no desire to continue the previous conversation.
"Second, we need to talk about today's plan," Joe's head tilted back, staring at the ceiling of the inn, his embarrassnt and sha at his own apprentices too great to even look at them. His head ca up slowly, coming forward but he still refused to acknowledge them as his eyes imdiately dropped to the table and his hand ca up to support his head, resting against his forehead.
"The beginner dungeon wasn't too bad, but taking care of all the monsters while protecting you is difficult. I would be fine, but you would likely be hurt or killed. We were lucky last ti. I'm not sure if we can do the other harder dungeons without one of us being hurt real bad or one of you dying. So, we can't keep with the plan to," Joe stopped quickly, glancing around the room and leaned forward, continuing quietly, "clear dungeons."
Joe sat back up quickly, returning to his normal volu but more importantly, once again willing to look at them and acknowledge them. Master forgives so easily. But I will not! They must learn and respect master!
Joe's explanation continued, explaining their current plan and while Garnedell listened carefully, he struggled to keep the anger bottled since his mind fluctuated, unstable with anger. Joe finished shortly after and they left to return to the beginner's dungeon once again. As they left the inn, Garnedell made sure to catch the other two's attention and settled in behind Joe as he walked to the dungeon. Garnedell's anger finally simred to the surface and confronted the other two without looking at them.
"Who!"
Neither of the other two spoke, both keeping their eyes on the ground and Garnedell growled in anger, turning his face to the two.
"I. Said. Who!" Garnedell's response ca out in an angry growl, long and drawn out as he stared at the other two.
If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.
Kilniara flinched and quickly looked him and shook her head, fear easily seen but no guilt. Garnedell flipped his gaze to Zilnek and saw him looking away. Garnedell felt his anger spike before he coldly snorted, "So you admit it. It was you, Kilniara."
"No! She didn't do it!" Zilnek shouted, panic pushing the volu of his voice quite a bit past socially acceptable.
Garnedell glanced at Zilnek, watching the panic, fear, and guilt flood his face.
"She didn't do it?"
"No! No, she didn't!"
"Hmm… because you know who did it," Garnedell stated flatly, drilling Zilnek with a level stare.
"Ye… I…," Zilnek trailed off eyes frozen on Garnedell before he tore his gaze away and Garnedell let the conversation drop. There was no need for more conversation.
* * *
Joe finished the last monster for the morning, flipping open his status once more as he had been all morning, checking his club skill after each monster even though he'd figured out how many monsters he'd need and new it would have hit a hundred percent with this kill. Despite the knowledge, the giant 'one' on his skills page still gave him a deep sense of satisfaction and he imdiately shifted his newly available 'char:' skill to double learning from the theorist class. Well… ti to go change my class. I should still have enough ti to clear the dungeon today.
Joe glanced over to see the three still working on killing their goblin and he waited patiently for them to finish before calling them over.
"Alright. I need to head out to the temple. Do you guys want to stay here or co with ?"
The three looked at each other, although Zilnek and Kilniara seed to look away in sha and embarrassnt. Joe had noticed the strange dynamic and was a bit perturbed by it as it had started suddenly just today. He grimaced, wondering if he shouldn't have brought up the stuff about the missing cores, but he really didn't want them ruining their futures using the stuff. He sighted and opened his mouth to speak but Garnedell cut him off.
"We will stay, Joe."
Joe glanced at Garnedell before looking carefully at the other two, all three now looking at him without flinching and he nodded. Looks like they figured out their issues… or at least maybe want the ti to talk while I'm gone?
Joe began to nod slowly, cautiously, as he considered and agreed, "OK. I'm fine with that. Please be careful if you fight any goblins. I'd rather you didn't because I won't be here to help you, but if you really want to, I'm fine if you…"
"We will not fight, Joe. We will simply wait here," Garnedell interrupted, looking at Zilnek and Kilniara firmly before they both nodded and put their heads down a bit.
Hmm… strange. But…
"It's OK, mas… Joe. We will wait here," Kilniara spoke firmly.
Joe nodded then turned away, heading out of the dungeon to the temples. On the way, he flipped open his status to take a look at his available jobs. The crafting and nobility lines were still bare except for their initial jobs and while they both interested him, they didn't seem to offer much in the way of useful stats nor skills so he decided to continue on with the education line. At least it gave him staggering amounts of learning which could be used for other jobs. Besides, my job guidance told the theorist jobs would give learning and he needed philosopher to open the priest job, although getting the priest job is pretty much worthless. I can only … hmmm… or I need another 'char:' skill so I can keep the priest skill any ti or maybe it's better to get the theorist skills.
Joe's mind wandered over his options and he had to reconsider his plan as he realized it might be better to change his two available 'char:' skills to the theorist skills and be able to get his skills growing as well. He flipped to his available skills and checked the two skills related to opening up his skills but when he re-read them, he rembered their weakness. These two skills only affected skills at least at level one, which ant he wouldn't be able to level any of his skills except the two he'd already leveled to one: cudgel and bow. Nothing else would level.
Joe sighed as he walked up to his next temple, pulling out another random cloak and walked into the temple. Changing his job took a matter of seconds and he was soon back out and heading back to the dungeon, now equipped as a citizen theorist. Joe had frowned when he first looked at the job na, but didn't understand really what he was looking at and shrugged it off. It wasn't important and wasn't sothing he would be keeping for long. He could figure it out as he leveled it and learned its skills, although he did chew over its possible purpose as he walked back to the dungeon before settling in line and giving up on trying to figure out.
This ti, as he stood in line, he didn't have the distraction of his apprentices and quickly grew bored of trying to figure out what his new job was so took in the sights around him, noticing the adventurers around him. The crowd was just as fascinated, staring around them as well; at least the ones close to him. Joe had his new spear in hand, having now chosen it over the one that he'd arrived with. He realized that it might be a bad idea as he soon noticed that the people around him were not simply interested, but were staring at him, and more specifically, his new spear. He beca hyperaware and began taking in the looks and conversations of those around them. The whispers and glances soon made him very sure of what was attracting their attention and he shuffled uncomfortably trying to figure out how to react until his eye's caught sight of another team further ahead who were dressed quite flashily and preened under the looks of envy surrounding them.
Joe quirked an eyebrow in surprise before he smiled and realized that what he had was unique and special. He looked at those around him again and this ti was able to recognize the envy in their eyes and changed his posture slightly, arching his back and thrusting out his chest while tilting his head back although he refused to smirk, opting instead for a blank but confident look. His eyes slipped away from the faces of those around them and he turned his attention to anything else. Fake it till you make it, I guess. Joe kept the act going but made sure to watch the guards and also noticed their avid interest in his spear and he began to grimace. He'd been both exhilarated, exhausted, and to focused on his apprentices when he left the dungeon.
It was already too late to do anything about it but Joe was pretty sure he had to change his plan. At the very least, he wouldn't be able to take the dungeon loot simply because they were too flashy and couldn't be hidden. He made it back into the dungeon and ca to the first floor safe area, seeing the three apprentices in a corner with the siblings sitting on the floor with their heads bowed while Garnedell stood before them imperiously. When Joe saw his apprentices and how they stood, concerns about his current plan of farming titles for base stats was put aside and Joe took in what was happening.
As Joe walked up, Garnedell spotted him and turned to him, "Master, we have sothing to say to you."
Reviews
All reviews (0)