Drumming my fingers on the table, I consider what I should spend the rest of the day doing. Recruiting or crafting would likely be my best bet, but now that I'm at Basic, the cost of levelling under the current system of throwing a sufficient quantity of materials into a trashcan in exchange for a nebulous amount of Proficiency will start costing me upwards of a Stone Gold just to get to 2-Star, never mind the rest of the tiers.

As much as we urgently need a fifth member, I don't really want to pick up some untested schmuck and try to squeeze diamonds out of coal dust. I'll be referring back to my original recruitment idea of using my Appraisal business to identify a suitable candidate for now, and with Rambling Rose all but locked in to handle the Quest, we'll have to think about returning to that - just not until we get confirmation, meaning tonight or tomorrow in all likelihood.

"Earth to Silver?" Windy waves her hand in front of my face, "You kinda just zoned out there."

"Sorry, just wondering what to do with the next few hours," I rub the back of my neck, "Is there anything you're interested in besides Guild business?"

I really need to put more effort into learning these lessons from the Henna and Jade situations. Might as well start here.

Surprised, Windy leans back and folds her arms, contemplative.

"Iunno, boss. Weren't we gonna go recruit a fifth?"

"Decided against it in favour of an older idea, actually. Using my Appraisal business to identify potential recruits for the Guild - we can deal with the Quest first while people go through Miner's Nightmare then take our pick of the ones who make it through," I explain, "Saves a lot of effort and brings in some cash. Two birds one stone and all."

"If you say so," the Fighter shrugs, "How about that sparring practice you offered? I'd like to keep the rust off and acclimate to the new gear."

A sentiment I can agree with, "Sounds good to me. Unfortunately, we can't use the Pioneers Alliance's training yard or fight in the city, so we'll have to head out of the walls and find a quiet spot in Fander field."

"Won't we get jumped by more PKers?" Windy asks, concerned.

I grunt, "Perhaps, but we can cut through dozens of them with a little effort at the moment, so either way, we'll be getting a workout. I don't think any Level 2 or 3 Infamous can do more than 10 points of damage to you right now between your Resilience and Armour. I'm guessing it's probably over 30 by now?"

"Mhm, 35. Since I started with 15, I've only needed to spend two levels worth of free points on it - I've split the rest between Willpower, Dexterity, Agility and Strength."

"Sounds reasonable enough. Just remember not to over-invest in a single stat before you complete The First Step," I stand up, "There's no telling what you'll end up choosing as your first class."

"How does The First Step actually work?" Windy also stands.

"So I don't end up repeating myself, I'll talk about what I know of the process once we've gathered together after our next dungeon," I defer, "Besides, it's not a good idea to talk about it in public."

"There's you being cagey again," She sighs, "Just to be clear, I've not made any mistakes that I can't take back, right?"

I shake my head, "No, your stat distribution is pretty normal for tanks - though I'd perhaps place a lower priority on Willpower until around Level 15 or 20-ish and bump up your physical stats to about even. Once you get your Class, you can start specialising properly after that; when you know more or less what you need to work with it."

"Alright," Windy sounds a little unhappy still, "Let's get going then."

---

 

Adjacent to Meteo City's North Wall, Fander Field

"Up ahead should be as good a place as any," I observe, pointing to a flatter piece of grassland at the base of a small hillock.

"Looks good to me boss," Windy concurs, "How're we going to do this?"

"Start with a few drills to warm up," I reason, "Then start a few rounds against one another - no Skills. We don't have a dedicated facility for this kind of thing, so it'll just be to first blood. Thoughts?"

"Alright. Do I get anything if I beat you?" She sounds eager.

I laugh, "We'll see. There's not much I can reward you with, after all."

"How's about you answer a question of mine every time I win, and you can do the same?" Windy offers.

I want to reject her outright, but hold it in. Not that I lack confidence in beating her, but I don't want to tempt fate. Still, it'll be a bonding experience, "So long as we can answer them. Fi-"

A few feet ahead of us, I notice a shimmer in the air start to form, and my eyes widen, "STOP!"

Reaching out, I grab at her capelet and pull her back, to her protest, and the shimmer turns into a sparkling whorl of magical energy. Another few steps and things would have taken a serious turn for the worst possible outcome.

"What the fuck was that f-uhhh..." Windy shouts, trailing off as she realises what she almost walked into, "The hell's this?"

Letting go of her capelet, I get her to take a few steps away from the portal, "Let's just say that if either of us walked into that, everything we've done up until now would be for nothing, with no hope of recovery."

Exasperated, Windy turns to me, "Ok, but what actually is it?

"A portal to The Land of Exile, a different plane of existence, subdimension...nobody's quite sure. In short, it's a second Merrow, and getting out is nigh-impossible at our Level. We'd be forced to start more or less from scratch, and even dying wouldn't be enough to bring us back. Portals like this can form randomly in the world from time to time, though extremely rarely," I summarise, "Be wary if you see similar signs of a portal forming in future."

The Land of Exile is an odd place. Many methods exist to travel there, and observations of the stars there reveal that it should exist somewhere on Merrow, but nobody can seem to figure out where it actually is, their best guess being somewhere between Maomanu and Firmament. One could align themselves perfectly with a place in the Land of Exile on Merrow and not actually be there, with the open ocean on Merrow taking the place of lush grasslands in the Land of Exile. Scholars have puzzled over what exactly causes this phenomenon, but historically it’s only ever seen use as a dumping ground for undesirables and a haven for those who don’t want to be found.

Getting into The Land of Exile can be somewhat tricky as paths to it appear almost at random outside a few known exceptions, but getting back from it is far more difficult, as it seems to defy all magical transportation to and from it. Teleporting from place to place would only ever take you to that location in the Land, not on Merrow proper, as an example. But by far the most reliable method is the completion of dungeons found inside, which award consumable teleportation artefacts in addition to slightly above average rewards, at the price of a much, much, harder than usual tribulation.

Most who find themselves here are unable to complete these challenges, and must either content themselves with their confinement or die in the attempt, hoping for release through death or success - but for players, death will only see you return to the place where you entered originally, which can form an endless loop of death and revival if you're particularly despised by Lady Luck.

One of my old acquaintances was one such unfortunate soul, and I was partied with her when she walked right into it, getting dumped out in a deep ocean trench to drown while crushed by extreme pressure over and over again. After that, she quit the game and developed severe hydrophobia according to a mutual friend.

Eventually, I will be needing to head there, just for the sake of the progression curve, but not today, or any time in the next couple of years if I can help it. The Land of Exile isn't the only subdimensional space that can be explored in Astral Reckoning, but it's the most prominent, important and amongst the most expansive.

"So, I guess we just...sort of...walk around it?" Windy hedges.

"Yes," I agree, still more than a little tense. The two of us give the portal wide berth and continue with our prior preoccupation.

Windy coughs, "I feel like that was another thing you should probably have mentioned to us by now."

My lips form a line, "It honestly slipped my mind, due to how rare portals like that are. Apologies."

That's not me being facetious or anything, I just genuinely forgot about it since I haven't seen one form in front of me like that in...how long is it now? Eight or nine years now? Thankfully, word had gotten around about their existence by then, so nobody in our group fell prey to it, but in the early days, quite a few people thought that this random event was a rare opportunity and jumped in. Which, in total fairness, sometimes was the case, but they were the exception that proved the rule.

"Anything else you forgot about?" Windy's tone is judging.

"I don't believe so, but incidents like that are just as rare, so it's better for you to maintain a degree of vigilance and common sense judgment towards their occurrence," I equivocate, not sure what else to really say.

"How rare are we talking here?"

"One in a million would probably not be much of an exaggeration," I admit, "But as demonstrated, not impossible."

---

 

Fander Field

After finishing our drills, we move ten feet apart and ready ourselves for the first round of sparring.

Since it's a fight to see who can land a clean hit first, I admit to having a slight disadvantage against her due to having a weapon and a shield, whereas I only have the one, bulkier weapon. Moreover, we've both seen at least some of how the other person fights before, so she may have devised counters to my more standard patterns of attack and defence.

I won't be putting my full effort into crushing her, however, as this is still a friendly bout and not a deathmatch. The same goes for her.

Taking a Stone Copper from my coin pouch I hold it ready to flip, "When the coin hits the ground, we'll begin."

This way both of us have to react at the same time and can't preempt a countdown.

"On your mark," Windy agrees.

The coin launches into the air a good foot in height, enough time to correct my posture. The moment it drops to the ground, Windy runs forward, head lowered, shield extended.

Her plan seems to be either to bowl me over or bait an attack against her shield and counter. I can deal with that.

I feint a thrust to the top of her shield, then slide my backfoot in the direction of her shield arm, twisting around and elbowing her hard in the side before she can respond.

-5

She curses, "That was cheap."

"Point goes to me. Closing the distance was a good idea, but expecting me to stand there and take you head-on is not," I advise, "Are you self-taught?"

Returning to our positions (retrieving the coin as well) she huffs, "Yeah. Mostly. Looked up some videos of other people for reference."

"You should consider finding a mentor who can help you further. Not me, of course, we have different styles," I tell her, "It doesn't have to be in reality, necessarily, there are any number of skilled knights and mercenaries in Merrow who could help you refine it."

"Any suggestions?" She sets her stance again.

"Not at the moment. Once you've gotten your Class, I'll be able to narrow it down a lot more - though, mind you, my knowledge on the subject is definitely incomplete, and second-hand besides. Ready?"

"Go ahead."

Round 2, this time Windy stands still, waiting for me to approach instead of rushing in. Testing the waters, to see how aggressive she should be?

Obliging her, I approach steadily at first, then speed up suddenly, raising my sword on the left side, and sweeping down at her sword-arm once I reach within a foot and a half of her. Windy moves her backfoot around in a semi-circle, turning to meet the strike with her shield instead.

Once again, however, the first strike is a feint. The momentum carries around, and instead of a slash, I pivot and kick her shield upwards, following through with a thrust at her exposed leg as my foot returns to the ground. The weight of the cleaver makes it a little difficult to stab with, but great for building momentum, so the awkwardness of the move makes it a little sloppy.

-11

"Son of a bitch!" Windy grumbles, "Are you a swordsman or a fucking monk?!"

I smile a little apologetically, "Whoever said I was limited to using my sword? Besides, I'm trying not to seriously hurt you, even if your tankiness is obscene. Tell me a little about yourself - just one interesting thing."

A little grumpy, Windy throws her arms in the air, "Cheating bastard. Ok, I'm a pharmacologist graduate. That's about the sum total of my existence."

"A bit of a harsh self-evaluation," I observe as we reset for round 3, "Ready?"

"I'm going to end you this time," Windy promises, determination set.

"We'll see," I flip the coin.

When the coin hits the ground, she returns to her first tactic of rushing in, but keeping lower to the ground, sword resting on top of her shield. Standing still or trying to go for a chop will get me impaled for my trouble, but sidestepping her will leave me open, so I quickly step back and settle into a plow guard just as she arrives, completely ignoring the threat to her face and lunging forward, reaching as far as she can with her blade while her shield meets my sword. By the barest of margins, she scrapes the point of her shortsword across my thigh.

-2

After we recover to neutral, she laughs, "Gotcha."

"That was reckless," I criticise, "And sloppy."

She shrugs, "I know, but I wanted to get one win in at least."

"I almost don't want to answer your question after that, but go ahead," I sigh in resignation.

She hesitates for a moment, "Well, I won't hold it against you if you don't. You let slip you were...y'know...an orphan. What's up with that?"

I grimace, "Getting real personal all of a sudden."

"Sorry, you don't have to answer if you don't want to."

Shaking my head, I pick the coin out the grass, "It's alright. The 2096 riot at Callais happened. Drunk protestor fell on the road in front of the car in front of us, sent us all right off the Channel Bridge on opening day. Pretty sure you'll have heard what happened after that."

Windy breathes in sharply, "Yeah. I remember seeing it on the news. My condolences."

"Thanks. I've more or less gotten over it by now - physical scars aside - but my sister didn't take it quite so well. She's holed up at a mental institution over in East London," I add on, this being the primary motivator for moving to there 4 years back, to be closer to her after she cleared out of there and settled down.

"I hope she recovers," Windy commiserates.

"She'll be out in a few years, no doubt. Taylor's a strong girl," I smile, "Round 4. Get ready."