Shattered Bastions

Luke Dragneel · May 26, 2026

slavezero said:
Seems like only Malik since that was how he was thinking of his class/magic

Which means he's closer to Quill's style of magic than Vey's, at least from what I can tell.

Hell_Yeah · May 26, 2026

Leecifer said:
The woman frowned at the heavy guy's terms, but she understood. "There... is a limit. Mine is Silver. Hark's is likely Gold, if he is fortunate. At your limit, you have a singular [Job], and your lesser ones are consumed to fuel its ascent."

Is your limit set by some hidden potential stat you're born with, or is it determined by the number of jobs you were able to get early on in order to "fuel the ascent" of the main job? Its sounding like either Outlanders naturally have Diamond (or higher) limits, or the experience buff they seem to get means they can grab a bunch of jobs in record time to start out, which gives them fuel to burn as they advance, depending on how the system works.

I'm seeing why Diamonds are either completely unstoppable or completely harmless. I was assuming Quill was talking about personalities, where 5/6 Diamonds aren't likely to attack you unless you did something to them, and the remainder are murderhobos par excellence, but he was referring to their hyper specialization. Either they are the rock to your scissors or rock (since they're a better rock) and you're screwed, or you're paper or a hammer or pretty much anything else, and can beat them on an axis on which they can no longer compete.

As you go up, do your individual jobs get more specialized, or is it just that you lose your secondary ones and your capacity outside of them as is discussed here? Is Dylan able to pick up a non-axe melee weapon as a [Bloodshot Raider] currently, but will eventually be limited to his two specific weapons and be a nightmare with them, while being useless without them in particular? I'm trying to imagine how over specialized you'd have to be that you have a 5/6 chance of being useless when pretty much anything can be turned into a weapon.

Leecifer · May 26, 2026

Hell_Yeah said:
As you go up, do your individual jobs get more specialized, or is it just that you lose your secondary ones and your capacity outside of them as is discussed here? Is Dylan able to pick up a non-axe melee weapon as a [Bloodshot Raider] currently, but will eventually be limited to his two specific weapons and be a nightmare with them, while being useless without them in particular? I'm trying to imagine how over specialized you'd have to be that you have a 5/6 chance of being useless when pretty much anything can be turned into a weapon.

So, as to the capability question, remember that a lot, if not most, [Job]s are non-combat oriented.

Vey's [Hearthflame Priestess] is obviously combat capable, even if taken to Diamond, and [Arbalestier] is even more so, but a Diamond Rank [Polyglot] would be defenseless, and [Laundress] would likely get weird about it, able to strip her attackers naked (while cleaning and repairing their clothes and armor in the process, perhaps even improving them), but could not disarm her attackers.

Hell_Yeah · May 26, 2026

Fair enough. Based on [Calculant], I sort of assumed something like [Polyglot] WOULD have combat applications, maybe by using runic languages or a spoken equivalent we haven't seen yet. I guess we have a pretty biased sample so far, since the main cast all got their first jobs by fighting monsters, and a lot of the people they'd run into in a caravan would have some means of self defense.
Actually, if most people live in Bastions or are at least primarily non-combatants (which hasn't been stated yet, but that's generally both how this kind of setting usually goes and is more logistically feasible to have a functional society as we understand it), and you're always training your Job when using it, unless there's some correlation between taking combat Jobs and having higher level caps, you would have a heavy skew towards non-combat Diamonds, since they'd be a larger part of the population and presumably have a lower chance of getting eaten by something.

Leecifer said:
Vey's [Hearthflame Priestess] is obviously combat capable, even if taken to Diamond

The "even if taken to Diamond" is interesting. DO Jobs start specializing within their own roles as you rank up, so you both lose alternative Jobs and lose breadth WITHIN your main Job?

Leecifer · May 26, 2026

Hell_Yeah said:
Actually, if most people live in Bastions or are at least primarily non-combatants (which hasn't been stated yet, but that's generally both how this kind of setting usually goes and is more logistically feasible to have a functional society as we understand it), and you're always training your Job when using it, unless there's some correlation between taking combat Jobs and having higher level caps, you would have a heavy skew towards non-combat Diamonds, since they'd be a larger part of the population and presumably have a lower chance of getting eaten by something.

Yes, except, remember, the harder you push yourself, the faster it develops, which is why they all got their first [Job] in ten minutes of furiously fighting for their lives, while the magic one from focused fucking about took hours (which is, itself, stupidly fast, and will slow way the fuck down when they give up their gear). And, the nature of power being what it is, anyone with the potential to be Diamond is likely to pick up a combat job, if only to defend themselves. That said, yes, the skew is towards non-combat-specified job, but a Diamond rank [Chef] will Butcher you in seconds, though, bright side, you will be delicious. [Hearthflame Priestess] and [Calculant] are both non-combat specific jobs, so would retain a degree of lethality, but *how* the lethality is applied would be Fae-levels of specific.

Hell_Yeah said:
The "even if taken to Diamond" is interesting. DO Jobs start specializing within their own roles as you rank up, so you both lose alternative Jobs and lose breadth WITHIN your main Job?

If you train one aspect more than others, your Rank Up will reflect that by narrowing, if you train in aspects related but technically outside, your Rank Up might broaden the [Job] you get. It's really up in the air, but it will be fair to an alien, eldritch degree, even if you'd rather it wasn't.

TheManWithoutAPlan · May 26, 2026

Leecifer said:
"Outlanders."

Ah, so they are freaks in how well developed their mana is in addition to being freaks of growth.

Leecifer said:
If you train one aspect more than others, your Rank Up will reflect that by narrowing, if you train in aspects related but technically outside, your Rank Up might broaden the [Job] you get. It's really up in the air, but it will be fair to an alien, eldritch degree, even if you'd rather it wasn't.

Ah, meta-gaming here is not the question of the most optimal choice, but rather what you personally are okay with losing in return for the power you seek.

w.cheff · May 27, 2026

So now I'm wondering if the divine magic group felt the Mana drain worse because of how they approach their Magic jobs and the arcane group still felt uncomfortable but not as bad because of their approach to their Magic jobs.

vladspellbinder · May 27, 2026

So, started my re-read on the nineteenth like I said I would but underestimated just how draining reading for literary analysis instead of pleasure would be for me. I knew going in that it'd not be easy but I didn't expect how hard it would be for me in particular. Then Life Happened (tm) and I never got back to it until now. I had been hoping to do it before a new chapter dropped but, well, Life (tm).

New notes, after taking a more critical eye to things.

First, I'm wondering just what Miskatonic High is and why it's pretending to be Earth. I'm not sure if it's actually a Bastion that for whatever reason doesn't teach people how the world works or if it's some sort of in-between thing. Very celarly based on but not our Earth and may not be the new world the graduates have found themselves on. I don't expect we'll ever get a straight answer on that because it doesn't actually matter to the story.

Second, I keep seeing the phase in your works and I've been meaning to ask; where does "Slow is Smooth and Smooth is Fast" come from?

Third, Sam got to have a moment with the light but as it was in the middle of a fight it didn't get time to shine, pun totally intended.

Fourth, even keeping in mind he's a high school graduate, making him seventeen or eighteen instead of in his twenties, I still don't like Kyle. He's got "small-medium fish that wants to be a large fish" energy and I just don't care for that sort of character. Guy just can not read the room and keep his mouth shut. (Chapter three.)

Fifth, the fourth point again. Fuck Kyle with a rusty spike. (Chapter four.)

Sixth, so it's still called Doctor Who then? Why does The Starving Trials get a new name but not Doctor Who?

Seventh, the first instance of "This is still our old world." with Dylan just waking up. It's dark because it's dark, forget timezones and all that other shit boyo, you're on a whole other world with new rules. But Dylan isn't the right character to get their head around that sort of thing so it's only a minor annoyance.

Eighth, so, is it still Bleach that Getsuga Tensho comes from? Chlorine maybe? How far does the "off brand name" stuff go? You really should have just stuck with calling it The Hunger Games to avoid this issue. A casual mention of things isn't in any danger for copyright and what not.
I'm going to stop calling out such things now but the more it happens the worse it gets and it can all be avoided by just not doing the joke in the first place.

Ninth, Kristen's a bitch. She's not as bad as Kyle but damn girl shut the fuck up already.

Tenth, wondering what the last name "Ganaka" implies that they'd not be able to work just anywhere.

Eleventh, seriously, fuck Kyle. Quill shouldn't have nulled the damage from that fire. Kyle needs to catch another broken neck and not get healed from it.

Twelfth, ok, so, got through the first five chapters with no "Dylan being super awesome" moment so I have no idea where that bias of mine came from. I guess maybe because I don't relate to him as a main character I'm giving him no benefit-of-the-doubt so when he gets a typical Main Character Moment (tm) it just doesn't land right for me. Brains be weird like that.

Thirteenth,

above metal flower

"above the metal". First editing thing I've noticed.

Fourteenth,

"This isn't America," Dylan realized.

No fucking duh. This is one of the problems I'm having with Dylan, he's just not getting it, at least not to the extent I want him to.

Fifteenth, yeah, Kristen's a bitch. That's two characters I don't like at all. But Kristen isn't at a level of "die in a fire" like Kyle is.

Sixteenth, again, fuck Kyle. Every fucking time he opens his fucking mouth. No I don't know why he pisses me off as much as he does but boy does he piss me off.

Seventeenth,

No, likely tomorrow you shall learn something far more important. Magic.

So, this happens the same day as when she says this. I get that characters can be wrong but as second in command she really should know the plan. Maybe change the wording slightly? Instead of "learn" say "be taught". Because they're learning about it that same day and getting a magic related [Job] but are not really being taught anything beyond the most basic of basics.

On the newest chapter.

First, thanks for the chapter. Second, Malik just using his System interface to recharge the 'mana batteries' without any discomfort and having discrete units to it all was funny and got a smile out of me.

One correction:

while Bartholomew was floating

"Bartholomew's"

Leecifer said:
a Diamond rank [Chef] will Butcher you in seconds, though, bright side, you will be delicious.

I'd think [Chef] and [Butcher] would be too different [Job]s though I guess enough people assume a chef knows how to butcher that a [Chef] would be able to butcher things because of that. Also, it'd take some high level System shenanigans to make make me delicious but I guess there's got to be at least one Race out there that would find my trash tier ingredients delectable.

Leecifer · May 27, 2026

vladspellbinder said:
Second, I keep seeing the phase in your works and I've been meaning to ask; where does "Slow is Smooth and Smooth is Fast" come from?

From the US Military, specifically the Navy SEALS. My dad, who was Air Force, says it a lot.

vladspellbinder said:
Sixth, so it's still called Doctor Who then? Why does The Starving Trials get a new name but not Doctor Who?

Because I was wavering on the 'do I keep the names the same' thing, and, in publication, it might be something else like 'Professor Who' to keep the joke.

vladspellbinder said:
Tenth, wondering what the last name "Ganaka" implies that they'd not be able to work just anywhere.

It's an Indian name that translates roughly to 'Accountant', and is equivalent to an Englishman with the last name of Clark.

vladspellbinder said:
"above the metal". First editing thing I've noticed.

Fixed.

Also, yes, Kyle's a dick. He's also *not unrealistic.*

vladspellbinder · May 27, 2026

Leecifer said:
From the US Military, specifically the Navy SEALS. My dad, who was Air Force, says it a lot.

Ah, makes sense.

Leecifer said:
Because I was wavering on the 'do I keep the names the same' thing, and, in publication, it might be something else like 'Professor Who' to keep the joke.

I looked into it again before my previous post and having a character talk about another franchise in your own original work is totally fine by all metrics. Don't even need Fair-Use because that sort of thing is so minor it's not even at Fair-Use laws. The problems start to arise when you start doing too much quoting of the other work in question but a name drop is nothing.
The main problem I have with doing the "Bland Name Franchise" joke is that if you do it once it really calls to attention every time you don't do it. Where do you stop? How many do you change? Do you change all of them? And at what point do people stop getting references because everything is under an original name? It just seems like a very deep rabbit hole that I don't think is worth the joke but you do you.

Leecifer said:
It's an Indian name that translates roughly to 'Accountant', and is equivalent to an Englishman with the last name of Clark.

I was expecting it to be something along those lines. Thanks for the information.

Leecifer said:
Also, yes, Kyle's a dick. He's also *not unrealistic.*

I've never said he was unrealistic. I've meet quite a few people like him in real life. Some of them I even wanted to see die because they were just that bad.
Until Kyle undergoes some character development and becomes less of an idiotic asshole I'm going to continue to want to see him die because it's simpler than having to suffer though his character development while he's still an idiotic asshole.

Dragonhulk · Jun 11, 2026

Leecifer said:
Also, yes, Kyle's a dick. He's also *not unrealistic.*

Huh, that is probably why everyone can hate him so well. We know people like that, we have had to keep our fists out of their faces so we don't get fired or expelled. As long as there is some sweet, sweet, karma coming his way for a payoff it will be worth it though.

Leecifer · Jun 11, 2026

Chapter Eight: New Agartha

The next few days, or cycles, passed by in a bit of a blur, as they were sent off to their rooms, with meals, and told to be ready to train the next day. Turns out, while [Job]s gave you skills, and abilities, they had to have something to work with, and while some of the group were in shape, like him, Kyle, and Val, others, like Bart, Kristen, Sam, and Malik, needed a lot of work.

So, when the Caravan slowed, they ran.

A lot.

To the point that they all picked up variations on the 'runner' [Job], Dylan getting [Courier], because, according to their instructors, what they were doing was so far outside their combat [Job]s that they registered as something separate, though, if they combined their fighting with running, there was a chance it would then be consumed when they hit Iron with their fighting style, allowing it to rank up faster.

Which, given what waited for all of them at the end of their journeys was… kind of exactly the opposite of what they wanted.

Also, until they found at least two other jobs, not [Job]s, but things they could help with to the point they got put on the official charts, they needed to contribute five times the Mana as anyone else.

Which… wasn't fun.

To Dylan, he could feel the drain, a sensation almost like he was bleeding out, losing something he'd never get back, though, checking with the Caravanners, he would, it just wouldn't help with any of his [Job]s. It was also paired with a feeling that was like pain, but wasn't, the difference something he could tell because, well, he'd been hurt before, and badly, at that. Not just the werewolves, Shadow Pack, whatever, but, well, you didn't play football without getting hurt, and he could tell the difference instantly, and move past it.

The others... were having trouble.

They all felt it, that not-pain, but, talking to them, they all felt different things. While Dylan felt the drain, Logan felt like he himself was moving out of his body, going with the Mana, losing track of himself more and more, until, after it was over, he blinked, and was in himself again, a feeling 'Like a really bad trip, dude'.

Sam? She felt like she was 'on stage, but in the worst way', seen by… something, something that was everywhere, and something that really really didn't like her. And Annabeth, who didn't want to talk about it, eventually described it as being on top of a pyramid of people that got shakier and shakier, knowing, more and more, that at any moment you were going to fall, you were going to get hurt, and it just got worse and worse and worse.

He tried to talk to the others about it, but, well, they didn't want to share, except for Kyle, whose statement of it 'not being that bad' was something that Dylan didn't really believe.

And there was Malik, who, according to him, got a prompt, said yes, and spent the 'Mana Points' on it, and… that was it.

Which… didn't earn him a lot of good will from the others.

Though, if there was a silver lining to this, Dylan noticed that, after they'd spent the time charging up two dozen of those little batteries worth of crystals, or their equivalent, each, everyone else in the Caravan was noticeably nicer to them.

In some ways, it reminded him of practice, because everyone hated cardio, but even if you didn't like the other guy, you couldn't help but feel for him seeing him going through what you had too.

And so, every day, they were run ragged, drained of stamina and Mana, not having enough energy to do much more than stumble into bed at the end of the day for the first week, and the week after, while they had some free time… they didn't have much to do in it. He'd worked with his magic [Job], which was sight-based, and while he didn't have spells, arrays, chants, or so on, his own rush of understanding showed him how to shift the flow of Mana, and work with it, so had made invisible mana 'lenses', kind of like energy goggles, and, putting them 'on', he'd been able to better see the energy around him.

And there was a lot of it around them.

In the Caravan, and in the people, but, a little bit, in the trees, in the grass, and the one time he'd looked upwards, whatever the 'suns' were, they were so full of Mana that they'd left whatever the magical version of sunspots were in his eyes.

Regardless, it was giving him insight into how the world worked, or, as the [Job] wanted him to say, it gave him Insight. He wasn't really sure why, and no one could explain either, just telling him that 'That's how [Job]s are.'

Then, suddenly, no work, because, tomorrow, they were going to reach the next Bastion.

Instead, they had to turn over all of their gear, and were both told that they had to leave their phones locked up with Quill, but also, at the same time, they were to, under no circumstances, take them out in the Bastion. When Bartholomew had pointed out that, if they were leaving them behind, how could they take them out, Thrain, who had kind of become their contact, just nodded, and went, 'Exactly, Laddie!' which hadn't explained anything.

They'd all been issued non-uniform clothing, which all seemed a little worn, instead of the new outfits they'd had before, which Kyle had started to complain about, until Ivy pointed out that they were supposed to have been wearing this kind of thing the entire time so of course it'd seem 'used'. They'd also all been given weapons, and armor, which had surprised them, and was something that one of Quill's people, the man who'd managed the drop-off, read a message off a notebook in response to their reaction.

"'Only the truly rich and the truly poor go unarmed, either through soft power or through a complete lack of any power at all. We are Caravanners, and, even in friendly Bastions, no Guard is omnipresent, so one should be armed and armored whenever possible,'" he read off. "'If you draw steel first, we'll kill you ourselves, and if you draw steel second, do not tarry, do not try and explain yourself, run for the Caravan, like the Hounds of Tindalos are after you, because we can negotiate, and you cannot.'"

And with that, the assistant put the notebook away, and went back to handing out their new gear, collecting their original loadout.

"Don't you mean hounds of hell?" Sam questioned, looking over her new lightning wand.

"Nah, lassie, Tindys' are far worse in cities!" Thrain corrected.

At her confused look, Malik explained, "They teleport from corner to corner. Or, like, slip into extra-dimensional space where the only exits are corners. The books weren't really clear. They're only supposed to go after time-travelers, though."

The dwarf, who'd seemed surprised at the dark-skinned boy's comment, snorted, "If only. Only way you'll make it back is if the Guard let ya. Outer Ring, worst you're gonna deal with is Iron, but a Bronze might be slummin' it, then you're right screwed. So be on your best behavior, and if things go bad, ya best hoof it."

"Ugh," Bartholomew groaned. "Haven't we done enough running? We've been going back and forth like our lives depended on it!" He paused. "Oh."

The [Trackrunner] leaned forward and mock-whispered conspiratorially, "If things go bad, it just might."

<SB>

It was late afternoon in the next cycle that 'New Agartha' started to be seen in the distance, and it… wasn't what Dylan had expected.

He wasn't sure what he'd expected, to be honest.

But he hadn't expected it to be black.

Which… sounded racist, in his own head, but it was literally black, a hemisphere of complete and utter darkness, to the point that he couldn't see a curve, as it instead looked like someone had just pasted a two-dimensional cut out in the world, the top reaching towards the clouds above, but not quite touching it, probably, but any light from the not-suns that passed by it didn't shine on the shape, because it was just…

Black.

Also, the lack of any features, as he saw it rising up above the trees, meant that he thought they were close when they really weren't, as the cut-out got bigger, and bigger, and bigger, which meant the clouds were higher than he'd assumed they were, not that he could look at them for longer than a few seconds at a time before his stomach started to twist into knots.

Even worse, or maybe better, when they'd been heading towards it for several hours, night fell, which itself was not a gradual process like it'd been the last time, three cycles of day, and two cycles of night ago, not the faint darkening over hours, but darkness crashed down, darkening in minutes, likely less than five, which caused some tension amongst the other Caravanners.

It was a sign that a long day was coming, according to some, but Thrain reassured them that, no, it wasn't, that was just a folk-belief, and they would be Gating to the Gondolin Bastion anyways, so it was, as the short man said, 'no skin off our heels'.

Heading back to their rooms, they watched from the side, which was… tenser than he thought it'd be, unable to see the Bastion directly, warned that the edge would come through the walls, and that was fine, but they were to stay there in case anyone had the kind of reaction that even new hires should not have.

And they were right to, because it was… disconcerting.

Both he and Malik were sitting on Malik's bed, as it was the one near the 'back', and, through the slit, the black wall took up more and more space in the window, until there was a quick scream, suddenly cut off, from the rooms in front of theirs, then the front wall of their room seemed to dissolve into utter blackness which swept towards them.

And Dylan felt a primal animal terror clutching at him, to run, to escape, to not touch that infinite darkness, as it advanced, some part of him certain to touch it was to utterly be unmade, as his muscles locked up and-

And then, for a moment, he FELL, into the endless void, where nothing existed, forever, and ever, in infinite amounts, yet, at the same time, there was something else in here, something old, something tired, and something which was no longer Human-

Then he was back on Malik's bed, heart hammering, as he shot to his feet, and stumbled, needing to run, needing to fight, his pistol, which he'd turned over, now in his hand, ready to fire, and loaded.

It was that last thought which made him stop, because he knew what it took to fire it, and, hesitantly, opening the cylinder, six rounds of complete darkness were loaded into it. Moving to unload them, the rounds fell into his palm, and he hissed in pain, dropping them, the ammo so cold he thought he'd given himself frostbite, but his hand was fine.

The rounds, meanwhile, hit the floor, and, hissing like sizzling bacon, evaporated.

He looked at the space they'd been in. Malik looked at the space they'd been in. They looked at each other.

Dylan, slowly, opened a drawer in his desk, put the magic gun into it, and closed it, Malik nodding.

Then, and only then, did they look back out the window and almost completely forget what just happened, because New Agartha?

It was a cave.

An Enormous cave, buildings built into the walls, along with what looked like mining, and, as the carriage turned, the area they were in was full of warehouses and the like. Looking further, they saw the center of the Bastion, which was an enormous crystal pillar that stretched up from the floor to the ceiling, the bottom obscured but the top built out into a giant golden palace, and, in the pillar itself sat… a sun.

An actual one, if, comparatively, tiny, but it was definitely a star, with light that, while bright, didn't make Dylan feel like vomiting. Even better, through the crystal it was housed in, and through their window, it felt naturally warming, the shadows it cast in their room normal shadows, not the sharp-edged divisions of the Farweald's 'suns'.

The carts meanwhile, kept going, and going, and going, before they passed through some kind of gate, the Caravan forming up, as it did whenever it stopped, in a fenced off clearing, where they waited. The buildings in the Bastions were… oddly colorful, not really forming any kind of pattern, looking kind of… squat, with no room between them on the streets, the occasional tower rising up, here and there, bringing to mind, for some reason, flowers, or maybe just very flamboyant cacti.

Left to wait, Dylan checked with the others who were… dealing, and, asking around, they all saw the Void, all felt the Falling, but while Logan admitted to feeling something else in there, 'like a shark made out of old people', and Ivy, stiffly, described it as 'feeling like my grandmother was in the next room', everyone else in both rooms looked at them strangely, not having felt anything else like that at all.

He didn't mention his revolver, nor what it had been loaded with.

It was another three hours, Malik's magic job having, among other things, a clock, that Thrain tromped up the stairs, followed by two women, one in a green cloak, looking like she could be in college, with dark green hair, and an elderly woman who either had feathers in her hair or growing through her hair, and the fact that her nails seemed to be talons suggesting it was the second.

"Alrightie, lads and lassies," their unofficial contact with the Caravan grinned. "Seein' as you all are still new to other Bastions, havin' only been in a few before, of course ya be wantin' to explore a little."

"Not really," Sam stated, accidentally cutting off the dwarf as he'd only been pausing for effect. "What? What if they think we're Outlanders or something?"

Kristen frowned, "We are Outlanders."

"Exactly!" the theater girl agreed, worried.

"No, you all ain't, at least not 'till we're well back inta the Farweald," the [Trackrunner] corrected. "But bein' new hires, as this place ain't like your home Bastion, which is…"

He trailed off, waiting, and, looking around, Dylan offered, "Boston?" which caused the old woman to harrumph.

"What's wrong with Boston?" Ivy demanded.

"The fact that it's an Outlander answer, dearie," the feather-haired local rebuked. "Same as New York, Los Angelos, and Washington Bee Sea."

"Washington D.C.," Kristen corrected automatically.

"What an Outlander thing to say," the elderly Caravanner noted, causing the nerdy girl to wince.

"How about Istanbul?" Bartholomew suggested.

"Not Constantinople?" Dylan quipped, getting a surprised laugh from several of the others.

"Not anymore," the nerdy boy agreed.

Thrain looked to the older woman, who nodded. "There's a few of those, it could work, but you don't sound like it."

"Vienna?" Sam suggested. "It's got the rivers and stuff."

"That's Venice," Kristen disagreed. "And… we are merchants now. Would Venice work?"

"It would," the old woman agreed, saying no more.

"Then we're merchants from Venice," Kyle declared.

Sam held up a hand, "Um, guys, that doesn't mean what you think it means."

Taking a second to glance at Kristen, Bartholomew disagreed, "No. It works."

"Well," Thrain stated, "You all are from the Venice Bastion, used to waterways, so all of this stone in New Agartha's gonna be different then what yer' used to. You all got yer paychecks, so yer gonna want to get some food, some souvenirs, but we'll be with ya, and stick close to me, Eledah," he told them, jerking a thumb to the green-haired girl, who, as she waved to them, Dylan realized the tips of her ears were pointed, "and Mrs. Freya." The old woman nodded her head. "They're Irons."

"Wait," Malik questioned the elderly lady, "how can you only be an Iron?"

"Because I'm Wrought, young man," she stated. "But as a [Guide], these old bones of mine are still quite useful, and I can still do quite a bit. However, that's a very rude question."

"Oh! Sorry!" the dark-skinned boy quickly apologized. "I didn't know!"

Thrain cut in, "Which is why you all gaping be fine, but keep yer questions to a minimum, and about whatever it is ye be lookin' to buy. Also, never take the first offer. NAgs like ta barter, and, whatever yer offered by the locals, counter at half that, and don't go more than three quarters the price. Nuthin' here is that important for ya, least on yer budgets, and overpayin', especially takin' the first offer is…"

"Outlander behavior," they all chorused, having got the message.

"Exactly!" the dwarf grinned. "Now, who wants to stretch yer legs where the monsters be wearin' clothing?"

<SB>

For all their warnings, once they actually got out, a couple men at the gate in chainmail watching them, each with a symbol of a starburst in a ring, connected to each other with a vertical line, the entire thing… felt a bit like a school field trip, actually.

Eledah was very much a chaperone, watching them from the back to make sure they stayed together, but Mrs. Freya was actually really knowledgeable, always couching her explanations of New Agartha in how it was different than Venice, a Bastion known for its fishing and aquatic farming. This one was, obviously, was involved with mining, the locals not quite as short as Thrain, but they definitely seemed to be more like him than the rest of them, which apparently was a good thing given their main industries were the gathering, processing, and working of metals, creating what they needed, but that also left them a surplus of goods to trade with Caravans, like theirs, when they rolled through, which they did, on average, once every couple weeks.

Stopping for dinner, Thrain warned them that the little red skull meant it was spicy, a lichen they farmed actively toxic for anyone not at least at Lead, which, of course, meant that all the guys had to try it, along with Val and Ivy, and… well… he wasn't lying.

Malik tapped out immediately, the milkshakes, which had an odd buttery aftertaste coming from a local kind of short shaggy cow, helping him a great deal, Logan following after, while Bartholomew tried his best, but tapped out too. He was pretty sure that Kyle was trying not to cry, and while it was a bit much, looking at the locals, some of whom were trying not to laugh, Dylan watched as they sipped the milkshakes, just a little, as they ate similar dishes, so he did too.

Kyle loudly announced that he 'won', only for Ivy to clear her throat, both her and Val still just having the 'Dustcutter' stew without issue, which caused the big guy to declare they 'didn't count'. Looking over to them himself, Ivy rolled her eyes and told Dylan, "Mother made worse." Val adding, "Could be a bit hotter," causing Thrain to choke on his ale a little, Mrs. Freya promising to help the tomboy to find some of the spice to buy to take with her.

Afterwards, with a bit of time to shop, Anna found a thin golden necklace, inset with a green stone, she really liked in a window, but the price was more than both of them had, combined. Dylan offered to add his funds to hers, but he wasn't sure if they could haggle the seller down enough, his girlfriend hesitating, before taking his offered coinpurse, and, to both his and the shopkeep's surprise, arguing the man down so far that, by the time they were done, she still had half their funds left over. She thanked Dylan, gave him a quick kiss… and then moved to another stall to get a matching bracelet.

Soon enough, though, they were all herded back to the Caravan, where they were told they'd be staying until it was time to move on, as 'there was work to do, and other people need their leave too!'

Which, honestly, Dylan was fine with, especially, afterwards, Logan admitting that, while they were out, he'd accidentally pulled his phone out of his pocket, to check the time.

Despite it being in a locked box.

A mile away.

Which led them all to discover that they could summon theirs too, not by trying to call it to their hands, but, Amy actually making the breakthrough, by assuming you already had it, so… you did.

And while Logan was pretty sure no one had seen him, and none of the three Caravanners had said anything… that seemed like the kind of thing they shouldn't take any more risks on.

So, they went to bed, the 'Star' going dark at the end of the cycle, the star dimming and shifting from yellow to a pale white, almost like a moon, as it reached the bottom of the pillar, and started to rise again.

Either way, after a couple more cycles, where they continued doing work and charging Mana Batteries, and the Caravan did some trading, making deliveries and accepting them, everyone got back in the carts, and it was time to go. Not out, though, no, they were driven much deeper into the city, through large gates, and into a much nicer part of town. That wasn't to say the previous part was bad, but it had been a bit dusty, a bit dirty, but Dylan thought that just added to the charm, though his upper back hurt a little bit the day after their outing, which was weird, until Ivy explained that it'd been walking on cobblestones that'd done it, instead of the relatively flat trails they'd been on before.

Through the gate, though, the cobblestones and rough-hewn roads were gone, replaced by wide stone blocks the carriages clicked across, the clothing nicer, the people a bit taller, the guards with gold chains worked into their chainmail, and everything was just… nicer.

Then, another gate, and the roads weren't blocks, but, somehow, one continuous piece of stone, seemingly shaped instead of laid, a pattern cut into the 'road' which gave the wheels traction, as they moved silently, and the guard's armor was more gold than steel. More than that, though, the guards, when they moved, were… wrong. They moved too smoothly, while also seeming to jerk at the same time, almost like they were lagging, or… maybe Dylan's sight was, though, when he tried to look at the Mana, he found his sight was blocked by the window.

Which, if the block went both ways… was probably a good thing.

And the Caravan rolled on, until they almost reached the center of the Bastion, turning, Dylan crossing over to Ivy's room to look out, not that she or Val minded, to see the enormous golden palace that was built into the bottom of the sun-column. Though, leaning down to stare up at the secondary palace at the top of the pillar, there was a deep sense of dread, along with the feeling that, were he to continue staring, something might notice.

Dylan thanked the girls and retreated back to his and Malik's room, with a feeling of just how small he was in comparison that he couldn't put into words, but, now more than ever, he realized just how important it was that they keep their heads down, and avoid the notice of whatever that was until they were ready.

If they ever were.

AN: As always, the next four chapters can be found on Patreon and Subscribestar. Once again, I look forward to your feedback as I write this, with the caveat that, when this is published, Book 1 will be stubbed (everything past chapter 3 removed) to comply with publishing requirements.

Rotceh · Jun 11, 2026

Good work I love this fic

sperance · Jun 11, 2026

Leecifer said:
If they ever were.

Well, Dylan, I imagine that depends on how attached to your human thought patterns you are.

TheManWithoutAPlan · Jun 11, 2026

vladspellbinder said:
Second, I keep seeing the phase in your works and I've been meaning to ask; where does "Slow is Smooth and Smooth is Fast" come from?

IT is a very populart saying in a lot of martial arts training to try and get students to do things correctly rather than as swiftly as possible.

Leecifer said:
And the Caravan rolled on, until they almost reached the center of the Bastion, turning, Dylan crossing over to Ivy's room to look out, not that she or Val minded, to see the enormous golden palace that was built into the bottom of the sun-column. Though, leaning down to stare up at the secondary palace at the top of the pillar, there was a deep sense of dread, along with the feeling that, were he to continue staring, something might notice.

So bastions really do get crazy. I wonder how much a diamond rank builder can, how much this is an example of that, and how much it is example of a Diamond rank mage- or if there really is any different between those two in the status right now.

vladspellbinder · Jun 11, 2026

I best those bullets are going to come back later and be really important in some manner.

Kristen really needs to get with the program. "Forget I said anything" should be followed with "You said something?" and so on.

Been a long time gone, Constantinople.

Leecifer said:
"Then we're merchants from Venice," Kyle declared.

Sam held up a hand, "Um, guys, that doesn't mean what you think it means."

Then what does it actually mean? I kinda dislike when people say this and don't immediately follow up with an explanation on what something actually means.

So I just recently learned about the phrase "Hobbyless behavior" and I now wonder how it stacks up to "Outlander behavior". I guess the former is an insult while the latter is more of a warning.

Kyle continues to be worse than a douche bag, because a douche bag has an actual use.

Yeah, saw the phone thing coming. Typical bound item stuff.

Onto the next one. And we'll see how long they can actually stay under the radar.

Thanks for the chapter.

Rotceh · Jun 11, 2026

I just finished reading this in an afternoon and so far it's very interesting, I can't wait to see how it goes

Orphiex · Jul 13, 2026

vladspellbinder said:
Then what does it actually mean? I kinda dislike when people say this and don't immediately follow up with an explanation on what something actually means.

Pretty sure it's a reference to Shakespeare's play "The Merchant of Venice", in which many of the characters are both hypocritical, and more than a little odious. (Above and beyond the antisemitic elements.) Calling themselves merchants from Venice doesn't actually mean they have anything to do with the characters from the play (and would be logically fallacious), but any attempt to actually conflate them with those characters wouldn't be a compliment.

And I can't help but notice how Annabeth appropriated Dylan's money to buy additional jewelry, instead of returning the remainder. I'm familiar with that thematic typing in the author's other works, and we'll see how this plays out.

Leecifer · Monday at 6:22 AM

Chapter Nine: Gondolin

Soon enough, they reached the 'Gate', only visible as their cart moved back and forth to get into position, the structure large and made of pearlescent stone, containing shimmering fluid, like a vertical pool, that rippled in response to seemingly nothing at all. Ivy and Val came over to their side of the cart to see it as the Caravan slowly entered the area that held it, one bristling with defenses, but every weapon was pointed inward.

Towards anyone coming through the Gate, Dylan realized, remembering Vey's words.

They watched as a group, the Hearthflame Priestess among them, walked through the portal, while they waited for twenty minutes, before the Caravan Leadership returned, and waved the Caravan through, turning around and stepping back through themselves a moment later. One after another the carts disappeared into the shining pool, the interior of the gate undulating with each one that entered in a way that was simultaneously like water, and very, very not.

Closer and closer it got, until it was their turn, and Dylan, leaning out into the hallway, could see the shimmering wall overtake the front and slowly come towards them.

This is normal, he told himself. They do this all the time.

Which… helped, a bit, as he ducked back into his and Malik's room, glancing at the other two, his roommate just looking excited, while Ivy, like him, was tense, and Val was watching them, getting second-hand anxiety.

Turning to face the front wall, he couldn't help but flinch a little as it was overtaken by pearlescent not-water, which swept forward in a wave, and he just had to take it, as, at the last moment, Ivy grabbed his hand and-

And he fell into a churning rainbow abyss, which stretched in every direction, though, this time, he wasn't alone, as the Asian girl, clinging to him, was there with him, looking at him with wide eyes, reflexively letting go of him and vanishing, overtaken by the Light, leaving him alone, as he fell-

Then he was back, in the cart, the last of the light passing through the back wall, breath coming fast, gun in his hand, Ivy's arms up, light distorting around her left hand for a moment, before they both forced themselves to relax, and, checking the chambers of his weapon, half-expecting them to be full of Light bullets… they were empty.

Whatever magic the other girl was using she let fade, as, unnerved, Ivy asked, slowly, "Did that seem…"

"Familiar? Yeah," he agreed, unsettled. "But… shorter."

She nodded, as Malik and Val shared a look. "Uh, what?" the slowly less heavyset boy asked.

Having asked about the first transition, Dylan checked, "When we passed through, it was over instantly, right?" The other two nodded. "Not to us. We… hung there, for… thirty seconds? "

"More like forty-five," Ivy corrected. "Less than a minute."

Glancing to her, he clarified, "But, there wasn't anything in there other than us this time, right?"

"If there was, I couldn't feel it," she responded, clearly unsettled, looking past him. "And… wait, what?"

Turning to follow her gaze, the outside was… different.

Instead of a single huge cavern, they were now in a forest, full of pale trees, enormous ones, that he almost wanted to say were bone-white, but they had a subtle greenish blue tint that made them almost seem cold, but instead just came off as… pure?

More than that, though, looking in the distance, through the branches full of emerald green leaves, was actual blue.

Sky blue.

With bits of pure white.

And something he hadn't realized that'd clenched in his gut untightened a little, as he muttered, "I can see the sky," causing the others to rush over, staring out, and, just a little, relaxed.

"Well, damn," Ivy commented, and he had to agree, as, for a couple minutes, they just… stared, barely noticing as the Caravan travelled through the forest, not passing through concentric circles of wealth, just… meandering, until it reached a clearing, the sky a bit more visible, and the carts circled up once more.

And, while there wasn't a giant golden palace like there was in the last place, just staring out at the 'city', which was built into, and up, the enormous trees they passed, it seemed nicer? He couldn't say exactly why, maybe the light, maybe the sky, maybe even the air itself, which circulated through the room, smelling green in the way that forests should and, which, he only now realized, the Farweald didn't.

Above it all, though, the feeling that'd been omnipresent before, the feeling that something was staring down at him, that it was just waiting for an excuse… was gone.

"Alright, Lads and Lassies!" Thrain could be heard calling out, and they left their room, along with everyone else, Anna glancing over to him and he gave her a smile, though she was looking past him to Ivy and Val for some reason. "We be in Gondolin now! Y'all just had yer leave, so you'll won't be gettin' it 'till right 'fore we head out again!"

Dylan lifted a hand, and the short man, having gotten used to them, nodded his way. "Is Gondolin a nicer place?"

His question took the Trackrunner aback for a moment, before the older man slowly nodded. "Aye, it is. Despite 'em all being tree huggers, the Gonders be good people, while the NAgs… well, there be a reason we only let ya out at the end, and then got the heck outta there for the next few years. Still no reason ta not be careful, so keep pretendin' to be Vennies. Ya hear?"

"Wait, if we just got done trading, why are we staying here?" Bartholomew questioned. "The two places are right next to each other!"

Shaking his head, Thrain countered, "If they were both like the Gonders, you'd be right, Laddie, but the NAgs can get… real particular-like. And why pay 'em ta be middle-men when that be our jobs!" he grinned. "Plus, our Anchor takes a full week ta charge, and we'd rather be doin' it be here than there. So, I'll be by an hour ta get ya all, 'cause you'll need to charge some crystals, and then do yer favorite thing: Carryin' Boxes!"

Everyone groaned at that, but, the more they did it, the better it was getting, though Dylan wouldn't be surprised if they started getting a [Job] for that as well!

<SB>

Another thing that Gondolin had over New Agartha was that it was markedly cooler, which, as they moved supplies about, was appreciated. Not cold, but refreshing, which just compounded the feeling of openness the place had, even without them ever leaving the 'Dealer's Dell' they'd been assigned to.

Beyond that, they'd all started moving around, well, being moved, individually and never working together with the others, trying different jobs, to find their places in the Caravan. Technically, anything they did enough they'd get a [Job] for, but the more somebody liked the job, according to Thrain, the better it settled, instead of going strange. Someone who hated cooking and was forced to be a cook likely wouldn't get any of the [Cook] style jobs, but one based on fire, or burning, or cutting, or something else, which would give them more capabilities… but not capabilities the Caravan could easily use.

And Dylan had tried being a cook for a couple days but found it hard to both keep up and concentrate, just doing the same thing over and over and over again, only to have whatever he finished chopping, peeling, whipping, or whatever taken away and given more to do the same to.

He'd also spent a few 'cycles' helping their herbalist prepare some of their finds, because, while they hadn't while they were 'getting started', once the Caravan started moving again, every time it stopped, or even slowed, in areas without active monsters, the Caravanners had some people who'd start to range, looking for plants, and dead monsters, that held a bit of magic to harvest.

Not animals, though those could be useful too, but the energies of Day soaked into everything, and, through means no one understood, either created or mutated normal flora and fauna into something more, and that more was valuable. And, with how the rare extremely long Day could ravage the countryside, everything also grew back a lot faster than it should've.

According to the herbalist, Mr. Aldric, an older man who seemed like he just wanted someone to talk to, every once in a while two Bastions would try and lay down a road between them, and it worked… for a bit, but eventually something would rip it apart, and it'd need to be rebuilt. A team of dedicated Bronzes, a party of Silvers, or a few Golds could go out and repair it, but that took resources, and, at that point, it was just cheaper, in the long run, to make a Gate.

And the Gods, who lived for millennia, generally thought in the long run.

So Dylan had prepared plants, and the occasional animal part, only working on common things that, if he messed up, that was fine, and while it was better than cooking, as he could look over everything he'd done… that hadn't been his thing either.

Now he was working on the carts themselves, mostly just lifting things and handing people other things, as the wheels and axles, for the carts that used them, were seen to, re-oiled, worn parts replaced or repaired, and so on. They were working hard in preparation for the next trip where they wouldn't have access to what he could only call an Elven Crane, made of wood, vines, and flowing gears, which let them lift and move carts, or parts of them, a lot more easily. And, being able to be done, and go, 'Yeah, I helped fix that,' was something he rather liked.

Stealing glances as he worked, at the locals, the 'Gonders' of Gondolin, they were taller and thinner, while the NAgs of New Agartha were short and wide. And, yeah, quite a few of the locals had pointed ears, like the Elves they really obviously were, though, asking the Foreman he was working under, a tall muscular woman, about his mother's age, who he almost thought was part leopard before he realized she just had a lot of freckles, she'd just laughed and told him that, "There are elves, kid, and there are Elves. Gonders are elves, kinda, and that's a good thing."

Mrs. Makaweo didn't explain, and he didn't really ask, though he would after they'd left, and, four days later, with their Anchor almost fully charged, they got another 'leave', with Thrain, Mrs. Freya, and Eledah as their guides once more.

"Wait, are you from here?" Malik asked the younger woman, causing her to pause, confused.

"…Why?" she responded, unsure.

"Uh…" the dark-skinned boy replied, suddenly uncomfortable, as Dylan realized why his roommate had asked. "The ears?"

That got a laugh from Thrain, and a harrumph from Freya, the Guide stating, "No, boy, we're all from Neo-Avalon. Either by birth or oath. And it's good you asked that here."

Eledah, self-consciously, lifting a hand to her ears, turning to ask Thrain, "Do mine really look like theirs?"

"If I need ta be lookin' up ta see 'em, Lassie, yay, they do!" the maybe-Dwarf teased.

Annabeth, smiling, offered, "Yours aren't nearly as big," which seemed to reassure the younger Caravanner.

With that taken care of, they took off, each given another small bag of coins, and directed to combine it with any they had left over, which Dylan didn't, before they all set out for the local market, limited to the main square and the side streets, as everyone went their own way, and he turned to Anna, but she was already walking away, which… okay.

Looking around, Bartholomew was following after Kristen, who seemed annoyed, Malik was chatting with Sam who was only half paying attention, Ivy and Logan were already gone, and Kyle said something to Val, who gave him an unimpressed look and walked away, so the guy turned and started walking the way Anna had gone, while Amy followed after him, leaving Dylan on his own. Glancing to Mrs. Freya, who was watching, she gave him a reassuring smile, so, nodding to her, he picked a direction, and just… started walking too.

And the Market was… nice?

There was a lot of stuff, and, settling into his [Thaumic Scrutineer] perspective, he could see the flow of magic through some of it. It was a lot different than the gear they'd arrived with, which had been so full of Mana that he'd practically been able to see it flow without his [Job]. That said, the flow for his weapons had been a lot smoother, and faster, while, what little he saw here and there was slow, faint, thin, bringing to mind… dripping sap, instead of the compacted rivers of his revolver, and, while some part of him wanted to have it with him to compare, he didn't even let that thought complete, in case it was like his phone, and just went off memory alone.

"Young Master has a discerning eye!" the shopkeep smiled, as he looked over sheathed knives, some with the barest glimmer of Mana, while others had definite patterns to them. "Perhaps he would like to look at them more closely?"

Trying to find a price, of course there wasn't, and he only had fifty silvers in his bag, so, rather than some sort of 'you touched it now you need to buy it' thing, he instead asked, "Depends, what do they do?"

Which, from the shopkeep's reaction, was the correct question, as he went on to explain what each formation did, though 'can fell a Lead Rank Beast in a single swipe' seemed a bit much, given his old axe only had been able to do that once he'd stopped being an idiot with it, and the magic inside, looking at it closer, did seem to gather at the edge, but seemed… spikey?

Finally, asking the price, even for the lesser one, asking eighty silver for it seemed like a lot, not that he really had a frame of reference for it, so instead Dylan looked at one of the non-magical ones, but which seemed to have a kind of… undifferentiated haze over it. That one was quoted to him as twenty silver, which, following Thrain's suggestions, he countered at fourteen instead, and when he got told no, and that it was insulting, and a whole bunch of other things, he apologized for wasting the man's time, and moved to leave, only for the shopkeep to agree to it five steps later, pushing for fifteen.

Dylan reiterated, no, fourteen, then paid, and walked away, looking at the knife, and, having picked out the runes carved into the other ones, made a note to talk to Mrs. Stroud about whether engraving them himself would work, or be a really really dumb idea.

Left to wander again, he got a drink from a stall that was a kind of sweet spicy tea that tasted a bit like a non-carbonated Barq's, which, asking about it, was made from bark, so he supposed that made sense, in a nonsensical way. The fact the disposable cup was made from a leaf was cool.

Turning a corner, he spotted Logan, so headed over, Ivy there too, both of them looking over jackets that seemed to be made of green leather, though, getting closer, the 'leather' was also leaves. "Sup," he greeted, holding up his drink. "They do interesting things here. Want some?"

"Sure!" the stoner smiled, taking a sip, handing it back, and, offering it to the girl, she hesitated before accepting it as well, clearly not liking it as she handed it back too.

"Tastes medicinal," Ivy noted.

"The thing they used to use for root beer was medicinal," Logan offered. "Sassafras. Only if you drink, like, a stupid amount of the stuff it can be bad, so they outlawed it. Like THC. Can't have anything with The Man around, man."

Considering that, and the feel of the space around them, Dylan argued, "Local Deity might be a goddess."

"That'd explain it," the other guy nodded. "Definitely more in touch with nature than the NAgs."

A couple of the locals, who'd been pretty blatantly eavesdropping, straightened slightly, pleased at hearing that.

"So, what's this?" Dylan questioned, gesturing to the jacket whose sleeve Ivy was examining, letting his eyes unfocus enough to see a tiny glimmer of Mana in it, not moving, just… there, like his new knife, though not uniformly so, gathered in odd patterns without flowing at all.

"It's nothing," Ivy deferred, only for Logan to snort. "What?"

"She was practically interrogating the guy selling it," the other guy mock-whispered. "Really giving him the fourth degree!"

"It's the third degree," she corrected.

"Nah, you were goin' way harder than that," Logan teased, chuckling at her glare. "Yeah, like that. So I played good dealer, and he went back to 'check something', like, five minutes ago. I think he's just waitin' for us to leave."

Considering that, Dylan had to laugh a bit himself, the Asian girl turning her glare on him too. "So, what'd ya get?"

She paused, then deflected, "Nothing important."

"Pfft," the stoner scoffed. "More like the secrets of how ya turn leaves into suede, dude. Go ahead and have a feel!"

Leaning forward, Ivy, after a moment, offered the sleeve she was holding, and running his fingers over the 'fabric', it was softly fuzzy, while still more solid than it seemed. "That's cool!" Dylan smiled. "How'd they do it?"

Giving him a suspicious look, the girl slowly started to repeat what she'd learned, though, after he asked a couple clarifying questions, because it was clearly made of leaves, without thread, so how was it 'woven', she started talking a bit faster, and even maybe, kinda, sorta smiled a little, though he was sure she'd deny it.

Also, the Mana he was seeing was almost certainly leftover from the 'weaving' process, which was more 'melding' the leaves together, using the bits of leaf that were lifted and turned into a floral 'fur' to tie them together into the 'leather' it now was. Finding a pair of gloves that fit him, and were a nice dark red, as the leaves could be 'seasoned', something that got a laugh from Dylan, he was about to ask if they could find out how much they were when-

"Dylan!"

Glancing over, he saw Anna off to the side, who was looking kind of annoyed, so he smiled, and waved her over, because this stuff was really cool.

Instead, she just frowned, and called out, "Dylan!" again, clearly wanting him to come to her, which… okay.

Turning to Ivy and Logan, and tapping the gloves, fishing out his coinpurse, and grabbing two ten-silver coins, he passed them to the Asian girl, saying, "If he comes out, see if he's willing to sell these. This is my limit."

"Will do, dude," the stoner smiled. "Go see what the missus wants."

Ivy just frowned, but accepted the money, as he turned and headed to his girlfriend, who was about to call for him a third time, and he smiled, "Hey Anna, what's up?"

"You didn't follow me," she stated, with a hint of accusation.

"Was I supposed to?" he replied, a little confused. "Everyone kind of went everywhere, and you seemed like you wanted to be on your own for a bit. Not that I blame you, the Caravan doesn't have the privacy we had back in Venice."

That caused her to stop, thinking over it, before sighing, "Yeah, I guess. Kyle came and bugged me."

"Yeah, he and Amy were walking around too," Dylan agreed. "Oh, hey, you like root beer, because they have root beer tea."

"Not really," She grimaced, pausing to consider it. "But I'll try?"

"They had other flavors," he reassured her, showing her to the stand, both of them trying different things, he grabbed a sweet 'honey-and-pollen' drink, while she got something with a flowery name which tasted a bit like someone liquified a fence post. He didn't really care for it either, when she offered to share, but switched with her without saying a word as she really liked his. Then, pausing at a stall, which had a lot of flowers, he got her got a nice poofy red-and-gold one, which was apparently a marigold, which made her smile, especially as the seller used a bit of magic to transform the stem into a leafy clip, the color going well with her blonde hair.

Soon enough they all had to come back, Thrain and Mrs. Freya leading them to a local place for a nice lunch, the dishes light, but oddly filling, and then back to the Caravan. They'd only been back for an hour when they got underway, Ivy dropping by his room with the gloves, and four extra silver, which he didn't accept, thanking her for it, and apologizing for having to go.

"No, I… it's fine," was the entirety of her response, and she left right after, as even he could tell it wasn't, but he wasn't sure what to say.

The Caravan continued onwards, towards trees that looked, subtly… off, and it was only when the first one hit the invisible edge of the Bastion, which rippled outwards as it disappeared, did he realize he was looking at an illusion, the not-Elven 'forest' in the distance a screen, just like, if he was being honest, the 'sky' was.

Their cart neared it, and, having an idea, he turned to Malik, who was reading a book he'd picked up, and asked, "Hey, grab my hand when we go through, I have an idea."

"… Uh, sure?" his roommate responded, looking around, before using his bedsheet as a bookmark, and standing, took Dylan's outstretched limb. Then let go, "Uh, until we go through, or-"

The sound of the room shifted, subtly, and the [Thaumic Scrutineer] could tell the boundary-wall had entered the hallway outside, so, rolling his eyes, he grabbed Malik's hand, as, seconds later, the boundary overtook the front wall, not pitch black but showing nothing but unending jade-tinted forest, before it overtook them and-

"DUDE!" Malik squeaked, as both of them were in the infinite darkness, falling through the unending void, while, somewhere in there with them, was a Presence, old, tired, cold as a late-autumn night, but in an odd way caring, the fading bits of humanity it still held, not clutched to, but, rested within it, thin, but soft, and unbroken.

And then they were out, Malik dropping to his knees, breathing hard, as, once again, in Dylan's other hand, his revolver rested, and, opening it, yeah, six bullets made of the same pure darkness that meant, despite knowing they were shaped like rounds, they just looked like solid black voids.

"What was that?" the dark-skinned boy questioned.

"What it's like for me to cross," Dylan shrugged, then, crossed the hall, and, opening the door, saw a smug looking Ivy and a Val who'd frozen, white-knuckled, in the center of her room. "Learned you can take people with?" he checked.

Glancing his way, the smirk on the Asian girl's face lessened for a moment, before it grew even larger. "Yep. You too?"

"Yep," he agreed. "Any idea what it means?"

"Nope," she shot back, hesitating. "Going to ask Thrain?"

"… not yet," he decided, explaining, as she lifted an eyebrow. "They do this all the time, and… I kind of want to figure it out myself."

She turned to regard him, "Then why talk to me?"

"Myself is a nebulous concept," he shrugged, getting a laugh out of her. Turning to Val, who hadn't moved at all, he asked, "You okay?"

"… I need to learn how to punch the darkness," the Hispanic girl finally declared.

Ivy rolled her eyes. "Don't worry, she's fine."

Etrian · Monday at 8:48 AM

Always good to see more of this. I'm intrigued and your world building is very cool.

Stevil · Monday at 10:57 AM

Still waiting for the inevitable fallout. These chapter are setting the world up nicely.

Luke Dragneel · Monday at 11:47 AM

Leecifer said:
"… I need to learn how to punch the darkness," the Hispanic girl finally declared.

This is the Way. Also, he should probably ask why is revolver is creating bullets out of darkness, even if he doesn't explain his crossing.

vladspellbinder · Tuesday at 6:51 AM

~Deep sigh~ I hate teenage relationship drama bullshit. No girl, your 'boyfriend' can't read your mind and know you want to be followed if you don't fucking tell him you want him to follow. Even beyond that Anna is being at least a level two bitch, treating Dylan like he's a fucking dog who should come when called. Whoo boy, she's starting to piss me off as much as Kyle. Not quite to the point I want to see her die like I do Kyle but she is easily my second least favorite character in this story.

Thanks for the chapter.

Leecifer · 2026-07-24T07:37:12+0100

Chapter Ten: Day Job

"Dylan, I think there's one over here!"

Following his girlfriend's pointed finger, he jogged over, his Clay ranked [Forager] [Job] letting him identify the faintly glowing flower, as well as have an idea on how to harvest it, even if it wasn't the Lead-level certainty his other [Job]s gave him.

"Yep," he smiled, unslinging his Miskatonic pack, which they were reissued while on this task, and pulled out the collection pouch, while unholstering his Miskonite axe. Technically, using a knife would be better, but his primary [Job] let him handle the precise cuts far easier with its preferred weapon than he would with another tool.

After they'd left Gondolin everyone had been gathered together, Thrain telling them that, until they figured out their three niches in the Caravan, they'd all be on Farweald Foraging duty. According to the short man, this stretch of wilderness that they were passing through was apparently a lot safer, the presence of multiple Bastions 'stabilizing' it, in ways that the forests they'd dropped into at first weren't.

It looked about the same, though Amy insisted the trees were different, and Dylan supposed the bark might've been a bit lighter, but it'd only been after Sam, who'd used her phone to take pictures, showed them all the previous Farweald forest, that he'd been convinced.

Because this place was safer, and far away from their 'touchdown', the Caravan was moving slowly, stopping regularly, and they were put to work finding trade goods that naturally occurred along their path, another revenue source for their employers.

The Caravan's main scouts had already passed through this area, taking out monsters, whose bodies were left for the kids, and a few other Caravaners, to harvest, but most of what they were looking for was plants, which the Scouts mostly overlooked because they moved so fast. Everyone had been ordered to split off into twos and threes to take different areas, ranging out then jogging back to catch up with the slowly rolling Caravan, and he'd approached Annabeth, who, of course, said yes.

And, being out with her was… nice.

Whatever was bothering her, it disappeared when it was just the two of them, as she relaxed, stopped watching everyone, and was more like the girl he'd remembered dating before they'd 'graduated'.

"Got it," he told her, putting it away and slinging his bag back on. "Okay, let's keep going! Good eye, Anna."

"Thanks!" she smiled to him. "And the more I find, the faster we get back without having to deal with any dead things." She grimaced slightly, "Are you sure you can't handle them too, Dyl?"

"You heard Thrain," he reminded her, like he needed to do every time they went out. "Groups need to diversify [Job]s, and I can help, but you doing most of it will help you get the [Job] for it."

"But I don't want to get the job for it," she whined, still smiling a little. "No offense. If you got both, I could just be your spotter!"

He laughed, "You just think it's gross."

"It is gross," she agreed. "Why couldn't I do plants instead?"

"Because I spent time with the herbalist, while you were managing records," he reminded her, Anna having gotten a job in Quill's office. After years of school, if he never saw another accounting table, it'd be too soon, but more power to her for handling that, since he knew it had to be handled, he… just didn't want to be the one to do it. "But, tell you what, I'll help, and as long as you get the animal-harvesting [Job], if I get it too, well," he smirked, "it's dangerous out here, so one of us needs to keep an eye out."

Beaming, she took a few quick, almost floaty steps over to him, reaching up to pull his head down into a very nice kiss. For a long moment, he wasn't thinking of the Caravan, or the Farweald, or anything, just her, his arms moving almost automatically to embrace her, feeling her softness, and her warmth, and reinforcing how much he'd missed this.

"Thanks, Dyl," she breathed, when they pulled apart.

Which was the other part of this that he really liked, because Anna was a lot more affectionate away from the others, which… she'd always kind of been? Like, small gestures had been fine, and she was the one who initiated a lot of the time, but anything beyond that had been off the table, for almost a month, and only in the last few days had they done this again.

Unfortunately, they had to move on, and she wasn't wrong about being a scout, as she was definitely faster than he was now. She'd always been light on her feet, but with her [Windstrider] [Job] she was literally running like the wind, easily managing the woods, almost flowing over the terrain. They both had their [Job]s at Lead, where basic skills started to become something more, and she was an example, as they'd been taught, of the nature of [Job]s, where a specified job was always going to be better at its thing than a more general one.

His own Lead [Courier] made him faster, yeah, but it was also about endurance, and about carrying things while he did so, and giving him an innate sense of direction of where he needed to go in order to deliver whatever he was hauling. With that four-way split, he was still way better than he'd ever been before, but compared to her speed, and maybe maneuverability, even at this level, the difference was obvious, and, as they both improved, the difference between them would only grow.

Though, at the same time, he always knew where the Caravan was going to be based on how fast it'd been going when they left, a sense that would only sharpen to, according to Thrain, find his target even if they'd unexpectedly moved.

But that was going to be Iron, at least, and still be very limited in range. Enough to cover most of a Bastion, but here in the Farweald, that meant a lot less.

They kept going, Anna darting back and forth, and, when she paused, he knew what she found. Coming up next to her, yep, another 'Boltjaw'. It looked like a wolverine, but bigger, a lot bigger, this one the size of a small bear, with six muscular legs and a face that split vertically, with jaws full of flat cutting teeth, like all it had were a person's front ones.

Just like the others, this one was taken out by a single shot to the head, through the ear, by the Iron-rank scouts, which dropped it instantly, its tiny eyes, one on either side of its 'mouth', still glowing a faint sickly pink that was the same color as its insides. Eyes which were valuable, and one of a dozen things they needed to harvest, though they also had their canteens to wash off afterwards, and some soap, because this was going to get messy.

"I mean, we could find more plants," Anna put forward, but he shook his head, as they'd been given their mission, and, while it was fine if they missed one of these, if they found it, they were supposed to harvest it.

Reaching over, he lifted her backpack, and she sighed, but slipped out of it, as they moved towards the recently slain monster. "You start with the eyes and the tail, I'll handle opening it up so you can just reach in and cut the heart and so on free without touching the rest."

"… Thank you, Dyl," she sighed, honestly thankful, knowing what they had to do.

"For you, always, Anna," he smiled, as he got to work.

<SB>

Dylan aligned the joist for the storage rack, one made of parts created by Mr. Olleander, an Iron-rank [Woodcarver] who reported to Mrs. Makaweo, concentrating as this was a lot more complicated than putting together stuff from OKEA or Flor-Mart. You needed to align things, with a level, with a little bubble-thing and everything, dry fit it, double check, then use both glue to create a proper seal but also pegs driven into the joint, also with glue, to lock the entire thing into place, and if you messed it up you had a couple minutes to fix it before it'd take another half an hour of work before you could try again.

He'd spent more than a couple half-hours learning to do it right the first time.

But no one really got mad at him, which was nice, and he'd gotten to the point where he only had a minder, Jakyb, a guy who seemed to be in his twenties, though Dylan hadn't asked, who preferred to be left to do his own thing nearby, and only be called if the recent graduate had really screwed up.

Keeping his breathing steady, the joist inserted, the pegs lightly driven in with small but firm taps with the mallet, it seated fully, and-

CLICK

And Dylan froze, as, once more, he felt a [Job] settle into place, as he looked at the joist, suddenly understood why he was doing half the things he did, but also saw a dozen small improvements he could make that, in retrospect, were really freaking obvious.

"Damn, you lot do move fast."

He jumped, but it was just Jakyb, the pale-skinned blond guy looking over his own mostly-completed rack at him, with an amused smirk. "So, what'd'ya get? If ya don't mind."

Taking a moment to center himself, looking inward, Dylan spoke as he discovered it, slowly putting forward, "Clay rank [Handyman]." He didn't create things, exactly, but, with all the repair work he'd been doing, in addition to assembly jobs like this, that fit what he had been doing.

"If you just got it, you don't need to say the rank," his minder corrected. "And, not bad. My first step was as a Roadsmith, because I was mostly doing cart work, which meant this stuff," he tapped the rack, "was still a pain until I hit Lead as a Mender. Being an Iron [Wright]'s much better though. Nice job, though, kid. Finish that one, and take off, I'll handle the rest today."

"Thanks," Dylan nodded, getting back to the job, expecting to fly through it, but, as he moved to the next joist, his [Job]… had him doing the exact same thing. Only difference was this time he didn't stop to remember what he was doing, feeling as if he'd been doing so for years, smoothly checking, leveling, he checked the crown, a term he didn't even know until it popped into his head, because it'd be better with the convex side of the bend pointed up, to flatten over time as it was used, and, with other joists done, he realized he could sight along them, because, of course, they were going to go in a line, so they could, and should, be used to align the others.

The job didn't go that much faster, but it did go better, in a way that, after he was done, made Dylan realize just how bad a job he did before. "Hey, Jakyb, about the rack I put together two weeks ago…"

The man laughed, "Don't worry, Greenwheel, Olle swung by to fix it, took him a couple minutes. You still saved us a bit of time, but the work that the Jobless do's more trainin' than anything else. See you tomorrow?"

"See you tomorrow," Dylan agreed, heading out of the storage cart, more like a miniature warehouse on wheels, nodding to the porters grabbing and dropping off stuff, and, in a move that was getting more practiced, he smoothly stepped off the rolling cart in a quick walk that bled off speed, stepping aside as the Caravan passed until the kitchen-cart that Malik and Amy were both working in rolled up, jumping onto it and swinging himself inside, giving his roommate a wave, as he headed over to Amy, who was working as effectively a Barista. "Hey Ames, can I get a honeyrose chai for Anna, working ale for Kyle, and, for me… surprise me."

The soft-spoken girl, having gotten used to his order, just nodded, grabbing his drinks. Technically they had allotments, with everything being recorded to internal accounts, but they'd been told that unless they got high-end stuff regularly, it wouldn't be an issue.

And, with the sheer amount of choices they had on offer, he might finish the entire route before he finished the menu.

"You look different," one of the other not-baristas commented, a thin guy with purple hair, and similarly colored eyes. "Something good happen?"

"Got a new [Job]!" Dylan smiled, accepting the man's high-five, before the other man helped the next person to come in, a woman with oddly metallic teeth.

Amy got his ready, handing him the capped mug and capped tankard of his classmates' drinks, along with a wooden cup, that, unlatching the top, was filled with a deep red liquid. He took a sip, and it was surprisingly tart, but also sweet, and kinda floral?

"Agua de Jamaica," Amy stated.

He glanced down at the now worryingly red drink, because surely not. Still… "It's made of Jamaicans?"

"I… don't think so?" the other girl replied. "We have a mix in a pitcher."

"It's pronounced 'hamyka'," the other guy corrected. "It's a cold sweet hibiscus tea."

That made a lot more sense. "Oh, it's good! Thanks!" he smiled, relatching the top of the cup, and grabbing all three as he left, jumping down and taking off at a jog, all the way up to Quill's cart, to see his girlfriend. Stopping on the way up, he saw Kyle, frowning, looking over some form, and told him, "Hey man, got you a drink."

"Huh? Oh. Yeah. Thanks," his teammate responded, not really happy, though Dylan couldn't blame him, because, well, that was a lot of numbers. Dylan left him his drink, the alcohol content of the 'working ale' so low it wouldn't do anything.

Going a few doors down to where Annabeth was working, her Mentor, the scaled man Dylan saw the first time they were here, laughed as Dylan walked in, the older man giving her a quick break, "because otherwise you'd just be distracted anyways, and I need to stretch my legs. Be back in fifteen, so make sure to put everything back before I do."

Not sure how to respond to… that, the older man left, and, wordlessly, Dylan offered his girlfriend her drink, as she, a little embarrassedly, accepted it, taking a deep sip, and sighing in appreciation.

"So… how's work?" he asked.

Annabeth snorted into her cup, shooting him a glare, without much heat to it. "It's going. Kyle got fired."

She watched him closely, but he was just confused. "Kyle who I just gave his drink to?"

Now it was her turn to be confused. "You what?"

"Yeah," Dylan nodded. "When I saw he was here, I figured, 'Hey, why not drop off something for him on the way here?' You know?"

"You…" Anna replied, before laughing, surprisingly hard, taking a couple minutes to stop, sipping her drink. "Never change, Dyl."

"Only for the better," he replied, clearly missing something, but, "Should I… say something to him?"

"Don't. Really, don't," she advised. "He's trying to finish the day up, before he leaves."

"Good on him," Dylan nodded, proud of his teammate. "Oh, got my next [Job]!"

That surprised her, and, while she was happy for him, as he talked about it, he could tell she wasn't completely happy. So he reassured her, "I'm sure you'll get yours soon. Just… keep pushing yourself, however you do that with…"

"I'm going over contribution tallies," she told him, reaching over to grab a paper. "Here's ours, actually, from the last forage run. We keep going above the minimums. We don't need to harvest all the parts, Dyl."

"But, if we do, will we get more money to spend in, uh…" he trailed off.

"Thule," his girlfriend supplied.

"More money to spend in Thule?" he finished. "I heard it's a 'wet' Bastion, so it's got kind of a mini-sea. Maybe we could hit the beach?"

"It's also really cold, Dyl," she informed him, which… would explain why Jakyb had laughed at his suggestion, thinking about it.

"Go out to eat somewhere nice?" he suggested instead, without missing a beat.

"Sure, that'd be nice," she agreed, glancing to the door. "And, since we have some time…"

Standing, she took his hand, and put him into her own seat, which confused him for a minute, before she climbed into his lap, at which point he wasn't really bothered by much at all, until a knock at the door made them both jump.

He got up, and she straightened out her papers, both of them grabbing their drinks, as the door opened, and Dylan stated, "And that's why I only now realized I was putting in the joists upside down!"

Annabeth nodded sagely, "Ah, of course."

"Hmm, good to see you two had a lovely discussion," her Mentor noted, taking in the room. "But you'll have to finish it afterwards. Also, young man…" the scaled accountant noted, making a patting motion on his head, his quill-like hair lying flat.

Dylan, copying it, realized his hair had been… fluffed by Anna, and quickly straightened it out, blushing, nodding to the older man, and rapidly leaving.

Meeting up with everyone after all their shifts were over, his girlfriend was once again present, but… colder, except he thought he was starting to figure her out a bit. Their moments together at… home, had been toned down in public, because there was always a teacher nearby, but when they'd been in his room, or hers, they'd done more.

The way they were now, they didn't have a room, as there were almost always people around, except when they were out gathering, or, as he'd just found, when they had an actual room.

And the hallway they were sleeping in, it had a lot of empty rooms, everyone gathered up together because they thought they had to, not because Thrain told them they needed to.

Deciding to bring it up later, Dylan was just happy to listen to Malik, who'd also gotten his first 'normal' [Job], last week actually, as an [Iron Cook], despite being Clay rank, which wasn't just about making food, it was about doing so with flair. And, a week later, the dark-skinned boy was still finding new aspects of his [Job], really wanting to tell someone, and, well, Dylan was the only one who'd listen.

That said, Dylan was actually listening, and, running himself through the same kind of mindsets and hypotheticals that Malik was, while it wasn't going to be the same, though why the other guy wanted to 'cook so good people's clothes exploded', which he was pretty sure wasn't possible, he didn't get. Doing the same, the mental gymnastics part, his own [Handyman] [Job] obliged, giving him extra insights that would've laid there for he didn't know how long until he hit the right circumstance.

And, actually, thinking about it, there was a lot of overlap in axe use between [Forager], [Handyman], and [Bloodshot Raider] which… might help him understand how to better take apart dead monsters, if he thought of them less as 'dead thing to harvest', and more the way his new job handled things. Which would be 'biological structure to remove parts of'. Though the fact that [Handyman] gave him vague instructions on how to repair living appliances was… kinda weird.

Then again, so was Malik, and that wasn't a bad thing.

<SB>

Dylan tried not to gasp for breath, his heart beating quickly, feeling like his blood was surging in his veins.

"We should head back."

Annabeth, below him, breathing heavily, looked up at him, cheeks red, asking, "Five more minutes?"

That was… tempting, but they'd been making out for the better part of half an hour, and his Lead [Courier] [Job] was telling him how the Caravan was starting to get a good bit away at this point. "… Sure," he gave, leaning back down to kiss her, but, pausing, he looked around, and… "Is it getting brighter?"

Anna blinked, looked past him, to the eternally overcast night sky, her eyes widening a bit. "Oh no!"

Pushing himself up, yeah, faintly, glows could start to be seen through the dark ceiling of clouds above them, as he surged to his feet, finding his shirt nearby, grabbing it and throwing it on, as she did the same.

Night Gathering was, if anything, easier than Day Gathering, the lack of oppressive feeling light making it much nicer, and it was either that, or the increased sense of privacy, but Annabeth got a lot more affectionate, not that he was complaining, however that looked like it might bite them in the ass now.

Nothing was moving, yet, but the changing of Night to Day was the most dangerous time, as all the monsters that had slept, hiding in trees, under the ground, and, they were warned, sometimes in nowhere at all, woke up.

His girlfriend ran to the side of the clearing, before pausing, looking back, and yelling, "Dyl! Come on!"

"What?" he asked, pointing to the right. "The Caravan's that way, Anna."

"… Right. Yeah. Of course," she agreed, taking off at a run, which he pushed himself to try and match, but…

It wasn't even close.

"Come on, Dyl!" she urged, flitting from tree to tree, as he tried to lengthen his stride, [Courier] telling him he'd gas out before he reached his destination if he sprinted all out right now.

"Doin' my best!" he called out, following the odd feelings his [Job] was giving him, cutting to the East a little, since, with Daybreak, the Caravan would stop, not continue onwards. "Windstriders are faster than [Courier]s! Just grab your wand and keep an eye out!"

She nodded, her long blonde hair whipping about as she seemed to hear something, but he trusted her, and focused on moving as fast as possible. He was faster than he'd ever been before, at a full sprint, just running now, while Anna was even faster, half-again as quick as he was, which let her focus on Scouting, just like she said she would, he thought darkly.

And the Caravan wasn't close.

They got a good ten minutes of booking it, the Day slowly emerging, like an actual morning, though it'd probably been doing so for a bit before they'd noticed, and, in the distance, something screeched, the sound oddly deep, but hateful in a way that made the hairs on the back of his neck lift up. Anna yelped, stumbling, but caught herself, as she turned to look that way, thankfully mostly behind them, as they kept going.

It was another five minutes of running, his [Job] telling them that they were over halfway there, that, darting forward, Anna gasped, as something trilled, and, quickly casting, she sent a long bright green ribbon of cutting winds forward. The cry of the monster was cut off, followed by the wet sound of a corpse hitting the ground, and, as he moved through the trees, he pulled his axe without breaking stride as he passed her, but he didn't need to.

It was a pair of 'Stabbykeets', as Thrain had called them, the unholy lovechild of a kiwi and a cassowary, rounded, about three feet tall, with deep blue feathers that were so short they almost seemed like fur, but also with wickedly sharp foot-and-a-half-long serrated beaks which, were they gathering, they'd collect, but they didn't have the time.

Instead they kept running, or Dylan was, as, looking back, his girlfriend had frozen, his yell of, "Anna, come on!" startled her, and she sprinted forward, passing him, almost going so far ahead that he lost her before she stopped to let him catch up.

Pushing forward, more and more Monsters were waking up, and while Anna was casting, she was starting to flag, Dylan commanding her, "If it's just one, let me handle it, you just run around it."

She hesitated, but nodded, and, fast as she was, maneuverable as she was, she could just run away from monsters that were on their own, while he, not breaking stride, swung, his axe taking down Stabbykeets, dog-ish Hookpaws, and a Rendcat that leapt from a tree, as he got a little scratched up, enough to reload his gun, which let him take out the second Rendcat without getting in range of its stupidly oversized claws.

Thankfully, with Day slowly breaking, the creatures were all groggy, and, being Lead Rank themselves, none were anything special, nor were they that smart.

Getting closer, though, there was a deep bellow and something huge came crashing through the trees, the size of a pickup. Anna leapt high, and practically ran up a tree, as it passed her, the Monster spotting Dylan and going after him too.

He had just enough time to register it as a really big boar, with a grey streak running from head to tail, as he threw himself to one side, shooting it with his last bullet, aiming for its piggy eye but missing, the glowing red projectile carving into its cheek instead.

It still squealed, and jerked, missing him by inches, but it turned around, faster than he was, maybe even faster than Anna, as it pawed the ground, the grey streak along its back starting to shimmer like the air over a desert highway, and-

Thunk!

Instantly died, freezing for a moment, as if in disbelief of its own death, one eye having sprouted an arrow out of nowhere, before it keeled over.

And, following the direction of the fletching…

"Thanks for the save, Carl!" Dylan smiled, relieved.

"Just my job," the black-clad man remarked, leaning seeming out of a tree, no, leaning out of its shadow. "You kids keep going, you're almost there. I'll flag the Ashback for the next group to take apart."

And with that, he leaned back into the slowly fading shadow, and was gone.

Looking up into the next tree over, where Anna, wide-eyed, was waiting, Dylan gestured for her to follow, and she did so, jumping out and landing softly, the pair of them jogging together until they finally saw the outer ring of the Caravan, which had already formed up.

Dylan laughed in relief, Anna almost collapsing, but, reaching an arm out to stabilize her, she leaned against him until they got closer, pulling away to check herself, using her phone's camera as a mirror, while he just kept going, his scratches having already stopped bleeding, his [Bloodshot Raider] giving him a bit of extra healing for the very wounds he needed to take for it to work properly, which, talking to Mrs. Makaweo, was really common for those type of [Job]s.

Finding the others, they'd grouped up, Dylan waving to them, Malik grinning, before his eyes widened and he hurried over, casting a healing spell on the Raider, causing Anna to look over, surprised, and go, "Dylan, you're injured?"

She… didn't notice? "Yeah, kind of need to be to use my gun," he reminded her, as she moved to heal him as well, her healing magic not that strong, but, along with Malik, she was able to remove the minor wounds in a minute. He didn't mind her not doing so before, because they needed to keep moving, and her magic attacks were a better use of her limited reserves.

"What took you two so long?" Kyle demanded, as they reached the rest of the group proper, dropping off their packs. The other Gatherers who weren't part of their Class had already left behind their hauls, not sticking around, leaving the group as just them.

"… We were out Gathering, like everyone else?" Dylan replied, confused at his teammate's sudden hostility. "We headed back as soon as we noticed it getting light, and it was a few miles, but not that bad."

"Everyone be distracted from time to time," Thrain nodded, causing Ivy to snort.

Looking to her, she stated, "Dylan. Your shirt is on backwards."

Looking down… Oh. Huh. It was.

"… Didn't want to get it dirty, when we took apart that Boltjaw," he lied, moving to take it off, stopping as Anna coughed, because, right, she'd… left a few marks, which were covered up by it now, but wouldn't be if he fixed his shirt. "I'll go change when we're done," he stated instead.

"You barely made it back," Kyle sneered, glancing to Anna. "If you can't hack it, maybe you shouldn't be doin' this at all."

"What?" Bartholomew frowned, "I also got hurt? And so did Sam? So did you. They had healers here earlier," he told Dylan. "Some of the locals were injured too. From what they said, it was expected."

"I got tagged too," Malik added. "But I healed myself. One of the cat-things. They're like bear-traps that jump!"

Dylan glanced at his roommate, "But you're okay?" At the dark-skinned boy's nod, he smiled, and turned back to Kyle. "Good. So, uh, looks like we all had some problems, but that's how we learn, right?" The slightly taller man just glared at him.

… Okay. Turning away from the boy, and towards Thrain, Dylan suggested, "So, we haven't really done any combat training after we've joined, so maybe we coul-"

Which is when Kyle punched him with his gauntleted fist.

He didn't see it coming, didn't expect it, and, in that moment of disorientation, Dylan moved.

Whirr-tik-tik-tik

The revolver wasn't drawn, but seemingly appearing in his hand, as the blood from the wound was pulled into the weapon, Dylan shoving it under the other boy's chin, finger about to pull the trigger before he realized what he was doing and froze.

For a long moment, they both were utterly still, the single round in the chamber glowing crimson, light spilling from the cylinder as dawn finished breaking, Kyle's eyes wide, as Dylan's [Job] practically screamed at him to End The Threat, but, slowly, he removed his finger from the trigger, and stated, voice utterly emotionless, "That wasn't right."

"Alright ya two," Thrain stated, suddenly there, one hand gently, but firmly, taking Dylan's gun and holstering it for him. "Maybe some trainin's not that bad. Ya both aren't used ta havin' [Job]s after all, and yer combat ones be lethal, which ya aren't used to either. For Clay's, it not be that bad, and ye normally already be gettin' those instincts 'fore ya get the [Job] anyways, but y'all be jumpin' straight to Lead, and as fast as ye did? That just be askin' for trouble."

Reaching up, he pushed the two of them apart, Kyle stumbling a little, trying not to freak out, while Dylan, tenser than he realized, smoothly withdrew, having expected to have his heart pumping, but he was, strangely, completely cold, even as he felt blood warmly leaking down his face, dripping off his chin before being drawn into his weapon, forming a second bullet.

Glancing at the both of them, Thrain nodded in the silence, the Caravaners around them having all stopped dead in their tracks. "Right, right, I'll go be buggin' Quill ta be settin' up some sparrin' time for all of ya, 'gainst better fighters who'll handle it if ya slip, ta be smoothin' over all of this." Looking past them, to the other locals, the dwarf yelled, "What be ye lot starin' at! It's Daybreak! Time ta move!"

That seemed to break the moment, Anna suddenly by his side, hand glowing green as she slowly sealed his wound, which, like shots to the head did, was bleeding far more than you'd think for such a minor injury. "What the hell, Kyle, you crazy asshole!?" she spat. "What's your freaking problem!?"

Coming off… whatever that was, Dylan's thoughts thawing out of whatever that icy mental state had been, while getting sucker punched like that was not okay, almost killing him had been… not okayer. "Listen," he said, a little shaken by almost killing his classmate, and needing them to work together to survive, so, even though he didn't really want to, he still needed to be the bigger man, "sorry. For pulling the gun, and… whatever I did. What you did wasn't cool, but, you had to have a reason, so, sorry."

And the larger man just stared at him in disbelief, Anna, and a few of the others giving him similar looks, but, but he hadn't been lying to Amy, they needed to work together, and if he'd pissed off the other guy so bad he was sucker-punched, well, that kind of anger didn't come out of nowhere.

Kyle's expression was complicated, before it settled into disgust. "You've already won," he spat, turning around and walking away. "You don't need to be an asshole about it."

And then he left, heading back to their rooms.

Looking to Annabeth in confusion, she sighed, reassuring him, "You didn't do anything wrong, Dyl." Logan, and Val nodded in agreement, even Ivy, after a moment, doing the same. Malik looked as lost as he was, while Amy took off after Kyle, Sam, Kristen and Bartholomew just looking really uncomfortable.

Dylan decided he'd ask them later, because, whatever was going on, he needed to know.

After all, how can you fix things if you don't know what's wrong?

Slake Mothman · 2026-07-24T08:39:58+0100

Leecifer said:
Ya both aren't used ta havin' [Job]s after all, and yer combat ones be lethal, which ya aren't used to either. For Clay's, it not be that bad, and ye normally already be gettin' those instincts 'fore ya get the [Job] anyways, but y'all be jumpin' straight to Lead, and as fast as ye did? That just be askin' for trouble."

Looks like we're seeing the personality bleed from the [Jobs] everyone got. Kyle's [Champion] seems to really want him to be the leader/dominant position and is influencing him to be way more insecure than he was before. Probably. What makes it worse is that Kyle doesn't seem to have well-developed emotional self-awareness so he may not be noticing the personality shift.

Whereas Dylan's [Bloodshot Raider] has less of a passive background influence but once things kick into gear has a massive effect on his personality, which makes a lot of sense seeing as this an incredibly offense-focused vanguard job. Imagine if the Doom Slayer froze up every time his adrenaline spiked.

Makes me wonder if Anna's magic job is exacerbating some social anxiety she might have already had, or maybe causing her to become a bit hypervigilant. Mages tend to be pretty squishy, and depending on exactly what type of mage she is she could have a whole host of passive sensory abilities she isn't used to.

Orphiex · 2026-07-24T09:51:13+0100

Dylan clearly does not understand thugboi mentality. I wonder if anyone will actually explain to him that Kyle is running on "Punch in the snout to establish dominance" rules? Not that that works here, since at some point the caravan leader will lay down the law, but someone needs to sit Dylan down and give a brief primer on the mindset of "rule by might" warlordist dumbasses.

Leecifer · 2026-07-24T10:42:12+0100

Also, since it was asked for over on Royalroad, a Cast List!

Dylan: General Good White Dude, with serious Golden Retriever energy. Our Protagonist. Lead [Bloodshot Raider] [Thaumic Scrutineer] [Courier], Clay [Handyman] [Forager]
Annabeth: White Cheerleader, kinda girly, kinda basic, Dylan's Girlfriend. Lead [Zephyr Runeshaper] [Breezist] [Windstrider]
Kyle: White Self-appointed Alpha, and kind of a dick. Lead [Champion] [?] [?]
Malik- African American Nerdy Guy, very into Anime, very enthusiastic, but unpopular, but a nice guy (not a 'nice guy'). Lead [Moonblade] [Systemic Arcanist] [Iron Cook] [Dash Stepper] Clay [?] [?] [?] [?] [?]
Bart (Bartholomew) White Nerd Guy, 'whell ackshually' variety, intellectually insecure. Lead [Pyre Runescribe] [Tridecagramist] [?], Clay [?]
Logan, White Stoner Guy, Lead [Sentinel] [?] [?], Clay [?]
Sam (Samantha) White Theater Girl, well read, Lead [Arcing Runeweaver] [?] [?]
Val (Valeria) - Latina Tomboy, musclehead, sporty. Lead [Furyborn] [?] [?], Clay [?]
Amy (Amelia) - White Girl Next Door, quiet and reserved. Lead [Shieldmaiden] [?] [?]
Ivy - Asian Rich Bitch, very catty, trust issues out the Waz. Lead [Huntress] [?] [?]
Kristen - White Nerd Girl, very academic, takes AP Classes so she's better than you. Lead [Glacial Runewright] [?] [?]
Scott (male) DEAD
Sophie (female) DEAD
Thrain Rookforge: Gregarious Dwarf, Iron [Trackrunner] (assume him and the rest from here down have more [Job]s than what's listed)
Zhae'ran Virn: Armored women, DUNE levels of blue eyes, Iron [Stormblade]
Pascal Moreau: Man in purple and green leathers, kinda poncy, Iron [Spellbolt Archer]
Commander Aleric Hark, head of Caravan, and Silver [Roadwarden]
Ser Maude, Caravan Heavy, Bronze [Plateborn]
Matron Tamsa Vey, 2nd in command, divine magic expert, Bronze [Hearthflame Priestess], Iron [Polyglot], Lead [Arbalestier], [Laundress]
Vexius Quill, Quartermaster/wizard, yes that is his real name, Bronze [Calculant]
Mrs. Freya, nice old lady, Wrought Iron [Guide]
Eledah, elf girl, Iron [Druid], Lead [Guide]

Vongrak · 2026-07-24T13:41:12+0100

Well I'll guess I'll ask a follow up question. Is now a good time to hop into the story? 10 chapters is a decent chunk of content, and while 50 thousand words is less then I'd normally go for, I also enjoy all of your other stuff... but that partially means I'd rather just consume it in larger chunks.

So I guess I'm saying, if now isn't the best time to hop in, is there a chapter in the future that might be?

sperance · 2026-07-24T13:57:23+0100

Orphiex said:
Dylan clearly does not understand thugboi mentality. I wonder if anyone will actually explain to him that Kyle is running on "Punch in the snout to establish dominance" rules? Not that that works here, since at some point the caravan leader will lay down the law, but someone needs to sit Dylan down and give a brief primer on the mindset of "rule by might" warlordist dumbasses.

Funnily enough, that may confuse Dylan even more, because when they got the explanation on [Job], Kyle got outright told that, if a [Champion] picks a 1-v-1 fight with a [Bloodshot Raider] of equal level, the [Champion] is fucking dead, period. So by Kyle's "Prison Rules, bitch" logic, him being below Dylan in the social hierarchy is only good and proper.

Of course, Kyle's Alpha Male bullshit only counts when it benefits him.

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