Julia waved them off as she went to gather together their other party members. Asper said there were seven in total. The man took him to a nearby restaurant and bought ale since only patrons could use the tables. Daniel choked on the first swig, making the man laugh.
“I suppose you don’t quite have the stomach for it.”
“Literally, I think,” he gagged. “You enjoy this stuff?”
“Immensely! Now, look at this. This is what we’ve mapped out so far…”
He pulled out a butcher’s wrapper that he’d used like a page to mark the mansion and surrounding area. It was rough. The guild was fairly hands-off. Ultimately, it was a business. If you wanted information, it acted as a broker between members. That included survey maps.
“So this map you drew is expensive?” Daniel asked.
Asper chuckled as a rumble sounded in the distance. The rain was drawing closer. Asper drew his focus from it to the giant mansion grounds and the nearest road. A path led from the main road and its location three miles into the wild.
“You could say that. There are a lot of rules to learn, my friend. Cores can manipulate the space within their domain, which corrupts the area around it, twisting it to their attribute. This one is an Undead Core. It may look like a typical mansion, but once you get inside, it’s a labyrinth.”
Daniel grimaced. He looked down at the carrying pouch on the belt he’d bought. Their kingdom Core was inside it with what remained of the money.
Does that mean our Core will corrupt its surroundings?
I don’t think so. It’s not a typical Core.
He’d tested its activation effects by willing the weapon card to come to him. It would go ghostly and fly out of the case to his hand if within a foot’s distance from his person.
[Server] is on cooldown for a day. I have [Pet], [Tarnished Sword], and [Trap] left.
Each one lasts an hour. I need to up that number.
“I can imagine. But who made this road to the mansion… Do you adventurers do it to get there faster and collect the items the monsters drop?”
Asper shrugged.
“No clue. It’s just there. A road appeared one day, leading to the mansion that a merchant followed to the Core. Cores produce a lot of value. High monster cores and other items that are found inside can bring a lot of wealth and power. Besides that, there are ores, herbs, and many other resources.”
Daniel rubbed his chin as Asper rolled up the map and motioned for him to follow.
Carl makes a false Core structure on the surface, lures people in, and consumes them. Do adventurers know that he gets back far more than he gives?
He considered the question as they entered the city traffic.
He showed me the hoards of loot he collected. No one else has an idea.
The dungeon keeps giving, so they keep coming back.
You sly piece of rock.
With what little coin he had left, Asper helped him buy a private shower day pass to clean himself up. They got a coat to go with his normal clothes before the rain came.
After some probing of the salesmen, he learned a lot of new inventions had been feeding into the market over the last twenty years. The cars, the fashion, the coats. They registered as normal to Daniel, as if when he heard the word he’d known it all his life.
He put that detail to the back burner of unusual things.
The streets began to clear with the slow drizzle, yet plenty of people remained out with umbrellas. He was drawing a lot of eyes and blushes from women in his new outfit, even in the rain. Noblemen whispered between groups when they passed. Asper seemed to be eating it up.
They reached the gate, thunder rolling overhead.
Six people were waiting under the arch, poking and teasing Julia about something. Her cheeks turned the color of roses when he joined them, hands in his pockets, hood drawn up.
“We all know you like the blondes. Grow a pair.”
“He has a wife…” she mumbled almost too low to be heard above the rain.
The second of the three women in the party laughed behind her.
“Right, the invisible wife. I don’t see her here or a ring.”
“Marg, stop…”
The big one nudged her with a low snicker.
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
“Edmund Rooke. I’m the Vanguard. Julia told us a great deal about you, most of which I don’t believe. No offense, but an invisible wife, man?”
Daniel took his offered hand; Edmund had a strong grip and was slightly taller than him, which was notable. The man was a wagon on legs.
“Her name’s Clara. And good point on the ring, Marg. I’ll have to get one when we get back. Apparently, I’m a Contractor. I understand we keep the loot from the monsters we slay and divide what we kill together?”
“Right to business and not an ounce of defensiveness.” Edmund chortled. “I like you. You’d be right in most parties. Not ours. We split it all. Vanguards are the tanks, so I’ll be front and center if you couldn’t tell by all the plate mail. I can’t wait to see what that secret passage gifts us. Oh, Nich is our wizard.”
“I’ll be Nicholas Frayne to this guy. I don’t trust him… We were going to spend some time off to prepare for this new zone. Now we’re taking a stranger? I don’t like it. I’ll have my eyes on you, Daniel, the naked pretty boy.”
The dull-faced man in robes and a waterproof hat didn’t offer his hand. Daniel didn’t miss the three rings on his fingers, and two necklaces hung at his neck.
“Fair enough,” Daniel laughed. “I’m mainly here for the monster cores. I could buy it from you at a bit of a markup, Nicholas Frayne.”
The wizard’s left eyebrow lifted.
“I can get behind that.”
Marg whistled, looking him up and down.
“Man doesn’t only have a face worth silver, I see. Are we sure he’s not a bard, Julia? Do you really want to let this one go to a ghost?”
“Marg, please, stop…”
Daniel turned to the smirking woman with a shield and mace. She was older than Julia, probably by five years, and clearly did not have a filter. He liked that more than the opposite.
“And you must be Marg, the group flirt! It’s my pleasure. I take it you distract the monsters, bouncing off of Edmund to keep us safe?”
“Bard, indeed! I’d let you kiss my hand and offer me a rose. My full name is Margery Pike. The Bulwark. If you play your cards right, handsome, that last name could be changed.”
Daniel laughed, flashing a smile and a wink.
“I can’t have that with my wife watching. She’s the possessive type. I might worry for your safety. Clara can be an adorable handful in the best way.”
She showed a playful pout as Julia jabbed her shoulder, blustering.
“Aww. Handsome, charming, and unavailable. You really are heaven-sent.”
That made Daniel’s laugh strain.
“Moving past that,” the second-to-last member jumped in. He bumped Marg aside with a hip, offering his hand. “I’m Ralph, the scout. I saw you had a wolf summon. That thing looked positively wicked! Mind if we see it and what it can do? It could change my plans. Oh, and that silver case you were holding. That is your contracted spiritual entity? What about…”
“Quit asking a million questions. He probably can’t even think straight, Ralph.”
“Sorry about my husband… If he gets going, he never stops. Alys Renshaw. Votary.” A moon and crescent were stamped into the leather at her wrist. “I’m the healer. Julia and Asper were like two mother hens looking after you. We could hardly see to you. And don’t let their jokes get to you. I believe Clara is real.”
Daniel’s smile returned as he shook the woman’s hand.
“It sounds like you’ve all been through a lot together.”
“Two years,” Edmund broke back in. He motioned to a wagon just outside the gates, past the guards. “We can talk on the road. We hired the wagon to take us to the trailhead off the main road. We’ll have to walk after that.”
His smile fell, and he looked off to the distance as the rain beat harder, lightning flashing across the heavens.
“We’ll probably go through the forest… There have been some elven ambushes on the road. Human slaves fetch a pretty price amongst elves. Especially the pretty men. So be careful, my friend. You’re marked with a face like that.”
Daniel held up a thumb.
“Thanks for the advice. I’ll need to hire a bodyguard to sleep with all these lustful eyes.”
The big man flashed his teeth and returned the signal.
“That’s my job. No screeching harpy is going to snatch you without my consent!”
Marg rolled her eyes.
“Like you could resist their voice. They’d take you for the meat and him for the litter. Alys and I are your best luck if any temptress types come. But I’d just hide Daniel and let you be the sacrifice.”
“You’re killing me,” Julia cried, face practically on fire at this point. “Why are you all like this?”
That got a laugh from the party as they all guided him to the wagon.
Daniel was smiling as he entered the pattering rain, but under that, his gaze drifted to Marg and Ralph. He’d watched the city’s reception to him, the gossip, and taken in every detail he could along the way.
I’m in more danger than I first thought, Clara.
Angel or human, elves see me as slave material. I stand out like a sore thumb. If anyone sees my back, my chances of slavery rise exponentially. When Asper took me to a private bathing area and everything he did for me may be sincere. Why, though?
He stared at the resting man, eyes closed, drool leaking down his chin.
I’m near broke after everything I spent. The economy here is brutal. And they didn’t have me register inside their party. Is that not a rule? I’d think it is, with how bureaucratic and strict the guild seems to be from what they told me.
A lot of things aren’t adding up.
He pulled his knee up to his chest, resting his chin on his folded arms.
Marg’s heaven-sent is a rather pointed comment to merely be a throwaway, flirtatious jab. And change to what plans, Ralph? Maybe I’m being too paranoid.
He watched each of them until he got to Julia and Asper.
They’re sincere. They warned me about the dangers of being an angel.
This party has been through life-and-death situations for two years.
They trust each other.
Relax. I have a lot to learn.
But maybe I can use their interest to my advantage…
However, as the rain and sun began to fade, something stopped their carriage.
The ride jolted to a stop, the adventurers’ heads snapping up as the driver shouted.
“Monsters from the river! Green toads.”
Edmund clasped his shoulder in passing, wearing a grin as he grabbed the big tower shield and sword sitting by the exit.
“Looks like we’re going to see you in action, friend… Show us what you’ve got.”
Hand brushing against his pouch, he called his three usable cards to his hand. The silver light shot out, spreading.
Clara, it looks like I’ll be able to make you dinner.
I wonder how frog cores taste?