Drip-Fed

The choice of the metal fairy was an odd one. Not only was the Birshia dungeon the geographically closest to the city, it was also under the supervision of the Guild. Dungeons on safe leaves were easy and Birshia was no different in that regard. It was simply the designated tutorial dungeon, meaning that instructors were often found accompanying the groups of beginners inside.

With that in mind, Reysha asked, “So why there specifically?” It wasn’t a question of doubt, they were already on their way, just one of curiosity.

“You did deliver the letter about the happenings with Apotho, correct?” Aclysia asked in return.

The tiger girl nodded, fidgeting with her new belt. Unlike the sturdy one she had gotten from the boss rewards, this one was clearly designed for a Rogue. Thin and with a number of hoisters for throwing knives and glass flasks, it was perfect for her.

Reysha hadn’t returned to the group straight out of the hospital, as she had needed a bunch of things done. First, she had sold all of the items she didn’t need. The smart thing would have been to do so at the bazaar, where she could haggle for a proper price, but she had been rather impatient so she just sold it to the guild trader. The guy made his living off of being the middle-man. Smart business, given that most adventurers weren’t the long-thinking type (especially outside combat situations).

Selling the jar of an unknown liquid, the Priest necklace, the mana potion and the lightning spear, she made a nice bit of money. Although she had to reinvest some of it into her debts to keep the Guild from complaining about her leaving the city again, she had plenty to spend on getting new equipment.

First on the list were a new pair of proper boots. The ones she bought at the port hadn’t been strictly bad, they had done their job, but as a fighter that relied mostly on her footwork to stay alive, boots were the last thing she wanted to skimp on. Therefore, her new ones were made from soft, brown leather and fit as best as the shoemaker could adjust them in an hour. Which was pretty good, not perfect, but they would absolutely do for sneaking. A new pair of socks helped.

Aside from that she had gotten four throwing knives and two health potions, which (together) filled up the entire belt. For her main weaponry, she kept the stiletto, fixed to her right side to be drawn with her left as quick as possible, but also bought two standardized iron daggers as backup.

One of them was kept inside her adventurer’s bag. It would be hard to rearm herself with that in the middle of a battle, there was a delay in pulling things out of that bag, which increased as the bag got filled up with more stuff. However, she only had one extra sheath, located at her lower back. A situation in which she lost both weapons at once was unlikely anyhow.

Her purchases were then rounded up with: a purse, to avoid coin finding situation like with Lanshe. A simple black robe with a hood to allow her to move about less conspicuously. A bag made of leather that was holding water. Some soap for obvious purposes. Three rectangle shaped piece of cloth that could be used to hide her face or as washcloths. A pair of satin gloves. Lastly, a couple of lockpicks.

Now she was about half her fortune lighter, but at least she felt properly equipped. Although she hadn’t put on the hood, she hated to tuck her ears in for it to sit properly, the cloak itself hid her tools under its sleeveless embrace. Inside the dungeon, she would put it away. The advantage of hiding something wasn’t a big one when fighting monster that acted largely on instinct.

Everything that she wasn’t immediately using, she stored inside her adventurer’s bag, attached tightly to the right side of her hips. Conveniently, those things didn’t get heavier as they were filled up.

“Yeah, I delivered the letter…. How is that important?” Reysha wondered as she jumped down a little drop in the landscape, following Apexus. The slime was simply listening to the conversation as he crept at the head of the group, always weary of potential eyes. They were so close to the city, the slime could sometimes see distant farms between the trees. The forest was pretty dense, where it wasn’t being used by humans for the menial task of food growing, so them getting found would have been an enormous stroke of bad luck.

Apexus was used to having equal portions of bad and good luck though, so he kept his ears primed for eventual approaching figures, as the girls continued their chatter.

“I surmise that…”

“Okay, stop, ‘surmise’? The fuck does that even mean?”

“I guess, although I have no hard evidence for it,” Aclysia laid out, “that the news of Hemle’s demise will cause an emergency meeting that invites most or all capable people that the Adventuring Guild employs. Thus, the security at Birshia will be either lacklustre or removed entirely.” That was her wager in summary. “This will be our best opportunity to get in there.”

“And what if it isn’t?” Reysha asked. “The security being bad, I mean.”

“Then we simply walk away. I don’t think there is anything there we strictly need,” the metal fairy answered. This was true, their current mission was solely to give Reysha the extra bit of monster meat she desired. For this endeavour, any dungeon would do. The only other special thing the group currently wanted were more parts of Aclysia. If she sensed one inside there or the dungeons general direction, she would have informed the group of this already.

Now it was Apexus who wondered why they chose Birshia specifically. To ask, he simply formed a question mark, much like the letters before. Aclysia quickly understood the slime’s intent. “Aside from being the quickest way to alleviate Reysha’s current predicament, it is best for us if you clear more dungeons to achieve more permanent Growths, awakener.”

It was a bit odd that she persisted in calling him that despite their much closer relationship. The slime had already made the observation that long-term behaviour was hard to get rid of. That and the metal fairy seemed to like the term, so she kept using it. Aside from the oddness, Apexus didn’t mind. Titles had a bit of a flare to them, he liked it.

The end of the forest came in sight in the form of a rather sudden end to the line of trees. They were approaching it quickly, although Apexus slowed down and eventually came to halt in thick brushes. They avoided the open terrain, where the group would be seen much easier.

“I also have knowledge, granted to me by my creator, that there is a special kind of monster inside there. One whose ability I do desperately wish you to acquire, Apexus,” the metal fairy continued. That sounded interesting.