The Outlands

Ellie had to keep herself from skipping as the group made their way to Cub’s Den. Scenario D was a go and she could hardly believe it. It felt like her wildest dreams were coming true one after the other, the universe going out of its way to make her happy.

“So, when are you going to make a move?” Ker asked in a hushed tone, giving her a smirk.

Ellie blushed. “I-I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She lied.

Ker rolled his eyes. “Please. From an outsider’s perspective it’s painfully obvious that you’re head over heels for her. Do you want me to help you out? Give Tess some hints?”

Ellie glanced forward at Tess, who was talking with Jin and Alice, then sighed. “I appreciate the sentiment, but not now. First off, it’d be really insensitive to start hitting on her so soon after she changed. It sorta boils down to ‘Hey your life’s been upturned but now that it has wanna go out’ and that’s kinda scummy thing to do if you ask me. I mean, I know I haven’t been the best at not hitting on her, but by the time I realize what I’m doing I’m like halfway through the action and I figure it would be better to commit instead of being weird and stopping halfway through.

“Second…Tess and Grandpa don’t know I’m a lesbian yet. Once Tess has adjusted, I’m going to come out, but that’s not a bombshell I want to drop on her right now. When the time comes, I definitely want to make some passes at her, just…not now.”

Ker nodded. “Alright, that’s understandable. If you need someone to talk to, though, don’t hesitate to come to me. Just because it’s directly affecting Tess doesn’t mean there won’t be some hard times for you, too. No one’s got a monopoly on suffering.”

Ellie hesitated for a second, then shook her head to clear it. “Alright. I’ll keep that in mind.”

Her mood was only slightly dampened the rest of the walk to the dungeon and was bolstered again when she heard how they would be going about beating this dungeon. “It’s just going to be the two of us?!” She asked excitedly, “Aren’t you guys going to bulldoze through it like the other one?”

“Not quite.” Alice chuckled. “We’re still going to be watching you…in a way.”

Jin handed some bandlike object to Tess. “Here, a peripheral for your Status Band. It basically lets you stream your activities in the dungeon to people you choose. We have one for Ellie too, but she’s too low-level to use it. Unlike the last dungeon, this one is actually useful as a place to learn. Slimes don’t put up enough of a fight to really work as anything more than fodder. We want to see how you two will act in a fight without us as fallbacks.”

“Besides,” Ker added, “You’re in no danger whatsoever. Tess could go through this dungeon in her sleep.”

“Um,” Tess said bashfully, accepting the peripheral, putting it on, and watching it sink into her band, “I’m…not so sure. That’s only because I was confident that Ker could handle anything that came his way if I had to take my time picking an enemy off.”

“I can handle a few small fries no sweat. If they couldn’t take you down, then there’s no chance they’ll be able to do enough damage to take me down.”

“They…never attacked me.” Tess said, “I have no clue how strong their attacks are.”

Ellie raised an eyebrow. “How- oh, right. I forgot about Target of Affection.” That was a lie, at least partially. She couldn’t forget about it, not with its handiwork on full display in front of her. She had just forgotten about the other effect.

“Well, I just need to tank, right? I have a bit of healing from my light magic, and the stats to handle a couple of hits. The monsters can’t be that tough, right?”

“Going to stop you right there.” Alice said sharply. “That’s an attitude that’s going to get you killed. You know basically nothing about this dungeon, and just assuming you can handle the worst it can throw at you by just bulldozing through it isn’t going to work long-term. It’ll work for this dungeon, and maybe some dungeons in the future, but you have to get out of that mindset. It’s going to be hard when you steamroll these beginner dungeons, but you have to remember that they’re beginner dungeons.”

“She’s right.” Jin added, “And even if death isn’t exactly…permanent for freelancers with enough money, that’s only if you can get someone to bring you back to a healer in time. In out of the way areas that’s not a guarantee.”

“That being said, you shouldn’t have too much trouble with this dungeon. If it came down to it you could just have Tess go and clear the floor on her own, she can handle it.” Ker said, turning to Tess, “So long as you’re careful and make sure to always one-shot the opponents it shouldn’t be much harder than going through it with me. Even if a few don’t immediately die I’m confident you can handle them without an issue.”

“If you say so.” Tess mumbled.

“I do.” Ker replied firmly. “Even if I was tanking, you took down Mama Bear with almost entirely your own damage. You can handle a couple of mooks.”

Tess’s attention was drawn away by something. That had been happening fairly often in the ten or so minutes they’d been together today, and that wasn’t like her at all. Ellie made a note to ask her about it in private later, in case it was something she could help with.

“Time’s a-wastin’, we’re talking too much.” Alice said impatiently, “Jin, you teach Tess how to use that broadcaster while Ker and I teach Ellie about the information sheet.” And, without waiting for a response, Alice grabbed Ellie and towed her over to the shop, then showed her how the information sheets worked. Roughly five minutes later, Ellie and Tess had finished their respective lessons, everyone was in a party, and they were ready to begin their delve.

“We got this!” Ellie said confidently, looping an arm around Tess’s shoulders. “We’ll see you on floor two in no time!”

Jin nodded. “See you then.”

And with that, Ellie steered Tess into the dungeon. “Alright, so, I’ll go ahead and tank, you just come in and snipe the monsters when you have a moment, alright?”

“Um…sure.” Tess replied nervously. “Let’s do that.”

“Right!” Ellie replied brightly, striding off further into the floor. It was time for her to implement Operation Keep Tess Safe, which was as simple as the name would suggest – she just would kill anything before it got close to Tess.

Her first opponent was a baby deer, and as cute as it was, she wasn’t going to show it any mercy. She stepped to the side, flicked out her sword in a dismissive motion, and watched with satisfaction as its head tumbled from its body.

A few coins fell to the floor as the deer’s body dissipated, and Ellie picked those up while Tess made her way over. “Oh, you…already got one. You should…probably wait until I get there, though. They can’t see what you’re doing if I can’t.”

Ellie laughed, rubbing her neck. “My bad. I’ll pay more attention next time.” She waited for Tess to pick up the core, then went ahead, this time at a distance where she would be visible around bends.

Operation Keep Tess Safe turned out to be a piece of cake.  The monsters were always alone, and she just killed them in one hit, even if she didn’t always get a clean decapitation like she did with the deer.

They finished the floor in about five minutes. It wasn’t large, the monsters weren’t tough, and they only ran into a few more before they found the exit. Once they did, Ellie waited for Tess to catch up, then proudly made her way through the door.

“Minus five points.” Alice said flatly.

“W-what?!” Ellie protested. “We cleared that like it was nothing!”

“You cleared it like it was nothing.” Jin said. “You didn’t even give Tess a chance to learn or work on your teamwork, she was basically just your camerawoman.”

Ellie looked to the side. “I could beat them in one hit, there was no need to put anyone in unnecessary danger.”

“I don’t buy that.” Alice replied, “You made it clear earlier that you could tank, and we all know that Tess isn’t ever going to be targeted, so you’re just stealing EXP from her. And Tess, you have to be more assertive. Freelancer parties, the good ones, anyway, are made up of equals. There may be a “leader”, but at high levels leaders are in name only.”

“In the field, that is.” Ker added, “We all have different skillsets and usually at those high levels leaders are the best at making decisions out of direct combat, or the best at making snap decisions in the heat of the moment. Our party is made of equals, but, unlike Alice, I think that a leader-subordinate relationship can work if the leader is good. That being said, Alice is right. Tess, if you have something to say, then make sure you say it.”

Tess blushed, looking down. “Um…I want to help, Ellie. I don’t feel comfortable just following behind you. It works for now, but it won’t in the future. We can’t get into bad habits while we’re learning…right?”

Jin nodded. “That’s right. I know it’s hard, but you have to treat this like it’s something that could challenge you. So, this next floor, leave it to Tess a little more, kay?”

“Uh, I think I should be in front.” Tess said. “The monsters won’t bother with me, and while they’re rushing to attack you, I can get a free hit in. Then, if they’re still alive, you can clean them up.”

“Fine.” Ellie pouted, “But if it looks like you’re in trouble I’m going to help.”

“That’ll be pretty easy. Just throw a rock at them and they’ll stop attacking her.” Ker said, “Simple as that. It’s really something, seeing her inflict a mortal wound on a monster and then you breathe on it, and it decides you’re a better target.”

Alice raised an eyebrow. “Really? I have to see that.”

“I can show you this floor.” Tess volunteered. “I’ll make sure I don’t one-shot stuff and Ellie can do the whole rock thing.”

Ellie fidgeted slightly but nodded. “I can handle that, I guess.”

“Alright, enough jabbering.” Jin said, “Just get in there and do it.”

“Got it.” Tess said, moving towards the door. “Ready when you are, Ellie.”

“Yeah, I’m ready.” Ellie replied, moving so she was next to Tess. “Let’s go.”

The two entered the dungeon once again, and this time Ellie let Tess take the lead. It was a little nerve-wracking, watching the much more fragile girl go in front, but Ker was proven right soon enough. When Tess rounded a bend in the path, Ellie was a bit behind, having stopped to pick up a rock, so she was a little startled when she heard Tess yell.

“There’s a monster here!” Tess called calmly, “Get ready!”

Ellie braced herself, tightening her grip on her sword, and went round the bend. The monster was just sort of…sitting there, acting as if Tess didn’t even exist. That changed the moment it saw Ellie, the monster suddenly breaking into a mad dash towards her, like monsters usually did when they saw a person.

Tess waited for the monster to pass her, then struck with her claws, scoring a huge gash down the creature’s flank from which some sort of disgusting leech-thing sprouted.

The beast whirled, and Ellie threw the rock, hitting it solidly in the side. It immediately whirled back to face Ellie, began running, suddenly faltered, and then exploded into rainbow gas, a single coin falling to the floor as it did.

“What was that weird wriggly thing?!” Ellie exclaimed, looking around warily, “Was that from you?”

Tess nodded. “One of my new Skills. Plants a parasite that damages monsters and heals me. It’s pretty handy, even if it is kinda gross.”

“Oh. Is that why it died all of a sudden?”

“Yup. It deals a tenth of the damage I inflicted with the attack every second, and I can have ten parasites on one target, and if they’re not careful about taking it out they take even more damage.”

Ellie stared. “That’s…intense.”

Tess shrugged. “Apparently, it’s supposed to be balanced around unarmed not receiving the benefits of nice weapons, but…” She waved her hands around, still sporting those long, gleaming claws. “These don’t count as weapons, apparently.”

Ellie walked over to Tess, throwing an arm around her shoulders. “That’s awesome! My little blue mage is already showing her stuff.”

Tess ducked out of the arm, blushing slightly. “We can talk more about this later.” She said, “We’re still in the middle of a dungeon. Let’s finish off this floor before something catches us by surprise.”

That had, perhaps, been a little too forward, but Ellie didn’t regret it. “Sure, sounds good.”

The rest of the floor was, predictably, easy. Tess was clearly capable of clearing the entire thing herself, and the presence of Ellie made it a slaughter. So, after a few minutes of work, they were at the next floor with The Rumors.

“That was much better, good job.” Alice said, a satisfied look on her face. Then, she turned to Tess, an eyebrow raised. “But, Ker really wasn’t kidding about the aggro thing. Are you aware of just how nuts that is?”

Tess looked away, clearly embarrassed. “I can tell it’s not normal. It feels a little cheap, having all the monsters just ignore me like that. A-anyway, are we going to do the Challenge now?”

“That’s the plan, yes.” Jin replied. “Parties without mentors come back to this one when they’re a higher level, but it’s just a tank test, so it’s not detrimental to your growth for us to carry you through it. So, the three of us will keep Ellie safe while we go through it. You just walk next to us.”

“Um, remind me what the Challenge is again?” Ellie asked.

Alice frowned. “We went over this when we talked about the info sheet. Just don’t hurt anything through this floor, and you’ll get to the Challenge, which is also just not hurting anything. You have to pay better attention than that.”

Ellie blushed. “Sorry.”

“It’s fine, just be mindful in the future.” Ker said, “Tess, you just let us know if by some miracle something targets you, OK?”

“Yeah, got it.” With that, they went into the floor. Immediately, The Rumors grouped up in front of Ellie, Ker and Jin directly in front of her while Alice moved farther ahead. The run through the floor was fast, and the Challenge was faster. Alice used some sort of ability that drew all the monster’s attention to her, and the monsters never seemed to be able to penetrate her armor.

So, they were at the Rewards Crystal in pretty short order, and Ellie wasted no time getting her reward.

“Well?” Alice asked.

“Lightning Mage Class.” Ellie replied. “Should I put it on next chance we get or…?”

“Up to you, really.” Jin said, shrugging. “With your stats, you can’t go too wrong when levelling your Classes. Levelling one Class won’t count against you when levelling another, so just do whatever you feel like first.”

“I’ll keep Swordsman, then. Tess is gonna need a tank.”

“That’s fine. When you feel progress is slowing down in a Class too much, just switch to one of your others. That probably won’t be until you’ve been out of the beginner dungeons for a good while, though.”

“Right, well, don’t got all day, let’s keep at this.” Alice said impatiently. “I want to get to at least the second Rewards Crystal for clearing the dungeon by the end of the day, so let’s hop to it.”