Rose’s face cleared and she soberly nodded, not trusting herself to speak. She was teetering between jubilation and fury with this man who talked to her like a child. She left the room without another word.
“Thank you, Dale?” Chandra halfway questioned, thinking that maybe things had gone well.
Dale shook his head. “That was how Craig taught me. That and letting Josh beat me on the sparring grounds for hours at a time. This life is not for the faint of heart, which I am sure you know. I’m nervous about this whole situation. Not only about going in with an untested team, but her attitude really worries me. I know that I could have handled that better but I needed to know if she would react professionally. Make no mistake, I intend for my team to be exceedingly professional.”
“I was worried about her reaction because I feel like people have either only treated her one of two ways: Giving her what she wanted and not spoken harshly to her out of pity, or given her nothing and despised her for shortcomings that are not her fault. If she could not control herself here when it was only harsh words, how could I trust that she would care what I had to say mid-battle? Her lack of experience with other people and teamwork could seriously hurt us.”
“Still. Thank you Dale. Is there anything I can do to repay you?” Chandra motioned to the food still on the table.
Dale was quiet for a moment. “Yes. I hate to admit it but I am ignorant of the world. I may have made a very bad business deal recently because of it.” He thought of the Dark Elves. “I can read the trade language, I can do my figures well enough to count small amounts of money, but have no other administration skills. I just found out that my purchase of armor had interest on it, and have no idea how to calculate that or even look for it on future deals. If Frank had wanted to ruin me, all he would have had to do was give me a document ceding my rights to the land and told me that it was a Guild application form.”
Dale looked at Chandra. “I’ve been flying by the seat of my pants, going with the flow and listening to others. My ‘Council’ makes major decisions without me and I have no idea if those are ideas that I would agree with. I need to find a way to take a stand and really know what I am doing. Can you find me some teachers? If I am going to live as long as they say, run my own team, and build this camp into a city - I need to do better in nearly every aspect of management.”
Chandra was impressed by his forethought. “I can think of a few people. I’ll make some arrangements, but it won’t be a cheap or fast process. We could speed your understanding of words and numbers with the use of memory stones, but the cost is even more astronomical.”
Dale perked up. “I hadn’t thought of that! How much does it cost?”
Chandra laughed at his shift back into the young man she thought she had known, “The spoken and written languages are always sold apart from each other: fifty gold each. The finest counting system is provided by the Dwarven Underkingdom, and is roughly one hundred gold.”
Dale’s mind boggled at that cost. Who could afford that kind of expense?! Then he remembered that he could, given enough time. He supposed that it was normally reserved for nobles or other wealthy people. “Why is that number system so expensive by itself?”
Chandra nodded at his question, it was a good one. “The number system is very complex. It consists of more than simple concepts like the others - adding, subtracting, and dividing. What sets this system apart is their advancement into higher mathematics, which give answers to questions such as: How many loads of gravel do I need for a road? What angle does this building need to be built at for the road to have the correct size? What is the compound interest rate of loans from multiple banks? How much weight can a support of this size hold if it is placed horizontally? Believe me when I say, it is worth the cost.”
Dale nodded slowly. If he wanted to be trusted to make large decisions, he needed to make the sacrifices now to learn what he needed. “How about other things? I’ll need to know history, how to argue, and trading skills.”
“I’ll see what I can do. Might I make a suggestion?” Chandra raised a hand to slow him down. Dale nodded, surprised by her subdued question. “Work to open the pericardium meridian. It is known as the guardian of the heart and will allow you to function normally with half the amount of sleep you normally will get. If you want to learn quickly, you will need to devote a substantial amount of time to your studies. Opening that meridian will allow you to do so without interrupting your current work schedule.”
“Thank you.” Dale warmly smiled, “How about a teacher to explain the meridians as well?”
With a laugh, they turned back to their meal and discussion.
~Twenty-Six~
<Well what do you think we should do next?> I questioned Dani, thinking I had all my preparations complete.
She thought for a moment, looking around the room. “I don’t know Cal; it looks like it is ready. Should you just activate it?” The once smooth floor of the Boss room was now intricately patterned, the Runescript of hundreds of matching Runes deeply scoring the floor.
I had planned this out well, the pattern of each Rune interlocking seamlessly to the next. I had adjusted my walls to allow enough space for the large pattern to end perfectly at the entryway of the room, to maximize the amount of Essence pulled in. I had not yet explained to Dani the steps I really wanted to take.
<Here’s the thing, I told you I wanted the Rune to be big, right?> I started nervously.
She answered brightly, “Well yeah! Look at them! That is the most beautiful, largest Runescript I have ever seen! You should be proud! I know I am.”
I ‘blushed’, <Aww, thanks, Hun. But… I’m not done.>
“What do you mean?” Her voice took on a tone of exasperation.
<I want it to be BIG, Dani.>
She snorted, “That’s what every male says.”
<…Huh?>
“Nothing. Explain.”
<I want to adjust my floors, so that the floors themselves are massive Runes.>
If she had a jaw, it would have dropped. “Cal! I don’t know if you will be able to activate this Rune, how would you possibly activate one so large?”
I quickly laid my plan out to slow her tirade. <I know, I know. It might be the work of years to save that amount of power, but I figure I will make small adjustments to my dungeon every night, until I finally get the configuration I want. Until then, activating it won’t matter anyway, right?>
“I... guess.” She doubtfully allowed. “Seriously though, you should try activating just this one soon. We don’t want you too weak to join in fights when people get here if it fails.”
I braced myself and followed her advice. I reached out and touched the activation sequence, beginning to funnel Essence into it. Faster than a chubby kid eating cake, the energy began to flow out of me. Faster and faster it poured and soon the loss began straining my reserves. This is the way of Runes; if you activate one, it will try to take every drop of needed Essence out of the person activating it. If you did not have the necessary Essence, it would drain you - to death. Quickly, I reached out for the Cores I had filled to the brim with Essence, draining them dry as I channeled the potent power though myself.
Too quickly they ran out, shattering as I took even the Essence binding them together. One after another the cores around me fell to pieces, making me hope I would not soon be among them. As the last one broke and my internal light began to dim, the Rune flared to life! With a rush like wind in a thunderstorm, loose Essence in the dungeon began flowing into the Boss chamber. The huge Rune that began at the door of the room began to glow! Slowly at first, but then with increasing light and speed. As the shining power became too bright for the human eye to see, like a blacksmith's welding tool, the Rune found an outlet for its stored power.