“Gah!” she shouted after a particularly bright flash of light illuminated Alfric, who was approaching her.
“Sorry!” he called out to her. “Didn’t mean to sneak up.”
“What are you doing out in the woods at this time of night?” she asked, the will-o’-wisps forgotten and floating off as a small herd, motes of blue and white lights drifting in the dark.
“Have you ever been in a dungeon?” he asked her.
“That’s not an answer!” she replied, stomping with her clogs toward him through the squelching mud. “You answer, then you can ask questions.”
“I was looking for you,” said Alfric, once she was close enough that they didn’t have to raise their voices. “So, have you ever been in a dungeon?”
“No,” said Mizuki. “Did you bring a lantern? It’s hard to see.”
“I did,” said Alfric, pulling a disc from his pocket. He unlatched it, and light spilled out from its face. Mizuki looked him over, paying some special attention to the sword on his hip.
“Why do you want to know if I’ve been in a dungeon?” asked Mizuki, hands on her hips.
“If you had been to one, I wanted to ask you about it,” said Alfric. “To know which ones you’ve been in and what your general impression was. But if you hadn’t been in a dungeon, then I thought we could talk about dungeons, and I could see if you wanted to join a party to go to one.”
“With you?” asked Mizuki. Alfric nodded. “And who else?”
“We have a bard so far,” said Alfric. “Verity, she plays sets down at the Fig and Gristle. I have others in mind, but even if it’s just four, we should be able to do it.”
“Which two others?” asked Mizuki. “What kinds of casters?”
“Only one other caster,” said Alfric. “A cleric. The other I’m planning to ask is a ranger, of sorts, at least according to the censusmaster.” One of the alternates was a caster, if he understood the term from a sorcerer’s perspective, but he didn’t want to get her hopes up.
“A sorcerer needs magic to make magic,” said Mizuki. “With a priest and a bard I’m not going to be getting much in the way of interference patterns to work with.”
“You’ll have the dungeon too,” said Alfric. “That’s three. It should be more than enough.”
“And you don’t know any magic?” asked Mizuki.
“Nothing of note for invading a dungeon,” replied Alfric, which he tried to comfort himself as being not quite a lie. “I tried a few of them but was always better with a sword and shield.”
“No shield though,” replied Mizuki, looking down at the sword on his hip.
“It’s back in my room, with the rest of my armor,” said Alfric. “So, are you in? It’s a few hours’ work for easy money. Easier money than chasing around will-o’-wisps.”
“Hrmph,” said Mizuki. She looked out into the woods, where the will-o’-wisps were still floating away. “Well, I don’t particularly feel like following them just in the hopes that I can finagle something from their magic, so I guess I’ll go with you. Do you already have the party made? Or is this fresh?”
“Not yet,” said Alfric, brightening up considerably. “You, me, and Verity will make three, we can form the party in the morning.”
“Wait,” said Mizuki, and Alfric’s heart seemed to stop, not that he really expected a problem he couldn’t overcome. He’d had too many setbacks over the last year and had grown too sensitive to the kinds of problems that came with getting a group together. “Can you give me an escort back into town?” asked Mizuki. “My light is gone, and there’s barely enough ambient magic for me to make my own way.”
“Certainly,” replied Alfric. “And as we go, we can talk shop.”
“Here, let me grab my bag,” said Mizuki. She walked over to a tree, where a simple cloth bag hung from one branch. After she grabbed it and threw it over her shoulder, she came closer to Alfric and slipped her arm into his. “Lead the way,” she said.
“So,” said Alfric as they walked. “Your role would be ranged combat and support. For a novice sorcerer, it’s generally safe to figure one spell per room, and it would be best for you to go first, so there’s not so much a risk of friendly fire. I’ll be going in with sword and shield, taking the brunt of the punishment, and if you’re able to eke out another spell or two from the cross-magic going around, all the better.”
“Sounds fun,” said Mizuki. “And for rewards? We’re splitting evenly?”
“That’s the plan,” said Alfric. “Materials and henlings sold off and split five ways, but not everything can be split, so we’ll be doing a points auction before we leave the dungeon.”
“Seems like you’ve given this some thought,” said Mizuki. Alfric still had his small lantern out, pointing forward, giving them guiding light, and he could just barely see the frown on her face with the reflected light. “You’ll have to explain the concept of a points auction, but I can wait so you don’t have to repeat it and I don’t have to hear it twice.” She looked up at his face, illuminated by the light of the lantern that was bouncing off the trees ahead of them. “Is the dungeon thing safe?”
“Dungeons aren’t dangerous,” said Alfric. “At least, they’re not as dangerous as everyone thinks. Still, it’s better to go in with a clear plan and a balanced party.”
“How did you find me?” asked Mizuki.
“I spoke with the censusmaster of the hex,” said Alfric. “She was able to give me a list of people who weren’t in a party, and were below the age of thirty, and from there it was just a matter of asking around.”
“So you know my name then,” said Mizuki. “And you have me at quite the disadvantage.”
“Alfric Overguard,” said Alfric.
“Mizuki Yono,” replied Mizuki.
“Anyhow,” said Alfric. “When I was asking around, the woman who runs the general store—”
“Bethany. What an intolerable gossip,” said Mizuki. “And it feels weird to call her a woman. We’re the same age.”
“My apologies,” replied Alfric.
“No, it’s fine,” said Mizuki. “It’s probably fair. I just think of myself as a girl, still. I don’t feel like an adult.” According to the censusmaster, she was twenty-two. She shook her head. “Who was the other person you spoke with? The bard? I wasn’t paying the most attention.”
“Verity,” Alfric said. “She’s an extremely skilled bard, for being second elevation.”
“And we’re all going to be of second elevation?” asked Mizuki. “I’ve always thought elevation was kind of bunk.”
“Going in with mixed elevations is dangerous,” said Alfric, ignoring the latter part of what she’d said. It sounded like it might be a long digression. “If I get everyone I want, we’ll all be second elevation, and hopefully we can move up together.” He realized that was a misstep just after he said it.
“Together?” asked Mizuki. “So you’re not just planning one dungeon, you’re planning many of them. See, that’s a different question. I’d like to try a dungeon, sure, but if you’re asking for a commitment, one that’s going to mean travel outside the hex, that’s another thing entirely.”
“No commitment,” said Alfric, backpedaling as hard as he could. “You all live here, and the dungeon in this hex will be half a day’s work at the most, including the time to walk there. I’m not asking for anything else. Going to the six surrounding dungeons would mean a single day away from home each, if that. If we had to, we’d camp out or find a room at an inn. That’s not the kind of thing you would do right off the first swing, not before we know each other.”