Dungeons and Dalliances Ch. 027-039

Natalie blinked at the brusque introduction, as did most of the students, but they set off after her.

2.05 - Liz

Natalie hadn't put too much thought into the training weapon she'd grabbed back at the courtyard, but for the first day of spars, she needed to be smarter.

Tenet's armory—the smaller one situated inside the training facility—hosted everything a person could need: a swathe of fighting utensils so varied Natalie couldn't help but gawk. She shook the reaction off—she was from the backwaters, but she didn't have to showcase it—and focused. Instructor Robin had said she wanted to be expeditious about things. In, then out, so they could make use of their first day, rather than being stuck in the armory for the entire hour and a half.

Natalie had put some thought into which weapon she'd be settling with, even if she hadn't fully decided. In the case of one-on-one combat against another human—rather than a towering, snarling beast, or whatever else might be found in the dungeon—a small round shield and a light one-handed weapon was the obvious choice. She was leaning toward a hammer, over a mace or a sword, her other two choices. She'd never liked axes, even if she could use them.

It wasn't the most logical of decisions: just, a paladin seemed to fit with a hammer. Plus, they were frankly easier to use than a sword. Natalie was still getting used to spellcasting, so having the extra mental overhead would be useful.

Natalie picked out a hammer from the rack. It was of mundane make, not magical, like the ones found in dungeons or from surface monsters. She tested its balance, satisfied. It was made properly, unlike the prop wooden ones at the mage's hall. It had a solid heftiness to it Natalie took solace in. He'd do some serious damage, swung right.

Someone appeared to Natalie's side, and she looked over, sensing them. It was the black-haired girl with the blue streak in her hair.

"Hi," she greeted Natalie, sticking her hand out. "I'm Liz. You're Natalie, right?"

She knew her name? And, like earlier impressions had suggested, Liz didn't have a remote problem with coming up to a stranger and brightly introducing herself.

"Uh, yeah," Natalie said. "Nat is fine. How'd you know?"

"Well, you just seem like a Natalie."

Natalie raised her eyebrows. The goofy grin made it obvious Liz was joking, but the exuberant friendliness took a second to adjust to.

"Right," she said.

"Nah, kidding. I heard you three talking, earlier. Caught your names."

Natalie had figured as much. "Well. Nice to meet you. We're in the same barracks, I think?"

"Barracks seven! Represent. We've gotta show the rest of these losers what we're made of." Another goofy grin.

"Guess we do," Natalie said, amused.

"You're an, um, fighter?" She nodded at the hammer Natalie had picked out.

"Yeah." Natalie looked down at the weapon. "Er, no. Kind of. Paladin. Fighter-mage. Probably gonna fill the tank role." Then, because the response had been scatter-brained, Natalie gave an excuse: "My unlocking was a few days ago. Didn't get what I expected, so I'm still adjusting."

Liz made a noise of sympathy. "A few days? Sheesh, that's no time at all. That's gotta suck."

"Better than the other way around," Natalie said with a shrug. "Missing the deadline and having to wait for the next year." Though, the total lack of preparation time would show. It'd be hard to make a good first impression. She was starting from behind.

"That's true."

"And you?" Natalie asked.

"Guess!" Liz seemed inordinately excited at the prospect. She leaned forward on the balls of her feet and started bouncing. "Almost everyone gets it. I'm a stereotype!"

Why was she so excited by that? Natalie continued to be amused. And yeah, she could guess this girl's role. "Healer." If she'd ever seen one, it would be her.

Liz snapped and pointed at her, seeming satisfied. "Exactly. How'd you know?"

"It just came to me, somehow."

Liz laughed.

"Hey," Natalie said. "Just putting out feelers, but you already have a team, or?"

"Got a few in the works," she answered breezily. "But this early in the year's for shopping around, like you said. You looking?"

"Yeah. Me and my two friends." She gestured over her shoulder, turning, but Jordan and Sofia had wandered off elsewhere in the armory. "Er. Sofia and Jordan. Fighter and rogue."

A second later, Natalie fought away a grimace that she'd accidentally referred to Sofia as a 'friend'. But 'my friend and sworn rival' didn't roll off the tongue.

"So we'd just need a mage," Liz said. "How about Ana?"

"Ana?"

"In barracks seven with us. The girl next to me. She's super nice! And so smart."

"She's a mage?"

"Some kind of light manifester. Really good at distributed damage."

"That'd be perfect. Sofia and Jordan are better at single target."

"Sounds like a match made in heaven! It's a date." She paused. "Or, er, were you just being polite with the offer? I'm kinda rushing into things. And I guess I haven't asked Ana yet, either ..."

"Like you said, just shopping around. We can give it a shot." They didn't have to lock anything in. "We can ask her after class today."

Natalie was disoriented how easily things had fallen into place. Though, they very well could end up falling apart, too—Ana could say no, or, since Liz had said she had 'several' teams in the works, could find one of those a better fit. But it was something.

"Sure," Liz said. "After class. We'll double team her. It's sure to work."

Natalie stared at Liz. Liz hesitated, then asked, "What?"

"Double team?"

"Er, yeah?"

Natalie was ninety nine percent sure Liz didn't know what that meant. Or maybe Natalie had a perverted mind. Liz looked at her so innocently that Natalie blushed for even thinking about it. She coughed and deflected.

"Uh, nothing. But yeah, after class. I need to finish picking out a shield." She gestured to the weapon rack, indicating she needed to get back to things.

"Kay," Liz said. "Have fun. I'm gonna go talk to your friends, let them know what's happening." She zipped off, gone with an enthusiastic wave.

Healers, Natalie thought, shaking her head.

2.06 - Spar

Back before Tenet, Natalie's fights had been with blunted weapons and thick sparring pads. Because, obviously, prior to her unlocking, a sword's blade to the neck would've meant a quick end to her career, and the same for a blunt impact hitting just right, thrown by a competent fighter.

Now, having received her class, she had been granted an invisible defense. 'Hitpoints'. She could take previously career ending blows and walk away not much worse for wear. Most of the time. It wasn't a perfect defense. Empowered by a skill, serious damage could be done even to a person full on HP. The dungeon wasn't the only way students 'became a statistic' at Tenet. But it wasn't a common event, either. Tenet hardly wanted their students dropping like flies.

But while it wouldn't be pleasant taking a direct blow to the head, even a level one combat class was many times more durable than their unclassed or other-classed counterparts.

So, fighting with real weapons was the standard at Tenet.

She adjusted her grip on her hammer, watching her opponents. She itched for the fight to start. It'd happen any second now—as soon as Instructor Robin called it.

This class period—from nine thirty to eleven—wasn't cordoned off for sparring specifically, though spars of various sorts did happen often. The overall intent was to be training students in the many situations an aspirant delver could find themselves in. This included one-on-ones, but most commonly, of various composition: two on twos, three on theres, or even mismatched fights.

Today, coincidentally, she'd gotten Liz as her partner. Their two opponents were, of course, classmates: the first, a tall boy with shaggy brown hair wielding a spear, and the second, a willowy-looking girl with a long staff. The boy was some kind of fighter, at a guess, and the girl, a mage.

Natalie wasn't sure who'd win, compositionally speaking. It was anyone's game. Most fights were, besides the worst combinations—like two healers.

It was unfortunate that she'd gotten Liz as a partner, though. Not because a fighter and healer was bad—the opposite; it was close to ideal—but because it meant Natalie had to prove herself. If there was a fast way to destroy Liz's interest in partying up, it would be floundering in a spar. And sure, Natalie had explained to Liz that she'd gotten her class just a few days before the semester, but excuses were excuses: it didn't matter the reason she got her ass handed to her, just that if it happened, it meant Liz might see her as an unsuitable delving partner.

She took a steadying breath. She felt naked without armor. Tenet students trained without it, relying on hitpoints to save them. So, she wore only the tight Tenet uniform. The skirt was actually pretty flexible. It didn't get in the way during her movement. Still, it felt flimsy. Even knowing HP would save her from real injury, seeing her opponent wield a real, honest-to-gods spear ... well, it was hard to just ignore that.

To her side, Instructor Robin swiped her hand down, signaling the start of the fight.

Finally.

Natalie charged forward. Not more than two steps forward, and Liz's empowering skill hit her. A surge of warmth spread from her stomach outward, washing across her like a powerful liquor. She'd known to expect it. She and Liz had had a brief—emphasis on brief—moment to discuss each other's skills and strategy. The same for their two opponents.

In the same manner Natalie had, the boy with a spear—Elliot, Natalie thought she remembered—rushed forward. The two spellcasters, Liz and Camille, happily stayed on the outskirts. Though, by the way Camille strafed sideways, lining her staff toward Natalie, her second opponent wasn't a support mage, like Liz.

So, the bulk of the fighting would be on Natalie.

Which she was fine with, especially considering the intoxicating, glowing strength that had suffused her. Liz might not contribute directly, in the form of combat magic or swinging a weapon, but she would more than pull her weight.

Natalie's class had already made her faster, stronger, and more flexible than she'd ever been before—to an extent she wasn't entirely used to it—but even that difference was inconsequential to Liz's empowerment buff. She surged across the sparring ring, arriving to her spear-bearing opponent with a speed that surprised even her.

Back when Natalie had first gotten her class, Jordan had made a joke: that since she was bad at spellcasting, she would 'just have to be extra good at punching stuff'.

It'd been a joke, but it was also the truth. Her skill with magic wasn't up to par. She had to rely on what she was good at.

Fortunately, she was good at it.

Elliot's eyes widened, not prepared for Natalie's rapid advance. Not taking a particularly subtle approach, she swung, rocketing her hammer toward him. He dodged, but only barely. Natalie was fast. Liz's buff was no joke.

Capitalizing on Elliot's retreat, she surged forward a second time, stepping to the side of his spear, then bashing her shield at where his hands met the haft. The blow connected solidly, throwing his already-compromised combat stance further into disarray.

Somewhere in the back of her mind—her active concentration was on the fight—she found herself surprised. The boy's defense had been horrible, even accounting for Natalie's empowered speed. Right? Or was Liz's spell even stronger than she thought? Either way, she'd broken it with so little effort. She'd expected more from Tenet students.

Unfortunately, the advantage of having a buff was offset by the two-on-one, which finally came into play. Natalie might have been empowered, making her stronger and faster than Elliot, but he had a second teammate—one who could fight, rather than heal and buff.

Vines sprouted from the ground, wrapping around Natalie's ankle. She cursed, stumbling. Elliot, at least, had stumbled back too, gritting his teeth from the pain of Natalie's shield smashing his hands. If he'd had gauntlets, or even gloves, that maneuver would've been a lot less effective. But Tenet didn't allow armor in spars, and she'd have been an idiot not to take advantage of it.

Natalie struggled for a moment more, failing to break out of the vines. A second spell was humming to life in Camille's outstretched hand, but Natalie could hardly deal with the next one when she was struggling to deal with the first. She yanked her leg, jarring her knee over, twice, three times, then four, then finally had to yield, accepting her fate: she couldn't break out. And Elliot had recovered, so that took priority.

He thrust his spear toward her, and she slapped it away with her shield. Another jab, another parry—closer this time—and Natalie yanked her foot. Still stuck.

"Any help here?" Natalie shouted. She growled as she barely deflected Elliot's blows, still stuck into the ground by Camille's ensnaring spell. What an irritating—and therefor useful—ability.

"No dispel," Liz called back. "Sorry."

Natalie smashed another thrust of Elliot's spear away, the spearhead sparking against reinforced wood. She couldn't press the advantage, though, glued into the ground, and his spear reached much farther than Natalie's hammer.

At least he was awful. It wasn't hard to deflect him, even rooted, and in such a compromised position. Though, it probably just seemed that way. Liz's empowerment—to her strength, speed, and senses—was making his movements seem clumsier than they were.

Elliot and Camille coordinated their next attacks. Natalie could deflect a spear, but not a spear and a spell. Two attacks came at her at once, and Natalie had to pick. She chose the spear, rather than the spell. A fist-sized shard of wood—Camille's spell seemed to be plant-themed—slammed into her at full speed. She managed to maneuver in a way it didn't hit exactly as intended, glancing off her hip, but damn, it still hurt. Felt more like a direct hit from a sledgehammer. Maybe the spear would've been easier to take.

She grunted, but kept focus on Elliot, still trying to yank her foot out of Camille's entrapment. Then, all at once, she broke free with a stumble. Elliot was as surprised as her. They fumbled for a second, adjusting to the new circumstances of the fight. Natalie recovered first. She went on a vicious offensive.

A few exchanges later, her hammer connected solidly with his shoulder.

It hit even harder than she had expected, the fault of Liz's empowerment. He went careening to the side, pushed by the force of the impact, barely managing to stay on his feet.

A warm glow suffused the pain on her hip. Liz, healing the injury. Natalie could feel that peculiar resource—her hitpoints—surge back to full. It had dipped dangerously low from Camille's attack, and the second one might have done real damage. That would have put Natalie out of the fight. Or worse.

More than that, though, it would've been embarrassing, and potentially lose her a teammate. Impressing Liz was the most crucial part of this spar.

So. Time to wrap it up.

2.07 - Beaumon

"Wow," Liz exclaimed when they'd returned to the sidelines. "That was incredible. I mean, you didn't even use a spell. You said you had one, right? An illusion?"

The first half of the praise had actually managed to have Natalie pleased with herself. That feeling sagged away as the bubbly girl finished her statement. Liz was more impressed that she'd managed to flounce Elliot without using her 'spell half' of her class than the dominant victory itself.

At least it had been that. A dominant victory. They'd won, and it hadn't been close. That boded well for Liz being interested in teaming.

"Er ... yeah. Didn't need to use it, I guess."

It wasn't a lie. She hadn't needed to use it. But it would've been insanely useful, if she could. The tactical benefit of illusions were amazing, once she could get a handle on them. But in her current state, trying to use them would hamper more than help ... and Natalie had needed to impress Liz. So, not the time for experimentation.

The fight had gone well. Quick yet drawn out, in that inexplicable way of adrenaline-doused combat. At some point Camille's attention had turned to Liz, but Liz had been able to hold her own surprisingly well—an admirable trait in a healer. As soon as Natalie could, she'd turned and forced Camille's focus back on her, but that Liz hadn't crumbled immediately on assault was a rare trait in a healer. Usually, they were by far the squishiest point of a team.

Fortunately, though Natalie's enthusiasm was a bit soured by Liz innocently pointing out her spellcasting incompetence, Natalie had done well. Enough their rough plans to team up weren't soured. And their opponents hadn't been push-overs, so the achievement wasn't dampened by that, either. Because nobody accepted to Tenet was a pushover, even the few that slipped through the cracks through connections or wealth.

So, that she'd won her first spar against Tenet-caliber competition was something to be proud of.

Their fight finished, a different set of students took the stage, picked by Instructor Robin by seemingly—but probably not actually—arbitrary standards. Both Jordan and Sofia were called up, but on opposite sides. Rather than a two-on-two, it was a three-on-three.

Naturally, Natalie rooted for Jordan's team. Any team with Sofia on it, Natalie instinctively wanted to lose. That girl could afford to be taken down a few notches.

"So," Liz said. "Where are you from, anyway? I don't think I've seen any of you, before."

She said it like that was odd. Liz had come off pretty normal so far, so Natalie had kind of assumed she was someone in a situation similar to her. Someone who wasn't entwined with the major Valhaurian houses. A commoner, put frankly.

Maybe not, though, based on her question. It sounded like she knew the rest of the students, here.

"You wouldn't know it," Natalie said. "Tinford. It's way down south. You might know Illesa?" That was the largest nearby city.

Liz's response blank expression was answer enough. She didn't. Natalie had more or less expected that. Illesa was one of the bigger cities in south Valhaur, but that wasn't saying much. Everything important happened up north. It was where the dungeon was. Nearly all major cities across the entire world were near one of the thirteen dungeons.

"Ilesa," she repeated. "Uh ... I can't say I've heard of it."

"Figured. And you? Where are you from?"

Liz tilted her head, as if surprised Natalie had asked. As if she'd expected Natalie to recognize her. Double confirmation she ran in political circles, and not just that, but someone of import. Someone who expected to be recognized.

Which was weird. Liz hadn't come off as nobility. Or ... did she?

"Um," Liz said sheepishly. "Here. Aradon. Local, born and raised. I'm, uh ... a Beaumon. Elizabeth Beaumon."

Natalie stared at her.

Beaumon?

The royal family Beaumon? The monarchy was antiquated—their titles held no real power, these days—but they still held three seats in the Council, which made the Beaumons the single most influential family in Valhaur.

"Ah," Natalie said, at a loss for words.

She'd been ready, coming to Tenet, to meet people that mattered—people with surnames from textbooks—but Liz had seemed so normal that Natalie was genuinely at a loss for words. Beaumon. The royal family. Really?

"I'm like, fourteenth in line," Liz said. She seemed as awkward about the reveal as Natalie. "Honestly, I'm not even the most important person in this class. So. Yeah." She shrugged, then brushed past the topic. "Tinford, though! Down south. How'd you get Tenet's attention? You must be really good. Though I guess I just got proof of that." She beamed at Natalie.