DD 304 Ch 18 (Patreon)

After my time with Des, I found myself in the living room of our place in Star City, recovering from our intense time together.

Des was situated firmly in my lap in a possessive way, which was a bit new for her. Still, I had my arms wrapped around her, wondering if she had in fact entranced me in some way. I did not want to move my hands away from her. She was still Des, but there was an extra air of beauty that surrounded her. We hadn’t had a chance to talk, but so far she didn’t seem that different.

Elysara had been busy, but Fayeth had made time to join us in representation for the elves. Meanwhile, Crimson had insisted we let Candice come as the class's representative, which, while slightly odd, didn't faze me too much. I already began to understand what direction Crimson was going to take this with Candice present.

And of course my immediate party was all here, along with Misha, who had taken to coming over early in the mornings.

"Well, if that's everyone," I said, only for Crimson to check her CID and rip open a portal, my UG liaison Sasha stepping through.

"Wonderful to see you," she said with a smile.

"Wonderful to see you too," I nodded, glancing around the room and looking at Crimson to see if she was going to summon anyone else.

"Nope, I'm done," Crimson answered my unspoken question.

"Good. Now then… we are coordinating with the Orkai arbiters, planning an assault on multiple Threadspawn bases. We believe these to be dwarven hives that have been taken over." The group before me all nodded, while Sasha scratched on a legal pad. Something about the notetaking made my eye twitch; perhaps I simply disliked the formality it represented.

"Anyway," I pushed past my discomfort and continued, "we have decided to participate, if for no other reason than to show the Orkai we're here to put in the effort."

"There's more to it than that, though?" Sasha guessed.

"Yes. I expect that Orkai are essentially testing us, to ensure we're here to support the peace of the dungeon," I stated with a heavier sigh than usual. "That, and the Threadspawn are a real problem. They've decided to assign us the one closest to Earth, so I suspect they want to make sure we'll participate."

The group all nodded.

"Well, if we're just going to go kill some Threadspawn, that certainly seems like something we can do to show we’ll uphold our end." Fayeth said, speaking for the elves. "After all, while they haven't affected our people overmuch, we're very cognizant of the danger they could pose. And, in full transparency, we're interested in returning the favor you've given with the Drow."

I smiled at her. "Thank you. That will be noted," I said, hearing Sasha's pen scratch, adding it to her notes. "Otherwise, I would like our group to organize itself and lead the attack. I've asked the UG to assist us." I glanced at Sasha. "And I believe you've gotten at least some response?"

"Unfortunately, the response hasn't been as enthusiastic as I had hoped," she said, flipping her pad to a new page.

I grit my teeth but nodded. "Please, go ahead and give us the details."

"Generally speaking, given that you stated this hive is on a level-forty safe zone, our assumption is that the dwarves are at least strong enough to be continuously present in that area. Thus, we haven't extended our offer to anyone beneath level forty. While certainly there are parties skilled enough to fight above their level, we generally consider it unsafe for them to continue doing so, especially in this context."

I frowned but gave her a slow nod. "Understood. Still, it's only level forty," I said, and my words caused her to grimace.

"Ken, I think you might be overestimating the strength available to us," Charlotte said quickly and put a hand on my arm.

I could only tilt my head. "I mean, I know our class is strong, but…" I started.

"I'm sorry if there was any misunderstanding," Sasha shook her head. "You are strong, Ken. However, I would go as far as to describe your class’ strength compared to the of the rest of humanity, as abnormal."

"Abnormal." I frowned at her chosen wording. It struck a little too close to aberrant for my liking, but I shoved that aside. 

"I'm sorry if that's an uncomfortable phrasing, but it is the reality," she said, quickly folding her hands in her lap, like she was waiting to be scolded.

I glanced over at Crimson, then eyed Candice. "If we're such an anomaly, then I guess one of the best places to look for more fighting forces would be right under our own nose.”

Candice's presence suddenly made a lot more sense. I wasn't upset at Crimson in the slightest, but I did find myself squinting at her, wondering if she knew we were going to get here.

Candice cleared her throat. "While we're honored to be included, I do think provision seventeen, section forty-two B, would be applicable if the UG were to request our help." Candice and Sasha suddenly faced each other with the kind of silent, cold temperament that settled between two predators acknowledging each other in the wild.

"Yes, I suppose that would apply if you were full adventurers. However, you are students." Sasha stated.

"Oh, well, that's a relief," Candice put a hand to her chest. "Because if you consider us full adventurers, provision three, section D, would apply to us instead."

I squinted between the two of them, watching as my assigned secretary seemed to weigh Candice's words. Those particular rules they were quoting meant nothing to me, but that’s why I wasn’t the one negotiating.

"Would you agree that utilizing provision seventeen here would set the precedent that you're also considered full-fledged adventurers for other purposes?"

"Unfortunately, so," Candice let out a put-upon sigh, and Sasha narrowed her eyes briefly.

"Then I believe you to be correct. You would qualify for provision seventeen. Though I would like your assistance, should any media criticize this decision, in coming forward and recognizing yourself as an adventurer." Sasha paused, pulled up her CID, and tapped at it, before something chimed on Candice's.

"Have every student willing to participate sign off on one of those?" Sandra said.

"Like a field-trip waiver," Crimson giggled, and both women scowled at her.

"She's not wrong," I said, and they both seemed to judge me for a moment before settling into some tacit agreement.

"I still don't like this. There have to be other adventurers willing to put in the effort," I said before either of them could gang up on me.

"Talk to my parents," Des spoke up. "At least as far as putting in the effort, they're more than willing to join us for the low, low price of Ken making sure to bring me back for the holidays."

Crimson snickered, and I shot her a glare. "Oh, come on, it's cute.”

“It really is adorable," Charlotte added.

Des didn't seem quite so convinced, but simply crossed her arms and let it be as she took the opportunity to cuddle me futher.

"Of course I'll go enjoy the holidays with your parents," I said, smiling. "As long as that's what you want to do."

"Yeah, just don't let them weasel too much out of you." She squinted. "I know my mother's up to something."

"Her help here will be more than worth it, I'm sure," I said quickly before Des could get too upset at her own family. The Renards all held som edemonic blood, but none of them had awoken anything nearly as strong as Des’ current succubus blood. Still, I wondered if that gave them all devious natures.

"My mother's a little shit," Des grumbled, only to watch as my face fell. "But she's still family," she said in a hurry, and I gave her a small smile.

"Still family," I agreed. "And your parents…" I looked at Charlotte.

"Happy to help. They brought up provision seventeen as well," she nodded toward Sasha, who seemed to understand what she meant.

I wondered if he’d have a new sword that he wanted to show me this time? Hopefully Crimson didn’t end up breaking it.

"Of course. Given that this concerns the safety of humanity, the UG will be putting forth all effort to ensure adventurers are compensated for their efforts." Sasha nodded.

I suddenly understood everything was about money. I wanted to roll my eyes.

"Still, Ken," Crimson looked at me sideways. "I know you're not entirely comfortable with the idea, but you and the rest of your class are still amongst the strongest in humanity."

"We are strong. You're a massive outlier." Des said turning back and giving me a pointed look that said not to refute this one. I still felt uncomfortable with the praise and being put on a pedistal, but for now I’d just have to accept it.

"The other schools are doing decently, right?" I asked, trying to shift their focus to another group that was probably already shining nearly as brightly as our class.

"There might be some in the mid forties," Crimson agreed, "which is substantially better than prior years, and not by a small margin. But still. You're level sixty now, Ken. Which means you're four times stronger. And your access to trial abilities, which the other schools are requesting our assistance getting as well, has certainly expedited the power of Haylon’s class." Crimson said, to which Sasha was nodding along. Apparently they'd already had that conversation without me.

"All right. So we bring our class. Do we bring the other classes from our grade?" I asked, feeling unsure how they had been progressing.

"You could, but I'd put them on the outer edge. 3A really is an anomaly amongst anomalies. Even putting you guys on a bell curve, you're outside six sigma," Sasha stated. While I didn't fully understand that significance,

Candice seemed genuinely impressed, and decided that was a good metric for me to be impressed by too.

"That's good?" I asked Candice.

"Improbably good," she nodded, before glancing at Sasha. "Has that curve been adjusted for the most recent adventuring cohorts?"

"No," Sasha shook her head. "You're right, though. In another two or three years, if the trend we're seeing from all of the dungeon colleges continues, you'll probably pull into the six-sigma range. Still incredibly rare, but not statistically improbable."

"So we're just ahead of the curve by a few years, we're at the top of the curve even now," I said, understanding at least a little of what they were saying.

Sasha nodded, and whatever passed between the two of them seemed satisfactory for both. "Statistics," Candice said to me, as if that explained everything. Unfortunately, it explained very little to me, but I got the gist of it well enough.

I wondered if this was how Harley felt in our class.

"It means we don't have a whole lot of other options," Candice explained. "We're stronger than we have any right to be, at least statistically. I also think that means this is riding on our shoulders, to some extent."

"You're the best we have to offer," Sasha said. "And I would agree with the reality that now, you're the ones who get to decide what the UG does. I shudder to think if it were a bunch of the heirs having these conversations with the Orkai instead of you, Ken."

I grinned at the thought of them even trying to talk to the powerful Orkai. Not to mention the heirs trying to tell me or the rest of my class what to do.

Before I could say anything, Crimson bellowed a laugh. "They probably wouldn't last long. Orkai leadership is pretty reasonable, but there are also quite a few assholes in the bunch that would eat a bunch of nepo babies alive."

"The UG is at least marginally relieved its orders will be coming from people with experience in the dungeon." Sasha explained. “That and Amatto is really championing your group as leadership from within adventuring rather from the outside. It’s rallying many of the lower ranks in the UG that really got into this to do good for adventurers.”

"I believe it," I acknowledged, and shifted my focus back to the problem at hand. "I think next we need to talk about how we're going to prepare." I tapped my CID, and a hologram appeared in front of us. "This is the information the Orkai analysts were able to acquire." It showed a map of the dungeon, with the hive marked in relation to Earth.

"Dangerously close," Fayeth commented, seeing the map for the first time.

"I tend to agree, but I'm hopeful we'll be able to stave off the worst outcomes." I put my CID down and looked around the room. "Crimson, I would like your help assessing the area." I looked to Des and Charlotte. "If your families have any guidance in this, I would also be incredibly thankful for their help ensuring we have the best possible strategy." I shifted my attention to Penny. "As for your father and his guild, I'd like his help leading the lower levels. He's forty-six now, isn't he?"

"Forty-eight," Penny responded proudly. "I think we can count on him to lead some of the other students, as well as lower-level adventurers who wish to join."

"Good," I shifted my attention to Crimson. "If you've got any friends you'd like to pull out of your hat, I'm certain we could use their help in preparing. My greatest concern here isn't just our capabilities, but also our cooperation. We're bringing a lot of people to the same battlefield. Because it's a safe zone, I think we can prepare to approach it from four different directions. Our ability to portal any of the groups in will be substantial, but we'll still have to organize ourselves in such a way that we minimize our own risks." I glanced back at Sasha. "Here's where we could certainly use some help from the UG. Perhaps any veterans you might have that could make this run smoother?" I asked the last with a hopeful look.

"We will see what can be done," Sasha agreed with a nod. "Though please understand, it's not as if the UG is a war machine we can simply turn on at a moment’s notice. The UG is realistically one half regulatory body, one half mercantile business."

I held my hands up. "I have no illusion of it being a war machine. I simply wish to give us the best opportunity to finish this quickly."

Despite being the leader of the UG who was preparing to attack an alien race with my loves, as well as countless other responsibilities, I was still a student. Having this much responsibility would not be my first choice, but it did seem that with my power and abilities, it was falling on my shoulders.

I could feel the weight of it and rather than try to take it all on my own, for something like this, I needed to ask for help.