Chapter Four-Hundred Ninety-One (Patreon)

With the ceremony done, the ravenkin slot smoothly into the delving groups to train.  With the addition of my flying gravity mages, the tactics are going to change, even as the groups start to focus more on the tighter confines of places like the tunnels and roots.  Flying around is a major advantage when there’s room, but I don’t think anyone is expecting to have that sort of space in the Betrayer’s territory.

I watch them delve as the fortress continues to get its upgrades, though I have to start watching in a new way now.  For a while, people have been noticing my attention more and more, so if I float around and watch directly, people tend to realize I’m watching.  Luckily, there’s an option for when I want to be stealthy.

I can always see through the eyes of my denizens while they’re in my territory, I just rarely choose to do so.  It’s easy enough for me to zip around and have a look.  But with my presence getting… I dunno, heavier, it’s harder to catch people unaware so I can see how they actually delve.  So now I need to watch through my denizens if I want to see delvers in their natural groove.

There’s a bit of roughness with the new additions, but they’re adjusting quickly.  There’s one group that I’m getting concerned about, and for more than one reason.  Freddie, Rhonda, Rezlar, and Pul are delving with the groups, and I’m not sure how I feel about that.

Actually, scratch that.  I know exactly how I feel about that.  I want them to stop.  The problem is that I’m having trouble justifying forbidding them from going.  I had expected their mentors to simply put a stop to it, but we’re getting closer and closer to doing this thing, and they’re still training like they intend to go.

The obvious objection is their age, but that’s a pretty flimsy excuse to try to leverage.  They’re already members of the Slim Chance guild, and not reserve members like the more casual delvers.  I might look at them like they’re still kids, and most of the adults do, too, but they themselves are at that age where they want to be treated like grownups.  If they were weak, that’d be one thing, but they’re not.  Arguably, they’re in the stronger half of the delvers that are already planning to go, so trying to argue about their safety rings hollow if I’m not going to try to stop the others.

And to be honest… they’re all doing great in the delves.  All four of them understand the difference between levels and experience, and all listen when the older delvers explain something to them, even as the older ones learn to incorporate the tactics the kids have come up with.

“You could try talking to them, Boss,” suggests Teemo, and if I could, I’d give him an incredulous look.  I don’t think telling them I still see them as children would go very well.

He snorts at me and shakes his head.  “I mean their mentors.  Staiven, Torlon, and Miller.  Maybe they’re all in the same boat, thinking someone else would have raised an objection by now, and staying quiet due to nonexistent peer pressure.”

I mentally sigh at that, wondering if they’re all as worried as I’m getting.  I really did think they were going to put a stop to them training with the others, but it also makes sense if they might think I would be the one to stop things if I didn’t want them to come along.

Think you can get them to come for a quick talk?  Or meet up somewhere else to talk about this?

My Voice nods.  “I’ll pop in on them and see if they can come to the war room for a chat about the kids.”  He takes off, and I watch through his eyes for a few moments, before deciding I should probably distract myself with something more constructive, like the sub hangar.

It’s pretty crazy how quickly it’s coming together.  Most of the stuff for the subs themselves are still being made, but the armor production is hitting the ground running with the new space available.  A lot of the crafters from town are already eagerly working, putting their skills to the test to produce the various bits and pieces for the complicated protection.

I bet there’s going to be a new industry springing up once we get production smoothed out.  My denizens and some dwellers have been working well for the small scale, but now we need to scale up to be able to outfit just about everyone.  If they can physically move around in it, I want them to be wearing it to face the Betrayer.

I calm down a bit as I watch them work, enjoying simply watching masters of their crafts work.  I’m feeling quite a bit better by the time I feel Teemo call for my attention in the war room, where Staiven, Torlon, and Miller all await.

They all three can feel me settle into the room, so Teemo speaks up.  “I told you all Boss wanted to talk about the kids, but not why.  He’s worried about letting them go, but he doesn’t want to overstep his bounds if their mentors think it’ll be a good thing for them to go.  So… what do we do?”

Miller nods and speaks first.  “I admit I was surprised to hear Rhonda and Freddie were still training with the ones who will go.”

Old Staiven strokes his beard, looking more comfortable with the meeting than Torlon, and so speaks up next.  “We should let them go.  I’ve had my share of apprentices, and trying to keep them out of something like this has never gone well.  Not that something quite like this has happened before, but new dungeons, nation skirmishes, rampaging monsters, there’s always something they’ll hear about and need to face to get stronger.  And I do mean need, not just want.  They’ll never go as far as they can if we coddle them.”

Miller frowns at that, but lets Torlon give his two cents.  “I don’t want Freddie to go… but I also think he needs to.  The Shield hasn’t told me to have him stay, but It also hasn’t said to let him go, either.  I want him to stay here and be safe, helping other paladins train… but I don’t think he’d be better for it.  He needs to see, to experience a real fight.  Thedeim does a good job preparing everyone, but there’s a difference between delving him and delving somewhere else.”

It makes me want to declare I’ll Change that, too, but I put the brakes to that train of thought quickly.  Sure, it’d be nice to make everywhere as safe as my territory, but that’s a dangerous line to walk.  It’s just the sort of good intention that can pave the way to Hell.

Miller’s frown only deepens at that, but as the silence stretches on, I wonder who, exactly, he’s frowning at.  He eventually sighs.  “I swore to keep him safe, and I do not take that oath lightly.  But… you two are correct.  I can keep him safe, but for how long?  I had thought him being able to handle himself was a fantasy, but… he’s grown so much these last months.  If the others go and return safely, he’ll never see himself as their equals.  And if they go and don’t return… he will blame himself.”

The ashen elf shakes his head at himself.  “He already thinks he can’t go, and I can see him slowly starting to withdraw back into himself once again.  I… believe you two are correct.  He needs to go, much as I desperately wish otherwise.”

They all turn toward Teemo, putting me on the spot.  They’re not the only mentors around here.  I probably should have called in one or both of Pul’s parents, but I doubt they’d be willing to let him go.  Can I convince them?  Could I live with myself if I defied them and got Pul hurt?  Could I live with myself if he stays and loses that spark for life?  Could his parents?

I grumble, wishing I could feel more assured about their safety, before an idea hits me.  What have I been doing, if not trying to prepare people for hard situations, for the hard battles that could come?  That’s been the core idea behind everything I’ve been trying to do as a dungeon!

So far, I’ve been trying to teach people, letting them fail without suffering for it.  After all this teaching… I think it might be time for a proper test.  Teemo grins as he understands what I’m thinking, and soon put it into words for the others.

“Boss gets that they need challenges to grow, but he’s still not comfortable just throwing them in the deep end with the Betrayer, so he has an idea.  He’ll make a test, and they get one chance to get through it.  If they pass, he’ll be satisfied they can handle the unexpected, at least as well as anyone can, and he’ll let them all go.  If they fail, they stay behind.”

Old Staiven strokes his beard.  “What sort of test?”

“An unfair one,” Teemo answers.  “The kind of thing that isn’t designed to be beaten.  The sort of thing something like the Betrayer might have prepared.  They’ll get one chance, because the Betrayer might not even give them that.”

“I like it,” admits Torlon.  “It’s harsh, but I’d much prefer they live to learn a harsh lesson than die because they weren’t as prepared as we all thought.”

Miller slowly nods as well.  “As would I.  If you need anything I can help with for this, please let me know, Thedeim.”  The other two echo him, and Teemo nods as I start brainstorming.

“I’ll let you know once Boss has something drawn out.  He’s going to put them through the entire smithy with this.  They’ll either come out as ready as we can make them, or we’ll know what they need to work on next.  Make sure they have everything they’ll need for the Betrayer for this, too.  That’s the only hint they’re going to get.”

They nod, and with nothing else to talk about, Teemo helps them get back home quickly.  I focus on my plan for this test, trying to think about what I would do if I were an ancient murderous dungeon.  There’s a lot of nasty things it could do just with what we know about, and I’m sure it has some surprises for us, too.

I’m going to make sure I have some surprises of my own to spring, once the time comes.