Hero Scout

Ellie"s Crew now stood taller, with chitinous plate turned into armour and mostly new weapons procured from the dungeon"s chests. Looking through the report they had brought in an incredible amount of wealth too, almost all of it going to buying various things from the Far King to help the guild grow.

"We worked hard, and Taki could talk with the creatures in there that made our progress faster," Ellie said stiffly. "We used what we have been learning from your cla.s.s too, everyone has, it"s made progress a lot easier than we expected."

"Don"t get me wrong, I"m really proud of you guys. Just confused, how did you achieve this before the other parties?" Kenji didn"t want to say it, but the other two initial groups should have been far more powerful. Add in the Furbolg group and the two party"s of human adventurers that had come afterwards, and he couldn"t quite figure out how Ellie"s Crew had become the frontrunner.

"We focused on what you taught us, Guildmaster. We trained, we practiced and...well that"s all." Ellie fumbled with her dagger hilts, "is there something I"ve missed?"

Kenji nodded, "alright then. we"ll have to organise a raid party then, which I"ll leave in your hands."

As Kenji returned to his doc.u.ments, he heard a m.u.f.fled cry. Peering up he found Ellie rather shocked.

"W-what do you mean you"re going to leave it in my hands?"

Sighing, Kenji put his shuffled papers back down.

"You"re clearly doing something right, so I want you to form a raid party of several regular adventurer parties then create a plan to reach and defeat the fifth-floor boss. I"ll come to supervise, but will only get involved if you need me too. This is the best way for you to grow, but I understand if you think you"re not ready for this level of responsibility."

"I-im ready, just caught me off guard is all, Grand Master." Brushing aside dark hair, Ellie revealed fresh scars on reddening cheeks.

The Satyr Warlock thumped her hand on Ellie"s shoulder, and covered in black demon armour Kenji was surprised the weight didn"t break it. "It"s thanks to you we have done so well, you deserve it."

Ellie smiled and held the hand in her own, "thanks Rams."

"Then get started immediately, I expect all to be in order by sundown."

"Sunrise would be better," Ellie said.

Kenji raised an eyebrow.
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"We"ll need to camp inside the dungeon before we tackle the fourth floor, it"s not a place for the poorly rested and it takes time to pack camping supplies. That"ll give me time to pull together the other party leaders and strategise too."

"It"s your call, just don"t take too long," Kenji said, wanting them to grow and yet acutely aware of each day"s pa.s.sing. Every breath spent idle was another Tenko spent in chains.

It was enough to get his blood boiling.

Later, as he entered the construction site of the Hero Guild"s future headquarters, Violet arrived to meet him. She said kind words to the builders and seemed not to notice her retainers great stress at the mud marring their fair G.o.ddess shoes.

"Kenji, you are really ready for it? Almanac only finished the initial enchantments today, hasn"t even had the chance to stop grumbling about the magical waste yet either."

"Almanac"s like a kid waiting for the next edition of his favourite game - he"d be grumbling into the next decade if we let him stew. Better he learns to get over it, materials need to be spent. Lord knows I used to keep every finite potion and artefact to myself without using it in the old days, always telling myself I would use it only in case of an emergency."

"Sounds like good advice," Violet said carefully, long having given up understanding Kenji"s sometimes confusing references.

"It was terrible. I kept finishing the game without using any of them! Took me forever to kick the habit, and I"m not about to let it return now that the stakes are higher than ever."

As they chatted the pair descended into the bas.e.m.e.nt, guarded by several adventurers and two elves. Down cold stairs they went, a chill spreading through the air and frost costing more of the stone with every step.

"Almanac told me he had frostbite," Violet muttered bitterly, "claimed only a lovers touch would stop him becoming lame and useless."

Kenji stifled a laugh, "and what did you do?"

"Well I told Hartog who proceeded to squeeze Almanac so hard he couldn"t even tell him it was a joke," Violet covered her mouth as she giggled, yet shifted to a slight shiver as Kenji thrust open a pair of ice-encrusted doors.

Within was a frozen cavern, flaring blue sparkling from the ceiling to unleash fresh blasts of cold.

"I"m impressed he could recover the ice gem from my armour. I thought the h.e.l.lfire had rendered it useless in the siege," Kenji whispered and peered at the ice essence infused stones with great interest. The one large stone was now several of the smaller variety and chiselled into sparling gemstones.

"Almanac is really amazing at what he does. I do wish he was less of a vagabond," Violet sniffed.

"Well he did an excellent job" Kenji said, jettisoning the Satyr warleader"s corpse onto the floor. Next came Arthur"s original body, and then the young witch, Kragg, and the Mayor.

Only the rat would remain in Kenji"s internal storage, the rest could stay here. That way he"d have the room in case he found anything good in the dungeon while knowing those bodies of political importance remained safe.

"The materials are ready?" Kenji said, Violet snapping her fingers in response. Down the stairs came a table, an eerie horned skull and a series of magical supplies.

"Almanac doesn"t like death magic, says he"s leaving it to you. Personally I just think he"s had enough of the cold."

"I"d say your right. You don"t have to stay if you don"t want to you know. It"s not going to be that exciting," Kenji said as he morphed into Dana and picked up some crystals in one hand and the skull in the other.

Most were clear but we"ll cut. Others were unrefined but seething with deathly energy. Then there were scrolls, expensive as the rest of this stuff combined and yet traded with the Far King in return for some Insectoid parts from the Rose Gate.

"Where ever you go interesting things happen Kenji. You lot better get going, I won"t have my people come down with a cold," Violet shooed away her flock, who exited with down caste eyes.

Smiling his thanks, Kenji got to work warding the room against decay. It wasn"t powerful, but combined with the cold it would make The Fridge a place he could store bodies indefinitely.

Depending on the creatures he came across in the lower floors of the Rose Gate, he might be needing all this extra s.p.a.ce very soon too.