Dungeon Life

Chapter Three-Hundred One

Rhonda

The goblin’s mind races as she slowly eats the soup, and even the nice bread with it can’t distract her from her thoughts right now. How does that new person know about her? About her being an Ice Sage? As far as even old Staiven knows, hers is a completely new class!

She’s seen how the church of the Shield has treated Freddie and his unique class: with friendly interest and a desire to help guide him, but she doesn’t have that kind of support network. It's enough to tempt her… but the acolyte life just isn’t for her. So she only has her mentor’s advice to go on: be careful who you share with.

Karn doesn’t seem to be too worried about what she might do, which is a relief at least. If Rhonda knows anyone who can get a good read on a person, it’s the retired rogue leading the guild. Still, while the librarian herself might be friendly, she’s apparently a follower of the Great Mother. Is she looking to recruit Rhonda? It’s not difficult to imagine the goddess of magic would be interested in her class, just like how the Shield is interested in Freddie’s.

While the Great Mother isn’t as actively helpful as the Shield, she’s not exactly the most actively benevolent deity out there. She’s hardly a plague on the land, but her priesthood seems more interested in pushing the bounds of magic, without worrying too much about the consequences. Some of the most amazing and most terrible magical developments can be laid at their feet, and so at the feet of the Great Mother.

Does she even have the option to try to avoid her? Could she somehow take away Rhonda’s magic? That concerning thought is easily quashed, at least. Taking someone’s magic, if it’s even something she can do, would only diminish her own power. More people doing magic strengthens her domain, right? She might need to ask Freddie about that later, but the logic seems pretty sound to her.

The more she thinks about trying to lay low, the more she thinks the goddess is deliberately trying to give her that option. She clearly knows Rhonda is here and she must know the only Ice Sage is a goblin, at least. But according to Karn, the librarian doesn’t even know Ice Sage is a class, let alone one belonging to a goblin girl.

The newcomer’s presence feels more like an invitation rather than a demand. She can reveal herself, or keep her secret. So which will it be? The shy part of her from before she got her class thinks she should keep quiet. Better to not attract attention. But she’s grown a lot since she got her class… and keeping it secret forever would be hindering her. She’s a student and a teacher. She helps master Staiven as she can, of course, but even he admits he’s a bit too stuck in his ways for her suggestions to be much more than interesting theories for him to experiment with against his own established knowledge. If the new librarian is still inexperienced, she might be able to teach someone from the beginning!

And if she’s making a mistake in trusting the outsider, she has plenty of friends to ensure nothing too bad will happen. She nods to herself as she finishes the soup, her mind made up.

Freddie and Larrez both give her surprised looks. “Just like that?” asks Freddie, with Larrez following up.

“Are you going to just go up there and introduce yourself and your class, directly?”

Rhonda’s resolve shakes at that question, but doesn’t crumble. “Well, maybe not quite like that, but I do want to tell her. I think by not giving her much information, the Great Mother is kinda letting me decide how and when to share, or even if to share at all.”

Freddie considers that, slowly nodding. “She should know more than what she apparently told the librarian. If she wanted to force the issue, she has a lot of followers in the kingdom. That she sent apparently a single acolyte with sparse information does point at her trying to be diplomatic.”

“Maybe she’s not actually that interested?” suggests Larrez, earning a shake of the head from Freddie.

“She’d have delegated the message through a priest, but Karn didn’t mention anything like that. If she appeared directly to the librarian, it’s important to have her personal attention, important enough to attempt subtlety instead of being direct.”

Rhonda nods. “I’m glad, too. If her High Priest or something was wandering around asking about me, I’d never leave the shop again!” Larrez makes a face at the idea of being sought out like that, and Freddie snickers and nods.

“So, how are you going to go about it? Should we all go up there and chat with her?”

Rhonda thumbs the jewels on her staff as she thinks. “I think I’ll go up there on my own and more or less do what I originally wanted: check out the book on Rocky’s fights. If she really is a follower of the Great Mother, it shouldn’t be hard to pique her interest with his fighting style. I might try to invite her along for our delve, if you two don’t mind?”

Freddie smiles and Larres shrugs. “I don’t have any problem with it. Thedeim is pretty good about not overwhelming new delvers, so we should be able to escort her without issues.”

Rhonda smiles at her friends and stands. “Then I’ll be back before too long! You guys can check the quests for anything interesting while I’m at the library, if you want?”

Larrez and Freddie nod at that and stand, the two gathering the dishes as they do so. “I need to ask Karn if he knows any craftsmen who are available for commissions, too.”

“The Mayor’s estate has a couple good armorers on retainer, if you want me to ask them later,” offers the elf.

“Do they work with rare metals? I was thinking of trying to gather some today, and offset the cost.” The two chat about gear as they head off, and Rhonda heads up the stairs to the library, Lucas relaxing on her hat.

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Once inside, the quiet hum of bees fills the air, lending an oddly-calming atmosphere to the place of learning. The new librarian isn’t difficult to spot, the elf in dust-colored robes is sitting at a table, reading a book. It looks like she’s deep in her studies, too, and Rhonda wonders if that’s how she herself looks when in the middle of something interesting.

If it were any other day, she might let her keep reading, but the ice needs to be broken. She raps the end of her staff on the floor, not loud enough to be disturbing, but enough to get her attention in the quiet room full of books and bees. The elf moves a finger to mark her spot as she looks at Rhonda, clearly used to being interrupted in her studies.

Instead of looking sour at being interrupted, she smiles and stands. “Ah, sorry. I was engrossed in my study. How can I help you?”

Rhonda’s shyness tries to surge once more, but she forces it down as she speaks. “Uh, I’m looking for the book on Rocky’s fights? I want to place a bet with Karn, but I want to make sure I’m up on his techniques, first.”

The librarian looks confused before turning her attention to the bees. “Rocky’s fights?” The bees buzz and several mill around in the air over one of the shelves. “Ah, delving logs. Is he a strong delver?” she asks as she leads the way, with Rhonda following along behind her.

“Oh, he’s very strong, but he’s not a delver. He’s one of Thedeim’s scions.”

That draws the librarian up short. “The Guildmaster bets on people’s lives?” she asks, sounding like she can’t believe it. Rhonda giggles and shakes her head.

“Lives? Nah. Rocky is undefeated, but he hasn’t killed anyone. None of Thedeims scions do. In fact, there’s no recorded deaths at all. He works pretty hard to keep it that way, too.”

“No… wait, undefeated?” the elf asks, trying to process what she’s hearing. Rhonda clearly isn’t the only one who’s been hitting the books too hard to keep up with the local goings on. She nods as the librarian remembers she’s supposed to get getting a book, and they chat as they go.

“Undefeated, yeah. He’s Thedeim’s zombie scion, and he fights like nothing else. His mastery of affinities is second to none.”

“Affinities… in a zombie? Not a lich?”

Rhonda laughs at the common confusion. “Not a lich! He likes to punch things, but he infuses them with his affinities with skill and precision. My friends and I have even fought him a couple times, though only once for real.” The goblin snorts at the memory. “He knocked us out with ease once we stopped holding back, but it’s good to have something to aspire to.”

The librarian doesn’t look like she shares that opinion. “If you say so? I’ve never tried adventuring. It seems too dangerous, even for all the benefits it can bring.”

“You should give Thediem a try, then. The manor and grounds are designed for new delvers.”

The elf shakes her head, smiling at the absurdity of the idea. “I don’t think it’s for me.”

“Are you at least going to go see Olander and Rocky fight?”

The elf’s hand freezes in the middle of taking the book from the shelf, her eyes wide with concern. “Olander?”

Rhonda raises an eyebrow at her and nods. “Yeah? The retired elf adventurer with the glaive who’s been helping the Dungeoneers? Why, do you know him?”

She takes a deep breath before pulling the book down and handing it to Rhonda. “He’s a friend of mine. We met on the way here. He was a caravan guard.”

Rhonda nods at that as she leads the way back. “That makes sense. He’s supposed to be really strong. That’s why Thedeim offered him a challenge.”

The librarian pauses and slaps her palm against her forehead. “That’s why the book sounded familiar! He wanted to look into it, too!”

“Did you go over it with him?”

She sighs and shakes her head. “No, I thought he was checking on a local legendary monster from the past, not something he was getting ready to fight himself!”

“Well, want to go over it with me, then? Your friend will be safe, no matter what we see in here, so don’t worry about that. We could even go and meet Rocky directly so you can see how friendly he is. My friends and I are pretty good at delving.”

Rhonda watches the conflict reflect on the elf’s face as she tries to make a decision. It’s not difficult to follow her thought process. If Rhonda didn’t know anything about Thedeim, she’d be really worried about Freddie challenging an undefeated scion, too! She’s not sure which way the elf will decide, so maybe she should bait the trap a bit more.

“You’re a follower of the Great Mother, right? Your robes are in that style.”

The surprise question knocks the wagon of her thoughts off the trail, and she nods. “Yes, but-”

“Then you’ll definitely want to hear about how Rocky fights. My mentor says he shouldn’t be able to do half the things he does with his magic, and he’s the smartest person I know!”

The allure of a magical oddity tips the scales in the elf’s mind, and she agrees. “I… suppose? I haven’t been making any headway in my studies, and I would like to know what Olander will be up against.”

“Great!” With that, they arrive back at the front and move aside the book she had been reading, and Rhonda realizes she hasn’t introduced herself yet. “Oh, I’m Rhonda, by the way.”

“Oh! I’m Tula! I’m sorry I didn’t introduce myself earlier. I’ve been a bit frazzled with my studies lately, you see.”

Rhonda waves off her apology and takes a seat, opening the book. She takes a few moments to find a fight she’s not familiar with, and turns to the page as she chats. “I know how easy it is to get distracted with research, and to be frustrated when you can’t make progress.”

Thankfully, the details of the fights makes it easy to ignore past frustrations as Tula and Rhonda go over Rocky’s record. He’s gotten a lot better after tangling with the Maw, and Rhonda is feeling confident in placing her bet on the scion. For Tula, what started out as simply listening turns into furious note-taking as she tries to comprehend how Rocky does what he does. By the time they reach the last fight, she’s taken more notes than she had taken on her other research project!

She goes over the notes as Rhonda smiles in triumph, knowing she’s got the librarian right where she wants her. “So, you want to go meet Rocky? I promise it’ll be safe, and he might even be willing to give you a demonstration, if you ask nicely.”

Tula’s instinctual refusal dies before it ever reaches her lips, a burning curiosity making its move. She’s still uncertain, but despite how brutal each fight was, the difference in penmanship gives credence to the fact of them all being first-hand accounts from the challengers. So much power, wielded perfectly to defeat but not kill.

“If… you’re sure your party won’t mind?”

The goblin smiles wide. “They’ll love to! Do you have any focus or anything like that? Just because Thediem is safe, doesn’t mean he won’t make you work for it!”

She reaches into the neck of her robes and produces her wooden holy symbol. “I have this?”

“That should work fine. Let’s go get you introduced to Freddie and Larrez!” She takes Tula’s hand and makes for the door, the elf resisting only a little as she looks back to the safety of the books and shelves. The bees swarm together and swing side to side, waving goodbye as the Ice Sage drags the invitation off to adventure.