Chapter 2: Chapter 02

Because Roxy was only sort of an asshole, she did not continue taunting the alpha she'd had disrespectful anal sex with in a back alley last night. Instead, she continued with her plan.

"I'm Roxanne Updyke, but you can call me Roxy," Roxy continued. "I'm a Level 14 Wizard, Level 13 Mystic Artificer, Level 12 Alchemist, and Level 12 Farmer."

"...Farmer?" Akane asked.

"It's a very useful class to have, if you are, say, an alchemist who brews potions in bulk, and thus requires herbal ingredients in bulk," Roxy said. "Who would you two be?"

"I'm Akane, a Level 3 Wizard!" Akane chirped.

"Veronica Vega," Nicky said, nodding. "Level 3 Paladin."

"Anyhow, I'm after a Class Slot Unlock item, and that brings me here. The best place to grind for such an item is a Level 6 Growth-type Dungeon, with an average party level of 6."

"And that's why you need us," Akane said. "Two Level 3s plus a Level 14 averages out to just under Level 7."

"Yep!" Roxy said. "And average party levels always round down, which means we'll be a Level 6 party. Which does bring us to the terms of the party contract." Roxy produced from her inventory a legal document, and looked it over. "As you may be aware, Level 6 Dungeons give quite a lot of XP, relative to a Level 3's XP bar. So, to keep your level from shooting up like a rocket before we get the Class Slot Unlock item, all XP earned by everyone in the party- myself included- is to be held in escrow by the contract itself, and then, upon the contract's dissolution through either completion or someone deciding to leave the party, divided into five equal shares, with both of you getting two shares each, and the last share going to myself."

"I wasn't aware party contracts could do that," Nicky said carefully.

"They sure can," Roxy said. "Just costs a ton of mana. Why do you think I wanted to be able to make my own mana potions in bulk?"

"Fair. What about treasure distribution?" Nicky asked.

"All treasure gained during this process shall belong to the two junior partners- that's you two- by default, with any disputes over treasure distribution between the two being arbitrated by either the senior partner- that's me- or a Guild representative that all partners agree upon. The exceptions to this policy are, first and foremost, any Class Slot Unlock items, any Slotless Class Unlock items, any items or resources of direct interest to an Alchemist, a Mystic Artificer, or a Farmer, and any magic items. The first Class Slot Unlock item obtained by the party under this contract is to be used immediately by the senior partner. All other items are to be examined by the senior partner, who then gets right of first refusal of these items."

"So, we mostly get to keep everything, but if we find something else that you want, you get to keep it?" Akane asked.

"Pretty much," Roxy said. "Like, if you find a rare herb or plant that I don't have, and which would be expensive to obtain otherwise, then I'll lay claim to it so I can add it to my farm, but otherwise, it's all yours. I don't need any of this."

"Even the money?" Nicky asked. "Delve slots are expensive, are they not?"

"Yes, but also no," Roxy said. "See, I'm a Guild member too, and I'm operating under a deal with the Guild- as long as I'm working with a party whose average level without me is at least five levels below me, then I can pay for my delve slots in mana potions instead of money. And as someone with Level 12 Farmer and Alchemist, I can make a lot of mana potions. Which brings me to the next bit of the contract- I'm obligated, at minimum, to maintain a ration of ten Level 5 health potions, stamina potions, and mana potions for each of you. I do not expect you to need them, because I'm going to handle all this shit on my own, but just in case. I am also obligated to provide or pay for repairs or healing or replacement of any damaged, broken, or lost gear during these delves. Don't bring anything you love into the Dungeon with you, but if your sword breaks, I have to either fix it or provide you with a new one that's at least as good as the one you lost."

"Works for me," Akane said.

"I see no issue with that," Nicky said.

"And, I'm also responsible with providing adequate lodgings and transportation for you while you're delving with me," Roxy said. "This could mean renting an apartment for you in the town with the Growth Dungeon in it, or it could mean hosting you inside my own home, and teleporting all of us back and forth to and from the Dungeon every day. If you've ever wanted to see the inside of a high-level Wizard's tower, this is your chance."

Nicky barely managed to suppress both a boner and a promise to keep Roxy's bed warm.

"Ooooh, Wizard tower!" Akane said. "Is that where you keep your farm and your alchemy lab and your mystic workshop?"

"That is precisely where I keep all of that," Roxy said, nodding. "If you want, I can show you my setup. This contract exists to establish the minimum of what I have to give you; I can and will go above and beyond it while you're in my employ."

"Yessss," Akane said, pumping her fist. "I'm a Wizard too, so..."

"I'll teach you what I can," Roxy said. "Do for you what my mentors did for me. Nicky, I'm not a paladin, but if you'd like, I can call up a friend of mine and see if she can do something similar for you? She won't be part of this contract, or delving with us, but..."

"Thank you for the offer, but for the time being, I will pass on it," Nicky said.

"Fair enough. Standing offer, don't hesitate to tell me if you change your mind later. Okay, I think we covered everything in the contract... any questions?"

"A few," Akane said. "You said your goal was to get a Class Slot Unlock, right?"

"I did, yes," Roxy said.

You are reading story A New Kind Of Grind at novel35.com

"Why not just... buy one?"

"There's a few reasons for that," Roxy said. "One, I'm a Guild member too, and I have a deal with the Guild itself that lets me pay for delve slots with mana potions instead of money if my party consists entirely of myself and some low-level beginners. The Guild really wants to foster a culture of mentorship and experienced members helping out the new kids, and frankly, I'm all in on that. I didn't hit Level 14 by the age of 25 without the help of more experienced adventurers."

"You mentioned some of that, yeah," Akane said, nodding. "The extra context about the Guild does explain a lot of things about our training period here, though."

"And the other reasons?" Nicky asked.

"Oh, yeah," Roxy said. "Class Slot Unlocks are fucking expensive."

"...Don't they drop in Level 6 dungeons, which are very far beneath you?" Nicky asked.

"They do, but they do not drop very often, and they don't drop at all unless someone in your party has filled all their class slots, and therefore very likely knows that, statistically, they're not going to be getting another one of these ever again, and just uses it on the spot. And while mystic artificers like myself are able to recreate a lot of what drops in dungeons... recreating a Class Slot Unlock is extremely hard, and even more expensive. So, yeah, my best option really is to just hire some neonates to pull the average party level down to the right level and then grind out the same dungeon run hundreds of times."

"...Hundreds of times?" Nicky asked.

"How long do you think that'll take?" Akane asked.

"I've done the math on this, in fact," Roxy said. "We will take, on average, about three hundred runs to get the Class Slot Unlock. Thankfully, with a Level 14 Wizard carrying the party, we can clean out a Level 6 Growth Dungeon in no time; I've negotiated us for a maximum of eight delve slots a day, although we'll be starting at just two a day and going up from there as we get more comfortable."

"Two delves per day is already quite a lot," Nicky said.

"Yes, but," Roxy said. "Do you remember what it's like, going with your parents to the market, and sort of trailing along behind them for ten minutes while they pick out the things they need? Well, each delve will require roughly the same amount of effort from you... and the same amount of effort from me. If we do a delve every twenty minutes, we can complete our daily allotment of eight in just under three hours, and after that you can do whatever you want for the rest of the day."

"...Fair, I suppose," Nicky said.

"Also, this way, three hundred dungeon runs- and if we're unlucky it could take six hundred- will only take us, what, five weeks of three hours a day?" Roxy shrugged. "That's a very pessimistic ten weeks of delving a Level 6 Growth Dungeon, getting six hundred delves worth of XP and loot from that dungeon, which will probably catapult you up to Level 6 at least, and more likely to Level 7 or maybe even 8, once the contract dissolves."

"Hang on, if we do end up at Level 8, then it will only be with Level 6 gear," Nicky protested. "Level 6 Dungeons won't reward us very well, and Level 8 Dungeons will be unreasonably dangerous, due to, again, having Level 6 gear."

"Yes, from a Growth Dungeon," Roxy said. "Growth Dungeons tend to drop gear that grows with you. That's why everyone's encouraged to delve a Growth Dungeon until they get a full set of Growth gear, preferably early on in their careers. But, y'know what, sure, I'll humor you. I'm willing to amend the contract such that, upon party dissolution, both junior partners are entitled to one full set of bespoke level-appropriate armor, and one full set of bespoke level-appropriate class tools. Happy?"

"So, like, do you need your dick sucked, or..."

"Akane!" Nicky shouted.

"This is a really generous contract!" Akane pointed out. "We're going to get insane amounts of loot and XP and the personal attention of a high-level Wizard, bringing us to the cusp of high levels in just a month or three!"

"You see why the Guild encourages this sort of behavior," Roxy said. "It's very good at getting new adventurers up to speed very quickly, and building positive relationships and camaraderie. Just as I was helped up from Level 3 to Level 14 in just three years, so too am I happy to pay it forward for those who come after me."

"XP and actual experience are not the same thing," Nicky said. "We will likely be no more experienced in dungeon crawling after this experience than we are before it. There is a reason that this practice is not more common." Back in Vega, it was downright unheard of, in fact. Oh, sure, sometimes older and more experienced relatives would mentor those of the younger generation who were falling behind, but the ideal was the self-made adventurer, whose only assistance was... admittedly, still substantial- delve slots and good equipment, but not being carried through the dungeon.

"Sure, but then we come to an important question," Roxy said. "Do we delve so that we can get better at delving? Personally, my answer is no. Currently, I delve because it's the most efficient way to get certain resources, and before, I delved because it was the most efficient way to level up and unlock all these very useful abilities. It's likely that I'm actually pretty bad at delving, compared to the average delver who's been working with a same-level party for three years. But I don't care about that, because to me, delving isn't the meaning of life. It's a means to an end. I'm just delving because I want to get a specific loot drop that'd be too expensive to buy. I can connect you to some people who do delve for the sake of delving, who are really good at it, and like teaching others to be as good as they are. One of them had a turn with me as her apprentice, and I bet she'll take you on, too, if you want it."

Nicky considered this carefully. After all, she hadn't really thought that much about why she wanted to delve, because... to an extent, she didn't want to delve in the first place. Her mother had enrolled her in the Guild as a means of both networking as well as increasing her personal power, in the event that a chance arose for their family to retake the throne of Vega.

And Nicky... did not actually care about any of that. She didn't care if her mother was Queen or not, and she actively did not want to become a Princess herself. She wanted to live her own life, free from her mother's expectations, and just being with her friends... well, friend, admittedly. Akane was the only one who seemed to actually like Nicky. But spending time with Roxy had certainly been fun so far, and Roxy might be persuaded that milking four consecutive orgasms out of someone was well past the realm of 'friendly acquaintance.'

"...Fair enough, I concede the point," Nicky said. "Well, I can accept the terms as stated. Akane?"

"I'm in!" Akane said.

"Fantastic," Roxy said, handing the pair of them their own copies. "Read over it carefully, read over it again, ask me any questions you've got about the actual contract, and then consider signing it. Provided you do... then we're off to get settled in at my place."

You can find story with these keywords: A New Kind Of Grind, Read A New Kind Of Grind, A New Kind Of Grind novel, A New Kind Of Grind book, A New Kind Of Grind story, A New Kind Of Grind full, A New Kind Of Grind Latest Chapter