Chapter 37: Chapter 37 Back to Normalcy

The main hall was less rowdy than usual, with groups of Adventurers talking to each other in hushed voices. Nathan listened closely and caught whispers about “... new dungeon on the North Road, dangerous as a Dragon’s nest…” and “... Guildmistress furious there’s still a Dungeon in Old Gemore…” It was clear that he and Stanel were objects of interest from the way people watched them.

A gaunt black man raised a hand in acknowledgement, and Nathan returned it. He’d been meaning to talk to Kadid for a while. Vhala’s uncle seemed like a fixture in the Adventurer’s Guild, and Nathan had meant to talk to him more. Especially if he wanted to take advantage of the Bho network to implement anything from Earth.

Nathan looked around, but he didn’t see any of the Giantraiders around - maybe they were on errands, or had even accepted a job out of the city.

Stanel led Nathan through the main hall and out into the night. Instead of leaving the guild and climbing the hill they turned to a set of buildings that Nathan had never been into before. After navigating through a short series of halls they emerged into a cozy room with a subdued party underway.

The Heirs and their parents were scattered among a number of tables. There were snacks and drinks aplenty. It was a lot like the party they’d had at Stella’s house the night Nathan developed [Magic Absorption], except that the mood was more subdued, and the Heirs were doing the lion’s share of the talking.

As Nathan and Stanel entered, the attention turned towards them. Kia elbowed Khachi, and he stood. “A cheer for Nathan Lark! The hero of the Last Dungeon of Old Gemore! Now can somebody please get him a shirt?”

The rest of the room raised their glasses with a laugh and a cheer, and Stella chucked Nathan a spare shirt for the second time today.

He pulled it on, accepting a glass of the same purple liquor - Umna? - from Kia that he’d drunk at Stella’s house. Kia was just wearing a thin padded gambeson, and the figure revealed was incredible. Her hair was loose and fell in a red-gold waterfall down her stacked and muscular frame.

Man, all of my friend’s parents are really hot. Also really badass. Those are definitely synergistic effects.

Then they settled back into the party. It was mostly the Heirs recounting the events of the Blooding Patrol to their parents. This wasn’t a detailed debrief, but rather a venting of the triumphs and terrors of their day's events. Some of it was discussing the tactics and moves of combat, with Aarl mentioning his preference for the greatsword over lighter, shorter-reach weapons. In his explanation “The momentum of the swing is what calls to me. The feeling that no defense can block the next strike.”

Sarah lamented her lack of true armor-piercing weapons that weren’t heavy and bulky, which caused Stanel to look Nathan’s way and raise his eyebrows questioningly. Nathan shrugged and didn’t say anything. He didn’t want to promise anything yet since he wasn’t entirely sure he could or should try to build her a gun. He could always return the money to Stanel if he decided he didn’t want to go for it. And it didn’t seem like Stanel was attaching a lot of strings here.

Stella talked about how great it had been to throw fireballs at enemies close to Nathan and know that not only was she not endangering him, but helping him out. Friendly fire was apparently a constant worry of hers. She made oblique reference to having more options now that she had class development options, which got a lot of attention. Her parents didn’t seem to want to discuss it, but Sarah wouldn’t let it go so easily.

“A Cheer for Stella Caxol! A mage unparalleled for her age and level. May we all be useless as she blows up our foes from half a mile away!”

Stella flushed, embarrassed, but her mother wrapped her in yet another hug and squeezed tight.

Khachi rescued her by talking about his wish for more offensive and defensive magic. “I relied on the strength of my arm and the thickness of my shield. The Last Dungeon of Old Gemore showed me that some foes will always have an arm stronger than my own. I must rely on the strength of my faith as the hammer that will allow me to lay my enemies low, and the shield that will protect my friends. My Faith is more than just healing, for I worship the god of Righteous Battle.” By the end of his statement he'd picked up a faint golden glow, like an aura.

You are reading story Ends of Magic: Antimage LitRPG at novel35.com

He looked to Kia for approval and she gave him a slight smile and an even fainter nod.

Nathan almost didn’t follow up, but decided to do so anyway. “I have stepped on to the Path of Rage, and found my fury is mixed with the thrill of battle. It calls to me, draws me in with the excitement of the fight. I must learn to balance the temptation of the direct fight and the power my Rage gives me against the advantage of being smart. I am best suited to attacks against mages or weak points. I can’t let my Rage dictate my battle tactics.”

Everybody nodded, though nobody made a comment. Dalo shot Stanel a sharp look, to which Stanel replied with a placating hand gesture.

A bit later on, the party more resembled a group therapy session. The Heirs talked about the terror of being helpless under the [Daze] beams, and the swiftness of the Stalker ambush. A common theme was the worry of being unable to use your skills and training when you were disabled or ambushed by foes that you could defeat in a normal head-on fight.

Stella in particular seemed upset. “If we hadn’t known where they were, and that they were about to jump, the Stalkers would have landed on every side of all of us. Atop us. I don’t think I could have done anything about Stalkers landing before and behind me. I can kill a Stalker with a fireball. But I can’t fireball in every direction at once.”

Dalo smirked. “Yet.”

Nathan elaborated on his worry that against non-mages he was the weakest member of the team. He hadn’t fought the Sentries, merely bypassed them. And he’d nearly been overwhelmed by two Stalkers.

Aarl reassured him. “You aren’t bad. We’ll practice together and find out how you can improve, especially now that you Developed your class. We’d cart around a lead brick if it could throw stunts like what you did at the Dungeon.”

Stanel harrumphed. “And those Sentries are tough ghoul uncles, that’s sure and certain. Bypassing them was the right choice.”

They continued talking about the ways to avoid and deal with future scenarios of being caught by ambush, and avoid being disabled. It boiled down to being cautious, careful, and ranking up skills and Talents that helped you avoid dangerous situations or break mental spells.

Damn, the combination of [Notice], [Magic Absorption] and [Identify] is potent for all of that. And [Focused mind]. Good job, Nathan. I mean, I picked up [Notice] and [Identify] because perception is the best skill in D&D, closely followed by things that prevent you from getting disabled and stuff like arcana that let you identify the important plot elements.

In a slight break from tradition, Aarl mentioned that his [Warning] utility skill had ranked up a lot today. It was still too low-tier to be useful for anything but last-second dodges against an enemy he already knew about. But he hoped it would rank up enough that it would provide a few seconds of warning against a trap or ambush.

Sarah vowed to find a way to develop her mind-protection skill until she was immune from magical effects like that [Daze], and Khachi reiterated his desire to develop his Faith beyond healing.

Later in the night, and a bit drunk, Nathan admitted that he’d thought about running after losing a hand to a Sentry. The group’s reactions were mixed, with some of the Heirs looking perplexed and a bit judgmental. The Guardians on the other hand looked serious, and traded glances to decide who should answer him.

---