Chapter 5: Final Preparations

The week had passed quickly, and Astrid was ready to leave Stalstadt. She’d deliberately kept herself so busy that she didn’t have time to see Ahna or Jan. Those traitors Liesl and Boras had left the next day for their assignments. She couldn’t believe they’d been so callous, but the reality of the situation was staring her in the face and she had to accept it.

To distract her, and, more accurately, to ensure she’d survive, her mother had pushed her hard in relying on her training mixed with her new Skills. Though she’d practiced with the fundamentals and with the intent to use her skills to kill the monsters the Dungeon created, Astrid wasn’t used to using the mace, quarterstaff, and warhammer. Her intent had always been on learning Blademanship, enchanting whatever item she held into a magically sharp blade. As such, her training had focused on cutting and stabbing instead of crushing, breaking, and jabbing. Her Skill and her training pushed her in different directions, and the week was spent ensuring she was completely accustomed to her new Skills.

Shield Wielding came easily to her, but Astrid found that instead of a buckler or heater shield, as she was used to, she should use a tower shield or a pavise. A Spellblade was quicker, a finisher, but a Warrior was stronger and would benefit from the extended protection the larger shields would offer. As an additional plus, with her Blunt Weapons Mastery, she knew how to deal crippling blows with the massive, blunt weapon she was always carrying. If her weapon broke and her shield remained, Astrid could use that effectively to protect herself and possibly deal blows heavy enough to allow her to escape, or even kill the monster she would fight.

In the event that her shield and weapon were out of reach or broken, Blunt Weapons Mastery extended to her fists. The heavy gloves she always wore with her armor cushioned her fists enough to deal stunning blows to people and monsters her own size, and with her Strength as high as it was, the ability to do so would continue to grow. As she practiced grabbling and regular fistfighting, one of the guards, Ilea, said she should lean entirely into the punching.

“It would be great!” Ilea insisted. “Imagine, a delver who never needed a weapon!”

“That would be cool.” Astrid allowed. “But even so, I’m not going to do it. If I had Pugilism or a Class focused on fistfighting specifically, I’d do it. It’s just a last resort, though.”

Brighid had approved of that, though Ilea still brought up the idea once or twice a day as they practiced together.

The unsung hero and bemoaned villain of Astrid’s training was her apparently “divine” Skill. With her Fortitude over twice as high as it’d been before, she recovered much more quickly, but combined with Quick Recovery, she barely needed to take the time to get a drink and stretch between training exercises. With that being the case, Brighid and Savraba had worked together to create a heavily weighted gambeson with talismans that made it and her armor even heavier than before. Then, as she ran laps, hoisted her shield over her head to fend off thrown rocks, rolled, and generally got herself used to her enhanced body and Skills, her papa, betrayer that he was, would stab her with a padded spear.

“Sorry, my light.” He’d say as he jabbed her hard enough to knock the wind out of her through the chain mail, thick padding, and her prepared stance. It didn’t matter how she prepared herself, he’d manage to hit her in just the wrong place and either lay her flat on the ground, or make her wish that she was. When she was so exhausted that she could barely stand, Brighid would shout, “Activate it!”

Pushing her mana through the simple mental form that Quick Recovery required, Astrid would feel herself recover enough to get to her feet. Even so, a 10% recovery was far from enough to feel at the top of her potential. It was just enough to have to fight her father as her mother critiqued her stance, style, and energy.

“Doesn’t matter what or who you’re fighting, nothing gives a damn if you’re tired. In fact, they’d prefer that you be tired! After all, doesn’t that make you an easy target—RIGHT FOOT FORWARD DAMMIT! Not that far!” Brighid’s words were punctuated by Savraba’s staff flicking out and rapping her hard on the ankle. Astrid had already learned not to stumble from that, as her parents would make sure that she felt the consequences of falling down in front of her enemies.

The drilling was intense and targeted and made Astrid puke multiple times a day. When other soldiers looked on at her, they whispered about abuse, a disappointed mother, or any number of assumptions, but Astrid saw what her parents’ intentions were. She didn’t have the supporting friends, the full party, or even the Class that she’d planned on. As such, she needed to be stronger, faster, tougher, and just all around better to make sure she made it through the most dangerous early levels. On top of that, she’d gained +1 to Power, Alacrity, and Fortitude from the hard training.

As Astrid fell to her knees, her heart pounding and her chest heaving, she was too weak to catch herself on her hands. Her arms gave out, and she fell on her face. The sand sprayed up into her helmet, and she didn’t even have the energy to spit it out. Fortunately, Savraba came and rolled her onto her back as she gasped and tried to recover.

“How long until Quick Recovery is able to help you?” Savraba asked as he sat down beside her.

“30… minutes.” Astrid said. Her father’s pale face somehow didn’t have even the faintest sheen of sweat, and he looked as if he’d just walked out of his office. He gently pulled her helmet and arming cap off before pulling a talisman-inscribed handkerchief out of his pocket and activating it. The fabric soaked with water as soon as the inscription on it flared with light, and Savraba dabbed it on her face. Astrid didn’t react as the blessedly cool cloth wiped the worst of the grime from her, but she nearly cried when he pulled it away.

It wasn’t fair that he was so relaxed in his regular clothing while she was laying in front of him, hair stuck to her face and neck with sweat. Even through the gambeson and armor, Astrid could smell herself, and she wanted to groan. With how exhausted she was, washing up wasn’t just an activity, but an exercise in self-discipline. There was the option of waiting until Quick Recovery was off cooldown, but that would just mean stewing in her filth until her already ripe scent ascended to putrid.

“Help me?” She asked her father. After the last week of training, Astrid knew when she was truly done as opposed to when she was just tired. For today, the practice was done, and Astrid could take a little break. Her mother had gone somewhere maybe an hour before, but that was just wishing she was there to help make sure Astrid didn’t pass out in the bath. Since she was gone, that meant no bath today.

Savraba didn’t seem to struggle to pick her up and set her gently on her feet. As he did so, he drained the mana in the gambeson and armor that increased their weight, letting Astrid stand much more easily. Then, without being asked, he quickly pulled the straps of her belt, greaves, bracers, and pauldrons to let her out of the armor. With a couple quick, practiced motions, the armor was removed and Astrid was left in just the soaked tunic and pants she wore under her armor.

“Thanks, Papa.” She smiled as he patted her back and pushed her towards the washroom.

“Sure thing, my light. Now get clean.” He didn’t need to say how desperately she needed that. She knew.

In the washroom, Astrid carelessly shed her clothes to the ground as she untied her braid and ineffectually tried to shake it loose before walking over to a bucket with a ladle and water. Her arms burned and tried to refuse her as she lifted the water over her head. She’d recovered enough at this point, however, to power through the discomfort and pain. The cold water made her gasp, pleasant though it was. After enough ladles of water to get the worst of the grime of hours of practice off her body, Astrid scraped her body over with the curved wooden paddle set beside the bucket. After that, she took the bar of soap and lathered it before cleaning herself.

“Never thought washing up would be such a chore.” She groaned to herself, but nobody responded. Instead, once she was sufficiently cleaned up, she took a couple more ladlefuls of water and poured them over her head. This much water had mostly pulled her hair into its natural loose waves instead of a braid, and it stuck to her body all the way down past her breasts.

“Should I just cut you off?” She asked her hair, wondering why she was talking to herself so much today. Then, deciding not to make drastic hair decisions when she was tired and grumpy, Astrid grabbed a towel and tried to dry herself off. With how exhausted she was, there was plenty of water she left behind, but the walk to her house would be enough to dry her off. It was the work of a minute or two, but she dressed herself and stumbled out of the washroom and began her trek to the house.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Fortunately, it wasn’t long before Savraba found his way to her side, and they walked together in silence. When they arrived at the house, they’d been walking so slowly that Astrid could trigger Quick Recovery and feel a lot better. In fact, she felt so much better that she could feel the rumbling of her stomach demanding to be filled. And Brighid would have been busy, so now she’d have to make whatever she needed to eat. Just remembering how hungry she was made her wish she’d thought to stop by Marck’s on the way back. Some of his sausage rolls would be perfect. The spiced ones, with the thick but still somehow flaky crust? She nearly shed a tear thinking of how she’d lost the opportunity. In fact, she wanted them so bad she swore she could smell them!

“Can we make food immediately?” Astrid begged as she walked into the house.

“You won’t need to.” Her mother said from inside. Looking at the table, Astrid hadn’t been dreaming, thinking of sausage rolls. A stack of the things were in the middle of the table! Her mouth opened wide as she looked at her mom.

“We knew you’d want something like this tonight.” Papa said beside her as he wrapped his arm around her waist.

“I love you.” She managed to say around the saliva that pooled in her mouth.

“Don’t say that yet.” Mother said as she gestured for Astrid to take her seat. Astrid knew that meant there was something else to ask, but her stomach demanded she stop thinking and start eating. She listened.

—-

The meal was perfect. Astrid didn’t want any vegetables, just more of the rolls, and that was what she got. She stopped counting at half a dozen, but they were just what she wanted. When finally her belly pushed at her belt and she needed to loosen it, she leaned back against her chair and smiled. Then, her mind finally caught up with her body, and she met her parents’ eyes.

“Tomorrow?” She asked, a confused mass of emotions swelling in her chest.

“Tomorrow.” Mother confirmed, a soft if conflicted smile on her face. “You’re accustomed to your Skills, and now you need to just… go out and start delving.”

Astrid sat straight up, her stomach complaining. “If that’s the case, I need to get armor and a weapon! I don’t have much in the way of savings, though… Can I take out a loan? I promise I’ll pay it back?”

They hadn’t bought any equipment before the Bestowal, it was considered bad luck to do so. In retrospect, it would have been a waste, too. Any equipment she would have bought for a Spellblade would have been worthless to her Warrior self.

“We’re not going to give you a loan.” Brighid shook her head as Savraba stood up from the table and walked behind Astrid.

“Oh. Ok.” Astrid felt a little smaller as her mother said that. Even though she’d known it was bad form for someone rich to finance a delver’s initial expeditions, as they’d come to rely on the equipment instead of their Skills and it’d effect the Skills they were offered from then on, she still expected… something. Could she take a loan out with the Viscount? He knew her parents, so that could serve as some measure of collateral, but then he’d wonder why she hadn’t gotten anything from them—

“Astrid!” Brighid poked her daughter between the eyes, and Astrid pulled herself out of her reverie. “Our plan had always been to give you my old Bronze equipment when you got your Class. Obviously, that isn’t going to work now. Instead, we’ve gotten something that’ll be good for a Warrior like yourself.”

At that, Savraba cleared his throat. She turned and saw, on an amature mannequin, a full set of armor. Savraba carried a thickly quilted gambeson, one much finer than the ones she’d always used in practice, one embroidered with little motifs of the sun poking over the horizon. The armor, though, was perfect for a new Bronze. Full chain, well tended, and attached boiled leather pauldrons on the sleeves that would come down to her elbows, where the bracers matched her pauldrons. Even on her frame, the shirt would come down nearly to her knees, and the pair of iron greaves that accompanied the armor would ensure that she wouldn’t lose a leg, or even a toe.

Then, leaning against the mannequin, was the tower shield. It was simple, thick cuts of wood stained a dark brown and banded together with steel. The 130 cm shield showed some faint signs of use, and Astrid believed it would protect her and hold against the abuse it was sure to take. Paired with the simple helmet that had been laid on the “head” of the mannequin, Astrid could see herself in it. The wide grin on her face was interrupted by the two weapons that her mother pulled out from under the table.

First was a simple but dangerous quarterstaff. The one she’d used in practice was just a piece of cured wood, but this was a traveler’s tool and weapon. The ends were capped with bronze and banded with iron. When Astrid hefted it, she could tell it weighed a couple of kilos. If smashed into someone’s head, that wouldn’t merely hurt, but prove deadly. Instead of having to get out a primary weapon on the road to deal with the monsters that escaped from dungeons, this would serve as a potent tool.

The masterpiece was her true primary weapon. Dark, almost ebony wood made the warhammer’s handle. Unlike most warhammers, this did not have a spiked side. Instead, the dark steel had two thick, deadly heads, each a mirror image of the other. Looking at the armor on the mannequin, Astrid saw the loop on the belt that the hammer was meant to fit into. With all her armor and weapons waiting for her, Astrid looked at both her parents.

“Go ahead.” Savraba nodded and Brighid echoed. Astrid grinned widely and gathered both into a hug. With a quick kiss on each one’s head, she took the gambeson into her room. Then, after thinking about it, she gathered everything else up and took that in there too. It took some time to get the armor on, as the few buckles weren’t worn in but instead held tightly to the latch as it was slotted in. The bracers were the same, and the latching necessary to get her greaves on was a pain, but they were also hers, and she loved every second.

About five minutes later, Astrid was fully dressed, her shield stowed on her back and her hammer on her right hip. She pulled the helmet on and strode through the doors. There, her parents stood waiting. Their reactions were exactly what she expected and hoped for. Brighid smiled in her gentle way, eyes glistening with barely unshed tears, while Savraba looked conflicted. Astrid always understood her papa wanted to keep her safe from the world, from the dangers that filled it, but he also wanted her to live her dreams, so he supported her.

“They aren’t magical at all, and they won’t provide any attributes.” Brighid warned before her face softened and she continued speaking.

“Astrid Warrior.” Brighid said with a little chuckle. “You truly are that, now. My child. My…” Her voice caught and she just shook her head before coming forward and wrapping Astrid in a hug. Even through the gambeson and armor, Astrid felt her ribs creak a little. She didn’t care, merely enjoying the feeling. Without a word, Savraba joined in. After standing there all together for a short time, Papa stepped back and looked in Astrid’s face before pulling the talisman that he’d been working on before the Bestowal out of his pocket.

“This,” he explained as he held it up in her face, “is a last resort. All the mana required for its use has already been provided by me, so it will function for a mere single use. Even so, it will provide a huge boost to you in your time of need. By activating the talisman, all your attributes will double for one minute. After that, you’ll be exhausted, and will need to use your Quick Recovery in order to move at all. If you’re ever about to die, activate it. There’s a pouch inside your gambeson to hold this, and you don’t need to pull it out to activate it. Do you understand?”

“Yes, Papa.” Astrid smiled as she pulled him back into the hug.

“I don’t have anything like that,” Brighid said, “but I hope the Skills we’ve worked on will keep you safe.”

“They will, Mother.” Astrid answered. Then, after another hug, Brighid explained that the wagon left early in the morning. Knowing she was tired enough to sleep but excited enough not to, Astrid wondered which would win out. It didn’t take long for sleep to win, and she slept dreamlessly.

—-

“Your Skill won’t recover any limbs or anything, so be careful.” Savraba said the same thing in its seventh iteration.

“And make sure that you only trust in the kill notifications.” Brighid said the same thing in its fifth iteration.

“Yes, I will.” Astrid said for the eighteenth time. Then, for the first time, she turned to Ahna.

Ahna’s eyes were red, and her hands held a couple sausage rolls. She sniffled as she watched Astrid toss the last of her stuff into the wagon, but Astrid walked up to her friend and took her into a tight but very careful hug. “Thanks for being willing to go along with my dream.” Astrid whispered. “You can live yours now. I shouldn’t have built my dreams around you.”

“I did… I mean, I didn’t want to… I just… I’m sorry.” Ahna sobbed as she clutched at Astrid’s mail shirt. In the brisk spring morning, it must have been almost painfully cold, so Astrid got down on one knee to have her head right around where Ahna’s was.

“When I come back, I’ll check on you and Jan. And if he’s not treating you right, we’ll see what a delver can do about that, ok?”

Ahna chuckled as she nodded, and Astrid kissed the top of her best friend’s head before hopping into the back of the wagon. The three people who came to see her off blew her kisses and she did the same as she finally departed.

“Hiyah!” cried the wagon’s driver, and with that, it was slowly pulled away, the mare pulling its load without complaint or hurry. Astrid watched Stalstadt slowly disappear behind them before looking forward. She was, technically, the wagon’s escort, and she’d take that job seriously, even though the lands they would pass through were supposed to be completely safe.