Dungeon 42

Hayat could remember the day he was summoned and offered the choice to choose a name or take one of the mistresses choosing. He'd chosen one from his people that meant lion as a bit of a joke. He'd been a foundling blonde in a village of black haired people. She hadn't questioned it beyond asking if it had a meaning then let him pick his class.

Since then he'd done his utmost to be useful or stay out of the way. Not that there was often much to do besides play at fighting in the dungeon league as it was called. He'd liked it and the other games. They were an interesting way to pass the time while his mistress fortified her layer and drew new prey to her.

It was why he'd chosen to teach the dog kin La'Darin Argent once the man had chosen to become a ranger. It was a way of paying back some of the grace he'd received from 42.

The archery range echoed with the thud of arrows hitting targets. Hayat demonstrated the proper form for a quick draw and release, his movements fluid and precise despite his apparent age. He'd been sixty three when he died of a bad winter cold alone in his hunting blind. He could have chosen to look younger but preferred to wear the full weight of his years.

"Speed is often as important as accuracy," he explained. "A Ranger must be able to respond quickly to threats."

Argent took his place, nocking an arrow with surprising grace. His first few shots were accurate, clustering near the center of the target. Hayat nodded approvingly, impressed by the seemingly natural ability granted by the class change.

"Excellent. Now, let's increase the difficulty," Hayat said, activating a mechanism that caused the targets to move erratically.

Argent's brow furrowed in concentration as he tracked the moving targets. His first shot flew true, striking near the bullseye. Not all of them landed so well but there were few misses and his speed was good.

"I'll leave you to this for a bit, work your way through the full box while I'm gone," Hayat ordered. He left Argent to his task, the ammo box filled with a hundred arrows. In all honesty he could have stayed but he found the prospect boring. He'd seen enough to correct a few flaws in Argents form, but he was curious about something else.

Hayat took a walk around the training grounds, spending a few minutes seeing how the other Daggers were getting on. Jarod was doing well it seemed though he was getting his ass handed to him by his instructor. The man was level headed about it and learning on his feet.

The big one whose name Hayat couldn't remember, not as much.He'd started in medium armor with a round shield but now was carrying a tower shield and in heavier armor than he'd started in. Hayat expected he'd be moved totally away from swords and to a maul soon. He was sturdy and relatively quick, but stronger than he was smart. A more intuitive weapon would suit him.

Pip he took a few minutes to stand and watch along with a group of other members of the bone brigade. Hayat had no idea why, but he was going at his instructor like a madened bear. Balkas Thistle was dancing around him with ease. He was one of the elves Hayat hadn't really gotten to know yet. They weren't flighty exactly so much as constantly on the move unlike him.

Amused but not interested enough to ask about what was going on, Hayat decided it was time to check back in. He wasn't exactly surprised to find that Argent hadn't fired all the arrows yet, but how few were sticking out of targets was. He'd though the other man would make it a good two or three quarters into them. It looked like he'd not quite managed a third.

"I'm… not doing very well at this," Argent observed.

"You're not good at paying attention," Hayat agreed. It was the third skill demonstration to go poorly for the same reason. The young man just couldn't seem to focus on his task, either getting distracted by some minutia of it or something else altogether.

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"Pip thinks I got dropped on my head as a pup," Argent said matter of factly.

"Pip is an asshole and tell him to fuck off if he talks to you like that again," Hayat said bluntly. Thinking it was one thing, saying it to hurt someone was another thing entirely.

"I'll be telling him that a lot then," Argent said, laughing. Hayat considered if he should say something for a few moments, then tried to decide what exactly. The young man was affable but difficult to deal with in some respects, that wasn't really a flaw though. At least not so much of one that he should take shit for it.

"Mistress 42 checked you, there's nothing wrong with you. You just need to work on some things more than others," Hayat said after a pause. It was the only thing he could think to offer in terms of comfort. He'd thought he'd been born cursed, wrong colored and abandoned even before his leg had gone lame.

When 42 had fixed his leg he'd thought she'd fix his appearance too, break whatever curse had caused it. She'd given him permission to alter his appearance however he liked, but told him there was nothing wrong with him. He'd likely inherited a distant ancestor's colors and his leg had probably been treated wrong.

The too complete yet fractured story of his life banging around in Hayat's head agreed with that assessment. His parents had the local colors but they'd been nobody special and hadn't angered any spirits or deities. He hadn't needed it to know the village healer was shit though, he'd known that when he was alive. It just felt like bad luck he'd even needed the man for what had started as a minor wound.

"Checked me?" Argent asked. Hayat was glad he didn't feel an urge to sigh anymore. He would have been doing every other breath otherwise.

"When she reset your class. Sometimes mortals and even skeletons have issues that she can fix. I had a bad leg because the bone healed wrong. She fixed it," Hayat explained. He knew the group had been informed as it was happening but accepted that Argents mind had wandered.

"You remember being alive, human?" Argent asked. That was something that hadn't come up before and Hayat weighed if he wanted to discuss it or not. Argent waited on him, fidgeting a little but not making demands in a rare display of patience.

"Yeah, I was born and lived in a place called Semere in a little village that wasn't big enough to have a name of its own. Made it to the winter of my life as a bushman," Hayat offered, hoping that would be enough to sate the other man's curiosity. When something did catch Argents attention it could wander again or become fixed for a time and which it would be was unpredictable.

"I lived like that until I met Jarod," Argent offered cheerfully.

"Well, back to the lesson at hand. Let's get through the rest of your skills. After that I'll send you to the forest to put them to use and we'll see how you do," Hayat decided. He couldn't accompany the young man for that, 42's reach on the forest side was limited, but it was probably for the best. A Ranger could work with a team but generally in a solitary capacity. They supported a group by hunting and trail finding until their skills were needed in combat.

"This next part I know you're suited to, but we'll take it from the beginning all the same," Hayat said. He demonstrated the proper stance for tracking, his body low and balanced.

"When following a trail, you need to engage all your senses," he explained. "Look for bent grass, broken twigs, and disturbed soil. Listen for unusual silence or animal alarms. Smell for any lingering scents."

Argent nodded eagerly, mimicking Hayat's posture. His heightened senses made him a natural, quickly picking up on subtle clues Hayat had planted. However, as they moved deeper into the training grounds, Argent's focus began to waver.

"What's that smell?" he asked suddenly, nose twitching.

"Focus, Argent," Hayat reminded gently. "Does it tell you something about our circumstances or quarry?"

"Oh, right," Argent said, shaking his head. "It's... sweet? Like berries, but not quite and there's smoke."

"Good, and what does that tell you," Hayat prompted.

"Someones smoking something fun," Argent said happily. Hayat couldn't help a chuckle at that, he was right, Cord was taking a break on the other side of the training ground and had a pipe out. He couldn't smell it himself though he could see the man smoking.

"It tells you someone is smoking nearby, which means a clumsy fellow might be hunting too or maybe an encampment is close What it is matters, but what it means in this moment is more important," Hayat reminded him.

They continued, with Argent showing impressive skill in moments of concentration. He correctly identified a deer trail and even spotted a hidden snare trap Hayat had set as a test. But every few minutes, his attention would drift to a bird call or an interesting rock formation.

"You have the makings of an excellent tracker," Hayat observed as they finished the exercise.

"Your instincts are strong. Now we need to work on maintaining your focus for longer periods."
Argent's tail wagged at the praise, but his eyes had already wandered to a bird flying overhead. Hayat sighed inwardly, reminding himself that he couldn't die of frustration since he was already dead anyway.