Primal Dawn

When Peter’s group had reconvened after their break, he found himself more tired than before. Kalista and Gaia, on the other hand, were brimming with energy as they followed the others into the next room.

The appearance of this one was reminiscent of a medicinal shop. Shelves were lined with different ingredients, either in jars or other containers. This made the fight start off a little cramped, since everyone was now fighting in aisles even thinner than the hallway leading into this room. It didn’t take long though for some primals to let off some wide attacks that bashed or knocked down the shelves in the middle, leaving the room wide open.

None of the ferals were ones that Peter hadn’t seen before. The strongest was a Trickster, who the tamers ordered to be left alive and captured. Once the fight was over, one of the tamers spotted a small brown and gold chest that had been tucked away under one of the shelves lining the wall. 

Its contents were a few health potions and a hefty amount of coins- a few silver included. Peter mentally noted that this must be what those treasure containers one of the other tamers had told him about earlier must have looked like. He’d have to keep a close eye out for those things, especially if they were normally hidden like this.

“We have our quota met with this Trickster,” Levi shouted as he held up a stone in front of the group. “Are we heading back or grabbing one more so we can roll?”

Heading back? Peter was a little surprised, it felt like they could go on for at least a few more rooms. But as he scanned the primals standing next to their tamers, he spotted some worn expressions. Perhaps the toll was different depending on the type, or there was no appetite for any further risk. After all, the dungeon had just appeared, so there was still time left to further explore.

A few tamers began to murmur amongst themselves, before one abruptly shouted, “Roll!” Quickly more and more joined the call and soon a decision was reached.

As everyone began to line up near Levi at the exit to the next room, he pointed through the crowd of tamers towards Peter. “You. Peter, right? Want to take the lead for the last one? It might be good practice.”

Peter blinked. He opened his mouth on instinct to accept, but then shut it. All the tamers were looking at him.

No. They were looking at Kalista.

“I’ll pass. Don’t want to risk our healer,” Peter said while rubbing Gaia’s back with a slight roughness. She tilted her head slightly and smiled at the others. Levi shrugged and began to move and the others fell in from behind. Peter shot a puzzled look towards Kalista and Gaia before the three followed the others.

The most eventful part about the next room was that it was the last, in multiple ways. There were no more doorways there, and so their group had found a dead end. Which was all the more reason to head back towards Shantee.

They had captured another Iron armored feral. Near the entrance Levi asked which they were to roll on. The votes were unanimously for the Trickster.

After a quick roll of the dice, the lucky tamer gleefully accepted the stone while excitedly saying she would make a great third member of his team.

Peter found himself with eighty copper after the money was split evenly between the tamers. A paltry amount compared to what he had expected. But looking around at how many people were present, it made sense. Any amount of money would be divided heavily amongst a group as large as theirs.

Peter glanced at the other exit in the room as everyone began to line up near the entrance. "We're not going to let them know we're leaving?" He asked worriedly.

Before Levi could reply, the quiet sound of idle chatter began to rise from the other path. Soon the other group emerged, Jack walking in front with Fira close behind and looking slightly uneasy.

"Looks like there's no need to send someone. The other side's a dead end; there's a forest in one of the rooms where you could wash up." Levi said.

Jack nodded. "We'll do our rolls first." They quickly handed out a few items and spread the coin amongst themselves. "Anyone who wants to take a bath can stay behind. I'm heading back."

Peter lined up behind the mass of Tamers exiting the dungeon, and heard a small rumble. He turned to spot Fira clutching her stomach and quickly averting her gaze, though still watching him from the corner of her eye.

He sighed. "If you go down the other way there's a forest looking room with a bush in the corner that has berries on it." Fira nodded and head in that direction. Figuring she'd be safe since some Tamers were staying behind, he stepped through the portal once more. Surprisingly, or perhaps not so, the portal in the forest was now blue as well.

The walk back to Shantee was uneventful. When they arrived, it seemed as though the other groups hadn't returned, but left behind some people to guard their things.

It figures that thieves are on guard against thieves.

In a few hours when everyone had returned, the chubby man began to bang the pan right on time, and all those present lined up to receive their food.

As he handed Peter his bowl, he narrowed his eyes and handed him a second one. "Make sure that one reaches your friend outside."

"Friend?" Peter asked aloud, before recalling Kaze. "Oh." Peter wondered if he should refute him. Was Kaze his friend? 

Before he could even finish opening the door. "Who goes there?" a threatening voice shouted.

"Me, it’s me, uh, Peter," Peter said, grimacing as he spotted Kaze sitting next to the remnants of a campfire while laying on a sleeping bag.

"Ah, come, come," the man said with a slight smile, motioning towards a space next to him.

Peter's eyes drifted back towards the inside of the fort. 

"Let me get the fire started," Kaze said before pulling out some large wooden planks onto the pile and lighting them. Peter instantly recognized them as the same as what he was carrying in his backpack.

The warmth of the fire was tempting. "Can you two manage?" Peter asked his primals.

"I'll try," Kalista angrily groaned. Gaia nodded.

Peter handed one bowl and sat down opposite of Kaze. He lifted one spoonful of the food and swallowed it.

Peter gagged.

"Haha," Kaze laughed, "It really is awful isn't it?"

"Hard to believe anyone survived up here."

"What it lacks in taste it makes up for in nutrients and calories, I think."

"Ca-lo-ries?"

"Food energy." Peter nodded like he understood. He silently continued to eat, unsure of what to say. He had expected Kaze to be more talkative, but instead he was silent, as if waiting for Peter to initiate conversation. Finally, he said, "Do you know a Paladin named Serina?”

“Serina, Serina…” Kaze’s voice tapered off. “Describe her? I’m guessing she’s from… Wildburry, is where the delivery came from?” 

“Blonde. Super tough Paladin. I don’t really know what else to say, since I only ever saw her in standard armor.”

“Hmm,” Kaze blinked a few times. “Super tough… is her last name Lightrender by any chance?”

“Lightrender? I don’t know her last name.”

“There’s a woman,” Kaze said as he took another spoonful. “Lana. She helped train me when I first… started. Not as strong as me, of course, but not bad. That’s why I get to carry this thing.” he said as he briefly gripped the hilt of his weapon. “She has a daughter, maybe that’s her. Why, you like her?”

Peter blushed. “No, I just don’t know anyone else from the church. Not sure what you religious folk want to talk about besides the extinction of primals…”

“Bahaha!” Kaze laughed. “How about we leave the politics out from today. Let’s play a game.” His hand briefly disappeared behind him and pulled out a small sack kept closed by a string. He unraveled it and laid it upon the ground, revealing a grid embroidered on the interior cloth, with a pile of black and white coated jumble of wooden disks sitting atop. Kaze quickly set them into the squares, leaving an open space between each of them.

“I’ve never seen something like this before,” Peter muttered aloud.

“Rules are simple. Each chip can only move forwards and diagonally onto another square. You can’t move onto a square where another one is, but if there’s an empty space behind that one, you can jump over and take the other player’s piece. First one to zero pieces left loses. Oh, and if your chip reaches the other side it gains the ability to go backwards. We each take turns moving only one at a time, and there’s no limit on how many jumps your chip can make in a single turn.”

Peter nodded. Kaze moved a piece. Peter spent some time thinking before he finished his turn. Kaze instantly reacted. The game went on for some time; Peter slowly thought through his moves while Kaze instantly reacted. Eventually, Peter found himself with no pieces left.

“Good game! Good game!” Kaze chanted.

“Again.” Peter grumbled. After a few more rounds, he hadn’t managed to do anything better than a complete defeat. “This game is stupid. The moment you get one of your pieces to the other side I don’t stand a chance.”

Kaze chuckled. “Then don’t let me get to the other side. Tell you what, why don’t we make things interesting?”

Peter sighed. “I know what’s about to come next.”

“If I win, I’ll let you join my group tomorrow morning and watch how a real man fights. If you win…” Kaze tapped his chin. “I doubt you’ll win, so I didn’t really think about it much. Oh, how about one of these,” he said as he pulled out a summoning stone.

It was as surprising as it was strange, offering a summoning stone in exchange for… being a spectator. Was Kaze so lonely? Although to someone like him, perhaps a summoning stone was worthless, so in his mind the two prizes were equal. “I accept.” Peter instantly scooched over, Gaia now sitting down next to him. 

“Hiding behind your monster?” he said with a scowl.

“There’s no condition that she can’t give me advice.” 

“Maybe I should explain the rules again, slowly, so that she-”

“I know,” Gaia muttered.

The next game consisted of Gaia instantly giving moves after Kaze made his, and then Peter spending a few minutes trying to understand why she made the choice. Eventually he gave up and just started doing what she said. Even after mistakenly moving the wrong piece once and hearing ‘no takebacks,’ he still managed to beat Kaze. “Good game,” Peter repeated, similar to Kaze as he looked at the summoning stone in his palm.

“She got lucky,” Kaze sternly said as Peter got up. “I was a bit worn out from beating you so many times. Got a little overconfident.”

Peter smiled awkwardly. “I guess our strategy worked then.”

“She loses tomorrow.”

“Sure,” Peter slowly nodded his head. “I’d best be heading back now.”

“And since I’m generous, I’ll still let you tag along with me in the Dungeon. Teach you a thing or two.” 

“We’ll see.”