The Outlands

The next day, Gramps was in his office, tying off a few loose ends before he left for a bit. Jin had come to him and requested him to find someone to tutor Tess in combat with claws. Gramps had been happy to oblige; he couldn’t expect The Rumors to have expertise in such a niche fighting style, not when none of them even had claws to begin with.

Fortunately, he knew just who to ask. One of his old party members, Eyfura, fit the bill perfectly. She was an old wolfkin who had long since managed the elusive evolution to garmrkin, and she had been a particularly ferocious unarmed combatant before the party had retired. He had made a point of asking Fortune if it was OK to let her in on the secret, and Fortune had given the OK to let Eyfura in, but anyone else coming with her would need to swear a Fatebinder’s Oath.

Plus, she owed him a couple of favors and was completely trustworthy, so she was the perfect pick. So, he finished off his work, let the staff know he was leaving, and began his walk to the residential district. As usual, people called out to him fairly often, and he stopped to say hi when he could.

Eventually, he made it to her house, where he gave their party’s knock. It was something that they had thought up as youngsters, and, silly as it was, they stuck with it as a sort of nostalgic in-joke. A few moments later, a young wolfkin opened the door. “Uncle Evan!” She burst out happily, catching him in a hug, “Why are you here?!”

He smiled, tousling the girl’s hair. “Nice to see you, Ilmir. I’m here to talk with your grandma about some business, will you fetch her for me?”

“Sure thing!” Ilmir chirped, “Go ahead and take a seat, it’ll be a second!” Ilmir detached herself from Gramps, bounding off further into the house with her tail wagging. Gramps ducked into the sitting room next to them and sat down on one of the many couches, enjoying the somewhat nostalgic scent of Eyfura’s house. Soon enough, Ilmir was back, trailed by Eyfura. “Evan, to what do I owe the pleasure?” She asked, sitting across from him.

“Ah, I’m afraid it’s confidential.” He said, shooting a glance at Ilmir. “Sorry, Ilmir, I’m going to need you to step out for a bit.”

Ilmir pouted, but gave a nod, left, and shut the door behind her. Gramps applied a silencing spell to the room while Eyfura watched curiously. “What’s this about, then?” She asked once he had finished with the spell.

Gramps gave a sigh. “I’ve talked with you about my grandchildren, right?”

Eyfura rolled her eyes. “At length. Can’t say I don’t understand the sentiment, though.”

“Well, I finally introduced them to the Outlands a few days ago.”

“Congratulations. What went wrong?”

Gramps raised an eyebrow. “I never said anything about things going wrong.”

Eyfura waved a hand. “Please. You wouldn’t be here on confidential business if everything is going according to plan.”

“I suppose you could say something went wrong.” Gramps admitted. “Thomas got the lowest possible growths and Ellie got the highest. As a result, Fortune took notice and gave Thomas her strongest blessing.”

Eyfura gave a low whistle, but Gramps wasn’t done yet. “So, I took Thomas to the Challenge in Slime Tower, and wouldn’t you know it, he got something from it.”

Eyfura’s eyes widened. “Really?! What was it?”

“A class called Monster Breeder. A transformation class, too. It turned him into a girl, but, more importantly, she got four Phantasmal Skills.”

Eyfura was staring in disbelief, so Gramps decided to deliver the final blow. “And, according to Fortune, Heroes and War are personally optimizing her Skills.”

“You’re pulling my leg.” Eyfura whispered.

Gramps shook his head. “Deadly serious, I’m afraid. I won’t get into the any details of her kit right now; the important part is she’s an unarmed combatant that has started using claws as her main weapon. I’ve got The Rumors teaching her and Ellie, but they want someone who actually knows how to use claws to show Tess the ropes.”

“I’m assuming Tess is Thomas’s new name?” Eyfura asked. After Gramps nodded, she continued. “Honestly, I would normally say yes, but I’m busy training Ilmir right now, and I’m guessing she’s not allowed into this mess?”

Ah, so that was why Fortune had made the provision about multiple people. “On the contrary, I’d be happy to have her join so long as she swears a Fatebinder’s Oath to keep everything secret, and Fortune herself gave the OK. Oh, you don’t have to make one or anything, we trust you.”

Eyfura mulled that over, then grinned. “I suppose it’s about time I teach Ilmir about how to be in a party anyway. Would you care to do the honors of performing the oath?”

Gramps shrugged. “Might as well.” He walked over to the door, opened it, and called for Ilmir.

There was the sound of footsteps from upstairs, then she appeared on the landing, jumped the entire set of stairs, and rushed to them. “Can I come in now?!” She asked excitedly.

“Yes.” Eyfura said, “Come in.”

Ilmir dashed into the room, and Gramps shut the door and reapplied the spell. “So,” he began, “We’re willing to let you in on the confidential stuff, as it involves you. But, in return, you have to swear a Fatebinder’s Oath to not reveal any of it. Is that acceptable?”

Ilmir nodded vigorously. “Sure thing!”

Gramps took Ilmir’s hand gently. “Ilmir, as one blessed by the God of Fate, I ask if you will swear to tell no one about Tess’s special capabilities or this Oath until the day she dies or releases you from the oath.”

“Um, yeah.” She said, apparently taken aback. “Who’s Tess?”

Gramps let the hand drop and explained the situation. “Don’t tell them I did the Oath, though. That’s on the down-low and I’m waiting for the right time to tell them.”

Ilmir nodded, tail wagging furiously. “So, you’re saying that I get to be in a party with Tess and Ellie, and that they’re going to be suuuuper strong? That sounds awesome!”

Eyfura, grinned again and clapped Ilmir on the back. “By the time we’re done with you, the three of you are going to be stronger than my party was, no sweat.” She stopped for a moment, then shot Gramps a sly look. “You think Ava and Atum would be up to have a couple of their grandkids join in? It would be like the second generation of The Titans.”

Gramps chuckled. “Let’s take it one step at a time. We’ll have to see if Ilmir meshes with them properly.”

“I’m sure it’ll be fine!” Ilmir said happily, “When do I get to meet them?”

“Tomorrow.” Gramps assured her, “What level are you right now?”

“Thirty-nine!” Ilmir said proudly, “I’ve been doing some grinding.”

Gramps nodded sagely. “So, you’re higher level than them, but that’s fine. It doesn’t really…matter with those two. Ellie’s probably going to be just as tough as you at half the level, and Tess is the opposite. We shouldn’t need to alter things too much, then.”

Eyfura shot Ilmir a glance. “Alright, I’m going to need to talk with Tess’s current trainers about things, so you go through your exercises, alright?”

“Yes, Grandma!”

Eyfura stood up, walking over to Gramps and grabbing his elbow. “Let’s be off then, shall we?”

---

Tess spent most of the time before Ellie got done with school grinding out Cub’s Den with Ker. They mostly just dashed through the floors while ignoring the monsters, killed the boss, and did it all over again until they reached the Rewards Crystal. Given the short nature of the dungeon, they were able to fully clear it in just about six hours, giving Tess an hour or two to relax before Ellie got there.

She had, unsurprisingly, made out pretty well from the dungeon. Her two picks had been magic based, the first All Magic Skill, and a Mana saving Skill. Both of those were things Fortune had assured her she would get later, but Tess didn’t really want anything else at the moment, so she opted to get them early.

The other Skills were to do with her unarmed attacks, unsurprisingly.

She hadn’t done much of anything with cores during the time either. Monster Breeder had leveled up twice and she had leveled up five times, but aside from equipping Facultative Biped (Greater) and Keen Nose, nothing much changed.

After she finished reviewing the day’s work, there was nothing much left to do but wait until Ellie got there.

Or so she thought. Instead, Jin and Alice entered the room Tess and Ker were waiting in earlier than Tess had been expecting them. “Hey,” Alice said, looking at Tess, “How’ve you been?”

“Fine, I guess. How about you?” Tess replied.

“Well, I did a bunch of thinking, and I realized I just wasn’t comfortable only taking you out dungeon diving when that’s what we do anyway, so I got you a present.” She reached into her bag and pulled out a core about the size of a baseball, which she tossed to Tess.

Tess fumbled a bit but managed to catch it. “What’s this?” She asked, looking at it curiously.

Alice smiled. “Saberclaw Lion core. I know it’s a bit outside of your comfort zone but go ahead and absorb it anyway. You don’t have to eject it any time soon, and it’ll be a pretty nice addition to your toolset.”

Tess frowned. “I thought the idea was to not absorb strong cores right away.”

Alice waved a hand. “Yes, but this one’s an exception. It’s got mostly passive stuff that’s going to build on what you already have. It’s not going to make you overly dependent on any one thing, so please use it. Uh, later. We have a bit to talk about first.”

Alice fidgeted nervously. “We had to get you an additional teacher because we can’t teach you how to properly use your claws. So, we went to ask the guildmaster to find one, and he…did.”

Ker frowned. “Who’d he get? Why that hesitation?”

“He got Eyfura the Ripper.” Jin said.

Ker sighed. “Of course he did. It makes sense, but I didn’t think he’d be able to drag her out of retirement for this.”

“Who?” Tess asked.

“She’s a former member of the guildmaster’s party, The Titans.” Jin explained.

“And a legend among anyone who uses melee.” Alice interjected. “Like, a legend. Every single person in their party is a legend in their respective roles. So, be respectful, alright?”

Alice looked like she was going to say more, but the door opened, and a tall woman stepped in. Despite her youthful appearance, she had dark gray hair, matching the color of her eyes. She had wolf ears and a tail of the same color, and overall looked somewhat…unkempt. Her hair and fur were rather messy, and she was wearing sweatpants and a baggy t-shirt.

“You must be Tess!” She said warmly. “Call me Aunt Eyfura, or just Auntie, whichever you feel more comfortable with. Evan’s told me so much about you, and I’ve been dying to meet you!” She scooped Tess up into a hug. “You’re a real cutie, you know that?”

Tess ignored Alice’s jealous look and awkwardly returned the hug. “Um, thanks, I guess. They were saying that you’re going to teach me how to use my claws?”

Eyfura released the hug and nodded. “That’s right. Your grandpa taught you martial arts, right?”

“Yeah, he taught me and Ellie some stuff.”

“That’s good. What he taught you is what I taught him, which is just a modified version of what I use. You should be able to pivot to the proper version without too much trouble.”

Jin cleared his throat. “Before we get into that, we need to discuss the changes we’re making to your curriculum.”

“Ah, right.” Eyfura said, taking a seat next to Tess. “I forgot. Please, go ahead.”

Jin nodded. “We’ve decided that, the matter with Eyfura aside, you and Ellie are shaping up differently enough that we can’t just keep you doing the same thing all the time and expect to see optimal results, in no small part due to the difference in time we have with the two of you. So, we’re splitting you up. Tess will always be with Eyfura and one of me, Alice, or Ker, and the rest of us will be with Ellie. We may have you do joint trainings from time to time, but that won’t be the norm.”

“My granddaughter will occasionally join us.” Eyfura added, “Only if we’re training outside a dungeon before Ellie gets here or during joint trainings, though. Otherwise we’re sticking her with Ellie. I’m training her as well, and we’re hoping that the three of you can get along well, but if it not, we’ll figure something out.”

“Right.” Jin confirmed. “Today it’s going to be Alice, and she and Eyfura are going to go take you to Rogue’s Hideaway. It’s the last beginner dungeon, and you can think of it like an intro to traps and other dungeon features.”

“That’s right!” Alice said, pumping a fist, “And once we’re done with this, we can finally start getting into the fun stuff.”

Eyfura stood up, stretching. “Anything else or can we take it from here?”

“Go ahead.” Jin said, “Ker and I will break the news to Ellie.”

Eyfura and Alice were leaving, so Tess chose to make her exit as well.

“How do we want to go about this, ma’am?” Alice asked, falling into line behind Eyfura.

“Eyfura.” Eyfura corrected. “This isn’t going to work if you’re so formal.”

“Uh, right.” Alice said, “So, do you want to be the main trainer or me or…?”

Eyfura shrugged. “Eh, we’ll play it by ear. Doesn’t really need to be a ‘main’ trainer if you ask me. Before we decide anything, though, I gotta see how she handles herself out there.”

Alice fell into a thoughtful silence at that, but Eyfura either didn’t notice or didn’t care, keeping up a light conversation with Tess as they walked towards the dungeon. Like with the other dungeons their walk was short, and at this time of day the lines were even shorter.

The people checking the paperwork all seemed to recognize Eyfura, though they didn’t try and strike up any sort of unnecessary conversation with her like what had happened with Gramps. In fact, now that she was thinking about it, Tess realized that no one had tried to talk to Eyfura; people kept a respectful distance from her, even if that meant going out of their way to do so.

Well, for the most part people did. Some people didn’t seem to mind, treating her like any other pedestrian and not interrupting their movement just to give her extra space. Still, it was a marked difference from the friendliness people showed Gramps.

“Right, right, so,” Eyfura said once they got into the dungeon’s lobby, “Let’s get to it. Go grab the info sheet and scan through it, then we’re going to use the first floor to give me a feel for how you fight right now. Alice and I will take care of the traps and tanking, you just kill the monsters. After that we can teach you how to handle traps, alright?”

Eyfura and Alice left to take a seat on some chairs near the wall while Tess went to fetch the sheet. A minute or so later when she was done, Tess went and joined them. They were having a hushed conversation about something that she wasn’t quite able to hear, so she decided to leave them alone and look through the pamphlet.

The monsters seemed to be of the humanoid variety this time around. They were all different types of goblins or kobolds, and apparently came in groups. Individually, they seemed weaker than anything from Cub’s Den, but their teamwork was apparently passable and there were some armed with ranged weapons, so they weren’t to be taken lightly.

The traps…well, trap was a strong word. “Painful prank” may have been a better way to phrase it. As far as Tess could tell, none of the traps would be fatal by themselves; instead they were all along the lines of being hit with a small rock or having a board spring up and smack anyone who tripped the trap in the face. They were almost comedic, like they were straight out of a slapstick cartoon. There was even the classic “bucket on top of the doorframe” gag.

The Challenge was just a pure trap gauntlet, with a chance to find the entrance after successfully disarming a trap. A doorway would spring up wherever the trap was, and upon finishing the Challenge, they would be transported back to wherever they entered.

To finish her short reading off, she looked at the boss. It was, fittingly enough, a goblin chieftain. It would send waves of weak goblins and kobolds at the challengers, who would have to fight through them to reach the chieftain’s throne, all while having to dodge the numerous traps littered throughout the arena. Once they finally reached the chieftain, the battle was pretty much over. It wasn’t much tougher than a regular goblin, and once it went down, all the other enemies did too.

She shut the little pamphlet and turned to her mentors. “Finished.” She told them.

Eyfura nodded. “Good. Let’s go.”