Fortunately, Mr. Andreas, Ms. Yaou, and Kamila—who were already standing by for our arrival—managed to reach us before the crowd could completely swallow us up.
We battled voracious creatures through the night—beasts with razor-sharp teeth and eyes that glowed in the dark; we fought piles of bones and reanimated corpses by the crackling light of a bonfire (or rather, a pyre).
We engaged in a life-or-death struggle against an enemy—and his minions—capable of shattering stone walls with a single blow, a foe who refused to fall even after taking hits of concentrated Aether.
We ventured into a dark, unknown place where—once again—we faced the dead, who sought to tear us apart with their bare hands and teeth. All of this took place under the faint, flickering light of an obscured "sun," amidst occasional lightning flashes and the dim glow of a bluish flame that could strike at us, too.
We went through all of that together, and I can say with absolute certainty: facing that crowd was far worse than all of that put together!!!!
–.....
–...
–...
–How long do you intend to stay like this? – Mr. Piqval asked Max, Mav, and Cali.
Max and Mav were sitting side by side, hugging their knees with their heads bowed; yet, through the small gap, I could see that the light in their eyes had all but faded.
Cali had her head resting on a table, face down, her arms simply hanging limp at her sides. I think that if a breeze had blown, they would have fluttered like little flags.
I was drinking some water, my hands still slightly trembling, as I looked after the three of them.
–There's no way—or reason—to rush them. It was their first time facing a horde of curious, excited people who were far more eager for contact than usual. – Anna replied calmly, though I caught her suppressing a laugh out of the corner of my eye.
I wanted to retort, but I simply couldn't bring myself to open my mouth. Just picturing those people—glazed eyes, mouths hanging open as they asked questions, some even drooling as they advanced on us (for some reason)... I shuddered and took another sip of water.
–Well, well, I suppose we can let them rest for now; I imagine it must have been exhausting up on the second floor. –Mr. Andreas said from the doorway, watching us with a wry smile and—not-so-subtle—curiosity about what we'd seen and done during our time upstairs.
–Don't judge them; we didn't fare much better the first time something like that happened to us. –Mr. Barlom said, examining the coins we had brought back from the second floor.
Beside him, Ms. Yaou remained silent but looked our way with an expression of understanding—and a touch of pity—as if she fully grasped what we were feeling.
–It's actually impressive that you're holding up so well, young miss Anna. – Mr. Andreas remarked, genuinely impressed—and he wasn't the only one.
–Well... with my family being the way they are, sometimes... well... Ha ha hahaha... Ahhh...
–Hmm, true. If even half of what I've heard is accurate, you might be more accustomed to this sort of thing than even we are. –Mr. Piqval said from the head of the table.
–Ahem. Sorry to interrupt while you're tired, but could you give us a report—however brief—on what you found on the second floor? –Kamila asked from the other end of the table.
If the question were put to me, I'd say absolutely not—and not just because of what happened when we returned, but simply due to the sheer exhaustion.
To reiterate: even after sleeping for hours in beds designed to aid physical recovery, the mental fatigue lingered. It was in that state that we ventured into an unknown place, our nerves already stretched to the limit—and stretched even further during our exploration. Granted, it was our own choice, but still.
Thank goodness we had someone far more capable of handling this sort of thing.
–Alright, this is going to be a brief account since I'm tired too, but I'll keep it as accurate and straightforward as possible. –The others nodded and listened closely to what Anna had to say.
Shortly after, they began discussing ways to explore this new territory and the limitations that came with it.
Would the same red stone be needed to open the passage? Would the goblin chief and his minions return, just like the other creatures from the Trial? How many people could enter the cave leading to the second floor at once? How many supplies could they carry? And, crucially, what could they gain from this new floor?
According to Anna—and I confirmed this—even though the second floor offered more practical physical resources, like high-quality timber, physical constraints like lighting couldn't be ignored. Then there were the creatures that might be lurking there; we had faced some, but that didn't mean we'd encountered them all.
And worse, if we *had* faced them all, we'd have a different problem on our hands.
–Dealing with the reanimated dead of the demo–*ahem*, of the goblins would already be hard enough to explain to the world. Now, a whole new area seems to be infested with them? The temples and orders won't stay quiet about this. –Kamila said, biting her thumbnail.
–Worse yet, this could attract the wrong kind of people to our village. –She said it with a heavy sigh, eliciting a look of—almost—painful concern from the others, Anna included.
I didn't quite know what they meant—not for sure—but if it had any connection to the rumors I'd heard about certain individuals out there... things in the village could, and would, get complicated, just as Kamila had said.
"Well, that's why we decided to leave the decision of what to do up to the majority of competent adults who are familiar with the Trial."
– Aaaah... one problem solved, and three more pop up right after. Sometimes I wonder if the Trials were the luckiest break this village ever got, or its worst misfortune. – I couldn't help but agree, having lived here since I was a kid—I understood what Kamila meant better than anyone.
Take my "profession," for instance: hunter's apprentice/hunter.
For a village that originally barely had fifty to seventy inhabitants (children included), having two hunters was a big deal.
Yet, what we managed to catch was rarely anything bigger than a *baallio*—a type of swine similar to the boars from the Trials, only darker, slightly smaller, with less body hair, forelegs more like a lizard's than a boar's, and better tusks, too.
Aside from that, we'd catch a few birds, rabbits, or squirrels. If my master Diem got lucky (or unlucky), he might stumble upon some *qvkrabu*, which yielded a good amount of meat plus materials to sell to the rare caravans that passed through—five times a year, if we were lucky.
And this was considered a luxury job in the village and the surrounding areas.
Maybe not a "luxury" profession, but certainly a profession many would love to have.
After all, it provided both a semi-constant flow of food (from the hunt) and an income stream from selling pelts—and sometimes bones or appendages—from creatures capable of manipulating Arther, like the *qvkrabu*. Not to mention the pay we received from the village chief for pest control, whenever a wild animal tried to raid the food stores or attack the villagers.
The fact remains, though, that even with all that, in a single year, my master and I could barely scrape together enough for five gold coins—and that was combining both our "wages" and the occasional sales. And back then, even in "good" professions—farmers, fishermen, lumberjacks, and the like—people barely managed to earn more than 3 gold coins a year.
(Not to mention that the Baron charged a living cost of 2 gold and 5 silver coins).
Now, thanks to the Ordeal, gold has become practically devalued around here.
You can buy 10 loaves of white bread for 1 gold coin, or a set of light leather armor for 5 (admittedly made of poorly tanned leather, but still far better than entering the dungeon with nothing—though I'm an exception); you can even sell boar meat or Trial fish for 2 or 4 gold coins per kilogram.
Caravans have already visited our "village" five times in the last month; they've opened shops here—albeit mostly just stalls—and are renting space in new warehouses to store the spoils from the Trial. And that's not to mention the people who, when they don't make deliveries here, head into the forest to see what they can scavenge, significantly reducing the threat posed by wild beasts or the "near-humans."
Yes, there are issues with "visitors" or new residents causing trouble, but that's inevitable. And with the influx of money, the village chief can hire reliable mercenaries to act as a militia—men like Mr. Andreas.
The economy, quality of life, and—to an extent—security have all improved thanks to the discovery of the Trial. And that's barely five months in, with only one floor explored; what might we expect from the others we know must exist?
The problem is that one of those floors appears to be infested with creatures we were taught from childhood to associate with disaster, death, humiliation, and one of the worst fates imaginable: becoming a mindless puppet at the beck and call of others, or a slave to one's own resentments, corrupted by stagnant Aether.
–AAaaaahhhh... as you said, Miss Kamila: one step forward, three steps back. –Anna sighed in agreement, the others joining in with impressive synchronicity (even Cali, Max, and Mav shifted slightly in assent).
*Thudump, thudump, thudump.*
–One of the biggest questions is how to handle this—though, truth be told, I hardly need to say it. –Mr. Piqval said, drumming his fingers on the table with one hand while resting his head on the other. –For now, the only ones who know about the restless dead on the second floor are the people in this room, and I doubt anyone will want to spread that news to the rest of the population.
That drew a perfectly synchronized nod from everyone, myself included.
–I believe that right now, at this very moment, we have to decide whether to spread this news ourselves.
He raised a finger as he said this.
–We could hold back the news and restrict access to the second floor until we have a better idea—assuming we can even go up there without the red stone.
He raised a second finger.
–Or, we could contact the orders and temples we have ties to, so they can conduct their own checks and determine whether the second floor is a danger zone. –A third finger went up. Understandably, the third option drew the most attention.
–Do you have contacts with orders and temples, Master Piqval? –Mr. Berlom asked the very question that had been on the tip of my tongue.
Master Piqval smiled calmly before answering.
–I may be the leader of a traveling troupe whose only apparent goal is to provide entertainment in exchange for a handful of gold coins and a safe place to stay for a while. –He said calmly.
–But as the leader of a traveling group, it is inevitable that we stay in places where various orders or temples hold sway. And contrary to popular belief, the members of these institutions are human beings, too. Like anyone else, they want to be entertained and to forget, if only for a moment, the rigidity of their daily routines.
At some point, without me noticing, Cali had lifted her head; she was nodding so vigorously that I worried she might accidentally detach it from her body.
Master Andreas, Kamila, and Mistress Yaou all agreed as well; I suspect that if my own master were here, he would have done the same.
–And... –he continued. –By entertaining them well enough to satisfy that need. Gratitude and connection are common outcomes, especially when they happen to be... facing financial difficulties. –He didn't elaborate further; he didn't need to. –And if we offer these orders and temples the chance to gain entry to the Trial—almost exclusively...
""""" We'll be able to use their strength to our advantage, while also putting them in our debt. """""
I'm certain that's what everyone was thinking.
(Author: Hi, I'm still alive, in case anyone was wondering—and finally, an update for another story. Sorry for the delay on this one, and the delays in general; things have been a bit hectic around here.
I won't promise regular, but I'll tryto post at least one chapter of each story per month—sometimes two for the same story.
Thanks again to everyone who reads my stories. Don't worry; the others will be updated, and revised. Thanks for following along, and I hope you enjoy what's coming next.)