It's not wrong to make Friends in the Dungeon (Danmachi / Sanctioned [Worm])
- Location
- Somewhere
What do you mean by that exactly?
To make sure this doesn't end prematurely.like most of the good ones do.
Leave nice reviews and let the Author know what they're doing right so they can keep doing it. I assume that helps anyway. Sometimes people's muses just dry up, and there's not much you can do about that unfortunately.
- Location
- Somewhere
Yeah Magk64 is right Shade. Just be polite and helpful. People can't help it sometimes where their Muse just goes "Yep. I got nothing left"
It's certainly happened to me plenty of times over on Questionable Questing.
Chapter 9: Right For All The Wrong Reasons
- Location
- A single human dimension
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Special thanks to @saganatsu, @DB_Explorer, and my eight other patrons not mentioned here. An extremely enthusiastic pair of "Thank you"s to @Torgamous and @fictionfan for their patronage as well.
"I have acquired an undeniably useful skill and apparent stat growth from a situation rare enough to justify sending rescue parties into the Dungeon. I clearly leeched 'Excelia' from the numerous goblins slain in my presence; why is this problematic?"
Hestia shook her head and tried to remember what she'd told Administrator before. It was hard; there'd been so many interruptions, she'd been shocked by Administrator's decision to join her Familia, and Hestia was still fixated on Administrator's strange behavior back then. Whatever the goddess said before, it clearly wasn't enough.
"I didn't explain Statuses very well, did I? It wasn't just the quality of your skills that was weird. First off, skills are rare. They're the kind of thing you get less than once per level. The captain of the Loki Familia is, um... I want to say level six? And he's rumored to have four or five skills. You also have four and at least two of them are absurdly strong. This is not normal. Even if I break that up into two skills for each of you and Taylor, that's still more than you should have by now."
Hestia hesitated and rethought her last claim. Gaining an extra skill after an empty day was weird, but if she just looked at it as two skills for two different people? That wasn't so bad.
"Nnnnnm. It's actually a little less blatant if I divide it up like that. Still really really really unlikely, but I can't say it's impossible. I guess that means the bigger mystery is your Basic Ability growth. You don't even have one spell, yet your Magic still advanced by more than any other two Abilities combined. That just doesn't make sense. If you fight with a giant hammer, you'll progress most in Strength. If you cast spells and overcome foes through planning, you'll progress most in Magic. You don't have spells and you didn't carry out any mid-battle plans.
"Even more than that, though, is the fact that your Falna grows with the challenges and adversity you've overcome. Excelia doesn't do anything on its own; if you haven't given it a form to take, it'll dissipate without helping you at all. That includes if you've done nothing more than effortlessly cut down foes. Adventurers need to push their limits if they're going to grow. Contrary to what some believe, that doesn't need to include reckless behavior and challenging excessively powerful foes, but that might be the simplest way to force yourself forward. Hephaestus said self-imposed goals could help, too, but her explanation was..."
The goddess shook her head and gave Administrator a sheepish smile. Hestia didn't like admitting when she wasn't smart enough for something. Although now that she had a child of her own, she really should talk to Hephaestus again and try harder to understand the other goddess's lectures. If Administrator had so many secrets that she couldn't properly consult her Guild Advisor, then Hestia would need to fill the gap regardless of how frightening the workload was.
"Um. Yes. Okay, moving on! Noteworthy accomplishments and training don't do much in isolation, either; your struggles produce a small amount of usable excelia, but not very much. You need both substance and shape for the Falna to grow. I suppose you could've absorbed some excelia from the brawl, yet without your participation to give it shape, it shouldn't have done anything. Your new skill might've excused it, but you didn't have that yet."
Hestia rubbed her face with both hands, already tired despite the fact that it was only early afternoon. She wanted a nap, but there was always more to do! How did Hephaestus stand it?
"I'm worried, Administrator. We need to learn how this happened. If we don't have an excuse when someone finally starts looking at you, they might think I somehow cheated. The incident in the Dungeon really wouldn't help with that impression. I don't think anyone has ever before been forced back into Heaven over something like that, but I've never heard of anyone like you and Taylor, either."
Administrator's gaze unfocused in the manner Hestia was quickly coming to associate with Taylor's input. If they kept doing that around other people, they really would develop a reputation for absentmindedness or worse.
"Taylor isn't very lucid right now, but she proposed the hypothesis that this is her doing, not mine."
Hestia had to stop and stare at that. The attempt to look out for her sibling was cute, but how could she possibly think that was true?
"She's been dreaming," Hestia said flatly.
Queen Administrator took a deep breath.
"'Of shadows and flame, of treasure long buried; of shifting the blame and the mothers who worried,'" Administrator quoted. "'Of the nature of monsters and the monsters of nature; of—'"
Administrator stopped and scowled as Hestia shivered from an electric sensation she couldn't quite place. The goddess remembered that sort of riddle-ridden rhyming from a thousand years past and countless shared tales in the time since. It never spelled anything less than capital-T Trouble.
Or maybe people just never share the prophecies about their next lunch? she hoped. Please be something that innocent.
"She's relapsed and lost lucidity. I told her not to push so hard."
Administrator's expression seamlessly shifted back to a faint smile.
"Regardless, she's busier than you can see. I should know; she's occupying my role. She's doing a very good job despite her impatience and disregard for her own recovery time."
"Mmm. She's a Seer, isn't she?" Hestia sighed.
If anything ever made it as part of a starting Status, she would've expected it to be something like that. The absence was a little weird and, if it really made such a huge impact on their lives, may very well hint toward another future skill. Still, that would explain how they'd ended up with such high stats and Magic in particular; if Taylor was off on some sort of perpetual dream-quest, that was a tale all its own.
The worst struggles are those that nobody ever sees.
"Possibly," Administrator acknowledged. "We do not know the definition of that term. It may be more accurate to say the observing partner is a 'Seer' regardless of which of us that happens to be."
Hestia had been assuming their Skill would double the gains of whoever was controlling their body. She'd never even considered the idea of productive dreaming even with the mention of designing Friends from there. In effect, they would be advancing at quadruple the normal adventurer's rate, if not more. She rather hoped
Administaylor, Hestia thought, fighting down any outward signs of amusement. The nickname was a little rude and would be awkward to explain.
The biggest flaw of Seers was, and always had been, their tendency to have their heads in the clouds. Some of them claimed the riddles they so often spouted were simple mnemonic devices; if they didn't take such measures, they wouldn't remember their visions after waking. Taylor seemed to be running into some of the same problems, but the other effects were staring her Familia in the face.
Had anyone ever been able to See and fight at the same time? To direct the excelia using not only the act of overcoming foes, but also the ill-understood struggle to navigate the mirror-realm of dreams? Gleaning anything useful from such a nonsensical realm may have been a laudable accomplishment all on its own.
"It's not frightening, is it?" Hestia asked, increasingly uncomfortable the longer she thought about Taylor's apparent contribution. Pushing one's limits was never easy; that's why they were limits. Being in a dream shouldn't change that.
(Meanwhile, the nameless girl slurped strawberry milk through a twisty straw and idly wondered what magic-infused clouds tasted like.)
"No. She is perfectly safe and far happier than I would have expected," Administrator reassured her. "Our switch was meant to be strictly temporary. However, I believe we are both enjoying the contrast far more than we'd anticipated. Taylor appears to be in no hurry to switch back and I am no longer inclined to push her toward doing so."
"How hard is switching?" Hestia asked curiously. "Could you work out a daily schedule if one wants to switch back, but the other doesn't?"
She'd imagined it to be rather difficult, but it wasn't as though the pair obeyed any of the other alleged rules of how souls functioned. The only thing which came close was full-fledged possession, but that was the displacement of the native soul. Their body-sharing seemed closer to a symbiotic relationship. Even the Falna seemed to want to think of them as one entity.
Administrator shrugged.
"I doubt that will be necessary," the child hedged, blatantly avoiding the question of difficulty. "I will be content in either role. Have we resolved the Falna situation to your satisfaction? May we go make our Friends now?"
"Hmm?" Hestia blinked, the abrupt subject swerve catching her off guard. "Oh! Yes, this should be fine. Um, I should still be working, too. Will you be alright on your own?"
"I had intended to visit Hephaestus's Familia and receive proper tutoring," Administrator noted. "Therefore, I would not be on my own."
The strange girl visibly hesitated to say more, her normally expressionless visage turning to apprehension. Hestia gave her an encouraging smile and waited despite her own concern. Administrator had handled being terrorized by a horde of goblins without issue; what could be making her anxious?
"This may not be the end of our Falna's strange behavior," Administrator eventually admitted, her worry-laced tone too ordinary to be anything other than accidental. "It is our nature to inspect the unknown and learn how it interacts with reality in general. The challenge of analyzing nearly-indecipherable phenomenon may yet have effects of its own."
Hestia relaxed as her mind went over Administrator's innocuous words. Just worries about their Status, then. It burned her to propose something mundane when the pair held so much promise, but...
"That's okay; you can't help what you are. But you don't have to be a real adventurer, you know?" Hestia forced out. "You sound a little like you'd be happier as a scholar instead. The Guild vastly prefers people with prior adventuring experience, but if you impress them with enough book-knowledge..."
Administrator blinked, the apprehension seemingly replaced by confusion and surprise. Her next words had Hestia's hairs standing on end and she didn't even know why.
"Conflict is the fastest route to knowledge. Why would we discard such an excellent source of it?"
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Wolfund
{Verified Historian}
- Location
- France
Because she, instinctually, felt the big bad cosmic horror behind the words ?
floppy_seal99
D-O-G-A-R-S DOGARS!
- Location
- snooping as usual
That, or it's the same feeling you get when an Austrian bodybuilder pops out at you from thin air and demands your clothes, boots, and motorcycle—regardless of how many of the three you've actually got on you right now.
That's oddly specific.
- Location
- Somewhere
Quite possibly both.
- Location
- A single human dimension
- Pronouns
- She/Her
On you? ...
"Queen Administrator, I know you are happy to have your hat-based power back, but a motorcycle is not a hat!"
Anyway, since I'm commenting anyway I just wanted to say: Good work, @Alivaril. Your story is a delight and I find myself very happy when I see a notification that you have updated.
Spectrum
Tell me a secret~
- Location
- Behind you~
Just to poke at this--not sure if this is a deliberate change or if Hestia is making a mistake, but if this is a reference to Aiz, she's not the captain of Loki familia; Finn is.
- Location
- A single human dimension
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Ack! Typo produced the wrong apparent gender (yes, it's still Finn). My bad!
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- Location
- A Table Near You
Worth noting that the Shard-space is an actual physical dimension, so Taylor has probably been literally constructing thousands of prototype Friends from the monster drops she
Stat growth isn't terribly surprising in the face of all that, though it's obviously weird as heck from everyone else's perspective.
fictionfan
Please sir, may I have some Meows?
- Location
- Tempe, AZ
Queen Administer and Taylor seems to have a similar relationship to Jade and Neph. Which is weird considering that they are two different people well Jade and Neph are the same person.
- Location
- A single human dimension
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Probably not next chapter, no. Possibly the one afterward. Also, I'm afraid you're going to be a bit disappointed in this case; Taylor and QA are generally keeping to the usual external appearance of black panthers for the Fluffy Lima strain. Also also, the second-to-latest chapter (latest if you exclude the interlude) of Sanctioned did have a Friend: Fluffy I.
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- Location
- US
Probably not next chapter, no. Possibly the one afterward. Also, I'm afraid you're going to be a bit disappointed in this case; Taylor and QA are generally keeping to the usual external appearance of black panthers for the Fluffy Lima strain. Also also, the second-to-latest chapter (latest if you exclude the interlude) of Sanctioned did have a Friend: Fluffy I.
fair point. But we haven't gotten to see any non-family member see one. Armsmaster almost got to see The one from sanctioned, before Taylor told him that she shouldn't speak with strangers and shut the door on his face (in one coil reality) and did something else (in the other coil reality. What that was never materialized though)
Chapter 10: Increasing Aggro
- Location
- A single human dimension
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Special thanks to @saganatsu, @DB_Explorer, and my eight other patrons not mentioned here. An extremely enthusiastic pair of "Thank you"s to @Torgamous and @fictionfan for their patronage as well.
Orario's Industrial District was rapidly proving to be Queen Administrator's least favorite place in the entire city. Muffled clashes of metal, the roaring of flame, the fine layer of ash atop everything above street level — all of it reminded Queen Administrator of ongoing combat. If she were in full control of herself, she could simply add an archival note to negate the association and move along. That was not an option. She couldn't even remove the uneasiness with the knowledge of her first Friend incubating at home.
The sole benefit seemed to be the significantly thinner crowds in the district. Those within seemed to be almost exclusively adventurers or workmen delivering boxes of supplies. The overall result required more situational awareness — deliveries apparently had priority for using the paths — but provided far more personal space in return.
The further into the district she got, however, the more lost Queen Administrator felt. She'd assumed Crozzo's workshop-forge would be in one of the buildings adjacent to Anzo's, but none of the name-plates matched him. As she went further into the district, the identification plates beside each door vanished entirely and were replaced solely by numbers. Queen Administrator was strongly considering giving up and visiting the Hephaestus Familia's shop on the first floor of Orario's central tower.
Fortunately, it didn't come to that. Her search eventually yielded a middle-aged human female wearing Hephaestus's emblem — a pair of crossed hammers over an erupting volcano — on the front of her coal-stained brown apron. Queen Administrator looked both ways to search for possible vehicles before jogging across the street to join her.
"Excuse me, but do you know where Crozzo of the Hephaestus Familia is?"
The woman took one dismissive look at Host and kept walking, apparently prioritizing delivering a wrapped broadsword over answering a stranger's questions. QA had to jog after the non-host just to hear the answer.
"If you're asking on behalf of someone wanting to commission a Magic Sword from him, don't bother. Kid's terrified of his own damn skill."
Queen Administrator's brow furrowed. She'd been under the impression that nearly all of the local weapons were imbued by local non-hosts. What properties made a 'Magic Sword' more magical than that?
"I don't even know what that is. I've been told he's to tutor me in basic combat before I next enter the dungeon."
The smith swerved toward a nearby wall and slowed to a stop, giving Host a longer examination as she did so. Queen Administrator joined her off the path and waited for her to finish her threat assessment.
"Oh. You're the canary?" The woman asked. "Shit, my bad. Crozzo's forge is over in the newer parts of the district; Hephaestus likes all the members of her Familia to have their own. The address is…"
Her brow furrowed before she eventually shrugged.
"Can't remember, honestly. If you can wait for me to finish handing this off — should be about ten minutes? — I can just lead you there. I'm better with images than numbers."
"I can wait," Queen Administrator acknowledged. "Canary?"
The woman returned to the path and continued at a significantly faster pace than before. Queen Administrator appreciated the reluctance to waste Host's time.
"Mining reference. Miners used them to detect poisonous gas before someone figured out the modern Magic Stone sensors. Better hope you do something more memorable before you level, kid, or I can practically guarantee that's going to be your Alias."
"I have multiple questions. First: What is a 'Magic Stone?' Second: What is an 'Alias?'"
QA's guide momentarily slowed and she examined Host once more. As her tone didn't negatively shift, Queen Administrator assumed the non-host was satisfied with whatever she saw.
"'Magic Stone' is a term interchangeable with 'Monster Core.' This not your first language?"
Queen Administrator shook her head. I would need exponential notation to easily express which it is.
"Huh. Nice job; you're easier to understand than some of the native speakers. The lack of emotion is a bit weird, though. That some respect thing back where you're from?"
"It's a byproduct of a relatively recent injury," Queen Administrator answered truthfully. "I'm needing to learn social interactions from the beginning."
The blacksmith sharply inhaled through her teeth. Archival note: Ask pseudo-host Hestia about the newest breathing variant.
"Shit. Sorry to hear that. Hope your recovery goes alright."
Several seconds passed in silence before QA decided she needed to repeat her question.
"What is an 'Alias?'" Queen Administrator repeated.
The smith started and directed a quick, teeth-baring smile at Host.
"Right, right. So when you get to Level Two, all the gods are invited to an optional meeting where they decide what kind of an official nickname they want to give you. The less powerful your Familia, well…"
The non-host shook her head.
"Frankly, the less influential your Familia, the more likely it is you're going to get something patently absurd or that the other Familia can use to mock you. 'Canary' would actually be pretty innocuous; Aliases like 'Fire Inferno Flame' are far more common. That's a real Alias, by the way."
Queen Administrator felt Host's face shifting to reflect a fear/disgust combination variant. She tried to make a mental note of how it felt for future use.
"Is there any way to bribe them into granting a less objectionable nickname?"
The non-host released a quick exhalation through her nose and shook her head. Archival note: Ask about nose-specific breathing communications. Avoid expressing annoyance with human communications.
"Bribing half the gods in Orario? Good luck with that. Even if you gave it a good shot, you'd probably only end up with something like… gimme a sec."
True to her word, the blacksmith silently considered the idea for well over ten seconds.
"'Spoiled Princess Noble?'" the non-host eventually suggested. "Maybe worse. You gotta remember that the gods descended from Heaven almost purely for their own entertainment. Even saving mortals from monsters was done so their toys would survive. The responsible deities are definitely in the minority. Ah, stay out here for a minute—this is it."
Queen Administrator swerved off the path as the non-host went to a nearby building and knocked on the door. The elderly male who answered it spoke too quietly for Queen Administrator to eavesdrop, but she couldn't have missed out on much. The broadsword was passed on and the non-host returned to Host within a minute.
"Back the way we came, now," the guide said happily. "Anyway, what's your name? Everyone's just been calling you 'The Canary.'"
Queen Administrator.
"Taylor Hebert," she said instead. "Please utilize 'Taylor' in future communications; using surnames quickly grows confusing at family gatherings."
That request earned her an indecipherable look for little discernible reason. The non-host didn't explain the look, either.
"Syndey here. Pleased to meet you. So, what brings you to Orario? Got a particular goal beyond becoming an adventurer?"
Queen Administrator nodded. As long as she omitted the more objectionable details, her goal should be perfectly reasonable by human standards.
"Making Friends and studying the nature of reality."
Syndey laughed despite the lack of any deliberate jokes.
"You might be happier in the Guild, kid. Adventuring is good for making friends, bad for keeping 'em. And there's not a lot of time to ponder philosophy when you're trying to avoid a wyvern's claws or a minotaur's club."
"Monsters and the Dungeon are two of the primary subjects I wish to study while here," Queen Administrator disagreed, choosing to ignore the comment about friend mortality rates. "Orario's population can't even explain why or how the Dungeon released nearly a hundred monsters on the first floor. Such large holes in collective knowledge may very well lead to future casualties. It is possible that previous ambushes occurred in the past and simply left no witnesses. Knowledge is easily leveraged for power and we are ignorant."
The non-host took a deep breath and slowly nodded to herself.
"Mmm. You're alright, Taylor. You be sure to keep that conviction of yours, got it? It's easier to push yourself forward if you have something to work toward."
The words had a note of finality to them. Given as they still seemed to have several minutes of walking left to do, Queen Administrator refused to accept the implied dismissal.
"What is a 'Magic Sword,' and why does your Familia seem to dislike Crozzo?"
Syndey sharply inhaled through her nose again. Judging by the arrangement of her other facial features, Queen Administrator was guessing the expression was related to amusement.
"You really are an inquisitive little brat, aren't you? Don't let anyone scare you away from that. I wish I'd asked more questions when I was starting out. Anyway, the two are linked. Magic Swords are weapons that essentially have spells waiting in 'em; you swing the sword, the sword casts the spell. They're expensive as all hell, but they're much better than a potion when you're heavily outmatched. The Crozzo family used to make more and stronger Magic Swords than anyone else until their weapons were used to burn down a forest of spirits. Those spirits were understandably upset and cursed the Crozzo line to never again make a usable Magic Sword.
"Welf Crozzo is the first one in generations to have his inherited skill actually work again. You'd think it'd be pretty obvious that the spirits decided to give them another try, right?"
Syndey shook her head.
"Nope. Kid can't seem to take the damned hint. Gifts are meant to be used, not mounted on a wall and cooed over — or in his case, avoided. Yeah, Magic Swords won't last forever, but neither do normal blades. Better to have a sword break than its wielder."
Syndey slowed to a stop and gestured to the door of a nearby stone structure. The thick black smoke billowing up and out of its chimney confirmed that Welf Crozzo was either present and forging or absent and enabling arson.
"That's his workshop. Don't let what I said stop you; he's a good kid if you can ignore his hypocrisies. Good luck and stay safe, kid."
"The same to you," QA said carefully.
Queen Administrator had used that one phrase a disproportionate amount of times. Humans seemed to have so many variants on how to politely exit a conversation; effectively echoing their words back at them had saved Queen Administrator from needing to actually learn the various conversational closers. She still intended to eventually, yet the nature of human memory forced her to set up a priority list and her current version was adequate.
Queen Administrator refocused on the outside world and hurried to Welf Crozzo's door. Repeatedly hitting it with the culturally designated part of her hand was unpleasant as always. She still didn't understand why humans considered it rude to utilize the more durable parts of their hands instead of their comparably fragile joints.
"Just a minute!" a male shouted from outside. "Almost done!"
Queen Administrator closed Host's eyes and sighed. She knew from experience that variants on that claim could range from anywhere between ten seconds and ten minutes. That tendency could be used to summarize human nature in general: they made precise measurements and then casually mutilated them.
Humans really should teach their progeny about margins of error.
To Queen Administrator's surprise, Welf actually managed to open the door in approximately the minute he'd promised. At least, she assumed the copper-haired teenager was the individual she'd been assigned to. His eyes spent several seconds flicking between different parts of
"Welf Crozzo?" Queen Administrator questioned.
The teenager refocused on her face and smiled slightly.
"Yeah. Taylor, right?" he asked. "The voice is a giveaway."
Queen Administrator appropriately molded Host's face and voice to express displeasure.
"That is potentially problematic. We may need to institute additional authentication measures."
Welf blinked before gradually tilting his head to one side.
"Nnnnnnnno, I don't think that's necessary," he slowly replied. "I've never even heard of someone trying to disguise themselves as another person. Well, not if other people already knew them, anyway."
"That just means nobody is prepared for it," Queen Administrator rebuked, then stopped to reconsider.
Actually, that sounds exploitable. Unfortunately, Hestia did indicate we were likely to be in an alliance for the foreseeable future. Closing enemy security problems is worth reinforcing an ally.
Welf laughed briefly in what QA knew was the male equivalent of a giggle.
"Yeah, I really wouldn't worry about it. You can't falsify your Status, remember?"
Welf made it seem as though it was something obvious that everyone knew. Queen Administrator chose not to tell him she had not, in fact, been aware.
"Anyway, did your goddess conceal your Status yet? I don't want to see something I shouldn't when you're trying out different kinds of armor; shirts sometimes gets dragged up or caught places."
Queen Administrator tilted her head questioningly.
"She can conceal my Status?"
Welf's easy smile slipped into a small frown.
"That's a no. Weapons practice it is, then. I'm not too fond of the whole 'teaching by contrast' thing, but at least this'll teach you how to tell the difference between properly fitted and ill-fitting armor. Lemme put the fire out and get changed so we can go."
The blacksmith vanished into his
"Should I close the door?" Queen Administrator called.
"Nah, I'll still be dressed the whole time. You can come in if you don't mind the smell."
Queen Administrator took an experimental sniff and shook her head. Still too much like Escalation.
"I'm afraid I do mind. Why do you need armor if we're staying exclusively above-ground?"
"Dulled blades still smart if you get hit. Padding helps. Anyway, I heard you wanted to be an archer? I got a cheap hunting bow and some arrows for you. Treat me to lunch sometime and we'll call it even."
Queen Administrator blinked. Danny Hebert had warned her about individuals asking her out to non-group meals.
"I apologize, but we've just met and I am not romantically or physically interested."
"What?" Welf asked, sounding confused by her refusal.
"I am not—" Queen Administrator began again.
"No, no, that's not what I meant at all!" Welf interrupted, laughing. "Party members and friends go for meals together all the time."
The non-host reappeared in the doorway, now wearing leather armor similar to Host's and carrying two large blades. The promised hunting bow was nowhere to be seen.
"It's more common among adventurers to bring people meals when you're first expressing interest, not to bring them to meals. Bringing lunch for one person out of a party and excluding everyone else is practically as good as a confession."
The non-host finished locking his workshop and waved toward Orario's central tower.
"We'll make a quick detour to the market to pick up your bow and maybe get the fletcher to teach you how to maintain it. Shall we?"
An hour later, the colored target in front of
"Invite me the first time you publicly play knives or darts," Welf ordered. "We could make a ki—I bet we could make a lot of money off a few choice wagers. I'll tell you who to avoid—which is to say, almost everyone above level three. Below that wouldn't stand a chance. Gods, you might even beat higher-ups if they're drunk enough."
Queen Administrator frowned to express wariness and turned to the blacksmith beside her.
"My former parental figure told me to avoid people who invited me to gamble."
Welf snorted and waved one hand through the air.
"Okay, okay, fair enough. How about we just have me put up the money and I'll give you some of the earnings anyway? Seriously, this is a perfect opportunity. Not even joking."
"He also warned me of the tactic known as 'seed funding,'" Queen Administrator stated. Welf had acted trustworthy thus far, but that could've merely been a front for this opportunity.
"No, I'm not—are you messing with me? I honestly can't tell."
"I don't know what that phrase means. Could you explain?"
"Bleh. Never mind."
"I still want the explanation."
"We should totally teach you to play the common card games, too."
Adding extra means of gambling when she'd already refused one subtype was not helping her ability to trust him. He was also ignoring her questions.
"What does 'messing with me' mean?" Queen Administrator repeated pointedly.
"Okay, okay, it means joking at my expense! Seriously though, are you always this stubborn? You're passi—declining free money."
"Allegedly 'free' money is also on the list of things he warned me about," Queen Administrator noted.
"You are impossible!"
"Hestia possesses more information than you and has already rejected that hypothesis."
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- Location
- A single human dimension
- Pronouns
- She/Her
I can't answer that without spoilers or misleading wording. Sorry. EDIT: Next chapter, I promise!
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QA is a treasure that keeps on giving.
- Location
- San Francisco
Whaddaya mean potential?