Chapter 019 Warmth

Neron Kaisar is a Beast, a monster. One that should never have been born in this time. His every breath, his very existence, enables and perpetuates violence, death, and suffering.

-The Man Inside The Beast, Second Edition, P.78

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In the physical and mental state he was in, Neron barely took a moment to evaluate the new arrival. Colour had returned with the light emanating from the glowing shield but only so much as to cast the world in abstract gradients of monochrome. Fox eyes looked upon a human for the first time and found it alien in contours and impressions, yet still understandable.

Human. Male. Tall for an Earthling or Native. Broad in profile, not just in shoulder, arm and torso but also in the lower body. Equipment had scratches and scuff marks. Hair and clothes wet from the rain. Clothes fit for cool but not cold temperature. Armour plating in boots, pants, and arms. Sword is in the longer gladius style of Leidon, with faint patterns along the blade and hilt suggesting enchantment. The shield was... was... was...

"Are you alright," the man asked again, his smile fading with concern as Neron failed to respond right away. "Are you injured? Do you need healing?"

Neron tore his gaze from the shield, remembering a few of his sisters' and Medea's warnings about certain items.

"I-I-I-I am fu-fu-fine," Neron answered, teeth chattering from the cold. Adrenaline was starting to fade, and with it went his energy and clarity, leaving only the cold and the numbness behind. "Th-th-thank yu-you."

The man gave Neron a scan of his own, looking him over for injuries. He did not seem to notice or care that Neron's face, thanks to removing his fur, was an abominable mess of half fox, half human features. His eyes caught sight of the red blood on blueish skin of Neron's hand but accepted it as not being a problem after a simple glance. Seeing no other wounds, the arrival smile.

"I'm glad I got here in time." His smile was warm. Genuine. It reached his eyes and they conveyed the sincere relief he felt at being able to help. "You need to be careful of places like this. Most of them are remains of old battles and monsters like to use them as dens. Sometimes they become full dungeons. Are you starting to warm up?"

"A bu-bit." Neron actually was. It wasn't just the fact that the rain and wind were being blocked by the glowing dome, but he was starting to regain sensation in his extremities. Said extremities had opinions that they were making known but they were, technically, getting warmer. Even his clothes seemed drier.

"Good. I'll stay with you until you do and are dry. Sorry I can't make it faster." He appeared genuinely apologetic. "I don't want to send you into shock." Neron nodded once, showing he understood the reasoning and didn't begrudge the arrival for it. "Name's Gabriel, by the way."

"Kai-Kaisar."

"German, Roman, or Greek?" Gabriel asked curiously.

"Greek spe-spelling. Ro-roman root."

Neron knew what the man was doing. He was trying to keep him talking, keep him distracted as his body slowly thawed. He also knew who this man was and had since he first appeared.

Gabriel was leader of Tengen. Or, at least, its Guild Master.

Once Neron had determined his sisters were the Banker and her bodyguard, the infamous Banshee, he'd naturally investigated their rivals among the other top Player guilds. There was a rough equilibrium among the top five, due to the fact that they all focused on subtly different things, but that did not mean they weren't a risk to his sister's budding enterprise so he'd done his due diligence and investigated all of them as best as he could.

Tengen was, on the face of it, the least likely to come into contention with the Bank. They, unlike the Tower and the Bank, were not interested in establishing outposts in cities. They were a guild of adventurers and explorers, focusing almost exclusively on the frontier. They were also philanthropic, to a degree. Tengen made a point of acting as volunteer guards and police forces anywhere they occupied, mostly focusing on reigning in other Players who caused trouble for the Natives. 

Unlike the Troupedoors and Banukeita, they also had a policy of transparency in most matters. Not only were their members to reveal their Natures and descriptions to the public, they were also to record and display all their feats and discoveries. This was done on the understanding that anyone who would take advantage of an individual's revelations would, in turn, face the full wrath of the guild itself. It was in large part due to Tengen that Medea had so much information about Natures, dungeons, and other matters surrounding God's Nature. 

In fact, Gabriel's own Nature, and those of his wife and party, were considered some of the most balanced and useful for new Players. If one was unaware of how they wished to play, they could choose Guardian, Warrior, Archer, Mage, or Rogue, and be generally assured a reliable starting point. If those didn't appeal to the new Player, then they could look into one of the hundreds of other Natures posted and get a general idea for their progression, including skills and possible Curses. Exact duplication of a Nature's progression was, of course, impossible but having a starting point was a major reassurance for many people. Tengen had even started a similar practice with Native Jobs, revealing its members Jobs and how to gain them for any other Natives. This had caused a major upset, as usually that information was jealously guarded and sold at a premium.

All this was to say that Gabriel's face was extremely well known and, thanks to the guild's philanthropy, Tengen was probably the single most popular Player guild in God's Nature, among Players and Natives.

Yet if he didn't mention it, neither would Neron.

The only question was how to use this most opportune of developments.

"Can yo-you heal a bro-broken leg?" Neron asked, the shivering finally starting to lessen. It did not go away though. If anything, the lack of numbness made him feel colder.

"I can," Gabriel asked, his eyes looking to Neron's legs and finding no injury looked past him to the recess Neron had emerged from. "Do you have an injured companion?" He stepped forward and Neron nodded, turning himself to head toward the rock.

Cuholy was there, having limped her way out of the bag and was watching him. Watching Gabriel.

She didn't say anything and Neron gave a jittery nod in her direction. The guild master understood and, slowly to not spook the fox approached. His shield remained raised over his head, protecting them from the storm, as he knelt upon the stone.

"Aren't you a cute one," he said gently. "You're hurt, right? Don't worry, you'll be all better soon." His hand began to radiate the slight glow of the Scab spell. Cuholy looked to Neron and, as he narrowed his eyes behind Gabriel's back he nodded. The fox extended her paw slowly and the Guardian react out to catch it, cradling it in his palm. "There you go. If my friend Youri was here he'd have you healed in no time. I'm not that good, so it's going to take a few minutes."

Neron was not sure if the man was being humble or genuine in his claim. He was keeping at least two active effects going, the white dome and a variation of Scab, and probably one more if the warming air around them was a modified Spark like Neron suspected. The dome itself could be a skill or an enchantment of the shield, but both would require some manner of focus to be able to adjust it's relative height and position as he'd done when he'd moved. 

Casting two modified spells at the same time wasn't just impressive, it was down right monstrous for a Player. It was the equivalent of drawing two beautiful paintings with either hand, while also balancing on a rolling ball. There were probably less than a hundred in all of God's Nature who could do that, and only a handful of them would be able to do without a Nature dedicated to magic.

So what was someone like him doing out here in the boonies? Was it for Neron specifically, because of his sisters, or was it a chance encounter? He was alone so that meant...

"Thank you," Neron repeated as he walked up beside the man and crouched behind Cuholy and began gently rubbing his fingers through her fur. Curling them hurt, but he needed to move them to help blood flow as the warmed up. "I do not know what would have happened if you had not shown up. We got very lucky."

"No need to mention it," Gabriel said with a smile. "One of my skills lets me know when someone is in trouble. I couldn't just ignore you, now could I?" 

Sure he could. Still, Neron filed the tidbit about his skills away though. Not for a fight though. If he tried he'd be dead before he could approach. Instead it told him about the actions this man took during his time while playing. 

Neron had manipulated people to gain advantages and had not even balked at doing the same with a random creature. In turn, he'd gained The Nest, which let him directly fold others' abilities into his own so long as he could manipulate them to allow it. Gabriel's skills would be public knowledge, as were all those in Tengen, but the exact specifics were left to the Player to have some privacy.

Unless he wished to be bothered by every potential disturbance, there would have to be conditionals on such as skill. Something that the man could use to designate those he would help or potentially a variable for what counted as 'trouble.' It might be something like 'Alert me if there is someone I can reach in time to help when they are confronted with a lethal situation.'

Actually, that was still to broad. More than likely it was an active effect with either a designated group or area, instead of a constantly active passive. Otherwise Gabriel would be rushing off all the time, or being constantly disturbed. But if it were active, then the man would have had to have a reason to activate it here and now. The storm? But, while dangerous to low-level wanderers like Neron, most people would be in their homes and if a significant part of Tengen were traveling through the area, its upper crust would have been able to protect their weaker members just as Gabriel was doing now.

...Only there were a bunch of low-level wanderers running around, weren't there?

"Still, thank you," Neron continued. Then he gave a guilty look to the shorter man. "I hate to ask this of you, after saving us and helping Cuholy here, but do you mind staying for a while. I have another companion, a snake, and he has not handled the cold well. If you can just warm him up a bit, I would greatly appreciate it."

"I wish I could," Gabriel answered with a look of regret. "Unfortunately, I need to get going soon. My party are out there helping others, but they don't have my skill."

"Oh," Neron sighed, letting disappointment permeate his voice. Cuholy looked up and over her shoulder at him, then back to the leg Gabriel was holding.

"I'll still help," the guild master hurried to add. "I just can't keep doing it that way. I'll set you up so you can be warm and wait out the storm without me." 

A particularly violent gust of wind tore a loose bush from the ground nearby, sending it tumbling away in a mess of lashing branches. Both Cuholy's and Neron's eyes latched on and followed it out of sight.

"Thank you," Neron said for the fourth time. He was keeping track. Too many thanks and said to profusely would lead to the idea of subservience and debt. One or twice more before they parted ways should be fine. "If you do not mind me asking, what are you doing out here, away from your party?"

"Well, uh," the man stammered slight, an awkward smile on his face. Then he sighed and explained, his voice apologetic. "You're out here hunting goblins, right? Because of the Dungeon Break?"

"Yes?"

"Well, I'm actually part of Tengen. Another Guild and, with how Hijal handled things, we stepped in to help. When the storm rolled in and we realized how many people were going to be trapped out in it, we split up to try and reach as many as possible."

"Does that mean Tengen taking over the purging operation," Neron asked with a frown. He did not particularly care one way or the other for this goblin hunting business. He was good at it, thanks to Cuholy and Jorry helping find them, but that it was only a minor diversion to familiarize himself with Cuholy as he traveled south.

"We'll compensate you!" Gabriel clarified quickly. "Time spent versus estimated clear time, at double your hunting rate!" 

Both Neron and Cuholy were taken aback. The fox by the suddenness of the man's voice and the man by the price. 

After a quick calculation Neron realized he would make decent money, his hunting rate was well above average and a cleansing operation like this could take months. If they extrapolated his lost earnings and doubled it, he'd add around forty percent to his current purse. There were dozens, possibly a hundred other players out in these wilds, spread out to cover as much ground to ensure nowhere near the settlement was considered 'safe.' Most probably wouldn't make as much as him, but some would make considerably more as well. That was a tidy sum to throw at this.

"Why?" Neron asked.

"I'm really sorry," Gabriel said regretfully, releasing Cuholy's paw. She carefully tested it and found no pain. The guild master gave the fox a smile which disappeared as he apologized to Neron. "There's already been damage from the Break. Havron's farmstead was sacked. A merchant from Ishel-Orn was killed on the road. And," the man paused, teeth gritting heat entering his voice and Neron caught the twitching of fists that wanted to clench. "Seven households on this side of the river have lost people in the last month. More since the Break."

Neron hadn't really been asking about the justification for interrupting the purge, more about the generosity of the compensation. Yet the anger the man was exuding as he rose to his feet made clarifying a touch awkward.

"I'm sorry if it doesn't make up for the lost experience and levels." When Gabriel apologized this time it was firmer. Solid. He was sorry, but there would be no arguing.

"You do not have to apologize," Neron told him. "It would be ungracious of me to repay your aid in saving my life, healing my companion, and giving us shelter from this storm if I were to begrudge you your duty." Judging by the surprised and relieved look in the man's eyes, Neron got the impression that other Players hadn't been as gracious as he was. Good.

"Thanks." He let out a sigh, looking out into the storm in thought. "I know it isn't fair to not let newer Players like you take up these opportunities, but higher Steps like us can accomplish it in a fraction of the time. And a lot less pain. That's what matters when people are suffering, right?" He patted Neron on the back with a smile as he made his way up the rock toward where his pack, and Jorry, was stored. 

Neron did not ask how Gabriel knew he was a Player. The fact he was weak enough to almost die from this storm meant he was either a new Player or a Native on their first Job. Of those two possibilities, only one would give someone an ability that would turn them into the abnormally shaped being he was now.

"Right," Neron agreed, reaching down and picking up Cuholy in his arms. She trembled, in fear or cold he didn't know, as she curled herself closer to him. "But how can you tell how much you need to pay?"

"The Quest system," Gabriel explained, crouching down to peer into the crevice Neron had left his bag. He looked around, noted the first hole Neron had Sculpted, then stood back up. "Quests are generated by the understanding of both parties involved. They're like contracts. And like contracts, they can be transferred." 

Still holding his shield aloft in one arm, he raised his other and unstrapped the fastenings. His arms descended. The shield did not. It remained there, hanging in place in the air and casting its protective dome around them.

"We got a quest from comes from the same source as the one Hijal got, but it happened later and replaces it. That quest lets us issue our own, like theirs allowed them to issue theirs to you, only ours is specifically about ending theirs."

The man slowly passed a hand over the outcropping of stone where it met the wall. Where his hand passed, the stone cut away and, once he passed two thirds of the way, it gave an ominous CRACK and fell. He easily caught it with his other hand, resting it vertically against the wall and gently picked up Neron's pack and handed it to him. All while keeping the air warm, the dome of white light protecting them from the raging storm.

"What about those who did not get a quest from them?"

"We'd need proof they've been doing the job, either with trophies of some sort or by contacting whoever hired them." Evaluating the wall, he inserted his hand down to the shoulder into the stone. It parted like water. "We'd pay them a set rate based on their level." He paused, looked back at Neron as he refastened his pack. "Did you get a quest?" Neron nodded and Gabriel returned to his task. "Good. You should always get one whenever you're doing something for someone you don't know. Even if its only a small job. Because it is based on what the people involved think, they're really hard to fake."

As Neron and Cuholy watched, Gabriel passed his arm through the stone in an arc, passing first along one side then the other. In front of their eyes, a slab of stone larger than the man was pulled out and set beside the first, smaller slab. Neron observed him for another moment, watching him insert his arm once more into the back of the recess he'd made, and took the opportunity.

"What were you doing before this?" Neron had let awe touch his voice, as if shocked by what he was seeing. It wasn't a hard sentiment to fake. It was genuinely impressive what Gabriel was doing. "You appear... overqualified for dealing with goblins."

"Nobody's too qualified to help others," Gabriel denied with a warm chuckle. Though everything about the guild master was warm, the only part Neron actually cared about was the modified Spark spell still filling the air. He was still wet and cold and the heat was bliss on his tired body. "But we were just traveling. We're heading east, to the frontier. We're trying to find a way around the Bone Wall. Or at least, where it ends." 

With a second large section of rock removed, there was now a cave set into the stone deep enough for Gabriel to lay down and have his feet remain covered. Plenty of room for Neron and his companions to huddle. Yet the other Player wasn't finished. Next, he used the same spell to carve one edge of each slab flat, then trace finger-wide lines in the bottom stone on each side of the cave's entrance. Into these lines he placed the two large slabs leaning against each other in a triangular shape, the flat sides against the cave's entrance.

It wasn't seamless, but there would be no way for water to drip down and through the stone arch doorway. Neron could now lay flat on his back and stretch out and there would still be plenty of room. Yet Gabriel still was not finished.

Taking the first stone outcropping, he hung it over the doorway. It only reached half way down, but the older man held it in with one hand while the other carved off sections of the doorway slabs in until there were J shaped hooks that he slotted the stone into. Ducking under the half door, he did some further work on the inside of the slab, then he stuck out a hand.

"Do you have a waterproof tent or blanket? Whatever you were going to hook on before will work."

Careful not to disturb the still sleeping Jorry, Neron withdrew his tent cover and passed it to the guild master. He fastened it to the stone top from the inside before crawling his way out, patting himself down from the stone dust form all his use of Sculpt.

"It'll do, if barely. It's not pretty, and it'll be tight, but it'll keep you warm, safe, and dry until the storm passes." Gabriel looked upon his work and gave a begrudging nod.

"I dread to ask what would satisfy you if this counts as barely," Neron deadpanned.

"I'm only good at the basics," Gabriel shook his head. "Me and my friend, Wraph, were in construction before we started this retirement cycle. He's a mage and he could build you a house with a wave of his hand."

"This is still much more than I expected," Neron said, then he paused with a frown. "I hate to be ungrateful, but how will I start and keep a fire going without choking on the smoke?"

Gabriel gave a pleased smile and tossed something under hand that Neron tried to catch. Still cold hands fumbled it and it fell to the ground. Neron bent down to pick it up, turning it over in his hand. It was a finger wide rectangle of dark material, rugged with irregular grooves and eleven notches carved into it at regular intervals. 

"What is this? Bark?"

"Good eye. That's bark from a type of tree called a lyndros. We've only found them in the Poplin forest to the south of Leidon. Their bark and wood burn long and hot. That piece of bark will last twelve hours and produce enough heat for a whole house. You might have to open the curtain to let in some cold air, actually. I've already put a piece in a catch in there, use that one if the storm goes on longer than it lasts."

"This is pretty valuable stuff," Neron pointed out, turning the bark over in his hand, feeling its grain along still trembling fingers.

"Don't worry about it," Gabriel said with a smile. "I have a bunch of it. Take it as my thanks for being a good sport about all this."

"Then I will simply say thank you again," Neron nodded, pocketing the bark. "For everything."

"It's no problem," Gabriel waved him off again, his smile a bit more embarrassed. "The least I could do to help. If you can show me your quest, I can give you your reward as well."

#

Tengen has been hired to clear out the goblins from the recent Dungeon Break. This quest was issued after, and created to superseded the initial quest given to the Hijal Guild by Baroness Provent. Having been issued a subsidiary quest, you can turn that in with this quest to a Tengen representative in exchange for increased compensation. Doing so will void previous quest received by the representatives of the Hijal guild.

Difficulty: E

Impact: E

Turn in this quest and the Hijal issued quest now?

Y/N

#

Neron agreed and Gabriel's eyes flickered, reading something Neron couldn't see and then asked a question.

"Do you have a preference of currency? I can give you exact change in Calderinian coins, or I can give you most of it in Bank, except three coppers. I'd round up but that's all I have on me."

"Culs are fine."

Gabriel counted out the money quickly and Neron put in his sack without fanfare.

"Three months?" Neron asked at the amount Gabriel counted out.

"It takes a season for similar tiered group to disperse a Break's overflow," the guild master explained as he put away his pouch into an armored pocket. "Twice that if its Dark."

"And if they are a higher tier?"

"It's logarithmic based on how many people are involved but the rule of thumb is that every tier higher halves the time of the tier below them while being equivalent of five people."

Neron did the quick math and blinked. Then blinked again. By those numbers then Gabriel alone would accomplish the same amount in two and a half days what would take six hundred and twenty five people twelve weeks. Granted, that was if he were on his Sixth step as opposed to Fifth like most high level players, but as one of the heads of the major player guilds, there was every chance he would be. And his four other party members were probably around here somewhere.

Once he'd recognized Gabriel and known he was involved in clearing out this Break, Neron had known his presence was overkill but hadn't realized by how much. The simple truth was, even if Tengen was taking over the purging operation, Gabriel shouldn't be here. It was a grave misuse of resources. 

It was all Neron could do to stop the flash of incandescent rage and hatred from showing on his face.

"You should get inside," Gabriel nodded toward the little cave he'd made, unaware of the emotional surge of the man before him. "Once you do, I'll let my shield go."

"Before I do." Neron held out his hand. "Thank you for saving me and my companions. I hope I can pay you back someday."

"I am happy to help," Gabriel gave a smile and clasped the larger man's forearm to the elbow. "If you want to pay me back, save someone when you get the chance."

"I will."

Releasing their arms, the pair stepped apart and Neron turned, getting to his knees, and crawled past the tent door and into the alcove. The tent was set on small hooks carved into the stone holding it in place and, once Neron was past, he turned around to hook the bottom parts closed as well.

It was tight, and the small spark of light from the lyndros bark was only enough to illuminate the interior due to his fox eyes. But it was dry, and more importantly, warm. The heat given off was even greater than that of the spell the guildmaster had cast and Neron let out a sigh of comfort as the moisture on his still damp clothes continued to evaporate.

The wind howled and rain began to beat a furious tempo on the stone around them.

Gabriel had left.

Cuholy hoped out of Neron's arms as he set his open bag, Jorry still resting inside, near the strip of bark. Taking off his still wet cloak, he laid it out on the floor to dry quicker, then did the same with his jacket. It was as he was taking off his boots that Cuholy asked her question.

"Neron? What happened out there?"

"We got saved." The fox flinched back, tail drooping at the tone in his voice and Neron let out a breathe. He shouldn't have let himself slip like that. The guild master of Tengen might still be in hearing range. "Apologies for that. Give me a minute."

"...Okay."

Neron set his boots to the side, taking off his socks as well and laying them flat. The rest of his clothes remained on. They'd dry quickly enough.

"There is a term you might not be familiar with," Neron began, sitting with his back to the far wall. His head lulled back and he stared at the ceiling. "'Pet peeve.' It is a term used to describe something that annoys you to an irrational degree, especially as cause of said annoyance is usually small and insignificant. They vary person to person, but everyone has one or two."

"And being... saved is a pet peeve of yours?"

"Not me personally," Neron denied. Well, that was true to a degree. Neron had never been saved before. Never needed saving before. "And it is not being saved itself that is the issue. Everyone needs help. There is nothing wrong with helping someone. Being saved is simply the logical extension of that, a greater amount of help that the individual being saved can not deal with on their own. Like helping, there is nothing wrong with being saved or saving someone."

"Then why don't you like it?"

"Like I said, pet peeves are not rational. But in this particular case, it is not being saved that is the problem." Neron eyes bore into the ceiling of the cave in a wrathful glare. "It is that I did not ask to be saved."

"...I don't understand. We would have died if he didn't come to help us."

"Would we?" Neron bit out rhetorically. "We will not know. We will never have the chance to know. When someone saves another without being asked, two things happen. The first is that the savior makes a decision for the saved. They might be right or wrong, that does not matter. What does matter is they are enforcing their will on the saved, no matter what the victim wishes. I can abide that. What I can not abide is the hypocrisy of being expected to be thanked for it. That society considers one ungrateful if you do not thank someone for oppressing you."

"And the second reason?"

"...What do you think it is?" Neron sighed, rubbing his temples. His fingers still felt cold.

"I think..." Cuholy began after a long moment. "I think it steals something from the person being saved. I think it steals their chance to save themselves."

Neron lowered his hand from his face, looking at the small fox in front of him. The too thin, formerly starving, cowardly creature who continued to ask question after question in an effort to understand the larger world she'd found herself in. The fox he'd only known for a few weeks and had never asked about what her past was like, just as he never delved into Jorry's.

Two pairs of canine eyes met and moment of true understanding passed between them.

Then Cuholy looked away and the moment passed.

"Right," Neron answered her guess. "The person being saved might not be able to save themselves. They might want to be saved. But because they did not get the chance to ask, they are reduced to little more than an object in the story of the savior. No agency. No will. They are not people."

"This doesn't sound irrational. How is this a pet peeve?"

"Because a person does not get to decide what is irrational or not. Because societies are inherently collectives. They value people who put others above themselves. Someone saving another is to be lauded, because then that person might save you when you need it. Thus, the savior and the saved are both sacrificed for the sake of the society that worships them. And that is rational. Claiming that that someone should not be saved is not." Neron paused, then added humorlessly. "Besides, being saved is an insignificant thing to complain about."

"Maybe. I don't know." The fox shuffled on her feet awkwardly for a second, still not looking back at him. "I guess we won't be fighting goblins anymore."

"It appears so," Neron agreed, easily going along with the change in topic.

"It was nice of them to help out at least," she continued, then hurried to add awkwardly. "Except for the whole saving thing, you know."

"Is that what you think?" Neron asked wryly.

"What do you mean?" Cuholy looked back at him, tilting her head in question.

"I will explain when Jorry wakes up," Neron sighed. "He is not going to like someone stealing his prey."

"Oh," Cuholy nodded slowly, ears flickering too and fro as the storm continued to rage outside their little shelter.

The silence settled for a long moment. Neron closed his eyes and rested.

"Um?"

"Yes?" Neron cracked an eye open to look back at the fox. She was looking away again. One of her hind legs came up to scratch herself behind the ear.

"Earlier. Out there. With the goblins..."

"Yes?"

"What was that? At the end, when you were facing them I mean."

"I did not think I could take them in a fight. I was trying to scare them off. Make noise, seem bigger, make it look like they were the ones who would loose, not us."

"Oh. Okay."

"Why do you ask?"

"It's just, with the wind and the rain and everything, I thought I heard something, that's all. But I must have been imagining it."

"Imagining what?"

"Well, it just seemed like you were... laughing, you know? But why would you be laughing when you're about to die. That doesn't make any sense."

Neron did not say anything, simply closing his eyes and leaning his head back against the wall.

Cuholy was correct. Laughing in such a situation wouldn't make sense.

So why had he?

******

A Dungeon Break was, contradictory to its name, not a dungeon breaking.

'Dungeons,' in classical parlance, was a catch all term for locations filled with monsters, valuables, or both. Often, but not always, filled with traps and the goal of some sort of quest. Its use in the modern vernacular, as his research told him, was rooted in early table top roll playing games and that had translated well into books based on said games. Video games also adopted the terminology as they too were heavily inspired and influenced by those same TTRPGs.

'Dungeon break,' Neron found out, also had its roots in the media of the early information age but connecting it to one point of origin specifically was impossible. There were hints that it was from a more Asiatic adaptation of the classic 'dungeon' tropes of fantasy of that time. The premise, however, was simple. A dungeon, a source of monsters, would grow more and more powerful or full as the monsters inside were not slain. Eventually, the dungeon could not contain them and the dungeon would break, freeing those monsters to spill out into the world, often to catastrophic and violent results. Early Players of God's Nature, as they learned about the world, discovered a similar phenomenon and slapped the term 'Dungeon Break' on it.

Like most incorrect things declared confidently enough, it stuck around in the public consciousness.

The idea that not only were dungeons prisons for monsters, but that they wanted out and could not do so without a Break, was patently false. Dangerously so. 

Because dungeons were not prisons, they were breeding grounds. And if you stepped outside of a Player-centrist view that became obvious. The literal translation of the Calderinian word that the system translated as dungeon, 'Croîstre,' was more accurately translated to 'area monsters grow.' Monsters could leave dungeons any time they wanted. They could hunt and kill anywhere they wished. In fact, it was an almost certainty that those who lived in a dungeon would go outside it to find food.

Like evolution, objective studies on the subject were impossible on the large scale but dungeons were a common enough phenomena that the Natives of this world had already understood the general rules surrounding them. They were not unique based on an individual like evolution, they were mostly sedentary, they were valuable, they were visible, and they persisted unless destroyed, so dungeons became the most widely studied subject surrounding monsters.

The Calderinian word for a 'Dungeon Break,' Parpílesio, had no native equivalent word in Martian, or the few other languages Neron knew, but there were some terms which came close to giving the proper idea: scattering, freeing, sending out, or 'to diffuse in all directions.' Those were all correct, in a manner of speaking, but Neron felt they did not encapsulate the nature of the word and personally added another synonym when he thought of the subject: colonization.

Because a Dungeon Break was simply when a dungeon became so successful at its primary task, nurturing the growth of the monsters within, that it could no longer support the populous effectively. From there, it would encourage them to spread out into the world, grow beyond its safety and protection, and hopefully evolve and create their own dungeon. The process would then repeat.

Picture a tree. Weak and small at first, through time, sun, and soil it grows until it is ready to reproduce. It can't move though. So what does it do? It drops seeds, and hopes they will be taken else where to grow. This is usually done by growing seeds that are appetizing to animals who will eat the fruit, or berries, or nuts, and the seed will pass undigested through them to be dropped somewhere else. But some trees don't need animals. Some trees, such as a sycamore or maple or ash, have evolved so that their seeds will go flying on the wind, spinning and floating on the breeze until they take root in new soil.

A dungeon was just such a tree. Only their seeds were monsters, and the soil they sought was flesh and blood.

Thus, a Dungeon Break was a phenomenon that those in this world took very seriously, even if it was only common goblins. A Dungeon Break meant that there was a fully developed monster, one surrounded by a similarly developed entourage of undetermined numbers, that just sent out their newest, most ambitious relatives in search of a place abundant in prey. Prey like the Blessed Races who were, pound for pound, more valuable per kill than anything else on the planet. 

If even one of those monsters managed to kill enough to develop a Self and evolve, there would be a higher order of monster around, one who came from a race that was already proven to be communal and prone to establishing dungeons. Even killing said monster, removing its Self for a period of time, would not remove its evolution or instincts. Instincts that told it that the Blessed were prey and that it should grow in number by establishing a dungeon. It was a process which, if not nipped in the bud early, could eventually lay waste to towns, cities, or even kingdoms.

In contrast, Players found Dungeon Breaks to be a huge pain in the neck.

Dungeons were, pound for pound, the best way to increase the level of anyone with a combat Job or Nature without killing fellow Blessed. A select few were kept around and managed for just such a reason, after all. It was hard, if not impossible to beat the sheer ratio of killing one can do in a short amount of time in the confined area of a dungeon. And so long as the entire contents weren't purged too quickly, the act was repeatable ad infinitum. A meat grinder of skills and level.

When the Hijal Guild discovered a Dungeon Break occurred in their territory, they were almost certainly equal parts embarrassed, thrilled, and annoyed.

Embarrassed because a dungeon had grown enough to Break under their supposed watchful eyes. All their benefits from the Calderinian government they received also came with the duty to protect the citizens from monsters, which they were failing at.

They were thrilled because a new dungeon, one bursting with monsters to kill, was nearby and ready to be cleansed. Even though they couldn't keep it around for long, they'd still take their time to clear it out more times than strictly necessary to maximize their gains.

And they were annoyed because it meant they had to spend weeks scouring the landscape for rogue goblins. Not only to kill them, but to ensure that they were pushed away from settlements so that the area was no longer considered 'safe' for them. Kill enough of them, and have people spread out enough, and the monsters would begin respawning far away. One of the only ways to keep immortal monsters from population centers.

This was an annoying problem because anybody weak enough to gain power from killing goblins would want to be at the dungeon for the greatest efficiency. Those who could kill them easily would not gain anything from it and it would take them away from more profitable ventures. So, instead, the guild did what every large organization did when confronted with a problem they didn't want to deal with. They outsourced it. They employed mercenaries, low leveled players, and smaller training Halls to cover as much area as possible for as little personal effort as possible.

Now, the Hijal guild were not complete idiots. They would be not be assigned Provent, a prosperous town, if they were. So they still did the bare minimum. Not only would a bunch of deaths from the hunters impede the clearing effort, it ran the risk of a monster evolution, and would be a further slap in their face. For example, they paid their contractors rewards based on kills, meaning those who did not believe they could succeed were filtered out naturally. Then they assigned areas based on capability as best as they could. And, most importantly, they did not allow areas to go uncovered. If they didn't have an external hire to cover an area, they used one of their own. It was a loss for the member, as they'd be missing out on the dungeon, but they were still fulfilling their duty.

Yet there was no denying that more hired mercenaries meant better chance for low leveled players to get access to the dungeon. In fact, Neron wouldn't be surprised if there was some sort of policy that if a person could find someone to replace them, they'd be the ones whose spot was covered. It was precisely this self interest that Neron had targeted when he'd set up the encounter with Pony Tai- that is, when he met Saphronia and Peggy entirely by accident.

It worked in both parties favor and thus a mutually beneficial arrangement had been achieved, if a touch duplicitous.

Enter Tengen.

As a force, they could purge the area in a fraction of the time, with a fraction of the people and effort. In so doing, not only would they do a minimal amount of work as they passed through, but they'd also be building connections with the locals. People would compare Hijal to Tengen and the latter would look all the better because of the failings of the former.

The Baroness, any influential figures, merchants in the area, and even ruling parties back in Calderine proper would easily separate those who messed up, Hijal, with those who fixed it, Tengen. 

In the future, who would they go to for tasks they wanted accomplished? Who would they trust to get it done?

"I thought they were just helping," Cuholy let out a little growl of agitation, her tail swishing angrily. "But that man was lying! And he seemed so nice too!"

"Pfft," Jorry let out a noise of dismissal. He hadn't been thrilled at the revelation about their ousting from their hunting grounds. "You shouldn't believe anyone. Nobody is just nice for niceness' sake. Everyone wants something. And they wanted our prey."

"Everyone wants something, but what they want is sometimes to 'be nice.'" Neron disagreed with them both, his words slow and drowsy. He'd been up for two days. He was warm. He was safe. Adrenaline had fled him and it had left him tired and spent. Yet his mind was feverishly hot and he'd used his time explaining the situation to his beasts to sort out his own thoughts and feelings. "More than likely, they were trying to help."

"But you just said-"

"People can want more than one thing," Neron interrupted coolly with a yawn. "And multiple people can want multiple things. Gabriel was probably trying to be nice. He probably did feel bad about the situation. If, as I suspect, and multiple children have been killed by the goblins, then it is perfectly understandable why he would feel so passionately about it. Valuing offspring is incredibly common in mammals, humans especially due to how long it takes us to grow."

"So Gabriel wants to protect children and someone else with him wants to use the opportunity to benefit their guild," Jorry nodded, understanding his point.

"Or both want both outcomes," Cuholy suggested.

"We can not know for sure but I would bet it is the latter," Neron nodded at the fox. "Remember this: When dealing with anyone you must look for four things. The lies they tell you. The lies they tell themselves. The intentions of their actions. And the consequences of their actions."

"Why would anyone lie to themselves?" Jorry asked in disbelieve.

"We can not help it," Neron answered easily. "We all think we know how the world is, but we have no way of knowing how it actually is. Thus, we convince ourselves it is a certain way and act accordingly."

The pair of beasts looked up at him, and he could tell they did not completely understand but he let it slide for the moment. He was too tired to go into that deep branch of philosophy at the moment.

"The point is, if you know the differences between those four points, where they match and where they do not, then you will understand someone. Be able to predict them. We can not know more than what Gabriel told us and a few of the consequences so we do not have a full picture, but what we do have is enough to tell us that even if he says he is acting for altruistic reasons, he will still benefit from them in the end."

"So he might or might not be lying, but he is definitely getting a reward for saving us."

"Exactly," Neron agreed with Cuholy's summary. "Not that there is anything we can do about it one way or the other."

"Not right now," Jorry hissed. "Once I'm a dragon I'll be sure to remind them of stealing my prey."

"That is for the future." If ever. "For now, I need some sleep. I will trust you two to wake me up if anything happens." The pair nodded, begrudging in Jorry's case. "Once the storm passes, we will keep heading south."

"Fine," Jorry said, turning to curl up facing the doorway and the still burning piece of bark. "But we better find something else to kill on the way."

"I am sure we will," Neron said as he rolled up his now dry cloak to use as a pillow. Sleep would be coming fast.

"...Neron?"

"Hm?"

"Thanks. For, you know, carrying me-us. Thanks for carrying us."

"No problem, Partner."

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