I really have to stop doing this. How many times did I blackout today? Two… three?

Jack could be forgiven for his whimsical thoughts. Its true the situation was more serious that what his internal monologue reflected, but it really wasn’t the first time in the day where his brain had been bounced around in his skull.

Nor did he truly remember, at that point, just how serious the situation was.

That was because Jack’s memory was still fuzzy. He knew they had reached the manor and that they had fought a troll. Or was it an ogre? Then they searched the building, found some loot… whatever it was. Then something happened. Impending danger, a hastily prepared plan and… pain.

Jack remembered the pain. He felt it. He was still feeling it.

His body felt like it had been thrown at a wall, a dull ache repeatedly washing over the entirety of him. He knew he was laying down on something soft. Grass? But he was too tired to get up. And he was slipping in and out of wakefulness.

|New Class Available: Raider|

|Class Level and Skills accessible after acceptance. |

|Accept new class? |

Even in this state, Jack knew he couldn’t accept a new Class. Besides. Raider?

I refuse.

|Class Refused|

He went back to half-dreaming. Still, for those brief moments where he was lucid, he could hear someone running past him. Near him. Past him again. All the while muttering or speaking out loud.

“Have to…”

“Shit, this isn’t enough.”

“Where is…”

“Wake up! Please”

It sounded familiar. He knew the voice, though he never heard it speak with that tremor of fear before. Who did it belong to? It was male, but… Moran! It belonged to Moran.

Happy that he had figured out the mystery, Jack almost went back to sleep. A single needling feeling kept him awake. Why was Moran sounding so worried?

I remember… leaving him to guard the loot. And then going up. Taking the armor and- SHIT!

Jack opened his eyes wide. He tried standing up, but found himself dry heaving. He compromised, decided sitting up was the best he could do for now. When he did, he froze. All around him broken glass littered the ground, glittering like small gems.

And on the ground were his friends. Brom was on his front. Someone had taken off his chainmail and shirt. His back was an ugly red and parts of it still looked burned. Ava was lying a few feet from him, on her back. The fur on her feet looked singed and the smell of burnt hair was drifting its way to him. Her torso though looked fine. It was the same shade of red as Brom’s, but didn’t have spots of burn wounds.

Mrk looked the most affected. His robe had already been damaged by fire, but now his entire body looked like it had been set ablaze. Jack almost felt sick until he took a closer look. No, he wasn’t burned. His fur had burned, giving him a look reminiscing of charcoal. He would be pissed about it, but it most likely saved his life. He thought.

And running all around them was Moran, either splashing potions on them or trying to make them drink. He spotted Jack looking at him and looked ready to cry from relief. He ran towards him, skidding to a stop, before falling on his knees.

“I- You’re awake- I tried-“

“Moran. Breathe! You look like you’re going to faint”

“I feel… ready to faint. You’re alright? You feel fine?”

“I’m alright… ish. I feel like I’ve been hit by the ogre again, but other than that. Peachy.”

Jack was a little sarcastic, but Moran nodded and sagged.

“Good. It worked, then. I hope they’ll be getting up too.”

Jack talked to Moran, but at the same time he was remembering. The armor, the burning sphere, his concocted plan. And it not working, not all the way. How the sphere started cracking and him thinking they were about to die. The bright flash, pain and then… what?

“Moran, breathe! I can’t have you passing out. What happened? From the top.”

“I… alright.” He said, breathing in and out for a few moments. “I was guarding the loot, like you said. Then, I heard an explosion. I tried to ran inside, but when I got to the room, it was on fire. But I saw the windows were broken open and there was no sign of you, so I ran back outside, to the other side of the manor. That’s where I found you.” He said, making an ugly grimace.

“I’m guessing we were out cold?”

“Out, yeah. Burning too. You were all smoking. I tried to put out the fire, but there wasn’t any. You were smoking. All of you. You looked like you were burned, but your armor and clothes were intact. I was out of healing potions and I didn’t know what to do. I… I used a lot of the potions on you. Like a lot. About half.”

The young man looked so apologetic, Jack almost laughed.

“We’re alive thanks to you, Moran. Damn the potions, you put them to good use.”

“Yeah… only I didn’t know which were healing potions, so the first I used blindly. Then I tried to smell them, taste them, see what they do. I think I used a quarter of them in the first few minutes, just splashing them around. Sorry.”

“Like I said. Damn the potions. Then what happened?”

“Well, just splashing them on you didn’t work so well and you weren’t waking up. I couldn’t make you drink them. You were still bleeding, so I took off what clothes I could and rubbed them in. Ointments too. Sorry about that too.” He said, blushing.

Jack waved it off.

“Least of my concern. I’m guessing that since, you know, I’m not dead, it worked.”

“Yeah.” The boy breathed out. “You started waking up for a bit, you I fed healing potions to you. Mrk looked the worst, but he actually got the least of his injuries. Brom was actually the worst, I had to leave him lying on his front, since the redness didn’t go away. You drank a lot of potions, but it seems you’re fine. And Ava…”

“What? She’s fine too, right?”

“Oh, yeah, she’s fine. But, uh-“

He was saved by the same Satyr sitting up quickly.

“SHIT! Oh. Hi. Everyone alright?” Ava asked the two frozen boys. “What? Why are you looking at me like that?”

Like with Brom and Jack, it seemed Moran had to get the clothes off of them to rub in the ointments. Not a problem for the others. On Ava, however, he tried to get the breastband back, but couldn’t figure out how to tie it back on her. So, he just placed it back on her chest for modesty.

Which meant, that when she sat up, the breastband promptly fell down.

Ava noticed this a second after Moran fell on his back, exhaustion taking its toll. Naturally, the only remaining target for her ire was Jack.

Oh. So that’s why he was blushing.

…

I wonder if I could get away with fainting too.

***

“I don’t get why you had to faint. You humans are so prude. We don’t have this many sensibilities in Satyr villages.” Ava went on, laughing.

However, she was red in the face too. Bravado, to make up for the scene from before.

“It was exhaustion.” Moran said.

“Sure it was. Maybe my breastband can fall again. See if exhaustion takes you now too.”

“Ava, stop pestering Moran.” Brom intoned. “He saved your life, as well as ours.”

Chastised, but still grinning, Ava leaned back, enjoying the heat from the campfire.

After all of them woke up and woke Moran up too, they checked on each other. They were all fine, though Ava was not happy at the state of her legs and Mrk was absolutely pissed. Brom could only put on his tunic, not his chainmail, given that his back still itched and ached.

But they were all alive. Can’t complain about that. Like Jack said, nobody cared about the lost potions. Oh, they would have liked the extra coin of selling them off. Their lives were worth more though. Brom came up with the idea to camp there for the night, so the made a fire in the middle of the manor ground floor’s and each of them constructed a makeshift ‘bed’ out of what ripped curtains and moldy pillows they could find.

“Next time we do this, we bring ale.” Brom said. “Such a victory deserves to be celebrated.”

“True.” Jack laughed. “We killed an ogre and survived a lord’s anti-thief spell. I don’t know if that makes us robbers, but I’m still happy with the result.”

“Eh, adventurers are just robbers with a Guild. Too bad about that armor, though.” Ava said, munching on some rations. “Any of it still salvageable?”

“No. Mrk went to see. I sees only melted metal.”

“Shame, that.” Brom said. “Wouldn’t have fit me, but it might have fit Jack.”

“Yeah, I’d have just given it to Elia. I’m not much of a knight. Especially since the only knight I met was a major dick.”

“Ogre dick.” Mrk helpfully added.

They laughed at that, with the cheerfulness of someone surviving against all odds.

“I have something to share with you all.” Moran seriously cut in.

“Is it that you shamelessly feel in love with me?” Ava quipped. “Because if that happened after seeing me naked once, let me tell you-“

“Ava!” complained everybody at once.

“Fine, fine. Tough crowd.” She grinned.

Undeterred, Moran continued.

“After I passed out from exhaustion, I woke up to hearing a voice. It offered me a Class and I… accepted it. I know I should have consulted with you all, since you all have Classes, but I never had a Class before. I hope it I didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Well, that’s a coincidence.” Jack said. “I got offered a Class too. I had to turn it down, though. Can’t take any more without risk turning into my namesake.”

“Mrk not get new Class. But Mrk’s Class turned into new Class!” the ratling shared.

“I have received neither, but the levels of both my Classes have adjusted.”

Mrk looked surprise at that. Then again, everyone looked surprised. The turned to Ava, but she gave them a warry smile in return.

“I… had a change of Levels too.”

Jack thought he knew what that meant. Her situation was not that different from Brom’s, after all. But she would share when she wanted too.

“What Class did you get, Moran?” he asked.

“|Paramedic|. Level 3.”

“What’s that?” Ava asked. “I never heard of it.”

“Neither did I.” said Brom.

“Mrk knows |Medic|. No Class in ratlings, but heard some humans have.” He said, looking at Jack.

“I’ve never heard about it, but that’s not saying much. What’s it do, Moran?”

“Uhm, I think it’s about healing. Or, at least, taking care of people. The way I see it, I got it after looking after you all, both when you fought the ogre and after the explosion. Even if all I did was give you potions, apply bandages and use balms.” He said, shrugging. “The Skills seem to show that. “I got |Sense Health| and |Assess Injury|. Could have used that before. But I don’t get how I got the Class so fast. I haven’t done any working with injuries before. Not even at home.”

“Mrk says is Jack effect. Stay close to Jack, Classes Level faster.”

“Really?”

“Me not knows. But me thinks.”

The young man looked doubtful, but he didn’t have any better explanation. Brom, however looked interested.

“I have heard of teams of adventurers having healers on their teams. It’s rare, since healers do not usually accept such a risky profession, I see the value in it. That is, if we accept to do this again and if Moran accepts to join us.”

“I will, if you’ll have me. I can see the danger in it, but it’s not like I had any better future at home.”

“I’d drink to that if I’d have any drink, peeper.”

“I am not a… never mind.” Moran good naturedly shook his head, while Ava laughed. “So, that was me. What did you get?”

“Mrk no longer |Scavenger|. I is now |Rogue|, Level 7. I has new Skills too. |Faint Presence| and |Weapon Expertise (Minor): Knife|.” The ratling grinned.

“Nice Skills, Mrk. Wish I had something like that for my rapier.”

“Indeed. Good Skills. The first one should help you out immensely as our rogue.” Brom said. “It seems I should tell you my part as well. But first, Moran. You are now a member of our group. Jack has accepted you. You deserve to hear my story.”

Jack wished Brom would stop saying things like that, at least in front of everyone, but he listened as he gave Moran an abridged version of his story. Enough to outline his despised Class, the general details of his background and his new devotion to Jack.

“I am happy to say that my |Axe Guard| Class has Leveled two times. It is now Level 6. But I am more happy to say that my |Oathbreaker| Class has decreased by a Level as well.” He said proudly. “It brings me joy, Jack, that my devotion to you is acknowledged by the world.”

“You have a way of making me proud of you and leaving me without words.” Jack muttered amusedly.

Brom took that as a compliment, though, so all was good.

“Right.” Ava said. “I’m, uh…I’m not comfortable with sharing my story yet. I mean… Look, I really appreciate you taking me in. Jack, I will fight for you, for that alone. And I really like and appreciate what we have going here. But… I haven’t known you for long. It’s not that I don’t trust you, I do. It’s just… I’m not proud of my story. I’m… not ready to share it yet.”

“Ava, don’t stress. That’s perfectly fine. Brom hasn’t shared his full story either. If he ever does, he’ll do it when he feels it’s time. And that's all good with all of us. You have the same right. So don’t worry about it, alright?”

“Thanks.” She smiled. “I’ll just say this. I have another Class besides |Archer|. It’s… |Outcast|. Besides it’s fucking curse of a Skillset, it also made my main Class impossible to Level. But today, I heard the voice saying it went down a Level. I knew it was possible, but I also know what that means. It means that you all have accepted me as one of you. So… thank you. Yeah.”

She was teary eyed, but also visibly embarrassed, so Jack just smiled at her and nodded.

“Hmm. It seems like a fortuitous turn of events. My Class makes me a perfect guard. Mrk is now a |Rogue|. We have an archer and a healer among us. And Jack is the wildcard.”

“Of all trades, yeah.” He laughed.

“This could be the making of a true adventuring team. Jack, I might be looking too far in the future, but if… after we manage to save Helmrest… The Refuge is a place for lost souls. But those will need protection and perhaps… a new direction in life. I do not believe adventuring would be a bad path to tread.”

“Huh. Guess not. Never thought about it before, but I could see it working.”

“If we’re going to be adventurers, we’re going to need a name.” Ava said, once again cheerful.

“Mrk not have ideeas.”

“Ava’s Enforcers.” She said. “Admit it, it sounds good.”

They scoffed, but that started a session of suggestions, which soon devolved into jokes, lewd and not. They were tired, so they weren’t at it for long. But they drifted off to sleep happily and in good spirits. Jack was the last one awake. It had been a surprisingly good day, all in all. Near death a few times, but they made it out alive and richer in both experience and loot.

So why did he get the sense that something was off? Perhaps it was because he had seen it one too many times. Or maybe he had gotten used to the feeling of something forcefully impacting his mind. He thought about it and couldn’t place it, but he had the feeling it had something to do with their talk from before. Everybody talked about the day’s events, about Classes and… Classes? What could it have to do with Classes? Maybe Ava’s cursed Skill had started acting up again?

Well, at least for that I have a remedy.

“|Dispel Compulsion|” he whispered, aiming at himself.

He didn’t get any revelation. He did however remember something. Something he had seen a few times before, it the fight with the monsters and with the ogre today. But his minds always glossed over it, as if unimportant. As if it should be forgotten.

Why do I keep forgetting Mrk using |Backstab|?

It was an odd Skill, fair enough. And… he couldn’t tell if it was normal for a |Scavenger| to have such a Skill. Weird, sure, but that wasn’t what made Jack wonder. Why was it that every time he saw the ratling use that Skill, he promptly forgot about it?

He peered at his friend’s sleeping form. His loyal friend. Compassionate to those around him and fierce to those who threatened them. Why did he have such a bad feeling?

The question kept him up some more, pondering it without pause, but eventually he drifted off to sleep as well, promising to himself he would find an answer.

Sleep took him and the memory of what he had just remembered was forgotten once again.

***

They woke up in high spirits. Their bellies were full, their beds were reasonably comfy and they had loot. Loot! Not to mention they were alive. So yes, the party of five woke up that day with a very positive attitude, that lasted them until after breakfast.

Which was when they found out how heavy the objects they were carrying actually were. Oh, it was easy to get distracted and lose touch of that when you were just speculating what magical the swords and scrolls had, but the weight of them became clearly obvious after just a few minutes of carrying them down the road.

Eventually, they decided to part with a few of their gold pieces and sent Moran to the nearest village. They reasoned they could buy a cart, let alone rent one, with what they had. Moran was chosen because he was human and wouldn’t spook the villagers. Jack could have gone, sure, but Brom wouldn’t hear of it. As a compromise, Brom went along with Moran, for security and a clear head. Ava had volunteered to go instead of Brom, but given the gleam in her eyes, they decided to spare Moran of all the ‘harmless’ fun the Satyr would have inflicted on him.

That was how they found themselves walking along the road, slowly carrying all their goods, when they saw a horse speeding towards them. A horse, tied to a cart, being clumsily driven by Moran.

“Moran!” Jack exclaimed tiredly. “You got a cart. Good!”

“And horse.” Mrk said. “Horse not expensive?”

“Would have been, but I only rented it, not bought it. Besides, Brom just happened to let slip that we were adventurers, so the farmstead that rented this to us were more then happy to give us a discount.”

“Where is Brom, by the way?”

“Uh, Brom kind of spooks the horse.” Moran uncomfortably said. “And I couldn’t get it to stop running until now. Only managed to slow it down. I thought he would have caught up by now, but, uh…”

“Short feet?” grinned Ava.

Moran looked embarrassed, while Jack and Ava burst out in laughter. Mrk didn’t laugh though. Shortness breeds solidarity, it seems. They got moving and found Brom huffing towards them, in a few minutes.

“Water.” Was the first thing he said. “You do not know how to handle horses.” Was the second.

“Sorry?” Moran cringed.

Brom huffed, but said nothing more, preferring to concentrate on the water. Once he was done and the others stopped randomly guffawing, he relayed his news.

“I have sent a runner to Elia, informing her of our situation and of our loot.”

“A runner?” Asked Jack. “What’s that?”

“A messenger. Cheap one, named as they are for their chosen method of delivering messages, namely by running.”

“Right. That’s nice. Better that she doesn’t worry about us.”

“Yes. But I have also asked her to hire the services of a Mage.”

“Why?” asked Mrk.

“Elia could simply sell these artifacts as they are. But I believe that if she knows their effects, she will be able to obtain a larger number of coins.”

Nobody could argue with that and so they went back on the road. The journey to the manor took them about a day. The return journey didn’t take much more, but it did see them returning in the dark of night. Even so, the guards Elia had recently hired were acting as sentries and alerted the newly elected Village Head of their arrival.

Bleary eyed and with puffy eyes, Elia sat them down, fed them and made them tell all about their story. Her reactions were pretty much appropriate. She was aghast at their fight with the ogre and completely sorry for sending them up against such a foe. Of course, she didn’t have any reason to be, but that was Elia for you. She was equally concerned after hearing what they went through with the enchanted armor and praised Moran on both his quick acting and the Class that resulted from that.

They showed her all the promised loot and to their surprise, Elia had as always thought ahead. She had already called for a general magical practitioner to come to Helmrest, even before Brom requested it, on the premise of inspecting some magical potions and remedies. She used such subterfuge because she didn’t think it wise for news to spread out about Helmrest’s new adventuring team.

The man himself had already arrived, but would only take a look at their gathered loot the next day. That, in essence, meant that they were entitled to their sleep. The job was done. The mission was a complete success. Helmrest was one step closer to its much-needed protection. They could rest.

They left Elia’s place, who still neglected completely moving into her new ‘office’ and headed for the Refuge. Well, most of them did.

“Hey, Moran!” Jack called out to the young man sleepily stepping away.

“Yeah?”

“You… uh, you got a place to sleep right? As in, you have a house?”

“Uhm, I don’t.” he responded to the odd question. “But my parents do. And I sleep there.”

“Right. Of course. Well, I just wanted to say, if you ever want to visit the Refuge, even if we’re not on a mission, just come on by.”

“Got it.” He smiled. “Will do that.”

It was just an hour’s trek back to the Refuge, but they made it in time for… nothing in particular. They had nothing to do but sleep. And sleep they did. Ava literally collapsed on her bed, while Brom and Mrk took the time to remove their armor and weapons. Jack himself sat down on the bed for just a second. He just needed a second to rest his eyes. He wouldn’t sleep with his rapier, he wasn’t some kind of savage.

The sound of the door to their hall slamming open woke him up.

“Everyone, wake up!” Moran screamed. “That magical guy took a look at what we found. And we found something big.”

That the normally reserved boy was screaming wasn't the most glaring thing Jack had noticed. Everybody gets excited about certain stuff. The most glaring thing was that it was outside. The sun was shining brightly, clearly over the tree line.

Did I just black-out again? You can’t call this kind of sleep normal, right?

While Jack was busy waking up, Brom caught on to the tone in Moran’s voice.

“What has he discovered?” he asked.

“It seems that one of the scrolls was special. It wasn’t about magic or anything like that. It was a map!” the young man smiled.

“Map?” Mrk asked, doubtfully.

“A dungeon map.”