The two supposed days of rest, Restday and Hallowday, were full of gruelling training for Jane. She crashed hard each evening, falling into bed as soon as she had swallowed some food. The only silver lining was that the guard had expedited the enchanting of a [Training Sledgehammer] just for her, meaning that she could actually use her skill. When she checked her [Status Page] she was surprised to see that her [Combat Style: Sledgehammer] hadn’t levelled up despite all the training. Instructor Norek explained that training was important to develop a combat sense and to harmonise stats and skills. Rather than training giving stats or skill levels, although it can give skill levels in some situations, it allows people to get used to having their stats. Just because you have high Strength doesn’t mean you can lift things efficiently. And just because you know how to hit things hard with a weapon doesn’t mean that you know where you will be attacked from.

So Jane grudgingly accepted the need to train, to do cardio despite the fact that there was literally a stat for Endurance. She sparred with the guards, and hardly got a hit in now that no one was surprised by her hammer time. At the end of each day, one of the guard's healers cast a light healing spell on her to remove any bruises and muscle tears, but it did nothing for her state of exhaustion. At least it meant that she didn’t wake up stiff and sore.

After the training, and the quiet city streets of Restday and Hallowday, was Firstday. Firstday was the day that everything opened back up, that the merchants in their market stalls called out their wares, and most importantly for Jane, dungeon dive day. Before she could go to the dungeon, though, she needed to gear up. She followed Padre through the halls of the orphanage to the Armoury. Not that she was really bothered as she had her newly repaired sledgehammer and a belt with multiple potions. Besides, Jane didn’t really know what to expect from an armoury in an orphanage. She assumed that there would just be a small room with a few dusty old pieces of mismatched armour.

She was wrong. The Armoury was a large room with walls full of racks of weapons and multiple shelves in the middle of the room full of armour. Jane looked around the room in awe. She walked slowly around the various shelves and racks looking at the available equipment. Every weapon and piece of armour was polished to a shine and looked brand new. There were maces, hammers, and many different types of swords. Jane noticed that there was only two of each weapon and only a couple of each type of armour. She turned to Father Athair to ask why, but he answered before she could even answer.

“We only keep two of each weapon and sell any extras, that way we have enough for any new combat-oriented orphans but we can still make some money back for funding. The same for armour.” Athair paused slightly and looked at Jane as she examined the armour. “I suppose we haven't explained how you help fund our orphanage. Any money loot goes to us, armour and weapons are the same unless you need to replace one during the dive. As for consumables you can use any you need but any leftover potions are ours as well. I know that it seems like we are taking a lot off of you, but it’s the only way that we can survive.”

Jane shrugged and nodded slightly. She wasn’t all that bothered really, if she was going to be considered a child then it seemed fairly normal. Also how else would she get training and things like that without the orphanage? And as a bonus, it was like doing charity. Athair told her to choose her equipment and then he would critique if needed. Jane had fairly swiftly decided that she didn’t need a weapon, she had no intention of wielding a spear and her skill was too specific to use a different hammer, so she concentrated on the armour. It didn’t take her more than a few seconds to realise that she knew nothing about armour, other than the obvious, that it was designed to stop hits. Jane looked over at the dark-haired priest. He stood quietly by the door, observing her as she examined the contents of the armoury.

“I just realised that I don’t know the first thing about armour,” Jane said, feeling slightly put out that she didn’t think about it before. Father Athair nodded and walked over to the shelves where Jane stood.

“Do not worry too much. Nobody really does on their first visit here, but you are the first who has admitted it so easily. It shows maturity and willingness to accept advice from those who know more than you. Not that I am surprised, given your circumstances.” A flash of panic took Jane, before she settled and realised that he meant her apparent age, rather than the fact that she was really from a previous universe and even older than she looked. Athair either didn’t notice her tense next to him, or decided to gracefully ignore it, and carried on. “Now, while I have not witnessed your fighting first-hand I have received a report from Instructor Versine, who was quite glowing with praise for you. Also, you should thank him for covering for your missed curfew last week.” He raised a hand to stall any excuses before they began. “I will not say anymore, other than that you are not the first of my charges to join little Norek on his team-building exercises.”

Jane winced and looked away, suddenly very interested in a pair of leather boots, that were possibly called greaves. She wasn’t sure. Father Athair chuckled slightly at her discomfort before asking her to explain what she thought that she needed. Jane cleared her throat and composed herself before turning to Padre, she had given many an oral presentation, this wouldn’t be too different.

“Well, my sledgehammer has been repaired so I don’t need a weapon from you, although maybe I should grab a sword or something as a backup? I don’t have a shield skill despite the training and the sledgehammer often requires two hands so no to that as well. I think that moving around and dodging blows will be better for me than relying on thick armour to tank the hits for me. Although I should probably get some thick gloves and arm guards to protect them if I have to block.”

Jane quickly sorted through the various armours in front of her. She found a small coat of mail and hefted it off of the shelf. She was surprised by the weight, it was heavy, but not as heavy as she thought. She scanned the room quickly and saw an empty mannequin and a shelf by the door. She placed the mail awkwardly on the shelf and moved over to the racks of smaller items such as boots and gloves. She easily found a pair of knee-high leather boots in her size and moved on to the hand and arm protection. The next choice was a slightly more daunting proposition, as while she had a reasonable idea of what boots she wanted and how they should feel she had no idea about battle gloves. She tried on all sorts, combinations of gloves and arm guards in metal, leather and cloth, before settling on a pair of long, elbow-length, gloves of some sort of dark leather with metal plates stitched on them. The plating ran down her forearm, along the back of her hand and had overlapping plates on the backs of her fingers. She felt like they were protective without being too restrictive, and if she needed to punch someone it would hurt. She piled her new items on top of her mail and headed over to check out the swords. There were a lot of swords. She disregarded all of the really big ones, the greatswords, two-handed swords and other longswords. She had no intention of specialising in swords, only using them as a spare in case she gets disarmed or, heaven forbid, her hammer breaks again. A simple, leather-wrapped handle with a wire basket like guard caught her eye. Jane unhooked the scabbard from the wall and drew the blade out. It was a fairly long, possibly slightly too long, and straight blade with a single sharp edge sweeping up into a slight point. The back edge was blunt and fairly thick. It reminded Jane of her grandfather's machete from back in the war, a good weapon for chopping. She slid the blade back into the scabbard and placed it next to the rest of her choices. She cast one last look around the room before having a thought.

“Where are the ranged weapons?”

Athair looked at her in confusion and gestured towards the far wall. Jane scanned it quickly and shook her head.

“No, I saw the throwing knives, and I assume that those are throwing axes and javelins, but I meant bows and crossbows, that sort of thing.”

“Are crossbows the fancy things from the Southern Empire? In any case, why would you want a bow? The only people who do archery are lazy nobles for sport.”

This time it was Jane’s turn to be confused.

“But wouldn’t the range advantage be useful, at least sometimes?”

“That’s why people use magic, and thrown weapons if you don’t have the stats. Bows are vastly inferior to magic, and don’t even take to kizamo well. If you inscribe a bow for damage, or elements, only hits from the bow are imbued with that element. And as more mass means, generally speaking, more or more powerful kizamo can be applied to a weapon then putting them on arrows is inefficient and extremely expensive. Not even the nobles would finance that amount of expense, so bows are used for sport by people with too much free time.” The normally impeccably composed Priest got more and more animated as he ranted. As he finished he took a deep breath to settle himself. When he had calmed himself he continued calmly. “Magic is the best, and most versatile weapon at range, if you don’t want to go down the magic road then use a throwing weapon at short to medium range and forget about bows. I am sorry that I let myself go on such a rant. Anyway, I approve most of your choices, I would however say that you will require an under armour or you will regret the chainmail shortly after having put it on. Here.”

He pulled a thick, padded jacket out and handed it to Jane, then took a long stiletto knife and a holster of three throwing axes off of the weapon wall and added them to the pile. He helped Jane pull on the jacket, that he called a gambeson, and strap on all of the other pieces and weapons. It took quite a while and required that Athair find some extra belts in a cupboard. When she was fully armed Father Athair led her to the front door of the orphanage where the other four dungeon divers were waiting for her.

Silah was heavily armoured, in mostly heavy plate armour with mail underneath, a tower shield on his back, a sword and mace at his sides, and holding a spear. He looked uncomfortably weighed down and Jane could hear the metal plates scraping against each other every time he moved. Athair shook his head on seeing him, then said his goodbyes and returned inside. Munodo was in somewhat lighter gear, similar to Jane herself. His mail hauberk was slightly longer and had long sleeves and his gloves weren’t quite so covered in metal but other than that they were dressed almost the same. He had a long thin sword and a few knives on his belt and a shield on his back. Munodo’s shield was much smaller than Silah’s, Jane wanted to call it a kite shield. Chirembo, the youngest and a healer, was not wearing some sort of white robes. Jane felt mildly disappointed that the one thing she thought she might actually know about this fantastical mediaeval setting that she found herself in was wrong. Instead, he had a metal breastplate and thick leather covering his limbs. His hands were uncovered. Nyika, as a mage, at least had the decency to have a big staff as well as a sword, but she was wearing a sleeveless chainmail vest, a long-sleeved gambeson and leather boots. She wasn’t wearing gloves either, so Jane supposed that it had something to do with casting magic.

They left for the [Rimwall Dungeon] which was located in the centre of the city. As they walked, Silah, aided by Chirembo, explained some of their general strategies for different situations. This was already their sixth visit to the dungeon and things had been really working well for their last two. In fact, on their last dive, they defeated the second-floor boss before pulling out, a feat that was considered impressive for a group of mid Tier twos. Unfortunately, they couldn’t continue to the third floor as they were out of mana and too low in health. With the addition of Jane maybe they could at least visit the first room of the third floor, once she had tiered up and got a bit more experience. The other four would be close to tiering up and out of the orphanage by then so they would surely be much more powerful.

Jane smiled sadly at the conversation, at the mention of the four of them and their upcoming majority, as she was years away still. As much as it was a novel, and fun, experience to be fighting and living in this weird facsimile of ye olde times, it was grating to be effectively nearly fifty yet considered a child. And thankfully things were not too middle ages here, there was hot water and showers, and no one, or at least not in Rimwall, was wading around in the contents of people's chamber pots. She was still comparing her two lives in her head when Silah grabbed her by the arm and forced her to stop.

“That's not Sergeant Vodolaz, who usually comes with us, that's the head of the guard in person. General Tianaro Nui is one of the strongest people in the city, and he sits on the council of Rimwall as head of the armed forces.” Silah whispered in hushed awe.

The general in question, accompanied by another guardsman, was standing in front of a large, plain stone building with heavily reinforced gates and no windows. General Nui was a fairly short man, nearly a head shorter than the man accompanying him, but he was dressed in the most ornate set of armour that Jane had ever seen. It was shining silver and engraved with the symbol of Rimwall on the chest piece and the pauldrons. He only carried a single sword whose handle was visible over his shoulder. He had a long burgundy cloak that flapped slightly in the wind as he strode towards the orphans.

When they noticed that the general was approaching Silah, Munodo, Nyika and Chirembo snapped to attention in a clanking of armour and all did an impeccably timed salute. Jane copied them with half a second delay and nowhere near as smoothly. Tianaro Nui nodded and the four relaxed slightly, with Jane again a half-second late.

“I have been informed of the anomalous presence of an Akaisha Wainwright, both by Father Athair, and Sergeant Vorn. In light of these reports, I have decided to come, in person, to see for myself. Akaisha, you are Tier 1, level ten, are you not?” The general had a surprisingly soft, almost soothing voice, but Jane could tell that replying was not an option. Not that she minded people knowing all that much.

“Yes, sir.”

“Good, there will be some change to the normal dive rules in that case. For this time only Akaisha will be allowed to retreat to Tier up if she hits her cap prior to the first boss room, I will accompany her to the [City Crystal] and back. Also should while she is only Tier 1 we will only pull her out if she is the only person in danger, rather than pulling the team out. Once she is tiered up we return to the previous conditions. Is this clear for everyone?”

The orphans all replied “Yes sir” and the second guardsman pushed the heavy gates open, revealing the portal to the [Rimwall Dungeon]. The portal itself was similar to the one Jane had traversed to enter the [Den of the Mother of Dogs], the same shimmering oil spill effect, but this time rather than be set into the floor it was surrounded by a stone arch. Before they headed in Silah raised a hand.

“We need to let Akaisha kill the majority of the [Lesser Dire Rats] and maybe even the [Dire Rats] on her own if we want her to tier up fast and get back to us. So you do what you can, I’ll cover you in case it gets too dangerous and the others will try to draw the enemies away from you so that you don’t get swamped. Ok?”

Akaisha nodded and they all entered the portal.

You have entered the [Rimwall Dungeon].