Astrid almost gained enough experience to hit level 10 on their way back up to Kznietch. Over a dozen gnolls burst from the fields to ambush them as a pack composed of at least two individual packs as the party got close to the exit from the third floor. Unlike the last time something like this had happened, the party was ready, and there were five of them now, so Astrid refused to flee to the next floor. That said, their frontliner was exhausted, and his Class demanded that he be very active on the front lines. As such, Astrid had commanded him not to use his attention-grabbing skill, instead of merely staying by her side while she and Muti set about killing whatever came close.
The rest of the journey was peaceful and not worth talking about, and they made their journey home among the snowy-covered fields under the moonlight.
Once back in town, Astrid received another letter from her parents. After taking the time to eat with her party, she took a quick bath, noting that she hadn't actually seen Klara in the bath for several weeks. The Lightmage had been busy, or at least not particularly open to explaining what she was doing. Of course, that had nothing to do with Astrid, and so long as she wasn't being attacked, she supposed she wasn't too worried about what specifically Klara was wrapped up in doing. So long as she was still keeping people from ambushing and killing delvers, Astrid didn't care about the specifics. Once she finally returned to her room, she got comfortable on the bed and started reading.
"Hello, my light! I am glad you have hopes of expanding your party! A full party delving together is always safer and better, so I just want to express my hope that you are able to draw these other delver's attention. I know that this is something you already know, but being able to fight against stronger monsters will get you better Skills in the long run than to throw yourself again and again at weaker monsters that you can slay easily.
"I'm sorry to hear about your friend. Your mother has more details specifically about what you asked, but I will tell you that I have always considered the consolidation of power in the capital to be a blight. Keeping yourself clear of all of it is probably the safest thing to do in the long run, but I imagine that you will remain too competent to keep yourself totally clear of such politicking. In the event that you are forced to engage in more desperate negotiations, all I can say is that I pray you keep your head and don't make a fool out of yourself in your pride. Patience and humility will get you further than anger and unremarkable strength.
"That's all, but I love you. Your mother will send hers underneath.
"Papa."
Astrid smiled. So much of the communications that she had with her parents were like this, repetition of things that they all had already said, but serving as reminders of the love and support that they shared. Regardless of how repetitious it may be, Astrid looked forward to it every week, to her father's Initial message to her mother's singular message to her father's closing lines. Without thinking further about it and excited to get her mother's answer, she looked at the bottom half of the paper, where her mother's sloppier handwriting covered the paper.
"Astrid,
"If what you say is correct, then this letter will find you when you are level 10. That being the case, your next level will be interesting in that you'll get your new Skill, but we all know what it's going to be. Looking forward to hearing how your remaining Skill changes once it evolves to Bronze, but I want to remind you that this is not something that you should take casually. Keep your Skill's name and description quiet, only tell those you trust. I say it every time, but you're seeing what the most powerful people in the country do with kids with high potential.
"I believe I might have done you a disservice. I hold the Duchess in high regard, both her forebears, and the current one. Leading a country cannot be easy, and for hundreds of years, the Duchesses have. That said, much of the leadership of our country does not deserve your respect. I've raised you to listen to rulers and magistrates, to captains and guards, to keep your head down when it comes to civil disobedience, and I probably should have been more upfront about the dangers of the world. I intended to do so before you left, and I have no real excuse for not having done so. I see what your father said, and I agree with him, and I wish to add my own commiseration to his. Your friends didn't deserve what has happened to them, and you deserve to have known what I know before that. I'll give you information that is possibly a faux paus for me to share, as well as uncomfortable for you to hear.
"Politicking aside, the Duchess that we have now is young. The previous Duchess died just before you were born in a levelling expedition. By itself, that wouldn't have been too terrible, but there are several factors that led to the instability we now have. The first is that the last Duchess was pretty young when she died, only 40 or so. She'd been underlevelled when she ascended, so the noble Classes were granted temporary powers that were to be revoked when the Duchess reached level 120. It is almost certainly no accident that she died when she was particularly close to that benchmark. Beyond that, her successor hadn't appeared at the time of the previous Duchess's death, so there was a vacuum in power. The noble Classes, already blessed with more power than they deserved, usurped more and more of the centralized power previously held exclusively by the Duchess.
"Our current Duchess has been forced to focus on much smaller parts of the Bulwark while she fights to consolidate her power. This is generally unknown to anyone below Steel, and even within Steel, this isn't widely shared. But the reality is that the Duchess is young, underleveled, and much less politically secure than the position has ever been before. She's lost much of the support system that allowed the Duchesses of the past to be the powerhouses they were, and most of what allows our country to function the way it has until now is the Duchess's personal power. Instead of climbing to high Mithril or even Adamantium in the past fifteen years, she's only barely reached Mithril, I would guess.
"There's more detail that I know here that isn't pertinent, but there's information that will allow you to understand generally why what's happening has been allowed.
"I love you, and I'm proud of you. Let me know if there's anything you need from me, and I will, as always, be happy to give it to you.
"Mother
"P.S. I'd love to speak with you in person, and if you have any specifics you want to talk with me beyond this will be more easily explained in person. You're free to come visit, though you might end up seeing things you don't want to."
Despite everything, Astrid was fairly certain that this was a warning from her mother. This message she gave was the last she'd say about it not in person. Maybe there were things she couldn't say where it would be so easy for her words to be intercepted? Astrid pursed her lips as she turned the paper over and read her father's final note, the one he always put on the back of the paper.
"Your mother's settling more and more easily back into her soldier persona, and I can see that it's wearing her down. She's angrier, but so tired. She so looks forward to your letters, and this latest one is stressing her. I'm not blaming you, so stop that frown—"
Astrid felt at her forehead and felt the crinkling of her brow. She chuckled to herself as she turned her attention back to the letter.
"so stop that frown, and realize that she'd be angrier if she found out you weren't telling us the truth. Just try to share the good news. We're both proud of you, and we love you.
"Papa."
Astrid smiled as she sat back on her bed, wondering what all that her mom said meant. Why hadn't she ever said that when she was a kid? It wasn't as important to her back then, but why wouldn't she explain the dangers of the world that surrounded her? It just didn't make sense, sending Astrid out into the world when she had some measure of knowledge that the nobles were pulling things like this. Then, she could have said something when they met back up before in Stahlstadt. Just… Astrid grunted and stopped thinking so much about it. There were two things she knew—her parents loved her and would do their best, and that they were still human. They'd make mistakes.
Instead of continuing to think about other things, Astrid instead thought for a moment and sat down to write a letter to her parents detailing the first days with these new party members, the good work they'd already begun, and so much more. She didn't need to say anything about debts, because she was taking care of it. Her parents could chide her when next they spoke in person, and she'd be totally debt free by then. Instead, she spoke of happy things, of good futures, and exciting prospects. When it was finally done, she left the paper out for the ink to dry as she laid down and finally allowed herself to relax. Sleep came quickly.
***
"On the right." Astrid granted, as she stepped past Felix. Though it had only been a couple days of them delving together, he understood and stepped to the left, causing the Skill-compelled gnolls to follow suit. Once they'd exposed themselves like that, Astrid dealt two quick killing blows and didn't suppress a grin as she felt the Great One bless her with a new level. As her body grew stronger and her very essence sublimated, Astrid considered opening her Status, but she waited until the pack was exterminated completely. As she and Muti dispatched the last three gnolls, Astrid grinned as she settled back on her heels. Nobody needed to ask anything, as they'd all been keeping track of the kills made. Astrid locked eyes with Benedict, and his face fell as he recognized what she was about to say.
"You take care of my portion. I'll be done soon, and we all know you need to catch up on working. After all, Bard doesn't mean you can't work."
Though his face screwed up in disgust, Benedict executed a sweeping bow before he turned with a grumble to do as he'd been commanded. He hated getting his hands dirty, but he didn't fight the commands he was given, which Astrid considered more than good enough. He'd get used to digging materials out of the monsters before too long, and Astrid didn't care to continue thinking about it. Instead, she pulled up her Status, even though she knew what it was going to show her.
Status
Name: Astrid
Class: Warrior (Bronze)
Total Level: 10 (13/14,000)
Attributes
Current
Per level growth
Power
58 (+1)
+5
Alacrity
37 [+7]
+3
Fortitude
59 (+3)
+5
Magical Potency
15
+1
Self-Mastery
16
+1
Acumen
16
+1
Though time kept ticking along, and now the fields surrounding Kznietch were choked with snow, Astrid looked forward at continuing to gain levels and experience at an even greater rate. With the five working together on just the third floor, they were getting over 1,000 experience daily. That was just another two weeks to level 11. Two weeks until she could clear the Boss with ease, to being able to start planning on their next stop, their next goal. Strange, but they were also making more money than ever before. There wasn't anything for her to worry about. Except for kidnappers, daggers waiting to be plunged in her back, or debts threatening to crush her present and future.
She shook her head and looked at Muti and Skandr, both of whom were pulling the trophies out of gnoll heads.
"You just gonna look at us or are you remembering how to make yourself useful?" Skandr quipped as he fiddled with his knife's handle. He smashed it into the fangs of the corpse in front of him, pulling the valuable materials free.
"I'm always useful." Astrid scoffed as she bent down and started disassembling the corpse in front of her. It didn't take long before she was done, the increase to her Power and Alacrity doing wonders. As the materials dropped into her pouch at her side, Astrid strode to the next corpse.
"Level 10, huh?" Felix asked as he grunted, yanking on a stubborn fang. "Feel any different?"
"Of course." Astrid chuckled. "Have you ever gotten a level that didn't make you feel any different?"
"Fair enough." Felix grunted as he yanked the fang free.
Before long, the materials were all harvested, and the party stood looking at each other. Benedict sighed as he rolled his shoulders and said, "How long are we going to be stuck down here? It feels like we've already been here all day."
"Nope." Skandr laughed as he dragged his bloody hands through the nearby grain field. "It's about lunchtime, though. If we don't push ourselves as late as we did last night, I'd say we're half done for the day. What do you think, Astrid?"
"Good point. We shouldn't push too far or too late, get some rest while we've still got these two babies with us." She smiled as she made the joke, Felix rolling his eyes and ignoring the jab while Benedict bowed like a jester.
"My overwhelming gratitude. Mightn't I have a crust as payment for my hard work? I guarantee my overwhelming gratitude and continued slavery in return."
Astrid let her eyebrow climb up in response to his snark, but she didn't mind too much. Instead, she rolled her hand in as stately a manner as she could manage as she replied, "You do carry your own rations, good sir. If your stomach is complaining overmuch, I invite you to indulge in its rumbling cries."
Benedict grinned widely as she engaged with his tomfoolery. "Great! Let's break for lunch!" He didn't say anything more as he stepped to the side away from the carelessly tossed bodies and pulled his food pouch from his back. There, he looked around, didn't find anything to sit on, and sighed as he resigned himself to being a ground-sitter. As he ate the day-old bread with hard cheese and cured meat, he groaned in appreciation.
The others quickly joined him, though Astrid remained standing and keeping an eye out for anything approaching. Gnolls weren't known for their ability to hide themselves, but they weren't the only enemies around. Nothing appeared to approach, but she continued watching as the rest of the party had quiet conversations in between quick bites. If she hadn't already done this for months, Astrid would have found it humorous. Massive bites washed down with quick swigs of water, only to speak a couple quick words when it was expected of you. They weren't long conversations, but as each person finished their meal, the conversations resembled regular ones more and more.
Muti finished her own meal and stood, disregarding the questions about life before the Bestowal as she took Astrid's place. The Warrior quickly tore into her own meal, hunks of bread and meat fighting to catch in her throat, but whenever she wanted to cough, Astrid instead threw another mouthful of water in to keep her frenzied feasting from finishing. Just a scant few minutes later, the food was gone, and she turned her attention to Muti. The Barbarian was quiet, but as Astrid watched, she stiffened. Before Astrid could say anything, the Rogue snarled, dropped to a knee, and avoided something Astrid only saw a moment later—an arrow.
As the projectile flew by, Muti drew her blades and threw herself into the fields with a screaming challenge. Of course, while she pursued the hidden ambusher, the sounds of gnolls cackling their howling cries filled the air.