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* * *

Joe woke in the morning, stiff all over and more tired than he had been in a long time. He woke to the bright shining of his available skills screen. The memory of the nightmare came back to him and he wilted, oozing on to the bed without any desire to get up. He finally waved off the status screen in a fit of frustration but couldn’t dismiss the dream as easily. His body begin shaking. The room was warm yet he couldn’t stop shivering, the feeling of a cold that wasn’t physical seared deep into his soul. He wrapped his arms around himself as he slowly calmed down and tried distracted himself from the dream. It took a bit of time for him to finally calm himself and face the day.

Joe settled back into his typical morning preparations of searching his status and reevaluating his plans for his future job choices. He discovered nothing new but was able to reaffirm his choices and was ready to head out to continue working on his cudgel skill. He was surprised that Gardenell was still sleeping so he decided to spend the false dawn stretching practicing his forms using Tai Chi. He’d made it to around half way when Gardenell sat up quickly, glancing towards Joe with embarrassed apology. Joe quickly waved him away, dismissing the apology.

  Status

Blessing

Current Job

Available Jobs

Current Skills

Available Skills

Log

Skill

Level

Skill

Level

Skill

Lev

Skill

Level

Skill

Level

Commoner

20

Char: Cudgel

.23

Calculate Taxes

Villager

10

Farmer

10

Use Plow & Scythe

Waiter

10

Balance Glasses

Bartender

10

Calculate Tab

Chief

10

Day Laborer

10

Inn Keeper

10

Reeve

10

Popular

Forester

10

Read Plants

Trapper

10

Read Animals

Fisherman

10

Read Pond

Hunter

15

Char: Bow

1.11

Find Trails

Silent Stalking

.02

Miner

10

Read landscape

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Baker

10

Make Flour

Bread

Cook

10

Grains

Flour

Metropolitan

20

Basic Self Defense

Calculate Taxes

Basic Attack

Burgher

10

Waiter

10

Balance Glasses

Bartender

10

Calculate Tab

Day Laborer

10

Cook

10

Grains

Flour

Baker

10

Flour

Bread

Groom

10

Becalm Horse

Butcher

10

Butcher

Inn Keeper

10

Sign & Logo

Merchant

10

Becalm Horse

Citizen

20

Adv Self Defense

Adv Attack

Specialist

20

+50% Agility

Char: +50% to Learning

0.01

Educated

20

%$ @#$!*

Scholar

20

IQ + 50%

Wisdom +25%

Philosopher

20

Theorist

29

Job Guidance

.05

%&*$ #)($ !)#@)

%&*$ !*)@ ^*

Double Learning

.01

Linguist

26

Read Heart Family of Lang.

Polyglot

20

Language Expertise (1)

.02

Language Expertise (2)

 

 

“Don’t worry about it, kid! You’re young. You’re supposed to sleep in.”

Gardenell said nothing, looking to Joe for several moments before nodding with a smile.

“Good. Now get ready. Let’s head down to breakfast and make our plan for today. Depends a bit on what the siblings say, but… I think we’ll head out to the beginners dungeon, see what benefits we get from conquering a dungeon, hey?”

Gardenell cocked his head, “You wish to go to a beginner’s dungeon?”

“You guys told me we get benefits from defeating a dungeon?” Joe asked with some perplexity, “Are they not worth it?”

“They are definitely worth it. But, defeating a dungeon.”

“It’s hard?”

“Very.”

“Harder than the expert dungeon?”

“I… well… no.”

“Is defeating a dungeon harder than the first and second floor of the expert one we’ve done?”

“It is harder, yes… but the dungeon itself is very simple. Only five floors. It’s the boss that is hard,” Garnedell thought for a few moments before adding in, “And the labyrinth on the fourth floor is not … well, it’s not too bad, but we might want a map or something.”

“Hm… we’re allowed to take maps?”

“Of course. But any aid counts against our taking of the dungeon.”

“Oh! Really? So getting help lowers the reward?”

“In some way, yes. If the help has already defeated the dungeon, the reward is much lower. If the help hasn’t, then no, the reward remains the same.”

“Huh, that’s interesting! OK. Let’s try to do this alone! Ha!”

Garnedell smiled and shook his head before he rose from the bed and prepared for the morning. By the time Garnedell had finished using the small water basin in the room, Joe had finished his forms and stretches and took advantage of cleaning himself up as well. Both were still reasonably clean although Joe did miss the bathing time at the stream even if it had been chilly. Bathing with just a cloth was quite unpleasant. Maybe there is a bath in the city? Or can we get a bath to our rooms? Hm…

“Garnedell. Can we get a bath to our rooms?”

“Uh… maybe in a more expensive inn, ma… Joe. But not … I don’t think we could at this inn.”

“Mmm… I’ll ask the inn keep anyway. It would be nice to have.”

They finished their morning preparations and headed downstairs for breakfast, finding Kukurnal already waiting with nervous energy at a table for them. Joe smiled as he joined them and waved over some food.

“Did the siblings come down yet?”

“What? Ah. No. I have not seen them, Joe,” Kukurnal responded.

“Hm. Maybe they’re not coming?”

“I can go and check,” Garndell offered as he jumped off and ran to the stairs.

“No. You don’t… never mind.” Joe watched as Garnedell was already at the stairs by the time he was able to respond and he simply sighed in resignation. “Really wish he would relax around me. He’s so uptight.”

“You’re his master, right?”

‘Ah… well. Yeah. But still. He doesn’t need to be so uptight. As long as he’s respectful, that’s all that matters.”

“But this is a sign of respect. He hears your desire and tries to address it as soon as possible.”

“But that’s the thing. It’s a sign. Not respect.”

Kukurnal cocked his head in confusion at that. “It is respect.”

“No. It can show respect, but it itself is not respect. Signs are not the things themselves.”

“How else would anyone know that he is respecting you?”

“Why would I need others to think he is respecting me?”

Kukurnal blinked at that before countering, “People need to know the apprentice is respecting the master.”

“Why?”

Kukurnal was actually stumped at this point, fumbling in reply, “Because … it’s right.”

Joe dropped the argument at that point, not wishing to get into the moral merits of students respecting their teachers, saying nothing and offering little by way body language. Kukurnal stared at Joe for several moments before continuing, “Is respect not important?”

“Respect is very important.”

“Then why do you begrudge your apprentice his respect for you?”

“I do not begrudge his respect. I simply dislike his subservient attempt to please me in everything. That is not respect.”

“It is respect. It is how you show respect.”

“It may be how you show respect in certain cultures, but it is not respect.”

“How… why do you …” Kukurnal shook his head with some consternation, “Then what is respect?”

“Respect is to esteem someone, to… look up to someone. To… think greatly of someone.”

“You do not like Garnedell to think this way of you?”

“I’m honored that he does.”

“Then why do you fight it?”

“I do not fight his respect. I fight his efforts. To respect… to feel greatly for someone does not mean that one must work for that person. They are who they are. This does not give them a right to your time or work. Just because someone is great doesn’t mean that you have to suck up to them.”

“Suck… up? Huh… how strange, but I believe I understand the meaning. It is to appeal or appease the other.”

“Exactly. Garnedell has no reason to appease me. We are friends. He needs to relax and just be friends.”

“But you are not friends. He is your apprentice. You are his master.”

“Yes. But again. He gains my teaching and I give it freely. He does not need to appease me.”

“That is always the way of the master and apprentice. The apprentice offers little to nothing to the master. The master gains a servant in return for the teaching.”

Joe’s eyes lifted at that, as realization came to him. Pondering with some silence, Joe’s consideration was bit longer than typical conversation before he finally returned to the conversation, “Huh. OK. I can see that. But … I guess I’m OK that he wants to help me. That’s a good thing. Great. Nice, even. But I wish he did it because he knew that his… place? Position?... His apprenticeship is … he doesn’t have to worry about losing anything with me or losing his apprenticeship. He and I are good. He just needs to focus on doing his best and helping out where he thinks he can. And I’ll do the same, teaching as best as I can and helping out where I can. But I feel like he’s always… afraid and worried that he will … that I will … that I don’t want him, or that I’ll kick … push him away.”

“Have you told him that?”

Joe blinked a few times at that, “No.”

“Have you completed the rite of apprenticeship?”

“Uh…. What rite?”

“Oh dear!” Kukurnal actually face-palmed at that and Joe had to hide a sniggering laugh, quickly turning it into a cough before he quickly schooled himself.

 

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