Redemption Arc

As the Student Ambassadors returned from their ‘press conference,’ Lucian paid close attention to each of them.

“How did it go?” Lucian asked.

“Ruth killed it, as she ever does.” Arthur, one of three commoner Student Ambassadors, was the first to enter. He was a Goldhain loyalist.

Lucian had been doing a strategy review of the Student Ambassadors. As they came in, he couldn’t help but remember his notes.

Arthur had a physique somewhat similar to Lucian’s—tall, lithe, but built—and a certain cocksure walk. He was half-elven, and proudly displayed that fact with hanging metal earrings that were prominent in light of his short black hair. He had very violet eyes. He was an amazing warrior, probably better stat-wise than Rowan, but couldn’t use spells much at all. He was best if he used fist weapons, but he seemed to have learned blunt weapons.

“I think it went well,” Ruth said as she entered. “I find it’s a lot easier to keep my composure after having endured battles with life-or-death stakes. Evidently everyone else must feel the same.”

Ruth was probably the best archer in War of Four. She was like a ranged Olivia Vantz-Leon—a bit squishy, but incredibly high STR, DEX, and SPD. Squishiness suited an archer far better. She typically got a unique Titanbone bow here as part of her quest. Maybe they could get it for her early. The bow fired two arrows concurrently. How would that work in reality?

Azalea entered after. “I hope my answer was okay.”

Azalea looked like the archetypal elf, even if she was only half—willowy, pale, fair hair. She was a solid caster. She had pretty solid attributes, but middle-of-the-road elemental affinities. Despite appearances, she generally had the highest health of the mages.

“You did great,” Miriam assured Azalea as she entered after her.

Miriam was a pretty great unit, but she was different. One might assume that she lacked mobility, but she often rode a horse. On maps where she couldn’t, she made up for by her specialization in long-range spells, typically lightning, that more than mitigated that. She had ridiculous MAG and DEX, but awful SPD, low CON, and low STR. All of that knowledge held true. Miriam had been listening to Lucian’s advice. Her build was highly optimized, consequently.

“You don’t need to worry, Azalea. I’m the one that ruined everything,” Bethany said.

Bethany Windview straddled the line between a rogue and a warrior. She was slight and slouched, with dark hair that had the vaguest hint of blue. She had a unique ability called Paranoiac that made her extraordinarily adept when facing more than one enemy. It allowed her to make extra attacks so long as that condition held. While her attributes and elemental affinities were all middling, the fact that she performed well under pressure made up for it. From what Lucian had seen in reality, she certainly came alive when things got tough.

“You did perfectly fine,” the last of the six Student Ambassadors said: Heath. He looked like the everyman—average height, white, brown hair, brown eyes.

Heath… wasn’t good, honestly, at least in War of Four. Perhaps things would be different in reality. He had high HP, CON, and STR growth, but low everything else. He was decent enough when he had a horse, but even then, he lagged behind most other melee fighters. His accuracy was bad enough he couldn’t make use of his high STR, his slow SPD made him a laggard, and he was often just cannon-fodder for spellcasting enemies. There were better options, so Lucian seldom used him.

That was the team for this journey. All of them were shortly followed by monastics. There were enough to have pairs for each one of the people here. In Lucian’s opinion, it was almost overkill. That said, they were undertrained for where they were going. He was only confident in tackling this area because he had foreknowledge and the monastics at his side.

“Now that the public’s been assured of our purpose, the only thing left to do is get permission from my father,” Ruth said. “We need his written approval to pass into sovereign elven territory.”

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“Have fun,” Lucian said.

Ruth eyed him. “You don’t want to meet the president?”

“Don’t take it personally,” Lucian said. “I’ve heard your father’s pretty intense.”

His name was Lyndon Goldhain. As in Lyndon B. Johnson, infamous for giving people The Treatment. Lucian didn’t want The Treatment. The developers hadn’t exactly hidden their influence for his character design. They would have to meet at some point, but Lucian wanted it not to be now.

“Suit yourself,” Ruth said.

“I’ll go find Rowan,” Lucian assured her. “Shall we meet at the cathedral at the edge of the city?”

“Sounds good,” Ruth said in parting.

***

After finding Rowan, Lucian went to the cathedral as he’d promised. One by one, the other Student Ambassadors came with the best from their family.

Lucian couldn’t get his mind off what Aurelia had said earlier, but he didn’t know how to bring it back up. She was clearly annoyed that he wasn’t doing anything to prevent Miriam from harassing her. Was that all this was, just some way to express her displeasure? And if it wasn’t… should he say something to change her mind?

Bothers me. I think she’s just making a point, but what if she’s not? She can never just let me relax… not that I could anyway, considering we’re about to journey into the Hells, Lucian reflected bitterly. I should just focus on making sure this expedition goes well.

“Alright, everybody listen,” Rowan called out, clapping loud enough to drag Lucian out of his thoughts. “Ruth has something to say, and then we could talk about strategy.”

Ruth cleared her throat. “This is mostly for the monastics among us, plus Lucian and Rowan. We’re going to be moving through sovereign elven territory. While it’s nominally still a part of New Riverra, in reality it’s governed almost entirely by the old clans that used to live in the area. They have their own laws, customs, judges, et cetera. We have a treaty with them, but it’s still going to be complicated to get to where we want to go.”

Ruth laid her hand on Miriam. “Miriam knows all of the local customs and traditions when it comes to these clans, so we’re going to let her take the lead. Try to be very mindful if and when we come into contact with these people. If something bad happens, it falls on all of our heads.” She looked to Rowan. “Leader?”

Rowan nodded. “Traversing the jungle is very tiring work. The brothers and sisters of Heavenwatch Monastery have graciously agreed to assist on this, but don’t let that be an excuse to lower your guard. We’re amply provisioned and we’re used to hardship, but this is definitely going to be a trek unlike the others we’ve experienced before. We’ll be in harsh wilderness a week, maybe more. And after all that journeying, we still have to fight.”

Lucian added, “We’re aiming for an ancient abandoned temple, I’m pretty sure, going off the True Divine Beast’s words. It’s a local legend and it’s been lost, but we’ll prove it real and give it an ending they can write songs about. After that… well, you know what’s coming.”

There were three blessings on offer. Lucian felt a little selfish, even greedy, but he’d already proven in the fight against Villeth he could make good use of them. Besides, these uber-talented Student Ambassadors were already closing the gap he’d made. It was necessary.

“That’s all,” Rowan said. “Everyone ready?” After looking around to be sure no one had question, he declared, “Then, partner up with a monastic.”

Aurelia walked up to Lucian. “Who’s going to be your partnered monastic?”

Lucian stared at Aurelia.

“Brother Crane, I presume?” Aurelia asked. “Or another of my brothers and sisters?”

“You want me to say please? Is that it?” Lucian asked.

Aurelia’s lips twitched in the faintest of smiles. “Oh, who am I kidding… everyone seems to have partnered us up in their minds already. Doesn’t help that you have me sealed. Well, shall we?” She offered her hand.

Lucian undid the Mentor’s Seal, and Aurelia came into her divine beast form. A few spectators in the city ooh’d and aah’d, and Lucian clambered on Aurelia’s back. Some people called this out, recognizing Lucian from the papers. Soon enough, their party of eight pairs moved for the gates of the city of Valmere. The iron portcullis rose, revealing heavily-cultivated grasslands. Beyond, though, in the distance, was a dense jungle.

Lucian was nervous, but also strangely excited. He had nostalgia for the first trip to fight Saltbelly. Maybe he was a sicko, but it was a fond memory. It’d be less fond if someone had died, he expected. He was proud of how he’d handled Saltbelly’s mate.

Still, he needed to use that as a reminder to expect the unexpected.