Broken Lands

Sophia expected to be exploring the World Tree’s next level the following morning, but they had more to do than she allowed for. Leo might have a sword suited for his human form now, but he didn’t have the rest of the gear he needed. Leo also insisted on picking up a backup weapon for Arvinn … which turned into three: a normal spear for once she’d thrown her javelin, a shield, and a knife for when things got too close. Arvinn insisted it was too much, but even after picking up all of Leo’s gear and a few other odds and ends the duo were missing, like a sturdy but lightweight tent, the total for everything was a handful of leaves, less than a single Sun in value. Sophia wasn’t about to hear no for an answer when it was that cheap.

The one thing she couldn’t reasonably add was a pack with a proper storage enchantment. The cheapest one she’d found was half a Sun … but it was little more than a pouch that would hold several times what it should without reducing the weight but also without bulging and making it obvious what it contained. Sophia could think of several uses for such a thing, from carrying money without being obvious to smuggling, but it was of relatively little use for a delving party. Anything that was large enough and good enough to be useful cost more than a Sun, and none were even close to as good as Sophia’s pack. Better packs apparently existed but they were made on a commission basis only and they were far more expensive.

The price they got for the roc eggs sold made more sense when Sophia realized that anyone else would have had to carry them individually in the open.

Dinner that evening was at Reko’s family home on the second level of the Moonlit Branches.

“Welcome to our home!” Reko’s mother Aimee greeted them at the door and ushered them inside. Her fishy face hid her nervousness until she started talking at which point it was blatantly obvious even to Sophia. “We have snacks ready, and Arvinn and her parents are already here. This is my mate Porcys and you already know Reko of course, ah, and Porcys’s brother Lami and their parents Cohenn and Morel and oh yes Arvinn and her parents Oriole and Imilynn. That’s smallcakes with jam and … ah, you probably don’t like bitterweed, that’s for my family, but the orbs are bitterweed-flour sugarballs, they’re popular with Arvinn’s family so you’ll probably like them. I’ve got dinner coming soon, it should be here in a bell, oh! And there’s tea, yes, ah, what sort of tea would you like? I have tangy winterfrost, berry sweetbloom, or osio-leaf. And also bitterweed mash but I don’t recommend that.”

“Take the tangy winterfrost,” Arvinn recommended. “It’s already made and it’s really good with the lossberry cakes. Berry sweetbloom is too much with lossberry jam.”

“You really didn’t have to,” Sophia protested. She knew it was useless but she still felt like she should say something.

“Of course we did,” Porcys answered for his wife as Aimee turned away to pour three mugs of tangy winterfrost tea. “You’re letting Leo go with Reko and you even bought some gear for our boy. A meal is really the least we can do.”

That wasn’t what Sophia meant, not exactly. She wasn’t really able to express what she did mean, though; all she could really say was that this seemed like a bit much. Sophia let it go, only to be presented with a filled plate and tea mug held out by Arvinn’s father Oriole. She took them with a quiet “thank you,” unsure how to express her discomfort at how over enthusiastic they were.

“You’re third upgrade, right?” Morel asked, her age-faded scales glistening as she swam through the air. “I am, as well, though as a Professional. I never made it there in my climb; I only reached the first upgrade in my Calling. I fear it didn’t suit me well. We all have high hopes for Reko, however. He may not have attracted much of a team, but he has an eye for finding value in the World Tree, even before he met Leo, though obviously Leo made their last trip far more effective than any before. We’re happy you’re allowing him and Arvinn to accompany Leo in their explorations. Why, I remember doing the same when I was young, hitching my star to some bright youngster who was destined to climb high in the Tree; I still know some of them, a few even reached the fourth upgrade. They’ve been some of the best customers I’ve had, since I know exactly what they need and can make it for them.”

“Who did you meet that way?” Dav asked politely, then took a sip of his tea.

He clearly expected what happened: Morel launched into a long tale about one of “her teammates” that made it to the fourth upgrade, a young Archon who specialized in storm magic. As far as Sophia could tell, Morel’s role in the team was essentially a beater, someone who flushed the monsters for the “talented young Archon” to kill. Sophia had to fight to keep her expression steady; when Morel talked about her narrow escapes, barely saved by the man she looked up to, Sophia wanted to spit. That wasn’t a good team composition and was definitely a questionable plan.

It was a setup they’d used more than once on the expeditions in the Maze and even occasionally as the Flying Stars, but the people assigned to draw the monsters out were always capable of defending themselves or getting away and they usually had a backup anyway. It was never even close to as desperate as Morel’s stories sounded.

And yet everyone else seemed awed by the stories, especially once Morel started telling the story of the second upgrade Challenge chain. Morel wasn’t the only one who was at the first upgrade when they challenged it, to “enhance the rewards for completion,” but Sophia didn’t miss the fact that the young Archon Morel kept talking up “was a prodigy that had already reached the second upgrade ahead of the rest of us.”

“I see why they’re so happy we’re letting Leo join Arvinn and Reko, even if it’s only for a few trips,” Dav commented silently.

“He’s a better choice than anyone else they can get?” Sophia sent back, unable to keep her simmering anger out of her mindvoice.

“Yes,” Dav agreed, far calmer than Sophia. “But also they don’t know what they’re missing. This is what they expect, they don’t know what a proper team build is or how to survive in the World Tree. From what Arvinn said when I asked her about it, they have classes on it, but a lot of it’s left up to the parents because the wide range of physical requirements makes it hard to have practical training. There are some groups that go out to spend time in the wilderness, but Arvinn wasn’t in any of them. The fact that Leo knows how to make a camp may be more important for them than his ability to fight and they don’t even know that yet.”

“That’s … I don’t even know what that is,” Sophia admitted. “Horrifying?”

“They’re city folk, and successful ones,” Dav countered. “Why should they know how to build a fire without a firestarter? They’ll never need that knowledge. So it’s lost. I bet there are Archons who know more … but there’s a good chance that most of the people who make it high in the World Tree come from families that also made it high in the World Tree and can give their kids the advantages they wish they’d had. Like your pack.”

There was very little Sophia could say about that. Her pack and her tent were two of the things she used the most even though she rarely thought about them. They were incredibly convenient and made life a lot better. They didn’t directly help her through zones in the Maze … but they certainly made it a lot easier to keep going and go deeper on each trip.

It suddenly made all too much sense why Arvinn had a second upgrade javelin and called it a spear: she knew how to use it but didn’t really understand the difference, even though her father made the javelin as part of his effort to advance to the second upgrade. It was also why they were missing the things that Sophia thought were obvious in the way of backup weapons and camping supplies; their families had barely made it into the World Tree, emerging for the night if they didn’t find a place to rest inside with “normal” facilities like the ones Reko and Arvinn took Leo to the first night. It simply wasn’t something they had experience with. Even Morel’s story talked about having other people who actually managed the campsite.

The two families thought that even a short time working with Leo would give their children a head start. With an older sister who was third upgrade and could already fight above her upgrade, that made sense; Leo was set up for success in a way that Reko and Arvinn weren’t. They’d do well once they turned to their Professions, but they only had their ordinary schoolwork for their Callings.

“I see what you mean. Did you catch that Morel is the only third upgrade Professional here? Everyone else is second or first.” It made sense when Sophia compared it to what she’d learned from Sweetfire and Arryn back in Mazehold: If you leveraged your Calling properly, you could quickly raise your Profession to match it once you transitioned. The converse was clearly also true; it was difficult to quickly progress a Profession without a Calling that could pull it up and even then they had to be well-matched.

“Yeah,” Dav agreed. “Did you notice that Arvinn’s parents haven’t said anything?”

Sophia started to nod, paused, then continued the motion as she realized that Morel was at a point in her story where nodding would make sense. “They can’t get a word in edgewise. I bet if I said something, Morel would shut up.”

“Do you plan to?” Dav sounded honestly curious.

“No, hearing about a Challenge chain we didn’t see is better than more thanks,” Sophia answered quickly, then turned her attention back to the story. It actually was fairly interesting, once she got past the abhorrent way the group managed combat. They’d ended up in a fable that seemed to be about why rivers flow downhill, with their task being to convince a river to flow uphill for an hour. From the way Morel described it, Sophia could guess that there were several possible solutions.

Naturally, the method the leader of Morel’s group picked was to beat up the personification of the river until it agreed to flow uphill “because rivers always take the easy route.” Morel muttered something about it not being the “best” solution to the Challenge chain because it didn’t modify the entrance to the next level, but she noted that she didn’t really care because she was never going to head higher in the World Tree and she knew it. She was content with being able to access the third level of the Moonlit Branches years before she would qualify as a Professional.

The end of the story gave Sophia the perfect chance to turn the rest of the evening into a discussion of the Challenge chains they’d seen by asking about the fable of the lunar eclipse that they saw on the lowest floor. It worked, mostly; while she did have to deal with some exceedingly effusive thanks from Arvinn’s parents for her efforts teaching Arvinn magic, that didn’t happen until nearly the end of dinner.

Sophia was grateful when she escaped. She really hadn’t done anything special enough to deserve that level of repeated thanks; if anything, they were doing her a favor by letting Leo hang out with Reko and Arvinn so that Sophia didn’t have to find a better way to keep him entertained while she was in the World Tree. They didn’t see it that way, but as far as Sophia was concerned, it was a perfect situation of everyone coming out ahead.

At least the next day would be easier. She might have to face third upgrade monsters, but she could just kill them. That was far easier than dealing with people!