It was a couple of days after the public ceremony commemorating the life of The Mathemancer and the other Supreme Legends who had perished on the 26th layer of the dungeon. I had sat quietly up at the front of all the guests for the ceremony while countless people had stared at me.
It hadn’t been comfortable, sitting up there in front of people. But there was a statue commissioned. The Mathemancer in the front of course even if that made no sense, with the other three supreme legends behind him.
They definitely got my mother’s stern glare down. I could almost feel the disappointment radiating from the statue.
The Supreme Legends who made it to the 26th layer.
That was the inscription at the base of the statue. Then they listed the names or titles of each of the individuals and the current date.
I was glad I hadn’t had to speak. The Dean had given a speech about pushing boundaries, gathering knowledge, and being highly capable. I would have said something about love, support, and unrelenting determination.
The only reason the College even put up a statue was because their first Dean had been the Mathemancer. Apparently he didn’t want statues at the College and definitely not for any Professors. Knowledge was timeless apparently.
However, going into the dungeon and reaching the 26th layer was the accomplishment of an adventurer, not the Dean, so they put up a group statue regardless. Most of the speakers talked about The Mathemancer. A handful of legends had talked about The Librarian and how he had maintained order down in the Last Bastion.
Only one legend spoke about my mother and how she was always unrelenting and focused. While she didn’t avoid civilian casualties, she tried to avoid them. When she came back to the surface she would take on jobs fighting in wars to raise more money for equipment.
The speaker mentioned there were debates on if she had a higher legend kill count than Blood Gore, but she could be talked to and reasoned with, even sparing people if they walked away unlike Blood Gore the Butcher.
No one had anything to say about him, just that my mother was better in comparison. His statue was also completely in the nude. But that was how he fought, letting it all hang out there. Another reason he wasn’t very popular was that he never purchased equipment.
The College could have depicted him differently, but that would have been an insult to a Supreme Legend, something that just wasn’t done. Even if no one particularly liked them, they were supreme legends. The veneration of their accomplishments was immense.
“What did you think?” Healer Melon asked me as we relaxed in our sitting room.
“They got her glare right. Beyond that, I don’t know,” I replied.
“They really did. But making the statues larger than life, she definitely is imposing standing there with her sword raised,” he replied.
There was a knock on the door. Healer Melon got up and answered it. It was a staff member delivering a message. They offered that service here in the College. I hadn’t needed to use it before. There was no one I needed to message.
“Fancy and addressed to you,” Healer Melon said as the staff member left. I took the letter. The front was written in Eldarin Script with my name, which was quite fancy. I carefully opened the letter up.
Justin Burnstock,
You are cordially invited to a discussion on adventuring and possible team formation. A dinner of like minded individuals from our year is being held. It would be remiss not to have the most outstanding student and likely adventurer invited to such a discussion at the inception of such a team.
“My first,” I replied.
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“Really?”
“Before I was under the auspices of my mother and father. An invitation would naturally include them. I guess that corporate invitation could be counted as my first, but it was lacking in formality and seriousness,” I said.
“The Tower Club is in the main tower of the College, on a high floor. It only hosts events that are invitation only. It isn’t cheap to arrange something there.”
“Well Stormy Aether is the fourth ranked student of our year. An elf, I think?” I looked at Healer Melon who shrugged.
“I am not sure. So, are you going to accept?” he asked me.
“Of course. If I decline I will probably not be invited to such an adventuring team again.”
“I probably don’t have to say it, but your mother wouldn’t approve. You would do better on your own,” he said.
“I know. But I want to consider a team. They might be able to help me with the Dark Cabal later on if we come together as a team and they might have unique backgrounds to help with such a task. I am not going to be gaining main level experience until that is taken care of,” I replied.
“A bold declaration and understandable. A tier 1 class should last you until you get two tier 5 skills. After that you must seriously think about increasing the tier of your class,” Healer Melon said.
“And after that?” I asked.
“There shouldn’t be an issue. I suppose if you get multiple tier 6 skills you would need to consider a tier 3 class. But getting such skills is not simple or easy,” he replied.
“I guess I will have to leave you behind. If I am not back by midnight, send a rescue team,” I joked. If the meeting was in the central tower of the College, that implied there would be a degree of safety. If it was at the edge, then I would have been more concerned and brought Healer Melon along just in case it was a trap.
“I will, don’t worry,” he replied.
The following afternoon, I put on my medium armor that I had carefully cleaned and polished. The metal plates gleamed. There was minor damage on the armor and scratches, but that was fine. This was a formal adventuring dinner. Having armor that was slightly worn was acceptable.
My Beginner’s Blade rested on my hip and Ozy rested on my shoulder. I made my way to the central tower. And was allowed to take an elevator up to the Tower Club after confirming I was on the invite list for the dinner.
Stepping off the elevator, I got a view out of the glass windows of the College and the land beyond the wall. I had arrived one minute earlier than the invitation suggested. That was a sign of being respectful and polite without being subservient.
“Welcome, I am Stormy Aether,” an elven woman said with a smile. She was wearing a battle mage’s robes for ease of movement and to draw in more Mana while using spell skills.
“Justin Burnstock,” I said and shook her hand. That was the polite greeting for adventurers. If this had been a formal Elven event, there would have been bowing and a lot of subtle remarks.
“Thank you for coming a bit early. We are still waiting on the last invitee. Let me introduce you to the two already here,” she said. A team of five, a bit large, but not impractical.
We made our way to a large human teen, devouring the buffet of appetizers that had been set up. He had a large axe on his back. He turned around as we approached and put his plate of food to the side. “Harren Axefall,” he introduced himself. The third ranked student of our year, one spot above Stormy.
“Justin Burnstock,” I greeted him.
“Impressive you have surpassed me. After the soul fruits my father got me, I didn’t think anyone else would out level me,” he replied.
“My mother supported me quite a bit growing up,” I replied and he nodded at that.
“Sword, interesting. Following her path as a spellblade?” he asked.
“Yes. But I have a ways to go. I see you favor the axe?”
“I am the fifth generation of Axefall. Our axe skills are second to none,” he declared.
“Hello, I am Sam Whitesmith,” a thin looking teen greeted both of us.
“The twelfth ranked student. Or eleventh now that Xyon blew himself up like an idiot,” Harren said.
“Sam here is also a skilled caster like me, but specialized in support spell skills, which was why I invited him. He is a legacy as well. Just needs a bit more work so he will be in the top 10,” Stormy said.
There was a soft chime, and another woman exited the elevator. Stormy went over to greet here while we all looked over. Stormy brought the dwarven woman over. “This is April Withers, a skilled dwarven craftswoman. She is pushing the boundaries of weapons,” Stormy introduced out last guest.
I noted several devices attached to her light armor. “Greetings,” April said and gave a short bow. She was no adventurer, but I held my judgement beyond that.
“The seventh ranked student in our year. Hmm, you clearly have some talent,” Harren declared.
“Feel free to grab some food from the buffet and then I will share with you want I want to accomplish with this team,” Stormy declared. I saw no reason to argue and got a plate of food before sitting down. It was less formal than I expected, but this was an adventurer’s meeting, not some party or noble ball.
“First, thank you all for coming.” Harren let out a grunt and the rest of us made small nods at this statement. “I want us to form a comprehensive and balanced adventuring team. The goal being to reach level 80 after graduation. Beyond that we can discuss things over again. Harren and Justin would be our front liners with Sam offering support and crowd control. April and I would provide long range support,” Stormy said.
“A support caster and a craftswoman?” Harren asked with a touch of disdain. I didn’t blame him. Harren and I would have to do a lot of heavy lifting to cover the other team members. I also noted they were counting Ozy in the team composition. It was acceptable since he was my pet. He was expected to coordinate with me and no one else.
“Yes. After recent events,” Stormy said and glanced at me before continuing. “It seems to prudent to look for non-standard team compositions. Not just front liners and battle casters,” she said.
“There is a reason that the classic team composition works and has stood the test of time. Anything else reduces combat efficiency at the cost of experience gain. I have no doubt the people you picked are capable, but in high level combat each person has to be able to act independently. The plan works up to the 15th layer, but beyond that when monsters use tactics, such a team composition will fall apart, horribly,” Harren explained and he was correct.