B4 Chapter 429: Briefings and Plans, pt. 2

As a group, they crowded around the large table in their private common room. Kaius sat at the centre, an envelope of thick yellow parchment in hand. It was crude, but sturdy — like everything else that came from the outskirts of the Frontier.

“Well, go on then. What are you waiting for? Open it,” Porkchop said, nudging him by the shoulder.

Kaius grinned and ran his thumb along the seal to pop it open. He couldn’t deny the glimmer of nerves crawling at the base of his spine. A faint worry, but present all the same: what if it was a cry for help that arrived late due to their absence? More than likely it would be a simple update, but who knew in turbulent times like these?

Taking a breath, Kaius laid the letter flat on the table and started to read.

Kaius,
It is Yan Mi, now mayor of Dawn Town, as I mentioned in my last letter. First — since I know you are one to worry — know that we are doing well.

I thank you for your previous correspondence, your ideas, and the secrets you shared. I must admit they came as a shock at first — that you would be so willing to suggest others put themselves in the same kind of danger you faced. Yet the more I thought about it with my fellow elders, the more it made sense. For an unclassed and a full team, the first layer is not anywhere near as deadly a threat as the second. And as you said, there would be no need for them to defeat a guardian as you did.

Kaius blinked, surprised at the letter’s candour. He kept reading.

I hope that we will prove your trust wisely placed. Already, great classes have sprung up among our new town, and everyone is learning as much as they can. Not all are combat-focused, of course. From the wide reach of the six villages that united into this small town, we found many hidden abilities for craft, farming, hunting, and more. Yet, for all that life has been hard in these woods, it has been harder still recently. The threat of beasts is ever-present, and our hunters must venture in groups. Never before have we seen so many levels so quickly, nor so many injuries and funerals.

The dangerous air has rubbed off on the young, much as we have tried to insulate them — more than I expected. Many of them train in the arts of battle, and they train hard. Even those older, who had only a few slots left, have managed to cram in as many secrets as they possibly could. Of those who have grown to adulthood, none has received a class lower than Uncommon.

Reading over his shoulder, Ianmus let out a low whistle, “Uncommon to the last — and this isn’t even the batch that’s been learning legacy skills in full. That’s big.”

Was it really? Kaius knew most people had Common classes, but Uncommon ones couldn’t be that rare. And even if they were, it wasn’t that large an advantage — their skills would be a little better, as would their stats, but it didn’t feel like enough. Not for the kind of strength that would be needed in the days ahead.

“Is it truly so important?” Kaius asked.

Ianmus nodded emphatically, “Kaius, something like ninety to ninety-five percent of the population anywhere have Common classes. That level of uplift is insane.”

“And it’s only going to get more dramatic,” Porkchop added.

“That could be dangerous. People will notice,” Kenva said.

Kaius frowned, wondering about unintended consequences. He didn’t second guess their course, but by its very nature it was very hard to tell where it would lead. At the very least, Dawntown was as isolated as it gets. With the insular and private folk in that stretch of the frontier, there would be few loose lips.

It was no promise it would be enough to keep them hidden from prying eyes. He could only hope that sharing more with the Guild would provide a smokescreen, and that, in the future, when Dawntown grew into a powerhouse, it could be pointed to as a template for what was possible if more were shared.

Still, the letter wasn’t done. Kaius went back to reading.

Of those still growing — especially those who had only picked a couple, or no skills at all by the time we set this wheel in motion — some have proven extraordinarily diligent. We have three groups. They are teams I can already tell will go far — live bright and burn hot. Of the hunters and ex-delvers we have, they are hard at work mapping the reaches of the first-layer delve. Identifying zones, biomes, and Champions that fit the teams’ strengths. They will be escorted for an expedition in their last year, and our plan is for a rotation of higher-level squads to stay just a single biome over, where they can reach the young ones quickly if needed. We are wary of the risks of such steps, but those three teams are the most eager of us all. Each has taken the hodgepodge collection of skills we’ve gathered and forged builds they plan to pursue.

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The brightest among them — four youths who joined the System only a few short weeks after Dawntown was founded a year ago — have already reached the point where the founding of the Dynasty… they, of course, immediately foisted the role of leadership onto me the second I accepted formal membership. I said yes, as is proper as mayor of our town. All of us who could, have joined the Dynasty of Rising Light, except for those who were more permanently bound by old oaths.

I write to you to tell you this good news, but also to beg. These teams are ferocious and have eaten every scrap of information we have gathered from you and other sources. We ask: have you learned more of aspects and of honours? Share, so that we might better support their rise — and all future ones.

But most importantly, Kaius, I write because I miss you. It is not the first time you have gone a year without stepping foot in Threefields, but it is the first time events have been so energetic, and I wish you well. You are always welcome, and I do so hope that you will visit sometime — you and Porkchop, and anyone else you have managed to drag into your firebrand lifestyle.

Yours with love, Yan Mi — Mayor of Dawntown and Seneschal of Rising Light.

Kaius leaned back in his chair, breathing out long and slow. A Dynasty — Rising Light. He’d known it was inevitable, he and Porkchop alone had given them enough legacy skills to make it happen.