The Outlands

The hoverer slowed to a stop earlier than Tess had grown used to. “Are we here?” She asked, looking around at the hoverer’s other occupants.

Alice grinned, standing up from her seat. “I think so, let me go double check.”

“No need.” Ker said, walking over to them from the far end of the hoverer. “I just checked. We’re here.”

“Finally!” Alice said, pumping a fist. “I am so over all this waiting!”

“We should go meet up with the expedition’s main contingent before we do anything else.” Jin said, looking up from his phone. “They’re giving further instructions in ten minutes.”

“Way ahead of you.” Alice replied, opening one of the hoverer’s doors and jumping out. “Everyone out, we gotta get this thing packed up.”

“Patience, Alice.” Ker said, smiling faintly. “Perhaps we should get into our gear before we pack away our changing spot.”

Alice paused, then begrudgingly stepped back into the hoverer. “Fine. I guess you’re right.”

“I’m already geared up.” Tess said, motioning at her clothes. Her party had already been to the savage dungeon that day, and so Tess had already changed into her armor. Ellie and Maven had changed out of theirs once they had returned to the hoverer, but seeing as how Tess’s armor was highly comfortable, she had opted to stay in hers and just change its appearance to be more casual.

“Do be quick with your changing.” Jin said. “We still have to walk over there, which could take a couple of minutes.”

“No need to tell me twice.” Alice mumbled, making her way to the hoverer’s bathroom.

“Jin and I will change over near our beds.” Ker said. “You two are free to change near yours, we won’t peek. If you feel uncomfortable with that, then go ahead and change in the bathroom after Alice finishes.”

“I’m good changing near my bed.” Ellie said. “Tess, feel free to peek as much as you want.”

Tess rolled her eyes. “Yeah, yeah.” She replied.

“I will wait for Alice to finish.” Maven said. “My apologies, you four, I trust you, I just…prefer to be alone while changing.”

“Nah, it’s cool.” Tess said. “I get it.”

A few minutes later, everyone had changed, Alice had packed up the hoverer, and they began their walk over to the gathering place. “How do you know where we’re going, Jin?” Ellie asked curiously.

“I have an app for it. I’ll show you how to download it after we’re done here. It provides information from the guild, allowing you to view requests in your area, updates on monster movements and weather, news, updates on events like this, and even requests that specifically ask for your party, if you’re famous enough to get those. It’s a pretty indispensable piece of tech in this business.”

“Sounds like it.” Ellie agreed.

“You can also make it a dead man’s switch for if your party wipes in a dungeon.” Alice volunteered. “That way they can recover your bodies if you die in an out of the way dungeon. It might be the difference between getting resurrected and dying for good, so it’s something to keep in mind.”

Tess shared a glance with Ellie and Maven. “I don’t think that particular function is much use to the three of us, given our circumstances.” She admitted. “Things are a little…different for us, you know?”

Alice frowned, then seemed to understand what Tess was getting at. “I see.” She said. “Still, it’s worth knowing about.”

They chatted on the topic for a couple minutes more until they eventually reached a large gathering of people. Gramps was standing on a raised patch of earth overlooking everyone with Ava, Atum, and Eyfura behind him. He spotted Tess’s group as they walked up and gave them a wave. A lot of people in the crowd turned to look, but that didn’t stop Tess from waving back, even if she did so a little embarrassedly.

A few minutes after that, Gramps cast a spell and cleared his throat, the sound magically amplified so everyone could hear. The low buzz of conversation died away, and Gramps began to speak. “As you are no doubt aware, we have finally reached our destination!” He said jovially. “Before I let you all loose to do as you will, I would like to give a few words of advice for those who have not yet gone on one of our expeditions.

“This is an exciting time, but it is also a dangerous one. We are deep in uncharted territory, and there is no telling what may lurk in these lands. Our scouts have not yet seen any monsters over level sixty roaming around, but that is not to say that a level sixty monster is as dangerous as it gets out here. The average level for monsters in this area seems to stabilize around fifty, with packs of up to five or more being common. And, given that information, we are proceeding under the assumption that there might be monsters of up to level eighty that we have not seen.

“We advise any parties containing members below level fifty to be exceedingly careful. If your party consists of mostly people below level fifty, it would be wise to stick with the group explorations we sponsor. We will not force you to do so, but know that people often die during these expeditions, and revival is not cheap or even guaranteed. Our resources are finite, and we cannot afford to resurrect people constantly.”

A slightly mournful expression crossed Gramps’s face as he continued, though it was so subtle that Tess doubted anyone who wasn’t intimately familiar with him would notice. “We would also ask that for any explorations, their intended locations, and estimated duration be reported to guild staff before leaving. Every expedition, people fail to heed this advice and perish in places where we cannot locate them.

“We know it is an annoyance, but it is for your own safety. Even the greatest healer cannot revive someone without access to their corpse. Likewise, if you discover a dungeon, please report it to the guild before venturing inside. My party will personally clear the dungeon and give an estimation on its difficulty. There are no punishments for failing to report an excursion, or for going into a dungeon before it is fully explored, and not even for failing to report the presence of a dungeon.

“The only punishment is the potential of permanent death. That being said, being meticulous about reporting your actions will reflect well on you when it comes time to apply for a rank increase. And, finally, any major discoveries such as dungeons or points of extreme interest such as deposits of magical metals, monster nests, or extraordinarily powerful monsters will be rewarded monetarily, proportionate to the importance of the discovery.

“You may check in using our app, or, failing that, we have a temporary desk set up near the buses.” He paused briefly, surveying the crowd. “Food will be served every four hours from sunup to sundown. Dismissed.” He stepped backwards, and the crowd began murmuring amongst themselves again.

“Well…shall we be on our way?” Alice asked. “Maven, any idea where we should head?”

Maven gave Alice a confused look. “Why me?”

Alice rolled her eyes. “Maven, you of all people should be able to point us to something exciting.”

“Me of all…oh. Right.” Maven said. “Um…I don’t, actually. Not yet anyway. I, um…kind of don’t want to, though. I’m not going to be able to have this experience again in the future, so…for now, let’s just…go at it like everyone else.”

Alice sighed. “Fair enough. I guess that would take some of the fun out of it.”

“We’ll just proceed as normal.” Jin said. “Does anyone have preferences in where we go?”

“Do we have any information on what the terrain is like?” Tess asked.

“Preliminary reports say everything in the area looks about like this.” Jin confirmed, motioning around. The area they were standing in was unremarkable; it was just hills and grass, no trees, no bodies of water, not even any wildlife that she could see. Just grass, grass, and more grass.

“I guess maybe in the opposite way from where we came, then?” Tess ventured. “Otherwise, we run the risk of exploring places the scouts have already seen.”

“I don’t really care.” Ellie said, stretching an arm. “Not if nobody’s seen anything exciting, anyway.”

“Likewise.” Maven agreed.

“We’ll head northwest, then.” Jin said. “I’m going to mark us as being out for a day while we do preliminary reconnaissance. If we find something, we can extend that, since we’re not exactly hurting for supplies.”

“Sounds good to me.” Alice said. “Let’s get moving, you can input all that on the way.”

“A word before you leave, if I may.” Ava said, tapping on Tess’s shoulder.

Tess jumped, whirling around to find Ava standing behind her. She hadn’t sensed her approach, and by the looks of it, none of the others had either. Even the crowd seemed completely unaware of her presence. “Um…yes, Ava?” She said weakly.

“I would like to remind the three of you to be cautious.” She said, looking at Maven and Ellie. “Just because you are Appointed does not mean you are invincible. Descent can only get you out of a tight spot so often, and this area is far deadlier than you are used to.”

She paused, then looked at each of The Rumors in turn. “I will not be able to accompany you during the course of this expedition, so I leave the three of them to you.” She said. “So long as you are cautious, you should be able to keep them safe without too much issue.” Her gaze lingered on Alice as she continued. “Do not let your excitement get the better of you, and remember your duties as their teachers.”

“We won’t let you down.” Ker said firmly. “Leave it to us.”

“Glad to hear it.” Ava said. “Have a good time out there, alright?”

“We will, thank you.” Ker said.

And then Ava was gone. She didn’t walk away, or vanish in a puff of smoke, she was just…gone, like she had never been there.

Jin shook his head, smiling slightly. “I suppose she’s the best in the business for a reason.” He said. “Shall we be off, then?”

They began to move away from the gathered people, off towards the northwest. “When exploring the wilderness like this, there are a few things you want to keep in mind.” Ker said. “The first is to be wary at all times. Like Ava implied, it is easy to become complacent and make mistakes.

“The second is that monsters act differently in the wild than in dungeons. In the wild, monsters behave like other animals; they’re not going to fight you to the death like they do in dungeons. They will stalk you like you’re prey, and once they realize they can’t win, they’ll flee.”

“The bodies don’t disappear or give drops, either.” Alice added. “But, on the bright side, they always have a core, even if you do have to dissect the thing to get at it.”

“Huh.” Ellie said. “I hadn’t thought about that, actually. Good to know.”

“No one knows why it’s like this, but that’s just the way things are.” Alice said, shrugging. “We just accept it.”

“The gods just told you why, didn’t they?” Alice said flatly.

“Um, yeah, sorry. We probably shouldn’t tell you the exact reasoning, just in case.”

“Whatever, it doesn’t really matter in the big scheme of things.” Alice replied. “Point is, when you’re out in the wilderness, be careful of monsters and always keep your eyes out for shelter that you can use in case of an emergency. Hoverers work as impromptu tents, but you don’t want to get your hoverer shredded by monster attacks while you’re sleeping, so it’s best to find a secluded space and keep watch anyway. Of course, if a dungeon is nearby, that’s the best place to sleep as long as the dungeon’s not out of control, but you can’t always rely on that, especially in situations like this; dungeons are almost always out of control when they’re first discovered.”

“We’ll point out to you the kind of things we’re looking for while we’re on the move.” Jin said. “But we also need to set some ground rules. I need you three to stay between Ker and Alice at all times, unless you are specifically asked to move. We’re going to do our best to keep you out of direct combat unless we determine it’s safe, but there’s no telling what might happen out there, and we’ll need you three in a place where we can keep you safe if we get blindsided.”

“We can handle that.” Tess said.

“Good. Don’t hesitate to let us know if you see something important, or if you need a break.” Jin said. “Now, let’s get started, shall we?”