Arica’s offer took Damion by surprise. Getting to go into a dungeon was not something he had thought would happen until the Magic System unlocked and he was a mage and started studying at one of the magic academies. The knights were able to go into dungeons were either all members of guilds, orders or where high Rankers that were there to protect weaker mages.
“Yeah, I’d like that,” Damion managed to say despite his disbelief.
“Do you know anyone else that we can trust to join our party?”
“I don’t know if he’ll be available, but I know a decent guy. His name is Ethan Hoyt, he’s E Rank, his dad owns a trading company in town that is in the process of expanding. Though, I am not sure how to contact him, we were on a couple of missions together.”
“Hoyt, as in Hoyt Shipping?” Arica asked after she remembered seeing company signs in town.
“Yeah, that’s it,” Damion said. He hoped Ethan would be free to join them. But with his father expanding in Bufort, Damion was not sure what Ethan’s responsibilities would be.
“I’ll see if I can contact him with my offer. Once I have his answer, I’ll post a mission in the Association for two or three more people to flesh out our team.”
“You don’t think I’m too weak to go into a dungeon?” Damion asked uncertain. He was after all only F Rank. Anyone Arica found to join them would certainly be stronger than him.
“Don’t worry about that. You can already take at least a D Rank knight in a one-on-one fight. Being a part of a party in a C Rank dungeon will be fine. Besides, the people we get to join us will be C Rankers most likely. Treat it as an opportunity to learn for you and your friend.”
After Damion thanked Arica a few more times for the opportunity to go into a dungeon, Damion headed home. When he finally pried himself free of his mother, who was ecstatic to see her son after he was gone for a few days, Damion took his backpack, sword and his jerkin up to his room and then he went to take a bath. A few days on the road and Damion could almost feel his own ripeness.
“We made you a grand feast for dinner,” Sharon said as she checked to make sure Damion was not wasting away on his missions.
“Thanks mom,” Damion said. He was very happy to finally have a real meal. The rations he had been eating for the past few days gave him nutrients, but they were lacking in taste department.
“Dig in, dig in,” his mother urged shoveling food onto Damion’s plate.
Damion happily complied and began eating as fast as he could manage without choking. Once he finally had his fill, Damion pushed his plate away, “I can’t eat another bite mom. Thank you, this was great.”
“Tell us about your mission son,” Caleb, Damion’s father, prompted.
“Oh, it was pretty boring. I was just escorting this young mage woman along the edge of the Benault Forest. We didn’t even see any Ferocious Beasts.”
“Oh, alone in the countryside with a young woman,” Caleb teased.
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“It was just a mission, besides she’s older than me. She’s already graduated from her magic academy.”
“I’m four years older than your father you know,” Sharon joined in.
“It… it… it isn’t like that at all,” Damion stammered. He had never seen his parents like this, and he was not sure if it was the pregnancy or if they felt he was getting old enough that they thought he should be interacting with girls more.
In school, Damion had been physically younger than everyone else, but mentally, he was older than all of his schoolmates. This left him in an awkward position growing up, but since Ms. Teft had overseen most of his schooling and he had largely not interacted with any of his schoolmates after his first year of school, Damion really did not have much contact with girls his own age.
“Well, some interesting things happened while you were gone,” Caleb said, giving his son some relief and happy to have something to share with Damion.
“Oh, what’s that?” Damion asked happy to change the subject.
“The Justiciar Order evicted all the members of the Falks Guild from the City. And not just guild members, even their families were ordered to leave.”
“Really?” Damion questioned. He of course already knew this, but wanted to let his parents talk for a while. “Any idea why?”
“The Justiciar Order said that several high-ranking members of the Falks Guild were caught as bandits. Since the guild has been expanding outside of Bufort in recent years, the Justiciar ordered the entire guild to return to their home city and clean out their ranks.”
“Wow, such a well-known guild acting as bandits,” Damion said trying his best to fake his amazement. He wondered if in a few more days another announcement regarding the Falks Guild would further shock the city.
When his parents finished gossiping about the various things going on around the city, Damion headed to his room. He did not want to mention anything to his mother, since he was grateful for the delicious meal, but Damion’s stomach was not in good shape.
Once in the bathroom and able to relieve himself, Damion could not help but wonder if he had eaten too much, or if his mother had not cooked something thoroughly enough. However, when neither of his parents appeared distressed, Damion had to settle on the fault being his. After the third or the fourth bowel movement, Damion remembered Leland’s advice. He was supposed to go to Thelma to get better rations and medicine.
Damion’s night was spent between the bathroom and his bed. Luckily, he was able to avoid voicing his stomach discomfort and not alert his mother. He had no doubt she would blame herself for Damion’s upset stomach.
In the morning Damion headed to Saung Adventurer Supply without eating breakfast. He told his mother that he was still full from dinner, but in reality he was afraid to eat.
“I wondered when I would be seeing you,” Thelma Gerrard said greeting Damion as he walked in.
“Mr. Leland suggested I come by and ask you for medicine when I get better rations.”
“Ah yes, those cheap rations. Sorry about that. They don’t bother you when they are all you eat. But unless you have an iron stomach, when you eat real food again… well… they don’t mix well.”
“So, I’ve noticed,” Damion grimaced. “A little warning would have been nice though.”
“As silly as it sounds, it is an age-old tradition, sort of a rite of passage, for new adventurers to suffer through the cheapest rations.” Gerrard told Damion with a halfhearted smile.
“Consider me fully versed in this tradition. What would you recommend to settle my stomach?”
“Normally the tradition dictates that I give you a bottle of pills and tell you to take one a day, but usually the pills are a laxative. But I like you and since you are Helga’s student I’ll level with you. The effects go away by themselves, as long as you don’t eat the cheap rations again, you should be fine after the initial… um… unpleasantness.”
“Then I’m good to eat normal food again and I don’t have to worry about being trapped on a toilet all day?”
“Yes.”
“Aren’t you and Mr. Leland a little old for practical jokes?”
“The key to staying young is feeling young and practical jokes make us feel young. Besides, if you think about it, now that you know the secret of the cheap rations, you can now have a good laugh at all the future young adventurers that come after you.”
Damion just shook his head at Gerrard’s comment. Perhaps one day he might find the ‘tradition’ funny, but right now he just wanted to forget it ever happened. After buying a week’s worth of rations for five silvers, Damion headed home.