Chapter 58: Homecoming (Patreon)

Jim held Lorraine’s hand a little tighter as they swam into the structure that could be called the submerged partner to the floating Hall above, if one was feeling generous. Most of the time the hastily grown building sat empty, even though it was closer to the entrance than the Hall, it was both unnecessary, and according to the first few aquatics that tried to wait in there, uncomfortable in an unusual way.

As the party swam in, they experienced firsthand just what that feeling was. It was too close to the dungeon, and the water was absurdly saturated with mana. Most of the water nearby was, not just in this building in particular, but the slight feeling of empowerment and surging mana they felt from it meant they felt jittery and cramped in the artificial structure, like the walls were too tight and the ceiling too low, and unlike in the dungeon they had nowhere to go and nothing to vent that on.

And so it sat unused and neglected, with most aquatic groups simply forming a loose line around the entrance, one that constantly shifted and moved but a line nonetheless. In just a few days’ time, the building’s uses had dwindled to only two, either making or taking requests from another aquatic party, or to put any ‘incident reports’ to writing, what Jim and the guard wasted no time to do.

“We found out what that new room on the third level was for.” He began, “We ran into a new critter down there, one of those shrimp the place loves so much.” This got a raised eyebrow and a motion to continue.

“To put it bluntly, the thing made light, not noise. To put it less bluntly, it was a new variant of those shrimp, one we hadn’t heard about before. It’s not as loud, but painfully bright, and it popped up around the drop to the fourth.” Jim listed the important details, where it was, what it did, and how it looked all while the guard wrote down their summarized information, etching it into the thin slab of sandstone.

It wasn’t long before the four of them left, with Delia being especially happy to be out of there, very vocal about her discomfort with the building and her displeasure with the dungeon. Still, she and the others were all smiles when the group had gotten a little distance away from the entrance and Lorraine pulled out the sack they brought with them into the dungeon, and Jim motioned for the other two to gather together to discuss.

“I guess the last thing on the agenda is distribution, huh?” Spoke the man, everyone eyeing the crystals in the bag. Just a week prior it would be unbelievable, unthinkable, that anybody would ever have so many of the things simply in their hands at one time. He was met with nods and voices of approval all around, but he wanted to take care of one thing first, “okay but before that,” he sent a playful scowl at Delia, before she could even voice her impatience. He took on a more sincere look right after, before asking, “How did we all feel working together? This was our first ‘real’ dive, and if anyone feels like this party might not have a good dynamic, now’s the time to voice it.” 

Lorraine simply shook her head with a smile, content to let her husband voice his thoughts this time. Mel turned to face him and spoke, “I don’t know about Del, but I like you guys. Obviously there’s some things we’ll have to work out, but neither of you got in my way, and I don’t think I got in yours. It’ll take time, but I feel like I could do better than ‘not getting in each other’s way’ too, which is a good sign.”

Delia spoke up right after, “I agree with Mel. I guess I’ll probably need a bit of time to get used to casting with Lorraine, but it’s just time. One thing though, I think we should have a healer.” Jim took on a thoughtful expression before he began speaking.

“That’s agreeable. I’d like to say we’d be better not pushing ourselves to the point where we’d need one at all, but I’d be a fool to think we could get by without getting hurt, especially in there.

“But enough of that, I’m happy to hear that you two would like to make the party truly official. How better to celebrate than to divide our spoils?” He broke out into a smile, his whiskers pointing up and lips parting to reveal a wolfish smile. Lorraine simply chuckled, while Mel nodded enthusiastically. Delia matched Jim’s grin, and they all huddled together, discussing whether it’d be best to split the gems, or sell them and split the earnings.

It was soon decided that they’d mainly sell, but if any of the members had an affinity with some of the crystals, or could use them another way, they could take it, losing a share of the profits. More importantly, they decided to make the frustratingly long pilgrimage back to Sleepy Gills. It’d mean they won’t dive again for a good few days, but it meant they could get some proper rest, and sell their gems for a much better price than they’d get at the dungeon itself. They’d also begin their hunt for a healer after a good rest, and it was early enough in the day that, if they rushed, they’d make it back before night ended, and could get some proper sleep.

Despite the overly long swim they had ahead of them, though, not one of the four were anything less than mildly upset even as Delia coaxed them into taking enough elixirs and pastes to overfill their empty stomachs and leave them potion sick, all for a quicker trip.

~~~~~

It was just about sundown by the time the quartet was finally in sight of Sleepy Gills’ submerged half, and Delia’s assurances that her concoctions would nearly quarter the travel time were not nearly as outlandish to Jim and Lorraine now that they had experienced it for themselves. Mel wasn’t too surprised with her potioneering prowess, but he was certainly happy that she hadn’t mixed up any of her ‘experiments’ with the various creations she had forced on them. She was much more careful about that after she had done it once, the only reason Mel kept his arm was thanks to the mistaken ‘healing salve’ not being properly waterproofed, and some split second decision reaction by Kelly.

That said, Mel wasn’t overly upset, he couldn’t be when it was his fault that his previous team decided to try and fight a Trench angler that they very obviously shouldn’t have, and Delia was actually the voice of reason that day to begin with, something beyond rare for her. In the end, they all came out from that encounter alive, and that had been one of the major factors that got the four of them promoted past C rank at all.

He wasn’t able to reminisce for much longer, though, when all four of them felt the effects of their buff potions fade, and they felt a wave of fatigue hit them like a shark. None of them were inexperienced with the sensation, but that meant little in the face of the waves of mental and physical exhaustion overpowering them. 

Because of this, the group met up one more time, exchanging a few words of goodnight, and split in two. Mel and Delia headed to some inn right beneath the docks, looking for a room for the night, while Jim and Lorraine climbed onto the beach, looking a little better than their partners. They, too, were going to have to search for a place to stay, but Lorraine needed to meet up with somebody first, mostly out of formality. 

The two of them walked hand-in-hand towards the Guilds’ building, holding out against the overpowering urge to simply curl up together and nap away the feeling of weakness. It was a bit difficult, but they were able to hold out against it well enough by and by the time they’d reached their destination, the sun had dipped just below the horizon and their own struggle had turned into just a dull throbbing in their bodies and the back of their heads.

The two were just about to enter the hall, still bustling with activity as if to mock their affliction, when someone came around a corner from some unseen hallway. A good portion of the needless noise quieted down at least some, and Rok gave a halfhearted wave to his receptionists before moving towards the exit, and catching sight of Jim and Lorraine.

The behemoth of a man was obviously not expecting them at this time of night, but he couldn’t very well send them away. He could only give them a bitter smile, but with his unique visage it only served to show off the many jagged teeth lining his gums. Despite this, it managed to showcase his thoughts well enough, though it was mostly the desire to get some sleep. The couple could empathize with that, but they, or rather Lorraine, had to keep up appearances. 

It was one of the few traits that Jim would ever criticize about his darling wife, she took her position as the Hynix Reef Atlantean branch head’s main correspondent far too seriously, forcing him to use the entire lengthy title just to spare himself from her wrath. It was far easier to simply call her the daughter of a doting branch leader, but she didn’t want to rely on her father to move up, and he supposed he would never truly be able to dislike how serious she was because of that.

As such, while he wasn’t fond of forcing his aching body along beside the two, nor did he really follow their conversation now that it had turned from pleasantries to logistics, he was still doing so without complaints. He did enjoy watching the scenery at night, the glowing waters of the reef at night were said to be incredibly similar to the auroras of the north, only coming from beneath the waters rather than in the skies.

The three of them followed the winding road, then path, to the secluded corner of the island that Rok called home. There were a few other shacks scattered around in the mangroves, but for the most part it was so different than the eastern half of the island that it was jarring. Rok and Lorraine had just finished discussing an apparent dire need for more communication crystals, as well as pushing him to go inspect an island that was being repurposed whenever it was finished construction, but Rok was prepared.

Just before she could leap into the next item on her agenda, something she kept meticulously organized in spite of her active schedule, the behemoth cleared his throat.

“I’m sure there’s plenty more that you need to discuss, Miss-” he glanced down at Jim with a bemused smirk “us Lorraine, but I think we’ve already covered everything crucial. And correct me if I’m wrong, but you both look like you could do with a bed, a proper one, rather than those nests I’m sure you need when you’re diving.” 

He motioned to his home, more of a shack really, and smiled. “I have an extra room if you two want it. You look like you’ve come off too many potions to look forward to a walk to some inn.”

Lorraine was about to speak up, no doubt to try and continue their discussion even further into the night, but Jim put his hand on her shoulder and looked up at the taller man, nodding and giving an unspoken thanks before asking where the room was. Lorraine finally bit her lip, resigning to the terrible fate of getting a proper night’s rest with her husband, and Rok showed them to one of four rooms in his little house, where they promptly fell asleep. They fell asleep too quickly to hear Rok go through almost exactly the same thing as them, walking into his room before collapsing onto his bedroll.