Rok Chapter: Steps Forward and a Friend's Ire (Patreon)

Hello! I am so sorry for my absence! I really should have written more Abyssal and I have no excuse this time, I will likely pause next month's charge or refund this month's because you all deserve better than that. Hopefully I'll get more out now, though, starting with this Rok chapter. I'm a bit on the fence towards the end, on one hand I definitely like it, I think the Mapper getting to show off a different side is important if he's to be recurring, even though what we know is already (in my opinion) a lot of fun. On the other, I don't know how I feel about the direction it took towards the end? Like, it might feel a bit too fast, I guess? Let me know how you feel, and if it isn't as good as it could be, I'll rewrite some. No matter what, thank you for your patience, and enjoy!

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Rok watched on, growing progressively more confused, as the diminutive form of the Mapper before him systematically dismantled an entire restaurant’s stock while the two conversed. Objectively, it wasn’t anything too surprising, Rok had long since known that S ranks could, and should, eat obscene amounts, and Titled even more so. Their bodies were made up at least partially of raw mana, after all, and spending it was, almost literally, burning both their body and soul for fuel. Of course, they had truly immense amounts at their disposal, and they could pull the stuff out of the air or even make it within themselves, eating was a much easier way to top off their reserves.

Subjectively, watching someone hardly a fifth his size first keep pace with his own exaggerated eating habits and then go on to outright devour more food than the both of them weighed was rather intense. The waitstaff and other patrons of the fine establishment had brought him to seemed to be in agreement, and as the newly Titled progressively went from ‘valued customer’ to ‘kitchen menace’ Rok could tell it was past time to pay, his position of power not nearly enough to cover his own bill, much less his guest’s.

So it was that Rok practically dragged the diminutive beastkin out behind him, having covered most of the cost of the ‘meal’ and promising to make up for the rest. The Mapper, for his part, seemed a little sheepish once he saw how much Rok had to put down for the two of them, but the man himself just waved off his concerns. Still, the Mapper didn’t seem content to leave it at that, and when the duo reached the secluded corner of the island that housed Rok, he spoke up.

“It seems I owe you even more, Rok. A splendid meal is most certainly something to celebrate, though not quite so much as granting me the means to ascend and claim my Title. I owe two… entities for that, wonderful little Aby for shattering any notions I’ve had of Dungeons till now, but also you, for granting me the honor of experiencing it to begin with.” Rok was about to assure the man that it was no trouble at all to let him into ‘his’ dungeon, but the man continued before he could.

“Unfortunately, I’m not someone who can offer much more than I already have, my talents are rather narrow in scope, as I’m sure you know. Purely material compensation is also right out, maybe if I were a lesser man who thought it appropriate, or who thought you even needed such a thing. I have a few ideas in mind, but they also may not suit you, my friend.

“But let’s put that aside for now, there’s not a single thing to gain from just discussing some form of recompense. Instead, I’d like to ask for permission once more to take up residence on this lovely island. Not quite yet, mind you, my unexpected ascension has left me with a score of errands I need to take care of now, but in the future. I have no intention to undermine your own authority here, nor any intentions other than the scholarly for Aby, but I still must ask for your blessing.” 

Rok was quick to answer in the affirmative, the Mapper may not be the most predictable element, his presence and approval could be a huge boon for the budding town. Satisfied with the answer, he finished his spiel. 

“Once more, thank you for your generosity. I’ll likely sort things out on the island first, that shouldn’t take overly long, and then I’ll see where to go from there. I suppose I should be out of your hair- err...” The Mapper eyed Rok’s leathery, scaled skin, before backtracking. “I’ll refrain from making any more of a nuisance of myself for the night, but before I find lodgings for the night, allow me to at least reimburse you for my terrible manners earlier. I had no idea apotheosis would leave me feeling so famished, but that’s hardly an excuse!”

Without waiting for Rok to respond, a moderately sized vial of some red liquid appeared in his hand, which was quickly thrust into Rok’s own. “This will hopefully make it up to you, though you may should refrain from drinking it just yet. That said… do try to make time to ingest it soon, before your own rise to S rank, you’ll find it to be beneficial, in the end.”

As soon as his fingers had ever so gently curled around the glass the tiny kin vanished, not even sparing the time for Rok to ask what it was. Rok decided not to question the man’s antics any further, and briefly examined the bottle of what he could only assume to be a potion, and an absolutely incredible one, considering the fact that it was utterly loaded with mana. 

Still, he’d do as the Mapper said and hold off on chugging the mystery red liquid, although he doubted that there was any ill intent in whatever this gift was. He’d try to stop by an appraiser for it sometime, being told he needed to ‘make time for it’ felt a little bit ominous. He flexed his will the slightest bit, putting the jar in the storage ring he had recently bought, mostly so that he could keep whatever important papers that crossed his desk close at hand.

As he settled into the cot he’d kept on his floor, he thought about what the Mapper had said about S rank, and how he’d made it sound much easier than it actually was, but he had the right to a skewed perspective. With a thought, he opened his sheet.

Still as bare as ever, but he was pleasantly surprised to see he had gotten a single percent closer to the threshold of S rank, it had been years since he’d seen that counter tick up and even then, it probably should have been a while still before it did. Rok once more concluded that it was probably thanks to the Mapper, and whatever he’d been radiating after his Titling earlier. The problem was that gathering, compressing, and soaking his body in mana like he did every night was comparatively easy compared to what he had to do next.

Once his body was completely saturated, to the point where every bit of him had just as much energy within as the well of mana around his soul, it would be time to take the next step. He could simply form a connection between the two, or choose to burn away the flesh and leave only mana and soul behind, or to force his soul to become almost physical within him, or just shatter everything about himself and force it all back together, or any number of other methods. 

He'd need to choose what nature mana he’d force himself to become, if he wanted to stick with his affinities he hardly used or focus on changing it all to a new element. He’d need to decide whether he wanted to add a charge to it all, something that most nobody before S rank could even try to control. He’d be completely recreating himself, and he’d be incomparable to who he was now.

But he’d also be playing a game that took only a single misstep to destroy him, and he could only put it off for so long once he hit the threshold before he had to choose whether to attempt it, or to flush most of the mana back out. Was it worth the risk to Rok? Without question. Was Rok ready for it? That was much, much more difficult to answer.

Now feeling much more pressed for time, Rok tried, and almost failed, to force himself asleep. Eventually, though, even the anxiety of an uncertain future could keep him up no longer, and he fell asleep.

It wasn’t a particularly restful sleep, though, as his less-than-graceful awakening demonstrated. He grumbled and hissed as he pulled himself off of his cot and dragged himself to beneath the window, and then spent the next few minutes simply soaking in the sun and trying to convince himself to stand up and start going about his day. His stomach was the deciding vote in that debate, and he begrudgingly shambled towards his modest kitchen.

He prepared a simple meal at the same glacial pace, but towards the end of his breakfast he finally shook off most of his lethargy, starting his walk towards ‘work,’ slightly upset that the town was expanding towards his shack by the day but also reluctantly pleased that it was actually prospering.

That pleasure vanished as soon as he rounded a corner and came within sight of the entrance to his guild hall. At first he’d simply thought it a gathering of Adventurers crowding the doors, but a quick inspection was all he needed to see that he had guests. A group of ten had rallied on the sandy wood steps, looking offended at the water within his Guilds’ Hall and just generally carrying themselves like they were eager to make nuisances of themselves. The towering beastkin considered just turning on his heel and going home for the day when he saw that two of those numbers were dragonkin instead of just some scaled beastkin like he was hoping.

The pair stood at the head of the group, still facing away from him, but when one of the smaller members, perhaps a halfling or a dwarf turned and saw him, they were quick to fix that, rearranging themselves to be facing him and looking for all the world like the arrogant beasts they descended from.

“Well, I guess that answers why he didn’t come out to greet us.” Said one of the goons, an elf of some sort, although Rok was hardly going to take the time to pay attention to any of them if this meeting was going to turn out like he feared. “You’re late, we-”

“You abide by his schedule, and he is perfectly on time for that.” Came a voice beside him, nasally and a bit high pitched but with an unquestionable authority. Rok didn’t even need to look beside him to know that the Mapper had decided to stop by as well, and it was incredibly appreciated.

Of course, that hardly seemed to bother the uppity elf, who immediately retorted. “And who are you to tell us that? Last I checked-” This time it was one of their own cutting the man off, a massive man, probably a goliath, who stood nearly eye-to-eye with Rok. The elf gave him a petulant look, something that elves in general were too good at, but the Mapper wouldn’t give him even that courtesy.

“Me? I’m your better.” He said, an edge to his voice that shocked Rok. He couldn’t imagine the man being so outright hostile without good reason, and Rok wasn’t sure he wanted to know what that might be. A few of the group looked just as perturbed as the elf, but the two dragonkin and the goliath seemed much more cautious, something Rok understood.

“Let’s just go inside, you’re obviously here for something, might as well get it out of the way.” Rok said, stepping through the center of the small crowd with the mapper still next to him. He trudged through the thigh-high waters towards his office, while the Mapper simply strolled on top of the tiny waves as he had before, still attracting a few gazes. A couple of them were from the ‘party’ behind them, specifically, the halfling Rok noted earlier, who had tried to swim to keep up before she was yanked out by the grumpy goliath and plopped onto his shoulders.

Rok had forgotten about the state of disrepair his office had been left in the night before, and while Kelly had done her best to clean up, it was still catastrophic. The Mapper still looked a bit sheepish when he saw that, but that quickly drained away as he hopped up onto the desk and turned to face the ten before him, all while Rok sat in his seat to do the same.

“Well? Who do you represent, what are you offering this time, give me the whole spiel.” Something about the Mapper’s presence made Rok emboldened, and he didn’t mince words at all this time. He had to admit, it was nice to be the superior for once.

“We represent someone who wishes to remain unnamed, thank you very much.” Began the golden dragonkin, before the Mapper interrupted again. “Faerie, Pixie, or Sprite?” Their eyes widened at being called out so plainly, and Rok scowled a little. It explained the Mapper’s disdain, at least, he didn’t seem all that fond of them from what he could tell.

“That’s a baseless-” And again, the mousekin wouldn’t stand for it. “Enough. You stink of Dungeons and of Fae Magicks. I’ve lost what little fondness I’ve had for the latter, and detest that you taint the former. What do you want?” He let loose a bit of his aura that time, letting the pressure mount on the group of ten. Of course, they froze on the spot. He may not have been in a Dungeon to take advantage of his Title, but there was little a group who’d yet to hit S rank could do regardless. Rok was simply glad he wasn’t caught in the man’s outburst, and decided to step in on the off chance that the Mapper went any further.

“If you’re here to try and negotiate or make any demands, then you can leave now. Take it up with the Guilds, just like everyone else who’s tried. If you are here with something of value, then I’ll gladly hear you out, and even offer my apologies.” He could tell the Mapper was not in agreement, but he doubted the second scenario would come to pass. The silver dragonkin spoke this time.

“We- we came on orders from our superiors. I can’t tell you what who they were or what we were sent to do exactly,” she looked to be much more nervous than a minute ago, they all did. When she saw the Mapper’s disapproval, she hastily followed up. “No, we can’t, they made us swear an Oath, and we were just supposed to tell you that the rest of our group is already at the Dungeon and try to pressure you into ignoring it and staying here…” 

The room got very still, very quickly, and Rok was almost concerned for the welfare of the group, but couldn’t bring himself to be when the group of what amounted to children in his eyes outright admitted to coming to give him trouble. After a moment, the Mapper finally spoke. 

“Call them off.” He growled.

“We can’t, not anymore.” Retorted the gold-scale.

“Then they’re going to die in there.” Rok was not expecting him to be so candid

“You- you can’t!” Screamed the halfling

“I know that, and I won’t need to. If they’re only on par with you all, then they’re not coming out of there. If they have an S rank, then things might be different, but did your employers spend enough to even get one's attention?” They all shook their heads frantically, and Rok doubted they were lying.

“Good. Now, I’m going to the dungeon myself, but I’ll even give your group a chance to leave themselves, since I doubt that what the core wants right now is for me to come back in the middle of an invasion, the poor thing. If something’s happened…” He didn’t finish his sentence, just waving his hand at the group, who froze once again, but this time it was unnatural and stiff, something of the Mapper’s doing, no doubt. And then, he was gone, leaving Rok alone in a room with ten uncanny statues and a headache.

He glared at the group, fumbling to find a drawer he could actually open before pulling out two sheets of parchment. He didn’t know quite how to approach this, but the Guilds were most certainly going to hear from him.