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Core Collapse Chapter 27
🕑 Added 2024-04-01 20:50:39 +0000 UTCChapter 27
After the demonstration, Ubo spent a little while teaching Vella a few minor spells using the magic visualization room while the others either went to do their own thing or listened in. Tom had previously invited them to spend the night, so they kept at it until dinner.
When dinner began, the servants seated the party in the main dining room. The conversation was light, with both Grant and Ubo taking turns sharing anecdotes. Ubo was especially interested in hearing stories from Earth, which Grant had aplenty.
After he had finished telling a tale of misadventure of one of his friends from his time in the army, Grant decided it was time to broach a subject which had been on his mind for a while.
“Tom, have you considered the implications of the way your abilities will be changing society at large?” he began.
Tom, who had his mouth filled with a slice of chicken, finished chewing before answering. “I thought we resolved this already. I mean,” he glanced at Ubo.
“I am assuming that you’re discussing your ability to cause dungeons to generate resource?” Ubo said. “It’s not exactly a secret when the official policy of the nation has changed to revolve around it, Tom.”
Tom nodded. “Exactly. I mean, I don’t think everyone knows where my portion of the money is going to, but everyone knows that Dungeon Steel and the coal and the other resources are something new. It’s going to change things having all of those resources suddenly available, I get that, but I don’t think that it’s a bad thing, or that I really need to do anything about it.”
“You’re right, I think that the matter of your Seed ability is well resolved. It’s just a matter of seeing what the titans of this world’s industry are able to do with the resources they’ll be getting from now on,” Grant agreed. “But that’s not what I was referring to. I’m referring to the paradigm shift in how dungeons are located and designed. If things continue the way that they have been, you will be placing a new dungeon inside or near every village, town, and city. This will have massive implications for society in general, and not just because of the food, water, and other resources that those dungeons can generate.”
Tom frowned as he considered the argument. “I guess you’re right. Caseville had a lot of adventurers in it. And a lot of people had awakened their classes by delving in the dungeon. I heard a rumor that for whatever reason Caseville was especially potent for awakening classes since I created the dungeon. Why do you think that is?”
“I can answer that,” Ubo said. He glanced around the room, then sighed. “It’s a well known secret among the elite that you must be considered a resident of the dungeon in order for you to awaken a combat class. Caseville has a city on top of it, with thousands of residents. Each of them would find it extremely easy to awaken their class should they choose to delve. I suspect it will be the same with each of the other dungeons that you create that have settlements on top of them.”
“I see,” Grant said. “And this information is likely suppressed to avoid mass awakenings of the sort which are currently going on in Caseville, I suppose?”
Ubo shrugged. “I don’t decide policies like that. Everyone knows that if you want to awaken a combat class you must spend weeks delving dungeons. The fact that you can live in the territory of a core without entering the dungeon proper is a fact hidden in plain sight, if you ask me.”
He considered a moment, then admitted, “Families such as the Ubo clan and the Worth family and other noble families have advantages in that they have holdings specifically designed to awaken their classes. Small estates with their own dungeons, where they send their teenagers or children in preparation for their Class Day. I suppose Commoners might see that as an unfair advantage if they were aware of it, which is likely the reason that it’s not discussed openly.”
“And you don’t have a problem with that?” Jessica asked.
Ubo shrugged again and took a sip of his wine. “Young lady, not everyone is cut out for combat. While suppressing this ‘secret’ may be seen as a barrier to advancing one’s social rank by preventing Commoners from advancing to a more powerful class, I view it as a way to ensure that a prospective warrior or rogue is truly suitable for combat by forcing them to work harder to unlock their classes. Dedication and hard work pay off in the end.”
“Let’s not get bogged down too much in the class politics of this world,” Grant suggested. “Things are the way that they are, but they’re changing. Society will have to adapt and adjust, and while I suspect there will be some growing pains, I don’t see that as detrimental. What I want to discuss is the opportunity that I see. Unfortunately, on my own I’m in no position to take advantage of it. I would need an extremely wealthy backer in order to start the sort of organization which I have in mind. Like, for example, someone who literally has so much money coming in that they don’t know what to do with it all.”
Tom coughed. “Are you asking me for a loan?”
“I’m asking you for an investment.”
Tom considered. “I guess you’re right, I do, or at least I will, have so much money that my parents don’t even know what businesses to invest it in for me. I’ll have to check with the king to see how much money I actually have at the moment; the mining and resource gathering in my recent dungeons is only just beginning after all.”
“Of course. But before anyone makes any commitments I would like to describe the sort of organization that I have in mind,” Grant said.
Tom nodded for him to proceed, and Grant continued.
“Basically, I am envisioning a way for adventurers and would be adventurers to organize themselves. If this were earth, I would be discussing some sort of website or social media application, I suppose. On this world, I suspect that it would look more like a series of brick and mortar locations for dungeon delvers to congregate. We would provide services such as mentorship, organization, party finding, education, information brokering, etc. Basically our job would be to help adventurers do their jobs. This society is turning into one that is increasingly centered around the clearing of dungeons, and it seems to me that it is missing a key--”
Grant was interrupted by Jessica’s laughter. Everyone turned to look at her, but she just laughed harder. A moment passed before she collected herself enough to explain what she thought was so humorous.
“Tom, Grant is asking you to start an Adventurer’s Guild,” she said.
Grant frowned, but he shrugged. “I guess that’s one thing that we could call it, although I’m not entirely sold on the name. A ‘guild’ is not an inaccurate description for what I have envisioned.”
“No, you don’t understand,” Jessica said. “In almost every JRPG, there’s some sort of adventurers guild that does exactly what you’re talking about. You sign up and they offer quests and services. It does exactly what you’re talking about, Grant.”
Grant sighed. “Well, even if it’s not an original idea I do believe that it’s a necessity in this world, and I see the opportunity to take advantage of this niche.”
“Oh I think you’re absolutely right,” Jessica agreed. “It’s just funny because this world is literally becoming more and more like a video game with every passing day.”
“You’ll need permission from the king in order to start a new guild,” Ubo pointed out.
“Yes, well, that is another matter with which I will require your assistance then, Tom,” Grant admitted. “I am acquainted with King Fenard, but only through you, after all.”
Tom nodded. “I’ll send him a message.”
“I think it would be best to come to him, in this instance,” Grant said. “While King Fenard is no stranger to visiting Weaver Estate, in this instance we go to him as petitioners. While we should explain to him the broad strokes in the missive we send him, we should make it clear that we are going to the capital to discuss the matter with him in person.”
“Would you like to write the message?” Tom asked. “I’m pretty sure he won’t mind if I let you borrow the link-pen.”
“I think that having an introduction from you, followed by the formal request from myself, would be the ideal solution,” Grant agreed. Then he turned to Ubo. “There is another matter I wished to discuss with you, Master Ubo. Specifically, I was wondering what you were going to be doing about all of the Mages and Healers that have been and will be awakening.”
Ubo frowned. “Have there been many?”
“From what I understand, one in ten of all awakenings are of the Mage Class, and one in twenty are Healers,” Grant explained.
Ubo sighed. “So many potential talents, so little time. I can only truly dedicate myself to at most three apprentices at once, and I refuse to take anyone older than age twelve. While there is nothing wrong with awakening your class later in life, my methods of instruction are better suited for the young.”
“I was thinking that you might start up a magic school,” Grant said.
Jessica snickered. “Yeah, you could call it Hogwarts,” she suggested. “And you could have Emil build a train to take you there and--”
“This is a rather serious discussion, Jessica,” Grant reprimanded.
“Sorry.”
Ubo scratched his well-trimmed beard as he considered. “It would fit within the Ubo family’s mandate of preserving magical knowledge by teaching as many as possible the secrets of the arcana,” he admitted. “I’ll have to discuss the matter with the head of my family, but I believe you’ve given me much to think about.”
“I believe that it’s in our mutual interest, if you manage to convince your patriarch--”
“Matriarch, actually,” Ubo corrected.
“Apologies. If you convince the head of your family to create some sort of magical university, then I believe that it would be mutually beneficial to align it with the Adventurer’s guild which I am proposing,” Grant said. “Many adventurer parties will be looking for magical support, and many mages will be looking for warriors and rogues to protect them, after all. It seems to me perfectly logical that dual-membership in our two organizations should be the ideal for many of the young Mages, and that we should work closely together.”
Jessica snickered again for some reason, but the others ignored her.
“I certainly don’t see any reasons for our two hypothetical organizations to be at odds,” Ubo agreed. He considered for a moment, then shrugged. “I believe you’ve given me, and my family, a lot to think about. We will consider the matter carefully.”
“Seriously though,” Jessica said, “If you’re going to start some sort of organized Mage’s College, then you’ll have to establish some sort of curriculum, right? I mean, not everyone is going to be able to learn from an apprenticeship, right? There’s just not enough active mages to take on so many students, so you’ll have to have lecture halls and standardized tests and stuff like that. It sounds like a lot of work.”
“It sounds like an investment opportunity, is what it sounds like to me,” Grant said. He glanced at Tom.
“I really don’t know how much money I have coming in,” Tom said. “But I'd rather not stretch myself in too many directions if you know what I mean.”
“I have so many projects it’s amazing that I can keep them all straight,” Emil chimed in, “But if you don’t mind, I think that I’d like to be a part of this prospective college.”
“Of course,” Ubo agreed. “In fact, I’ve been meaning to invite both you and Jessica to meet my family. I’m not terribly familiar with your particular brand of magic, Emil, but there are others in my family who specialize more heavily in the ancient arts. I’m quite certain that they would be better equipped to helping you learn your class and learn more of the ancient mysteries than I.”
“I’d be eager to make their acquaintance,” Emil admitted. “I’ve been mostly bumbling around on my own, but while I’m not willing to undergo any sort of formal apprenticeship I would be interested in meeting someone with more experience and possibly exchanging a few pointers.”
“Excellent! Jessica?” Ubo said.
She shrugged. “Sounds like fun.”
They continued to discuss the matter. Jessica was surprisingly engaged in the conversation, bringing up ideas such as a quest board and a looking for party or looking for more section to the adventurer’s guild. She, Emil, and Grant all discussed how higher education was handled on Earth with Ubo. By the time their conversation had ended, everyone had long finished with their meal.
Tom and Grant retired to Tom’s study, where Tom wrote out a quick message to the king.
King Fenard,
Grant has an interesting proposal for an organization he would like to start with your blessing. I’ll let him do the honors of actually describing his vision, but he’s already convinced me to back him financially with the funds I’ll be getting from Seeding the dungeons of Welsius, and eventually the other nations as well.
I understand how busy you are with the situation in Velund, so I won’t ask for you to come to Weaver Estate to discuss the matter. Rather, Grant and I will come to the capital instead. However, I thought it would be wise to give you some time to consider the proposal in private before the official audience.
I’m going to turn the pen over to Grant now, so that he may outline his vision.
Tom Weaver, Controller
Grant took the linked pen, examined it for a moment, then began to write. He took up three separate pages pitching his ideas before signing a farewell and his name.
The two remained in the room for twenty minutes before the linked pen activated remotely, writing out an official invitation to attend court during which the matter could be formally presented.
