Lucas nodded. “That seems reasonable. I’ll take your advice into consideration.” If I use some of the stat points I got earlier and sink them into Fortitude, I might have a good chance at winning, especially if I open up with a quick Chain Lightning and then transition to Meddling Minds.

“Don’t worry about the loss so much,” Xun Guan said, interrupting his thoughts. Having stolen his attention, she used a nod of her head to signal behind her. “The others have finally returned, so you can start preparations for joining a new quest.” Behind her, instead of the three teachers silently watching Lucas, only one remained: his teacher. The other two were talking with Bonnie and Nick, who were at the entrance to the throne room. Lucas had completely missed their arrival and wasn’t sure if they had shown up during his last attempt or while he was talking with Xun Guan.

Nick was apparently horrified by whatever the Dark Knight Bjurstrom had said to him, and he had turned paler than Lucas had ever seen him after only a few seconds of conversation. Then, as the lecture continued, he turned from pale and ghost-like to slightly green, until finally he turned his head away and started walking toward Lucas, bearing a “save me” face. When he saw that Lucas was watching him, he broke off the conversation and rushed across the room. “I got the materials for my class. Can we leave?” Nick asked impatiently.

“You don’t even know where we need to go next,” Lucas replied, watching the slowly advancing Dark Knight trainer.

Nick turned and then, upon seeing Bjurstrom, merely said, “I don’t care what you got planned. Let’s just go do it. I . . . uhh . . . I want to try out my class. Please. Now.”

Lucas shook his head and then glanced over to see how Bonnie was doing. Unlike Nick, who seemed to be unable to so much as carry on a conversation with his trainer, Bonnie was gabbing up a storm with hers. Lucas even caught her touching his arm a few times, giggling as if she were interested in him, and he idly wondered if Bonnie was the type to get attached to NPCs.

“I suppose,” Lucas sighed, finally answering Nick. “We do need to get on the road, and I’ve already wasted enough time here. Finish discussing what needs to be done with your trainer, and we’ll leave in a few minutes.

“Got a plan?” Xun Guan asked. “For generating your dungeon quest?”

“Yeah, I do,” Lucas said, looking around the room as if he were finally taking it all in. Don’t worry, Kegan. I’ll make sure Isabel’s presence isn’t wiped from this land. He didn’t know why, but he felt he owed the ruler something. He was also a bit uneasy about how easily the non-Humans had managed a revolt. Even with my advantages, it’s going to be a struggle to beat that Level 3 challenge, and Kegan was already there. If he had guards and troops, how did they manage to overrun his place? Lucas walked out of his throne room, his mind split between that very question and the task ahead.