Menacing Misfits: An Epic Fantasy Adventure (Darkthorn Academy Book 1)

by Robyn Wideman

  “Any other tips?”

  “Two. Always put at least half of your earnings towards the Academy fees. Many are tempted to invest their first round of earnings into better gear, but from my experience that is playing with fire. Get into the habit of always paying towards the fees. Once you’ve reached the yearly minimum you can hoard the rest. That is when you have some flexibility and can upgrade or invest your earnings.”

  It was good advice and it made sense to Jack. “And the second piece of advice?”

  “Don’t die.”

  27

  Jack, Colin, Stannerios and Lana sat in the dorm study area. They’d all just returned from meeting their scholarship advisors. They looked around at each other. Jack wondered what they were thinking.

  “I’m still doing it,” Stannerios said. “I’m going to be a quester.”

  “Me too,” Jack said.

  “Me three,” Lana said with a smile.

  They all looked at Colin.

  “I’m in. On one condition,” Colin said.

  “What’s that?” Jack asked.

  “We do it as a team, and we do it properly. I’ve heard of too many students who tried to solo the Ancient Lands or went out there without a plan and didn’t return.”

  Jack nodded. “That is logical to me.”

  Stannerios and Lana nodded. Lord Scratches squawked his approval.

  “What now?” Stannerios said.

  “Now we go and make it official,” Colin said.

  They left the dorms and walked past the library entrance and into the east wing of the Chargrin building. Despite the building being his home for the last couple months, Jack had never been in this part of it.

  “This entire section of the building is the Antiquities Repository. This is where all items found in the Ancient Lands are sorted and stored, or processed for sale elsewhere,” Colin said, as they entered a small lobby that had its own main entrance and another two doors that went to other parts of the wing. The main entrance was large and grand, while the door they’d come through had been completely normal. Like they’d entered a mansion through a servant’s entrance.

  “Can I help you?” a lady asked them. She was dusting a statue.

  “Yes,” Colin said. “We’re here to sign up as questers.”

  The lady’s brow furrowed. “I prefer the term ‘antiquities retrieval specialist.’”

  Stannerios scratched his head. “I thought we were supposed to get weapons from the Ancient Lands, not antiques.”

  The lady sighed. “I suppose you can say questers. This way, please.” She led them towards the nearest door and opened it. “You’ll be looking for Chadwick. He’s in the sorting section of the storage room. Third door on the left.”

  They walked down the hallway and opened the third door. It opened into a large room that reminded Jack of the library, but instead of books there were ancient items. Weapons of all sorts, vases, tables. It was a strange collection of items and the room was full.

  They looked around until Lana spotted a sign down one of the rows of items. “Over here,” she said.

  They walked over to a large table. There was a tall man standing there, looking carefully at a shield. He turned his head and spotted them. He grinned. “Hello there. I was wondering who Gretchen would assign to me. Four eager young warriors looking to forge their future in the desolate and dangerous Ancient Lands. How exciting.”

  “Are you to be our advisor?” Colin asked.

  “Advisor, mentor, middleman, confidant and whatever other role I deem fit. Forgive my manners, I’m Chadwick Deeter, and as you can see, I’m one of Darkthorn’s ancient artifacts specialists. A fancy title, right? It took a while for us to get that title. All these professors and librarians, they got titles, why shouldn’t we? But I only like to use my title for first introductions and with customers. You all may call me Chadwick, or Deeter.”

  “Nice to meet you, Chadwick, I’m Colin an—”

  “Stop right there,” Chadwick interrupted. “For the sake of expedience, I want your name, followed by your class—warrior or magic user—then the role you play in your group.”

  Jack was confused. He raised his hand.

  “This isn’t a classroom, boy, if you have a question, spit it out,” Chadwick said.

  “What do you mean by role?”

  Chadwick frowned. “You all are here as a team correct?”

  “Yes, si— Chadwick. We’re a team.” Colin said.

  “I’m surprised you don’t all know this, aren’t they teaching second years anything these days?”

  “We’re all first-year students,” Jack said.

  Chadwick shuddered. “They’re sending lambs to the slaughter, aren’t they?”

  “Excuse me?” Lana said.

  Chadwick smiled. “You’re right, I shouldn’t make assumptions based on the fact none of you made it through the first semester without failing an exam. I’m sure you’ll all be fine once you figure things out.”

  “Not that it matters, but the only reason we failed was because we were drugged by someone we thought was a friend,” Colin said bitterly.

  “Ah, an adversary took you out of the game before you could rise through the ranks. That was ambitious of them. Perhaps you do have what it takes to survive in the Ancient Lands. OK. Where were we? Ah, yes. Roles. Normally, when older students decide to form a team and go questing, they look for classmates with complementary skillsets. A ranged attacker, a melee specialist, a magic user, a sneak, et cetera. When teammates know their roles, they function better. The team becomes stronger, and the chances of survival increase.”

  “Are there any books on this?”

  “Of course,” Chadwick said. “There are dozens of them. The argument of what skillsets make up the perfect team is always debated, and to be honest, I don’t think there is one correct answer. I mean, if you are going scavenging through the old cities looking for loot you are going to be doing things a lot differently than if you’re going through old tombs and temples looking for artifacts. But for the sake of getting you started I want you to introduce yourself in the manner I requested.”

  “Colin, warrior, role unknown.”

  “Stannerios, warrior, melee damage.”

  “Lana, warrior, ranged attack.”

  “Jack, magic user, role unknown.” Jack was glad the others had answered first, he hadn’t known exactly what to say. He wasn’t really a good magic user, but he wasn’t as good with weapons as the others so magic user seemed a good answer. And he did have his mother’s gauntlets and Morgun Rog, his dwarven sword.

  “Not a bad mix,” Chadwick said. “And I see you have a fifth member.” He pointed to Lord Scratches.

  “That is Lord Scratches, my familiar. He’s a sellkirk dragon,” Jack said.

  “Good, good. Even a little dragon is a powerful ally,” Chadwick said. “OK. Now that I know a little about you it is time to get into the business side of things. Almost everything in the Ancient Lands has value. Cups, plates, pottery, daggers, knives, swords, et cetera, et cetera. Obviously, there is distinct difference in value between a quality ancient sword and a cup. Spending your time gathering little things may be a good way to get started, but to get ahead you’ll need more valuable items. Secondly, you must understand that the laws that keep Westdrift civilized don’t apply to the Ancient Lands. There is no law, there is no theft, there is no murder, there is only survival. Everything goes. In general, questers from Darkthorn avoid stealing and attacking each other, but others will not give you that consideration. If another party of questers run into you, the only thing that will prevent them from attacking is usually a healthy dose of respect or fear. Any questions?”

  “Are there any reference materials on the values of ancient items?” Colin asked.

  Chadwick grinned. “I like the way you think, young man. I actually provide a handy dandy little reference guide to all questers I work with. It indicates potential value of most items you will find. It also supplies some
basic guidelines on how to survive the Ancient Lands. I highly recommend memorizing it or keeping a copy or two handy at all times. I have a few copies right over here.” Chadwick grabbed a cane that had been leaning against the table and started making his way across the room.

  “What happened?” Lana asked.

  Chadwick smiled. “I used to be an adventurer like you. But then I took an arrow to the knee.”

  “Sorry to hear that,” Lana said.

  Chadwick shrugged. “I had four years working in the Ancient Lands. I made fortunes as a quester, but I liked to gamble. I thought the money would keep coming in, so I kept making foolish mistakes. Then this happened and I had to stop.”

  “A healer can’t fix it?” Colin asked.

  “They use magic to keep the pain away, but the arrow was poisoned, and by the time I got to a healer the damage was done. Even the best healers can’t fix some things, and the ones who actually might be able to are far too expensive to even consider.”

  Jack thought back to his grandfather; he knew that better than anyone.

  Chadwick handed them all a pamphlet, The Adventurer’s Guide to the Ancient Lands. “If you don’t have any more questions, I have artifacts to assess. I look forward to seeing what you bring back. Oh, one last thing: questers usually don’t stay in the west wing dorms. You do have quarters provided for you. They are on the second floor of this wing. When you go back to the main lobby, Gretchen will assign you a room.”

  “Thank you,” Colin said.

  When they got back to the lobby, Gretchen was waiting for them. “How did it go? You still intending on being questers?”

  They all nodded.

  “Very well, then. Welcome to the east wing. This will be your home from now on. You all will share an apartment upstairs. It has six bedrooms. If your party grows to above five members you may ask for another room, but most just move to Ansby. Chadwick is an excellent advisor and will give you fair market value for everything you bring to him, but you can get far more for certain items in Ansby, so I suggest learning who the brokers are and what they are looking for. The Bulls Horn Inn is a favored establishment among questers, you can learn a lot there. And, of course, you can learn things from your fellow questers staying in the apartments upstairs, just take their words with a grain of salt. All other questers are now your competitors. But whatever happens in the Ancient Lands stays in the Ancient Lands. No fighting fellow questers outside of the Ancient Lands. Understood?”

  “Yes,” Colin said.

  “Here are your room keys. I suggest adding whatever magical wards you have to your apartment if you’re going to leave artifacts in it. Just to be on the safe side. It is rare for theft to occur here, but if the item is valuable enough, the temptation can be too much to resist. Several questers have been kicked out of Darkthorn over the years because of incidents on campus. If you’re going to steal from another quester, do it in the Ancient Lands.” Gretchen handed them a set of keys and pointed to another door. “Through that door, until you get to the stairs. Don’t use this lobby as a hallway. The only time I should see you is when you have a question for me or are meeting someone on official Darkthorn business. Use the side doors for everything else. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m expecting visitors.” She pushed them through the doors and as she closed it behind them, she said, “Good luck.”

  With the door closed, Jack turned to the others. “What do you think?”

  Colin laughed. “I think we just got told we’re the hired help and not to come in through the front door. Come on, let’s find our apartment and then get started. We still need to get gear, and then we need to start exploring the Ancient Lands.”

  They went upstairs and found an open kitchen and dining area. It was far smaller than the cafeteria; it only had twenty tables. There was a man standing there. He waved as they walked in.

  “Hello. You must be new. I’m Chef Ramsey. I run the kitchen. The kitchen is only open between 5am and 10pm. However, there is always food available in the pantry for you to grab. If you’re going out on overnight runs, I can pack food and drink for you. It won’t be as fancy as what you can get here, but it won’t take up much of your inventory, and it will last days. If you need magically enhanced food, you’ll have to get that in the market in Ansby.”

  “Nice to meet you, Chef Ramsey. You wouldn’t know where we’d find our apartment, would you?” Colin said.

  Chef Ramsey looked at their keys. “Apartment three. Second door on the left, down that hallway.”

  “Thank you.”

  “No problem. Maybe this evening I’ll introduce you to some of the other questers. You don’t see many of them around here during the day unless they are nursing an injury.”

  As they walked to the apartment, Stannerios smiled. “A chef, and food around the clock. At least the Academy isn’t cheap when it comes to the little things.”

  Colin nodded in agreement. “Questers are unbelievably valuable to the Academy. They do what they can to make sure we’re content here. They don’t want to train us and then have us go somewhere else to trade our goods.”

  He opened the door to the apartment. “I’ll bet this is much better than our dorm rooms.”

  As they entered the apartment, Jack at once saw that Colin was right. The apartment was nice. There were couches, a large fireplace, a big table with eight chairs and a large chunk of slate on the wall with chalk sticks for note-taking. As they wandered through the apartment, they opened the bedroom doors. Each bedroom was the size of their former dorm rooms, except instead of two single beds, each room had one far larger bed, with multiple pillows and nice sheets. There was a large clothes cabinet and a weapons rack in each room. Each bedroom had its own private washroom with a shower. It reminded Jack of the house in Sunder that his grandparents had built using magic. He wondered how much magic had gone into building these rooms.

  “Nice,” Stannerios. “This is way better than the dorms.”

  “This is really nice,” Lana agreed. “I’m excited to have my own room. My last roommate snored, a lot.”

  “Any room preference?” Colin said as they wandered around.

  “I’d like a room with an outside window for Lord Scratches,” Jack said.

  “It looks like there are three rooms with outside windows. You go ahead and pick the one you want and then the rest of us will pick,” Colin said.

  Jack looked at all three rooms with an outside window but couldn’t see much difference between the three. He looked at Lord Scratches. “Pick which room we should take.”

  The little dragon flew into the air, going through all three rooms, then stopping on the windowsill of the room on the right.

  “I guess we’re taking this room,” Jack said.

  “I don’t need a window,” Stannerios said. “I prefer a darker room anyways. I’ll take the room closest to the door.”

  “I’ll take the far-left window room,” Lana said.

  “I’ll take the middle window room,” Colin said.

  “Now that that’s settled, everyone go get your stuff from your rooms and pick up any gear you want from Master Horton. We’ll meet back here, and then go on our first trip into the Ancient Lands.”

  …

  After dropping his stuff off in his new room, Jack went to see Master Horton.

  “Good day, Master Vance. A pleasure to see you.”

  “Likewise, Master Horton.”

  “And what can I do for you on this fine day?”

  “I need armor,” Jack said.

  “I see, any particular armor?”

  Jack shrugged. “I’m not sure, I’m going questing.”

  “Ah, another joins the ranks of vaunted adventurers to explore the riches of the vast Ancient Lands. As a quester the Academy will supply you with basic armor free of charge.”

  Jack remembered Professor Cyr’s advice. “I’d like enhanced leathers, and upgraded boots, something really comfortable but good for battle. I’ll also need a scabbard for my dwar
ven short sword.”

  Master Horton nodded. “Excellent choices. I’ll be right back.”

  A few minutes later Master Horton came out with a pair of boots. “Try these on.”

  Jack tried the boots on. They fit nicely.

  “These are magically enhanced leathers with an armento shell outer layer that is waterproof and slash resistant. They are also magically enhanced to increase stamina. They will cost you one hundred gold, which can be applied to your quester account.”

  “I’ll take them,” Jack said.

  “Good, and if you upgrade your boots at a later time, you can bring them back for a partial refund, same with the armor.”

  “Thank you, Master Horton,” Jack said.

  He headed back to the room. There he found Stannerios putting on his armor. It was steel and looked heavy. Stannerios didn’t look happy. “You don’t like your armor?”

  “It’s too bulky. Not good Orc armor, but I don’t want to pay for upgrades. I want to find better armor.”

  “You think we’ll find orc armor?”

  Stannerios nodded. “Orcs fight all over the Ancient Lands. Lots of orc armor and weapons to be found. Get changed, let’s see your armor.”

  Jack went into his room and put on his armor. It was a deep tan color with black trim and the school’s crest on the left shoulder. The pants were the same tan color with large patches of a darker, thicker leather covering the front of the calves and the thighs. Overall it was lightweight. He put his boots and battle gauntlets on. He turned to Lord Scratches. “What do you think?”

  Lord Scratches cocked his head sideways, appraising Jack. Finally, he gave a quick chirp of approval.

  Putting Morgun Rog into its new scabbard, Jack joined Stannerios.

  Stannerios touched his new armor. “Leathers, not a bad choice for a magic user. Many mages like to go with robes, but they provide no real protection in an up-close battle.”