“We don’t have control of that,” said Alfric. “The most you can do is have specific people carry out the entads, because they’re very slightly more likely to bind to whoever carries them when they cross the threshold, but that’s about it.”
“I want the bow,” said Isra. It had found its way back into her grip.
“It would be best for you to carry it out, yes,” said Alfric. “But splitting the pot isn’t usually done until everyone is outside. It’s hard to put value on things if you don’t know how or whether they’re bound.” There were some parties, he knew, where there was extensive discussion on who carried what, which usually meant testing done in the dungeon, but that wasn’t how he’d envisioned his ideal party.
“So I can take the spoon out with me?” asked Mizuki.
“We’ll divide them up equally for the trip out,” said Alfric. “Personal binding is uncommon, but if it happens, then we’ll deal with it.”
“But I could wager a portion of my share, couldn’t I?” asked Mizuki.
Alfric sighed. “The more complicated arrangements get, the more trouble they are. You don’t want people to gamble, and you don’t want people to leave with hard feelings. That’s not what keeps a party together.”
“There’s no need for us to be a party anymore, is there?” asked Verity. “Because we all agreed on a single dungeon, and that was it.”
“We did,” said Alfric. He’d known this moment was coming and had hoped that it wouldn’t be so soon, or with such casual disregard for their clear value as a team. “Even if we’re not doing anything together, it makes sense to stay as a party for as long as possible. In a week we’ll have a party channel to talk together, and that might be necessary, because it’s going to take quite a bit of time and effort to move everything that we’re going to take out of here. This bigger book is a storage entad, and if it’s partybound, then we’ll at least have to keep a party of three in order to use it. Breaking the party before then would likely mean that everything put into it was stuck. We won’t know until we get out of here though.”
“What does the little one do?” asked Mizuki, joining Alfric and picking the book up.
“I haven’t looked at it yet,” said Alfric. “Hopefully something good, but I doubt it.”
Mizuki leafed through the small book, then stopped on a page and read for a bit. “It’s everything that we’ve said.”
“Huh,” said Alfric. “Can I see?”
“No,” replied Mizuki. “Still looking. No names, seems like it’s doing some marks for dialect… Can this thing read?” She directed that question at the group, but Alfric assumed that the question was for him.
“Read… in what sense?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” said Mizuki. “I mean… it’s writing all this in Inter, or something close to it, so how’s that work?”
“Oh,” said Alfric. “If there’s language involved, then it’s probably drawing from us.”
“Huh,” said Mizuki. She slid the book over to him. “Yeah, it’s worthless.”
“Not necessarily,” said Alfric. “It depends on how it works. You could use it for eavesdropping. But we’ll need to test it, see how it actually functions.”
“Are we ready to leave?” asked Verity.
“Not hardly,” said Hannah. “We have things to loot, ay?”
“Can we start with that, then?” asked Verity. “I don’t like being under this sky or in this place. It’s sending a chill down my spine.”
They were overdue for a conversation on how dangerous the dungeon had actually been, and Alfric was grateful that it seemed like they could put it off for a bit.
Isra bound to the bow.
“It’s not unexpected,” said Hannah. “Happens more when there’s somethin’ going on between the wielder and the weapon, at least if my schoolin’ was right. It’s a windfall for her and a shame for the rest of us, since it would have fetched a hefty price on the market, but that’s the nature of dungeoneerin’.”
“And the book is partybound,” said Alfric, sighing slightly. “Which
means that it won’t be fetching a good price either, and if the party
breaks, it stops functioning entirely. More bad news on that front.”
Though it was the kind of bad news that was also good news, when it came
to keeping the party together. It was a weak incentive though, since a
party could still function when down to just three members. It was also
“How can you tell?” asked Verity, who had been combing her hair during the testing outside the dungeon.
“I can see potential,” said Mizuki. “Comes from being a sorc. As soon as he sets the book down, it goes mostly inert, but when he picks it up, it’s got some magical life to it. Same goes for if any of us pick it up, which means it’s partybound. The bow only responds to Isra though.” She took her spoon out of her pocket. “Spoon seems like it’ll work for anyone though. Alfric, you think that this is worthless?”
