The New Arrival's Guide to Common Things

by Jorbon Delivas

Now that you're aware of the primary structures which hold up the world's society, let's move on to more personal matters. Your personal path. Everyone follows a Path, whether they're conscious of the fact or not. Within most tutorials, this Path goes largely uncommented upon and unexplored.

Obviously, the reason Paths go unmentioned within tutorials is simple. Most tutorial worlds don't directly acknowledge or reward following a Path. Unlike in the real world, where it's paramount if a being wishes to progress beyond their baseline.

Yes, if you haven't yet realized, you can improve yourself beyond what your species is naturally capable of. Expand your mind, extend your body, stretch your very soul. It's all possible, but not without dedication and effort. This is where Paths come in.

Willow

Buried, Second Layer, Chimera M 63

Dust clawed its way into Phoenix's throat through her mouth and nose with each gasping breath. She pulled her tattered shirt up to cover her face, hoping to filter some of it out. That just introduced blood and sweat mixed mud to the problem.

Forcibly slowing her breathing and doing her best to take shallower gasps, she tried to asses the situation. System's plan, provided in part by Quiz, had worked. At least in part. We aren't about to be crushed by tons of Earth anymore, so that's a win!

Looking up and narrowing her eyes, Phoenix thought she could just make out the edge of the ceiling of their makeshift tomb. Unfortunately she couldn't make out any details. No matter how super-human her eyes had become, she didn't have anything like dark vision. Something to think about later… Could be useful if our lightning tools fail again.

Before she could scrape together the determination to open her mouth again to ask anything, a tiny mote of brilliant light blossomed. Blinking away sunspots from the sudden luminescence, the form of Hosh holding his paws cupped around pure white radiance swam into view. Taking advantage of the light, Phoenix looked up again. This time she could see the seemingly coincidental way the rocks and boulders joined together like a haphazard jigsaw. Small gaps were visible between some pieces, always revealing yet another rock or clump of dirt covering it.

Less than ideal. Phoenix mused. Her thoughts and examination were interrupted by Prism's mental voice, "Avoid talking aloud or moving around too much for now. We need to conserve oxygen and should avoid jostling anything. There's no telling how stable this pocket of earth is. If anyone has ideas on how we can get out, let's hear them."

Silence followed for a worryingly long time. Iris suggested, "Maybe I can bring you with me through my 'Step Back'?"

Excitement surged at the suggestion. Phoenix had wondered what that looked like anyway, that was a great idea!

"Good idea, try it with Phoenix please."

Phoenix felt the tiny woman grab onto her earlobe and pull it. The pulling force vanished in the next moment. Seconds later, Iris complained, "It didn't work. I was able to pull Madrick through though, I don't know why…"

"He also has and uses the spell, maybe that's the difference. Keep trying, but we'll think of additional options while you do." Prism noted calmly. It was nice that their leader was as unruffled by being buried under, what Phoenix could only guess was, tons of earth and stone as she was by anything else.

Over the next few hours they came up with several ideas, trying each in turn. Hosh tried melting through the walls with his starlight beam things, which just caused more rubble to fill the new gap. Poli tried reinforcing the spot above, then had the lythan try again. Although the shield did stop the newly formed micro-tunnel from being immediately filled, it also wasn't something Poli thought he could sustain at scale. Serious frogy eyes stared unblinking as he explained that even that tiny strip had taken nearly an eighth of his total mana pool to maintain for a few minutes, running him entirely dry.

Naturally, Phoenix tried next. She used her ability to stop the rocks from caving in while Hosh drilled through. The issue was her inability to shape her ability's area of effect so that it wouldn't interfere with Hosh's spell and the resulting empty-space. She'd managed to infuse the field with an intent to only hold onto natural elements, which allowed his beam to pass through easily. Unfortunately, after it'd passed, her ability firmly held the dirt particles in their place until she released them. Since she couldn't selectively release sections the plan just wasn't feasible. She'd tried using an imperative command to release the beam-destroyed rocks only, but the spell was too targeted. It released only the specific particles her mana actually came into contact with. It'd take forever to try and release even a single layer of the destroyed stone. The idea could still possibly work, she'd just need to figure out how to use her spell in an area rather than a single target. Phoenix was confident she could figure that out. Probably even before they ran out of oxygen, considering all of them had slowed their breathing to maybe a small breath every few minutes - Go super-human abilities!

Unfortunately oxygen wasn't the only concern they had to factor in. Each time they tested something, they feared causing their shelter to collapse entirely, rendering all their efforts to remain not-dead as vain. The thin, barely pinky-sized beams Hosh was testing with had been fine at first. After a dozen or so tested strategies, though, they heard ominous shifting above them and had agreed with silent glances to stop testing unless they had something very promising.

The joint effort super-beam they'd used to clear the pathway from their little lake-shelter area would work perfectly to get them back into the main tunnels. Unfortunately, that still left the issue of how to support the newly formed tunnel from collapsing long enough for everyone to escape. Whatever the gemacer's had done to bring down the ceiling hadn't simply broken a layer of rocks up, it'd destabilized the entire tunnel. At least as far as they could determine from within.

Iris had used her spell to look around, helping them decide on their best possible exit point. As they'd guessed, the best option was to go toward the entrance to the cavern where their enemies had been. Had been, because apparently Koll had been busy killing them all and was now napping. If the little gremlin had any way to help get them out, they could have woken him through the party channel but there didn't seem to be much of a point to disturbing him.

There was, of course, one other being outside the collapse who could absolutely help. Unfortunately Madrick was being as helpful as usual. Which is to say just about as helpful as a lazy cat watching mice flee an uncovered nest.

On the bright side, Kash had a healing spell which he could cast every so often which repaired any damage they were doing to their bodies by denying themselves as much air as they really needed. Eventually, Phoenix retreated into her soul nexus to work on controlling her ability and extending her imperative command to a larger area.

She was hoping for two things by entering her nexus. First, Hazel could possibly help her figure out how to get the spell or ability to work how she wanted. Second, she could set her body to only breathe less than really required without feeling as uncomfortable. Actually, can I just stop breathing entirely and turn on my back into it skill to fix the asphyxiation? I might have to try if things get desperate.

Katha

Hm, hm, hmmmmmm

"Mejaaaaah!!!" Katha squealed happily as she found her friend, her body coalescing out of the swirling wind so she could wrap her arms around him. "I found you!"

The large man gently pushed her back, a futile endeavor as the elf woman clung tightly and nuzzled her spiky-hair against his chest and chin. "Katha, I told you to stay up on the surface in case our target slipped by me and tried to leave, remember?"

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"Nope! I don't remember at all! Also, I promised the fairy I'd give Willow a chance to be nice, even though I'm totally sure she's mean." Her large man's jaw was clenched tightly. It made his face look even more sharp and square than usual. It was super attractive. She fluttered her eyes to let him know she appreciated the view.

Letting out an explosive breath, Mejah's body relaxed, "Unfortunately, we can't make friends now. They're trapped and I was told not to grant them aid."

"Who told you not to 'aid'? That wasn't part of our orders!" After a moment, she realized something. She didn't remember her orders very well. "…Was it?" She released Mejah and stepped back so she could think. He was smothering her, it made it really hard to think.

Another sigh. Mejah was doing that too much. Katha hoped he wasn't sick. Could beings sigh instead of sneezing? Yeah. That was probably a thing. It made sense. Probably because of a different kind of sick. Mhm.

"Sure. It was part of our orders to not aid anyone."

"Welllll how do you know they're trapped and we'd be helping them?" She pointed out the obvious. "Maybe they're just hiding! Maybe they knew I'd wanna come play hide and seek and started early! Yeah, that is probably it!"

For some reason Mejah's face got even more frownier.

"Ooo! Ooh! I know! Show me where they are! You're helping me not them!" Her head bobbed up and down really fast. It kinda made her dizzy. She kept doing it, being dizzy was fun. She heard a thumping sound as Mejah disappeared from her view.

"Fine, Katha. I'll open a path for you to enter and make friends." She only barely caught the last part as he muttered, "The mistress did say we should try and ingratiate ourselves, after all."

Realizing she was staring up at the spinning ceiling for some reason, Katha leapt up and hugged Mejah tightly. "You're the beeest! And also, where are they, exactly??" She snuggled even closer while blinking as fast as she could manage, "loooover." She giggled. 'Lover' is such a funny word! Like, isn't love a noun? Silly!

Her giggling continued even as Mejah carefully extracted himself from her insistent grasp once more. "They're all under that pile of rock."

Confused, Katha turned and found Mejah's arm extended, pointing at a wall. Her eyes widened, "Oh, no. You've gone mad." Her giggling intensified when his eyes turned on her, appearing angry.

"And mad, too!" She barely managed through snickering hiccups.

Willow

Buried, Second Layer, Chimera M 63

"Two being at wall. Looking. Talking." Koll's unexpected voice cut through Willow's razor-edged focus and her latest attempt to create a complex shape with her ability fell apart. Resigned, she turned her attention to the party channel.

Someone had asked apparently for clarification as the gremlin replied, "Human and elf. Big man. Little woman. Angry man. Happy woman."

"Koll, do they seem related to the monsters in any way? Are they discussing how to finish us off?" Frella's mental voice was as weary as Willow felt. Rationing oxygen for what felt like several hours was no joke.

A beat of hesitation, then, "No. They help. Man help. Woman laugh. Moving earth. Be ready."

True to the gremlin's words, the earth started shifting and flowing in the next moment. The roughly stacked pieces of crumbling tunnel compacted and pressed together into a smooth circular passage, supported by thick columns of compressed stone which seemed to grow from the ceiling of the newly formed hole.

Before anyone could say a word, a figure emerged from the shadowed entrance. As the being entered the radius of Hosh's light, Willow was able to make out her features.

Chaotic golden hair stuck out in every direction, as if she'd been struck by lightning. Blue eyes which seemed mostly unfocused and chaotically bounced around. She was just a bit shorter than Willow's own 164 centimeters and much slimmer. The elf, marked by her sharp features and pointed ears, seemed to be just a step above malnourished. Willow couldn't see an ounce of muscle on her mostly-exposed body. The only thing she was wearing was what might, generously, be called a sundress. It might be more appropriate to simply call the thin, roughly cut, piece of fabric a 'slip.'

As she suddenly rushed forward, the semi-transparent and incredibly short garment fluttered to confirm what it already hinted at. While Willow felt she wasn't one to be easily embarrassed, she felt her cheeks heat at the brazen and uncaring display. It caught her so off-guard that she didn't even react as the elfess rapidly closed on their group. She stopped directly in front of Willow, but thankfully wasn't focused on her burning face.

"Pippy!! I found you! You're it!!" She giggled, spun, and ran back out the newly created exit.

"It's PIPER!" Piper screamed, indignant, as she fluttered out after the elf.

Before Willow could express her confusion, many others beat her to the punch.

"What the hell?" "Did a naked elf just run in and out of here?" "Am I hallucinating?" "Elves are weird."

Feeling movement to her side, Willow turned and found Slyth standing beside her, hand on his sheathed sword. He was frowning deeply, as if trying to remember something. "Uh… All good?" She asked dumbly.

"Remember what Madrick told us when he first arrived on Shee?"

"About the crazy woman who tried to kiss him?" Her eyes widened as she remembered Madrick's half annoyed and half amused retelling of his arrival. He was approached by some fae, killed said fae for some reason, then got jumped by an elf. An elf who, in his words, "Didn't have enough brain matter to qualify as sentient."

"There's no way some ditsy elf followed Madrick all the way from Shee, right? And how'd she know Piper?"

Slyth shook his head, seeming disturbed. "I'm not sure. Something strange is clearly going on."

He held up a closed fist and started lifting fingers as if counting as he listed points, "We start getting targeted by weird groups of monsters." Pointer finger lifted. "The monsters don't attack each-other, and retreat when it's clear they can't win, acting completely out of character for all the monsters on this layer - according to our experts in Frella's group." Middle finger popped up. "The monsters seem to be under the thrall, or leadership, of a group that is comprised of at least an elf and a human - not counting the dead hazzabi." Ring finger up. "We get baited into a trap, which we knew was a trap, but the trap was actually two traps and the second one nearly worked - ending with us buried without many options." Pinky finger extended. "And we're saved at the last minute by a human and an elf. An elf who may have interacted with Madrick before, clearly knows Piper, but none of us recognize." His entire hand hovered between them, open.

"Huh, when you put it like that, it sounds just as strange as it is!" Willow smiled, trying to seem unconcerned. She reached over and gently pressed his hand down, "Let's see what our rescuers want before we start getting suspicious though, right? It could just be a coincidence. Coincidences are super common!"

"Sure, but these are all a bit…" He searched for the word before shaking his head, "Unlikely, I guess. The fact that we know some beings are controlling the monsters, and that we don't know how many of them there are, is enough to make me nervous about trusting random unknown 'rescuers'."

"Sure, sure, don't trust them. But we can try to be polite, right?"

After a moment's hesitation, he nodded. "True. I doubt we'll get any answers at all by being rude or ungrateful."

Despite his words, Willow got the sense Slyth was still deeply unsettled. Bumping his shoulder, he staggered a bit at the unexpected force. She grinned at his questioning look. "Can't find answers hanging around here, right?" She gestured forward, toward Loivl's back. Besides them, she was the last one to file out of their little hybrid prison-sanctuary. The light from Hosh's little mote was even dimming as he progressed further away, despite being able to faintly see it hovering in the air above everyone a ways out.

With a sharp exhale, Slyth nodded and they joined their party.

They found Naomi, Frella, and Poli grouped together around a man slightly taller than Madrick and every bit as wide and well-muscled. Although, his muscles seemed to suggest hard labor and work rather than combat training and battle. Willow wasn't quite sure what differentiated the two, but she'd bet a full bowl of etouffee that she wasn't wrong. Actually… Nah, I'd just eat it. I miss shrimp so much.

Naomi would have what Willow assumed was the serious conversation and fact-gathering well in hand, she was sure. Even if she was wrong, there was simply no chance she'd join that grim looking conversation over watching what was quite possibly the most ridiculous display she'd ever seen.

Piper was currently pretending not to see the extremely obvious elf girl, who was standing spread out against the wall in plain view. A soft giggle escaped her delicate lips every time Piper passed her by. The little fairy noticed Willow's incredulous gaze and suddenly whirled and poked the elf's nose.

"Gottcha! Now! As the winner, I declare the loser must do a dare."

The elf girl's mouth opened into a wide "O", before nodding eagerly. "That makes SO much sense! This is why we're best friends, Piper! You get me!" So saying, she hopped from one foot to another in desperate excitement.

"Exactly! Now! Your dare is quite simple… You have to go introduce yourself to that human!" Piper's hand swung out, a tiny pink finger extended imperiously toward Willow. The little fairy's hovering pose was chalk full of dignity and command.

Katha's mostly vacant gaze slowly moved from Piper's face, to her shoulder, down her arm, finding her finger tip, and painstakingly traced the air between the the pixie and the destination she indicated. As soon as her blue eyes landed on Willow, they widened and sharpened momentarily into clarity.

"Nooooo!" She threw herself in front of Piper, her forehead slamming down hard enough to explode directly through the hocheth corpse she'd manage to position herself over and connecting with the ground with a soft but clearly audible "thunk".

Willow saw Piper wince at the gore splatter that landed on her pink face, but she soldiered through it. It wasn't like they weren't all already covered in the nasty stuff anyway. God, we reek.

"Yes!" Piper declared, her voice still pitched a little lower and much more seriously than usual. "You must properly greet and introduce yourself to my mother, Willow!"

The elf's head whipped back up, splattering yet more gore everywhere, though she clearly didn't notice. Her eyes were locked on Piper. "Your mother?! But you're so… So… Nice! And she's evil!"

Willow's mouth opened in protest, but snapped shut when Piper's voice came through on a private channel, "Wait! Let me get through to her. She's really flighty, don't distract her."

So, Willow patiently waited as her guide conducted an utterly ridiculous back-and-forth argument with a mostly nude elf woman regarding whether Willow would eat her face or tear her arms off and beat her with them.

Glancing toward Naomi, Willow really hoped their leader was able to get some actual information out of the other stranger. If he was as crazy as the elf girl there was little to no chance they'd ever learn what was actually going on here.

Turning away from Naomi, she caught Slyth's gaze and grinned. His own gaze was frantically flitting back and forth between the two strangers. He was clearly caught between wanting to witness the lunacy that Piper was perpetuating and getting answers with the others. She nudged him, "Sorry buddy, I need you to stay here and keep me sane."

He relaxed, his internal debate solved, and he nodded. They both proceeded to enjoy the free entertainment.

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