They mostly stuck to the smaller tunnels after the slip-up. The sewer system was a bit of a maze – but as Sean fought the oversized rats with some support from Emma, they came back to the entrance chamber twice. So when one candle's flame turned blue, he could only take it to mean that a quest had been completed. They finished off the pack and headed back – two more stray rats made the other candle glow blue as well.
Emma's clothes had not dried out in the meantime, and she kept complaining about her butt freezing off, or worse. But she didn't want to show up outside completely drenched in sewer water, so she didn't abandon him either. Once they cleared both quests, they headed back up to the Realm Defenders – to get the rewards.
"See, it wasn't that bad," Sean attempted to cheer her up as they traversed the plaza, but Emma merely sighed. She was seemingly beyond the 'uh-huh' stage. He added, "It doesn't even smell that bad. I don't think–"
"Or you lost all sense of smell," she cut in.
Sean nodded at her hypothesis, then commented, "Or that." He decided to stop talking for the rest of the way. It turned out that he could not hand in both candles – Emma had to return hers in person. They got paid regardless of the potential stench from the sewers: four silvers with some change for the two quests – Emma left him with the coins after a quick goodbye.
The Realm Defenders building was almost empty at this hour: even most of the NPCs had abandoned it for the night. Only two reward booths stayed open, out of a dozen or so, and with little player traffic at that. Sean used this downtime to ask the NPC there some questions about questing and rewards. He learned that tougher monsters typically yielded higher payouts – depending on their population size and how much of a problem they were to the locals. It made sense, and 'rats in the sewers' seemed like a very nasty problem to have under the city. He still didn't want to head back to Earth, and a random meeting provided Sean with a convenient mystery to investigate.
He noticed another player in the next booth over: somebody looking like the Black guy who had passed them in the sewers – and the stranger was paid way more silvers than Sean had been given for both quests. The other guy simply pocketed them without a word and left. The local in front of Sean was still ranting about 'the monster menace' and how the adventurers were at the forefront of–
"Yes-yes, thank you, thanks!" Sean cut the NPC off and followed the other guy. His suspicion was correct – he recognized the leather armor and short swords… or daggers, maybe. The guy walked into the room with all the quest boards and said something to a local by the entrance. Sean was too far away to hear it – then almost ran into the stranger as the guy turned around to leave.
"Oop! Watch out, man," the other player said as they almost collided in the doorway.
"Sorry, my bad," Sean offered.
"You're good," the guy commented and stepped around Sean with surprising nimbleness – or maybe Sean had been getting used to the bulky, heavy armor that constrained his movements.
"Wait, actually…" Sean started, and it seemed like the player was ignoring him. It was clear that players around here weren't much for idle chitchat, so Sean spoke louder to get his attention: "How did you earn that much from a quest?"
The stranger stopped and turned around to reply: "What you talkin' 'bout? It's just a quest."
"Sure, but…" Sean said and took a step closer. He suspected it might've been the multi-quest glitch that Bruce had mentioned in the lecture, so he lowered his voice to add: "That was clearly a lot of silvers at once – is there a trick to it?"
"Nah-man, no trick, just…" the Black guy said and paused to glance around. The entrance hall was quiet, completely empty other than two NPCs sitting by the building exit. The player added, "Deadass just overleveling on some dire rats, nothing wrong with that."
Sean didn't mean to offend him, so he tried to explain: "I didn't mean– Wait, is there a–"
"What's your level at?" the other guy interjected.
"Me? Uh, two– Wait, no – three, I leveled up in the… back there," Sean admitted, the cacophony still ringing in his ears. Or so it felt. That time Emma had given him a heads-up, so he wouldn't repeat that debacle outside the west gate.
"I'm doing one more run – I can carry you, if you're tryna level up?" the guy offered.
"Oh, that's not, umm…" Sean started and trailed off. The other man had mentioned overleveling – it might be useful to see how higher-lvl players fight, even if it was still only rats.
"Five silvers for the carry," the guy added while Sean was thinking.
"I see, uh…" he said and began to check his pockets, then retrieved the quest rewards from his belt – the change from Bruce's gold coin was secure in the inner pocket of his jacket. He showed a bundle of coins to the other player and lied, "I only have four and some change – would that do?"
The Black guy considered it for a couple of seconds, then nodded and plucked the silver coins from Sean's open palm. He quickly pocketed them and said, "Keep the change and stay close – it's getting late and I'm moving." He turned around and walked off.
Sean followed, struggling to keep up in his heavy armor, and asked, "Wait, do I need a quest? Was it dire rats or just–"
"No quests for you, just– What are you, a newb? You moving like a bot," the player broke in and stopped by the exit door.
"Well, it's the heavy armor and I did start playing today ," Sean admitted and finally hid the copper coins in his belt pocket in a moment of calm.
"That's not…" the guy started and looked him up and down. "That armor definitely isn't starter gear."
"Oh, right! What happened was, umm…" Sean started but trailed off. He contemplated whether to mention receiving a whole gold coin from an instructor earlier that day. The whole gifts-thing had seemed more than a little shady.
"Shorty bought that for you?" the other player speculated. Sean was completely confused… Emma was rather short, but was she already known for her small stature? The Black guy added, "That your girlfriend?"
"What? The…" Sean quickly tried to explain, "No, she's not my–"
"I ain't even judging, man. But a level one in fancy armor…" the guy remarked, and to Sean, it felt like he was very much judging. He stepped outside.
Sean sighed and followed him. He wanted to explain himself, but it didn't matter – so he asked on the way, "Whatever, there's no– Wait, is it that obvious?"
"Your girl didn't even bother with local clothes. Overleveling so much she didn't need to look at the mobs," the Black guy commented. "Mad annoying, those high-lvl players – they should stay in the hard zones…"
Sean decided not to comment on how the other player was overleveling himself, as the other guy had already admitted. He also didn't want to explain all the drama with Emma always being on her phone, despite her being the same level as him. In hindsight, that theory gave him a convenient excuse for his success in killing rats. But the player's assumptions made him wonder about another detail, so he asked, "Are Earth clothes that bad? For combat or–"
"Facts, man," the guy interrupted as they were approaching the sewers building – or whatever it was. He explained, "Nobody wears that. They're trash for stats, and you get a mad mana-regen debuff. Plus, jeans prolly count as medium gear: hard cap on max mana. Watch your step – don't slip." He headed down the staircase.
Sean followed and considered it. Suddenly Emma's self-professed mental fog was making so much more sense, no matter how silly 'jeans as medium armor' sounded – then again: what else? Not cloth or robes with capes, so… presumably medium? It also made him curious about his gear, so he asked, "Wait, does it apply to heavy armor as well?"
"Kinda, but– What class you at? Warrior? Knight?" the player speculated.
Sean noted that the 'class at' detail sounded very transient. "Tank, actually," he decided to give the name of his official class. "I mean, Fighter, since–"
"Word, everybody calls it Tank, just 'cause…" the guy broke in and stopped at the bottom of the stairs. He extended a hand to Sean and said, "Join the party. And Tanks don't use much mana."
Sean hurried the last few steps and shook the player's hand in greeting. He asked once they let go, "Is that it? Is this how we make a party?"
"You don't know? How were you two grinding before?" the other guy replied.
"Well…" Sean started. He didn't want to admit Emma had nagged Omega through an NPC to put them in a party… especially with how simple the actual procedure was.
"Deadass, you were soloing while she just softened 'em up," the guy speculated, and Sean did not want to correct him. The man added, "Smart, I guess. You wouldn't get any XP partying with a high-lvl anyway." He was already heading for one of the sewer tunnels.
"Is that– Wait, I have so many questions!" Sean pleaded.
"No time, stay on my heels," the player said while walking.
"Can I at least grab some torches? Just a moment…" Sean asked and approached the vendor. The other player stopped by the doorway, and Sean realized that maybe paying the whole sum upfront wasn't the best idea. But he was waiting, so Sean grabbed three torches for one copper coin, attached two to his belt and lit one from a lamp on the nearby wall, then grabbed an axe from his waist. He figured he would only use Tank's skill here – this guy was much more attentive than Emma.
Sean finally turned to the other guy and introduced himself: "I'm Sean, by the way, nice to meet–"
"Aiden, let's move," the Black guy cut in and entered the tunnel. "But be quiet, too much noise attracts the mobs."
"Wait, you don't need torches?" Sean asked in a lowered voice.
"Nah, man," Aiden replied. "Tricksters got innate skill. I can sense 'em nearby."
"Oh, I see…" Sean commented. "Wait, is that why some players don't need torches when they–"
"Quiet!" Aiden whispered and pointed to two oversized rats across the channel. The beasts were looking at them but didn't attack. Aiden kept going and Sean followed after a moment of hesitation – it was as if they didn't care about the torch, or didn't even see it. He wondered if it was the noise that kept attracting beasts to wherever he and Emma had gone. It certainly seemed like it in the sewers, and back outside the gate: they only got swarmed when he shouted in pain.
It felt a bit uncomfortable leaving the rats behind, but the experienced player seemed to know what he was doing – so Sean just kept walking. He wondered if his glitched classes had somehow activated that innate skill. He was pretty sure he had also glitched into Trickster – presumably Aiden's class. Would it even work with heavy armor? He didn't want to ask overly specific questions, so he followed up with something vague once they were in the clear, "How does that work? The sense?"
"Exactly how it sounds," Aiden answered in a whisper. "You feel 'em. Rangers get a hearing buff, Hunters see in the dark. Dunno 'bout others, but shhhh!" He lurched forward and disposed of two rats – each in a single strike. It seemed easy, but the guy was clearly way more experienced. His daggers emitted a faint blue glow, as if radioactive… or magical. Sean assumed the latter.
Funnily enough, Aiden's armor was very simple: thin leather gear, barely better than the Warrior's starter kit. Maybe it was the starter, but of a slightly different make. Or another class, perhaps? Then again, it didn't really matter what armor he wore if monsters died in one strike. Sean figured he should look into buying better weapons.
They walked for a bit longer, taking a couple of turns and disposing of three more rats. Aiden suddenly turned to him and whispered, "We're in dire territory now. Keep it low and stay on me. If I run, you run, heard?"
Sean replied, "What? How do you know where…" – but Aiden pointed at the wall and Sean trailed off. There were uneven letters painted in dark red: '← dire / normal →' – and they had come from the right. Sean nodded and commented, "Quest markers, of course. Are there–"
"Player-made," Aiden broke in. "Now keep it down!" He turned deeper into the tunnel and advanced. Sean followed.