Pebble and his party of Heroes contacted the King and were told to wait at the edge of town for their care package. Puffy had a general idea of where the team should go, so he led the way. The party did not talk much, as they all had some anxiety about what this adventure was going to look like.
Pebble was determined to get started with the experience grind and apparently, the path to Devil's Gouge Would be long and provide plenty of opportunities to level up. According to Puffy, the fact that they are going to such a place is a clear sign that Aegis is in crisis. Pebble knew his friends were not a group of slouches, but he still worried about the potential problems they might encounter.
The King granted the party access to the Royal tunnels so that they could avoid any foot traffic while they exited the city. Puffy mentioned using these tunnels back when he was in his own Hero's party and he spoke nostalgically, "You know, back in the day, I got so lost in these
tunnels that I had to use all the food and water I had stored in my inventory to survive. When I finally made my way out, they had sent in search parties to find me." He gave a hearty gut laugh. "Now they casted an enchantment over the entire city that will ping the locations of all summoned Heroes. That was me! I'm the guy who f*cked up bad enough to create a new rule!" His laugh continued.
Fred laughed, "Hey man, that's nothing, I once ran a grow operation in a movie theater I was working in. They didn't find the product since I had already collected it for that batch, but they did find the lamps. There's now a sign that says, 'phone chargers only' next to that outlet."
Puffy laughed, "What? How did you hide a grow operation?"
Fred smiled, "Ceiling tiles."
"Dubious." Puffy replied.
"Lots of doobies indeed," they both laughed.
"Well, it looks like you fit right in Puffy. You said you were summoned here 50 years ago? You act just like us, bro!" Phil observed.
"Eh, you know us Earthlings, full of Indomitable spirit and complete bullsh*t!" Puffy joked.
The team was approaching the light at the end of the tunnel. Once they walked out, they were able to see what looked like a massive boat dock, but instead of being above water, there was open air underneath the docks. It was at this moment that the team remembered that Aegis was a flying city as they looked down at the land miles beneath them.
"Wow, this is breathtaking!" Bard said as he looked back at the city then back down to the land below.
"We really are flying, this is crazy. How much do you think this whole giant city weighs?" Fred was scratching his beard. "How can they defy gravity to such an extent?"
"Pretty cool, huh?" Puffy was standing with Pebble behind Fred, Bard and Phil. He enjoyed seeing the excitement from the party, "This world is full of incredibly powerful people and creatures. There are many sights that you will see that defy anything we could have back on Earth." He sighed, "You guys remind me of when I was first summoned. I had such high ambitions. I dreamed I would be given these lands. That my team and I would be Kings, each having our own Kingdoms. Reality can be a cruel b*tch, let me tell you. I wasn't ready to work for my goals and we all pretended that this world wouldn't have consequences." Puffy looked at Pebble, "Now I'm the only remaining Hero out of that team."
"Whoa, I didn't know you lost your party. I'm sorry, man." Pebble was unsure of what to say, so he kept it simple and genuine.
"I'm not trying to be a buzzkill here. I just see your faces and it just brings me back. I apologize, but please just don't go dying on me. I just met you guys and all, but respect that I've been through that before and I'm setting out for new experiences, not to relive old trauma."
Pebble looked Puffy dead in the eyes, "You and I have very similar goals then. I'm glad you're on board with us, Puffy."
"I'm happy to have a chance to set it right. Second chances aren't a given and I wouldn't want to let this slip by. I'm going to give you guys my all." Puffy said with pride.
"That's great, here's what I need you to do…" Pebble discussed a strategy with Puffy to allow the team to earn experience on their travels. Pebble didn't give much details about his own situation, but kept it clear that he was going to take on a supporting role. Phil would be the melee fighter in the front lines. Fred would be mid range damage and crowd control, which Pebble could assist with as well. Finally, Bard would be supporting as well.
"Two supports? That means I would be your third support. Is that what you're saying?" Puffy looked confused.
"Look, when it comes down to it, I can step outside of my support role. I know this seems a little unbalanced, but you have to play with the hand you've been dealt." Pebble insisted.
"Uh, I don't know, pal." Puffy stared directly at Pebble's massive arms, "You seem pretty equipped to take Phil's role if you ask me."
Pebble couldn't argue with logic, so he decided to prove that he was a support, "Hey when I flew through your ceiling, it repaired itself pretty immediately. Was that you?"
"Yes it was, thanks for the roof by the way." Puffy replied with a curious face.
"If I were to damage this dock, would you be able to repair it?" Pebble continued.
"I could, are you planning something nefarious?" Puffy was even more confused now.
"Not exactly." Pebble proceeded to kneel down and aggressively punch the ground five times in quick succession. Each punch broke a board on the dock and launched a green glowing rock into the air. All five rocks were floating in front of Pebble, he reached out his arms and collected them in a bear hug.
"What in the world did I just watch?" Puffy said as he began to cast his repair skill on the damaged dock.
"These are healing stones from my skill, Life Rock." Pebble explained, "They will heal anyone holding them for 1 HP every 30 seconds." Pebble took a deep breath, "Stab my leg or something."
"Life Rock? I've never heard of such a skill. And you want me to do what?" Puffy heard what Pebble was saying, but he'd never seen or heard of any stones that could heal people.
"Just do it, trust me." Pebble continued to brace himself.
Puffy shrugged, "It's never been above me to give it to someone who's literally begging for it." He summoned a knife out of his inventory and put the blade against Pebble's leg. "It's not too late, are you sure about this?"
Pebble had his mouth over the meat of his thumb, he responded with a, "Mhmm," and nodded.
Puffy jabbed the knife forward into Pebble calf.
<44/50 HP>
"SON OF A B*TCH!" Pebble yelled. Fred, Bard and Phil turned away from the ledge and looked back at Puffy as he held the knife in Pebble's leg.
"Yo!?" Phil yelled.
"He was asking for it!" Puffy responded.
"He's always asking for it, but you're not supposed to actually do it!" Bard replied.
<46/50 HP>
"I'M SO CONFUSED!" Puffy dropped the knife and Pebble awkwardly shifted his life rocks into one hand freeing his arm. He then reached down and pulled the knife out of his leg, letting it fall to the ground with the ting. His leg was healing itself at a visible speed. Before the wound healed all the way, Pebble put the rocks down and his leg stopped healing.
"I'm a support." Pebble said between breaths as he panted from the pain.
"F*ck me man, next time someone tells me they identify as support I'm just going to take their word for it." Puffy said.
Pebble grabbed the rocks again and allowed his leg to heal fully. Bard walked over and inspected one of the glowing green stones, "You can just make these? That's so cool!"
Pebble smirked, "Yeah bro, green rocks all the way!"
"I thought you said your skill was something called Rock Throw?" Fred inquired.
"Oh yeah, you did say that. Are you going to be throwing these stones at us? Please don't support me by throwing stones at me." Phil interjected.
"Yeah, I have two skill trees. One that I'm guessing is similar to yours, but most of my skill nodes were destroyed instantly. The other is a challenge mode skill tree and it seems to completely change how my class works." Pebble rubbed the back of his neck. He didn't want them to know that he's already leveled up.
"Two skill trees, sounds fun!" Bard said in a cheery tone.
"Super fun," Pebble smiled. "Here, everyone take a stone, there's one for each of us." He started passing the glowing green rocks to his friends. "The max amount I can have at once is five. The heal isn't the biggest, but it's consistent. If one of us gets hurt, I can dismiss your stones and create five more to focus on them. Unless we are in an emergency, I'd like for each of you to always have one. If you lose it, let me know."
Bard made a tiny cut on his and watched the wound close within 15 seconds, "This certainly isn't a bad heal!" He exclaimed.
"Well you probably have a lower healthpool than me, so the heal is more noticeable for you." Pebble shrugged.
"What's your HP? I have 10." Bard replied. Pebble felt his throat fall into his stomach.
"You only have 10 health?!" Pebble wanted to yell, but did his best to keep his voice low.
"Bro, I'm a Bard. I took points out of constitution before I knew it would be my life! How's your brain treating you Mr. 5 int?" Bard replied sarcastically.
"Dammit, fair. Phil, what's your HP?" Pebble looked at the snake man.
"I have 14 health, sir." Phil replied in a mouse voice.
Pebble fell to the ground. "Fred, what's your HP?" His voice was hoarse and full of hopelessness.
"I, another man of culture, have also elected to remove the points of my constitution stat and put those points into my big boy brain." Fred said, full of conviction.
"You're all squishies!" Pebble held his head in his hands in an attempt to comfort himself.
"I honestly made the same mistake when I was first summoned. It's pretty common for most classes to omit points from constitution. They should have other means of survival, if they're smart!" Puffy gave Pebble a few tiny pats of comfort.
"Oh hey look, our care package is here." Bard ignored Pebble and pointed to the crate that silently appeared behind them. There were five white backpacks hanging on the side of the box.
Phil slithered over and grabbed one of the backpacks, "Why are there a bunch of parachutes here? Oh, there's a note. Please do not store these in your inventory, put them on immediately." Phil looked back at his friends, "Why do you think it would say that?"