A Learning Curve - Etrian Odyssey 4 - Boyxboy

Chapter 1

Title: A Learning Curve 

Summary: After the defeat of the Titan, things should be peaceful for Guild Phaedron, right? Unfortunately not. Mysterious antagonists with links to the guild, new dangers that don't all come from the labyrinths and something about a New Empire is just the start. And some of the most unlikely people find themselves right in the middle of it.

Pairings: ...My goal is to make you ship them all. Ship. Them. ALL.

Warnings: Spoilers for the game, of course. Violence and swearing

AN: This sequel will be a little bit different from ALE. Firstly, it will be focusing on a couple of other characters from the guild, mostly Roxbury as I adore him. There will also be a few new faces with added twists and turns. Secondly, it won't nearly be as long as ALE. Maybe half the length? Up in the air at the moment, but it'll definitely be 20 or so chapters.

Thanks so much to everyone who had read, commented and enjoyed "A Learning Experience"! I hope you'll enjoy reading this story, too!

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Chapter 1:

Life had become pretty hectic for the citizens of Tharsis. The arrival of new explorers searching for fame and fortune coincided with the still on-going evacuation of Cloudy Stronghold. The city itself was growing quickly, too quickly for some as they were finding it difficult to house and cater for all the newcomers.

Even Tharsis' famous and most beloved guild, Phaedron, was finding it hard to keep up. They had four lands and five labyrinths that needed to be mapped, and potentially hundreds of new items to examine and catalogue.

The Yggdrasil Titan was no more and the curse seemed to have vanished along with it. The toxicity of decaying lands seemed to be confined to the Cloudy Stronghold. The two rare races of Vessels and Sentinels were safe and sound. There was no longer a threat to anyone.

Even so...none of that would explain why rookie guilds were suddenly complaining about their airships malfunctioning.

"What yeh talking about?" Ciaran asked, cutting off the rambling and underdressed female explorer in front of him. "That airship was in top shape last night."

The short, female adventurer twitched. "Well, something went wrong today!" she seethed at him as she flailed an arm in the direction of an airship with a gaping hole in the side. "Fix it!"

Ciaran felt his own eye twitch. "I'm the master of this wharf, not the overseer of all airships. I can't help yeh in the air. That's your responsibility."

As the rookie guild of youngsters stalked away, utterly pissed that Ciaran was calling them out for their own actions, Ciaran folded his arms over his chest and frowned as he looked at the ground. "What is going on here?" he mumbled to himself.

He had never seen so many damaged airships before. They were fine when he would call it a night and got some sleep, but when he returned in the morning, there was always a complaint waiting on his desk for him by the guilds who took a flight at night. A broken propeller, a damaged keel, ripped ballooning. Hell, gaping holes in the side was getting so common that it was ridiculous. They were things he would have picked up on.

It was starting to get dangerous.

For him, too. He wasn't talking about how some of the local politicians were questioning his status as the wharf-master. He couldn't care less about them. Count was on his side, as were the famous guild Phaedron. No official was going to say a single thing wrong against them.