by Tao Wong
“That’s ummm….” Daniel started and stopped, not sure how to respond.
“Yeah, fine. Call me crazy. Everybody does, but I’m right,” Emma said with a snap, crossing her arms and pouting.
“I didn’t…”
“Just leave her be, Daniel,” Nicole said, shooting an unhappy look at Emma. “She’s just angry. But she is right about one thing. There are prizes for winning, and the experience is well worth it. You’ll find that you’ll learn a lot, whether you win or lose.”
“And our chances of winning?” Daniel asked curiously.
“Very low,” Emma snapped. “You’re Reds. Unless you’re top of your category, there’s no chance you’re winning.”
“Oh…” Daniel sighed.
“Ah, but our trainers said we were close to passing to Orange,” Omrak said proudly. At this, Sara cooed, making Omrak blush slightly, but less so this time.
“Well, if you register now, you’ve got two weeks to prepare. Most of the teams involved have already started slowing down their delving. No one wants to get hurt before the tournament,” Nicole said, looking pointedly at Daniel.
“That’s another reason why the tournament is a bad idea. Lets the monsters build up,” Emma muttered softly, ignored by the majority. Still, Daniel heard and made a note – expect more and more monsters as they neared the start of the tournament.
Chapter 6
“And that’s it. You’re registered,” Seth said, tapping the form in front of him. “The group of DAO is now part of the listings for the first category. You know you’ll be matched up against tougher monsters the more you fight, right?”
“We do,” Daniel said.
“Good. Then my job here really is done,” Seth said. “On that note, I hear your group found the way downstairs yesterday?”
“Yes. We’re actually here to ask about it,” Daniel said with slight trepidation.
“An Adventurer prepared today is an adventurer alive tomorrow,” Seth said with a smile. “One silver each.”
The trio quickly made their payments before they were, to Daniel and Omrak’s chagrin, ushered off to see Quinn. Asin, sensing their hesitation, looked between the two but followed after. After all, what else could she do?
“You’re trying the second floor of Porthos already, eh?” Mateo said with a smile as he looked over the trio. Even as he was speaking, his hands were sweeping over the tower shield and rockbow that the party had returned, testing for problems with experienced hands.
“Yes. We got the briefing from Quinn already,” Daniel said.
“And what did you think of it?” Mateo questioned.
“Caves. Small arms. Karlak,” Asin said with her usual terseness.
“That’s, umm… true,” Mateo said, slightly bewildered by the Catkin. “It is a cave system, so I guess your experience in Karlak would help somewhat. What else?”
“Hellhounds. Single, dual and triple-head for the floor Champion. Breathe fire, so we’ll have to be careful and use our Salamander cloaks,” Daniel said. “Four legs, fast moving, caltrops and bolas.”
“Do you all speak like that?” Mateo said with a half-smile. “But yes, you’re correct again. Next.”
“Lights,” Omrak replied. “There are no lights.”
“Correct again. So, what’s that mean?” Mateo said.
“We need light,” Omrak said simply.
“And…?”
“We carry it.”
Stifling a groan, Mateo turned to Daniel who answered. “Two things. The hellhounds see in the dark, so any light we bring will bring them to us. In addition, we won’t want to be fighting the hellhounds with one of our hands carrying lanterns.”
“Correct,” Mateo said. “Lanterns filled with oil when fire-breathing monsters are around are a bad idea too. Now, did you miss anything else?”
The trio stared at each for a moment as they cudgelled their brains. Once they all shook their heads, Mateo sniffed.
“Well, you were doing well,” Mateo said mock-sadly. “But you forgot the traps. Specifically, the rock falls.”
“Those…” Daniel shuddered at Mateo’s words. That was a particularly nasty trap, one that the ex-Miner would probably have nightmares about.
“They’re not like real mine rockfalls. They’re set-up by the Dungeon, so they aren’t as dangerous because it only releases a limited number of rocks,” Mateo said. “Mana made rocks, which disappear after a while.”
“They disappear?” Daniel said with surprise.
“Of course. How else would the passageways get cleared?”
“Ummm… workers?”
“We’re no Basic dungeon with basic workers. Sure, we have Farmers enough on the first few floors, but the Guild doesn’t have enough money to pay Advanced Adventurers to clear rockfalls. Even in Karlak, your people mined the Crawler spit for a reason,” Mateo said. “No, the rocks are imbued with Mana to stay around when connected to the ceiling. When they fall, they lose that connection and breakdown.”
“So, theoretically, someone could survive until it disappeared?” Omrak said.
“Har. If you can hold your breath for a few hours, certainly,” Mateo said. “You can either buy single-use Mana disruption potions from Alchemists or rent some Mana disruption wands from us. Their uses are limited to cases like this, but it could save your lives.”
“How much?” Asin asked, getting straight to the point.
“Deposit is ten gold coins. Rental is one per week,” Mateo replied.
All three Adventurers winced at that. Still, even without the wands, the group found themselves purchasing a few useful items from the Adventurer’s Store like metal caltrops that were linked to a central metal ball. It was more expensive but ensured that the team could just collect the caltrops after use easily rather than leaving them around for an unfortunate team to walk on later. An act that could result in fines if they were determined to be the culprits.
In addition, glow stones were purchased, Mana stones that had simple runes inscribed on them to draw upon the ambient Mana to power. They were utterly useless outside of a Mana-rich environment, but perfect for Dungeon delving. Daniel, of course, did not need to buy one since he had his own enchanted stone that just required repeated recharging via Mana. Sewn and attached to clothing, the glow stones gave off enough weak light in totality to allow Adventurers to watch where they were going in a pinch. And, as their last purchase, the group purchased a much more expensive Mana Lantern. This one used a Mana stone the size of the Floor Champion, the runes inscribed not on the stone itself but on the lantern, drawing upon the stone’s source of power to illuminate the surroundings. Lastly, they purchased a single bottle of Mana dissolution liquid each.
All in all, the team spent all their saved earnings over the last week to just equip themselves for the next floor. It was a depressing state of affairs, one that Adventurers the world over understood. To make more gold, you needed to go to lower floors. To get to lower floors, you needed better equipment. To get better equipment, you needed to spend gold. And so, the circle continued in a never-ending fashion. Even those who decided to farm specific floors had to pay upkeep and maintenance while watching their Level growth stagnate.
Dark. That was the first thought that crossed Daniel’s mind as the group exited the Portal. Stepping aside to allow other groups to come through unmolested, Daniel waited in the safe room while the glow lights attached around his body began to draw upon the ambient Mana to power themselves. Luckily, even without his own glow lights working, the safe zone had a few scattered points of illumination to greet arrivals that gave off just a little illumination.
Asin, unlike Daniel and Omrak, had chosen to go without the illumination of the glow stones, preferring to rely on her greater sensitivity to light and the ambient amount shed by her friends. As such, while Daniel and Omrak let their eyes and stones adjust, she crept ahead. In the dark, the pair waited for their friend to return.
“Blocked,” Asin said after a lon
g time, pointing to two tunnels leading from the chamber in quick succession.
“Don’t do that!” Daniel snapped, only now recovering from his surprise as the black-furred Catkin appeared next to him. Asin’s only answer was a wide grin.
“Right then. We go with that one?” Daniel said, pointing. There were five exits from the portal chamber, many of which were known to be blocked at any time. Even without an Adventurer to trigger them, the Dungeon occasionally released these rockfalls, altering the map of the floor. It was theorised that it was due to the Dungeon’s actual inability to host more than a set number of such traps rather than a programmed design. But again, like many things dealing with the Dungeon creation, it was pure speculation.
Asin just shrugged, obviously not having more of a clue than Daniel. After a quick consultation of the map that Omrak held, the trio headed out. The floor itself was a strange one with the entrance placed almost centrally on the map. Routes through the dungeon crisscrossed one another, sometimes leading to dead-ends while other times, rock falls would block off established routes, forcing parties to chart a new path. To make the floor more challenging, to exit the floor to the next one, Adventuring groups had to collect a total of five different unlocking gems. With a full collection of gems, a party of five could transport down. Since the gems were soulbound to their owners, there was a small but persistent market of Adventurers tagging on with smaller groups to travel down a floor.
“Asin, don’t go too far,” Daniel called out worriedly as he once again lost sight of the Catkin. For now, the trio had decided to attempt the floor using just the smaller glow stones. The smaller stones shed less light, allowing them to stay better hidden in the darkness, but it was difficult to see. While Daniel had shown the group how to attach the stones to their helmets and adjust their illumination with some simple twisted metal, his Miner tricks might not be as useful in a fight. Certainly, Karlak never had that same issue with it’s Mana imbued walls.
“I hate caves,” grumbled Omrak behind Daniel as he squeezed his way through a particularly narrow passage. Even in the larger passages, the big Northerner often found himself uncomfortably tight. In these narrow passages, his arms and shoulders and chest were rubbed raw as he forced himself past them. At times, the group would have to get on their hands and knees to crawl, though none of the passages would require crawling on their bellies. It seemed even Panqua had limits on the level of suffering he would inflict on Advanced Adventurers.
“I understand,” Daniel said, grumbling softly as he spotted the agile and flexible Catkin disappear ahead of him now that the pair had caught up. From past experience, Daniel had chosen to leave the majority of his plate mail pieces at home to allow him to squeeze past obstacles easier.
Their first battle was an hour into their delve. Asin, ranging ahead to check for traps, was targeted, the Hellhounds pouncing on her from the cavern niches they had been resting in. With barely enough room to swing her knives, the Catkin could only scramble backwards as she fended off the quartet of beasts, yowling for help.
“Asin!” Daniel called out, rushing forwards, his shield held before him. At first, he could only see the occasional glimpse of a blade, the flash of wide green eyes and malevolent red ones. Then, fire. Squinting in pain as a Hellhound breathed fire on Asin, Daniel continued his mad rush as the Beastkin yelped.
Luckily, the Salamander cloaks the trio sported absorbed the majority of the flames as Asin pulled it up protectively. The cloaks themselves were a necessary purchase for Karlak, and so luckily all three of them had their own. Rather than actual Salamander skin, the cloaks were made of a woven, dense material that shed flame and heat with ease.
Unfortunately, the attacks by the hellhounds, and some less than stellar patching from before, meant that there were gaps - gaps which allowed flames to lick against exposed fur and skin. Falling to the ground, Asin quickly rolled back and forth in an attempt to douse the flames. A move that left her vulnerable to the bites and claws of the Hellhounds.
Leaning into his shield, his eyes still watering from the sudden shift in intensity, Daniel barrelled forwards into the group. Unable to tell when to trigger his Skill, he could only use his forward momentum and greater weight to bash aside the monsters. The impact of first one then another monster on his shield robbed Daniel of his momentum, sending him skidding on the ground as he attempted to keep his balance. His flailing arms manage to accidentally smack aside another Hellhound, the beasts now turning to focus on him.
“I got you!” Daniel said, snarling his support to Asin as he swung the hammer and shield around, spinning in space as he sought out the monsters. The creatures slunk back, two of them crouching low as they readied their flames.
“Nay, me!” roared Omrak, issuing his Challenge of the North. Even Daniel turned to stare at the giant Northerner who was framed by the glowing red fires of incipient flame from the hellhounds. Blond hair that had escaped from his helmet reflected the red of the flames while the hatchets in his hands glinted with challenge, the Northerner grinning widely with battle fervor. “Come!”
Fire. Both Hellhounds unleashed it against Omrak. Omrak, in turn, had lifted a corner of the cloak, hiding his face and part of his body from the flames even as it swirled around him. A third Hellhound was on the ground, choking as Asin extracted her knife from its throat, lightning arcing around its body as the Catkin extracted her revenge from it. The last Hellhound raced through the dying flames in time to launch itself at Omrak’s throat the moment the Northerner lowered his arms.
“My turn,” Daniel snarled and stepped forwards, swinging his helmet underhand. He engaged Perin’s Blow the moment he struck, sending the Hellhound flying into its friend as Daniel’s attack crushed its ribs. Stepping forwards, Daniel used the edge of his shield next on the struggling creature’s face, triggering a Shield Bash to stun the monster. With the pair of Hellhounds on the ground and unable to stand, he proceeded to pummel the creatures mercilessly.
Omrak, surprised by the Hellhound’s sudden attack was unable to dodge the creature’s jaws. Falling on his back, the monster savagely mauled his neck, but the gorget around his throat protected it from serious damage. Still, blood spilled, shrouding the Northerner in red as he proceeded to punch the creature in the face with one hand while holding it by the ear in the other. Soon enough, the giant’s overwhelming strength – aided by his Skill Lesser Strength – stunned the beast, allowing Omrak to roll it off him with ease and continue to attack it, this time with his hatchet. Blood flew, splashing warm against Omrak’s burnt skin before the creature slowly burst apart into motes of blue light.
“Omrak!” Daniel called as he walked over, having already cast Healer’s Mark on Asin and repeating the process when his friend finally made his way over for Daniel to touch.
“My apologies, Hero Daniel! I was caught on an outcropping,” Omrak said grumpily, his eyes frowning. “How did this happen?”
“Ambush,” Asin said, picking up the various Mana stones. She limped forward, her thigh bandaged from where she had been mauled. Even under the spell, it was still bleeding slightly.
“I think we should stick closer together,” Daniel said, frowning around.
“Yes,” Asin said quietly, slumping into a corner after a moment as the pain overtook her stubbornness. Daniel grimaced, placing a hand on her for a second to assess her damage before he decided to cast a Minor Healing (II) on her. Better to be safe than sorry.
Time passed quickly as the trio made their way in. The Hellhounds continued to launch attacks, sometimes giving ample warning as they charged down the passageways, howling their enmity. At these times, caltrops and bolas were put to use, the monsters forced to break their mad-rush and pick their way in closer to use their short-range flame attacks. On the way in, Asin’s and Omrak’s thrown weapons would make the hounds bleed, Daniel timing his attacks and charges to disrupt those who attempted to burn them. Against monsters who announced their presence, the trio dealt well.
&n
bsp; It was the ones who lay in ambush, who waited in darkened alcoves above the tight passageways or crouched low in smaller passages hidden in the rocks that the trio found themselves fighting for their lives. At times, these monsters would launch their attacks before slinking away, harrying the Adventurers rather than attempting to end the fight. After the second such attack, the trio agreed to start using the larger lantern, allowing Omrak to carry it aloft to illuminate their surroundings better. With its use and reflection, the trio found themselves beset more but less prone to ambushes.
Having had experience dealing with caverns, the trio had packed for a long period in the underground. It was not the monsters that were the greatest challenge but the environment. Occasionally, the party would run into others, often in natural chokepoints. Here, groups would have to wait for others to pass through the latest obstacle, often in single file. Whether it was a particularly tight hole, a wall that had to be climbed or an extremely narrow passage, parties would often gather in such spots. At such times, other parties would take advantage of the presence of others to rest, catching fitful sleep or cooking meals.
It was at one such cavern, one where a small pool of water collected and required Adventurers to wade through that the party ran into an acquaintance of sorts.
“You’re Daniel and Asin aren’t you?” the smiling, muscular blond said to them. He was, Daniel thought jealously, traditionally handsome. A sharp jaw, well-sculpted eyebrows and a flashing smile along with a perfectly symmetrical face and a slim but muscular body, barely hidden by the armor he wore graced the speaker.
“Yes. How did you know?” Daniel asked.
