“That was fun,” Breck commented.
“What was fun, Sir?”
“Fighting as a giant wasp. I got a new pattern for a nice sword too. It had an arrangement carved in it that makes it super sharp. It could cut through Sting’s iron reinforced arms like nothing. The pattern requires a lot of essence, but I know I can find a use for it somewhere. Besides that, I ranked up to basic nine and have a ton of extra essence to play with now.”
Jeeves smiled. “It sounds like things were fairly productive, Sir. What about the adventurers?”
Breck returned his attention to them. They both had their heads down as they collected the bodies of their fallen comrades. Since they stayed close to them, Breck wasn’t able to absorb the bodies or their equipment, but that didn’t stop him from gaining their essence.
The archer tried searching for their downed knight's sword, but Breck had already claimed it. Eventually he gave up searching, and they proceeded toward the room's entrance after collecting the three silver coins Sting dropped. Happy with their performance, and his new pattern, Breck dropped another silver behind them.
The clang of the coin against the rock floor drew their attention backward. As the barbarian picked it up, he noticed the lever in the back of the room.
Approaching it, he asked, “should we pull it?”
“What if it's a trap?”
“We cleared the dungeon, what would the trap be?”
“We’ve already lost two of us, why the fuck would we risk it?”
The barbarian looked conflicted, and Breck threw them a bone. He pulled the lever for them. The remaining adventurers jumped as it clunked down. The large stone slid away to reveal a staircase leading both up and down. Sunlight shined in from above to illuminate the space and suggest escape above.
“Hey! It's an exit.” The archer pointed up.
“Yeah, but look.” The barbarian pointed down. “It goes down as well. No one mentioned this place had multiple floors.”
“Don’t even think about it.”
The barbarian chuckled. “Yeah, yeah. We have to get back to the surface but we’re coming back for this, mark my words.”
The archer, carrying the priest, headed up the staircase with the barbarian carrying the knight following behind. As they reached the surface, they headed for the shantytown to share their recent knowledge with everyone and bury their friends.
—
Meanwhile, on the other side of the village, Zach was having his own issues.
“Are you sure?” Zach whispered.
Droknal nodded. “Yes. They will be upon us >>click<< shortly.”
“How many?”
Bending down, Droknal placed his hands on the ground. “The vibrations suggest four >>click<<. One female and at least one larger individual.”
“Hey, Thao.” She turned to face Zach. He waved her over so they were all within a few feet of each other. In his best attempt at whispering while sounding serious, Breck spoke. “There is a powerful woman who is coming for me. She has stalked me since I left Solaris and it appears that she’s upon us again, with company. I know you're not a fighter so this is what I need…” Zach explained, in hurried detail, what he was looking for.
He described the stall, a person to work it, some camping gear and a variety of other tasks and items he needed done and collected. Last, he handed her three gold and told her not to spend all of it if she could avoid it. The plan was for her to run to town while Droknal and Zach dealt with their assailants and they would all meet up at the dungeon as soon as they were both done.
With that, Thao was off and the pair of men slowly continued down the road at a leisurely pace.
It didn’t take long for Noelle to make her move. A bolt thudded into the ground a few feet from Zach’s feet. A single person slow clapped from a nearby bush. Out came Noelle with a wild grin spread across her face.
“Hello Zach. Long time no see.” She was wearing red tanned leather armor with a long black hooded cloak, its hood not drawn. “I’m actually impressed. You made it all the way to this insignificant town and even to a guild outpost. Am I to assume my guild membership is in question now?”
Zach locked eyes with her and did his best to temper his emotions when he answered. “Hello, Noelle. Fancy meeting you here. I thought we lost you in the last town.”
“You left fairly quickly but the track of kobold bodies was easy enough to follow. Pro tip: you should maybe do a little better hiding your tracks next time.” She unraveled her whip, allowing it to coil freely on the dirt at her feet. Zach’s hand went to his blade’s hilt. “Now, now. Let’s not do anything hasty. I didn’t come alone.”
Zach cocked his head toward Droknal. “And neither did I.”
A long moment passed as the two stared each other down. It was ultimately Noelle that made the first move. She cracked her whip toward Zach, but he wasn’t the same naïve, untrained fresh adventurer he was when Noelle originally fought him.
Zach rolled to the side, drawing his blade as he tumbled. Droknal, expecting the ambush, turned on his heels. He was now facing down three sketchy looking individuals. One was a muscular brute with brass knuckles while the other two were slender individuals wielding curved swords. He wasted no time drawing his staff and charging them.
Zach pounced from his roll toward Noelle to close the gap, his blade outstretched in a thrust. Noelle turned to the side and dodged the blow. As Zach went past her, she lifted her knee and connected with his stomach.
She was surprisingly strong for her size. The knee being enough to knock the wind out of him. Taking a deep breath inbetween coughs, he covered his face in response to her incoming strike. The blow to the face sent Zach flying backward.
Fuck! I thought because of the whip she would be weak in close quarters combat, but she's just as skilled in it. Zach stood and used the back of his hand to wipe blood from the corner of his mouth.
“Had enough?” Noelle mocked.
Zach spit a mixture of blood and spit. “Just getting warmed up.”
Noelle whipped at Zach again, but instead of dodging, he caught it with his right hand and wrapped it around his arm. Using his sword, he swiped down at it. She laughed as the blade harmlessly scratched against it.
“It’s an essence infused whip. Your basic weapon can’t hurt it, but it can certainly hurt you.” Her eyes crackled with electricity in preparation for dropping Zach flat.
Not again. Closing his eyes, Zach focused on his essence and released it through his chakra points. The air around his right arm became thick as it chilled. The whip that was wrapped around him slowly iced over, stopping when it traveled a few inches down its slack.
Without opening his eyes, Zach sliced down with his blade again, but instead of skidding off, the whip shattered. Frozen pieces of essence infused leather fell to the ground and broke into dozens of pieces after making contact.
Zach opened his eyes and grinned. “I misspoke earlier. I’m not warming up, I’m getting a bit chilly.”
CHAPTER THIRTY
Rematch
Noelle tossed her broken whip to the ground and pulled out a pair of short daggers. “I’m going to gut you like a fish,” she exclaimed.
Zach looked visibly disturbed. “You really have some issues. Don’t you?”
Noelle snarled as electricity surrounded her blades.
“Ya… Some serious issues.” Zach flicked the ice off his sword and readied himself.
Hunching down, Noelle charged at Zach like a feral beast. When she was only a few feet from him, she leapt and spun. She was performing a corkscrew with her daggers out at her sides. Zach watched her movements closely, waiting for the right moment. When he spotted it, he took action.
He grabbed his sword in both hands and braced it at a diagonal angle. The clanking of steel on steel rang out as Noelle’s daggers contacted Zach’s blade. His calculation of the angle was slightly off, causing him to lose a bit of his footing. He fell backward with a heavy thud. Pain shot t
hrough his body, but the hold on his weapon stayed firm. Luckily for him, the sudden collision with Zach caused Noelle to fall as well.
Zach rolled onto his stomach and got to his feet. Noelle tried following suit, but Zach advanced. An overhead swing forced Noelle to go on the defensive. She crossed her daggers in an ‘X’ formation and caught Zach’s sword. A powerful kick to his leg dropped him to a knee. He swung his sword as quickly as he could before she could capitalize on the situation with another blow. Zach was determined to keep her on the defensive as long as he could.
Keep your opponent scared. A scared opponent makes mistakes. Find an opening and attack. Droknal’s lessons echoed in his head.
Noelle performed an impressively nimble backward roll that landed her on her feet. Zach stood back up and the two stared each other down again.
“You know, under different circumstances, I could consider you kinda cute.”
Noelle went bug eyed and the grip on her daggers loosened, confusion present on her face.
Get your opponent off-guard. If you can’t find an opportunity to attack, create one. Zach swung his sword in a massive uppercut motion, but Noelle was clearly well trained, the confusion being nothing more than an act.
With one dagger she deflected the blow just enough for it to harmlessly breeze past her. Her other dagger made a clean cut on Zach’s forearm. As the blade cut through flesh, a tingle of electricity shot through his arm. It was enough to tense the muscles in his arm and he almost dropped his blade involuntarily.
Warm blood flowed from the wound, but he didn’t have time to pay it any attention because Noelle was pressing her attack. A flurry of strikes quickly followed her initial blow. Zach did his best to deflect and dodge, but a few weeks of training and ranking up couldn’t match Noelle’s years of live combat experience.
Dozens of fresh cuts marked his body as Noelle got into a battle rhythm. The cuts started out shallow, but each one caused him to get slower and slower as the pain intensified. He might have been able to tolerate the pain and formulate a plan to counter-attack but the addition of her electrical element was too much for him to handle.
Every cut was sending miniature spasms out from the point of impact. All he could do while being shocked was try to hold on to his weapon. The only thought going through his mind was deflecting or blocking any blow aimed at a vital spot which she was continuously trying for.
Doing his best to not create an opening, he dared to glance at Droknal. He prayed that his traveling companion could be of assistance but with one look, his hopes were shattered. Droknal wasn’t losing his fight, but he certainly wasn’t winning it either. He was holding his ground and slowly gaining the advantage, but he wasn’t going to be able to help anytime soon.
Think! Think! I won’t die like this. An icy chill was stirring inside him. At first he thought it was the dread of his upcoming death, but it wasn’t that. It was his essence. His essence was reacting to the life and death situation. It was preparing itself for use, making itself available to be commanded. A part of Zach, a primitive life or death trigger, had been switched on.
Frosty air rolled out of his pores and lowered the ambient temperature around him. The drop in temperature was negligible at first but continued to drop steadily. It went unnoticed by Noelle at first, but she soon found more and more of her attacks being blocked. When she saw her breath coming out of her mouth, she realized what was happening.
Zach finally saw an opportunity to counter-attack and after blocking a strike meant for his shoulder, he flicked his sword downward at her. She jumped backward to avoid the counter-attack and, inbetween panting, she spoke.
“Neat trick. It won’t do you any good though. Even slowed to half-speed, I’m still faster than you.”
Zach wanted to respond, but he was just happy for the temporary relief from being cut. He embraced the chill washing over him. The sweat that coated his body was freezing and cracking off of him. The blood also froze, and so did his wounds. Ice covered them and stopped the blood flow.
That’s convenient. It actually feels kinda nice. Noelle was getting impatient, so Zach responded to her. If anything, it would delay her attacks and allow him more time to heal. “Yeah. I get it, you’re great, and I suck.”
“Tssk” She sucked air in through gritted teeth. “You're in bad shape and it's time to finish the job!” She ran in a wide circle around Zach, looking for the best method of attack.
He raised his blade and readied himself. Ohh great. We’re starting again.
Instead of charging back in to close quarters, Noelle changed her approach. She was grabbing throwing knives, charging them with electrical essence and tossing them at a variety of angles toward Zach as she ran around him.
The massive chill surrounding him did a fantastic job at slowing the projectiles. Zach easily swatted them away. The closer the knives got to him, the more they appeared to be moving through molasses. That was until they started speeding up.
The frozen sweat and blood on Zach was flowing again. His breath was becoming more and more labored and his vision was becoming tunneled. He had overexerted himself and was drained of essence.
“I thought you were slow before but now you're just embarrassing yourself,” Noelle jested as a throwing knife cut Zach on his leg.
The electrical shock caused his leg to lock up, and he fell on his back. He tried getting up to defend himself, but he was too exhausted. It was taking all of his will to just stay conscious. Noelle walked over and lorded over him.
“You did better than I thought, but this outcome was inevitable.” She bent down and raised her daggers up high. “Goodbye Zach.”
Before she could plunge her daggers into flesh, a black fireball sent her flying.
“Drok…” Zach tried to call out to his friend but his vision went black.
Whistling and general muttering stirred Zach awake. He opened his eyes and saw the top of a large green tent. Turning his head revealed a woman laying out a variety of items on top of several crates. He tried to sit up, but the pain was too much for him and he fell backwards moaning in pain. The woman stopped whistling when she noticed he was awake.
“Zach?” Thao called out. “Are you finally awake? DROKNAL! HE’S AWAKE!”
The tent flap was pulled back a moment later, and Droknal walked in. He removed his robe and placed it on one of the crates. His body was riddled with bruises and cuts, his stomach was wrapped in tight bandages and he grabbed his side in pain when he turned too quickly. The previous fight had clearly taken a toll on him.
“I’m glad to see you’re awake >>click<<. I was beginning to worry.”
Zach tried to respond, but his mouth was too dry to form words. The only thing that left his mouth was a wheezing sound. Droknal walked over and poured a glass of water before helping Zach drink.
“Droknal.” He gulped. “What happened?”
“You don’t remember? We got into a fight with >>click<< Noelle and her thugs. I was able to subdue the thugs but… at great cost >>click<< to my physical wellbeing. I then aided you against Noelle. You used too much of your essence and passed out.”
Thao joined them. “Droknal brought you here, and I patched you both up.”
“Where’s here? And what happened to Noelle?”
“You’re outside the dungeon >>click<<. We patched you up, but you’ll need time to rest and heal. Noelle… She got away >>click<<. My focus was getting you and me to safety. After you passed out, I fled.”
“How… how long was I out for?”
In her normal peppy voice, Thao answered. “A couple of days. I got everything you asked for. I even hired a nice older woman I know to run the booth for you. She’s been keeping track of everyone coming and going into the dungeon and everything they’ve got or lost. I have the reports for you when you're well enough to review them. There’s been a lot of activity, actually.”
Droknal placed a hand on Thao’s shoulder. “Thats enough Thao. Let him rest >>click<<. We will come c
heck on you in a bit. Sleep now.”
Zach shut his eyes again and let his exhaustion take him. When he awoke again, it was dark with only a single bullseye lantern lit that provided minimal light. Attempting to sit up again, he found the pain manageable but his body was stiff.
This was the first time he could review himself. He was covered in more bandages than Droknal. Most of his chest, parts of his legs and both arms were wrapped up. He was coated in dry blood and in desperate need of a wash. Looking around, he found Droknal and Thao both sleeping in cots similar to his own.
He left the bed and stood on uneasy legs. Wanting to get rid of some of his stiffness, but not wanting to wake his party members, he went for a walk. When he left the tent, it was the first time he saw the shantytown that had formed.
It had expanded into several districts with dozens of families moving in. Most of the people lived near the dungeon entrance, but there was a large market not too far from there. Even though it was night, there were still several people bustling about. Most of them were in a large open canopy that was acting as a tavern.
The all too familiar aroma of drunken patrons and stew filled the air as he approached. Taking a seat at one of the makeshift and hastily placed tables, he called over a server.
“Hello there. Would you like stew and mead or just one or the other?” the young woman asked.
“Do you have anything else? I would love some bread.”
She gave Zach a sarcastic look. “Honey. We’re in the middle of nowhere. Those are your choices. Mead and or beetle stew.”
“I guess I’ll take a helping of both.”
“Ok. That will be one silver.” She extended a hand for payment.
“A silver!? That only cost me a couple copper in the village.”
The woman’s face dropped into a look of defeat. It was as if she was sick of explaining this to everyone who came in. “Supply and demand. We supply stuff that tastes better than travel rations and you have the money we demand.”
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