by TJ Reynolds
Dexterity - 11 = Base 10 (+1)
Constitution - 12 = Base 12
Intelligence -15 = Base 9 (+6)
Wisdom -11 = Base 10 (+1)
Charisma - 9 = Base 7 (+2)
Unassigned Attribute Points: 6
Spells: Flame Dart, Shadow Shroud, Restoring Tide, Confounded Core
___
Aside from seeing his spells listed, Kai was troubled by his Elemental Affinity.
The word Lumen didn’t give him what he’d hoped to find—more information. However, seeing his 6 Unassigned Attribute Points cheered him up greatly.
Not having Ban to advise him, he did what he felt the dungeon would approve of. Two more points were placed in Intelligence, his most important Attribute. Then he put two points in Charisma, one in Dexterity and one in Wisdom. His lowest Attribute, Charisma, was at 11 now, which was a significant gain.
The rest of his Attributes were at least a 12, and his ether pool had surged to 330 AE!
When he told Rhona the good news, she congratulated him. But she knew no more about his mysterious Elemental Affinity than he did. She did have an interesting suggestion though. “Why don’t you try to use one of your spells. You mentioned that Ban said Affinity changes the way a spell works. What does it do to your fire spell?”
Shrugging, Kai aimed his hand at the far wall and activated Flame Dart. The bolt of flaming mana that burst from his hand exploded into the stone with at least double the force it would have previously.
He stared at his own hand, surprised by the increase in power. Some of it had to do with the increased spell power he’d gained from adding two more points into Intelligence, to be sure, but what just happened had been more than a slight gain.
“Okay, so we know the Fundament Affinity helps with fire!” Rhona said, her arms still held up before her, having flinched from the blast. “My guess, Kai, is that all of your spells will be amplified. Briga mentioned that all the gods serve the Fundament. Assuming their elements do too would make sense.”
“I think so too. I’d like to save my mana for now, but I’ll try out the Shadow Shroud as well. Having extra cover as we progress won’t be a bad thing.”
Focusing, Kai channeled the mana needed for his dark spell, and when it released, the two gasped. A veritable ocean of inky smoke poured out of Kai, flooding the floor around them. When Rhona made some remark, he could barely hear her words.
Not only had the visual concealment grown more potent, but the aural suppression aspect was significantly enhanced, as well.
Kai gave Rhona a bemused look, then lifted his hand out as if to suggest they get going. She nodded, her eyes searching his face for a long moment. He wasn’t sure what to make of her expression. It looked as if she’d finally come to fully respect him. Not as a young man in need of help, but as a companion, as an equal.
Is there something else there too? Might she have noticed my increase in Charisma? Kai refused to think further on the subject. This was neither the time nor the place for such considerations.
And so it was, that the party, still short one member, retraced their steps back to the fork in the dungeon.
Soon the slope grew steep, and Kai felt they’d made the right choice. The air also became humid for the first time, gusts of heat billowing up from the depths. He regretted not being able to converse with Rhona in his mind. It was a marvel Kai had already grown accustomed to such a luxury with Ban.
Instead, he settled for stealing glances her way, their journey made more bearable by her enduring grace and distinct beauty.
If I’m to have a woman in my life, he thought, why not let her be gorgeous and strong enough to fight ten men? Idly, he sifted his memories for any woman who could be called Rhona’s equal. With the possible exception of the stark and savage beauty of his own mother, who he only knew through glimpses in visions, Kai came up short.
Abruptly, the passage leveled out, a room opening up before them out of the stone corridor, wide and tall, open flames coloring the walls golden. Pillars of stone wove up from the floor like ropes, and from their spot at the edge of the chamber, they saw the forms of more than a few baliska guards.
Rhona stopped and scanned the room.
Perhaps she’ll find a way to sneak up close so we can kill a few before they turn on us, Kai thought. It was a comforting idea, but the few columns looked too sparse to be of much help. And as he came to rest beside his companion, his boot kicked a pebble that skittered ahead, making a great deal more noise than it warranted.
The heads of the nearest guards swiveled towards them, one of the baliska growling softly and holding up a long spear. They stared with trepidation into the fierce eyes of the creatures, holding their breath. To Kai’s relief, their party hadn’t been spotted.
39
Unsavory Guests, Unsavory Minds
Bancroft
Ban was grateful he didn’t have to describe to anyone the sensation of being crushed in the jaws of a violent beast and returned pell-mell to his body. It was entirely unpleasant and he spent the better part of an hour in silence, holding his breath, as it were, until he recovered.
When he no longer felt the terror of bones snapping and the grip of utter darkness, Ban decided it was time for a few more upgrades to his dungeon. What else would he do with himself otherwise?
Checking his Monster Interface, Ban saw he couldn’t summon a new champion for another twelve hours. As soon as the countdown expired, he would forge himself a new gargat and wing it as quick as he could back to Kai, Rhona, and their charming new friend Honor.
Thoughts of their recent companions stirred up several emotions in Ban. The first of which, gratitude, sang the loudest. What would we have done without the mad woman? No doubt, Kai would be food in some reptile’s belly. He also felt the stirrings of intrigue. Where had she come from, and how had she learned to fight so savagely? Even her horse had been a force to be reckoned with, stomping and biting every evil thing in sight.
Ban’s to-do list was as long as it ever had been, but there were a few things he needed to consider. First off, most of what he wanted to accomplish was only possible after he ascended to Golden. During their last fight though, Ban had leveled up to Amber 3. It was a much smaller gain in some ways, but his Monster Control Limit increased as did his reserves of Available Ether and all types of Materials. Such gains were not insubstantial.
He could add more minions when he was done with the first task though. He was pleased to have the Stone Houndzard as a boss, but he wanted to go back and tinker with the Amalgamations Interface and see if he might customize it further, possibly maximize its characteristics. When he had first made it, he had not considered the enlarged state the creature would grow to, as a boss. Plus, he had been in a hurry.
With plenty of time to evaluate all his options, Ban brought up the Amalgamations Interface, and went down the list, from head to toe.
Selecting Skull, Ban was torn with indecision. At first, he had wanted the wide-mouthed cranium of the hound to be dominant. Now though, after having been chomped to bits by a reptilian mouth, he began to second guess his decision.
He scaled the cursor back toward the lizard, the skull growing narrower and elongated. He hoped this would give the beast a longer reach and make its bite more powerful as well. It was pure speculation, though, and Ban thought it a pity the Interfaces did not come with more information.
He highlighted the teeth next, and again, moved the teeth further toward the lizard. The distinctive canines shrunk somewhat, which was disappointing, but the rest of the teeth, small as they were, became sharper, serrated along the side and rear of the mouth. He wanted the boss to be able to cut through its foes, not chomp down on one and hold on as the hound’s mouth was designed to do.
Finally, he considered the eyes. The lizard’s eyes looked more appropriate in the beast’s head, but Ban chose to leave them halfway in between the two. Having the benefits of mammalian and reptilian sight should be interesting, though he co
uld not judge how effective this choice was until properly tested.
Moving down his amalgamation, Ban adjusted the Houndzard’s torso. Again, Ban settled on a mostly hound configuration, but he slid the cursor toward lizard a bit, elongating the beast’s spine somewhat.
He settled on 70 percent hound and 30 percent lizard. It was still wide and imposing, like the hound, yet was now at least two feet longer. The slight tapering of its frame would also allow it to more easily weave between the obstacles within the boss’s room.
The legs required another slight change.
The lizard’s legs were more on the outside of the creature’s body and would allow for turning quickly. Yet after having filled the room with obstacles, the need to do so was less important than lunging power.
The hound’s legs naturally allowed for leaping and sprinting, a fact that Ban remembered Kai disliking quite a bit. He pushed the cursor almost completely toward the hound settings, and watched as the legs shortened some, the muscles bulging dramatically, and shifting back under the beast’s body.
His Houndzard needed a tail, and as the hound had little tail to speak of, that decision was relatively simple. He made the tail a bit shorter, however, allowing it to be of some offensive use in the close confines of the boss room. A tail whip coming from a four-hundred-pound beast would surely devastate even the most stalwart of foes.
Concentrating next on the talons, Ban made them 90 percent lizard. He kept the 10 percent hound only because it strengthened the thinner, sharper reptilian claws. He imagined, as he admired the veritable daggers that hung from the ends of the creature’s toes, that they might even pierce armor.
Finally, the skin was a tough decision. Ban had favored a reptilian look for his rat / viper combinations, and though he absolutely adored his Amethyst Rakes, he wanted the Houndzard to stand out.
He found the precise place where scales met fur and was delighted to see the creature’s skin resembled a dark-gray cured leather, smooth and tough-looking.
When the last decisions regarding Ban’s fabulous boss were made, he finalized it and watched as the huge beast formed from a mass of glittering ether.
It turned its head, examining its surroundings, and a tremor of excitement thrummed in his core. I don’t know how any dungeon is supposed to keep up on housework, Ban thought as he admired his creation from a thousand angles. The sheer joy of creating life where there was only raw mana and material before is hard to beat! I now know what a baker must feel like, each time he plucks a fresh loaf from his oven.
The cost was tremendous, in AE, Basic, and Intermediate Materials. But his ether stores had been restored while gallivanting with Kai. And it’s not like the materials are difficult to come by, he thought, going through the simple task of converting the necessary materials.
His boss flicked its tongue, tasting the air, and Ban was immensely pleased.
There were a few adjustments Ban wanted to make regarding one of his floor traps.
He threw himself at the project, delighting in the sheer artistic abandon it required, and time passed quickly.
When he was done, he knew the trap would be a great deal more effective. Ban resolved to thank the swamp dungeon for the inspiration, given so selflessly, when they managed to restore it to its normal faculties.
The aesthetics of his latest endeavors made Ban consider the rest of his dungeon anew. Before he threw himself into anything else, though, he noted that three hours had passed and his countdown timer was down to nine hours.
Then, he scanned the entrance of his dungeon, hoping to find that sparking flame of inspiration again. Nothing passes time like a good crafting session, he mused.
A sound from outside the entrance caused Ban to pause all his activities, even his thoughts. It sounded like a man’s voice had drifted in, but surely it’s only a flight of fancy.
He listened more intently and extended his focus out of the entrance and down the slope that led to his dungeon. He found the men gathered just two hundred feet away from the cave entrance, a few torches flickering in their midst.
“You sure? Looks much like any other cave in the hills,” a man said, scratching his face with a gauntleted hand. “For all we know we’ll only wake up a family of badgers if we barge in. I don’t see why we should fuss over this one.”
The young man who answered was, unfortunately, familiar. “This is it! I know what it looks like from out here, but I’m telling you, my friend Kai went in there, then a short time later a blast of magicks poured out. It nearly blinded us! When we’d recovered, we found a wall of stone had sealed off the entrance!”
Ban would have thought the look of incredulity on the men’s face amusing if not for the circumstances. Roarke growled, his anger barely held in check. “Listen,” he demanded, “I came with two others. Dunny hasn’t spoken a word to anyone since and Karsen up and left town. I’m the only one with the spine to do something about it.” He glared up the slope. “I’m telling you, this is the bleeding dungeon, and it ain’t shivvered no more!”
The first man looked up the hill at Ban’s oh so vulnerable entrance. “Fine.” He nodded gravely. “Just know, if you’re mistaken, your chances of joining the Vermillion Guard are slim to none. Rickard, Jon.” He turned to two others with them. “You’ll ride back in the morning. Rest up while you can. I want you both ready by first light. Tell Hastings yourselves that we’ve found the dungeon. They should be a little more than a dozen leagues north of Mindonne.”
“Yes, sir,” the men both answered, disciplined despite being tired. It was an impressive sight to say the least, but Ban’s own dissatisfaction at the turn of events made for a rather cold reception of them.
“Sergeant Pines, what will we do until then?” another of the men asked, glancing nervously at the mouth of the cave.
Pines answered curtly, “Let’s get comfortable. Security shouldn’t be an issue so far from the Hintari border, but we’ll set camp according to protocol, regardless. Be quick about it—I personally wouldn’t mind a bit of sleep tonight.”
The soldiers all spread out and began throwing their packs to the ground, and in a matter of minutes, were assembling small tents in a triangular shape.
Despite knowing they weren’t there to admire his paisley-etched stonework and running fountain, Ban admired the efficiency with which they worked. Not only had they finished erecting their field camp in well under an hour, but they did so without any fuss.
These, Ban knew, were professional soldiers.
He counted twenty, in all, twelve men and eight women—though the differences between the human genders were still somewhat of a mystery to Ban.
Roarke did his part admirably, despite Ban’s hope that the lout would fail at one or more of the required tasks. Soon he was seated around a fire like the rest of the soldiers, eating jerky and biscuits.
The man looked downright miserable, and at last he spoke up. “Sergeant Pines, I know I’m new and have yet to earn your trust. I mean no disrespect, but why should we wait for the Vermillion to enter?”
The seasoned leader barked a laugh, spitting out a chunk of jerky. My goodness, and I thought Kai was ill-mannered. These men are more likened to dogs than civilized folk, Ban observed, but knew his own judgements were skewed by the terror that had suddenly overtaken him. What will I do when they invade?
Kai was far away on another mission and Ban couldn’t even tell him of his present danger. It was torturous.
“We wait cause dungeons are dangerous, boy! Or haven’t you heard?”
The men laughed at Roarke’s expense, though their volume remained in check. The night was far from young, and some were already eyeing their tents and stifling yawns.
Roarke didn’t falter though. He seemed to have expected some resistance. “Aye. Of course, Sergeant Pines. But it’s a new dungeon, and I also heard that riches can be found within. That, and Progression. I just thought it might be nice if we all leveled up, heck, maybe even gained enough Progression to a
scend while we still can. I doubt Hastings will leave us much to do once the rest of the Guard arrive.”
The laughter died off and a few of the soldiers exchanged glances. The leader’s face was pulled into a scowl but he replied reasonably. “Colonel Hastings, Roarke. Remember that. And we were told to encounter the dungeon, not attempt to shivver it ourselves.”
Roarke held up his hands, as if admitting fault. “You’re right, of course, Sergeant Pines. I’ll never forget Colonel Hastings’ rank. Just something about newly promoted officers taking authority from more seasoned men that irks me. I’ll watch my tongue, sir.”
The indirect compliment landed squarely, and Ban suspected that Roarke must have known more of the Sergeant’s sentiments than he did at any rate.
Another soldier spoke up, her voice a hoarse mutter. “It’s true, Pines. I’ve been with you for three years and still you ain’t been promoted. Isn’t right.”
Pines perked up visibly despite giving a disapproving scowl. “I appreciate the vote of confidence. You know I do, but let’s not trash our command. Colonel Hastings is a good leader, and though he may have benefitted from an early promotion, such behavior is common. If you’ve got a general for an aunt, like he does, it’s bound to happen.”
The conversation died down again, but after a while, another soldier spoke up. “Is it true, Pines? Do ya think there’s treasure in there?”
Another chimed in before the Sergeant had a chance to respond, “Yeah, and what of the Progression? I’m close to Amber ascension. And aren’t you getting close to Golden, Pines?”
Sergeant Pines held up a hand and quieted the whispers of greed and excitement. “Yes, dungeons have loot. I don’t know how or why, but I’ve spoken to some of the old timers who said when the dungeons were cleared out, soldiers went strutting about flush as princes for years afterward. Some got truly rich in the process, but it’s dangerous.”
