The Guild Core: The Complete Saga Boxset: A LitRPG Dungeon Adventure

by TJ Reynolds

  Then he killed the snake by crushing it in his fist. He dropped the minion’s body as he said, “Nice try, little dungeon. But you’ll need more than a snake to kill me.”

  Ban didn’t waste time with banter.

  The failure hurt a little, sure, but he only had time to focus on saving what lives he could.

  No further incidents followed until the invaders reached the third floor.

  The initial skirmish between the two knightmares and the soldiers lasted longer than Ban had hoped. Covered in thick plate armor and barely slowed by the weight of it, Ban’s minions performed marvelously.

  When the soldiers first stepped off of the base of the stairs, four of them were struck dead by the knightmares’ hammers.

  A more stolid defense came when one of the shield sergeants made a valiant show of holding the two juggernauts back. Taking heavy hammer blows on his shield, the man managed to kill one of the minions by burying a spear in its gut.

  Leaving himself open for a fraction of a second, the sergeant was rewarded with a mouth full of dungeon-forged steel. The hammer blow broke the man’s jaw apart and snapped his neck in the process.

  Swarming in around their fallen sergeant, the soldiers brought down the second knightmare shortly after.

  In total, seven soldiers died.

  The victory was small, especially considering the cost of each minion. But Ban had just ended one of the most powerful men in this group. Only one other shield sergeant was present along with two lieutenants.

  If one can fall so quickly, then surely hope remains. Oh, if only Kai were here with me.

  Ban repeated the sentiment when the Brintoshi made their way to his delightful arena.

  Shuffling in, the Brintoshi noticed the unmoving wall of minions waiting to fight them right away. With four dalgard fighters and two more knightmares, each wearing the same protective armor, it was obvious this room wouldn’t fall so quickly.

  A shield wall was formed, and soon, six Brintoshi edged forward to cross blades with Ban’s toughest team of minions.

  The battle began with the ear-splitting crash of a war hammer caving in a Brintoshi shield.

  It wasn’t as if the Vermillion Guard lacked training or skill. But the knightmare was taller and nearly twice the size of an ordinary soldier. Ban had given a single war hammer to one of the defenders, a two-handed weapon so heavy it splintered the shield it struck.

  The Brintoshi holding the shield fell to a knee and lifted his forearms in defense.

  A spearpoint darted in and stabbed him through the chest.

  Predictably, the hole was closed in the Brintoshi ranks as soon as it had been opened.

  Crashing into Ban’s minions, the Brintoshi made use of their skills. Most effectively, several Shield Bash-type skills were activated, and Ban’s group suffered greatly.

  Their own shield wall fell apart as they tried to regain their feet.

  The Brintoshi charged forward to end their enemies’ lives, but Ban’s minions had their own skills.

  Though the minion form of Ban’s champion, Greg, looked much the same, they were not only smaller but had different skills to call upon.

  Ban hadn’t designed these with the Light element. He’d gone with earth, hoping Andag’s hearty power could do them more good in the long run.

  The two knightmares activated their Boulder Blast skill at the same time.

  Even as Brintoshi swords were hacking the less fearsome dalgards to pieces, matching spheres of green Earth ether formed.

  The spheres started to spin. Slowly at first, and then picking up terrible speed, the balls of power at last launched into the Brintoshi troops.

  Twin explosions sounded as the skill detonated.

  The bodies of men were tossed in the air, and a great many died.

  That was when Ban had ordered his archers to rain down hell.

  He’d given the archers an elevated platform at the back of the arena room to fire from. A total of fourteen archers let fly. Six of these were in the arena room, making full use of the elevated platform and low wall Ban had built to defend them.

  Eight more hid behind both walls of the arena, firing through the murder holes at will.

  The volleys came with admirable speed and accuracy.

  For long minutes, the battle waged on. One by one, his well-armored troops fell, leaving the formation vulnerable. Each time this happened, one of the six dalgard reserve fighters would move up and fill in the gap.

  The system worked as effectively for Ban as it did for Brintosh.

  Still outnumbered though, and receiving more elemental skill attacks, his forces slowly retreated and fell.

  The Brintoshi attempted a flanking maneuver. A group of the soldiers turned to hit the weakened side of Ban’s tiny infantry.

  With a thought, the two shield boar emerged from hiding.

  Both flanked the men flanking his minions.

  The irony of the situation was a delight, but the blasts that shook the chamber were even nicer.

  Still, his final card had been played. Despite the barrage of arrows zipping in from every side, the Brintoshi had the numbers and the strength.

  They recovered from the shield boar counter attack and used another sequence of Shield Bash to disorient Ban’s minions.

  As often happens in battle, the struggle of the fight ended abruptly. Dust hung in the air, and men panted from exhaustion. Ban called back six of the archers that still lived, having them move to the fifth floor.

  The sound of a man dying filled the room for a time. But soon, he’d passed on, and only a shocked silence remained in the room.

  Many soldiers had fallen, and Ban had expended a large sum of his MCP to make that happen.

  Quickly, he counted.

  Ten. Twenty. Thirty.

  Thirty-one soldiers had died.

  Only eighty-eight remained.

  Certainly too much for Rhona and Kai to face alone, but it’s better than when we started, Ban decided as he waited for the invaders to advance.

  With the efficiency of a professional group of soldiers, the Brintoshi had counted their dead, healed their wounded, and even handed round waterskins to recover, and all in less than ten minutes.

  Ban felt like his core would burst from the anticipation as they moved on.

  He had more minions waiting. The Earth Core had plenty of fight left.

  But as the group entered the extended stairwell that led from the third to the fifth floor, he could barely stand the tension.

  Skipping the fourth floor was one of his earlier ideas. The daldrim had stout hearts, but they were far too weak to make a positive difference in the battle. What he’d done to the stairwell after though, had been a stroke of genius.

  The stairwell was narrow with a low ceiling, and it dove down at a steep angle.

  The men trudged downward, for some reason trusting the keep would remain standing. Originally, Ban had considered creating a massive floor trap here and causing the men to fall.

  They were getting lower in the chasm though, and surely, not every soldier would die.

  Ban only hoped he’d made a fine enough trap.

  Having been rushed, the trap hadn’t been tested. Not even once.

  Finally, every Brintoshi soul was in the stairwell, even Hastings himself.

  Still, they descended, two at a shoulder, marching down the long, steep tunnel.

  With feelings of dread and anticipation, Ban gave the order to the single gargen he’d summoned for this purpose. Tucked away in the way, the minion pushed the lever that unplugged the first of his pressurized acid tanks.

  One by one, the stones were plucked free, opening up vents in the ceiling above the Brintoshi troops. The vents led up to a small reservoir of fluid that Ban had pressurized by placing slabs of stone atop each. The weight of the stone, sliding down in grooves within the reservoir, forced the acid out of the vents at high speeds.

  A faint hissing sound was all it made, but when the liquid combine
d with water, vented in the same fashion, the result was terrifying.

  Twenty tiny sprays of acid spattered the troops. The liquid dripped down the ceiling and walls, coating every inch of the stairwell with acid.

  At first, the men had appeared puzzled. Then the origin of the hissing became apparent as their flesh began to boil.

  Screaming ensued, and a mad rush to exit the stairwell followed.

  Many of the soldiers, especially those with weaker cores, found their strength wanting.

  They died where they stood and only impeded the progress of those behind them. In this particular instance, the Brintoshi had erred. By placing most of their weaker soldiers in the front, expecting to spend their lives more cheaply, they’d ruined their chances to escape.

  Every defensive skill was used at once.

  Shields of ether formed, cutting out a path in the acidic mist.

  Others relied on offensive skills to blast through the piled bodies.

  The sheer gore his trap produced caused Ban to observe more distantly. He didn’t need to watch skin sliding off of bone. He had already seen men die aplenty.

  He watched instead for what would happen at the exit.

  Tumbling out onto the fifth floor, the surviving soldiers were immediately peppered by arrows. All of his archers stood behind cover and let loose with everything they had.

  A pack of dalgard fighters waited with long spears, sticking holes in the men who emerged.

  An officer, face covered in boils, blasted through though, and killed several of the dalgard in a single fiery attack. Behind him emerged a small contingent of men.

  Two lieutenants stood side by side, forcing the dalgard fighters to retreat in order to protect their archer allies. The single remaining shield sergeant came out alongside a handful of other soldiers strong enough to survive the acid bath.

  Hastings stalked out last of all.

  Just a glance at the commander’s face told Ban how angry he was.

  Grinding his teeth, eyes wide with rage, Hastings walked over the bodies of the fallen and turned to the few soldiers who still obeyed his command. “Kill everything you find. Stop dying, damn you. If any of you fools survive, meet me in the core room at the bottom. I’m sick of this.”

  Then, staring up at the ceiling, Hastings shouted, “Do you hear me, Earth Core? I’m done playing this game of yours. Time to play on my own terms.”

  Well, I’m not sure how he plans to do that, Ban mocked, afraid despite his confidence. It isn’t as if he can—

  The commander of the Vermillion Guard forced Ban’s mental mouth shut as he turned toward the nearest wall and charged.

  Sprinting at the stone wall, Hastings threw an angry fist covered in black and red flames.

  With a concussive blast, the wall exploded outward. Stone rained down, scattering across the stone floor at the base of the tower. Following the debris, Hastings plunged like a comet.

  The man slammed into the ground, both hands crashing to the stone before his kneeling form.

  And with an evil grin on his face, Hastings stood, a raging torrent of ether coalescing around him.

  44

  Body Before Mind

  Rhona

  The monk’s mind and body were numb with fatigue. She’d ascended the night before. She’d killed a score of minions since, increasing her Progression dramatically. And ever since, she’d been in a state of deep meditation.

  Gold Mind had been her goal.

  Having emerged from her Emerald Dream with serious insight, Rhona had known the secret to defeating Hastings lay in mastering her mental forms.

  Crystal Mind remained integral to any monk’s path. It allowed her to find the focus and calm as well as to know the shape of her Mandala.

  Iron Mind was like a suit of armor. It protected her from mental attack. She’d never heard of monks or mages who specialized in mental attacks, but she assumed they had been common some day in the past.

  For some reason, Hastings and Rhona had been linked. She had a suspicion why that might be but no proof. She’d been bonded, Core Sworn, to Imogen. Then Hastings had devoured her energy and mind in one gluttonous act.

  That, if she had to guess, was the source of her connection with the man.

  Before entering the Emerald Dream, Rhona planned on fighting Hastings with Iron Mind in place. She’d do her best to defeat the man with physical abilities alone. Iron Mind would have been what allowed her to do so.

  Gold Mind was different though. It was more than a technique, it was a way of thinking, living, perceiving the world around you.

  She’d found it at last, in the final few minutes of her meditation.

  The shimmering mindscape enthralled her and wrapped her in a way she found infinitely comforting.

  Even now, as the debris settled and air cleared, Gold Mind promised her peace and long understanding. It was an effort to pull herself away.

  She had to though.

  Hastings had fallen from the tower like a raging comet. Within the realm of Gold Mind, Rhona had witnessed the fall.

  An explosion of ether had blasted a hole in the side of the tower part way up. Rather than be injured or die, Hastings had used some skill to dampen his fall, essentially lashing out with a powerful ether attack the moment he landed.

  The expulsion of energy rippled outward in all directions. It wove its way into the earth, reverberating through the tunnels and caves below Ban’s dungeon.

  And it filled the air with a fine mist, evidence that Hastings had an enormous pool of AE to call upon.

  The man stood like a jade star. His core burned brightly, and within her understanding, Rhona could see the twisted outline of Hastings’ Mandala. He’d found his own pattern, not been given what the Brintoshi wizards had deemed fit.

  The design looked like a bright flame. The seven-sided symmetrical fire wrapped around itself into a precise circle.

  Rhona sensed how powerful the design was. It would form a strong foundation for the man, allowing him to ascend to Viridian, perhaps even higher, without danger of collapsing his core or stagnating.

  The man laughed, his voice like an acid over everything it touched. “A stripling half-dragon and a meditating monk? This is who will stop me from drinking in the light of that Earth Core?”

  Off to her side, Kai growled a response. “We will not be so easy to defeat. Imogen will be your last victory.”

  She noticed the changes in Kai. Gold Mind showed her his Mandala as well.

  Nine sides. She should have known. He is the ninth after all, she thought. What else would he have in his core?

  Not only his ascension though, but he was stronger. He’d placed his Attribute Points then, improving his potency as a fighter by a great deal.

  “I’m not sure about that, young man,” Hastings replied. “Besides, I think your friend might have died already. Looks like it is just the two of us.”

  Rhona sighed, not wanting to relinquish the tranquility of her understanding. Once she let go, the pain, the struggle, and the confusion of normal existence would have her again.

  I can always come back, she reminded herself as she at last opened her eyes. “I am ready,” she said, still seated with legs crossed before Colonel Hastings. “Do you insist on fighting? Or would you prefer to retreat?”

  She stood as Hastings laughed.

  His jagged expression of humor made him seem like a dog that bays at the moon just to hear itself speak.

  Just to prove it wasn’t alone.

  Hastings flexed his fists, his gauntleted hand creaking with restrained power. “I am ready, monk. I’ll kill you both then take my time with the Earth Core.”

  Rhona remained impassive. She didn’t need to exchange words with this man. As long as Hastings was here to fight her, then she knew all of her greatest fears would be held at bay. Ban’s core was safe, as was Kai, and even Honor, guarding the core room diligently, wouldn’t be harmed if only she were facing this man.

  He wanted her to
exchange banter, show signs of fear, even beg for mercy. But Rhona didn’t need to do anything to make his life more comfortable.

  Her reluctance bothered Hastings, apparently, for he reached out with his crushing will and assaulted her. Like when she’d felt his mind when scouting with the rangers, Rhona was amazed at the strength of the man’s will.

  Iron Mind in place, it didn’t matter though. The cold slabs of metal kept his ire at bay.

  Growling, he spat on the ground. Then, he prepared a different tactic.

  The commander stared at Rhona with what looked like disappointment. He sighed, baring his teeth in a feral grin. “So you’ve learned how to protect yourself. Well done. But you’d better wake up or your dragon won’t last long.”

  Finishing his warning, Hastings blurred towards Kai.

  Rhona had just long enough to activate Spirit Surge. Time slowed and so did Hastings. She saw him halfway to his target, eyes blazing.

  Kai stood, frozen in time, aware but unable to do anything to defend himself.

  Rhona moved to intercept Hastings, but the man had too good a lead on her. Damn it, Kai. This is the one thing I hadn’t planned on.

  Step by step, Hastings closed in on Kai, but run as she might, she knew she’d get there too late.

  Fear gripped her, unbalancing some of the tranquility she’d earned in Gold Mind.

  But before Hastings reached his target, before he could kill one of her few remaining friends in this world, the young dragon disappeared.

  The ether in the air around them warped slightly, and only emptiness remained where he’d once stood.

  Hastings slid to a halt, peering around in surprise.

  Rhona slapped her hand on the man’s chest and triggered Etheric Sapping.

  Normally, the attack would pull some of the ether from the man’s core. This time, however, she felt resistance. Only a fraction of the ether filled her arm, the rest held back somehow.

  Hastings slapped her hand aside, blocked her following punch, and sunk his own fist into her gut.

  Rhona flew back and tumbled away.