by Dakota Krout
They were smashing plants left and right!
The Glade had large chunks torn out of it, and one of its tentacles was severed. It was still fighting strong; the mushroom didn’t feel pain. Half of the plants in the room had now been destroyed as the group ducked, dived, swung, and fired at the man-sized mushroom. I giggled softly as a new Glade sprouted, quickly growing to full size and joining the battle. It fired a thorn, tearing a hole in Adam’s unsuspecting arm and lodging deep into the muscle. Ouch! That barbed tip would be a real pain to pull out. If he got the chance, that is.
The group divided their attention between the two Mobs, trying to get into a cohesive formation. The tentacles continuously foiled their plans, and thorns forced them to stay defensive. The first Glade — beginning to reach the end of its life cycle — tore itself from its location and launched itself at the group. Well used to the tactics of Raile, the group easily dodged the large body. Adam swung his staff while the two remaining tentacles were engaged in combat, and tore a huge chunk out of its side. The Mob stiffened and fell, its’ writhing appendages slowly coming to a halt.
The other Glade seemed to become angry, and the tentacles started cracking like whips. Since there was no one in Dale’s group that was heavily armored, they had little choice but to dodge the flailing lashes. Hans began to get impatient and strode forward, activating some form of wind-based movement technique. He dodged each attack with barely a hair’s breadth between them, swiping out with efficient cuts. Soon all three of the tentacles were much shorter, and the main group was able to attack the body of the mini-boss. It quickly fell, though it valiantly attempted to pincushion them with thorns.
“That was new.” Hans glibly offered.
Adam was focusing intently on his arm, and with a concentrated loop of celestial Essence, he removed the barbed thorn from his arm and healed himself. I was suitably impressed; most of the people I had seen attempting to self-heal were unable to focus enough past their pain. He looked up at the group watching him and gave a weak smile. “Anyone know where those came from?”
Dale opened his mouth to speak but Rose beat him to it, “They were guardians. When a certain portion of plants were damaged, they appeared. I say we cut down more and kill any that show up. There is certain to be a great reward for killing off such a mighty group of non-standard Mobs.”
<…Crap. Dani, we need to make a treasure chest really quick.> Dani and I decided what would appear in the chest and where it would be found. It would push up from the ground when all four Mobs were defeated, and the reward would vary based on how long it took to beat the Mobs, the ranking of the group, and if they planned to use the plants they destroyed, or if they damaged them only for potential rewards. Dani came up with that last requirement.
Dale’s group methodically started chopping, focusing on opening a space to fight in formation. They quickly hit the benchmark of major plants destroyed — I didn’t count weeds like grass and whatnot — and a new Glade was formed. Prepared this time, they were able to efficiently cut down their foe without allowing this one to ambush them. The group rested a few minutes, replenishing their stamina and catching their breath. When they were ready, they spawned and destroyed the final Glade.
Dale looked at the mini-boss as it rapidly wilted into mulch. “Let’s make sure we gather all of this up. This amount of herbs should keep the cook happy for a long time, and I am sure we can find a use for all of these flowers as well.”
“What? We’re going to leave? We just got started!” Hans whined at Dale as his group leader resolutely gathered the herbs.
“Just for a few minutes! It isn’t like we have gotten to the third floor. How would we carry all of this?” Dale grunted as he lifted a mound of herbs. “Every little bit helps, and this quantity of potent herbs will be worth some good silver.”
Rose was thrashing around, kicking plants out of her path. “Where is it?! There has to be a chest around here somewhere!”
“Easy on the herbs!” Dale called angrily. “And who is gonna buy those flowers now?”
A soft sound of earth being pushed aside made Rose’s head snap to the side. Her eyes locked on a slowly appearing treasure chest, and she threw her fist into the air, “Yes! I knew it!” She rushed to the chest and opened it, gazing intently at the contents. “Okay, looks like some poison, a few gems, one of those vials that might be either poison or a healing potion, and a couple… ohh! Gold coins!”
“Nice!” Adam cheered, walking over and taking a look. His brow furrowed as he looked at the loot, “Hans? Really quick, I don’t think that these are gems… take a look?”
Hans stepped over excitedly, and held one of the gems in his hand against the light, appraising it like a master jewelry maker. “This is certainly… not a gem… hmm.” He was talking slowly as he examined every facet. “If I had to make a guess… I’d say it is a… half carat Beast Core with standard properties, possibly from a D-ranked Beast that had progressed with help from the dungeon. It may have been a metal-type as well.”
Rose snorted, “A shot in the dark, huh? You probably knew what it was as soon as you saw it, you just wanted to be the center of attention for a while.”
Hans looked hurt, “Rose, how can you say that? It is like you… know me better than anyone else and we would be a perfect couple!”
“Keep dreaming. Why don’t you go after Aunt Ironbark? You elderly folk should stick together.”
Hans smiled salaciously, “Ah, but I knew that you were the woman of my dreams from the moment I laid my eyes upon you, and no other temptress could steal me away.”
“Creepy old man, go get eaten by rabbits.” Rose brushed him off irritably. “How much are these Cores worth?”
“Rebuffed again! Well then, I shall win you over by being a font of knowledge for you! The Core itself is likely worth a dozen gold or so according to the job board, but it has greater application as a power source for enchantments or Runes. If we brought this to an Artificer, we could link it to Runes or create a dimensional bag for a fairly reduced price.” Hans's voice turned contemplative at the end, turning the Cores over in his hand.
“Really? We can get that turned into a dimensional bag? At a reduced price, no less? In that case, I would really like one of those.” Dale trotted over to the group, trailing leaves as he walked.
Hans asked if anyone else wanted one, and of course the entire group did. He took himself out of the running as he already owned a specialized bag, as well as Tom since he could not power a bag even if he owned it. There were two stones, and after flipping a coin — two wins out of three needed — Rose and Adam walked away with a stone apiece. Dale seemed to feel a bit down about it, but was promised that he would get the next one.
“What was that about?” Dani was still confused as to why I talked about a non-existent trap.
“Well then, let’s fix that!”
~Dale~
Dale was walking away from the mess hall, cheerfully whistling about the morning's unexpected windfall. Not only had the huge bale of herbs been enough to get himself back into the cook’s good graces, but there was a standing Guild reward of ten gold per new Mob found. Even splitting that, he was two gold — or two hundred silver — richer just from carrying a mushroom to the surface. His good mood was quickly soured as he was making h
is way back to his friends.
“Look, this one has hay in his hair. Ugh, this place is disgusting.”
“There is blood on him too! This whole place smells terrible and everyone is unaccountably rude. Not a single person even bothers to bow properly, and they look directly into my eyes when they speak to me! You’d think that after I had the first one whipped word would have spread!”
Dale looked over and winced as the heavily shined jewelry the people were wearing dazzled him momentarily. There were two men around twenty-five years old that were looking around, loudly proclaiming their displeasure with everything that they saw. They were surrounded by a swarm of servants and steely-eyed guardsmen. Dale decided to let someone else deal with them and continued on his way. Or, that is, he tried to.
“You! You dare to just stare at us without speaking or begging our leave?” One of the men was flushed, walking toward Dale and shouting. “Were you looking at our armor? Finding weaknesses to try to exploit in the future? Don’t you know how to respond to your betters? Speak, peasant!”
Hans had come looking for Dale, and walked up just as the Nobleman was walking forward and shouting. When he heard the bit about ‘betters’ he cursed and ran off. Dale — who had been trying really hard to ignore the belligerent, entitled words — came to a perfect halt and turned around, fighting to keep his face emotionless.
“I am assuming that you have just arrived here, so I will try to explain how very misguided you are if you think that you are going to go around whipping people or insulting them.” Dale’s blue eyes were swirling with silvery Essence. He examined the Noble, noting that with the density and brightness of Essence he was certainly in the mid C-rankings.
The Nobles’ face got even redder, and if he didn’t have such an abundance of Essence Dale would have worried about him bursting a blood vessel in his forehead. “You dare to speak to me like this? Kneel before me and prepare to be whipped for your impertinence!”
Dale crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow, “No?”
The Noble looked entirely flabbergasted that Dale was not on his knees. “How are you able to resist a command from me? I am Baron Michael Adams, thirtieth in line for the throne!”
“How nice for you. Doesn’t mean you aren’t an arsehole.” Dale ground out wryly, teeth clenched hard as he forced himself not to take a swing at the man. Titters of laughter escaped a few of the onlookers. The Noble seemed about to begin frothing at the mouth.
“Easy cousin! It is obvious that he must be from my land then, allow me! Kneel before me, Baron Thomas Adams, and present your hands to the guards. Your prison sentence will be short; I can guarantee you that.” The other jewelry-bedecked man ordered ominously, coming forward to stand next to his cousin.
“So, you are threatening to kill me, I assume?” Dale hissed darkly. “No, I am fairly certain I am not going to do that, either! Who the abyss do you think you are, acting like this? Is this Noble courtesy? Is this how you live up to your family's code of honor?”
Thomas took a step back, a flash of fear crossing his face. “Are you from another Kingdom? A peasant shouldn’t even know what that means! How are you able to resist our orders?”
“None of your God-blasted business! I assume that you were sent here, and are not particularly interested in being here, but I don’t particularly give a damn! If this is the standard that you plan to keep, you will not be allowed to stay. Likely you are rather grumpy from your travels. I know that portal travel does not sit well with me.” Dale tried to calm down his speech, tried to speak as rationally as possible… but was having serious trouble. “If you plan to stay, I want you to pay reparations to the person you had whipped. If either of you ‘imprisoned’ someone, release them as well. You did so illegally.”
“Pff! Not a chance. Obviously, you are an intruder in our lands, and we are well within our rights to have you arrested and summarily executed. Guards!” The man stood back with a self-satisfied smirk.
The guards near them took a few threatening steps forward, but Dale did not move. “Are you certain that this is how you want to begin your day? I get the feeling your parents will not be too happy if you ended up banished from here… or dead.”
“We will add threatening a Nobleman to the charges.” Adam pompously jeered.
“Interesting. My turn then.” Dale grinned and roared, “Guards!” A full contingent of Dark Elf guards interspersed with the easily recognizable tabard of the Moon Elves appeared around the group. Even Dale was surprised, normally there were only a few within speaking distance. The effect on the Nobles was quite profound.
“D-dark Elves?” Thomas stammered, “This entire place is crawling with assassins? Cousin, it was an ambush all along! They are going to wipe out a generation of the ruling class!”
Michael’s anger seemed to have an unreachable peak, and his face was now turning purple. “You coward!” He screamed at Dale, voice breaking. He tried to run at Dale, but of course was stopped by his guards.
Dale had allowed them to speak long enough. “Shut your food-hole! I am Duke Dale, owner of this mountain and liege-lord of this land! I also hold the title of Baron in both of your Kingdoms. Conversely, I am sure it is your parents who are Barons or Baronesses, therefore you currently hold no influence in the Kingdom! Well, beyond what you apparently feel entitled to.”
He turned toward the highest-ranking Elf he could see, “Captain, escort these… children to a holding cell. Ensure their guards and servants are given proper food, drink, and an area to rest. They are not to leave. There is a Prince or Princess coming from their Kingdoms, yes? When they do arrive, please have them escorted to the Elven Embassy where we will discuss the future of these criminals.”
“Criminals?” Thomas shrieked, “What are you talking about? Based on what charges?”
Dale cocked his head and gave a half grin, “Why, threatening a ranking Noble. And insubordination, of course.” He threw their own threats against them happily. The furious men were led away as Hans walked to stand beside him.
“They will never forgive this, you know.” Hans murmured, appearing beside his friend.
Dale nodded, “I know, but it is better to stop this behavior before it can find a foothold in the area. I certainly won’t let them stay here, but I can smooth things over with their leaders and hopefully ask them to command the Barons to leave me alone.”
“Hmm. Seems like a dangerous gamble.” Hans squinted at his friend. “What if they decide not to help?”
A real smile graced Dale’s face, “That is why I am going to see the rulers together. That way they feel compelled to show off to each other, and try to one-up the other in reparations.”
“Subtle. I like subtle.” Hans laughed, “When did you get so political? I remember blowing your mind with the idea of a capital city sewer. Did the memory stone give you this much political acumen?”
“The Dark Elves have been tutoring me a bit.” Dale hedged.
“A bit? Well, I’ll have to worry the next time we have a debate and you are fully trained.” Hans clapped Dale on the back, “Let’s go, the others are waiting.”
~Cal~
“Dale’s group just passed the first-floor Boss again.” Dani warned me.
I muttered, continuing to focus on my project.
“Hey!” I heard from him.
“It… it is some kind of water container?” Dani was looking at the same object as I was, it was a large square of glass that was full of water. It also seemed to have creatures floating
in it.
“My Lord, please!” One of the men in a uniform was saying, “I just think that this is bizarre. A dungeon is a dangerous place, and you are forcing two of your guards to carry around an aquarium. What would happen if you needed protection?”
“Nonsense!” A haughty voice drawled. “The movements of the jellyfish amuse and relax me. Also, this is a D-ranked dungeon. With a hunting party of this size, what could happen? I could traipse through here alone and be fine, so don’t question my orders again!”
This is about where I started losing my temper, but he did have a point. Every time a Basher or other minor threat appeared, it was wiped out without pause, never getting near the group. I focused my will on the treasure chests they were near, re-absorbing the treasures they contained. This huge, overpowered group would not be getting rewarded for their laziness.
Dani dreamily mentioned that the man had a point, the jellyfish were indeed fun to watch. That was enough for me to know that she wanted to keep a few as pets, so I started directing my Mobs at the tank. Soon I was able to sneak a Basher past the vigilant guards, and he knocked the tank to the ground, where it shattered. The leader began screaming at his soaking wet men to save his precious fish, but the rush of Essence assured me that they were already dead. I inspected the patterns that flowed to me and found them to be incredibly basic, though they did have a natural paralytic poison.
I didn’t want to tell her this because she had really liked the look of them, but facts are facts.
“Would it be difficult to make a few large fish tanks in the wall? Adding some scenery like that might be fun. Interesting to look at and not actually dangerous to people. Oh! I know! Make a few pillars that are glass tanks, fill them with water, and put the jellies in there!” She noted my hesitation and gave a frustrated growl, “Maybe make it have really high pressure, so if someone smashes the glass they get hurt badly?”
