The City and the Dungeon

by Matthew Schmidt

Andy quaked, and Elise gave Alice Black a death glare.

  "No, it's good. I've just never seen this before," Alice Black said. "I can't even think of a similar combo. Good job breaking into new ground—I'm sorry, I forgot. But you did a really good job. How did you think of this?"

  "Mattock high damage," Andy said.

  "What?"

  "Andy didn't tell me anything about it," Elise said. "She worked on it alone."

  "The Miner classes are obvious. I'm guessing you went for Fighter and Grim Knight to get a high powered swing with a Dwarven Mattock. I would actually go with a Crystal Pick if you could get your hands on one, less chance of breaking all the time." Andy winced at this, and Alice Black quickly continued. "Way to go not putting down Black Knight to please me. Grim Knight has the health you'll need if going solo. And I'm assuming you're going solo, because the Seeker and Battle Mage—the latter, I'm sure, because you want the burst capacity if things go wrong. Am I right so far?" Alice Black asked, and Andy nodded. "But what's with the Earth Elementalist and Enchanter?"

  "More dig. Power dig."

  "Powerful digs, or power from digging?" Alice Black.

  "There are a few Earth Elementalist spells that require rocks to work well," Xavier said.

  "How about the Enchanter?"

  "More digging," Andy said. "Need more."

  "There's some blade enchantment that improves digging?" Alice Black asked.

  "There's like five," Xavier said. "Four of which are in Enchanter. There's digging spells in Earth Elementalist, too, I think." Andy nodded.

  "All right. Once you hit the Deep, you'll need all the digging help you can get to break those walls. I am very impressed, Andy. You'll get impressive damage from the Grim Knight with the mattock alone, to say nothing of a crystal pick. My only suggestion would be to see if you can pick up some kind of crystal mage along the way because you'll constantly be running into crystals as you dig. Alex?"

  I presented my paper and couldn't bear to watch as she read it.

  "Good," she said at last. "Unambitious, but good. Good job staying away from the Tv-Type Trap. If you can cast V-Type to this point, you can live without contorting your build for triggered magic. By the way, you do realize that Black Minister involves tons of draining, right?"

  "Right," I said. "It's not good for out-of-combat healing, but there's no reason a healer can't help in battle. Or I could just go around and drain some trash mobs after a battle."

  "Eh, it doesn't work so well if you run into an out-of-depth in the process," Alice Black said. "Particularly, you know, an out-of-depth Unique with drain reflect."

  Whoops. Apparently news traveled fast.

  "I've got a side class in White Acolyte for that," I said while failing not to turn red. "Anyway, I'm already down that road. Got Drain."

  "Sure, but you shouldn't stick yourself on a build path just because you've started down it. You can change your mind at your level.

  "Aside from Elise, you're all good," Alice Black said. "Elise, all I'm concerned about is the lack of detail, and the lack of attack. Fix those and it's respectable."

  Elise glared instead of replying. Something in that glare was dangerous enough that I didn't ask why. Nor did Alice Black who, after meeting it, walked on.

  "I think she was just concerned," Xavier said hopefully.

  "Whatever," Elise said in the tone that implied the opposite of carelessness. "It's a perfectly good build."

  "Andy's is a really good one, apparently," I said. Andy beamed.

  "Do you want to go solo?" Elise asked her. "You don't have to stay with us if you don't want to."

  "Want to stay. Just in case."

  Chapter Fifteen:

  The Inferno

  Scattered throughout the Dungeon are portals to... other worlds might be the best description. The first one is usually around the 9th, but they appear and disappear at random. These other worlds are known as Side Dungeons.

  A famous one is the Island, a wide, endless beach of pale purple sand in the ocean of a multisun sky. Palm trees grow everywhere, and in entering the depths of the trees there seems to be no end to them. People flock to the Island for its beauty, even if flocking to your face are carnivorous parrots and giant macaws.

  Another on the 12th, called the Fortress, is inhabited by one of the few friendly monsters: a race of relatively intelligent, if senseless, Dwarves. They constantly build impressively vast, though poorly architected, structures atop and within their mountain. It's considered one of the safer areas of the Dungeon as long as the Dwarves don't accidentally flood their own caves with magma, as happens often. The deeper caves of the mountain spawn particularly horrible monsters, which emerge to attack the Dwarves. Some delvers say there will be a great reward if the Dwarves ever survive to build whatever they are trying to build, but as of yet that's never happened.

  But the one I remember most is the Inferno.

  * * *

  "Listen," Anthony said. "It's your responsibility when you take on the 10th. But you need fire resistance. And not the 50% junk you can buy. The good, soulbinds-on-equip stuff."

  "And where exactly do you say we get it?" I asked.

  "The Inferno," he said.

  "Which is entirely full of fire monsters," Xavier said. "As the name literally suggests."

  "It's stuff you can survive with the 50% junk. You won't find the drops of the higher stuff anywhere you can reach, and you can't afford to buy it, either. Go to the Inferno. You'll need to."

  * * *

  "Did he convince you to do the Inferno?" Alice Black asked us in the common room.

  "Yep," I said. "You have a better idea?"

  "Oh, he just pushes everyone into it. Ask me, you can wait on heavy fire resistance—at least at your level," she said. "But, he is your direct superior. I suggest you listen."

  "Any other suggestions?" Xavier asked.

  "Sure. Avoid Doom Bats. They'll kill you in no time."

  * * *

  "Listen," I said outside the portal. It swirled, but beyond I could still clearly see an endless array of fiery pits, spouts of fire, and just things on fire, period. Above was an inscription in one of the Earlier languages, one of the few such writings in the Dungeon. "We'll have to be extra careful, since we don't have that much fire resistance. In fact, let's stay on the 1st Circle for now."

  "For now," Xavier said. "I can't wait until we get better fire resistance. I hate not having my best gear equipped."

  "And Mr. I-love-my-blue-cape is still wearing it," Elise said.

  "Hey, I got it enchanted," Sampson protested. "I've got 50% fire resist like the rest of you."

  "I thought you enchanted it before," I said.

  "I did. I did it again."

  "Can we get to the part where we're killing things?" Xavier said. "I want to try out my new ice spells."

  "In we go," I said, and we walked inside.

  Inside—aside from the heat, my first reaction was the stench. Ever smelled sulfur? Now imagine it's everywhere, and there's the smoke of burning everything, too. I couldn't imagine what it would be like without any fire resistance—possibly lethal.

  We crossed a damaged marble bridge over magma. Above us was only darkness. "Let's get killing," I said. "Look for Fire Elementals, especially."

  "Chests," Andy said.

  "And chests, but let's not go too deep," I said. Unlike the main Dungeon, the Inferno had no rooms per se, though it did have caves.

  As we wandered, bumping into and destroying a random group of monsters every so often, I felt oddly lonely. Sure, we were a party, but I didn't spot another party anywhere. And above, the architecture was strange, broken. Leering gargoyles watched us fight, as if spectators to a blood sport. But they were just statues.

  Even so, they had a lot to leer at. Infernal Hounds and Flame Bugs were our primary foes, the latter in such numbers that we gave up trying to get their drops. We took to knocking them into the magma instead. Xavier conserved his mana for Fire Elementals, on
the basis that we didn't dare get too close with imperfect fire resistance. Did I mention burns are very painful, even with fire resistance? All of us got at least singed, and I felt terrible for Sampson and Andy who got the worst of it. I resolved to get them better gear first.

  "Cerberuses!" Elise called, and a trio of three-headed dogs roared their way into our path.

  "Watch out," I said as Andy and Sampson took position. The three growled and stopped, as if waiting for us to charge. "They've got a ton of Attack and plenty of Health."

  "Eh," Sampson said. "Still dies if you hit it enough." He charged, Andy following.

  In retrospect, Xavier shouldn't have held back on his spells. Because while our front line was fighting and Elise was throwing daggers, the bats arrived. I didn't notice until they were already around us. "Bats!" I shouted. "Four Doom Bats!"

  One bit Xavier, but he shot two out of the air. Sampson slew another with his sword, only to be bitten by the surviving Cerberus instead. Andy caved its remaining head in with a pick.

  "Where's the last one?" Xavier shouted.

  "Got it!" I shouted back as I hit the remaining bat with my staff. It shrieked, and the shriek never ended. Doomed.

  But all the monsters were dead.

  "Right, guys," I said as I tried to get the shriek out of my head. "We're getting out of here."

  Xavier started to cast Return, but stopped. "The Inferno's one of those no-Return areas."

  "Where are we?" I asked. The shriek still wasn't ending, and I tried not to snap.

  "We're—" began Andy, but a gargoyle jumped off a pillar and clawed her—fatally. Xavier moved his staff, but it slipped. I was too surprised to react. As its claws tore through my robe, I found I wasn't screaming in pain. I...

  Was floating? Floating in nothing.

  I didn't know how long I floated. But "float" isn't the right word. It was also being trapped in darkness, without shape, without movement. Not like when Alice Black froze us—I would have traded for that in an instant.

  Time passed, or did it? I had no way of tracking time except by my own thoughts. And here's the strange part. I can't remember what I was thinking! I know the sensation; I know everything before and after. But I can only think of impressions from that time. If I did math, thought about my life, regretted ignoring Alice Black's warning, plotted revenge, worried—I have no clue if I did or didn't.

  Then, a shudder, and light.

  * * *

  "Technically, we didn't wipe!" Sampson said brightly in the Black's revival ward.

  "How did you get out?" I asked as I rubbed my chest. The wound still stung a little. "You were on the front line!"

  "I think my cast was enough?" Xavier suggested.

  "Oh no, you were very dead," Sampson said. "I happened to have a Return stone on me, so I picked all of you up and ran for the exit. Or an exit. Not sure where, but I found myself outside, and poof! Back home."

  Up until moments ago—hours in reality, probably—I would have complained of a waste of resources. I immediately decided we would all have Return stones from now on.

  Alice Black walked in as Adrianne Black wordlessly walked out. "Really?" Alice Black said. "Didn't I tell you?

  "It wasn't a Doom Bat," I protested. "It was, um..."

  "It was a thing after a Doom Bat, right?"

  "It was a Gargoyle, yes," Xavier said. "I thought they were decorative!"

  "And did none of you notice a Doom effect on yourselves?"

  "I thought we were too healthy for it to kill us," I said.

  "Doom isn't like poisoning, even if it still drains hit points. It actively alters the world around you to increase your odds of death. Monsters will strike more accurately and harder, traps are more likely to trigger, spells are more likely to fail..."

  "How is that possible?" Xavier asked.

  "The Dungeon is more powerful than you think," Elise said.

  Alice Black raised an eyebrow at her. "Basically. There are multiple schools of thought with the same lesson: Don't get Doomed."

  "I'll learn a Doom resistance spell," I said. "I promise."

  "It's your party who needs your promise, not I," Alice Black said and walked out.

  I didn't know what to say or think. I especially didn't know when I saw her stop outside and talk to another party. I knew it was irrational. Yet I thought as if she had decided, after our failure, to mentor others instead.

  * * *

  We were arguing how to get a Dwarven Mattock for Andy as we wandered the 12th in search of a portal to the Fortress. Perhaps our recent almost-wipe had made everyone crabby. The argument became irate without Andy's involvement, even if we had recently beaten the 10th Boss.

  "They're just... monsters," Xavier said. "No one's communicated with one. No one's communicated with any monster. I've talked to Summoners, and they've said it's just like any other spell—no magical connection, no mind, just a thing. And we've all used telepathy on monsters—except Andy, I guess."

  "No," Elise said. "If Andy doesn't want us to kill a Dwarf, we're not doing it. It's her weapon."

  "Fine," Xavier sighed. "We'll just have to wait for something else to kill a Dwarf. Or buy it from someone who has. Or—"

  I saw something flash by. "Was that a spore?" I asked.

  "That was a spore," Xavier said and fired Red-Red-Purple: Summongus. "Dungeon. Now what?"

  "Kill it," I said. "We'd want someone else to kill a Summongus if we found it."

  "But which way?"

  Another spore floated by. As we ran past it, we saw another come from a crack under a door. Andy smashed through a wall, and we stepped into the room—where the Summongus, quite placidly, was sitting on a chest.

  Xavier drew two Fireballs, and burnt fungus blew everywhere. "We must have found it before it could summon defenders."

  "We got lucky," Elise said. "That could have been a lot worse."

  As Xavier fired Green-Green-Red-Red-Purple, I walked over to the chest. "Luck? Double that; we've got a green chest."

  Elise went over, and we watched eagerly. "Hey, it's not even locked. That's crazy luck." She took out a potion and waved her Identifier over it. "This has to be a stat increase, a high level one."

  "An Aard of Being?" I suggested. The most powerful stat increase potion ever found in the upper Dungeon, it improved every stat.

  "May very well be."

  * * *

  And it was. "Who gets the honors?" I said back in our suite at the barracks.

  "You," Xavier said. "You'll have access to a bunch more spells. And you convinced us all to fight the Summongus, anyway."

  Everyone else nodded. "Fine," I said, with a shrug that was too eager to be sincere. I opened the stopper and drank.

  I didn't expect it to be so powerful. Everything felt better, as if I was transformed into someone who was, quite simply, a better version of myself. I smiled as if I had grown into a greater kind of being.

  "Guys," I said. "I think we should take a break from delving down for a bit. Get our stats up, and not just for spells. It'll help.”

  In more ways than one.

  * * *

  Having superhuman stats isn't quite what it sounds like.

  High Strength is just that. You are in superhumanly good shape. High Agility: You can cross a room in moments. High Dexterity: You can never lose your grip on something, no matter how bad your hold. High Constitution makes you feel so solid and just inherently healthy. I never get sick any more.

  High Intelligence? It's easier to describe what it isn't like. It doesn't give the solution to every problem. It just that it's easier to think through a solution. Here's an example. I was walking along the balcony of the High House, considering a certain optimization problem and went through it in my head. It was only afterwards that I realized I had done calculus absentmindedly. You stop forgetting things, too.

  High Wisdom isn't common sense, unfortunately. You just understand the human dimension of issues—not necessarily compassion, but understand
ing.

  I've already explained high Charisma in part. But it's more than physical beauty: wit, speeches, the voice to command, all that calls others to serve and love you. Over time, you gain even a nobility—what you do, no matter how incompetent, becomes as if a hero, valiant or tragic, did the same in a play. And in each delver it's different. One day, I noticed Andy was talking in complete sentences.

  High Perception is very strange. You start hearing, seeing, even smelling, everything. It explains why a Black can happen to butt into any conversation we have, no matter how quiet. They are able to hear it in detail from across the common room. You have to learn techniques for ignoring things, or you'll go insane in crowded rooms.