by Tao Wong
Omrak grunted his thanks even as he sidestepped quickly, dodging a strike from his opponent while he cut at its leg. The Minotaur snarled as its muscles gave way while Omrak doubled down on his attack. Behind, Asin threw her knives at the Minotaur Daniel had hurt, keeping it from rejoining the fight.
Daniel turned back around to meet the Champion, catching a downwards strike on his shield. He found himself driven to his knee by the attack, the blow hard enough that his entire arm collapsed backwards to hit him on his head. Even before he could stand, the Minotaur Champion was slamming its sword down again, forcing Daniel to stay on his knees and reinforce his shield arm with his other hand.
Asin spotted the difficulty that Daniel was in and whipped a Fan of Knives at the Champion, the knives sinking into its body. The attack provided Daniel a moment to scramble backwards. As he stood, Daniel attempted to raise his shield arm and failed, the constant blows having dislocated it and his attempts at moving send fresh pain shooting through his body. The Champion, having recovered from Asin’s attack, lowered its head and charged Daniel, closing in on him quickly. Daniel ducked sideways, dodging the charge mostly and hitting the monster as it passed.
Turning around quickly, the Champion shifted, putting Daniel in the way of Asin’s knife, which clattered off his backplate as he stepped to keep himself in front of the monster. Daniel blinked, startled by the noise and impact, a moment’s distraction that let the Champion roar and swing its sword forwards, its blow catching on Daniel’s left pauldron. He groaned, the impact bruising his body again.
Asin, snarling, backed up to give herself more space to throw her knives. She sent them overhand, the knives arcing over the top of Daniel’s head to target the Champion, who bobbed and weaved. Seeing the monster distracted, Daniel lunged low and triggered Perin’s Blow against the monster’s knee, feeling it crack as the knee gave way. Standing swiftly, Daniel then triggered a pair of strikes to finish the monster off while Asin sank a couple of electrified knives into its body. Crippled, the Champion did its best to fend off the joint attacks but finally collapsed, leaving Daniel panting from deep exhaustion.
Omrak, having finished his own opponents, stared down at the monsters and the bruised Daniel, shaking his head.
“A great opponent,” Omrak rumbled.
“Urgh.” Daniel groaned, leaning against a wall as he healed himself.
“Well, at least I’m not the one injured this time,” Omrak said, grinning. He frowned suddenly, twisting to the side as lights began to play along the ground. “What’s that?”
The pair just shook their heads, staring at the lights and gripping their weapons. They only relaxed when the lights stopped glowing to reveal a familiar treasure chest. Asin grinned, skipping over to open it, while Daniel sank back down, feeling the dislocated shoulder slowly grinding back into place.
Even after he healed, they still had to find a way out.
Chapter 14
It was probably, by Daniel’s estimation, an hour past noon. It was hard to tell of course without the sun, but having been a Miner before, Daniel had gained some skill at guessing such things. The group had finally decided that it was best to rest for a few hours after Asin had been speared in the leg from a trap she had missed. After healing her, Daniel was completely out of Mana, and further attempts at exploration from the exhausted party had been left for later.
In an attempt to ensure their safety, the party had backtracked to a single, relatively trap-free corridor and set up camp in its center. After a hurried discussion, both Asin and Omrak bedded down while Daniel refreshed himself with his Gift. He would, in a few hours, take a nap himself to refresh his mind, but his Gift left him able to withstand the rigors of the Dungeon better. Now, if only he could remember what it was that had left him when he had activated his Gift. Somehow, Daniel knew that the memory was important.
Shaking his head, Daniel chewed on the beef jerky as he watched both sides. His crossbow lay next to him, fully loaded and ready for use. Alone with his thoughts and the insistent snoring of the Catkin, Daniel could only sit on watch, attempting to keep himself from falling asleep.
This was their first true test as a party with Omrak in it and, thus far, Daniel felt things were going well. Sort of. Everyone was short-tempered, and the once talkative Northerner had slowly grown more and more sullen. That actually helped, since Daniel knew that Asin found the constant chatter annoying, so Omrak growing silent helped her not lose her temper. The only downside was that Omrak’s temper was somewhat more volatile, but it could be worse.
Eyes half-closed, Daniel blinked as he heard the clink and scrape of movement. He reached for his crossbow, waiting for the noise to resolve itself. Eventually, the noise faded, and Daniel leaned back, resting once more. It was going to be a long few hours.
“Mmmmpphfff…” Daniel groaned, rolling to his feet. He’d only had a half-hour of rest as it stood, and his head felt worse than before, filled with wool and grit. Still, they could not waste any more time. They needed to complete this level before it reset.
“Coffee?” Omrak offered Daniel the mug as he stood up.
“Thank you.” Daniel sipped on the mug and then blinked, staring at the warm mug. He frowned, looking around and not seeing the fire. “How …?”
“Northerner secret,” Omrak said, grinning hugely. “Drink up. We should begin.”
Daniel glared at how chipper Omrak was but fell silent, deciding to just drink up and enjoy the unexpected luxury. In a few moments the group was packed and on their way back to where they last left off, searching for the way down or the exit.
An hour later, Asin’s ears twitched. She held a hand up, calling the group to a stop as she listened to the voices. Frowning, she tapped her ears and then waited for the pitiful humans to finally hear what she did.
Seeing that the Catkin did not seem perturbed, the pair waited patiently. Soon enough, they picked out the voices in conversation before the Crimson Elms came walking out from a side corridor. Leading the group was the short, quiet man from before and, directly behind him, staff held aloft, was the Mage. His staff was glowing red and where the light fell, traps that were hidden glowed.
“Cheating,” Asin muttered, and Daniel could only nod. Still, the pair were quick to note where the traps on this corridor were. No reason to not make use of the unexpected bonus.
“Well, look who it is. We heard you might be down here,” Amrah said, her eyes dancing over the trio scornfully.
“Heroes,” Omrak greeted them with a smile, absently tucking away their map. “Did you just enter?”
“Of course not,” Amrah said, snorting, and then raked her eyes over the disheveled group. “Get caught in the change?”
“Yes,” Daniel said, stepping forwards as he eyed the other group. “Are you charting your way in?”
“Of course.” Amrah smirked. The larger fighter said nothing, just watching the group while the Mage tapped his staff on the ground impatiently.
“Amrah, we should be moving along,” Harald said. Amrah glanced at the staff again and nodded, moving to walk pass the group.
Daniel, however, stepped sideways slightly, blocking their way as he cleared his throat. “We were actually hoping you could share your map. It’d help us get out.”
Amrah frowned and then glanced to Harald, who shook his head. Daniel grimaced and stepped aside without being asked to. The Crimson Elms moved right past the group, stepping between the Adventurers and, in the shorter fighter’s case, brushing against Omrak as he walked past. The party stayed silent, watching them leave, before the group headed down the corridor, skipping past the traps that had been highlighted.
“That’s the way out …” Daniel said, pointing to the way the Elms had come from.
“Eventually,” Omrak said, rubbing his chin. “Probably.”
“Definitely. Though, it’d take a while to get there,” Daniel added.
“No, go on,” Asin said, pointing down the corridor.
“W
e’ve been in here for a while,” Daniel said as he surveyed the tired group.
“No. Go on,” Asin said, shaking her head. When Daniel started to look mulish, she pointed down the way they came and which the Elms had continued on.
“Bad. Probably.” Since they had started from within the Dungeon, there was no guarantee that the way they had not gone was not the way out.
“Bad.” She pointed again to where the Elms had come from.
“Good.” Asin pointed.
“Hero Asin is correct,” Omrak said. “It would be wrong for us to give up now. The Elms have actually reduced the area we must search.”
“We are assuming they did their job properly,” Daniel muttered. Asin nodded and then pointed again down the corridor.
“Voted.”
“Fine,” Daniel grumped, shaking his head. It seemed they were going to do or die then. Well, preferably not die.
It was a short five minutes before they reached the next turn. Omrak reached into his pouch and then stopped, groping the leather pouch. He frowned, searching again, and then he pulled it from his belt to turn it inside out.
“Something wrong?” Daniel asked, even as Asin worked on the next corridor on the right.
“The map. It is gone,” Omrak said.
“Did you drop it?”
“No. I put it in my pouch,” Omrak said slowly. “I drew in the corridor on the right. Just before the Elms arrived.”
“The Elms …” Daniel frowned, his eyes widening. That shorter fighter, he had brushed up against Omrak. “He didn’t, did he?”
“I believe the Elms are less than heroic,” Omrak said, growling softly. “I do not believe I dropped it.”
“Should we …?” Daniel muttered, staring backwards. If they had the map, they would be able to skip to the end where the group had started exploring. Daniel stared up at the map in his head, mentally judging distances. After a few minutes, he swore softly. Assuming they did not have to face any Minotaurs, the Elms could reach the end of the map in two or three hours of straight walking. If they decided to, they would only have to check out the opposite direction that the team had chosen not to explore.
“Damn it,” Daniel swore softly. This would give them a huge lead. Of course, the question would be if the staircase was down that way. Or the Elms could wait and backtrack and follow behind Daniel and his team, searching down this part of the maze using the same assumption that Daniel and his team were using to skip the Elm’s route.
“Trap,” Asin called out.
“Asin, did you hear …?” Daniel said.
“Yes. Trap,” Asin reiterated, and pointed downwards before stepping over the trap to check on the next stone.
Omrak stared at the Catkin and then opened his mouth before he shut it. His lips twisted as he stared back to where the Elms had left, before he turned to Daniel, opening his mouth. Daniel on the other hand shook his head, cutting Omrak off. The Northerner growled, but subsided as he realized he was outvoted.
Damn it. But Asin was right—confronting the group would do nothing. Better to focus on what they needed to do.
Blood running down his arm, Omrak roared as he tackled the Minotaur that had cut him. Falling down together, he scrambled up the monster’s body, holding its arm down as he began to land punch after punch into its face, knuckles tearing skin and fur. Behind, Asin ducked beneath a strike and lashed out again with her knives, cutting the tendons in the Minotaur’s elbow before she lunged forwards, opening the wound wider. Daniel, hunkered beneath his shield, fought his own opponent more carefully, trading strikes.
A short few minutes later, the trio stood victorious staring at the staircase down. They had found it, finally. Not without running into this last batch of monsters.
“Ready?” Daniel asked. Omrak nodded but Asin just stared into space, growling softly to herself as her tail waved lazily.
“Asin?”
“Busy,” Asin hissed before continuing to stare into space.
“I believe she has Leveled Up,” Omrak offered, and Daniel nodded in belated agreement. Well, they could wait. The pair moved aside to sit down while they waited for Asin to be done. Idly, Omrak took his sword out and began to clean it and, after a moment, Daniel followed his example to care for his own gear.
“I noticed you have a new ability,” Daniel said to fill the silence.
“Yes, I gained it last Level,” Omrak said. “The Fangs of Zemur.”
“You don’t use it often.”
“It requires significant amounts of Stamina. My father always said to use such abilities sparingly.”
“Ah …” Daniel fell silent. “Your father was an Adventurer?”
“No. A farmer.”
“Oh …”
“In the North, all are taught to fight. We are not numerous and so all must enter the Dungeons to quell the monsters. My father ventured into many before he gained his name and inherited the land from his father.”
“I never really knew mine,” Daniel said, feeling a familiar ache in his chest at that thought.
“My condolences.”
“It’s fine,” Daniel said before he fell silent. Omrak, sensing the mood that Daniel was in, focused on caring for his blade. After a time, Asin finally nodded to herself. The pair stood up, walking to her.
“What did you get?” Daniel asked curiously.
“Serpent’s Tooth,” Asin said. “Poison.”
“Oh …” Daniel frowned. He was not entirely sure he liked that answer. Poison could be helpful, but if one of them got injured by it, it could make things more difficult. He certainly had no spell to cure poison. Still, it did shore up one of Asin’s major weaknesses, which was her inability to inflict significant amount of damage. At least, he thought so.
“Well, we good to go?” Daniel asked, and after receiving the confirming nods, the trio trooped down the stairs. Finally, they would be able to exit this level and the Dungeon. Best of all—this left them in the lead again.
Chapter 15
“Three more floors at most,” Khy’ra said, smiling softly at her boyfriend. He lay lounging on the bed, holding her hand as she sat next to him.
“That’s right,” Daniel said.
“Do you know what you’re going to do when you’re done? There’s a lot more Advanced Dungeons and a few Beginner ones close by too.”
“Mmmm … I was thinking that Peel might be good to finish. It shouldn’t be too hard, and we know about it already,” Daniel said. “I haven’t spoken to Asin or Omrak about their plans.”
“Always good to ask your party members,” Khy’ra chuckled.
“I don’t know if Asin would come with us, though,” Daniel said, grimacing. Omrak, Daniel was pretty certain would be happy to come.
“The school?”
“You know?” Daniel asked, surprised. After a brief moment’s consideration, Daniel realized that of course the Elf would know. Khy’ra was an important part of the city and spoke with a wide range of citizens everyday. “It’s important to her. And if she left …”
“There wouldn’t be anyone helping out,” Khy’ra finished for him.
“She wasn’t doing this before, was she?” Daniel said, and Khy’ra shook her head.
“The Council cut the budget when the Dungeon was closed. Said they couldn’t afford it anymore.”
“But the Dungeon’s open again.”
“Oh Daniel.” Khy’ra smiled softly at her boyfriend. “It’s never that easy. They’ve been wanting to cut it for ages. This was just an excuse.”
“Is there … is there anything I can do?”
To this, Daniel received a quick kiss on the head. “If I think of anything …”
“Tell me,” Daniel said. He knew Asin had told him not to get involved, but this seemed so unfair. However, he could think of nothing that he could do—he did not even know where to start to help. A city budget was not something you could hit or delve. And contributing to the school, well, it was a short-term solution.
> A day later, the group found themselves on level eight, staring at a familiar vista. The trio glanced at one a nother before laughing, walking forwards into the large caverns. As Daniel stared at the map in his head, he laughed softly. This was literally the same level eight as before the Dungeon had changed its configuration.
Feeling more relaxed, Daniel directed the group down to where they last left off and the staircase to the ninth level, glad to finally be on familiar ground once again.
With a grace that belied his stature, Omrak ducked beneath the Ogre’s club and swung his sword in a short horizontal strike that ended in the monster’s knee. Twisting his blade, the Northerner ripped it upwards, opening a wider wound on the creature’s thigh. Using the impetus of standing, Omrak kicked forwards and sent the injured Ogre sprawling backwards before he reset himself for his next opponent.
“Should we help him?” Daniel asked, having dispatched his own Ogre.
Asin shook her head, squatting on the corpse of the Ogre she had stabbed in the eyes. The giant Northerner had rushed forwards to meet the first group of six ogres on his lonesome, wielding his sword and screaming with battlelust. Omrak had dispatched the first Ogre with his new Skill before he was bogged down fighting the others. It was only the arrival of the pair that stopped him from being flanked. Omrak, however, did not seem intent on sharing the last three monsters at all, wide strikes and frenzied darting ensuring neither Adventurer could close in and aid him safely.
Not that he needed it. Daniel winced as Omrak lopped off a hand and then, on the return cut, opened up the Ogre’s stomach. The Northerner seemed to revel in the open space and monstrous opponents, wielding his sword with wild abandon. The incidental wounds he picked up just added to the strength of his attacks. In truth, this was a horrible match for the Dungeon. Not only did the wide-open caverns that made up the Ogre floor allow Daniel to use his plate armor and crossbow to full effect, the numerous monsters allowed Omrak to unleash the full range of his fighting style. Even Asin, with her new Skill, could contribute to the fight. The group was tearing through the floor like Asin’s chili and Omrak’s guts.
