by Tao Wong
That evening, when the trio emerged, they did so with smiles on their faces. Not only had the party cleared the Ogres without a problem, the Mana Stones each of the Ogres dropped was of good value and as frequent as the attacks. They had even inadvertently managed to stumble upon the Ogre Champion and the floor chest, a battle that had ended with Daniel spending nearly half his Mana patching up the stubborn Northerner, who had traded blows with the Champion till one fell. It was quite apparent to Daniel that the group had grown stronger during their time through the new Dungeon. The fact that they knew what traps, what terrain, and what tactics to expect had made the floor so much simpler than their previous experience on this floor. In addition, Daniel could not help but smile at the fact that he had now reached Level 9.
In a good mood, the party tramped into the Adventurers’ Guild to drop their day’s earnings off with Liev.
“Good day?” Liev asked, noticing the smiling group. Quick nods from all three made him return the smile before he sobered up. He hated to tell them this, but it had to be done.
“The Crimson Elms were just in. They’ve cleared the eighth floor too.”
The trio stared at Liev, their good mood suddenly deflated.
“How?” Daniel said.
“It’s not a hard floor,” Liev said, lips twisting slightly. “No puzzles, no difficult traps, no mazes. And they bought the map to it since the layout didn’t change at all.”
“Oh …” Daniel groaned and rubbed his temples. There were only two floors left that were possible and the last floor might just be a Boss Monster.
Asin growled, tugging on Daniel’s arm. She pointed back the way they came to the Dungeon entrance. Daniel shook his head automatically, already mentally assessing his Mana stores and the weariness in his body.
“No, Asin,” Daniel said. “I just used most of my Mana healing us before we came up. There’s daring and then there’s reckless. This is reckless.”
Omrak watched the pair argue, his hand absently stroking the hilt of his pommel.
“Quest,” Asin said, her tail lashing out behind her.
“It’s a whole floor. Maybe two. We’ve never fought a Dungeon Boss either, Asin,” Daniel growled, shaking his head. “No. It’s too dangerous.”
“Try,” Asin said again, pointing.
“No,” Daniel said.
Omrak, watching the two, cleared his throat. “Perhaps, Heroes, I might offer a suggestion.”
Daniel and Asin both shot a glare at the youngster before they paused, remembering that he was a part of the party. Daniel nodded jerkily and Omrak smiled at the two.
“Let us rest for a few hours. Tomorrow at dawn, we can begin and not leave till we complete the quest. It will give Hero Daniel time to recover his Mana and us to gather what supplies we need,” Omrak said.
“That’s …” Daniel began and then stopped, shrugging. “That’s reasonable.”
Asin growled, looking unhappy, but she finally nodded.
“Liev, can we use our earnings to purchase some of the Healing potions the Guild stocks?” Daniel asked.
“Of course,” the redheaded attendant said, smiling slightly at the group as he busied himself with sorting the last of the stones.
“Also, there’s something strange about the ninth floor,” Daniel said, lowering his floor. “Tell me what you think about this …”
The ninth-floor annex looked like every other annex they had seen thus far, a simple carved stone room illuminated by Mana-imbued stone. Daniel hefted his mace, rolling his shoulders as he banished his doubts concerning their plan. If they pushed through on this floor, perhaps they had a chance to win the quest rewards. Waking up early in the morning, packing for a multiple-day delve, this was the last roll of the die for them.
When the group stepped out, familiar underground cave corridors awaited them. The corridors and caverns were a mix of natural and sentient carved surfaces that sprawled outwards, passages and exits leading not only from ground level but ten or twenty feet up, all illuminated by the lightest of Mana-imbuing. Some of the exits were blocked by familiar grey- and brown-colored walls, while the slightly acrid smell of Ixillian Crawlers’ chemically altered saliva permeated the air.
“Remember, they’re likely to be just the harassers,” Daniel muttered, staring at the walls. It was the only explanation that Liev could come up with, that the Crawlers were being reused to provide cover for something more dangerous. Daniel sighed, shifting slightly in his leather armor as he committed the room to memory. Knowing what they were walking into, he had downgraded to his lighter and less bulky armor for the most part. Sadly, his enchanted bracers had been sold, leaving him wearing his iron bracers. Still, at least this way he was less likely to get stuck.
“Let us begin,” Omrak growled, shifting his backpack to settle more comfortably behind him.
With a nod, Asin led the way, choosing one of the initially larger passages. Past experience had told them to be wary of traps on these levels, so leaving the Catkin to lead was the smart choice. Past experience had also indicated that what started out as a large passageway might easily become something a lot smaller.
It was a bare five minutes before they encountered their first monster. It oozed from a cavern ceiling as they walked, landing with a splash on top of Daniel. Immediately, the slime’s acidic body began to eat into Daniel’s armor, its body flowing around his protection to burn his skin. Daniel’s shout of surprise was enough to warn the other two, which allowed Asin’s quick reactions to dodge another falling monster. Omrak was not as lucky, the creature having missed the Northerner’s torso but still managing to wrap a flailing appendage around his thigh. Unlike Daniel’s, Omrak’s began to let loose a series of light shocks, making the big Adventurer’s thigh muscles clench and release.
Daniel swiped at the slime on his shoulder, his gloved hand brushing through the monster and doing no damage. He frantically tried again as the creature burned through his flesh, setting his nerves alight. Omrak, knife in hand, swiped at the main body of the creature attacking him with as little success. It was only Asin who managed to hurt her opponent. A thrown blade passed through a slime body, sending sparks of electricity shooting through it. Left behind by the blade were traces of poison that began to discolor the purple gelatinous monster, tendrils of green creeping deeper and deeper through the gelatinous body. The purple monster shook and shuddered at the attack, lurching forwards in its attempt to attack the Catkin.
Daniel saw none of that, his focus on the monster on his shoulder. As he swiped again at the creature, something caught his eye. A small, floating blue stone within the creature. Inspiration struck and on his next attack, he reached out and grabbed the stone that attempted to float aside. Too close and too spread out on his body to get away, the stone was easily grasped and pulled from the slime. In a moment, the entire slime’s body broke apart without its core, falling away from Daniel’s body.
“The stones. Destroy the stones!” Daniel shouted in relief.
Heeding Daniel’s advice, Omrak attacked the slime’s glowing core. Unlike Daniel’s, though, this monster had only laid a few tendrils on the Northerner and, as such, was better able to dodge and shift its stone. Eventually, Omrak landed a blow that shattered the stone and ended the monster.
“Bad. Destroy stone,” Asin muttered, pointing at Omrak’s. Her own slime had expired from the poison and repeated shocks shortly before Omrak’s.
“It was killing me,” hissed Omrak.
“Yes. Not dead, good,” Asin said, and pointed to the stones. “Less coin, bad.”
Daniel ignored the pair arguing, his hand on his own shoulder as he cast his Healer’s Mark on himself. Silently, he assessed the damage with his Gift and hissed at the results. In the short battle, the acid slime had eaten not only through his skin but into some of the underlying muscle and nerves itself. Daniel gritted his teeth and focused, healing nerves and muscles before stopping. Better to let the spell finish the job.
“Sl
imes,” Daniel said finally, rejoining the conversation that had finally stalled between the other two Adventurers. “Is there another way to kill them?”
“Poison. Electricity,” Asin said.
“Neither of which Omrak or I have,” Daniel pointed out.
“Fire?” Omrak said, touching his backpack. “I have torches.”
“Wet.” Asin pointed to where the slime had been, the body having dispersed.
“True, but we might as well try it,” Daniel said, nodding to Omrak, who was already pulling out a torch from his backpack. At least with his mace, he had a better chance of hitting the stone than Omrak with his knife or sword. When Omrak had the torch lit, Daniel jerked his head to Asin and the group started off. Now that they knew what to expect, the imposing ninth floor seemed less threatening. Dangerous, lethal, but less threatening.
Fire worked. Sort of. It was not a strong weapon—a torch thrust at a slime could burn it, hurt it, but you also risked the torch being extinguished. Omrak soon learnt that it was actually better for him to almost hit a slime, to keep the torch close to the body and let the heat that emanated from the torch do its job, rather than stabbing it in like a sword. It was not perfect; it was in fact nearly as ineffective as using his bladed weapons. Nearly.
At least they were not fighting a fire slime. Exploration over the last few hours had made it clear that there were a multitude of different forms of slime present on the ninth level. Each carried its own danger—fire slimes spat out flaming portions of its body that refused to die off and exploded upon death. Earth slimes carried numerous rocks within their body, giving the slime the potential to strike and defend itself from Daniel’s mace. Air slimes no longer crawled, spread, or glooped their way, but floated through the air in an attempt to enclose and suffocate.
And of course, the Crawlers made their presence known, sometimes at the most inopportune times. Armored carapaces that crawled through the Dungeons, walling off sections and attacking with little care for their lives. They were not deadly if taken on alone, but when combined with the slimes which were resistant to most normal attacks, had proven a dangerous combination.
Daniel shook his head as he surveyed the surroundings while Asin explored the cavern they had exited into. The Catkin as always was checking for new traps, though thus far, there were none but the usual pitfalls, which were easy enough to avoid. Behind, Daniel could hear pained grunts as Omrak pulled himself along the final narrow passageway. For some reason, the Crawlers never finished sealing the passages, leaving the Adventurers a small but tight exit. Tight enough that the large Northerner was finding it difficult to squirm his way out.
“Do you need help?” Daniel said for the third time.
“I shall manage, Hero,” Omrak grunted out, his voice strained.
“Okay then.” Daniel fell silent again, letting his gaze roam over the surroundings, wary of another attack. The slimes did not wait around like other monsters, roaming from cavern to cavern and seeming to prefer ambushes rather than straight fights. With their gelatinous bodies, they could squirm through the smallest cracks and appear without warning.
“Aaaarrrgghhh …” Omrak roared as he shoved his arm and shoulder through the gap and grasped a convenient stalagmite. Gripping it tight, he pulled his body again, wide shoulders stuck on the edges. His shirt, abused once too often, tore, and the Northerner found himself swearing.
Daniel, his attention drawn to the partially exited giant, never saw the swarm of Air Slimes float down from a passageway high up in the ceiling. They made no sound as they controlled the winds around them, the group of five slimes splitting off with one going after Omrak and two others for the free pair.
It was only the shift in air currents that gave Daniel a fraction of a moment’s warning. He shifted to the side, shield rising and bashing the slime away. He jumped back quickly as the second slime swooped in on him and then raised his shield up to Bash it. He surged forwards and his shield smashed the slime backwards, sending the gelatinous blob to smack into a cavern wall. That dealt with, Daniel spun around, only to have to throw himself backwards in an ungraceful sprawl as the monster attempted to land on his face again.
Asin, on the other hand, took a more direct route, sprinting around the cavern and throwing her knives at the monsters. Each attack sent dancing sparks of electricity and purple streaks of poison, injuring the monsters that attempted to catch the elusive Catkin. As she darted right past Daniel, she swiped a clawed hand at the monster that attacked him and then sprinted to where Omrak, unable to protect himself, was struggling against his own slime. Caught unawares, the slime had engulfed his face and pushed a part of itself down his mouth before he could stop it.
Daniel snarled, ducking under another swoop by the slime that attacked him before he spun and lashed out with his mace. It caught and ripped a glob off it, missing the all-important core however. Dancing to the side again, Daniel was forced to bob and weave as he attempted to hit the core again and again.
The fast-moving, darting monsters were hard to hit as they attempted to land on the Adventurers. Forced to duck and swipe, it was Asin’s slimes that finally expired first from repeated exposures to lightning and poison. The Catkin paused, scanning the surroundings, and snarled, seeing that Omrak was no longer struggling. She darted over, claws appearing in her hands as she scrabbled around the slime, before finally succeeding at pulling the core out. Almost immediately, the slime dissolved, but Omrak did not move.
Asin snarled and slapped the big Adventurer in the face. Omrak did not react at all and the Catkin spun, already calling for Daniel. Daniel Bashed his last slime with his shield, this time managing to force its core from its body, killing it. Freed, Daniel looked to Asin and then Omrak, his eyes widening.
The healer darted forwards, a hand outstretched to touch the large Adventurer’s still body. The moment contact was made, he sent his Gift into Omrak’s body. Lips tense, he noted that the large Northerner was no longer breathing, though his heart still beat. Only a single surge of power was needed before Omrak gasped out loud, his body forced to breathe again.
Asin let out a held breath, her tail waving again as Omrak hacked and coughed. Daniel reached forwards and, gripping Omrak’s upper body, ripped him from the opening. The large Northerner screamed as the ragged edges of the passageway tore his clothing and skin apart. Daniel unapologetically bent down, laying a Healer’s Mark on the large Northerner before he turned back to scan for more trouble. The big Adventurer just curled up, hacking and coughing as he regained control of his body.
As Omrak slowly recovered, Daniel shifted his gaze to the Northerner every once in a while. That was too damn close.
Chapter 16
Hours of crawling, walking and climbing had left the group no closer to finding the exit. The ninth floor sprawled, with each cavern having multiple exits at any one time. Each of those exits, no matter how small, had to be verified and checked. And through all this, the party had to be wary of the slimes that could appear at any time, or the Crawlers that traversed the caverns.
One concern that Daniel held close to his chest was the potential that the Crawlers had blocked the staircase down, ensuring that the group would be unable to find the exit. It was a minor concern since they would eventually map the entire location and, if necessary, they could backtrack. The greater concern was that eventually the Elms would be here too, searching.
“Hold,” Omrak said as he scrambled around in his pack to find another torch. Whenever they could, the group had used bigger passageways, if for no other reason than to not waste time as Omrak relit his torch. In the end, they had begun sending Asin ahead on smaller passageways to allow her to scout them out. It saved them time, especially as many of these passageways were found to be connected to another, previously explored location, or one that could be accessed more easily.
“Sure,” Daniel said, settling in to watch for slimes. Asin ignored the command as she looked for additional passages. It was, after all, her
role in the group.
“I disliked this section before,” Omrak said, looking around the dimly lit location. The torch did little to increase the illumination in the caverns, instead layering slightly brighter spots over less illuminated areas. “It has not improved.”
“These slimes are tough,” Daniel said, shaking his head. “I regret giving up my bracers.”
“Enchanted weaponry would be useful. My brother has an enchanted knife, one that burns with a flameless heat,” Omrak said. “It would be useful here.”
“Or a shovel,” Daniel said. “Something to scoop the stones out.”
“A shovel …” Omrak rubbed his chin and then laughed. “That would work. Pity I did not bring one.”
“Looks like she’s ready.” Daniel nodded up to Asin, who was waving them to her. “Time to get going.”
“Yes.” Omrak stepped forwards and then paused, clapping Daniel on the shoulder. “Thank you.”
Daniel just nodded, embarrassed by the thanks. Chuckling, the Northerner walked forwards and ducked low as he got ready to squeeze into another too-tight passage.
Late that evening, the group had finally called it a day. They had covered a lot of ground but still had not found the exit. After careful scouting, Asin had determined that there were only a couple of entrances in the cavern they squatted in, giving them their best chance of a peaceful night’s rest.
Not that they expected a good rest. It was clear that this floor was extremely busy with the slimes and Crawlers, ensuring that the group constantly had to be on watch. They would definitely have to rest in rotating watches.
