by Brent Tyman
Aurielle seemed extremely surprised at this and started to back up, her eyes the size of saucers.
“No! Surely, I could not accept such an offer. After your aid in curing my curse, even the notion of taking your spoils is… I couldn’t…”
“Haha. You became one of us when you saved me from the Malophas and agreed to join up, Aurielle.” I laughed. “If it helps you complete your duty, then surely you can’t say no, right?”
I had to admit, seeing Aurielle’s pretty face go through several expressions was interesting to witness. I could see she wanted to accept, but really did think she owed us too much already and couldn’t.
I didn’t see it that way, though. If this sword could help her, even a little, then it should be hers.
“Very well… if you insist,” she said, a tremor of hesitation in her voice as she bowed to me formally. “Thank you. I am humbled by your generosity.”
She took the sword from my hands and ran a finger along the flat of the blade. Her eyes went from curiosity to awe-struck in an instant.
“Incredible, a weapon made from Rodilium,” she breathed.
“Uhh, I don’t think I’m familiar with that material,” I said.
Juliana had shown me many armor sets I could have gotten at an armor smith, made of all kinds of strange metals I’d never heard of before and I’d forgotten almost all of their odd names already, but the name didn’t sound familiar.
“Rodilium is toxic to monsters and will aid me greatly in my duty,” she explained, smiling.
Toxic to monsters? From the look on everyone’s face, it was clear this was news to them as well. Karl might have known, but he was off in his own little world with that scroll.
It must be quite the puzzle for him, if he was still trying to decipher it.
“What about this pearl?” Clarissa asked, drawing our attention back to the last item. “It’s pretty, I guess.”
She held the pearl out between her finger and thumb. It was about the size of a small marble.
“Who gets this one? Do you fancy it, Juliana?” Kesara asked as she stared at the pearl. “I don’t think it’s my color.”
“Hmm, perhaps it holds a great power,” Juliana mused as she took the pearl from Clarissa. She rolled it back and forth across her palm before shrugging. “As far as fabled artifacts go, this one appears to be far more subdued in its appearance.”
“Check what it says in your Clan storage,” Clarissa said, smirking.
“I cannot,” Juliana replied, shaking her head. “All of the storage slots are very much occupied by my father and I have no access to any of them.”
“Uhh, that father of yours… Although mine is no different,” Clarissa sighed. “I just tried to put it in my storage and received a message that it ‘wouldn’t fit’. It’s a teeny tiny pearl, which makes such a message perplexing.”
That really was strange. A single, small item that wouldn’t fit into the Clan storage? It wasn’t like I had tried to put a house or something massive into it before. All of the monster drops I had collected thus far had gone into it without any issues, and some of them had been quite big.
Juliana handed the pearl to me, and I also gave it a try, receiving the same message.
Warning - This item is too big to fit into storage.
Warning - You cannot place two items into the same storage slot.
These warning messages were just odd. For one, this pearl wasn’t that big and second, I didn’t understand why it would complain about ‘two’ items. Unless this was some kind of duplicate error, since Clarissa had tried to place it into the Clan storage first?
Either way, it seemed like we wouldn’t get any information about it, which was a shame.
The artifacts here were certainly not what I had envisioned. To be honest, I had expected items that screamed ‘Epic’ or ‘Legendary’ loot, maybe with sparks coming off them or some kind of magical glow, like Clarissa had said.
I supposed it was far more preferable that the items be functional than flashy, but as a man who’d loved his RBG lights on his gaming rig, a bit of flashiness was nice.
Juliana and Clarissa both suggested I keep the pearl, at least for now, as it seemed no one else really wanted it. It had pretty much been written off, I guess, when it came to practical uses.
Clarissa had wanted to take the box with us, insisting we have some of the soldiers carry it with us back to the surface. Luckily for the soldiers, that idea was shot down pretty quickly.
Nobody wanted to keep it after seeing what had happened to the Yunissans.
It took quite a bit of convincing to get her to leave it behind.
We finally began the last leg of our journey, following the blue line as before.
After engaging several new monsters, and the encounter with the Yunissan soldiers, I hoped there were no more surprises in store for us on this particular extended Dungeon run.
We could all do with some much needed sunlight.
Almost there… the surface was just a few more floors up…
9
“Finally!” Clarissa shouted, beaming as she rushed out of the wide hole that marked the Dungeon’s exit and into the afternoon sun. Its shining light had been a welcome sight when we care around the final bend in the tunnel.
We emerged into a small clearing where there were only large trees surrounding us on all sides.
“Ah, sunlight,” Juliana said, also smiling. “I had almost forgotten how good it felt.”
“Tell me about it,” Kesara said. “While admiring Alex’s slim body was entertaining, it looks far better in natural light.”
“Uhh, thanks? I guess?” I replied, shaking my head. I really didn’t know how to respond to Kesara’s quips sometimes.
“It’s been a long journey. A question, though… where the heck are we?” I asked.
This wasn’t an exit from the Dungeon that I had seen before. It was not anything like the entryway I was used to, which led directly onto the first floor.
The blue line had eventually led to another small passage that went straight up to the surface in a steep, curving tunnel. Though a difficult climb, it allowed us to get to the surface without encountering any more monsters. Not that we would have been in any danger at this point, and I wasn’t averse to a little grinding.
Getting to the surface was our primary goal, though, so I supposed this was an ideal route—much quicker than having to travel through the entirety of each floor via the natural entrances and exits.
“I believe we are quite near Tringall, though this looks to be a secret entrance to the Dungeon,” Juliana said.
“Look at how muddy it is.” Daiver frowned down at his mucky boots. “The sooner we get back to the Academy, the better.”
I looked down at my own feet and then at a bunch of mud patches across the relatively undisturbed grass between the large hole and the edge of the forest, a dozen yards or so in front of us.
Now that I’d noticed them, I studied the many straight lines of mud that I doubted could have occurred naturally.
“Wait. Do you think there used to be boxes stacked over there?” I asked, pointing to the series of square, muddy imprints before us.
“This screams of the Yunissans scrambling to take their things and run,” Clarissa said.
“Indeed. It would appear that we have uncovered some kind of plot here,” Vencia agreed.
“What do you think Karl?” I asked, but then realized it was probably futile, trying to interact with him at this point.
“Hmm, does this mean ‘retribution’ or ‘salutations’? The letter flicks left, then down, so that could only mean…”
Yep, he still had his nose buried in that ancient scroll we had found and wasn’t going to stop trying to decipher it anytime soon. At least no one could say the man wasn’t dedicated to his craft…
“Anny, would you please guide us back to Tringall?” Clarissa asked her.
“Okay,” Anny replied. “As Juliana said, it isn’t actu
ally too far off, if I’m reading the auras right.”
We trailed after her. The soldiers we had with us seemed to be in a much more jovial mood, now that we were finally out of the Dungeon.
“Man, how long has it been since we tasted fresh air?”
“Too damn long!”
“You reckon that new woman will stick around?”
“The floating one? I think she fancies Lady Hoganna’s flame. Who do you think will make a move first?”
What the heck!
I whipped my head around, but couldn’t tell who was saying what. We hadn’t been out of the Dungeon for more than a few minutes, and already, gossip and rumors were starting to fly.
Had Kesara’s ways gotten to them all?
Jeez…
Out of curiosity, I checked to see if Aurielle had heard that last bit, but she seemed content to walk in step with the rest of us.
She did, however, give me a smile when she noticed me looking her way.
It was a smile I returned, but another questioned soon popped into my head. Was it too soon to expand my harem? I guess only time would tell.
Aurielle really was an absolute beauty…
Thankfully, we didn’t need to camp out in the wilds another night. In less than two hours, we reached Tringall. When Anny had said that it was close, she’d meant really close.
Daiver had only just begun to weave some questionable tale about his past heroics when we spotted the city on the horizon.
It was a welcome sight.
The party talked amongst themselves about what they would do first when they got back to the Academy. Kesara even complained about having to start their lessons up again.
I kind of missed my room at the inn, which had no doubt been lent out to another.
“I might need to drop by the Windy Wolf to see if the innkeeper has another room for me to stay in,” I said.
“What?” Clarissa squawked. “No! You are most definitely staying with me, handsome.”
“Ha!” Kesara laughed. “Good luck with that. Alex’s stay in the Hoganna wing last time was nothing short of scandalous. I bet our fellow students are still talking about it.”
“Who cares about the minor Clans?” Clarissa sniffed. “They can judge all they like.”
“And the teachers? They let it slide once, but Alex’s face must be very well known by now,” Kesara reasoned. She suddenly grinned as a thought occurred to her. “I suppose we could smuggle him in and keep it all very hush-hush.”
“Somehow, I doubt anything could be kept hush-hush, with you involved,” Vencia drawled. “But yes, Lady Hoganna, you would find it difficult to have him attached as a permanent guest in your wing, let alone keep him in your room.”
“There must be a way,” Juliana said suddenly. “Perhaps I could hide him in the Tasberg wing? I’m sure I could convince the Sovereignty students to turn a blind eye.”
Jeez… her too?
“Seriously? I’m perfectly happy staying in an inn,” I said. “Although it doesn’t hold a candle to the Academy’s fancy rooms, at least its cozy.”
“Nonsense,” Juliana said, shaking her head. “I would much rather have my suitor close by, it will be nice having you right where I can…”
Her face instantly heated up when she realized she’d said this out loud and clamped her mouth shut. “I mean, it would only be right for me to arrange suitable living quarters for Alex.”
Both women began arguing about whose room I would prefer staying in, Juliana’s or Clarissa’s?
I turned to Aurielle, who had been silent for a while.
“Where are you planning on staying, Aurielle?” I asked.
She shrugged. “I have not arranged for any accommodation in Tringall. Indeed, I have not even set foot in it before. There was a town south of here where I bought most of my supplies.”
“That works out, then,” I said. “We can look for a place to stay together.”
Her eyes grew wide and she blushed, before nodding.
Another thought occurred to me and I furrowed by brow. “Unless, that is, you’d prefer… I mean… you don’t need to have hot springs in your room, do you? I probably couldn’t afford a place that has that.”
She laughed, a musical sound to my ears, and shook her head. “Believe me, my homeland is renowned for its heat and shortage of water. There are not many of these hot springs where I am from, for me to be accustomed to them.”
“Great! I’ll show you around a bit and we can check in and see if the Windy Wolf has any rooms.”
My two ladies were still arguing, somehow, when I turned back to face them.
“I’m sure the headmaster will make an exception,” Juliana was saying. “He is part of the city state council, and will be more inclined to help us after our efforts with the Ogres. Yes, I will talk to him immediately on our arrival.”
“Not a chance,” Clarissa retorted. “He will surely kick all of us out of the Academy, if you bore him with what you like to call diplomacy.”
“My Lady is very well versed in the art of negotiation,” Vencia defended Juliana. “I’m sure that if anyone can convince him to aid us with Alex’s plight, she can.”
Living in an inn was most certainly not a ‘plight’. Didn’t I say it was cozy?
“Yes, yes. Her negotiations clearly helped in Valdura,” Clarissa said, rolling her eyes. “I’ll sneak Alex into my room and we’ll just keep things… quiet at night.”
Everyone’s face reflected how unlikely that would be.
The conversation died down as we neared the city and I saw the familiar line of travelers waiting to get inside. There was a row of caravans and wagons on one side and a line of people on the other.
Man, it was good to be home.
Juliana led us past the rows of travelers who waited patiently for their turn to enter the city. They all gave us curious glances but didn’t seem too bothered about us cutting the line.
As she had done before when we had gone back to get my armor, Juliana flashed some sort of identification at the front gates. Before long, we were in Tringall.
It seemed the major Clans had secured some pretty nice perks with the city.
As I’d expected, folks from all races bustled along its streets. Well, save for Demons and Demonkin, that is. Although I hadn’t particularly noticed them before they’d gone crazy, so to me, everything just seemed normal.
At least for now.
“Do you think we can grab some real food?” Kesara pleaded. “The Beastkin travel rations we’ve had aren’t terrible, but I’m in desperate need for some lovely variety.”
The Beastkin had provided us some of their food for the journey home to supplement our own shortfall, having lost almost all of our supplies in the cave in. Oddly enough, whatever meat they had given us tasted quite fishy, though it looked more like jerky.
Other than the goods they traded for, from the surface, I knew they hunted for their own food. When I’d broached the subject with Grotsanik about the fishy meat, out of curiosity, I’d learned it was from a cave dwelling beast that looked like a small, sightless deer.
We probably would have come across one of whatever it was, if the Troglodread hadn’t busted through so many of the tunnels, that most of the mountain fell onto our heads.
“You can eat what you like back at the Academy,” Juliana replied.
“But, Juliana…” Kesara complained.
“The sooner we get to the Academy, the better,” Karl said, his eyes darting yet again to the scroll in his hands. “I need far more reference material that I have on hand to understand this script.”
“Right, this is where we part ways,” I said. “Juliana, Clarissa, I’m going to show Aurielle around the city before we find a place to sleep, in case you hadn’t heard.”
Evidently, they hadn’t.
“No way!” Clarissa whined, grabbing my arm. She batted her eyelashes at me as she stuck her lower lip out in a pout. “I can definitely tuck you away in my room, handsome
. No one is allowed into my room other than me, after all.”
I might have believed her, if Juliana hadn’t barged in after our first night together…
“Yes, as I explained to Clarissa, I’m sure I can make some sort of arrangement with the headmaster,” Juliana said. “You are welcome to stay with me.”
“Even so, I need to find a place for Aurielle, as well. We’ll just head off to the left here, and I’ll meet you two tomorrow.”
“But…” both of them said as one before they saw how set I was on this course of action.
“Ugh,” Clarissa said. “Fine. But I want to see you first thing in the morning, handsome.”
“Perhaps I should stay with Alex… Surely these inns can’t be that bad…” Juliana began.
Clarissa whirled on the woman. “I don’t think so, Juliana. If I don’t get him tonight, then you don’t either. Remember our agreement?”
What agreement? I really wanted to know what she was talking about.
“I… well… ugh,” Juliana blurted. “Very well, if you insist. Perhaps I could visit you early tomorrow, Alex?”
“And how are you going to find him, without a trusty Clan member locator?” Clarissa asked, grinning. “You’ll have to be up bright and early, else I’ll just sneak him back to my room tomorrow.”
I shook my head as the women argued some more, but we all agreed to meet early the next day. It would likely be easier for everyone if I just showed up and waited at the Academy gates.
We bid the party goodbye as Aurielle and I peeled off in the middle of the city. They would all, naturally, continue on to the High District while I wanted to show Aurielle the area around the Windy Wolf.
Aurielle seemed fairly impressed with Tringall, as a whole, and I agreed it was pretty great for what I deemed to be your average fantasy city. I still wanted modern plumbing and sewers, though, but that was probably centuries away, if ever.
“The town I visited before I went into the Dungeon was much smaller than this,” Aurielle said. “Tringall reminds me of Naforta, the capital of my homeland.”
