“This is an unacceptable risk,” the lead Royal Guardsman growled, mustache quivering like a rodent had made its residence on his lips. He was standing close to Prince Roland as he spoke, his voice low but not so low that Daniel could not hear it. “Your highness.”
“Oh, it’ll be fine,” Roland said, clapping the guard on the shoulder. “It’s not as though I’m going alone. And multiple teams go in every month.”
“Multiple experienced teams,” the guardsman ground out. “Teams who stand a chance at completing the Dungeon and who have the Skills to map the new labyrinth.”
“But we have that. Daniel has a Mapping Skill, and I’ve got the Labyrinth Orb,” Roland said patiently. “And we nearly completed the Dungeon last month!”
“Nearly is not done,” the guardsman said, exasperated.
“It’s fine. We won’t go farther than a few turns. We’re not actually trying to get to the center,” Roland replied. “We just want to help with the mapping.”
“Just because you don’t intend to try doesn’t mean you won’t stumble on it!” the guardsman snapped.
“And if we do, we’ll finish it.” Roland smiled. His eyes grew somber, while he added, “You forget, I do have ways of finishing this if necessary.”
The Royal Guardsman tensed but relaxed a little, though the way he looked around and shot Daniel and Asin, the two companions close enough to hear—in the Beastkin’s case, due to her innate better hearing—a suspicious glare. But, after a moment, he stepped back, giving a close-fisted salute.
“Your highness. Good delving.”
Grinning insouciantly, Roland waved to the guards and sauntered over to the rest of the group. As Daniel turned, he caught one last meaningful glare sent his way by the leading guardsman and winced. He knew what it meant, being the Healer and team leader.
And what kind of responsibility that was.
A shake of his head sent such erroneous thoughts aside as Daniel met with the group. Theirs was not the only one gathered at the Dungeon entrance early in the morning, the courtyard leading to it lit with the steady glow of Mana lamps, what with the fall sun not having risen. Plumes of warm breath, visible in the cold rose from nearby mouths as the Adventurers stared at one another, the teams looking to explore the newly reconfigured Dungeon waiting by one another. Occasionally, the more gregarious broke off to chat with other team members, but with the opening so close, most chose to stay close.
Not that Daniel saw a huge point to that. The Adventuring Guild would be streaming them in order of seniority, which meant for themselves, they would be waiting quite a while. He could, he assumed probably have pulled rank with the prince but to the prince’s credit, he had never even mentioned that. Neither would Daniel even consider doing that.
After all, with the way the Labyrinth dumped them into random locations, the advantage of going first was not as great as newcomers might expect. Nor was Daniel inclined to make use of such advantages. He shuddered to even think the kind of rumors it would create.
Caught up in his own thoughts, he was broken out of it by a meat pastry waved in front of his face, the concentrated smell of heavy spices waking him. Blinking, Daniel took the pastry from the furred hand, offering a return grin to his friend. Then, remembering his own duties, he called out to the group.
“Best eat up now. We won’t be stopping once we’re in.”
***
Labyrinth ruins and slug creatures. Daniel grunted as he raised the crossbow he had stored for such instances, firing the enchanted bolt forwards to strike his target off the ceiling. The bolt only penetrated an inch into the slimy muscle before it stopped, but it was enough. The cold enchantment took over, wrapping the creature in ice magic and forcing it to curl inwards. Losing grip of the ceiling, it fell downward to crack, its frozen body taking further damage.
“Going in!” Johan cried, darting around Omrak.
The big Northerner halted his swing for a second; the ruined wall that had given way to create an earth embankment, the place he had chosen to take a stand, gave him the best position to hold the monsters off.
Not that it mattered to Johan. Wielding a pair of swords that flickered into flames, his Elemental Blade Skill allowing him to wield whatever elemental attack he wished, he tore into the Iskma Slugs. Not that Daniel knew who or what Iskma was, but he had obviously named the disgusting creatures.
So disgusting that Asin, who normally was happy to take part in any fight, was standing well behind the lines, throwing her knives whenever they reappeared and shocking the monsters off their perches on the wall and ceilings.
“You should save your bolts,” Lady Nyssa murmured to Daniel from where she stood next to him, hands held by her side. She did not cast anything, seeing little point.
They were only two turns in, and these creatures were just explode-y and gooey, with a minor acidic burn to them. If they managed to clamp on to you with their multi-lined teeth, it might go badly, but they were slow and dumb.
Not a threat for a team like them.
“Yeah.” Daniel nodded and slipped the bolt back into his Inventory. In the meantime, his eyes tracked over to the prince who, unlike Johan, had chosen to stay in his position just to the left of Omrak. Guarding the Northerner’s back but not interfering with his swings.
As though he was acknowledging this, Omrak flicked his greatsword one last time and then stepped back.
“Your turn!” Omrak cried.
Grinning, the prince burst forward, sword swinging and shield held before him. Daniel knew that the Royal Bodyguards would have quailed at such risk—low as it might be—but that was the reason Roland was with them. To have a chance to put himself in peril, to test himself without the stuffy eyes of his guards.
Holding the line was simple enough, though it was a messy business. Blade slipping forwards and sideways, Roland kept to quick cuts and thrusts, tearing open delicate skin and hiding behind his shield whenever the bodies before him burst apart in retaliation. His shield and armor, the best of its kind, was more than adequate for dealing with such pitiful-Leveled creatures.
After a while, the number of slug creatures had dropped that Daniel called out to Roland. “Advance!”
Released at last, Roland bounded forward, his sword dipping left and right as it skewered and killed. Igniting the enchantment within the weapon itself, Roland tore into the monsters with renewed vengeance in an attempt to match Johan’s own slaughter.
It was, of course, a failure since Johan had significant advantages including the use of two weapons and a head start. Still, it did nothing to stop Roland and Omrak who came along soon after in joining the battle. In all too short a period, all that was left were the glittering shards of Mana stones, the core of the creatures that Erlis used to create them from Ba’al’s taint.
Reward and necessity, all in one package.
Breathing heavily, Roland stood beside Johan, patting the man on the shoulder with one free hand, a wide grin on his face. “Master of Arms for sure. In a decade, I’m sure you’ll be a true Weaponmaster. At that time, I expect you to be training my own household guard.”
“Your highness . . .” Johan blushed, head bowing in embarrassment.
By his side, Daniel noted how Lady Nyssa stiffened for a second before breaking into a genuine grin at the boy’s fortune. Daniel understood; the kind of patronage just casually offered to the young man was more than sufficient to set him up for life. Him and his extended family, an aspect that Daniel knew would make his overbearing mother happy.
Everything that a noble could want. Everything that Lady Nyssa wanted, for herself, for her family. And she smiled, to see someone else get it.
Then, that moment was over, and it was just a team, getting sorted for the next fight.
***
“Behind!” Charles roared, the group trapped in the narrow tunnel, monsters coming down one side and the other. Tall, monstrous, empty armors, as much empty spirits as creatures of physical reality. Each were nine feet tall, wielding massive weapons that shook the melee fighters when blocked or pushed aside. The five at the front had already hampered their advance, and now, three more arrived from behind.
Daniel spun around, his eyes flicking over options. He ran the numbers, made the decision and gestured at Asin, who had been hanging back, searching for an opening in the front, and who had now turned around.
“Hold. Take the front down, then come to us,” Daniel commanded.
Her eyes narrowed, but then she nodded and turned back. He could feel her bounce on her light, padded feet, a slight sheen crossing over her skin and fur. He knew she’d just activated another ability, Cat’s Grace, a Beastkin skill that boosted her speed and grace. The next second, even as he was turning away to the back, to where their Mage was already facing, forming a Sonic Ball in her hand, he caught her darting away. As graceful as a cat.
Then, he had no more time to consider his back. “Hit them hard.”
“I’ll need a few seconds,” Lady Nyssa said.
Daniel nodded, having already guessed as much. He moved forward, stopping a short distance from where he started, positioning himself just in front and to the side of Charles. The bodyguard had put away his bow, drawing forth a smaller shield and a mace from his inventory.
At Daniel’s questioning look, Charles shrugged. “Just because I prefer the sword doesn’t mean I wasn’t trained with maces.”
Then, the pair no longer had time to talk. The empty Spirit Armors might be slow moving, but they were so large, they still covered the ground to the party fast enough. With all three of their main melee combatants already caught up in the skirmish against the armors to the front—a mistake Daniel was kicking himself at making now—it was up to the Healer and Charles to hold them back.
Good thing, Daniel thought as he hefted his shield, he was trained for this too. His first action was to split the group apart. That was easily done by casting his Impactful Hammer of Recall forwards, sending it to strike the monster on the far right in the chest. The creature flew backwards, the Impactful enchantment on the warhammer boosting the kinetic punch delivered.
Next, Daniel grabbed his old warhammer from his reserve, pulling on its enchantment. The Monstrous Spider that emerged was not the most appropriate creature to use in this fight, but it was what was stored in the hammer’s summoning rune. For now, it would work.
A step backwards, allowing Charles to cover for him as he stored his additional weapon. The bodyguard flickered as he moved to meet the lead armor, his shield held before him. Intercepting Charge allowed the bodyguard to move into the blow with surprising speed, blasting the armor backwards as his own Shield of Rebound took care of the strike. It moved the armor back by a few feet, more than enough for Charles to begin to lay into it with his own, unenchanted weapon.
In the meantime, Daniel held his hand out, recalling his weapon to him as he skipped left, taking on the last monster. It raised its arm high overhead, ready to swing its oversized sword down. Rather than let the monster finish its swing, Daniel charged in and caught the elbow of its armor on his raised shield, pushing with all his considerable strength. As he did so, he stepped to the side, swinging hard with his own weapon, the hammer finally landing in his outstretched hand.
Strike. And strike again. The hammer he used crushed steel in degrees over the strikes Daniel himself threw. Each strike drained the kinetic reservoir, but as the pair traded blow, that very same kinetic reserve grew. Increasing with every swing, every block that did not strike hammer head, where the enchantment would trigger.
Long moments of battering one another occurred, one that Daniel found himself mostly on the receiving end. Even damaging the externalities of the creature’s body did nothing to the animating presence within. Only by cracking the armor open entirely would the Spirits within be forced outwards, losing cohesion outside of its protective embrace.
A task that required great strength or great finesse. Neither of which the Healer had. Breathing grew hard, his arms ached with repeated blows, his own armor-shedding attacks that still left him bruised underneath it all. His legs wavered, his arms throbbed, and the third monster returned, having dispatched the monstrous summoned spider with ease, forcing Daniel and Charles to stand in line, fighting off the creatures.
“Ready!”
The shout came none too soon. Ducking low, the pair hunkered down even as the screaming orb of sound and fury passed over their heads. It even crossed through the top of an armor’s helmet, sending the creature twisting and sprawling to the ground as the animating Spirit twitched in agony. The other pair of armors soon followed their brethren, the sonic attack bypassing steel shells.
Long seconds of thrumming damage, before Daniel shoved Charles in the side and gestured with his head. Together, the pair braved the screaming aural attack to pound upon the armors, cracking them open to hasten the monsters’ death.
Leaving them, long minutes later, victorious.
If rather bruised and exhausted.
***
The team reconvened after a few minutes of rest and preparation, weapons stored away, wounds bandaged and discarded weapons—in Johan’s case mostly, though Asin’s throwing knives were also at fault—picked up. Asin had even retrieved all the Mana stones, helped along by Charles doing a final sweep to ensure nothing was missed. Not that there were likely to be, since they weren’t fighting a swarm. Still, it always paid to be careful—literally. More than once, the team had picked up Mana stones left behind by other, less careful teams.
Daniel swept over the group, then decided to just ask rather than gingerly move around it. “Resources?”
“About half of my Mana pool,” Lady Nyssa said.
“Two-thirds,” Daniel said, glancing over the team. No one was hurt, hurt—but pushing a few Healer Mark’s at the end of the day to ensure everyone was ready for the next day would cost him at least a third of his Mana. His Healing Aura might accelerate base healing, but it just wasn’t that powerful.
Yet.
“I’m down to a quarter,” Johan spoke up, looking down and shifting uncomfortably. “Had to . . . ummm . . . use a Skill.”
“The one that punched through the armor?” Omrak rumbled. “Beautiful attack. What was it? Piercing Strike?”
“Uhh . . . no. It was . . . ummm . . . Masters of Arms exclusive.”
“Of course! And . . . ?” Omrak persisted.
“Friend Omrak, you know that is rude,” Roland cut in, nodding to Johan. “Suffice to say, our Master of Arms has a powerful piercing skill proficiency, no?”
Omrak jerked a nod, pounding his chest with a fist. “I am good to continue.”
“As am I,” Roland agreed. When the group just stared at him, he looked back with a knowing smile. “Really. My armor refreshes my Stamina, and I took the least amount of injury.”
“Omrak and Roland are good. Charles?” Daniel said, turning to the older gentleman. He was watching their back as usual, standing just outside.
“I have three quarters of my Mana left.”
“Two thirds.” Asin spoke up, before she was asked.
Daniel paused, considering as he swept his gaze over the team, assessing damage and stamina. Mostly, it was good, the Healing Aura helping his friends recover their endurance faster than anything else. However, their biggest damage dealers were low on Mana which meant they would struggle against another high-level team. If they ran into a couple more such groups, returning would be tricky.
Even so, a quick mental gauge and review of their map showed that they’d only been in the Dungeon for less than half a day and were only just over two dozen turns in. Nowhere close to completing the Dungeon or finding its heart.
More importantly . . . Daniel cast a glance under his brows over to the eager prince, only to be surprised to see the prince smiling back a little. Before the Healer could consider what that meant, the prince spoke up.
“Let’s head back,” Roland said. “We don’t want my guards to worry too much. Better to be safe than sorry, right?”
The group nodded automatically, both because Roland was telling the truth and because it was the prince speaking. Even then, Daniel was surprised to hear the words coming from the impetuous prince’s mouth.
Then he shook it off and gestured.
“Well, then, let’s go. Asin?”
Nodding, the Catkin loped off, taking the lead as they backtracked. If they were lucky, none of the monsters had respawned and leaving would be simple. If they were even luckier, some wandering monsters might have arrived and they’d be able to pick up a few more Mana stones.