Chapter Thirty

 

The crew stretched together, having finished breakfast a few minutes ago. Stern was still grinning internally over the previous afternoon. When they’d gone to leave the Deep Mug, Emma pulled Vulk aside and spoke with him quietly. Vulk had blushed, nodded a few times, then given Emma a big smile before hurrying after them.

 

“Dinner after we clear tonight, right?” Trish asked as they worked on their legs.

 

“Uh, I’m going to miss it,” Vulk coughed.

 

“Hot date?” Trish grinned.

 

“How did you—?”

 

Trish’s laughter cut Vulk off. “We all saw her pull you aside yesterday. Good for you. We’ll be in the city for a few days after the run like normal, so enjoy yourself, but don’t miss training.”

 

Vulk was red as he stretched.

 

Cammie watched her brother, then spoke up as they switched to their arms, “Just treat her right and know that it might just be while we’re here.”

 

Vulk paused. “I know.” His words were soft and held a riot of emotions.

 

“Been there,” Stern grunted. “Wondered how things would all change— if she would ask you to stay, or what if you hope she does and she doesn’t? Will it hurt if she considers it just fun and doesn’t want anything serious? Been there, Vulk. Sadly, it means you’ll likely be jittery while you wait to see how it all falls out.”

 

Vulk stopped stretching, exhaling deeply. “That’s all for later. We have a dungeon before us now.”

 

“Good focus,” Stern said.

 

~*~*~

 

Less than a half hour later, the entire crew— including Pawly— walked around the academy to the dungeon area. A permanent roof had been set over it, giving respite from the warm spring day. The overcast sky added to the humidity, making it uncomfortable for anyone unaccustomed to the wetness.

 

The few vendors smiled at the group, but didn’t call out to them as they were selling to other crews. Their potions and salves were on clear display for those who wanted to buy any.

 

A clear line had formed, heading to the shaft by the guards. They got in line and waited for their turn. It was barely a minute later when someone tapped Stern on the shoulder.

 

“Stern, good to see you again,” Sarah Kalma said. “First run?”

 

“Only run,” Stern said. “We’ve been leaving our other runs open, just in case. Let me introduce you. Cyra, this is Sarah Kalma. Her crew helped me get your shards. Sarah, this is my crew: Cyra, Trish, Vulk, Cammie, and Pawly.”

 

“You name the cat as part of your crew?” Blake asked.

 

“Pawly is an integral part of our crew, even if she is my summons,” Stern rebuffed the man. “Oh, wait, you don’t see her as she can be.” Stern’s hands and fingers flew through the motions to add every upgrade perk to Pawly.

 

Blake took a step back, his mouth falling open in shock. Others nearby did likewise, staring at the tiger-sized house cat that started to float off the ground as she stretched. Her tentacles waggled and electricity coursed down her body. The air tinted with ozone and the hair raised on the people closest to her.

 

“Goddess,” Sarah breathed out. “She’s amazing.”

 

“That’s going to inflate her ego,” Stern chuckled, “but she really is.”

 

Everyone was looking at Pawly hovering seven feet off the ground, preening as she stared down at everyone.

 

“How did she do that?” someone asked in awe.

 

“Perks,” Stern said. “Summoners get the chance at upgrade perks.”

 

“A flying, electrical, tentacled cat is a perk?”

 

“A couple of perks, but yeah.”

 

“Wish I was a summoner...” someone sighed.

 

“You’re next,” an official voice said.

 

Stern looked toward the guards, finding the line was gone. “Sorry, sir. Pawly, dungeon time. Sarah, safe runs.”

 

“Safe runs,” Sarah replied.

 

Stern led his crew to the shaft, which had a ladder leading down. He was about to start climbing when Pawly shot past him. Snorting, he grabbed the ladder and went down.

 

~*~*~

 

The dungeon was rough stone, but showed signs of being worked. The ceiling was a good ten feet overhead and had a few stalactites hanging that would just miss Stern’s head. There were rough spots that showed where stalagmites might have been previously, but they’d been removed. The dim glow moss scattered across the ceiling was more than enough illumination for all of them.

 

“Well, something removed the stone,” Trish said. “So intelligence is in play, though how intelligent is up in the air.”

 

“Agreed,” Stern said. “We’ll have to at least see the tunnels to get a better idea.”

 

Cyra, Cammie, and Stern all got their crossbows ready while Vulk and Trish pulled their melee weapons. Pawly chuffed, having already weaved around the hanging stone pillars to the tunnel leading out of the room.

 

The crew stacked up on the exit, looking into the tunnel. From three feet off the floor, the rough stone had been crudely smoothed.

 

“Hmm... might be lizrots,” Stern said, “or possibly muki.”

 

“Muki?” Cyra asked.

 

“Two-foot-tall, horned, broad-shouldered monsters,” Stern said. “They like to mine and work stone. They’re resistant to physical attacks and a few elements because of their nature. It would be odd to see them this far down in tier.”

 

“Intelligent enough for traps,” Cammie said. “They prefer pit traps and deadfalls.”

 

“Let’s go see what we have,” Stern said. “Pawly, we follow.”

 

Pawly hovered a foot off the ground as she floated forward. The tunnel stretched for a good distance before it abruptly ended in a T-intersection. Pawly paused as she sniffed both ways.

 

“Well, this is already going to be our most challenging dungeon,” Stern said. “Either way, we leave our backs open.”

 

“Never been in a dungeon that didn’t lead into a room first,” Trish said. “Not an enclosed dungeon, I mean.”

 

“They do this, especially higher, from what I’ve heard,” Stern said. “I say we go left. Trish and Vulk should lead. Cyra, you stay right behind them with Cammie following you, and I’ll take the end. I’ll be looking backward a lot.”

 

“The tunnels twist and turn, so we won’t have a lot of warning,” Trish said. “Maybe Vulk and I should split? We’re best suited for melee.”

 

“I’ll give Cammie the crossbow and have daggers in hand,” Stern said. “The tunnels are at least straight enough that the crossbows can be used, even if we have to give ground at times.”

 

“Not enough room for two of us to be in front,” Vulk grunted. “I’ll take the rearguard.”

 

“Okay. Pawly can get to either side, since she can fly. That way, no matter what, you won’t be isolated.”

 

Cyra took a slow, deep breath. “Okay. This will be normal going forward. Okay...”

 

Cammie gave her shoulder a squeeze. “We all feel those nerves. Kind of like the last dungeon, but not as bad, since there are tunnels.”

 

“That’s true,” Cyra said, feeling a little better.

 

Stern kept his mouth shut— he’d been about to point out that they didn’t have the sightlines that they’d had in the open dungeon, but that wouldn’t calm Cyra. He met Trish’s eyes and saw the same realization in her.

 

“Okay, Pawly, left first,” Stern whispered.

 

They all felt the tension as they followed the flying cat down the hall. The only sounds were the slight shink-shink of Trish’s armor, their breathing, and the occasional pop of electricity from Pawly’s fur.

 

The tunnel had a sharp double bend in it, and Cammie came to a sudden stop halfway through it, forcing Stern and Vulk to do the same. Stern breathed slowly, listening to hear anything if Trish spoke.

 

A moment later, Cammie leaned forward to see around the bend where Cyra’s back was barely visible to Stern. She leaned back after a moment and held up five fingers. Stern repeated the gesture for Vulk behind him and got ready to go in.

 

Time seemed to drag for Stern before Cammie suddenly rushed forward. Stern was right on her heels, crossbow up and ready to fire over her. The bending tunnel led into a cavern similar to the entrance.

 

Five monsters rushed at Trish, who was standing ready to meet them a dozen feet inside the room. Two-feet tall and almost that wide, the creatures’ heads seemed a little small for their bodies. The horns that came out of their foreheads glinted metallically in the dim light, as did their abnormal eyes. They wore crude outfits made of leather and vines.

 

“Muki,” Stern said. “Crap, do the best you can. Cammie, your crossbow won’t be effective.” He fired his first bolt as he spoke. It impacted the one farthest from the group, staggering it back a step as it sank a couple inches into its torso.

 

Pawly came darting down, her tentacles slapping the next farthest. The electricity coursed down the monster and it shuddered, falling over. Pawly flew past it, raking her back claws across it.

 

Cyra’s crossbow fired at the same mob Stern had, but her bolt barely penetrated it at all. “Ineffective!” she called out.

 

Vulk was beside Trish before the other three muki reached her. Together, they attacked the smaller monsters. Trish’s hammer blows came down hard and her shield darted down, then sideways, catching the horns that tried to puncture her legs. Vulk’s axes dug into the third muki, but like the others, his axes didn’t quite dig in the way they should have. Fortunately, one of the wounds pumped blood slowly, but clearly.

 

Stern kept firing at the one he’d hit before, sinking bolt after bolt into it until the monster collapsed. He then switched to the mob Pawly had attacked, which was slowly struggling back to its feet.

 

Vulk hissed in pain as the muki’s horns scored a deep gouge on his left hand, almost making him drop his axe. Gritting his teeth against the pain, he relentlessly hacked into the monster, intent on killing it.

 

Cyra used her Minor Life to heal Vulk’s injured hand so he could continue to fight to his best ability. Her eyes darted from Trish to Vulk, ready to assist again if she was needed.

 

Cammie grimaced. She pulled out her hammer and was wondering if she should go in to help when Pawly came strafing down into the scrum. Her tentacles lashed out, stunning the one attacking Vulk when the electricity discharged into it. She then landed on the back of the muki Trish was fighting, biting its shoulder as she raked it with her back claws.

 

Taking advantage of the stun, Vulk hacked the creature in the head repeatedly until he finally dug into its hard skull. When it slumped over, dead, he spun to help Trish with the two attacking her.

 

The fight was over soon after. They were breathing fast as they took in the dead monsters. Stern knelt and started reloading his crossbow, glad that it was able to punch far enough into the tough monsters to do what was needed.

 

“I couldn’t help,” Cammie said.

 

“Me, neither,” Cyra sighed.

 

“You helped my brother, at least,” Cammie corrected Cyra.

 

“Muki,” Trish said bluntly. “Tough like the stone they dig. No easy kill spots and they’re dense, making it hard to damage them at all.”

 

“Pawly was able to stun them,” Vulk said. “Her electrical discharge works if she touches them, and it locked up the one on me.”

 

“And the other one she attacked, too,” Stern added. “Good job, Pawly.”

 

Pawly chuffed as she floated above them, proud of herself.

 

“Okay, this room had five,” Trish said, shifting gears. “That means we’ll likely find groups. They don’t really go in for weapons. They use their horns to dig and attack.”

 

“Cammie, can you rig up some traps?” Stern asked. “Anything sticky would work to help separate them or slow them down for us. We might be able to use them to give us an edge.”

 

“Oh, yes,” Cammie nodded as she pulled her bag off. “Can I have a few minutes?”

 

“Easily,” Trish said. “Vulk, how bad was the injury?”

 

“Almost lost an axe,” Vulk grunted, then gave Cyra a nod. “Thanks.”

 

“I wasn’t sure if I should right then or not,” Cyra said, “but it looked like you were going to drop your weapon, and you needed them.”

 

“It was a good call,” Trish said. “Muki are strong like the bakruma. Him using both of his axes gives him options to defend and attack.”

 

“We’ll go a bit slower,” Stern said. “Getting ambushed will be bad.”

 

“Yes, it will.”

 

“No other ways out, so we went the right way, at least,” Vulk said.

 

“Good thing. Getting those five behind us would be bad,” Stern said as he inserted a fresh magazine. “Let me grab my bolts and I’ll be ready to stand sentry while Cammie works.”

 

~*~*~

 

The group backtracked to the T-intersection and went the other way. They walked as quietly as they could with Pawly flying ahead and above them. The natural tunnels wound and twisted, but with the way behind them clear, they were comfortable with not being ambushed.

 

They found another offshoot that quickly ended in another room. This one only had three muki in it. With the number of mobs reduced, they didn’t have any trouble killing them without injury.

 

They discovered that the tunnel system was the same general layout. Alcoves came off the main tunnel— some were just wide enough for a single muki, while others were large enough for twenty of the monsters, but they only found five at a time at most.

 

Cammie got to deploy traps a few times when a straight section of tunnel was near an alcove. Those traps were based on a natural glue that slowed the muki, keeping them from charging quickly. They’d cleared dozens of alcoves before they reached another T-intersection.

 

“Right or left again,” Trish murmured.

 

“The boss has to be just up here somewhere,” Stern whispered. “Instead of picking, we should let Pawly go scout both.”

 

“Pawly?” Trish asked.

 

Pawly chuffed, then flew down the right-hand tunnel. After a few long minutes, she came back and flew down the other tunnel. The wait seemed longer to the crew this time. Pawly came floating back to them eventually, then chuffed. She pointed right and one of her tentacles patted the air three times. Facing left, she patted the air five times, then paused, chuffed, and patted the air once more.

 

“Three to the right, and five plus the boss to the left,” Stern said.

 

“Can’t leave the extras behind us,” Trish said.

 

“Cammie, can you put one of your traps down here? We’ll collect it on the way back.”

 

“To make sure we aren’t hit from behind without warning while we take out the smaller group? Sure.”

 

“Shouldn’t be a problem,” Trish said, “but it’s good practice for later.”

 

“Will the boss have anything special?” Vulk asked.

 

“Advanced muki are said to be able to suffocate you if they can get their hands on you,” Stern said. “It makes doing anything difficult.”

 

“Okay, so the boss needs to be targeted quickly,” Trish said. “Pawly, when we go to it, that’s your job. Keep it stunned as long as you can. Stern, pin-cushion it. The best thing to do is to take away that advantage. That just leaves the problem of five regular ones for us to deal with.”

 

“Pawly, is the tunnel straight?” Cammie asked.

 

Pawly nodded.

 

“So we trap it, then just pull back,” Cammie said. “We’ll have an easier time cutting them down that way.”

 

“Hallway means only one of us can fight at a time effectively,” Trish said.

 

Vulk nodded. “Yes. Your shield would be the best for this. I’ll be ready to jump in if needed.”

 

“First, the others,” Stern said.

 

“Yes,” Trish nodded.