Chapter 11

We raced off towards the woods from where Amenthia and Entivala had been attacking from. Darius was right on my heels as we reached the perimeter of the forest and saw that they were being waylaid by three more Gnoll. Both Amenthia and Enti were fighting as best they could against their assailants. They were keeping the beasts at bay while getting in a few blows of their own in the process. I felt a surge of pride in their ability to defend themselves in the event of an ambush, but right now I needed to focus. While it was a foolish idea, I didn’t hesitate to spin around and launch my shield at the nearest Gnoll.

I watched as the disk-shaped shield cut through the air and hit with a loud impact with the side of the Gnoll’s head, stunning it for a few moments. It gave me the time to close the distance between us and temporarily stop one of the Gnolls from attacking my companions. The stun seemed to wear off just as I came within striking distance, but I still had a few seconds to attack. I slashed along its back as hard as I could, hitting deep in the creature’s lower back. I missed the spine, instead, hitting the side muscles and was able to pull my blade free.

I was barely able to get my blade in position before he hit me with his gnarled, two handed sword. The blow knocked me off balance and I stumbled backwards as the beast swung for another attack. I was able to plant my feet and parry the blow, as the Gnoll continued to press his advantage. I maintained my defense, blocking or deflecting each blow and trying to maintain my balance from the force of its strikes. Darius came up behind the beast as it made another swing at me and slammed his maul right into the knee of the attacking Gnoll. The beast cried out in pain and began to fall, causing its swing to miss. I used that opening to jam my blade up below its chin, right into its brain. The Gnoll twitched and then burst into a cloud of smoke. We turned to help Amenthia and Entivala, only to see two puffs of smoke dissipating.

“Sorry about that, my loves,” I said morosely, “I didn’t think to check the woods for more enemies. Just because it looked clear didn’t mean it was.”

Entivala smiled and patted my cheek, “I had my map out the whole time, so I could adjust my spell trajectory and I didn’t see them until it was too late. They used the cover of trees and bushes to their advantage.”

“You can’t be expected to know everything, Pathios,” Amenthia said in a tone usually used by mothers who were trying to make their children realize how silly they seemed.

Darius raised his hand, “Being the newcomer to this group, I gotta say that this was one of the better executed defenses I have been a part of. Most people in random groups just attack their own targets thinking of the drops, or more importantly, the prestige they will gain. This causes a lot of adventurers to get in one another’s way and ending with their defeat. There is too much ego there and I can admit I have been the same often enough. That is why I decided to follow your lead and worry more about covering your back and in the end, you had mine.

“As for the Gnolls, they are sneaky bastards that will use their beast like nature to move around unseen manner and attack when it is least expected. I have been surprise attacked a few times by parties of Gnolls that I couldn’t hear or see coming. So don’t beat yourself up on what happened because it happens to everybody. It isn’t that you failed to see them, it was just there no way for you to have known. They didn’t hurt anyone, so we should consider this a success and head up to the next floor.”

He was right and I told him that as I went to pick up my shield. I looked at where the metal had hit the Gnoll’s head and there was a bit of a dent in it. Damn, those things were thick skulled. Amenthia collected the various drops, and since there were four orbs, Darius was given one. I was surprised to find one of the gnarled swords still on the ground, so we took that, too, before heading up the stairs. As we neared the light coming from the exit to the next floor, we could hear the sounds of animals in the distance. When we emerged from the exit, we found ourselves on the top of a hillside. Before us was a vast set of fields ripe with crops. From what I could see of the various buildings there had to be four or five farms nearby, with more, no doubt, farther along towards the nearest settlement. Entivala opened up the map and the village was about an hour out. There was no sign that there were any monsters or dangerous animals nearby.

“Welcome to the fourth floor everyone,” Darius said with a smile to us. “Enjoy, for there are no monsters on this floor. It is a blessing for some of those who decide to make a living in the Dungeon. This floor is the one that provides a lot of the food for Eden, totaling nearly thirteen thousand farms. Not to say there aren’t more outside the twelve cities and there are at least six on the outer perimeter of Kortinos. Florani village is the nearest one, we will find a Pact House there to register the floor and then, if you want, we can continue to the fifth floor?”

I touched Darius on the shoulder, “Thank you for helping us to get here, but I think that we need to wait for Cassandra before going to the next floor. I do have one question. Is there anywhere on this floor that she can collect materials for her work, or is this floor devoid of any of that?”

“Hmm,” Darius muttered as he became lost in thought for a few moments. “I can’t say for sure, mind you, but I haven’t heard of anyone finding any ore, gems or other minerals on this floor. If they had, there would probably be a mine of some sort here already and there are no known underground tunnels for this floor.”

I nodded, “I had hoped to get some grinding in on our way into the village, but that is fine. We can make up for it when we hit the fifth floor. For now, let’s head to the village and check in. Sorry you didn’t get the drops that I was hoping we would get. I assumed that we would have another level full of enemies for us to work through. I also thought the village would be farther from the stairwell. It would have given us a longer period of grinding before we arrived at the village.”

“You mentioned that term before,” Darius said with a confused look on his face. “What exactly is this ‘grinding’ you keep mentioning?”

Amenthia and Entivala tittered a bit and I glanced over at them, which only made them begin to laugh. Darius started glancing between the three of us, looking even more confused.

“Sorry about those two. They hear grinding and their mind goes in the gutter,” I said with a sigh. “Grinding is our method of trying to attack and kill as many creatures and enemies between here and the village as possible. This gives us drops for money or the shop, as well as helps increase our stats. We don’t rush, as it ensures we are over prepared instead of under prepared. Given how much stronger some of our enemies have become, I think it is needed.”

He nodded in what I hoped was understanding and we started towards the village. Despite what Darius had told us, I made sure that Entivala had her map ready to give us a warning at any moment. Given the experiences of the last few weeks, we had no way to know for sure if this floor was still safe. Over the next hour, we passed by the farms, and I looked at the various crops and animals each one had. I smiled a little at the tableau and the memories of home that it conjured in my mind. I never lived where there were farms, mind you, but I could recall on family excursions the various sights and smells of them as we drove past.

Unlike the villages found on the lower levels, there didn’t seem to be any walls around this one. Walls typically are to protect the residents from the threats outside and it reinforced Darius’ claim that there were no threats to be found on this floor. We entered from the western side and began to search for the Pact House. It took us about fifteen minutes, but we were able to get in and register the floor. I brought up my stats to get an idea of what that fight had done.

Pathios Daxion

Health: 210

Mana: 0

Level: 3

Strength: 14

Defense: 18

Speed: 9

Vitality: 11

Magic: 5

Wisdom: 6

Agility: 13

Awareness: 15

Weapon:

Name: Dragon’s Bane

Weapon Type: Bastard Sword

Damage Type: Slash/ Pierce

Attack Damage: Strength + 13

Traits: Sword totals double against Dragonkin.

Abilities: Dragon breath: Fire wall appears in front of the wielder, damaging enemies and destroying no fire-based projectiles. Water attacks of fifty or more damage negate the wall. Sword contains three charges per day.

Durability: 63/100

Armor: Dragon Scale Armor Set

Effects: 50% Fire Resistance

Set Defense Total: Defense + 12

Head:

Durability: 52/100

Body:

Gloves:

Boots: Dragon Scale Boots

We didn’t bother trading in the orbs yet, since we would only get a small amount of gold and took the transit tubes back to the Pact House. We hadn’t taken too much of the day with our fight, so we arrived around time for the mid-day meal. We stopped for some food, while Darius went ahead to talk to Cassandra. We had just finished eating when Darius entered with Cassandra.

“Hey, guys,” Darius called out as they got closer. “Cassandra is free to come with us. I guess she will just need to go get her armor and then we can leave?”

Cassandra blushed and replied, “No, we can go. It will only take about ten to fifteen minutes to get it, so I will grab my armor when we get there.”

He got a confused look on his face, but she assured him it would be okay. We dropped off our empty plates and headed for the transit tubes. When we arrived at the Pact House, Cassandra left to go to our armory and collect her gear, leaving a very confused Darius in her wake. Just as she predicted, fifteen minutes later she returned dressed in her equipment, ready to head to the next floor.

I could see his confusion and said, “While I would like to explain to you where she went and how she got her things in the Dungeon, I am not sure I am allowed to say it. I would hate to get Tyr in trouble by accidentally revealing something I shouldn’t. If Tyr gives me permission, I will happily explain it to you.”

“I see,” he said, giving me a speculative look. “I am guessing that this is knowledge limited to your adventuring party?”

I nodded, “That is correct. Due to Cassandra’s unique status, she is bound to my adventuring party as are Amenthia and Entivala. Because of that, anything I am given access to, they are as well. Since you’re a temporary party member, I cannot divulge without permission.”

“Okay, I understand. I won’t push you on the matter,” Darius said with a shrug. “However, I do hope you will come to trust me more over time.”

We shook hands and left the Pact House, heading for the northern gate. Enti brought up her map and we could see that there was a stairwell about six hours of travel north east from the village.

“Pathios,” Darius said, pulling my attention from the map, “since there are no monsters on this floor, would you have any issue with purchasing some mounts for the journey?”

Amenthia pulled her focus from the map and asked, “How much for the mounts and what do we do with them when we arrive at the staircase? It’s not like there is a village next to it to drop them off at.”

Darius thought about it for a moment then answered, “If my memory serves me right, it would be about seventy-five gold for each mount we would need. That would put us at three hundred and seventy-five gold. A wagon with two horses would run us three hundred gold. In either case, once you arrive at your destination you say the village name to the horses, and they will return here. In the case of this village, it is Contru.”

I glanced at the others in the group and was given a quick nod. With everyone agreeing on our means of travel, we followed Darius to a nearby stable where we would purchase a wagon for our journey. The stable master told us that while it may be cheaper, a wagon would not get there that much faster due to the weight of the wagon, as well as the riders. He offered us a deal which would drop the cost to three hundred and we got the five horses. Thanks to this, our six-hour journey on foot became a two-hour journey on horseback.