Chapter 24

Our first stop was to Esmerelda, to check in and see if there were any quests, or the like, now that I had completed my trial. The lines were not that long, so we didn’t have to wait long before we were ushered to the back offices. A few minutes later, we were seated across from Esmerelda, who, as always, had a welcoming smile on her face.

“Hello everyone,” Esmerelda said in a singsong voice. “I am happy to see you all here and you have gained another companion.”

I smiled, “Yes this is Cassandra. She joined our Pact house and it resulted in her skills being brought down to zero. As such, since I was the reason that she was moved to the Pact house, I offered to have her join our group. Since our levels are a bit higher, we could help her get materials and ensure her protection.”

“Ah, I see,” Esmerelda replied. “I guess it has something to do with your new armor. I have to say it is an amazing piece of work, Brot’k has a real talent. So what can I do for you today?”

“Well we plan to go into the Dungeon but wanted to check in with my Guild representative and of course find out any quests we might be able to undertake.”

Esmerelda’s grin widened, “Of course, and since you have completed your trials, you’re now eligible to participate in Guild challenges and quests. For now there is only one quest, which would be more for higher level characters, but you already have proven that you can handle a target that was far stronger than you shouldn’t have been able to defeat.”

I looked at my companions and all three nodded in confirmation, so I turned back to Esmerelda and said, “What is the job?”

“On the third floor, one of the northern towns is being attacked by a group of Arachni. Thirty attacked, and while they were fended off, the town guard suffered heavy losses. Unfortunately the attacking horde did escape with seven or eight still alive. Given how many a queen can produce with each sack, they could return with two to five times more attackers than the first. Arachni sacks can rupture with new spawn within two weeks, but we have no way of knowing how old the nest could be. The nest and the queen are to be snuffed out.”

“What is the time frame,” Entivala asked leaning forward, “and what is the reward for completing the quest?”

“You have no more than ten days to complete this quest. As for reward, there is both cash and points. You will get ten thousand gold and fifty prestige along with fifty prestige for each of you. Now, while the time for the quest is ten days, we have no idea the damage these creatures will cause in the meantime and their numbers will no doubt continue to grow.”

After a quick glance at my party, I said, “Very well, we will accept the mission and will see you in a few days when we return to turn it in.”

Esmerelda noted it on her pad, and we made our way out of the Guild office, but I decided to head down instead of up. This caused confusion with my companions, but I assured them that it is just a short detour. We entered the Knowledge Center and I made my way over to the counter to find Saga waiting with a smile.

“Hello, Pathios, what is it that I could do for you today? Check your story perhaps, or are you here to purchase??”

“Hello there, Saga,” I responded with a smile, “I am here to return the instructional book you gave me, though we weren’t able to get to the section that described the various races. Perhaps we can return another time and get one.”

Saga grabbed a card with a jewel and tapped it to my bracer, causing a flash of light from the card and my jewel.

“That just transferred a racial index onto your bracer. Just ask open index if you want to know more about a race. This will also feed you information about creatures you encounter in the dungeon. Consider it a thank you for being so prompt in returning the instructional guide and I hope it helps with you current quest.”

Saga gave me a knowing wink and waved goodbye to me and my other party members.

“Alright ladies, we have ten days to get this job done, along with ensuring that Cassandra is able to collect the materials she will need. Do we want to start from the beginning or from a specific floor?”

Amenthia raised her hand, “I would think for gathering purposes and building the group fighting dynamic would be best served by starting from the first floor.”

Entivala and Cassandra agreed with Amenthia and we went up the stairs and made our way to the first floor. We chose a different stairwell than we had the previous times we entered the Dungeon and came out of the north east entrance. I brought up my map and saw that the nearest stairwell to the second floor was about two hours away, which we could double if we intentionally looked for mobs.

I turned and asked, “Cassandra, do you have a way to track or locate suitable mining spots on your map, or is that a skill you do not possess as yet?”

She shook her head, “Unfortunately that is a perception skill I don’t have yet, I will need to raise my awareness to at least ten and right now it is at one.”

“Okay then, standard grind path to the next floor. Amenthia will pair with Enti to lay down ranged attacks and act as Enti’s protection. You and I will be frontal assault, though I would suggest you let me take the brunt of the conflict and work to spot enemies trying to flank us.”

I brought up the map and showed them our position and our destination. Given that we would need to work on her ability scores, I chose to pick the next farther stairwell. It was three and a half hours away, but I could extend that to nearly nine hours, accounting for breaks. I explained the purpose of grinding to Cassandra and, by extension, Entivala. While Enti had participated in grinding with us, she was not told the reason I did that and the result that it could achieve, though she did see the large number of drops that we had collected. I showed them the path we would take and how it would intersect with various rocky outcroppings within the vast forest of this floor.

“There is one thing you will need to be aware of, Pathios,” Cassandra replied. “Once we hit the third floor the size and cunning of the mobs will be different and more difficult.”

I nodded, “I am in no rush, Cassandra. I plan to get our teamwork to where it will need to be to complete this quest. I wish we had more time, but I am confident that we can do it. I also plan to make sure our routes will come across as many rock formations and possible caves as we can.”

Cassandra gave her thanks and we made our way away from the entrance, beginning our trek to the next floor. I had Enti use her map, since her awareness was still the highest of the group and she would be able to switch to her fighting spells without delay. A few minutes later, we came across our first mob, a trio of harpies. There was no sign of a nest and Enti was certain that there were no other mobs waiting to ambush us. Given the aerial nature of the enemy, Cassandra and I would run protection for the others. We got into defensive positions around them as Amenthia and Enti sent off their first volleys.

Amenthia’s arrow didn’t hit a critical area, but did hit the harpy’s left wing, causing it to cry out in pain and have trouble staying airborne. The other two turned towards us and attacked without hesitation. Enti sent out three ice spears towards them, but despite the velocity of her projectiles, the harpies were able to dodge the attack. I brought my shield up just as the talons of the closest harpy came to bear, resounding in a loud clang as I deflected its attack and attempted to counter with one of my own.

The harpy flew out of range of my sword with a shriek but didn’t see Cassandra’s sword until it was too late. The blade cleaved the left arm of the harpy off in one stroke, causing the creature to cry out in pain. I was about to apply a killing stroke, but a cry of surprise turned my attention in time to block the last uninjured harpy’s attack. I shifted my weight and turned my blade in time to partially deflect the attack, but the two talons grazed my armor and helmet. I was glad that the armor was proving to be as we had expected. A minute later, a shard of ice pierced its heart and it screamed in pain before bursting into smoke. I turned to find another burst of smoke as Cassandra finished off the one, she had maimed, and an exclamation of joy told me that Amenthia had just finished the last one.

“Excellent work, everyone,” I said as I sheathed my sword, before checking my health readout.

“I am sorry I missed with our sneak attack, Pathios,” Amenthia said, slightly dejected by what she perceived to be a mistake.

“Don’t worry about it, Amenthia,” I replied, placing my hand on her shoulder. “We have not fought anything that was flying before. Our mobs before Trethraz were all beasts that fought on the ground and we grounded the dragon before it could get into the air. We’ll learn from this and adapt accordingly, so don’t worry too much about it. Besides this is the first time we are taking the new armor into combat conditions. We are still trying to adjust and adapt to the new limitations it brings.”

Enti turned to her friend, “He is right, Amenthia, considering the results of the fight, I think we did okay, given the circumstances.”

She nodded with a smile and set out to collect the drops that had appeared. Once that was done, Enti checked her map and we continued. It was another hour and a half before we came to our first large rock formation: the forest was littered with them. Jagged spires that would sometimes go twenty to thirty feet up in the air but weren’t large enough to be mountains. We came across a few more mobs and we were able to quickly dispatch them. Given the efficiency that we were operating with, we knew that skill growth would be different this time around, but there were minimal increases based on interaction with enemies. As we approached the first rocky outcropping, we had Cassandra take the lead. She would be able to identify anything she could collect, and we would be able to keep an eye out and cover her.

“Well, what do you think, Cassandra?” I asked as my eyes scanned around. “Do you think that there will be anything here?”

“It is hard to tell, but I do see signs that there could be some metal along the surface. I won’t know until I get a better look and then there is no telling how much usable material, we will be able to get.”

Following her lead, we made our way closer, but with the line of sight issue that these outcroppings created, there was a chance for ambush. It was another half hour before she found anything, but we did get some ore. We continued to look along our route, but there was nothing, so we moved on.

We continued on for another three hours before we made our way to a safe zone to rest and eat. I gathered wood for the fire while the others prepared the food. We chatted a bit while we waited for the food to look and I could see that there was a question on Cassandra’s mind.

“You seem to be preoccupied about something, Cassandra, what is it that is on your mind?”

She blushed slightly, “Um, I noticed a thing or two while we have been fighting and making our way. Subtle signs that someone may or may not pick up, unless they knew to look for it. There is a closeness between you three that I have never seen before. I was wondering are you three ‘together’?”

Her question made Amenthia and Enti blush and I couldn’t help but laugh at their response, though Cassandra blushed deeper from saying that she had noticed it.

“To be blunt, yes, we are,” I answered, “Amenthia and I had gotten together before the battle with Trethraz, so when Entivala joined our group, there was no intention of anything else. Enti and Amenthia have been friends for some time, so they reconnected, but Enti told her of her people’s beliefs and showed her the Troth’ish’tal she carried with her. It had my face and name on it, and they came to an understanding, which they shared with me the following day. I was handed the Troth’ish’tal the next morning and, as it does when the person on it touches it, it cracked and fell to dust. Since then, we have worked to let things unfold organically. I do hope that our unique situation doesn’t cause you any discomfort or make you think that something is expected of you.”

“Oh, of course, I never assumed that,” she replied earnestly. “Your relationship is not completely uncommon here, in fact, there are many heroes of the past that had complete harems - but that hasn’t happened for four centuries. Mostly it occurs within the general populace, with rare instances occurring with adventurers. I just wanted to be sure, so that I don’t say or do something to upset any of you.”

“I see,” I replied with a nod. “Why is it that it happens so rarely with adventurers compared to the general population?”

“There are a few reasons, but I believe the main one is that most adventurers are concentrating on the job. A lot do it for the fame and notoriety that can come, others for the thrill of it and a select few revel in the violence. Then there is the issue of the higher levels of the Dungeon and the increased chance of death.”

We looked at her with shock, as we had been told that the stones would prevent us from having to worry about that.

“What are you talking about, Cassandra?” Amenthia asked, a touch of worry evident in her voice.

“For the first fifteen levels, every aspect of the floors is protected, and adventurers can rest easy knowing the stone will protect them. For the next twenty floors, sub-boss level fights, like the one you three had against the goblin for your first trial, are no longer protected by the stone. The idea is to ease you into thinking more strategically due to the increased risk. Levels thirty-six through to seventy-five add the risk of death to boss-level fights, like the one you had against Trethraz. Floors seventy-six and up provide no protection and the stone acts only as an emergency exit.”

Enti shook her head, “That can’t be, we were told by the Guild as well as the Knowledge Center that the stone would protect us.”

“While that is true,” I replied, “I guess it depends on the circumstances. After all, when we fought Trethraz, Tyr told us that the stone would not work as normal. Along with that, we know that there have been deaths caused by other adventurers, meaning its ability to protect can be disrupted. All this will mean for us, is we adopt the mindset that it will not protect us now. The earlier we prepare for this, the more prepared we will be once we are no longer protected.”