Chapter 8

We had chosen to enter the first floor from a different stairwell today, and thus came out to a different region of the grasslands. I activated my map and saw that the nearest access point to the next floor was about four hours east of us. I talked to Amenthia about it and we felt that if we used an indirect path, we could extend that to eight hours. We set out, with me taking point, and Amenthia ready to engage in ranged support at a moment’s notice. Her arrows had regenerated for the day and we had thirty, once again. I would need to talk to Amenthia when we stopped to eat, about how to increase her total arrows, as well as different arrow types. We needed to increase her supply while not breaking the enchantments, and I was sure Brot’k could help find out how. About five minutes after leaving the stairwell, we encountered our first mob, which was a pack of wild boars. There looked to be at least four in the pack, and they were not aware of us as we slowly approached them. I nodded to Amenthia and drew my sword as quietly as I could as we slowly began to approach the mob. I picked up speed as I neared and had my sword out to my side, ready for my first attack, while Amenthia stayed back and began aiming for her first target. I brought my sword along the side of the first boar, on my right, putting a huge gash from hind legs to front. I then used the momentum of the swing to drive the point of my sword into the boar on my left.

My intuition rewarded me with a good hit, and I pierced its heart with a quick twist of the wrist. It burst into smoke. I didn’t waste time looking at what might have dropped, and I brought my sword back into a ready stance as I bought my shield up in preparation of a counterattack. I was not disappointed as the boar directly in front of me charged. I braced for the coming impact and at the last minute I rolled to the left, dodging the incoming boar. Once out of the way, the boar made a perfect target for Amenthia and she let loose an arrow that pierced the boar’s eye. It, too, burst into smoke from the hit and I turned my focus towards the undamaged boar to my right. This one was smart and was staying on the defensive, keeping its distance while focusing on both of us. It looked from me to the injured boar behind me, as the wound I gave the first boar had stunned the animal, so it was not attacking or trying to escape. I used the moment to charge the boar, hoping that my attack would succeed in keeping the animal off balance. The boar reared back, bellowing out in defiance as I approached, but made no move to charge me. As I got close enough, I struck out with my shield, colliding with the animal’s head and then turned sharply to my left, bringing my right leg in contact with the boar. My leg collided with the stunned boar’s head and made it roll onto its side. With its belly open to attack I drove the blade of my sword right into the animal’s heart.

The boar screamed in pain and, in an instant, the animal disappeared in a puff of smoke. I turned to finish the last remaining boar, only to find Amenthia driving one of her short swords into its heart. The animal disappeared and left a gift of a small orb. She returned the sword to its scabbard and collected the orb. Another had dropped from one of the other boars and she collected it, as well, as she made her way to where I was standing.

We were lucky, as one of them dropped some boar hide, which would no doubt be useful to Brot’k. Once the drops were collected, we continued along our decided path, our eyes searching for dangers.

Over the next hour we came across three more mobs, two wolf packs and another boar pack. The two wolf packs did make us work for our drops - especially me - and I took some damage from some bites.

Another bit of damage came from a wolf jumping on me. I got my shield up in time, but the blow knocked me off my balance. That was how I was open for the bite, a second wolf had latched on my left leg and started thrashing about. Thankfully, the armour was thick and it didn’t hurt much as I tried to break myself free. I used my shield to bash its head, stunning it long enough for me to jab my sword into the back of its neck, severing its spine. It dropped immediately from the attack and burst into smoke.

I rolled over to my left trying to keep my eye on the wolf that had initially knocked me over. It had two arrows in its body, the first in its left hind leg, and the second in its heart. I watched as it turned into a burst of black smoke leaving a bright, small orb. I turned quickly to lock eyes on the third wolf and it also had an arrow, this time in its front right shoulder. I ran at it full blast, closing the distance quickly as it barked in defiance and I used the opening to drive my sword right in its open mouth. The force of my blow severed the top of his head from the rest of his body and it burst into a plume of smoke leaving an orb and a few teeth. Amenthia collected the various drops and we once again moved on along our chosen path.

The second wolf mob was a bit smarter and targeted Amenthia instead of me. They could somehow sense she was the weaker link and two of them went after her, while the biggest came after me. I dispatched him quickly and turned to find the two still pressing their attack on her. She had thrown her bow to the ground and had drawn her twin swords, attacking them in a flurry of moves that was astounding. She was injuring the wolves and keeping them at bay, but they were still driving her into a corner. I had to give it to them, they were smart and could take damage.

I ran towards them and tackled the nearest wolf to the ground, hoping that would give Amenthia what she needed to kill the other. This startled the other wolf and it took its attention off Amenthia, as I had hoped it would. She wasted no time in using the distraction to her advantage and she charged the wolf, bringing both swords to bear in a downward stab into the beast’s back. The swords sank into its flesh and, based on where they entered, they successfully penetrated the wolf’s lung and heart. That wolf burst into smoke as I focused on dealing with the one, I tackled. I had tossed my sword and shield to the ground when I had tackled it, but I had a backup plan. The wolf had jumped on top of me in an attempt to attack my face and I had crossed my arms when the wolf ended up on top of me. Making sure that they were in the correct position, I used the sharp blades of the scallops to slice its throat open by uncrossing them against its neck as hard as I could. Shock registered on the animal’s face as it started to bleed out and finally toppled on top of me. The weight was a bit much, but I was soon relieved of it when the wolf disappeared in a puff of smoke. A medium orb dropped onto my chest, and I looked over to see Amenthia’s kill had left a small orb and a piece of wolf hide.

The time it had taken for her to switch weapons was too long and left her on the defensive. It would be better if she had a way to get them out in seconds. I think I knew a way to make that happen and hopefully in time to be completed for her new armour.

I tapped my crystal and called up my stats screen. My strength had gone up two levels and my defense stat had jumped to five. My speed was now at three, with three points into the next increase. Agility had gone up a point to three, as well as awareness and my other three showed no change. I decided to check my feats display and it was empty, so I moved to my skill display. It showed that I had sword and shield skill, one handed sword and melee skills. My skill with a sword and shield had leveled up and had three points into the next increase; my one-handed sword had eight points in it, and I had gained a point in melee. No doubt that had come from dispatching that last wolf with my scallops. All in all, I was doing well and could feel the change as the stats increased. I wondered when my health would increase, but given we were not eating or drinking, it would take a little while. Besides, I was sure that there was a limit to how much I could use to increase the stat. My personal level still read one, however, I was hopeful that my level would change soon.

“Amenthia, is there a way to contact another person while in the Dungeon? I want to get hold of Brot’k.”

She nodded and replied, “Press your stone and say, ‘Message Bird’. A bird based at the Pact house will appear to take your message.”

I did as she said and, within moments, a black raven appeared, no doubt due to Tyr’s connection to Odin.

“Please send this message to Brot’k of Pact house Tyr,” I said to the bird that was sitting on a branch before me.

“Brot’k, change of design for the scallops, we need the bracers to be able to extend blades equal to a short sword at a moment’s notice. That way, Amenthia is not left open for attack while trying to change weapons. I believe that, as long as we have a mechanism that can’t accidentally be activated, it would provide a simple solution and increase our lethality.”

“Please give him the message,” I told the bird.

It cawed and took off to the east of our location and within moments was out of sight.

I walked over to Amenthia and looked her over to check for wounds and damage. Her health had dropped a bit from full by maybe three of her twelve bars. Mine, of course, had dropped less, only a single bar, but I had far better protection in comparison. I passed her the bow that she had dropped on the ground and then went to get my sword and shield. Amenthia collected our drops and placed them in our bag, before we continued on.

We decided to adjust our path so that we could find somewhere to rest and eat. The boar mob was a quick kill and netted us two more orbs. We then headed north from that location as Amenthia knew of a small rest area she was familiar with. Hopefully it would not be too crowded, as I was enjoying our time together. We got to the clearing around fifteen minutes later and we were happy to find it free of other adventurers, as well as of mobs. We went to a nice flat open piece of grass and relaxed for a few minutes before we took out our food. We enjoyed the peace and quiet as we ate the cheese, fruit and vegetables we had brought. The nice cold water from our skins helped settle the meal quite nicely, though a thought popped into my head.

After swallowing a gulp off cool water, I turned to Amenthia and asked, “how is it we can rest here without being attacked?”

Amenthia laughed and replied, “There are zones in each level that allow adventurers to rest and recuperate, referred to as a safe zone. That is one of the few reprieves that they give us, and the zones become less frequent as we get into higher floors. If you were to call up your map, you would see a blue circle around this area; you need to be within a half a kilometer to have it show up on your map.”

“Well, well, well,’’ said a voice coming from behind a rocky embankment to our left, “What do we have here, Fratis? A bitch and a pussy eating together.”

A minute later Jonta and his lackey appeared from behind the embankment, Fratis laughing at his boss’s comment.

God, I was really starting to hate these two. They were in their Dungeon equipment but wasn’t very impressive. Jonta was wearing medium leather armour, not unlike what I had been shown when I first met Brot’k. However, his was a single piece and, by the looks of it, the armor had seen better days. His arms were bare, save for the bracers he was wearing, and he didn’t even have on a leather helm. There was no chain mail underneath and I doubted he had any metal reinforcing his helm. His pants looked like the ones given for everyday use, as well as his boots.

His partner was clothed in much the same way, though his was more of a shirt, where Jonta’s was more like a vest. The difference in our equipment was probably another thing that pissed him off. I stood up and glared at them. I could see a flutter of doubt in Fratis, however Jonta just seemed to get more pissed off at my lack of fear.

“You think your so fucking special,” he yelled. “You aren’t special, you’re just a pussy who needs to be put down a notch. I am the best fighter on the first floor in the Pact house and everyone knows it. When I am through with you, I will have killed you and that bitch will know who really is the best.”

“Just walk away, Jonta!” I replied, rage and fury filling my every nerve, though my voice was level. “Trust me, you don’t want to do this, because it won’t end well for you.”

Jonta laughed at that statement, Fratis however, looked like he had gotten a bit more uneasy. I guess he was used to his boss scaring their targets and keeping them off balance, so he was not used to how I was reacting to them. I had dealt with bullies like this all my life and I would be damned if I was gonna get bullied here by these pieces of shit, especially if I had the skill and means to stop them!

I cocked my head and asked, “So, what is it gonna be, Jonta? While I don’t want to fight a fellow member of the Pact house, I will do whatever it takes to protect myself and Amenthia.”

“I am not leaving until I have dealt with you,” he replied with an arrogant laugh. “Then I am going to have my fun with that bitch over there. I think I will even let Fratis a turn or two when I am all worn out.”

“Fine. If you won’t walk away, then let’s get this over with, I have shit to do. That is unless you’re too scared to fight me on your own. You do look like the type of pussy who needs help to fight his battles. Just you and me, Jonta, and if he moves even a single inch, Amenthia will put two arrows through his eyes. Am I clear, or should I say that again slowly so your tiny brain can understand the words?” ​​​

The taunts were working, and I could see he was getting angrier, which would benefit me. One thing I had learned growing up was that a bad temper would make a fighter sloppy and that was always their downfall.

I turned my head slightly to see Amenthia had an arrow nocked and another in her hand, ready to go. I knew she would have my back and would indeed follow my instructions; I just hoped that she would not get in trouble. I knew that it was against the rules to fight with another house member, but this was already life and death. Amenthia was also at grave risk from them and I swore to myself I would do anything to protect her from harm.

“Fine pussy,” he snarled at me, “I don’t need his help to teach you a lesson about who the better fighter and man is between us. I will kill you, take your weapons and your armour, but before you die, I will rape her so you can watch! You will die knowing I stole her and your life from you!”

I narrowed my eyes, slowed my breathing - which allowed me to focus and center myself. I readied my sword and shield in a sloppy stance, hoping it would trick him into letting his guard down and make him think he had an easy fight. I wasn’t disappointed as he came running at me with his two-handed axe. Full speed and guard down. His leather armour was thin enough that, even though it didn’t have gaps that could be used to my advantage, there was no chain mail underneath to provide extra protection. Not to mention that he was too arrogant to wear a helmet, proving he was denser than I had originally thought.

A loud guttural roar came from his mouth as he closed the distance between us, and I was more than ready. Once he was in range to start his swing, I quickly spun in place, using my shield to deflect the incoming attack. I succeeded, throwing him off balance and I then thrust the tip of my sword towards his side before he could bring up a defense.

A scream filled the air as my blade met its mark and pierced the armour, as well as his torso, near his left kidney. I then twisted and pulled my sword forward causing it to open the wound and slice farther along his side, as well as increase the internal damage.

My sword came free and I jumped back a few paces as blood began to seep out of the wound. I heard movement behind me, followed by another scream and when I glanced over, I saw a satisfied smirk on Amenthia’s face.

Fratis had been shot in the knee by one of her arrows and was on the ground, writhing in pain. Jonta was in a frenzy from my attack, as well as the injury to his partner and he swung his axe as hard as he could. There wasn’t enough time to step away, allowing the axe to connect, slamming against my shield and knocking me down. My elbow hit the ground and my sword flew free to my right from the impact, but I didn’t lose my shield. Jonta’s axe had embedded itself in my shield and he wrenched it away from me, using all the strength he could muster. He used his boot to pull his axe free of the shield and turned to continue his attack.

I quickly crossed my arms to use the scallops to catch the axe as it came down at my head. I stopped the blade of the axe less than an inch from my face, the scallops catching the handle, but I didn’t have time to ponder my predicament. Instead, I focused all my strength and rage into pulling my arms apart, as I had with the wolf earlier, with the axe blade between them.

Jonta laughed as he felt his victory assured, until the sound of splintering wood filled the air. The wooden fragments flew in all directions, the axe head landed an inch away from my head and I used the distraction to drive my knee into his balls.

He screamed out in pain, dropped his axe handle and fell to his knees. While his hands were cradling his crotch, I punched him as hard as I could in the face, and I could hear the sickening crunch of breaking bone. My fist had connected with his nose and it had begun bleeding as I rolled to the right and went to reach for my sword in case, he still had some fight left in him.

Jonta only screamed with more fury, blood pooling from his face and torso, as he started throwing knives at me. I batted away each one that came close in a defensive parry, as I approached him. His anger increased with each step I took. His throws were becoming more frantic as I closed the distance between us. I continued to deflect the knives as all the while he uttered curses of how he would not rest until I was dead and that he would kill Amenthia once he raped her.

He then drew a knife with a six-inch blade and turned to attack Amenthia and I knew there was only one way this could end. I closed the gap between us as fast as I could, and once he was within my swing radius, I knocked the knife out of his hand and swung my sword as hard as I could.

With a sickening sound, I separated his head from his neck and felt numb as I watched his body fall in front of me. His head falling with a thunk and rolling to my left, blood spurting from his neck and his lifeless eyes looking at me.

I stood over his body, breathing heavy from the adrenaline, when it hit me that I had just taken a person’s life.

It is one thing to kill monsters that turn to a puff of smoke. It was another to take the life of an individual. Even if it was self-defense and I also had another one to worry about.

This whole situation pissed me off, and it was evident on my face as I turned to look at Fratis. He was pale - he hadn’t got any arrows in his eye, only his shoulder and knee. The first one in the knee, must have been a warning shot and the second a final warning. Thankfully that was enough to give him the hint not to butt in and now he knew why. He pulled the arrow out of shoulder and his knee, screaming from the pain and limped slowly backwards until he was out of sight.

Now for the moment I dreaded, I turned my gaze to my beautiful companion, worried about what I would see when I looked at her face. The thoughts of her revulsion, disappointment or fear filled my thoughts as I slowly turned and locked eyes with her.

There was a variety of emotions once again passing across her face as we searched each other’s eyes. Some of the ones I feared seemed to appear for an instant and I started to take a step back. In a few moments, I was wrapped in the arms of a beautiful young woman, as she ran to me.

The shock set in then, and I went limp in her arms, causing us both to fall to the ground as I started to weep. Yeah, I know, I am a pussy for crying, but there were so many conflicting emotions fighting for control of the moment. Worries of the aftermath of my actions and what they may mean for Amenthia’s wellbeing. You try dealing with the fact you just murdered someone, even though there was no other choice. Her tears fell freely as she cried alongside me. I felt physically and emotionally spent; I cried and cried until I couldn’t anymore, and then everything just faded.

When I awoke, I found myself in my room, on my bed - alone. I tapped my bracer and found it to be mid-evening, just after when they would serve dinner. My head was still spinning, and my insides felt awful. No doubt I had thrown up, a bit; I recognized the taste of bile on my tongue and the smell filled my nose.

Once the spinning stopped, I looked around the room and noticed my weapons and armour were missing. I got a sinking feeling in my stomach that my actions had very bad consequences in store. Though the thoughts had returned, I was ready to take responsibility for my actions, but I worried about what would happen to Amenthia. She didn’t deserve to suffer for my actions. and I would make sure to take the full brunt of the punishment if I could.

I looked to my left and saw a small plate of food and a mug of water. I ate and drank slowly, worried that I might throw up again. Though I had no memory of it from earlier, I still didn’t want to have another instance of it. As I ate, the door to my room opened and Amenthia walked in. She had a forlorn look on her face, which told me that whatever was about to happen wasn’t good, so I stopped eating and gave her my attention.