Chapter 2

When we entered the level three Pact house, I was surprised at the inactivity I saw when I glanced around. Normally there are numerous members coming and going, but the number here was a fraction of that. I saw two people at the check in area, depositing orbs, another heading for the transit tubes.

“Excuse me,” I said to a nearby Pact house facilitator. “Sorry to bother you, I have two questions to ask. First, where is everyone? Normally there are nearly three to four times the people here. The second, is where can I find the armory? We need to prepare to go into the Dungeon.”

The young man sighed and replied, “Due to the number of missing or dead at the hands of the Arachni, new adventurers are not coming to the third floor. Until the issue is dealt with, new adventurers are staying on the floor below rather than risk coming up here. Seasoned ones are not returning, either, as some have been forced to use their emergency stones in their encounters with the Arachni. They have said they have been assaulted by groups of the beasts that overwhelmed them. As for the armory, I will guide you there, if you would please follow me. You will find it in the same spot in any Pact house on any floor.”

We thanked him and followed as he took us down a hallway to the left of the tubes. Three doors down there was a golden door with a jewel in the center. It was intricate, much like on the large doors of the dining hall.

“Touch the jewel of your bracer to the door,” the young man said, gesturing to the door. “Your armory will be called, and the door will open for you to enter. All who are registered to your party, or group, will find their equipment here.”

I nodded and placed the jewel of my bracer against the one on the center of the door. Both jewels began to glow as a thin stream of light shot from the bracer to the crystal opposite it. The door then opened with a click and I pushed it inward. We entered to find a large, spacious room, nearly comparable to the current bedroom we had in the Pact house. There was no furniture, instead there were mannequins housing our armor lining the wall to the left, with some empty ones to spare. The mannequins were on a raised section of the room pulling focus to then. Along the wall to the right were displays that held our various small arms and weapons racks to hold our larger weapons.

I marveled at the simple design and how it reminded me of a superhero show or movie, in the way they set up their lairs and displayed their suits and equipment. After admiring the room for a few moments, we walked over to our respective mannequins and began getting ready. Following Brot’k’s suggestion, we made sure to keep as little on as possible when we donned the armor. I saw Kat’ilth’ana glancing our way a few times, though not saying anything about our lack of clothes. We helped one another to lock up our respective garments, though Enti didn’t really need any help. I think she just wanted an excuse to feel us up and be felt up in return.

I saw that Kat’ilth’ana was having issues with a section of her armor and I gestured in her direction. Amenthia and Enti looked and saw the issue as well. They glanced back at me and I nodded, causing Enti to sigh, before heading over. Before Kat’ilth’ana could say anything Enti quickly assisted her to finish donning her armor.

“I didn’t ask for your help,” she snapped at the elf. “But I thank you for it nonetheless,” she continued in a softer and more pleasant tone.

Entivala shrugged, “Don’t thank me, Kat’ilth’ana, thank Pathios. He was the one who noticed the issue and asked me to help you with it.”

Kat’ilth’ana turned to look at me with a glare, but there was less fire behind it than there had been the last time I received it. I made a mental note on her reaction and continued getting ready. As I moved around to help loosen the tight hide, I realized it felt good to be in my armor again. It was beginning to feel like a second skin, and I felt diminished without it. It was not as comfortable as the Minator hide one I had started out with, but I had no doubt that the one that would be made in the future would put that one to shame. I turned to find smiles on Enti’s and Amenthia’s faces at my display, no doubt it looked amusing.

“Brot’k said that the hide would be tough,” I explained. “These movements, while silly looking, are designed to loosen the fibers in the areas that will need the flexibility of softer and more flexible hide. The purpose is to expedite the process and make it more yielding to our movements sooner.”

Both nodded in understanding and I guided Amenthia through a similar set of movements for hers. Once that was completed, we donned our capes and helmets, while Enti put on her cloak. As I looked at her, I was amazed at how well the clothing turned out. All she needed was a lightsaber and she would be as close to a Jedi as anyone could get here. Next, we put on our small equipment. I put on the belt that Amenthia had made for me, then collected some of the throwing stars I had Brot’k make.

“Enti, I want you to have these,” I said, handing her the stars. “In the dungeons and dragons game of my world, mages typically used throwing darts as a weapon. I am sure these will prove useful to you.”

She thanked me and kissed my cheek. As expected, Kat’ilth’ana made a disapproving noise which we all ignored. Amenthia grabbed a few stars of her own and I collected a few for my belt. You never know when something like that could come in handy. I took my sword and shield, attaching the sword to my waist. I wished I could have just thrown the shield on my back, but the cape got in the way.

“Enti, my dear, while I love the cape you gave me, I think I will leave it here today. There is ample fire protection in our armor, and I don’t want to give the spiders any extra area to latch on to with their webs.”

Enti smiled and said, “It’s okay, my love, you don’t have to wear it if you don’t want to. I know you will appreciate it nevertheless and will wear it when the situation calls for it.”

I thanked her and took the cape off, hanging it on my mannequin. A thought crossed my mind as to finding a way to have it malleable so that I can compress it onto my back when I want to carry my shield. Something like what they did for Batman’s cape in ‘The Dark Knight’. I would also need to find a way to attach the shield to my back, but we already figured a light magnetism spell would do the trick. It would have to be bound specifically to the shield and the piece of drake scale. Since there was no mounting it to my back as yet, I would have to wear it on my arm.

Everyone was finished getting equipped around the same time. I glanced over at Kat’ilth’ana and had to admit she had decent equipment. Her short swords were no different than I last saw them, sitting in scabbards on her hips. Her armor consisted of what looked to be light leather armor. I figured she sacrificed the added protection to allow for more stealthy movement. Immediately the Assassin’s Creed games sprang to mind, and I put those ideas on the back burner for now. If she weren’t a permanent member of our group, I wouldn’t have them made. Though if I were able to at least change her attitude about me, I could send the designs with her to get made.

“Okay, is everyone ready to go?” I asked, getting nods from Amenthia and Enti. From Kat’ilth’ana I got a sigh and roll of the eyes.

“What about Cassandra?” Amenthia asked. “Don’t you think that we should have her come along with us today?”

Just as Amenthia finished asking the question, Cassandra burst through the door, breathing heavily.

“Sorry I am late,” Cassandra managed between breaths. “I woke up to find my equipment gone, so I spent part of my morning trying to figure it out. No one could tell me anything, so I went to find you guys, but the guard outside your door said you left. So I went to see Brot’k and he told me what happened with my stuff and that you had already left. So I ran over to catch up with you guys. By the way, who is this woman and why is she looking at me like she wants to kill me?”

“She is Kat’ilth’ana, a forest dryad from the Northern Forest Kingdom. She tried to break into my room to ‘free’ Entivala from my influence and convince her to help get the Royal Family back into power. I called Tyr, he got pissed and threw a slave collar on her. So, now we are stuck with her until her attitude changes or Tyr finds a way to make her not get punished to death by being away from me.”

Cassandra nodded her understanding and made her way over to her equipment. Amenthia, Enti and I discussed the plan for today, while Cassandra got dressed. We tried to engage Kat’ilth’ana to join the conversation, but she chose to stand quietly by the door, not paying attention to any of us. Once Cassandra was ready, we told her of the plan, but made sure we were loud enough that Kat’ilth’ana could overhear.

“Today we do some reconnaissance,” I began. “We will check with the townspeople where they have seen the Arachni, areas outside of town that people have disappeared from as well as frequency of attacks. This will help us correlate the data to get a general location of where their nest could be. If we see any materials that Cassandra could use, we will make sure to collect it. The sooner she starts crafting, the sooner she can start gaining experience in her field.”

“And what, pray tell, is her field? Kat’ilth’ana asked. What surprised me was it sounded like a general question with no arrogance or snide remarks.

I turned to Kat’ilth’ana and answered, “She is a Runesmith, able to put enchantments directly into the weapons and armor she forges.”

Kat’ilth’ana simply nodded and turned her head away from the rest of us once again. We did one last check before heading out of the armory and leaving the Pact house. I made sure to thank the young man for his assistance and asked him about the attacks.

“They have happened every other day for the past week. Before then, it was maybe twice a week for about a month. Prior to that we never saw them, other than the occasional adventurer stumbling across a few and killing them. They have never been this active or aggressive before.”

If they normally didn’t act this way, something must have affected them, causing this reaction.

“Where have they currently been seen? “I asked. “Do you know of anyone else who would be a good source of information in the town?”

“I am not sure,” the young man replied. “But, if you are looking for a good place to ask, try Noval’s Tavern on the north side of the village.”

I thanked him, as did everyone but Kat’ilth’ana, and we left to find this tavern he spoke of. It took us a half hour, with the assistance of some nice villagers, before we located the tavern. Upon entering, I was surprised to see it, too, had been rather empty. There were two servers attending to the scarce clientele and a middle-aged man tending the bar. We made our way over to the bar and I took a seat.

“What are you looking for, sir? “The man asked in a deep, resonating baritone. “We have some of the best spirits on tap and fresh stew cooking.”

I smiled, “While that sounds good, I am looking for information. We are looking to rid the third floor of the Arachnid attacks, but we need to get a bearing on where their nest could be. I was wondering about what you may have heard on the subject. We know they have become more active and aggressive in the last month or more”

The man nodded, “You are quite correct. They have come to the village walls, attacking the soldiers. So far none have been taken or killed, but their injuries are mounting. I have never seen them act this way before. The soldiers who were conscious after the attacks said they seemed to come from the north east. Though no one has disappeared there, the disappearances happened to the south west.”

I thanked him for his information, and we headed out. The others could see the pensive look in my face.

“What is it, Pathios?” Amenthia asked. “You have had a clouded expression since he gave you his information. What made you so upset?”

“This is the second case of something like this; the first was the dragon we fought,” I replied. “I just have a feeling that someone is interfering with the creatures in here. It is the only thing that makes sense. The real question is, what is their agenda?”

Enti looked pensive as she asked, “You think that whoever is responsible for Trethraz is also responsible for this current string of attacks?”

I simply nodded in reply as we continued towards the northern exit of the village. I had this feeling that the people who attacked me had something to do with this, but I couldn’t see the reason why.

“The attacks have come from the north east and I want to see if there are signs of where they emerged from.”

“What do mean emerged from, Pathios?” Amenthia asked, before her eyes widened in realization. “You think that they are using tunnels to hide their true location?”

I nodded and replied, “It makes the most sense. I figure people have looked in both areas for the nest and found nothing. That means they are striking from there, but their home is somewhere else.”

“So how did you plan to find this so-called nest?” Kat’ilth’ana asked smugly. “You gonna wave your fingers and magically find out?”

I glared at her, “No, I am going to use the tracer potion I bought. As long as it doesn’t take three hours for one of their people to return to their nest, I can find out exactly where it is. I just coat one of my shuriken with it and make sure to get it stuck in one of them. Even if the shuriken is removed, I just need enough of the liquid to transfer into the bug and then we can follow it home.”

I saw a look of shock on her face, which was becoming a regular thing lately. She had been continuously underestimating me and being shocked each time I exceeded her estimate. Mind you, I expected it to be set fairly low. However, her expectations were like throwing a ball lightly expecting the person to barely be able to hit it, then having the ball slammed out of the park. She expects a child, yet she gets Babe Ruth. I doubt anything I have done to surprise her will change her opinion of me any time soon. I half expected a snarky comment, but she was unusually quiet.

Pulling my thoughts away from that issue, I focused on the more pressing one. Once we got out of the Northern gate, I brought up my map display in order to get a better idea of the layout. There was a small forest that started in the North East and then curved in a crescent shape until ending just south of the village. We would start at one edge of the forest and work our way to the other. If one lead didn’t pan out, then we would try the other one.

“Everyone please come take a look at the map,” I said, glancing quickly at the group before continuing. “Okay, we will start here at the northern edge of the forest. We will be looking for possible signs of their movements. We will also use our maps to actively try and locate a target. While they seem to target lone adventures or pairs, we have no real idea how aggressive they now are and if they would attack a group our size. Everyone watch out for one another. I don’t want anyone getting hurt if we can help it. That includes you, Kat’ilth’ana, just in case you were wondering.”

Kat’ilth’ana said nothing, while the rest of the group nodded in agreement.

We made our way North, North-East, towards the edge of the forest. There were no signs of any mobs between here and there, which I found odd, given the distance between the two. As we neared the edge of the forest, I decided to bring up Kat’ilth’ana’s stats page to get an idea of what she could do.

Strength: 5

Defense: 8

Speed: 8

Vitality: 4

Magic: 8

Wisdom: 6

Agility: 8

Awareness: 13

Weapons:

Main Hand:

Name: Vish’alt Blade

Weapon Type: Short Sword

Damage Type: Slash/Pierce

Attack Damage: Strength + 7

Durability: 83/100

Off Hand:

Name: Vish’alt Blade

Weapon Type: Short Sword

Damage Type: Slash/Pierce

Attack Damage: Strength + 4

Durability: 86/100

Armor:

Head: None

Body:

Type: Light Leather Armor

Defense Rating: Defense + 6

Enhancements: None

Runes: None