by M E Robinson
Griffin pointed to one end of the wooden trapdoor. Looking closer, Eric could just make out a rusty ring, nearly hidden beneath the dirt and dust that kept the trapdoor from view.
“What do you think is down there?” Griffin wondered aloud.
“Hopefully treasure. I wouldn’t mind a magical item of some sort,” Eric replied.
“Only one way to find out,” Mark said with a grin, reaching down and yanking on the handle.
With a creaking sound, the rotten wood gave way, the handle ripping off of the trapdoor as the entire thing disintegrated, falling to the depths below.
Peering into the hole it had left, Eric could just make out a ladder, leading deeper in to the cave.
“Shall we?” Griffin asked.
“Let’s go,” said Eric, climbing into the hole.
Watching their friend get swallowed up by the darkness, Mark and Griffin looked at each other. With the slightest of nods, both jumped in after him, all three heading deeper in to the hidden depths below.
Chapter 16
The ladder, if you could call it that, was made of smoothly hewn clefts in the rock that provided purchase against the rough rock face. To Eric’s annoyance, accumulated moss and fungus made it difficult to maintain his grip. On more than one occasion his foot would hit a loose patch of moss, sending the moss skidding off of the rock along with his foot. Grumbling to himself, Eric did his best to clear the ladder of obstructions as he led the way downwards. After nearly a minute of this, a soft light came into view below.
Seeing this, Eric increased his speed, sending bits of moss and dirt flying downwards as he did his best to go at a speed just short of a controlled freefall. Reaching the bottom, Eric moved smartly out of the way to allow Mark and Griffin to land. Mark landed smoothly, but jumped out of the way the moment he landed. Looking at his friend questioningly, a sudden cry echoed from further up the ladder, reverberating through the small room they were standing in. As he watched, Eric winced as Griffin appeared, landing heavily in the space Mark had just occupied.
“You okay, bro?” Eric asked, bending down to give his friend a hand.
“Yeah, I think so. Just lost my grip. Fairly sure something in one of the holes bit me,” Griffin replied, inspecting his left hand for bitemarks.
“You guys seeing this?” Mark interjected, causing Eric and Griffin to look up.
Following Mark’s gaze, Eric let out a low whistle. The room they were in was fairly small, not more than a couple meters in diameter. The light that he’d seen from above was being emitted from a handful of torches embedded in sconces on the wall. Looking closer, Eric could see that the torches were similar to those he’d seen in Flen’s hall. Magic crystals comprised the ‘flame’ of the torch, emitting a calm yet fiery glow that lit the room.
At the far end of the room was the object that had gotten Mark’s attention. An enormous set of double doors was embedded in the stone. The metal gleamed with a burnished polish, looking well maintained despite the dust and dirt that had accumulated at the foot of the door. Intricate designs covered much of the door. Squinting slightly, Eric could make out various humanoid figures wielding a variety of weapons, as well as dragons, wolves, large cats, and other figures that Eric couldn’t quite identify.
“That’s pretty damn cool,” Eric breathed.
Mark nodded. “You’re telling me. What do you think it is?”
“If I had to guess? I’d say we just found our first dungeon,” Eric said with a grin.
“Really? I’m kind of hoping it’s just a treasure room,” said Griffin, dusting himself off from the fall.
“I mean, dungeons are just really well guarded treasure rooms when you think about it,” Eric supplied.
“I’d prefer the unguarded type right now. We’re not in great shape after that battle with the Swordclaw,” Griffin continued, pointing at his torn armour.
Eric’s grin faded a little at this, most of his gear was in pretty bad shape. His armour’s durability was approaching zero pretty quickly, his sword was only just above the fifty percent mark, and there was no point even mentioning his bow. On top of all that, his health and mana were both still recovering, neither bar showing as a hundred percent full.
“How about we take a quick break. Recover our health and mana, check out our gear, all that stuff. Griffin, you can try practicing that new skill of yours. Then we can see what’s behind this door,” Mark suggested.
Nodding in agreement, the trio sat down and began to recover. While Mark played with his new wolf pup, experimenting with the pet interface, Eric took a look at his event log, which had been glowing brightly ever since the fight with the Swordclaw. Dismissing the damage and kill notifications, Eric was left with a surprisingly long list of skill levels and other notifications.
[Wind Dart has levelled up to Beginner 8]
[Wind Dart has levelled up to Beginner 9]
[Dashing Cut has levelled up to Apprentice 3]
[Your Leather Padded Armour has been critically damaged!]
[You have been stunned for 3s]
[You have been afflicted with Minor Bleed]
[Wind Dart has levelled up to Beginner 10!]
[You have levelled up to level 13! Stats have been updated]
All Stats +1
Health +10
Mana +10
[Basic Wind Magic has reached Apprentice 3]
[You have levelled up to level 14! Stats have been updated]
All Stats +1
Health +10
Mana +10
[Dashing Cut has levelled up to Apprentice 4]
[Basic Evasion has reached Apprentice 10!]
[Militia Swordsmanship has reached Apprentice 5]
[Basic Evasion has reached Journeyman 1]
[You have been healed by Fogs. Minor Bleed has been cleansed]
[Militia Swordsmanship has reached Apprentice 6]
[Guard has levelled up to Beginner 8]
[Swordclaw Lynx has used Disruptive Howl. You fail to resist]
[You have been silenced]
[You have been slowed]
[You have been confused]
[Your stats have been lowered by 40%]
[You are taking Sonic damage]
[Basic Archery has reached Apprentice 8]
[Basic Evasion has reached Journeyman 2]
[Fine Yew Longbow's durability has been reduced to zero]
[Fine Yew Longbow has been destroyed!]
[You have been healed by Fogs]
[Wind Dart has levelled up to Apprentice 1]
[Basic Evasion has reached Journeyman 3]
[Basic Arcane magic has reached Apprentice 7]
[Basic Wind Magic has reached Apprentice 4]
[Wind Dart has levelled up to Apprentice 2]
[You have learned: Multi-linked Wind Dart!]
[Basic Wind Magic has reached Apprentice 8]
[You have levelled up to level 15! Stats have been updated]
All Stats +1
Health +10
Mana +10
[You are affected by mana rebound]
Closing the event log, Eric sat in stunned silence for a moment. Turning to Griffin, Eric struggled to find something to say, his mouth opening and closing noiselessly as he groped for the words.
“Did you guys get a ton of skill levels and level ups from that fight?”
“Uh, not sure. Lemme check,” Griffin replied.
“I haven’t checked yet. One sec,” Mark echoed Griffin’s response.
Eric watched as his friends opened their event logs, perusing their recent events as they checked their recent notifications. Mark’s reaction was fairly subdued, simply raising an eyebrow as he read over the lines a few times. Griffin’s reaction on the other hand was priceless, his mouth shooting open as his eyes scanned the event log over and over again as if to confirm it was real.
“That is a lot of skill-ups for a fight we didn’t even really win,” said Mark, breaking the silence.
�
��Yeah. I gained like twenty skill levels, and I managed to learn a new skill on top of the one that the Wolf Spirit gave me,” Griffin added.
“Which skill did the Wolf Spirit give you anyways?” Eric asked curiously.
“Wild Strike. It allows me to double the power of my next attack in exchange for lowering my accuracy. There’s a small catch though...,” said Griffin, trailing off slightly at the end.
“Oh?” Eric raised an eyebrow. “What’s the catch?”
“I’ve got to howl to activate the power boost.”
“Wait what?”
“Yeah what?” Mark echoed.
“Howl. Like the wolves do,” Griffin sighed. “I might as well just show you.”
Standing up, Griffin grabbed his sword, drawing it from its sheath. Taking a posture, he aimed at the wall, his sword raised high above his head. Letting out a loud howl, Griffin swung his sword downwards. As it descended, Griffin’s sword took on a slight glow, the blade cleaving through the empty air, leaving a trail in the air as if space itself had been rent asunder by Griffin’s attack.
Looking closer at the sword trail, Eric could just make out three distinct lines in the air, almost like the claw marks of a ghostly wolf. Glowing dimly, the sword trail began to fade as Griffin returned his sword to its sheath. Panting slightly, he made his way back over to where Eric and Mark were sitting.
“Alright, that was pretty damn cool,” said Eric, flashing a thumbs up towards his friend.
“Yeah, I almost regret getting Ulfir here. That skill is cool as hell,” echoed Mark.
Smiling, Griffin sat down once more, checking his status to see if his health and mana were finished recharging.
After another minute, Mark stood up. “I’m almost good to go. What about you guys?” Mark asked.
“My health is full, but my mana is still recovering. I went to zero with that last spell,” said Eric, looking up from his skill list.
“I just need my mana to recover from using Wild Strike just now and I’ll be good,” Griffin chimed in.
Once the group’s health and mana finished recovering, they approached the huge doors at the other end of the room. Pressing his hand against the door, a system message appeared in front of Eric.
[You have discovered the dungeon: Bleak Cave Barrow]
This is a five player dungeon intended for level 30+ players. It is advised that players prepare properly before entering this dungeon.
“Level 30? What’s with all the higher level stuff in this cave?” Griffin grumbled.
“I mean, I just gained like four levels in that fight. So I’m all for high level stuff. Not sure we can clear an entire dungeon though,” said Mark.
“Want me to scout it out?” Eric offered.
“Nah, we’ll all go in together. You’re not playing a rogue right now so it’s a little dangerous to let you go in alone,” said Mark.
“Are you guys sure we should enter? The death penalty might be low, but I’d still rather not die if I can help it. And will your pet be safe if we die, Mark?” Griffin asked.
Pausing for a moment, Mark considered Griffin’s words. “Ulfir will be fine yeah. The pet system says he’ll reincarnate with me if he gets killed. But you do have a point about the dying thing.”
“I don’t really want to die again so soon after my first death. I don’t think Jun would ever shut up about it if I did,” Eric agreed.
“That’s true. It’s not like we have to try and clear the dungeon. Now that we know it’s here we can leave and prepare ourselves, then come back once we’re higher level. I doubt anyone else is going to explore this deeply into a random wolf den,” said Mark.
“So what’s the plan then. Go in and check what type of enemies there are? Or just leave and head back to town?” Griffin asked.
“Just leave. No point risking too much, even if it is a game.”
“Sounds good. We leave it as is then? Come back with the rest of Riptide once we’re higher level?” Eric asked. “I can vaguely guess at what’s inside already anyways.”
“What type of enemies?” Griffin asked curiously, turning his gaze upon his friend.
“Well, undead would make the most sense, with it being a barrow and all,” said Eric.
It was Mark’s turn to ask, “Why does that make sense?”
“Barrows are basically like burial grounds. It technically refers to the mound of earth over a grave, but it’s usually used to refer to the entire grave. So if this is a barrow it likely contains the remains of long dead people. Or at least mostly dead people,” Eric explained, shooting a glance at the door hiding the contents of the dungeon from view.
“Ah cool. So we’re basically going to go through an old indian burial ground - I’m sure that will be good for our karma,” Griffin said with a sigh.
“Normally I’d say: it’s a game, what karma? But after talking to that wolf spirit, I think you might have a point here, Griffin,” Eric replied with a laugh.
“Alright, so we’ll leave the dungeon unexplored for now. What do you guys want to do instead? Leave the cave and go back to hunting for elites? Or what?” Mark asked, absentmindedly petting Ulfir who had nestled into the collar of his robe.
Checking something in his system, Griffin sighed.
“What?” Eric asked.
“I think we’re going to need to head back to town for a bit. My shield is down to single digit levels of durability,” Griffin replied, showing him his shield.
Eric winced, Griffin’s once beautiful shield was now a mess of splinters and holes. Enormous gouges in the wood from where the Swordclaw’s claws had dragged across could be seen everywhere across its surface, and the metal boss was dented inwards. The rest of their equipment wasn’t in a much better state than Griffin’s shield either, with huge tears in Eric’s armour and Mark’s robe, and small cuts and missing links in Griffin’s chainmail. Their weapons were also in a similar state, with notches and dents present in both Eric and Griffin’s swords. Mark’s mace was the only exception, with only a slight bend in the haft to show for the use it had gotten in the last hour.
Checking the state of their own gear, Mark and Eric quickly agreed to Griffin’s plan, leaving the wolf den behind as they made their way back to Tonbura Village.
Chapter 17
To the group’s relief, the trip back to Tonbura village was surprisingly uneventful given the events that had transpired. Now that it was past noon, the forest had grown fairly lively. Groups of players could be seen hunting for monsters in the undergrowth, scouring the forest for wolves, demonic rabbits, and other fleshy bundles of experience.
As the now familiar walls of Tonbura Village came into sight, the forest giving way to tilled farmland, Eric sighed in relief.
“We’re finally back,” Eric said happily.
“We only left like an hour ago,” Griffin remarked.
“Yeah but an hour spent being attacked by a giant cat feels more like five hours,” Eric shot back.
Ignoring the two bickering friends, Mark was cradling Ulfir in his robe, cooing softly to the tiny wolf pup.
“That’s Tonbura Village. It’s where we’ll be living for a little while. I’m sure they have plenty of yummy meat for you to eat,” Mark told the wolf pup in a serious voice. Looking out over the farmland, it almost looked like Ulfir understood what Mark had said, Eric thought as he watched the pup give a short bark as if to say, “Roger!”
Passing through the Northern Gate, Eric waved to the sleepy guard who was dozing off at his post. Receiving a half-hearted salute from the man, the group entered Tonbura Village.
“Do you guys have money to repair your gear? Or did you want to visit the militia barracks first to hand in our wolf pelts?” Eric asked, thumbing towards the nearby militia barracks.
“We’ve got some money. Let’s get our stuff fixed first. I don’t want to give Tonbura’s militia captain a bad impression showing up looking like this,” Griffin replied.
Receiving the same answer from Ma
rk, the group headed for Tom’s forge, looking to have their gear repaired for the second time in as many hours. Fortunately, Seryllia wasn’t at the forge to behold the trio’s tattered appearance; however, Tom’s reaction when he saw the group’s tattered looks was one of the funniest things Eric had seen. His mouth dropped open as he beheld their pitiful appearance, his eyes drinking in the torn armour and the ruined shield. Eric almost felt bad pulling his sword from the scabbard and showing Tom the notches and dents in the metal.
“Inriona have mercy,” Tom muttered as he looked over the trio standing sheepishly in front of him.
“Sorry, Tom. We ran into a Swordclaw Lynx,” Eric explained.
“A Swordclaw? And yer alive? By the gods, that’s a fortunate thing!” Tom said, almost dropping his hammer in surprise.
“Yeah, it nearly killed us, but we managed to drive it off. Sorry to trouble you but would you be able to fix our gear? Again?” Griffin added, presenting his shield and chainmail to the blacksmith as he did so.
“Aye, of course. It’ll still cost ye though.”
“Naturally, we’re willing to pay. We wouldn’t try to take advantage of you,” Eric said smoothly.
Tom nodded, his face breaking out into a huge grin as he began to calculate just how much it was going to cost the three unlucky adventurers. “Aye. Well it’ll take me aboot an hour to fix all this. Yer gear is in a much worse state than it was last time.”
“How much will it cost?” Mark asked.