by Matthew Peed
“Izora! I see you enjoyed some of Regan’s food,” I commented as I reached her.
“Yes, we did. Lord Regan raised the prices inside. Many people who were able to eat here yesterday will have to work much harder to partake in the joy again,” Izora said, looking behind her at the restaurant.
“Was it that much of an increase?” I asked curiously. Gold was quite easy to gain in Regan’s dungeon. If that changed, we might have to adjust a few of the procedures of the town.
“If a middle-class commoner could eat here yesterday, they would have to be a noble middle rank to be able to afford it now,” the princess said, nodding her head.
“I’ve heard rumors that the rates of those winning in the casino have also dropped significantly. Several people have already turned into beggars just this morning. The only thing that is still the same are the horse races. At least from my sources,” I explained, thinking about some of the reports I’d received this morning.
“Interesting. I wonder if my lord is worried about the amount of gold flowing into the town from his hallowed halls,” Izora said with a finger to her lips as she thought.
I wasn’t sure if it was on purpose, but she was really laying it on with the Lord Regan deference. “This is most likely the case. Regan won’t hesitate to make changes if he finds an issue. He certainly isn’t going to care about some adventurer’s feelings.” I chuckled.
“Well enough about local problems! Let’s dive!” Izora said excitedly.
I noticed the glint in her eyes that I saw every now and then since she’d started worshipping Regan. I nodded, then ordered my regular guards to wait at the entrance for us and only took Wrakras with me. He might be lazy, but he could get the job done when needed. We went straight to floor fourteen without issue.
The winter forest of the tenth floor met my gaze as we left the elevator tunnel. It wasn’t as cold as I’d heard it was. In fact, some of Izora’s guards were bundled up quite thickly. I couldn’t really feel much of a difference. If I channeled only a little bit of mana, it felt like a summer day to me.
“I figured as much, but that outfit really is enchanted,” Izora said, giving my clothes a once-over.
Not that I blamed her, I was wearing a dress, after all. The torso and waist might have been relatively covered, but my arms were only covered by a thin see-through material. Still, I felt like it was as warm as a summer day as I first thought. “I guess, maybe . . . I got it from Regan,” I said, without thinking.
“What?! Not fair! Why do you get all the things from Lord Regan?!” Izora shrieked. She reminded me of an actual girl her age for once as she rushed up and started to run her hands over different parts of the dress.
“It was either that or have all my clothes burn up from the mana I create,” I said, waving my hands in front of me.
She finally stopped and took a few steps back, staring at me for a moment. Then she sighed. “I’ll prove my worth. Then Lord Regan will reward me as well!” New determination could easily be heard in her voice.
I noticed a few of her guards didn’t look very excited by her new desire. One of the cons of being a guard. You had to go where your lord took you. “Yeah! Regan is very giving with people he likes. I’m sure it’s only a matter of time,” I said to try to calm her down. A few of the guards looked relieved at my words.
“Did he give you that staff as well?!” she demanded with a stern face.
“No!” I answered quickly. “I made it roughly the same way he made Ezal’s staff. Took way too much mana, though. Thing even tried to fight me after it was finished.”
“Is it alive like Ezal’s?” Tsuzuki cut in when he heard that.
“Not sure. Regan would probably know, but I just know it didn’t want to work with me after it was finished. Might be a little lower down the intelligence ladder,” I explained. The words had barely left my lips when a bolt of lightning flashed from the staff, striking me in the forehead. My body instantly absorbed it, but it still showed me the staff was listening to me.
“I don’t think it likes you,” Izora said with a grin, but I noticed she glanced down to the sword strapped to her waist. I wondered if there was a story behind the weapon.
“It can get over it,” I said, swinging it back and forth. A few more arcs of lightning issued from the staff that struck me randomly but none of it hurt or even tickled.
Izora burst out laughing, holding her gut. Most of her guards joined in, causing me to blush.
“Please don’t anger the little girl. She nearly put me through a wall earlier. On accident,” Wrakras said suddenly. Izora only laughed harder, while her guards all stopped instantly. I smiled to Wrakras and thanked him for the assist with my eyes.
“Alright, alright,” Izora said, taking deep breaths. “You most likely know the way these floors work, but just to be sure, I’ll explain. The entrance to the boss room is locked via eight keys. These keys take the shape of swords stabbed into the ground, trees, cliffside, or anything that might be part of the floor. It is all free game. Now the tricky part—there are thousands of swords all over the floor, each containing a trap, usually more deadly than the last.”
“How did you figure out eight keys?” I asked curiously.
“The eleventh floor took two keys, and it added two keys each floor.”
“What stops multiple parties from working together to unlock the next floor?”
“This is more interesting. Lord Regan has a way of knowing who is ‘partying’ together,” Izora said, making quotation marks when she said “partying.” “Each time a party finds a key, it disappears. And once a party finds enough for the next floor, a portal opens for only that party.” Izora was gushing over her discovery, her face amazed.
“Fascinating,” I replied. It really was an amazing level of magic to plan out something like that. Early on, it might not sound too hard, but when he had two or three hundred parties on the floor later, I could see it being a headache.
“How does Master mark the correct swords?” Wrakras asked as he observed a nearby sword. It was buried to nearly its hilt in a tree and possessed an ancient look to it, as if it had sat there for centuries rather than the few months, give or take, since Regan had built this section of the dungeon.
“Ah, that is the easy—or hard—part, depending on the person. He placed that mark of the dungeon on part of the sword. If you have good eyesight or can channel mana to your eyes, then it’s easier for you to find it. But be careful; other symbols that are close to the dungeon’s are present,” Izora explained quickly.
“Interesting. Simple but effective,” Wrakras said with a nod. I agreed with the sentiment.
We made our way deeper into the floor. Izora and her guards were professionals at this point. They easily spotted traps and false markings on the swords. Even still, one of the guards chose the wrong sword, and the tree it was embedded in exploded into splinters. The man was peppered with debris and wounded badly enough that it would normally have taken three or four days to recover even with a priest’s help.
The man lay on the ground bleeding from over forty cuts and gashes, breathing heavily. Izora rushed over to him and laid her hands on him. She began channeling mana, and I thought she was going to use her own light mana to heal him, but I was wrong. A large ethereal gear formed at a slight angle over each of her shoulders, then several more gears formed along the arm that she laid on the man.
A surge of bluish-white light filled the area as I sensed mana flood Izora. A moment later the man was nearly completely healed. He jumped to his feet, then kneeled back down as he praised Lord Regan. I had to admit, priests didn’t heal nearly that well, and that’s what they were known for.
“Is everything better?” I asked, concerned.
“Yes, Lord Regan takes care of his followers. Unlike Lelune—who leaves her people to die,” Izora said, spitting on the ground when she said Lelune’s name.
“He does like to spoil people if he likes them. See, Regan is helping you,�
� I said with a pat of her back. She blushed but nodded.
We were looking for the last key when something odd caught our sight. A long table that could fit hundreds of people sat in the middle of a snowdrift that looked like it was on the verge of becoming a blizzard. There were at least two dozen people sitting along the side of the table, digging into piles of food that nearly overwhelmed the table’s surface.
“What do you think that’s about?” I asked Izora, more curious than anything.
“I don’t know. I don’t see any danger,” she replied.
“Maybe it is a reward for some challenge that Lord Regan placed for those already at the table?” Hatsu asked, examining the surroundings.
“I guess we’ll just have to go and ask,” I suggested with a shrug. There wasn’t a sign we could just read to find out the situation. At least there weren’t any monsters, or wolves.
“Agreed.” Izora nodded.
We moved forward carefully, but nothing attacked us. In fact, the closer we got to the table the more inviting it appeared. The people at the table didn’t appear to notice us as we approached, as engrossed in the food as they were. Not everyone was eating though. Two people were sleeping at their seats.
“Excuse me?” Izora asked when we were through the winds and snow. There was a bubble of soothing warmth at the table that calmed me down in a strange way. Izora repeated herself three times before one of the men at the table turned to her. His face had a look of pure bliss that morphed to pure anger when he saw us.
“What is it? Can’t you see I’m enjoying a meal?” the man asked hotly.
“We were just wondering where this feast came from, and wanted to ask if you knew,” Izora said, suppressing her anger at the man’s rudeness. I could just see it in her eyes.
“We found it a few hours ago while looking for the final key. The food is amazing! Even better than the food in Host Regan’s restaurant!” the man said excitedly, his mood changing instantly at the mention of the food.
I had to admit, just the smell was making my mouth water. There were also many things I’d never seen before. I had to swallow to stop from drooling.
“Is that so,” Izora said suspiciously, though I could see her glancing at various plates full of food.
“Why would I bother lying? There is so much food here. I believe it’s the host’s reward for those about to face the boss,” the man said as if he knew for sure. “Now, if you’ll excuse me,” he finished, then turned back to his plate and continued eating.
“What do you think?” I asked Izora.
“It is possible. I mean look at the last boss floor. There was an entire outpost before it,” she said after thinking it over.
I had to agree, Regan knew how to be welcoming before sending people to their deaths. Plus, his bosses were known for being very difficult. He might have set it like the man said. Regan didn’t share his dungeon designs with me.
“I agree. If it was a trap, say poisoned food for instance, these people would have been dead already. It’s not Lord Regan’s style to kill slowly,” Morita commented after walking the perimeter of the warm bubble.
“I am a little hungry,” I said, looking at all the food present. I felt like I hadn’t eaten in a week. I noticed some of Izora’s guards were rubbing their stomachs as if hungry. I even heard one of their bellies growl from two meters away.
“Alright . . . Ten minutes,” Izora said finally, after noticing her people’s movements.
Everyone descended on the table like a pack of animals that hadn’t eaten in weeks. I thought about it later; I wasn’t much better.
Chapter 25
Izora
Rushing to an empty seat at the long table, I sat down with some expectation of the meal. Lord Regan was a god, after all. Any food he placed in his dungeon had to be otherworldly. I picked up what looked like a chicken leg. It was baked to a golden brown and seemed to shine in the light. The aroma from it made my mouth water more than any food I had smelled in the past.
Juice flowed into my mouth as I bit into the meat. The smell was amazing, but the taste was out of this world. Each bite seemed to make me hungrier and want more. The whole time, I couldn’t help but praise Lord Regan for this amazing meat. The plate in front of me emptied before I realized it, and I saw a plate of something I had never seen before.
There were two slices of bread with plenty of vegetables and meat packed between them. I reached forward and grabbed one, doing my best to keep the middle inside the bread. This didn’t smell as strong as the chicken leg but still possessed a pleasant aroma. As I bit down, a cascade of flavors washed over my tongue, each making the last more memorable. It was like a symphony in my mouth.
I still felt plenty of space in my stomach, so I decided a few more bites wouldn’t hurt. I was vaguely aware that everyone else in the party was eating the food like they had never eaten before. I ignored it and reached for the next morsel of food in front of me. There were so many things to try that I felt it might take a while.
~~~
“Izora! Princess Izora!” I heard from what sounded like the far end of a long tunnel.
“Huh?” I said, taking another bite of something in front of me. The taste was still amazing, but I felt like my mouth was full of sand.
“Princess Izora!” I heard again. A moment later I felt a hard blow across my cheek. A fog that felt like chains seemed to fall from my mind. I looked around, surprised that there were more people at the table. Surely there weren’t more than two or three parties this deep in the dungeon. Yet there was enough people to make up five or even six parties sitting at the table. With just a glance, I counted forty people.
“What’s going on?!” I asked, looking around me quickly. Right next to me stood Ezal, some kind of flaming barrier surrounding her. On her hands and knees on the ground, Louella was dry heaving next to Ezal.
“It’s been two days since you entered the dungeon! Everyone is getting antsy up top!” Ezal said sternly. She bent down to massage Louella’s back.
“What’s wrong with . . .” I started to ask before a severe pain hit me in the gut. I dropped to the ground and mimicked Louella’s actions. Ezal brought a canteen of water to my mouth, which tasted better than I thought possible.
“Severe dehydration . . .” Ezal said with a worried look.
After I drank nearly all the water in the canteen, I sat up and channeled mana through my body to ease the pain. Looking around, I saw scenes similar to Louella and me all along the table. The guards Ezal had brought all maintained a thin barrier around their bodies. I copied them, allowing my mana to form a layer over me.
The scene in front of me changed drastically. It was still warm, but there were bodies all around the table, at least two parties worth. I idly wondered why Lord Regan hadn’t absorbed the bodies through the dungeon. Checking quickly, I found that all my own people were still alive. The party I remembered talking to when we’d first arrived lay next to their chairs. They were obviously dead.
“What is this?!” Louella asked in horror, grabbing on to Ezal’s hand. I noticed she had also created her barrier. There was also a stream flowing into her staff head. I wasn’t sure, but I felt she was modifying the spell so she didn’t fall for this type of thing again.
“Mistress, I’m not sure, but it looks like an enchantment that traps you in an illusion. Did you not find anything odd as you approached?” Ezal asked. I vaguely felt like she was scolding a child with the tone she took.
Louella looked down to her feet and shook her head. I noticed sparks popping from her skin. I couldn’t blame her, I was also pissed at myself for falling for such a simple trap. I knew better than anyone how powerful Lord Regan was. He could easily make something like this to entrap people.
“Princess, I needn’t remind you that you are very important to your kingdom now that the queen is dead. I recommend using more caution when traversing these halls,” Ezal reprimanded me with a stern look.
“Yes. I apologize fo
r the trouble this has caused you, Lady Ezal,” I said, bowing my head to the ground. She was right. My people followed me. If I led them to their deaths or my own, what kind of leader did that make me? I would need to do better.
“Sorry, Ezal,” Louella said as well while demonstrating the Lecazar formal apology form. For a woman, it was similar to a curtsy.
“None of that! I was just worried about you two! Mistress, you’re like a sister to me. And Izora, I see you as a close friend,” Ezal growled at us.
“Sorry, Ezal!” Louella cried again and rushed over to embrace her in a hug.
“Damn it! Don’t make a pregnant woman work so hard!” Ezal said, a few tears tracing paths down her cheeks.
It took almost an hour before everyone trapped inside the enchantment was freed. Some came out easily, while others took nearly beating to death to get out. The state of malnourishment and dehydration varied depending on how long someone had been trapped. One mountain of a man, looking very skinny, found his entire team dead when we managed to pull him out. What made it worse was one of them was his father, who’d planned to leave the team to him after this run.
We started making our way back out into the forest. After we moved a distance away, all the bodies that we weren’t able to carry with us were finally absorbed by the dungeon. We were about thirty meters from the table, just on the border of the warmth, when a pinprick of darkness opened. Only a moment passed as the table and all the wonderous food was dragged into the hole. Two maybe three blinks later and all that was left was a plain of snow with some footprints.
“Damn. Regan sure has a hand for theatrics,” Ezal said.
“Yes. He does like to show off,” Louella said, observing the now empty spot.
“Let’s head back. I feel like I haven’t eaten in a week,” I said. I wanted my guards to rest for a while before we attempted this again anytime soon. Even I wasn’t going to push them that far.