The Adventurers Bond

by Tao Wong

  Daniel quickly took in the group, noting that their most vulnerable members were safe and took a step forwards, breaking the line to chase down the raptor. Already, their training from the past week had shown its usefulness. But, as Angie said, there were times to be bold too. Pushing forwards, Daniel focused on finding the perfect time to swing his hammer.

  The raptor lunged forwards and then stopped abruptly, swinging its tail around in an attempt to sweep Daniel off his feet. Having been caught before by the sudden change in tactics, Daniel was ready this time and jumped forwards, taking his feet off the ground and slamming his hammer down on the crown of the raptor’s head, crushing its skull.

  As the raptor flopped bonelessly to the ground, Daniel turned around to view his team and realised the error of focusing too much on his own fight. He had even ignored the shouts of his team as another, larger raptor attacked the back line. Asin lay on the ground near the base of a tree off the trail, shoulder bleeding from where the raptor had bitten her. Now, the larger monster menaced both Tula and Rob who were both bleeding from claw wounds, their paltry melee defenses barely able to keep the monster away.

  Quadra Raptor Alpha (Level 12)

  Health: 157/180

  “Daniel!” Tula shouted again as she ducked another swipe, bringing the large hunting knife she used for melee defense up to threaten the Alpha’s eyes. It jerked back, moving away from the threatening knife and swung its head towards Rob whose fingers twisted, shifting the spikes to harass the Alpha and the other injured raptor. In his other hand, a slowly forming Magic Arrow began to grow.

  Daniel had no time to curse himself as he cast Minor Healing II on Asin while he rushed forwards behind his shield. His clumsy, inattentive attack was easily avoided by the Alpha raptor who lashed out with a claw as Daniel closed in, scoring his upper weapon arm. Luckily, his armor caught the majority of the blow. Still, he achieved his objective of pushing the Alpha raptor back.

  As he recovered, a kick by the other raptor buckled his foot, leaving long gashes along his leg between the gaps in his armor. On his feet, Daniel groaned but continued to swing his hammer to keep the monsters back. When Rob finally released the empowered Magic Arrow against the injured raptor, Daniel took the moment to cast a Healer’s Mark on the still-recovering Catkin. The Magic Arrow empowered with Ice magic crashed into the raptor, freezing its body and slowing its movements.

  Armed with a second dagger, Tula moved to flank Daniel, focusing her attention on the injured raptor, cutting and stabbing to disarm the monster. Rob turned as well, unleashing a less powerful Magic Arrow to aid the Ranger, leaving Daniel to focus on the Alpha.

  Roaring, the Alpha ducked forwards, smashing into Daniel. Daniel staggered backwards, the Skill of the Alpha monster pushing the Adventurer back. With a jump, the creature landed on Daniel’s arm, pulling his shield arm down with its claws as it reared forwards to bite. Instead, it was met with a Double Strike on its snout, Find Weakness intuitively informing Daniel that the tip of its nose was actually extremely weak. Again and again, the hammer smashed into the soft cartilage, crippling the monster and forcing its spasming arms to release his shield arm.

  Injured, the Alpha attempted to back off, keening pitifully. Immediately, the remaining raptors attempted to run. Only one managed to get away, the other pair were too injured to escape the wrath of the Adventurers. As the Alpha entered the trees, a cloaked figure tackled it to the ground, dagger threading through its flesh like a sewing needle as Asin exacted her revenge.

  “Owww!” Asin complained as she stood up, her impulsive attacks having re-opened the wound on her shoulder. She kicked the monster again and then crouched low, listening to the forest as she waited for the creature to disperse.

  “Damn it, healer, your job is to HEAL,” Rob snarled, cradling his own injured hand as adrenaline left his body. Blood slowly dripped from the wound, making Daniel wince as he walked over to cast a spell on the Enchanter.

  “Sorry,” Daniel said with a grimace. He could have explained, but Rob was right. His job, with so many others here, was to stay aware. To heal, rather than to fight. It was the reason he wore so much armor – so that he could take a few moments even in the middle of a fight to check on his friends. It just wasn’t easy. “Tula?”

  “Healer’s Mark,” Tula replied, nodding firmly. Daniel eyed the Ranger, spotting some minor cuts but nothing major. Then again, the way she held herself indicated that there might be more serious internal injuries. Torn muscles, bruised internals. Internal bleeding was unlikely, Daniel considered, but he thought he should check. As he placed a hand on Tula’s arm, he sent his Gift into her body.

  His Gift was strange, unique like all Gifts were, but unique even among the unique Gifts. If that made sense. For his Gift was a healing Gift, one that allowed him to fix problems that would stymie even the most powerful of Healers. But it came with a cost like all Gifts did – in this case, his memories. The more he used his Gift, the higher the cost. Since Daniel was just using the Gift to sense the damage within Tula, the cost was minor, a few seconds here and there. But the information he gained was invaluable.

  “You realise the Healer’s Mark spell only increases your natural regeneration?” Daniel said softly. “It’s like Minor Healing which will forcibly fix an issue. As such, issues like deep internal bleeding or broken bones shouldn’t be healed with the Healer’s Mark spell, not without the requisite blood or bone being fixed first.”

  Tula nodded dumbly at Daniel’s words and then just stared at the Healer. With a sigh, Daniel decided to just cast the Minor Healing spell. Obviously, Tula didn’t understand – or didn’t care – that her ribs were moderately misaligned in her chest. Not bad enough that it would cause major problems even with Healer’s Mark, but it would be a problem in the future. As the spell hit Tula, the Ranger gasped and straightened explosively and then hunched downwards as if she expected additional pain. When it did not come, her eyes widened with surprise.

  “You’re welcome,” Daniel muttered as he realised that Tula was continuing to be silent. Walking over to Omrak, he readied another spell, only to come to a stop with his jaw hanging down.

  “Friend Daniel?”

  “You’re not injured!” Daniel said.

  “I am not.”

  “But… but…” Daniel sputtered before he came to a stop, realising how insulting his reaction probably was. Thankfully, the good-natured giant did not seem to mind, continuing to nod happily. As the team finished healing and collecting the various loot drops, they gathered again before the pit trap.

  “This was not made by the raptors,” Omrak said.

  “Obviously,” Rob replied sarcastically. “The question is, who?”

  “Asin?” Daniel asked the Catkin. Asin bent low, sniffing at the trap and eyeing the edges, slowly moving around the edges as she searched for clues. Tula followed as well, eyeing the trap while Daniel and Omrak took to keeping an eye out for new trouble.

  “This trap is a Dungeon replication of an existing trap,” Tula said softly. “The original was made and absorbed and the Dungeon has then replicated it to this floor.”

  “There are other monsters on this floor?” Daniel said with a frown.

  “Or on the other floors. A borrow from the theme,” Rob said. “It is not unheard of.”

  “Fort,” Asin hissed and pointed in the direction they had been travelling. After a moment, Daniel found himself nodding. Of course, the fort had to be staffed by someone, someone who had a tendency to make big, spiked traps. Well…

  “Go?” Tula said, pointing down the road as Daniel contemplated. With a shake of his head, Daniel pushed the thoughts aside. In the end, it didn’t matter what kind of monsters there were. Their job was to clear as many of them as possible, get the Floor chest and Mana stones and get down to the third floor to deal with the section champion.

  Everything else was just details.

  “Go.”

  Hours later, the
group finally found themselves on top of the nearest clear hill to the fort, their presence hidden behind a convenient set of boulders. The fort itself was much clearer now, a small wooden building which dominated the hills around it. Through the afternoon, the party had fought numerous ambush parties of raptors, the Alpha raptors now a regular addition. With the addition of the Alpha raptors, the monster numbers had also increased, with the group facing up to nine raptors at a time. During those hectic periods, the team would pull in close and face the monsters in a solid line with even Rob and his enchanted spheres being brought to bear. Luckily, each of the Adventurers was Skilled and strong, and through the use of their Skills and tactics, they managed to deal with the monsters without incurring any serious injuries.

  In addition to the increase in raptors, the party also noticed the slow increase in the number of traps as they neared the fort. Pitfall traps were common, but other nasty additions were also added. Spike traps made from bent branches, suspended beams of pointed stakes tripped by tripwires, simple noose traps and even simple holes dug into the ground with a single spike in it were laid out all around the Fort. It was at this time that Daniel found Tula’s greater experience in the wilderness intensely helpful as the Ranger found, without fail, every single trap they had thus far encountered. It was an astounding success rate, though it did not stop Omrak from accidentally setting off a swinging spike trap by brushing against it too hard.

  “Secure fort,” the aforementioned Northerner said, eyeing the wooden structure before them and rubbing at his chest where a newly created dimple in his armor rested. The fort was made of a circular set of wooden posts with a single, double-doored wooden gate offering entry. Inside, they could see a smaller wooden structure, and occasionally, it seemed as though creatures patrolled the outer walls. Yet, no matter how hard Daniel squinted, he could not see the figures accurately.

  “Who are they?” Daniel muttered.

  “Unclear,” Tula said, squinting for a time before relaxing her shoulders and eyes.

  “Same,” Rob said as he lowered a small circular object from his eyes. At Daniel’s curious glance he showed him the simple spyglass etched with runes on it. “It seems there is some magical interference.”

  “I don’t like this,” Daniel said.

  “Fear not, Friend Daniel. Whatever knave trickery the Dungeon may bring, we shall beat it with our force of arms,” Omrak said, patting his friend on the shoulder. “For our cause is just.”

  “But they don’t seem to be reacting to our presence either,” Daniel said, tapping his lips. “Do you think they are restricted to their fort?”

  “It is possible. Such circumstances are not unknown among Dungeon floors. It is possible that they might not be able to ascertain our presence either, like we theirs,” Rob said.

  “Camp?” Asin asked, butting in and pointing deeper into the boulder ring. This hill seemed to be the perfect camping spot with both a defensible position and a good environment to block off the wind. As Daniel looked up to gauge the time, he realised once again that this Dungeon had no moon or starts to tell the time against. Rather than do that, he eyed his team and their condition.

  “Camp. No fire,” Daniel finally commanded, having gauged that the group was tired. He was too, with his Mana nearly drained. While they had managed to traverse the first floor with minimal on-going injuries, the truth was that he had to use his spells numerous times to ensure the battle readiness of them all. Better to rest tonight and tackle the challenge of the fort tomorrow.

  Chapter 7

  After an early start, it took them only a few hours to arrive at the bottom of the hill that led up to the fort. Together, the team looked at one another and then focused on Daniel, awaiting his orders.

  “Let’s try to go up quietly,” Daniel said softly, looking in particular at Tula. The Ranger nodded, eyeing the slope of the hill and the underbrush for a moment through the mist before guiding them sideways for a bit before she began the ascent.

  The Ranger travelled upwards slowly, stopping occasionally to gauge her surroundings. As they climbed, the mist that surrounded the group slowly parted, revealing more and more of the hill, allowing Tula to speed up her pathfinding. It was when the mist fully dissipated that Tula stopped, unnerved by a new phenomenon. When the team finally gathered next to Tula, they all found themselves staring at the slight shimmer in the air ahead of them.

  “What is that?” Daniel finally voiced the question in all their minds.

  “That -” Rob said slowly as he lowered his enchanted spyglass, “- is a portal. Probably to the next floor.”

  “Already?” Omrak said, surprised.

  “That’s a portal?” Daniel frowned. “It’s not bright and swirly like the others.”

  “That is because those other portals are poorly made. On purpose,” Rob said. When the other Adventurers looked at the Enchanter for an explanation, he smirked and straightened further. “You see, the initial Dungeons created by Panqua all hosted portals such as these. They still do. But it seemed that accidentally stepping through a portal into another floor brought less than stellar results. As such, all portals since then have been degraded to give sufficient allowance.”

  “Portal good,” Asin said as she pointed forwards. Then pointed upwards. “Portal bad.”

  “Yes,” Rob said bitingly as Asin succinctly explained his point. “It is, of course, quite interesting why Panqua would create such a portal here. I wonder if he wished to experiment at keeping the theme of the location constant. After all, the fort is sufficient warning.”

  “Maybe,” Daniel said with a shrug. “Tula?”

  The Ranger hesitated at Daniel’s question as she eyed the portal again. Even with Rob’s assurance that it was unlikely to be a trap and just something that was meant to be there, the Ranger’s natural caution made her hesitate.

  “It is my honour to enter such areas first,” Omrak said as he moved to stand up. A hand on his arm stilled him and the giant Northerner stared at Daniel in confusion. “Yes?”

  “Tula, can you point out a good route for Omrak? Bring him as close as you can before he can enter it,” Daniel said. The Ranger nodded quickly and led Omrak along a meandering path up the hill. The path, like all those she had chosen thus far, kept the pair out of sight of those above as much as possible. Once they reached a spot a bare five feet from the mildly shimmering air that indicated the start of the portal, Tula stopped. Omrak did not, tromping straight in, disappearing from their view.

  “Oh…” Daniel said in surprise. Then he cursed himself. Of course, there would be nothing to see. It was a portal after all. Realising his friend was now left on the other side of a potentially hostile portal, Daniel waved the team to get up and move.

  In minutes, the group had regrouped on the other side of the portal, none the worse for wear. In fact, the transition itself had been more comfortable than any they had thus far experienced. After a brief survey of the land around, which, surprisingly, looked exactly the same as the land they had seen before, the team continued their ascent.

  In less than an hour, she led the group to a small dip in the hill, one that provided a good view of the fort without exposing them. It was there that the group received the first surprise of the day.

  “Orcs,” Tula said softly to the group, her eyes squinting as she activated her Eagle Eye Skill.

  “That’s new,” Daniel muttered. Even this morning, they were unable to assess the humanoid figurines on the walls. It seemed that Rob’s conjecture that the portal here had been planned to be just another extension to the floor was correct. Daniel frowned, edging upwards to stare at the monsters. At this distance, they were small figures, but detailed enough for Daniel to tell that they were indeed Orcs – tusked, muscular and armed with simple leather armour. Interestingly enough, unlike the green-skinned brethren in the outside world, these Orcs were all black skinned. “Tula, can you tell anything else?”

  “Too far to get
a status update on their levels,” Tula said softly. “But they’re armed and armored. Lousy armor, I can see the wear and lack of care from even here. Three… no, four patrolling the walls. The gates are closed too.”

  “Ba’al’s tears,” Daniel said, swearing softly. Of course, the gate was closed. And since this was a Dungeon, it was unlikely to open either for things like trade, returning scouts or the retrieval of water. Obviously, the challenge for this floor included determining how to enter the forts.

  Still, it puzzled Daniel why the floor was built like this. Why separate the fort via a portal from the first floor? Was the second floor so small that it contained only a single fort? Of course, the fort itself could be spatially distorted within – larger on the inside than the outside – but it made little sense for Panqua to waste even more of his energy to do that. With no answer to his questions, Daniel pushed the thought aside to focus on how they were to gain entry.

  “Recommendations?” Daniel asked.

  “Night. Climb. Kill. Open,” Asin said.

  “There are four guards,” objected Daniel. “And it’s such a small fort, it’d be easy for others to spot you when you’re opening the gate.”

  “We could break down the doors,” Omrak said. “They do not look too sturdy. It would be a simple matter to acquire a modified battering ram.”

  Silence greeted Omrak’s proposal. After a moment, Omrak grinned at them and the group exhaled with relief.

  “You were joking,” Daniel said with relief.

  “I was,” Omrak said. “It is not a plan even my second brother would make.”

  “Jokes aside, we still need to get in. Rob, could you destroy the gate?” Daniel asked with some hope. He was a mage after all. They wielded the powers of nature.

  “I’m an Enchanter specialist, not an Evocation specialist,” Rob said grumpily. “Even if I enhanced my Magic Arrow to its maximum, it still wouldn’t do more than dent the gate.”