With step one the journey complete, the invigorated Party shifted again into the form of crows and took to the sky. Their next destination, the dungeon coined Aquawood Depths in the ruins of the once-popular Alderwood Mall, was only a mile to the south. The Party made good time, climbing in altitude only once before coasting on open air the rest of the way.
As they began their descent, Garath willed his MENU panels open and enlarged his World Map. The dungeon appeared to be on the north-most side of the mall, between what had been a revolving sushi bar and an amazing Mexican grill - two restaurants that Garath would sorely miss. The area surrounding the shopping center on the map was painted with a shade of red so light it was nearly pink. He knew that the colored overlay signified an “un-safe” zone but he didn't know exactly what made the area dangerous - and made a point of taking advantage of the increased visual perception of Crow form. As they drew nearer to their destination at the decimated mall, he noticed that the buildings on either side of the location denoting the dungeon entrance were relatively untouched. He wondered if any of the food items had made it through The Culling and, if so, had they already been scavenged? He made a mental note to have a look around after conquering the Aquawood Depths.
Garath landed down on the cracked cement and shifted back into his true form, a glowy eyed Necrologist with a long, pointed hat, old blue jeans, and Chuck Taylors. He was followed by Warrion, Athios, and Sharon in short order and the four of them looked on dubiously at what could only be the dungeon’s entrance.
Between the two surprisingly untouched buildings rested a beautiful fountain spouting a deep sapphire liquid from its center. An elaborate white archway adorned with intricate carvings of vaguely humanoid figures spanned over the fountain. In the half-circle between the tall archway and the sapphire pool below, the open air shimmered unnaturally. The entire terrace sat on a spotless, raised platform of white stone where a Panera bread had once sold sub-par sandwiches at reasonable prices to unreasonable soccer moms. The four of them took in the scene for long minutes before Warrion finally broke the silence.
"I think this is the part where one of us says, 'it's quiet', then someone else says, 'too quiet',” Warrion said. “G, be a pal and say the first one?"
Garath smiled and humored the Assassin. "It's quiet," he astutely observed.
"Hey," said Athios, inadvertently interrupting the ominous cliche. "Wasn't this a Panera?"
"Dude! What the hell?" Warrion asked, looking deeply betrayed at the Dimensionalist. "Try it again, G."
"Nah." Garath shrugged. "The moment passed."
Warrion sulked with his shoulders low, but Garath didn't notice. The Necrologist was scanning the mall-turned-ghost-town for any signs of movement, but it appeared that they were alone - for the moment at least. Apart from the occasional calls of passing seagulls and branches rustling in the light breeze, it really did feel too quiet.
"It really is too fucking quiet," Garath observed again.
Warrion groaned expansively. "Seriously? You just take both?"
"I wasn't sure what to expect but," Garath was saying, ignoring the Assassin. He stopped mid-sentence, alarmed, as Sharon approached the fountain. She was bending to touch the liquid it contained. "Sharon! Don't just stick your hand in weird liquids, what are you thinking?"
Sharon retracted her outstretched hand from the fountain as if it were a rabid dog. Then, once she had recovered from the alarm of Garath's reprimand, she scoffed and reached back out to dip one finger into the cool, blue liquid. The Necrologist was relieved when nothing happened but almost fell over himself as Sharon made a cup with her hand, scooped some of the liquid from the pool, and lifted it to her mouth.
"Sharon!"
"Now just you calm down, Charlie Brown. If I want to be mothered, I'll ask. And believe me, I wouldn't ask you," she retorted.
"What's it taste like?" Warrion asked curiously, taking a few steps toward Sharon and the fountain.
Sharon sipped again from her cupped hand and let the strange liquid slosh its way around in her mouth. "I can't quite place it. It's sweet, but not like sugar or syrup. Why don't you come try it yourself if you're so curious? And Garath, I got another icon like the water one, maybe you should try it too."
Another buff just before entering a dungeon sounded almost too good to be true, but considering they were about to enter a dungeon one person short, Garath figured any advantage would be worth taking. He stepped up onto the white stone platform and scooped a handful of sapphire liquid to his mouth and let it pour down his throat.
The little sip he swallowed seemed to coat his throat and stomach on the way down with a cool, soothing feeling. He too received a new buff icon, this time with a simple sapphire square the same color as the fountain's liquid. He willed more information to appear, and it did.
You have ingested Concentrated Crystillium. Your focus heightens on the edge of battle, improving overall perception and decision making by 20%.
Time Remaining: 29 minutes, 59 seconds.
‘Did I just find liquid Adderall?’ Garath wondered excitedly to himself. He also immediately started to second guess his hasty decision to storm into a dungeon that he knew nothing about one member short of a full Party - as well as a handful of life decisions he'd made in the past.
Garath looked up from the deep blue liquid to the top of the archway, then below to the unnatural shimmering in the half-circle beneath, it reminded him of something he had experienced before - albeit not here on Earth.
"Athios," he said, pointing, "does that look to you like the doorway to an instance?"
Athios looked up from her seated position at the edge of the white stone platform. She pursed her lips thoughtfully. "You know, I think you're right."
"So the archway is the entrance to the dungeon?" Warrion asked.
"What in the world are you three going on about? An instance isn't an entrance to anything, it's something that only happens once. And that is an archway... You can see right through it and there's no dungeon on the other side that I can see," said Sharon, standing up from where she had crouched to drink from the fountain and holding one hand to her forehead to act as a visor.
"He's referring to a gaming term," Athios explained. "Instance is the term used for a special area, typically a dungeon, that generates a new copy of that area for each group that enters."
"Oh," said Sharon, her expression puzzled as she attempted to wrap her mind around that concept. "Then if we want to enter?"
Garath nodded, looking at the silvery fractals of light shimmering in the open air beneath the archway.
"We walk through," he confirmed Sharon’s suspicion. "I assumed that dungeons would have magical qualities or whatever but I never even considered an instance. There's no way for us to scout it out before attempting a run..."
It may have been the fact that he didn't know whether they could call it quits if the dungeon was too difficult, or it may have been his enhanced decision making from the Concentrated Crystillium, but a part of him was screaming not to go in there. It was a small part though, the rest of him was just dying to know what lay beyond.
"Fuck it, let's roll."
Garath stepped into the cool blue liquid and waded up to the shimmering gateway. When he reached out one hand to pass through, a prompt appeared.
Dungeon - Aquawood Depths
Maximum Party Size: 5 (Your Party Size: 4)
Disposition: Hostile
Monster Level(s): 13-20
Floors: 1
Note: Once inside, the dungeon must be completed to open the exit.
Do you wish to enter? Yes or No
He looked back at his Party and shrugged casually. He gave the affirmative thought and stepped through. An empty world of white overtook him.
The blinding light flashed and disappeared in an instant. Garath squinted as his eyes adjusted. He looked left then right, up, down, and turned around in a circle to take in his surroundings - searching for nearby enemies
&nbs
p; The room he stood in looked like it had been carved from a single, massive rock into a perfect circle. The seamless stone walls, floor, and ceiling were a uniform cobalt blue. Garath's eyes, after satisfied that there was no immediate danger, were naturally drawn to the room's single exit, a hallway of the same stone that led a few feet beyond the room before winding out of sight.
A flash like the one Garath had experienced after choosing to enter accompanied each Party member as they joined him in the cavernous starting room. Just as he had, they each swiveled their heads around, urgently scanning for danger. Just as Sharon appeared, wide-eyed, next to the Necrologist, a sloshing sound captures the Party's attention.
They heard raised voices echo off the stone walls from tunnel beyond. The unintelligible, guttural language grew louder and was joined by a curious wet, slapping. There was no mistaking the fact that, very soon, they would not be alone in the exit-less cave.
Chapter 29
Fight!
Garath's nose probed at the air ahead, sniffing on overdrive in a futile attempt to identify the somewhat fishy odor wafting in his direction - but he didn't have to wait long for the source to reveal itself. A series of blue flashes lit the corridor of the tunnel leading into the cave he was standing in just before five dungeon dwelling humanoids rounded the corner, each standing over seven feet tall.
If Garath had to pick one word to describe the approaching hostiles, it would be intimidating. The skin that covered their bodies held a sickly blue tint that made their fierce, bright yellow eyes pop out in contrast. Their bare arms and chests were almost too muscular to be contained and they each held a long, golden pike adorned with three sharp spikes in trident formation. Instead of legs, they traversed the stone floors of the cave with powerful looking tails, like some terrifying half-cobras on steroids. They entered the staging area barking threatening sounds in an unknown language with their polearms extended toward the four-man Party. Garath triggered his Inspect Ability on the nearest dungeon monster.
Aquawood Naga Pikeman
Humanoid - Naga
Health: 965/965
Level: 14
Station: Infantry
Mana: 185/185
Description: Infantry unit of the snake-people of Aquawood Depths. Aquawood Naga are fabled to worship the mystic Magic of Hypnotism.
Garath's jaw dropped as his stomach filled with the nerves before a fight. With almost one-thousand HP at level fourteen, these dungeon monsters were miles beyond their level fourteen counterparts from The Culling (that had topped out between 150-200 HP). He noticed a small, blue shield icon on the nameplate affixed to the head of the Naga he was Inspecting. More information was presented and he took it in with a glance.
Aquawood Defense: User's HP is increased by 10%.
Time Remaining: 5 hours, 59 minutes, 56 seconds
All five Nagas charged with their gold-tipped tridents extended. Their attack was quick and organized, all five advancing in unison at the Party. The snake-people spread out as they approached, limiting the effect of AoE attacks and forcing the adventurers to choose a single target at a time. Garath and the Party reacted instantly, and the fight was joined.
Several things took place at once.
Deep purple energy marginally darkened the cavernous starting area as Garath focused his will into casting Summon Flayer - his first instinct was to even the odds in a fight that his group was out numbered. In his haste, the Necrologist didn't even take the additional cost of Tainted Soul into account at all and inadvertently earned his first soul-soiling while in human form. The twisted little imp-demon emerged from the unnaturally dark summoning circle on the cave floor and shot Garath a foul glare before grudgingly accepting its orders.
*Kill. That one,* Garath silently commanded, pointing at an approaching Naga.
The instruction left nothing up for interpretation. Without having summoned the Flayer before, Garath figured the more specific his commands the better - based on the Skill’s description, the lesser demon would follow his orders but harbored nothing except hatred for the Necrologist that had summoned it. The Flayer scowled hideously at him, then turned and began to unleash a volley of Death Bolts one after another at the blue-skinned humanoid. Garath let loose his own volley of black energy into the same Naga, ripping large chunks from the red Health bar over its head as the rest of the dungeon monsters advanced.
Warrion rushed one of the Naga Pikemen, deflected a trident directed at his face by crossing his daggers in front of his chest and thrusting upward. The Assassin spun, then ducked below the following side swipe from the long-range melee weapon. He rushed behind the tall, muscled Naga and managed a flurry of quick stabs into the lower back area of his attacker. Thick blue puss oozed from the open wounds, bringing the HP bar affixed to the Naga's head down to just below half in seconds with multiple bleed locations steadily draining even more from the Naga's diminishing Health pool every second. The heavily muscled Naga warrior spun sharply, raking the air with his long weapon in search of the gangly Assassin but Warrion moved just as quickly, hurrying to stay at the back of his target.
As soon as Garath began to summon his Flayer, Athios sent a silver disk to land beneath the lead trident-wielding Naga as it neared melee range with its weapon extended. The Naga sunk into the silver disk to wait outside the confines of time and space until released through a second disk or the spell timer ran out, causing massive spell backlash to the caster. Inside the cavernous tunnel and unable to perform her signature attack of dropping opponents to death, Athios had to improvise. She settled on keeping at least this one Naga out of melee range for the time being, releasing the second disk back at the entrance of the cave.
The blue-skinned humanoid emerged facing away from the battle, looking around wildly in confusion. The monster reoriented itself then resumed its charge. With fierce concentration on her face and her hands outstretched to control the spell casting, Athios continued relocating whichever Naga she deemed the biggest threat back to the tunnel-like corridor from which they had entered, buying precious time for the four-man Party to deal with the attack.
Sharon also sprang into action. She locked down an oncoming Naga, calling upon her powers of Nature. Green light suffused her hands as she reached toward the ground, then summoned horned roots up and out of the stone floor. The entangling roots wrapped around the tail of her target several times, rendering it immobile even as it struggled to free itself - hacking wildly with its trident and tearing rents in its own blue skin as it yanked this way and that against the sharp thorns.
Garath and his Flayer brought their shared target down just before it reached melee range with barrage of black balls of death and it fell to the ground, lifeless. No flash of neon light ushered the blue-skinned humanoid to whatever afterlife awaited it. Instead, its body just fell lifeless to the stone floor with a wet schlap.
Begin combat log:
[You have been awarded 4,625 Experience for slaying Level 14 Aquawood Naga Pikeman]
End combat log.
Garath watched curiously as a glowing teal orb the size of a baseball rose from the corpse then hovered motionless a few feet above it. The Necrologist shrugged, figuring he would give it more attention after the skirmish, and gave a second command to the little demon at his side to target the Naga Sharon had wrapped up at the mouth of the cave. The two of them got back to work releasing black orbs two at a time into their new target.
Warrion and the Pikeman continued their deadly dance, the Naga whirling repeatedly to get the Assassin back in front of it as its Health bar neared empty from repeated back stabs and constant bleeding. Warrion finished off his foe with a simple severing of the spine. A sickening pop echoed off the rounded cave walls when he wedged his blade between the Naga's vertebra and twisted. Limp and lifeless, the snake-person slipped to land on the wet stone floor. Schlap.
Begin combat log:
[You have been awarded 4,950 Experience for slaying Level 15 Aquawood Naga Pikeman]
; End combat log.
Athios continued her strategic relocations throughout the battle. At any given moment, at least one confused Naga Pikeman appeared at the end of the corridor, looked around for a second, then re-located the skirmish and again attempted to join it, slithering back through the cave as its comrades dropped one after another.
Sharon was breathing heavily when the teal orb rose from the corpse of her target, whose Health bar had finally emptied after long minutes of holding a channeled cast. With only a third of her Mana left in the blue bar above her head, her hands released their tension and the horned roots slid unnaturally back into the stone floor, removing the only thing holding the dead snake-person upright. Schlap.
Begin combat log:
[You have been awarded 4,625 Experience for slaying Level 14 Aquawood Naga Pikeman]
End combat log.
As Garath's eyes landed on the last two Naga Pikeman he started laughing hysterically - which the Flayer at his side found repulsive, if the expression gracing its hideous features were any indication. The Necrologist would have thought the increasingly frustrated dungeon monsters were chasing each other through some kind of spatial anomaly if he didn't already know what was happening. Each time one got close to the Party it was promptly relocated back to the entrance, courtesy of Athios.
Warrion triggered his Stealth Ability and slipped into the shadows, reappearing seconds later, mid-jump, with two raised daggers behind the closer of the remaining enemies. Both of the short one-handed blades sunk into the Pikeman's neck, one on either side of its spine. With another kill order to his Flayer, Garath rejoined the action - eager to feel the sweet bliss of more Experience Points enter his form. Sharon followed suit, sending what Garath assumed was the Naturist equivalent to his Death Bolt Skill at the same Pikeman while Athios made sure the fight stayed one-sided by keeping the final Naga in an endless loop of cartoon-like game of chase it had no chance of winning. With all of the damage the four-man Party could manage focused on a single target, the helpless snake-person went down in seconds - another teal orb rising from the corpse as it fell. Schlap.
The Culling of Man: A litrpg adventure (Peril's Prodigy Book 1) Page 25