“Friends,” she answered. Pushing herself to her feet, Eve patted Preston on the shoulder as she moved to approach the campfire. “Now come on, let’s eat our share of the dry rations while we can. You’ll be wishing for them when we run out in a few days and have to survive Wes’s cooking.”
“I heard that!” the fire mage called over his shoulder.
“You were meant to!” she answered.
“So you’re insulting your scone-dispenser now?”
“So you’re insulting your not-dying dispenser now?”
“Hey.” Wes pointed. “Technically, you’re my tertiary not-dying dispenser. I’ve got a healer and a warrior now.”
“And so far,” Preston stepped in, “we’ve saved Eve more than anyone else.”
Eve stamped her foot. “That was once! See if I trip and fall on a random bone again.”
“Knowing you,” Wes teased, “it’ll happen twice more today.”
“He’s right, you know,” the healer added. “Falling on your face is a hallmark of yours.”
Eve exhaled. “So this is what I get for trying to make peace with you.”
“What? Did you think I wasn’t going to help Wes make fun of you?” Preston smirked as he used her own words against her. “That’s what friends do, Eve.”
She held up her hands in defeat. “Alright, alright, you win this round. But only because I’ve run out of Priestess jokes.”
“Don’t worry.” Wes clapped her on the back. “You’ve got a whole fifteen levels to come up with more before he evolves again.”
Preston blanched.
“Good,” Eve said. “There’s no way I let this slip by without at least a few more solid jabs.”
“Of course not.” Wes laughed before echoing the phrase for himself, “Because that’s what friends do.”
The three continued their amicable jokes and japes and conversation for some time as the blue twilight faded into the silver starlight of a summer night. They cared little for the darkness of the sky or the ghost of approaching autumn sending its chill along their skin. They had warmth aplenty as they sat around their campfire, told their stories, and ate their meals, once again companions in the truest sense of the word.
* * *
Wes faltered when the tree line first came into view. “You didn’t tell me we were going into the northern woods.”
Eve looked askance at him. “Where did you think these ruins were? You know there’s nothing truly dangerous in the plains.”
“Right…” Wes breathed. “I just… You’ve heard the stories about that place.”
“The stories I’ve heard are that only adventurers go there because it’s dangerous. We’re adventurers, Wes.”
“She’s right,” Alex broke her usual silence to step in.
“I am?”
“Yep. There’s hostile monsters in there, but nothing we can’t handle. You’d have to get through the forest into the mountains to find the really scary stuff. Besides, according to our info, this ruin isn’t even that far north.”
Eve grinned. “There you go—we’ll be fine.”
“Yeah, yeah, I know,” Wes said. “It’s more… this is it, you know? Until now we’ve just been running around the plains doing the odd bit of hunting. All the great hero stories start in the woods.”
Eve rolled her eyes. “So do all the great lumberjack stories.”
“Come on.” Alex forged on. “The sooner we find these ruins the sooner we can get started.”
Wes and Eve shared a quiet nod before continuing on after the Soldier. The forest loomed. Despite her brave words, Eve couldn’t help but hold her breath as the sun first disappeared behind a canopy of verdant needles. The air turned cool.
Eve grew more and more vigilant as the pines grew denser around them. She’d never admit it, but she too had heard tales of creatures lurking in the woods, and she wasn’t about to be caught off guard. With every shift in the wind, shadows danced in her periphery. No matter how she told herself there was no beast waiting to pounce, her heart rate refused to calm.
The sense of silent unease remained firmly in place as the minutes dragged on. Eve hoped they’d find the entrance to the ruins soon. She wouldn’t get a wink of sleep if they had to camp beneath the oppressive gloom of the canopy, even if their destination would prove far more dangerous than a simple forest. At least ruins had walls.
Alex was the first to enter the clearing.
There wasn’t a plentitude of open space, but the ten-foot diameter ring of empty air was as welcome a sight as Eve had ever seen. Mostly she was glad to see the sun again, delivering its afternoon warmth just as it banished the shifting shadows. The others, however, were less interested in the clearing itself than in what it contained.
“Is this it?” Preston asked.
Wes stared at the hillside opposite them, and the mossy stone arch which held open the way into it. “It certainly looks like it.”
“It is,” Alex said. “Look.” She unceremoniously pointed to a simple wooden signpost beside the ruin entrance. Its message was simple.
Claimed by the Enchanter’s Guild—Lynthia Branch
Eve smiled. “Welp, that’s as much confirmation as we could’ve asked for. Shall we?” She stepped forward.
Alex held out a halting hand. “You know the drill.” She drew her spear. “Me first. Wes? Can we get some light?”
The mage nodded, holding up his own hand as it burst into flame.
“Alright,” the Soldier said, taking the first careful step through the crumbling archway. “Let’s go.”
Eve grit her teeth as she took her place at the back of the formation. She only made it half a stride into the dark entrance before a notification pulled at her attention. She opened it.
You have entered the dungeon: Burendian Outpost! Fight well.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Dungeon 101
THE PARTY FORCIBLY halted as their vanguard froze in her tracks. “We need to leave. Right now.”
“Alex?” Eve asked, trying to look around the massive fire mage that stood between them. “What’s wrong?”
The Soldier cursed to herself. “Those bastards didn’t tell us this place had naturalized into a dungeon.” She backpedaled, colliding into Wes before turning to face the others.
He kept his Burning Hand held high to keep from singeing her. “What difference does it make? Now we get a bonus for clearing the—”
She cut him off. “No, you don’t understand.” Her voice quaked as did her hands, matching the frantic look in her fire-lit eyes. “It was a dungeon that k—” She stopped herself. “We need to go.”
Eve pressed against the side wall to slip past the slim healer. Standing on her toes, she could just peek over Wes’s shoulder to look Alex in the eye. In as gentle a voice as she could manage, she asked, “It was a dungeon that what?”
The warrior swallowed, clutching her spear in a white-knuckle grip. “If those assholes at the enchanter’s guild didn’t tell us this place had naturalized, what else did they leave out? Dungeons are dangerous.”
“Alex.” Eve kept her voice even as she attempted to calm the woman down, “we knew this was going to be dangerous going in. We’re practiced, we’re prepared, and we’re high level enough for a challenge like this. Tell me this isn’t the perfect opportunity for you to get a Rare tier three.”
Slowly, the tall Soldier bobbed her head up and down in a hesitant nod.
“Good.” Eve gave her a confident smile. “Now let’s show this dungeon what we’re made of.”
Gritting her teeth, Alex turned forward, leveling her spear as she continued down the dark corridor. The others followed.
“I don’t like this,” Preston whispered to the Striker behind him as they walked. “Miss Professional is the last person who should be getting rattled like that.”
“Wes is right,” Eve replied. “All this means is we get an extra reward at the end. Alex is a pro, and I’m sure whatever’s bothering her won’t get
in the way of her fighting just as hard.”
The healer nodded. “Alright, you’re the boss.”
Eve’s eyebrows shot up. “I am?”
“I mean… um…” Preston backpedaled. “We should be focusing. This place is dangerous.”
She gave him an incredulous “…right,” before shutting her mouth and returning her attention to their surroundings. There wasn’t much to see.
Mossy stone lined the walls, the individual blocks of carved limestone bound together by no mortar Eve could determine. The tunnel floor was pieced together with the most even cobblestone she’d ever seen. Had she not looked, Eve might’ve thought she walked on a single flat slate.
The orange glow of Wes’s fire flickered across the tight space. Eve whispered silent thanks that his skill released no smoke, or else she’d fear for the quality of their limited air. At least the downward slope of the corridor would’ve sent any fumes rising back the way they’d come.
They made it fifteen minutes into their descent before Alex called a halt. “There’s a room up ahead. Too dark to see inside.”
Raising his other hand, Wes lobbed a Flame Dart over the warrior’s shoulder. Eve watched it fly. The burning projectile arced through the air, bathing the chamber in a flash of light.
For an underground outpost, the chamber was massive. Easily eighty feet wide and fifty across, the space elicited a quiet sigh of relief from the Striker. Finally, she thought, I’ve had enough of these cramped tunnels. Her class didn’t do well in tight spaces.
Opposite them, the cavern housed what could only be described as an oversized door. It towered over the adventurers, as imposing as it appeared impregnable. The structure itself appeared to be two massive, homogeneous pieces of stone split directly down the middle. A seal sat upon its center, carved to appear as a sunburst with a spiderweb of twisting lines emanating from it across the entire door.
And then the Flame Dart collided with the opposite wall, and the intricate structure vanished as the cavern returned to darkness.
Alex stepped forward, leveling her spear. “Eve, to the front. Nothing’s coming up behind us, and I don’t want you stuck in that tunnel.”
Preston and Wes stepped aside as Eve made her way up. “What’s going on?” she whispered.
“While you were gawking at the architecture, I was doing my job. There’s a nest of something in the left corner.”
Eve gulped. “Right. Hold on.” She reached back to withdraw the rusty sword from Wes’s side. “When we get back to Lynthia, remind me to buy a belt.”
Alex ignored her comment. “I’m going to hold the tunnel entrance. Wes, your primary job is to make sure we can see. Pick off any enemies if you get a chance. Don’t hit Eve.” She pointed with her spear. “When you’re ready, I want you to throw a dart in that corner.”
“Got it.” Wes prepared the spell.
Eve held her breath. This was just another fight. She’d survived all sorts of encounters before; whatever forest creature had made its home in the dungeon entrance would be no different. If the door was any judge, they weren’t even inside the ruins proper yet. She gripped her sword.
Wes threw the dart.
This time she kept her eyes fixed on the room’s left corner, ready to Appraise whatever appeared before Wes’s flames ran out. Her mind almost blanked when she saw them.
A half-dozen furry brown creatures huddled together. Eve estimated each to be roughly waist-high, with floppy ears pointing up another foot or two. Bunnies? Our first encounter in the dangerous ruin is a nest of bunnies? They’ll probably even leave us alone. They’re so fluff—
Level 28 Managorged Hare
“What the shit?”
The dart landed directly on the hares’ nest, setting the pile of twigs and fur aflame.
Six angry growls filled the chamber.
Eve stepped onto the balls of her feet, ready to run. “Well at least we have another light source.”
Preston hesitated. “Are you sure we want to…”
“That’s not just twigs in that nest,” Alex said. “Look.”
Eve squinted, the growing blaze blinding to look directly at in the dark cavern. She cursed when she saw them. Along with the wood and leaves and tufts of loose fur, alabaster bones littered the den. These hares had killed before, and Wes had just destroyed their home.
The oversized lagomorphs charged.
Eve Charged!
She darted out to the side to begin, unwilling to race directly into the mass of fluff and teeth. She kept her eyes fixed on the approaching hares, counting the seconds as they disappeared into the chasm of darkness between Wes’s light and the burning nest.
Another Flame Dart launched across the room, casting its dim illumination on the creatures. Eve picked her target.
One hare, slightly larger than the rest, lagged behind the drove. Eve shot after it.
She angled her blade to meet directly with the creature’s neck without the need for a swing, with her arm lined up behind it to reinforce its position. Just like she’d practiced. The last thing she needed was to get her weapon stuck in a heavy corpse.
Her heart raced. Her feet slammed into the smooth stone. She activated Fate-al Blow.
Shock ran up her arm as the sword connected. She held fast. The force of the strike twisted her upper body back as her momentum carried her onward, but she kept to her feet. Two weeks spent at the training grounds proved their worth.
The blade passed clean through.
Eve dashed on, rebuilding her distance from the rest of the drove as her target’s head fell to the cavern floor. One down, five to go.
Wes’s barrage managed to down a second beast as its fur caught alight, filling the cavern with hideous squeals and the stench of burning hare. Eve cringed before forcing herself to refocus.
She watched just out of reach as the four remaining bunnies made it to Alex’s position. The Soldier kept her spear back, waving it slowly to ward off the creatures.
One pounced.
The warrior swung at it, but the thing was too fast. The spear’s edge missed as the beast instead collided with the shaft. The blow knocked it off course, but it landed un-bleeding on its feet.
Another leapt at the spearwoman, taking advantage of the opening left by its companion. Alex threw up an elbow to protect her face, unable to bring her weapon to bear in time. Unnatural, inch-long claws scored her vambrace. Blood dripped to the cavern floor.
Wes swiped his Burning Hand at the creature, forcing it to jump away.
Ayla’s golden light joined the mage’s orange as Preston healed the surface wound.
The remaining duration of Eve’s Charge! ticked away. If she wanted to do something before the ability went on cooldown, she’d have to do it now. Raising her sword once more, she dashed in.
Another fiery projectile forced the rearmost hare to reel back, distancing itself just enough from its drove-mates for Eve to single it out. She took aim, activating Adrenaline Rush to put an extra burst of Strength behind the attack.
Just as she neared the four-foot bloodthirsty hare, it jerked forward to rejoin its peers.
The rusty sword struck. Again Eve’s upper body twisted as she continued on, but no rabbit head fell to the stone floor absent its body. Instead, her blade dug deep into the creature’s center. It cried out in agony as it collapsed, the sword still embedded in its ribcage. As its final act, the managorged hare robbed Eve of her only weapon.
She spent the final seconds of her Charge! distancing herself from the three remaining monsters. She turned back around just in time to watch Wes set another aflame. She tuned out its cries.
The final two creatures leapt at once, overwhelming Alex’s defense as they came from several directions. She stopped one. The thing impaled itself on the warrior’s spear thrashing around for an agonizing second before falling limp. Its companion caught the woman on the shoulder.
The force of the collision sent Alex tumbling. She landed hard on the cold stone, t
he beast atop her.
Wes was ready.
He swung his Burning Hand, still alight for its purpose of illumination. The hare shrieked. It clawed at the downed Soldier as the flames caught hold and began their spread. Alex echoed its cries. “Get it off me!”
“I don’t want to burn you!”
Eve called out from her vantage across the cavern. “Then bloody kick it!”
Wes’s eyes widened as he remembered magic wasn’t his only tool. Stepping back, he wound up for the same maneuver Eve had used to get the wolf off his leg on their very first day together.
He kicked it in the ribs.
The hare rolled off its victim, landing gently atop the corpse of its companion. It cried out a final time as the flames continued to spread, their eternal hunger inexorable as they claimed the last of the den.
By the time the blaze reached the last of its fuel and itself died out, Preston had already patched up the worst of Alex’s wounds.
“Everyone alright?” he asked as he helped the Soldier return to her feet.
The chorus of yeses was all Eve needed to turn her attention to the flashing notifications in her peripheral vision.
You have defeated Level 28 Managorged Hare: +93 exp!
You have defeated Level 26 Managorged Hare: +81 exp!
You have defeated Level 26 Managorged Hare: +81 exp!
You have defeated Level 25 Managorged Hare: +75 exp!
You have defeated Level 25 Managorged Hare: +75 exp!
You have defeated Level 25 Managorged Hare: +75 exp!
Level Up!
Ability Upgraded!
Fate-al Blow cost reduced!
Eve dismissed the notifications, somewhat disappointed her ability upgrade had only been a thirty Stamina drop in the cost of her least favorite skill. She supposed the first interesting ability change would come at level thirty, but that deduction was pure guesswork. Still, she grinned. A level was a level, and watching her stats tick up would never fail to satisfy.
This Quest is Broken! (This Trilogy is Broken (A Comedy Litrpg Adventure) Book 1) Page 13