“Anyone get anything good?”
Wes smirked as he boasted, “Level fourteen and a new active ability. Lets me make nearby fires burn hotter for a time.”
“Thirteen for me,” Preston piped in. “As well as a lower cooldown on my Healing Touch.”
“I got nothing,” Alex said as she planted her foot on one of the corpses to withdraw her spear from it. “But I’m just on the verge of twenty-four.”
“Good.” Eve grinned at her. “More time to fulfill evolution requirements. We’ve got a lot of dungeon ahead of us.”
Wes snorted. “Assuming we can even get the door open.”
“Before we do that,” Preston interrupted, “shouldn’t we talk about these hares? I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty sure they aren’t supposed to get this big. Or this high level.”
Nodding along, Eve approached the beast she’d killed to reclaim her stolen sword, copying Alex’s planted-foot technique to yank it out. “I’m not sure what ‘managorged’ means, but I imagine it has something to do with living in a dungeon.”
“No.” Alex shook her head. “Dungeons won’t do this.” She pointed at the bloody tip of her spear. “Or that.”
Eve squinted across the dark room before realizing she had a bloodstained weapon of her own. She inspected the blade.
Sure enough, ethereal wisps of undiluted white drifted off the viscous liquid. All over the weapon, the translucent strands wafted into the air like tiny lines of wafting smoke. It was captivating. Eve stared as she swung the weapon to and fro, watching the pretty tendrils trail behind it. “Is that… Mana?”
“It looks nothing like mine,” Wes said, “but mine isn’t pure. It’s fire Mana.”
“So this is what, raw Mana?”
He shrugged. “It would make sense, but I really can’t say. The hares were labeled as ‘managorged’ so I guess their blood is full of raw Mana?”
Preston stepped in, “the body isn’t meant to hold Mana. The soul is. Whatever these hares came into contact with, or whatever they ate, put that magic in a place it shouldn’t have been.”
“So what now?”
The healer turned up his palms. Alex answered instead. “Now we know we’re in for enemies that use unaligned Mana, which I guess we should’ve known already. The enchanter’s guild wouldn’t have been interested in a place without enchantments.”
Shaking her head to refocus away from the pretty lights, Eve stooped over to wipe her blood on the fur of a dead hare. “Speaking of enchantments,” she said as she returned the blade to Wes, “how are we gonna open that door?”
The fire mage scratched his head. “Now that is a very good question.”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Enchantments Are Fun
EVE STARED UP at the massive double door, its inscriptions only lit by Wes’s flickering flames. “It’s an enchantment, right?”
“That would make sense,” Alex replied. “We are here for the enchanter’s guild.”
“So how are we supposed to get past?”
Wes shrugged, stepping up to the entryway. “Maybe we should just…” He raised his hand in a closed fist before knocking three times against the carved slab. Nothing happened. “Okay, first, ow.” He cradled his knuckles against his chest. “And second, I’m an idiot. Who knocks on a stone door?”
Eve held her head in her hands. “A hundred Int and he still pulls shit like this.”
“You’ve got a better idea?”
“I’d start with not hurting myself. Look, it’s clearly enchanted, but it’s probably been centuries since anyone’s maintained the thing. What if it’s out of Mana?”
Preston raised an eyebrow. “How can a door run out of Mana?”
Eve turned up her palms. “You’re the caster, you tell me.”
“I’m not an enchanter, though. My Mana comes from my connection to Ayla, and operating oversized doors isn’t exactly a part of Her domain.”
All eyes turned to the party’s other spell-caster.
“Don’t look at me,” Wes protested. “I can make it hotter if you want, but that’s about the extent of my abilities. Fire Mana and all that. And before you ask, no, I’m not strong enough to melt stone. Not yet, anyway.”
The group fell silent for a moment as its members thought through the problem separately.
Eve was the first to speak. “Wait. If you can’t recharge the door because you have specialized magic, don’t we just need a source of raw Mana?”
“And where are we going to… oh.”
She continued, “These hares grew giant somehow. Maybe all that Mana in their blood came from the door.”
Preston jumped up. “Eve, you’re a genius!”
“I know.” She smirked. “Now let’s see about putting the Mana back where it came from.”
“And how are we supposed to do that?”
“Hells if I know,” Eve said, already making her way back to the nearest dead hare—one of Wes’s. “But Mana’s literally spilling out of these things. I vote we just put some hare’s blood on the enchantment and see what happens.”
“Is that a good idea?” Alex asked. “For all we know the enchantment is for repelling intruders.”
Eve answered over her shoulder as she dragged the furry creature towards the others. “It didn’t repel the hares. Seems more likely it’s for opening the damn thing.” She stopped at the door’s base. “Can I borrow a knife?”
Wes offered his.
In a rough, jagged motion, Eve sliced open the burnt corpse, allowing its blood to spill directly onto the inscribed stone. The adventurers held their breath.
As they watched in silent trepidation, a dim alabaster glow began to creep up the web of jagged lines that coated the door. It didn’t hum, it didn’t pulse, it simply spread.
Seconds passed as the ethereal light made its way to the round seal at the slab’s center, setting the engraved sunburst aglow. It didn’t appear as a sun to Eve’s curious gaze; more a moon given the softness of the illumination and the silver of its hue.
Up and up the Mana stretched itself, falling ever dimmer the higher it climbed. It never reached the top. The pearly glimmer flickered twice before it began to fade.
Eve’s heart sank as the Mana disappeared, returning the room to the same fire-lit gloom in which it had begun. Nothing had changed.
“It wasn’t enough.”
Wes shrugged. “We’ve got five more hares, let’s use them.”
“Not quite,” Alex said. “The ones Eve killed will have bled out too much already. Unless you have a way to get a pool of blood off the floor, we’re down to just two.”
“If one wasn’t enough, will two be?” Preston asked. “It looks like the Mana we put in just leaked right back out.”
Eve quietly stared at the Manaless enchantment, her mind elsewhere.
Wes turned back to the remaining hares. “No reason we can’t try. Eve’s already made a mess of my knife; may as well get even more blood on it.”
“Alright,” Preston agreed, gesturing down to the hare Eve had cut open. “Let’s get this drained one out of the way first.”
It wasn’t until Wes had cleared away the singed critter that Eve finally spoke her thoughts. “Maybe that’s not a good idea.”
Wes looked up at her. “What are you talking about?”
Instead of answering him, Eve turned to Alex. “Earlier you said the enchantment could be for repelling intruders. It could be, but not in the way you meant. What if it isn’t for opening the door, but for keeping it shut?”
“So a giant magical lock?”
“Exactly. And if it’s out of Mana, maybe it’s unlocked.”
Wes leveled with her. “So what, we just push it open?”
Eve’s reply came in the form of a quiet smile and a confident step up to the structure. Bracing herself against the stone, she leaned in and pushed. It didn’t budge. Her arms strained against the weight of the thing. Her feet held firm thanks in part to the extra traction from
Surefooted. With a breath, she heaved.
The door shifted. It moved no more than half an inch before halting again, but that tiny motion was all she needed.
Wes joined in, adding his not insignificant weight to the attempt. Alex followed. Even Preston with his slight form and unenhanced Strength applied what little force he could. Eve activated her Adrenaline Rush, heaping yet more power behind the group effort.
All at once the stone barrier overcame whatever years of decay had held it fast, swinging wide in a single motion. Eve stumbled forward, barely managing to keep her feet as the door opened.
Wes fell on his face.
“Ayla’s tits,” Preston swore. “You’d think opening a centuries-old ruin swimming in enchantment would be a bit more complicated than just bloody pushing.”
Eve chuckled. “That’s why I’m the boss. Always try the simple way first.”
“The hare’s blood was your idea.”
“Alright, fine,” Eve admitted. “Always try the simple way eventually.”
“That’s more like it,” Wes laughed.
Alex snapped, “Focus up. We’re still in a dungeon. Back in formation. Eve, stay near the front.”
The three quietly nodded as they obeyed, accepting the truth in Alex’s words. Together, they stepped through the newly-opened door into the room beyond.
The immediate thing Eve noticed was the floor. It was made of the same unnaturally smooth cobble as the chamber outside, but white light emanated from the gaps between. The glow pulsed every few seconds, bright spots racing along the grid-like cracks as if they had someplace to be. Perhaps they did.
The space itself was long and narrow—some sort of entry hall by Eve’s estimation. Its twenty-foot width would give her plenty of space to run should she need it, even if she hoped she wouldn’t. Something told her such hopes were futile.
Opposite them, the cavern branched in two directions, each only lit by the dim fluorescent glow from the enchanted floor. Before she could even begin to wonder which path was the correct one, Eve’s attention turned to the construct that sat between them.
“If that’s not a guard, I don’t know what is.”
Ten individual marble slabs rested against the wall betwixt the two exits, arranged in such a way to match the general shape of a man. Or a Burendian, assuming the long dead species looked remotely similar. It didn’t move as the party approached.
As they walked, Wes extinguished his Burning Hand to conserve Mana, leaving the group illuminated only by the ghostly glow from beneath.
The strange angle cast unnatural shadows across the adventurers’ faces, granting Eve the eerie impression that she traveled amongst a group of revenants long due their inevitable grave. She shook the thought from her head. No doubt she appeared the same.
They made it more than half way through the spacious entry hall before the golem came alive.
White light coursed over the marble blocks like so many jagged bolts of lightning as first the head, then the arms, then the torso began to levitate. The flows of Mana met in the space between the slabs, coming together in bright nodes as if taking the place of a normal joint. They formed the knees, the hips, the shoulders, and elbows of the thing as it pushed itself away from the back wall to take its first step.
The room quaked.
Dust rained down from the ancient ceiling, planting another concern in the back of Eve’s mind. She didn’t have time for that now. She gripped her sword.
The golem leapt.
Alex shouted, “Run!”
The party charged forward as the construct flew overhead, landing hard on the ground behind them. The chamber shook once more as loose pebbles fell from the stone above.
Alex pointed at the branching paths ahead of them. “Get to the tunnels! Preston, Wes, I want you behind me!”
Cut off by the marble golem by the way they’d come, the casters dashed down the leftward path to take shelter. Alex and Eve pivoted to face the thing.
Eve muttered, “If I weren’t terrified, I’d say that thing looks ridiculous.” In a way it did. The crisp corners and faces to its smooth rectangular torso and limbs made the golem’s blocky appearance feel somewhat clumsy. Its movements were anything but.
Gracefully rising from its kneeling landing, the thing turned to them. It approached.
As per usual, Wes landed the first blow. Dart after dart struck the twelve-foot construct, leaving black singe marks on its pristine marble but otherwise accomplishing nothing. His flames washed harmlessly against the enchanted stone, unable to melt or burn the sturdy material. Still the golem came.
Eve Charged, leaving her sword to strike at one of the glimmering joints. The construct swung first.
She dashed to the side, her feet sticking fast to the smooth stone as she turned on a razor’s edge to dodge the blow. Her momentum lost, Eve backed away to prepare for another run.
The enchanted sentry made it to the tunnel’s mouth before she could.
Alex didn’t even try to strike at the thing. It swung a thick arm overhand at the leather-clad warrior, forcing her to leap to the side. No spear could block such a swing.
Their vanguard separated from them, Preston and Wes sprinted farther down the left hand path to distance themselves from the goliath.
The golem’s head twisted, turning as if to gaze with an eyeless face at Eve and Alex off to its right. A second passed. Eve’s breath quickened. If that thing goes after the boys, they’ll be dead in a heartbeat.
She gripped the hilt of her sword, grit her teeth, activated her Adrenaline Rush, and ran in.
Eve was ready for the swipe when it came. Unwilling to compromise her momentum, she poured every ounce of Strength into a mighty leap. The marble slab passed harmlessly beneath her.
Inertia carried her forward.
As she flew, Eve grasped her weapon with both hands, dumping the last of her dwindling Stamina into Fate-al Blow. She’d only get one shot.
A hideous crack rang through the cavern as the rusty blade collided with the construct’s marble head.
The stone won.
Pain shot up Eve’s arms as her sword snapped. Panic entwined with despair flowed through her for that fraction of a second as she still hung in the air with a broken blade in her grasp. They’d never get a chance to see her fall.
This was no ordinary sword.
In a single moment, whatever untold ancient enchantments that had lain dormant on the old weapon broke open. No longer bound by its decaying runes, the blade’s Mana burst free in a brilliant explosion of pure white.
The force of the blast threw Eve back. Once more she flew through the air, this time landing hard against the cavern wall. Skin tore and bones cracked as she rolled down the chamber’s side, hitting the floor just outside the rightmost pathway. Alex raced to her side.
Eve’s heart raced as her health reached the single digits.
A horrific rumbling shook the ground beneath her as the explosion rocked the ruin’s very foundations. This time it wasn’t only dust which fell.
Alex wrapped two desperate hands around Eve’s ankles, dragging the wounded Striker into the mouth of the nearest exit with as much haste as she could muster.
The last thing Eve saw was a cascade of falling rock and a little blue light indicating there were messages to be read.
And the world went black.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Revelations in the Ruined Ruins
WES STAGGERED TO a halt as a terrible crash rang out behind him. He turned around just in time to watch the tunnel entrance disappear in a cloud of dust and falling rock. His stomach dropped.
“Ayla’s tits,” Preston swore. “They did it.”
“Did it? They collapsed the bloody cavern!”
“Check your notifications.”
Wes obeyed.
You have defeated Level 35 Burendian Sentry Golem: +840 exp!
Level Up!
The news did little for his sinking mood. “Shit.” He took off
back the way he’d come, charging towards the entry hall they’d so narrowly escaped. A wall of rubble blocked his way. “Gods-damnit, Eve.”
Preston caught up to him, placing a gentle hand on his arm. “What is it?”
“If that cave-in was enough to kill the golem…”
Preston finished the thought, “Then it was enough to kill the others.”
Wes nodded.
The Priestess stepped forward. “You don’t know that. They could’ve escaped down the other tunnel or back out towards the entrance. Hells, they’re probably going back to find help as we speak.”
Wes pulled away from the man’s comforting touch. “Or they’re buried in that rubble and we’re going to die in here.”
Preston paused, his eyes flashing blue for a moment before he opened his mouth to reply. “It’s okay, Wes. Eve is alright.”
Wes echoed the healer’s words back at him. “You don’t know that.”
“She’s okay.”
“How can you say that?”
Preston insisted, “Because I know!”
“Don’t give me any of that ‘have faith’ crap. You know the gods don’t work like that.”
“It isn’t crap.”
Wes tensed. “Then what is it?”
“Look, I can’t speak for Alex, but Eve is alive. I know it.”
The mage didn’t remove his gaze from the fallen rock. His brow lowered into a scowl. “Don’t bullshit me, Preston.”
Preston grew louder. “It’s not bullshit!”
“Then how do you know?!”
“Because I haven’t failed my quest!” Preston slapped a hand over his mouth as if to recapture the escaped words, but it was too late. His shout echoed down the empty hallway as if to taunt him for his loose tongue.
Wes waited until the last of the reverberations faded before turning to look him in the eye. “What are you talking about?”
Preston replied through the hand atop his mouth. “I shouldn’t have said that.”
This Quest is Broken! (This Trilogy is Broken (A Comedy Litrpg Adventure) Book 1) Page 14