by Dakota Krout
“There goes an hour of work.” Jess sighed as the ashes scattered in the wind, but she could only shrug and wave at the dungeon. “I really hope it helps. My experience bar is hungry.”
Bard was still struggling to put all the cards back in their case. Jaxon patted Jess on the arm as they started walking to the entrance. “I’m sure it won’t be completely useless. Chin up.”
Bard tapped Joe on the shoulder, “Games o’ chance. That’s how ya train up your luck stat. Ya need ta have actual stakes, and ya need ta naw cheat, then play for a full hour. Pretty simple, compared ta other characteristics. Ya do tend ta lose ah lotta coin right away, but ya get increasing returns as yer luck boosts.”
“Thanks, Bard!” Joe flipped one of the coins he had recently acquired into the air and caught it. “Poker, huh? Seems like a good way to relax at the same time as doing some training.”
“Only reason gamblin’s legal anywhere ya wanna go.” Bard winked at Joe, then strode forward to the front of the group. He was their tank, and they didn’t yet know what sort of attacks were going to be coming their way.
The party went past the guards, who saluted Joe before getting back into position. This dungeon was now owned by The Wanderer’s Guild, and would have a rotating guard at all times to make sure no one else snuck in. As soon as they entered the open cavern, a small minimap appeared in the upper right corner of Joe’s eyesight, and he whooped. “Yes! I got a minimap! I’ve wanted this since I joined Eternium!”
“What!” Alexis scooted closer, “Is it because of that map? It is, isn't it? Ahh, I knew that there was a reason people were quietly buying up all the maps they could get their grimy hands on!”
“Wait…” Joe’s smile stretched across his face in a way that made Alexis compare him to Jaxon. “You mean to tell me that I can have a minimap all the time if I get a full map of an area?”
“Probably?” Alexis smirked as Joe started getting all wound up. “Dude, calm down and focus, please. You have the tendency to get all scatterbrained when you find something new to play with. We are in a dungeon, right? Oh, right on cue…”
You have entered a level nine recurring dungeon. Use caution, as self-sacrifice is the way forward but may require more than you can give. Keep an eye out for the resources, as well as the protectors! This dungeon will only remain until it is cleared, after which point the area will reset and be unenterable for twelve hours!
“So, are we always going to get vaguely ominous notifications whenever we enter a dungeon now?” Jaxon swatted at the air, likely swiping the screen away. “Is it just me, or have things slowly been getting more dangerous in this, um, Zone?”
“I know that I’ve seen a creature level up.” Poppy offered easily, keeping his eyes on the walls as they walked. “It seems likely that we aren't the only things getting stronger. I heard a rumor about a boss encounter, in fact. People were trying to bum-rush it, so they just charged back in whenever they died. By the time they realized that it was getting stronger, there was no way anyone in the area could beat it. They had to call in an entire guild just to bring that bad boy down.”
“Which means that the reward for actually beating it was almost worthless, I bet.” Alexis chimed in. “Looks like there is a monster ahead?”
Joe flinched and checked the minimap. “Shoot, yeah. It’s marked; I was just really getting into that conversation. My bad.”
“Remember what I said about focusing?” Alexis archly reminded him. “What is that thing? Looks like an overgrown eye as a body with tentacles instead of limbs?”
Memories of playing DnD in days long past sprang up in Joe’s mind, and he let out a quiet whimper as the creature spotted them. Luckily, it didn't seem to be a copyrighted creature, but as it saw Bard… both the creature and the Skald had a slightly purple aura pop into existence around them. Jaxon ran at the beast, screaming, “Kill it with fire!”
He punched the creature right in its overgrown eye, but the beast didn't even blink. Bard, on the other hand, screamed bloody murder. “My nose! What hit me?”
“Everyone, stop!” Joe ordered instantly. “It isn’t moving, and I’m betting that the dungeon description meant that the only way to hurt the enemies in it would be to take damage. Let me try my scan.”
He stared at the creature, activating Intrusive Scan and holding it for the maximum five seconds that he could.
Everwatch.
Highest stat: Willpower
Ongoing effects: Levitation, Boneless Body, Damage Trade II, Instant Stasis, Self-Damage = only Damage.
Joe waited for the weak points to appear, but no red appeared on the body of the Everwatch. “Alright… looks like it has a ‘Damage Trade’ effect, and level two means that… it returns all damage done back to its target. It only takes half of the self-damage? Let’s leave - ahh!”
He had turned around, and screeched when he found that Bard was covered head to toe in a blood red aura. It took a moment before Joe realized that he was currently seeing the weak points of the Everwatch. “Well… it’s in stasis, so we can’t hurt it. Let’s just go around?”
“Joe.” Alexis pointed at the creature’s tentacle, which was wrapped around a small bronze key. “I have a feeling that this is as far as we go if we don’t beat that thing.”
Looking at his minimap, Joe saw that there was a door around the bend of the tunnel. He went and looked at it, confused as to how the dungeon could have been mapped out if… ah. “There’s an inch gap under and over the door. Plenty of room for snakes to move around, plenty to stop us from going forward.”
He touched the door, and a notification appeared.
You do not have the orange key!
“So, it’s gonna be like that, huh?” Joe shook himself. “I can’t stand it when dungeons force you to fight the monsters. What if I just wanted to sneak through and empty out the treasure room? That seems like it should be a viable option!”
“Can someone jus’ stab me so we can get ah move on?” Bard demanded, taking off his armor so that it wouldn't get damaged by his teammates. Jaxon reacted instantly, punching Bard in the face hard enough that the Skald dropped to the ground and had his head bounce off the stone floor.
“Two hits for the price of one!” Jaxon crowed as a PvP aura appeared over his head. He pulled back his foot to kick the fallen Skald. “I hit you, you hit the floor!”
“Jaxon, stop!” Joe demanded. He was watching the Everwatch, and his Dungeoneer title showed him that its health hadn't decreased at all. “Self-damage is only damage… Bard, you gotta do the damage to yourself, or it won't count against that thing.”
“Oh, come on. Ah have’ta… gah, keep that healing spell handy.” Bard pulled back his axe and swung it at his exposed leg, pulling it to the side at the last second. “Ahhh mah brain sure doesn’t want me hurtin mahself.”
“Now we know why the dungeon said that it ‘may require more than you can give’.” Poppy muttered to Joe, who simply nodded.
“If you can’t-” Alexis started, only to be cut off as Bard closed his eyes and swung downward with a bellow.
Chapter Seven
“Gonna be honest wit’ yah.” Bard took and released a deep breath as he rubbed his legs and arm. “I am not ah big fan o’ this dungeon. Ah know ahm gettin’ healed, but ah feel like it's still bleedin’.”
The group had gotten into a fight with two more Everwatch monsters, and had learned several not-so-fun facts. When you were chosen as the target of the self-sacrifice, you were the only one that got experience from the monster. The damage done was on a point-by-point basis, not percentage based, which meant that it really made sense for the tank to try to get targeted. Finally, the dungeon was a bust so far.
“I think that’ll fade really fast here, Bard. Mental effects and all that. On my end, I can’t believe that they haven’t dropped a single item except keys yet.” Joe was getting a little grumpy about the fact that they had agreed to come and try out the dungeon. He had been trying out his ‘Corify�
� spell, but the stasis effect made the Everwatch immune. Not only that, but as soon as the monster was defeated, it seemed to rot at an accelerated rate; there was no way to get useful materials from the things.
“It's fine. Jess has been working her tail off, we can do this for her,” Jaxon spoke up. The others looked around, then finally rested their eyes on the man. Had he just said something… nice? Helpful? Normal? Jaxon smiled extra-brightly at the attention, and the others slowly went back to watching their surroundings.
“Wait!” Joe’s eyes caught on the floor, then checked the map again. There was a green outline indicated on the wall that had been tagged with a small question mark, and Joe’s dungeoneering title and perception worked together to highlight an irregular crack. “I’m pretty sure there is a secret door here.”
“Please let it be ah shortcut,” Bard muttered gruffly. Poppy and Alexis worked together, running their hands around the outline until they found a small catch, and the door popped open. They stepped through, looking around cautiously. To their right was a hallway, while to their left was a large door with a skull on it.
“Oh, look,” Poppy deadpanned. “A shortcut.”
Bard beamed and yanked Jaxon into a hug, and together the group opened the door to the Boss room. It swung shut behind them with a *click*, and the boulder in the center of the square room moved. Specifically, it parted; exposing a massive version of the Everwatch monsters. Bard groaned as a red aura appeared around himself and the Boss. Unlike the smaller versions, it didn't stop moving; instead lifting into the air and slowly drifting toward them.
“Intrusive Scan.” Joe stared at the creature, and it stared back.
Evan the Everwatch.
Highest stat: Willpower
Ongoing effects: Levitation, Boneless Body, Damage Trade III, Self-Damage = only Damage.
“It has Damage Trade three, but no stasis. Looks like we are going to have to-” Joe was cut off by an intense whipping sound.
*Crack*. The Everwatch hit itself, leaving behind a red welt that quickly faded and appeared on Bard.
“Arther’s thundering Seat that hurt!” Blood started dripping out through Bard’s armor, and Joe slapped a heal on him. “Joe, what was that?”
The Rituarchitect scanned the information on Damage Trade three, his eyes widening, then narrowing. “His version of Damage Trade makes it so that the first to strike themselves gives all the damage to the other! It switches targets, too!”
Indeed, the aura had vanished from Bard, but no one had been expecting or looking for it. Another resounding crack, and Alexis was clutching at her backside and yelping. Joe started glowing red, and instantly slapped himself in the face. He only did a single point of damage, but it was enough to make the aura vanish and appear on Jaxon.
Jaxon started poking himself in the wrist, and as a tentacle whipped toward the Everwatch, he took a breath and activated, “Adjust!”
There was a sickening crack as Jaxon’s wrist twisted and broke, but the damage vanished in an instant; leaving behind only the memory of pain as the Boss’s health bar dropped by a quarter. It wailed, and the target switching started happening faster and faster. As its strikes came down on itself, the aura kept shifting to a new target just before impact. If the team member was able to hit themselves first, the aura was interrupted and the creature’s blows damaged itself.
Conversely, if the team was too slow, they often injured themselves without hurting the Boss. The fight quickly became a bizarre version of rock-paper-scissors, with every being in the room becoming heavily damaged rather quickly. But in the end, the Everwatch was a level ten beast, and the majority of the humans were at or near level fifteen. The humans also had Joe, who was able to keep them healed up. Inevitably, the Everwatch fell.
Experience gained: 400.
Jaxon walked up to the beast and shifted his hands into a pair of T-rex heads. “Lefty! Terror! Din-din!”
“Craw!”
“Nyah!”
Joe and the others looked on with complicated expressions as the Everwatch was torn into. A good amount of it was devoured before it could rot too much, and Jaxon babbled and cooed at his hands until the effect wore off and they shifted back to regular hands. In his left hand, he held a golden key, and he tossed it to Joe. “Lefty nearly choked on this mean little key!”
Joe grimaced as he caught the key, which was still coated in rotting meat and dinosaur saliva. “Um… thanks.”
The door was opposite the one they had previously entered, and it swung open on well-oiled hinges. The key fell apart as soon as the door opened to reveal five small treasure chests. Poppy walked over to one and popped it open, pulling out a small skill book. “Huh. Look at that. ‘Mass Riposte’. Never seen that before…”
Each person that opened a chest got a manual that was specifically useful to them, so Joe was very excited to see what was waiting for him. He pulled open one of the small chests, noticing a flash of golden light as he did so. It was likely that the treasure was added into the chest as it was opened, or just before. He really wanted to know how that worked. Joe pulled out his book and looked at the title in confusion.
“‘Alchemically Enhanced Components’?” Joe read the information that popped up out loud, too shocked to stay silent. “Book three of five in the ‘Basics of Rituals’ series?”
He couldn't wait to see what information it contained; he had to know now. Joe pulled open the cover and read the first page out loud. “Foreword. This set of books is designed to teach the basic requirements for effective ritual usage, and it is recommended that you read and understand all five before beginning your pursuit of this particular arcane art. By the time you read this book, you should have read ‘Ritual Circles and You’ as well as ‘Magical Matrices: Ritual Edition’.”
Joe kept going, even as he realized that he was being led outside by the rest of his comrades. “After this, don't forget to study ‘Advanced Enchanted Ritual Circles’ and ‘Micro or Macro: The Pros and Cons of Mega Circles’. Don't sell yourself short… make sure to read the ‘Journeyman’s Rules of Rituals’ and ‘Master of Rituals’… series?”
Blinking at the sudden light hitting him as he walked outside, Joe looked around woozily. “Guys, I think I'm gonna be sick.”
“How was the dungeon?” Jess started excitedly, pausing and squealing softly as she was flooded with notifications. “Holy…! That was a secret door, then? That was worth nearly half as much as the rest combined!”
“It was an interesting dungeon that we all hated and will never visit again.” Alexis took the lead since Joe had his nose in his new book and was mumbling nearly incoherently. “No rewards until you beat the Boss, but then each team member got a book that was useful to them. A skill book or a manual of some kind.”
“We broke Joe!” Jaxon chimed in. “I’d come back if there was another reward at the end like that.”
“Yeah, what’s happening there?” Jess poked Joe, only to be met with a sparkling force that stopped her finger cold.
“As far as we can tell, Joe just found out that he has barely been using his rituals or something. He read off the titles to a few books, and it seemed that he almost fainted a few times.” Poppy explained as he swung his rapier in a complicated new pattern.
Joe closed the book with a *snap* and looked around. “Everything I’ve been doing until now… just… it's all wrong!”
Jaxon gave him a few pats on the back. “You okay there, lil bald buddy?”
“I’m fine. Also. Jess. I don't need you to look for professions for me anymore.” Joe took a deep breath and turned toward Towny McTownface. “I need to get back and read through this. If I’m right about it, I am going to need to start hunting down the rest of this series.”
“What do ya think it is?” Bard inquired as they started the walk back to the Guild.
“I… alright, you know how I could add in a health potion to that ritual that keeps monsters away? If I did that, then there was an extra effect of g
etting a rested bonus?” Joe waited for Bard to nod, then burst out with, “That’s an entire school of ritual magic! It’s called ‘Alchemical Enhancement’. Not only can I add on potions and various pastes and such, but if I can figure out how to do it with this book… I can basically bottle entire rituals, or add on effects that make a ritual something completely different from what it was supposed to be.”
Chapter Eight
Joe leaned over his book, staring down at words that were changing his entire understanding of rituals. “Purifying flame under a Gorgonsteel cauldron can enhance the potency of both earth and flame aspected components up to the fifth degree. The delta factor of the…”
“I have no idea what any of this means.” He shook his head and sighed. After returning to the Guild, Joe had gone straight to his base in the Grand Ritual Hall and started reading. Unfortunately, the information was dense and multifaceted, going over concepts that seemed easy while containing many layers. He wanted ritual magic to be as mysterious and easy as it looked, but that should only be the case for those looking at it from the outside.
Reading this book, instead of twisting chants that would empower rituals through sheer magical language, he found graphs. Instead of searching for a mystical plant that would serve a panacea for his newfound potions, there was a chapter-long exposition on plant growth and harvesting techniques that were skills in their own right. He wanted to parse this information and solve a riddle or minigame that allowed him to make a ritual potion; but instead, there were heating and preservation charts.
Joe’s attention slid, and he started thinking about the book series that he had just learned about. If the titles were any indication, there was a book about ritual circles. He was good at those; on Midgard, he was likely the subject matter expert.
‘Matrices’ had a few meanings, and he hoped it was just another name for math. Specifically, the definition that said they were ‘arrays of quantities or expressions in rows and columns that are treated as a single entity and manipulated according to particular rules’. If that was where this skill was going, he felt that he would have a good handle on matrices and should be able to learn the information on his own. But if it meant ‘an environment or material in which something develops, a surrounding medium or structure’… that could be anything from the placement of components to growing certain things for himself.