Ruthless (The Completionist Chronicles Book 5)

by Dakota Krout

  “Alright…” Joe looked at the steely Dwarves around them. “What have you figured out so far?”

  Bard launched right into it, pointing at the trail of pictographs. “This was ah time o’ peace after different Dwarven clans came together under a single King. Then there was a bloody war, and only the King had the majority of his clan at the end. Because of the early infightin’, he ruled with an iron fist. Here… this turn shows us starting to trust and work with the other clans after maybe ah century? This other path is more warlike, stayin’ in charge by military power.”

  “The choice I would make is to work together and grow as a single entity.” Joe said without hesitation. “But is that the choice that we need to make here?”

  The group dithered back and forth for a few minutes before finally agreeing to take the route of military might. That was what they decided a Dwarf would do. Taking a left, they walked along the path and carefully watched the pictures and mechanical beings that walked with them. “Bard, would you try to keep us up to date with what’s happening? The map shows that all these routes go to the same place, but new doors keep opening up. I’m pretty sure we’ll be going off-map soon.”

  Bard nodded and began a monologue. “The King kept his power, and consolidated everythin’. The clans grew more skilled, more specialized in the crafts that they chose for themselves. Their weapons became more potent, their cities became more beautiful an’ advanced. But… uh-oh.”

  “What?” Poppy nervously questioned.

  Pointing at the walls, Bard brought their attention to the fact that the pictures were starting to dissolve into red blood again. “They had no one ta’ admire their cities. There were no one ta’ use their powerful weapons against. The talented warriors that had fought for their King began ta’ resent him. The people that he had conquered began ta’ plot against him… and finally… coup d'etat?”

  The wall in front of them spun open just as the wall behind them closed. They were standing at the base of a set of stairs that went up and up… revealing a massive Dwarf in Royal Regalia sitting on a throne. Joe’s team tried to backtrack, but the Dwarves actively blocked their path. Steam started to hiss, and metal creaked.

  The glowing eyes of the King opened.

  Chapter Twenty

  “You would. Turn against. Your King?” The mechanical voice of the Dwarven King was slightly stilted, as it came from the actual automaton and not some kind of recording. It stood and pulled two warhammers off the ground, then started to glow in odd patterns across its armor.

  “Oh, sugar snap peas…!” Alexis spat, “It’s got enchanted gear.”

  “What did you expect from a King that took the best of everything from his people?” Poppy settled into a stance and waited for the King to close in on them. Still, even his eyes widened as the Dwarf flashed down the stairs and pancaked one of their mechanical allies with its dual-wielded war hammers.

  “Go all out!” Joe ordered, setting the standard by casting Acid Spray with both hands.

  Damage dealt: 252 (480 acid damage reduced by half; +5% spell penetration due to title. Target designated as ‘gear’.)

  “Hey!” Joe was shocked by the amount of damage he had done, even though a good chunk of it was brushed off. “The entire construct is considered an item! If you have anything that damages gear-!”

  Current health: 64/534 (2,170 damage taken. 1,700 damage absorbed by Exquisite Shell. 450 blunt damage taken. 20 terrain damage taken.)

  Joe coughed out a mouthful of blood as he slid down the wall to the ground. He had seen the hammers coming but hadn’t managed to do anything about them. He was just too slow. A swift Mend reshaped his chest cavity and pulled him up to two hundred and twenty-nine health, and a follow-up Lay on Hands pulled the stat to four sixty-nine. “Heh. Nice.”

  His Exquisite Shell was gone for this fight; there was no way for him to remain combat effective as well as dump his mana into it to restart it. Once more, he was upset that he couldn’t add more mana into his shield while it was active to repair it. A sound of tearing metal brought his attention back to the fight just in time to see Poppy’s rapier sliding smoothly out of the King’s shoulder joint. Jaxon managed to use the distraction to force the King to drop its left hammer, but the slender Chiropractor was sent tumbling from a backhand that he didn't manage to entirely avoid.

  The metal Dwarves that had come with them were beating on the King with all they had, making the room sound like a forge. A *tink* sound came once a second as bolts lodged into the armor, somehow bypassing the enchantments and embedding in the armor itself. Alexis was frustrated; she couldn't hit any weak points. “I gotta get my crossbow skill above Beginner!”

  Bard spit out blood when he heard that, both from a busted tooth as well as from anger. He was chopping at the King like an overly stubborn block of wood that needed to be split. “You’re damaging that with only Beginner ranks in your skills? How!”

  “It’s because you all have that title that adds penetration to every attack.” Poppy calmly replied, putting fresh holes into the King every chance he got. “I told you that was overpowered.”

  “It’s only five percent, Poppy!” Jaxon had the King’s attention, so his focus was entirely on dodging instead of attacking. “How overpowered can that be?”

  “You. Are.” Poppy grunted between attacks, “Adding true damage onto your attacks! No matter how much damage you do, at least five percent of the maximum damage gets through!”

  The King didn't seem to like this reveal, or perhaps Poppy had just gathered too much aggro. It flashed gold again, as it had at the start of combat, and Poppy was slammed against the back wall from the first hit… then his face caved in from the second.

  Party member ‘Poppy’ has died! Checking… brave death! Respawn set at four hours!

  “That hurts.” Joe had been staring at the King, and his Intrusive Scan finally gave him what he needed.

  Name: King Drogren. Class: Warrior Automaton. Title: What Might Have Been.

  Highest stat: Strength.

  Ongoing effects: Runic Automaton. Mode enabled: 75% to death. Blocked. Blocked.

  The weak points of the King lit up for his team, all of them in odd spots. Instead of the helmet being a striking point, the center of its chest cavity was shown as the best place to land a blow. “Right, robot! This thing probably has a central unit to power it!”

  “Speed of the body meets speed of the mind, Overhaste!” Bard chanted. A pink glow enveloped the team, and suddenly the King was moving at a reasonable speed.

  Alexis fired bolt after bolt, having four in the air as the first hit. “They’re so slow!”

  “Acid Spray!” Joe twisted as he cast the spell, making the acid spin a small amount as well. This turned it into more of a stream, which gave Joe an idea. He gathered shadows around the end of his Mystic Theurge staff and solidified a giant straw at the end of it. “Acid Spray!”

  This time, the acid was forced from a cone into a high-pressure stream. It carved into the armor to deadly effect, opening a hole on the front chest plate. The King turned its shining eyes on Joe, and steam began to whistle as it built up the power for another charging attack. Bard stepped in at the last second, hooking his axes around the King’s left leg and yanking backward.

  Instead of charging at Joe, the King flashed with golden light and slammed into the ground. Bard barked out a ‘Ha!’ and started slamming the back of the King like a drummer playing a particularly angry solo. Joe couldn’t risk more acid with his team and the Dwarves on his side attacking, and was at a loss for a moment… then he saw Poppy’s body. “Yes!”

  He ran over and started the process of resurrecting his fallen teammate, his mana flowing out of him like water from a burst dam. Joe had learned some new things about himself at this point. One, since his mana had stopped being contained and was now seemingly free-flowing through his body at all times, losing all of it at once left him feeling incredibly weak and drained. Two, there were benefits to doi
ng new things.

  Mid-combat Resurrection! Skill level increased directly to Novice VI! You either don't care about your enemies, or you fully trust your teammates to do the work without you!

  Poppy stepped out of a portal that appeared just as his previous body crumbled to ash. “You won already? That’s-”

  Joe managed to pull him to the floor just in time to avoid a flying crumpled heap that had been a Dwarven comrade. “Still… in combat, Poppy.”

  His mana was coming back swiftly, but Joe still needed a few more seconds before he would be useful. Poppy glanced to the side and winced. “Need a heal, Joe. Came back below thirty percent.”

  “That’s expected.” Joe rolled to his feet and checked his mana. At thirty-three per second, he had plenty to heal Poppy, so he did. Lay on Hands cost one-twenty mana, so it took another four agonizing seconds to top him off. Then Poppy ran forward and got back into the fight.

  Joe went back into full support mode, casting Mend at a distance whenever his teammates took a hit. Alexis stood far enough away that all she had to do was occasionally dodge a Dwarf that had become a flying garbage pile. Bard was able to tank two subsequent hits, so long as they weren’t critical or made when the King flashed gold, but after that, he would drop if someone sneezed too hard in his general direction.

  “Jaxon, pull some aggro, then go full dodge mode! Bard, pull back and let me get you to max health! Poppy, hold back until Jaxon needs help. Alexis, you’re lovely, keep at it!” Joe was barking orders at maximum speed while trying to use his abilities as well as possible. While he was thinking, he realized that he was lacking in combat rituals that could impact non-living enemies. Yet another thing to work on. “Lay on Hands!”

  While Bard was being healed, it seemed that the King reached another milestone. Its gold became tinged with red, and Jaxon wasn't prepared. Just as Bard’s haste spell ended, the King gained a speed boost and landed a solid punch with its off hand. Jaxon went spinning through the air until he hit a wall, then the outstretched fist lifted into the air and flashed royal purple. The King’s dropped warhammer zipped through the air to return to its hand, and the Dwarf started moving toward Jaxon again.

  “Target the hole in its chest!” Joe saw Poppy running at it, and yelled just before Poppy got close enough to target it with an ability.

  The King lifted its hammers and brought them down at tremendous speed to finish Jaxon off, just as Poppy shouted, “Challenge!”

  Both the King and Poppy vanished, but there were glowing orbs remaining that seemed to signify their position. The metallic one was the King, and the green one was Poppy. Jaxon jumped to his feet, staggering toward Joe. Healing was done apace, and the team waited for the outcome.

  In under ten seconds, the challenge had concluded. Both the King and Poppy returned. The automaton turned and faced the group. It took a single step and fell with a massive *clang*. Poppy staggered to the side and collapsed as well; his right leg bent like a banana. Joe immediately recognized the signs of a compound fracture.

  “Poppy!” Joe ran over and focused his Mend spell. The leg slowly straightened, and soon the group simply lay on the ground in exhaustion instead of pain.

  You have defeated the King that Might Have Been! Experience gained: 1,500!

  “That’s good, at least.” Joe spoke to the roof, not looking around at all. “Seems low for the challenge rating.”

  “I don't think we were ever supposed to fight it.” Jaxon pointed at the wall. There was no way to go further, only the way back had opened. “I think that was a punishment for going the wrong way.”

  Joe rolled over and thrust his hips at the fallen King.

  Dwarven Automaton ‘The King that Might have Been’. Item type: Crafting material.

  “We’ll hopefully get something out of this.” Joe told the group as they all got ready to backtrack.

  “Right, now we should just-” Bard’s words stopped as the ground shook under them, and all the light in the dungeon shifted to a deep red.

  Quest offered: Destroy them!

  Chapter Twenty-One

  “Destroy them? Who is ‘them’? Joe opened the details of the quest, blinking in surprise as he read.

  Quest: Destroy Them. A team of adventurers have blasted their way into the final layer of this dungeon. They are disregarding the sacred traditions of the Royal Dwarven choosing site, and are damaging or stealing ancient artifacts stored within. Slay these adventurers and return all stolen items recovered to the dungeon. Reward: based on number of items recovered and targets slain. Accept? Yes / No.

  Accepting the quest, Joe turned to the others and made sure that they had gained the quest as well. Upon confirmation, the team started moving toward the entrance of the dungeon. There was no point in trying to go down further; already, they could hear the sounds of water rushing inward from below. Joe had a guess as to who the invaders were, but he had no idea how they would have been able to get out to the area. He especially had no idea how they would find powerful enough explosives that they could break through a dungeon’s walls. He knew from experience exactly how durable a single wall would be, not to mention however many layers this place could have.

  “Joe, I really want to learn more of this history.” Bard was looking at the walls wistfully as they ran away from the steadily increasing noise of water. “Something tells me that this will be not just important information in the future, it will be-”

  Poppy interrupted Bard before Joe could get a word in edgewise, “Only way we are going to get lower is if we leave the dungeon and it is able to repair itself. Otherwise, we are going to need some kind of water breathing potion, and I don't think any of us want to go through Alexis’s poison again.”

  Jaxon spoke up with a questioning tone. “Did we in fact have a plan to get back to the surface? I did not particularly enjoy the first-”

  “There was a hatch right near the entrance that was locked from the inside,” Alexis snapped. “I’m betting that will at least let us out near the top, and we can all swim to the surface from there. If you drown, well at least you don’t have to go through ‘my poison’ again.”

  Joe simply kept his mouth shut and continued running with his group. When they got to the hatch that Alexis had mentioned, they opened it and stepped inside. They were surrounded by glass on all sides, but before any of them could question why, the glass enclosure shot upward. As they moved through the water, they were able to see all of the wildlife in the area. They were agitated, furious, and incredibly reckless. Several times, a fish or an eel bounced off of the glass, and the humans could only hold their breath and hope that the strange elevator they were in would not shatter.

  After breaking the surface of the water, the glass unfolded and turned into a platform that raced across the surface of the water. When it got close to dry land, the elevator stayed in place, gently bobbing with the waves. They took a few more steps onto the sandy tidal shelf, looking for the people that had so abruptly interrupted their plans. At first, they were concerned that they had missed them entirely, but when a series of faces popped up in the water and made their way closer, Joe and his team could only smile as they readied their weapons.

  “How? How in the world did you beat us here?” Sam, the leader of the other party, took his hat off and shook it. Somehow, this simple action was enough to remove all the water not only from his hat, but his clothes as well. He tossed his head to the side, and his luscious hair swept out as if he were shooting a shampoo commercial.

  Trying his hardest not to hate the man simply because he apparently had everything Joe did not; Joe took a deep breath, gently let it out, and offered his ultimatum. “We were offered a quest to return the items that you stole from the dungeon. If you hand them over without a fight, we will put all of this behind us and work hard to never see you again. If you want to fight, well... I am fine with that, too.”

  His team had a large advantage. They were on dry, fairly stable ground, while Sam's team was still wais
t-high in the water. They were prepared, had their weapons out and ready, and had just been given a comfortable ride back to shore. Sam's team had needed to fight with other monsters the entire way back, while swimming and carrying the items they had pilfered from the dungeon. Though Joe really wanted to know why they had not stored them in storage devices or bags, he wasn't about to give the other team time to relax and prepare by asking drawn-out questions.

  When the other group did not surrender, Joe understood that they had a fight on their hands. He lifted his Mystic Theurge staff and started casting Acid Spray at the group as quickly as he could manage. As that was clearly the signal to fight, the rest of his group began in earnest. Crossbow bolts thudded into a heavily-armored, hammer-wielding woman, knocking her back and causing her to slip in the water. A man dressed in a Judo Gi raced forward on top of the water as if he was ice-skating and sent a punch flying at Alexis. He was intercepted by Jaxon, who gasped when he saw how the other was traversing the water.

  “You… you have fish feet!” Indeed, the Monk's feet from the ankle down had transformed into extremely large koi fish.

  “Bro, you need to not worry about that right now.” The monk shook his head as he used his forearm to push Jaxon's fist to the side. “Y'all messed up when you attacked us next to a body of water. There is no way that you can match my mobility.”

  “Your fish feet are no match for my T-Rex Head Hands!” Jaxon declared indignantly, sending a flurry of blows at the obviously confused monk.

  Most of the group had paired off and were fighting battles one on one; Alexis had switched her targets to a lady dressed in dark leathers, clearly an assassin. It was a game of cat-and-mouse, as the assassin would dive underwater as a crossbow bolt came her way, but she was also working to close the distance between them so she could put her blades to work. Alexis was having none of that, and was very carefully timing her attacks to coincide with the other woman’s attempts to dash her way.