by Dakota Krout
“If we aren’t there in time, I don’t care what they told me to do. I bet the Dungeon Core in here is delicious. The taste of its Mana… so exquisite… so pure.” Barry was literally drooling, likely the most disgusting thing I had ever seen. At least to me. I saw worse things practically daily, but for some reason, this hit me on a more visceral level than seeing someone get beheaded.
I had to put my faith in Minya and hope she pulled through. I couldn’t wait here any longer. I had an appointment with the Guild, and it appeared that arriving fashionably late was not an option.
Chapter Twenty-two
Adam toppled to the floor as the room they were in lurched. He looked at the small Rune next to his head and winced. “That could have been bad. I found another trap here, everyone.”
The others had been able to steady themselves during the sudden movement, and Tom had actually been assisted in his attack against a Cat. The Cloud Cat had been dropping at them, and the sudden shift brought it into Tom’s attack range just as he swung. Gore rained down on them as the remains of the pulverized Beast succumbed to gravity.
“Thank you, Adam.” Hans helped the man to his feet, then rounded on Tom. “As for you, how many times have I told you that using that hammer is overkill and wasteful?”
Tom hedged around the issue while storing his hammer back in his bag. “I, um. I just didn’t want our team to be taken advantage of when we were off balance like that.”
“Bull!” Hans was trying to be serious but failing to hide a snort. “You just like seeing your opponent pop like a Mage punched them at full strength.”
“It… it is so fun,” Tom admitted, looking at Hans out of the corner of his eye. “I try to use it rarely, but…”
“You’re fine, but relying on that weapon will fail in an extended battle.” Hans smacked Tom lightly on the bicep to get him to relax. “You’ll be drained long before fighting anyone of actual strength. Wasting your ability to fight on such weak creatures… don’t make it a habit.”
“…they aren’t weak to me.” Tom’s mutter went uncommented upon.
Dale had already sat down and was cultivating. Unlike when he focused on pulling in Essence from the air around him, there was currently little disturbance in the ambient power. He was staring at the Core in his hand as if it held all the secrets he had ever wanted and was doing his best to pull power directly from it. The light in the Core flickered, and Dale smiled maliciously as he ‘caught’ the Essence it contained and began to sap it.
“That is disturbing to watch for some reason.” Rose shuddered as she sat next to him and joined him in cultivating. “It’s almost as if you were eating raw meat from a creature you killed.”
Dale slowly shook his head, trying not to lose focus. “There is so much more Essence in these than I had been getting! I was taking a fifth at best… now I’m sure I’m still losing some, but perfect conversion is probably outside my capabilities. Still… Snowball had more Essence stored in just his Core than I do in my entire body currently.”
Dale focused on his cultivation technique, rotating his current overabundance of Essence through his body to grind away at the barriers to advancement. Until he was able to pour enough power into his aura to step into the C-ranks, he needed to continue weaving Essence through and around himself. It was not… quite as easy as it sounded. First, he needed to bring external Essence into himself and refine it in his Core. He couldn’t just use ambient Essence directly, unfortunately. Then he needed to reach out and infuse his body with that power, down to the smallest particle. The only real difference in this step was the order you progressed.
There were three potential paths here that led to the same outcome, though each had positives and negatives. You could start the process by wrapping your externalities in Essence, which would allow you to make more powerful barriers from the outset. The downside was fairly obvious here: your body would be less well protected against injuries if your shields were breached. The second option was to start at the outermost portion of your body, the skin. This would help you gain resistance to piercing and slashing attacks but would leave you poorly defended against jarring blows or elemental assaults.
Option number three was to start on the interior of the body and work your way outward. This would help protect your inner organs and increase your recovery rate. Of course, by the time your aura was complete, all of the combined benefits would be in place. Dale had every Essence type available and so had chosen to work on his external shielding first. There was just too much benefit to be gained to ignore this path.
Since his armor protected him from most slashing attacks - intentionally ignoring the Flesh Cat - and he would eventually get the benefits of protected internals, shielding simply made sense for him. Creating the external aura was a trial in patience and eerily similar to the actions needed for crocheting, if on a much smaller scale. Weaving a tight aura was essential to creating shields that would hold up to various attacks. After each ‘knot’ was created and connected, Dale realized that the pattern was similar to the drawings he had seen from the memories of a flesh Mage that specialized in brain injuries. Each ‘knot’ was similar to what the Mage had called a ‘neuron’ and connected to the others similar to the ‘dendrites’.
How very… odd. Did this explain why using an aura pattern was more natural as you used it more often? Were you able to get your aura to learn as you used it? Would it become intelligent, at least a little? Did it matter? Dale shook his head and continued to work. He would save his more esoteric questions for the next time he saw Artorian. If he wanted to discuss or ponder philosophy, he needed to do it in a safe location. Continuing to generate more ‘knots’, Dale soon hit a stumbling block and opened his eyes. The Core in his hand was inert, empty, useless.
He wasn’t upset, just a bit tired. Dale had made a couple hundred new connections to his external aura. He needed a few hundred thousand before he was ready to step into the B-ranks, but he was happy to see that he had made progress. With good cheer, he informed the others. “I just made it into D-rank five!”
“That seems slow.” Hans offhandedly crushed his good cheer. “I’ve seen the amount of Essence you are taking in; you should be at least at D-eight by now. Strange.”
Dale was a little put out by this comment. “Hans, it isn’t just about Essence, come on. You know I need to build my aura.”
“You’re building your aura in the D-ranks?” Hans’ jaw dropped. “I thought you just had been storing power, maybe been taught a few techniques! Are you actually infusing? Let me look at you.”
Dale was pulled close and heat blazed in Hans’ eyes as he looked Dale over. “Would you look at that? You are actually building your aura! I’ve never seen a D-ranker with such a dense external aura before; you must be working on that, then? Interesting choice. I’m shocked that you have such fine Essence control.”
“Hans, I was told that this was the path to getting into the C-ranks…” Dale trailed off as the Assassin had a grin play around his lips. “Are you messing with me?”
“Actually, no, I’m not.” Hans gestured around the room. “Adam, Tom, how do you get into the C-ranks?”
Tom answered first, speaking as though he was reading from a textbook, “You store Essence in your body and aura. Once you reach a critical mass of stored power, once you have expanded your aura to its maximum, you will step into the C-ranks. From there you will need further instruction.”
“Any disagreements, Adam?” Hans looked at the Cleric, who shook his head. Hans turned back to Dale. “This must be the Moon Elf. Craig wouldn’t have steered you wrong without reason. Well, not wrong. Steered you different. I’m sure there is a reason for the way they are making you do this, but it is not the standard way of making things happen. The D-ranks are all about the raw power necessary to achieve them.”
Dale decided right there that he needed to have a talk with his instructors when he left this place. Until then… he barely stopped himself from doing somethi
ng he would regret. Fine. Dale decided - extra reluctantly - that he would bear with this for now, he would trust that the people shaping him had the best results in mind for his advancement. No need to break something or come out with a substandard result because of his haste. He had an advantage currently, and even Hans had commented positively on his shielding. Time to get back to killing.
Chapter Twenty-three
Tom looked around the corner, whipping his head back as a whirlwind of gold-tinged flame filled the hallway and melted the stone to slag. “I truly dislike Assimilators. They seem to be disproportionately powerful to the other creatures in here.”
A detail sprang to Dale’s mind from the fading memories of his time recombined with Cal. “The dungeon powers them directly with ambient Essence. They will get stronger and stronger until the Essence in the area is reduced; then they will weaken quickly. That will make it useless to cultivate in this area though, so we should kill them quickly…”
“Thanks, Dale, that’s extra helpful.” Rose stood and drew an arrow. “So your advice is to kill the thing trying to kill us? If only we had thought of that sooner!”
She leaned out into the hallway, sighting, firing, and whirling back to safety all in the span of a half second. A bolt of electricity hit the wall where she had briefly appeared, scattering sparks and discharging against the stone. Tom coughed from the smoke rising off the molten rock and looked at her, “Did you get it?”
“No.” She rolled her wrists and got two arrows ready. “This time for sure.” She moved down the corridor to get a running start, then jumped across the cooling floor and fired while in the air. She planted her feet on the opposite wall, smoke rising from her leather shoes as she pushed off and jumped back to the group, firing as she did so. Dale watched her with a touch of hero-worship; he had never thought to attack like that. Perhaps he needed to start using more… how to describe it… aerial encompassing attacks? Include movement along all three dimensions instead of only remaining on the flat ground? Bounce off the walls to attack from odd angles?
Rose nodded to indicate that she had landed an attack on the creature and settled down to wait. Unless they wanted to backtrack and find a new way through the maze, they needed to let the stone cool enough to pass through. Assimilators only seemed to appear when they were near the center of the labyrinth, so it was a good bet that getting through here was their best option. They had been making a considerable amount of potential profit by going through the fourth floor again and again. Not only were Cores in abundance on this level, but they had pouches stuffed with tokens, creatures, and herbs.
Dale had stuck to his promise to only leave the dungeon for training and returning items to the academy, but each of the others cycled out for relaxation, baths, or their own personal reasons. It had been a week since they came in here, and the constant stresses and cultivation had been good for all of them physically, even if their mental state may have been in question. Hours of cultivating each day and night in an Essence-rich environment had propelled each person forward, even if it weren’t enough for them to advance in rankings. Yet.
“I’m almost at C-rank six. Then she’ll love me,” Hans muttered to himself, moving his head slightly without looking so that the arrow coming his way landed in the wall instead of his head.
“Knock it off, Mr. Dangerlicious.” Rose broke into a grin. “Even if I wanted to be with you, would my Grandmother approve of someone so… worldly?” The others chuckled at that, and Hans muttered about how much he hated that wayward Bard that had immortalized a story from his past.
They all relaxed for a few minutes, crossing the hallway after it cooled and harvesting the Assimilator. The ends of its tentacles had been determined to be a useful component for creating weapons that let you spray elemental assaults at enemies without messing with your aura. Tyler, the innovative weapon merchant and council member, had found an excellent way to attach these to a multitude of various weaponry. As the weapons were cheaper and even sometimes more effective than enchanted or Inscribed weapons of the same type, they were purchased en masse by F and D rank cultivators. Continuing to carefully explore, the party eventually made it back to the center of the maze.
The swirling steam and mist were a good indication that Snowball the Cat was awaiting them and that an ambush was likely. Dale glanced over at Hans. “Are you going to help on this one?”
“Nope. You’re the one who wants to fight all the Cats and use them to get stronger. You four should have no problem working out how to take down the Boss. I’ll try to step in before any of you die, but…” Hans shrugged and shook his head sadly. “Sometimes, things happen for a reason. Perhaps that reason is that you are weak.”
“Very comforting.” Adam rolled the golden orbs he called eyes, which did more to highlight their oddities than to show his displeasure.
“No Warhammer.” Hans pointedly stared at Tom until he reluctantly grumbled his assent. “Have fun, you crazy kids!”
Hans faded from view as the others stepped into the steam, giving Dale a flash of inspiration. He pulled on his aura, shifting it from earthen shielding and into a misty camouflage. To the others, Dale’s feet faded, then the remainder of him, and finally, he disintegrated before their eyes. Before anyone could panic, he whispered to them quietly, “Don’t worry; it’s an aura trick. I might actually be able to get a sneak attack off on Snowball because the dungeon seems to be busy doing something else today.”
“Just make sure that you don’t get between us and the Beast,” Tom announced in a too-loud voice. “Else an errant attack could unintentionally fell you, and I feel that I would not be able to bear the shame of slaying yet another team member.”
A loud growl rippled through the area, a sign that Snowball knew they were there… and that he was coming for them. Dale was getting excited and had to calm himself forcibly. Breathing hard or even a rapid heartbeat might give him away to the Cat. Dale softly padded away from the group, finding himself crouching near a steam vent. Snowball usually went around them when he wasn’t relaxing or attacking, so Dale hunkered down and waited patiently. In a few moments, he heard a soft *shushing* sound that he had come to associate with Snowball’s fur lightly brushing against the ground. Dale smiled, his teeth showing through the fog momentarily. White fur coats were the current fashion in Mountaindale, and intact pelts were going for a high price as winter progressed.
As the soft sound passed him by, Dale felt a disturbance in the mists of his aura. He launched forward, putting everything he could into a single attack. His fist slammed into Snowball’s haunch, sending the Cat flailing and hissing with pain and surprise. Dale’s smile faded as Snowball did something unexpected, using some form of ability that he had never seen before. The Cat inhaled and roared at the steam. It seemed that he took direct control of the vapor in the air because it shuddered at the tremendous volume and dropped to knee-height throughout the room… all of it but a human-outline of mist hanging in the air a few feet from the Cat.
Snowball sprang at the exposed cloud, but Dale hadn’t stayed where he was. As soon as he realized that he was exposed, he had dropped to the floor and rolled toward the Cat. A roiling mist dispersed as Snowball tackled it, but Dale had managed not to get hit. His teammates had also reacted, and now, a full-scale fight had erupted. Snowball had already been weakened by Dale’s attack, and his injury made it hard for him to deal with the multitude of attacks coming his way. He dodged away from a single arrow, but another took him in the flank and disabled his rear-left leg. Dale rejoined the battle then, springing out of his position on the floor and punching the Cat in the nose.
The move was… surprisingly effective. Given that Dale hit as hard as a bear with his current cultivation rank and that noses are notoriously fragile, Snowball’s inability to respond to the blow was quickly capitalized upon. The fight ended a few exchanges later, as Tom’s ingot hammers rapped out a staccato beat on the feline’s skull. Dale was soon looking at yet another Core in his ha
nd, excited about using it almost to the point of ignoring his team.
Hans slow clapped and sarcastically cheered for their group takedown of a Beast that was - by all accounts - much too strong for the group. Tom cleared his throat and countered the Assassin’s condescending attitude. “My apologies, Hans, but I think that your sarcasm right now may be neglecting the fact that this Beast - by all rights - should be far too much for us to handle. Especially without powerful weapons like my Warhammer. If you will pardon my saying so, you need to… tone it down? Is that the correct expression? With your current attitude toward our success, we can only make the assumption that you really and truly despise us. Perhaps this is the attitude that drives away the Lady Rose? That is, if you are actually interested in pursuing a relationship. None of us are currently certain of your sincerity.”
“Or interest in any woman, for that matter,” Rose agreed, flicking her sweat-soaked hair out of her face. “No one wants to hear negative comments all the time. It makes us despise being around you.”
Hans had a genuinely grotesque look on his face by the end of this tirade, and his hands were frozen mid-clap. As the others got to work harvesting the now-red-furred Cat, Rose could hear him muttering, “Is that… really why I’ve been…?”
Chapter Twenty-four
Dale walked out of the portal and into town, looking around with haunted, tired eyes. The week so far had consisted of sneak attacks from every angle, and his battle readiness was getting near its peak. He moved more fluidly, staying balanced and on the lookout for any danger, no matter the form it might take. He breathed out, fashioning his aura to shroud him in swirling white, and nearly vanished in the snowstorm as he walked. Right then, Dale decided that he might be in love with the myriad applications of aura.
He walked over to the area that had been designated to meet with the Elf and looked around with pure paranoia. The small field he had been ordered to in their last session was utterly filled with snowmen. Full-on, child fantasy, snowmen. Carrot noses, black rocks for smiles and eyes, and thin twig arms.