by Dakota Krout
He was sitting alone on the second floor, feeling that he would be best served doing this by himself. Dale tried actively cultivating again, and the air shuddered as Essence was pulled into him. He gagged as the pain of his chi threads reforming struck him, his technique faltering. Catching his breath, he grit his teeth and did it again and again. Each time he did so, he was able to devote more Essence to the threads and last a little longer. He was close; he knew it…
Pushing himself, needing Essence to reach his Core again, Dale pushed one last time. The air trembled, then roared as his chi spiral stabilized and began drawing in Essence. Dale was panting as the intricate workings of his new technique pulled power through every single affinity channel at the same time; his meridians began working overtime to bring Essence to his starving body. It took a few minutes before Essence actually began trickling into his Core, but once it did… the trickle became a flood.
The vibrations he was generating were causing the floor to shake, the air to *thrum*, and his body to rejoice. The last remnants of his injuries and bruises faded as his body took energy to heal and to enhance. In a few minutes, the power flowing into him returned to a trickle as the loose Essence in the air was depleted. It would replenish soon, but for now, this area was going to be useless to cultivate in. A few Bashers appeared nearby, drawn by the noise and shaking, but they seemed to get sick as they came closer. Dale watched them as they closed in, but a few hops later, they turned and ran away.
“What was that all about?” he muttered aloud, not expecting to get an answer.
“Well, Dale, they survive on Essence.” Minya was seated off to the side, and he shrieked too shrilly when her voice reached his ears. “Wow. That was extra manly. Dungeon born flora and fauna in this world need a certain Essence density to survive. Just like when normal humans climb mountains and have a hard time breathing, Essence-enriched beings don’t do well in depleted areas. In a dungeon, this is an effective tactic for keeping creatures away from you, which is in part what these new ‘safe areas’ in here do.”
“Why are you here, Minya?” Dale questioned the Mage with a sigh. “Cal and I are on somewhat friendly terms now, and I have no need to be ‘converted’.”
Minya looked around, seemingly avoiding the question. “I’m just here… exploring how well the first few floors are being managed.”
“What does that even mean?” Dale stood and brushed his pants off. He started edging toward the exit portal, his hand going toward his pocket where he kept a keygem. “Listen, it’s good to see you, as always, but…”
“I really wouldn’t do that if I were you.” Minya smiled sadly at Dale. “I don’t think you want to go up there right now.”
“Might be better than hanging out with…” Dale took a deep breath and stopped himself. “I’m sorry, that isn’t fair. If I am getting on friendly terms with the dungeon, I can’t fault you for doing the same, if a bit more… energetically than me.”
Minya nodded happily. “I’m glad you are finally coming around. The benefits of working with Cal… they’re unbelievable. As I’m sure you’ve learned.” Her smile was now mysterious and sly.
“Right. Well.” Dale looked at the portal. “Why shouldn’t I go up there right now?”
Minya’s smile shifted to an annoyed frown. “The academy clerk that you’ve been giving your ‘required items’ to? You never got a receipt or a token of some sort to prove that you were making your quotas. If you go up there without fifty percent more than two weeks’ worth of items, you will be dropped from the academy as soon as you appear.”
Dale’s jaw slackened, and he sighed deeply. “You know, I’m not a big fan of murder…”
“This is your own fault, Dale. You keep thinking that everyone else is going to be operating in good faith.” Minya shoved him playfully, and he slammed into the wall. Dust rained down on him, and he slid to the floor groaning. “Oh, shoot, I’m so sorry. I forget that you are just in the D-ranks sometimes.”
Dale muttered an inaudible reply, speaking louder after he was able to clear his head. “I turned in everything yesterday. I’m cleaned out. What didn’t go to the academy went to Tyler’s weapon shop. I cleaned out my bags to make room for the next trips.”
“I’m sure they knew that, which is why a Guild member is waiting near each exit to ambush you and press you into service. I’m on my way out; would you like me to send anyone down here for you?” Minya smiled gently as Dale growled.
Thinking about the third floor and the Goblins it contained, Dale’s eyes hardened. “No… I think I know what I want to do for now, and bringing others into this to save me from my own mistake wouldn’t be fair. Thank you for the thought and the kindness you are showing me.”
“I’m sure they wouldn’t mind. You have a nice group of people on your team.” Minya was no longer smiling and evidently thought Dale was being overly stubborn.
“I have a few kinks I need to work out of my fighting style, and right now, I really think this is what I need to do. Thank you for your concern though, Minya.” Dale started walking toward the stairs, glancing back only once. Minya was already gone. Good.
He pulled his gauntlets over his hands and covered his face with his headgear, leaving only a tiny slit to see out of. Dale slipped into the breathing pattern he had been taught by the Moon Elves, maximizing the air he took in while minimizing movement. His walking pattern changed, and his aura began to shift to match the scenery. If Hans had seen this transformation, he would have recognized and complimented the deadly Assassin training Dale must have been going through.
Dale was excited for this opportunity, no matter what Minya had seemed to think. While he filled the role of a Fighter or Monk for his team, Dale’s training had taken him down a different path. A path he didn’t really want other people to see from him; one focused on lethal, instant, brutal attacks. An Assassin’s path. He wanted to see how well he could do fighting against creatures at his own cultivation ranking. As long as he could avoid the powerful necromantic Goblin that appeared intermittently, he was confident that he could do well on this floor, alone. If nothing else, his armor, speed, and aura abilities would ensure that he could escape if he needed to, but he doubted it would come to that.
Padding along with silent footsteps, the only signs of his passage were the bending grass that he needed to step on while avoiding the paths. He spotted a raspberry bush, grinning as he got closer. Half the time, these things were mobs, and he wanted to see how close he could get before it noticed something amiss. Dale found where the creature had burrowed itself. The creature’s head was barely peeking out, its eyes slowly scanning the scenery for prey. Dale stood directly in front of it, and it only blinked a few times to try and clear away its ‘blurry vision’. Dale reached back… and slammed his fist into the creature’s head.
One of the studs on his fist destroyed its eye socket, and the beast thrashed in pain. He punched again, and its skull fractured. The animal went still, though it still twitched every few seconds. Another blow and even that halted. Dale pulled a few spines off of it, planning to use the powerful sedative the thorns contained to control the amount of enemies he faced at any given time. Next, he harvested a few items that the Academy had on the list of goods accepted for contribution and started toward the hexagonal fortifications the Goblins could be found in.
There were guards on the fortress wall, but since they usually had a clear line of sight on any approaching adventurers, they were… lax in their patrols. This fort was in the center of the floor, not against the wall, so Dale couldn’t recreate Hans’ method of pressing against the wall to climb over. He pulled out a small throwing blade and used it to dig into the branches filled with sleeping poison, coating the small blade liberally. Calculating the force and angle needed to reach the Goblin on top of the wall, Dale took aim and threw the small blade.
*Ting*. The metal item bounced off the stone and fell back down, landing in the dirt a few feet away from him. Dale closed his eyes,
hoping the Goblins wouldn’t get alerted from this. He kept very still as the Goblin looked over the edge, attempting to identify the sound. Dale cursed silently; he thought that he was getting better at throwing the small daggers, but… that should have been an easy throw, and now his confidence was shaken. Glancing up, he saw the Goblin still leaning over the edge and narrowed his eyes. Plan ‘B’ then.
He reached out with his Essence and moved a line of power through the stone, shattering the wall right where the Goblin was leaning. The Mob fell with a yelp, landing awkwardly on the ground near Dale. That fall wouldn’t typically be enough to kill a creature at this rank, but Dale was behind it as it started to stand. With a quick motion, he snapped its neck and crushed its windpipe just to feel satisfied. Then, before anything else came to investigate, he rushed around the wall to the opposite side and began to climb. A touch of power on his fingertips let him dig into the stone, and he peeked over the edge to check where he would cross over.
As he had expected, the majority of the Goblins had rushed over to the broken wall to see what was happening. Dale smiled even as he shifted his aura to match the stone more accurately and stealthily drew closer to the Goblins. It took a few minutes to circle the walls, but he heard some interesting conversations when he did.
“Shoddy walls maybe? The Lesser Spirit may not be as interested in making the walls solid for us.”
“Don’t lean on the walls, anymore, got it. Maybe it thinks that we are not allowed to rest? Should we ask the Great Spirit?”
“Don’t be a fool.”
Several variations of this conversation were being discussed as the gate opened and a few Goblins went to retrieve their fallen member. Dale retreated around the corner and pulled out the thorny branches once more, quickly stripping the thorns off with his gloved hands and moving around the bend to scatter them like caltrops near the clustered, barefoot Mobs. He waited a few minutes as the Goblins chattered, then seemed to remember that they had a duty to perform. They started walking away, a few of them snarling as they stepped on something sharp. Dale smiled. The poison took a few moments to have an effect if the thorns weren’t still connected to the branch, but he could afford to be patient.
By the time they were back to their regular patrol sections, many of them were woozy and stumbling. Dale first targeted the few that were moving normally, taking out the first with two devastating kidney shots, making the Goblin stand rigid and unable to make a sound through the pain. Dale snapped his neck, shoving the fresh corpse into his spatial bag before moving to the next one.
The Goblin he came up on next was woozy, so Dale simply grabbed him by the back of his neck and slammed his head into the stone wall. This process was near silent, and another Goblin went into the bag. He continued around the wall in this manner, quickly finishing off the ranged Goblins. The melee Goblins might be harder to defeat with such attacks, but so long as he didn’t need to dodge arrows at the same time, Dale was once again confident in his eventual success.
Chapter Thirty-one
Dale climbed down a ladder set into the wall, getting close to the fighters that were clustered around small tables. They were working on various hobbies, sharpening weapons, or playing cards. Dale was shocked to see how similar the Goblins acted to members of the Guild when they weren’t fighting. It was… Dale shook his head. No, he couldn’t get sentimental about this; they were going down.
“Where are the archers?” Dale winced as one of the Goblins at the table looked up and scanned the wall.
“Maybe they fell off?” Another chuckled, stopping as the first held up a hand.
“No. Something is off; I think we are under attack.” He stood, reaching for a massive sword that was always close to hand. His fingers grasped air, and he looked down at the imprint of his sword that had been right there. “Who took my sword?”
Dale grinned widely. The sword was safely stored in his bag. He had crawled around and collected any weapons not being held or not on a Goblin. He had to suppress his laughter as a small fight broke out. This was an excellent opportunity for him. While the others watched the match with amusement, Dale took out Goblins on the fringes of the area. He was burning through Essence, but a single strike to unarmored kidneys with his left hand would force a full quarter of the blood in their bodies to shift, and they would generally expire from the first strike.
If they did, they went into the bag. If they survived, a second blow to the base of the skull would finish the job, and they still went into the bag. Dale needed to replenish his Essence at this point. Without cultivating, draining their Essence with his other gauntlet, or opening the Goblins to take the Cores inside of them, he was starting to run low on available power. This wouldn’t have been a problem if he hadn’t recently drained himself and started a new cultivation technique, but right now…
“Stop! Stop!” The Goblins that had been fighting were now part of the only four that remained. “Where is everyone? What’s happening?”
“They just went to check on the archers!” The one he had been fighting got in one more sucker punch, but the serious growl stopped him from throwing another.
“Fool, we are under attack! Group up!” The Goblins clustered, and Dale sighed softly. He didn’t have confidence in his current ability to fight such a large group, and now that they were on the alert, he needed to leave. As the Goblins began searching, he moved in the opposite direction and opened the gate. There was only a simple and easy-to-remove bar holding it in place, making him smile. After quietly opening the gate, Dale walked away and found a small hill to sit on.
That could have gone better, but he was happy with the current progress. Taking a deep breath, he released his hold on his camouflage, setting a simple shield in place for now. With so many interconnected sections on his aura, the shield was able to be held with barely a thought and a hint of Essence, so it only made sense to keep them in place at all times. With a small happy sound, he opened himself up to his surroundings and pulled. The grass in the area bent toward him as the wind picked up, and the low rumbling of displaced air alerted anything nearby that something was happening.
Expecting that his cultivation would draw in Mobs, Dale kept his eyes open and tried to remain aware at all times. He smiled as he surpassed the amount of Essence he had been able to draw in on the previous floor. Since this floor was large and open, the ambient Essence quickly rushed to fix the imbalance created by his extraordinarily powerful draw. It took a half hour, but Dale - now panting and feeling bloated - finally needed to stop taking in more. His eyes were shining as he stood, flexing his empowered body. Applying more Essence than usual to his muscles, he took off running for the fort he had vacated.
As he sprinted, he smacked his lips. The Essence had held a more substantial hint of fire and earth than was usual, and he wondered if something had happened to a powerful lava cultivator here recently. The door he had used was still unlocked, and as Dale approached it, he shifted his aura and vanished from view. He slipped through the egress and looked around for the Goblins. They were calmly sitting with their backs to a wall, apparently expecting that their brethren would soon reappear and that the threat was past. They were very wrong. Only two of them held weapons still, so he decided to start with them.
He got close to the first, and its eyes jerked up as Dale stepped on some small scraps of metal. The group tried to get to their feet, but Dale abandoned stealth and punched the Goblin in the face, crushing its head against the wall. It slumped to the ground, and Dale ran at the others before they could get into a formation. He landed a few powerful blows against the Goblin with a weapon, but they were less effective since it could see the attacks coming and defend against them.
The Moon Elf hand-to-hand combat was designed to be used against single opponents but was easily able to be utilized against multiple foes. Dale would have taken a few scratches if he had not been wearing his armor, but even at his level of mastery, the martial art forms were more than sufficient to disable
and destroy these Goblins. Dale straddled the last one, punching it in the face over and over while he screamed.
“How dare they take it all away from me? How could they just do that to me!” His bloodlust sated, Dale stared down at the unrecognizable lump of flesh on the ground, wincing as he realized the outlet his pent-up emotions had taken.
He locked the doors of the fortress, double checked that he was alone again, and started cultivating. In terms of pure power, he had stepped into rank D-six. Dale shook his head, disgusted by the people who had been lying to him but also at his own insatiable need to meet their expectations. As his focus converged to a point, the connections in his external aura began to increase yet again. Dale wouldn’t fall into a trance this time; he knew that for a fact. It slowed him down to keep a watchful eye, but relaxing here would likely be the last thing he ever did. He grinned wryly, thinking a dark thought: ‘At least with this body’.
Dale worked through the night, cultivating when his Essence got low and increasing his aura when his power was full. With his new cultivation technique, he was never out of power for more than three-quarters of an hour. With all of his meridians open, he needed very little food or water to sustain himself. When he couldn’t handle the tedium any longer, he would clear out a new fortification, always making sure not to take on too much. At one point, he realized that he was about to miss a training session with his Moon Elf instructor and had the dungeon send Minya with an explanation.