by Tao Wong
The room itself hosted dusty shelves, broken pots, and a dining room table scarred with idle knife-drawn graffiti and a pair of abandoned plates. On the plates were the remnants of an old dinner, one covered with cobwebs like the corners of the room itself. Asin browsed through the room, doing her best to avoid touching the cobwebs and failing at times. Daniel had to hide a slight smile, seeing how the gossamer white spider webs clung to the Catkin’s black fur. In a short while, Asin came out, holding a pair of copper coins. Daniel frowned slightly at the sight of the coins themselves, for their design was ancient and out of circulation. In fact, the coins themselves were slightly larger than the ones in current use. While Daniel had heard of the strange loot that Portos created, he still found the experience unsettling. What use was a Dungeon with abandoned, cobweb-filled rooms and ancient coins? Other than unnerving Adventurers that was.
Shaking off the thoughts and Panqua’s strange perversions, Daniel waved the group onward. Tula immediately took off while the group prowled forwards. Twice more, the group stopped at abandoned rooms, coming out with another copper coin and a bar of sweet, unrotten cocoa. It was as they neared the third room that Tula brought her hand up, signalling the group to slow down. She slowly crept forwards while Omrak followed, unslinging his giant sword as he readied himself for the fight. Daniel drew a deep breath, pulling out his hammer and checking the straps on his shield once more while he waited. His iron-made plate armor was strong and offered him great protection, but it also made a lot of noise when he moved. His mediocre skill level in Stealth did not help at all.
Tula did her usual routine before pulling backwards slightly, removing her hand from the string of her bow and holding up her hand. Quickly, her fingers flashed while Daniel repeated the motions for those behind, just in case they missed them.
“Three enemies. One close to door. Two far away.” Daniel paused, considering their options, and then he moved his own fingers, giving further orders. “Asin up. I rearguard. Rob support.”
Once again the group rearranged themselves, mostly consisting of the two moving forwards while Daniel continued to hang back. On Tula’s count, the group readied themselves before the Ranger stepped right past the doorway, drawing the arrow to her cheek and loosing in one smooth motion. The arrow glowed, small swirls of power gathering around the tip, as Tula triggered her Skill Penetrating Arrow. The weapon flashed, burying itself in an enemy. Even as Daniel watched, Omrak charged in with a shout, clashing with the closest monster, and Asin slunk in, offering ranged support with her knives.
A few seconds later, both Rob and Daniel began their approach towards the door. However, this approach and their team members’ follow-up attacks were interrupted as the monsters unleashed their infamous attack and howled. The screams resounded within the small room, intensifying the attack before exiting into the stone corridors. Dust trembled and fell while the scream assaulted Daniel’s ears, making his head hurt and his balance wobble.
On and on, the screams resounded before Asin and Tula managed to regain their footing. The pair loosed their area effect Skills Arrow Storm and Fan of Knives, multiplying their single arrow and knife into three or more of each. A short moment later, the screams cut-off, and the Adventuring team regained their footing. Rob quickly approached the doorway entrance, his wand glowing while Daniel watched the corridor for additional trouble.
Luckily, this time, no additional reinforcements arrived. In short order, the team managed to kill the Zarask, allowing Daniel to catch a quick glimpse of their attackers before they dispersed into blue light. Each Zarask was seven feet tall, and overly muscled with red skin and tiny horns that jutted from their heads. The Zarask bore two mouths—one on their head and a larger, elementally-infused mouth in their chest. It was from that mouth that the screams would erupt.
Once the bodies faded, Mana stones dropped from the creature’s bodies, falling to the ground where Asin scooped them up. She handed one of the crystals to Rob, who slid it into a specifically designated pouch, before pocketing the other two. When the delve was over, they would pool the stones before turning them in for sale at the Adventurers Guild.
Once again, Daniel was struck by the strangeness of the Dungeon. Mana stones were the seed used by Erlis to remove the corruption that Ba’al spread through her veins. Dungeons were the areas which Erlis designated as the areas where she would push out the corruption. The stones themselves had a variety of uses since they contained Mana—the solidified lifeblood of Erlis herself. Still, more than one tavern-chair philosopher had deduced more efficient manners for Erlis to cleanse herself of Ba’al’s corruption. It was, without doubt, quite inefficient to have Adventurers enter Dungeons to cleanse the tainted monsters. And dangerous too when they failed.
It was only the temples that offered any real explanation, stressing that the Dungeons were a test, the grounds for the development of Erlis’s children—humanity, the Beastkin, dwarves, and more. Of course, that raised questions about the importance of Adventurers and non-combat Classes, and of how Erlis felt about individuals who did not undertake the ‘trial’ of the Dungeon. To those questions and answers, Daniel was less certain. He knew that Priests offered generic platitudes—and that Adventurers and Dungeons were not the only way to gain Erlis’ blessing—but…
It held true that experience, Erlis’ blessing, was gained most prominently in the Dungeons.
Hour after hour, the Adventurers padded through the first floor of Portos. As the group left the safety of the original entrance, they encountered more and more Zarask. The large demons not only stood around within abandoned rooms but also patrolled the corridors of the catacombs, occasionally catching the team as they delved.
It was in the fifth hour of their delve that the team finally ran into their first true challenge. A patrol of four Zarask had turned the corner of a short corridor just as Tula had stepped out of her cover. Surprised, the Ranger had released her arrow by reflex, sinking the fletching deep in one monster’s shoulder, but it was insufficient to stop the injured monster and another from screaming, staggering the group. While the team recovered and began to react, the other pair of Zarask demons charged Tula, engaging the Ranger in close combat.
Omrak charged and bowled over one such monster with his shoulder, using his Skill Challenge of the North to draw the attention of the other monsters. He then immediately fell back, wielding his greatsword in loops as he attempted to draw the monsters towards him.
Behind, Daniel charged forwards to back up the group. Unfortunately, Omrak, caught in his battle frenzy and unable to hear Daniel’s approach, did not move aside to allow the healer to back him up. Daniel snarled, frustrated as he ducked and pressed himself into the left of Omrak, hoping to squeeze past as best he could. In the meantime, Omrak traded blows with the monsters, sword clashing with claws, and blood flying as badly blocked attacks flew. Unfortunately, the corridor was insufficiently wide to allow all the monsters to attack Omrak, and the slowest demon peeled away to focus its attention on Tula, who was still caught behind enemy lines.
Rob ran forwards, balls of enchanted ice held in his hand. The Enchanter ducked to the right, lobbing the two balls underhand. The balls fell forwards, triggering their payload between the feet of the red Zarask. Ice spikes exploded outwards, freezing and injuring the Zarask and slowing their progress, allowing Omrak to lop a limb off one. In the gap, Daniel finally found a space to push himself far enough forwards that he could spot Tula.
“Erlis’s tears,” Daniel swore, bashing a probing claw as he eyed the distance. Tula had dropped her bow, one arm hanging uselessly by her side while she wielded her large knife with her right hand to push back her attacker. But the Zarask had the advantage of reach and strength, each attack sending the smaller Ranger staggering. Drawing a deep breath, Daniel ducked down behind his shield as he peeked at his friend, drawing on his Mana to cast a Minor Healing (II) on Tula.
“Omrak!” Daniel shouted as loudly as he could, hoping
the giant could hear him. Already, he could see the edges of red light glowing from Omrak’s body as his rage ability triggered, giving the blond Northerner strength as he bled.
First, Daniel used a Shield Bash, slamming aside a claw strike. Then, he stepped forward and triggered Double Strike, bashing aside claws as he advanced. A blow staggered Daniel to the side, but he ignored it as he forced himself forwards, breathing heavily as his Stamina drained from repeated use of his Skills. Even so, he waded in and ducked close to his attacker, twisting his hips as he caught the Zarask along the torso with his knockback skill Perrin’s Blow. The strike caught the monster and lifted it off its feet, sending it staggering into its caught and frozen friends.
The gap free, Daniel rushed forwards to help Tula. In the meantime, Omrak threw an overhand Power Strike, putting the full strength of his muscled body into the cut. Aided by his own passive Lesser Strength ability, the cut tore through chest and limbs, killing one monster. A second expired as Rob focused the floating spikes that he used as a defensive tool to plunge into its neck and back.
Even as Daniel reached Tula’s attacker, a series of loud screams staggered Daniel from behind. Tula, caught unaware, missed a block and had her chest torn open. She flew backwards a foot before she slammed into the wall, slumping downwards unconscious.
Even as Daniel pushed himself to his feet, the Zarask spun towards the Adventurer, wide mouths hanging open, showcasing pink, wet skin. Screaming, the pair pounced at one another, exchanging blows. In the back of his mind, Daniel wondered where these new screams were coming from. And where Asin was.
Individually, these monsters were not that tough. While their special attack was annoying and their strength over-powering, Daniel knew he could win this fight. Better armor, better weapons, and more Skills were a powerful advantage. But in his haste to close in and finish the fight, Daniel missed a feint, dropping his shield too low and receiving the adjusted blow on the pauldrons of his armor. Daniel staggered low, a claw somehow having slipped between the plates and ripped into his shoulder, though the claw itself was left hanging.
On the ground, Daniel found himself staring in horror down the corridor that he had come from. There, Asin was struggling to keep a Zarask from crushing her while Rob crouched behind an Ice Wall that was slowly shattering beneath the attacks of another Zarask. Only Omrak seemed to be doing well, though he was hard-pressed by two demons. Forced into the corner, Omrak could not bring his sword to bear properly and was forced to grip his weapon in the middle of its blade, blocking and stabbing with both hands.
A foot appeared in Daniel’s vision, moving quickly towards his face. The Adventurer tucked his head in tight to his chest, letting the blow catch the bottom of his chin and the helmet straps, feeling his body arch in pain. But the pain from kicking a metal plate slowed the demon down for a second. Long enough for Daniel to turn and crack the monster’s knee, shattering it as Perrin’s Blow forced the limb to move in one direction while the creature’s weight moved in another.
As Daniel pushed himself to his feet, hesitating between going to save the injured Tula or joining the fight, Omrak yelled out loud. Lightning Call, the Northerner’s defensive Skill, exploded from his body. Bolts of red lightning jumped from the Northerner to the two monsters near him, then jumped again to the still bodies, and again after that to Rob’s attacker and Daniel. Pain engulfed those struck, teeth clenched tight, and Daniel’s nose was invaded by the smell of burnt hair and crispy flesh.
Given a respite, Rob threw a series of small balls that struck and stuck to the Zarask’s flesh. The balls then began to emit heat as they rotated, drilling into the heat resistant flesh of the monster. Resistant or not, the annoyance and the initial damage kept the monster off-balance long enough for Rob to control his floating defensive spikes to strike and injure the monster.
Omrak, having released his attack, lashed out with a foot and kicked a Zarask aside. Holding his sword up, the Northerner threw it like a shortened javelin, sinking the blade into the demon that fought Asin, allowing the Catkin to squirm away from the monster. At that point, Daniel finally regained control of his muscles, allowing him to strike the lower back of a recovering demon before Daniel turned and ran towards the injured Ranger.
A healer’s instinct drove Daniel to do so, the Minor Healing spell flowing into his hand as he cast it on the Ranger before he reached her. This time the spell did even less, the gaping wound in her chest closing slightly before more blood pumped out. Lips pressed together, Daniel crouched over the woman, eyeing the unconscious Ranger.
Teeth gritted, Daniel slapped his hand down on her wound, pushing sliced guts back into place and rearranging broken ribs. Even as he did so, Daniel reached into his body, tapping into his Gift. An unlucky strike, a bad slip, and a critical hit had sent the Ranger to the brink of death. Basic healing potions and magic were little use, not when so much damage had been done. And so, Daniel did what only he could do.
Daniel reached into the Ranger’s body with his Gift, finding the broken skin and damaged arteries, stitching blood vessels and muscles together. A wash of power from his Minor Healing went into the woman again, along with a Healer’s Mark, but both were guided by his Gift. Fixing the most immediate damage slowed the death spiral, allowing his basic healing magic time to catch up and fix the rest. In seconds, the Ranger was stabilized, her wounds beginning to heal as Daniel kept her wounds pressed tight.
There was a price though. For miracles, there was always a price. The Gift was a curse to those who bore it. Each Gift by Erlis, randomly assigned it seemed at birth, also carried a price tag. A Champion might be forced to live with the pain of those who he commanded, bearing their wounds unseen. A Grandmaster Blacksmith might be unable to wield Mana at all. A Bard with a voice of the angels, unable to speak for weeks on end after using his voice. Or a Healer, who sacrificed his memories.
Mundane memories. Squatting in the forest as a child, grimacing as prickle berries lived up to their name as they exited. A campfire, late at night, waking to the sound of a wolf’s howl in the distance. A howl that was answered by… something.
Other memories, less mundane and more important. The portion of a spell that he had been studying, fading away. An evening of drinking with a woman at the mining camps. Beautiful and brown-haired, a girl that he was sure he knew. Laughter. A shared smile.
Small memories. Big. They left in a rush as Daniel used his Gift. When he was certain his friend had stabilised, the healer released his grip on her with his Gift, allowing it to fall back into his body where it resided quietly. Waiting. Hungering.
“Is she okay?” Rob said, limping over. Somehow, somewhere, the Enchanter had picked up an injury to his thigh, though Daniel absently noted that he was not bleeding and was standing. Probably a bad bruise.
“She’ll live,” Daniel said, frowning. “She didn’t manage to dodge. Tore her open.” Daniel looked up, checking on the rest of his friends. He noted that they had survived the attack—both of his other friends sporting numerous minor cuts and, in Asin’s case, a fast swelling lump over one eye. Daniel sighed, getting up and casually laying a hand on Rob’s shoulder as he cast Healer’s Mark. “Watch over her?”
“Of course,” Rob said, taking Daniel’s space. “Your skill is amazing. Seen a less serious wound kill before in my village.”
“Just lucky,” Daniel muttered, head ducked down as he refused to look at Rob as he walked away. Guilt washed over Daniel. Guilt that he had yet to tell his two teammates about his Gift. But, the danger of allowing others to know of the full extent of his abilities weighed on him. It scared Daniel, what the guilds, the kingdom would ask of him if they knew. So, he lied. And he healed his other friends.
Thirty minutes later, Tula finally woke up, her body mostly healed. It was still weak, the magical healing not being sufficient to bring her all the way to peak efficiency. Rather than risk another unfortunate encounter, the group retraced their steps, battling their way t
hrough random patrols before exiting the catacombs.
As they stood in the late afternoon sunlight, Tula looked over to the others with her pale face. “Sorry. I let you all down.”
“Not at all, friend Tula,” Omrak rumbled as he clapped the Ranger on the shoulder. This sent the little Ranger stumbling, only to be caught by Asin who hissed at Omrak. The Northerner blushed slightly but continued in his usual boisterous tone. “Any delve where one survives is a good delve. And we gained many Mana stones.”
“Not as many as if we had gone with Artos,” Rob said, crossing his arms.
“But we did get the new monster experience,” Daniel said, contradicting Rob. “Which you wanted. And I got enough to level.”
“Same,” Asin concurred, flashing a wide grin.
Tula offered a weak grin, nodding that she too had managed to gain a level. Rob grumbled slightly, muttering something about missing a few hundred while Omrak shrugged. The large Northerner not levelling was not surprising—he had gone up only a few days ago.
“So, not a complete failure. Let’s go turn in the Mana stones and the coins and then eat some food. You need lots of meat and proper rest. Tomorrow morning, I’ll finish the healing,” Daniel said, instructing Tula as the group moved off, considerably cheered.
As Omrak said—any delve where no one died was a good delve. At that thought, the group turned slightly, staring at where Artos was.
Yes. Any delve.
Chapter 3
The next morning, Daniel found himself lying in bed, a feeling of exhaustion and sluggish energy keeping him reclined. After the harrowing battle yesterday, he found that he could not achieve any significant level of motivation to leave his bed, especially knowing that there was nothing major that required his attention this day. No. Last night, he had roughly planned for a day of training and leveling.