by Robin Rhodes
And it embarrassed him.
It wasn't his fault they'd drank the cactus water infused with hallucinogens. It was a mistake nearly everyone would make, he was sure of it. Mark had gotten lucky.
When Mark had told him that keeping someone outside the entrance to the dungeon was a good idea, as though he needed the approval of this guy, Aiden had snapped and now there was bad energy between the two allies.
It was a good plan, though. They could stifle Aaron's growth, and then when they stormed the dungeon with a dozen there would be nothing that Aaron could do to repel them.
They'd learned during their research that there was a cap on how many people could enter a dungeon. Only twelve at a time when the dungeon was below Level 10.
So Aiden had picked his twelve best men and now they were trying to figure out the most effective way to train themselves up in order to face the dungeon.
They were taking it in turns to go out to the countryside and fight wildlife, but there was only so much XP you could get from that—at least from the kind of wildlife found in New York, anyway. If they could have taken a week to go to Savannah or somewhere, they might have gotten beyond Level 4 with that method.
Other than fighting the wildlife, their options for leveling up were limited. In traditional games, there were normally quests to gain XP. Aiden had found that out while he was reading. Here, though, there were no quests. XP was gained from killing other people—something Aiden refused to lower himself to—or by completing dungeons. They could gain XP from their professions, but that was a slow process. Aiden, who had picked blacksmithing, didn't have the time to go and acquire copper ore from mines to start smithing. He needed something to boost his level right now.
Which meant they needed to find a dungeon.
Going back to another dungeon was the last thing that Aiden wanted to do, and he was sure others would feel the same way after hearing his story. There was no other option, though. Dungeons had neutral monsters inside, things they didn't have to feel bad about killing, and they might get some loot if they were lucky, too.
It was the best option.
Now he just needed to convince his team that it was the best option.
He gathered them in the briefing room and gave them his reasoning.
He should have known that they would all be up for it. He'd not voiced any of his misgivings, had sold them the line that it was the only option, but they hadn't seemed concerned anyway. A few of the older men looked ready to be more active—they'd spent their entire lives on the force, working every day in the field. They wanted that authority back.
Some of the younger men looked ready to take on anything. That hadn't died with the Braxian Expansion.
The minority that looked dubious didn't voice their concerns.
He was right, it was the only way, and they knew it.
"Get on the forums and start researching dungeons in the area," Aiden instructed. "We need to find ones that aren't too difficult, but will let us level up."
He returned to his office with the party that Jake had rescued following him. He wanted to trawl the forums himself, he hated sitting idle, but they obviously had something they wanted to say to him. The tank especially. He'd been fidgeting all the way through the speech in the briefing room.
Aiden sat behind his desk and directed his flat expression to Mark.
Mark didn't wait to be asked to speak, and instead said, "I need to be part of this dungeon running you want to do."
"You're not a member of the police force."
"No. I'm someone who lost a friend to this bastard."
"And before the Braxian Expansion that would have meant leaving it in the hands of the police. You know that."
"But this isn't before the Braxian Expansion," the healer, Liam, said. "And we're a higher level than most of the people on your team already. We've been into that dungeon. We can help you."
Aiden had countless bad experiences with people from outside the police force trying to help on cases. Friends and families of victims strung up people they suspected with barely any evidence; so much jury tampering it was laughable that people thought jury trials were fair; bad information after bad information that people sold as fact even though it was just a hunch.
The last thing he wanted was civilians muscling in on his case. "This is a police operation," he said again.
Mark slammed his hands onto the desk, and Aiden was acutely aware that he was surrounded by three people, two a level higher than him. "We can help," Mark said. "I'm not trying to get in your way. All I want is to be part of the muscle that takes this bastard down. Just let me run the dungeons with you. I'm not asking to be part of your strategy meetings or to make any decisions. Use me like I'm a soldier you've been given. That's what we all are now in this stupid new world. We're all soldiers. And I'm a higher level soldier than most people out there."
Aiden stared him down. Every now and then he resented being in charge. His personal beliefs clashed with what was best for the force, and he had to swallow his pride and make a decision he didn't particularly want to. "Fine," he said. "You can join. But you're a subordinate, okay? To everyone here. If they tell you to do something, you have to listen."
Mark immediately nodded, Liam too. Jenny, in the back, hadn't said a word and her face didn't change now. She looked flat, like losing her friend had taken all the life out of her. She probably just needed some sleep, then her anger would come.
"You should go home and get some rest," Aiden said, leaning back in his chair, ready to close his eyes and start browsing the forums. "You've only just come out of the dungeon, you need to take some time. Let Delilah's friends and family know what happened. Prepare yourselves."
"Let us know before you're planning to run another dungeon," Mark said, and it was another command which made the muscles in Aiden's jaw tighten. "We can be here whenever you're ready to go."
Aiden nodded. When they'd filed out, he ran hands through his hair and hoped he hadn't made a mistake. They were impulsive civilians, a wild card he hadn't wanted on the team.
All that mattered was getting Elizabeth back, though, and killing Aaron. These guys were higher level, he had to admit, and so he'd take whatever he could get.
Chapter Seven
Aaron could only think of one way to get people into his dungeon if someone was guarding the entrance, and that was just to make another way in.
The problem was he had no idea where to make it. He couldn't see the surface until he reached it, and so if he created the entrance too close to the one already there then the police would immediately see it and start warning people off it, too. It meant his first room was essentially useless. He couldn't run an entrance from there, it would be too close.
So, he turned his attention to one of the sides of the ocean he hadn't yet touched. He'd made a beach run all the way around the edge of the body of water. He built another jetty and moved most of the boats he'd created to that one. He also created two more ships in the middle of the ocean and filled them with crews of orcs. He gave the orcs the same instructions as the one who were running his own ship.
Then he created a new entrance to his dungeon that would lead people straight down to the ocean and jetty. He just hoped it was far enough away that the police didn't realize it was there immediately.
As he tunneled his way up to the surface, a woman's voice let him know that he could only have a maximum of two entrances to his dungeon.
Not ideal, but he'd have to make it work. It was unlikely that the police would manage to cordon off the entire area of his dungeon, it was huge. If he had to keep closing entrances and creating new ones every day to avoid them, he'd do it, but he hoped it didn't come to that.
The police would realize what kind of place the world was now soon enough. They would understand that killing a dungeon like him wasn't what they needed to put their time into. He was part of the fabric of the game, he was meant to be like this. Why would they h
ave an Overseer class, if not?
He sent his eyes to the new entrance to his dungeon he'd created and waited for someone to arrive. This entrance was very close to the road, he could just see the beginning of the pavement.
It was good and bad. Good that people would be able to see the entrance, too. He was bound to get some adventurers from here. It also meant that the police were likely to notice the new entrance relatively quickly too. That would also reveal that creating a new entrance was a possibility, and they would be more vigilant across the whole area.
He was considering closing the entrance and having another go at aiming it when a car stopped on the road nearby. The same group of adventurers who had been turned away by the police got out of the vehicle and came over to peer down the hole. A set of unappealing mud steps leading down into his dungeon greeted them.
The paladin crossed her arms. "This is a bad idea," she pre-empted their suggestion.
"Oh come on," the rogue replied. "You saw that guy, he was Level 2, max. The police have fallen behind in this world, they have no idea what they're doing anymore. They're trying to control things that are just part of the game by now. Some Level 1 woman probably tried to take this dungeon on her own and the dungeon master took her as a slave, or killed her, and someone has thrown a hissy fit about it. We're all Level 4. We're more than qualified to handle this."
The healer was easily swayed. He looked down the hole and said, "And if the police have been guarding this place there's no way the dungeon is higher than Level 2 or 3. We should be able to take it no problem."
"It would make more sense to do the others and come back to this one. It'll be even further behind and we'll be ahead," the paladin argued. Her grip was tight on the short sword at her side, and she was glaring right where Aaron's eyes were looking up at them from.
She wasn't gorgeous, not like the two slaves he had. She was thick set but without the large rack he associated with curvy women. Her face was pretty, but not beautiful. She was plain.
The brand didn't burn in his pocket like it had when he'd first seen Elizabeth.
He did like the idea of having a full set, of getting a tank, a DPS and a healer under his control, even though he didn't ever intend to put his slaves onto the battleground and make them protect him. He hadn't put any consideration into leveling them up since they'd come under his control, but maybe that was something he should look into, just in case.
That was a thought for another time, though. Right now he was directing all his thoughts into willing the adventurers into his dungeon.
The rogue folded his arms. "Dana, you're the best tank we've ever come across. You know you can take on this loser who managed to piss the police off and stunt his chances of growth within weeks of the Braxian Expansion hitting. We'll blast our way through some monsters and come out the other side one level higher. It'll be easy, you know it will. You've destroyed everything you've come up against. You know what you're doing."
Flattery was naturally the way to her heart, and she released her grip on her sword. "The only reason we've done so well so far is because we've been cautious. We've researched everything. All the research we have on this place is that the police are warning us off."
"Yeah, a Level 2 police officer outside his jurisdiction. This is a personal vendetta, not a police directive. It's obvious."
The rogue was patronizing, but Dana seemed to appreciate the vote of confidence nevertheless. "Fine," she muttered. "I guess we have to take a few risks, and that dungeon up north seems to be quite a high level from what I can tell on the forums. We need all the XP we can get before we face it."
"Exactly," the healer chimed in. "And there’s nothing about this place on the forums, we only found it by chance. If it was really that bad, people would have said something."
Aaron had to admit he was surprised there was nothing about him on the forums. He couldn't access anything that talked about himself, so he'd had no idea. He'd expected Aiden or Mark or someone in their parties or friendship groups to have posted a warning about him, but it must not have occurred to them.
They were all too new to this. They didn't realize how much gamers relied on the forums to keep them up to date on what was going on in the world. If they hadn't bothered to post about him yet that was another boon in his favor.
It was pitiful how ill-prepared Mark and Aiden were to take him out. Because he didn't doubt that they were planning it, planning their revenge, determined to get their women back.
They would come back and Aaron would murder them.
He couldn't wait.
Right now he had some new adventurers to slaughter, though. They were beginning their traipse down the stairs.
Opening his eyes, he knew he had to take into account what they'd been saying about the forums and reputation. They'd said he was stupid to have incurred the wrath of the police force this early into the Braxian Expansion and they were probably right.
Anarchy was bound to come to Earth eventually with the way power was distributed now. The police couldn't maintain power. Not everywhere, anyway. Government must be fucked. Some much had changed that he couldn't see the current world order staying the way it always had been for long.
It might have already changed, but his conversations with people on the forums made him think otherwise. There had been mentions of subtle changes, of an increase in crime and shortages of food, but no complete overhaul as of yet.
If Aaron had waited until this overhaul happened to start doing things which went again people's sensibilities, he wouldn't have been facing the problem of the police guarding his entrance right now. He could have waited until things started falling apart and then began his kidnapping. He should have built up his reputation as a good dungeon and then torn it back down when he started giving in to what he really wanted. There would have been conflicting reports, people who had sworn that they'd gotten good loot with minimal loss from his dungeon.
Good reports first and bad reports second would have been better, but he'd make do with any good reports at this point. If these adventurers went straight to the forums after their dungeon run then they would be the first reports.
He had to let them do well. At least, he had to make sure he wasn't excessively cruel to them. Make sure they got some of the good loot he'd spread throughout the place.
And this time defeat wouldn't be a hit to his ego because he was controlling it. He was in charge.
It wouldn't be a pure defeat anyway. He still got XP from people entering his realm, and it would mean more people came back in the future.
Confident he was doing the right thing, he shut his eyes again and followed the party entering his dungeon.
They were nearly at the beach.
Chapter Eight
Dana wasn't convinced they were making the right decision, even when they exited the dank staircase down into the dungeon and emerged on a beach worthy of a travel brochure. It was endless golden sand, but with none of the loud annoying tourists that normally came with it. The sun beat down on them, but it wasn't hot like it should have been. Her heavy metal armor didn't feel stifling.
It was very pleasant.
"Maybe we should just camp out here and have a vacation," she said. "Kill some monsters, drink some coconut milk." She could see a group of palm trees in the distance. "I wish I'd brought some margaritas and little umbrellas."
Jason, their DPS, nodded appreciatively. "Very tempting," he agreed. "I can't remember the last time I went to the beach."
"I vote we search for dungeons in Florida next," their healer, Daryl, said. "Some sun and sand sounds really nice."
It was obvious what they were supposed to be doing, though. A jetty extended out into the glittering blue ocean, and five boats lined it. There was a selection, from large to a tiny rowing boat she could only see because it was first in line.
"I don't suppose any of you know how to sail," Dana said.
They'd all grown up in the midd
le of Pennsylvania in working class families. Sailing hadn't been on any of their agendas.
Jason and Daryl shook their heads. "Can't be that hard though, can it?" Jason said. "I mean, there wouldn't be any point in making this part of the dungeon if it was impossible to sail the ships. Let's just pick one and see how it goes."
They went for a smaller ship. It had both oars and sails. It wasn't so small that they felt squashed, but any more than five people would have felt cramped. There was a small area below deck, but no sleeping quarters.
Daryl was stood with his eyes shut as the others started looking around at ropes and the steering wheel at the helm of the boat.
"I spoke to the woman, she gave me some info on how to man this thing," he said.
The woman inside their minds was a computer, but it had a woman's voice and had never offered a name for herself. "Really?" Dana asked. There hadn't been much use for the woman since she'd told them what was happening and asked them to pick their new classes and professions. They'd all turned the error text off within minutes of the Braxian Expansion hitting. Every now and then they thought of a question that wasn't in the guidebook and would shut their eyes to ask the woman for the answer. Most of the time she told them she couldn't answer, and that some things had to be found out through doing.
"Really," Daryl confirmed. "Ask her yourselves. We're not going to be master sailors, I don't think, but she gave us some of the basics. Probably enough that it corresponds to our current level."
"I suppose this is all for the entertainment of the aliens watching us," Jason said. Dana couldn't see him, she had her eyes shut as she spoke telepathically to the woman, but she assumed he was doing the same thing. "It would be pretty boring if we were just stranded on an ocean unable to do anything. And they wouldn't have offered boats as a possibility if they didn't want people to use them."
"True," Dana agreed, imbued with the new knowledge the woman had just given her. She understood the basics of how to maneuver the boat and sail it in the direction they wanted now. That would hopefully be enough to get them through this area of the dungeon and into the next room.