You are about to enter The Tower of Vy’thishrak. Once you enter, the Dungeon must be completed in its entirety in order to exit.
Are you sure you would like to enter?
Yes or No
Garath took a deep breath and looked back at his Party. He smiled nervously, shrugged, and chose ‘Yes’. The experience that followed was similar to the many instanced dungeons he had experienced before. White light consumed his vision momentarily before he rematerialized, now within the Dungeon proper.
Garath marveled at the beauty of the scene in front of him, a terrific forest of browns and greens. It was familiar, but alien. Trees like those living just outside The Tower, nearly too large to believe, rose up from the uneven ground in every direction. Underbrush of lush ferns and saplings competed for life-giving sunlight in the shade below the towering evergreens. The ferns were not uniformly green, but came in shades of blue, purple, fluorescent orange, and even red.
One by one, the rest of the Party materialized, each taking the time, as he had, to absorb the enchanted forest. Alice appeared last.
“What a forest,” Auto said appreciatively.
“No kidding,” Maimon agreed.
Garath turned to face Alice. “What do we do?”
Alice, like everyone else, was turning her head left, right, up, and all around when Garath asked for direction. She turned her resting vacant face to him. “I don’t know.”
Garath looked to the rest of the Party questioningly.
"Fairies!" Daisy shouted, pointing excitedly at glowing orbs of every color as they appeared and disappeared at random throughout the underbrush.
When it was clear that nobody had anything helpful to add, Garath addressed his Party confidently. “Let’s get a lay of the land. Auto, Maimon, Sharon, Daisy, Atlas, stay here. Warrion, go stealth and do concentric circles around them. Myself, the twins, and Athios will go in various bird forms and have a look around. If anything happens, call it on the Raid com. If and when ‘something happens’,” Garath used air quotes, “everyone meet back here. Lead any monsters to Auto and we take them out as a group. Any questions?”
“Your scouts should fly in teams,” Alice pointed out astutely.
“Okay. Yeah,” Garath agreed. “Athios, with me. We’ll go. . .” He paused to look around, every direction seemingly no different from any other. He looked at Alice, and was reminded of Lewis Carroll’s Wonderland. He laughed and shrugged. “I guess since we don’t know where we’re going or what we’re looking for, it doesn’t really matter, does it?”
For the first time since he’d met the Lore Keeper, Alice smiled.
“We’ll go that way,” Garath decided, pointing to his left. “Obawon, Jebawon, you guys go that way.” Garath pointed to his right.
Athios and Garath shimmered into Crow form while the twins took the form of sparrows. The scouting parties took off in opposite directions, leaving the safety of the Raid behind to see what this world inside of The Tower had in store for them. It took a fair amount of flapping, and no small amount of Stamina, to get above the evergreen canopy. When Garath finally made it high enough to have a look around, he was confused.
In every direction he only found more of the same, even with his enhanced eyesight. Trees. A ridiculous number of enormous trees. The forest of massive evergreens went on indefinitely, as far as he could tell. There were no rising hills or precipitation to obscure distant areas, just a never-ending forest.
With a few directed thoughts, Garath altered his Raid settings to create a second channel, allowing for communication between only himself and Athios while in beast forms.
*Well, this was less than enlightening*
*Yeah,* Athios agreed. *Maybe whatever we’re supposed to do is beneath the canopy.*
They flew for another few minutes, scanning the landscape. Obawon and Jebawon came to the same conclusion though, and the scout teams agreed to meet back where they had started.
Disappointed, Garath and Athios made a wide u-turn and headed back.
*Hey,* Garath projected the thought on the sub-channel to Athios. *Let’s fly back between the trees,* he suggested. *They aren’t so close together that it’ll be difficult. And maybe we’ll catch a glimpse of something other than… well, more trees.*
Athios agreed and they dropped altitude to weave between the evergreens. Garath delighted in the feeling of high-speed aerial maneuvering. He felt the wind whoosh through his feathers as he banked left and right to avoid the towering trees. Athios appeared to enjoy it as well. Appearing out of nowhere directly ahead of him, she spread her wings against her forward momentum, slowing dramatically. Garath had to dive hard to avoid making a beak-sized hole in her back. He felt carefree, happy even, as the two of them danced through the air, teasing each other with some aerial flirting.
Just after Athios had cut him off like a bad driver, Garath pulled his wings in tight to his body, then turned before spreading them back out, hanging a tight turn around a particularly thick tree. Briefly out of Athios’ line of sight, he then perched on a branch and waited for her to notice that he’d disappeared.
While waiting, he looked down. There was a large rock formation. No… a cave. I swear that wasn’t there a second ago.
It wasn’t natural, that much was for sure. Stalagmites, each the size of a grown man, rose from the soft dirt in a semicircle, with similarly large and pointy stalactites jutting down from the top of the opening like a gigantic mouth. Garath knew stalagmites and stalactites grew over time from dripping water carrying trace minerals - not randomly on the ground in the middle of a never-ending forest. His eyes traced the tooth-lined cave and moved beyond it. There. Two moss-covered holes exactly where eyes should be.
Garath called over the Raid’s main channel to let the party know what he found.
He opened his World Map to give them directions but, where the panel that typically showed a perfectly detailed topographical map of his surroundings usually appeared, he only saw what looked like a square of blank parchment. It did have a compass icon in the bottom right corner though, and he could still see the nine green dots denoting the locations of his Raid group not far to the east. Without any landmarks, he worried he would lose the location of the strange rock formation if he flew off to meet up with his group.
*Athios, meet up with the main group then bring everyone back here to my location. Can you see me on your map?* he asked.
*Sure can,* she confirmed, saddened that their game of aerial tag had to come to an end. . She’d been winning. *Try not to die before we get back to you.*
Garath laughed humorlessly on their shared channel, then turned his attention back to the strange, skull-shaped rock formation below. It wasn’t in the shape of a human skull, he noticed, but more like that of a monkey, or perhaps. . .
An enormous bear trudged out of the mouth over a broken stalagmite. As he watched the animal, Garath noticed that its form wasn’t entirely solid. It wasn’t like any bear he’d ever seen, at the very least. A few minutes later he heard the Party approaching and glided down from his perch to meet them before they got too close.
“Interesting,” Alice said, eyeing the not-quite-solid bear as it sniffed the air.
*What is?* Garath asked.
“That rock formation,” she replied. “It looks like a bear’s cranium, but. . .” she trailed off, watching the bear as it sniffed the air again. It looked pointedly in their direction, then hurried back into the mouth of the skull-shaped rock.
Garath didn’t really need her to finish her thought, he’d already come to the same conclusion. The semi-transparent bear he’d thought was so large from the tree above fit easily in between the upper and lower jaw of the huge rock formation on the ground. He imagined a full body connected to the head—it would be even larger than Aldrasyl. Maybe even four or five times the size of the mythic reptile.
“So… let’s go investigate the ominous cave?” Auto suggested.
Garath hesitantly agreed.
*Warrion, Stealth in first. Have a look around but don’t go too far. Let us know what you see.*
Warrion slumped. “Yeah, alright.”
The gangly Assassin equipped his daggers and moved silently toward the cave opening. Even as Garath watched, Warrion vanished. A few minutes later his old neighbor’s voice came into Garath’s mind.
*Nothing in the first room but old bones. There’s only one tunnel leading out of this first spot, I’m going to check it out.*
*Keep us posted,* Garath said. *We’re heading in.* He turned away from the cave to look at his Raid group. *Let’s go. Obawon, stay at the rear and be ready to go sword and board if necessary. Auto lead the way. Daisy, stay close to Athios.*
They approached the cave, weapons equipped and eyes alert. Garath stayed in Crow form to save a shapeshift and willed his demons into existence, then took a moment to cast Summon Golem: Dreadreaver. The towering, black form of his demonic golem emerged from the ground before him. With a flap of his black wings, Garath flew to perch on the Dreadreaver’s shoulder. Auto shimmered and swelled into his Unibear form, then charged into the cave on all fours.
Garath’s enhanced senses picked up hints that Warrion had missed as they entered the cave. For example, not all of the bones in the mouth of the cave were old. The air was thick with the distinct tang of fresh blood. Tasty looking earthworms squirming beneath a pile of bones caught his attention.
Tasty? Am I spending too much time as a bird?
*Well,* came Warrion’s voice. *I think you're all going to want to see this for yourselves.*
*Bears?* Garath asked dumbly.
*No,* Warrion said, *which is odd. I swear that spirit-bear thing came in here.*
*Alright,* Garath said. *Good enough. Head back this way, we’ll see you soon.*
*Yeah, about that. I wish I could. At the end of that first tunnel, where it’s almost too dark to see, there’s a hole in the ground. I fell down it.*
The rest of the Party moved cautiously down the tunnel leading out of the cave’s entrance, the smell of decay growing stronger as they went. Eventually they found the hole Warrion was referring to. It was easy to see how he had fallen. Very little light made it this far into the cave. Garath called a halt from the Dreadreaver’s shoulder.
*Only way forward is down, I guess. Warrion, how far is the fall?* Garath asked
*Pretty far, dude. It's more like a slide though. Honestly, it was fun. Five stars, would recommend.*
After minimal deliberation, the Party concluded that the best way forward was down the chute. Athios joined Garath in Crow form on the Dreadreaver’s opposite shoulder and they each clung on to his thick hide for dear life as it led the way down the slide that Warrion had so thoroughly recommended.
The Golem skidded to a stop on a flat surface at the end of the feather-ruffling joyride, nearly hurling Garath and Athios into the unknown ahead. The rest of the Party followed in short order, each looking disheveled as they slowed to a stop near Garath, Athios, the Dreadreaver, and a currently-invisible Warrion, the single exception being Alice. The Lore Keeper floated calmly out of the tunnel and onto the platform with her typical expressionless countenance. Bill skidded to a stop as well, followed shortly by Handsome who rolled his way into the clearing, stood up, then promptly fell back down, holding his head with bony hands .
All Party members accounted for, Garath turned his attention to the subterranean marvel before him. A sage green, bioluminescent moss carpeted the platform on which the Party stood, as well as the vast cave ahead. The moss didn't provide much light, but between the spongy carpeting and the fluorescent mushrooms dotting the gallery's floor and walls, it was enough to see by. Garath gasped as he took it all in.
The massive underground gallery was framed on both sides, floor to ceiling, by curved, bone-white pillars. They connected at the top of the gallery along a vertebral column that stretched the length of the room. If he had to guess, Garath would say that the column above was a perfect anatomical fit for a spinal column matching the skull they had entered minutes before.
We’re inside an enormous bear carcass. Gross.
As far as he could tell, the platform Garath's Party was standing on was located somewhere between the shoulder blades and on the bottom of some ridiculously-sized, long-dead bear's chest.
Inside of a giant carcass or not, they weren't alone. Everywhere he looked, Garath saw movement, mostly from the delicious bugs that lived in the walls and floor.
Okay. Definitely too much bird time.
Some of the squirming critters were several times larger than they should be, but Garath reminded himself that his opinion of what ‘should be’ held less weight than wet toilet paper since The Culling. The abnormally large insects didn’t pay the Party any attention as they continued doing their part to decompose the carcass. His bird brain told him the feast was too good to be true.
Dead ahead, Garath saw something that was definitely too good to be true. A large, gold-plated chest sat in the center of the room, not even fifty yards ahead.
Auto led the Party forward, the path slanting upward as they moved toward the back of the buried bear. The ribs keeping the gallery structurally sound gradually shrunk as they went, and the gallery with it. Quietly, cautiously, they approached the too-obvious box of loot. Standing ten feet or so away from the chest, the Party came to a stop.
*We’ve gotta open it, right?* Garath asked, from his Dreadreaver perch.
“Yes,” Alice replied.
“No way,” Warrion disagreed. “Look at this thing. It screams ‘I’m a fucking trap’. Bare minimum, it’s gotta be a mimic.”
*He’s not wrong,* Athios said from the Golem’s other shoulder. *Way too easy.*
“In my previous observations of The Tower, other Parties happened upon such chests,” Alice told them, walking forward to take a closer look. “I have yet to experience a ‘trap’ specifically as a result, but it will not simply open whether you decide to open it or not. This one, I believe, is a cursed chest.”
Warrion threw his hands up in exasperation. “See?”
“I don’t find it to be a fitting moniker,” Alice went on. “That is what The Tower calls them. From what I have seen, these chests do not have, nor do they give, a curse. I believe it is simply a warning that you may have to fight to earn the prizes inside. The items found here in the Dungeon are significantly more powerful than crafted items, or anything found in smaller dungeons. Completing the chest’s requirements also has the chance of granting access to the next level of The Tower.”
*See?* Garath asked. *Prizes. How do we activate it?*
“Someone must place their hand on the chest. It will become clear what is expected.” Alice frowned slightly. “Probably.”
*Okay,* Garath replied dubiously. He pointed with his beak. *I nominate Auto. That way, if we’re attacked, they’ll already be on the tank.*
Auto looked at Garath, mounted on his stoic demon. He looked unsure, though the Unibear’s expressions were limited so Garath couldn’t be certain.
*Yeah alright,* Auto said finally. He huffed dramatically, then took a step toward the chest.
“Wait, wait, wait,” Maimon said with both hands held up. “The chests we’ve opened so far in smaller dungeons have given items to the person that opens them. Most of the time those items seem to be tailored for that person’s chosen Class. Auto probably has the best set of gear out of all of us, so maybe someone else should open it.”
“Totes,” Obawon agreed. “Plus, what use does a bearnicorn have for loot?”
“Unibear,” Daisy corrected him.
“All of our gear is pretty solid at this point,” Jebawon said. “Just do it, Auto. If he gets something epic, then we all benefit from it anyways by having a stronger tank.”
There was a bit more squabbling, but eventually they reached a consensus. Auto approached the chest and lifted a hairy paw to touch it. His eyes grew wide for a moment as he read the prompt that appeared in reaction to his to
uch, then he swiveled around, searching the gallery urgently.
*What?* Garath asked. *What did it say?*
*It said we have to find and kill 10 Skin Beetles, 10 Worms, and 1 Mole Rat,* Auto answered, still looking around with a sense of urgency. *We have 10 minutes.*
*Alice, can we get that Party timer?* Garath asked.
Alice didn’t respond but, less than a second later, a timer appeared in his mind’s eye reading 9:58 and ticking down.
*Thanks,* he said. *Obawon, put your shield on. We’re going to split into two teams of five. Auto, take Maimon, Warrion, Atlas, and Jebawon. Obawon, you’re going to tank for group two with me, Sharon, Athios, and Daisy. Wild guess here, but I think the mole rat is going to be our ‘boss’. That being the case, if you spot it just call it out and we’ll meet up to take it down all together. Ready, break!*
Auto led group one to the left and Obawon, now donning his sword and board gear set, led group two to the right. Garath knew the gallery was huge, but the number of nooks and crannies was staggering.
The Skin Beetles, as it turned out, were not hard to find. Garath’s group located their first armored insect between two of the pillar-like ribs. It was easily the most intimidating bug Garath had ever seen. Even still, it was only about as tall and thick as his Fel Hound, not overly concerning considering the things he’d seen (and killed) since the apocalypse. Regardless of how he felt about the creature’s size, Garath triggered Inspect as Obawon cornered the beetle with his shield held out in front of him.
Skin Beetle
Insect
The Tree of Ascension: A LitRPG Apocalypse (Peril's Prodigy Book 2) Page 33