CONQUEST: The Dungeon Core Gambit Book One

by Antony W. F. Chow

  The halfling stood up and peered inside each tunnel again. She looked at the ceiling hoping to find vines that she could climb on to avoid the plants on the ground. To her disappointment, there were none.

  In that case, the only alternative was to run through the plants. Since the kava plants were the least thick, she decided to run through them. Tita took out a cloak from her backpack and wrapped it around her torso. She also covered her nose and mouth with it.

  Taking a deep breath, Tita executed her strategy and ran through the tunnel as if she was being chased by a wild animal! Somehow, she managed to avoid having her clothing snagged and ripped by the plants. "Thank you, Baris!" she praised the Patron God of Halflings.

  Tita took a moment to catch her breath at the end of the tunnel. Then she resumed her exploration by cautiously peering at the opening before her. It was another cavern. There was a giant chestnut tree on the other end. And high up on the wall, some forty feet above the ground, was an alcove with a door and a chest.

  The halfling turned around and looked at her observer. "You want me to climb the tree to reach the exit?" While framed as a question, it was a complaint.

  Tita sat on the ground and took a quick break. She chewed on some nuts and took a sip from her waterskin. Then she removed her cloak and her boots and returned them to her backpack. The reason was that she was a much better climber while barefoot.

  Once her preparations were complete, Tita approached the tree. She looked at her surroundings for signs of monsters but found none. She took out her daggers, stabbed the huge trunk of the chestnut tree, and started climbing.

  As she climbed, Tita thought that she had made the right decision to make a solo run in this dungeon. It would be a difficult climb for Ouwanda since she wore so much armor. Furthermore, Zefina did not possess the magic to fly and she lacked the physical stamina to make the climb.

  When the halfling finally reached a large tree branch, she put away her daggers and started hopping. Eventually, she reached the edge of the alcove and simply pulled herself up.

  After a small break, Tita tackled the lock on the treasure chest. When she opened the chest, she found 500 gold coins and a Potion of Healing. Her mood buoyed by the generous loot, Tita turned toward Markos and nodded grudgingly. "Thank you."

  The halfling returned to her feet and checked the door for traps. Finding none, she picked the lock open and descended the staircase.

  Jessica looked at her master and said, "You could adjust the contents of the chest. Aren't you being too generous in giving Tita 500 gold pieces?"

  Markos shook his head. I decided to give out 500 gold coins as a reward for reaching the end of the floor. It wouldn't be fair if I reduced the payout simply because it was one adventurer rather than five who accomplished this feat.

  "If this adventurer continues to be saddled by all the gold coins she's carrying, she will lose her best asset: her speed. I can't wait to see how she avoids the fire elementals on the last floor." Jessica gave an evil laugh at the thought.

  Markos shook his head again. You're enjoying this too much.

  * * *

  Zefina suddenly awoke from her sleep. She dreamt that Tita was killed inside the dungeon. To put her mind at ease, the young mage left the cottage and sought out her halfling friend for a brief conversation. She cast Night Vision to see in the dark and began to scan the trees in the vicinity because Zefina knew that Tita enjoyed sleeping on a tree. To her chagrin, her friend was nowhere to be found!

  Zefina looked around and saw Aabroa sitting near the campfire. The mage quietly approached the druid.

  However, the night watch was not fooled by the quiet steps. "Couldn't sleep, Zefina?" she asked aloud.

  The mage sat on the ground next to the druid. "I had a bad dream," she began.

  "How so?" the old woman asked. This was a familiar routine between the youngest and oldest members of the adventuring group. Whenever Zefina couldn't sleep, she would seek Aabroa's company.

  "I dreamt that Tita died in the dungeon," the young woman revealed abruptly.

  The druid's brows rose at the revelation. She could not simply dismiss it because Aabroa suspected that Zefina had been blessed with the power of Premonition. In fact, in the past, the young woman had tipped off the party to upcoming dangers.

  Yet, Zefina refused to see the truth because she feared that it would diminish her professional reputation as a mage of the prestigious Jokuslan Academy. Instead, she passed off these premonitions as simply bad dreams.

  "Can you cast Detect Life and locate Tita?" the young mage requested. "I tried looking for her among the trees but I couldn't find her even after using Night Vision," she explained.

  "Okay," Aabroa replied. She took a moment to concentrate and then cast Detect Life. The druid was attuned to the life energy of each member of her party and the spell would allow her to locate them quickly if they were nearby.

  To her surprise, Tita was not at the camp! Instead, Aabroa felt a trace of her aura--deep underground. "She's not here," the druid reported and immediately stood up. "Please awake everyone. We need to hurry."

  "Hurry? To go where?" Zefina asked.

  "The dungeon entrance."

  Chapter 48

  Fifth Floor

  Despite being almost fifty years old, Aabroa moved as fast as a woman half her age. She sprinted like a gazelle and burst into the cottage.

  Ouwanda awoke from the noise and raised fists to defend herself.

  Visrow was also a light sleeper and she pulled a dagger from under her pillow.

  "Tita went into the dungeon by herself!" Aabroa announced.

  The fighter and ranger got off their beds, put on their equipment, and quickly followed the druid out of the house.

  Zefina waited outside the cottage.

  The four adventurers then ran over to the entrance of the dungeon. However, the opening was blocked.

  Undeterred, Zefina began to cast the Fireball spell to blast the blockage when Aabroa interrupted the mage. However, mana had already been spent to create the spell. Since the spellcasting was disrupted, there was nowhere for the mana to go except back to the spellcaster. The mana backflow caused 15 points of damage to Zefina and she yelled out in pain, "Agh!" Zefina held her head in her hands and squatted on the ground.

  Aabroa knelt down next to the fallen mage and immediately cast Minor Heal to relieve her compatriot's pain.

  "Why did you stop her?" Ouwanda asked in an angry tone of voice and approached the druid. She was livid that the party had fought amongst themselves and it was absolutely an unprofessional conduct on Aabroa's part.

  "She made the right decision," Visrow intervened and pulled the leader away from Aabroa. "We can't risk angering the dungeon keeper by blasting our way into his dungeon."

  Ouwanda turned around and glared at the elf. "Even if this meant Zefina became hurt from a mana backflow?"

  "Yes," Visrow asserted with authority. "Tita is now at the mercy of the dungeon core. By closing off the dungeon, Markos is permitting our friend to challenge it solo. In the event that she fails, he may grant her mercy and return her to us."

  "Exactly," Aabroa said.

  Suddenly, the ghostly visage of Markos Turloch appeared in front of the dungeon entrance. "It is late in the evening, ladies. Why are you still up?" he asked despite hearing the argument just a moment ago.

  Ouwanda became upset at the dungeon core pretending to be unaware and lunged for the ghost. However, she was restrained by Visrow, who threw her arms around Ouwanda.

  Aabroa stood up and approached Markos. "Good evening, Master Markos. We are concerned because apparently our friend, Tita, had decided to challenge your dungeon by herself." She made the reasonable assumption that the ghost was the dungeon core himself. Who else would appear in front of the dungeon's entrance?

  The dungeon core nodded in confirmation.

  "Can you let us enter your dungeon so that we could join her?" Zefina requested politely.

  Markos sho
ok his head. "Like you, I was skeptical of allowing Tita to enter the dungeon solo. However, she pleaded with me and I was greatly moved by her determination. It would be disrespectful to her if I permit you to enter the dungeon now and try to follow her," he explained.

  The mage sighed deeply. Her heart began to pound faster as she imagined all the difficulties that her friend was experiencing alone.

  "How is Tita?" Ouwanda asked.

  Markos gave her a big smile. "She is about to reach the fifth floor," the dungeon keeper announced.

  The fighter punched her left fist into her right palm. POW!

  Aabroa spoke up. "Master Markos, we will not try to force our way into your dungeon. In exchange, can you let us watch Tita as she explores your dungeon?" she requested and bowed deeply.

  The other party members joined her in kowtowing to Markos.

  "Very well. I will project the image onto the wall." The dungeon core used Air Work to create an illusion of Tita and her immediate surroundings and placed the illusion on the wall.

  The four companions sat on the ground and watched the projection attentively.

  * * *

  As Tita drew closer and closer to the exit leading to the fifth floor, the halfling steeled her nerves for what laid ahead. So far, every floor of the dungeon had a different theme. The first floor was full of deadly traps. The second floor was all about walking on a narrow path while avoiding the air vents, which threatened to blow people off. The third floor was a labyrinth patroled by a deadly Minotaur. The fourth floor was occupied by deadly plants and beetles.

  When Tita opened the door, she saw a cavern with a large body of water before her. More importantly, she saw movement in the water. "Am I supposed to swim across?" she yelled at the ghostly visage of Markos, who stood behind her. Seeing a lack of response, she gave up and returned her focus to the pond.

  The cavern was only ten feet wide with an exit on the other side. There were glowstones on the ceiling to provide illumination. If Tita had the height of a human or an elf, she could probably walk across it. But since the halfling was only four feet tall (short compared to a human or an elf but still considered tall for a halfling), she couldn't do that. Instead, she had to swim across while fending off whatever creatures patrolled the water.

  Seeing no alternative, Tita secured her backpack, took a deep breath, and bravely dove into the water. She used the crawl stroke and quickly swam across the pond. She felt something nibbling and biting at her pants but Tita ignored it.

  Somehow, she reached the other side safely. Using the last bit of strength she could muster, Tita pulled her body out of the water. Keeping an eye on the water, she sat on the ground to catch her breath. Luckily, no monster tried to follow her on land. After a five minute break, she rose off the ground and turned around.

  Peering into the opening, she saw a tunnel ahead of her. However, it was waterlogged. Fortunately, the water was relatively clear and she could see that the depth of the water was shallow. When she entered the tunnel, Tita saw that the water rose to the middle of her calves or roughly one foot high.

  The tunnel was about twenty feet long and branched off into two tunnels. Tita peered into each one and saw that both were empty. She decided to take the right side and entered the tunnel.

  About midway through, something grabbed her right leg and pulled. Tita immediately drew her daggers. Swish! The blades cut into her restraint and she was freed.

  Tita used her quickness to hop back and away from her enemy. Her eyes could barely make out the enemy because its flesh was clear. However, it had four tendrils, one of which was oozing light-blue colored blood. Attached to the tendrils was a blob. It had two blue eyes, which were staring at Tita with anger. "It's a Minor Water Elemental," the halfling identified the creature. The preferred tactic of a water elemental was to drag its target into the water to drown before devouring the victim.

  The water elemental suddenly charged toward Tita!

  The halfling answered the charge with one of her own. Using her superior speed, she ran to the left side of the creature and cut off both tendrils. Then she circled around its back and made a second pass; this time, Tita cut off the remaining two tendrils.

  Refusing to concede the fight, the water elemental tried to slam its body into the halfling.

  However, Tita read the move and easily sidestepped the attack. She immediately jumped on the creature's back and threw her legs around it. Then she started backstabbing the elemental. Once, twice, thrice.

  Light blue-colored blood poured out of the wound and splattered her face. But the bloodthirsty Tita didn't care. She was about to stab it again when the elemental suddenly dropped to the ground and slowly dissipated, dissolving into the water with bubbles.

  Tita turned her head back and forth. She was concerned that the sound of fighting may have drawn the attention of other monsters in the dungeon. After two heart-pounding minutes of waiting, she finally relaxed when no other monster appeared in the tunnel.

  She started to clean her blades with the water and sheathed them. Then she cleaned her face and her clothes as best as she could with the water, which had turned cloudy and slightly blue.

  Tita continued walking through the tunnel. It emptied into a small chamber. More importantly, there was a slope and a mound at the center of the chamber, meaning that the water did not reach the center. The dungeon explorer decided to rest on the mound. She was anxious to take her feet out of the water.

  Tita checked the ceiling and saw that it was smooth with a cluster of glowstones. There was one exit on the other side of the chamber. The halfling exited the tunnel, walked up the slope, and sat on the mound. Her eyes remained on the exit. After all, there was a risk that a water elemental or another monster will walk through the opening and enter the chamber. Thus, she could not relax. However, she took a break to eat a snack and drink from her waterskin.

  After a ten minute break, Tita resumed her dungeon exploration. The exit led to another water-logged tunnel plus a second encounter with a minor water elemental. The thief used her superior quickness to defeat the creature. She rinsed the blades in the water to remove the blood stains but decided not to clean her clothes until she reached the exit.

  The tunnel led to another chamber. Peering through the opening of the chamber, Tita saw a chest and a door on the other side. However, it was guarded by a normal water elemental. It had eight tendrils and its body was twice the size of the minor water elemental. But more problematic was the fact that it could not be harmed by normal weapons.

  Sighing at the sight of the guardian, Tita had no choice but to use another weapon. She activated her magic ring to summon forth a large box. It was the size of a coffin. It was a Box of Holding and held her most valuable possessions. She took out a short bow, a quiver of arrows marked with red-colored fletching, and a scabbard containing a short sword. Once she equipped them and dismissed the magic box, Tita stepped into the chamber.

  The guardian immediately registered her intrusion and charged at Tita.

  The halfling calmly fired her arrows. They were enchanted to do minor fire damage. Against water elementals, these arrows inflicted double damage.

  The water elemental screamed in pain when it was hit by the first magic arrow.

  However, Tita could only fire four arrows before the guardian reached her. She was forced to duck to avoid the whip-like tendril. Crack!

  The thief dropped her bow and pulled out her short sword. The blade was enchanted with magic to inflict additional minor damage. When another tendril lashed at her, Tita sliced off the appendage and rang toward the elemental. With deadly accuracy, she sliced off three more limbs before reaching the main body of the creature. Unfortunately, she lacked the reach to stab the elemental's eyes. Instead, she chose to slice the torso and make the creature bleed to death.

  The elemental swung its remaining tendrils, forcing Tita to hop back.

  Taking an aggressive stance again, the halfling ran toward her opponent and sliced
off two more tendrils in passing. She stopped and quickly turned around. Ignoring the wide-open back, Tita sliced off the last two tendrils.

  The water elemental defiantly slammed its torso toward the halfling.

  Tita easily sidestepped the attack and lunged forward, thrusting her enchanted blade deep into the creature's back. Then she carved it mercilessly until the water elemental finally dissipated into the water.

  The victor took the time to catch her breath. Her stamina was nearly exhausted from this fight. She slowly cleaned her blade, retrieved her bow, and then returned her magic weapons to the Box of Holding. She cleaned her clothes and her face with the water.

  When she was done cleaning herself, the thief finally picked open the chest. It contained 500 gold pieces (again). However, it also contained a Potion of Fire Resistance. Tita had a bad feeling about the next floor. She opened the door, which was neither trapped nor locked, and descended the stairs.

  Chapter 49

  Final Floor

  Before Tita opened the door at the bottom of the staircase, the apparition of Markos made a surprise announcement: "This is the last floor of my dungeon. Good luck."

  The halfling looked at him with confusion and then shook her head. "Thank you," she said and then opened the door. Heat and steam immediately poured through the opening. She saw a floor full of fiery flames. The ground before her was charred black.

  When the dungeon explorer took a step on the ground, she immediately pulled her right foot back. The ground itself was scalding hot! With no choice, the halfling sat on the stairs and pulled her boots out of her backpack. After Tita put on her boots, she stepped through the doorway once more. She slowly walked to the edge of the floor and peered over the ledge. She saw molten lava!