The City and the Dungeon

by Matthew Schmidt

  The highest spectrum of delver I saw as I passed was green. Did blues and higher use a private entrance? (Often, yes, but there's also few blues at all.) Once again, the way to the Entrance itself was where the masses were going, to say nothing of the carved signs everywhere pointing inwards.

  I turned another direction and went down an empty corridor.

  I had done my research before coming to the City. The survival rate of those who walked into the Dungeon unprepared was something close to 20%. I preferred not to be one of the four casualties to the one success. Yet—for all my preparation—I didn't know how to prepare!

  There was nothing stopping anyone from simply wandering the grounds. In fact, many parties sat on benches together and chatted, doubtlessly waiting for another member to show up. Those parties also doubtlessly wouldn't be pleased if I crashed them.

  So, once again, now what?

  I passed by a weird desk, and retraced my steps. Was that a Quest Kiosk? It was almost surreal seeing something I had only read of in a book. I hurried to it and remembered what I had to do.

  The Quest Kiosks are startling on first use. I pulled the lever marked "Suitable," and a thin book dropped out of the roof onto the Kiosk: Quests Suitable for Alex Kenderman. My ears grew red, but I took the book. Had I not known that the spells that powered the Quest Kiosks were purely mechanical, I would have thought it was spying on me.

  I found a bench and sat to read the book. I wished I had brought along that guide to delver slang, even if I would have had to pay for its weight on the airship. The quests were full of such slang and abbreviations, and I barely understood any of it.

  Then my eye fell on one entry.

  MW HORDE, ALL WELCOME!

  1st Floor, 34-AA, leaves 1500

  Leading Party orange, good record, retrieval of heartstone guaranteed.

  Have fun, kill monsters, get loot. Join!

  Requires: N/A.

  50% to all in horde/50% leading party

  I knew approximately what they were talking about.

  The Horde, also called the Meat Wall or the Train, is a very simple strategy involving many, many low-level delvers and one party of higher-level delvers. The horde follows the actual party (thus the name "Train") and acts as human shields for them. (Thus, "Meat Wall.") The horde will get much deeper than they could alone, rapidly gaining Experience and loot beyond their own power. Meanwhile, the leading party can conserve its resources for the truly dangerous monsters.

  I thought about it, and flipped through the book. A few minutes later, I came back. The other parties wanted an interview—and what would I tell them? That I was new to the City? This Horde was indiscriminate.

  But it was going in just half an hour! If I wanted to join, I would have to buy any equipment, sign up for the quest—I could do the latter immediately.

  I went to the Kiosk again, tore out the page for the Horde, set it on the correct plate and pulled the lever. This time a bundle of papers fell, but I was ready and caught them.

  The party contract was two pages, most of which were terms I didn't understand. Shrugging, I reached for the complimentary quill and moved to sign it.

  "I wouldn't do that if I were you."

  Chapter Two:

  The Party

  "Excuse me?" I turned and asked.

  The speaker was a young lady with short purple-black hair and a mischievous smile. Or what would perhaps have been mischievous in a better world, one where that smile had not suffered. She wore a black shirt and trousers that had been patched several times with purple. "Those horde parties are a scam," she said.

  "Um... okay..." I said, staring at her aura. It was as red as mine—she had never entered the Dungeon.

  "Why?" I asked. "They're common."

  "Sure," she said. "That doesn't make them not a scam. Believe me, you'll go in and not come out."

  "The contract says—"

  At that moment she physically ripped the papers from the Kiosk, spilling both quill and ink. Both of which hovered off the floor and returned to their places. "Look here. 'Organizers agree to take best efforts to return all heartstones to surface.'"

  "Precisely," I said.

  "What it doesn't say is that they'll pay for a revive. So they won't. You're just cannon fodder."

  "Oh." I said, and I realized she was right. It was too good to be true. And what had I been thinking, charging ahead into a contract before I had even bought a single piece of gear? "What would you recommend?"

  "Find an actual party," she said. Twirling a purple strand of hair, she added, "Of course, you'll have trouble finding someone who'd accept a new delver. Unless you have high natural stats?"

  I thought about myself. No. There's something uniquely awful about being objectively judged as personally inferior. At least my Wisdom was high at 15, which baffled me. What was wise about almost rushing into danger? "You're a new delver," I stated. "How do you know all this stuff?"

  The girl shrugged. "I'm not. And it's the truth."

  For a moment I wondered if she was another scammer. But she struck me as too open to be attempting to delude me. "Um, please don't take this as a pick-up line," I said. "But could we two start a party?"

  "By ourselves?" She raised an eyebrow. "We're five members too short for safety. And you won't find anyone but other new delvers to join—no Red+ in his right mind would join a party lead by a Red."

  "Then mind if we find another five new delvers?" I asked.

  "You'll have to find someone to bankroll us. Basic equipment isn't cheap."

  "How much are we talking?" I asked. "Fifty red?"

  "Per delver, yeah."

  "Oh," I said, and started to blush. "That's all I have. Well, a little more, but..."

  The girl sighed. "Great. Listen, I've got some gear, but nothing else."

  "A weapon?" I asked.

  She pulled out a small dagger. "Used this a few times."

  But not in the Dungeon, I realized, or she would have gained Experience. "I guess we'll have to find other people with equipment."

  She shrugged, but stretched out her hand. "Elise Purple."

  I took it. "Alex Kenderman."

  * * *

  NEW PARTY!

  1st Floor, any section, leaves 1700

  New delvers welcome!

  Requires: own equipment.

  10% personal cut.

  How can I describe that first day? Looking back, I can't remember what it was like to not know them. But there I was, in a room with six strangers, and all of us had agreed to risk our lives together.

  * * *

  The Red Delver Union, or RDU, operates a number of free gathering halls for parties to form. The RDU also rents some otherwise-useless equipment to test the stats of would-be members for a nominal fee. One red later, I, Elise, and five unsigned basic party contracts awaited applicants in a room full of equipment.

  "So, how long do we wait?" I asked.

  "I dunno," Elise said. "There's plenty of new delvers, but new delvers that can afford their own equipment...?"

  I didn't talk after she trailed off. Something told me there was more of a story to her. But... I had never been in a room alone with a girl other than my sister before, and I didn't even know what to say.

  "We may be waiting a while," Elise said. "So—"

  The knock on the door interrupted her. "Come in," I said.

  A dark-tanned young man in an orange-gold robe entered and bowed. His aura was red. One hand held an oak staff, but I could tell he was no mage. Possibly training to be one, but he didn't have the class.

  "Xavier D'Ambrose. I have the equivalent of a skill naturally," he said.

  "Really?" Elise asked skeptically.

  "Higher math."

  "What's the square root of one hundred and three?" I asked.

  "Somewhere between ten and eleven," he said without a pause. "Really, that's not the interesting stuff. Talk about trigonometry instead."

  "Let's talk about the Dungeon instead," Eli
se said.

  "Statistically, I've got a much better chance of survival in any party. If you don't mind me, I'll join you."

  "All right," I said. "If you're willing to risk your life with us, we'll take you."

  "Thanks," he said, and sat with us. I handed him a contract, which he began to read.

  "Four to go," Elise said.

  * * *

  We didn't have much luck for a while. I began to wonder if our offer was too bad when in strode our next applicant. Tall and black-haired, the muscular young man wore an almost aristocratic, long blue cape.

  In lieu of introduction, he took the metal barbell marked 17 and lifted it with ease. "All natural," he said with such calm, as if we had been friends for decades and only had met today.

  "Hey," I said. "Didn't I see you earlier today? At the Palace of the Stone."

  He looked at me. "I believe so. You were standing outside with a wondering expression."

  "You have a good memory."

  "Of course, why not?" he asked. "Sampson Kerryman." Another American? He looked like it.

  "You don't look like you have any equipment," Elise said.

  "I have my cape," Sampson said with a twirl. Something about its ornate design made me wonder for a moment if it was from the Dungeon. "I can punch things pretty well. What more can one ask?"

  "We'll take you," I said.

  Sampson made a bit of a bow, and then took a seat by Xavier.

  * * *

  "Andy? Seriously?" Elise asked, taking the slim girl by the hand.

  "You know her?" I asked.

  "This is Andromeda Square," Elise explained. The new girl's downcast eyes were hid behind colored glasses and auburn bangs. I could not meet her glance. Over her shoulders I saw a pickaxe, which I had trouble believing a girl of her build could swing. She wore a green shirt and trousers that covered her whole body. "I know, weird name. She had weird parents."

  "Alex Kenderman," I said, extending a hand. She hesitantly took it for the briefest of moments.

  "Andy's really shy," Elsie said, then to her. "I'm amazed you want to delve."

  "Have to," she said quietly, like a mouse with little breath. "Out of crystal."

  "Well... I suppose we can take you along," Elise gave us the look that said suppose meant will.

  Sampson cleared his throat. "Anything special you have?"

  Andy curled around Elise who answered for her. "Her parents were Diggers. With that pickaxe she'll cut right through the Dungeon walls. She knows how."

  "How do you know?" Xavier asked. "Have you ever been in the Dungeon?"

  “The Miner's Guild has walls they took out of the Dungeon for people to practice on,” Elise said, and patted the chair by herself. "Andy, you can sit with me."

  * * *

  The stout young woman looked us up and down. I can't help but admit I was immediately attracted by her firm, freckled face. She wore a dress and more clothing than the rest of us, including a kind of bonnet or shroud over her hair. A small bag was slung over one shoulder. "You at least seem organized, unlike the last five parties that I looked at."

  "Is there really such a thing as organization in a party?" I asked.

  "Yes," she said firmly. "It depends on the goals of the leaders. Which are...?"

  "That's awfully forthright," Elise said.

  "Then I'll say mine," she said. "I am Mical Parsimony. I was an apprentice unclassed herbalist at a herb cafe for years until it closed because of a few terrible business decisions of my former mistress. I intend to delve until I can afford to start my own herb cafe. Satisfied?"

  "I thought Michael was a guy's name," Sampson said.

  "Mical," Mical repeated. It's an odd name, I know."

  "I'm Alex Kenderman," I said. "I can't speak for the rest of my party, but I'm basically delving for crystal to remit back to my family. We figured it was our best option to pool our remaining funds to send someone to the City. Of course, we spent much of our remaining funds to get me here, so that’s why I can’t afford to equip everyone..." I trailed off, having belatedly realized I was talking too much.

  "My reasons are my own," Elise said, and rubbed her purple hair. "But he's the leader."

  "Fair enough," Mical said. "I have the knowledge, if not the class, of an Herbalist. I can apply consumables for far better benefit than, I suspect, any of you will, and I can use my knowledge of medicine to otherwise serve as a healer." She opened her bag. "In lieu of equipment, I have a number of fresh herbs."

  "We need a healer," I said. "We'll take you."

  She blinked, but said, "Very well," and sat on the other side of Elise. She read the contract very slowly.

  * * *

  Luke strode in, took the seat before we said anything. He looked the best equipped of all of us, with a sword on his belt and what appeared to be leather armor over a plain white shirt. "I'm Luke Armstrong. I'm good at fighting and will follow orders." He said this in a slow, deliberate string of words, and then nothing else.

  I saw his muscles—high natural Strength, at least. "Could you show us your stats?" Belatedly, I realized I had not asked any previous applicant to do this.

  "Sure," he said, and took the wooden sword marked 16 from the stand. The grip of the hilt lengthened to fit his hand—he had the Strength to equip it. He swung it with ease. Then he took the wand, the staff, the belt... Each perfectly fit him. He drew his own weapon, a bronze short sword, and took a stance of clear training. "Enough?"

  "Enough," I said. Now that was luck. How often was there even someone with that many high natural stats? (And wasn't a jerk about it?) "Welcome aboard," I said. "That makes seven."

  * * *

  "Here we are," I said. "Everyone signed?" Everyone was pure red.

  "Done," Mical said, handing me the contract. Everyone else nodded.

  "You're going to be the leader, so you'll have to start the physical party," Elise said.

  "Right," I said. And I knew what to do, some instinctual knowledge given to me by the Cornerstone along with my heartstone, even if I had never done it before. I reached out, but mentally, and touched each of them at their centers. One by one, I felt them join, until we were, in a sense, one.

  "Freaky," Elise said. "Hey, you can sense each others' Health now. Sampson, sheesh."

  "Hey, I work out," Sampson said. I could sense he had a Charisma of 16—no wonder he looked so handsome. Or perhaps his handsomeness gave him the Charisma of 16. It's a common argument which way it goes. I was still amazed at his Strength of 17.

  I thought through the rest of our stats. Sampson and Mical were tied for Constitution at 13. Mical was also tied for me with Wisdom at 15, and Elise had 14. Xavier had 15 Intelligence, no surprise there. Andy also had 15. Elise was both our fastest and most dexterous, at 13 Agility and 15 Dexterity. Luke's average was the highest and he had a Perception of 19—incredible.

  Aside from Luke, the rest of ours stats weren't so good. It's rude to describe how someone's stats are low, so it's just not done.

  I felt a little speech was called for. "Welcome aboard, everyone. Let's do this."

  Chapter Three:

  Plans

  Everyone looked at me expectantly. "Now what?" I asked.

  "I don't know, you're our illustrious leader," Elise said.

  "Go downstairs, fight monsters, take their stuff, go back up, repeat," Sampson said with a slight shrug. "It's not hard."

  "It's hard if you prefer not to die," Mical said.

  "Yeah," Xavier said. "We can't afford a revive, can we?"

  "That's correct," I said.

  "On that subject, how much do we have?" Mical asked me.

  "I'll be honest," I said, and took out the fifty-three red. "This is what we have. I'll have to buy some gear for myself, but—"

  Mical looked at it. "You can't afford the delve."

  "What?" I asked. "I mean, sure, it's a little, but once we get started—"

  "What we have here is called undercapitalization in the business world,"
Mical interrupted. "You can't afford the proper gear and consumables for a successful delve, and when you come back, your income will be completely wiped out by healer's fees and the like." After a pause, "I thought you guys had the finances ready."

  "We had no idea," I said. Well, more accurately, I had no idea.