by Sarah Lin
His eyes swept over the group, gathering everything he could before summoning boxes for them. One was clearly a mage and the second a fighter, but he could have determined that just from their equipment. The third was listed as a "Scholar" by the boxes. It was that scholar who stepped up to glare at him, ignoring Danniah entirely.
"This is a valuable historical site!" The elf drew himself up, which was ineffective against someone of Bloodwraith's height. "Don't go thinking it's some cavern you can smash your way through!"
Danniah nodded obediently, but Bloodwraith raised a hand to stop her. There was no sense risking these adventurers claiming control of everything and potentially taking the very reason they had started this quest. "You hired us, presumably for smashing purposes."
Though the elves looked momentarily surprised to hear such a brutish-looking warrior speak more than a grunt, it only stopped the scholar for a moment. "We didn't hire you! I don't actually know who put in this request - I thought the historical society had dissolved. But we have an agreement with the Guild to warn us when adventurers threaten to destroy valuable cultural artifacts."
"Then this is our assignment you're stepping into..." Bloodwraith realized that this was not a good time to act aggressively and tried to take a page from Danniah's book, fixing his face in a smile. "But we understand. Don't worry, we have no intention of destroying anything. You can do whatever you want with it, once we've properly excavated the site."
"That's not good enough! We can't have you thugs looting valuable artifacts from the site!"
So much for his attempt to be reasonable. Bloodwraith wanted to grab the man by the throat and lift him, but recalled Meara's reaction and decided that could be overdone. Instead, he kept the same smile on his face. "It occurs to me that you're not being particularly proactive about protecting artifacts like these, or you wouldn't have waited for us to take the request. A more cynical man might think that you just wanted to loot sites you couldn't normally handle."
That got a moment of spluttering before the scholar recovered. "Don't be absurd! We are more than capable of dealing with a few monsters, we simply have too much ground to cover!"
"Then be my guest." He stepped to the side and gestured expansively to the stone door. "You can do whatever you like with it without our unwanted interference."
The scholar looked like he wanted to argue, but the fighter and mage shot uncomfortable glances toward the door. Yes, this was definitely more than they could take. Their Levels were 3 and 4, so he doubted the threat was too high, but this would not be quite so simple a job, otherwise someone would have rushed through it for a few more silver pieces.
"We can work together, right?" Danniah stepped between them, beaming smile swiveling between them like a lighthouse. "We really don't want to damage any valuable cultural artifacts or anything, honest! But we need to eat, you know? We'll probably find some things without much historical value, like money, right? Couldn't we have those?"
"Hmph, fine!" The scholar turned away, taking the opportunity to end the conversation and declare victory. "But show me any artifacts you find first!"
With that agreed, the mage performed the spell to open the door and they headed inside. Bloodwraith examined the three elves carefully, now more curious about their motives than anything the boxes cared about. While it was possible that they truly did want to preserve the ruins, he considered the possibility that they were just opportunists. He wasn't sure which he would respect less.
Bloodwraith had no intention of keeping to the agreement, however, especially because he felt certain that the elves would use it to take anything of real value. In fact, it would be simplest to draw them deep into the tunnels and then kill them once the monsters were cleared... but there was a problem with that. A short, cheerful problem.
"I didn't know you were so good at arguing!" Danniah elbowed him in the side, whispering eagerly. "But this is an okay agreement, right?"
"Provided they're fair about it." Bloodwraith wasn't sure how far he could push Danniah on that, but this quest might be an opportunity if she could serve as an ally.
As they traveled down the tunnel, he decided on his priorities. Acquiring the piece of armor Meara had sensed was non-negotiable, of course, and he didn't want to pass up any equipment that could count toward the +1 quest. But if the elves carried their weight, it would be reasonable to let them have a share. He didn't give a shit about anything of "historical value," so he might be able to use that as leverage.
"Hold!" One of the elves raised an arm and shouted. "Don't blunder into the webs!"
The spiderwebs in the tunnel ahead weren't exactly easy to miss, but it was accurate advice, so Bloodwraith let it pass. They took a step back and the mage summoned a tongue of flame, which began to light the webs aflame. Spiders screeched as they burned, but this was a reasonable way of dealing with them - he just hoped the boxes granted him credit for their deaths.
While the others waited for the fires to burn down, Bloodwraith noticed something out of the corner of his eyes. One of the giant spiders was crawling toward them, cast in red by the dying flames. The mage shook his head and gestured at the fighter.
"One of them made it. Go out there and finish it off."
"Wait." Bloodwraith spoke in a low voice, not wanting to bellow at them like a barbarian, but he was ignored. The fighter still rushed forward, drawing his blades to finish off the burning spider.
Except that it wasn't burning - none of the flames had touched it. Bloodwraith lunged out after the elven fighter, but he wasn't fast enough. The spider leapt with vicious speed, striking him in the chest and driving him to the ground. It hissed as it landed on his chest, then bit down.
Only for its face to meet Bloodwraith's boot as he kicked it as hard as he could. The spider fell back but survived, skittering back to its feet and rushing at him again. But it was no longer dealing with an idiot charging in. Bloodwraith met it with the side of his greatsword, flattening it against the wall of the tunnel.
"De-defend me!" The shriek came from the scholar, who was scrabbling backward as a group of spiders rushed him from a side corridor, led by another red-colored one.
The mage was at least smart enough to send his flame toward one of the smaller spiders, burning it to a crisp. But the scholar kept panicking instead of retreating behind the combatants, so the spiders were almost swarming over him now.
Fortunately Danniah stepped in at that moment, her shield smashing directly into the red spider. It might have been able to endure flame, but the blunt force of the shield sent it splattering against the opposite wall. The remaining spiders turned to swarm Danniah and she bravely tried to bash at them with her mace.
Dammit, the elven mage was preparing a fireball. It might be effective at killing all the spiders, but it would severely injure Danniah. Even if he warned her, her shield was in no shape to weather a blast of fire.
Bloodwraith threw out two bursts of force in quick succession, one sending the mage sprawling and the other picking off one of the spiders trying to crawl up Danniah's back. To his surprise, she weathered his spell without falling, just smashing the last of the spiders who hesitated as the wind swept past them. Only once they were dead did she turn to grin at him.
[Victory! You received 663 EXP.]
Then they were likely safe for the time being. After double-checking with his normal senses, Bloodwraith returned his sword to his back and let himself relax. Though he didn't want to, Bloodwraith checked on the fighter first, pulling the elf to his feet.
"Are you alright?"
"Bit me, but I don't think it was poisonous."
"Need a potion?"
The elf turned up his nose and limped back toward the mage. "There's no need, he can heal."
Well, if his help wasn't wanted, Bloodwraith wasn't going to waste his time. Instead he walked to Danniah, who was trying to scrape spider remains off her armor with a disgusted look on her face. When she saw him her expression brightened briefly.
"Ick, these things are disgusting. Spiders freak me out, so you can guess how much I like the giant ones."
"You shouldn't be afraid of them. They're usually very weak."
Danniah blinked at him, pausing a moment before she resumed cleaning. "Why is that? I think of spiders as really dangerous predators, always killing bugs and things."
"The little ones are." Bloodwraith glanced back to the elves, who were still regrouping, the scholar reprimanding the other two, and decided that he had time. "Spiders don't have skeletons like we do, just armor on the outside. Their bodies are strong enough for small animals, but this large, they'll collapse under their own weight. The only way they can avoid that is by reinforcing themselves with mana. But that means they're weaker, because other creatures would use that mana to become stronger."
"Oh, wow! I'm not sure I get all of it, but I think I understand!" Danniah grinned, then shifted just as abruptly to a puzzled expression. "That one wasn't burned at all, though. How did you know it was more dangerous?"
"Other than the fact that it wasn't harmed by a fireball?"
"Haha, okay, I guess I walked into that one! The reply, not the fireball. So, uh... I guess it had more mana than normal, so it... wasn't hurt by fire, I guess?"
Bloodwraith shrugged, wishing he had proper mage senses. "It might be that, but probably not. There's not much threat of fire here except from adventurers. More likely those spiders had developed the ability to ignore weak magical effects, including those of other monsters. Much more useful in general."
"I get it! Ooh... I've been wondering about those frog things in the crypt, the ones that shot mucus at us..."
As they regrouped and headed on, Bloodwraith continued telling her what he knew. If someone had asked him that morning if he liked teaching, he would have said no. But Danniah was eager to learn and she seemed so delighted by the facts that she learned... well, it was a way to pass the time while they explored the corridors.
Most of them were filled not with monsters, but with rubble. Combat devolved into manual labor, simply clearing the rocks in their path. He might have been able to blast his way through it, but the elves would get pissed at him and he didn't want to deal with that.
Could Meara turn clearing the rubble into a quest of some kind? That was the only way that this could become tolerable. Even Danniah's good cheer seemed to diminish as the work plodded on for most of the day. The scholar didn't help very much, instead examining potsherds - at least the other elves had the decency to glare at him for not working.
As if to mock him, just as he grew bored, a new box appeared.
[New Skill Acquired: Manual Labor!
Starting Level: 1
EXP +10]
Bloodwraith glared at it as he kept working. Why would generic "manual labor" even be a skill? What adventurer would want it? And the pathetic EXP bonus was practically an insult. Only willpower prevented him from growling out imprecations against the box gods.
Eventually they worked their way through the blockade and found another stretch of corridor that was mostly clear. In theory, their fortunes had turned. No monsters would be lurking in a blocked off area, unless there was another entrance, and the corridors appeared undisturbed, so there might be items of real value. Bloodwraith kept his eyes open as they began searching through the rooms.
Most of the chambers had water symbolism, and a few mostly broken sculptures suggested the same theme. No actual sign of water, though. He supposed that it might only have been a pool in the past, but he thought elves usually preferred magical pools, which tended to be enduring.
Along the way he found a few intact pots, which he dutifully wrapped in cloth for the scholar, and a few pieces of jewelry, which he dutifully slipped into his inventory. Nothing of any real power, but he was irritated enough by the elves that he was just aiming for profit.
"Oh!"
The voice was Danniah's, but she sounded more happy than upset. He still emerged from his room and located her, though not before the scholar did.
"Look at this!" Danniah revealed what she had found as she turned around: a small chest filled with various coins. Probably worth less than modern silver and gold pieces, but still a valuable find. "Do you want the box? We can have the coins, right?"
"No, I need to study these." The scholar hastened to take the chest from her, eyes filled with something that was not historical interest. "You see, these are coins from the ancient third elven dynasty. They have all kinds of historical notes on them... you see these faces? Those are of historical significance, especially combined with the dates on the coins... yes, we have much to learn..."
Bloodwraith was certain that was bullshit, not because he was an expert on elven history but because it was obviously deceptive. Before he could say anything, Danniah sighed and handed over the chest, disappointment obvious on her face. "Oh, okay. I guess you can have it, if it will help your research..."
"Of course it will! Dear girl, your contribution is invaluable..."
"Is that so?" Bloodwraith put a heavy arm around the scholar's shoulders. "I'm guessing that you can put at least some value on it, right? It seems to me that it would be only fair to compensate her for her contribution, in some way."
The scholar grumbled, but eventually agreed. Weighing twice as much as someone tended to have that effect - having a body like this wasn't all bad. As a mage no one respected you until you started blowing things up, or you had to waste mana on fancy lights and glowing spheres.
When Bloodwraith emerged from the room, he found that the mage and the fighter had gathered in the circular chamber at the end of the hall. There were shelves lined with more pots and a circular platform in the center, but Bloodwraith was more concerned about the state of the room. It looked as though it had taken serious damage. Perhaps from water pressure, though he wasn't entirely sure.
In any case, the mage was examining some wards on the central platform, though he paused to frown back when Bloodwraith entered. The fighter glowered when Bloodwraith stepped in, but couldn't exactly stop him. Soon the scholar and Danniah joined them, Danniah curious and the scholar adding his glare to the others'.
"This must be the entrance to the pool, so I insist you stand back." The scholar didn't check to see if they obeyed, though, just moved closer to the mage. "What's wrong? It should open with the same key as the main entrance."
"I'm not sure. The wards that should lead down are working oddly, and the passage itself might have collapsed."
The scholar cursed and stomped his foot... which made the floor shift in a way that made Bloodwraith uncomfortable. But it sounded like the real treasure was beneath, so he didn't want to retreat and leave it to them. Instead he looked to the wards, which allegedly should have led down. In this body, it was difficult to determine too much about them, but they seemed fundamentally damaged.
"I'll push through, then." The mage started to raise a hand and Bloodwraith had to speak up.
"Are you sure that's a good idea?"
All three elves sneered at him and the scholar voiced their scorn. "Look, human. We know you're very good at swinging that piece of metal around, but this is ancient, complex magic."
"If it's so ancient and complex, maybe we should be careful with it?"
The mage snorted. "These spells are designed to be used. All I need to do-"
At that moment the wards snapped, sending magic cascading through the weakened stones. Bloodwraith threw out a hand uselessly, utterly lacking any magic that could prevent the accident or reduce the consequences. He had an instant to curse his old instincts and this body's lack of magic.
Then the stone floors crumbled beneath them and they all plunged into the darkness.
Chapter 21
Bloodwraith knew what to do in an abrupt fall: cast levitation spells. This knowledge was not terribly helpful.
The best he could do was try to grab for rocky protrusions in the shadows. They broke off but slowed his fall at least a little. He h
it a wall with a slight slope and dug his fingers into it, letting friction slow his descent further. With a fall this long, gravity alone could prove fatal. Danniah was too far away for him to help, so he'd have to hope she could survive.
Other than that, all he could do was brace himself for the stop at the end.
He didn't hit hard enough to splatter, but it hurt like hell. Bloodwraith groaned and slowly pulled himself to his knees. The mage's light had gone out, so his vision was pitch black. Going by feel, he managed to find his sword, since it had only been knocked away at the end. From sound, he could hear the elves groaning in pain, and heard a breath that he thought was Danniah's.
But more importantly, he heard a skittering sound. Not willing to confront an unknown enemy in the darkness, Bloodwraith plunged a hand into his sack and summoned the inventory screen. Even though he couldn't see anything, the box still appeared before him. It seemed to glow, yet illuminated nothing.
However, the magical lantern he pulled from the sack did. It lit up just as it was meant to, casting a warm glow all around him. It seemed that they had fallen into a cavern, quite some distance from the floor that had been destroyed. The elves looked like they had a broken bone or two, while Danniah was slowly picking herself up, stunned but not seriously injured.
When he raised the lantern, he saw no way back up, just a shaft of darkness overhead. The caverns around had a strange look to them, not quite natural or artificial. He examined them further, trying to figure out exactly why, when he got an unpleasant answer to his question.
A creature crawled out of the rock nearby, reminding him of nothing so much as an armored mole. It let out a roar at him and he swung on instinct. Though his greatsword swung true, it only cut deep, didn't cleave the creature in half.
Dodging its claws swiping at him, Bloodwraith managed to pull out his greatsword and strike again. After a few more blows he managed to kill it, but he could feel the stone vibrating all around him. More of them were coming, and his companions would be less able to defend themselves. As much as he wanted to just let the elves die, perhaps he would need them to survive this.