Time to go for broke. Hawke chugged down a Major Mana Potion that got his pool back to three-quarters full and channeled almost twelve hundred Mana points through Saturnyx’s Elemental Strike ability. That translated to three thousand and change points of Light damage, which its defenses reduced to about two thousand, or just two seconds’ worth of regeneration for Its Obesity. Hawke activated the Amethyst of the Magus in his breastplate, regaining half of his depleted energy, and went through his spell rotation while the potion restored even more Mana. The spells generated more bang for the buck, but the big up-front attack got the monster’s full attention. It kept hosing Hawke with its torrent of lava, freeing up the rest of the group to go on the offensive.
Hawke stood his ground, watching his Health bar depleting steadily despite the ongoing healing from the party and his own spells, but concentrating on keeping up the pressure on the disgusting creature. Dergal’s own Health was down to three thousand as it prepared to finish its spell – and Blaze and Luna cast Shadow Leech on it. The little bastards had leveled up, picked up Darkness Magic and not bothered to tell their ‘parents.’ Whatever devilment Dergal had tried to unleash failed, and its Mana dropped significantly as well. Hawke burned through all his own power a second time, but using dual-cast spells instead. The extra damage mounted up significantly, thanks to his spell penetration. Down to two thousand Health… fifteen hundred… one thousand…
When Dergal’s Health dipped below a thousand, its skin began to expand like a balloon hooked to a high-pressure tank, and its surface bubbled as rivulets of lava poured through cracks in the distending body. You didn’t need to be a genius to figure out what was about to happen.
“Out!” Hawke shouted, praying they still had time. “Everyone out!”
Olaf scurried down the corridor, running into the returning Grognard and pushing him back as everyone else rushed to the exit. Hawke went last and managed to swing the door shut just before Dergal blew up. The massive metal door clanged close on the onrushing torrent of flames, and he felt its surface buckle and warm up even through his gauntleted hands. The ground trembled slightly. That had been one big ka-boom.
For Slaying Your Foes, you have earned 2,560 XP (320 diverted towards Leadership; 320 diverted towards Node Mastery).
You have found: 37 gold, 1 Major Healing Potions, 4 Major Mana Potions, 3 Major Endurance Potions, 2 Rejuvenation Potions, 5 Demon Lord’s Teeth (Epic Quality Crafting Items), 2 Demon Bladders (Masterwork Quality Crafting Items).
Quest Complete: The Five Barons (1/5)
You have gained 960 XP (120 diverted towards Leadership; 120 diverted towards Node Mastery).
You have found: 20 gold.
You have found: Minor Shield of the Defender (Level 14 Masterwork Item).
Current XP/Next Level: 43,783/50,000. Leadership XP/Next Level: 31,792/35,000
Current Node Mastery XP/Next Level: 11,896/12,000. Current Guild XP/Next Level: 1,967/2,500
Hawke leaned against a wall, avoiding the red-hot door. “Guess we got him.”
Thirty-Six
Searching Dergal’s chamber took half an hour. They found a hidden compartment with another trapped chest. Hawke and Girl disarmed the traps together, which raised his skill to five. He still was nowhere near Ninja levels, of course.
The chest was a matched set for the first one, but with a bit more of everything. It contained 600 gold denars; 8 Major and 12 regular Healing, Mana, Endurance and Rejuvenation potions; the same quantity of Alchemical components; and three ingots of mithril. And, unsurprisingly, leggings and vambraces made of demon skin, comprising two more pieces of the Panoply of Murder set. Girl’s inhuman grin became wider as she took the Infernal items and started putting them on. Nobody argued with her.
Hawke ran a mini-lottery for the other Eternals in the party to see who got the 36-slot chest itself. Unfortunately for the ordinary Adventurers without inventories, they couldn’t use the chest, since they had nowhere to put it. Ordinary bags of holding wouldn’t take the bigger container, so it was pretty useless for them. Olaf was the lucky winner. Gosto, Nadia and Tava split the Alchemy crafting components between them except two of the teeth, which Hawke claimed. He thought they could be used for Arcane Blacksmithing. Grognard and Gzzatt got the gold and an ingot of mithril each, and Hawke took the last ingot for himself. The potions were spread around among whoever needed them the most.
It wasn’t a hundred percent equitable, but Hawke promised that a full accounting would be worked out afterward and he would make up the difference in gold or items from his Stronghold’s stores. Luckily, he still had plenty of Enchanted and Masterwork quality items even after giving out a bunch of them to all new Guild members as a signing bonus. A lot of the stuff had been too high level for most of the Eternal noobs, and not useful to him, so there were dozens of items gathering dust in his Stronghold Vaults. Nobody would feel cheated, not if he could help it. He had already seen that resentment could be just as bad in the Realms as in gaming, and a lot more dangerous.
Some former gamers weren’t happy with Hawke’s claiming an entire Domain as well as leading the main Guild in the area, not to mention asserting control over all the Mana Nodes in it. Most of the malcontents had left in search of greener pastures, but a few remained. Hawke shrugged at the thought. They would have to live with it. He had no intentions of giving up the power he had accumulated in the past couple of months. Although he had to confess that, during the seemingly endless meetings he had to attend, the temptation to saddle some other sucker with the responsibilities that came with that power had been almost overwhelming.
After the spoils had been divided, the party decided to return to the big cavern and set up camp for the night. They were all tired in a way that Endurance potions couldn’t fix, and Hawke wanted all their high-power abilities – many of which had daily cooldowns – available for when they ventured into the next level. The portal Girl had found in the last room had to lead to the next level; they had found no other way to go deeper into the Dungeon. They decided to leave it alone until the next morning.
The lake’s waters had toxic levels of sulfur and other minerals, plus whatever other crap the rotting Gargantua had contributed to the mix, but Olaf and Nadia had water-purification spells. They filled all their empty containers with enough water to last a couple of weeks. The relatively cooler surroundings even allowed them to enjoy one of the homemade meals they had packed along. Grognard seemed unconcerned about his second death, and had hit tenth level before dying, but Hawke had a word with him anyway.
“I didn’t think the adds would target the rear lines,” he told the ex-soldier. “My screw-up, and I am sorry for it.”
“Won’t say I’m happy to be down four Identity points even after leveling,” Grognard said. “I can’t remember the name of my favorite aunt, among other things. But I picked up a new ability called Last Stand. It’s an ‘oh, shit’ sort of power. And I followed Gzzatt’s lead for my second class. I’m a Battle Mage-slash-Stalwart now. I won’t die so easily next time.”
“I’ll make sure there won’t be a next time. I’m moving Gosto back to the rear to keep you and Olaf in range of his Earth Dome and Shield of Cerunnos.”
The new Druid spell Gosto had acquired at fourteenth level was an area-effect damage absorb shield. Olaf had also gained an area force field. Between those spells, the party’s survivability had gone through the roof. They spent a couple of hours after dinner going over all the new abilities the team had gained, and how to use them in the battles ahead.
After setting three watches with two people on each, the tired adventurers settled down to get some well-deserved sleep.
Tava cuddled up next to him. “Tomorrow, I will hit the next Milestone,” she said.
“Good. You get a new pet slot, don’t you?”
“Yes. Although I will not find one in this hellish place.”
“After we’re done here, you can explore the Foothills with the Ranger Cadets. Bet there’s all kind
of nasty critters there.”
His first impulse was to go with her during the pet-hunting expedition, but he would have too many other things to do before the caravan left for Akila. He couldn’t protect her twenty-four seven, much as he wanted to.
She nodded, then hesitated for a second before speaking. “I know you worry about me, Hawke. As much as Father does, if not in exactly the same way.”
“Am I being over-protective? I’m trying not to.”
“No. I just wanted you to understand something I have realized about myself. About why I wish to stay on the Path.”
“Of course.”
“Our mother left us when I was seven. Gosto was four. He barely remembers her, not like I do. She wasn’t cruel to us, but even then I could tell she wasn’t happy. We were a hindrance to her, although she took pains to hide that from me. I spoke to her again, more than fifteen years later, thanks to the Vault of the Sidhe.”
Hawke remembered. The magical artifact – the Fae version of a wishing well – had given him his Advanced Mana Sight. All Tava had gotten out of it was an unpleasant family reunion.
“She was in one of the higher Realms. The Warring Plains, I think. I could hear trumpets in the distance, and she was sitting outside a tent in an armed camp. I appeared to her as a sending. She didn’t recognize me at first.”
“You’ve grown up a lot.”
“Yes, although I knew who she was immediately, and she had changed with time as well. I told her who I was. She didn’t look happy or upset, merely curious. Asked me if Father was alive. I told her yes and she seemed pleased. Mildly pleased. Then I asked her why she left us. She said, I couldn’t take the boredom anymore.”
Hawke thought of his own mother. She had given up her job as a nurse to raise a family. Never complained, but he’d always wondered if she had any regrets. Three sons and a daughter; where they a fair trade for a career? She was now a part-time teacher at the local community college. During his time with her, and every time he had come to visit, she had seemed happy. People were different, though. What was a perfect existence to some might be hell on earth to others.
“I always wanted to be an Adventurer,” Tava went on. “First, because of the stories she and Father told us. And after she left, because I wanted to know what was so special about the Path. What had enticed her away from us. And I also grew bored, tending to the hunting lodge, with no prospects other than marrying a farmer or perhaps a craftsman or one of the hunters or game-keepers in the valley. When I found my Calling as a Ranger, I was happy. I still am. Not knowing what each day will bring is a gift I do not intend to surrender. My life may be short, but it will be eventful.”
“Nothing wrong with that,” he told her, although he knew many people would disagree.
“But maybe there is. Maybe all I’ve done with my life is nothing but a tantrum I threw because my mother left me. Now that I understand things better, I worry about that.”
“Is that what you think?”
She thought about it for a bit. “No. I want to develop my Classes. I want to become so strong and resilient only the deadliest monsters can pose a challenge to me. And I want to help rule the Domain you have conquered.”
“If you will take some meetings off my hands, I’ll make you Lady of the Domain right now.”
Her expression brightened. “I will help you shoulder your burdens, of course. Although we should wait until after the wedding, methinks. Legally, it would cement my claim as co-ruler.”
“It’s a deal.”
Tava hadn’t shown a lot of interest in the Domain before. She’d been happy training the new ranger-type Eternals in the Guild and preparing for the next dungeon crawl. Having her serve as Lady of the Sunset Valley would take a lot of the pressure off. Hell, if she wanted to take the whole thing, he might just give it to her. Running a barony or duchy hadn’t been his lifelong dream. He had taken the gig out of a sense of responsibility. And, for the first time, she had expressed doubts about staying on the Path. Maybe at some point she would want to settle down, and ruling a Domain was a lot less boring than being a housewife.
“Not me,” he said, almost one hundred percent truthfully.
A small part of him was concerned about the possibility that one day he and Tava might want different things. People changed. Relationships did as well. Sometimes they evolved, but sometimes they fell apart. But if you let fear stop you, you would never do anything.
“I love you,” he said. “You make the valley feel like home.”
“And I love you. We do not have to face this journey alone.”
He smiled. “Want to pay Saturnyx’s place a visit?”
“I would welcome that.”
No! Tava and Hawke said at the same time.
It was a good night. Hawke tried to enjoy it and not wonder how many more good nights were in his future.
* * *
For Slaying Your Foes, you have earned 720 XP (90 diverted towards Leadership; 90 diverted towards Node Mastery).
You have found: 4 gold, 1 Healing Potion.
Current XP/Next Level: 44,503/50,000. Leadership XP/Next Level: 32,446/35,000
Current Node Mastery XP/Next Level: 11,986/12,000. Current Guild XP/Next Level: 2,0217/2,500
The two Flayer Brutes guarding the portal to the next Dungeon level had been easy to overcome. Girl had sneaked in, and backstabbed one of them half to death before Hawke and Team One charged in. The fight had been over in a matter of seconds, and nobody had gotten badly hurt. The experience and other rewards had been correspondingly crappy, of course, but nobody complained. They figured that was going to be the last easy fight of the day.
Hawke analyzed the portal. The spells he could identify were, unsurprisingly, a short-range teleport and a couple of magical traps set to blast the first sucker that stepped in; Girl took care of them. The teleport could only fit one person at a time, just like the one at the Dungeon’s entrance.
“I’ll go first, then, if everything is safe, I’ll let Tava know,” Hawke said.
“Sure, little guy.”
Not so little anymore. Blaze had hit level eleven and was now the size of a large dog, not counting a tail that could pass for a furry snake. Drakofoxes didn’t have classes, but both fuzzies knew all his spells now, even the unwholesome magical schools like Undeath, with the lone exception of Mind Magic. They probably wouldn’t get access to them until fifteenth level, which at the rate they were progressing, wouldn’t be much longer. Blaze was now more than tough enough to be in the front lines. Sending him in after Hawke was nothing but good common sense.
“The entrance should be safe, but we’re not taking any chances,” he told the party. “Everybody, buff up. The rest of Team One will follow Blaze and we’ll secure the perimeter.”
Hawke got himself buffed and stepped through the portal.
Normally, portal-stepping involved a moment of disorientation during which all your senses short-circuited, and then you found yourself somewhere else. Hawke had been doing that sort of thing so often that it had become second-nature to him. And that was why he realized immediately that something was wrong.
Instead of landing anywhere, he found himself floating in darkness. He knew what that meant, too. The only thing he didn’t know was which god or Arbiter had decided to grab him in the middle of a teleport to mess with him. Or to get rid of one troublesome Eternal once and for all.
A gigantic face appeared in front of him. Clown makeup covered it, and whoever had applied the white, red, and black colors had been inspired by the likes of Joker, Jigsaw and Pennywise. The cliché appearance would have made Hawke roll his eyes if the huge head hadn’t been glowing with a kind of power beyond anything he had seen before. This was someone who could wipe out gods and Arbiters without working up a sweat, which made him less than not
hing by comparison. This was a Maker, and he could only think of one that would dress up like an evil clown.
“Sink or swim!” the Laughing Man said in a mocking tone. “Swim or sink!”
A notification appeared in front of Hawke’s eyes.
You have been offered a teleport to: Labyrinth of Tartarus (Twentieth Level Labyrinth).
Accept? Y/N
Warning: Refusing the teleport will result in your Final Death.
That’s not a goddamn choice! Hawke screamed with his mind, but the clown was gone. Only the choice between death and the Labyrinth remained. It still counted as a free choice, even though he had a figurative gun to his head that would literally kill him if he refused. His inner contrarian almost went for death, just to spite the bastard, but he wasn’t that much of a contrarian. He picked ‘Yes.’
Warning! Entering this Labyrinth will place your Reincarnation site on the Twelfth Circle’s entrance. You will lose 3 Identity points every time you die while inside the Labyrinth. Confirm? Y/N
Hawke tried to reach Saturnyx, but as he had feared, he was out of touch with everybody while in the dark zone. On his own again. His track record when left to his own devices had been, in all fairness, rather mixed. In this case, it wasn’t like he had many options. He confirmed his choice and the teleport went into effect.
You have left your Party. Your Party has been disbanded.
Crap.
The heat and sulfur stench were pretty much the same as in the Dungeon, but somehow it felt more oppressive. Maybe the air pressure was higher, on account of his being much deeper underground. Or maybe hellish Labyrinths were designed to make normal living beings feel miserable. Saturnyx’s mental voice provided some welcome relief.
Labyrinth to Tartarus: A LitRPG Saga (The Eternal Journey Book 3) Page 23