by J. J. Thorn
He was still uncertain of what it meant. While he wanted to believe it was an act of kindness, he knew that that was unlikely. While some Dungeoneers were good to each other, ultimately, they all had to look out for themselves.
Tom thought back to his days before Dungeon Diving fondly. Not because he enjoyed what he was doing more, but because he had less to worry about. An enemy you knew was easier to manage than an enemy you didn’t.
“Should we be worried?” Holly asked.
“No. We’ll move forward with it for now. It’s too useful. For now, we keep orbs on our person still, but everything else can go in the satchel. Griff will hold some of our other stuff as well, since holding it doesn’t slow him as much as the rest of us.”
“Okay, boss, good with me,” Griff said as he started to take off his pack to move some goods into the Satchel. Before that though, Tom walked around his team to deposit the mammoth components into his newfound Inventory.
“Let’s deposit everything into the Inventory and then I have to go talk to the merchant. You all stay here.”
“No offense, Tom, but you’re not the best at haggling,” Rana said. “Lin is better and even Holly can get a better deal than you. You’re too nice.”
“And usually, I would agree.” Tom sighed. “But from what Omar said, the merchant isn’t alone, and I’d rather not have to deal with one of you trying to kill Donald today.” It wasn’t the girls’ fault, but sadly Donald could be a handful on the best of days.
And today, he knew he didn’t want to deal with anything further.
The team nodded and started to help separate their goods before placing them in the Inventory for Tom. While they might have disagreed with the concept, they knew the decision to avoid Donald was for good reason.
“I will ask though, Lin. What’s a good price for the orbs you saw back home? I have an idea of how much I can sell them for but wanted to check with you. Also, is there anything anyone wants before we leave for the next two weeks? We’re good on food, since we’ve barely touched our reserves. The Talon meat isn’t necessarily tasty, but it’s edible. I feel like we’re making good progress, but we probably want to go a bit faster. I’ll see if he has any Energy Potions. Anything else you can think of?”
“You should expect to get at least thirty-five gold for an orb like this,” Lin said. “He’ll probably go sell it for fifty gold, so don’t go any lower than thirty. I’ll also need some more Energy Potions if he’s got them for cheap. Nothing more than one gold, and I only need a few. I’ve got a couple left, but it won’t hurt.”
“I’ll grab an Energy Potion as well,” Rana chimed in. “And any decent poison would be great. If we’re going to fight any Alpha Snow-Talons, it’ll slow them down. Might also be helpful against a mammoth.”
“Good point. I’ll try to get an Energy Potion for everyone. We’ll see, since we don’t know how much we’ll get for everything we’ve brought back.”
Both Holly and Griff said they were okay as Tom took a look at what they had been able to store in the Satchel. He also had the orb but chose to keep it out of the Inventory for now.
Tom left his team with Inventory in hand to go speak with the merchant.
* * * * *
“Ya got a mamm tusk, coupla blood vials, some of its skin, and some meat,” said the old merchant who stood beside his traveling wagon.
Beside the wagon stood two Guild-paid Dungeoneers to keep the merchant safe. They were also D-Rank Dungeoneers, chosen specifically for the task. It wasn’t as adventurous as Dungeon Diving itself, but it paid well. And it was safer.
The merchant was an old man with a full set of grey hair that was barely visible under his fur-covered clothes. His body was covered head to toe in what Tom could only expect would be insulated and probably enchanted materials.
Donald stood beside the old man as he allowed Tom to conduct his business uninterrupted.
“I’ve also brought some Talon skins, but wanted to ask you what they might be worth.” Tom listed off what he had to sell.
“I bought tha mamm earlier for ten gold, so I’ll offer ya two gold for the parts. And tha Talon skins are five silver a pop. I’ll alsa give ya seven silver for tha Talon claws, still seventy-five silver for an Alpha’s claws. They’re valuable, but less now that the Dungeon is here. I’ll also have ta see the quality, of course.” The old swindler flashed a slimy smile. “Deal?”
Luckily, Omar had already told him the mammoth had been purchased for fifteen gold, so he knew that they were worth a little bit more. He had to expect that the skin and tusks would be the wealthiest piece of the animal for now until additional research was done on the blood, meat, and organs.
“I have it on good authority that the whole mammoth was purchased for fifteen gold before. The tusk we gave you is in perfect condition, and that ‘meat’ you’re referring to includes the organs. Overall, I think five gold is a fairer bargain for the whole lot.” Tom wasn’t as good as Lin, but he had been forced to haggle many times before. He knew he probably wouldn’t get five, but wanted to push his luck a little bit.
He was also not surprised to hear the Talon skins would go for only five silver. A team could make a decent living selling just those, but as the supply went up, their selling price would also diminish.
This re-affirmed his idea to avoid skinning them for now, in favour of venturing deeper into the mountains. If the skin was only worth two silver, he doubted the teeth of a regular Snow-Talon would be worth much either.
“Five! Are ya weary, lad? I know it’s a long trip in those Dungeons, ya must be tired. Tha was a whole mamm. Sure, it was a bit o’ damaged goods, but not damaged enough for me to go crazy with the prices. I’ll go up to three gold, but nothin’ more.”
Tom knew he would be making a killing off the new Dungeon materials when he reached the city, so he decided to push his luck a little bit more.
“The mammoth is an uncommon monster that has extremely dense skin and bones. You won’t be seeing much of them anytime soon, and I bet its organs will also be pretty valuable. I’ll go to four gold, but no less for all the mammoth parts.”
“Three an’ a half and ye shake on it.”
“Deal” Tom took the old man’s hand and shook it.
“Are ya looking to buy as well?” The old codger smiled. He knew he’d gotten everything for a good deal.
“Yes, and I’ve also got a few Talon skins to sell, along with several claws and teeth. I think you mentioned before that those went for five and silver, respectively.” Tom grinned right back at the merchant who lost his smile as he saw the sets of Talon claws he had on him.
Tom dropped all of the goods onto the ground for the merchant to inspect, before he grabbed everything in his own Inventory Satchel and handed Tom eight gold in total.
“I also have one final item to sell. Don’t worry, I’ll also be buying a few of your goods, as long as they are reasonably priced. We found an orb in the Dungeon and I am looking to sell it. Once again, I won’t go any lower than forty gold.” Tom took out the orb.
It was at this moment that Donald paid much closer attention to the deal that was currently happening.
“Ugh, Tom!” Donald said in a higher-pitched voice. “On behalf of the Guild, I would be happy to hold onto the orb for you. I can even purchase it for a modest fee of twenty gold. I’ll then bring it back to the Kingdom and provide you with any proceeds I receive when I sell it. I doubt you’ll get as good a deal here as you will at that time. And as you know, orbs are vital for our Kingdom, we need to make sure they remain in the care of the Guild.”
Donald was notorious for trying to make ‘deals’ with Dungeon Divers. Usually, they were exhausted and eager to rid themselves of their goods as quick as possible. It might have been naïve, but for most, they wanted to believe the Guild representative did it for good intentions.
Tom knew better.
“The orb is safe in my hands, thank you, Donald. Now, good merchant, will you take my offer?
” Tom looked again to the merchant.
“Forty gold is steep. I can offer ya twenty-five.”
“You and I both know this orb looks to be medium-sized. Make me a better offer or I’ll keep it for myself and sell it back in the Kingdom.” Tom held firm, waiting for his reply.
“Thirty-four gold is as high as I’ll go,” the merchant whimpered. “I need ta make a profit. Ya already fleeced me for the mamm parts.”
“Thirty-five gold and you’ll treat me fairly when I purchase your goods. If I am satisfied, I will come to you for future business as well. Deal?”
“Fine, I’ll hold ya to it.” The merchant quickly shook Tom’s hand before grabbing the orb greedily.
Donald looked completely dejected, but knew when to stay out of the way.
“Now, let’s see your wares. I’m looking to buy potions, but I’ll also take a look at what else you have available for under twenty gold.”
This made the merchant very happy to hear.
* * * * *
“So, what’s the goal now?” Rana asked. The rest of the team sat around the fire for the team meeting.
“A lot of the same,” Tom said. “But we need to get into the mountains quicker. We’ll take any undamaged claws from Talons but won’t waste time skinning them after we check for orbs. We’ll also take on any mammoths we find now that we have a good idea of how to kill them.”
Tom was tired. He knew they needed to have the meeting before they left in the morning, but his day had been long, and he wanted to rest. Donald had spent thirty minutes dictating his time retrieving the merchant, which included several opportunities to explain how he had helped the others fight off an Alpha Snow-Talon or two. He was lying, of course, but Tom appreciated his dedication to the façade.
“If we find more orbs, we’ll beat what we made last time,” Lin said. “But I’m hoping we can find something more worthwhile. I know we won’t try to tackle the Dungeon Boss, but I wouldn’t mind trying to fight one of the mini-bosses. We just need to find them.”
“Easier said than done.” Holly chucked a rock into the flames. “I need to Rank up though. We haven’t faced anything we can’t handle yet.”
“We’re bound to find something tougher.” Tom took her wrist, so she wouldn’t throw more junk into the fire. “So far, they’ve all been E-Rank and D-Rank. We haven’t even seen an Alpha Snow-Talon as yet. We know those are difficult to deal with, but they can give us a fair bit of gold. And I may not be able to replicate what I did with the mammoth last time. I can’t burn through Energy that quickly.”
“My ‘Empower’ is getting better,” Rana insisted. “But I’ll keep trying to improve it. It’s still at a fairly low percentage. We need another way to get through its hide.”
“Yes, agreed.” He rubbed his eyes, fighting sleep. “And Lin’s Skills didn’t do much either. I’m thinking it has some resistance to magic. Good for us if it’s true, since we can sell it for more in the future, but bad for us in a fight. My ‘Talon’ is still in its infancy. It’s still extremely inefficient, only good as a finishing move.”
“Without you, we would have been fighting it for hours, Tom. We might even have needed to run.” Holly grabbed his shoulder in consolation.
“But yes, we all need to get stronger,” Lin agreed. “The mammoth is slow, which makes it an easy target, but could you imagine a Snow-Talon with the same fortitude as the mammoth…” She trailed off as the others thought about such a potential challenge.
“We’ll make it through. We always do,” Griff asserted as he stood up beside the fire.
The group smiled at his optimism.
“Yes, we will. So, we leave first thing in the morning. We’ll kill Talons as quick as we can and look for Alphas, mini-bosses, and any other hidden treasures the Dungeon will grant us!” Tom roared.
The rest of his team stood with him as they all cheered towards the night sky.
Comrades in arms, eager to venture into the unknown for the pursuit of power, adventure, and treasure.
* * * * *
“Your team is heading off?” Omar walked up to Tom as his team finished packing up their supplies from the evening.
Tom smirked. “Yes, we have two weeks to find something worthwhile in the mountains.”
“Yes, that you do. You should know, we believe at least one of the other teams perished already. I wanted to let you know before you departed. We sent a small group of people with tracking Skills. They found one set of bodies not too far from our position. They had not yet reached the mountains, but we believe they were overrun by Snow-Talons, including probably an Alpha. Be safe. I expect to get my Satchel back at the end of the expedition.”
“Thank you, Omar, we will. Same to you and your team.”
Both men clasped arms firmly before Omar walked back to his team. They too were getting ready to leave.
Comrades in arms. Eager to venture into the unknown for the pursuit of power, adventure, treasure, and death.
Chapter 15 – Accountability
“Calm down, he’ll be— I heard muffled voices around me. My head and body ached as the words were difficult to make out.
I had not felt this terrible since when I first started using my Energy. Burnout was bad, but I had since gotten used to the aftereffects. Or so I thought. Currently, my head felt like it had been crushed and punched.
My body felt similar, as I finally started to regain consciousness and my thoughts returned. As my thoughts came back to me, I realized that this was probably the result of my fight with the Monkin. Despite my attempts to hold down it down, its arms had done everything they could to hit me.
The Monkin!
I shot up from my prone position. Was Britta okay? Cassie had not looked hurt before I passed out, but the Monkin had swiped at her several times.
“He’s awake!” someone yelled as I started to look around.
I was in a bed, surrounded by my friends. Jen was the first to notice as she notified the rest. The others had been either sleeping or meditating, I couldn’t tell.
“Ugh, not too loud,” I pleaded. “My head is pounding.”
“Ren, I’m so happy to know you’re okay.” Jen sat on the bed and hugged me. This hurt, but knowing she was worried also felt oddly good.
But actually, this really hurt…
“Ow, sorry, Jen. I’m okay, but that hurts.” I gingerly pushed her off as she looked startled again at having hurt me.
“Oh, sorry! Cassie said you were mostly fine, but we couldn’t be sure. Borson has a healer, but we only just arrived, and Gavin went to go grab them.”
“He wasn’t going to, but we offered to pay for it. He wanted to leave you here while the rest of us completed the mission.” Zane sat down on one of the chairs beside the bed.
“Yeah, your uncle sucks, Britta.” Cassie was sitting beside Zane.
“I told you, he’s never like this at home,” Britta preached for what was probably not the first time.
“What happened after I passed out?” I asked to change the topic. This caused Britta to give me a quick smile. The others noticed and decided to leave it alone.
“You all won, which is what matters, but it wasn’t pretty. Britta passed out from Burnout and Energy Fatigue. Cassie was able to finally hit enough vital organs for it to bleed out. We don’t know how you kept it down, but you did it, buddy. Bit of an odd way to win, but it worked!” Zane cracked a smile.
“After that, Gavin told us to get back onto the wagon and called for Barda and Quinn.” Jen shivered. “That was the crazy part. Since we stayed in the same spot for so long, and since the monsters made noise, we attracted some other monsters. When Barda and Quinn came out of the woods they were covered in blood. They were also carrying some new carcasses. Gavin took those in his Inventory, but it was a bit scary.”
“Most of them were G-Rank Monkins,” Zane clarified. “Still impressive, but less impressive since they’re all probably D Rank.”
“Still. They can kill tho
se things so easily and we can barely do anything to them. We need to get stronger...” Jen trailed off.
A silence fell on the room for a few minutes as we considered her final words.
Eventually, I said what had been on my mind ever since I woke up.
“I Ranked up at the end of the fight.”
I could have drawn it on, but I wanted to get it out there before Gavin and his team returned. I didn’t trust them fully, so I thought this would be the quickest way to go about it.
Unlike when I told them how high my percentage, they didn’t react as I had expected.
Zane smiled and shook his head. Cassie and Britta looked startled, but more angry than anything. And Jen looked even more determined than when she said she needed to get stronger.
“That explains how you were able to overpower the Monkin.” Zane grinned at me. “I know you’re strong, but I thought that seemed off. For now, we’ll keep it to ourselves. Gavin and his team don’t need to know.”
“Agreed.”
“Well, do you know what it does at least? You are a bit of a freak though.” Britta punched my shoulder.
“Ow. And thanks, I think. It’s called ‘Increase Weight’. I know, based on what I felt when I got the Skill that it allows me to increase my own weight. I can’t test it here, but that seems like all for now. Hopefully, it’ll do more than that, but we’ll see. It’s not as useless as ‘View Weight’, but I was hoping for something a little more offensive. I don’t even think I can increase the weight of other things, just myself. But I’ll have to experiment, maybe I’m wrong.”
“Yeah, that doesn’t sound that good,” Cassie teased as the rest of us let go of some of the tension in the room.
“Just means we need to train more when we get back from the trip,” Jen finally said.
“Yes, absolutely. But why are you all acting like the trip is over? We’re in Borson, aren’t we? Doesn’t that mean the trip is just about to start…”
“Ren, Gavin didn’t even talk to us when we got into the wagon. He went to the front with Barda. Quinn and Tara were in the back with us, but they stuck to themselves and mostly slept. Tara did put some healing herbs on you, but she said they wouldn’t actually heal you. The rest of the time we just practiced and checked on you. Once we got here, he put us in this room and told us to get ready for the morning. Zane said we wouldn’t be leaving without you, so he was forced to try and find a healer. If he can’t find one, we probably won’t be able to go. We all agreed with Zane, we’re not going without you,” Jen explained the rest of the story.