by J. J. Thorn
The shackles were not physical, but the magic within them still caused the desired effect. Where they had originally done little to the mammoths, her constant use and practice with the Skill had only strengthened herself and the Skill.
“Griff, eyes up. It’s still not down!” Tom yelled as he joined the fray, signaling for Rana to stop shooting arrows onto the monster.
“Aye!” Griff steadied himself for the monster’s return as he watched Tom dash in.
Tom’s sword glowed with the sharpness of his Rank 2 Skill, but there was a new edge to it as well. His Rank 4 Skill ‘Talon’ had gotten a lot of use during their Dungeon Dive as well, and he had started experimenting with the Skill.
He knew it would expel the sharpness of his blade outwards, enhancing its effects and allowing him to fight at range, but each use of the Skill would still drain the majority of his Energy. As he played around with the Skill, he learned that he didn’t necessarily need to send out the Energy directly.
Instead, he realized that the ‘Talon’ could remain on his sword, further enhancing the effectiveness of his weapon and adding some additional range. This variation didn’t use up all of his Energy, instead, it used up a fraction of his Energy continually.
He knew its greatest use was as a ranged attack, but for the time being, he was happy to find another use for his Skill.
As he advanced on the Talon, he could see that it was bleeding profusely, and Lin’s Skills were still firmly placed on the beast.
He didn’t want to prolong the beast’s suffering, and for worry of attracting another Alpha to their area, he augmented his body slightly before thrusting his blade directly into the Talon’s heart.
Since entering the Dungeon close to three months ago, this had proven to be the best way to finish off the monster so that it wouldn’t continue attacking him or his team.
Their abilities had improved, as the Dungeon challenged their capabilities every day. The mountains had proven dangerous because of the terrain itself and also because the number of monsters increased as they delved deeper.
So far, they hadn’t made any unique findings, and even the monster Omar mentioned had not been spotted. The monster was supposedly bipedal and much more agile than even the Alpha Snow-Talons.
As for Alphas, the team would see a couple of those daily, as they made their way through the mountains. This forced them to rest more often in the beginning, but through their constant skirmishes with both the Alpha Talons and the mammoths, they had been forced to adapt and grow.
Griff, like the rest of the team, had improved his Skills, but his greatest accomplishment lay in his ability to enhance his body further. Holding back a mammoth had been a challenge for him at first, but his body had been tempered by the constant encounters.
Sadly, Holly was still at the peak of Rank 3, unable to progress. Even then, she constantly tried to create a new Variation for her Rank 3 Skill ‘Restoration’. The Skill had been a lifesaver on countless occasions already.
“Claws, Talons, and look for an orb. You know the drill,” Tom yelled. “Let’s try to find some cover before the monsters in the area smell all this blood.”
Rana and Holly surveyed the area while the other three got to work harvesting the Alpha and its smaller companions.
With the Inventory, they weren’t required to harvest the whole monster, but Tom and the team still made it a point to keep valuables out of the Inventory. Primarily, orbs, but sometimes larges claws, as well. Things that could fit in a bag, make a profit, and were worth keeping safe.
In fact, the Inventory had been their greatest resource on the trip so far. Despite not finding any treasure hidden in the mountains, the team had stuck to their schedule of returning to the entrance once every two weeks. This had allowed them to delve deeper, while also relaying information to Omar.
This also allowed them to sell the carcasses they had killed over the course of that trip. And the spoils had been worth it.
Mammoths remained something they didn’t see often, and in some cases, they still avoided them if they saw them surrounded by some Alphas, but the sale of a mammoth corpse had remained around fifteen gold.
As a result, the team had made one hundred and eighty gold from the mammoths alone. Additionally, they had found seven orbs. Some were smaller than their original find, but from the sale of the orbs, they had recovered another three hundred and ten gold as well. With everything else they sold from the Talons, they had made around six hundred gold in total, including what they had originally made.
Their current gold was enough to give each member one hundred and twenty-five gold, which would treat them very comfortably in the Kingdom. Despite this, Tom and his team pressed on in search of something greater.
Tom had considered purchasing an Inventory Satchel off the merchant directly, but knew Omar’s gift was better than what that merchant had available. So instead, he pressed on with the current Inventory, despite the worries it gave him.
They knew their trip was profitable, but Dungeoneering at a higher Rank was more expensive, requiring greater materials and equipment. The monsters they fought at D-Rank still didn’t have magic, which made them easier to defeat than their C-Rank counterparts.
Most of their equipment was still unenchanted and they rarely got to bring higher-grade materials that might help them progress.
Each time Tom went out, he would continue to wonder if this might be the last time before they finished their expedition. For many of the other teams, they had not found the same luck. Omar had already told him of five teams that had either lost most of their members or had died entirely.
He was lucky, and he knew it.
As Tom, Rana, and Lin finished the harvest, Tom quickly put the monsters into his Satchel before addressing the team again. They left the position and found some ice close to a mountain where they finally stood to decide their next steps.
“What are everyone’s thoughts?” he asked. “Do we persist for a bit longer, or should we head back now?”
“It’s been three months and we’re richer than we’ve ever been,” Griff said. “I’ve said it before, but I think we should take our profits and go. My family will do very well with what we’ve earned, and we can still buy an Inventory Satchel as you had hoped Tom.”
“You’re always too cautious, Griff. I say we keep going.” Lin looked to him for backup. “We’ve barely mapped out any of these mountains and the monsters only continue to get stronger. Our abilities are progressing more than they ever have and we still haven’t found a lair, a Dungeon Boss, or even an alcove. If not for the mammoth corpses and the orbs, we would have been searching without any reward for months. We should push on for at least another week before returning. Omar won’t mind.”
“Rana, what do you think?” Tom asked.
“My ‘Empower’ is now strong enough to do damage to the mammoth. That is an accomplishment I would never have reached without the Dungeon. We also have the funds we needed to meet our future goals. We have been here three, almost four months. I’m tired of the snow and wish to be in a forest once again.” Rana motioned to the snow and ice around her with disdain.
Tom had also gotten tired of the scenery. The mountains all looked similar, and they were yet to find anything else.
“And last, but not least, Holly.”
“I agree with most of you, but I feel so very close to my Rank 4 Skill. Even a new Rank 3 Skill seems possible. I don’t want to push any of you, but I think we should stay a bit longer.” She was not usually the one to run into danger, but her goal of reaching Rank 4 had still not been met.
The rest of their percentages had increased slightly, but Holly still saw no progression.
“So, it’s split again.” Tom sighed as he once again had to decide for the group.
“I worry about the Dungeon Reset happening. We are further into the mountains than we have ever been. If a Reset were to happen now, we would have to fight through several of the monsters we have alread
y dealt with. The risk is too great—”
“But a Reset hasn’t happened even once since we came here four months ago!” Lin shouted.
“I understand that, Lin, but that worries me even more. We’ve gotten this far because the Dungeon hasn’t Reset. But because of that, the risk is also greater when a Reset happens. We can make it back if a Reset happens, but not if we’re out of Energy and constantly on the run. No, we will head back.”
“But—Lin tried but Tom put up his hand to stop any further discussion.
“We’ll spend some more time traversing this mountain on our way back, checking to see if we missed anything. That should satisfy everyone. I’m still surprised we haven’t found any cave systems in the mountains. I would have expected something...” Tom drifted off as he finished relaying his decision.
Lin didn’t object, as she knew this was a good middle ground for the team. Finances aside, she was also pleased about her Affinity’s growth.
The team set off for one last time as they went looking around the mountain.
* * * * *
Rana saw it first as she turned around a bend in the landscape. As the team moved closer, the abnormality on the side of the mountain became more and more obvious.
A lair.
They knew it wasn’t the Dungeon Boss’s Lair because it didn’t have a golden hue around the portal, but that didn’t stop them from being shocked.
Lairs were incredibly rare and most Dungeoneers would go their entire lives without seeing one at all. As a result, they were the talk of legends. Every Dungeoneer had a story where another Dungeoneer they knew had found a lair, the Dungeon Boss’s or otherwise.
And for some Dungeoneers, this was a definite possibility.
As a protocol, the Dungeon Boss’s Lair was an important part of every Dungeon. And if spotted, it was the duty of every Dungeoneer to report it directly to the Guild. The Dungeon Boss, once defeated, would provide access to the Dungeon Core. As such, it was the Guild’s responsibility to track this as best as they could.
Usually, this meant sending a higher Ranked team into the Dungeon to kill the Boss and leave the Core alone. Some research had been done on lower-Ranked Dungeons, and it was found that the Dungeon Boss would usually take some time to regenerate another lair. This made sure the Guild didn’t have to continually guard or manage the lairs.
For Tom and his team to find a lair was a sign of the good fortune they had already been receiving in the Dungeon.
“We have to go in! I’ve never been in a lair! This is exactly what we were looking for!” Lin jumped for joy as they all walked to the shimmering, black portal.
Similar to a Dungeon’s entrance, the portal would take the person to another location where they would have to defeat a mini-boss before hopefully receiving a prize for their trouble. Little information was available on what these prizes were, but an orb was the least you could expect for the trouble.
“Lin, we have to take this cautiously,” Holly said. “We don’t know how powerful the monster inside is.”
“Oh, don’t give me that!” she shot back. “You know you want to get to Rank 4, well here’s your chance! This opportunity may never present itself again. Who knows if the lair will be here the next time we come back? Everyone knows the location changes after a Reset.”
Once a lair was known, the location wouldn’t change, but if a Reset occurred all bets were off.
Holly looked down as she considered Lin’s words. She had tried for so many years to get Rank 4, and now an opportunity was directly in front of her.
The rest of the team said nothing as they also thought about the implications of their decision. The risk was higher than normal, since they knew the monsters inside would be even stronger than the Alpha Snow-Talons or mammoths. And despite this, they still considered it.
This was the dream of every Dungeoneer. To find treasure. To find something unique.
Unexpectedly, it was Griff who spoke first.
“I’m with the little one. I’ll try my best to protect you all. And I couldn’t look my little ones in the eye if they knew I’d given up the chance to go into a lair. We have never been stronger or more ready than we are now.”
“Yes, Griff! Old man, I’ve always liked you!” Lin jumped up and hugged Griff.
“Are we really doing this?” Rana asked, a small smile appearing on her face as well.
Tom looked at Holly, who was rolling her eyes but also looked ready for what was to come.
“Yes, we are.” Tom tried to say it confidently, but his delivery made the rest of the team start to laugh. His tone changed as he started to prepare for their entrance into the lair.
“Is everyone’s Energy at full?” he asked. “Make sure you have all your potions on hand. Weapons out. We still haven’t used our health potions. I have one and Holly has one. None of us know what to expect in there. Let’s not let ourselves be caught unaware. Usual formation. Griff up front, Rana take the rear.”
They all agreed they were ready before Griff took a deep breath and took his first step into the lair. The rest followed as they all entered the portal.
Upon entering the portal, each of them saw a message in their vision.
Lair Entered
The Lair Of Three
Defeat The Three
* * * * *
“Well, that’s new,” Holly said as they stepped into the lair. Each one of them looked at the message. Other than info on their Rank or Skills, messages from the Goddess were uncommon.
“Anyone have an idea of what it might mean?” Lin asked.
Tom answered while the rest all shook their heads.
“So little information is available about Bosses that it’s barely ever spoken about. Like Omar told us, the Dungeon Boss is probably B-Rank. I wouldn’t be surprised if this boss was C-Rank, so be on guard for magic. This will be harder than anything we’ve ever faced. And look behind us, the exit is gone. I always thought some lairs let you leave afterward, but I guess we have no choice but to move ahead. We’ll just have to defeat the three...Whatever that means.”
The rest of the team looked behind them as well. The entrance was gone as well.
Tom wondered how the Dungeon knew the whole team had joined. Would the Dungeon stop permitting people after a certain number entered? What would have happened if only one person had been allowed inside? With no exit, their death was guaranteed.
He stopped considering the worst-case scenario as he also noticed the nervous looks of his teammates around him.
“Weapons up. We’re fine, and we’ll make it out of this. Lin, looks like the lair is darker, so you’ll be our most useful resource in here. Keep your eyes open.”
“Dark Sight,” she announced, using her Rank 1 Skill.
The Skill’s main goal was to allow her to see better in darkness, but it also allowed her to use her higher Ranked Skills better. In the darkness of the lair, Lin would be their best scout.
As she walked ahead of Griff, she also used her ‘Darken Area’ Skill to concentrate the darkness around herself. This allowed her ability to conceal herself, while the Rank 1 Skill let her see perfectly.
All of their recent fights had been limiting for Lin, whose Skills thrived in dark environments, but the lair was perfect.
The lair was dark but not impossible for them to see. Even with equipment that would have helped them light up the lair more, they chose not to use it as they delved deeper.
As Tom continued on, he inspected the walls and floor for anything that might have been out of the ordinary. Dungeons could be a great place to find metals, ore, and gems, but the lair’s walls looked to be made of pure rock. The rock was rough to the touch and slightly warm, which was a pleasant surprise after spending weeks in the icy tundra of the Dungeon.
Lin’s dark silhouette approached the rest of the team as she came back to report her findings. It hadn’t been long, so Tom was surprised she was coming back so quickly.
“Not too far ahead, there’
s a large room with three Alphas. The left and right Alphas look the same as the ones we’ve been fighting so far, but the one in the middle is different. Other than its chest, it’s completely black. Its chest is blue, like the other Alphas, but I think that’s the mini-Boss.
“They aren’t moving towards us, but they aren’t sleeping either. They’re just waiting. As soon as we get in there, I expect them to attack. It’s also brighter in there, so you won’t have difficulties seeing.”
“Okay, nothing changes,” Tom whispered. “Griff, take the front now. Rana, try to find a wall to put your back to. Holly, stay in range of us all, but out of danger. Lin, you’ll try to shackle each of them. I have to save my Energy, but I’ll try to focus down the alphas on the side as best as I can. Rana, I’ll leave your target to you. Griff, ‘Draw Them In’ as best as you can.”
Everyone got in position as they walked. As Lin said, the chamber with each of the beasts was not very far from their previous position.
As she said, standing atop a three-stepped pedestal were three Alpha Talons. The left-most and right-most Talons were the exact same Alphas they had fought many times before. Difficult challenges, but not insurmountable. In the middle was a more imposing figure.
The eyes of the middle Alpha were a much more sinister yellow as it gazed down on them. Its fur was completely black, with blue fur on its chest.
To Tom and his team, the beast looked like a monarch watching over its subjects from its perch.
Walking inside the chambers, nothing happened right away. Both sides looked at each other, waiting for something to happen. As Holly and Rana came through the entryway, it collapsed behind them.
Once again, they were left without a way to leave. Tom had hoped he might have been able to use the entryway as a choke point, but that idea went out the window.