by J. T. Wright
“Stay close,” he told the Dog. “I'm going to pull on a lever and see what happens.”
“What if what happens is that boiling oil drops on us from above?” Felicia stood in front of the revealed hole, her arms spread to block Trent’s access.
“Then we'll know that’s the wrong thing to do,” Trent answered. “We’re getting nowhere this way.”
“There’s three of us and three levers,” Kerry said uneasily. “Each has a symbol that could represent one of us. I vote we pull them at the same time.”
Seeing the two united in their insane decision, Felicia’s shoulders slumped, her arms flopping to her sides.
“Fine!” She huffed. “When this gets us killed…”
“You can say I told you so in the afterlife.” Kerry reached out and took hold of the flail-marked lever. “On three?”
Trent and Felicia took up their positions. Trent’s hand was steady on the sword lever, and if Felicia’s trembled as she closed her fingers on her lever, no one commented on it. Kerry began counting down, and the Mage closed her eyes tight. When Kerry shouted “go" in an unnecessarily loud voice, Felicia jerked hard on the iron rod, hunching instinctively to avoid the trouble she knew was coming.
Nothing happened. No rumbling or splashing assaulted their ears. No arrows shot out from the walls to pierce their flesh. The three levers moved a few inches and stopped without so much as clicking. Felicia opened her eyes slowly and let out a breath.
“Maybe it is a dead end.” Looking over her shoulder, she could not see any changes in the walls around them. The knot in her stomach started to loosen, and she let go of her lever to wipe a sweaty palm on her robe.
“We could always go farm the Ants on the last floor,” Kerry suggested, prying his fingers loose. “They've probably started respawning by now.”
Trent eased his lever back into place but didn’t let go of it. He looked down at Dreq, and when the Dog nodded back at him, Trent pulled the sword-marked lever again. Felicia let out a startled gasp and started to speak. Whatever she had to say was covered by the clamor of a thousand pounds of rock crashing down.
The floor shook, nearly throwing the party to the ground. Kerry and Felicia covered their heads and turned to run for the exit, sure the unseen ceiling was collapsing. With every step, they expected the hammer of falling stone to crush them. They reached the sheltering arch of the tunnel leading back to the second floor and kept running. The light orbs Felicia had placed remained where she left them, and it was only when they were far beyond the area the Spells could reach that the pair came to a stop.
“I told you so,” Felicia shouted angrily, summoning a new orb so that she could properly scream at Kerry. “I knew it was a bad idea.”
“We aren’t dead,” Kerry panted. “The deal was that you could say ‘I told you so,’ only if it killed us.”
“And you!” Felicia spun in a circle, looking to direct her fury at Trent. “What were you thinking? Why would… where is he?”
Trent and Dreq were nowhere to be seen.
“You don’t think…” Kerry couldn’t finish the thought. The image of Trent being mashed under a fallen boulder filled his mind. “Weren’t they right behind us?”
“He’s faster than either of us. He should have been in the lead.” It could have been the spell-light, but Kerry thought Felicia’s face was paler than usual as she stared back the way they had come.
No masked swordsman or black and white Dog appeared, no matter how hard the pair of Adventurers strained their eyes. Felicia laid a hand on Kerry’s forearm, and Kerry covered it with his own hand, giving the Mages slender fingers a comforting squeeze.
“He’s fine.” It took Kerry a couple of tries to get that out, his mouth was dry, and his voice broke when he tried to speak. “He has to be. We made it out. What we can do, Trent can do.”
They leaned against each other as they took shuffling steps forward. Conversation was cut off; they were too busy listening for Dreq’s bark or the sound of Trent’s voice to speak. When a sound did reach them, it wasn’t an annoyed voice or the pattering of paws they heard, but the rhythmic smashing of metal on stone that caused frowns to crease their faces, banishing anguish.
Felicia and Kerry, their foreheads furrowed, raced back the way they had come. Stepping back into the open chamber, they released the hold they had on each other’s arms. Hands went to their hips at the same time as identical disapproving glowers widened their nostrils.
Not much had changed in the chamber. Instead of the cascade of falling rock they expected to find littering the floor, a solitary slab of stone, about six feet high and four wide had fallen away from the wall. Where the slab once stood, dark grey stone streaked with red deposits was revealed, and standing on the slab was Trent.
He stood with his back to them, feet planted on the slab, swinging a pickax. Grey stone broke away as he hit it, and judging from the pile on the ground, Trent had been working at it the whole time they had been worried about him. He didn’t seem to notice the eyes burning behind him. He was concentrating hard on directing the point of his pick to the cracks on the stone, maximizing the effect of his swings.
Dreq looked up from where he lay with head on his paws to acknowledge the return of the panicked Adventurers. He yawned and settled back down, his ears twitching as more rock crumbled away from the wall.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Felicia called angrily, stomping her way across the chamber, her hands still on her hips.
Trent paused mid-swing. He looked over his shoulder at the fuming Mage, then at the pick in his hands before replying, “Mining. This is an iron ore deposit.”
Felicia’s hands flopped helplessly at the casualness of Trent’s tone. “We thought you were dead, you know!”
“Oh,” Trent began striking the stone again, “Why?”
“Because… why didn’t… don’t you know…” A hand fell on Felicia’s shoulder, and looking back at Kerry, she finally managed to complete a thought. “Am I being unreasonable? Are we the crazy ones here?”
Kerry shook his head and led the Mage to the far wall, settling her down and pressing a canteen into her hands. “Might as well rest. I'll keep watch first. We will probably be here a while.”
**********
It was a longer rest than Kerry expected. Although he had never mined in the Dungeon before, both Kerry and Felicia agreed that mineral deposits never provided more than fifty pounds of ore. Even the unskilled hands of an Adventurer without the Miner's Profession could deplete a deposit in an hour or two.
By the time the third hour had passed, Trent had created a tunnel a dozen feet deep, which was wide and tall enough that he could keep hacking away. During the first hour, he had stopped occasionally to sweep the ore into his Storage. At some point, he had learned to collect the rock by tapping it with his feet, and the second hour he worked almost uninterrupted.
“You don’t think that he is tunneling to the next floor, do you?” Kerry gnawed on a hunk of dried meat, biting off a piece and taking a swallow of water to soften the hard lump.
“I want to say no. That would be ridiculous.” Multicolored light orbs, which chased each other through the air at Felicia’s command, wobbled and dropped a few feet as she lost focus. “No one would explore past the second floor if they had to dig their way down.”
“No one except Trent.” Kerry watched as the orbs rose back up and the red ball overtook the blue in the race around the chamber. He silently began rooting for the green orb currently in last place. He started to pull out a copper to wager on the green to win, hoping monetary support would provide the luck the twinkling light needed. He pushed the coin back into his satchel before Felicia could notice and point out how foolish it was to bet with the Mage controlling the outcome of the race.
“What does that say about us then? We’re still here,” Kerry said to cover his lapse in judgement.
“It says you are desperate.” Felicia flicked her wrist and sent her orbs f
lying at Kerry to take the edge from her words. Kerry ducked his head and swatted at the glowing balls that zoomed by him before continuing their route.
“You’re desperate,” Felicia repeated. “And maybe I am too.”
“What do you have to be desperate about?” Kerry pushed against Felicia’s wand hand to see if it would give his green underdog a chance and stuck out his tongue when the light fell further behind. “You’re popular and talented! It’s a tossup whether you or Holly were the top Mage student before, but now that you have a couple of attack Spells, you win. No contest.”
“Don’t you dare compare me to that sadistic woman!” Felicia’s Spell burst apart as Kerry’s comment broke her concentration. Kerry noted that the green ball was the last to fade and called it a victory for his team.
“Mages like Holly are half the reason I don’t like attack Spells in the first place!” Felicia’s wand wove through the air as she recast her Spell and set the lights to dancing again.
“So, why are you desperate?” Kerry took great pains to not ask what composed the other half of her reasoning.
“Ask me again when we’re out of here. Out of Bellrise,” Felicia said after a long moment of silence. “If he lets us go with him, I'll tell you both.”
“Think he'll want to go to Al’drossford after this? Or will we clear the other Dungeons first? Slyhill and Riverside are supposed to be easier than Bellrise.” Kerry nodded his head as Felicia confirmed that she was as interested in working with Trent in the future as he was.
Felicia murmured noncommittally, her nose twitching like she was repressing a sneeze. Kerry let the subject drop, content to watch the light show and wait quietly.
**********
Professions could be leveled like Classes, and although funneling XP into Miner would increase the speed at which he could hack into the stone wall, Trent opted not to. The Profession gained experience automatically as he completed tasks his Status assigned him. Hours of beating on the wall with a pickaxe while collecting ore with his feet, had made Trent a Level 3 Miner and earned him 4 more Points for his Strength Attribute.
He would have to watch that. He would end up like Kerry if he kept increasing his Strength without balancing his Agility. Though it might have been his imagination, Trent thought he could already feel himself getting stiffer, heavier, especially through the shoulders. That could also be a result of constant physical activity, though. He had dug a tunnel over ten feet deep and was starting to feel the strain.
A chunk of ore fell to the ground as Trent slammed and pulled with his pick. Before it could settle on the ground, his foot tapped it, and it went into Storage. It had taken a lot of concentration to do this at first; he was used to using his hands, but now Trent hardly noticed the effort of sending his Mana down unfamiliar routes.
Trent set his pickaxe down and stretched as much as he could in the confines of his created tunnel. He wanted to make the path wider and taller at first. However, he had settled for forward progress as he went deeper with no sign of the ore deposit fizzling out. He already had enough ore to complete fifty Guild Quests, and now he only wanted to see if this was the way to the next floor or not.
Dreq darted between Trent’s legs to seize a small red stone in his mouth. The Dog carried it back to a pile he had made and looked toward Trent to receive the approving nod his action earned. Trent graciously bestowed the head bob Dreq wanted. Red and green stones showed up from time to time amongst the rubble and Dreq, knowing Trent liked to keep pretty things in his belt pouches, had given himself the task of separating the rocks that Appraisal called gems.
Looking at the pile Dreq stood guard over, Trent thought some of the shiny bits would have to go in Storage. Either that or he would have to craft a few more pouches since the gems would not all fit in those that currently cluttered his belt.
“What do you think they’re for?” Trent left his pick and went to sit beside Dreq. Picking up a ruby, he turned it over, admiring its rough beauty. Appraisal didn’t tell him much about the gem, which meant it had little value, or it was beyond his Skills Level to examine. He had thought to ask Felicia, but she would probably tell him it was as wasteful to pick up rubies and emeralds as it was to keep spoons and scraps of cloth.
“Pretty,” Dreq offered to Trent’s question, sniffing the gem.
“It is,” Trent agreed, tucking the ruby into his pouch as a good luck charm before putting the rest of the gems into Storage. “It’s not enough to keep mining, though. I don’t think we’re clearing the Trial this time. This deposit could go for miles for all we know.”
“Give up?” Dreq sounded disapproving. His ears folded over as he lowered himself into a crouch. He was quickly back on his feet, his paws slapping on Trent’s leg as he excitedly asked, “Hunt Ants?”
Seeing Trent fail to complete a Trial was disappointing, but Dreq was all for abandoning the noise and dust that accompanied mining for a chance to show how good he had gotten at fighting insect Beasts. Beasts had bits that could be eaten, which made them superior to iron and gems in the Dog’s eyes.
“We should probably go back to Bellrise.” Trent brushed his hand along Dreq’s coat, stirring up a flurry of loose dirt. “We'll make better time when Kerry can level up, and he won’t until his bond…his contract? Charter! Is broken.”
Dreq wilted under this announcement, then reared up to place his paws in Trent’s chest. “Leave Kerry! No need! Weak!”
“You and I were weak once.” Trent gave Dreq a light push, which sent the Dog rolling and, using the wall behind him, pulled himself up. “You still are.”
Dreq whined, standing back up and shaking vigorously. He did not try to refute Trent’s statement however much he wanted to but trotted behind Trent with his head held low as Trent went to reclaim his pickax.
Picking up the tool and looking over the tip that was already showing signs of wear, Trent let out a low chuckle. “So am I. Too weak to go any further as I am.”
That Dreq wouldn’t stand for. He would suffer in silence as Trent’s attention was stolen away by others. Dreq could accept that he wasn’t as helpful as he could be, but under no circumstances would he allow criticism of Trent.
“Trent good! Strong!”
“Not strong enough.” Trent tapped the wall with his pick as he shook his head. “Not as strong as stone.”
A tiny sliver of rock broke loose under Trent’s tap and pinged off the floor. Watching it fall, Trent whispered that he was making the right decision. This Trial was too weird. Kerry had said that only one delve in a hundred turned up equipment. Felicia said Return Scrolls were as rare, and gold was unheard of. By any standards, this trip was a success.
So why did Trent feel that he was letting someone down? It wasn’t as if this Trial was meant to be cleared by a four-man team in one go. His own Status had said he could leave at any time. Leaving alive was the best possible outcome of any delve. Why was he finding it so hard to turn around and walk away?
And why were cracks spiraling out from where he had tapped the wall?
It had been the lightest of hits. The sliver that had fallen was already an unexpected amount of damage. The cracks that spiraled and then split formed a spider web design radiating from the small scar. That was too much! The wall collapsed before Trent could step back. Chunks of stone bounced off his boots and narrowly avoided hitting Dreq.
Dreq did not seem to mind. He sneezed as dust tickled his nose and staring into the room that suddenly opened in front of him, he felt content. Another sneeze rocked his body before Dreq was able to say, “Trent strong!”
Chapter Thirty-Nine
“Trent is strong… is,” Trent stressed the word, gently correcting Dreq’s grammar. The Dog was beginning to pick up on the intricacies of spoken language. Stringing together two and sometimes three words was an impressive feat for an animal that shouldn’t be capable of speaking at all. And if one judged Dreq purely by his ability to convey intent, he was a genius. That didn’t make the sh
ort sentences less annoying, though.
“Don’t rush ahead!” Trent pushed Dreq back with one foot as he stored his pick and summoned his sword. “This isn’t right. We’re being played with.”
Dreq settled back on his haunches, his head tilting to the side. He tested the air with his nose. The smell of dust was overpowering, preventing him from discovering what was causing Trent to tense up. “Danger?”
“Go and get the others,” Trent responded, stepping through the roughhewn hole that had opened up. He kept his gaze forward as his empty left hand felt the edges of the stone wall. “Be fast; there’s something out there!”
Dreq sprinted away without another word, barking to alert the resting Kerry and Felicia, all the while wishing he was allowed to speak to them. Trent took another step forward into a chamber that was identical to the first in nearly all respects. He might have imagined he had tunneled in a circle if not for the boulder that sat in the center of the open space.
The boulder, a rich shade of brown and twice Trent’s height, begged to be examined. Other than its size, it was unassuming, just a giant version of the many rocks Trent had seen before. Roundish and fairly symmetrical, smooth, almost polished, Trent could think of a dozen ways to describe the object, and the word “danger” wasn’t one of them. The stone was not threatening. It was still and silent, as harmless as a hunk of earth could be.