Dungeon mantle, p.32
Dungeon Mantle, page 32
“I need something metallic,” Rix mused.
“Pull up the Reace weapon site,” Justia called from the front.
“Don’t they make ranged weapons?” I looked at her as Ether slid into the booth beside me.
“They have some melee weapons too.” Justia was navigating through traffic. “If they have it in stock, then they’ll have it ready for us when we get there.”
“Can your Aunt get us a discount?” Aelin grinned. “Because I’ve got an idea for an outfit…”
“They make weapons, not clothing,” Ether corrected her.
“A girl can dream.” Aelin turned back to watch the vehicles go by.
“Do you see anything you like?” I glanced at Rix, who was deep in concentration, searching through the catalog.
“Yes.” The redhead touched a few more buttons. “It should be at the front in the next ten minutes.”
“It’s going to take us longer than that to get across town,” Justia said.
“That works out.” I pulled up information on the first floor boss. “I want to check out the floor boss before we get there.”
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED SIXTEEN
I didn’t like what I was reading.
“This could be a problem.” I tapped on the screen.
“What do you mean?” Ether leaned closer to read the loadout.
“For the Slimes, you could walk right up to one and just reach in and pull out its core, but you’d badly burn your hand because their acidic bodies eat away biological material.” I looked at her. “ But if someone tries to hit them, then their bodies get really hard, and anything less than seven Power won’t do any damage to them.”
“Which means.” Ether was watching me. “You, Rix, and Justia are the only ones who can damage them.”
“Magic works too.” I nodded towards Aelin. “Which means Aelin and I both have utility there as well, but what I’m worried about…” I looked at Ether. “Is that your armor isn’t made to defend against Slimes.”
“Then we’ll just have to make sure that I stay away from them.” She crossed her arms.
“I just meant that we might need to try to get you some more appropriate armor before we try the boss fight.”
She eyed me. “Okay, what about the Dispatcher’s Dungeon?”
“Didn’t Mister Vowler tell us to do the Temple Dungeon first?” Justia pulled into the parking lot for Reace Weapons and found a park.
“I’ll be back.” Rix got up and opened the door to the RV.
“I’m going with you!” Aelin jumped out of her seat.
Rix stopped at the door and gave me a questioning glance.
I turned to the blonde. “All she’s doing is picking up her weapon at the front. She’s not doing any browsing.”
Aelin smiled. “But I can look while she’s in line.”
“I think it’s better if you stay here.” I saw the disappointment on her face. “We’ll have plenty of time to go shopping before we have to go back to the Cathedral.”
Aelin crossed her arms and dropped back into the front seat.
Rix nodded to me and exited the vehicle.
“The Dispatcher’s Dungeon has two different monsters.” She made the screen bigger. “A deer that looks like it does hit-and-run attacks, and a scorpion that’s about two feet tall.” She gestured to its legs and the stinger hovering above it.
“You’re really thinking about it?” Justia sounded shocked.
“We need Ether to have different armor, and that takes time to adjust, while the only things we have to worry about here.” I motioned at the two monsters. “Is a Headbutt and…” I read the line under the scorpion. “Poison.”
“I don’t have Cure Poison.” Justia pointed at the monster. “And I don’t have the All to buy the spell.”
“What does the poison do?” I started reading. “It won’t kill you, but…” I read the line about sweating, dizziness, upset stomach, and vomiting. “It will make you miserable.”
“Exactly.” Justia shook her head. “I’ve seen a lot of poisoned people come into the Clinic because they weren’t ready for that Dungeon.” She pointed at the Slimes. “Yes, we may not have the armor for this fight, but I’d rather replace armor than be sick for a week.”
“I see your point.” I turned to Ether. “We’ll see about getting you some metal armor later.”
She nodded. “I’ll find a way to manage.” She flipped through what little information we had about the first-floor Dungeons in Harror and the Cathedral. “It looks like any of the armor that you would get from here is all biological material.” She shook her head. “We’d need something made from other Dungeons.”
I thought about my sword and wondered how well it was going to hold up. “Aelin, it might just be us using spells.”
The blonde perked up. “I can do that.” She looked at Justia. “Can we go shopping for armor later?”
Justia turned to me and I started thinking. I turned to Ether. “How long do you think it will take us to beat the boss?”
“We should be able to beat it today.” The Tank didn’t even take time to think about it.
“What about the Dispatcher’s Dungeon?”
“Once we get Justia the Cure Poison spell, it shouldn’t be a problem.” She smiled.
“Now for the bigger question.” I saw Rix coming out of the store. “How long is it going to take us to farm enough Crystal for her to buy it?”
“It won’t take as long on the second floor, but Trent has that information locked until we beat this boss.” Ether pointed at the icon declaring the information was locked.
“Then the plan is, we beat the boss, then come back here to regroup?” I saw everyone nod.
Rix got in the RV and sat down. “I got it.”
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED SEVENTEEN
The All-Temple was huge.
The building I had been raised in at Aurox was a two-story building, which was larger on the inside than it seemed because it was built into the side of a slope, so the upper floor was half at ground level. It also had a very simple, rectangular layout, without any decorations or articulate structures.
This building had massive white columns in front, and if I had to guess, it was at least three stories—if not four—tall. There were artfully manicured trees all around the parking lot and a playground off to the side that was bigger than the one at the public park back in Aurox.
We had to park near the back of the parking lot due to the size of the RV. The parking spaces were designed for regular sized vehicles and not the RV, which was easily twice that length.
There were people walking in and out, and I felt out of place in my leather armor while surrounded by so many well-dressed people.
Aelin was having the time of her life, skipping and gushing, though I hadn’t heard her make a full sentence since we got out of the RV.
When we got inside, it opened up into a cathedral ceiling that was decorated with scenes of various battles that I assumed depicted historical events, but I had no idea what they were. There were statues and potted plants scattered around the edge of the room and desks with clerks guarding each door.
I was trying to take it all in when I realized that Justia was walking towards a desk that read Dungeon.
“My name is Zelex Harror, how can I help you?” The cheerful man behind the desk asked.
“Justia Publian.” She held out her wrist with the Crystal Band on it. “Party of five to enter the Dungeon.”
“Party of five?” The man began entering information. “Ah! I see you here. It does look like Tre…” His eyes bulged and he swallowed. “Trent Vowler has already registered you.” The man looked us over. “We do have first years inside, but they should all be near the entrance. Please try not to disturb their lessons.”
“Yes, sir.” Justia nodded as he opened the door behind him.
“The gate will open for you, and you can all go inside once I have finished scanning you in.” He turned to Aelin, who held out her Crystal Band for him to scan. Once he had, he nodded for her to follow Justia into the room.
Ether motioned for me to go next and I offered him my wrist. He scanned it and smiled at me nervously, then motioned for me to follow the other two women.
The room was very bland compared to the outside. Actually, that was an insult to the outside. This room had white walls, was poorly lit, and had nothing in it except for the Dungeon Mouth with a gate over it.
I looked at Justia. “Have you been here before?”
The Healer shook her head. “No, but my parents, Uncle Paul, and Aunt Dacine showed me and their kids a recording of them walking through the first floor.” She looked around the room. “They wanted to give us an idea of what the Dungeon was like.”
“What did you think?” Aelin was taking in the gate when Ether walked in.
“It’s different from the Cathedral.” Justia looked like she was thinking. “The floor we were on was a bunch of tunnels. The ones they went down were wide enough for the five of us to walk through.” She shook her head. “It’s got its own lighting, so it’s going to be hard to tell what time of day it is, but otherwise, it was pretty dull.”
Rix walked into the room and I nodded at the gate. “Aelin, have you figured it out?’
The blonde looked at me and made a face. “It’s ready for us. We just have to walk in.”
I looked at the rest of my team. I put my arm around Ether. “Then let’s go.”
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED EIGHTEEN
It was a giant cavern.
The opening room was, anyway. There was a group of five first years—three guys and two girls—resting on the Dungeon wall. There was an older woman with them, her gray hair and aged skin marking her age as at least over seventy.
I could hear noises coming from the four tunnels that led out of the cavern. I looked at Justia. “You wouldn’t happen to know the way to the boss room?”
The brunette shook her head. “I’m not even sure that this is the same floor I was on.” She let out a nervous breath. “We were just walking around. They didn’t take us to the boss room.”
Ether pointed at the teacher. “Maybe they have a map, or know the way.”
I motioned. “Be my guest.”
The gorgeous Tank shook her head and walked over to the teacher. “Hello.” She waved. “I’m Ether Klix, and this is my party. We’re Level 2, but this is our first time in this Dungeon. You wouldn’t happen to know the way to the boss room?”
The older woman glared at us. “The Dispatchers have a group of Level 2s and want to flaunt it in my face?” She narrowed her eyes. “You can go back and tell Jemni that I could have a Level 2 team as well if they’d give me some…” She stopped. “Klix? What is a Mundane from Klix doing here?”
Ether swallowed. “We’re from the Cathedral, ma’am.”
The teacher looked at each of us. “You’re really not from the Dispatchers, then.” She shook her head. “What’s a group from the Cathedral doing out here?”
Ether pointed at our Healer. “That’s Justia Publian. We doubled up on our time in the Dungeon and leveled up a week ahead of schedule.” Ether smiled her best friendly smile. “So they let us have some family time if we put in some time on the second floors of the Dungeons here.”
“Publian?” The woman looked at Justia. “Ah. I see the resemblance now.” She turned back to Ether. “We’ve got three of us down here looking after twenty-six of these newbies.”
The students all flinched as she glared at them.
“Mundanes, every one of them. You’d think they’d be in better shape. They needed a break.”
Unlike our first trip into the Dungeon, they all had gear, though it looked well-used. It was probably from a general use storeroom, I guessed. I found myself a little jealous, but none of them were wearing anything any better than what we had on. Their weapons were also very basic. Two had swords, one had a spear, and two had wooden shields. It wasn’t their gear that I found myself being jealous of, it was that they had some when they started out.
“I’m sure you’ll turn them into fine Adventurers.” Ether smiled again at the woman.
“You have more faith in this lot than I do.” She eyed them. “I’ve never seen a lot that couldn’t stay on their feet for three hours!” She shook her head. “I swear, these kids get softer every year.”
Ether tried to pivot the question. “You wouldn’t happen to have a map so we can get to the boss room and stay out of the way of the training students?”
“I’m sure there are maps around here somewhere, but they’re all back at the Hub.” She shook her head. “When you’ve been doing this as long as I have, you start memorizing everything.” The teacher looked up at the ceiling. “Every year, start off at the first floor and crawl our way to hopefully beat the fifth floor, then hand them off and start here all over again.”
She turned back to Ether and pointed at the tunnel to our right. “Follow that one and stay close to the Dungeon wall. You’ll hit a few rooms, and it’s not the most direct route, but it’s the easiest way to not get lost.”
“Thank you so much for your time.” Ether gave her a small bow. “I hope you have a good rest of your day.” Our Tank turned to us. “Let’s go clear the boss so we don’t get in their way any more than we already have.”
“Did you hear that? They’re already Level 2 and you’re laying around on your rears. Get up! We’re going back in.” The teacher shooed the students in front of her. “Come on! Don’t make me tell you twice!”
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED NINETEEN
I did something stupid.
I felt sorry for them. I knew this training was way less vigorous than what we’d gone through, but still, I wanted to help them.
“Ma’am.” I don’t know why, but I raised my hand.
“Trela Margrave.” She eyed me and I flinched. I could tell that she was a nun by the shiver that ran down my spine.
I realized after almost a minute of being stared down that she was waiting for me to speak.
“Nun Margrave.” I could tell by the smirk on her face that I was correct. “We’re down a Hitter.” I swallowed. “I know it would be power-leveling, but do you think you could spare one for us to take to the second floor to fill our party out?”
“Hmm, you want to take one of these lazy ones off of my hands?” She shrugged. “Maybe they’ll learn what a good student is.” She turned to where the students had already started into the tunnel to our left. “Eggar, Fray, Gunter!” The three of them froze. “Come here!”
The three students hurried over. I thought I saw relief on the other two student’s faces as they hurried into the tunnel and out of sight. The three students whose names she’d called lined up in front of her.
“Eggar.” She pointed at a lanky young man with a sword and a nervous expression on his face.
“Fray.” She pointed at another sword-wielder, but this one was an attractive brunette woman with deep brown eyes. She looked like she wanted to smile at me as our eyes locked, but she quickly broke the gaze to look at her feet instead.
“Gunter.” She pointed to a man who looked eerily similar to Edward—blonde hair, pale skin. The biggest difference was that he lacked the air of nobility that had shrouded Edward constantly like a bad smell.
“Take your pick. They’re all useless, but maybe you can make something out of them.” The nun looked at me. “Who do you want?”
Gunter was out. I could see the way that Justia was shying away from him. She was still hung up on Edward. I didn’t blame her; I had instantly discounted him simply based on his looks too. I didn’t know how we were going to work through that particular piece of trauma that the four of us had.
Fray had a twinkle in her eyes that told me, even though she might be shy right now, she was going to play off of Aelin. The thought of two bubbly women chattering away while we were between fights didn’t exactly entice me to pick her.
Eggar looked hopeful. He genuinely didn’t want to go back down that tunnel. He was my top pick, just because he looked eager to please, which meant he’d probably follow directions the best.
“Eg…”
“We want Fray!” Aelin interrupted, pushing me out to rush over and grab the brunette by the hands. She pulled the smiling woman over to where we were standing.
Fray had perked up after being named, but was taking care to restrain herself, while putting members of our party between her and the nun.
Nun Margrave eyed me. “That’s who you want?”
“I…” I looked at Aelin, who was smiling ear to ear. Rix looked indifferent as always. Justia was wearing her Noble face. None of them was going to help me counter Aelin’s excitement.
I shot Ether a pleading look. We locked eyes and she gave me a slight nod.
I sighed. I could argue, but that would take time, I would lose, and we would look bad.
“Yes.” I sighed again. “We’ll take Fray.”
“Go on, you heard him.” The nun shooed the two men to follow after the other students in her class.
“When and where do you want us to bring her?” I needed to know how long we had her for.
“Keep her ‘til you head back to the Cathedral.” Nun Margrave waved at me as she followed after her students. “Or keep her. One less headache for me.”
I watched the Nun grumble as she walked away.
I turned around to our new party member. “I guess we should head out.”
Aelin was grinning ear to ear. “To the boss!”
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED TWENTY
There was a Slime waiting for us around the first turn.
“Magic Arrow!” Aelin fired her bow. The bolt of magic drilled through the slimy body and shattered the Crystal, reducing the monster to a puff of smoke.
Ether picked up the Crystal and put it in her Crystal Band. Our Tank turned around to look at the new Hitter, who was hanging in the back. “We can split the Crystals at the end of the day.”
