Dungeon mantle, p.40
Dungeon Mantle, page 40
“Probably.” Justia walked over and gave her a hug. “It’s good to see you, Oz.”
Jealousy spread over Aelin’s face, but she struggled to hide it. “Who’s your friend, Justia?”
“Everyone.” Justia turned back towards us. “This is my cousin, Ozet Mite.”
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED FORTY-SIX
The teachers didn’t like being ignored.
Particularly Gesai Alard.
She stormed over to the pair, her posture threatening. “I don’t care who your teacher is, he’s not here right now, and you’re interrupting our training session.” She pointed back the way we had come from. “So you can leave until we’re finished.”
I was going to try and argue but she put her hand on her sword. “I can always make you.”
While I doubted that she’d kill us, there were worse things than death.
“Why don’t we just wait?” I pulled Fray with me as I backed up. “We’ve got plenty of time.”
“Yes, listen to your little manservant and go wait somewhere else while the real Adventurers work,” Gesai mocked me.
“Don’t talk to him like that!” Aelin fumed and she stomped forward.
I caught her arm and pulled her in. “These teachers are graduates. They’re over Level 20. We do NOT want trouble.” I turned around and began pulling both Aelin and Fray back with me. “I’m so sorry, we’ve had a long week. She’s just tired and meant no disrespect.”
“REALLY???” Gesai started to move towards us.
Oz moved in between us. “The Tank got hit!” She pointed at the group fighting on the left of the trail. The Tank on that side had lost their shield and was being beaten on by the massive claws. The Hitters were cutting into it, but they were getting in each other’s way, which was also keeping the Casters from attacking it.
“Oh for the sake of the Gods…” Gesai zipped over and smashed the giant scorpion in the head. It vanished in a puff of smoke. While the other students were getting the end of her tongue, I pulled the rest of my team away from the other group.
“Don’t take it too personally,” Oz tried to reassure us. “She’s just mad because she got pulled off of her Adventurer team to teach us. Apparently Mundus wasn’t enough.” Ozet scowled. “I know my father has been bragging about how fast Trent Vowler is leveling his group. I bet she’s got pressure to do the same.” She puffed out her chest. “I hit Level 2 an hour ago with Ren, but she won’t let me take a team into the boss room.”
“I’m sorry.” Justia looked at us, then back at the other group. “I wish I wasn’t causing trouble for you.”
Oz sighed. “It’s not like I didn’t expect it. Dad was throwing it in their faces.” She turned to us. “Who’s your team?”
“That’s Atlas, Fray, Aelin, Ether, and…”
I shook my head. Rix hadn’t been discovered yet, and I’d like to keep it that way. She might find something useful while she was hidden.
“...why don’t you have a full team?” Justia finished.
“Dad described how you were leveling in smaller teams. It’s dangerous, as you just saw, but doable.” She shook her head and pointed at the other teams. “Instead of trying that, they decided to force Elites.” She shook her head. “A fourteen-man team? Ha! Ren and I are taking down scorpions as fast as they spawn, while they’ve actually taken so long that a third one has spawned on top of them.”
“Ouch.” Aelin moved closer to Justia. “So the two of you are actually cousins?”
“Second cousins, but yes. We’re blood-related.” Justia patted Aaelin’s hand.
“Why Justia, you really went for it! Kudos!” Oz offered a hand for a high five.
Justia flushed and left her hanging. Aelin also turned red and looked away.
“Oh, not in the open yet,” Ozet winked at Justia. “Gotcha, I was wondering how Uncle Hye took it.”
“What..?” Fray began.
Ether pulled her close and whispered in the brunette’s ear. Her eyes widened.
“What do we want to do while we wait?” I tried to find something that would change the subject.
“We can cut east, then south, and come around the back of the gate,” Rix whispered behind me. “But we have a problem.”
“Maybe we could prepare for whatever problems we might run into?” I tried to word my question to fit both. By the questioning looks I got from the rest of my party, it didn’t look like it worked.
“What?” Aelin eyed me.
“The four-man team look like Bandits.”
“You know, in case Trent decides to give us another training exercise.” I cast a glance around, but couldn’t see anyone else.
“Doubtful, but they could just have really good disguises,” Rix said, still invisible behind me.
“Everyone, we’ve got trouble.” I pulled Fray and Ether closer to me to try to form a huddle.
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED FORTY-SEVEN
It didn’t feel like a test.
The way Trent had been talking, it seemed like he was genuinely proud of us. Granted, there had been something in his eye, but I didn’t think he’d do something like this.
“We’ve got to get out of here.” I glanced at Oz. “There are some people who look like Bandits that just came from the second floor.”
“A group tried that a few days ago. Mundus handled them.” Ozet stared at the Anubis teacher. “He’s actually pretty cool, just overwhelmed with so many of us. He’s in the thirties, so he can handle most things.”
“Are you..?” My question was cut off by a sword appearing through Mundus’s chest. A moment later, the Bandit pulled it out. As the teacher hit his knees, another man beheaded him.
“Not a test.” I pulled Justia and Ren behind me as I stepped in between my group and the dead teacher. “RUN!”
“Heathen!” Gesai stopped yelling at her students and dashed at the brown-haired Bandit. Their swords met and I read the look on her face. She knew she was outmatched.
I turned around to see a black-haired man with a net standing on the trail. He laughed as we backed up.
“Come now, we only want the Nobles. The rest of you can leave once we’re gone.” He pointed at Oz, then at Ren. “You two are coming with me.”
I glanced behind me. Gesai was on the ground bleeding. The students were running in random directions with three other men chasing them down. The brown-haired man who had taken down Gesai was coming towards us. It was now or never.
“DASH!” I pulled out my blade. Better to not let them know I had magic. I ran at the man.
“MAGIC ARROW!” I heard Aelin try to provide cover.
“QUICKDRAW!” Oz was right beside me.
“HONE WEAPON!” Ren shouted. My sword got warmer as Ren’s buff hit me.
The Bandit threw the net at Oz, and her sword was stopped. I knew this man was at least a Tier One, or he wouldn’t be able to handle a weapon strong enough to block her sword.
Aelin’s arrow did cut him, so his defense was less than twenty. I brought up my blade and he blocked it with a sword of his own. I tried to brace against it, but that resulted in me being driven to my knees.
“Just give up kid, you can’t…” He started to taunt me, then his throat opened up and Rix was behind him. Her Mantle flashed three times, announcing that this man wasn’t getting back up.
“GO!” she screamed as she ran past us towards the other man.
I turned around. She was the only one who could have gotten away. Her opponent had taken down two teachers like they were nothing, but she hadn’t flinched as she charged.
“RIX!” Aelin’s voice was so full of fear that it sent an automatic chill down my spine.
“GET OUT OF HERE!” Rix never stopped moving. “DASH! MARK! SHADOW STEP!” It almost looked like she teleported the remaining distance. Her knife shot out at the man’s neck, where there was a mark.
He caught the knife and yanked the weapon out of her hands.
She stumbled. “SHADOW STEP!” Rix was behind him with her knife in her hands.
The man spun around and caught her by the throat. She tried to stab him, but her knife couldn’t penetrate his skin. His defense was simply too high. He slammed her into the ground. I felt her pain.
“MINOR HEAL WOUNDS!” Justia was focused on Rix, desperately trying to heal her.
“HARDEN!” Aelin was right beside her.
The Bandit looked up at us. He let go of Rix and charged.
He moved so fast that I couldn’t follow him. One minute we were all standing, and the next, the ground was rushing up at my face. Then there was nothing.
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED FORTY-EIGHT
My face hurt.
I woke up laying on the trail with my hands cuffed behind my back. I’d felt this before, back at the Cathedral, when I thought I’d been arrested. I’d been wearing magic-blocking cuffs, and I had no doubt that it was also sealing my Crystal Band as well.
I rolled over and saw that all of the students had been caught and we were being separated into piles. Aelin, Fray, and Ether were over by me, while Gesai, Oz, Ren, Justia, Rix, and one other Noble were in another group. Further down the trail I saw the brown-haired Bandit giving orders to three others as they were sorting through the remaining students.
The Bandit leader noticed that Rix was awake. He walked over and sat her up.
“Little Rix went and got a Mantle?” He clicked his tongue. “Too bad you didn’t get it before you broke out of the Cobras. All that wasted experience.”
She struggled against her bonds. “It won’t go to waste now!”
The man laughed. “Still full of fight.” He looked over at the dead Bandit. “You know, if it wasn’t for the bounty on you, I’d finish you right now on principle. I kind of liked Jonas.”
Rix screamed at him, but he just ignored her.
He turned to his men. “Jax! Find anything else good!?”
“A few minor Nobles, nothing with ties back to one of the major houses,” Jax reported as he scanned another student. He rolled them towards the other pile. “Another dud.”
I struggled to stand, but was able to.
“Sit back down boy. Mundanes aren’t worth a ransom even if they are Mantled.” The boss looked at me. “Stay put and out of my way and you’ll go free.”
“What are you going to do with them?” I remained standing.
The boss walked over and stood in front of me. His Aura was so strong that I couldn’t look him in the eye while he was staring at me. “Why do you care?”
“Because they’re part of my team.”
“You’re mad because I’m running off with your girlfriends?” The man slung his arm around my shoulders and started walking me towards the middle group. “Look, this is how the world works. And this is how I make my living.” He pointed at the women they’d segregated. “I’ve got two Alards, a Reace, a Dinx, and a Zavel. If I can find a Garn in there, then I’ll pretty much have a whole set of Nobles that will fetch me a handsome price. But don’t worry, they’ll pay up, and you’ll see your girls again in a few weeks, in roughly the same condition.” He laughed as we walked past Gesai.
“What about Rix?”
He stopped and turned towards her. “The Kind Killer?” He shook his head. “The head of the Bronze Cobras is willing to pay a hundred thousand All for that one.” He looked me over. “Unless you are some Noble who never got a mark, who has got that kind of coin?”
“How do you know I’m not a Noble!?”
He flicked at my collar. “You’re a Mundane, kid.” He pulled back his own collar to reveal a bare neck. “Nothing wrong with being a Mundane, but don’t start thinking that just because you got a Mantle that you’re one of them. They’ll throw you out in a heartbeat just to keep warm.”
My mind started spinning with how I was going to save them. The man with his hand around me had to be at least level forty, which meant I had no hope of beating him. I began to wonder why Trent hadn’t shown up yet. I’d expected him to come running over here as soon as trouble showed up, but maybe it took him time to get places.
“That’s all of them!” Jax yelled.
“Well.” The Bandit leader turned me so that I was facing him. “You were in the wrong place at the wrong time, kid.” He gave me a little bow, “Maybe I’ll see you again some day.”
“Don’t take Rix.” I grabbed his shirt. “Please.”
“Kid.” He easily pulled me off of him. “There are lots of redheads in the world. You’ll find another one that doesn’t have a bounty on her pretty little head.” He pushed me and I fell down.
“Wait!” My mind was spinning. Even if Trent showed up, I had my doubts that he’d run right after them to save Justia until I was safe. By the time he tracked them down, they could have already sold Rix, and I knew for sure that the Archbishop wasn’t going to send anyone after her. There was only one person that the Archbishop and Trent wouldn’t stop searching for until they found them: me.
“Kid, you’re starting to try my patience.”
“What if you missed one.” I swallowed. “What if there was someone here that was worth more than a hundred thousand. Would you leave Rix behind if I gave you that information?”
“Atlas!” Rix struggled in the man’s grasp. “No!”
He turned and looked at me. “Depends on how much they’re worth.”
I started thinking. “At least a quarter million All.”
That got their attention.
“There’s no way there’s a royaling in here that we missed.” He shook his head. “Besides, the Realms with kingdoms are on the other side of the world.”
I took a deep breath and hoped it worked. “My name is Atlas Vowler.”
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED FORTY-NINE
They all started laughing.
“Trent Vowler doesn’t have a kid!” The boss was laughing so hard that he started coughing. “Besides, kid, you don’t have the Noble mark.”
“Do you really think that someone like Trent Vowler would give his son a mere mark like every other Noble?” I tore at my shirt until I was able to pull it away enough to show part of the brand. “How’s this for a mark?”
The Bandit put Rix down and walked over to me. He tore my shirt open to display a mark the size of his palm over my heart.
“Check it and you’ll see that it was done by someone over level sixty.” I smiled, but I was feeling anything but confident.
“What are you doing?” Rix screamed.
“Atlas?” I heard Ether’s voice behind me. “What are you doing?”
“It’ll be fine.” I couldn’t look at her. But I couldn’t stand by and let them take Rix to an execution.
“That’s a high level mark alright.” He stroked his chin and looked over at Rix. “I don’t know…”
I could feel the tension in the air.
“Boss, we gotta go!” Jax was carrying Justia and Ren on his shoulders.
The brown-haired man grabbed me by the shirt and threw me over his shoulder. He walked over and picked up Gesai.
“ATLAS!” Ether’s voice was accentuated by the tears I could now see running down her face.
“Daren, grab Rix.” The Bandit ordered while I was congratulating myself.
The blonde man carrying Oz walked over and picked up Rix.
“Wait!” I struggled, but couldn’t move. “That wasn’t part of our deal!”
“The deal was for someone worth more, but I’m not sure you are who you say you are.” He nodded at the other man. “So she comes along and if you’re lying…” He flipped me down so that I was in front of him. “I’ll send you with her when I turn her in.”
He scooped me back up and kept walking towards the boss room.
I didn’t have anywhere else to look, except back up the road where Ether was screaming my name. Aelin was holding her back while Fray was still on the ground. I tried to mouth I Love You, but I doubted she could hear me and I didn’t want to give them an excuse to take anyone else.
I looked up the trail and kept expecting to see Trent come flashing in and vaporize the bad guys.
No one came.
We got to the door of the boss room and the ring went from black to red.
“It’s an Elite then.” The Bandit leader laughed. “Maybe I won’t be able to oneshot this thing.”
I burned the image of Ether into my mind as we went through the gate. I hoped that wouldn’t be the last time she saw me.
I closed my eyes and hoped I’d done the right thing.
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED FIFTY
Dim red lights lit up the boss room.
The man holding me and Gesai dropped us both on the ground. I was able to land in a crouch, but the redhead was still unconscious and landed with a thud. I heard a noise. The lights changed to white, began to pulse, and then shone brightly enough to fill the room.
The leader ran at the boss as soon as he saw where it was. None of the other Bandits put down any of the people they were carrying. They seemed to believe that their help wasn’t needed—or that the fight wouldn’t be that long.
The boss itself was larger than I’d imagined. I’d thought from the description, that it would be about the size of a large horse. Instead, it was almost the size of an elephant. And there were two of them.
He was moving almost faster than I could follow, and his swings were blurs. I could tell when he hit something, but it was so fast that was all I could see.
He took out the front left leg of the boss on his left, and kept running under it as staggered, knocking the front right leg to the side, bringing the whole thing down on its face. While it was facedown, he smashed its heads with his fist, then jumped on its back and shoved his right arm inside of it. The boss vanished in smoke.
The whole thing had taken less than ten seconds. And it was an Elite Floor Boss. Granted, it was a Level 1 Elite Floor Boss, but I still found it impressive.
The other Elite Floor Boss roared and struck at him with its tail. He caught the barb and pulled it down. The massive monster crashed on its side as he pulled it to him. I couldn’t imagine how much the thing weighed, but he was moving it like he was pulling around a small dog that had latched on to a rope.
