Chapter 10: Preparations
High Priority Target - Research Team
Robert woke up in the middle of the night, feeling like a blinding light was shining into his eyes. He opened them, and saw strands of light coalescing above him, seeming so bright and yet so far away. It took him a few seconds before he truly woke up and leapt out of bed, racing for the door. He was seeing an Avatar of Varav teleporting into orbit overhead. His senses as a [Paladin] showing it even through the solid roof of the blacksmiths cottage.
You could see Avatars of Varav with a powerful enough telescope and the proper Skills. They travelled among the stars, moving any wandering stars back into their proper position or knocking some into colliding into each other. It was a mystery what Varav was actually doing. An Avatar coming so close was a rare event and it was the safest way to actually see one. Varav was known as the god that did not touch the ground, and as such, had no record of ever killing or even injuring anyone.
Thoughts of the dungeon, which had previously ruled his mind, faded entirely as he ran for a place without trees or houses in the way. The villagers had organized an impromptu patrol, despite dungeon spawn never wandering this far from their dungeons. Two patrolling villagers were staring at him like he had gone crazy as he sprinted through the trees with a smile on his face. He only pointed at the sky in response.
He finally reached a good spot, and could see the field of stars above him. Varav did not form new Avatars as often as the rest, he always had some around and teleported them from place to place. Roberts regular sight saw nothing, meaning neither would the patrol, but his Skills saw enormous strands of the gods essence ripping their way across space, leaving trails of mana behind them. They weaved together at their destination, forming something akin to an octupus with far more limbs. His smile faded, as he noticed a patch of strange stars near its location. His Skills as a [Paladin] screamed in response, telling him it was attracting the gods with its presence. His Skills as a [Delver] screamed even louder when he tried to concentrate on them, claiming it was a trap, as if he was presently in the process of stepping on a pressure plate.
Robert averted his eyes and the warnings of his Skills faded in response. A bare few seconds later the Avatar blinked into place, momentarily hiding the stars in the process. He could not resist watching and peered as the Avatar flew into the patch of stars, revealing it was a portal to another realm. It lashed out with its limbs, tearing the edges of the portal and plunging the other side into darkness before the portal collapsed entirely.
Robert considered what he had just seen. He sometimes wondered what the world would be like without the gods, without people having to live in fear. He thought it would be a nice one, but there was so much people did not know about the gods. Perhaps they would merely be replaced by something worse.
He walked back to their lodgings. The patrol had witnessed the event, and had no idea what had happened. Robert reassured them that it was over and that they had nothing to worry about. Walking back he realized he had not woken up Ivy, who was still sleeping soundly. A sign of having been raised in a city, where random noises were unlikely to be anything dangerous. He tried not to disturb her as he pulled out his notes and lit a candle for light. He spent hours recording even the smallest details he had seen. He would have to send a message to the Church of Varav to inform them, although the event was high enough that their Grand Observatory most likely saw it. There was still something that felt right about writing something like this down.
He crawled back into bed. He considered if the portal was connected to the dungeon, but dismissed it quickly. Not everything in the world was connected. He fell asleep thinking of those strange stars and of the gods. There was a slight smile on his face, from having witnessed something new to him.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
When he woke the next day, he noticed the sun was already high up in the sky and Ivy was missing. He had overslept because of his disturbed sleep. He came across an interesting sight when he stepped outside. Ivy was throwing stones at Kalen, the archer who had gone into the dungeon. Kalen was dodging out of the way in short sidestepping hops, a Skill obviously augmenting it, although he did not seem to be using it to its fullest speed to conserve energy.
"Keep both your feet off the ground after starting a dash. High enough that it feels stupid." He said, demonstrating his dashes with his feet barely touching the ground before chaining into the next. "Tripping on a rock or branch is a good way to break your legs and get yourself killed." Instead of dodging, he caught the last stone and let out a deep breath, obviously winded. "And never dash if you're getting tired. You won't pay attention to your surroundings and it'll cost you. Especially since yours isn't reactive and won't do anything to help you. I've seen wiser folk than you dashing into pikes because they weren't paying attention."
Ivy was listening intently, and tried to mimic the technique. Her first attempt looked more like a long jump than a dash, but after a couple of attempt she got the hang of it and promptly fell into the grass, gasping for breath from the exertion. Robert stepped closer, pretending he hadn't seen her levelling last night. "New Skill?"
Ivy looked up at him, smiled and nodded. "Yup. A dash without conditions."
"Glad to hear it." Robert said. He always felt that active skills fail when you least expect it, especially with conditions attached. "Can you chain two without touching the ground?"
Ivy's face fell a bit. "Already tried it. Didn't work." she said, lightly rubbing her thigh. "And then this prick started lecturing me." She pointed at Kalen. "Threw a stone at him but he just dodged out of the way."
Kalen started to walk away, but Ivy called out to him. "Appreciate the lesson though. Could've just told me you had a dash instead of starting out by calling me a moron." Kalen responded with a dismissive wave of his hand and started to walk away once more, before being interrupted by Robert this time.
"You should come with us. We are going to expose the core to the dungeon and see what aspect it has." Robert offered his idea, which was immediately met with a frown.
"And then what? How's that going to help us instead of getting us killed?" Kalen spoke, visibly angry. "Besides, you have no reason to be here, you said so yourself, just here to explore a dungeon. Why should I trust you to have my back?"
Robert took a second, thinking of how to make it seem less reckless. "You know that fire dungeon cores grant resistance to fire? It's the same here. If we have a core with its aspect, then we know what to do against it. The alternative is going in there and killing one for its core."
He considered how to convince Kalen further, without a childhood tale most people dismissed. "If it's spreading, then it doesn't matter why I'm here, it will reach your village eventually. And I'm the only one here with Skills against it."
"You're a [Delver]?" came the question from a surprised Kalen, which Robert met with a nod. Kalen let out a sigh in response, and nodded, his anger fading. "Fine. I'll come, but if it looks like it's stopped then I'm not getting myself killed because of you."
Ivy and Kalen stayed behind to work on their dashing, while Robert looked for a few more people to recruit. He could fit 5 people, including himself, under his shield, but there was nobody who wanted to come, with the exception of the blacksmith, who he only now found out had lost his daughter to the dungeon. Robert refused to take him, he would be a liability. Melissa, the village elder, refused to order anyone since nobody in the village had suitable defensive Skills. She did give him a carving which looked slightly like him, and instructed him to throw it as a distraction when they started to retreat.
After several hours, the three started making their way towards the edge of the swamp, where they would be able to see if the dungeon had expanded. Robert thought he could feel a tiny bit of the dungeons mana even out here, near the village. Strange.
Robert was expecting to see a few more dead trees when they reached a good vantage point. Instead the small islet of forest in the middle of the swamp looked like it had burned down, with nothing left but blackened trees. The stone spikes had spread out into the surrounding swamp. Kalen said he saw goblins moving deeper in the forest, patrolling.
Robert thought about saying something pithy to Kalen about his earlier doubts, but refrained. He merely looked him in the eye and Kalen responded with a nod. Ivy looked calm, focused.
They made their way towards the dungeon, while the dungeon was making its way towards the village. dGhl-IHBy-b3Rh-Z29u-aXN0 calculated the time until starting the upgrade, and thus the raid, as approximately 17 minutes.