The next day I speak at length with Chugg. Since he’s literally the only store in town, I want to make sure we know what he’ll buy. It’s a rather simple answer: anything. I also learn a great deal more about the Shop.
The Shop network is a series of linked inter-dimensional warehouses. Each vendor sets up access through contract negotiation with various wholesalers. Prices are determined by market fluctuations, and, of course, any specific deals vendors can secure. As items are bought and sold across the galaxy, the prices go up and down. It’s sort of like a stock exchange, with a great deal of market speculation happening in the background.
Shops, or more specifically their owners, can buy and sell anything they wish. Chugg, for instance, is a generalist. This is good for us, since he’s willing to buy literally anything we can bring him. Chugg’s caveat is if it falls outside a fairly wide range of goods, he’ll only pay based on gross weight.
I wish Chugg would have said something about the gross weight thing earlier. The random farm equipment in the barn brings the Settlement wallet up to 10,000 Credits. As I watch the farm equipment vanish and the Credits appear, my mind wanders to the number of derelict cars on the road. If we can find a way to bring them to the barn, we’ll make a fortune.
Unfortunately, Chugg doesn’t sell live animals.
Andy and his scouts have searched far and wide for any beasts of burden. Alas, they’re either all dead or roaming free and skittish. I plan to come with him on a few trips, solely to use my Speak with Animals spell. Hopefully, I can get a cow or horse to come back with us.
It takes some doing, but I’m able to convince Chugg to give me access to the market’s price sheet. Connecting through my menu, I can see price fluctuations in real time. This will ensure we don’t sell hundreds of tons of scrap metal in a slump.
Another fun fact I learn about the market: it’s not just on Earth, but across the entire galaxy.
Come to find out, we are not alone. In fact, there are hundreds of sentient races and thousands of populated worlds. Thousands. Even though I press hard, Chugg says he doesn’t know why Earth was turned into a System planet. His lackadaisical attitude about it all isn’t a comfort, nor is the way he dodges questions about him being an alien.
Realizing I’ve spent far too much time with Chugg, I leave the old man to his Shop and head back inside the ranch house. With a plan for selling our loot developed, and still lacking a way to enact it, I find myself getting anxious. The new knowledge of aliens isn’t setting well with me. I know what I need to do to fix the problem.
Even though I lost my hatchet to the belly of an alpha dire hound (I could have retrieved the weapon from the corpse, but that’s just gross), it’s easy enough to find a replacement. One of the big expenditures of cash was to buy weapons. Proper weapons. I get myself a pair of hand axes and a bow. Due to my time playing boffer sports, I’m a pretty decent archer. Now that I’m adequately geared, I find my usual group and we head to the cemetery. There’s a new dungeon to clear, after all.
An hour later myself, Justin, Brian, Sarah, and Jennifer are standing outside the entrance to Rose Hill cemetery. As I have better gear, so too does everyone else. The biggest thing is defense, and besides Jennifer’s full plate, everyone but myself is wearing leather armor. Brian’s sledgehammer is replaced with a war hammer, and Sarah wields a wooden shield and mace. I dislike armor, and though I know it’ll help keep me alive longer, something about it just irks me. So, against the recommendations of everyone else, I go without.
From the outside, everything looks normal, save for the shimmering field surrounding the place. The colors shift in odd ways, distorting the image inside. The dungeon entrance, which is Rose Hill’s main gate, is identified via floating text.
The White Witch’s Playground (Level 5 Dungeon)
Can be run once every 8 hours.
0/1 groups inside.
“There’s going to be skeletons, right?” Sarah tests the weight of her mace. “I’m going to assume they’re weak to bludgeoning.”
Brian gives his war hammer a wide swing. “I sure hope so.”
I look down at my axes. “Lucky me.”
“Lucky for me I can use this as a bat.” Jennifer gives me a wink as she strokes the massive broadsword on her shoulder.
Justin, with a mace in his right hand and a short sword in his left, eyes the interior of the dungeon. “So…we doing this or not?”
With nods from everyone, we walk towards the shimmering barrier and step through. What was once a peaceful, well landscaped area in mid-morning is now moon lit and decrepit: moss covered headstones sit at odd angles; partially collapsed mausoleums, with chunks of marble littering the surrounding area; the grass covered ground is unkept, with wildflowers and weeds throughout; trees turned from tall, beautiful oaks and pines to gnarled willows and half-rotten stumps.
Fetid swamp odors assault our senses.
With our weapons at the ready, we progress slowly down the overgrown roadway and into the cemetery. We expected there to be skeletons and zombies, but there’s nothing. No wraiths, no zombies, no monsters of any sort. Besides the creepy vibe, the place is serene. We walk through endless rows of graves, far more than there should be. Ahead to the right are the mausoleums, and to the far left we see a single light.
Heading towards the only signs of life, we come across a hunched old man digging a grave. The man has heavily wrinkled skin, ill-fitting clothing, and a wide brimmed straw hat. He’s waist deep in the hole, tossing out dirt in regular intervals. The light is from a lantern hanging on a nearby limb. We call out to him from a distance.
“Oh, hey there adventurers!” The man tosses the shovel and clambers out of the hole. “I’m glad you found me.”
I step forward. “Hey yourself. What are you doing here?”
“I’m the grounds keeper, of course.”
The man looks at me like it’s the most obvious reason.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
“Right, sure.” I look around while speaking. “There anyone else here?”
“Nope, just me and the dead. So, like I was saying, I’m glad you’re here.”
Suddenly the man begins to jerk and stutter, speaking so fast I can’t understand him. This goes in several spurts before I hear a laugh behind me. Everyone turns around to look at Justin.
“This guy was about to go into a monologue and give us some BS backstory, so I used the dungeon’s menu to skip forward some.” Justin points to the old man. “See, he’s still doing it.”
He’s right. The graveyard digger is rambling on about a lost love and heartbreak.
Brian brings up his menu. “Huh. How about that? There’s a dialogue skip option.”
I bring up my menu and find the dungeon’s entry. A slew of information is available, but most of it is blank due to me never having cleared it. The dialogue skip option appears when I look at the old man. I press it, and he skips ahead. We all take turns watching the man’s body spasm and his voice squeal. It’s funny until it’s not.
Jennifer’s the last one to press the skip button when the man suddenly rips in half. Standing behind him is the pale figure of a young woman. She floats a few inches off the ground, wearing a long, flowing wedding dress.
The White Witch (Level 10 Boss)
HP - 300
Mana - 250
Abilities - Hover, Greater Raise Dead, Mass Raise Dead
“Wrong was my death. Too young did I die.” The White Witch pulls a necklace out of her dress and stares at it with reverence. “A gift, this was, by he who loved me. Now, it’s all that binds me to this world.”
Stunned, we all give side eyed looks at one another. Jennifer looks at my bow and gestures emphatically with her head.
“When I lived, youthful exuberance flowed through me. It’s since been replaced with hate.”
As the monologuing woman looks up at us, I send an arrow into her chest. Her scream buckles our knees and reverberates throughout the dungeon. The sound of shifting earth signals nothing good.
Looking around, I see hands reaching out of nearby graves. Then comes arms and torsos. Zombies. Skeletons. Undead.
The White Witch laughs maniacally and we run. Maces smash and swords cut, but they won’t stop. Dozens, hundreds of corpses rise from their slumber. It’s a tide of bodies.
I switch to my dual axes and hack my way through rotting bodies. Hands grab at my clothing and ankles, threatening to pull me down. As I trip on an exposed root, the undead swarm me, covering me in a blanket of rotting flesh and bone. The distant, muted voice of Sarah calls out.
“Let there be light!”
Pouring in through every space comes blinding, radiant light. Where it touches the undead, they burn and scream. The spell, Cleansing Light, was a last-minute purchase, and it’s worth every Credit. Zombies melt and skeletons fall apart. Those outside of the spell’s effective range flee. Dozens of monsters are destroyed.
“On your feet, soldier!” Sarah and Jennifer pick me up. “Brian and Justin cleared the way to the mausoleums.”
That path doesn’t remain clear for long. Within seconds of the spell ending, the undead are flooding back in. Jennifer’s massive blade cuts down a half dozen with each swing. Sarah’s shield and mace smash with enthusiasm. My weapons don’t have raw weight behind them, but with two of them, I can block, counter, and dismember with ease.
We reach the mausoleum and fight our way to Brian and Justin, then help them fortify the single entrance. The undead throw themselves at us in endless waves, climbing over the corpses of their fellow monsters to reach us. Our weapons, though not the best, buy time for Sarah to regenerate enough mana to recast Cleansing Light. As the pulse of light dies down, we see the horde is, for now, defeated.
None of us are too seriously wounded, and only Justin needs a healing spell cast on him. By the time Sarah’s mana regenerates enough to cast Cure Wounds, everyone else’s health has auto-replenished via System shenanigans.
The group’s armor is another story. Rends in Jennifer’s Swiss plate show she took significant damage. Much of everyone’s leather protection is damaged in various ways, from tears to cuts. Me, without armor, took every hit. Got to love that damage reduction.
Precious minutes go by. While our health and mana are topped off, the White Witch floats around, raising more undead from the endless graves. We watch as she disappears into a mausoleum in the distance. A few minutes go by and she exits with fifty more skeletons.
“The longer we wait, the more we’re fucked.” Jennifer eyes the situation with determination. “What’s the plan?”
Everyone else looks at me. I swallow hard, darting my eyes around as I desperately try to think of something. Anything.
“The woman’s the boss, right?” I ask myself more than anyone else. “We kill her and the mobs should stop.”
“Are we rushing the boss?” Jennifer looks over her shoulder at the rest of us.
“Sure, why not?” I nod to her.
“I like it.” Brian steps forward.
Sarah and Justin look at one another, shrug, then ready their weapons.
Expecting our attack, the White Witch surrounds herself with the newly created horde. It’s hard to say how many there are, but it’s at least a hundred. That’s twenty each. Easy!
Lining up, we raise our weapons, scream, and charge.
Sarah’s Cleansing Light cuts deep into the horde, allowing us to push through to their center. Slashing, bashing, and chopping, we destroy a handful with every swing. Having forgotten his fifth level ability, Justin lets loose his Turn Undead Class Ability, keeping us from being overwhelmed.
Thirty are destroyed. Then fifty. Then seventy. As the undead’s numbers dwindle with haste, the White Witch joins the melee. Jennifer swings, only for her blade to be caught in a delicate, pale hand. Ripping the massive sword away, the White Witch backhands the Asian Fighter, knocking her cold. Justin and Brian move in, swinging for the hills, landing several devastating blows.
Sarah and I run interference, letting the damage dealers do their job. Another body in the melee would just be in the way.
The White Witch’s agility is incredible, allowing her to bob and weave around attacks. She dodges here, then darts there, using her razor-sharp claws to tear into living flesh. In less than a minute, both Brian and Justin are bleeding from numerous wounds, their health down to dangerous levels.
I see an opening and take it.
The White Witch tackles Justin to the ground, so I leap onto her back. Though strong, the petite woman can’t support my weight and is dragged to the ground. I let go of my axes and hold on for dear life. Rolling onto my back, I present the White Witch’s stomach to my companions. With a single blow, Brian collapses the boss’s chest (and a few of my ribs), ending the fight.
+The White Witch’s Playground has been cleared! First time clear bonus! Total experience gain is 7,873.+
That’s enough XP to boost us all to seventh level.
The remaining undead collapse and the dark, dreary sky clears to reveal a beautiful, star filled sky.
We loot the mobs and leave the dungeon, noticing the floating text at the entrance has changed, showing a cooldown timer. Now that we know what to expect, there’s no doubt in my mind we’ll be using it extensively. Two levels is a hell of a boost, especially as low level as we are.
With two more Ability Points I put one each into Resilient and Increased Health Regen, bringing me to 15% damage reduction and 6% additional healing, respectively. The others boost their damage output and health accordingly.