Lanek groaned, the healing potions only bringing him to 54 HP. He needed to get out of here, but he didn’t fancy his odds of escape in his current condition. I need a soul. God, I sound like an addict now.
His two companions, sensing his distress, helped push him to his feet. Lanek staggered made his way down to the ground floor of the building, not wanting to go anywhere near the hole he had been blasted through for fear that the new gaunt was watching for him. Once on the bottom floor, he opened a window and climbed onto the street, keeping the building between himself and the horrifically powerful caster.
He gave himself over to his companions, trusting them to lead him safely. They abruptly came to a stop, Sanguineus headbutting his leg to snap him out of his thoughts. Lanek looked up and found Kazuma pinning a ghoul to the ground, arms and legs broken to keep it from fleeing. The mist cat stared into Lanek’s eyes before getting off of the undead. Lanek understood, though he felt a moment of pity for the creature that had just been offered up as a sacrifice. However, it was him or the ghoul, and the it wouldn’t hesitate to murder him and feast on his flesh. Lanek plunged Sanguineus’ Vessel into the writhing ghoul’s back and drew the soul into himself, but focused on not assimilating it.
As with the crypt stalker’s soul, Lanek felt the energy flow through his body, repairing the damage he had taken. He hoped he would never get used to the feeling of broken bones snapping back into place under his skin or organs shifting back into their proper place. It was nauseating, to say the least.
Another explosion rocked the area, but it felt further away. Needing to know what was going on, Lanek returned to the rooftops, dismissing both of his companions to bolster his strength. He could see the gaunt caster launching its spells at a dark mass in the distance, a mass that didn’t falter as the blasts struck it. The mass continued closing the distance, the caster getting more frantic in its attacks.
During a lull in the attacks, presumably to regain MP, the gaunt caster’s head snapped up to the black mass. Lanek could hear a loud whistling sound before a massive black spear slammed into the gaunt, obliterating the upper half of its body before embedding itself in the city wall. The horde of gaunts turned to face this new threat while the remnants of the dungeon’s forces threw themselves with wild abandon at their enemy.
Meanwhile, Lanek didn’t make a move, not wanting to attract the attention of whatever had just one-shot the creature that had smacked him down like an insect. The mass grew closer, resolving into a formation of black figures, their steps shaking the ground. The tide of gaunts seemed to shrink back for a moment before a bulwark bellowed and charged, triggering an all out assault.
As the bulwark neared the formation, Lanek finally got a sense of scale, each of the figures was exactly the same height, standing at 4 meters. The huge black mass he had seen turned out to be just a dozen of the gargantuan figures. The first gaunts to reach the line were crushed into the ground by massive shields, the figures then attacked with their blades, breaking the tide of gaunts before them.
Watching the black figures tear through their foes, Lanek felt a stirring in his memory. Something about the way the figures fought and the gear they used. Sure, the gear was scaled up for the massive warriors, but it definitely looked familiar. That’s it! The sword looks like a xiphos. For that matter, their shield, armor, spears, and javelins all look like something out ancient Greece. I need to see what these things are…
Ashborne Myrmidon
lvl 90
Ashborne myrmidons are living statues created by the Ashen Depths. These creatures are unique to the Depths and are very rarely seen outside of the dungeon itself. Towering over lesser creatures and moving with a grace and speed that belies their size, they are able to shatter the dungeon’s foes. In most cases, ashborne myrmidons will be stationed as floor bosses or guardians of great treasures. The martial prowess demonstrated by the ashborne myrmidons had led many to theorize that the statues are animated by the spirits of warriors that fell deep within the Ashen Depths.
Nope. Lanek thought before retreating back toward the plaza. Along the way, he spied fallen gaunts and items littering the ground, but he dared not go out into the open while the myrmidons were heading to the breach. The battle seemed to be centered around the breach in the wall now, so Lanek chose to make his way stealthily toward the shops.
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
The plaza was surprisingly empty when he arrived. He had expected the dungeon creatures to have disappeared as they always did upon dying, but he wasn’t expecting a lack of gaunt corpses. That’s when he spotted trails of blood leading out of the plaza, some of which going into holes in the ground that had been hidden under manhole covers before. A sewer system? Catacombs maybe? Ah, that’s probably where the ghouls and ghasts live. Oh… that’s where the gaunt corpses went. Let’s just avoid those holes.
Sanguineus and Kazuma both materialized into the plaza to keep watch while Lanek picked up the items scattered about. He left the coins as he had no way to spend them and jingling kind of defeated the purpose of trying to be stealthy. However, he had no problem filling his bag with multiple potions and ghoul cores. While he found no weapons or armor dropped by the dungeon creatures, he did find parts, such as claws and fangs that he added to his bag. Maybe I can unlock crafting or something with them?
While finishing up his looting, Lanek found his attention caught by a sign hanging at an awkward angle from one of the buildings. His heart started racing because despite the worn nature of the sign, he could swear that the sign had a compass carved into it. He rushed to the structure, praying for this to be a cartographer’s shop and that the merchandise was intact. Once inside, he found a long glass case that was actually intact, although covered in dust.
Stepping to the side of the case, he spied the latch holding it closed and released it. Once opened, he found several leather scroll cases and a compass. Not wanting to waste time with the myrmidons and other enemies about, he threw everything into his pack after confirming that the cases were not empty. He wasn’t surprised at the lack of other merchandise, creating maps was a painstaking process in medieval societies, so there likely wouldn’t be many just sitting around.
He performed a cursory examination of the rest of the shop, finding nothing that he needed. The clothing he found was far too small for him, which did give him pause. He didn’t think it belonged to a child as all of the furniture in the living area was built to a smaller scale as well. Maybe a gnome or dwarf? Map making and dwarves don’t seem to go together from the fantasy books I read, but maybe dwarves are different here?
Before leaving the cartographer, Lanek sent a questioning pulse to his companions. He received a calm feeling in return, letting him know that they had not detected a threat. There was an undercurrent of urgency though. He understood, he wanted to get away from those giants as soon as possible as well.
Looking at the remaining shops in the plaza, he ruled out several. One had a sign advertising a butcher, but after all these years abandoned, he was positive that it would not have anything of use. He also bypassed a clothing store and tavern. He could use clothing, but he was in a hurry and it was not his biggest necessity right now.
The last shops on the plaza no longer had signs in place or the signs were so faded that all details were gone, so he picked one at random. Inside, he found himself gazing at weapon racks. He had finally found a blacksmith, now he just had to hope that some finished products were around. Lanek wasn’t worried about tools as he didn’t have the faintest inkling about smithing, so the tools would be wasted on him. Plus, how would he even go about moving something like an anvil quietly?
The weapon racks were bare, but he wasn’t surprised. If the fleeing citizens hadn’t armed themselves here, then he imagined that the smith would likely have contributed at least some of his wares to the defense. On the other hand, a smart business owner would likely have secured a portion of his stock so they could still make a living once the crisis had passed.
Finding an empty storeroom on the main floor and nothing but living quarters upstairs, a disappointed Lanek almost left the building when he saw Sanguineus pawing at the ground behind the counter curiously. He walked over while Kazuma kept watch at the door, noticing that every time Sanguineus pawed at the floor, one of the large flagstone pieces that made up the floor would move ever so slightly.
“What do we have here, buddy? Let me get in there.” he said while petting the wolf affectionately. He found that the flagstone was indeed loose, but the floor had been crafted well enough that he couldn’t fit his fingers between the flagstones. Luckily, he had just the tool for the job, his trusty mattock.
He fit the adze side into the gap and pulled the flagstone up, finding that it wasn’t actually all that heavy and less than a third of the thickness of the surrounding stones. Underneath, he found a large wooden hatch that revealed a staircase winding down into the darkness, but he couldn’t see how deep the room went.
As he wondered at the depth of the room, he was more than a little unnerved as a faint light came on in the depths of the hidden room.