* * *
Joe watched the two men leave the inn before turning to Kukurnal, “So. Am I in trouble?”
“No. You spoke the truth and your solution was wise and manageable. Baron Grugtrim will have no desire to offend you.”
“Hm… Well, good to know. But why would… never mind. We’ve wasted too much time! Let’s head out then. To the beginner dungeon. You ready Zilnek? Kilniara?”
Both bobbed their heads excitedly and Joe turned to Garnedell, “Ready, kid?”
“Yes!”
“Sweet! Let’s skedaddle!!”
All four looked at him with some confusion as Garnedell asked, “Skedaddle?”
“It means, let’s go! Let’s get out of here! Huh… why didn’t the translation blast wave thingy not do its thing? Anyway! Let’s go kick this dungeon so hard we leave a dent in the crust!”
Still with looks of confusion, the three kids followed him even as Kukurnal left, shaking his head with some confusion while Garnedell led them towards the weakest dungeon. The trip actually went fairly quickly, and when they arrived, Joe found the place even busier than the expert dungeon.
“Huh… really busy!”
“There are more lower level people, Joe,” Garnedell offered in way of an answer.
“Guess that would make sense. How long to enter?”
“It’s faster. The guards do not check for items or taxation. There are almost no valuable rewards here. Taxes would be kind of pointless so the dungeon is taxed by charging entry. It is… too expensive. It is almost impossible to get your money back from your exploration. But, people are willing to pay as it is the most convenient place to empower for the weak,” Zilnek replied this time.
“Huh… I guess that makes sense, but it’s pretty stupid.”
All three looked at him, a bit of confusion in their eyes. Finally, Garnedell decided to ask, “Why?”
“Why? Why is it stupid?”
“Yes.”
“Oh. Well. If you charge like this, fewer people can empower themselves. It makes the whole city weaker. It would be smarter to require everyone to come into this dungeon one or two times a week. Then you have a powerful and stronger city.” Joe shrugged at that and took another step forward. The line really was moving quite fast.
Garnedell and the siblings looked to each other, a bit of surprise on their face, although understanding dawned on them as well. Garnedell actually smiled in pride while the siblings looked on with looks of epiphany tinged with respect. Joe found their looks a bit disconcerting and quickly changed the topic to something more mundane. Gotta be careful of that, I guess.
Their conversation devolved to banter and time flew by quickly and they soon found themselves plunging into the first floor of the beginner dungeon. It was actually quite a cheery place, with dancing fire light from torches lighting the entirety with a cheerful color, no shadows of any kind impaired their sight. They came to the first room to find a simple sitting area and Joe was surprised to see some people actually resting in the room. It took him a bit to notice but there seemed to be a subtle sparkle in the air; a white glow that seemed to line every living thing in the room and Joe felt himself refreshed in the oddest way. He looked to Garnedell quickly and Garnedell explained quietly under his breath.
“Most beginner or easy dungeons have a safe recovery area. The easiest have an area leading directly into the first open area with that area being the whole floor. You can leave the safety healing area and hunt, then run back and heal before going out again. Each floor of the easiest dungeons are like that. This one has the first three floors like that. The fourth floor is a maze before the fifth floor, which is a boss floor so it has the boss floor setup.”
“Very cool. I’m impressed you know all this!”
“My dad was an adventurer! I wanted… I want to be one, too!”
Joe smiled, clapping a shoulder as he nodded, “Well, keep teaching. It’s the best way to learn!”
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Joe left the three behind as he stepped up to the edge of the glowing line, looking out into the vast lighted cavern where several groups of people took on single monsters that were scattered around the area. Joe watched for several moments, getting a grasp of the strange creatures, watching as different groups struggled with them. He took cues from those who easily bested them and made sure to catch any hints and warnings from those who struggled. It took him several minutes of watching before he finally felt ready then turned to find the three staring at him expectantly.
Zilnek, with a bit of impatience, jumped in, “When can we go? Why are we waiting here?”
“Do you know what these monsters are, Zilnek?”
“Uh… no.”
“Do you know their weaknesses?”
“No…”
“Do you know how they attack?”
“… no,” Zilnek’s voice was now growing quieter and quieter.
“Do you know what their strengths are?”
This time, Zilnek said nothing, only shaking his head no.
“Well, I do. Just from watching them!”
Deciding to turn this into a bit of a teaching moment, he had the three kids lined along the edge of the white glowing safety line and pointed out a group that was easily killing the monsters, “Tell me what you can see from that group. How are they easily killing these monsters?”
For the next twenty minutes, Joe stepped them through how to identify weaknesses and strengths of what they were seeing as well as how to apply it to their own defenses and attacks. The creatures were actually a strange yellowish monkey like creature without any fur that he could make out. They tended to move on all fours and favored doing so in almost everything. The only exception was when they attacked, where they would stand on their hind legs and begin wailing away with their front limbs, which acted remarkably like arms. They didn’t seem very comfortable upright or down on all fours, seeming like a strange cross between a creature and a humanoid, uncomfortable in both stances, but definitely preferring on all fours.
When they attacked, they would grasp any object that was in range and use it as a weapon. Despite the strange variety of objects that the creatures seemed to pick up, they almost always seemed to be able to use it instinctively. Joe even watched with amazement as a creature picked up a club to beat off a small group retreating from another fight before dropping the club and then fighting another, picking up a longish stiletto. With the club, it swang firmly and well, while with the stiletto it stabbed, refraining from swings of almost any kind. This solo fighter also retreated and the strange monkey like creature dropped the stiletto before it was engaged once more, but this time found a bow nearby. Its shots were deadly, and the group that engaged it was saved only by the fact that the creature ran out of arrows and dropped the bow while it charged the group, grasping a small rock on its way. The group had taken the chance to quickly retreat and the creature dropped to all fours again to wander the large arena floor. It dropped the rock as it walked away, and the rock rolled across the glowing 'safe' line where it suddenly faded from existence, disappearing. Huh... the trash on the ground is also made by the dungeon? Interesting.
The floor would have been absolute chaotic bedlam if it weren’t for the fact that the creatures only seemed to become aggressive when they were attacked. It quickly became evident that the most successful adventurers were making sure to only attack when near a single one of these creatures and also making sure that whatever detritus lay around the creature was useless as a weapon. It only took a few moments of guidance for the three to quickly get what was happening, and it was with excited trepidation that Joe led them out onto the killing floor.
“So. Anyone know the name of these things.”
“They’re goblins, ma.. Joe,” Garnedell replied.
“Goblins. Weird. Don’t look like goblins,” Joe said.
“Really? What goblins have you seen?”
“Well, all the goblins I know are usually green. Maybe I’ve seen some black ones. But.. usually green.”
“Green goblins? How strange?”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
“Huh… then let me tell you about spider man some time,” Joe giggled to himself softly as he said this.
“Spidermen. Are there truly such things?”
Joe didn’t respond to Garnedell, but instead turned the conversation. He had lead them to an empty side, deserted of adventurers and slightly more deserted of goblins. As he walked, he detailed out his plan.
“Right. So, I think you guys can probably handle these guys one on one. At least, I think Garnedell can well enough. We’ll go through each of you one at a time, and I’ll stand by to jump in at any time. I’ll be right next to you, OK? Just do what you have to do. If it looks bad, I’ll be there right away, but I want you guys to get practice fighting. OK?”
Garnedell seemed eager, and nodded quickly. Zilnek took his queue from Garnedell although he seemed a bit more nervous. Kilniara proved to be the calmest but the most reluctant. Joe smiled at all of them before nodding and sending Garnedell in.
“Garnedell. I want you to use your staff first. But try to remember my forms and let your body just react to the flow. You’ll be surprised by how much your body remembers, OK? But don’t worry. I’ll be right here!”
Garnedell smiled and nodded eagerly, stepping forward and settling into an aggressive stance. As soon as he did so, the creature he was focused on quickly stood upright and settled its hand on a long stick next to it as it charged forward. Joe frowned at that, both disconcerted by Garnedell’s poor planning and the creature’s seemingly psychic ability to know when it was targeted. Garnedell should have waited just another two or three steps. Then the goblin would have picked up the rock instead of the stick. Much shorter range. Joe added the critique to his list and quickly settled in next to Garnedell, ready to defend and protect.
The fight proved to be a lot more brutal and extensive than Joe expected, with Garnedell taking almost five minutes to finally bring the beast down. Garnedell’s staff was more than up for the job of protecting him, but the goblin seemed to have some kind of natural defense that made Garnedell’s strikes a bit ineffectual. Still, Garnedell was able to bring the beast down and Joe smiled in congratulations as Garnedell whooped in joy.
“Nice job, kid! Now some critiques!”
Joe turned to Zilnek and Kilniara, both seeming a bit nervous before he involved them in the process.