It wasn’t large, but it was large enough to accommodate a decent, if small, sized room. As they came upon the fourth floor exit back to the third floor, Joe decided on a whim to follow the perimeter of the room and seek out any unusual discrepancies. He found one of the walls and followed it around, eyes carefully scanning the wall hiding the emptiness depicted on the map. He took several corners, the wall unbroken and smooth as far as the eye could see and identical to the rest of the maze in its preparation. He came upon the last corner and found nothing. The smooth surface of the stone continued unabated and a single sconce shed its light forlornly for the hallway offering more than enough light for Joe to inspect the wall carefully. He turned one more corner and followed it to the end and then stopped, looking back down the hallway, eyes following the wall behind which the empty space resided, the only thing breaking the monotony of the work stone was the chandeliers spaced down the hallway.
He returned back along the wall, eyes carefully looking at the wall and soon found himself back at the path leading to the third floor. He hummed to himself and stopped once again, glancing down the hallway, the chandeliers unmoving but still giving the false impression of movement as the flames danced languidly in the air and shifted the shadows of the chandelier.
Looking back deeper into the maze, the same greeted his sight, a long row of worked stone for walls and chandeliers stretching into the distance. Joe frowned and glanced back down at the map, unhappy with the blank spot. He thought for a few moments then sighed, looking up again and then looked to the other three. Their excited jabbering and dancing movements decided it for him and he decided to return and check one more time.
Joe followed the walls once again, but found no seem nor any hint if there was actually anything there. The chandeliers’ light hid nothing and Joe soon became frustrated. Maybe it’s nothing more than a red herring! He continued, following the corners until he once again reach the end of where whatever could possibly be hidden ended. Joe’s eyes searched the hallways again, but found nothing different yet once again. A never ending hallway lit by chandeliers.
Joe slowed his return and at each turn, he took the moment to study each hallway at each turn, but as always, the stone wall did not change, lit by chandeliers. Another turn found the walls once again unchanged and easily seen, nothing hidden in shadow or obscured as the sconce offered more than enough light. The next turn revealed more of the same and Joe almost sighed in frustration and gave up when he stopped and looked back around the corner, before glancing back down the hallway.
Joe grinned. He ran to the other end and looked down the hallway once again and saw the row of beautiful if plain chandeliers, just like the other hallways. He then looked at the hallway that had caught his attention and realized a very simple and obvious lack: chandeliers. Joe couldn’t remember any other location in the maze that lacked chandeliers. This one was the only wall sconce he could think of being in this maze. Joe stopped to think carefully, considering the possibility that he hadn’t noticed before, but then decided there wasn’t much he could do but try.
He stepped forward and reached up to the wall sconce with some trepidation before reaching up and grasping in firmly. He sighed deeply then tried to pull it down. The sconce did not move at all. He then tried pushing and sliding it to the sides and still the sconce did not move. Joe frowned, looking more closely at the sconce and wiggled it a bit before brightening slightly. Huh… there is some give, but…
Joe’s careful perusal did reveal that there was something unusual about the sconce and that it was capable of some form of movement, but nothing Joe tried proved useful at all, and he finally grew frustrated and walked away. It’s getting late! Time for sleep. Too exhausted to try to figure this out right now. Joe growled to himself and then turned to lead them all out of the dungeon.
By this time, Joe had backtracked and stopped several times and the other three’s excited conversation had by worried fear. They followed behind Joe without conversation and Joe didn’t notice until a few moments later when Joe had returned to the exit to the third floor and was once again walking down the long winding hallway.
The heavy quiet finally broke through Joe’s concentration and he began to notice the disquiet. He glanced back and noticed the others’ silence.
“Hey? What’s wrong?” Joe asked as he turned, walking backwards in front of them.
Zilnek’s response erupted out quickly, “We’re lost, are we lost?”
Joe’s eyebrows rose slightly before her smirked, “No. We’re not lost. I was just looking at some stuff. Let’s head home. We’ll be to the third floor at the end of this hallway.”
The other three seemed to relax at his words but remained quiet, only small whispers and quiet one word responses sounding behind them. But when the chandeliers ran out and the worked stone of the fourth floor gave way to the rough stone of the passage into the third, the other three began to relax, relief evident in their movements and the way they spoke.
All three held their new weapons with a bit of guarded jealousy and Joe couldn’t fault them as he found even he found his new weapon something worth cherishing. Their travel through the hallway left little room to place with the spear and Joe spent the time more carefully inspecting it, tracing the decorative metalwork through the spear shaft and inspecting the metal spearhead carefully.
Joe found his attention so drawn to the metal tracery, that he was surprised when the late light from the sunset flooded across them and cause him to flinch his eyes into a squint. Distracted, he looked up at the bright sky and glanced around, taking in the dungeon guards and almost empty line of those still attempting to enter. Hmm… if this was back on Earth, I’d guess they were day workers using the night but… maybe the same thing? If strength and ability is so tied to levels…hmm. Joe considered the idea and thought it had merit, but dismissed it as he delegated travel to Garnedell to lead us through the city back to home, and Joe soon found himself trailing after the brightly chattering voices of the three, all discussing the events of the day.
It was still early enough in the day that Joe decided he wanted an actual bath and not have to deal with a sponge bath. A month in the city without a proper bath was too long for him. So, as he walked into the inn, he sent the other three up to the room and stopped by the inn keep at the bar.
“Hello, sir. I desire a bath. Could one be brought to my room or is there one available in the inn?” Joe asked politely then frowned a bit funny when the odd pressure-less pressure wave of the auto-translate magic erupted from his body while he was speaking. Weird… wonder which word was unknown?
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The inn keep was surprised by the magic but was polite enough not to react too much, although he did show some confusion at Joe’s question, although Joe did feel like he was watching a bad dub of old Asian kung fu movies as the inkeep’s response was only one or two words yet his mouth moved as if forming close to a dozen words, “You want a bath in your room?”
Joe shook off his confusion at the disconnect between what he was hearing and the innkeep’s lips, “Yes. I would greatly like a bath. If you have a bathing area here, I would be willing to use that, otherwise I would like a bath taken to our room.”
The inn keep’s confusion began shifting to a subtle anger, “Sir, we aren’t…”
Joe quickly interjected, “Of course, I would definitely pay for such an extra service.”
The inn keep’s face smoothed slightly, eyes narrowing in consideration so obvious that Joe could literally feel the gear’s turning as the inn keep look turned shrewd, “Hmm… that would seem possible.”
The two haggled over the price and Joe spent some time making sure to explain exactly what he was expecting with the service. Ten minutes later, Joe left satisfied and ligher for coin but expectant of finally having his first bath in a month and a half and his first decent one since he’d arrived here almost six months ago. He made it up to his room and walked in on the three having an excited conversation about the day and Joe let them talk while he settled on his bed and brought up his status to look over the new titles he’d gained.
Status
Blessings
Current Job
Available Jobs
Current Skills
Available Skills
Log
Instinctual (B)
Goblin Throne Usurper (T) *2
Killer of 10,000
Hobgoblin Throne Usurper (T)
Legendary Spark Killer (T) *4
Dungeon Destroyer (T)
Legendary Monster Killer (T) *4
Dungeon Conquerer (T)
Monster King Killer (T) *3
Titular Master (T)
Goblin King Killer (T) *2
Fearless (T)
Hobgoblin King Killer (T)
Lesser Walker (T)
Monster Throne Usurper (T) *3