New Quest: Learn more about the dungeon core.

Olza’s top hypothesis at the moment was that dungeon cores had unique relationships either with mana or with what some would call “lifeforce,” a non-scientific way to quantify the vitality of a living creature. Hans pricking his finger on the core must have given the core access to a new energy source, or perhaps the blood itself provided that energy.

Hans shared previously that when he touched the core he felt no sensation of being drained in any manner. His mana awareness was nowhere near as attuned as a mage’s would be, but if a monster suddenly robbed him of it, he believed he’d notice. He didn’t feel his own power shift in any way at any point.

While that observation eliminated one hypothesis, it spawned another.

“Could it feed on pain?” Olza asked.

He had heard a similar idea before. One paper he read argued that dungeon cores fed on misery, making the dungeon itself a sort of misery farm for the core. The author suggested that to create the way it does, a dungeon core needed a power source, and that was the only constant in the life of a dungeon, the misery it generated. As it was with all dungeon research, however, the paper was not much more than an opinion piece. No one had studied an actual dungeon core, ever.

“Would be easy enough to test,” Hans offered.

“Should we?”

The pair knew that both of them desperately wanted to experiment on the dungeon core, but neither wanted to be the one to suggest an irresponsible choice. The first time Hans touched the broken sphere, three gnolls immediately attacked the party, a reaction he believed was a security measure of sorts for the core. A reasonable person would expect a similar response from a creature that felt threatened.

Hans asked Sven to retrieve Terry from his post. When all Apprentices were present, Hans explained that a new batch of gnolls might attack and that the party should be ready. They adopted a six-person formation that put the Rangers in front again, but placed the Rogue immediately behind but between them. Sven could now loose an arrow down the hall without leaving the cover of two Rangers and their shields. The Druid and two mages stood a few paces behind Sven.

Three gnolls posed a small challenge to a three-person party, as Hans had recently witnessed, but the Guild Master preferred to be overprepared.

When the Apprentices were in position, Hans returned to Olza. For this experiment, they changed one variable. Hans would prick his finger, just deep enough for a single drop of red to leak out. Then he’d drip it onto the dungeon core. By not touching the core directly, they hoped to determine for certain if the core drained something from Hans or not. If they got the same reaction, his touch was likely not that important. If the reaction changed–or didn’t happen at all–they would have more reason to explore various forms of vampirism and related spells.

Olza stepped back, perhaps instinctively. Hans drew his knife and poked the back of his pointer finger, between two knuckles. A hole in a fingertip would make the rest of the day uncomfortable. Nicking the back of a finger wasn’t pleasant, but the wound was simpler to manage.

Holding his hand over the core, he turned his wrist to let a drop of blood free.

Instead of one drop falling, he watched as two drops too many escaped his finger, already too late to act.

“Sorry,” he whispered.

Before Olza could reprimand him, he heard the deep bellow of Buru’s usually soft voice. “Three gnolls coming. Two unknowns approaching from the distance.”

Hans wedged wax into his ears as a precaution and climbed the rope out of the dungeon core room. In that small amount of time, three gnolls with black fur closed the distance on the Apprentices. The wolfman farthest ahead fell face first when an arrow pierced his eye. Honronk cast Prism between the Rangers and the other two charging monsters, repeating the tactic from earlier.

Like before, Terry and Yotuli used the cover of the spell to deliver quick thrusts to the confused gnolls.

Buru spoke again. “Two unknowns still approaching. Three new unknowns behind those.”

Chisel yelled for the party to reset their formation as the sound of galloping hooves on cobblestone drew near. Gnolls didn’t have hooves.

“It’s not gnolls,” Buru called from behind the Apprentices. Hans couldn’t hear the Druid on account of the wax in his ears, but he believed he had read his lips correctly.

Terry and Yotuli bent their knees and lowered their hips, making themselves compact and solid behind their shields. Sven had an arrow ready to draw.

“Two unicorn cows!” Honronk shouted.

Sven turned to regard the Black Mage. “Be serious, brother.”

Hans barked at Sven, “Forward!”

When the Rogue returned his attention to the corridor, its length disappearing into a pinprick in the far distant dark, two beasts shaped like small bulls with a single horn each entered the torchlight, galloping hard toward the party with their heads down.

Sven hastily nocked an arrow but fumbled the draw. He reached for another arrow as his first clattered to the floor.

Buru twirled a vine at his side, the length and motion looking like that of a traditional slingshot. When Sven dropped his arrow, Buru opened his hand, sending the vine hurtling over Terry’s shoulder and down the hall. The vine hit the front left knee of the lead monster and immediately wrapped around both front legs like a bolo. The monster tipped forward, its face dragging across the stone floor as it fought to break the vine.

The other monster closed, its head down, its horn as wide as a wizard hat at its base. Sven’s arrow glanced off the horn, drawing a small amount of blood above one of the monster’s eyes. The beast didn’t slow or flinch.

“Honronk, Prism!” Yotuli shouted from the front.

“No mana,” the tusk responded flatly.

And then the monster galloped through the Apprentices, knocking Terry and Yotuli to the side. The beast’s shoulder bounced Sven into the wall as it passed. The three apprentices in the rear–Buru, Chisel, and Honronk–took advantage of the extra seconds the frontline didn’t have. They threw themselves clear to let the monster blast by.

That’s a camahueto…

Though the Guild Master was directly ahead, the monster slid to a stop, spun around, and launched into a return charge. The backline was unguarded.

“Shields in front!” Hans yelled.

Buru hurled a vine at the remaining camahueto as it gained speed. The vine hit high on the monster’s shoulder and wrapped around a lone leg, doing little to hinder its charge.

Yotuli pushed through her party and ran ahead, stopping in the middle of the hall with her shield up. The camahueto dipped its head to aim its horn, but with its attention fixated on the shield, the beast didn’t notice the tusk Ranger shift her weight so she could pivot to the side. The side of the monster’s face scraped across the wooden shield as it barreled by. The point of a sword found its ribs at the same time, the beast’s forward motion dragging a long, bloody slice down its side.

When the monster stumbled, Yotuli and Buru were on it with their swords. Several stabs past dead, Hans coached, “Get the other!”

Terry ran several paces to where the other camahueto thrashed, trying to break free of its restraints. It was nearly free when Terry’s sword bit halfway through the monster’s stocky neck.

Chisel knelt next to Sven. The Rogue slumped against the wall, his nose leaking and his eyes glazed. He was alive, but he was injured.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“Cover me!” Chisel called. “Buru! Are the last three approaching?”

The Druid froze to listen. “Yes, gnolls I think, but they are far.”

The warm light of Lesser Heal washed over Sven. As the Rogue regained awareness, he groaned from the pain. He wasn’t going to die, but he also wasn’t popping to his feet to rejoin the fight right away.

“What do we do?” Chisel asked Hans as he approached, doing his own check of Sven’s status and risking removing one of his ear plugs.

“What do you think you should do?” the Guild Master answered.

Chisel half-hissed when she grumbled, “You’re really doing that now?”

“We wait,” Honronk suggested.

Yotuli nodded. “I agree. We have line of sight and we’re together.” The Ranger looked deeper into the dungeon, toward the dungeon core. “Not much room for a retreat, though.”

“Closer,” Buru said, still listening for enemies.

The Rangers reformed their front line and advanced down the hall a dozen yards. If another monster charged through, bunching together would work against them.

“Three gnolls!” Honronk announced.

Terry searched that darkness ahead, seeing nothing but shadow. “Guessing doesn’t help!”

A gnoll, running on all-fours like a wolf, bounded out of the darkness, sprinting at the party. Behind it, two upright gnolls followed, each carrying a club.

Gnolls with weapons? That’s new.

The length of the corridor provided ample time to prepare. Terry stepped in front of Yotuli, putting himself between her and the gnolls. “I’ll slow it down!”

Terry bashed his shield into the side of the wolfman’s head. Part parry, part strike, the force of the charge bounced Terry sideways. The impact was far from soft, but the Ranger deflected the worst of it. The gnoll was a different story. He slammed into the brick.

The gnoll’s footing slipped for a moment, giving Yotuli an opening. Just when the gnoll was clear of Terry’s shield, a sword carved down its neck.

“Ahead!” Honronk warned as he stepped forward, putting the tip of his sword in the first gnoll’s skull, giving the Rangers precious seconds to reset.

Clubs bounced off of shields as both gnolls met the Rangers. Their immediate charge halted, the gnolls prodded for openings in the adventures’ defenses. A stone the size of a plum embedded itself into the head of the gnoll attacking Yotuli, making a sound like the wet, meaty crunch of a smashed crab. The tusk Ranger didn’t hesitate. She thrust a sword through its neck and spun, bringing a slash across the knee of the remaining gnoll harassing Terry.

He too didn’t hesitate. The instant the gnoll glanced away to see what attacked him, Terry’s sword slid between its ribs.

“No more approaching,” Buru said.

Every Apprentice collapsed to the floor, gasping for air. Their adrenaline crashed, and their muscles and joints reminded them of the abuse they had just endured. A moment ago, the fire of combat fueled their every movement. With that flame gone, they could barely stand. A battle that blurred by in seconds left them exhausted.

“Anyone wounded?” Hans asked, approaching the limp Apprentices.

“Chisel got me,” Sven said. “I’m fine.”

The Guild Master scanned the rest of the group. They would all be sore in the morning, but they were whole. When desperate gasps for air slowed to heavy but calm breathing, Hans asked, “What did you learn?”

“Sven doubted me,” Honronk said in his monotone, matter-of-fact voice.

“You said they were ‘unicorn cows’ before you could even see them. Who would take that seriously?” Sven asked.

“I would.”

Hans intervened. “Communication is critical. The rule is ‘no joking in or about combat.’ We don’t have time to question our allies. You need to be able to trust in what each other says without having to think, so everyone, right now, commit to following the rule.”

The Guild Master pointed to his ear.

The Apprentices rolled their eyes, and drawled in near unison, “No joking in combat.”

“Also, Honronk can cast Nightsight, so he could see the enemies before anyone else.”

“I didn’t know that,” Sven said.

“Besides trusting in what your party members say, you need to learn each other’s strengths and weaknesses. Sounds like Honronk didn’t mention Nightsight to anyone else. That’s too good of a tool to keep from your party. In that same vein, the party seemed surprised that Honronk couldn’t cast Prism again.”

The Black Mage nodded.

“Fighting the unicorn cows was much different from gnolls,” Yotuli said, absentmindedly kicking the ribs of a dead monster.

“They’re called camahuetos,” Hans said. “What should you have done differently against them?”

Terry rubbed his neck. “Blocking them head on was a mistake. Sven got the worst of it, but any of us could have gotten gored.” When Hans didn’t respond, Terry realized the Guild Master expected his answer to continue.

Chisel interjected, “Save spells like Prism if we can.”

Terry agreed. “Yeah, that. We should probably develop a few tactics for those kind of situations. Get us a quick way to call a change so everyone can be prepared.”

“If I didn’t choke, arrows would have helped,” Sven said, glumly.

“The formation you all used to set up the shot was pretty smart,” Hans said. “Why didn’t you incorporate Buru’s ranged ability?”

No one had an answer.

“That’s something to think more about. I’m betting you have more options there than you might realize. Between the vine spell and the rock spell, you have more possibilities.”

“I don’t have a rock spell,” Buru said.

“But you–”

“Threw a rock. Not cast.”

Before Hans could mentally recover, Chisel raised her hand. “I was basically useless the whole time,” she said.

“White Mage is a tough class in the early days. You have a few offensive options to learn, like Lesser Sleep, but you’ll really shine with buffs and debuffs. Even then, though, you have to be careful with your mana. If you need to heal a friend but can’t… That’s a tough memory to live with.”

Hans asked if anyone else had observations or questions to share.

Sven began, “Where did the commahees–”

“Camahuetos,” Hans corrected.

“Where did the camahuetos come from? We’ve never seen him down here, and it’s not like they have a lot of places to hide.”

“They typically live near the mouths of rivers, right where it empties into an ocean or sea. They’re common if you go to one of the southern kingdoms where there’s more prairie.”

“Yeah, that’s fine and all, but why were they here?”

Olza called from the fissure, “That’s my fault. I ran an experiment. I’m sorry.”

The Apprentices told her not to worry. They insisted they were fine.

“I’m ready to head back after we get the horns,” Olza said. “They’re good for medicines.”

“We just got here,” Hans said.

“I have enough data for now,” she said, holding eye contact with the Guild Master. “We can go.”

Buru sawed through the camahueto horns with his bucknife and the party departed.

The return to the surface was uneventful. With wax in his ears, Hans scouted ahead to eliminate the squonks they would encounter. Then they made quick work of the last two gnolls. Otherwise, they faced no more foes and encountered no additional threats. Back at the cabin, Hans instructed the Apprentices to clean their gear before they rested. They grumbled but did as they were told. Tandis passed out rags and whetstones, then she offered to make soup. The Apprentices happily accepted.

Volunteering to take first watch, Hans descended into the pit once more to monitor the dungeon entrance so the Apprentices could rest. He knew Olza wanted to talk, but he wasn’t ready to.

Every step of their walk back to the surface, Hans thought about the camahuetos, but his complete disbelief kept him from pondering anything meaningful. He deflected off the idea like a bee hitting a window, aware that there was progress to be made but blocked by an incomprehensible force.

Now, as he sat alone at the entrance to the Gomi dungeon, his mind settled.

What have I done?

***

Open Quests (Ordered from Old to New):

Progress from Gold-ranked to Diamond-ranked.

Mend the rift with Devon.

Complete the manuscript for "The Next Generation: A Teaching Methodology for Training Adventurers."

Expand the Gomi training area to include ramps for footwork drills.

Design a system for training dungeon awareness.

Research the history and legends of the Dead End Mountains, more.

Protect Gomi.

Train Gomi adventurers to keep the dungeon at bay.

Design the ultimate strategy for hunting squonks.

Pick a secret passage design for the cabin. Bonus Objective: Make it cooler than a bookshelf door.

Find a partner to move dungeon loot efficiently.

Find a way to share new knowledge without putting Gomi at risk.

Address the deficiency of magery education in the Gomi chapter.

Acquire the tools and knowledge to train trap disarming safely.

Research non-localized abilities capable of causing nightmares in tusk children.

Learn more about the dungeon core.