Chuck clucked his tongue. “Talk about timing. Archie just confirmed STAR Level One is finally ready.”
“System's still reeling from Theo’s drop.”
“Understood. Slow roll the connection. Hold off if the power peaks into yellow.”
Dent nodded, his own eyes now glued to the screens. “Not to worry, we’ll leave nothing to chance. The binary response from Theo is all clear.”
The Architect wiped the sweat from his forehead. “Excellent. Hopefully he has no issues.”
----------------------------------------
The vampire stretched out his neck. He had appeared on a small platform floating in the air. All around him was a sphere of slowly swirling light blue and pastel purples. He shuffled his feet on the flooring, which seemed to be made of a soft white tile. Weapon racks lined the left and right side before the drop. Straight ahead was a staircase leading downward.
Hands in pockets, he stepped over to the top of the stairs to get a better view of where they led to.
Another platform, this one a large circle. Similar design. No walls or any real details aside from the tile pattern.
There was a figure, however, standing in the middle. Waiting patiently. Around eight feet tall and masculine in appearance. Stocky dark beard, bald head, and armor of leathers and furs. In each hand, a melee weapon.
Theo grinned and stopped halfway down the steps. “Hey!”
Dark eyes turned to him. “It has been a while since I have had a challenger. Defeat me to become the champion.”
“Champion of the floating disc? Alright… I’m in. I just grab a weapon?” He withdrew a pocketed hand to jerk a thumb back to the first platform.
“Make a choice and become humbled, ant.”
The vampire’s fangs glistened in the light. An insect, huh? He was far from that.
----------------------------------------
“I hate bugs.” Sally sighed and placed an aching hand on the dejected knight’s shoulder. “Don’t let guilt do more damage than the Monsters. You did everything you could, and we’d all be dead without you.”
[Poppy: Thanks, Sally.]
Her plated head rose and gave the zombie a brief nod.
“Sally, I have a Cure potion you can use.” Claude extended a hand, holding a glass bottle filled with a green liquid.
She shook her head. “It’s only got five minutes left. Save it, assuming we are safe here.”
“We are, but… are you not in agony? This isn’t a minor ailment?”
“Feels like fire ants are having their international meet and greet, and the buffet is all-you-can-eat.” She smiled. “I’ve endured worse for lesser reasons.”
The healer shook his head in exasperation. “I’m too stressed to be concerned, but as you see fit, Miss Danger. As to if we are safe… there will be a treasure chest in the room somewhere. Once opened, the Dungeon will start to decay. Best we be out of here within ten minutes of that occurring.”
She glanced down at her golden STAR again. “If we don’t open the chest?”
“An hour maybe and the Monsters will come back.”
Sounded like if they found a more reasonable Dungeon, they’d be able to farm it out for decent experience. The rewards might be worth continued progression, however.
Archie sat beside her. “STAR Level One achieved and in the process of connecting. A valiant start.”
She looked back at the inert Virgil, and wasn’t so sure about that.
[Level 4 Reached]
[Stats Increased]
[Skill Granted: Unholy Fervor]
[2 Skill Points]
[Unholy Fervor - Self-cast buff. Regenerate 1% HP every second, +10% Damage, 10 second duration. 60 second cooldown.]
A little self-healing paid dividends in such a high stakes world. Ten percent wasn’t a lot, but given how short fights usually lasted, it was more of a bonus to be used for the damage buff more than anything.
She cast it on herself now, a purple glow running up her body as the warmth of healing patched up what it could. With tired eyes, she put her Skill Points in [Swordmastery] and [Determination]. The latter appeared to help with resistances to status effects and debilitation. Seemed handy, really.
“A little longer and Virgil will be stable enough to be moved,” Claude confirmed. “You can see now why we are so few.”
Sally nodded. “Honestly, I expected to act alone. The fact that you all joined up with so easily was suspicious.”
The healer looked down at his patient. “There is a point where desperation erodes away at your sensibilities. We are… we need to escape this torment.”
She looked back up to the spiral staircase. Well, one person seemed to have found an escape.
----------------------------------------
Theo stepped back down the stairs, now with a sword in his hands. “You had no katars or punch-blades. I am underwhelmed.”
The figure grunted and brought his own weapons up, ready. One was a jagged sword, the other a studded mace like a thick bat. “A warrior makes no excuses, nor complains about the hand that he is dealt on the battlefield.”
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“What do I call you?”
“Borin, the Infinite Blade.”
More like Boring, Theo thought to himself. “Theo, although I’m sure you won’t live long enough to make remembering it worth the effort.”
“My weapons have eaten the souls of those twice as worthy as you. Step forth and be humbled, blood-drinker.”
He grinned and burst forward, flourishing the blade which glowed pink in preparation to use [Novice Strike]. Before he got close enough, he spun out to the side, narrowly avoiding the sword of his opponent as the giant of a man flashed toward him with incredible speed.
Already he was on the defensive, as his sword came up to block the large mace. There was a clang and a snap, and he slid back across the white tiles. Blood dripped from his shattered left forearm - brought up to brace the flat of the sword against the attack.
“Oh, you’re pretty powe-”
Borin didn’t allow him time to talk, the jagged sword slashing across and splitting the vampire’s head in two.
----------------------------------------
Sally winced and twitched. Must be the venom leaving her body.
[Poppy: You did really well, Sally.]
[Poppy: Someone at your level would usually be useless in such a fight.]
She gave the knight a soft smile.
[Sally: I have a lot of hard skills.]
[Sally: Fighting comes naturally to me these days.]
Probably best not to mention that it was mostly against Players. There was only so much you could learn against System-created Monsters, although the ones here might be a little smarter than those back at Sanctuary. Not only from saving the world, but the months of safety had been filled with Events and Dungeon roles at differing Levels and difficulties.
Systems liked to obfuscate things with health-points and armor values, but a dagger to the neck was nearly always going to put something on death’s door. Arbitrary, really. Something Virgil was finding out the hard way. If she had just tried to duel the Monsters with her sword, then she’d have been on the losing side quick enough.
She looked over at the surviving zombie hornet, who she had told to go stand as far as way as possible, so the movement of their wings stopped grating on her nerves. As it so happened, that is also where the treasure chest had appeared. Something rather basic - wooden in design with iron bracing. There was a symbol on the front, similar to the carvings that had been out the front of the Dungeon.
“Thanks for your healing back there, Claude. That and the distraction saved my skin.”
He didn’t turn to her, as he finished chanting another heal for the wounded man. “Of course. I did say you’d need me, didn’t I?”
She smiled and sat down on the ground beside Archie. “Chat up yet?”
“Almost. Things are slower than normal.”
“Everything okay back home?”
“I am certain of it. If they are sending Theo out today, then they will be being more cautious with energy use.”
Sally pulled a face. “Hope fangs is doing fine. What I wouldn’t give to see that goofy confident grin of his right now.”
----------------------------------------
Theo threw up a mouthful of blood and choked, gasping for air. His shaking hands gripped at… white tile.
Blinking away the blur from his eyes, he pushed himself up to his feet. Confusion marred his brow, as he was pretty sure he just died. Yet here he was back on the square platform, Borin down on the circle one, looking rather bored.
Death was supposed to take him back to Sanctuary.
His eyes went over to a System message eager to be viewed.
[Sword (+2 exp)]
Curious. He stepped forward, past the weapons, and walked halfway down the steps. “Hey Borin, I did not die.”
“Shame.”
“I can just respawn here if I fall in battle?”
“Until your mind has rotted and spirit is broken.”
Theo grinned. “What then?”
“Eternal rest can be gained from leaping from the edge of the platform.”
“Neat!” He turned back and hopped up the steps to where the weapon racks lay in wait.
Now he understood it - and it was better than he had expected. Weapon experience persisted over his attempts to best the champion. With enough effort, he could level up his skill and have a better chance against the giant of a man.
In which case… screw swords. If he was going to become the master of something new, it would have to be something fun. His tongue ran across his lips as his crimson eyes picked through the gathered assortment of martial weapons.
----------------------------------------
Claude stood and wavered slightly. “Still some numbness in my leg, but I can walk.”
“I’ll support you up the stairs,” Sally offered.
“Bless you.” He gave her a thankful nod and a slight smile. “Poppy will need to carry Virgil. We will take things slow. Haste will only shake loose whatever thread of chance he has.”
[Poppy: Carry my shield, Sally?]
[Poppy: We should be safe enough now.]
Sally nodded. “Sure thing. Give me the word and I’ll go open the chest?”
“We’ll get to the staircase first, to be certain.” Claude dusted down his tabard and stretched his back out.
Sally missed a lot of things about Sanctuary. Teleporting everywhere. Being nigh invulnerable. Her friends that she could rely on. Theo’s abs. Pancakes. She forgot why she started the list. Sure, she’d had a few drab times here and there, but this world was just… sad.
“How will I progress from here? Is this the weakest Dungeon, and it scales up from here?” She pulled a face at the prospect.
Claude shrugged. “Should be a random mix from Level Five all the way up to Twenty, but they trend weaker closer to Bastion Keep, and stronger over where He resides.”
She’d have to ask why they didn’t like saying his actual name. Seemed… odd. Maybe once they were more settled - it wasn’t clear if the Party would even continue on after this.
The knight passed her the shield, which was heavier than she expected. Poppy must be pretty strong underneath the full armor. She watched as the woman then hoisted Virgil up over her shoulder gently, assisted by the cleric. Archie watched with interest before turning his emerald eyes up to her.
[Chuck: STAR One up and running, Sally. Check in?]
[Sally: Safe and sound.]
[Sally: World is pretty miserable and struggling.]
[Chuck: Just what you wanted, right?]
[Sally: How’s Theo?]
She ignored his question, as the reality of the situation wasn't quite what she had in mind. Being a powerful and manic zombie hadn’t quite landed yet, and she might snap if she had to play nice and normal for much longer.
[Chuck: He’s dropped to his world.]
[Chuck: Safe, just waiting for his Chat to be up.]
[Sally: Connect us asap, okay?]
[Chuck: Of course. Stay safe.]
Exhaling through her nose, she felt a bit better now. Just having the line through to Chuck was enough. A bit more power and she could have the Outsiders guild Chat on the go… but that might be too distracting. Theo and Chuck would be enough until she was more situated in the world.
She stepped over behind Poppy as the three of them walked over to the stairs. Stopping by the chest, she looked over at the others to wait for them to reach the first step. With Claude’s nod, she opened it up.
[180 Gold]
[Unidentified Armor (2)]
[Healing Potion (3)]
[Blank Scroll]
Not terrible. She’d give them a better look over once she was back at the Keep. Getting Virgil back safe was the most important thing right now - so she caught them up. Hit her regeneration again just for the habit of it. Her body ached, but most of the effects of the hornet juice had sunk away. Her zombie one could stay down here.
They ascended slowly, taking each step one at a time so as to not jostle the injured man much. He looked in a terrible state, still pale from the blood loss. But, after a handful of patient minutes, they saw the daylight from the overcast sky and stepped out of the Dungeon.
She allowed herself to relax a little. Odd how the darkness of the Dungeon had weighed so much on her mood, and stepping out into fresh air was rather-
Pain flared in her back, and she took an awkward step forward before stabilizing.
“You killed Virgil, you bitch.”
She turned an exhausted glare back toward Kenny, who was slowly losing what angered confidence he had assailed her with, letting go of the weapon buried in her back.
“Nice dagger,” she said, blood running from the side of her mouth. “It’s mine now.”