Gary woke me up an hour early to get back to our daily spear drills before the rest of the team woke up. I focused on flowing from one move to the next and found it easier than usual, likely due to the shorter spear being a better fit for my body type. The hour passed quickly and we ate a quick meal before we walked to the edge of the Bloodfields.
“So do we have a plan for the day?” Aaron asked as we stopped just in front of the dense tree cover. I glanced around and saw everyone looked just as excited as I felt. All of us wanted to reach level 3 as fast as possible.
“I don’t think we should go any deeper than the dungeon we cleared, but if we can find one around that distance I’m willing to go for it,” Gary said. We made our way back into the forest and I found myself slowly slipping back into the alert state that I had learned to maintain over our last expedition. It was a few minutes before we came upon a patrol; three goblins and a warg that we didn’t bother to try an ambush. The fight went swiftly with a Drill shot killing the warg instantly and a Thornbolt taking out one of the goblins. Zack and Gary finished off the two remaining goblins and Aaron quickly looted the wargs' fangs while I checked for coins.
“That felt almost too easy. I didn’t even have time to cast a Firebolt,” Gabrielle complained about her arms crossed as I checked the last goblin. I let out a wry chuckle and nodded.
“Let’s pick up the pace, then,” Gary stated, before leading us deeper through the dark red tree cover. We passed a few more patrols with no more trouble than the first and two hours passed in a flash as we made our way further into the bloodfields. Finally, we heard something different in the distance.
“It sounds almost like dozens of wargs, howling and yelping away. Wait here and I’ll scout closer,” Aaron said after we all stopped to try to make out what was causing the noise. I stood with my body partially hidden behind one of the large trees while I peered around the forest, the constant noise causing goosebumps to spread across my arms. Aaron returned a few minutes later with a grin.
“It’s a huge cave, looks like it could even be a dungeon, but I’m not sure. At least eight wargs are laying about outside and I saw two returning from the forest while I watched. No goblins that I could see, though.” he explained and I felt my heart start to beat faster. Is it a dungeon full of wargs this time? At least every warg we kill would be worth 5 coppers from their fangs alone, unlike the goblins who only occasionally have some coppers in a pouch.
“That’s different. None of the adventurers we’ve spoken to have dealt with a dungeon like that, right?” Gary asked the group.
“It’s not like we’ve talked to too many other adventurers, though,” I replied honestly. After working with that team during our last expedition I felt discouraged from meeting other adventurers around our level, not wanting to get attached in case they died. It sounded cold when I said it like that in my head, but there’s no doubt that it was true.
“That’s true, but keep in mind it could be because this warg den is rare or more difficult than the goblin camps. Be prepared for a tough fight, if there are eight wargs we could have trouble holding them off Aaron and Gabrielle. Let’s keep a tighter formation than usual with Eli up front holding the left flank. Go ahead and give us all Barkskin and then let’s move out.” Gary quickly decided on a plan of action.
“Barkskin,” I finished casting on all five of us and gauged how many Thornbolts I could cast with my remaining essence as we stalked closer. I felt like I had slightly less than half of my essence remaining, and I could cast 10 Thornbolts at level 1. I haven’t tested it since reaching level 2, which I quickly started to regret as we made our way closer, but I’d plan on being able to cast four times. I passed the last few trees beside Gary and saw a wide clearing without any tree cover. There was a small hill with a wide cave about halfway up the hill. Some wargs had already noted us exiting the forest and started rushing down towards us without any care for strategy. I held off on using any more essence unless they rushed us in a larger group. A Drill Shot whistled over my shoulder before impacting one a few meters away from reaching us with a bang.
“Keep an eye out behind us, let’s move forward so we’re not right against the edge of the forest,” Zack said after he bashed the other warg into the ground. We jogged forwards to meet another pair of wargs as they sprinted down the hill into a firebolt from Gabrielle. Zack and Gary quickly finished them off as they stumbled and yelped from the flames. Four more wargs rushed at us and I sent two Thornbolts into one as it got close, the second one piercing deeper into its skull which sent it silently to the ground. I glanced around and snorted lightly as I saw none of the last four even made it to us, two corpses riddled with arrows and the last speared through the torso after Gary Charged it.
“Well that was probably easier than the goblin camp,” I said as we all calmed down once we saw no more wargs nearby. Aaron walked off to grab his arrows and start cutting off the warg fangs.
“Well, imagine if we all used melee weapons.” Zack started with a thoughtful expression, “that would be a tough fight without you three to thin them out before they could reach us.”
“I never want one of those things to get close to me again, my leg still hurts from that bite. I’m going to have a nasty scar once it finishes healing.” Gabrielle said with a grimace.
“At least they can’t use slingshots,” I said while I rubbed my waist. I could still feel the lingering bruise when I carried my pack. I pulled out my belt knife and helped Aaron with collecting the fangs and then pulled out the large sack we used during our last expedition to carry them. Almost two dozen warg fangs already, and this is our first day back. I could already see myself with a shiny new shield once we got back. We sat down a few meters away from the mouth of the cave to rest and wait for our essence to recover before we went inside. Gary stood up and looked around to make sure we were all ready, then started putting on his pack.
“Another Dungeon Core awaits!” Zack boomed out, making me jump and whirl around, grabbing my spear and looking for enemies. I cursed and focused on ignoring Aaron cackling at my reaction as we hiked up to the cave mouth. I reached the entrance and saw that the cave went straight for about thirty meters before it angled to the right and disappeared. It looked like a completely natural cave system so far, with none of the wooden features that the last dungeon showed.
A group of three wargs rested by some large stalagmites about halfway to the turn. I didn’t bother casting Barkskin or Thornbolt and decided to ration my essence now that we were inside and didn’t know what to expect. The wargs waited until we were ten meters away before one yelped, alarming the other two as it started growling and pacing towards us. An arrow appeared in its side, causing it to howl and stumble towards us as the other two started sprinting. I rushed forwards to intercept one, looking to get some practice with the short spear. A fireball crashed into it a few paces away from me and I took advantage of its pain and dashed forward to stab it through the neck. My spear sank through its skin surprisingly easily, courtesy of the new steel tip.
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“Good work, let’s keep moving,” Gary said after we finished looting. We moved forward, reached the bend in the cave, and saw a small cavern with blue, glowing moss spread across the walls and floor. I squinted my eyes while I tried to scan the room for monsters. I saw only stalagmites and no obvious exit in the cavern that was about half as large as the guildhall.
“Be on guard, let’s move around the edge,” Gary stated after nothing popped out at us. We started steadily walking around the room and passed by stalagmites twice as wide as Zack scattered throughout the room. As I stepped past a trio of stalagmites right before we reached the far wall of the cavern, a sharp skittering noise surprised me from behind. I jerked around and saw a huge beetle as tall as a pony and as wide as a carriage rushing towards Gabrielle. She reacted quickly despite the shock, sweeping her hand from her left to right.
“Wall of Flames.” she cast and spread two meter-high flames directly in its path. The beetle rushed right over the flames without any sign that they affected it.
“Charge!” Gary slammed into its side half a meter in front of Gabrielle, giving her time to rush backward and reposition.
“Thornbolt!” I cast as I rushed forward to reinforce Gary, seeing him having trouble piercing the thick carapace with his bronze-tipped spear. My spell slammed into the beetle, but only penetrated two or three inches into its dark red shell. The beetle swung its head at Gary and slammed the side of its pincers into him which sent him stumbling to the side. I stepped past him and stabbed into its mouth, right between its two pincers, and the beetle hissed in pain as my spear went deep into its mouth before I pulled it back out covered in green goop.
“Drill Shot!” Aaron belatedly used his ability, sending a loud boom echoing through the chamber as it penetrated deep into the beetle's side. Zack stepped forward and let out a shout as he slammed his mace into the side of the beetle's head, slamming its legs open and into the ground. I prepared to cast another Thonbolt if it moved again, but luckily it stayed still, its injuries finally managing to kill it.
“What is that thing!?” Aaron half yelled from where he was pressed against the wall a few meters back. I raised an eyebrow and looked at Zack, who let out a wide-eyed chuckle at his expense.
“My brother never told me about anything like these,” Gary said after a moment, grimacing as he studied the scratch his spear left on the tough outer shell.
“New dungeons and different types of monsters appear all the time, I’ve heard. Lucky us, I guess?” Gabrielle said in a shaky voice. I’m sure she didn’t feel too confident after seeing it walk right over her flames without care.
“Should we keep going? This might be tough if Gabrielle's skills won’t affect the giant beetle monsters.” I said, deciding not to mention Gary's spear. I’m sure he’s seriously missing his old spear, especially after he watched my short spear stab into it.
“Let’s clear the room. We’ll discuss it after. Barkskin, Eli?” Gary made a decision. I winced, realizing I probably should have prioritized casting Barkskin on the team rather than Thornbolt and my spear. I shrugged off the potential mistake and focused back on the situation, we were still in an uncleared room with more of them likely hidden somewhere.
“Barkskin.” I cast on all five of us and we got back into our formation and slowly continued on our path around the room. Five minutes of walking later we reached the other side of the tunnel entrance into the chamber after not finding anything else. In the center of the room, there was only a large group of stalagmites near center with a few others spread out leaving no room to hide. Gary led us straight to the center, following a patch of glowing moss. I followed slightly behind him and to his side, all the way to the patch in the center, finally we saw only a wide hole with glowing moss traversing down the sides hidden behind the stalagmites.
“Looks like a staircase to a lower level, let’s take a breather and recover Essence,” Gary said after he looked down to make sure nothing would come at us. I walked back over to the beetle, interested in if I could find out any more information about it. The monster had black pincers the length of my arms, huge multifaceted eyes, and a dark red carapace.
“You think there’s anything worth salvaging? The shell looks like it might be worth something.” Aaron wondered from my side. I raised my eyebrows and grabbed my knife from the sheathe at my hip. I tried to use my knife as a lever to pry off one of the 6-inch squares that made up the shell and gave up after a few seconds with no progress.
“Zack! Come help!” Aaron walked over towards the group and waved at Zack. If anyone could do it, it would be him. The rest of the team wandered over, curiosity showing on their faces.
“See if you can pry this off?” I asked once Zack reached my side, pointing at my knife sticking out of the beetle.
Aaron explained while Zack started on it, “We could take those to either an alchemist or a blacksmith back at Gorok. The guild might even buy them, it just wouldn’t be listed under the Bloodfields notices because they haven’t been seen here before.” Zack let out a grunt as he fell backward with the single piece of carapace clanging off the stone floor beside him.
“Easy!” Zack grinned and flexed his muscles, although it didn’t have the effect he was going for under the leather jerkin and heavy linen shirt.
“Great, only… About 40 more?” Aaron laughed and slapped him on the shoulder. Zack’s face fell and he looked at Gary with wide, pleading eyes. Gabrielle and I laughed at his expression and Gary smiled.
“Let’s get 5 of them for now, if there’s more of them deeper in the dungeon we can think about getting more. We don’t even know if they’re worth anything yet.” Gary decided before he clapped Zack on the shoulder with a laugh. I handed Zack my spear before he started with the knife again, the greater leverage and steel tip might work better. The next piece came off quickly with the spear and the rest of us left him to go wait by the stairs.
“So any plan if we have to fight more of these? I don’t think my flames will help at all,” Gabrielle said with a sigh.
“Aaron’s Drill shot, Zack's mace, and Eli’s spear all worked fairly well. We’ll keep our formation close in case they come from behind us again. If things get too tough we’ll just retreat and look for another dungeon. Tomorrow.” Gary said. I nodded, despite its large size and intimidating nature, it was nothing we couldn’t handle. Plus it was probably a great source of experience for the team. I had another ten minutes until my essence was fully recharged so I brought up my Status to check out the day's progress.
Eli - Lvl 2 Druid
Experience - 308\500
Strength-5
Dexterity-4
Perception-4
Vitality-5
Spirit-6
Willpower-6
Barkskin - Level 4\10 Upgradeable
Experience - 792\800
Thornbolt - Level 2\20 Upgradeable
Experience - 48\400
Another fight and I’d reach level 5 in Barkskin, not to mention we’d gained almost 100 experience today without even entering the dungeon portal. We only killed about a dozen wargs and a few patrols of goblins before this monster beetle.
“I think that beetle was worth about 30 experience!” I exclaimed, my jaw dropped in shock. The rest of my team stared at me before all of them opened their Status screens and checked my math. As far as I could tell wargs were usually worth between 3 and 4 experience each with goblins giving between 1 and 2.
“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I hope there are more giant beetles down there,” Aaron said with a mix of excitement and nausea spreading across his face. I started to put my pack back on and the group followed my lead since they were waiting on my essence to recover before we moved on. Gary led the way down the stairs and we followed in our usual formation one step behind. A few dozen steps later we entered another natural-looking stone tunnel with a large blue portal blocking the path a few meters away. I felt my pulse quicken as we stopped in front of it for a second, my thoughts going back to the last dungeon we conquered. Despite the danger, I felt drawn to challenge and push myself, half from the rewards of gaining levels and a half from knowing that I was putting my life at risk and coming out on the other side.