Blood pools from the Elder Goblin as Gordon removes his blade from its chest. Another of the monsters lies close by but has been reduced to cinders thanks to Felicity's magic.
Rian, the Vagabond whose level was once the highest in the group, is now second to their leader Gordon. Trailing by only a single digit, he also stands one number in front of the Fire Mage Felicity and is two levels in front of the latest addition to their party.
After being drilled by his companions to take their mentor Sophie's words to heart, Gordon recruited a healer to their team. Well, sort of a Healer. When she signed up, Gordon was under the impression that the Cleric would be a great addition to their party and as she fulfilled that role perfectly, nobody complained.
Jasmine, a blonde with high cheekbones and a gorgeous smile. A woman not adorned in the usual white garments that signify one's status as a Cleric.
Jasmine, dressed as black as night and as beautiful as its embrace, the type of clothing worn by those at the Royal Halls and others that work around town.
Jasmine, clever and wise, raised no suspicions from the three eager adventurers seeking a new party member. Not even the female Felicity, who could have easily misconstrued her arrival as a battle for dominance and a play for power on the chain of command.
Jasmine, the Necromancer. Born and bred on the streets of Varona, her time was spent healing under the eyes of Tilly and Anya.
Jasmine, member number four of Adventurer Party A, raises her arms and silently casts a spell. The scratches and burnt hair on Gordon's arm revert to new as she solidifies her status in their group.
Rian is a master of stealth and Felicity fights from range so neither of them needs Jasmine's aid as often as their tank does, but both are grateful for her presence as she saves them a fortune in potions.
The party have been pushing themselves against the Elder Goblins on floor 30. After fighting the Boss on the floor below and losing miserably - Obling being a sneaky, little bastard had almost killed them, the party decided to keep levelling and advance to the next tier before attempting the fight again.
Felicity is a High Mage who uses the fire element, but the Goblin Mage's magic is stronger than her own. That had been a blow to her confidence, but she had shaken it off and was now putting all her effort into every spell. Rian also couldn't breach the Mage's barrier. Even after mastering Shadow Step and having the ability to appear in their opponent's blind spot, the Goblin's defence was just higher than the Vagabonds' attack and he was unable to do damage. That was before Jasmine had joined their group.
"Yes," Gordon shouts, "level fucking forty."
"Congrats. I'm on the cusp of 39. I can feel it," Rian answers.
"Well done, Gordon. I'm still three levels away, but the progress we're making on this floor is good." Felicity smiles.
"Thanks, guys. How are you doing, Jasmine?" The Necromancer was inspecting the corpse on the floor and wasn't paying attention, but stood up after hearing Gordon call her name. Fidgeting with her robe as she did so.
"Erm... I'm fine, thank you?" Jasmine, the socially awkward Necromancer, turned around and crouched down, leaving Gordon standing there.
"OK. We're going to keep moving. Are you ready?" He asks as she prods the Elder Goblin. Its body convulses at her touch and stands up, still as dead as it was when it was laid on the ground.
"I will follow," she says toward the reanimated monster, her words meant for Gordon. So far, Jasmine has made eye contact with each member of Adventurer Party A once and that was the day she joined them. Since then she prefers to look anywhere other than into their eyes and her gaze generally settles on their feet.
Even with her quirkiness, the party doesn't find her strange. She is, after all, just one more oddball in a city full of beautiful weirdos and the party continues their grind on floor 30.
Gordon, Felicity and Rian, Adventurer Team A
Dungeon Stories Volume 4
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Light's face was quickly fixed up by our resident Cleric and the celebration lasted another hour. Not many people were drinking and letting loose other than Light. With the need to return to work as the day was still young, the majority of my family kept their minds fresh, uninhibited and focused.
And then we were done.
I watched as most of them ported back to Varona whereas a few headed to Orad and Tune. When they had left, only the triplets and Barry were left behind. The triplets I was expecting, any chance they get to put off attending the Coliseum by a few minutes they take, little rascals. Barry, on the other hand, I was not.
"What's up, Rockstar?" I ask before my eyes pick up on something I should have caught earlier. Coating Barry's star-filled body is a soft, blue glow, the light of evolution. I shouldn't be surprised - almost every member of my family has advanced at some point or another, but this will be my Mythril Golem's first evolution.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
Granted Barry was already a seventh-tier being when he was summoned, but this is a major accomplishment. It's taken him two years to amass enough experience - mainly because he and Colin are confined to the dungeon for safety reasons, but he's finally ready.
Hence why he's still in the clearing with me and the triplets.
"Well look at you," I smile. The large creature shuffles on the spot in bashful embarrassment making my heart flutter. He's so cute to say he can smash through walls like no one's business.
"Shall we start?" I ask and he nods excitedly, garbling Golem speech as he does.
I can't say that I'm not a little nervous. As the light coating his body shines brighter, his entire form starts to change. He shrinks smaller and smaller as the rocky appendages that square off his body alter drastically. They condense and tighten, sculpting themselves into muscle, giving his body and face defining features.
#!*%]¥ Error.
That's... Confusing? Or is it? The once plain, but still beautiful, Golem has a brand new look. One that's so indistinguishable from humans that, not only am I left speechless, but so too is Sis apparently.
Before I can think any further, Me ports back to the countryside location of our picnic. "It's been a while since that happened. What did you do this time?"
"Why do you assume it was me?" Putting on my best 'It wasn't me' face, I throw my arms up in fake frustration.
To which, Me slumps his shoulders and shakes his head. His go-to expression when it comes to all things me. I feel slightly foolish and a little embarrassed, but it's nothing new so I brush it off like crumbs from lunch.
"Quite," he raises a brow, exchanging glances between me and my Golem. The triplets are also looking at me, confusion written across their faces.
Bad Abi.
Telling lies is naughty.
"OK, OK. It was me," I concede begrudgingly, not wanting to be a bad example for the girls.
"Oh, I know it was you. There's no one else here that it could have been," he states the obvious and it's my turn to slump in resignation.
"To be fair though, Me. I didn't actually do anything weird this time. I was only evolving Barry as you can see." The Mythril Golem beside me is no longer made of the star-filled material. Ditching his old grooves, his colour now matches the light of evolution. All white, his body shines a soft blue. Black lines trace his joints and two more run across his forehead in the shape of a cross.
A new #¢$×@#& Summon has been unlocked.
Orichalcum Architect: 50,000DP
"That's a lot of points you're worth now, Barry. Damn near broke Sis while you were evolving too. Is she meant to do that, Me? I mean, she's always glitching out and shit." Before he could answer, someone else chimed in.
"I'm sorry, Master." Barry apologises as though he's done it thousands already and like it's the most natural thing in the world for him to do. He even performs the dungeon salute whilst doing so.
Well...
That's twice in ten minutes my jaw has hit the floor and I'm not alone this time. Me is sporting the same expression whereas the triplets are a mixture. Violet seems more interested in Bear and Amber has disappeared to find some leftovers. Bouncing on the spot with stars in her eyes, Blondie is the only Dragon interested in what's happening and obviously wants to talk with Barry.
Other than his pale, white skin, Mythril markings and lack of hair anywhere, Barry looks like a regular Tironian now so why wouldn't he be capable of speaking? That would be a better question. It's shocking because out of all the people and creations I've summoned, the Mythril Golem turned Orichalcum Architect was one of the first and, in all that time, hasn't uttered a single word.
Not an intelligible one anyway.
Hell, Barry wasn't even able to utilise the dungeon connection properly. All I ever got from him were mixed emotions. It was enough to help me understand what he needed, but still awkward, nonetheless.
"This isn't The System's fault. You keep creating weird things and changing the design parameters with your ideas. If anything, she's struggling to keep up with you." Me tries to defend his initial creator. Although, I could be classed as his co-creator as the body he's using to wag his finger was made by me. Plus, I'm pretty sure he said the word things isn't a good descriptor way back when. See how easy that is to fall into?
I almost feel bad for Sis after he defends her. Especially since I dumped her in charge of the Dragon Daycare and left her there, in fairness though, she has done a good job and I suppose she can be offered some relief now. Before that though, there's still the Orichalcum Architect to deal with.
"It's OK, Barry. Sis will be fine. I was only joking around. And when there's blame around, you can guarantee that Me's throwing it my way. So don't worry about that either. That said, you look fucking awesome. How do you feel?" Awesome doesn't actually do him justice. On his pale skin, black streaks of Mythril come together to form tattoos across his body.
"I feel... Different. Smaller, but stronger. I also feel faster and more flexible," he says while stretching out and pulling some poses. Thankfully, even though he isn't clothed, genitalia doesn't seem to have been involved in his evolution.
"You can also speak now too, so that's something. You're also an architect? I wonder if that's because of all the tunnels you carved with the maze. Not to mention those magma baths you've got kicking around. Now that I think about it, you're always creating things. I'm not surprised that Sis gave you a cool-ass evolution because of it. Seriously, if we weren't already outing ourselves as a dungeon, I'd be fine with you leaving the mountain as you are."
"I can be even more helpful now," he grins. I can't help but feel a little sad that's where his first thoughts go.
"You're already helpful enough. Seriously. You've been The Man since the beginning, Barry. Without you, Varona wouldn't be where it is now and we would definitely have missed all those refugees. I'm telling you, Barry, you don't need to do more. I know everyone has just eaten, but now that you can speak do you wanna visit Ali's?" Me shakes his head as I'm blatantly ignoring the whole error problem whilst Barry thinks over my offer.
The monstrous element of my family doesn't need to eat but can do if they so choose to. Certain conditions prevent that in some cases such as Golems for example. They have mouths, but that's about the extent of their anatomy. Behind their lips are nothing more than the element they're composed of and in Barry's case that would have been Mythril, no throat, no stomach, just a wall of Mythril inside his mouth.
Amber overheard me from three tables away and decided in a heartbeat that she still wasn't as full as she could be. It took her less than a second to arrive next to Barry, drooling at the thought of dinner at Ali's and as she did, the Golem's attention was stolen by Blondie. She waited patiently to talk to him and, now that he can finally answer, can't wait any longer to make another best friend.
Me stops caring and decides to stroke Bear instead, much to the approval of Violet. I don't know if it's the error message, or how soft Bear's fur is, but the latter seems more likely as he's turned his frown upside down.
Including the monster lover in my teleportation, I move us all to Ali's.
Off to show Barry what a good meal can do for the soul.