Zack was surprised that, when they opened the doors the next day, there were actually groups of people waiting for to be let in. Just beyond the doors to his lobby, multiple cars were parked in anticipation. Alex ushered them all in happily, welcoming them to the adventure of a lifetime.
From what Zack could glean, there were two parties. The first was a group of four, consisting of kids in their late teens and their accompanying parent. The second group consisted of three people: one was dressed in overly vibrant blue robes and carried a staff, the second was dressed in a more traditional ninja’s garb. The third was dressed in a long trench coat, fingerless gloves, and a trilby hat. All three members of the second group were out of shape and covered in acne scars.
Oddly enough, though, the trench-coat wearing man had a ridiculously long katana slung over his shoulder. It had to be nearly five feet long, and the scabbard practically dragged along the ground behind him. Its handle was equally ridiculous, being almost two feet long. He was the first person to approach Chandra, who had erected her drawing table to serve as their new point-of-sale kiosk.
“Hello, fair maiden. My companions and I have a reservation for the noon run of yon dungeon,” the man said, tipping his trilby in greeting to Chandra.
For her part, Chandra managed to stifle a snarl. As usual, she was in her werewolf form. Zack could only remember seeing her in her human form when she had to leave the dungeon, and assumed she liked being a wolf when society didn’t force her to be something else. “Name?” She asked, her voice dripping with the usual contempt retail workers felt towards customers.
“It should be under Seth E. Ross, m’lady,” the man said, tipping his trilby again.
Chandra checked the schedule. “Yup, right here. It says you were scheduled as a party of four?”
“Ah, yes. Unfortunately our lady friend couldn’t make it, so we will be running yon dungeon ourselves on this fair day.”
The wizard looking fellow in Seth’s group looked equally upset by this development, though he didn’t say anything about it to Chandra. The ninja, on the other hand, crossed his arms contemptuously.
“I told you she wouldn’t come,” the ninja grumbled.
“It was worth a shot!” the wizard insisted.
Chandra glanced from Seth to his two friends and back again. “The cost is thirty dollars per person. Will that be cash or card?”
“Card, m’lady. You can put it on mine,” Seth said. He pulled a black and red wallet out of his pocket—attached to his jeans via a chain, of course—and extracted a credit card from within.
Chandra quickly punched some numbers into her point of sale app and swiped the card in the cube shaped card reader. When it prompted her for a signature, she turned the tablet to Seth for him to sign.
“Please proceed into the armoury, where you will hear the rules and receive any gear should you need them. Have fun,” Chandra said, her mouth a straight line.
“You know, m’lady, you would look so much prettier if you smiled,” the ninja said, as both Seth and the wizard turned to the armoury.
The ninja yelped as Chandra flashed her fangs at him, and ran to keep up with his friends. While she turned to talk to the next group, Zack spawned a wisp to follow Seth’s party. He was interested to see how they performed in the dungeon.
Greg was waiting for them by the forge, dressed in what was deemed appropriate smithing attire. He wore a white t-shirt and jeans beneath a heavy leather apron, and boots to match. Despite his noticeable muscles, the three would-be adventurers didn’t seem impressed by him.
“Hello, brave adventurers. I am Grog,” Greg said, reciting a script that Alex had written for him. “If you’re in need of equipment, I can provide what I can.”
“Pfft, we don’t need any of your trash gear,” the ninja scoffed. He drew a pair of knives from his sides and crouched in a combat stance. “We have our nihonjin steel to guide us.”
Again, Zack stared at the monstrous sword hanging off Seth’s back.
“Weebs,” Greg muttered under his breath.
“What was that?” The ninja demanded.
“Nothing, brave adventurer. If you have no need of my wares, you may proceed into the dungeon at your leisure. First, though, I would tell you of our rules.”
The rules were all standard stuff. No running, no fighting each other, and treat any injury as though it were serious. The end goal wasn't for people to die, but to have fun and come back again later. Of the three, the only one who seemed to take the rules seriously was the wizard. He listened to Greg with rapt attention, while the ninja checked his knives to dull edges. Seth stood off to the side, leaning against a wall with his arms crossed. He looked more bored than anything.
Statisfied, the ninja ran through the door that would leading into the meadow. The wizard stopped to inquire about the healing potions, noticing them sitting on the shelf beside the forge. Greg explained that they were allowed one potion per person for free, but extras would cost ten dollars. The wizard eagerly accepted a potion for himself, while Seth took his, and promptly handed it to his friend. The ninja was already gone and didn't bother returning for his.
Greg shared a confused look with Zack’s wisp, but neither commented on the strange decision. Finally equipped for their delve, the trio of peculiar adventurers stepped properly into the meadow.
“Welcome, brave adventurers, to the Dire Meadow! Within this idyllic range, a terrible beast lurks. Your quest, should you choose to accept it, is to hunt down and slay this dreaded creature. Be warned, brave warriors, that it will not be undefended. The monster’s fellows lurk around every corner, ready to pounce upon those unsuspecting and unprepared!”
The flavour text was again written by Alex, who seemed to have a decent head on his shoulders for coming up with fun dialog. Zack recited it from his wisp, as was required of him, while hovering above the trio. They looked at him in surprise, having not noticed he was following them.
To his shock, the ninja extracted a shuriken from his uniform and hurled it at the hovering sphere of mana. Being a construct of pure energy, the projectile sailed right through Zack and dug into the wall with a satisfying thunk. Zack promptly absorbed it, adding the pattern to his collection.
“Hey!” the ninja exclaimed, as he watched his thrown star disappear. “The wall just ate my shuriken! Those things are expensive!”
“Then you should be more careful with how you use them,” the wizard snorted.
The ninja glowered at his companion, and crossed his arms. Seth, not one to be shown up, took a step into the tall grass. Almost immediately, a horned rabbit dove out to attack him.
“Forsooth, compatriots! We’re under attack!” Seth exclaimed. He leapt away from the bunny without bothering to draw his weapon.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
The wizard was on it in an instant. With staff in hand, he started channeling aether through his hands and into his weapon. When he flourished the rod, a lance of ice shot from the tip and impaled the bunny in the head.
“Critical hit!” the wizard exclaimed. “Take that!”
“It’s a rabbit, that’s not impressive,” the ninja grumbled. He twirled his knives and scouted the area, searching for fresh prey. He found it quick enough, as two more rabbits dove out of the tall grass to attack him. Despite his heavy appearance, he was surprisingly dexterous and agile. A quick dodge to avoid the first bunny, before plunging his knife into its back.
Just at it seemed the second bunny was about to gore him, another bolt of ice knocked it away.
“Two to one,” the wizard teased. “Keep up, Gene!”
“I told you not to call me that!” Gene protested. “It’s Josuke!”
“Whatever!”
Gene grumbled in frustration, then wheeled to look for more monsters to fight. He spotted the carnations not too far away, and crouched in the grass to sneak up on them. Zack was startled to see the ninja turn partially invisible as he did so, and a quick examination revealed why.
[Camouflage: Level 2]
[Spell, Shadow]
[You are able to partially conceal yourself. The higher the level, the more effective this spell.]
Despite still being partially visible, Gene was successfully able to sneak up on the carnation. His daggers bit into its neck, severing the flower from the rest of its body. It died almost instantly, flailing about and smacking the ninja across the chest with thorny vines. Gene didn’t seem to mind the blow, and a quick glance at his health confirmed that he hadn’t taken damage.
“I guess your costume is armored,” Zack muttered to himself.
“Suck it, Kevin!” Gene said, turned and pointing a blade at the wizard triumphantly.
“I-I told you! It’s Kevonimere the Wise!” the wizard insisted.
“And I told you it’s Josuke! Neither of us are getting what we want!”
While his two friends argued and fought, Seth seemed content to stand back and observe. The only time Zack caught him moving was when he kited a stray bunny away from Kevin and back over to Gene. That enormous sword remained sheathed and over his shoulder. Zack couldn’t help wonder if maybe Seth didn’t know how to fight, but a quick glance at his level proved anything but.
Unlike Gene and Kevin, both of whom were around level 3, Seth was a whopping level 10. That struck Zack as odd, considering how Alex insisted that fighting wild monsters was illegal. Seth didn’t have a status tattoo that Zack could see, either—though it might be hidden beneath those gaudy fingerless gloves.
As the others cleared the room, Seth just stood around and watched. When the last monster fell, Kevin was quick to top up his health with one of his potions, while Gene was content to sit on his knees and meditate. Judging from the thin fibers of mana connected to their heads, Zack guessed both of them were nearing a breakthrough. They might even reach it in the fight with Thumper.
“I expect the next room has the boss in it,” Seth said, stepping up to the curtain of vines. “I’ll admit, I’ve thus far failed to be impressed with this purported dungeon. The boss shall make or break my opinion.”
Zack flinched. If Seth’s entire opinion of his dungeon hinged on Thumper, he was going to be severely disappointed.
“It’s probably going to be lame,” Gene scoffed, rising from his meditative stance. “All the monsters in this room were weaklings. There’s no way the boss is any different.”
“Still, it wouldn’t pay not to be cautious. You two wait here. I will fight the boss myself,” Seth said.
“Are you sure? Shouldn’t we provide back up?” Kevin asked.
“At least let me tag the thing so I can get some experience,” Gene added.
Zack rolled his metaphoric eyes. “Not how that works,” he wanted to say.
“Fine. You two tag it with ranged attacks, then get out of the way,” Seth said. He casually unslung his monstrous katana and gripped the scabbard with his left hand.
From the way his friends shuddered, Zack was expecting to see a real show.
The three adventurers shuffled nervously into the boss room. Thumper was doing his thing, camouflaging into the grass. Seth looked around the room, but when he failed to spot the boss, he turned to Kevin and nodded.
Kevin raised his staff into the air and channeled his aether. When the butt of his rod tapped the ground, a shockwave of ice erupted across the surface. Thumper squeaked in surprise as the grass was blown aside, exposing him in the now frost-covered room.
“Found you,” Gene shouted, hurling a trio of shuriken with surprising precision. The stars bit into Thumper’s flank as he tried and failed to dodge. “Tagged him. Seth, do your thing.”
Seth’s lips pulled back in a sinister grin. Then, to Zack’s surprise, he started singing. “Burning inside with violent anger. Fate—monstrous and empty. Come, o' come, death by my blade.”
With his free hand, Seth grabbed his sword by the handle. With speed that seemed impossible for a human to muster, he dashed for Thumper. In the second he moved, he extracted a foot of steel from his scabbard and rammed Thumper in the head with the butt of his hilt. The dire hare recoiled from the strike, which sent him sprawling into the grass.
“Glory! Glory! Glorious!”
Before the hare could even rise back to his feet, Seth had finished extracting his insanely long weapon. It seemed to exceed even the length of the scabbard, the steel singing as he pulled it free. With a surprisingly fluid motion, he cleaved down while infusing the blade with blood-red aether. Steel flashed, and Zack gasped in horror as Thumper was split in two down the middle.
“Seth E. Ross,” Seth finished, sheathing his sword again.
“Oh my god, he was singing his own theme song!?” Zack blurted, remembering at the last second not to vibrate his threads of mana lest the delvers hear him.
Both Kevin and Gene clapped for Seth, and he bowed graciously like an actor on stage. Zack reabsorbed Thumper, grumbling about how unimpressive his dire hare had been in the face of such a powerful adventurer. Unsurprisingly, neither of the others reached the breakthrough they needed to level up. In fact, from the way the threads of mana around their heads were fading, Zack guessed they were further away from a breakthrough now than they were before. If they had fought Thumper without Seth, it was very likely they could have leveled up.
It wasn’t for him to say that, of course. Just because he knew the secret to leveling up didn’t mean he was supposed to share it with customers. In fact, Alex was very clear to him that he didn’t want that information shared. Something about drawing university attention.
“You’d think there would be loot or something,” Gene grumbled, parting the grass with his foot as he studied the space where Thumper’s corpse had vanished. “Dungeons in video games always have loot.”
Zack still hadn’t figured out the best way to handle loot yet, but he didn’t begrudge Gene the criticism. The best he could do, though, was blast a victory fanfare from his wisp and spawn a few of Gene’s shuriken. He made them from a mixture of aluminum and iron, instead of steel, which made them lighter than Gene’s other shurikens while maintaining their hardness. At least, that’s what he hoped they did.
“That’s lame. Just some new shurikens for Ge—Josuke? What about the rest of us?” Kevin asked, crossing his arms in frustration.
“You got that healing potion for free, right? Aren’t those things expensive as hell?” Seth pointed out.
“Oh, yeah, you’re right,” Kevin said, pulling his last remaining potion out of his pocket.
Since they were so difficult to make, Zack hadn’t bothered to add a lifetime to the potions he spawned. With a sword, it didn’t cost him extra mana. The pattern was simple and easy to work with. Potions, on the other hand, were far more complex. If he wanted to alter the makeup without changing the effect, he would have to experiment.
Sighing in defeat, he spawned another lesser healing potion beneath his wisp, right in Kevin’s awaiting hand.
“There you go, more loot,” Seth said, patting Kevin on the shoulder.
As the trio of adventurers turned and swaggered out, Zack sealed the boss room behind them to reset it in preparation of the next group. They hadn’t used their full hour time slot, which meant they could get the next party in early. Zack was already forming ideas for how he can improve the meadow for future runs, or at the very least make it more interesting for higher-level adventurers. He had to admit, he hadn’t anticipated an adventurer like Seth wandering in and wiping out his boss in a single blow.
This would take some experimentation, to say the least.
Back in the lobby, Alex ushered the next party into the armoury as Seth’s group stepped out. Seth tipped his trilby to the adult guiding the kids, before stepping up to Chandra again.
“Greetings, m’lady. It would seem my party and I hath successfully completed yon dungeon,” he said, once more bowing dramatically for her.
Chandra pulled out her phone. “Great job, guys. Since you successfully completed a run, you get to take a picture for our wall of winners.”
“Oh, where is this wall?” Gene asked, looking around curiously.
“On our website and Picstagram.”
“Oh.”
“If you want to stand outside our front entrance, by the sign? Feel free to strike a pose,” Chandra said, leading the trio of would-be warriors out of the lobby to have their photo taken.
As they left, Alex exited the armoury and ran over to the desk. He leaned over Zack’s core and whispered. “How did they do?”
“Too well,” Zack answered, keeping his voice quiet so nobody else could hear him. “That Seth guy? He’s a monster. I need to think of ways to offer a proper challenge to guys like him.”
“I was thinking the same thing. Maybe we should have multiple dungeons that could be run at the same time?” Alex suggested.
“Maybe, but I don’t think that’s the best solution. Give me a bit to work on it, I’ll think of something,” Zack said.
Just then, Chandra returned, a disgusted look on her face.
“Something wrong?” Alex asked.
“That Seth guy asked me for my phone number,” Chandra shuddered, before plopping herself back behind the desk.