Thankfully, the first of the higher-tier Classers began to return that evening. Neither Ari nor Felix was among the first group to arrive, leaving Jake and the others at a loss for what to do.
The arriving Classers gave no details of what they’d been doing, but they did pass on that more people would be arriving the next day.
With nothing he could do in the short term, Jake turned in for the evening, hoping that it wouldn’t take too long for Ari or Felix to return.
-**-
Alan joined them again for their morning run the next day. The Scholar was putting in some decent work to his fitness now, which was encouraging.
Jake would be trying to maintain a steady rate of delving when they reached this new town, so it was reassuring to see the others pushing themselves as well.
With no sign of Ari or Felix, Alan and the others were keen to press on and run the Dungeon again, and Jake had no good reason to say no. They’d already agreed to move on soon. Pushing for anything more would look suspicious.
They gathered together and made a quick stop at Ivaldi’s to deposit their Wyrdgeld. The tithe to do so cost Jake seven Wyrdgeld, which was painful, but it was better than risking losing all his progress.
A few more runs with good payouts would let him get to the next rank, but the others would be reaching rank five after this run. That meant that Jake would be two full ranks behind them for the next dive, and it would only get worse in the future.
Pushing it all aside for the moment, Jake focused on what mattered today. Testing his new ability.
Triggering his status as they walked over to the Dungeon, Jake reread it one last time to make sure he was understanding everything correctly.
Name - Jake Khesh
Patron Deity - The Great Dungeon
Class - Dungeon Noble - Squire
Tier - I
Rank - III
Dungeon Network - 1
Plexus Strength - Minor
Plexus Manifestations - 1/1
Plexus Points - 2
Plexus Boons
Hidden Fang - I - Granted by the Holrswar Dungeon, this Boon allows you to Manifest a dagger with inherent poisonous properties. Using the dagger, summoning it and dismissing it all draw on the power held within it on Manifestation.
The manifestation point had come back overnight, which was a relief, so Jake felt free to experiment somewhat. Interestingly, there was a new attribute in his status for Plexus Strength, which had appeared since he bound the first Dungeon.
Focusing on it gave Jake the sense that it represented how much power was held within his manifestations. He didn’t really have a guide for how much his new boon used, but it was good to know the amount could increase.
“Does the Dungeon feel a little different today?” Alan asked as they made their way through the doors, bringing Jake’s attention back to what they were doing.
“Not that I can tell,” Rhew said with a shrug. “What about you, Jake?”
“Nope, seems perfectly normal to me,” Jake said tightly as he picked up the pace toward the stairs. “Come on, let’s get started.”
Thankfully, his poor attempt at acting normal was covered by their entrance to the first floor, and they quickly settled into their normal routine.
Nepthys was able to work better with Jake and Karl now that they’d had a chance to practice, and the group set what felt like a record pace through the first three floors.
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
The fourth floor was a touch slower as they dealt with all the hidden enemies, but in no time, they were stepping into the Challenge room once more.
They all moved smoothly into place as Nepthys activated the Challenge, and the monsters emerged.
There was some slight variation between attempts, but in general, the number of monsters and where they came from was the same.
Knowing the rough idea of where the monsters would be let Alan use his enhanced perception to start picking off krok flies before Jake could even see them.
The attacking wave of rats came as normal, with Jake, Karl and Nepthys pulling back from the ramp as the murk hound came bounding out of the darkness.
With Nepthys’s ability to create shields and Karl’s empowered strikes, the huge rat was quickly beaten back, leaving Jake without the chance to test out his new boon.
It was an oddly frustrating moment for Jake. He was pleased by how easily they were dealing with the Enhanced monster, but he was eager to test the dagger.
With the murk hound dispatched, they gathered their loot and swiftly advanced to the fifth floor.
“Same as last time?” Karl asked as they emerged into the dark cavern.
“May as well, it worked well enough last time,” Rhew said, eyeing the darkness warily as she spoke.
Copying the same formation as last time, they began to make their way through the cavern, slowing down and grouping up as they reached the halfway point.
Mere moments later, the two murk hounds came charging out of the darkness, one at each end of the group.
Eager to test his boon, Jake charged right at the rat that was coming his way, throwing his shield at its face as he did.
The wooden shield thunked into the rat’s head, distracting it just long enough for Jake to dart to one side and slash along its flank with his sword.
The mundane steel sword did little to the hide of the murk hound, and was completely ineffectual at cutting its thick fur.
The murk hound snapped at Jake but was moving too quickly to be able to catch him as it went past. Skidding to a halt, it turned and leapt back towards Jake with a snarl.
Jake’s new dagger took a few heartbeats to form when he called for it, so by the time the rat was pouncing at him, he was armed with both sword and dagger.
Backpedalling from the Enhanced monster, Jake dodged a vicious swipe of its paw before darting in and striking out at its face with his sword.
Instinctively, the murk hound lifted its snout to protect its eyes from his sword, the steel blade cutting slightly into the side of its jaw.
Twisting and driving forward with his other hand, Jake drove the curved dagger up into the exposed underside of the murk hound’s jaw.
The Wyrd-conjured blade sank into the tough hide of the beast with ease, penetrating up through the jaw and into its skull. At the same time, Jake could see the flesh around the blade dying as the poisonous essence of the dagger went to work.
Banishing the dagger with a flex of his will, Jake scampered back to avoid the death throws of the huge rat as blood gushed from the wound.
A wild grin spread across Jake’s face as he saw the proof of his new power in front of him. He might be falling behind in ranks, but boons like this would definitely help make up the difference.
The manifestation Jake had used to create the Hidden Fang dagger still had power remaining, though Jake had used almost a third of what it held.
Admittedly, he’d needed a lucky hit to take down the murk hound, but he had a feeling that the poison it used would have been quite effective regardless.
“Jake!” Rhew called out, drawing his attention to where the others were fighting a small group of krok flies. “You okay?”
“Yeah, I’m good,” Jake called back as he jogged over, reaching them just moments after Alan picked off the last slow-moving bug.
“Good job with the murk hound,” Karl said, wiping some of the blood off his hammer as he gave Jake an impressed look. “You’ll be able to earn a striking Skill in no time at this rate.”
“Yeah, hopefully,” Jake said, letting some of his excitement bubble to the surface as they gathered themselves and went over to the end of the floor.
“Hang on, why are there two?” Alan asked as they came to where the door out should be.
Unlike the last time they were here, there were now two doors side by side. The door on the left was a light grey and had etchings of a grassy plain on it, while the other was a darker grey with what looked like stalagmites carved into it.
“This has to be one going down, right?” Karl motioned to the darker door.
“The Dungeon seems to have tiered up. This would be the entrance to the sixth floor and the start of the next tier,” Nepthys said calmly, her face betraying none of her thoughts as Rhew, Karl and Alan began to excitedly talk amongst themselves.
None of the three were determined to continue their delve, but Jake could tell that they were all considering it.
“I don’t think we should go any further,” Jake said, cutting into the discussion before it could go too far. “We’re barely managing this floor, and the next tier will likely be much harder. I’d rather get out with my Wyrdgeld.”
“I’m not rich enough that I can throw away this much Wyrdgeld, that’s for sure,” Rhew said, moving over to stand next to the lighter-coloured door. “I say we head back.”
To Jake’s relief, Karl and Alan were quick to agree, and they all made their way back out of the Dungeon.