Jake stepped out into the heart of the Dungeon. A statement that rang true in his mind as soon as he thought it.
For all that his mind felt cloudly, Jake had done this part enough to know his role by rote.
The Dungeon’s Throne was a welcome comfort as Jake rested the back of his head against the cool metal, part of him absently feeling it mould itself to his shape and support his weight.
Congratulations, Jake Khesh, you have bound the Dungeon Engans Deja. Choose from one of the four rewards the Dungeon has selected for you.
The four pedestals glowed with potential, their promise enough to tempt Jake out of the cool embrace of the Throne as the normal rush of power flowed through him.
Starting at the left, Jake made his way along the row, examining each one and getting a rough understanding of what was on offer. Unsurprisingly, each was based around ducks and other waterfowl but varied heavily in how useful they were.
Jake tried to consider the options logically, but his mind was foggy, and he was struggling. He needed some time out of the Dungeon and some coffee.
None of the three seemed that great, and Jake found himself leaning more and more toward taking the increase of power that would allow him to manifest his Boons more often.
Reaching out to that pedestal, Jake paused as the middle option began to glow more brightly. It wasn’t much, but it had never happened before.
Going back to it, Jake felt the whispers in his mind speak of summoning an ally, one like those he’d already fought but stronger. The image was of a duck standing in a pool of shadow, which didn’t exactly sell it to him, but there was something odd here.
The whispers were normally distant and unfeeling, but this time, they felt excited to tell him about this Boon.
“Dungeon?” Jake asked aloud, his voice echoing strangely in the room before fading to silence.
Jake waited a moment longer before shaking his head, he was sure that this was the Dungeon talking to him, but clearly they couldn’t communicate so directly.
“I hope you know what you’re doing,” Jake muttered, not sure if he was talking to himself or the Dungeon as he reached out and claimed the summoning Boon.
A distant melodious quack echoed in Jake’s mind as he took the Boon, and he quickly conjured his status to examine what it did.
Plexus Boons
Hidden Fang - II - Granted by the Holrswar Murk 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.
Orchard’s Gift - II - Granted by the Aptofir Veranis Dungeon, this Boon allows you to Manifest an apple infused with vitality. Ingesting the apple transfers this vitality, healing and sating the hunger of its consumer.
The Mighty Drake - I - Granted by the Engans Deja Dungeon, this Boon allows you to Manifest Moby, a mighty drake, to aid you. The Manifestation is consumed in maintaining Moby’s presence, not his actions.
Plexus Development - II - This Boon may only be increased in rank by choosing it at additional Dungeons, but it has no cap on its rank level. Increases Manifestations available by one per rank. Granted by the Haugask Deja and Wilfek Murk Dungeons.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
“It summons a duck,” Jake said flatly, rubbing his face again as he held a sigh in. He’d been hoping that the glow had meant that the Boon was better than it had seemed.
Feeling somewhat cheated, Jake shook his head and left. They still had to run this Dungeon several more times today, and he wanted every minute of rest he could to do it.
-**-
To Jake’s relief, Felix’s Trait helped clear out any lingering issues from the geese and the grebe. He also managed to avoid discussing the Boon he got, and he wasn’t sure which of the two was more of a relief.
Once they were ready, they attempted the Dungeon once more. Prepared and forewarned, they sailed through the first few floors without issue. While irritating, the monsters within the Dungeon were far less dangerous than others they’d fought.
Jake used his wand almost as much as his sword, doing his best to target any geese that he saw as a priority. They had a tendency to dip under the water to hide if they weren’t already moving, which Jake found incredibly frustrating.
Alan could use his perception Skill to pick them out, but Jake only had the soul sight they’d been shown how to use, and monsters had no souls.
When they got to the Guardian floor, they did the same as last time, but this time, Alan kept his focus on the grebe and picked it off before it could ensnare any of them.
It was a solid improvement on the last time, and with Felix’s reassurance that he would purchase all the fish, Rhew wasn’t as frustrated with it.
Jake didn’t know why Rhew got so fixated on money, but considering his own secrets and how they were impacting everyone, he didn’t feel like he was in a position to push.
-**-
“Guys, do you mind if I try something with the grebe?” Alan asked as they reached the Guardian floor at the end of their third delve.
“What do you have in mind?” Jake asked, leaning against the surprisingly comfortable hedge wall as he took the opportunity to rest a little. While this Dungeon wasn’t as demanding as the last one, he knew that he wouldn’t be stopping with the others and would need every last bit of effort that he could find to make it to the end.
“Well, I’ve been practising what Felix explained, and I think I can finally make an infused attack with my bow,” Alan said, somewhat hesitantly, blushing slightly as they all praised his efforts.
“That’s amazing, Alan. Well done!” Rhew enthused, clapping her hands together excitedly. “How do you do it?”
“Well, Felix told me about how the Wyrd needs to be stable in the object you infuse, and I think I’ve come up with something that works. I want to test it on the grebe, and see what happens. If that’s okay?”
“Works for me,” Jake said with a slight shrug, the sentiment echoed by both Karl and Rhew. They knew they could deal with the grebe normally if it didn’t work, so there wasn’t much risk involved.
Alan perked up and hurried through the ivy door to the final floor of the Dungeon, drawing an arrow as he went.
Following the excited Scholar, the rest of them moved to their usual positions and waited patiently as Alan focused on the arrow he’d drawn before eventually nocking it and letting out a steadying breath.
Jake was expecting some sort of comment or warning from Alan, but he simply took aim and released in one smooth motion.
Grey energy played along the arrow as it cut through the air, and Alan let out a shout of victory as it plunged into the grebe’s chest, going deep enough that only its tail feathers were visible.
Enhanced or not, the grebe was not a tough combat monster, and a strike like that was simply too much for it.
With the main threat dealt with, they defeated the rest of the monsters in record time, Alan’s success buoying their spirits and giving them fresh energy.
That energy kept them going into a fourth joint delve, but that was where the other three bowed out, leaving just Jake to carry on with Felix.
Thankfully, Felix didn’t push Jake on what reward he’d gotten from the Dungeon, so he didn’t have to own up to his new ability to summon a duck. Even thinking about it made Jake scowl in annoyance; he felt like the Dungeon had cheated him out of a more useful increase in his Manifestations.
Eventually, he’d conjure it, just to confirm the truth with his own eyes, if nothing else, but right now, he had a better use for his Manifestations, his dagger was the only way he could reliably kill the grebe when working alone.
Infusing his sword would work, but the dagger had a good chance of killing the grebe no matter where it struck. Besides, he needed all his Wyrd for his wand.
This Dungeon was the toughest for a solo delver of the ones Jake had tried, but he imagined that higher-tier classers had ways to protect themselves against things like the honking of the goose or the grebe’s hypnotic ruff.
Sadly, Jake lacked any of those protections, which made each delve an exercise in frustration. Thankfully, though, he had plenty of targets on which to work out that frustration.
After the third solo delve, Jake had used up his Manifestations in daggers and apples, so he called an end to it. He had no desire to experience the humiliation of being killed by a bunch of waterfowl.