They set out an hour later with bulging packs and a warm meal in their stomachs. The innkeeper had seemed a little relieved to see them go, which told Jake that he’d known the potential danger they’d brought, but he’d made sure they had everything they needed.
The Dungeon on the map that Felix had shared with them had no classification or type listed next to it, so Jake had no idea what was waiting for them at the end of this little hike, but he liked that.
He was looking forward to binding a new Dungeon, if for no other reason than to get a new Boon. Of course, there was a good chance he wouldn’t get any options he wanted, but one more bound Dungeon would give him enough Plexus Points to rank up his Hidden Fang Boon.
The dagger that Boon created could already kill an Enhanced monster, and the poison it held was fast-acting and lethal. It was also only at rank two, which meant that it could get much, much more powerful.
A pleasant daydream played out in Jake’s mind as he imagined using the dagger on the next masked classer he came across. These Fatesworne were tough bastards, but so was Jake, and he was getting stronger every day.
-**-
They followed their usual pattern of travel, though Aspen and Gargan joined their training and exercise routines, and they added in a series of sparring matches.
Felix’s Skill allowed him to coat weapons with harmless Wyrd, blunting their hits, and to Jake’s surprise, it even worked on wands.
A strike from Gargan’s wand now felt like being hit with some pleasant warmth more than anything else, though seeing the flames coming toward him hadn’t been Jake’s favourite experience.
It took them a day and a half to reach their destination as they set a good pace through the countryside and Felix looked particularly pleased when they arrived at the edge of the Dungeon’s area with daylight left to them.
They could see the temporary housing of the Dungeon, though the buildings looked somewhat rundown and disused. That was to be expected with somewhere this far out, but it was still a little disappointing.
What surprised Jake, though, was the large, wooden building that sat near the Dungeon entrance. The shape was somewhat familiar, but Jake couldn’t quite place it.
Oddly, there was no sign of Ivaldi’s usual storefront, and Jake had the distinct feeling that something was missing, though he couldn’t quite put his finger on what it was.
Felix was deep in conversation with Alan, talking about patterns and intent, but Aspen saw Jake’s uneasy expression and straightened, bringing his spear to a ready position. “What is it, Jake?”
“I don’t know,” Jake said, rubbing his chest as his feeling of unease grew stronger. “Something’s wrong, but I don’t know what.”
Felix heard him and made an apologetic motion to Alan before looking around warily. The moment he saw the wooden building, he hissed in surprise and drew his weapon. “Ware, there might be Corrupters nearby.”
They readied themselves, but the land around them was still and quiet. There was no sign of any enemies.
“What’s going on?” Alan asked, an arrow at the ready in case it was needed.
Jake realised the truth a moment before Felix said it. The thing missing from all this was his Sense Dungeon Gift. Normally, it would be telling him that there was one nearby, but it was just as quiet as their surroundings.
There was no Dungeon here, not anymore.
“That wooden building over there is what is left of Ivaldi’s store when a Dungeon is destroyed. It is an empty husk, devoid of anything related to Ivaldi,” Felix said, his voice pitched low to prevent his words carrying.
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“I’d heard about Dungeons dying, but I never thought I’d see it,” Aspen said in little more than a whisper, his gaze riveted to the distant tall doors of the Dungeon.
Now that Jake had realised what was happening, he could see that the distant doors were ajar, not closed as they’d normally be.
They moved closer, watching warily for any sign of other people or monsters nearby. Thankfully, they seemed to be the only ones present, and there weren’t even any bodies or signs of battle.
Jake’s gaze lingered on the wooden shell of Ivaldi’s store, realising now that if you took all the glass and metal away, this was the base structure that would be found beneath.
Intellectually, Jake knew that Ivaldi was likely fine. In fact, he doubted anything like this could even hurt him. Considering how powerful Ivaldi was, Jake assumed it would take a lot more to injure him.
Still, it would help if he knew that for certain. Ivaldi had his own goals, naturally, but he’d been good to Jake, more so than he strictly needed to.
“Damn, look at the doors,” Alan said, nudging Jake and nodding to the Dungeon entrance.
The great doors stood open, as Jake had already seen. What he’d missed from a distance was that the inscriptions that would normally writhe and shift on their surface were absent as well.
Truly, this place was dead.
A weight settled on Jake, a crushing weight of such magnitude that he fell to his knees with a gasp, his eyes locked onto the fallen Dungeon. He knew this weight, he’d felt the echo of it once before, this was the attention of The Great Dungeon, and he had more of it now than he’d ever had before.
Images flickered through Jake’s mind, of a group of people walking through those very doors. They were hazy and indistinct, shown as grey but with varying amounts of a purple-black colour mixed in.
The image focused and crystalised in his mind and Jake realised that he was seeing the souls of these people. It was akin to how he could enhance his vision with Wyrd, but so much more.
The souls Jake had seen were shown as grey, like Wyrd, and Jake assumed that meant that these were Corrupters. The purple-black in them was the same as the Skryx he’d seen, the corrosive energy they wielded.
Jake distantly heard someone saying his name, but his attention was on the illusory image of the figures as they swept through the Dungeon, fighting indistinct shapes of grey as they went.
It all went by at high speed until the figures were at the very base, and then they did something. Jake couldn’t see what it was, but he heard the shriek of pain, the scream of a child, helpless and desperate for aid.
Grey energy swirled, pressing in on the figures, but the grey within them, small as it was, flared up and protected them.
Frustration and rage boiled through Jake’s mind before there was a surge of Skryx, and the screaming abruptly stopped.
The images faded, but there was a lingering sensation in Jake’s mind, not of words exactly, more of an impression, but one Jake easily understood. It was quite simple, after all.
Vengeance.
“Jake?” Alan asked, shaking Jake by the shoulder slightly. “You alright?”
“Yeah, I’m fine,” Jake muttered, rubbing at his temples as he got back to his feet. Alan was the only one watching him, but Jake was pretty sure that was because they were still in danger. “Sorry for making you all worry.”
“It’s okay, but what even happened?”
“I got a vision from my Patron; I think I saw part of what happened here,” Jake said, resisting the temptation to Manifest a golden apple. That would take away this growing headache, but it would be a waste.
“Let’s check the area and see if there’s anything left behind. Jake, wait here with me for a moment and tell me about the vision.” Felix sheathed his sword as he spoke, which was as good a sign as any that they were safe for the moment.
Aspen, Gargan and Alan set off to take a closer look, leaving Jake to relay what he’d seen. It was difficult to really convey some of what he’d experienced, especially the stranger parts, as he had no real way of explaining why he’d gotten the impression he did.
“You said it was a child screaming,” Felix said, cocking his head to one side thoughtfully. “Was it a high-pitched scream, or was there something else that gave you that impression?”
“I don’t know,” Jake said, running a hand through his hair in frustration. “I just somehow knew that was what it was.”
“Having never experienced a vision myself, I can’t really give any guidance on what it all means,” Felix said after a moment. “I’d keep the details to yourself for now, though. Talk them over with Nepthys when we next see her or with Ivaldi, perhaps.”
Felix seemed a little hesitant to suggest Ivaldi, but Jake could understand why. None of them fully understood Ivaldi or his role in all this, after all.
“Will do,” Jake said, trying to do his best to memorise what he’d seen so he could go over it with them whenever that time came.
The other three were on their way back already, so they went to meet them halfway. The look on their faces told Jake everything he needed to know, though.
“No sign of any bodies, but the place is truly dead. Can’t see any sign of combat either, but then I guess they had to go inside to do whatever they did?” Aspen looked at Felix questioningly, but the older classer could only shrug.
“No idea how it works really. What matters is that we move on quickly. Our next destination was another tier one Dungeon a day or so further east, so we may as well stick with that. It means one less Boon for you, Jake, but nothing we can do about that.”
“I’m more concerned with what these Corrupters are doing,” Jake said, eyeing the dead Dungeon for another long moment before turning away. “You’re right, though, we should go.”