They regrouped once they’d dried off a little and studied the map, looking for some inspiration about what to do next while Felix and Ari got some rest.
“Well, the way I’m seeing this,” Jake said, tapping a spot north of their current position. “Is that we should still head to the next closest Dungeon, and make sure that this potential second team hasn’t caused any issues. For all we know, they were swapping which group killed which Dungeon.”
“A horrifying thought, but didn’t your Patron warn you about just the one group?” Aspen asked, gesturing vaguely up at the sky. “If it were two, wouldn’t it have shown you that?”
“Maybe?” Jake shrugged uncertainly. “I did get a vision in my dreams and an increase in the rank of one of my Gifts last night. Which gives that point credence, but I’d like to be sure.”
“My only concern is that there’s a town near that Dungeon. Further south, that’s not an issue, but up here that means we might see some Triarchy activity. Patrols and the like will be active as well.” Alan said, tapping at the town on the map.
“I think that’s a risk we have to take,” Jake said after a moment of thought. “Assuming this second group exists, and this isn’t all an enormous coincidence, we have to investigate further. Leaving them loose only poses a greater risk to us in the future.”
“I agree,” Nepthys said, toying with her braid absently. “We started this hunt. We should make sure that we finish it as well.”
“I agree. Any trace of heresy like this is worth chasing down,” Gargan said with surprising vehemence.
“Well, I could hardly turn down a chance for a good fight,” Aspen said with a broad smile. “I’m in.”
Jake looked over to Alan questioningly and the Scholar nodded hesitantly. “Alright, we’re agreed then. We’ll head to this other Dungeon and see what the situation is.”
-**-
No one wanted to camp rough, so they stayed overnight in the cabins, most of them taking the opportunity to rest properly.
Unfortunately, the knowledge that they were going into an area with a higher chance of Triarchy patrols was enough to stop Jake from relaxing.
Instead, he focused on working with his new spear, getting a few hours of training from Aspen and Felix to help sharpen his technique.
Jake knew Felix was more concerned about this potential second group than he was letting on as Felix didn’t use any active Abilities.
Thankfully, the recovery boost was based on a Trait, so it still let Jake push hard, but there was no Wyrd sheathing to cover their weapons.
Felix seemed less in tune with Jake than usual as well. Normally, he was able to see all the problems and adjust them in real-time. Now, it was more like training with everyone else, though Felix was still very good.
Eventually, Jake moved on from spear training to do some more work with Gargan. The quiet caster had him focus on his infusions and the weave of power he was using for them, praising Jake for his progress.
The praise felt hollow, though, when Jake saw how much further along Alan was. His friend was starting to identify parts of the weave through experimentation, which would let him design custom infusions.
“Excellent work, Alan,” Gargan said with a slight smile. “Those infusions are coming along well. You’ll be more knowledgeable than me about their usage soon.”
“Thank you.” Alan all but beamed from the praise and Jake had to suppress a spurt of jealousy. He had more than enough going his way. It was greedy to want to excel at infusions as well.
Sighing and rubbing his face, Jake decided it was time to call it quits and get some actual rest. It would take them most of the day to get to the next Dungeon, so an early night was his only chance for more sleep.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
-**-
They set off early the next morning, heading almost directly north, straight to the next Dungeon.
A good part of the ground that they’d covered heading south had been eaten away by them chasing the Corrupters from Dungeon to Dungeon.
With this hike north, they were almost back level with Casthorpe, just further to the east.
The western coast was the heart of Triarchy control in Strovia, and while the east wasn’t as loosely controlled as the south, it was still loose enough that they were able to make good progress without any sign of patrols.
It wouldn’t last forever, but it was enough to get them to the Dungeon without issue.
“Well, that’s a complication,” Aspen remarked when they finally came into sight of the Dungeon.
Unlike the last few Dungeons, there looked to be around a dozen or so classers already present. Some of them were sitting at the benches, sharing a meal, but others were grouping up at the entrance, ready for a delve.
“Yeah, this isn’t ideal,” Jake said with a grimace. “At least none of them look to be trikes. That’s something, I suppose.”
“So, what do we do?” Alan asked nervously. “What if any of them know that we’re wanted?”
“Then we deal with it when the time comes.” Jake did his best to sound confident, but from the look on Alan’s face, he hadn’t been totally successful. “Come on, let’s head in.”
“Wait, let me lead the way, just in case,” Aspen said, hurrying forward to the front of the group. “No one’s looking for me, after all.”
Jake nodded and let Aspen take point as they made their way over to the Dungeon.
Half of the cabins were occupied, so they split up among the remaining ones and dropped off their gear before reconvening at one of the more isolated benches.
“No sign of any Corrupters,” Nepthys said softly once they were all back together. “I can’t sense any Skryx usage, or any lingering from recent effects.”
Jake nodded, but said nothing. He was unsure of quite what to do next, especially with these other classers being present.
Felix caught his eye and arched a brow, which Jake took as a silent offer to take over, but he shook his head. One day, they wouldn’t have Ari and Felix looking out for them, and he needed to be ready for that.
Taking a breath, he put a stop to all his worries and focused on what they were here for and what they needed to know. “Alright, this is what we do. Aspen and Nepthys, if you could mingle with the other classers and see what sort of Dungeon we’re looking at.”
“Works for me,” Aspen said, Nepthys nodding as well.
“Good. Alan, you and I will take a walk around the exterior of the Dungeon clearing. Hopefully, we’ll be able to spot if any of those campsites have been left here, and any other messages like the ones we saw.”
“Got it.” Alan nodded, looking relieved that he wasn’t going to be interacting with the other classers.
“What about me?” Gargan asked.
“I want you to stay here and keep watch. If either group gets in trouble, go to support. If you see any Triarchy guards, alert us as well. Your fire will act as a good signal if it comes down to it.”
“Understood. I’ll keep an eye out for anything out of the usual.”
“Ari and I will stay here with Gargan as well,” Felix said, his eyes flicking over to the other classers. “I don’t think we’ll have a problem here, but we’ll stay central, just to be safe.”
Jake nodded before getting up from the bench. “Alright then, let’s start that patrol and see what we find.”
Alan rose to join him, and the pair of them took a meandering path out from the cabins and over to the treeline.
Alan used his Skill several times, and they both stayed as watchful as possible, but they found no sign of a campsite or a message similar to what they’d found previously.
“It’s a good thing that we haven’t found anything, right?” Alan asked as they finished their loop and began to head back in to rejoin the others.
“Maybe, and I hope it is, but the reality is that we’ve found nothing. That means we’ve neither proved nor disproved any of our theories, and that means that I’m feeling more paranoid than ever.”
“Yeah, I get that,” Alan said, sharing a concerned look with Jake before they lapsed back into a thoughtful silence.
-**-
They eventually regrouped for dinner, which was a selection of rations and fruit as no one wanted to risk starting a full meal, to discuss their plans.
“Aspen, how about you start us off with the Dungeon.” Jake nodded Aspen’s way as he bit into one of the apple-like Wyrdfruit they’d gathered previously.
“Well, this is a first tier Dungeon with an interior set in a canyon, with rocky bridges and tall columns of rock. Sort of like that other one we did. This one has some sort of brightly coloured bird of prey as one monster, and the other is a big cat.”
“A big cat,” Jake said flatly, giving Aspen a long look before turning to Nepthys. “Any chance you got a better description than that?”
“Smaller than a mountain lion, but with a great fondness of pouncing from ambush.” Nepthys shot Aspen a smug look, but the other man just rolled his eyes.
“Yeah, like I said, a big cat.”
“Size of the cat aside,” Jake said quickly. “That sounds like something we can deal with easily enough. Should we run a delve this evening, or wait for the morning?”
“I say we delve straight away, no telling what the situation will be like tomorrow,” Nepthys said, glancing over at the other classers. “Everyone is keeping to themselves for the most part, but you never know.”
“Agreed, but it looks like there’s a queue at the moment, so we might as well settle in to wait.” Jake eyed the two groups of classers waiting to enter the Dungeon thoughtfully, wondering what life would have been like with a normal Class.