Jake regrouped with the others at the cabin that Ari and Felix were sharing, passing on the information he’d received from Ivaldi about the messages and his thoughts on the ambush.
“Damn, why didn’t we think of that?” Aspen muttered once Jake had finished.
“We were too excited over beating them to really consider it,” Nepthys said, shaking her head with a frustrated expression. “I should have known better.”
“We all should have,” Felix said, putting an end to the recriminations with a firm tone. “Now, we have to decide what to do next. I think heading to this second tier Dungeon is our best bet. Delving it will bring Jake closer to his Deed requirements and won’t leave a trail behind.”
“I doubt anyone will be looking at the second tier Dungeons, either,” Gargan said, explaining further at the curious looks he got. “They’ve traced you twice now from first tier Dungeons, so the immediate answer will be to go to more of them.”
“They might not realise that you’ve got as far through the tier as you have,” Ari said, giving Gargan a nod. “A good thought, and one I agree with. Let’s head for the second tier.”
“Anyone against the idea?” Felix asked, looking around at them before nodding. “Alright then. We’ll leave in the morning. Get some sleep, everyone.”
-**-
Jake slept fitfully, starting awake at every noise and clutching at the dagger he’d put under his pillow.
When morning finally came, Jake gathered his things and joined the others as Aspen cooked up a hot breakfast for them all.
Alan looked a little twitchy over taking the extra time before leaving, but Jake knew it was for the best. They were going to be moving fast for the next two days and leaving as little sign of passage as possible.
That was going to mean cold camps, cold rations and trudging through the rain. All of which Jake would rather do after a final hot meal.
Besides, if they vanished overnight or ran off first thing, it might be more noticeable. Better that they take their time to leave and seem as forgettable as possible.
They were just finishing up and leaving when the first delvers of the day were heading into the Dungeon, which meant they had an hour or so before news spread. That was assuming those teams turned back, of course.
It also assumed that no one noticed the new paths the Dungeon held, but as they were further along in the foyer, the chances were good.
The stress of not knowing had settled into Jake’s chest like a lead weight, but he forced himself to act normally as they left by the southern road, cutting east as soon as they were out of sight of the Dungeon.
The harsh pace that Felix set from that point on quickly crushed the stress and worry that had been plaguing Jake, leaving him able to focus only on the road ahead of them as he fought to keep up.
-**-
A day and a half of uncomfortable marching later, they finally arrived at the tier two Dungeon, tired, filthy and ready to rest.
Ari had done a single sweep of the area in the evening of the first day, coming back with a cut on his cheek and a grim expression as he spoke of a brief encounter with a cloaked figure.
After that, Ari had performed almost hourly patrols as they marched, coming back with no further injuries and no more sightings of cloaked figures.
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Still, the fact that he’d had even one encounter like that was enough to remind Jake of the second group they had yet to identify. It seemed crazy to imagine a group of classers working alongside Corrupters, but that was where the evidence seemed to lead them.
“Alright, everyone get some rest, but no one sleeps alone,” Felix said, gesturing to some of the vacant cabins at the edge of the clearing. “It looks like there’s a handful of classers here already, but don’t interact with them too much. We want to pass with as few traces as possible.”
Ari immediately went off to run another patrol, while Felix went to claim one of the cabins, leaving the five of them to decide who was sleeping where.
“Gargan, do you mind if I bunk with you?” Nepthys asked after a few moments.
The willowy caster waved one hand in absent consent. “Yes, that’s no problem. First, though, we need to do some work on infusing. We’ve been lax as we travelled.”
“That sounds like a good idea,” Jake said reluctantly. As much as he wanted to cut back on how much they were doing, now just wasn’t the right time.
There was a chance that the person Ari had encountered was unrelated to all this, but Jake wasn’t going to bet on it.
-**-
Jake ended up sharing a cabin with Aspen and Alan, which was a bit cramped, but they were all tired enough that it didn’t really matter.
Ari found nothing that evening, and again in the morning, so Jake dared to hope that they’d successfully got away from whatever that was.
Now, they just had to attempt this Dungeon and find Varin, though not necessarily in that order.
“Here, this will help put some life back in you,” Aspen said, sliding a plate in front of Jake and passing him a mug of steaming tea. “I’ve got some moiran mint as well to help us pep up before we delve the Dungeon.”
“Thanks, Aspen,” Jake said, taking a short sip of the tea before picking up the thick sandwich that Aspen had brought him. “Anyone been around to the other delvers yet?”
“Not yet, Felix said to leave them alone, after all,” Aspen said with a shrug before sipping on his own cup of tea. “I was thinking we’d go in blind but just do the first tier, and then start in afresh later once we’ve had time to plan a bit.”
“Sounds good to me,” Nepthys said, taking a seat opposite Aspen with a yawn. “When should we head in?”
“I’ll talk to Felix after we’ve eaten,” Jake said with a shrug. “Probably this morning, though.”
“Speaking of, is there any more?” Nepthys asked, giving Aspen a plaintive look.
“Yeah, don’t worry, Alan is on it,” Aspen said, chuckling to himself as he nodded over to their cabin, where the Scholar was hard at work.
It had felt wrong for Aspen to be doing so much cooking, so Alan and Jake had decided to start taking over doing breakfast for him.
Alan emerged from the cabin a minute later, bearing a tray with a few plates and an assortment of mugs that he brought over to the table and passed out.
“Good to see that you’re all up and about,” Felix said, coming over to join them. “Ari is keeping watch for anyone tracking us, but we look to be in an alright situation. What have you decided for the Dungeon?”
“We’re going to go in blind, run the first tier and then rest for a little while before doing the whole thing,” Jake said, glancing over at Alan to make sure he was alright with that.
The Scholar just nodded, though, so Jake focused back on Felix, who replied with a thoughtful. “That’s likely the best way if we’re going to avoid too much interaction with other classers. Any sign of Varin?”
“Nothing yet,” Jake said, looking over his shoulder at the scattering of other people closer to the Dungeon entrance. He’d been keeping an eye open, but there was no sign of the gaunt crafter so far.
“Alright then, go for your blind delve, and we’ll take things from there,” Felix said with a wave in the direction of the Dungeon.
Having already finished his breakfast, Jake grabbed his things and began a slow stroll up to the Dungeon, giving his food time to settle.
“Here,” Aspen said, passing him a small white square of moiran mint.
Popping it into his mouth, Jake’s tastebuds were flooded with the taste of sweet mint, but he could already feel himself perking up in response.
There were two other groups heading the same way as them, but the Dungeon was open and undisturbed, so Jake and the others followed them inside, watching them take the first two sets of stairs down to the first floor.
Moving deeper into the foyer, Jake led the way to the second set of stairs that were somewhat hidden behind the first. As a second tier Dungeon, it could house four different groups at once through whatever means the Dungeons did anything.
“Alright, everyone ready?” Jake asked, checking over his gear and making sure everything was correct.
He’d left his shield behind again in favour of the wand, as he was finding using the wand and sword together to be a more fluid experience.
With the spear and the dagger as options as well, it left Jake with quite the versatile arsenal to choose from, and he quite liked that.
Looking around at the others, Jake saw that they were all ready and nodded. “Let’s do this.”