Chapter 76
The group had continued clearing the dungeon and had collected a key from each tall red skeleton they fought. They had fought for over an hour by that point and had collected three bright red shiny keys. The pattern was easy. Pull all the regular skeletons in groups of three, one or two groups at a time, then kill the skeleton dogs, then kill the big red skeleton holding the key.
The dungeon wasn't difficult. They were in a level 1-5 dungeon. The enemies were for the most part easily handled by the trainees and Angelica wasn't required at all. She monitored the group as they fought but did not intervene unless absolutely necessary. Sure, she could have helped them along but that would have ruined their opportunity to become more comfortable fighting together. This was excellent practice for the freshly formed group.
There was a moment of confusion when they had been fighting too close to a second group and had gotten their attention as well as the ones they were already fighting. If they hadn't already tried fighting two groups of skeletons at once it might have been worse. As it was however M'redith and Jay had a few wounds in need of healing but nothing that would require an infirmary to heal.
“How many more do we have?” M'redith asked as he was healed up by Aiden.
Looking down at the dungeon as if it were a clock the group had defeated everything between the 12 o'clock position and the 9 o'clock position going clockwise. Jay could make out a few groups of humanoid skeletons standing in groups of three. There were another two groups of wolf skeletons. Lastly, he could make out a taller skeleton than the others. Even seated Jay could tell the skeleton was tall. Unlike the Big Reds they had fought up until then this tall skeleton was yellow. It sat on the floor with its arms folded and its head down as if sleeping.
“It looks like the last three quarters we fought except for Big Red. There's a taller skeleton but this one is yellow and it's sitting down like it's resting.” Jay said as he squinted and tried to see further ahead.
The visibility wasn't great, no one could see further than Jay and Angelica could while wearing their masks.
Angelica spoke up, “No one mentioned anything about a yellow skeleton.”
Aiden laughed, thinking she was making a joke.
“No, seriously,” she insisted, “there are supposed to be three taller skeletons that drop a key then.. nothing. We should only have to kill a few groups of skeletons and then use the keys. I talked to a few people that have run this dungeon before. I talked with Lux, I talked with Orin – no one has seen any yellow skeleton before.”
The group had been getting tired but was now fully awake. Mysteries were always invigorating in a dungeon, at least at first.
“I guess start pulling and clear around the yellow guy?” Jay suggested.
“Pulling?” Norri asked.
“Ya, M'redith gets their attention and then 'pulls' only the ones we want to fight back to us.” Jay replied.
Norri nodded, “Got it.”
Everyone indicated they were good to go and M'redith gave a nod before she stalked off towards the first group of three skeletons.
The fights against the humanoid skeletons were fun for Jay, mostly because he could actually kill them without help at this point. Jay was not a natural fighter but he was beginning to pick up a thing or two and could handle a fight one on one with a skeleton.
The group cleared out the remaining humanoid skeletons and paused for a moment to catch their breaths as well as allow Aiden to hand out a few needed heals.
“Next up is the wolves. I'll only pull one group of two wolves. Don't forget about their special ability – they launch themselves at your legs. Be prepared to dodge. Ready check?” M'redith said with a smile. She was enjoying herself.
“Ready.” each of the group members replied.
“Ok, pulling.” M'redith said as she disappeared in to the gloom. The wolves were stationed further down the boulevard than the seated yellow skeleton. M'redith was careful to take a wide path around it, being careful not to get too close. She slowed down and carefully approached a pair of wolves until they began chasing her.
She ran to the outer wall and then ran along it until she reached her group so that the wolves' path wouldn't bring them too close to the yellow skeleton. M'redith wasn't sure if they would wake it up or not and had no interest in finding out right then.
The wolves ran towards the group with mouths open. One ran directly towards M'redith and struck her leg, bouncing off. M'redith's level 1 Class Ability Giant Frame made it difficult for creatures to knock her off her feet as the wolf had attempted to do.
The second wolf however swerved at the last moment and triggered its special ability. The wolf's form blurred and shot forward in a streak of white. It tore past M'redith, Jay, and Norri before striking Aiden right in the legs and bowled him over, bringing him to the ground.
Immediately the wolf skeleton jackknifed its body to try and bring its jaws closer to Aiden.
Angelica took a step towards Aiden but did not interfere, merely watching over him.
The wolf pulled itself to its feet and prepared to launch itself jaws first at Aiden's prone body.
Norri turned and with a hop suddenly she was a lot closer. Spinning her body she whipped her staff through the air in an overhead arc and brought it crashing down on to the back of the wolf with both hands, shattering a number of bones. One leg collapsed completely.
It was a flashy move and not one usually used in combat as it left Norri completely open but the wolf was facing away from her and couldn't even see the approaching strike.
The wolf dragged itself closer to Aiden and he rolled away from it before getting to his feet again. By the time he had brought his staff to bear against the wolf skeleton it was already dead. Norri had taken it apart with a flurry of strikes.
Everyone stood, breathing heavily, as they relaxed their grips on their weapons. Jay leaned his staff up against his body and massaged his palms. Thankfully they were almost done. He was getting tired. Running a dungeon was exhausting and could cause a person to lose a little weight just from stress alone while inside.
“Ready check?” M'redith asked after Jay had looked through the skeleton for loot. So far he had inspected every single dead skeleton but the only loot he had found so far were the three red keys.
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He had tried using his Treasure Sense throughout the run but hadn't found a single thing so far. The dungeon appeared to be devoid of secret treasure – or any treasure at all.
Everyone said “Ready.” and M'redith repeated her last route, going wide around the seated humanoid skeleton before getting the last group of wolf skeleton's attention and pulling them back to the group, staying away from the yellow skeleton on the floor.
This time both wolves stayed focused on M'redith and Norri took the wolf on the left. M'redith, Aiden, and Jay fought the wolf on the right. No one was surprised when Norri killed her skeleton first. Shortly after the second wolf skeleton went down from a blow to the head delivered by Aiden.
Again, no loot, and Jay sighed.
“What's wrong Jay?” Angelica asked, her voice sounding like she was smiling.
“Still no loot.” he muttered.
Angelica laughed, “You mean you haven't found any loot? Just like Orin said! You already knew there was no loot or experience points in here, I'm not sure why it's upsetting you now.”
Jay sighed, “You're right. Dungeon is almost over anyways. And it has been a fun run. Ok, point made.” he said with a lopsided smile.
“Everyone ready for Yellow Boy?” M'redith asked.
“Yellow Boy? Are you giving the tall skeletons their own nicknames?” Aiden asked, “I mean Big Red – I let that one slide, but come on now.” he said with a chuckle.
M'redith looked embarrassed, “What? I thought it was easier than just calling it 'the yellow humanoid skeleton sitting on the floor.' I think Yellow Boy is easier.”
The rest of the group laughed over Aiden and M'redith arguing over monster nicknames.
“Fine!” groused Aiden, “Yellow Boy it is.”
The rest of the group got in to position for the next fight, all smiling.
“Ready check?” asked M'redith.
“Ready.” everyone said.
“Go get Yellow Boy.” said Aiden with a grin.
M'redith stalked off towards the seated skeleton that was only vaguely visible from the group's position. The poor visibility meant that she could only make out a hazy form whereas Jay and Angelica could clearly see the seated skeleton in detail thanks to their masks.
Jay watched as M'redith walked up to the skeleton and then stopped. The dungeon was empty at this point except for Jay's group, Yellow Boy, and the giant skeleton in the bubble in the center of the dungeon. M'redith took a step closer, and then another, until she was standing directly in front of the skeleton.
She turned her head back to the group and gave a shrug as if to say, “What now?”
M'redith reached out and tapped the skeleton with her sword but it did not react and remained motionless, seated on the ground.
M'redith waited a moment before she motioned the group to move to her position.
“What gives?” Aiden asked as the group formed a semi circle behind M'redith.
“This guy is stuck. Doesn't seem to want to get up.” M'redith replied.
Jay inspected the skeleton and was surprised to see, once he was close enough, that the top of the skeleton's head was glowing, just like the quest slabs glowed in his previous dungeons.
“Uh, guys?” Jay asked and everyone quieted down. “Can anyone else see the top of his skull glowing?”
Angelica made an ooooo sound and grinned, “I can't see it. Must be a Traveler thing?”
Jay made no move to touch the skull however. “So, I'm going to touch it. Of course I'm going to touch it – just.. be ready to fight. Who knows what will happen when this thing comes to life.”
Jay reached out and placed his palm on to the surface of Yellow Boy's skull. It was cool to the touch and Jay felt only the smooth surface of the skull for a moment before a notification bloomed in front of him.
Greetings Traveler! Be advised, normal rewards functions have been disabled for this dungeon due to the presence of a Temple. Alternate rewards matrices have been prepared at this location. Maintenance on The Church of Gaia's rewards matrix have been completed. Would you like to restart the rewards matrices? yes/no
“Ok so we've stumbled on to something here.” Jay began as Aiden chuckled dryly. “This is telling me that rewards have been disabled for this dungeon because of the temple above us. Looks like there are supposed to be alternate rewards but it needs to be restarted. It's asking me if I'd like to do so now.” Jay said as he held his hand to the skeleton's skull.
“There is no way we're leaving here without trying that.” Angelica insisted.
The rest of the party agreed, each in their own way. M'redith tried to imagine what 'alternate rewards' might entail and insisted they find out. Norri claimed she was happy as long as she got to fight more things.
Aiden just grinned impatiently, “Who doesn't want loot!?”
Jay grinned, “Ok, here we go.” Mentally he selected yes and the group stood back. Nothing happened for a moment but then there was a sharp crack and then another and then another as large overhead light fixtures flared to life above them. The gloom was chased away by the sudden brilliance and the entire dungeon was suddenly brightly lit.
The skeleton's head came up off of its chest and its eyes flared to life in a bright blue light, each socket glowing blue. It slowly stood up.
Jay and Angelica removed their masks, the brightness overwhelming the items.
M'redith poked at it with her sword.
The skeleton looked down at where she had poked it and then slowly looked up and in to her eyes as if to say “WHY?”
M'redith looked a little embarrassed and when the skeleton failed to attack she apologized, “Er.. sorry?”
The skeleton looked sad for a brief moment before it shrugged and then turned its back on the group. It began walking towards the pedestal seated at the 11 o'clock position. When the skeleton arrived at the pedestal it looked over at Jay and waited.
Shrugging, Jay said, “Here goes nothing,” and inserted all three keys. Before he could turn them however the skeleton batted Jay's hand away from them and instead produced a golden key from who knows where. The skeleton held it over the pedestal and the top of the pedestal opened, revealing a fourth key slot.
The skeleton pointed at Jay's group until he had their complete attention. It raised its hand and showed three fingers. Then two fingers. Then one finger.
Then it inserted the golden key in the top slot and turned it. A rumbling was heard and Jay could plainly see that the semi transparent blue bubble that had surrounded the giant center skeleton had disappeared.
A notification popped up in front of each member of the group.
HARD MODE ACTIVATED
“Nobody said anything about hard mode!” Aiden complained as they each dismissed the notification.