Ocean Dungeon

Fourth Floor

The stairs led down to an open space of sand and rocks, wide enough to give four options of ways into the sprawling caves ahead. Ernie had been right about the light. It was much dimmer on the fourth floor, and it looked incredibly dark inside the caves, other than where some mushrooms glowed enough to light up a section of the wall.

“There’s nothing intelligent on this floor. Just creatures,” Ernie said.

“Some vicious bastards,” Katalin added. She helped Ernie off the stairs. He was moving better than before, but he still winced with any big movements to his abdomen.

“Do you know where the mushrooms grow?” With four separate entrances into what was certainly a dark cave, he didn’t want to get lost. The memories of the dark, confusing labyrinth flashed through his mind.

“Roughly. There are five spots that grow them. If we get at least four, we’ll have plenty, but if we can get all five, that would be best. And, luckily for you, one area is right by the chest guardian.” Ernie pointed to the leftmost entrance. “Somewhere over there. About halfway through, after we get the chest, we swerve somewhere right to find more.”

“Is that before or after the arches?” Katalin asked.

“After, I think?”

Owin cleared his throat, grabbing both alchemists’ attention. “Are you sure you know these caves?”

“No.” Ernie smiled. “We’re going to have fun. Two of us near death, and all of us about to get lost. Oh, what a time.”

“Is he okay?” Owin asked Katalin, who had an eyebrow raised.

“You’ve been an ass this whole time, and now you’re having fun? After getting stabbed?”

Ernie stretched out his arms. “Look at where we are. We’re on the fucking ocean floor with a goblin as an escort. A goblin who just killed most of a cetanthro swarm with two little knives. This is absurd, even for us.”

“Two floors ago, you were ready to abandon Owin,” Katalin said.

Ernie nodded slowly. “I was. And I was wrong.” He gestured to the leftmost entrance again. “The cave is right here. The gilled mushrooms are a few minutes away.” He winced and covered the wound with both hands. “I’m feeling a little odd.”

Katalin dropped to her knee and forced his hands aside. She inspected the rough bandage they had used to wrap the wound. Blood had already colored it red. Owin wasn’t sure how helpful a bandage was underwater since it had already been soaked when it was wrapped, but Katalin appeared to know what she was doing.

“How’s your health?” Owin asked.

“Not as high as I’d like, but it stopped dropping.” Ernie’s index appeared. The light shifted as he switched to different pages. “Nothing serious anymore. Just discomfort.”

“And blood,” Katalin added.

“If I’m not getting closer to death, what’s the harm?”

Katalin grunted. “I guess he’s right. Ready?”

Owin watched Ernie for a minute before nodding. Katalin forced Ernie to use the trident as support as they followed Owin to the leftmost entrance. The cave was dark, though mushrooms grew along the base that glowed like the green death had outside Ligala Lepis. Some other plants grew along the ceiling, casting a glow that died before it even reached the cave floor.

“Do you harvest any of these?” Owin asked.

“Those are useless,” Katalin said as she kicked a glowing mushroom. It split into a bunch of pieces that floated into the water.

“Inert,” Ernie said.

“That’s what Althowin calls them. They don’t explode, so . . .” She shrugged.

Owin nodded and entered the cave. He avoided stepping on the purple, blue, and green mushrooms. Even if they didn’t have an alchemical use, the light they provided was helpful. The cave walls were rough and uneven. Bits swerved out of the way, forming little coves and hidden corners. Owin peeked around each one, expecting another mob to spring on him like morays from the first floor.

“Is there anything to worry about collecting on this floor?” Owin asked. He knew Miya would ask immediately, and others would probably be disappointed if he didn’t have a collection of things to sell.

“Well, venom,” Katalin said.

“Venom . . . ?” Owin slowed as he rounded a bend. A creature scurried along the cave floor, climbing over crocks and mushrooms. A pillar of stone acted as the center of the room, allowing the mob to pass around and around in a circle.

“Yeah. From that,” Katalin said.

Ocean Mob

Bristle Worm

Level 23

It was long and segmented with hundreds of hairs sticking out the sides. At first, Owin thought it was small and maybe not a huge threat, but upon watching it circle the central pillar, he realized it was at least ten feet long.

“This is one of the small ones,” Ernie said.

“How do I kill it?”

Katalin mimicked stabbing again.

“Okay.” Owin set down the Thunderstrike Maul and drew his knives. The hairs covering the worm were long enough that he couldn’t imagine stabbing it without one poking into his hand. “Where’s the venom come from?”

“The hairs or its mouth,” Ernie said.

“It has a mouth?”

The bristle worm stopped circling upon spotting Owin. It stopped and reared up, pulling half its body into the water. The hairs wiggled in the water as it opened a beak-like mouth filled with little teeth.

Owin quickly dropped Naxile’s knife, moved the hammer in front of Ernie, and yanked the trident out of the alchemist’s hands. Ernie stumbled against the cave wall.

As the bristle worm charged, Owin spun and thrust the trident up and out, catching the worm just below the head with the center prong. It punctured through the segmented skin and burst out the back in a spurt of blood. Owin ripped the trident out, severing the head of the mob. It drifted slowly through the water, leaving a trail of blood, but the rest of the body didn’t go limp. Erratic, twitchy movements shuddered through the worm.

Katalin pushed Owin forward. “Do it again.”

Owin rammed the trident through another section. Before he could rip the segment free, the worm split into three, each with a new face with the same beak-like mouth.

Owin took a step back. “Is this real?”

“Unfortunately,” Ernie said. “That should be the last of this one.”

Owin wanted to ask what he meant by “this one,” but he didn’t get a chance before all the bristle worms launched themselves through the water. They moved slower than mobs like Baby Head, but still faster than Owin had expected. He dropped the trident and dove toward the dropped knife.

A bristle worm collided with him, snapping its jaw shut right in front of Owin’s nose. He rammed the lich bone knife into the bottom of the worm as he fell onto his back. Ice cold silver blood spilled into the water as the worm went limp. Owin kicked it off, sending the dead mob into the ceiling.

A small hop brought Owin just over the next worm where he was able to score a slice through the top with the knife before landing on the end of the bristle worm. Its hairs stabbed into his legs and feet. The pain was minimal, but an itch immediately covered every inch touched by the hairs.

Owin fought the urge to scratch and jumped at the last bristle worm. It had gotten distracted by Katalin and Ernie and hadn’t advanced as it looked between them. Owin killed it quickly and tore the trident free from the nearby corpse.

Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

“Am I going to die?” he asked.

“That venom isn’t anything like prazene blood,” Ernie said. “Let me see.”

Owin jumped over the bodies and landed right before Ernie. The landing was more successful and stable than Owin had expected, but it pushed the hairs deeper into his foot, giving him a shock that made him squeak and fall into Ernie, who had been barely standing on his own. They both crashed into the ground and only separated when Katalin helped Owin move without disturbing the bristles.

“They weren’t difficult to fight,” Owin said.

“I’d say it was difficult if you can’t even stand right now.” Ernie took Owin’s foot and held it up. He leaned in close and squinted. “Kat, what do you think?”

Katalin shifted around and leaned in close. It felt weird to have both alchemists so close to his foot. Each time Ernie manipulated it, his fingers tickled and Owin tensed to avoid kicking, and potentially killing, him.

“Reaction, but it’s . . . mild?” She poked his foot. “It’s about as mild as the venom can be.”

“I agree. Remove these and it should pass. Do goblins have a resistance to poisons?” Ernie asked.

Katalin shrugged as she dug through Ernie’s bag. She pulled out a small tool that she passed to him. “That might explain his need to eat everything.”

“You are talking about me like I’m not here again.”

“Get over it,” Katalin said.

Ernie plucked the first bristle from Owin’s foot. It caused him to twitch but did nothing to his health.

“This is going to take a while,” Ernie said.

Katalin sat beside Owin’s head. “I’ll keep you distracted.” She tapped on his forehead. “Do you feel like you have a brain in there?”

“What’s a brain feel like?” Owin asked. Ernie ripped another bristle out, causing the last word to squeak.

“Squishy mostly.” Katalin furrowed her brow. “It doesn’t feel squishy to have, but if you ever hold a brain it’s . . .” She motioned squeezing something with her hand. “You know?”

“Not really.”

“Even though I’m focused on explosives, Alothwin has had me dissect mob corpses and find uses for just about every single part of those mobs. It’s a disgusting job, and even if some freaks find it interesting, I prefer to stay back and build things that go boom.”

“Freaks,” Ernie said as he pulled out another bristle. “You can call me whatever you want.”

“Why do you make different things? What does Althowin do?” Owin asked.

“She does everything.” Katalin opened her eyes wide. “I mean everything. She is as genius as an alchemist can be, but I guess that’s obvious since she’s a 7 Shard Hero. Ernie got us both into alchemy before we even turned fifteen. He was trying to make health potions . . .” Her voice trailed off as they made eye contact. “And, uh, I helped him whenever I could. He’s a few months older, so his birthday came first. It made sense he got alchemist. We were both surprised I did too.”

“Althowin doesn’t think there is a right way to do alchemy,” Ernie said, pulling out another bristle. “You just do or don’t.”

“She wanted us to have a specialty, and since we’re usually together, why would we take the same specialty?” Katalin smiled. “Neither of us has made equipment yet. That’s the most advanced, and something we’re both hoping to figure out. For now, it’s just potions and bombs. I do have to say his percussion grenades are genius and I am more than moderately jealous.”

“Says the person who nearly destroyed the entirety of Ligala Lepis with pipe bombs. My grenades only killed mobs,” Ernie said.

Katalin laughed. “It was a good explosion.”

“That almost killed you,” Owin said.

Katalin nodded enthusiastically. “Great explosion.”

Ernie pulled another bristle out. “Done for now. Maybe try to avoid getting more?”

“How am I going to do that?”

Katalin tapped the headband. “Use a spell, deficient wizard.”

“I need arcane spells underwater. What about the wand?” Owin grabbed both wands and used Examine.

“It’s been minutes since you got that,” Ernie said.

“Time between floors can change,” Owin said, grinning. All of the charges are back.” Owin jumped to his feet and helped Ernie up. “I’ll show you what a wizard can do.”

“I don’t think you know what a wizard can do,” Ernie said, gently slapping Owin on the shoulder. “Just avoid any more bristles. That venom didn’t have a reaction this time, but too much of it might cause something to happen.”

“What’s the venom do?”

“Ha.” Katalin slapped Ernie’s shoulder, which caused him to wince. “It’s a sleep venom! How did I not get that right away? Why would a sleep venom have any effect on something that doesn’t sleep?”

Ernie scratched his head. “Oh. You have a point.”

“If it stabbed you, what would happen?” Owin carefully put his knives and one wand away as he readied to move deeper into the cave.

“It’d knock us out,” Katalin said. “Get all wobbly then splat.”

Owin looked at the bottom of his foot, now covered in little irritated spots. “How do other heroes avoid that?”

“Armor. The way heroes usually avoid getting hurt.” Ernie used the wall as support to stand. He waved his hand about in the water, pushing some of the ice cold blood away. “I cannot wait for land again.”

“Just wait until Althowin asks us to go to the Sky next.” Katalin snorted with laughter. “It would be our luck.”

Ernie shook his head. “You’ll have a break.”

Katalin pulled back before leaning uncomfortably close to Ernie’s face. “What are you hiding?”

He tried to lean back but smacked his head against the wall. “Shit. Nothing. She just has a project she wants me working on. My first official equipment or something.” He rubbed the spot on his head. “I don’t even know all of it yet.”

“When were you going to tell me?” Katalin gently shoved him.

“I don’t know. Later, I guess. I don’t even know what the equipment is, and I didn’t think you would be so excited.”

While the alchemists talked, Owin stalked forward, deeper in the cave, until he found a fork. Another bristle worm slithered about on the right, slipping between mushrooms and rocks, disappearing from view frequently. Owin expected it was about to pop out of nowhere and cover his whole body in more itchy bristles.

“Of course I’m excited. That’s the next big step.” Katalin forced Ernie to start walking. “I don’t want you to forget that I’m still a higher level.”

“Prime apprentice is better than a higher level.”

Katalin slapped the back of his head.

“Ow, that’s already bruised.” Ernie sighed and pointed left. “Stick to the left side. We’ll avoid a worm and get closer to the chest guardian.”

“Sorry,” Katalin whispered.

Owin stepped over any mushrooms that grew across the cave floor. Even if they were inert, they gave off light and he liked all the colors. There wasn’t much room to maneuver in most of the cave, which brought back memories of the crypt near the hobgoblins. The trident was far too long to work in such close quarters, and the hammer, while potentially good for a quick block, wasn’t fit for close quarters or use in the water. That brought Owin back to his knives, wands, and spells, which he didn’t mind. The knives were fun with his speed.

“What am I going to do when I go for my first shard and I don’t have someone telling me where to go?” Owin asked.

“Is he being sarcastic?” Ernie asked.

“Uh, no. I don’t think so. Owin,” Katalin said.

“Hm?” Owin stopped and found both alchemists standing together looking confused.

“You’re going to do great when people aren’t telling you what to do,” Katalin said.

“You might get lost, but something that small isn’t going to stop you,” Ernie said.

Owin flicked his gaze back and forth between them. He fiddled with the shaft of the hammer. “How do you know? All I’ve done is fight. Artivan made the decisions. He just asked me sometimes, but he still knew. He always knew. And you both know so many things.”

“You can learn plenty more,” Ernie said.

“I can't learn new spells.”

Katalin smiled. “That hasn’t stopped you yet. Why would it stop you now?” She turned and grabbed Ernie’s shoulders. “I’m going to make my first equipment too, whether Althowin wants me to or not.”

“For Owin?” Ernie asked.

Katalin nodded. “For Owin.”

“That’s not . . . but why?”

She shrugged. “I want to.”

Owin looked at Ernie, who gave Owin a single nod.

“Just say ‘thank you’ and move on.” Ernie pressed one hand against his abdomen and walked forward, using the trident as support.

Katalin patted Owin’s head, flattening his hair as she passed. “Our escort is letting me lead.”

“You know where the mobs are,” Ernie said.

Owin stayed in the same spot until Ernie reached him. The alchemist gently nudged him with his elbow.

“Everything good?” Ernie asked.

“Artivan had said the Nimble Hogs would treat me well. That they would be kind when a lot of the world isn’t.”

Ernie scratched his mustache, flinched, and immediately covered his wound again. “Plenty of people are kind.” He grunted and pressed his hand harder against his abdomen. “But kind people usually aren’t strong. Power comes to those with ambition. Those who are willing to step on others to climb. Strength and greed are closely tied together, aren’t they?”

“I want to be strong,” Owin said quietly.

“Why?” Ernie’s eyes were hard as he stared right into Owin’s.

“To protect the people who are kind to me. To stop people from being scared.” Back when Kidibose died, Owin had decided he wanted to help people, to be strong enough to stop their fears, but upon seeing the real world and seeing Shard Heroes with power so much higher than Owin’s, was his goal even realistic?

Owin shook his head. “I want to be strong enough to stop heroes like the ones who killed Artivan. Sometimes we need to make people wish they never met us.”

Ernie cocked an eyebrow. “I think your reasons oppose each other, Owin. You can’t wish to be strong to stop fear and to instill it. Think about it. Althowin will ask why you want the shards, and she’ll only help if she agrees. I’ve heard her ask others.”

Katalin, who had stopped walking just down the bend, leaned back. “She’ll also help if you’re rich, which, uh . . .”

“You’ll want to really know why,” Ernie said.

“Unless you have a lot more dungeon gold hidden away that we don’t know about?”

Owin shook his head.

“A shame,” Katalin said. She used her thumb to point behind her. “There’s a worm guarding a chest over here. Are you interested in killing it?”

Owin dreaded the idea of getting more bristles pulled from his skin, but what other choice did he have? If he sent Kat or Ernie ahead, they would be put to sleep and probably get eaten by the horrendous worm.

Owin sighed. “Just kill me if I get more hairs stuck in my feet.”

“Will do,” Ernie said.