They ran through five more giant rats before reaching the back of the labyrinth. Other than the corner holding another shapeless specter, they had managed to find almost every dead end without finding any treasure.
Artivan stood right in the opening, looking down the final hall. Owin could see around clearly enough, but he kept around the corner a bit. A small horde of giant rats wandered near a glowing blue wall of energy. Huge piles of dungeon gold twinkled in the blue light on the other side of the wall. A chest was almost entirely hidden by the gold.
Artivan was consistently relaxed, joking even when things seemed dangerous. The only time Owin had really seen him be serious was their first encounter, when he had protected Owin from Nikoletta and Miklos.
How did somebody fight and delve into dangerous dungeons while acting so relaxed all the time? Owin hadn’t been able to relax once since he had first awoken. Everything wanted to kill him and the only way to stop them was to kill.
“Blue barriers are generally powered by a magic crystal, but I don’t see one nearby. We might be able to trace the source of power when we’re closer.” He pointed at the wall and waved his finger around. “You can see a path between the crystal and the wall.”
“Are the crystals weapons?” Owin asked. If they could power something like a giant magical wall, surely they could do some damage.
“Um, not entirely, though I supposed they could technically be used to power some weapons. You would need a claverstan type contraption for that to work, and I am certain there isn’t anything like that in the Great Forest. An alchemist would pay handsomely for a crystal, though.”
All Artivan seemed to talk about was alchemists and how much they would pay for things. Half of the items in Owin’s bag were alchemy related. Several severed rat tails just sat in the drying slime at the bottom of his bag.
“You really risk your life just to grab things to sell?”
Artivan lifted the visor of his helmet. His brow was furrowed as he looked at Owin. “I never really thought of it that way. Makes it all seem foolish, doesn’t it?”
“Do you really not want to get to the top?”
“Shards do odd things to people, little goblin. I can’t describe it myself, obviously, but there are rumors about the heroes who have had their wishes granted. There are three we know of. Three. In hundreds of years. And we don’t even know where two of them are. We don’t even know who one of them is. Not once in our histories has it ever mentioned a party getting their wishes granted. Not a single time. It has only ever been solo heroes with the power of gods. And who is to say there weren’t more than the three we know? What if they had never told anyone and just vanished? What if they had wished to be forgotten?”
“You’re scared?”
Artivan nodded. “The shards do something to you, and I never want to find out what that would be. The loneliness those who carry multiple shards feel must be overwhelming.”
“I know about loneliness.”
Artivan lowered his visor. “I believe you do, little goblin. Let us kill these rats and move on. I would be happy to cure that loneliness by introducing you to my friends when we find ourselves outside this tree.”
Owin nodded. The Nimble Hog Hero Company didn’t sound like a place for him, but Artivan had assured him they were all good people. So far, interactions with humans had been horrific. If the Nimble Hogs were different, Owin was willing to give them a chance.
If they couldn’t accept him, nobody would.
Five giant rats seemed like too many to fight at once, even if they only took one or two solid hits each to kill. What Owin kept forgetting was that Artivan was significantly stronger than everything else on the third floor. He was out of sync with the rest of the heroes like Nikoletta, Miklos, and Kata who were all about level 16. As a level 31, Artivan was a threat to everything. Everything except a shapeless specter, apparently.
Owin grabbed his greatsword with both hands and stood at Artivan’s side.
“Have you considered a more preferred weapon?” Artivan asked.
The rats stayed near the glowing door, hissing and moving as if they were going to charge, though for whatever reason, they didn’t move more than a few inches.
“I like this.”
“It is taller than you are. Carrying that must be odd at best.”
Owin grabbed the blade and set the pommel on the ground. The tip of the blade was a few feet above his head, but barely reached Artivan’s shoulders. “I didn’t think of that before.”
“You have made impressive use of a weapon so much taller than yourself. The Tundra and Fortress dungeons have some of the biggest swords you will ever see. Ridiculous, really, but those creatures are generally big enough to make it seem reasonable.” Artivan sighed.
“I can make it work. If we find something smaller that is stronger I would switch.” Owin looked at the dull metal of the blade. It was nearly matte gray with blood, sand, and dirt dried all over. A weapon with a more active magical effect would be really helpful, considering he only had the wand and a limited number of spells. Still, the greatsword had served him well and was easier to fight with than the knives.
“Do you know why we’re still standing here?”
Owin looked around the hallway. He hadn’t thought too much about it. The wall to the right was made of large stone bricks and looked as if it bowed in a bit, but otherwise was unadorned. The wall on the left was made of the same textured stone as the rest of the labyrinth. Nothing about the floor stood out from the rest of the labyrinth, as it was just more cobblestones.
“I don’t know.” Owin watched the odd way the rats were moving. “Because they aren’t charging us?”
“Correct. Something is stopping them. Are they blocked in by magic or are there traps between us and them? These are the questions a hero needs to ask before approaching an enemy. Are we going to be ambushed by more? Is the hall going to start on fire? Is a demon going to rise from the Abyss?”
“Can that happen?”
“Not usually on this low of a level . . .” Artivan’s voice trailed off. “Let’s assume no, for now. I would think it is more likely to be a trap or a specter.” He pointed above him with his longsword. “The ceiling is higher here than in other places. There may be something hidden in the shadowed recesses. With specters, anything is possible.”
Owin watched the dark corner of the room above them. If he took another half step forward, he would be right under it, and whatever was hiding in the corner. Even his eyes, used to the dark, couldn’t see clearly into the shadows.
“What do we do?”
“In a more traditional party, I would suggest something about sending a familiar in or letting a mender cast a luminous spell to shed the darkness. If either of us had any range, we could attack the rats from here to ensure they aren’t in disguise.”
“Disguise?” As far as Owin was concerned, the giant rats looked the same as all of the others he had seen. Other than the odd behavior, they looked just as hideous as the rest.
“There’s a type of specter that wears the skin of other creatures.” Artivan took a step forward and looked up. Nothing fell from the ceiling. “I haven’t thought about a skinweave in a long time. I try my best to not think about them.” He pointed at the rats with his longsword hand. His armored finger barely pointed out while he also gripped the weapon. “Flare Burst.”
A rat combusted with luminous fire. It squealed and quickly died.
Owin walked up beside Artivan, keeping a wary eye on the ceiling. “That one wasn’t a specter. It died from luminous damage.”
“Right.” Artivan grunted. “Want to get this over with?”
“Yes.” Owin held back a stride as Artivan marched forward, quickly closing the gap between himself and the four remaining rats. Owin’s eyes darted back and forth, looking at the far corners of the wall, back at the corners behind him, and at the odd bow in the brick wall to his right. Something was off. He could feel it. Instincts said to run.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
Artivan’s foot swung forward in step as he raised his sword to attack the first of the rats. A red line appeared as his foot passed through it, snaring him in place.
A brick popped out of the wall right beside Owin. It cracked on the cobblestone and turned to dust just as a small stream of water squirted from the newly formed hole.
“Oh.” The rest of the wall quivered. “Artivan,” Owin said.
He looked back. “I really did not see this one coming.” His shield swung down and severed the red line. In a second, he cut through two rats, smashed one with his shield, and stomped the last to death.
Owin collected the dust of the broken brick and tried shoving it back into place. The stream of water was strong enough to push all the dust right back out as it quickly turned into sludge. He tried picking the sludge up again, but it squelched between his fingers and dripped back into a growing puddle on the floor.
“I can’t swim,” Owin blurted.
Artivan stood in front of a glowing crystal line embedded in the wall. “Best get running then. You’re faster than me. Track this down and rip the crystal from its holding.”
Owin ran over, splashing in the water mixed with rat blood. A blue line, the same color as the energy wall, ran like a canal through the stone, taking a sharp turn up the wall and disappeared over the other side, back into the labyrinth. “How did we miss it?”
“Possibly just a corner we didn’t turn. The crystal will be difficult to miss. I’ll see if I can find a way to hold the water back.”
Water rose steadily in the hallway. At first, it soaked into the stones and disappeared through the cracks, only pooling right where the stream had first formed. By the time Owin ran his way across, there was already a small pool almost an inch thick.
He wove back through the opening, into another passage where a second stream of water was consistently shooting water into the labyrinth. This one was thinner, though it flowed with speed.
“I can’t do this,” Owin said. He took a turn and found a dead end. A giant rat corpse from earlier bobbed its head in the rising water.
A rock fell right past his head and splashed beside him. Owin looked up as another stream of water sprouted and landed right on his eye. Everything was darker than when they had entered as if the magical lights had dimmed.
“I can’t do this.”
Another splash nearby signaled the start of another stream into the quickly growing pool. The water had already reached Owin’s knees, and he had hardly ventured back into the labyrinth. The water was murky and cold. Bits of dirt and sand swirled and brushed against his bare feet.
Owin pressed his free hand against the wall and pushed onward, around another few corners. Dead end after dead end greeted him like he was moving in circles. How had they navigated into the labyrinth with such ease? No matter where he turned, he just found himself surrounded by dark stone walls.
Artivan was going to die if he didn’t find the crystal. The knight was waiting back by the energy wall, and Owin was letting him down. He was failing. Nothing was going right. The water would rise until Owin drowned and Artivan would remain waiting in the back of the labyrinth, only knowing of Owin’s death when his corpse floated all the way to the back passage.
His heart rattled his chest unlike he had ever felt before as the cold water surged up to his armpits. Each breath was quick and shallow. Things looked fuzzy in the dim passageways as he trudged on through the water. Only the weight of his bag and greatsword kept his feet on the ground.
Bright green light spilled into the intersection, pouring down each of the passageways Owin found himself between. Green slime spread through the water. Some pieces crawled along the floor, others floated on the surface.
Great Forest Mob
Shapeless Specter
Level 16
His mana bar was a little over half gone, leaving him with only 29 points to use. All of his spells, especially Discharge, used more than 40 mana points each. Owin had no way to fight the specter, and he had no way to run. The water had risen too high, and without being able to swim, he was doomed.
This was it. He had failed. Artivan would die over some gold, and it was entirely Owin’s fault. He never should have left the cave. All he had done was kill, and what good did it do? What did it bring?
Something heavy sloshed through the water close by, causing Owin to swing around, ready to chop at whatever appeared.
Artivan, bathed in a sickly green light, appeared like magic. He was a towering, armored monstrosity that placed himself between Owin and the specter, crouching until they were eye to eye. He lifted his visor, showing Owin the calm smile on his face.
“You got lost,” Artivan said quietly.
More water surged in, reaching Owin’s jaw. He shivered as cold water splashed into his ear. Lost seemed too simple. The labyrinth had beat him, and Owin didn’t know what to do next.
Green slime crawled onto Artivan’s back and up his shoulder. Some bones floated uselessly in the specter as it inched across Artivan’s armor.
“Your mana,” Owin croaked, barely able to talk through his shivering.
“Drop the sword. We’ll find you a new one.” Artivan grabbed Owin’s arms and effortlessly lifted him out of the water. As the knight stood, the specter slid off the armor and splashed back into the water. Some slime still clung to his shins and feet.
Owin watched the greatsword he had taken from a skeleton sink to the bottom of the rising water. Green light reflected off the few polished parts of the blade, but it quickly vanished as more dirt and sand swirled through.
Artivan placed Owin on his shoulders and trudged onward. The water was barely to his hips, allowing him much easier movement than it had been for Owin. Pieces of the specter slid right off, caught in the water, and swirled like they were caught in the sand.
Owin leaned on Artivan’s helmet, resting both arms right over the ridge that ran down the center. The knight brought his visor back down and traveled back the way Owin had come from. Nothing looked familiar, especially with the darkness and added water, yet Artivan walked with purpose as if he knew exactly where to go.
They passed some dead giant rats, and even Artivan hit two dead ends before finding a sharp turn where something glowed blue around the corner.
“Hiding it in a dead end is tricky,” he said, stepping around the corner.
A square glowing gem hummed with gentle energy right at Artivan’s chest height. It would have been out of Owin’s reach if he had even made it there. A blue line identical to the one Owin had seen by the energy wall ran to the side, then turned and disappeared near the ceiling.
Artivan grabbed the gem and yanked. He grunted quietly with effort as the gem slipped out of its housing. The energy traveling to the wall flickered then vanished. Without the glowing gem, they would be in complete darkness.
One gauntleted hand held onto Owin’s leg while the other extended outward, casting the blue glow into the labyrinth. It had become even darker as the water became murkier. Artivan’s movement slowed in the rising water, now up to his stomach.
“We should leave,” Owin said.
“No, no. We can do this.”
Owin clutched on the knight’s helmet and stared into the darkness at the far end of the passage, letting his thoughts wander. Pieces of the shapeless specter floated, now independently as little globs of slime and bone. When used Examine, it still identified each as part of the whole, referring to them all as the same shapeless specter. It wasn’t clear how that worked or if the specter could reform into its huge blob-like form. Artivan didn’t acknowledge it, and Owin didn’t want to take any focus away.
With only a few turns, they made it back to the initial passageway. More bricks had fallen from the wall, letting water pour in even faster than it had started. It looked like it had been going that way for a while.
With the water almost reaching Artivan’s chest, Owin couldn’t imagine a way for them to grab the loot and make it back to the door before the water was reaching him again. It was already starting to splash onto his feet.
Artivan rushed down the passage, which still felt like they were moving agonizingly slow. He stopped right in front of the treasure. “Hold your breath.”
Owin inhaled as deep as possible. He felt Artivan relax and breathe in deeply. It was a shock as Artivan bent down, plunging Owin into the water. The knight went right to the chest, lifting the lid with effort.
Yellow light flashed as the lid flipped open. It quickly dimmed but continued to glow, even under the murky water. Artivan grabbed something inside, scooped some coins into his bag, along with some sludge-like mud that had settled, and quickly turned to leave the labyrinth. It all only took a moment before he was standing, letting Owin gulp down air.
A square piece of metal popped out of the water as Artivan coughed and sucked in a few breaths. The metal was attached to a metal rod that disappeared into the water. Nothing adorned the plain, matte metal, besides a few small gouges that had been taken out of the sides.
“Examine this for me,” Artivan said.
Thunderstrike Maul
Journeyman Magical Item
A metal hammer imbued with the power of a thunderstrike. When swung with the proper speed, the Thunderstrike Maul will unleash its energy.
Note: Energy recharges through movement
Note: Magical item effects vary by user
“It’s called the Thunderstrike Maul.”
“Here,” Artivan said as he spat water out. It splashed enough as he was walking that it brushed against his helmet and splashed inside.
Owin grabbed the hammer, surprised at its weight. With such a rise to his strength, it was a surprise that the hammer felt as heavy as it did.
“I have no use for a hammer, and that should be more fitting of your quick style.” Artivan sputtered as more water splashed into his helmet. “Hold on tight.”
Artivan moved slowly, taking each step as if his foot weighed a ton. Bits of specter and dead rats floated through the water, following a small current as the water poured through the passageways.
Owin held tightly to the maul with one hand and wrapped his whole other arm around Artivan’s helmet. “Can you go faster?”
The air surrounding Artivan flashed white and shuddered. Ripples spread out in the water and stones cracked under his feet. He moved faster, even as water continued rushing in. By the time they made it around two turns, the water was splashing over Owin’s knees and right into Artivan’s face.
“Hold strong, little goblin,” he said, then took a deep, audible breath.
Owin wrapped his other arm around Artivan’s head, keeping the new maul close to his body. A floating blob of the shapeless specter brushed against Owin’s leg, sending a brief burning shock through his body. The burned section of his mana bar grew, lowering his total mana even more. The water glowed as they passed over more of the specter that had sunk to the bottom. Artivan stepped right onto the specter, splitting it apart further as his foot shattered the stones beneath.
When the door was finally within view, the water was well over Artivan’s head. Nothing could make Owin let go, even as cold water crashed against him from all directions. Artivan ascended the stairs and walked straight through the doorway.