Chapter Fourteen
The third floor made the necromancers’ words a lie and fears seem unfounded. Bone threshers, spinning balls of razor-sharp spines that rolled at the group, sat in pieces all over the floor. As they got absorbed, they left death-based alchemical ingredients as the floor’s base rewards. The semi-spectral floor guardian of a white banshee exploded before it made a peep under the well-practiced and combined assault of Len and Rose’s combined range attacks.
Five bundles of ghost lace lay as a reward. Max complained that the second-floor guardian’s rewards were better, but it was a complaint without conviction.
Harmony was happy enough to shove it into her bag, glad to have collected that part of her pet scroll requirements. She could feel Hyacinth nudge her through their bond, about their [Familiar Bond].
“I’ve gained a level. I’ve managed to hit eleven!” Eleven was considered a useless level as the step before hitting twelve and unlocking one’s stats. It provided no skills and simply allowed for skill advancement. Yet, it was another step closer to progression.
“Oh, I remember those days; when gaining levels was so easy.” Sir Maxwell quipped.
“I bet she’ll hit level twelve by the time we finish this run,” Rose added.
“Should we wager on what stats she’ll unlock?” Len inquired with the group.
Harmony found herself surrounded by mumbles of agreement. The idea of her progression being a game to them didn’t sit well with her. However, none of her experience or social skills could pick up any maliciousness behind them. “Well, why don’t you tell me about the stats you unlocked?”
“Ho ho ho.” Max chuckled
Rose let out a groan.
“Balance. Vastness. Quickness. Not a standard stat among them.” Max announced.
“You say that like it is a good thing. What is vastness anyway? The representation of your inflated sense of importance?” Rose countered.
“Of course, it is a good thing. Increases to rare stats pay dividends in the long run. Aleric with his divinity, Wallace with his cunning. Vastness’s importance will become clearer as I level.”
“Until you face someone with an unlocked body stat at high levels, and they beat you in all the places that matter.”
Len stepped between the two. “There is no correlation between what stats are unlocked and future potential.”
“Like an un-evolved college would tell you the truth. Isn’t that right, Tyler?” Max pushed.
The lord shifted uncomfortably. “Hazeldown’s education is considered poor.”
This wasn’t information Harmony knew. She eventually knew she wanted academy classes if possible. But if all the young lords treated it as a joke, apparently not because they were entitled.
“My unlocked stats are dexterity, stamina, and spatial awareness. I’m betting you’ll get charisma, wisdom, and strength.” Rose told Harmony as she shot a miffed look at the others.
“You would try to weigh it in favor of base stats. I’m betting she’ll get beauty, flexibility, and control.” Max said.
“I have resilience, intuition, and strength myself. I think she’ll get intelligence, persistence, and power.” Tyler wagered.
Len groans. “Fine, but whoever has the worst guess buys everyone a meal at The Up and Down. I unlocked intelligence, recall, and vitality.” The last stat, he said softly, clearly embarrassed. “You’ll unlock Perception, Reflexes, and Willpower.”
The maid knew this game reflected who they thought she was more than what she’ll unlock at the next level. Most agreed that unlocked stats weren’t random but more a representation of who you’ve been. Not that you want to read too much into someone’s stats.
“Now that you’ve decided my fate. I think we should head down to the next floor so I can actually hit level twelve, and you can collect bragging rights.”
Tyler and Max retook the lead, with Len following close behind. Rose as the archer, kept at the rear with Harmony. “It’s okay, little necro. We’ve all had some hazing while in a new group. Everyone gets anxious about unlocking their first stats.” The archer whispered.
“What’s it like?”
The best thing ever, the worst experience, or I didn’t notice a thing, was common. Harmony had read accounts of it in both fiction and the books she’d managed to get her hands on. Of the staff, she wouldn’t dream of asking the head butler, Bates, or be interested in Jessica’s opinion. It had come up with Lord Tyler once, and he quickly changed the topic.
“I feel it changes you to be on a fundamental level to be more of who you are. That way, your soul can handle the change when your class and profession evolve. That’s my theory as to why you always unlock stats and increase their levels before you change. That’s why it’s different for every person when it happens. Good or bad, the feeling always passes.”
“That makes sense.” More sense than what she’d read on the topic. Carter and Thibodeaux both handwaved stats away since it wasn’t something anyone could plan around. You got what you got.
“See, even us poor rangers can have a bit of wisdom, even when my stats don’t reflect it.” Then she picked up the pace as they were lagging behind again. “Should be hitting the fourth floor soon.”
Poor wasn’t what Harmony would call Rose unless she had the same background as she did, with Tyler buying all her gear. That wasn’t the vibe the maid got at all. With a sigh, she chased after.
Up ahead the lead had stopped. Len argued with Maxwell.
“What does it matter?” The knight huffed.
“It matters because this never happens. We’ve walked at an incline long enough to have passed the fourth floor entirely.” The wizard insisted.
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“Maybe we should head back. We’ll be rewarded for informing the guild about the new second-floor guardian. We can always come back in the morning.” Tyler joined in.
Harmony’s nostrils started to burn.
“You called in favors so we can impress this new girl. Rose will probably hit fifteen on this run. And you want to back out now, Little Lord, because we’ve been going downhill too long?”
The taste of death was so thick it coated her mouth. The deeper into the dungeon, the more potent it would be. In that way, it made sense.
“Don’t bring me into this. I’m almost out of this family arrangement. I would have bailed with Addy if I didn’t need to get my levels.” Rose interjected.
If the sense of death got stronger as she went deeper, the necromancer wondered why it was getting stronger while they were standing still arguing.
“Why stay if you didn’t want to be...” Tyler started.
“Guys! There is something bad coming!” Harmony yelled.
“Not you too.” Max groaned, but Rose readied her bow, and Len put a shield around the party.
The floor went out from under the team’s feet. Falling down knee height onto a steeper, slick stone decline. Amongst them were the fine white grains the rock beneath them had transformed into, and they slid deeper, accelerating downward. Other than an initial yelp of surprise, the team held off screaming as they went down.
They slid to a stop, and Len’s crow familiar flapped down after them, settling onto his shoulder after he sat up.
Harmony checked Hyacinth through [Familiar Bond]. He shook himself out of the sandy rubble. The only thing damaged was his pride.
“We’re not going back up that way,” Rose stated while dusting off and looking at the steep ramp they came down.
“This must be what happens when you dominate the dungeon too much and aim to complete it yet another time. Sorry, Harmony.” Maxwell boasted nervously.
The rest of the team doesn’t even show a hint of support for that statement.
“Len, how many floors deep do you think that took us?” Tyler asked.
“If the depths of the floors remain constant, I’d say we are on the eighth or ninth floor. Officially, there are only five, but Old Bones’ creations and rewards must come from somewhere.”
“A dungeon’s treasure room! Must be even better than a dragon’s hoard.” Maxwell added, his voice shaking slightly.
Harmony winced, observing the team’s tired reaction to the knight. They’d been barely holding it together as a group when she met them. Rose is halfway out the door, annoyed she hasn’t been able to leave yet. Max and Tyler’s conflicting personalities are both abrasive and off-putting in different ways. Gone was the easy dungeon run she’d promised.
“We’re only getting out of here once we complete this part of the dungeon,” Tyler announced with confidence that usually wasn’t there.
A wave of inspiration energized the maid. Everyone’s spines straightened, eyes smiled, and relaxed a bit. The maid’s brain quickly picked apart the effects of the skill used on her as it flipped the opposite of what she had been feeling. Yes, she could accept the benefits. Confidence in Tyler leading them out of here. She could use that to pretend it might be true. If she could abide the lie, but she couldn’t.
The necromancer moved closer to the front rather than stay back with the archer as the team begrudgingly went ahead.
“I’ll get you through this,” Tyler assured her.
Harmony had to activate [Poise and Bearing] to keep a pleasantly neutral face.
Forward into the unknown, the path ahead of them looked eerily empty. No monsters charging out of the shadows or along the dungeon walls. When the first attack came, Harmony was saved by her necromancy skills.
That foreboding sense of death coming quickly from above. [Small Armor] worked to avoid rather than block any attack, pushing with a feeling that the maid acted on, tumbling away until she nearly smacked into the side wall.
Red waves from the ceiling crashed down where she’d been. Max, Tyler, Len, and the two familiars were utterly engulfed by bodies of blood, causing them to float inside the monsters. The first-floor guardian they’d faced earlier had descended, four of them.
Rose’s support from a distance role saved her. The ranger’s bow was already shooting one of the floating skulls on the outer edge enough that she wouldn’t hit the other teammates.
Hyacinth’s pain shot through her bond, but she still saw him clamping down on a skull inside the creature with him. The toad was determined to show that he wasn’t trapped in the body of blood. The skulls were trapped with him.
The humans inside, without amphibious instincts, were flailing. Harmony acted. [Manipulate Dead] empowered and indiscriminate. She trusted the fact that the team was still alive to save them. Pop. Pop. Pop. She started bursting the skulls with enough wide-range force to guarantee their destruction. One of the skulls was chewing on Max’s shoulder, so a small chunk of pink beard was also destroyed. As the last skull burst, the liquidy bodies collapsed, splashing to the ground, unceremoniously dumping those trapped inside.
Len started puking up the blood he’d accidentally swallowed. The others were luckier, only drenched and decorated by minor cuts and abrasions.
Of the loot, Harmony snatched up a necrotic core, completing that part of what she needed for her scroll. A champion’s tooth was one of the drops from the final dungeon boss, the last thing she couldn’t easily get her hand on. A goal was easier for her to focus on than their current mess.
“Potion.” Len rasped.
Rose summoned one to her hand, revealing her own storage device. Tyler stepped in front of her before she could deliver it.
“We don’t know what’s ahead. Unless an injury is debilitating, we should save those for when needed. I brought six restorations only because Harmony was joining us today. How many do you have?”
“Three,” Rose answered.
“Used my last one for my hangover from the other night,” Max answered glumly.
Glares shot his way.
“What? We haven’t needed to use one in months. All it meant was less space for loot.” The knight replied to the looks.
“One sewn into my robe in case of emergencies,” Len answered hoarsely
“Four minor ones,” Harmony stated. They were part of her basic kit that she’d kept in her loot bag.
“That’s perfect. Give one to Len, and I’ll replace one with one of the ones I brought.” The lord answered.
He pulled out a vial from his storage. The red liquid in the glass emitted a faint glow. What Harmony handed the wizard was a light pink concoction. The replacement was clearly a major restoration potion that could help in near-death situations. Maybe even the kind that didn’t have some nasty side effects.
“Thanks,” Len said after downing the potion. The shredded vocal cords are already clearing up.
“We’ll need to be careful. We should be fine if all we face is a mass of four or five first-floor guardians. We’ve all soloed the first floor at one point.”
Rose snorted. “If this is what us all completing an achievement gets, then I don’t think I want to do that again.”
“The rewards are worth it.” Len countered automatically, sliding into their old argument.
“Look, we only have two restoration potions each. I doubt this floor sends us anything weaker than a mass of early guardians. We were lucky Rose and Harmony could take them out so quickly.”
“Our little necro was right beside me. How did she avoid that when we didn’t?” Maxwell inquired as he wiped goo from his body.
The underlying tone in his words caused Harmony’s heart to speed up. “I have a skill that helps with attacks. It was all I could do to get out of the way.” The half-truth bothered her. [Small Armor] was there to block or deflect attacks, and while it had helped, she knew it was still up to be activated.
“Half-cursed class in a half-cursed dungeon.” The knight snipped.
“Enough of that!” Tyler stepped up. “You want her not to save you next time we’re in trouble?”
Harmony didn’t know whether it was the bluntness of the statement or acknowledgment that such a thing could be possible. She watched the knight’s aggravated look leave his face as his back straightened, shoulders relaxed, and he gave her a half bow.
“My apologies, lady. I’m just a bit vexed by my recent performance.”
She would have gambled that he’d used a social skill like [Chivalry] but didn’t think any bookie would take such a wager.
“I understand. This is not how I expected this dungeon trip to go either.” She suspected she’d have to rely on the knight to protect her at some point in this run, and it would be best if they could smooth things over. Proudly she didn’t even use her skill to respond.
Tyler patted Len on the back and thanked Rose for her support. Handed two potions to Sir Maxwell, whose tension melted a little as he had the valuable potions under his control.
Harmony felt some pride in her lord. Then when it came to her, his eyes didn’t meet hers. They went up and down, pausing on the more exposed parts of her armor before settling on her face and giving her a wink. [High Kick] growled inside her.
Tyler cleared his throat and spoke to the team. “We’ll get through this. We simply need to conserve our resources and push through.”