After spending sometime wringing the dirty water out of her clothes, hair and everywhere else, and picking off the insects and leeches that had stuck on her body, Jennifer finally got the time to take a proper look around the second layer of the dungeon.
Where the first layer was network of tunnels, caverns and anthills cutting their way through the earth and rocks, the second layer was a giant sprawling cave spreading high up above their head and teeming with life. Crystals adorned the walls of the layer, little pockets of mana stones embedded into the walls that glittered like stars over an eternal night sky, basking the dungeon with life. Jennifer looked up at the cavern’s roof, unable to gauge the distance between it and her. Despite the extremely disgusting experience with her fall, she was glad she’d fallen into a pool of water, or else she likely wouldn’t have survived.
“Xar hasn’t been here before.”
“Dungeon monsters rarely leave the layers of their natural habitat, so that’s not a big surprise. It’s why the sky-fang serpent being in the first layer was so odd.”
“And a sign of the changes happening in here.”
Jennifer nodded at Xar’s words.
Taking a few more moments to dry herself, and pick off the last of the insects, she took a moment to inspect their surroundings. She knew about the second layer from adventurers and their explorations. It was a giant swamp, filled with giant bugs, flying sky-fang serpents, crabs and other similar creatures. Everything and anything that grew here had some sort of poison to it, and she’d even heard of bushes with needles and spikes laced with poison that shot out in all directions when someone stepped on them. Not a location to tread without thinking in.
Tightening her boots, and feeling glad she wore full sleeved clothing that didn’t leave her skin exposed, Jennifer tried to find a direction to move in. As she looked around, Jennifer noted a strange butterfly sitting on a bright red flower. It glowed with a golden shimmer, with almost transparent wings that spread wide in a mesmerising pattern that captured her immediately. With a quiet flap, the butterfly rose, as if noticing Jennifer’s gaze, and flew up towards her. Surprised, and thrilled by the creature, Jennifer raised a finger as the butterfly perched upon it.
“Strange. It’s pretty, and doesn’t look dangerous or harmful at all. Do you know what it is?”
Xar sent the mental equivalent of a shrug to her. “Xar doesn’t know this place. Neither the creatures that live here. He cannot say.”
A moment later, the butterfly flew from her finger once more, and began to twirl. It did a loop through the air, moving a bit further away, and then moved closer, doing another twirl, before moving a bit further once more.
“I feel like it wants me to go in that direction,” Jennifer said, looking at Xar.
“Hmm. It might be worth checking what interests the flying things.”
Nodding, Jennifer began to trek ahead. The butterfly began to fly ahead, guiding the two of them as it danced through the forest. The mud clung to her boots, slowing her pace down, the dirty swamp hiding anything that swam by within the shallow waters. Jennifer kept her mana bolt ready, though she didn’t exert herself much to allow her mana resources to recover as well.
Jennifer could feel the snakes, and often large insects and even some predatory fishes that swamp by her feet. She’d almost stepped on a weird flat fish with spikes protruding from its back before Xar had stopped her and scared it away. The amount of giant dragonflies swooping around her head, and creatures hanging from the thick vines made Jennifer’s skin crawl. The only reason the creatures maintained their distance was the constant aura of intimidation that Xar kept up around them, discouraging the insects from approaching closer.
Her agonising walk through the water began to grow worse as the ground beneath her began to sink. Where before the water had only come up halfway to her knees, now it reached her thighs, almost submerging her halfway into itself. Jennifer half tried to move along the ridges of land. She noted a strange distorted monkey hanging from a tree nearby that was eyeing her.
The creature noted her gaze, and reared up, clapping its chest as it let out a roar. Shrieks rose from all around her, the voice of the monkey echoed by others that hung similarly in the trees, watching her with a predatory gaze.
The butterfly continued to fly ahead, but Jennifer stopped where she stood. Channeling her mana, manifesting three glass bolts that hovered around her, ready to be shot. But before she could attack, Xar did.
The spider reached out with his Mark, and she felt his mind magic spread through the arena. The aura of intimidation grew around Jennifer to a physical weight that distorted the world around her. The water shuddered, the air groaning, as Xar’s magic spread throughout. Within seconds, she saw the monkey’s gaze change. Where before, they had seen a prey, now they saw their demise. A hunter without parallel that none could escape from. Jennifer almost jumped up in surprise when a monkey fell from one of the trees. She looked at the creature and it looked back at her, frozen stiff.
“Scram!” Xar echoed, and as one the creatures rushed away in a daze of panicked screams.
Jennifer watched the sight in fascination, before turning sideways to look at her tiny spider buddy.
“Have I told you how awesome your mind magic is?”
“Yes, but Xar is willing to hear it again,” the little spider telepathically said with a smug chitter.
Jennifer smiled, rubbing Xar’s furry forehead. The butterfly flew ahead, waiting for them to catch up. Walking just a bit further, Jennifer saw the grove of trees give way. Their path lead to an open swamp area, with little islands rose within, with mist and fog rolling through the area, obscuring her sight from seeing too far.
The butterfly continued to move through the fog, and Jennifer walked behind in. As they continued, she could vaguely see an area glowing with a deep blue colour. It took her a moment to realise the light to be coming from flowers.
“Wait.”
Jennifer stopped in her tracks at Xar’s words, feeling his alarm.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, watching the beautiful butterfly dancing frantically.
“Move back Jennifer,” Xar said, and Jennifer felt confused by his sudden change in attitude. Yet, despite her confusion, she followed Xar’s instruction. Stepping back from the area, she moved a bit further away. Xar guided her out of the water, to a small island that rose from the swamp. Jennifer followed along, climbing up, as she got a proper look at the area.
Her gaze peered through the permeating fog now, and she saw the bed of beautiful flowers, filled with many glowing butterflies that formed a mesmerising sight.
“Look behind. That creature. It is powerful. But even that is prey.”
Jennifer frowned, trying to see what Xar meant. Channeling mana to her eyes, she tried to look through the fog. As the glass mana flooded her pathways, and her eyes turned reflective, she saw through the distance, and noted another creature moving through the swamp.
“A leonel?” Jennifer said, watching the Dark-skinned lion-centaur, with a giant bone axe in its hand move through the fog, following one of the butterflies. Jennifer had heard of Leonels before, they were common in the Ostiri, one of the most common type of centaurs found within the deserts. But she wasn’t aware of any that lived within the dungeon itself. She watched the nearly 7-feet tall creature with four legs walk through the swamp, eyes fixated on the butterfly.
“Xar did not notice it before. But the butterfly has glitter in its wings. It draws you in, and makes you follow it. Watch. Something is coming.”
Jennifer found her heart beating faster, as she saw the Leonel reach the bed of flowers, now standing between the mesmerising field of butterflies. Slowly, it bent down, and picked a flower up in its hand, before taking a bite from one of the petals.
The ground shook, giant waves crashed through the swamp, as the Leonel stumbled back. The creature shook its head, as it snapping out of the daze.
“It’s too late for him.”
The ground split beneath the the Leonel, the earth cracking open to reveal rows of giant sharp teeth filling the ground. Jennifer gasped, her heart racing, as she watched a giant centipede rise from the earth, swallowing the Leonel whole. Water flowed our in a wave, creating a rainbow through the sky, as the centipede rose high up into the air, almost reaching up to the surface. The bed of flowers shone on its forehead, glowing brightly as it grew upon the creature’s crown. A moment later, the giant centipede came down with a massive splash, as the water rose up in the air, before pouring down like rain all over the area. Jennifer watched the scene, unbelieving of the sight she’d just seen, as the centipede burrowed into the earth once more, soon vanishing into the murky water with almost no trace of its existence left behind.
“I… just…” Jennifer found herself lacking in words. The creature had been almost four stories tall, and she was unsure if that was its entire length or not.
“Let’s not linger here. There could be other things around too. And Jennifer shoulder let the presence of her Soul-Mark expand. It will keep the lurkers away, and it may help us find the Storm-Mark.”
Jennifer nodded, still in shock, but she followed Xar’s words, letting her presence expand out. Far more appreciative of the true terror and the creatures that called the second layer home, Jennifer made her way ahead once more.
[Blood Dagger] rested in her hands now, clutched tight, as three glass bolts hovered around her, ready to be used immediately. Time passed slowly, as the two of them continued to walk through the second layer. It helped that Xar could perfectly memorise their path and stop Jennifer from going in circles, something she did a lot more times than she expected to.
As the time passed, the crystals in the sky began to dim as well. She could see the cycles Xar had told her about, the change in the flow of mana. The creatures that walked around now were quieter, stealthier. They leapt from the shadows, and struck instantly.
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Jennifer felt her stomach grumble, and she put a hand on her gut, feeling embarrassed.
“Perhaps we should find a place to eat? This may take a while.”
Jennifer nodded. Looking around, she spotted ruins across the open swamp in the distance. There were decent chances for her to find a safe place to have a quick meal behind the cracked walls of the ruins, and she began to make her way ahead.
The swamp water rose, as she cut through the landscape, wading through the mud. Her clothes were already painted brown and dark green from her trip through the dungeon, and if not for her constantly channeling mana to all her limbs, she would likely be freezing off.
Spotting something in the distance, Jennifer stopped. Crouching down to let the water up to her chest, she looked off, and saw a giant crab walking around the ruin. The creature was massive, almost twice as large as her in height, and likely even broader. Huge claws hung in the air from the crab, as it walked around, picking up fish and insects from the water, and eating them.
“We should take a different route,” Jennifer said through her mind link, walking back.
Suddenly, she found herself slip as the ground beneath her began to rise.
“Jennifer, run!”
Jennifer grabbed onto the creature, channeling agile wind as she kicked off and splashed back into the water. Gasping for air, she quickly stood on her feet, and saw the giant crab standing in front of her. More spots around the swamp stirred, rising from beneath the surface.
“Sera take me. Cover me Xar!” Jennifer shouted. Channeling glass blade, she shot the spell at the crab, enchanting it with Sharpen and Harden. The crab sprayed a beam of water at her spell, as the glass shattered against its exoskeleton in a spray of crystal. Ducking through the crab’s claw slamming on top of her, Jennifer jumped underneath the water to dodge the attack. Propelling herself with Agile wind she quickly picked herself up, and began to rush.
More and more crabs rose, sprays of waters shooting at her from all directions, and some spitting chunks of muds and rocks in her direction.
“Reflect!” Jennifer shouted, coating a hexagonal shield of glass as it protected her from the worst of the barrage.
“There! A crack in the wall!” Xar said, directing Jennifer.
Finding the crack leading inside the ruin, Jennifer ran, jumping into it as she squeezed her way in. The crabs continued to follow, slamming through and Jennifer leapt as the creatures broke through the wall, collapsing it.
Now finally on solid land, Jennifer ran around the ruins walls, before finding a stairway leading down.
“Go in there. It’s not big enough for the crabs!”
Rushing in with a roll, she stumbled down the stairways. Breathing heavily, and bleeding from the scrapes from her fall, Jennifer panted, her back against a giant metal gate as she watched the crabs slamming at the entrance to try and break through.
Not willing to wait for their efforts to succeed, she pulled herself up to her feet, and pushed against the wall. Slowly, painfully, and with a heavy creaking groan, the wall opened a sliver, and Jennifer stumbled inside, collapsing on her knees.
Panting from the exertion Jennifer remained on all fours, before slowly starting to take hold of her surroundings. The chamber inside was walled from all sides, with little holes carved in the walls. Like for torches from the shape of them. Mold covered the place from the top to the bottom, yet, the most noticeable feature inside the dark chamber was the corpse of one of the giant crabs Jennifer had been running from.
“There’s something in there,” Xar warned Jennifer. “And all around us too.”
Jennifer clutched her [Blood Dagger], keeping an eye on the crab. A moment later, the corpse stirred, as she saw a bald figure, with sickly pale skin walk out. For a moment, she thought it was a person, but the proportions were all wrong. The head was too big and elongated, the limbs too lanky and the body to hunched. Not to mention, the tail hanging behind and the sharp dagger like teeth left no suspicions about the non-human nature of the creature.
Jennifer raised her dagger, channeling her mana as she watched the creature. She sensed Xar had already raised the aura of threatening around her, and she hoped the monster would quietly walk away instead of engaging.
The creature froze in place as it saw her. A moment later, it looked back inside its shell, then out towards her, before it barked something out.
Jennifer stared, unsettled by the creature’s behaviour when she felt a shiver go down her spine. A moment later, she realised the sensation had come from Xar.
The monster now had a crude spear in its hand, made from tying a sharp rock on the end of a stick with some leather. Still, it was more than what she expected most monsters to carry, but it was still something she could easily take care of.
Then, as the creature glared at her. She finally noted its eyes. Its bright red eyes, that seemed to glow like wisps in the dark.
A sinking sensation began to grow in her gut.
Other similar pairs of eyes followed, rising from the shadows. They’d been hidden, watching her, carrying spear, and slings full of rocks.
Goblins. The realisation slammed into Jennifer, as her blood began to pulse rapidly. I’ve found myself in a damned goblin nest.
Goblins had been the reason the last Drake city had fallen. To the west, under the corpse of the last known dragon to have existed, the Drakes had carved a city from the bones of their ancestors. It had been the largest stronghold of the drakes, and the largest empire centuries ago. Until the goblins came. Under the rule of the last Goblin Kind, they had raided the place, torn it to pieces, and forced the drakes to flee their homes forever, before taking residence in their stead. Even now, centuries after the Goblin King’s demise, the city was still home to goblins, and the largest infestation of their kind in all of Zweiril.
“Bad?” Xar asked, sensing her train of thought.
“Very bad. Very very bad. Goblins can have classes. They’re one of the only monsters that can, and are the reason there’s still no official definition for what a monster is, aside from the fact that they all spawn in dungeons.”
Jennifer pulsed her mana rapidly, letting her Mark’s presence rear out alongside Xar’s. The goblins stepped back, sensing the rise in power, but a moment later, they walked further towards her, spears pointed in her direction. In the distance, she saw a female goblin with tattoos all over her body, holding a wooden staff and she cursed. They had a shaman as well.
“Hold,” a guttural voice spoke. The goblins paused, turning behind.
Jennifer saw something move through the darkness. A new figured walked in, pale a sickly white, with ghastly black hair on its head, a rotund belly, and the coat of a wolf tied around its neck. It was tall, taller than Jennifer, with a well crafted spear in its hand.
Sera take me, it’s a hobgoblin.
Hobs were the next stage of goblin evolution. It was poorly understood how goblins evolved into hobs, but all known hobs had a [Class] and [Skills]. So the process of obtained a class was somehow linked to the process.
“Human?” the hob asked, looking at them. Jennifer’s skin crawled as she heard the creature talking in its distorted and raspy voice. She had no idea how it had learned to speak. And truth be told, she wasn’t keen on finding out.
“One of us is,” Xar replied, forming a mind link.
The hobgoblin looked surprised, and the goblins bark and snarl, sensing the magic. The hob barks something back and they quiet down.
“We don’t want to fight. And if you do chose to fight, it won’t end well for you,” Jennifer says to the hobgoblin.
She feels a shiver run down her spine as the hob turns its beady red eyes towards her.
“You. Afraid,” the hob says, pointing at Jennifer, choosing not to use the mindlink.
“We. Not afraid,” it snarls, sharp teeth showing as the goblins howl as one. Jennifer raised her [Blood-Dagger], feeling sweat running down her back. She wondered if escaping outside would be safer for her.
“Goblin, not dumb. You bring human. You kill us. So we kill you.”
“I don’t intend to bring any humans. I can swear it.”
“Jennifer has Xar. Xar is like you. He belongs to Dungeon-Home. But Jennifer has never harmed Xar. She will not harm you either.”
The goblin paused, thinking over her words. “How prove. That you not bring human?”
Jennifer tried to come up with an idea, anything that she could do. A moment later, she remembered what Irwys had done with her.
“I can swear an Oath. Is that enough?”
The goblin stared at her, before giving a slow nod. Jennifer nodded as well, bringing her blood dagger up to her palm. Closing her eyes as she steeled her resolve, she ran the blade across her hand, leaving a cut that welled up red with her blood. Letting her mana mix in, she walked ahead, closer to the goblin.
“Shaman magic. I know a think or two about your kind,” Jennifer said, extending her hand to the goblin.
The goblin stared at her palm, the blood dripping from it mingling into the muddy water beneath. Behind the hob, the other goblins watcher her, spears still held in her direction. But there was curiosity in their eyes now.
“Swear. To not kill goblins?” the hob asked, as if struggling to believe that she wasn’t lying.
“I swear, that I will not kill any goblins,” Jennifer said. A moment later, the hob grasped her hand, accepting her oath. Jennifer felt the magic take hold, as her mana flowed into her core, and a chain bound her by her words.
Exhaustion filled her, as her mana drained itself out to form her Oath, and Jennifer held herself back from stumbling.
“Can stay then. Till Clawed-Death have gone away,” the hob said, its eyes lingering on her for a moment before it turned away.
The other goblins remained, though most turned away with the hob, taking their spears. Though a few remained that kept an eye on her.
Jennifer moved through the chamber to a corner, and collapsed near the wall. Taking a potion out of her belt, she drank a sip, feeling her wounds closing, as her mana slowly replenished itself. She felt exhausted.
“Jennifer has done well. And she can go back in time to do it again. The next time, we won’t have to fight poison-death.”
Jennifer nodded at Xar’s words. Her efforts would only improve over time.
The wall shook around Jennifer, dust falling from the ceiling. The goblins rose as one, their eyes outside, and Jennifer could tell the crabs were starting to gather in this area. They’d noticed the commotion. With nothing else to do, Jennifer sat, watching the goblins from afar. There was an odd structure to their camp, with little fur mats to sleep on belonging to the older goblins, while the younger ones did the menial tasks. She noted more than a few goblins walking to the crab to tear into its various pieces. Most of them simply bit into the flesh and shell, chewing on it without care, but some took the crab back, bringing it to a female that sat in front of a pot. They traded her the pieces, and she gave them portions from the food she had cooked, before putting the rest of the crab pieces inside it for herself. She didn’t know how these goblins had gotten their hand on these things, they certainly hadn’t made it, but they knew how to cook with it.
Like Orcs, Goblins were also part of the group that blurred the line between people and monsters. Both groups, commonly referred to as greenskins as a derogatory word, had access to classes. But Orcs were raiders, and plunderers. They were not a part of the alliance, but were still treated as a people. Meanwhile goblins were straight up considered a threat to be eradicated on sight, as they existed within the dungeon itself.
Jennifer wasn’t sure if these dungeon goblins had classes or not. With how hostile the dungeon had been to her having a class, she doubted it. Though the hob most likely had one, but she hadn’t seen him use any skills so far.
Jennifer paused when she saw one goblin walk towards her with a stick in its hand. It was small, smaller than almost all the other goblins, and she realised it must be a toddler, or a baby. The little goblin looked at her in fascination, red eyes glowing in the dark, when Jennifer heard the other goblins barking, as one grabbed the baby and brought it back. She watched the goblin child go in, before realising the other goblins were staring at her briefly. It took her a moment to realised why.
Adventurers are supposed to kill any goblin children when they found them.
A grumbling sound broke Jennifer out of her thoughts, and she realised just how hungry she was. The smell of food coming from the pot only worsened her hunger. Searching in her bag, took out some jerky that she’d prepared and began to chew on. It was hard, salty, and not all what she’d want to eat. Her stomach continued to grumble as she continued to eat the rather tasteless hard and salty jerky. I should buy better food if I ever have to do a long delve like this again.
Hours continued to pass by, as Jennifer ate every now and then waiting for the crabs to leave. She could see the crystals across the dungeon walls start to brighten again as the cycle continued to change. Jennifer saw a few goblins whose eyes never left Jennifer. She ignored them. So far, they hadn’t attacked. Exhaustion continued to creep into Jennifer as she sat. Time was difficult to sense within this place, and though she felt sleepy, the constant guard of goblins made it hard for her to sleep.
“If Jennifer wants, she can rest. Xar will keep guard. Xar doesn’t really need to sleep,” the spider admitted.
“That’s the most jealous I’ve ever been of your Mark,” Jennifer replied, and though she wanted to refuse, her body had other ideas.
A few moments of resistance later, Jennifer gave in to her growing desire, and let her eyes shut.
She didn’t realise when she fell asleep.
[Title: Monster-Ally] obtained!
[Temporary Ally: Dungeon-Goblins] obtained!