4:41 P.M.
February 5
Frostmonth 7
Newly-formed Dungeon, Limeroom, Veotera
Gary manifested in the dungeon’s interior with a stumbling flicker of the world sucking itself inside out for an instant before he came to a landing and took a few steps to control his speed and grind to a halt. Once he was at a standstill, his knives came out and he swept the space he’d come into with a critical eye. Back behind him was a cave wall, around him were cave walls, and forward was a tunnel made of cave walls. Gary couldn’t quite place the stone - some muddy-hued granite? - but that was of minimal concern at the moment. His gray gaze immediately swept to the ceiling above him and he found it bare of murder holes.
The way back he’d come twinkled with that Cherenkov Blue cloud after a few seconds of him observing the area. So there was some sort of timer, then? He had to be mindful of that. The cave section behind the rift looked to end in some sort of thin and rough opening through which bright daylight streamed. Ahead in the tunnel was crude torches placed in cracks in the walls at irregular intervals lighting the path ahead.
This gave Gary thoughts of being a cave system inhabited by goblins. Come to think of it he hadn’t asked what the locals called these monsters, so he resolved to simply use the term Goblins until he was corrected. Taking up a defensive mindset and keeping his knives in clenched fists at the ready he strode forward to follow the tunnel deeper into what he was assuming a complex or warren of the things. He considered taking a torch with him, but the creatures seemed to have placed them at intervals to mitigate the fact that there was no light down here and might have laid traps in dark corners he wouldn’t see if he was carrying a bright light source.
On and on Gary went as the tunnel began to strongly curve after a short time. He looked back at the rift and found it simply vanished when he got about fifty yards from it; roughly where the tunnel started curving. Stepping back and forth he understood that this was simply something going on with his post-System brain. Maybe his Class or Affinity had something to do with it? It bore testing later. He thought back to the Goblins that had wandered out of the rift to begin with, noting that they were clearly aggressive but didn’t seem to be part of a horde-style push. Gary figured that was simply because they had been singular scouts.
He stopped as he finally fully went around the bend, dropping to a knee as he scanned the sightliness ahead of him for anything that looked disturbed or tripwire-like along his current path. Gary was trusting his Skills by now to keep him apprised of creatures with hostile intent but he didn’t know if it would really trigger for traps and pitfalls. With every step he paced himself and moved as quietly as he could. He could see up ahead that the path split off along this main tunnel and one veered off about thirty degrees to the left. This was his first time making a decision on the path he should take. Once more he knelt and studied the ground. There was little debris on the stone to give him much of an answer as to which was more often traveled.
Gary heard an echoing shuffle of flesh on stone coming from both directions; more from the main tunnel but some from the veering one as well. 「Stealth」 was activated and a percent of his Reserves vanished as Gary braced himself against the ridge that formed from both tunnels diverging and waited. Sure enough, two groups of Goblins gibbered something to each other and spat angry noises at each other when the groups converged. Gary was being very careful to not let them touch him, as the Skill didn’t stop either sound or touch from detecting him. The argument went on for a few more moments before one slapped the squabbling ones and pointed towards the exit tunnel.
A frown graced Gary’s lips as the Goblins strode off as a unified group, chittering happily to themselves as he could imagine the flow of the conversation being something along the lines of ‘time to invade Veotera!’. That simply wouldn’t do. Taking great care to step quietly and praying he didn’t stumble on the way, Gary followed the group until they were about thirty yards from the rift. The relaxed ones in the back both fell to a vicious stab each down along their necks into the chest cavity as Gary knew already this was a deathblow. The distinct sound of flesh yielding to sharpened metal was drowned out by the screech of the dying creatures. Gary didn’t stop as he stepped between the falling corpses and lashed out with a low-ish roundhouse kick to smash another Goblin in the neck.
This one flew into one of it’s comrades and they both slammed into the cave tunnel’s wall. The heap slid down but Gary was still moving, the spin of his kick finishing as he swung both knives low and caught another in the arm and partially into the chest. The blow slammed it against the same wall but now the creatures were properly reacting. Screeching gibberish accompanied crude weapons of rusted iron and roughly-shaped stone swinging in on him. Gary took steps back as 「Danger Sense」 began reacting to let him know which one was the most immediate threat. He was flitting back and forth with his eyes as he danced around and through the clumsy swings.
Gary wasn’t really feeling a burn in his muscles as he noted this was actually easier than fighting Ripper Rabbits in a number of ways: the humanoid body let him understand the movement mechanics of his smaller opponents, and their wild swings were doing as much damage to them as they weren’t doing to him. Kicks and knife strikes brought more dying shrieks as he finally managed to tear through the small raiding party. At the end of it, Gary stood there breathing somewhat heavily splattered strongly with that burgundy blood the Goblins had.
He frowned down the way to the rest of the cave before deciding on something. He dragged the bodies to the rift, and spoke in a low voice. “Fuck that pompous fucker.” He grabbed a few of the bodies and tossed them through the rift. Sure enough, it winked out for about ten seconds before manifesting again. So there was a timer. Keeping a good pace Gary tossed the remains through in order to make sure he wasn’t going to get jumped by one of them playing dead. He could only imagine the ruckus his disposal was causing, making him grin despite the situation’s seriousness.
None of the weaponry was worth taking up. There hadn’t been anything of value to try taking for himself, so he kicked the murder tools into a pile along one wall and stalked back towards the fork with more confidence. If he could keep this pace this would be pretty smooth.
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Jack was frowning deeply as another group of Goblin corpses came through the dungeon’s entrance in roughly ten-second intervals. This was nearly two hours of intermittent bodies popping out of the chalk-marked circle, and it was almost getting to be insulting. Another interval finished as Gary came into existence with a flicker of motion that made him seem to stumble for a step or two.
The young Delver was nearly drenched in Goblin blood. He took a look around the evening scene to find the barricades had been reinforced yet further with more city guards, and several members of the clergy were present off to the side. Gary nodded to himself as he made an attempt to wipe the worst of the blood off himself, managing to get it down to streaky splotches instead of the lacquering coat he’d emerged with. Those pale eyes looked about and locked onto Jack before he was allowed to slip through a momentary gap in the encirclement to head towards the staffman.
“What; run out of Goblins?”
“Decided to take a break and report back at the same time. I’ve got maybe a third of the place dealt with so far?” Jack’s brows shot up, but as he regarded the pile of monster corpses that were already being loaded onto wagons to be hauled away and burned it seemed more and more like Gary was telling the truth. “The resistance itself isn’t hard, but there’s a lot of the critters. I would say let’s use some oil and burn them out but fires in cave systems is a good way to kill yourself.”
The staffman nodded at that wisdom. He’d seen the results of that before when some Delvers had gotten it in their heads to try with a nest that had been established outside a dungeon. The poor bastards had died from lack of good air; both due to smoke and the fire eating up the air itself. Jack waved at Gary and the teenager unceremoniously sat down right on the grass. It was then he noticed his cloak had become soaked in Goblin blood as it squished beneath him. A disgusted look crossed the lad’s face as he undid the garment and threw it onto one of the nearby corpses.
“That much blood will never come out,” he said to himself, but he was loud enough that a few people chuckled at his nonchalant attitude. They were feeling emboldened seeing the extent a single person could tear through this dungeon. Gary worked his gauntlets off and set them beside him on the grass before he looked up at the standing Jack. “Want me to draw a map for what I’ve explored thus far?”
“Yes, actually,” came a smooth voice as Gary and Jack both turned their heads to find Lord Roland Wevre striding up to them with a board, quill, parchment, and ink being carried by an assistant trailing behind him. Jack didn’t miss the flash of unreadable blankness Gary’s normally expressive face had in response to the man, but the teenager clearly relented in the name of keeping the peace as he accepted the supplies.
Jack was treated to a sight he hadn’t expected as Gary set to work in the evening light. The lines were simple and smooth, notable terrain features such as changes in elevation were noted with symbols he didn’t recognize but were notated in the upper corner. Someone brought over a pair of torches on poles and stuck them into the ground to either side of the drawing Delver, earning a pause and nod of thanks before the drawing resumed. Gary occasionally paused as he frowned in recollection before the smooth lines began again. He switched parchment when the first one was filled and went to a second one with but a moment’s pause. A third sheet joined the worrying continuation soon enough, but thankfully the drawing stopped about three fingers span from the edge of the third as Gary finally looked up from his work.
The boy was clearly skilled at cartography. It made him wonder yet again who this kid actually was. He clearly didn’t carry himself as a noble’s child would, but he was displaying skill sets that drew far too much attention for their precision and unspoken depth. Finished with his mapmaking, Gary set the supplies aside and leaned forward to arrange the map he’d just finished onto the ground in a connecting pattern, showing Jack he’d drawn deliberately so that the parchments could be put edge to edge and form a single unbroken design. Definitely skilled.
“I don’t know how big dungeons are supposed to be, so that estimate of about a third may not be accurate. There’s big stretches where there’s nothing but cave corridor. No traps thus far, but this may just be the outer settlement area. The more experienced Delvers who know dungeons should take a look at this and figure out how far I’ve actually gotten.”
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Lord Wevre was devouring the map with his eyes, clearly just as impressed as Jack was. Without looking up, he waved to a servant and they scurried off back into the manor. Jack called a few of the more experienced hunters to take a look at the map and a quiet consultation began between them as they knelt and pointed to various parts of the map and made professional assessments of the scouting information. That servant came back with a platter loaded with cooked and sliced sausages, along with an ornate fork and a goblet of what turned out to be a mild beer by the smell of it.
Recognizing the gesture for what it was, Gary leaned back onto his rear again and accepted the platter with a nod of thanks. He used the fork to stab the slices of meat one at a time and chew on them, then gave the goblet a frown before he took a long sip and pulled a face at the taste. Jack smirked. So the mighty Gary Zavon had a weakness: a distaste for alcohol. Jack observed that the lord noted this as well. Gary ate and drank without complaint, however.
Once he finished the revitalizing snack, Gary surrendered the platter back to the servant and sat in contemplative silence as he wriggled his gauntlets back on. The two knives he had were brought out and inspected for damage during his rest, gray eyes critically checking for nicks, chips, or warping of the lines. Just as he finished up the older Delvers looked up to Jack and one of them spoke for the group.
“The boy’s cleared out at least half, actually. Dungeons this new aren’t too terribly big. There’ll be a central chamber along this path over here he didn’t explore, and that’s gonna have a big horde of monsters. Clear that out and the rest of the caves should be easy to sweep and make sure they’re empty.” The man pointed to a corridor Gary had noted seemed like where the dungeon was flowing to by the tiny skull and crossed bones accompanied by an arrow down the unfinished lines. “He’s done a great deal of the work, honestly. These little branches will grow as the dungeon continues to exist.”
“So these things grow over time,” Gary murmured as he leaned back onto his hands to look awkwardly back in the direction of the circle he’d marked earlier in the day. “Hope this works like I think it will.” Jack barely caught the whispered statement and a chill went up the man’s spine. Did Gary have a plan for this dungeon?!
“”But yeah,” Gary said as he looked back towards the group of Delvers and towards the city guard, as if he’d never made that whispered statement. “If we could get a group together we can probably clear it out tonight. Get some tower shields to make shield walls with, a couple of sturdy spears to stab through gaps in the lines? These things aren’t terribly smart or agile. It’s the numbers we have to worry about, honestly. If anyone’s got some Emerald-based attack relqa we probably won’t need too much since the whole place is made of rock. Plenty of ammunition.”
Jack rubbed his chin in thought. The shield wall was a good idea. Corridors made them painfully effective and with a few backup lines worth, he could see Gary’s logic in the situation. That showed at least some level of military tactical training. Another skill some random kid shouldn’t have.
“Then we have a course of action. I think a couple of the guards can be spared to go raid their armory for tower shields. I know they have some and they’re the nice sturdy metal ones. Once we get them us Delvers will move in force into the dungeon.” A chorus of groans met the statement from the mostly-male Delvers Jack shushed them with a sharp gesture. “No griping. Gary’s done far more than his share of the work, and you lot should be looking to his example on how to conduct yourselves.”
Gary waved at Jack with a self-deprecating dismissive wave. “Ease up, Jack. They’re concerned for their safety, as they should be. Why do you think we’re all wearing armor?” That earned him a chorus of nervous chuckles from those that heard him crack a joke. “I can use the downtime to rest up before the big push. I have a plan for dealing with this place once it’s cleared out, and I need most of my Mana Reserves for the attempt. I’d rather you don’t scare off the badly-needed assistance.” That earned him a silent look from everyone. He apparently did have a plan, and the announcement that he needed so much of whatever Mana Reserves he had indicated it was something he wasn’t sure would work.. Or it would work and it took the form of something he wasn’t able to do often. Either prospect was very worrying.
Lord Wevre’s face went a little pale as he seemed to be madly calculating something in his head. Gary clearly caught the look and the unreadable expression crossed his face again. That was another layer of issue, it seemed. Jack studiously chose to ignore it.
“So we have a plan, then. Could a few of the guards go get your tower shields and bring them here? Delvers, fill the ranks until they get back. We’ll move in force once the guards return.” Normally he couldn’t order the city guard around, but the emergence of a dungeon gave him access to emergency short-term authority. The guards of each city understood this type of emergency authority given to the Delvers for just this situation and a few broke off from their positions to see about their assigned task. For his part, Gary simply reclined himself until he was laid down on the lawn and closed his eyes. The unusual design of his armor clearly allowed him a greater level of flexibility than Jack thought armor would have, judging by the smoothness of the motion.
“I’m gonna rest my eyes for a little bit, Jack. Let me know when they get back.”
“Of course.”
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About a half-hour later, Gary’s eyes slid open at the sound of clanking metal coming around the corner of Lord Wevre’s manor. He’d been using his Virtual Network’s texts on tactical maneuvering with shield walls and fighting in cramped quarters in preparation for the massed assault. Most of it was common sense: wide swings were garbage, stabbing attacks were far more effective, and no formation he could advise them on would provide full protection due to the natural hewn rock being an untamed architecture that would prevent perfect seals throughout. He’d see if these people who were far more familiar with the particulars would adhere to good strategy without him having to sound pompous about knowledge that he theoretically shouldn’t have.
Sure enough the guards who’d gone out were bringing back a total of eight shields. They were simplistic things; merely looking like thin slabs of steel with some scuffs and cosmetic dings here and there. He idly wondered how much real use they’d seen over the years. Gary watched them move towards the forming group of people who’d be traveling into the dungeon with him to finish clearing it out. It looked like a robust group, and they’d switched to spears, hand axs, short swords, and knives of various flavors. Short weapons for fighting in tunnels. Good.
Lifting his legs into the air, Gary sharply brought them forward and used the momentum to flip himself in a grounded forward somersault off the ground. He landed in a low crouch leaning forward onto his hands that steadied him on the lawn before him to keep from face planting, then once he’d stopped moving forward he stood up and dusted off the butt of his leather trousers and walked over to the assembled group. He was really happy with this armor.
“So, we ready to go,” he asked as he got to the group. A couple of the physically stronger Delvers had taken up the metal shields and were in the process of testing their movement with the hunks of metal, but eventually everyone nodded. Gary nodded in response and spoke up. “So when you first enter, there’s a straight corridor. Once you’re in, keep going forward to give everyone else room to get in since it’s not overly wide.” They made noises of assent and formed up at a gap in the barricades leading to the invisible-to-everyone-else rift. Gary noted the color hadn’t changed from the ionizing blue crackling haze and he took the lack of color change as a good sign.
A couple of the shieldbearers moved to the front of the formation, and everyone put a hand on the next person’s shoulder. Gary noted this down. They seemed aware of the cooldown, and this was clearly a practiced maneuver to circumvent it for multiple entrants. Gary stood just behind the two shieldbearers and grabbed a shoulder with each hand to serve as the link between the two lines that had formed. At some unspoken signal, the raiding party stepped into the rift and once more the motion assaulted Gary before he felt his feet hit stone while he stumbled a step but recovered a bit. No one else seemed to suffer the stumble from the rift spitting them out, causing Gary to frown.
Maybe the damn things didn’t like him for some reason? It didn’t matter in the end. He was going to 「Quintessence Vivisection」 the rift itself once they were done here. He didn’t do it immediately because he was concerned that it would simply disgorge the contents - the monsters - en masse when he destroyed the link. That was a disaster he’d prefer not to have on his heart.
Once everyone was inside the tunnel, the ranks shifted to bring the shields up to the front in two rows of four. Gary slipped through their formation to take point. As they went, he checked the corridor to make sure the Goblins hadn’t done anything in his absence. The coast was clear, however. They came to that first fork and the shieldbearers positioned themselves against each corridor, forming a three-wide barrier with the fourth man guarding the top to keep anything thrown from slipping past, like a firebomb. Gary appreciated it but hadn’t seen such weapons yet. It was still a wise practice to adopt.
The fork was investigated by a group that slipped past the shieldwall and came back a couple of minutes later to report it was still clear. The procession continued to make sure the cave system was clear, and a couple of Goblins had wandered into the later parts but were swiftly dispatched upon discovery. Gary was proud of himself having cleared out so much as it made this job a lot smoother. He caught a few of his fellow Delvers flashing him appreciative looks as they understood how much of a hassle this would have been without Gary thinning the ranks so much.
As they approached the tunnel Gary had stopped his scouting at, he waved the men to a stop before he gestured for silence and triggered 「Stealth」 again. Once ensconced in the perceptive filter he stalked down the corridor. It was a good thing he’d stopped when he did, Gary realized as he went. The Goblin concentration here was visibly thicker. Each jutting fork held a new den, and Gary stopped just short of what seemed like the main chamber that had been spoken of. 「Danger Sense」 was jiggling at the back of his neck, and Gary knew that somehow there was something in there that was particularly hazardous to his health.
Oh great, a boss monster. Gary fought the urge to click his tongue as he retreated back to the waiting raid and let the Skill fade as he approached standing boldly. As he got to the front of the formation he spoke softly. “Main part of the nest is down this way. Every fork has a nest of pretty good size, and 「Danger Sense」 triggered just by getting near the main chamber you guys talked about. Something strong’s in there.”
One of the men grunted at the news. “Looks like we’re earning our runees today, boys. Save your strength for the main chamber while we clear out the forks.” Gary nodded and fell back into the midst of the formation. He was taking that advice to heart. He’d only used about seven percent of his Reserves, but he needed a huge chunk for stealing this rift’s riftiness, if that was even a word. Let the others carry some weight. As they went on, the same pattern applied: one group would block forward deeper into the dungeon while the other would send fighters down the nearest fork to clear out the nest there. The sounds of battle echoed uncomfortably in Gary’s ears as he nervously paid attention to his Skill for if that thing in the central chamber started moving.
It was this pattern that kept going and working as shieldbearers and fighters were rotated amongst the group. Gary was clearly excluded from bearing a shield. Were they being respectful of the work he’d already put in? More likely they wanted someone who’d done his level of work to be free to react if things went south fast.
This left Gary with idle time to think as they advanced. His headache was still there, but it was somehow muffled inside the dungeon. It was more an ever-present uncomfort than the throbbing pain he was used to, and he only noticed it because he was now idly in his own head. It was a sad statement that he was so used to the pain he only noticed its absence when he had nothing else to do.
The work went on fairly smoothly. Minor scrapes and heavy bruising were the main wounds received, with one poor man getting a nasty gash on his primary hand. Gary stepped in and using some supplies the other Delvers offered him quickly staunched the bleeding and wrapped the wound up. First aid was the best he could do without a relqa like Remmy’s at the moment, but it would hold for the duration of their work.
“We’ll get this looked at after we’re done. Rusty weapons are a particular problem.”
“Thanks. Let’s get this done.” Gary nodded to the man and the last few outer nests were cleared. By now, there was a clear racket going on from the central chamber and every man in the raid looked at each other. Sounded like the final fight was gearing up to begin.