Charomera

The 24th of Elaphebolion

The Year 4631 in the Era of Mortals

Abraxios, they soon learned, could move faster than any of them if he wanted to. His light-boned avian physiology and mastery over wind meant that his flight speed was unmatchable by anything the rest of them could replicate on the ground. The tengu had decided to loosen his nerves after Arche’s surprise entrance by taking to the skies and scouting for beastmar. Arche could not help but feel a soft pang of jealousy as the tengu soared almost effortlessly, manipulating the currents of air around his feathers. It was a kind of freedom Arche would never know.

He hefted the Tridory and set off, leading the way. None of the others asked him why he carried the spear instead of inventorying the heavy weapon for ease of travel and he was grateful for it. As it was, it made a fairly decent walking stick as they pressed on toward the forest, though the sharp sauroter dug into the ground and left little pyramidal holes.

The walk along the valley was peaceful. Odelia engaged Lyssa in quiet conversation, staged far enough back that Arche couldn’t hear what they were saying. Instead, his attention was captured by Tess, who had quickened her pace to walk next to him.

“Callias is more furious than ever,” she said quietly. “That bounty you finagled and the details of your quest finally reached him. I wouldn’t be surprised if he tries to kill you the moment you get back. Wouldn’t be surprised if he tries before then, honestly.”

“We’ll deal with it as it comes. Has he threatened you?”

“Not directly. I’ve been staying near others. No one I trust, mind you, but it’s enough that I wasn’t isolated. Kept roving blades away, but they might see this expedition as the perfect opportunity to rid themselves of us. I barely slept last night, don’t know how you managed.”

Arch’s expression darkened. It was bad enough they were walking into overwhelming odds, now they had to worry about Callias sabotaging them as well? Typical.

“Do you think he’d actually send mercenaries after us while we’re fighting the beastmar?”

“I wouldn’t discount it. He hates you. You make him look bad. Publicly.”

“He looked terrible long before I arrived. I’m just the only one willing to call him out on it, apparently.”

“Seems he’s taken that personally. He’s hardly used to being challenged.”

“With any luck, he won’t have the time to get used to it.”

With the mood sufficiently dampened, they reached the tree line that marked the Sylv. Abraxios landed among them, interrupting any further private conversations.

“No monsters that I could see in the valley, though the trees block my vision of the forest.”

“All right.” Arche turned to get everyone’s attention. “I know this might seem like too little, too late, but what we’re going to do is exceedingly dangerous and there’s no guarantee that we’ll come back from it. If anyone wants to turn back now, I won’t hold it against you.”

The quartet of faces looking back at him were mildly taken aback, making him wonder if he had somehow put his foot in his mouth.

“Where you go, I follow,” Lyssa said, echoing his own words from when they had left Dawnwood.

“Yeah, you’re not getting rid of us that easily. You just want the bounty for yourself!” Tess jabbed his chest with an accusatory finger. She was smiling, likely for the benefit of the others, but it didn’t mask the worried glint in her eyes.

Abraxios and Odelia turned to each other and shrugged.

“We knew what we came for,” the tengu said. “Let’s hunt some monsters.”

“For the village!” the halfling woman cheered, raising her staff into the air.

Arche looked around at the members of his adventuring party and couldn’t help but smile. Their enthusiasm was infectious.

“When I saw them last time, there were four of them. We’ll have to be quiet on the approach or they’ll hear us when we get close.”

“Wait a moment,” Odelia said.

The small woman chanted something under her breath, then jabbed her staff into the ground. A green light flashed and settled onto the five of them. Arche saw a green light surrounding his vitals even as he watched the glow settle onto his skin, feeling coarse and hard. The icon coalesced into a symbol of a tree. Focusing on it, he was able to pull up the spell’s description.

Barkskin — Level 8

+5.2% Physical Resistance

+10.4% Magical Resistance

+10.4% Hide Chance in Forests

Barkskin — Level 8: 01:37:20

Odelia’s eyes fluttered a moment, then she smiled at them.

“That took a fair bit out of me, casting that on five people. No one get hurt for the next ten minutes, all right?”

They set off into the woods, moving quickly and quietly. Arche led the way, retracing his steps. He had a feeling of where they needed to go, as though his feet were walking an invisible path and knew whenever his brain took them slightly off course.

Wilderness Survival has increased to Level 12.

+2% Insulation (+24%)

+2% Durability of Constructed Shelters (+24%)

+1% Vitals Regeneration in Camp (+12%)

Arche chewed his lip. The skill didn’t mention anything about retracing steps. It seemed there were additional bonuses that weren’t apparent in his skill descriptions. He’d have to look into that later, Lyssa probably knew something about it.

For now, there were beastmar to kill.

They’d made good time, much faster than he had guessed. His Barkskin buff still had around forty minutes left before it would need to be reapplied. It would be best to have Odelia recast it before entering the cave proper, but it would be enough to handle whatever perimeter guard the beastmar had set up. Arche held up a hand, signaling the others to stop and, for once, they seemed to understand what he meant. Arche crept forward as quietly as he could and glanced over the rise.

Three beastmar guarded the cave, each looking incredibly bored. One, a humanoid, leaned against the hill and picked at its nails, a rather large endeavor considering it had no less than seven hands. The other two had animalistic bodies, one resembling a cow and the other a lion, and were curled on the ground as they kept a lazy eye on the forest around them. Arche retreated from the rise and conferred with the others, keeping his voice to a whisper.

“Three. Two on the ground, but they’re awake. Third is by the cave. If we hit them hard, we might be able to get them before they sound the alarm.”

Arche drew his bow and nocked an arrow to it. He turned to the two mages.

“Does all your magic come with glowing light?”

They nodded.

“All right, you two hold off for now, then. I don’t want to give away our location before we have to, but if you see a place you can step in, do so.” Arche turned toward Lyssa and Tess. “Lyssa, you focus the one with the arms, you’ll know the one. Tess, take the lion. I’ll get the cow. We’ll go on my signal since you both probably have faster reactions than me.”

They both nodded and Tess faded away into the forest, completely disappearing from Arche’s vision due to what he could only assume was her Stealth skill. Lyssa knocked an arrow to her bow and nodded, getting into position on the rise. Arche followed her up, focusing in on the bovine beastmar. Arche counted to fifteen to give Tess time to get into position, then drew back his arrow and focused on his Penetrating Shot maneuver. The bow bent beneath his grip and the wood creaked. The lion beastmar perked up, head swiveling as it scanned the treeline. Arche released the string and his arrow sprang forward, immediately followed by Lyssa’s.

The cow beastmar’s throat exploded, sending up a spray of black blood. The beastmar opened its mouth to bray a warning, but only low, wheezing breath came out. It shuddered, limbs unsteady as it tried to rise and fight, but the blood spurted from its wound, painting the ground around it. Thanks to the maneuver, his arrow had punched straight through its neck and stuck into the ground behind it, still quivering.

Lyssa’s arrow was even more impressive. It spun through the air, picking up speed as it went. It took the many-armed beastmar in the nose. Black blood splattered across the hill and the forest floor as the spinning arrow stuck in the beastmar’s face and kept spinning. Arche couldn’t tear his eyes away. He felt a tremor run through his stomach, a slight quiver in his throat. The beastmar died before it had a chance to scream. Nothing was left of its face, just a bloody mass of pulp.

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The world swayed and Arche stumbled, his vision swimming. Lyssa’s hand on his shoulder steadied him before he fell, the touch breaking whatever trance he’d been under. He looked away from the beastmar, already knowing that it would be haunting his dreams for a long time to come.

The final beastmar scrambled to its feet, readying itself to let out a roar. Just as it began, a knife sailed through the air and slit the powerful looking beastmar’s vocal cords. It recoiled in pain and confusion as the roar became a low, breathy gurgle. Two more knives flew from the underbrush and thunked into the lion beastmar, one where its heart ought to be, and another higher up on its torso, where it began to look more human. The beastmar took a few unsteady steps, then fell to the ground. The clearing before the cave had been turned into a sticky mess of black blood.

Arche inventoried his bow and hefted the Tridory, running down the rise to post up next to the cave mouth, in case any beastmar ran out of it. They had been fairly quiet, but he had no way of knowing how many, if any, beastmar were inside. Tess joined him on the other side. Lyssa covered both of them with her bow from the ridgeline, Odelia and Abraxios standing near her in case they were needed. When nothing happened for two full minutes, Arche waved them down.

They gathered outside the cave entrance. Arche had Odelia recast Barkskin on them, resetting their timer back to an hour and forty minutes. The friendly halfling blinked a few times when the casting was done, swaying on her feet. Abraxios steadied her with a hand and she gave him a tired smile. Arche took the moment to quickly go over the notifications that had appeared during the short battle.

Archery has increased to Level 13.

+2% Damage with Ranged Weapons (+26%)

+2% Accuracy with Ranged Weapons (+26%)

+1% Range with Ranged Weapons (+13%)

Penetrating Shot has increased to Level 4.

+4% Penetration (+16%)

+4% Damage (+16%)

Leadership has increased to Level 5.

+1% Persuasion Chance (+5%)

+1% Reputation Gain (+5%)

-0.5% Reputation Loss (-2.5%)

+1 Wisdom

+1 Charisma

Arche bit back the grin at seeing his Leadership skill hit level five. So many of his skills could improve his attributes, if only he had the time to dedicate to their training. He would have to set some time aside soon. The more he could train, the more effectively he could assign his precious level attribute points.

You have slain a Level 11 Beastmar.

You gain 220 experience.

Lyssanderyli has slain a Level 11 Beastmar.

You gain 110 experience.

Your party has slain a Level 11 Beastmar.

You gain 55 experience.

Experience is held until a Profession is chosen.

Choose a Profession?

Yes

No

Arche dismissed the prompt and closed his notifications window.

“I’m ready,” Odelia whispered, bringing him back to the present.

“Wait.” Abraxios looked at the rest of them, his head cocked slightly. “I just realized, none of you can see in the dark, can you?”

“I can,” Lyssa said as the others shook their heads.

Abraxios nodded. “A moment.”

He shook his staff and enunciated a strange word of power. A dark blue light seeped from the staff and settled over Arche, Tess, and Odelia. Arche struggled not to recoil as the light flew into his eyes. He shut them tight, feeling like someone was blowing intently on his face, but the magic paid no mind to his eyelids. When he opened them, everything was in startlingly clear detail for as far as he could see. He saw an icon of an owl next to the tree that signaled Barkskin and focused on it, pulling up details on it.

Owl Vision — Level 19

Perception +9

Low-Light Vision: 35.7 meters

Owl Vision — Level 19: 35:39

“That should help in there,” the tengu chirped.

Arche didn’t notice a change, at first, then Tess turned to look at him. Her eyes had turned bright yellow, with massive black pupils the size of a marble. Their mouths dropped in unison and he could only assume that his eyes had changed as well. He shut his mouth and swallowed, forcing himself to turn back toward the cave.

“Clock’s ticking. Let’s go.”

Arche hefted the Tridory and entered the hillside, the rest of the party at his back. Five paces inside, Arche realized the area was much larger than he had previously expected. He’d feared that the inside would be a horde of sleeping beastmar that, upon their entrance, would wake up and maul them. This, thankfully, was not the case. Instead, what awaited him was a perilous bridge, some thirty strides across, stretched over a chasm that extended downward into darkness, past his ability to see. The far side of the bridge ended some ten strides below them and led into a tunnel, preventing any further scouting from where they stood.

“What the fuck?” Arche breathed.

The massive interior gaped back at them and he winced as his voice echoed off the walls.

You have found a Dungeon.

The Vivitorium of Hekáte

WARNING!

Your Dungeoneering Level is too low to view Dungeon Information.

Arche read the message twice, then looked at the others. They stared back at him, clearly wondering why he had stopped. Only Lyssa was also reading a notification, her eyes unfocused for a few moments. She locked eyes with him and nodded, adjusting her grip on her bow. He nodded back, turned to the bridge, and took the first step forward.

Abraxios laid a hand on his shoulder, stopping Arche, and gestured at himself, then down the chasm. The moments stretched out between them, one after the other. Arche squinted at the tengu, blinked, then nodded.

Abraxios took off, winging down into the darkness and was quickly out of sight, his wings made no noise, even in the still air. It took a full minute before they saw the tengu flying back up toward them. The tengu landed on the far side of the bridge and signaled for them to be quiet before waving them over. Arche made his way first, stepping carefully in the center of the bridge.

The whole structure was in a state of disrepair and there were several holes that threatened to twist an ankle or, in a worst-case scenario, could allow someone to slip through completely and fall into the darkness below. There was no guard rail to the bridge, only a flat expanse of stone bricks wide enough to accommodate two people standing abroad, though that would risk one falling.

Arche’s first step was tentative. He didn’t trust the bridge one bit. At any moment, the stone would give way beneath him and he would be dropped into nothing. He would fall into the blackness and be swallowed up by it, likely to die a painful death at the bottom.

But the bridge did not give way.

The stone held beneath his feet, so he took another step, and another. His heart pounded in his ears all the while. He tried to take deep breaths, but they ran ragged through his chest, pushing in and out far too quickly. All he could hear was the pounding of blood in his ears. To make matters worse, the incline of the bridge made him look down the entire way.

A hand touched his shoulder and he nearly cried out, stopping himself at the last moment. He turned to find Tess looking at him with concern. She nodded encouragingly at him, but it was no help to him. Her nodding wasn’t going to save him if he fell. Arche gritted his teeth and walked a little faster.

He had made it about halfway across without issue when a loose stone caught his foot and he tripped. Unable to help himself he let out a startled cry as he fell, his heart about to burst from his chest. The stone pressed against him, holding him up. Tess grabbed his legs to prevent him from rolling or tumbling off the bridge, but his panic had dislodged some small rocks and sent them tumbling down into the abyss.

Everyone stared as the stones fell into the darkness and vanished from sight. Arche forced himself to look away from the yawning abyss and focus on Abraxios, who frantically waved them forward. Arche clenched his jaw and scrambled to his feet, staying low to the bridge as he ran toward Abraxios. He said a silent prayer of thanks that he had managed to keep ahold of the Tridory. This was the last place he wanted to test the limits of the Return trait.

After an eternity, or at least a minute, he made it to the other side of the bridge. The others arrived shortly after, seeming none the worse for wear. Abraxios gestured for them to move into the passageway attached to their side of the cavern, only speaking once they had all entered.

“We must move quickly. There were signs of many beastmar at the bottom and I’m certain they’ll hear when the stones hit the bottom,” Abraxios said.

“What else did you see?” Tess asked.

“This place is a network of tunnels,” Abraxios replied. “I saw many of them as I flew downward. Inside it is confined. It is not my preferred method of travel, but in these tunnels, we can fight on our terms.”

“And remove their numbers advantage,” Arche said, nodding as he caught his breath. “Outside, we’d have to fight all of them at once. In here, we can funnel them, two or three at a time.”

“Then let’s not wait for them to come find us,” Odelia piped up. “Let’s go.”

They set off, moving at a brisk jog down the twisting passageways. Arche was grateful for the Owl Vision buff. Without it, he would have been hopelessly lost in the darkness of the tunnels. Every now and then they came across a bioluminescent patch of moss that threw its light across the tunnel for quite a distance, thanks to their enhanced eyesight, but though it was more common the deeper they went, it wasn’t always present. Arche wondered if it would grow in the village, perhaps providing a method of nighttime illumination that wouldn’t need fuel to burn. He decided to save those thoughts for another time.

The tunnels gradually became smoother, the worn stone gave way to a more polished, crafted passageway that twisted and turned ever deeper underground. The hours crept by, one after the other in the endless dark. Odelia and Abraxios recast Barkskin and Owl Vision whenever the timer got close to running out. Arche wagered it was late morning, by a rough estimate of how many times the spells were recast. The lack of adversity was a kernel that had settled in his stomach. Every scrape of a shoe or quiet echo set his teeth on edge. Still, they encountered no beastmar, no monsters, no mildly disgruntled rats or snakes. Everything was quiet and still.

Like a tomb.

Arche fought a shudder, still dwelling on the macabre thought when he turned a corner and saw a door. He stopped dead in his tracks. Tess walked into him and grunted in quiet surprise.

“Wha—?” her question was cut off as he raised a hand in answer, pointing towards the door at the end of the hallway.

The door was ajar and slick with fresh blood.