---The Twilight Sepulcher---
[Floor 2]
For once, Ethan was playing the long game.
Spirit Cores: 375
Three hundred and seventy five big ones, Sys. If I keep ‘em for the Boss, I should be possessin’ him in no time.
I would remind you that, while your combat exploits have so far been…adequate, your Spirit Cores simply increase the chance of successful possession relative to your target’s [Willpower]
You still may fail if the target’s Will is strong.
Judging by the nature of your enemies in this place…
…the big bad’s gonna be one strong-willed customer. Or, he might not even have any Willpower at all.
I wouldn’t worry about that.
All creatures anointed by Kaedmon have a will of their own.
It is all the more depressing that we have to adhere to his Law.
See, there you go again – helpful and then cryptic in the same breath. Not that I’m really complaining, anymore. That’s your whole schtick, right?
I would ask that you define this term, [Schtick]
…but at this point, why should I bother?
Ethan smiled. They were used to each other’s own distinct forms of bullshit, now. In a strange way, Argwyll wouldn't be Argwyll without Sys.
He turned his attention to the halls of the second floor instead, and the shouting of Tara as she found another half-opened chest that was definitely not a Mimic waiting to tear into her flesh. They’d had a few close calls as they traversed the depths of the Second Floor – which seemed to function as a crypt, with entire rooms filled to the brim with coffins and unmarked graves.
They’d come across no traces of any enemy activity. Not even Ethan’s upgraded Appraisal suggested that there was any danger nearby.
So, looting had become their priority. Already, the party had picked up some choice items from the fallen Lich:
Mithril Scythe (Rare)
DMG: 35 (x2 during night)
Special: Ignores AP
Ethan gawked at the vicious scythe, seeing scintillating shadows running across its surface.
“’Special’ eh?” Ethan asked Fauna as they followed Klax and Tara – the two of them taking point due to their superior senses for treasure and traps.
“Mithril is a rare material,” Fauna explained. “Some metals of Argwyll have unique properties. Mithril can completely rip through armor, making it a coveted item for any warrior.”
Ethan’s giant spider form grinned down at the Hopla, who blushed as she realized she’d been talking like a machine.
“…sorry,” she said. “Sometimes I can be a bit of a textbook, Mr Ethan.”
“You know what?” he replied. “Your Archon’s first command is thus: you will stop apologizing from now on, especially when the knowledge in your fluffy noggin’s actually super useful.”
She gave a slight chuckle as Tara and Klax pointed out another treasure room to their right. “Sorry for saying sorry.”
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Ethan decided he’d keep the scythe for now – his silver scimitars were working enough wonders down here, and he wasn’t about to give them up to Transmogrify another item. Besides this, he let his companions go through the motions of testing for Mimics. Sometimes, the dusty coffins ended up holding treasure – more healing salves and MP potions for Fauna. Other times, they snapped shut and reached out their spine-slathered tongues in an expectation of fresh meat. Ethan’s paralyzing scythe made short work of them. Whoever placed them here clearly hadn’t expected the Boss of another Delve to come along with a mind of its own.
More blades and trinkets came their way as they went from decayed room to busted room, plundering this crypt for everything they could. Broadswords and bows of lesser quality filled their inventories, and Ethan found himself pondering some of their finds.
In the memories of Rachneros – accessed through his upgraded [Possession] skill – he could recall distinct sensations of pain – how much agony certain blades had wracked on his Host’s body since the beginning of his Delve’s creation. He got enough sense from each of the looted blades they pilfered that there was a power and utility hierarchy of metals in this world:
1. Iron/Steel
2. Silver
3. Mithril
4. Adamantine
5. Coryph
6. Onixia
They best loot they got was the scythe, and a quiver of dusty Mithril arrows which Tara quickly claimed as her own (despite the fact that she’d gotten stuck in the Mimic concealing the item not once, but twice). Ethan checked the quiver to see that, indeed, their armor piercing attribute was set to every arrow.
“Anybody come across anything better than Mithril, let us know,” Klax said. “We’ve already managed to secure a Mithril deposit near Sanctum, the next step would be melting down some Adamantine items and letting old Borlor work his magic on them. With any luck, we can have an entire army outfitted by the time we finish up in the City of Illusions.”
“Purely for defense, Klaxy, right?”
Klax shot her a look as they organized their inventories.
“Someone needs to think about that,” he replied sullenly.
Their conversation went no further than that – thankfully. It seemed the absence of enemies on the Second Floor had put the team at ease. But at the same time…there was a charge in the air. Ethan was waiting for the moment where they accidentally triggered a lever, or a tripwire, or haphazardly tripped on a pressure plate and activated a whole deluge of shit they’d have to deal with before even reaching the Boss’s lair. If Ethan was a dungeon Core, that’s what he’d do.
Thankfully, he didn’t have to design his own dungeon – not yet, anyway. In this world, you couldn’t know what the future would bring…
“Hey, little miss textbook,” he asked Fauna as they approached a large brimstone wall that looked like a dead end. “What’s so special about ‘Onixia’? If the memories of Rachneros are right, he’s never even felt the touch of an Onixia blade.”
The others heard his question and hesitated before taking another step. Ethan could see the hairs on their bodies tingle at the very mention of the material.
“He must have been lucky,” Fauna whispered. “If he felt the sting of Onixia, he’d know it.”
Klax and Tara walked on, leaving the explanation to her. But their silence was already speaking volumes.
“Onixia is known as ‘Soul-Shrivener’” Fauna said, clutching her staff tightly to her bosom. “It is the bane of every monster – made from their blood, and synthesized with powerful magic that burns the flesh of a particular species depending on the blood they blade was birthed from. Among we hybrids, the material is shunned.”
“Because it’s made from monsters?”
“Because its vile!” Fauna burst. Then, composing herself: “The weapons they used against my burrow – I can remember how they repelled us before we even tried resisting. We couldn’t even look at them, or the men who held them. It was like looking at something so unnatural that it shouldn’t exist.”
“And let me guess who likes to use them…” Ethan murmured.
“The Greycloaks,” Fauna nodded, her pink eyes serious and deadly focused. “In the Kingdom of Argwyll, they are the only ones who know the secret of how Onixia weapons are made. No one knows who their foul craftsman is who creates them, but it’s said they have at least one blade for each and every species of monster on this earth…including us.”
Fauna turned suddenly to her Archon, speaking with such determination that it caused Klax and Tara to turn back and make sure the Hopla speaking was her.
“That’s why you’ve got to get even stronger, Mr Ethan,” she said. “Because we can’t beat them with good tactics or numbers. We need an Archon that can make them scared of us, for once.”
Ethan smiled despite the tension in the air. “And you really think I can do it, Faun?”
“I know you can, Mr Ethan.”
Klax and Tara smiled to themselves at their friend’s renewed confidence. When they started walking again, they did so with pride. Fauna had changed – that much was obvious even to a newcomer like Ethan. But even as he thanked her for her trust in him and followed his companions deeper into the den of darkness, he couldn’t help but ponder the new information he’d just learned.
You all believe in me, he thought. But if Onixia is made from monster blood, and wipes the floor with whatever it’s made from…isn’t it possible that the Greys already have a secret weapon up their sleeves? A sword made from the blood of the other Archons…
Sys? Come on, buddy. You’d know the answer. You’d know what did in the other Archons before me, right? Tell me I’m wrong here. Or…tell me the truth.
…
All I will say is this, Ethan Hawke:
I would hurry up and finish these Delves before your enemies have a chance to learn what they’re really up against, here.
Because if you give them the chance, they will break you, and everything you’re starting to care about.