Trillia stepped once more into the dungeon. The change was immediately evident. Not only were the ceilings nearly twenty feet up, but all along the edges and corners, small berries had begun to sprout on vines. The goblin bowed deeply to them.
"On behalf of Father. I, Gobbinz the Fourth, welcome you to the Red River Dungeon. I look forward to your delve. Your tributes have already been paid a lifetime over. Enjoy."
Trillia grinned, bowing back to Sir Gobbinz. Checking her armor and equipment once more, she pulled the rapier from its sheath. It almost hummed in the mana-filled air. Amelia had her mallet out. Both girls ready to go.
They moved slowly ahead. While they didn't fear being killed, traps would still hurt. A lot. The number of lit torches had been lowered extensively. Plenty were still on the walls, but only every third one was actually giving off any light. It made the hallways barely navigatable. They had taken the first right after the entrance hall. The change had been immediate, instead of smooth-worked stone, with no flaws. All of this seemed rougher. Stones stuck up and out at odd angles, and the imagery wasn't nearly as well done.
Trillia knew it was on purpose, she had seen the entrance hall, and she knew what the dungeon was capable of. It made Amelia and Trillia both move much more slowly, carefully checking where they stepped and calling out raised stones to one another. As they came to another bend, Trillia was about to breathe a sigh of relief. When Amelia yelped. Both girls spun.
The hall they had just traversed now had an occupant. A goblin sitting atop another [Crimson Fang]. [Mana Sight] came up immediately.
[Dungeon Goblin - Red River Archer - 30] Impact Mana Manipulation
[Dungeon Wolf - Crimson Fang - 32] Fire Mana Manipulation
Another mana type that Trillia hadn't seen. She called it out to Amelia, who had yanked the arrow from her back. Trillia healed the wound immediately. The bow looked almost identical to the one that Amelia had just given them. Both girls grinned. The dungeon was going to give them exactly what they asked for. The goblin's skin was almost entirely black. Its eyes were small orbs of orange, faintly glowing in the light. It sucked in a deep breath when it exhaled. All the lights went out.
Chaos exploded around them. Trillia's senses seemed to ramp up instantly. She wasn't sure what skill it was or what was doing it, but she was immediately aware that more goblins had joined the fight.
"[Riposte]!"
The rapier pushed a jagged dagger to the side before her arm shot forward and poked a hole clean through the goblin's throat. A notification rang into her mind. She ignored it as claws slammed into her back, tearing at flesh, followed immediately by the deafening keen of Amelia. Trillia was excluded from the damage, but nothing else was. The wolf that had struck her was instantly torn to shreds by the sonic mana. Trillia healed Amelia twice more when she heard the impact of arrows.
Her skills all ramped up, dumping mana into the ones she could. Despite not being able to 'see' [Mana Sight] and [Rune Sight] gave her a rough idea of where things were. Two goblins in front of her, both with blades, began to strike in succession. Trying not to let her get any hits in. [Riposte] would leave her slightly open against two opponents. They didn't have wolves, which didn't make sense at first. Until she heard the growling behind her. Amelia spun her banshee's howl to the two wolves. Her voice cut off and gurgled, followed by a choking sound.
Trillia waved her stump out toward her friend, using another [Restorative Chant]. The loud wet crunch of bones being smashed sent a shiver down Trillia's spine. Amelia decided against sound and was using raw brute force now.
"Heal, three!"
Trillia shouted.
"[Riposte]!"
Slapping aside one dagger, she plunged her rapier into another goblin's face. The thing fell immediately. As expected, the second goblin's dagger flashed across, slamming into her shoulder. As she let out a cry of pain, Amelia's restorative chant came just in time. The wound didn't fully close. Blood still trickled from it. Another riposte ended this goblin. Trillia was shocked when the lights came back on. The goblins and wolves around them slowly fading into speckles of mana. The mounted goblin at the end of the hall no longer had a head. Amelia was walking over to retrieve her mallet.
Both girls were breathing heavily. Taking a moment to get their health and stamina back up with chants. Trillia smirked slightly.
"Well. If the dungeon wanted us dead. It certainly could have had us in that first hallway."
Amelia nodded at that. A grin spread across her snout.
"I'm glad it took our request to heart. We're going to learn a lot."
The two were about to press on when a voice called out to them. It was Gobbinz.
"Father says, don't forget to pick up the loot!"
Neither was quite sure where the goblin's voice was coming from. But both looked down to see some wolf hides, as well as small copper trinkets on the ground. Trillia briefly wondered why no traps had been set off during the fight. Scooping up their loot, they set off to the next room.
They were learning. Both ducked low. Amelia twisted the handle of the door as Trillia kicked at it, the door flew open, and four arrows sailed over their heads. Both girls rushed in. The room was fifteen feet wide by twenty feet long. There was a multitude of furs and hides around a table. The table had odd little cubes with a bunch of dots on them. Trillia had seen the scouts with them a few times. She was pretty sure that they were dice. A fire crackled on the other end of the room. This was some sort of dining hall, perhaps.
It only took Trillia a second to take all of that in before turning her eyes to their enemies. Four goblins stood atop large pillars across the room. Bows leveled at them and took shots as rapidly as they could. The girls ducked and dodged. Amelia flipped up their table with the dice on it. Using it as cover. Trillia dove behind the fireplace. Amelia shouted, a smirk on her face.
"You guys are awfully good at archery for only just having gotten a bow!"
"We have bow. It bad bow. You give good bow. Father says you want hard fight. We give you hard fight."
Trillia was in a tough spot. She only now realized she didn't have a ranged option at all. She'd have to see if Amelia could let her borrow a ranged option from [Minstrel]. Trillia shouted, this time in Minotaur.
"I need to get close to scale the walls. Can you shout them down as cover?"
"No fair! We no hear words right!" One of the goblins shouted as more arrows rained down on them.
Amelia laughed as she lifted the table and ran at them. A few arrows clipped her horns but did no real damage. As she got close, she dropped the table slightly, and once more, sonic mana filled the area. Trillia could feel [Fleet Foot] surge as she crossed the room in a second flat. Her [Dexterity] easily let her scale Amelia's mighty form. As she neared Amelia's head. The minotaur under her grabbed Trillia's feet and threw the orc forward. One of the goblins shrieked and jumped off the pillar. Another was already fading into mana, the sonic attack having killed it outright. Trillia's weapon was out as she landed on the pillar next to a very shocked goblin archer.
It tried to bash her off, but Trillia dodged under the attack, her left arm swinging up to smack the shove high as her right hand sprang forward and buried her rapier into the goblin's stomach. She wrenched it to the side, spilling the goblin's guts. It fell from its pillar. The last goblin dropped his bow, going to his knees with his hands up.
"I give up! I give up!"
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The goblin that had broken its ankle when it fell. Had also surrendered. The dungeon almost seemed to hold its breath. Trillia hopped off her pillar. A large smile on her face. Moving over to the goblin with a broken ankle, she used a chant on it. Most of the damage was healed.
"I can't mend bones. I'm not good enough, sorry. I can mostly cure wounds and depleted health. I can help you set the bone if you want."
The other goblin climbed down. Amelia was bringing the table back to where she had lifted it from. The goblin on the ground spoke.
"You no kill?"
Trillia tilted her head curiously.
"You guys aren't trying to kill us. The only reason we are killing you is cause your Father said it was ok. That you'd respawn. If you don't want to fight, we're not gonna kill you."
The goblin seemed relieved at that. The door opened, and Amelia and Trillia both spun around to see two raider goblins walking in, bands on their arms.
"We take them to heal hall."
Trillia nodded. As they began to leave, she called out.
"Good fight!"
So far, so good. Trillia looked to Amelia.
"I'm gonna need a ranged skill. These guys were being nice, aiming at our bodies and feet before we got close. They even left a table here for cover."
Amelia nodded, motioning to the fireplace.
"I'm sure the dungeon is capable of sinking that into the wall as well. If you notice, it's only just enough room for you to hide behind it. It seems like it's trying to show us our weaknesses."
Trillia agreed with that. She was happy about it as well. It made her feel a lot better about an alliance. If the dungeon was willing to go through that much to help them. Moving over, she looked down at the 'loot' that had dropped. A few more copper trinkets. She'd have to ask Amelia, or someone who knew dungeons better, more about that.
"Next area?"
Amelia nodded. The next area was a hallway which went the same as the first except with more goblins and archers. The dungeon had nearly called it off. When Trillia caught an arrow to the throat. Much to the obvious surprise of the goblins, the resilient little orc just yanked it out as Amelia healed her. Three of them surrendered in that room. Stating that they were very proud of how strong the girls were. More wolf hide and copper trinkets found their way into bags.
The two of them now stood before a large door. A wolf's head on it with what looked like a river of blood rolling down its face. Trillia's fingertips ran gently over the door. There was more to it than the simple imagery. As soon as she touched it, they creaked open. They were in a large circular room. Light filtered down into the room from what looked like two lances made of glowing orange crystal. They saw three other doors nearby, identical to the one they had just entered. Across from those stood another large door with a goblin's face on it. Orange crystals for eyes.
In front of that door stood Stibs. Standing next to Paws and scratching behind the wolf's ears. Trillia offered a smile as the two strode into the room. There was no cover here. There was nowhere to hide. The door slammed behind them, both girls jumped a bit at the sound. Stibs returned the smile.
"You not real intruders. Father says you can buff. Before fight happens. I no go easy."
Both girls nodded. Spreading out to either side of the boss before them. Trillia spoke up.
"The wolf on the door leading in, and the goblin on the door leading out. Is that your father?"
Stibs looked at her thoughtfully. Looking up and offering a nod to the voice.
"Father says it is what he thinks he was. He not sure. Woke up here after much sleep. You want me to ride. Or not?"
Amelia answered, causing the goblin to look her way.
"Whatever you are most comfortable with. "
The goblin nodded, climbing into the saddle. A helmet formed around his head, looking like a wolf's skull. A dark red crackling began to form around the wolf. When it took a step forward, it didn't seem to step down. It instead appeared in a blast of red lightning in front of Trillia. As the force of the blast lifted her into the air and began to send her flying back, a jagged dagger poked into her stomach, the force of the blast ripping the dagger out and leaving a giant gash in her side.
Amelia immediately began to howl at the wolf and rider. Stibs raised his dagger, and a shimmering field appeared before them. The two slowly plodded forward, Amelia's sonic mana utterly destroyed when it touched the null barrier. Amelia immediately turned and ran, shouting chants at Trillia.
Trillia slowly tried to stand. Her health had dropped to three percent in that one attack. Stibs wasn't a pushover. Were it not for the skills keeping it locked down, Trillia would have been utterly terrified that his attacks were so potent for his level. As Amelia's chants began to heal the wound, she stood a little easier.
Amelia skidded to a halt next to her. The boss didn't advance on them. Instead, Stibs watched them carefully, letting them catch their breath and regroup. Trillia didn't wear a grin this time.
"The bleeding isn't stopping this time, Amelia." Trillia whispered it to her friend. Every five seconds, her health dropped three percent. If Amelia hadn't immediately healed her, that single attack would have triggered tenacity.
Amelia looked at Stibs and Paws. They had each only attacked once.
"How do we stop the bleeding?" Trillia spoke up. The dungeon was teaching them, may as well ask.
Stibs was happy to answer the question, leaning slightly forward in his saddle.
"I die. Or I stop skill. My skill use null mana. You no heal null mana."
Trillia sucked at her teeth, making a 'tch' sound. That was a problem. Amelia rummaged around in the satchel at her side, pulling out some rolled-up cloth. Trillia chuckled faintly, shaking her head.
"You know, if this were a real dungeon. We'd be dead."
Amelia smirked. Nodding as she worked. The bandage was tight and slowed the bleeding. Now it was only three percent every ten seconds. Trillia looked back at Stibs, who had taken to petting Paws' behind his ears again.
"Ready, Lord Stibs?"
As the goblin nodded. Trillia sprinted forward. Ready to use [Riposte] as soon as the goblin moved at all. Amelia blew a single note on the mallet.
You're now under the effects of [Astra's Amazing Agility] for the next 5 minutes.
Trillia's agility doubled, which compounded with [Fencer's Grace]. The wolf flash stepped next to her. This time she was ready and didn't get launched up. As Stibs swung down with his dagger, she shouted.
"[Riposte]!"
The tip of her rapier found the edge of the blade, pushing it wide as her right arm surged forward in the same motion. Stibs eyes went a little wide, and his left hand shot forward. Much to Trillia's shock, he slammed his palm into her rapier, jerking his arm out wide.
Sure, the attack had certainly done some damage, but not nearly as much as if she had struck true to his chest. Furthermore, her rapier was now pinned inside his hand. The goblin had more [Brawn] than her, and she couldn't retrieve her weapon. She saw the dagger cutting through the air to slice at her face.
Amelia had finally closed the gap. Instead of trying to block for Trillia, she slammed into the tip of Trillia's rapier with all her might. Loud cracks were heard as the weight of the blow broke bones, the rapier slicing much further into the goblin's arm. His strike lost a significant amount of power as he howled in pain. Trillia swung her heavily armored left arm up, smacking into the dagger. Even with the pain Stibs was feeling, it was still a hard enough strike to outright shatter one of the Lovax bracers.
The girls had forgotten one very important detail, however. It wasn't just Stibs they were facing. Paws' finally finished the spell it had been channeling. Crimson fire pulsed out from its feet in an all-consuming nova. Both girls screamed as the flames clung to their bodies. In their defense, they tried to heal one another with chants, but to no avail.
Amelia, between screams, finally gasped it out.
"We surrender."
The flames and bleeding immediately stopped. Stibs hopped off Paws, running to Trillia, who had curled up in a ball. Her screaming had stopped, but he was still checking her for wounds. The four entrance doors burst open as raider goblins came in. They had cloth in their hands and some of the very weak herbs they had to aid recovery.
After ten or so minutes, Trillia's body finally stopped telling her she was on fire. The girl sat there shivering. Stibs sat cross-legged next to a now-napping Paws. Trillia and Amelia had gotten each other's health back to full with chants. It did little to help with the feeling of fire slowly consuming their flesh that was still in their minds.
Trillia looked to Stibs and Paws.
"You two are terrifying."
Stibs smiled, one of his hands lazily scratching the wolf's ears. It was Paw's favorite scratching spot. The goblin held up his left hand, now healed by the two of them.
"You make good team. You new to fight. You get better fast." smiling as he looked to the two of them.
Amelia laid on her back. Despite her resources being full, she still seemed exhausted.
"Any tips on how to get better, faster?"
Stibs thought about that for a moment. The goblin looked down at Paws, who, after a moment, got up. Stibs motioned to some tufts of fur that were a few shades lighter red than the rest of the wolf. Even in good lighting, it was still extremely difficult to see since it was only around the wolf's paws.
With a nod from Stibs, both watched those tufts of fur light up and crackle with energy. After five seconds, the wolf bounded off as another flame nova erupted. Stibs looked at them both.
"All mana is color. You see bright color, you run. Paws very strong wolf. Make fighting difficult."
As the wolf returned to them. Trillia stared at it for a long moment. "Can you ask him to do it again but not run away?"
Stibs raised a brow but nodded to her. As the wolf began to channel once more. [Rune Sight] lit up her eyes. Peering close at the wolf's glowing fur. She reached out with [Rune Disruption]. It wasn't the intent of the spell, but maybe...
She flooded five thousand mana into it. The wolf yelped and recoiled from her. Trillia's eyes went wide.
"I'm so sorry! I didn't know it would hurt you! Are you ok?"
Everyone was staring at her with wide eyes. The channeled spell had been broken, violently so. Paws was now hiding behind Stibs, as best as the large wolf could hide. Trillia began using chants on it. Stibs was still staring.
"You have null mana? You break spells. I break spells too." Stibs' head turned up as the dungeon spoke to him.
After a moment, Stibs looked back at Trillia.
"We go to healing hall. Gobbinz better talker. Father too smart for me."
The girls both nodded. Trillia flexed the fingers on her good hand. When she had used the spell that way, a half dozen notifications sprang up into her mind. Once they were out of the dungeon, she'd go through the backlog.