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Chapter 94 Floor 3 Part 2

A couple days came and went. Spent much the same way the group had been spending their time together.

Amelia had picked up enough knowledge to actually use temporary enchanting. It was much weaker and didn't last as long as Malor's, but it'd do in a pinch. Trillia was passing out potions to everyone. Each person had an eight-hour water-breathing potion as well as a potion to assist with movement underwater.

The group was once more at the shop. Surprisingly, the place was completely swamped with people. Word had gotten out that Alfred and Marg were going to be doing a dungeon dive themselves and might not return for a week or more. So people were coming to pick up their gear now.

Not that she thought they needed it, but Trillia prepared water breathing and movement potions for them as well. Trillia was standing next to Marg in their house. Alfred was handling the customers out front while Marg prepared for their trip. "What's that for?" Trillia questioned as the woman held up a spiraling piece of metal. It looked a bit like someone had taken a polearm and just twisted one end over and over again, but it was sharp all over.

Marg held it up and showed Trillia one end that was tipped in some sort of gem. The other end held a T-shaped handle made of a different type of metal. "It's used to break into hard metals. Alfred or I will heat it with skills and slam it into the rock. It's enchanted so that this part spins while we hold on to the handle. It's a gnomish invention called a drill. This one is rather rudimentary, but it works well enough for our purposes."

Trillia took it when it was offered to her and was surprised at just how heavy the thing was. "You use this to get ore?"

Marg nodded as she packed up various pouches into a larger bag. "We use that to get ore underwater. Well. Specifically, we used that one to get ore in a lava flow. Fun fact! If ever you run into lava, it is not fully resisted by fire resistance. I think because it's a mixture of earth and fire. Most of our tools had been treated for heat and didn't stand up to just how hot, flowing lava could be. We ran across a badly injured gnome prospector who had been trying to strike it rich. A lava serpent had taken one of his legs and left him for dead."

Marg smiled as she thought about the adventure. "Alfred and I weren't about to leave the poor soul to die. So we stabilized him and left the area. We tried to tell him that he didn't need to pay us. It's just what good people should do, look after one another. He still insisted we take the drill as payment. Said it was a small price to pay to get to see his kids again. We've hung on to it and kept it in good condition ever since. That was before Freddie came along."

Trillia smiled as she listened to the story. Passing the drill back to Marg. "I can't wait until I have my own stories to tell."

Marg shot her a grin. "You already have quite a few, young lady. By the time you are my age, you'll have tall tales that no one will believe." Marg walked over to a cabinet and pulled a smooth, polished box from the shelf. The wood was a rich ebony with runic engravings on it that Trillia had never seen. As Marg opened the box, Trillia activated her sight.

[The Ring of Dedication]

Quality: Lesser Artifact

Storage: 10/109

Mana: 100,000/100,000

Other Abilities: OBFUSCATED

[The Ring of Courage]

Quality: Lesser Artifact

Storage: 71/210

Other Abilities: OBFUSCATED

Trillia's eyes went wide. She looked over at Marg and narrowed them slightly. "Why do I get the feeling that the levels I see when I scan the two of you aren't accurate."

Marg did a superb job of pretending she didn't hear Trillia as she slipped [The Ring of Courage] onto her finger and tucked the other into a pocket. Probably to hand to Alfred later. She closed the box and put it back on the shelf before removing another box. This one held a long, thin rod made of a blue material that looked like a mix of wood and metal.

[Rod of Greater Chain Lightning]

Quality: Superb

Charges: 10 Per Hour

Marg extended the hand that now wore the ring, and the rod vanished. Trillia sat there as precious item after precious item was removed. Items that used mana to create food and water. Items that used blood to create alchemical reagents. Wands of various calibers. "The two of you are very prepared, aren't you?"

Marg chose to hear that statement and turned to look at Trillia. "Being prepared is the difference between life and death. May the gods grant him a happy life, but that gnome I spoke of wouldn't have needed saving had he been more prepared. Just as Alfred and I would have never saved him had we not been leaving the area to get better tools. It's an odd thing how fate works. But every time we survive a situation, we learn from it and make less mistakes. Red River seems like a good dungeon, but Alfred and I aren't going to take chances. Accidents can happen, and we will do everything we can to mitigate such things. Besides, Alfred and I haven't adventured in more than a decade. Unless you count dealing with brigands."

Trillia nodded along as the woman spoke. Marg checked, double-checked, then triple-checked every single piece of equipment. Each backpack and all of the pouches. Trillia realized just how inexperienced and reckless her group was. A few hours passed before Alfred finally came in from outside. Despite dealing with rowdy customers all day, the man wore a smile from ear to ear. "What prep do I need to start handling, honey?"

Marg grabbed his arm and pulled him in for a quick peck on the cheek. "I have most everything done. Let's go over the checklist for gear. Here's your ring." She pulled out [The Ring of Dedication] and handed it to him. When he slipped it onto a finger, his eyes gave off a visible glow of mana.

"Let's bring three sets of armor? Lightwear, heavy battle, and environmental?"

Marg seemed to think about his words for a minute before nodding. "That seems smart. We can probably get away with light wear for the first three or four floors. You have the true dwarf stuff for heavy battle."

Trillia was happy to sit and watch how they went about checking over things. As the hours passed, the others filtered into the house and also watched and learned how experienced adventurers went about it. It was very late in the day when they all left the house. Alfred and Marg closed and locked up the building behind them. Trillia wanted to introduce them before their group went in for another shot at Floor Three. Though, she was curious how quickly the two of them would delve.

Soon enough, they were at the dungeon. Trillia stepped in first, followed by Marg and Alfred. After a few minutes of the two admiring the pattern on the walls, Gobbinz popped out and bowed deeply to them. "Father is honored to have craftsmen of your skills within our walls. We are eager to know how we can do better."

Alfred walked up to the goblin and extended a hand, shaking the poor goblin's arm nearly off. "My boy and his group speak very highly of Red River. Thank you for pulling our little misfits out of trouble. We haven't had a chance to properly meet yet, and I doubt Marg and I can manage to get to your Pa's core to meet in person, as it were. Trillia says it's good manners to bring tribute. Can't say I've been in many dungeons that haven't tried to kill me. Should I leave it in the bowls here? The stuff we want to give you might tempt some to steal."

Gobbinz gently shook his hand after Alfred was done, only to be half crushed in a big hug from Marg. The poor little diplomat was not used to humans like this. Somewhat shell-shocked, he looked over at the bowls and frowned. "We have had a few items go missing. Father tells me we shouldn't worry about such things, but I consider it rude. If you're comfortable with it, you can hand the items directly to me, and I will store them elsewhere so that Father can consume them."

Alfred nodded and produced two books and a suit of chain mail.

Marg produced a book, four potions, and a half dozen types of plants and herbs.

Gobbinz glanced to Trillia for help. Trillia walked up next to them with a smile. "They said they want more dungeons like your Father. Plus, you do a lot to help all of us get stronger. So, I guess consider this a tribute and a thank you?"

Alfred and Marg nodded their agreeance as they held out the items. Alfred's books were both on armorsmithing, and Marg's book was one of her own hand-written books on classes, evolutions, and how alchemy could alter such things. Gobbinz took each item with reverence, still rather uncomfortable with the value of such things. "This armor. It's so light." The goblin commented as he held the chain mail in his hands. "It's made of metal, but it moves like cloth."

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Alfred's smile grew wide as he leaned in. "Aye, it's tiny little metal rings linked together. Think of it like tailoring or weaving but with metal. You gotta be careful of folks like the little lass here." As he said it, he motioned to Amelia. "Slashing weapons don't do well against it. Daggers are also pretty effective if the wielder has a high brawn. But bludgeoning weapons, especially war hammers or spiked hammers, will do a nasty, nasty number to you. The books I gave you will teach you how to make chain mail and padded armor. I'd recommend wearing padded armor with chain mail on top. Still gives you decent mobility, and it stops most damage types from doing real harm."

The goblin nodded as he soaked in the information. After a moment of realizing that they were blocking the entire entryway, Gobbinz straightened out and bowed again. "Thank you for your tribute. The two of you wish to delve together and not with Trillia's party?"

Marg and Alfred nodded. Another moment passed, and Gobbinz eyed them wearily. "Father says if you'd like. You can bypass the first two floors. We fear it won't offer much for people of your....caliber."

Alfred shook his head with a smile. "No, no. We'll go through each floor. Send everything you got at us. Marg and I haven't delved into a dungeon in years. We'd rather get our feet back under us and learn more about your dungeon and its inhabitants. If that's okay."

Gobbinz smiled and nodded. Marg and Alfred said their goodbyes to Trillia's group before heading off to their own path. Gobbinz returned shortly after shaking his head. "You have some very kind parents, Lord Frederick."

Fred chuckled softly at that. "They always tell me to start with kindness and end with steel. We'll be attempting to get to Floor Three again. Hopefully, it doesn't take us days on end this time."

Gobbinz smiled, wished them luck, and off they went as well. The first floor, as usual, was cleared quickly. Trillia felt bad for Paws and Stibs, but the two were happy that Trillia had come so far. They got their fair share of victories, given the number of people that delved into Red River. As the group was traversing the second floor, Trillia turned to look at Frederick. "Just how high of a level are your parents?"

Fred looked at her for a moment and paused. "Uhhh.... well. Their species is level one-fifteen or so?"

That felt accurate to what she had scanned before. But something felt off about that. Like it was a true answer, but wasn't the whole truth. Amelia chuckled. "Sort of like your subspecies used to be Orc."

It then dawned on her. Their species had changed at some point and reset to level zero. "That's...how are you supposed to get an accurate estimate of what you're fighting?!"

The others shrugged at the question. Malor spoke up as he ran a hand through Ialu's fur. "It's why many people work towards getting several different scanning abilities. So that they can better judge an opponent. A creature that's only level twenty but has fifty traits. Is absolutely going to be something that recently underwent an evolution or metamorphosis. Meanwhile, a creature that's level one hundred with only one or two traits probably hasn't faced many life or death situations and can be seen as inexperienced."

Trillia frowned and shook her head. "But my scan said they were human. Wouldn't it show as something else? No, no, I guess not. Not if they had the right sort of skills to change what the scan sees."

Layla spoke up as they walked. "It's why we are taught to treat every adversary as a greater warrior than ourselves. Underestimating your enemy is the first step on the road to defeat. Even you are like that, Trillia."

Trillia turned her head to Layla curiously. Layla continued. "You show up as an Orc Alchemist. That's level eighty or so. Your traits are all obfuscated. People facing you, if they are ignorant or arrogant, won't realize you have millions of mana that you can dump into extremely offensive spells. No mortal mage in the world is going to be able to match your endurance in a magical brawl. Anyone who thinks you're just some level eighty orc who brews potions will die in a fight against you."

Amelia nodded in agreement with that and continued the thought. "Father said that in the arena, he would choose a more scary-sounding class as his primary class. As well as one that he was going to stay in longer. Because it would unnerve opponents who would scan him. They'd hear horror stories of what the [Champion of the Pit] would do to them. When they stepped onto the sand with him. Scanned him and saw that as his class. It made them fight more poorly."

Frederick quipped in with his own experience with that. "I've heard it's the same for most rulers. They choose to have their ruler-based class as their primary so that people immediately know they are dealing with royalty or someone important. It's apparently very difficult to trick people into thinking you have such a class."

Trillia sat in silence. She rode on Ialu's back, thinking deeply about the conversation and how she'd approach people.

The fight with the second-floor boss had become routine for the group. The boss itself had also grown and learned, but, much like with Paws and Stibs, there was only so much they could grow. Due to the limitations of being a dungeon monster.

This time, the group managed to survive with a lot less damage done. Trillia, Layla, and Ialu teamed up on the hybrid on the ground while the others attacked the one on the ceiling. It worked well and stopped the hybrids from supporting each other as easily. This time, they didn't even kill the hybrids. The two creatures surrendered near death to save themselves the respawn. Trillia sat on the ground next to one of the hybrids, breathing heavily. She took a long drink from a water skin before offering it to the creature.

"I think you guys should switch weapons sometimes. Or maybe have spare sets of weapons. It gets a lot easier to fight you when we know your attack patterns." Trillia took the water skin back once the creature had taken a drink as healing goblins jumped in to heal the creature's wounds. The party politely declined, still hoping for more skills to show themselves.

The hybrid on the ground looked at her as if in deep thought before nodding. "Father says that is wise. But I not know sister's weapons. I would grow weak with new weapons."

Trillia thought about that a moment before motioning to the rest of her party. "Why not practice against us? I doubt we'll clear the third-floor boss on the first go around, and we've gotten pretty good at fighting the two of you. Use us to practice so that you can be stronger against others."

The hybrid regarded her once more in deep thought before nodding. It offered no goodbye or pleasantry. It simply curled back up and dozed off, waiting for more challengers.

Soon, the party was once more standing at the edge of the murky waters. Layla cast her buffs on herself first. Then on every else. This way, she was the first person to lose them and could ensure she got to others first.

Trillia stood at the edge of the water, looking down. "We forgot something."

The others gave her an odd look. Trillia rubbed her eyes. "How are we going to communicate?"

The others looked down at the edge of the water. Each mumbled a little curse of their own. Amelia shrugged. "You have telepathy. Can you handle that many links at once? Be a sort of bridge for all of us?"

Trillia looked into the water and nodded. "I'll try my best. If I get overwhelmed, I will cut Frederick and Layla first. The two of you are our most defensive fighters."

The group nodded. Ialu sniffed the water and growled. The desert skoll was not at all happy to be submerging itself in water. Trillia took a deep breath, established the mental connections, and stepped into the water. As soon as her body was fully submerged, the illusion spell was blatantly obvious above her. The underwater itself was brightly lit. Strange objects that looked partially like plants and partially like rocks dotted the floor. Dozens of different types of fish happily swam in large groups.

Vine-like plants that had glowing pods were the source of light. Either twisting around rocks or free-floating in the water. Trillia was shocked to see just how much color and vibrance was held by the gloomy-looking water. She was grateful for the temporary enchantment on their armor as well as the movement spell. Even with both running, she still felt extremely sluggish and awkward underwater.

Everyone did, except Frederick and, surprisingly, Layla. Layla swam with the grace of the fish around them. Trillia really needed to have that conversation and ask why she hated water if she was so adept at being in it.

Malor and Frederick both pulled out tridents as a figure that looked half humanoid and half fish swam up to them. Gills on the side of its throat let it breathe the water as easily as it could breathe air. To Trillia's surprise, when it spoke, the sound traveled to them without issue. "Greetings! Father says that I am to be the new diplomat for the underwater levels. Brother Gobbinz has issues speaking well. Don't worry about drowning. There are other merpeople standing by to ensure you will not die in the waves. But if we must save you, we will expel you from the dungeon as a failed run."

The group glanced at each other as Trillia motioned to her mouth and made an X shape with her hands. The creature pondered for a moment before nodding. "Of course, of course. Like Brother Gobbinz, you are also incapable of speaking well underwater. Perhaps you can learn in time." The creature held up its hand and stuck its thump up. "This means good." Turning it over so his thumb faced down."This means bad. I recommend you stick to the leftmost walls for the first time. This floor is seven times larger than the first and second floors combined. It's easy to get lost. There are more air pockets on the left side that your group can find rest at."

The group gave him a thumbs-up. The creature offered them a smile before vanishing. Trillia would have loved to ask his name but couldn't. Despite the water-breathing potion giving them a set of gills, her brain still told her that opening her mouth would end in drowning. This was going to take a lot of adjusting. The group swam around rather leisurely in the opening room. A half dozen tunnels extended out beyond them. Frederick motioned to the two right-most tunnels. 'Those were the tunnels I went down. That fellow wasn't here last time. Perhaps Red River realized that having a guide would lead to fewer people washing out here.'

The group gave stern looks at his unintentional pun. Frederick only smirked and shrugged. Trillia spent the first hour just swimming back and forth. Aiming at various spots on the wall and realizing that most of her spells didn't do well in deep water. She'd be mostly relegated to using [Shattered Bolt]. Malor, who primarily specialized in lightning and fire magic, also wasn't feeling great about their chances. Frederick seemed to be the one they'd have to rely on down here.

After another hour of the group growing accustomed to the weight of water. Layla refreshed their buffs, and the group began swimming down the left tunnel. Trillia was struggling not to swim off and inspect every pretty rock and pretty fish. She had never really been swimming. At least not with this much wildlife. The dread of being underwater slowly gave way to wonder.