Octavian Septimaris shifted uncomfortably on the bench, watching the crowd. Most of his family was in the audience—both parents, three sisters, and all but one of the living brothers.
Septimus was missing, of course. As usual, he was away on a delving expedition. It wasn't one of the big ones—his party wasn't going to descend to a new floor yet—but at the depths Septimus usually worked, there was no such thing as a small expedition. Any venture risked death or worse, and proper preparations sometimes seemed to take as long as the expeditions themselves. Octavian had known his brother's schedule. His absence was unsurprising. Frankly, it was a surprise that the rest of the family had bothered to show up for the youngest Septimaris's graduation. He appreciated the effort, as embarrassing as his family could be sometimes. His mother caught his eye and waved enthusiastically. Tav cringed.
"Stop twitching, Tav." Octavian's best friend Rick—Rictus Morse, properly, not that anyone used his full name—jabbed him with an elbow. "Golden Boy's almost done with the speech. With your luck you'll miss getting called up and lose your graduation Achievement."
"I'm not gonna—" Tav started to protest, but Dawlian, another friend, shushed them both.
Indeed Mattimeus Aureate, the class valedictorian, was beginning to wrap up his speech, and the crowd waited eagerly until they could start applauding. Tav didn't like paying too much attention when Matt spoke. The guy was great, nowhere near as bad as the rest of House Aureate, but as if in contrast to their schemes he was painfully sincere. He was destined for greatness, obviously, but the worst part was how he talked like he expected great things of everyone else, and with his [Shining Example] Leadership skill he'd get you buying into it, too.
Tav wasn't destined for greatness. His parents had done well for themselves, his father in particular rising above his many siblings and delving deep enough to establish a new House name. Their newly noble children—Tav's older siblings—had been promising as well, respectable delvers each of them. They'd earned levels, wealth, and fame enough that House Septimaris might have bought its way onto the Perrigenese National Council in a generation or two more. The rest of the Houses viewed them as new-money and shallow-floor, but the rest of the Houses were assholes anyway. House Septimaris could have been great eventually, even if it would have taken years.
Then Septimus Septimaris had been born, first publicly recorded holder of the [Seventh Son's Seventh Son] achievement. Its attendant bonuses had catapulted Septimus into heroism, four new Floor Discovery achievements, and a spot in Perrigen's national history textbooks. Those books had been revised twice while Tav was at the Academy. Each time was mortifying.
Tav's parents had had one more child years after Septimus, but apparently "Eighth Son of a Seventh Son" wasn't something the System cared about.
Which was okay! Tav didn't have access to whatever secret class Septimus had taken, but the established classes worked fine for almost everyone in the world. Tav wished he were musically inclined enough for the [Bard] class—he'd have loved to call himself Octave, if only for the pun—but unfortunately he couldn't carry a tune in a Bottomless Bucket. As a second choice he'd thought the [Blade Flurry] class looked cool ever since he'd seen his favorite sister showing it off in a public demonstration, so to that end he'd contented himself with an ordinary [Swordsman] class, specialized in [Agility] at level 10, and was aiming for the [Dual Wielder] evolution at level 20.
That was still four levels off. 16 was a perfectly acceptable level for graduation—a little on the low side, but enough to avoid getting maimed in the practical exams. Tav was fine being "acceptable" and "unexceptional." He didn't mind being "the ordinary one." He liked being "the funny one," occasionally "the cute one"—though apparently never cute enough for a second date—and though Tav knew he'd never be "the clever one" at least he wasn't "the idiot."
Tav would have liked, for once, not to be "the famous one's kid brother."
Marcus said something noble and inspiring and the applause drowned out his last few words, which meant Tav could start paying attention again. The applause was even louder than usual. Deafening, really. It shook the benches the students were sitting on.Tav would have liked to say that he knew something was wrong before the screaming started. Unfortunately he'd specialized in [Agility], not [Noticing The Obvious].
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The ground split open beneath the students' benches. Empty space gaped where there'd been manicured turf moments before. Tav noticed the strangeness of it: the pit was squared off, its walls lined with worked stone. It was a dungeon hallway, but it led straight down. The bench he was sitting on hung in the air for a brief moment, the last simple moment in Tav's life, and then plunged into the pit.
Then, even worse, the bench rose back into the air, lifted by a squirming wall of fangs and chitin. Tav scrambled off the bench and onto solid ground. No, not solid—moments ago this same ground had split apart into a world of horror. Could any ground be trusted ever again?
The Academy's system integration popped up notices. Tav was pretty sure he was in shock, because none of the notices made any sense. Something sharp rammed its way through Tav's leg. He didn't look back; he didn't want to know what it was. He fumbled hopelessly for a weapon, knowing that he'd left his swords behind. They weren't fancy or expensive, but it would have been nice to die armed.
ACADEMY SYSTEM INTEGRATION would like to inform you of a: security breach. A Dungeon monster has entered a restricted area. Be on the lookout for: Attercope. Be on the lookout for: Attercope. Be on the lookout for: Deepspawned Attercope.
Attercopes were found on the second floor and deeper. They almost never came to the first floor, much less left the dungeon, and everybody was grateful for it. The swarming things in front of him—many-legged, many-eyed, many-fanged—well, those must be a nightmare. That was it, Tav was having a nightmare.
ACADEMY SYSTEM INTEGRATION would like to inform you of an: unfortunate death. A student has passed away within a restricted area. Take caution in case of dangerous monsters. Condolences to the family and friends of: Rictus Morse. Condolences to the family and friends of: Mona Somerset. Condolences to the family and friends of: Russet Redhive.
Attercopes tearing apart his friends and classmates? Surely they must be a nightmare. The stress of graduation was getting to him. The Academy's death notifications kept popping up and Tav ignored them. The Academy's system-integrated warnings were blanked out by a basic system notice, informing Tav with all the usual enthusiasm that [Your poison threshold is reaching critical levels!]. An impossibility. Tav ignored that notice, too.
The attercope chewing on him? The tearing of flesh, the reek of gore, the burn of venom pumping through his veins? Usually Tav's dreams weren't quite so vivid, but surely this must be a representation of his own insecurities. Tav always knew he'd never measure up. He hadn't thought his problems were quite so acute, but maybe he just wasn't introspective enough.
You are under the effect of an ally's [Shining Example] skill!
And there was Mattimeus, the golden boy, drawing his sword and rallying the students. Of course. Even in Tav's dreams, Mattimeus would save the day.
The largest attercope yet heaved itself out of the open pit. It grabbed mangled corpses in its waving mandibles, hurriedly swallowing down bodies. The creature grasped the end of Tav's bench with two spiny forelegs and hurled it to the side, knocking over a pair of fleeing students. Then it reached for Tav and pulled him close. Its face was a squirming mass of spines and eyes and venom.
A sword blade slid out of the center of the creature's face, venom and ichor not fully hiding the golden glow of Mattimeus's [Aureate Edge]. Polite of Matt, to save him even after all the pranks Tav had pulled. Less polite, that he hadn't checked his targets and that the sword had also gone through Tav's shoulder, but Tav could learn to forgive.
ACADEMY SYSTEM INTEGRATION would like to inform you of a: glorious victory. A student has slain an Elite Dungeon monster within a restricted area. Please congratulate: Mattimeus Aureate for slaying the fearsome: Deepspawned Attercope.
The attercope's body slackened. It hadn't fully emerged from the dungeon pit, and now the corpse started to slide backwards, pulled by the gravity on its bulbous abdomen. Unfortunately, it still had its spiny legs wrapped around Tav. The sword tore free of his shoulder as he was dragged along into the pit.
The attercope plunged downward. One of its chitinous legs caught in the wall, so instead of a straight drop down, Tav and the attercope bounced off the side of the hallway, rebounded, hit the other side, scraped, and kept falling.
Achievement Unlocked: Descend into the Unknown! You have taken your first steps into a new dungeERROR
ERROR first steps out of the dungeon!