“Right now, this seems like a low level item, but it grows with my level. At higher levels this could be quite dangerous,” CJ said to his gathered compatriots before continuing, “Roger says he can duplicate something he’s made for half the cost. If we can get everyone equipped with one of these, we’ll always have a fallback option to defend ourselves.”
“Unless we run out of mana,” added Elena.
“Or bullets, or anything else that has consumable resources. Just think if we could focus our fire all on the same target. Sure, these things would only do five to six points of damage per person, but all of us attacking one monster, that damage adds up quickly,” interjected Rubio.
The discussion continued until CJ started pulling out water and food for everyone. Unfortunately, it was only prepackaged food you’d get out of a vending machine before they hit the CVS. Now CJ had some small boxes of cereal they could pour some water over. It made for a less than satisfying breakfast. The Mobius Twinkie got passed around last like a special desert treat. CJ perked up before it made its way to Roger.
“Wait, tell him about the Twinkie,” he said.
What about the Twinkie?” asked Roger.
An hour later they were on the move to the first suspected location of a bolster dungeon. Roger opted out of the first trip in order to pack up his things in preparation to leave with them later. CJ had suggested filing a large box with whatever he wanted, and he could transport it all after shrinking it. Now they approached the entrance to the graveyard Rubio told them about the previous day.
Half of the wrought iron fence lay in the street as multiple sets of skeleton tracks littered the area. The perimeter of the old folk’s home was still littered with remains of the skeletons that ceased moving after the battle. In CJ’s mind it created a grim sort of demarcation line around the building. Out here they could see a mortuary with a driveway that led behind the building as well as a half circle of pavement at the entrance. Dirt mounds spotted the landscape in the distance. They seem to only be found near knocked over head stones. This just confirmed to CJ where a majority of that skeleton army came from.
“Should we check the funeral home?” asked Jenn, notes of apprehension in her voice.
“Not yet. First, I want to follow these tracks to the area they walk around. That’ll help us find the dungeon. Anybody disagree?” countered CJ, followed but a series of shaking heads.
CJ then put his new tracking skill to work. It wasn’t very difficult. A thanksgiving day’s parade of tracks led around one of the many above ground mausoleums. What really unnerved CJ was the smell of rotten eggs coming from the entrance. Just inside the doorway was rusted metal gate.
“Alright. This is it. Let’s not just pile in this time. Everyone check your gear. If we get separated again, do your best to complete whatever objective it gives us,” announced CJ as he approached the door.
He thought for a moment about digging through his inventory to see if he’d grabbed any masks from the pharmacy. As he let that thought go, he checked everyone’s party status. The groups health, mana, and stamina bars were brought into focus in the top left of his vision. He was the only one without a stamina bar. A fact that Jenn complained about a lot.
“It’s not fair. I get tired so quickly and he can just run around like a chicken with his head cut off,” whined Jenn, as she rechecked her gear. There were repurposed perfume bottles on a belt around her waist and she wore a child’s unicorn backpack filled with other gear.
“Maybe if you didn’t carry around a personal chemistry set, you wouldn’t exhaust yourself,” quipped Monty, hopping his way next to CJ.
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.
“We can’t all have a bizarre sleeve based storage power,” Jenn shot back, before sticking her tongue out at Monty. Monty’s ears shot up in surprise at her antics and that just made Jenn giggle.
“Enough, we are out in the field. Eyes open, mouths shut,” ordered Rubio as he stacked up behind CJ.
CJ stepped up to the gate and reached his hand out. He was greeted with a new notification.
Bolster Dungeon: Keep Away- You must protect the stone tablet from the horde. The better you’re rating the better the reward.
Rank C: Survive two waves. Reward-Class specific item.
Rank B: Survive four waves. Reward-Class specific item, random item.
Rank A: Survive four waves and defeat the horde’s champion. Reward-Class specific item, random item, and a new title.
A Party has been detected. Would you like to challenge the dungeon as a group? Y/N
CJ backed away from the entrance. He turned toward everyone to everyone with a shit eating grin on his face.
“Is it better if we do it together, or do we get better shit if we do it separately?” Elena asked.
“The message didn’t say,” answered CJ.
“I was hoping this would happen. Even better if it’s a survive challenge. I highly recommend we tackle this as a party. Anyone disagree?” asked Monty, but the challenge in his eyes was on display for everyone to see.
“That settles it. Let’s see how deep the rabbit hole goes,” said CJ before turning back to the mausoleum and placing his hand on the gate.
The world spun into that familiar kaleidoscope of colors from the first dungeon. CJ and the others plopped into what looked like a castle tower. The walls were grey stone with various colored moss growing in every direction. There were six archways that opened out into the air above a square parapet wall. The wall surrounded a central keep and met up with this tower at two positions, north and east. The air here was frigid and as CJ looked out past the walls he noticed deep accumulations of snow in all directions. He began to rub his hands together as his breath became visible. In the center of this space was a plinth with one stone tablet on it.
CJ walked up to the tablet and noticed it had various words etched into the stone. Most of which were completely foreign to him, except for one. That one word read Survive. There were racks on the walls filled with long rusted shields, sets of armor, swords, and pikes. The clouds in the sky were dim grey and thick. The type of clouds that could burst forth into a once in a century blizzard at any minute.
“We need to get fires going quickly. If this temperature drops anymore, we will be in real trouble,” said the experienced Rubio.
CJ looked around the twenty by twenty foot space. There were no windows or metal bars to keep flying things from just swooping in there. The tablet was easily the size of a thick book. Beyond the pedestal was hatch with an iron ring on it. CJ went over and tried to lift it. There was a lot of huffing and puffing but no motion. Elena tapped him on the shoulder and shooed him to the side. With one arm holding her trusty chainsaw, she hoisted the trap door up with a grunt of effort. That’s when they found out why it was so difficult. There was entire suit of armor welded to the underside of the hatch. Not the entire hatch but the gauntlets and helmet were melted to the metal framing of the hatch. Rubio and CJ had to pull the entire thing up through the hole just to look past it. It clanged to the floor exposing the skeletal remains within. Below were lit torch sconces and spiral set of stairs leading around a column of stone.
“Lit torches. That’s a good sign, right?” asked CJ, with the slightest hint of hesitation in his voice.
“We’re about to find out,” replied Rubio as he shouldered his rifle and dropped down into the stairwell.
They all traveled down the lit staircase until they passed a door on the left side. It took some effort to push it open. CJ and Rubio put their shoulders against the door and heaved. Once they got it moving, they noticed snow was spilling around their feet. This door led out to the northern wall. There had to be at least ten inches of snow atop the wall itself. CJ couldn’t imagine how deep the snow must be in the courtyard below. They decided to close the door and continue the rest of the way down the stairs.
At the bottom of the stairs, they found more occupied sets of armor all in a pile leaning against the only way out. It took ten minutes of moving and clearing away the dead just to gain access in the small space. CJ noticed if you followed the curve of the column that has always been to their right side on the way down, there was an alcove under the stairs. Within it, he found what looked like an X symbol embedded within a ten pointed star. It glinted in the dim fire light that was given off by the torches. He picked it up before sharply inhaling.
New Item: Examiners Star- This single use item will give the user any and all information regarding a person, place, or thing. It will be as if you always knew these details.