The sun rose early over the rooftops of Teth-Odin, roosters heralded the morning’s arrival to everyone still in their beds while those in the market buying for necessities yawned as they walked down the stalls to get ingredients for today’s breakfast. Drunks staggered to their favorite vendors offering the best cures for a hangover, for some it was the world’s spiciest skewers, for others it was a comforting bowl of innard soup.
In the taverns of Teth-Odin, the clientele had changed to the night shift guards coming over for their turn of cold ale and hot stew, so in a sense, the singing never stopped. Around the inner walls of Teth-Odin, the giant spider-like Forest Shepherds stirred from the bonfires they slept around and headed to the market to trade the surplus of giant insects they have caught in exchange for fresh meat; the bugs’ tough exoskeletons, exotic glands, and giant seafood-like meat opened a second venue for butchers to earn extra income.
In the fields of Teth-Odin outside the city, the Night Men turned and returned to their forts, waving and greeting as the farmers doing their chores regarded the once-alive warriors.
Meanwhile, in a clearing near a farmhouse, a UFO named Kaguya’s clock hit 5:30am.
Ingrid yawned, cuddling whichever dog-sized tixi mouse had snuggled up to her. She could feel them all curled up around her, it had been the regular sleeping arrangement and a dream of hers to have cute fluffy things to snuggle to when sleeping and it was one of the things she would definitely stay in Terragalia for.
Arthur turned around and squeaked softly, prompting Ingrid to pet his head as she yawned. Arthur then got up and started squeaking, which got all the mice stretching and yawning as they filed into the bathroom to shower and brush their teeth. Ingrid sat up and stretched, only collapsing back to sleep until the mice were all finished.
Upstairs, Arek was teaching the felmoon Iohann how to use the galley while he made a hearty soup for today’s breakfast. Armed with this knowledge, she started making the salads.
Kinu, Kvaris, and Sammy were outside near the farm house, sparring with wooden swords and shields in a free-for-all while talking about the videos that Kaguya showed them. All of them expressed interest in getting Kaguya back to atmospheric flight though their opinions on where to visit first fueled their desire to win this sparring match.
Viel and Selphie were the last to get out of their super plushy sleeping bags, which was the most comfortable thing they’ve ever laid on. Yawning and sporting the greatest bed hair ever, they shuffled to the secondary bathroom to get ready for the day.
Cecil was busy unplugging various devices and replacing them with another set of rechargeables.
Among them were the docks for earpieces, which ironically were made for space narcs. They clipped on the earlobes instead of plugging it directly into the ear canals, allowing the kobolds and Viel to wear them. Arek had mentioned that they worked through a combination of vibrating the earlobes as well as sending some kind of directed sound waves… he had forgotten the exact process. Cecil kept his earpiece engulfed in his body. The rest of which he laid on a table for others to pick up later.
Aside from these he laid down flashlights, batteries, emergency transponders, and a noisemaker; the latter was used in a situation where one is separated from the team and has no other way of calling for help, in a pinch it could also be used as a diversion when being pursued by monsters. While the dungeon was well-lit and has several navigation aids it was better to have one and not need it then need it and not have it.
Meanwhile Selphie laid on the table a set of first-aid kits. Kaguya last night had educated the team on how to use them and the kits also had a cheat card for reference. Also were kinetically powered wristwatches that if Arek were to be believed, are totally not stolen. Teaching Everyone how to read them was surprisingly quick.
Everyone came over and packed these into their respective bags (even the mice had little backpacks bought from the market last night.) and then dispersed to prepare their own gear. Ingrid and Cecil did consider equipping everyone with at least a pistol but figured that would require time to train everyone on how to wear one safely.
The mice, especially Arthur and Sully, finished their last minute checks on their guns to ensure everything was in working order. Arthur and Sully then engaged the safety switches on their mithril assault rifles before tightening the slings over their bodies. Following the other mice, they tightened their pistol belts and holstered their sidearms. Of melee weapons they had daggers and telescoping batons, the latter obtained from Kaguya’s storage, or rather, Arek’s cache of not-so-legal goods.
The Iroquois team laid out their weapons on the floor of Cecil’s room; slingshots and a bag of metal balls (they commissioned this current batch to have bigger pellets this time around), a submachine gun, and an assault rifle. Brody laid his newfound favorite, an automatic shotgun near the dialogue window in case of a quick sortie. Much of the room had been previously cleared out to make space for their arsenal.
Eli and Brody took their places on either side of Cecil while Ralph sat on a short coffee table behind him, a semi-auto marksman rifle lay on the side. The grenades lay under the table behind Cecil, they had come to the agreement that Cecil should handle them in most situations; given his ability to communicate with the rest of the team and his much more efficient way of throwing them; a tendril would pull the grenade into his body and in one motion, launch the grenade while pulling the pin. The extra magazines were placed into boxes behind them, as well as a small pile nearby for quick reloads.
On one part of the room were gear for the mice to use during carcass transporting duty. These are composed of assault rifles with bayonets, ropes, and a kind of meat hook. Another part was for various sundry utilities that may be useful in an emergency such as chopping axes, long coils or rope, hooks, extra lights, and food.
Ingrid on the other hand had fitted new, compatible gems onto the slots, of new gear was a leg holster and a small backpack containing first aid and some bare essentials. As she didn’t need weapons and armor, she traveled the lightest.
Arek, the porter of the group, slotted the last of the packs onto the same specialized rig he had been using since day one. It featured a solar-powered anti-grav plate which he had left charged in Cecil’s room. Having multiple arms, he elected to simply carry the weapon on his upper pair of arms, while his lower pair adjusted his Gulan-styled pistol belt.
Kinu and Kvaris carried identical equipment, swords and shields and a newer set of brigandine-like armor; leather-clad metal plates. Their round shields precluded the need for longer weapons and their agility allowed them to close the gap. Like Ingrid they also carried a light knapsack for personal supplies in case one got separated.
Besides her staff, Siria had wands holsters at the back and on her hips. Unlike her staff they were less sophisticated with their repertoire of spells, save for the one strapped to her back which was rather close and used as a backup in case her staff broke. The rings she wore were also enchanted, siphoning away some of the mana channeled into her hands as a sort of investment… not that they will do that now as she had fully charged them. Like the wands they were less sophisticated and only a single spell could be imbued by them. Of other weapons she kept a dagger and pistol, the latter after Arek had taught her how to use one.
She wore light leather armor according to her elvish sensibilities and a light dress underneath, which Ingrid had later learned were the colors and patterns of her tribe. Some of which sort of reminded her of an archer which Siria used to be, hence her predilection for carrying a sidearm.
Selphie’s leather armor received an upgrade and one that fit her much better. As time had elapsed her antler-like branches on her head were blooming and the flowers much healthier. Her rapport with living things had hardened the leather, giving her the best of both worlds; the hardness of steel combined with the flexibility of leather that also cushioned the impact.
Of weapons Selphie slung a hunting rifle across her back, her previous occupation as a hunter and a few sessions of practice found her aim to be satisfactory. She also carried a pistol on her belt, but her main weapon was a slingshot with wooden balls or rocks. These projectiles served as an effective medium for her to channel her dryad energies through.
Meanwhile Iohann in her fluffy robes carried a mace both for protection as well as serving as her wand. She also carried a knife though it was mostly used for utility. Strapped to her back was a larger pack for healing supplies.
After donning her orcish armor, Sammy tested out her duregar-engineered gauntlets. First, was the folding shields, which quickly unfurled into a round shield on both arms. After the shields unfolded themselves, she tested the spring-locked blades and they erupted without issue. With a click, the blades slid back.
Ingrid had expressed incredulity regarding these features, especially the blades since it looked like a hard blow could cause them to malfunction, but Kaguya’s scans revealed that their engineering would at worst, lock the features in preventing them from deploying as a fail-safe, also the mechanism was hard-locked when Sammy’s wrists went past a certain angle.
Her main weapon was a halberd, stylized in the aesthetics of her tribe. As a former rider of her clan, she was trained in the use of spears, lances, and glaives, which worked well on horseback. Her sidearm was a sword strapped to her hip.
Viel sleepily sheathed her knife and straightened her cute cat-robes, before picking up her staff. She yawned as Selphie helped her put on her pack before muttering a shy “Thank you”, earning a pat to the head.
The Whales then donned their earpieces, tightening their gear one more time Ingrid surveyed her group and nodded.
“Let’s go! Whales!” Everyone pumped their fist unison.
“Break a leg, Whales!” Kaguya said, opening up the ramp. All the while “Baby Come Back” by Player was on the speakers, causing Ingrid, Arek, and Cecil to snort and laugh as the ramp opened in time for the chorus.
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The team stopped at the Rain Gate of the dungeon, waiting for Kvaris to finish with the registration of the team, a formality to let people know who was coming in and then know if they came back with less.
“Too many novices to the slaughter.” sighed a nearby veteran disapprovingly as he regarded the number of fresh-faced adventurers with their hand-me-down gear or overpriced, shiny new ones standing around.
Arek started tapping his feet and Ingrid followed, Cecil looked at the two in disbelief as Ingrid started singing.
Arek stifled a laugh but joined in. The repetitive chorus had the rest of the whales joining in, even the mice stood and squeaked along, stamping their plushy toebeans against the floor.
Kvaris returned handing Siria the paper, as the second-in-command she was part of the “get out when it gets bad” squad.
“What’re they doing?” the kobold asked.
Siria sighed “I think they want Kaguya to fly so badly.”
"HE AIN'T GONNA JUMP NO MOOOOORE!" Sang the rest of the Whales.
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Passing the gate, the Whales nodded at the “Gatekeepers” A small group of S-ranked guildsmen who were the last line of defense against the invading monsters in the dungeon.
“Take care out there.” Said one handsome Ciltran with tiger stripes, he and Ingrid winked at each other.
“Mrrrooow.” She purred, causing the Ciltran’s orc buddy to elbow him at the sides and laugh. The same orc then tapped his chest twice when Sammy passed.
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“Ride to Glory, Brave One!” He called.
“My life for this tribe!” She called back, turning and walking backwards to regard him in response.
A priest to one side waved this thurible and said his blessings. Iohann paused, bowing to him and making a short prayer. In an alcove above, a throat-singing minotaur was uttering benedictions, sacred smoke billowed around him adding a dramatic effect to his deep rumbling bovine voice.
The echoes of the minotaur continued on for a good distance, one by one the accompanying parties separated and took their paths. Finally the last party made a turn to the right and the party was alone.
“Gentlemen…” Ingrid called “Fix bayonets.”
Arek, Arthur, and Sully took out their bayonets and affixed them to their rifles. An ominous click came next as they disengaged the safety locks on their guns. As they did so and Ingrid motioned for everyone to continue moving, ahead the large promenade tunnel was quiet, it reminded the earthlings of those liminal spaces and the eerie silence wasn’t helping.
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Kvaris took the first shift as they headed down the promenade tunnel, eschewing the escape tunnels to fast travel down to the third level. Part of the reason was to help Selphie test her abilities. She walked alongside Ingrid and Kvaris ahead of the group, the plan was for her to start shooting with her slingshot at the first sign of trouble.
Kvaris sniffed some unfamiliar scents coming around the corner of an intersection “Something’s around the right.” he said and let out a few loud barks.
“We’re the Whales! WOOF! Say something if you’re friendly! WOOF! WOOF!”
At once, Kinu and Sammy started scanning behind the party, with the latter moving further behind to intercept anyone coming that way. Arthur and Sully let out angry squeaks like corned enraged rats, urging whoever or whatever was around the corner to make themselves known.
Kvaris made one more loud bark and then a small group of deformed bipeds stumbled into view.
“Get em’ Selphie!” Ingrid ordered. Selphie moved ahead, taking a rock out of her pouch and channeling her mana into it. Selphie placed the rock into the leather pad and pulled, aiming for the center of the group and letting it loose.
Each rock or wooden ball that Selphie had in her pouch all contained mundane seeds that Ingrid and Siria bought from the market. Using her floramancy, the seeds burrowed into the projectiles, giving them an effective vessel while traveling in the air.
On impact, the seed quickly mutated, empowered by Selphie’s mana. Roots quickly shot out, punching through the projectile and the monster’s skin, simultaneously drawing nutrients from it while also pulling the rest of the seed further into the body. From there it rapidly grew, causing the monster to sprout razor-sharp tendrils that shredded its host’s companions while it wildly stumbled about like a zombie. With no more enemies, the zombified monster collapsed, its vines shriveling up.
Ingrid put a hand on Selphie’s shoulder, patting her for her good work.
“We head to the right side.” Siria said from behind the frontside trio. More to inform the rest of the group, as Kvaris was following their previous scent. On approaching such an intersection, Ingrid went first as usual, relying on her defenses and reflexes to stave off any ambushes. With all sides clear the rest joined her.
Behind Siria followed the team’s three “noncombatants”, Arek, Iohann, and Viel. The last two possessed great hearing, especially Viel, as she served as Sammy’s “detector” during their adventuring days. Ingrid considered whether or not putting her on either the front or back side of the group but decided that since the kobolds’ noses already do the detecting, it was best to keep her in the center.
“When we reach the third level, Arek,” Ingrid began, “deploy a drone, at that level there’s no such thing as redundancies.”
“Yes’m” Arek saluted.
Meanwhile, Iroquois hovered above Arek, occasionally turning around to watch the rear. Brody would occasionally pop his head out and look around.
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The journey to the third level was quite uneventful, the monsters they’ve encountered so far were easily taken care of with Selphie’s floramancy-laced seed shots. A few times Iroquios intervened when one or two got too close, but overall the large number of other low-level adventurer parties kept the population down, at least for the path they’ve been taking.
“Oh hey, Ingrid! Kinu, Kvaris!” Erath, a lizard man, said he and his rounded a corner. He and his group were busily tying down the carcasses.
“What’s up?” Ingrid waved.
“We just finished our haul here. We’ll call in a troll team to bring these back to the surface.” The lizard man replied good naturedly. He was affixing some kind of plate with a special seal embossed on it. There were slots on its corners on which he used nails to fasten it to the carcass of a large monster.
The earthlings looked at each other, “what’s stopping someone from trying to take it out and claiming it's theirs?” Cecil asked “some kind of weird curse put on it?”
“It’s possible.” Siria said “But not necessary.”
Kvaris spoke up “That’s the paperwork we do before embarking into the dungeon. Don’t try it, Ingrid.”
Ingrid threw her hands up, “I won’t.”
“Heading to the third level?” Erath asked.
“We are, party’s growing, gotta earn more.” she replied.
But The Whales did stop and take a break. Ingrid wanted to see how the process worked with troll teams and the possibility of scavengers would give Selphie some target practice.
They learned that Erath’s team was called The Seablades, after Erath’s seaside homeland, with an assurance of welcome if the team found themselves there and he was around.
“I’m guessing you’re wanting to see if the dungeon’s Rift could offer you a place back home.” Erath said as everyone sat down and broke out their rations.
Ingrid thought for a bit “Tempting, but for now my team’s my family. Also I have no confirmation yet of Melrondia’s whereabouts. I have a responsibility if she’s here.”
Erath made a croaking sound. “I see differently, unless you have an ability that resurrects yourself, there’s no way you’re responsible for bringing her here.”
“You’re right.” Ingrid nodded briefly “but still… I do want to punch her face again. When someone kills you, you feel obligated to do that.” Erath let out a bassy, croaky laugh and Ingrid followed suit.
“Is Ingrid a tamer?” A dwarf asked Siria, noting the mice behaving themselves. They took turns with three taking a break and two of them standing guard, occasionally uttering a squeak.
Siria shook her head “Ingrid somehow got them to accept her as their own. She’s their Alpha now… I’ve never seen anything like it. The Sea-folk, Arek, says that he’s lived among humans and that a lot of them possess an innate affinity for this.”
The dwarf stroked his beard contemplatively, “very peculiar, but also useful. I’ve seen them in town every now and then but I never figured they were from your party.”
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As soon as the trolls arrived along with the Seablade’s runner, Ingrid and her team started packing up. Wishing each other good luck, the Iroquois team regrouped at Cecil’s portal and the Whales continued on their way.
A few minutes of walking ahead and a few turns later they came across a steady incline that led downwards to the third level.
“Drone out.” Arek called. His lower pair of arms held a controller for the drone. It was charging at the balcony of Cecil’s room. The drone also accepted voice commands, and so at Arek’s command and a few button presses, it flew ahead of the team.
Carefully, the team advanced, being especially mindful of any small monsters that could fit through the escape tunnels. Kinu and Kvaris switched places while Arthur and Sully hung back close to the center.
“Iroquois, switch to guns.” Ingrid called. Cecil and the mice put down their slingshots and picked up their submachine guns. Ralph picked up his marksman rifle. Simultaneously they disengaged their safety locks.
“Weapons free.” Cecil replied back.
The third level was noticeably noisier now with monster calls, some were territorial calls while others were sounds of infighting. No sounds of other adventurers could be heard, there were possibly fewer of them here and in much further places.
Ingrid touched her earpiece “This is Ingrid, just a reminder if you want to talk on the earpiece, touch it, introduce yourself, and when you’re done speaking, say over. Over.” Some members of the team jumped at the voice talking in their ear. Kvaris chuckled as he saw Viel and Iohann get startled.
“Arek here, you can use this to talk quietly to everyone. Just remember, we will all hear you. Over.”
“Iroquois to Arek, wanna sneak behind the labyrinth at 4:20? Over.”
Ingrid let out an amused “PFFFT. And I’m the one teaching people bad things.” she said aloud.
“I’m all for flooding this chamber with a weed bomb and getting all the monsters high.” Arek said
“Careful what you wish for, buddy.” Cecil said “Because on this level the monsters do not wanna mess around if you don’t bring them the money or drugs.”
Kinu held up a fist and started sniffing around. “Something’s around the corner. WOOF! WOOF! We’re the Whales! Announce your presence! WOOF!”
At the same time, Kvaris barked as well. “WOOF! Show yourself!” Sammy quickly got in front of him.
“There’s lots of them!” Viel shouted.
“Prepare to defend yourselves!” Ingrid said in a loud voice.
“Sawmouths!” Sammy yelled as she saw what launched themselves out of the corner.
Ingrid saw what looked like velociraptors with long snouts, which was probably where they got their name from. They had long arms which they held to their chests like a preying mantis, ending in fingers with long talons.
Ingrid leapt forward smashing right into the middle of the horde. The impact killing many in the process, her bold move made her the target for all the sawmouths and they rushed at her. Their biting jaws catching into her aura and mangling them like trying to bite a workpiece on a lathe machine.
“Nemea!” Ingrid called, as she threw a punch.
Nemea, Ingrid’s cestus-like weapon formed of pure energy manifested on her fists and she went wild with a fury of punches. Each punch on impact either released a literal spike of energy that punctured through multiple targets or struck with explosive force that hit everything around it. Each kick she swung around generated a powerful arc of light that persisted for a few seconds, acting like a buzzsaw to the raptors foolishly approaching it
Selphie let loose a few shots into the group of raptors facing Ingrid, causing in-fighting as the floramancer seeds took hold of their body and turned them into hosts for the whip-crawlers. Then she quickly turned around and did the same for Sammy’s side.
Sammy and the kobolds showed off their new training as they fought as one. They charged the sawmouths heading their way, Sammy’s swings looked wild and undisciplined but any raptor attempting to exploit an opening was met with a nimble dodge and a quick riposte. Meanwhile, Kinu and Kvaris took advantage of their speed to quickly get in, strike and get out. To the outside viewer, it looked like Sammy was just wildly swinging and the kobolds were covering for her blind spots. The three kept the raptors from pushing forward, causing the ones behind them to jostle about and cram themselves.
This proved perfect for Selphie’s shots which she aimed at the sides of the corridor to further box the raptors in. Where Selphie wasn’t aiming, Arthur and Sully opened fire, also providing point defense for Sammy and the Kobolds.
“Hailspear!” Siria turned to the rear side mob and generated ice spikes near the ceiling, dropping them into the middle of the mob. Quickly turning around, she pointed her staff toward the group of raptors that decided that Ingrid was too much for them to handle.
“Hurricane Glaive!” She launched a fan of razor-sharp whirlwinds that suddenly flew around in an artful pattern, their unpredictable nature catching the raptors that managed to dodge them the first time by surprise. To Arek’s who was watching, it reminded him of helicopter rotor blades. Turning around again, she charged up another spell.
“Tempest Assault!” This time Siria created a black cloud over the heads of the rear side mob, lightning struck at regular intervals which did wonders against the tightly packed crowd.
Turning around, she swung her staff with one hand, the end of the staff generating a blade of light that sliced the head off one advancing raptor, her other and pulled a wand from her hip and pointed it at the other.
“Wind Lance.” A corkscrew of air sent it flying back to the mob. The spell kept going, drilling into the crowd. She let go of her staff and drew her other wand.
“Scorpion Seal.” The staff began levitating, a ghostly projection of a blade sheathed the staff. She used the flying blade to swing at the raptors that got too close, while her wands alternated with various spells depending on enemy distance.
Those that got too close were met with Aegis Call, it was a phantom round shield that when collided with electrocuted the opponent, chaining to others if they were close enough. From mid-range she used Flame Strike to create a fat column of flame. Finally those from a distance were struck with Frost Thorn, a high velocity shard of ice that froze the enemy after a few seconds, slowing them down in a short amount of time.
“I’ll take the front side for now!” Siria said, Arek then turned to focus on the rear side where Sammy and the kobolds were fighting.
Overhead, Iroquois alternated between sides, it was tempting for some of the mice to jump down and join but the Enhancement Lens gave their bullets immense striking power. Arek provided Iroquois the necessary call outs, allowing the team to know which way to turn.
The fighting was over in a few minutes, during which Ingrid quickly leapt from wall to wall, accelerating like a pinball so she crashed in the middle of the rear side raptors' group like a bomb.
“You three, switch sides!” Ingrid yelled over the din. Her side was down to stragglers which the three rushed over to intercept.
Iroquois stood down, Ingrid and Selphie with her whip-crawlers made quick work of the back attackers and the battle finally ended. One raptor did get to rush past the front side defenders and was aiming for Viel.
“Hey! Hey! Over here, scumbag!” Arek yelled, quickly advancing and trying to circle to the side in an attempt to catch the raptor’s attention, as well as angling himself to prevent friendly fire. Iohann however, yelled “Let me!” leaping forward in a zig-zag pattern she caught the raptor’s attention and swung her mace.
The raptor bit her first. Suddenly, recoiling in pain as if it bit a cactus, a hard blow to the head from Iohann’s mace smashed it to the ground, it quickly flipped to its side, flailing around as it began to bleed profusely from its mangled mouth. She then approached the raptor and caved its head in and it lay still.
Aside from some of the raptor’s blood and drool on her robes, Iohann was completely unharmed.
“Huh, thorns armor.” the earthlings said in unison.
“How’d you know that?” The felmoon cleric asked.