Chapter 4: The first invaders.

In the heart of the maze, Xanthe was learning the lessons of his last days.

He had not expected that naming his Boss would lead to the opening of his den.

This new impulsiveness was quite alien to him, the way the gem influenced his personality bothered him deeply.

The simplest solution to get rid of its influence would be to name it.

He had noticed that the soul of his new champion, Sköll, although resident with him in the dungeon core was strictly separated from his person.

So he tried this method, but the results did not live up to his expectations. When he named his Alter-ego, he felt he did not have enough energy to complete the process.

Naming Sköll was demanding in mana, it seemed that naming the gem was of even greater difficulty.

He kept this goal in mind, having witnessed the entity's bloodlust.

In the days following the opening of the dungeon, many creatures were drawn by Xanthe's aura.

The fate of the weakest is quickly dispatched, those being executed without worries by his henchmen.

The curious phenomenon was,when a creature of the outside who die in his dungeon, have their aura captured

Captured in part by the henchman behind their deaths, and especially by Xanthe himself, who had discovered a new resource to exploit

He also won by his murders, many blueprints for new creatures, he took that opportunity to add diversity to his dungeon. By multiplying animal diversity.

The animals in his den were indeed inferior to his monsters, but they mutated much more easily.

The mana they had accumulated by the murders slowly changed them.

And their mutated forms quickly became the majority in the first halls and labyrinth room, pushing his monsters, in the deepest rooms.

Xanthe's fascination with his discoveries was nevertheless hampered by the gem's reaction.

It exulted at each death and encouraged Xanthe to let go of his henchmen outside, to recover mana more quickly.

He was for a moment seduced by the idea, he was still striving to strengthen his mana pool, but he seemed to have reached a bottleneck in his growth.

Gathering large amounts of Mana for direct use was easy, but its internal reserves did not vary more than one iota.

And this external mana seemed the solution to his worries.

Each death is, after all, a growth spurt, each time a thin filament of power reinforcing his power.

However, prudence required patience, he did not want to attract the attention of local powers.

Ambitious newcomers are always undesirable whatever the world

The scholar lamented that his only path of growth was the massacre.

His original world was certainly not a quiet place, but he felt a pinch of regret at being forced to grow that way

After all, to grow he had few options.

Keep the invaders in the field for as long as possible, give them wounds, or kill them.

This is the conclusion he had arrived at, after noting that he could passively absorb some of the aura of the intruders.

He was thinking about the possibility of a prison in his dungeon when he was interrupted by the arrival of a more powerful intruder than before.

From the entrance to his dungeon had come the Ogre, he was undoubtedly the most massive creature he had ever seen since his arrival. The astonishing amount of aura he let go reflected the power of the beast. He was a hideous monster, his forehead was fleeing and his body was hunched, but he was standing up and holding a club in his hands.

The Ogre rushed into his tunnels, and Xanthe could feel the desire in his crazy eyes.

Disdaining his snakes, who could not pierce his thick skin. He ran at random in the deeper tunnels and faced the Kobolds in one of their halls.

Screaming defiantly, he opened a huge mouth, dripping with drool, and walked towards them.

They raised their fighting spears in response, but the weapon did not lend itself to a close confrontation.

The Ogre, however, had several bruises on his thighs and arms.

Out of his stupefaction, Xanthe called on the nearest Ashenwolves to defeat this opponent, the small group of six Kobolds obviously not being a match for the giant.

The ashenwolves, patrolling in teams of three, answered their master's call and melted on the intruder.

The first of the wolves received full blast the club of Ogre, the shock was such that it was raised almost vertical under the impact.

His two acolytes were luckier and managed to plant their fangs in the monster's blow and shoulder.

Accused, he swept his opponents with a large gesture of his rudimentary weapon, before fleeing under the pressure of numbers, the wolves continuing to harass him in the tunnels.

Not wanting to let such a precious creature escape, Xanthe motivated the Kobolds to pursue him.

The rats of his dungeon also joined in tracking the humanoid to put him down.

However, the ogre managed to escape at the cost of serious injuries, and the scholar did not want to risk his creatures in the outside world.

The operation was ultimately a meager success for Xanthe, he had forcibly brought the wounds of the beast, but had not managed to kill him. His chance to have a new inhabitant in his labyrinth managed to flee.

An ashenwolf and a handful of Kobold and snakes were lost in the operation, but they were now quite easily replaceable

This episode had the merit of pointing out a weakness of the labyrinth

His strength lies on his confusing paths and his number of henchmen.

He had not yet set traps in his domain, and this lack had been cruel in front of a brute force superior to his Minions.

Xanthe still soliloquized on formations that could make effective traps, when his dungeon received his first human visitors.

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Romaric had left the city of Ferghäna the day before, under the order of the Burgomaster

After collecting all the necessary information, he was told the next destination to continue his quest.

Ten kilometers south of the city is a long mountain range: The Purple Mountains

In recent weeks, an unknown cause has increased monster activity in the area.

The roads becoming less and less safe to get into the countryside and several merchants if they were complaining of creature attack while roaming.

As a member of the Mercenary Guild, he had to participate in this mission.

The mission that the Burgomaster had assigned to the mercenary guild was rather simple.

Criss-crossing the area in small groups, sinking into the mountains and destroying everything is monstrous.

Having used to operate solo, there is a partner of office.

So he was teaming with Arya a promising young mercenary who, as an archer, completed his completed his deficiencies. Being a swordsman, he does not excel in long-range attack

Arya, however, has been constantly complaining since the beginning of their trip.

"Are you sure that the Burgomaster has reliable information? She said, examining the thickets nearby.

"It's been hours that we quadrille the area with no other result than a handful of goblins! I do not have time to lose for that! "

"Do not be silly, we have not gone too far from the road, your bow should not be idle in the next few hours," he said, pointing at a rocky peak with his finger.

"There is an upland further up in altitude that should serve as a point of reference, the monsters are rather agitated in the corner so be careful" he recommended he

On one side stretched the river which leads to the sea, and on the other began a forest of oaks and beeches, which sank into the hinterland.

It is in this direction that the small band chose to lead, this area was not inhabited.

And the uplands shelter small hordes, that descend from the heights to ravage the road and surrounding villages

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The strong duo had only encountered minor threats during their ascent, which had not slowed them down.

However, they felt an increase in the mana content of the area.

Convinced to be on the right track, they put themselves on their guard

They arrived in the direction of the famous upland when danger threatened them.

In a whirlwind of leaves, a colossal creature sprang up from the ground and stood up in front of Arya causing a start of surprise.

It was an Ogre!

Cousins of Goblins, the Ogres surpassed them in stature, power, and cruelty. Measuring more than two meters the creature looked hard at them

His hair, gray and stiff, was held by a band of oily cloth; in the middle of a rough face and covered with rides that were those who were old, shone two little sharp eyes of a predator

Romaric recovered quickly and stood in front of Arya to receive the first attack of the creature. The Ogre narrowed his cruel eyes at his opponent and gave him a powerful blow from the club he was holding with his both hands

The fight began and lasted a few moments, Romaric who was cornered by the brute force of the Ogre played his agility to make the fight last.

Not wanting to feel his club that will probably send him directly into the afterlife

Harassing the colossus of his sword, he kicked his legs in the hope of undermining his support

Meanwhile, Arya had bandaged her short bow multiple times to loosen the deadly features.

The arrows quickly reached their target piercing the thick skin of the giant, torso and blow. The blood spotted the dust of the road and the weakened ogre fell under the blows of Romaric.

The two panting friends took the time to catch their breath, it is Arya who exploded first.

"What is a damn Ogre doing here?"

She could not bear to have been caught off guard by such a clumsy creature.

"It could be a local goblin that has evolved," Romaric replied.

If these monsters spreads it's not good for us!

The fight seemed too simple to him, to shoot down only two fighters, an Ogre so quickly?

Intrigued, he watched more carefully on the still hot carcass of the Ogre and exclaimed panicked.

"But this bastard was already hurt!"

He could indeed see on the calves, as well as on the shoulders of the ogre various traces of bites.

If the fight was so easy, it was because he was handicapped.

He could only thank the gods for his luck. If the ogre had been in full possession of his means, the result would have been quite different.

"The most important thing, Arya said, is to know what hurt a monster like that."

"If there is more ogre like him, our mission will be compromised"

Romaric nodded to her words, the Ogre seemed to come from the upland, so they would go there cautiously and gather as much information as possible.

This thrust of mana did not smell good and attracted far too many creatures to his liking.

The climb proceeded calmly without additional encounters, the traces of the ogre on the ground were easy enough to follow.

So they came in sight of the summit and amazement rushed on their faces.

In the flank of the upland, at the heart of a rocky outcrop, a tunnel appeared dug and sank deep into the upland.

A soft blue light escaped from this hole

"Hey, Arya, do you think like me?"

After the shock had passed, Romaric was cautiously analyzing the situation.

Such a construction in the middle of nowhere, it was also here that the Ogre had been wounded, the solution seemed obvious

"It's a Donjon gravely confirmed his companion with a nod of her head. Do you want us to go see? "

"After all we could resell at golden prices information about it," she said with a mischievous smile.

Her confidence came from the novelty of the cave, which should not be complicated to overcome.

But above all, her ambitious heart ignited when she thought of the retribution she would obtain as well.

It was, therefore, necessary to quickly enter and report before another group of mercenaries stole this information.

"Okay, but get ready, you should not be caught off guard this time," said Romaric, referring to their previous meeting with the ogre

Together they went down and enter the den

It appeared that they had fallen into some sort of underground cavern.

The astonishment was immediately painted on their faces, the atmosphere was now a deep blue.

And the density of Mana present in the air was at a level quite different from the outside.

The charged air became heavy, and it was a little difficult to breathe, as when the air is laden with moisture after a torrential rain

Compact rock crystals were suspended from the vault like chandeliers that seemed to light as they passed. It looked like the dungeon lit up to welcome its visitors

Similar to a big labyrinth, there were six passages they could take but they did not know where they were leading.

The atmosphere was heavy because of the high concentration of mana, but most importantly, and the two mercenaries could not help but fiddle. They felt watched.

Since they had gone through it was like someone was constantly watching them

Chasing this bizarre impression, Romaric spoke

There are six passages around here, which should we borrow? "He asked, looking down the deep corridors around them.

"It's simple, we have to head south to cross the upland no?

We don't need to get lost in the side lanes!"

Thus they sank side by side in the lair, their weak knowledge of the ground not being to reassure them

Arya looked at Romaric and said, "It's a labyrinth so we should also find pit traps. "

So they paid close attention to the ground, to detect any anomaly

However the danger came from the heights, a group of snakes had taken up residence in the stalactites which adorned the ceiling of the den.

Seeing the intruders approach, he whistled and dropped on them.

The fight was short, Romaric had only time to retreat on hearing the whistling, that a snake threw himself at the place he had left a second before.

The body of the snake in question seemed long enough, he straightened up and his head reached the height of Romaric's hip.

Not good, he thought, he grabbed his sword and shot the snake with his body under the impact thrown back.

Arya on her side did not rest, taking out her cutlasses and rushed to help her companion by suppressing any hostile presence.

The group did not sustain any injuries, but after the trap's vision, he decided to be extremely careful.

A madhouse thought the young woman!

The entrance had seemed quite innocuous, and strangely devoid of traps

But it was only an introduction to the real difficulties of the dungeon.

First, the snakes had progressively left the place to the Kobolds. They had the knack for hiding in the darkness and kept harassing them with their long spears.

The range of his weapons did not allow Romaric to get through them quickly, and it was Arya who systematically finished them with her bow.

Aim at small moving creatures in the winding path was not quite to please her

Then they had met the Ashenwolves, without warning signs, and at the end of a road.

They had fallen on a group, which took them unprepared.

Although they came out victorious, it was at the cost of an injury.

Arya's astonishment had allowed one of the monsters to bite on a Romaric that she was no longer covering him with her arrows

She had not anticipated that another wolf would come out at that moment!

In desperation, Romaric quickly raised his left hand to the upper jaw of the beast, while he pressed with all his might with his left foot on the lower jaw.

"Arrgh! "

The Ashen Wolf had a terrifying force. Despite Romaric's efforts, one of his fangs still sank into his left shoulder.

He was not going to be able to keep up a long time at this rate.

Taking advantage of the position he was in, Romaric hurriedly waved his sword with his right arm free and stabbed it into the animal's mouth until it passed through his skull.

After this injury, the duo had preferred to escape, however, the empty corridors they had met so far were now teeming with curious rodents who took them backward.

His rats were about the size of a big cat and did not stop harassing them during their flight

Rather than fighting them directly, his creatures preferred to use their agility to bite them powerfully before fleeing.

Arya's cutlass often cut into the void, as the rat's teeth bit her calves and eroded her leather armor.

The situation would have been bearable if Romaric had been able to fight but he had become very weak with his injured shoulder.

However, they managed to flee, the rats not being enough for the completely incapacitated them

At the end of the cave, it was with less enthusiasm than the first time that Arya had a last look at the entrance of the Keep.

"It's only a postponement," she murmured.

They had to report back to the guild, but they would definitely come back