Chapter 19

Drake walked along the gravel road that led to the new dungeon town that was springing up around a newly discovered, supposedly rich, dungeon. He thought it had recently been named Borrander or something. It was hard to remember, he had been very drunk the night he had heard about it, and picking fights while intoxicated was never good for his memory. It was good for his entertainment, however. If he hadn’t run into that damn B ranked party while in the capital during one of his binges he would have recalled the name much easier. He was no slouch himself, and while technically a B rank, his drunken brawl with a whole party had left him rather bruised.

He was technically B ranked since he had been expelled from his guild before he was ever able to take the examination. Expelled was a good euphemism for what really happened, after discovering his extracurricular activities, the guild attacked him, nearly succeeding in killing him, but he had escaped. He always did. Ever since then, he had fallen hard into drinking and brawling, with a side of whoring. He had heard of the new dungeon weeks ago, but he still had enough coin back then to put off an expedition. Now, he was nearly broke, and he refused to resort to selling any of his high-quality gear just to keep up his hedonistic lifestyle.

As he reminisced, he kicked some of the larger stones down the road, watching them tumble off into the grass and underbrush. He was pulled from his thoughts when he looked up and saw the city he would be calling home for the immediate future. Well, the start of the city. It was nothing more than a patchwork of incomplete buildings. The few completed structures stood out, like a sore thumb, except it was everything but the thumb that was sore. After a mental complaint about being forced to lower himself to hunting in a C rank dungeon, he strolled into the town, a bright and cheery smile on his face. First, he needed to find a place to stay, and since no guild would take him, his old guild had seen to that, he would have to find an inn.

I just hope there’s a completed one in this town. He grumbled internally, keeping his practiced smile plastered on his face. He found a guard, and after asking for directions to a finished building he could stay in, he was pointed not to an inn, but to the guildless barracks. His smile never faltered, but in his head, he was screaming. At least the rooms were cheap, even if he did have to share. It cost him a few coppers a night, depending on how many roommates he wanted and if other services were required. He settled on a room for twenty coppers a night, with meals, and an extra five to the receptionist to ensure he had no roommate. He paid with a silver up front, and received a key and directions to his quarters. 

The room was spartan, but clean, and he decided he could get used to it. It was just a bit rough compared to the brothels he had been sleeping in for the past two weeks. A real smile crossed his face when he remembered those nights. Damn, I miss Kara, he thought to himself, before shaking his head to clear the errant thoughts. He adjusted his pants, then set about removing his armor, preparing to properly maintain and store it for the night. It was a beautiful set that he had parted with gold to obtain, but it had been worth every ounce. For a rogue such as himself, well-enchanted leather armor was a luxury, and his set would have made even a low B ranker jealous.

The cowl was woven from the magical silk of the nove spider, and boosted his concealment when pulled up, as well as provided a boost to dark vision. The rest was leather made from the skin of a mammoth he had hunted just for their legendary skin, which produced the best leather a C or low B ranked adventurer could hope for. The chest and upper leg pieces helped with his stamina recovery and usage, while also providing many places to conceal items. The almost knee high boots helped with movement speed, stealth, and traction, a useful combination for someone in his line of work. The gloves aided him in lock picking and sneak attack damage. Each piece also added to his dexterity and endurance, and his cowl boosted his perception as well. He has some miscellaneous jewelry to boost other useful skills and stats, but they were not worth mentioning.

After putting his armor and swords away, he sorted through his bag, taking out the necessary ingredients and tools to create the poisons and potions he would use the next day. He had gathered a lot of useful ingredients on the walk to the city, and would spend the last few hours of the evening preparing for his first delve into the dungeon. A few hours later, he finished his work, and after snuffing out his candle, he crashed on his cot and went to sleep.

Drake woke early the next day, to do his morning exercises and gather information on the new dungeon. He muttered a few curses as he got his gear on, the cot hadn’t been gentle on his muscles and he had to work the stiffness out of them with a particularly painful set of stretches and exercises. However, he had loosened up, and was now ready for a morning to be spent gathering information and scoping out the competition.

He wandered around the mess hall, sitting down with different groups, asking their opinion on the dungeon.

“It’s damn crazy, there’s always something new with that dungeon.”

“There are these awesome chests, and if you put an item and a token in the chest, the dungeon will pay you crazy amounts of money, if the item is new to it.”

“It may be C ranked, but barely any C ranked parties can beat the second boss.”

“Don’t go alone. If you don’t have a healer, you’ll die on the second floor.”

“Watch your back in there man, that place always gives me the creeps, especially since we're always getting jumped from behind.”

He heard many more snippets as well, and from what he could gather, this dungeon was truly unique. He had been to plenty of dungeons before, but this one seemed different. Those chests especially, since he had never heard of a dungeon doing anything like that. It was almost as if the dungeon had a plan, which was an unnerving thought. A dungeon shouldn’t be that intelligent. They were analogous to animals, surviving off instinct. But this one's action implied something deeper, but potentially more lucrative for Drake. If it could think and plan, especially about such an esoteric topic like economics, what else could it do? It implied sentience, and many others seemed to agree with his assessment.

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He made his way to the entrance, and met up with a C ranked party he had talked with in the mess hall. They had been looking for a fifth, and a damage dealing rogue fit right in with what they needed. He smiled as he greeted them, calling out, “hey Cassandra, glad you waited up.”

“Hey yourself John, of course, we waited for our newest member, and call me Cassie, like the rest of the party” the gorgeous healer called back to him. She was an unusual leader for a party, but the group said her tactical mind had gotten them out of many tight situations. The rest of the party was made up of an archer, a tank, and a warrior, all males who seemed to be in love with the raven-haired beauty who had been unanimously selected as their leader. Drake couldn’t help but smirk when he saw this, seeing as party meshed perfectly into his plans. The other males gave him dark jealous looks when Cassie had invited him to party with them, but he just brushed them off. How a party like this had survived without killing each other was beyond him, but he wouldn’t complain if they helped him clear the dungeon. The only problem with her being a healer was he would be unable to watch her shapely rear as they traversed the dungeon, but maybe he could assign himself as rear guard.

He discussed the plans with the group, and they settled on a formation that thankfully had him as rear guard and stealth attacker, just as he'd hoped for. When they got into a fight, he would clear their six o'clock, then sneak around to do stealth damage to unsuspecting enemies. The first floor was incredibly easy, and his only kills were a few massive spiders that had attacked from behind. The ants fell so fast that he was never able to sprint to the front quick enough to kill any. The first part of the second floor was much the same, but with quick foxes instead. He had an easy enough time killing them, but the rest of the group started to feel the pressure, especially in later rooms where the numbers really started to pile up.

When he saw the second half of the floor, he was blown away. Drake had already been impressed by the first part of the dungeon, with its unique lush hallways and rooms, but this was something different. The wide expanse of the room, its walls curving away from him out of sight, was something he had never imagined could exist underground. He couldn’t see far ahead, but the thick jungle had an immense feeling, and he knew from information gathered it went on for over a  mile. He moved with the party, taking in the massive underground jungle, grabbing useful herbs he spotted along the road. He was well aware of the dangerous ambush predators that stalked these trees, and sure enough, within a few minutes of walking, a massive black cat jumped down from a tree. He moved quickly, managing to intercept the falling monster, meeting its claws with his sword.

He was surprised when it used its claws to defect the blade, and he was forced back, unable to fight the momentum of the pouncing beast, even after a dead sprint. He quickly recovered, transferring into a rapid lunge, thrusting the point of his sword into the shoulder of the cat, locking his blade into the joint. He twisted his sword in a well-practiced move, dislocating the front leg from its shoulder, and slicing the ligaments and connective tissue. The cat yowled loudly, and tried to bite him. He avoided the attack by rotating around the damaged arm, pulling his blade free in the process. He didn’t attack the cat’s vital organs from the side, since the pelt looked like a high-quality armor component.  Instead, when the cat spun to face him, he drove the point of his sword into its eye socket, killing it instantly.

The cat collapsed, and he let it slide off his blade. The group looked at him in stunned silence, barely believing one man could solo the legendary cats. He smiled at them, and pulled a knife from his belt to begin skinning the cat. The group stood guard while he went about his business, and once he was done, he collected its eyes, teeth, claws, and a few glands for use in potions. He put the heavy pelt in his backpack, excited to see what kind of leather could be produced from such a creature. The rest of the floor was quite the same, with Drake killing the cats that ambushed them and the party looking on in awe. They eventually reached the end of the floor, a large meadow with a split in the cliff face on one side, obviously the end of the floor.

Disturbingly, Drake couldn't see a boss, and considering how the floor had been so far, that was not a good sign. They decided to push for the center of the meadow, preventing anything from sneaking up on them. The group sprinted for the center, except Drake, who jogged backward, guarding the rear. They reached the center without issues, but that's when their good luck ended. From the corner of his eye, Drake saw a dark streak heading for the party. Only his high perception allowed him to see it, and his shouted warning spurred the group into action. Their tank turned to face the beast, hoping to hold it in place so they could damage it. He had no luck, the monster ran right over him, knocking him to the ground. Drake mentally sighed in annoyance, what did the man expect, the cat was at least three hundred pounds, it was no surprise he ended up on his ass.

The cat then surprised even Drake when instead of going for the downed tank, it lunged for the healer, seeming to think ahead and use the opening created in an attempt to cripple the group. Unfortunately for the cat, Drake was already sprinting to intercept it, And he drove his blade into its neck, lodging it in its spine. He released the sword, jumping back and drawing his daggers. The cat stopped and made the most ear shattering noise he had ever heard, flailing about in an attempt to remove the sword. He called for the party to stop, he didn’t want this pelt damaged either, since it was obviously magical. They all backed away, and allowed Drake to launch his next furious assault. He charges the enraged cat, and it roared in challenge. With a flick of his wrist, he launched a dagger into its open mouth, piercing the soft tissue in the back of its throat. It jerked its head back in pain, applying force the sword caught between two vertebrae, breaking its neck. The beast dropped to the ground, paralyzed from the neck down, random signals causing its limbs to spasm. It released a pitiful roar aimed at Drake, and stared at him with hatred. Drake grasped the hilt of the sword, and pushed, ending the cat's life.

It was a decent boss for C ranked adventurers, he thought, but was nothing to a B ranked person such as himself. Sure, it could have killed him easily, but he was skilled enough that it would never have the chance. The group was now shocked again, since he had basically soloed the boss. He was starting to regret parting up, but it had been good to have some people who were familiar with the dungeon to guide him on his first clearing. He smiled at them, and began skinning the boss, intent on claiming its magical hide. He didn’t know it, but he was part of the fifth group to kill the boss, and the first to do it practically alone. When he finished claiming the boss’s useful bits, he packed up and prepared to exit the dungeon.

When they passed through the crevice they found the boss chest, which had a few dozen silver and a few potions that he would have to identify later. There were also five iron coins. He recognized them, he had received one after clearing the first floor, and when he provided it with mana, it bound to him, allowing him to bypass the first floor on future outings. They all quickly bound the coins, and continued walking down the path. After a few dozen more paces, they rounded a corner, and the leading people inhaled sharply. There was a new floor.

Well not exactly, there was the entrance to a new floor. Drake hurried them along, since he was in the rear and couldn't see what they could. When they finally parted enough for him to see, he was pleasantly surprised. There was a large circular room with a tree growing from a hole in the middle. There was another path, presumably leading to the exit across the room from where he stood. The tree in the center created a leafy ceiling with its massive canopy, making the stone room look more alive than it had any right to. The soft light of the orbs hanging from its boughs illuminated the rest of the room. He could see a fire pit surrounded by tables and chairs, and a few benches. The pit was set up for cooking, and he promised himself that after exploring the third floor, he would cook up a meal. More exciting, he spotted a few alchemy labs, well stocked with glassware and tools. He even saw a forge and anvil, complete with a proper workbench and a few grinding wheels. The whole room was set up as a proper rest stop between floors, and stocked with the necessary equipment to prepare for the next foray.

As he walked around in awe of the quality, he spotted a separate doorway, leading to a bathhouse. He dipped his hand in, and was surprised to feel how hot it was, but he shouldn’t have been surprised considering all the steam in the room. Another room had a bathroom, and another was full of bunks. He realized that he could live in this area, and never even have to return to his shitty room in the barracks. This was one crafty dungeon for sure. He returned to the group, sharing what he had seen, they were just as pleased as he had been, and they decided to take a break for the day and relax in the best safe zone a dungeon had ever provided.