Chapter Eight: Endeavor to Delve
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It came as little surprise to Blychert that a couple of E-rated ice demons didn’t really stand much of a chance against the likes of Bold Arrow. They had barely lasted more than twenty seconds, easily dispatched by a flurry of spells and attacks from the group. And while it was a little underwhelming, Bly had to remember that if he didn't have much trouble fighting e-rated spawns by himself, the same had to be true of a party of five.
Before much longer, Bold Arrow was making its way through the tunnels of the first floor with relative ease, finding little challenge as they rolled through scores of low rated ice demons and wolf spiders alike.
Frankly, it was a world of difference having that many people around.
Firstly, Bly noticed that his expenditure of mana was a mere fraction compared to what he normally spent on a day of grinding. Secondly, where he might have been able to manage only one or two fights by himself in a small window of time, the five of them together easily hit multiple encounters by the end of their first hour alone, and didn’t seem to be dragging as a result of it.
There was a sense of camaraderie and friendly competition too, that Bly found equally enjoyable. True to his word, Xander showed off his flashy sword skills, managing an entire outfit of wolf spiders on his own. Vineta offered a glimpse into terrain magic, twisting and shaping elements of the cavern floor in such a way as to control the battlefield, but it even helped them come across a few hidden dungeon chests, though their contents were more than a little underwhelming. Even Lisel chimed in with a clever use of her Tracking ability that helped them find a frost wyrmling, which was otherwise a rare find.
Bly was reluctant to show off any of his own spellcraft just yet, but Vineta was more than willing to give him a few pointers about mana channeling that actually seemed to help with his mana-to-spell conversion. Undoubtedly, Bredic was the star of the afternoon, immolating ice demons by the twos and threes for the fun of it. Though it seemed nobody expected any less from the incendiary wizard.
Slowly but steadily, the group winded its way along towards the bottom-most area of the first floor, until they came upon the wayshrine sitting just outside the massive door leading into the first-floor boss room itself as well as the stairwell leading down to the second floor nearby.
“Stop for lunch?” Xander huffed, as the rest of the party came to a stop.
There were a few nods and grunts of approval, and in no time the group was settling down by one side of the tunnel. Bly couldn’t help but notice that Xander seemed a bit agitated as the rest of his companions ate, and he hadn’t come over to sit down or take a rest. Instead, he wandered the length of the wayshrine chamber, before coming to a stop by the massive door leading into the boss room.
“Something to eat, Trel?” Vineta asked all of a sudden.
“Uhm…” Blychert lingered, his focus still on the other side of the chamber, before saying, “I’ll pass for now. Thanks.”
And without another word, Bly lifted himself up and began to walk over to the where the Xander stood.
“Strange…” Xander murmured softly, as Bly approached on his righthand side. The older boy reached his hand up and touched the door, moving his fingers across the intricate linework and hieroglyphs etched into the stone. Glancing down at Bly, he added, “For some reason, I thought this… place, would be smaller. Back in Frostwall, you wouldn't believe how big the dungeon is. But honestly? I could get lost in here just as easily.”
“And that’s why I don’t go so deep.” Bly agreed with a nod, “That, and I guess the other obvious reason.”
Xander grunted amusedly, but his expression went colder for a moment, “You never wondered what was on the other side of this door? Not even just a peek?”
“I’m not sure that would go over well in my house.” Bly chuckled, but was quick to notice just how serious Xander seemed. He waited a minute, before asking, “I’m sure you guys could fight the boss on this floor. Not today, probably, but if you come in fresh? It’s a golem, I know that. Attack patterns can’t be too different from the stone golems wandering around here, if you find any to practice on. Though, I guess I wouldn’t really know about fighting bosses.”
“Me neither.” Xander shrugged, removing his hand from the wall as he turned to face Blychert. He opened his sage terminal for a moment and inspected it, before saying, “Anyway, the core volatility isn’t high enough to spawn a boss that’s been defeated once already. So, there's that.”
“Really?” Bly asked with a curious frown. He hadn’t known that. Then again, he didn’t know much about the inner workings of dungeons in general to begin with. Dungeoneering lessons were reserved for those with trainee adventuring emblems, something Bly might have been able to receive if his life hadn't turned out so differently. Everything he knew about the dungeons came from basic compendium information, Alyse’s theoretical insights, and his own trial and error.
“It’s not confirmed that’s how it is, but I know some people with gold emblems, who I trust, that say so.” Xander nodded, “I’m inclined to believe them. Not that I’m certain anyone can really say with a straight face that they know how any of this works. Sage is nothing if not mysterious, you have to give it that.”
Sure is. Bly thought to himself, though for a brief moment he found Xander’s word choice to be somewhat interesting.
Calvergians weren’t especially supportive of the Church, at least they weren’t in Kelvalder. But even in Kelvalder, people still referred to Sage as the Divine. Even Alyse referred to Sage as the Divine from time to time. It was a weird thing to hear someone say so casually. Not because he was wrong, it was just… different.
“Well, hey, maybe it’s just like you said.” Xander offered a smirk, “Another day. By the way, does that lead down to the second floor?”
Bly glanced over his shoulder towards the stair, and nodded, “Yeah, that’s the one.”
“I see…” Xander murmured, and there was a look in his eye that seemed so much heavier than usual. But before Bly could ask what the matter was, in an instant Xander's demeanor had changed completely, and he was shouting across the chamber, “Let’s head down to the second floor, you guys!”
***
The second floor opened up with a plethora of D and E-rated ice demons, though it was nothing they couldn’t handle after a brief rest.
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Blychert found himself in a position of mostly support duties, with the occasional need for a fire spell to stave off the more aggressive ice demon. He utilized his barrier magic to great effect, providing sustained shielding for Xander while the party leader implemented his own sort of crowd control tactics. This in turn allowed Vineta to engage her own spellcraft in the pursuit of field restriction, shaping the layout of the terrain in such a way as to redirect their targets into an area of her choosing. Meanwhile, Lisel and Bredic worked hand-in-hand to pick off targets as they became available.
Everything was going well. However, not too soon after wandering down the second floor, did they run into their first stone golem.
The hulking slab of stone vaguely resembled a humanoid creature, hewn from the same dark stone as the rest of the cavern, and inlayed with gems and ice so as to perfectly blend in with its surroundings. It lumbered up and forward onto its wide legs, and thrashed about with two hulking arms, growing into its attacks more and more with each step.
“We need to target the core!” Xander explained hurriedly, gesturing towards the glowing crystal embedded in a thick layer of stone around its chest, “Magic damage should weaken the stone.”
As the first few exchanges came to pass, the creature’s amber eyes glowed with rage, but eerily it had no mouth, and so it attacked in utter silence. Orange and purple fired off through the cavern, intermingled with the brief blue flashes of Xander’s sword which chipped away at the creature.
But nothing seemed to be working.
“My spells aren’t doing much to this thing!" Bredic shouted, as fire erupted from the sigil above his head, crashing into the stone golem one after the other, seemingly to no effect.
“I can't crack it either.” Lisel added desperately, “I don't think I can damage it without the core exposed!”
Exposed? Blychert thought to himself. Elements were finicky, Bartolo had always taught him as much. Some worked better against some creatures, while others had no effect. But if the old sorcerer had taught him anything, it was that elements did not have to work alone. Bredic was a powerful pyromancer. All the wizard really needed, was an opening—a reaction.
An elemental reaction, that Blychert could provide the conduit for.
“Bredic, wait for my mark.” Bly insisted, catching the wizard’s attention for a moment, who looked confused at first. But a split second later, his eyes twinkled with possibility, and he gave an affirmative nod. Turning to Lisel, he added, “Once that thing is exposed, take your shot.”
Lisel notched another arrow, and gave him the signal of understanding.
Setting his foot back, Bly paused.
"Whatever you've got, I'm ready for it!" Xander spun, dodging and parrying heavy blow after heavy blow. A few attacks glanced off the shield spell Blychert was holding for him. But the second the stone golem turned, his massive arm swiping to the right, Bly dropped the spell entirely.
Raising his right hand, Bly exhaled a nervous breath.
Icicle wasn't strong enough, and it didn't provide the spread of ice he needed to give Bredic the best possible chance at success, which left him only left one option.
“May the Four Guardians grant me this artifice, let the depths of frost take root. From the heart of winter’s embrace, I summon with might, an icy bond, swift and merciless! Freezing chain.”
Shooting forth, a magical chain wreathed in freezing cold streaked through the air and pierced the stone golem dead-on center of the chest. Without missing a step, Blychert whipped his arm once and sent a wave of further ice damage hurdling down the length of the chain. As the ice made contact, the stoney chest of the stone golem dimmed with blue as frost expanded around the impact site, to which Blychert shouted, “Bredic, now!”
A lance of flaming energy flew across the chamber a second later, hitting the stone golem square. The stonework covering its chest exploded on impact, sending chunks of rock flying in all directions. And without even needing confirmation, the sound of a bow’s twang riddled the air thereafter, the violet color piercing the exposed amber with force.
The golem stumbled backward, slowly swiping its arms through the air, and getting slower all the while. Soon, the amber in its eyes dimmed, and with a little help from Xander's sword, it fell flat on its back in a plume of ice and rocky dust.
Bly wiped a bead of sweat from his brow, the sounds of his victorious companions resounding throughout the cavern, and he smiled.
It wasn't bad, for his first stone golem.
***
Bold Arrow spent the rest of its time on second floor that day searching for other stone golems. Though with the number of resources the group had already spent collectively, paired with their late arrival to the dungeon itself, mostly everyone was ready to head back to town before they’d even managed to complete the daily bonus challenge. Only Xander seemed intent to push even deeper that day, which came as no surprise to Bly after their earlier conversation, though he was eventually convinced to call it day.
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[ SAGE ]
> Now exiting the [Gleaming Caves]
> Daily Bonus: incomplete
[SAGE ---> System Notification]
> Generating dungeon report...
> Party experience earned: +396 xp
> E-spawn(s) cleared: 43
> D-spawn(s) cleared: 24
> Core volatility changes: -0.75%
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“That was a good delve, today.” Xander addressed the group, as they all exited the dungeon and stepped off into the late afternoon sun, “Trelen?”
Blychert perked up at the beckon.
“You more than held up your end of the bargain. And, you were pretty clever with that stone golem.” Xander continued plainly, before handing over one of the energy crystals they’d harvested from one of the golems, “Here, this is yours. And… if you wanted to come delving with us again, I think you more than earned a spot. If we work together the way we did today, maybe you'll get to see the end of the second floor after all."
End of the second floor, huh? Bly thought peculiarly. Xander sure did seem focused on pushing them as deep as he could in the Gleaming Caves. But maybe that was just the level of an established adventuring party? Always wanting to see how far they could push themselves? If that was the case, Bly sure had a lot to learn about that sort of mentality, though he respected the sentiment.
“Hell yeah!” Bredic wrapped his arm around Bly’s neck and tousled his hair fervently, “You did good, kid. Not as good as me, granted, but you get points for setting me up with that golem combo. We’re going to have to get fire into your repertoire though—forget that ice magic. Total waste! Er... not really, but you get what I'm saying. Right? Right??”
Blychert felt his cheeks flush as Bredic’s palm was driven down into his skull. His gaze flicked across to where the others stood shouting at Bredic, before settling on Lisel. They locked eyes, and she couldn’t seem to help herself but laugh too. And if Bly’s face wasn’t hot before, it certainly was now.
“Bredic, the party log says he's the same age as Lisel. Would you stop calling him kid? Honestly, you’re an idiot…” Vineta groaned embarrassingly, but looked at Bly with a curious smile, “You make very good use of barrier magic, Trelen. Gave me a much-needed break to use some of my more interesting spells. so, thank you. We'll have to exchange spell notes when we have the chance.”
“Sure, and you were all really incredible too.” Bly nodded at everyone, finally out of Bredic’s surprisingly powerful grip. Bowing his head slightly with a clap of his hands, Bly added, “Thanks for having me along.”
“Alright, with that sorted out, let’s double-time it back to the… White horn? Was it?” Xander furrowed his brow, but shook his head with a smile, “Whatever, first round's on me!”
With a whoop of cheers, Bold Arrow picked up its things and was heading back down the path towards the forest.
And as they did, a small smile betrayed Blychert’s expression.
Somehow, the hours had gone by in the blink of an eye, and for the first time in a long time, he had completely forgotten about everything else except for delving. There had been no need to think about anything else. Today, he had simply been Trelen, a level seven sorcerer in the company of Bold Arrow. Today, he’d felt freer and more determined than he had since leaving home.
Alyse was never shy to remind him that it was his life to do with as he pleased.
But even still, was this a life that he wanted? That he could have? Did the risks outweigh his own ambitions? And could he trust the others?
Could he even trust himself?
He didn’t know, but he’d gotten a taste of what it was like to be a part of something. And for what it was worth, he wasn’t sure yet that he was willing to give up on his dream so easily.