"Dernan, we're Delvers. You lot hired us to delve! We could have the job sorted by the time you lot finish setting up camp." The burly man shouted at his unseen companion.
I had the hare in place listen in as I tried to listen in and try and think of a way to deal with the situation. The vitapygmy squad turned down the tunnel that lead to one of the larger chambers when I came to a decision. I had to draw their attention away from the chambers since the next one they would likely check was my new chamber and I couldn't let that happen.
I also didn't feel confident in taking on four of them at once. It had been hard enough trying to take down one. I didn't like my odds without making sure as many of the conditions of the fight were of my own choosing and if at all possible my design. I moved two of my other hare into the corridor that didnt lead to a chamber and had them carry some small stones with them. While one waited to try and draw them further down the hall I had the other sprint ahead to check if the main hall was in fact a ring. If it was, I might be able to draw the vitapygmy back to defend their home for now with a fake attack from the other side. They made it two tunnels passed the entrance shaft before spotting the second squad of vitapygmy similarly equipped to the previous one.
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At the entrance I was trying to gain as much information as I could. The man had left the entrance which gave my hare the opportunity to slink closer up the tunnel to a more natural cave. The Delvers, as they called themselves, seemed to be to be setting up camp and seemed to not be making any motions to enter the cave which did not seem to sit well with the man with the spear.
"Look, The Dungeon Management Commission has always been good to us but if this is some ploy by lord Rish to get to Eyana we very much do not appreciate it. You've been acting cagey this whole trip and I think its best you tell us in no uncertain terms why you hired a D class Delver party for a milk run delve that is usually handled by a quartet of F class teams." The spear man was staring down at a tall slender man with short black hair and was sitting on a camp stool tuning something that looked a lot like a silver pocket watch.
The man, presumably Dernan, looked up at the intimidating figure of the spear man unintimidated. "I guess it is time to get down to the extra wrinkles of this particular delve. Firstly, the DMC is an apolitical organization and we work very hard to stay that way. The implication that we would be partner to any action not in the best interest of an acting member of the commission is, in point of fact, insulting. Secondly, This is a milk run delve. The DMC clears this dungeon once a month for the Life affinity pearls and other Life Mana infused resources that have a high value in the medical trades."
He snapped closed the pocket watch and its face flashed a verdant green at which he smiled and nodded and seem to relax noticeably and continued. "As to why we tapped you instead of going with our usual cadre of trainees the dungeon has been acting odd the past couple months. It's a rare low threat stagnant dungeon. Twelve basic vitapygmy plus leadership guarding three active chambers. Core, Habitation with mana well and a dug out Null chamber they are using as a kind of makeshift sand pit. Without using the dungeons own Mana pearls or applying a production tier upgrade to a chamber with they have started developing enchanted equipment and we don't know how or why. So the commissioner suggested we tap a respectably veteran team that may be able to apply their expertise to the question we were facing. Is that a sufficient accounting for why your team was tapped for the mission Delver Rhan."
The Spear man nodded looking thoughtful. "I suppose the commissioner didn't say anything about getting said veteran team away from a certain agitated noble for a week or two did he."
"The DMC prides itself on being an apolitical organization and doesn't get involved in the affairs of the aristocracy." Dernan said as if reading from a script and winked at Rhan.
"Alright then, let me see the map."
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While that was going on outside the cave I was trying to keep the situation balanced inside. If these Delvers had come expecting to face twelve of these guys maybe if I could coax them out of the cave maybe the problem would handle itself. With any luck they might just proceed with their clear as usual and maybe I could try and figure out the vitapygmy secret of enchanting weapons without using pearls at the same time.
A plan began to formulate and I activated battle mode in my Core and started the operation. I needed to get the vitapygmy nearest my Core to make their way to the entrance faster and I needed to slow down the other set ever so slightly so all eight would reach the entrance at the same time. I had the hare toss and kick rocks to try and draw their attention farther down the corridor and it worked like a charm. They completely bypassed the approaches to my own chambers to investigate.
For the other set I had to make a riskier play. I hid my newest hare in a dead end while they were investigating one of the chambers. Once they had moved on ahead the hare would precede to make subtle noises to draw their attention back the way they had come. Meanwhile my eavesdropper would join from the other side producing the same kinds of noises to draw their attention back toward the entrance.
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Little by little they converged on the entrance both meeting at the bottom of the entrance shaft. They seemed confused and seemed to be conferring and confirming that the sounds they had been hearing had not been each other. My hare gave a few thumps of their hind feet to draw the vitapygmys attention. The vitapygmy shouted and raised their weapons in anger and started marching at my monsters. At which point I activated the spell Fog of War.
One of the pearls in my Mana Well winked out as an arc of misty energy jumped between the pools surface and my Core. My Domain thrummed with power and a fog bank burst forth from my little zone of control that surrounded my two dire hare near the entrance. The vitapygmy were monsters in attack mode and simply charged right into the concealing mist.
The Delvers on the other hand were not expecting this but they were trained to deal with dungeons and monsters.They quickly got into formation at the center of their camp as the fog rolled out. The four D class adventurers at the lead supported by the DMC official Dernan behind them followed by the the camp team of mostly porters and laborers had weapons at the ready.
Eight angry vitapygmy burst forth from the cloud of damp air and immediately got set to the task of mayhem. Toppling tables knocking down tents and when they spotted them charged at the readied Delvers.
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Mist-walker dire hare were very good at being sneaky down in the tunnels. Add an obscuring fog to the mix and they were far more so. Their bodies obscured as the air around them matched the wispy tendrils of mist that shrouded them, their foot falls were silent, even any scent they put out into the world was muffled by their very nature.
The two hare followed the flow of the fog bank pouring out onto the surface.They had a very important job to do. As soon as the Delvers had pulled out and started discussing the map of the dungeon I knew I had to get a look at it. Rahn had dropped it in his haste to get his weapons readied and as a result in sat just inside the edge of my conjured fog. My hare were able to push it out flat on the ground so I could get a good look at it.
It was a tough parchment thing clearly made with rough handling in mind. I took note that it covers most of what I already found but had the layout of Vitapygmy territory minus the cooing ball ranch which was indicated as empty. The preferred route to approach was marked with arrows that matched the chalk markings I had found. There were annotations noting potential hazards which had helpful little info-graphics which helped me work out an ad hock dictionary because of course they didn't write in English. Maybe it was some sort of helpful translation magic that sadly didn't extend to writing. There was a tag clipped to one corner with what looked like a number which corresponded to the larger chamber to the right of mine and if it was a base ten system, which it looked like it was, my own chamber would be checked next time. I quickly traced the map to my own replacing my inexpert squiggles with a good reliable professional map and called my spys back with all haste.
Map Map [https://i.imgur.com/4pMfEGi.png]
As soon as my monsters had returned to the main tunnel a small battle report popped up announcing the raids victory. A long chain of combat logs referring to the vitapygmys assaults on the camps furniture and then finally the violent exchange between them and the delvers. My own dire hare were not mentioned once in the whole list.
A flawless raid.
After a job well done I started thinking about how to best take advantage of the current situation. I tried to think of possible ways to use what I had learned to somehow maintain the status quo and keep myself mostly hidden in the process. That was probably a moot point anyway but I might be able to finagle it to buy myself at least a month.
However, all my planning and sense of accomplishment came to a sudden and unceremonious halt.
There was someone in my Core chamber.
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They were a blue glowing humanoid about two meters tall and faceless. Other than this they looked practically human. It walked around the chamber occasionally pausing to take note of some minor feature or another of the chamber without a care in the world which was quite disconcerting. This was made doubly so since its 'walk' was simply wrong. It would take a step and cover a distance four or five. It would then move as though to take a step to the side to avoid a pit and instead move three steps back. My swirling storm that churned around its shins would sometimes be disturbed as would be expected as it swirled past a pair of legs disrupting the air flow. Other times it would pass as though there was nothing there at all.
Just as I was about to ask it what it was it spoke with a thousand discordant overlapping voices. "Oh Sean. You use my tools so well and in such unexpected ways. Maybe you will not fail like all the others." It turned away from me and and crossed half the room in a single step "Oh Lucian, that poor boy, failed to become.... He was too full of fear. You are not. That is why I took you." The figure turned back to me and in the same motion was standing directly next to my Core as it reaches out to touch me. "You are full of c-" As suddenly as it had appeared the figure was gone, mid word. Its departure punctuated with a gentle splash as a small glowing pearl fell into my mana well.
Core Mana Well Cloud Mana Pearls 3 Mana Mana Pearls 1 Auxiliary Mana Well 1 None -