A shiver ran down Maria's spine as she surveyed the overwhelming horde of monsters. She quickly composed herself. Panicking wasn't going to do anything to help her in this situation. She can handle herself well enough with monsters, this was no different. There were just a whole lot more of them. Maria took a deep breath and double-checked her stats.
Name: Maria Marigold
Lvl: 14
HP: 869/903
MP: 145/174
Total Defense: 83
Total Attack: 45.8
Maria had to think positively. She hadn’t felt any rumbling earlier, which likely meant they were in the lead. Irra’s party had to still be scouring their half of the dungeon for the first lever. At least that’s what Maria hoped.
“This is more like it,” Tanalia said. She stood over the edge and peered down to the swarm of monsters. “If only I had some explosive arrows on me.”
“I’m thankful you don’t,” Chariot said. “I’d rather not perish by your antics with them.”
“Not my fault you’re always in the way.” Without warning, Tanalia leaped off the third floor and plummeted toward the monsters. She double-jumped in midair and rolled onto the second floor before she retrieved her bow, swiftly notched an arrow, and fired into the hoard of monsters below.
“Honestly, she’s going to get herself killed one of these days,” Chariot said.
“Let’s just worry about ourselves right now. I’m sure she can handle herself.”
The only path was blocked, and the drop-down was far too great to risk jumping like Tanalia. If not for her elven prowess and newly acquired enchanted boots, Maria doubted she would have dived. There was no way they could do the same. They could jump down to the second floor, sure, but there was no guarantee they would land on the ledge, or be able to grab a hold of it if they were to plummet past it to their deaths.
Maria looked back at the lever, then to the door. There had been a few seconds before the doorway was blocked the moment it was pulled. She hurried back over and returned the lever to its original position. The dungeon reset itself, closing the doors and deactivating the traps. The steel bars blocking their paths sunk back into the floor.
Chariot sighed. “Wonderful.”
“Go wait on the other side,” Maria said. “I’ll make a run for it.”
“Are you certain?”
“Yes, yes, just go.”
Chariot stepped out into the hall with her sword drawn, and waited for Maria. Positioning her foot against the wall, the witch pushed off with force, utilizing the momentum to propel herself around the colossal gap while simultaneously pulling the lever. The sound of steel and stone shifted around her. Just as she reached the doorway, the metal bars abruptly surged upwards and blocked her path. Maria stumbled back, not wanting to get stabbed by them.
“Shit,” Maria groaned. She returned to the lever.
“You can do it!” Chariot called out.
Maria reset the lever and tried again. She reached the door this time but hesitated, and avoided the metal bars from piercing her.
Chariot started looking around for anything she could use to prevent the bars from rising, but there was nothing.
Maria again reset the lever and took a deep breath. Staring at her only way out, she counted down in her head, before pushing off the wall and pulling the lever. Maria darted around the chamber and made a mad dash for the door.
“Come on!” Chariot yelled.
Maria sprinted through the door just as the metal bars surged upwards. She was clotheslined as the back of her robe was caught, and pinned against the wall, causing the girl to fall as her body was whipped back.
Chariot quickly helped Maria to her feet. “Are you alright?”
Maria coughed and nodded with a pained groan. “I'm alive, aren't I?” She looked back at her robe caught in the steel bars. She tugged, at it, but the fabric wasn't budging. “God damn it.”
“Here, hold still,” Chariot said, and balled up some of the fabric in her fist, before posting her foot against the bars. She stood directly in front of Maria, close enough to feel her breath. "Just lean forward, and I'll pull, alright?"
“Right.”
“Alright, go!”
Maria leaned forward, fighting against the strain of her fabric while Chariot heaved. The fabric of Maria's robe began to give way. Maria tugged with all her might before the robe finally ripped. With a sudden jolt, Maria lost her balance and tumbled forward, crashing onto Chariot. Their bodies collided with a thud, and Maria's head landed near Chariot's neck as they hit the stone floor. Maria pushed off of her slowly and glanced down at her friend. Their faces were almost touching. Both of them were panting, and Maria could feel Chariot's warm breath against her lips.
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“Are you alright?” Chariot asked, staring up at Maria with wide eyes.
Maria nodded, her cheeks flushed red before glancing downward. In the process of trying to catch herself, she had gotten a handful of Chariot's breasts. She paused for a moment and squeezed.
Chariot pushed Maria off.
She chuckled. “Sorry.”
“No, you’re not,” Chariot grumbled. “At least you’re free.”
Maria glanced at the remaining fabric caught in the steel bars. “Isn’t that just great. This was new too.”
“We can always get it repaired.” Chariot rose to her feet, then helped Maria up.
The dungeon had activated yet again, transforming the hallway into a treacherous gauntlet of traps. Stone pressure plates had risen in locations that Maria had not noticed before. At the end of the corridor, a sharp bend revealed a spinning pillar that intermittently emitted bursts of flames from the open mouths of intricately carved faces encircling it. It had to have descended from the ceiling.
Maria stood just far enough away from the flames for them not to touch her, but the heat from them was enough for her to back off, and rub her skin as it grew hot. She timed her attempt and waited for the flames to relinquish before darting past the trap. The descent back to the ground floor was a perilous one. Tanalia was only able to keep so many of the monsters at bay. Many of the grotesque beasts had made their way up to the higher floors of the dungeon, worming around the large room through the tunnels, and down trapped hallways.
Maria had to watch her step, avoiding pressure plates while dodging the relentless attacks of Umbralreapers, Deathbats, and things she didn’t even have time to think about. Giant insects, and deformed humanoid lumps of black sludge charged at her with murderous intent. Spiked poles jutted from the walls, flames descended from the ceiling, and blades swung out unexpectedly, forcing Maria and Chariot to leap and duck to avoid them.
As they ventured through the halls, Maria and Chariot discovered newly opened pathways. Some led to simple chambers containing chests, pots, and vases filled with gold and armor sets. However, none of the gear surpassed the quality of what they currently possessed, although they could still sell the loot for additional gold once they were finished. The Umbralreapers dropped sickles and tattered rags, while Deathbats left behind bat wings and fragments of broken skulls.
It was a slow, meandering walk back down to the bottom floor, where by the end of the trek, both Maria and Chariot had used one healing potion. The enemies were tough, but not impossible, and Tanalia keeping most of them distracted on the bottom floor certainly helped. By the time they had reached it, Maria had gone up another two levels. Finally, the monsters were giving her a decent amount of XP. Her health had now increased to four-digit territory, boasting a total of 1027 HP, which gave her some sense of relief.
Name: Maria Marigold
Lvl: 14 >> 16
HP: 869/903 >> 705/1027
MP: 145/174 >> 198
Total Defense: 83
Total Attack: 45.8
The two emerged from the steps to find Tanalia leaning against the wall, twirling her dagger between her fingers like she was performing a juggling act.
“What took you two so long?” she asked with a sly grin.
“Looking for loot and levers,” Maria sighed. “You know a bunch of stuff opened up back there, right?”
“Eh.”
“You could have helped us search,” Chariot said.
“Did you find anything?”
“Nope,” Maria popped.
Tanalia shrugged. “There’s still the other door we haven’t gone down. I doubt we’ll find anything better than these boots though.”
“I’m glad you at least found something worthwhile,” Chariot said. “All I’ve found are weapons and armor weaker than my current set.”
Tanalia snorted. “Ah well. You can keep grinding for gold, I’ll keep grinding for levels.”
“I’m pretty sure you’ve killed all the monsters,” Maria said.
“I hope not. There better be some further in.”
“Only one way to find out,” Maria gestured for the two to follow her. She returned to the massive door, staying weary of any traps that might have been activated in the tunnel. When they returned to the starting chamber, the trio stepped back onto the pedestal and gazed up at the door. One of the bolts had slid out of the way, and looking over at Irra’s door, all three bolts were still secured.
“Well look at that,” Tanalia chuckled. “And she was talking all that big game before this started. We’re in the lead!”
A raucous, metallic shriek pierced the trio’s ears. Maria cupped her ears and glanced towards the first bolt over Irra’s door. It was slowly sliding out of place, before settling into the wall with a puff of dust drifting down as the steel scraped against the stone.
“You just had to say something,” Maria sighed.
Tanalia threw her arms up defensively and groaned.
“I thought you didn’t care?” Chariot said.
“I don’t. But it was nice to see we were proving her wrong about something. She was really getting on my nerves.”
“Irra?” Maria asked.
“Mhm. You mentioned she was the daughter of some general?”
“Vrad Illenwood.”
“Royal Captain of the Kingsguard,” Chariot said. “We shouldn’t idle. We have a lead on them. We should make use of it.”
“Right,” Maria said. “Let’s get moving.”
The tunnel to the right of their door was surprisingly winding. A sloped spiral brought them beneath the starting chamber. Along the smooth stone ramp, faint trickles of water cascaded down, with the drip dropping of water creating a soothing melody that echoed through the underground passage. Maria shivered as she descended, goosebumps forming up her arms. Along the wall, torches illuminated the path, otherwise, it would have been too dark to see. At the end of the spiral, was a stone archway that led into the next room, with a large tablet hung adjacent to it.
In darkness hides a secret trail,
Illuminate with blue, unveil!
Step by step, follow the light,
A hidden path comes into sight.
Maria skimmed the text. “What the hell does that mean?”
“It’s a riddle,” Chariot said.
“Oh, you don’t say,” Tanalia scoffed.
Maria stayed behind, and read over the tablet again as Chariot and Tanalia both stepped into the next room. It didn’t make any sense to her. She brushed it off, figuring it would make some sense later, and upon entering the room, the riddle suddenly clicked.
The room was one giant puzzle.