Maria screamed.

Her hands scraped against the sides of the pipe as she tried to slow down, but with Chariot and Tanalia’s weights behind her, there was nothing she could do. They flew out of the pipe and plummeted into a chamber of knee-high water.

Maria barely had time to get to her feet before the roar of a monster echoed through the chambers. She coughed up some of the water, gagging as the sickly taste slipped down her throat. Oil lanterns hung along the walls, illuminating the room slightly with faint orange light. A hulking, writhing mass of sickly green tentacles and fungus was clumped in the center of the chamber. Several of its tendrils slithered about the room, clinging to the walls and ceiling like a group of writhing serpents, casting eerie shadows in the dimly lit space.

Subterranean Blob - Lvl 20

“What in the world is that?” Chariot said, getting back to her feet. She drew her sword. The blob let out another fierce growl. It smelled of some wild, yet unpleasant odor like rotten garbage left out to burn in the sun.

“Nothing we should be around,” Tanalia said. “I swear I’m going to kill that brat the next time I see him.”

Maria attempted to draw her Serpent’s Blade, but before she could even pull it from its sheath, something shot through the water and coiled around her ankle. She yelped as her leg was tugged forward, and she fell back-first into the sewage water before being hoisted up. She was left hanging. Her sword splashed into the water below her, and she flailed about. A mossy green tendril had seized her.

“What the hell!” Maria screamed.

“Hold on!” Chariot yelled and darted at the Subterranean Blob. Several more tendrils burst from the creature's mass and flew towards Chariot. She sliced and dodged the appendages, but as she got closer, several bony, moss-riddled arms burst from the sickly mass. Several creatures were crawling out, humanoid, tall, slick, and slimy, with fungus and mushrooms sprouting from its body. Their mouths gaped open like their jaws were broken, and their rib cages seemed to invert outwards.

Mycetoid - Lvl 15

Tanalia sighed. “It can spawn these things?” She fired an arrow and pierced one of their heads.

Charioted backed off. “Gods these are a pain to deal with.”

“Just get me down!” Maria yelled. “This isn’t the way I pictured this scenario happening!” She tried reaching up to grab the tendril, but she didn’t quite have the upper body strength to do it. Moss was leaking down Maria’s leg, and running to her thighs, causing her to shudder uncomfortably at the stark coldness of it. Another tendral shot forth, and coiled around her other ankle, prying Maria’s legs apart slowly. “No, no, no, no, no!” She cast {Firebolt} and struck the Subterranean Blob, but hardly anything happened. It was too moist for the fire to spread.

While Tanalia dealt with the Mycetoids, Chariot ran towards Maria to free her from the tendril. She cast {Arc Slash} and cut the tendrils with a radiant arc of light. Maria plummeted, and Chariot did her best to catch her, but the two both fell back into the water. They scrambled to their feet as a Mycetoid ran at them, snarling.

“Thanks,” Maria said.

“Find your weapon!” Chariot ordered and hurried back to the mass of moss.

Tanalia fired at one of the Mycetoids charging Maria. She trudged through the knee-high water and found her Serpent’s Blade. She was about to whip the monster, but both her allies were in the way. She resorted to charging, and stabbing the creature with her sword until it was dead. It squealed, writhing around before finally disintegrating into polygons.

Name: Maria Marigold

Lvl: 20 >> 21

HP: 1274 >> 1336

MP: 246 >> 258

Total Defense: 83

Total Attack: 45.8

Maria stood there, absolutely soaked in sewage water. She shuddered. “God, I hate this place.”

“You and me both,” Tanalia said, sounding more agitated.

Maria looked for a way out. Aside from the pipe they fell through, she couldn’t see anything. It was high enough for only Tanalia to reach with her Icarus Boots. Just then, a steel grate above them slid open, and a long steel ladder came clanking down before splashing into the water. Maria looked at her party cautiously. light illuminated from above.

Chariot offered to take the lead, and climbed up slowly, her sword drawn and ready.

Maria was the last to climb up. They climbed into a large circular chamber with an eclectic assortment of items, most likely stolen, scattered about. Oil lamps hung from the walls, along with tatters and rags over protruding stones. Two large iron doors were sealed shut beside a makeshift bed, and a pile of crates and small boxes.

Seated at a wooden table assorted with golden trinkets, was Fari. He sat with his legs crossed, rocking in the chair. “I’ll be honest, I didn’t think you were going to survive that.” He had put on a brown jacket a size too big for him, with an emblem Maria didn’t recognize sewn into the breast.

“That was some trick you pulled on us,” Chariot said.

“It was! And you fell for it!” He chuckled.

“Why don’t you come over here and make this easier,” Tanalia said. “I’m going to hit you so hard you won’t wake up for a week.”

“Mmm, such mean things to say to a kid.”

“You lied to us,” Chariot said, gripping her sword. “I don’t tolerate liars.”

“I didn’t lie to you. I brought you to Rynec.”

“You tried to kill us,” Maria said. “With that… whatever that thing was.”

“It would have been easier to loot you if you were dead. But, I guess I’ll just have to kill you three myself.” Fari stood on his chair and withdrew a curved dagger from under his jacket. It reminded Maria of a karambit.

“You’re Rynec...” Maria muttered.

“The one and only,” the boy exclaimed.

“So then you did lie to us,” Chariot growled.

“Did you think I was going to tell you my actual name? I may be a kid, but I’m not stupid.”

“I didn’t think a child would be so well recognized in the Thieves Brotherhood.”

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“Times are changing,” Rynec shrugged. “The Demon King is dead, there’s no one to keep us in check anymore. Besides, they love me. I’m good at getting into tight places. Like the elf’s nerves.”

Tanalia squeezed a fist.

“Now… I refuse to believe you came all this way just to find me,” Rynec crossed his arms. “If I recall, my team fled away like a bunch of cowards, so I didn’t take anything from you. I had to have taken something from someone you know.”

“You stole the eyes of the Oracle,” Maria said.

“Who?”

“The Oracle,” Chariot clarified. “He works for the Church of the Lunar Goddess.”

“Oooh, that old man with the glass eyes? Of course, I took them. I heard word of him performing all these visions with them, and I figured they’d fetch a pretty price.”

“Do you still have them?” Maria asked.

Rynec scoffed. “Of course I do. Selling a pair of eyes isn’t the easiest thing, but I know the right buyer would be out there somewhere. Unless you’re looking to buy them off me? In that case, you should have said so from the beginning.”

“You stole from this man,” Chariot said. “What makes you think we’re buying them back? We’re returning them to their rightful owner.”

“Mmm, stealing from a kid isn’t very moral,” he teased. “You could give me something for it though. I do like the look of that armor. I wonder what's underneath.”

“You’re disgusting,” Chariot said.

Rynec snorted. “I’m not the one covered in sewage water.”

“Lay down your weapon, and we’ll apprehend you peacefully.” Chariot gripped her sword.

“I’d like to see you try.” Rynec hurled a handful of gray pellets at the trio. On impact, the pellets burst into thick clouds of smoke.

Maria coughed and waved away the smoke as she tried to escape the cloud. When it cleared, Rynec had vanished. Maria scanned the room, looking at the various objects strewn about to see if he was hiding behind anything. She drew her Serpent’s Blade, holding it out to parry any oncoming attacks.

“Just try to find me!” Rynec’s voice echoed through the chamber.

“Where is the little brat?” Tanalia growled.

“He can’t be using an invisibility potion,” Chariot said.

Maria looked at the doors. They were still shut, and she hadn’t heard anything to signal them opening, or even any stone sliding out of the way that might signal a secret passage. Rynec had to still be in the chamber.

Tanalia suddenly screamed. Rynec had appeared out of thin air, and leaped onto her back, slashing her before hurling another mass of smoke bombs. When the smoke was cleared, he was gone again.

“Show yourself you little demon!” Tanalia said, wincing as blood ran down her arm.

Maria ran over to Tanalia. “How the hell did he do that?”

“It may be his outfit. The Thieves Brotherhood is known for these kinds of tricks.”

Rynec appeared out of thin air again. He leaped onto Chariot and pulled her down with his body weight. She yelped and collapsed. Tanalia tried attacking the boy, but Chariot yelled at her not to hurt him. She tried disarming him, grabbing his dagger, and ripping it from his grasp.

Another explosion of smoke bombs blinded Chariot though. Several more smoke bombs were thrown around the chamber until it was completely filled. Maria coughed and waved her hand around. It was impossible to see.

“His coat!” Chariot coughed. “It has to be letting him turn invisible somehow.”

“Oh, you’re smart!” Rynec yelled. He ran up behind Maria and kicked Maria in the back of her shins. She fell to the ground, groaning as her knees slammed against the stone. When the smoke cleared, the boy was again gone. It was a struggle to find where he was. Without being able to see him turn invisible, the trio was left guessing and wandering the room, hoping to bump into him.

Rynec appeared again and scooped his knife up from the ground before hurling another barrage of smoke bombs.

“This kid and all his pellets!” Tanalia said.

“This is how we feel with you and explosives,” Chariot said.

The boy was running through the smoke, giving small jabs and hits. Rynec was too fast for Maria to keep up. It didn’t help that she couldn’t see him. She needed a way to slow him down. Then it hit her. Maria retrieved the Paralyzing Orb from her inventory. It was much squishier than she had thought, and the lightest touch was causing it to belch out small clouds of spore dust.

As Rynec appeared again out of thin air, he jumped toward Tanalia.

Maria threw the orb at Tanalia. A large cloud of paralyzing powder erupted from the impact and engulfed the two.

“No!” Rynec yelled. He tried to hold his breath and sprint away, but before he could get far, his muscles seized up, and he was left completely immobile.

“God damn it!” Tanalia said as she too seized up, and completely froze like she had been encased in ice.

Maria sighed in relief and marched over to Rynec. Being completely frozen, he started to vanish from sight, almost as if he were fading from existence. Maria hurried over and pulled off the large jacket. He was visible again.

Thieves Brotherhood Jacket

Defense: 10

Physical Attack Boost: +5%

Physical Health Boost: +2%

Mana Boost: -9%

Perk: Wearer becomes completely transparent after standing completely still for 2 seconds.

“Hey!” he yelled, “Give me that back!”

Maria pinned him to the floor. As his body unstiffened, she pressed her knee against his back and held onto his wrists. “Do either of you have anything to tie his arms up?”

“I have some rope for the tents we could use,” Chariot said, and retrieved the rope from her inventory. She helped Maria tie up Rynec’s arms behind his back, as well as his ankles together.

Tanalia groaned as she unstiffened. “I swear the next person or thing that paralyzes me like that is getting their hands chopped off.”

“Sorry,” Maria said. “You were a bigger target to hit.!”

Tanalia crossed her arms and glared at Maria.

Maria sighed and turned her attention back to Rynec. “Looks like things really went your way, huh?”

“Shut up!” he growled and struggled against the restraints. “Stupid witch bitch!”

“Where are the eyes?” Maria asked Rynec.

“Like I’m going to tell you!” he growled.

“Let me ask him.” Tanalia marched over.

Chariot attempted to get in her way, but Maria pulled her aside. “What are you doing?” she asked Maria.

“Just let her,” Maria sighed. “I’m sick of the brat too.”

Tanalia grabbed Rynec by the collar and hoisted him up. “Where are they you little brat?”

Rynec scoffed. “God, you smell awful for an elf,” he said mockingly.

“Because some kid thought it would be fun to dump us into a pit of moss-infested waters. I won’t ask again, where are the eyes?”

Rynec spat at Tanalia. She winced, and without a second thought, delivered a hard, and swift punch across Rynec’s face. The boy collapsed, tumbling as he fell to the ground, and went out cold.

“Tanalia!” Chariot yelled.

“Say what you want, but I don’t care. The kid deserved it. Let’s just find the eyes and get out of here.”

“What are we going to do with Rynec?” Maria asked.

Chariot sighed, grumbling to herself. “Bring him back to the surface,” she eventually said. “We can turn him into the authorities and tell them about his den. They’ll take care of the situation from there.”

“Are you sure?”

“Of course. Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Didn’t you say they were being paid off by this kid? Or the Thieves Brotherhood?”

“They are…”

“Then wouldn’t the guards just let the boy run free again? If he’s keeping the flow of gold going into their pockets, then why would they want to apprehend him?”

“Because… it’s the moral thing to do. As guards of the city, it’s their job to—”

“You have too much faith in the system,” Tanalia said. “I doubt they’ll keep the little brat locked up, but let’s do it your way. I’m sure things will turn out alright,” she said sarcastically.

“What would you have us do then?” Chariot asked.

“Do to him what he said he would do to us. Toss him out onto the street with nothing but his skin.”

“We would be no better than him then.”

“Do what you want with him,” Tanalia glared back at her. “The moment we’re back to the surface, I’m going to a bathhouse.”

The trio scoured Rynec’s den for the glass eyes. There were dozens of small trinkets and oddities. No doubt many of them were worth a fortune. Stolen pearl necklaces, rings, bracelets, jewels, gold coins, and expensive liquors. Crates of stolen goods were everywhere. Rynec had the haul of the century in the sewers. Eventually, Maria stumbled upon a pedestal, with a wooden box left sitting on it. It was open, and a pair of crystal orbs glimmered in the light of the oil lamps. They looked small enough to be eyes, though Maria was expecting something more akin to a regular-looking eye. These were more hexagonal, yet round at the same time.

“Hey, are these it?” Maria showed them off.

“They look like they are,” Tanalia said. “Grab them and let’s go.”

Maria closed the box and put it in her inventory. “Yeah, I’m ready to get out of here. I’ll probably head to the Adventurers Guild and wash up first before bringing these back to the Oracle.”

“I’ll take care of Rynec then,” Chariot said, and lifted the boy into her arms.

“You won’t have any luck with the guards,” Tanalia said.

“I can try.”

Maria unbolted the doors leading out and pushed them open. She was more than ready to get out of the sewers— And with the Oracle's eyes secured, she was one step closer to finding The Ringleader.