Amanda walked back into her office carrying a cup of tea. Her half-elven heritage allowed her to rest for short periods, but it didn’t mean her human half didn’t lag behind from time to time.
She sat down at her desk and began to mentally go through today’s ‘to do’ list when she had a small feeling in the back of her mind.
Her ‘little voice’ as she called it, had saved her life more times than she could count when she was still delving dungeons. These days, it mostly reminded her of important things she was forgetting about or when a cadet was likely getting up to mischief.
“Hmm, I must have had something important to do this morning,” Amanda thought to herself as her eyes roamed across her desk, “Ah the letter to Ulandi.”
She searched her desk for a moment, but couldn’t find the letter.
She took another sip of tea.
Her little voice still hadn’t quieted.
Amanda took a moment to go through this morning’s events to remember if anything stood out to her as particularly out of place. The only thing that could remotely be considered odd was that the training ground was quieter than usual.
“River, was it? Yes I don’t think I saw them this morning,” she muttered.
While it wasn’t unusual for a cadet not to be at the training ground, River had always been particularly diligent with their training.
There was always one or two recruits every year. People who had somehow made it to adulthood still clinging to some childish notion of becoming heroes. Fortunately, most of them ended up washing out during the try-out phase. River had surprised many of the veteran delvers with their determination.
Determination that only come from someone with something to prove.
Amanda’s brow furrowed.
She got up from her chair and walked over to the owl statue that was in the corner of her room and pressed down on one of the feathers.
The eyes lit up and projected an image in the middle of the room. Being an administrator didn’t give her as many opportunities to use all of the things she had acquired over her long career as a delver, but some of the more mundane items proved useful from time to time.
The first few images were just her entering and leaving the room as well as some appointments she had taken over the week but eventually she found one at an odd hour last night.
“Oh no…” Amanda whispered as she stopped on the image of River and Edwin reading the letter she had penned to Ulandi.
***
I felt a bit bad about misleading Jasper.
In all honesty, the construction took about two days between the new floor plan and the ridiculously short time it took me to build walls and furniture.
Most of the time was spent training up the [Cat-kin] to be competent ‘employees’ for lack of a better term.
Between Selina’s [Leadership] skill and the [Cat-kin’s] [Quality of Life] skill, they had managed to learn surprisingly fast.
! New Skills Available !
“Oh, I forgot that notification was still there,” I thought to myself.
[Twin Lucky Cats Scion]
>Level 2 > 3 Scion
>Twinned Souls LVL 1 > LVL 2*: two bodies, one soul; magical effects applied to one body effect both; other minor effects apply.
>Fortune magnet LVL 2 > 3*: certain situations cause treasure generation
>Stealth (+)
>Magic (+)
>Intelligence (++)
>Skills:
-Telekinesis LVL: 4
>All other stats in normal parameters for common feline
! New Skill !
Copy Cat LVL 1: magic spells can be learned as skills. Complexity of magic able to be learned scales with level of [Copy Cat] and on known magical skills
Subcategory added:
Copy Cat Skills:
Teleportation LVL 2
Force barrier LVL 1
Fortune magnet LVL 3: Gemstones will now begin generating as well as currency
Twinned Souls LVL 2: Mana and health can now be shared between scions.
That last one caught my attention.
It seemed that skills could be leveled up by either using them enough, or by pushing the boundaries of what the skill covered. [Twinned Souls] was a prime example of the latter due to the ambiguous wording of the skill.
“Hey Carmen, you and Midnight leveled up,” I mentioned.
“I'm assuming that's a good thing?” asked Carmen.
“Yeah, it means you both got stronger,” I explained.
“Oh, do tell, Mr. House,” Carmen said.
I spent a minute explaining the details of her and Midnight’s new skills.
“My brother did mention the blue square he saw when you were looking through his eyes,” Carmen mentioned lazily.
“So you didn't know about any of that when you came into this world?” I asked, trying to avoid too many video game terms.
“No, not at all,” Carmen replied plainly.
“What did you know? What was it like getting summoned?” I asked.
“Let's see,” Carmen began as she took a moment to think, “the first thing I remember is crawling out of the box, having a sense that we were in danger, and that I was a scion of the dungeon.”
“That's it?” I asked.
“That's it,” replied Carmen, “why do you ask?”
“Selina knows things from before she came into existence, and also some other stuff,” I explained lamely.
“Some other stuff?” Carmen repeated.
“Yeah, it’s hard to explain, but I wasn’t always a dungeon,” I said, the hints of a stutter creeping into my voice.
“That makes sense,” Carmen shrugged.
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“It does?” I asked in bewilderment.
“Sure,” Carmen said, “you’ve often said things that make no sense and then seem to sigh when nobody understands what you’re saying.”
“I- yeah that’s fair,” I said deflating at Carmen’s bluntness.
“So what does she know that she’s not supposed to know?” asked Carmen.
“So I made a reference to a name that’s supposed to be for a device that’s like an assistant,” I explained, trying to avoid anything that would lead to questions about technology and the internet.
“Oh, when she laughed about the names Siri and Alexa,” Carmen supplied.
“Yes, that,” I said, “even if she knew about everything that happened from the moment I became a dungeon, those names reference something from my old life and I would be VERY surprised if there was something like that here.”
“Interesting. Maybe you should test how much she knows about dungeons. She did seem knowledgeable about what would happen if your core was moved for some reason. As for your distrust of her, Midnight and I will keep an eye on her if it will put you at ease, Mr. House,” Carmen suggested.
“Oh thank you Carmen. I knew I could trust you and Midnight,” I sighed with relief.
“Our pleasure, Mr. House,” she purred.
! >Invaders scanned: threat level assessment [blue] !
“OH FOR FUCK’S SAKE!” I yelled.
***
“Okay everyone, equipment check,” River beamed.
“River, do we have to do this in an empty lot? We’re getting weird looks,” Edwin sighed as he watched a group of people staring at them while they walked down the road.
“Well, Edwin, we couldn’t do it at the guild hall or else people would have asked what we were up to,” River explained.
“They have a point,” said a goblin with a gnarled staff that was taller than he was.
“Ugh, fine, let’s just get this over with,” Edwin complained, rubbing his temples.
“Edwin, if you’d start,” River said expectantly.
“I’ve double checked my trap disarming kit as well as performing the necessary maintenance to my weapon and armor,” Edwin droned.
“Excellent! Odez?” River said, turning to the goblin.
“The mana flows in my staff are in acceptable condition. I’ve also taken into consideration our environment and objective and prepped my spell list accordingly,” Odez recited in a more excited tone.
“How hard could that be, you only know one spell,” Edwin muttered.
“What can I say, stone missile is the only spell you need,” Odez said, puffing out his chest.
“Ahem, good job Odez. That just leaves us with Morgana. Wait, where’s Mori?” River continued.
“She saw a cat and got distracted,” Odez replied nonchalantly as he motioned at the corner of the lot.
Sure enough, a girl dressed in funeral black was kneeling down next to an orange cat that was rubbing his face on her hand.
“Mori, we’re doing equipment check,” River reminded the girl.
“Huh? Oh right. Let’s see, I remembered to make an offering of blood at the alter before we left, I said the prayer of Refrain from Death’s Embrace to She Who Waits, and I remembered my holy vestments,” Mori said, tapping the white raven mask sitting on her head.
“And your holy lantern?” River asked.
“Wait, it’s right here,” Morgana said first looking to her left, then her right before finding the lantern in question.
“Did you find a good cat, Mori?” Odez asked.
“Oh yes, surprisingly healthy for a stray,” Mori replied.
“Ok equipment check complete. Let’s rove out team!” River exclaimed.
“For the last time River, we aren’t even leaving the city,” Edwin groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose, “you can’t really ‘rove out’ if you have an address.”
“Oh stop being a stick in the mud, Edwin. This is our first real mission and I’m not going to let your bad mood ruin this for the rest of us,” River said as they gave Edwin a pat on the arm before hoisting the scabbard strap of a claymore over their shoulder.
Much to Edwin’s disappointment and worry, the four of them set off down the road until they found themselves in front of a warehouse much like any other.
“Okay Edwin, you’re up,” said River.
Edwin just sighed and pulled out his toolkit.
***
“So you’re just going to keep the door shut?” asked Selina.
“Yeah, we’re not open and this is going to be the third fight in two weeks,” I groused.
“At least it’s not Rex again,” Selina shrugged.
“True,” I sighed, “still these new guys look like they should be in high school, maybe college, not running around with weapons.”
***
“Come on, Edwin!” River cheered as the half giant tried in vain to open the door.
“I… can’t…,” he strained before slipping on the dirt and landing on his back.
“You alright?” River asked.
“Ow…” Edwin wheezed, obviously winded.
“Did you check if it was locked?” asked Odez.
“Fucking obviously,” Edwin moaned as he picked himself up, “it’s locked by magic. You’d be able to tell if you knew more than one spell.”
“I’ll show you that stone missile is all you need,” Odez said, stepping forward.
“Heyheyheyhey!” River interjected quickly, “no need for that. Besides I have a key.”
“Why didn’t you use it earlier?” asked Edwin.
“Because this is your first chance to use your skills on a real dungeon,” River said as they produced an oversized brass key, “I wouldn’t want to take that away from you.”
Edwin grumbled to himself as River stepped up to the threshold and put the key on the door.
***
“What are they doing aaaaaaAAAAHHHH!” I yelled as a sensation not unlike touching a live wire coursed through the door.
The door and the area around the door went numb, for lack of a better term.
“House, are you alright?” asked Midnight.
“Yeah, just get that key away from them ASAP,” I said glaring at the invaders.
***
“So is it just me, or is anyone else suddenly reminded of the last time they broke something expensive and got caught in the act?” Morgana asked, looking at the half way open door of the dungeon.
“Oh so not just me then?” Odez agreed.
“This must be the dungeon’s gaze,” River whispered excitedly.
“River, seriously, maybe we should go. Ulandi hasn’t even checked this place out,” Edwin pleaded as the full reality of the situation began to set in.
“Edwin, this is the best chance any of us are going to get to move up in rank and I for one am not going to let this chance slip through my fingers,” River said with a sudden fire in their eyes as they drew their claymore to reveal the runes etched into the blade and charged inside.
Odez and Morgan quickly followed, and with a sigh, Edwin brought up the rear.
River was expecting any number of things when they charged into the dungeon.
Traps, monsters, or even undead would have been well within their expectations.
What stopped River in their tracks was the fact that this was unmistakably a casino of some sort.
“River was it? I’m happy you’re so eager to see what Mr. House has in store, but we’re still closed for the next six days. I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask you to leave,” said a woman with feline features flanked by a black and white cat to either side.
“Um, who are you and how do you know my name?” River asked.
“I am Selina, voice of the dungeon and you spent quite a long time talking among yourselves on our front door,” Selina replied.
“Hi Selina. Name’s Edwin. Clearly you guys are busy. We should really be going-,” Edwin rambled as he placed a hand on River’s tense shoulder.
“Odez! Stone missile!” River exclaimed as the runes on their claymore lit with a white glow.
Odez slammed his staff on the ground as a pebble formed and quickly grew to the size of a cannonball as River charged with surprising swiftness.
The black cat’s eyes glowed with magic as the projectile collided with an invisible barrier and sent shards of stone scattering overhead.
River’s eyes burned with fury as they got nearly within striking distance of Selina, but with a lurch in their stomach, couldn’t feel their feet on solid ground.
“Edwin, Mori, get the cats!” River screamed.
“River, we can’t,” Edwin replied.
River looked back and discovered that their companions were similarly hovering off of the ground.
Selina pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed.
“Unfortunately, we’re going to need to confiscate your weapons and equipment and hold you here until we can figure out what to do with you,” she said as Carmen and Midnight began to separate the would-be delvers from their things.
River watched with growing panic as Odez, Morgana, then Edwin be disarmed of the equipment that the four of them had just checked.
“No! You can’t!” River shouted as their sword began to move away from them.
Redoubling their grip, River’s hands and arms burned as the telekinetic pressure increased.
Slowly, inch by inch the claymore began to slip.
Gates went up around three of them while River let out a yell of frustration before finally surrendering the claymore and similarly finding themself trapped in a cage.
“Well that didn’t go as planned,” Edwin said, relieved that no one had been hurt.
“Shut up Edwin,” River said without a hint of their usual energy before burying their face into their knees.