012 - KNIGHT TAKES PAWN. CHECK?

“We keep moving,” Buck said.

They had finished their careful search of the seventh floor, at Karina’s insistence, with very little to show for all of the work. There were no treasure chests, no major loot drops, and no more higher level enemies or mid-bosses. Even for opportunities to earn XP the floor was largely clear with a few minor exceptions.

Karina justified the search when they came upon the body of an adventurer, a woman wearing battered up leathers and probably from the party they had parted ways with at the entrance to the floor.

“Knew they had to be lying,” Karina said, immediately setting to searching the woman. But other than some empty potion vials and a couple of throwing knives - her armor was largely useless though Conrad likely could have salvaged some part of it - whatever she had been carrying had either been looted, lost, or was trapped in her inventory. And opening that took specialized magic that none of them possessed.

“Keep the body?” Buck suggested, “Maybe somebody up in the city can crack her open for us.”

Joy laughed stupidly, saying, “Sure Buck, sure.” he moved to pick up the woman and place her into his inventory.

“No,” Karina said, “She might have something on her that ties her to that other group, or somebody might know her. If they left her then whatever she’s got isn’t worth the hassle.”

Hearing this, Conrad was struck once again with the callousness of these people. The need to hang on to the grudge against his mother for trading better, the slavery contract they had tricked him into signing, the petty refusal to arm and armor him in preparation for what was to come… He could almost forgive those things, almost, but then they had ordered him to sit and watch good people lose their lives over the chance to loot their corpses.

And now, the sheer laziness of the whole situation. There was plenty of space in most inventories for a body, and it was normal for adventurers to retrieve the fallen. Somebody cared about this woman, somebody wanted to know what happened, and Karina didn’t even want Joy to take up some of his carrying space to give them that relief.

It was time once again to push the bounds of the contract. Conrad brushed past Joy and knelt down next to the woman. Non-living Items and objects, and Conrad hoped people, could be placed into an inventory provided the owner of the inventory could lift them. He carefully gathered the dead woman into his arms and stood, a moment of concentration later she vanished into his inventory.

He checked his status screen and saw that, mercifully, her appearance in his interface was of a body wrapped in cloth, sparing him the need to see her face whenever he checked his progression or stored an item.

The Seekers were all staring at him as he turned back to them.

He shrugged, “It’s the right thing to do.”

“Suit yourself,” Karina said. There was something to how she said it. Her indifference to his action was unsettling. Not even a threat that any profit coming from “cracking” the woman’s inventory would belong to her?

“What now, Buck?” Joy said.

“Guess we head back up,” Buck said, “Cleared six and seven, so tomorrow it’s eight and nine.”

“No.” Karina said, still staring at Conrad.

“Nothing down here, Karina,” Buck said, “We’ve been at it all day. Need a rest.”

“No,” Karina said again, “We keep going. Camp down here if we have to.”

Buck looked as though he was about to argue but Karina gave him a sharp look. He liked to think he was in charge, Conrad thought, but it was Karina holding the reins.

Always had been.

Buck shrugged, “Wouldn’t be the first time we’ve camped in a dungeon,” he said, putting on a show of indifference.

They had already found the staircase to the next floor and so as a group they headed back and descended deeper. The floor text faded into existence and Conrad felt that he was becoming an old hand at this dungeon diving thing.

The Warren Dungeon - Floor Eight

Coming out of the staircase Conrad was once again awed at the scale and sheer variety of the dungeon. The Warren Dungeon saw a lot of traffic, and with a city situated right on top of it, had grown enormously in the last couple of decades. Dungeons, much like adventurers, earned XP and leveled up in their own way, adjusting themselves, creating new treasure, new enemies, greater challenges, all in a self replicating hope of unending growth.

And the Warren had not limited itself in variety whatsoever. Conrad began to feel as though he was traveling through time as this dense, lush world that greeted him bordered on choking with vegetation. Where the later floors he knew had relics of civilization, it was as if that civilization had not yet begun down here.

They entered the jungle following the most apparent path. Conrad pulled his sheaf of maps from his inventory and, after a few seconds of staring at them and shuffling papers, he shrugged at Karina and vanished the whole set of them back into his inventory.

They continued onward, all around them the noise of animals and monsters alike filling the air so much so that it could honestly be called loud. The band often had to repeat themselves as they talked, calling back and forth as often as talking.

And when they finally stopped to make camp near a stream that was far too deep and fast for its size, it was the noise of it all that stopped them from seeing the trap they had fallen into.

At the center of the clearing, Joy sat dumbly poking at the fire, and at the edge on a log Karina and Buck sat keeping watch. Conrad lay next to the river. He had no real concept for camp discipline or what keeping watch looked like so when the two said they would take the first watch he took them at their word.

“What’s the plan if we actually find this ‘King’ down here, Joy?” Conrad asked.

“Plan?” Joy said, still poking.

“Right. He’s got to be tough, right?” Conrad prodded, “Plenty of others have found him and not walked away. So we need a way we’re going to take him down.”

Joy looked serious a moment, and Buck turned his head to watch the exchange. Joy nodded seriously and pointed out into the surrounding forest, “Same as always. Find the monster, kill the monster, get the treasure.”

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Conrad stared blankly, “That’s not a plan.”

Buck and Karina both laughed at him, “You heard the man,” Buck said, “Kill the monster, take the treasure. Good a plan as any.”

Conrad leaned back again. There really was no getting to this group.

He didn’t have long to relax.

“Ow!” Joy slapped a hand to his neck and grimaced again when it came away bloody, “Bugs down here are biting!”

The air was suddenly full of the ziff sounds of the bugs. One hit Conrad on one of his few remaining chest plates and pinged off to the ground. A jagged metal stone, not a bug.

“It’s an ambush!” he shouted, manifesting his club and dagger from his inventory.

Buck and Karina were on their feet then too, Joy followed suit, shield and ax brandished at the surrounding woods.

Another jagged piece of metal buzzed past Conrad’s ear, Karina’s armor was pinging regularly and she had her broadsword up in a protective posture. Buck hunkered down behind Joy, hands glowing with charging magic. With a bellow he sent off a Fireball from each hand into the surrounding trees, and as they landed the ensuing flare up of the woods illuminated the ambush around them.

Out of the treeline charged a dozen lizardkin, a few Maulers among them, and all of them armed and armored in the best gear Conrad had yet seen them wear. He Assessed the closest:

Lizardkin

Type: Lesser - Royal Guard

Level: 10

HP: 55/55

Description: Lesser Lizardkin are of a lower class, but lizardkin societies can be as complex and varied as those of humans. And similar to humans, status and ability can often be inferred from dress and equipment. Royal Guard Lizardkin wear chitin plate armor, carry bone weapons that are near the quality of steel, and often have combat skills to augment their fighting ability. Be cautious, as with humans, skills and equipment are force multipliers.

Karina seemed not to care, and Conrad doubted she had bothered to Assess any of the charging monsters anyway. She charged in, sword now glowing with a reddish power that blasted apart the first Mauler she came into contact with. The energy dissipated and she took to swinging at the others as they swarmed. As often as her weapon found flesh or cleaved off a limb, it was rebuffed by the chitinous armor.

“Get in the fight!” she bellowed, still swinging. Joy leapt forward to join her, calling out a magical warcry that seemed to force the lizards to cower as he rushed into the slaughter.

“Joy!” Buck called, looking lost. He could be a serious damage dealer, but Conrad always knew he was a glass cannon who really only survived by virtue of his brother taking all the damage.

Magic users were fairly uncommon among adventurers - mana was hard to come by, and levels up of skills and classes only occasionally increased a magic user’s capacity. Adventurers got around this with the use of magical gemstones that boosted their mana supply, but even those had their limitations, not least of which being cost and rarity. But the greatest mistake by far that a magic focused class could make was to focus solely on skills that required a good deal of charge up time - and this left Buck vulnerable.

“Really hate that I need this guy alive if I’m getting out of this,” Conrad muttered to himself as he charged in, bowling over a lizardkin that was swiping at Buck. He straddled the downed creature and lifted its armor away from it’s chest, only momentarily, and plunged his dagger through its heart.

“More coming!” Buck said, and Conrad was up and ready. He invoked his favorite, and for now, most effective combo. Tireless and Adrenaline Rush. The enemy slowed as if running under water, and Conrad, speed enhanced well beyond his normal capacity and completely unhindered by fatigue, was among them with cuts of his dagger and bashes from his club.

He’d been here before. This type of fighting was becoming familiar. So Conrad paid closer attention not just to swinging and stabbing, but how he was doing it. The dagger’s sharpness meant he could use less force and still cause maximum damage - it wasn’t supposed to lop off arms or heads and so he reduced the arc on his swings.

The club, low on damage potential though it may be, was actually the ideal weapon for handling the chitin armor of the lizardkin. These Royal Guard types were well trained, and actually tried to take hits on their broad chest plates ,but against blunted weapons, the armor cracked and broke. More often than not a strike that would turn his bladed weapon would become a stunning or crippling blow when delivered to the same spot with his club.

And then, as the world returned to normal speed, it hit him.

Royal Guard?!

The glow of fire magic grew in intensity behind him and Conrad wasn’t sure Buck would have the grace Mara had to call out in warning before she unleashed her magical attack. Backpedalling and fending off stray blows he called out, “They’re Royal Guards!”

Buck held out both hands like he was pushing against something heavy and Conrad threw himself to the ground just as a gout of flame erupted out of the Pyromancer’s outstretched hands. Conrad gritted his teeth against the pain of the flames licking at his back as Buck sprayed the crowd of encroaching monsters who howled and squealed in pain as he burned them.

“They die the same as the others!” Buck said, clearly not catching Conrad’s meaning.

“Buck!” Joy called as he cut the head from a Mauler that had just shoulder bashed Karina into the ground, “There’s a lot of them, Buck!”

“ROYAL!” Conrad called again, moving to help Karina stand. She brushed him away and rejoined the fight, cutting down lizards as she spoke, “WHO!” Slice “CARES!” Chop.

“THE KING!” Conrad called.

All three of the Seekers understood then, and with the brief reprieve they had gained from Buck’s Flamethrower attack, they pulled back into a group. Around them the screeching of the lizardkin took on a rhythm and the beasts began to stomp and pound their shields.

Shields? Conrad cast Identify on several of the shields laying on the ground and picked the one with the highest stats:

Chitin Round Shield

Rarity: Uncommon

Description: Very little crafting was required to make this shield from a dungeon calyptraea, the natural roundness and pointed center grow naturally on the creatures. This one was taken from an impressive specimen, and has leather strapping and additional padding for reducing shock from absorbed hits.

Damage Potential: Shieldbash Ability Required

Defense Potential: ☆ ☆

Merchant Class Bonus:

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They could use a more balanced formation, so he opted to send his dagger into his inventory in favor of the chiton shield and club combo. If he had a little more time he could probably fit into some of this chitin armor - he was covered in small wounds, some much worse than others and in addition to a slow bleeding status he was also burned from Buck’s over aggressive magical attack.

The monsters emerged again, marching slowly, shields locked in a line.

And just behind the first row, standing head and shoulders above even the Maulers was a lizardkin the likes of which they had never encountered.

The King had arrived.