The Deep Dungeon (Part 1)

The three professional adventurers went over their equipment just outside the entrance to the dungeon. Each of them helped the others to be sure everything was strapped tight, weapons were ready, and Idris guessed based on the shoulder slapping and armored headbutting - spirits were high.

Idris stood by, unsure how to help or participate and equally aware that he didn’t have any extra equipment to put on. Now that the Seekers knew about the dungeon he didn’t bother to hide his bracers, which he had already strapped on. The Ring of Second Wind he kept in his inventory. He couldn’t use it anyway so there was no sense in advertising it.

It was surprising how quickly Jibs and Troy were to take Karno at his word that they should grab their gear and be ready to move out. He didn’t even explain and the men just stood up from the card game they had been playing together and went to do as he had asked.

Idris wondered at first if Karno had special status in the group but, when he asked, the man explained that this is just how it was for the Seekers.

“Our trust runs deep. But also,” he added, “We’ve been bored waiting for Conrad.”

At Karno’s suggestion, they headed out as if going to the Hive Dungeon, but once out of sight of the town or any passersby on the road, they had Idris guide them to the Shimmering Rocks.

They had started gearing up once they saw that Idris had, in fact, not misled them at all. This was a serious find and they were taking it seriously.

Troy approached Idris once his own gear was secure and, out of his own inventory, manifested a set of equipment that he helped Idris to put on.

“Those are good bracers, but you’re an absolute mad lad for going in there without more proper protection,” he said.

“Having Eana has been a bit of an advantage I guess,” Idris said, pulling on the iron mail shirt he was offered.

Troy grunted his agreement and helped him to secure the chinstrap of an iron skullcap, then handed him a pair of hard leather greaves and knee pads that he could strap on over his pants.

“These shouldn’t obstruct your movement too much, but’ll give a bit more protection than what you’ve got,” Troy said.

Idris nodded and began strapping them on. Troy moved off to let him finish and, after doing some test movement to make sure it was all situated correctly, Idris moved to join him.

“Right, we’ve been working together as a team for over a year now. We know each other’s strengths and weaknesses back to front,” Troy said, “Without Conrad our strategy will change a bit, but here’s the thing. We don’t know what we’ll find in there outside of what you’ve told us - and that’s understandably limited. So the plan is you let us do our thing and hang back.”

Idris looked surprised, “Hang back? Why?”

“Because,” Jibs said, “You don’t know how to fight as part of our team. You’ll get in the way of how we work. So you stay out of the way.”

“Defend yourself,” Karno said, “Call out if you see something. No hero stuff.”

The three men nodded with each other in agreement then stared at Idris. Realizing compliance was what was expected, he nodded back with a quick, “If it means we’ll get my sister back, alright then.”

A notification popped up:

Enter Party”Shimmering Dungeon 1”?

Karno of the party “Shimmering Dungeon 1” has invited you to join. The party comes with the following features:

XP Sharing: Party Leaders

Loot Sharing: Party Leaders

Status Sharing: Trusted

Agree to these terms and join the party?

Yes / No

Idris selected “Yes” figuring he wouldn’t get to vote on the party terms anyway, but asked, “What does all this mean?”

Troy answered, “Leader is a role in the party, usually Conrad, but in this case all three of us,” he gestured at the other two men and himself, “are leaders. You’re a guest, pending good behavior in the dungeon.”

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

Karno chuckled, “You’re on probation, Light Bringer.”

“So I won’t get any XP?” Idris asked.

“Well you’re supposed to be sitting back and watching us do the work, keeping yourself safe but staying out of the way - how much XP did you expect to earn doing that?”

Idris thought a moment and realized he had had no intention of hanging back at all, but with the disincentive of all the XP for his kills going to the other three men anyway, that made things a little different.

Noticing his expression, Karno said, “Uh huh. Gotta crawl before you walk in this group. One more thing. The map. Go ahead and share that with the party.”

A piece of Idris was annoyed he was giving up so much, but these men literally dropped their entire day to come out here and explore this dungeon, and even if it galled him that that seemed like their first priority he still needed them if he was going to save his sister. So he quashed it as petulant and hit the share to party icon in his map interface.

The men all took in the notification at once before Troy spoke up, “All right, let’s continue down the path Idris started. Looks like there’s at least one mid-boss. Without Conrad we won’t be able to fill the compendium, so let’s keep sharp and pay attention.”

The others nodded and all moved forward into the dungeon. Idris followed.

He felt like the expert, like he had so much to offer and contribute to the situation but he just kept his mouth shut as the men went through the motions of carefully exploring the Main Hall - just as he had done. The main difference was in their formation.

They shooed him back so he was at least 10-15 meters behind them at all times, but they moved and worked like a single organism. Karno front and center, big shield in his left hand and spear at the ready. Troy off to the right and slightly behind Karno, shoring up his unshielded side, and Jibs trailing the two of them, occasionally changing sides to always have an angle to fire his bow above or around the two fighting men.

They moved into the next room. The gore and corpses of Idris’s previous time through had all been absorbed and it didn’t seem as if the dungeon had had time yet to respawn any of the monsters. But a cry off in the distance showed that wasn’t entirely true.

Out of the purplish gloom cast by the crystals in the walls of the cavern a troop of four of the cave imps came charging forward.

Instantly the adventurers sprang into action. Karno let out a yell and banged his spear against his shield. A wave of energy like a powerful gust of wind sweeping dust before it traveled out and impacted the running creatures. Idris didn’t see at first what this had done, but it became clear as Karno rushed forward, then immediately broke off to his left where he had a large outcropping of stone at his back.

The imps followed him, goaded by his shield taunt, and charged forward - and leaving their flank and rear entirely exposed.

Karno skewered the leader, activating a skill that caused his shield to glow briefly before he shoved forward, knocking the other three backward and off balance. An arrow sprouted from the eye of one of the creatures, dropping it like it had had the life snatched straight out of it.

Jibs knocked another arrow and took aim, but held off as Troy appeared behind the leftover, confused creatures.

With a quick thrust and sweep combination he handled the remaining two imps, but even before their corpses hit the ground, Karno was back in position protecting Troy’s back while Jibs scanned for new targets.

It was poetry in motion. Idris stood, his desire to be useful totally overwhelmed by the awe of watching these men in action.

It made complete sense now. What would he have done in a formation like that? He could imagine himself in the middle of it, doing something to help but even in his imagination he watched himself just getting in the way as the men moved through what were clearly well established and drilled motions.

They took a few more minutes to clear the rest of the room - no more monsters had spawned. No reward either, not that Idris would have gotten to keep it.

The four of them gathered at the door to the next room - this would be the first they had taken on without any foreknowledge provided by the dungeon map or Idris himself.

Apprehension, anxiety and fear for his sister around the whole situation couldn’t help but be at odds with a growing sense of excitement. His dream was literally playing out right in front of him.

The Seekers were good - much too good for the level of challenge presented by this dungeon - but the challenges they faced were much less impressive than their actual team cohesion and discipline.

The next room was what they called a “trap room” with dangerous false starts, pits into spikes, falling rocks and the like. Jibs had a ranger skill that he used liberally to light up the traps before they became a danger to anybody and they triggered them without incident. Idris noted that his map actually marked the location of each trap and even, when he focused on the marks, denoted their type and approximate danger rating.

It was the same for the previous room. He could see now it had a list of monster types and counts of each. The map would be a valuable source of information on successive runs through, clearly.

“This one’s definitely a puzzle room,” Troy said, as they entered the next chamber. Before them was a gaping pit that spanned the length of the room. On their side were three crystals, each dark but with something hidden in the center. On the opposite side was the door, with three crystals, also dark, above it.

“Seen one like it before,” Troy continued, “We gotta light up all three of those lights on the other end, then a pathway will open up. Probably something to do with a mechanism or something on these crystals here, but look close”

They all moved together, staying in formation, to the closest of the three large crystals on their side.

“That’s an imp inside,” Idris said.

“Right,” Troy said, “If we activate these things correctly, the lights on the other side should light up and let us cross. If we don’t, then these things will come out and attack.”

He motioned for the other two to be ready and for Idris to back away. Then he put his hand on the crystal. It glowed, and so did one of the crystals on the other side.

They moved to the next of the three, but upon touching it, a new light lit up but also put out the original light. A moment later a screaming imp came out of the now somehow open first crystal. Jib’s dropped it with an arrow.

After a couple of minutes experimenting and finishing off the other two trapped imps, they solved the puzzle and a bridge of crystal grew in to give them a way across the chasm and deeper into the dungeon.