With Will finally healed, the group got ready to continue. The castle had been looming over them the entire time they rested, and they were ready to see this through. They approached the castle doors which were predictably locked. This time no convenient arrow slits allowed Amalise to manipulate the locking mechanism. It left them in a little bit of a predicament.
“Dungeons don’t work like this.” Emerys said. “If there was no way to the end, the core would revoke the control of any intelligent monster, right?”
“Correct, which means that there is a way to get through this, even if it is overly obtuse.” Amalise replied. “We just have to find the way.”
“Look up there. Do you think that is the intended entrance?” Will asked, pointing at a single window that was open when all the rest were closed. It was about three stories up. Oddly enough, Will thought he saw a way to the window and desperately hoped he was wrong. The parkour path had his gamer senses tingling. The problem was that it was not the kind of thing humans did. There were flagpoles, odd arches, narrow ledges, the works. Will suspected that someone from one of those extreme athletics game shows might be able to do something like this if the obstacles were a little closer. As it was, to get from flagpole to oddly placed flagpole you would have to make jumps between three to five body lengths. The increased strength someone could get in this world could allow them to get through this course, but only with the strength and experience.
“I am sure that is the entrance.” Emerys said flatly. “What's more, I am sure the dungeon master placed the obstacles as far apart as the dungeon core would let him.”
“I would guess that this was targeted toward a rogue at the peak of tier one.” Amalise said. “They would be able to get through that. But would then be faced off a big, tough, hard to damage creature in the room that window leads to. In the event the rogue did get to the main door to unlock it, he would be so battered and bruised he would be useless.”
Will could only wince in agreement. He could remember playing some of the more brutal games that would have a challenge designed to defeat one player build that you could breeze through just to follow it with a challenge made to counter you. Even if you won you would be left without resources for the following fights. It made him think of the last fight. The weapon they needed, the sunlight, was readily at hand captured within the orbs. But nobody would be able to make use of it to get close unless they brought along an enchanter. Sure it was a dungeon boss, but not one meant to be beaten.
“Hell no.” Will said. “Not doing that.” he approached the gate and examined it more closely. The doors had warped due to age, which caused a crack between them. Through the crack he could see a single massive wooden beam.
“Amalise! Can’t you move the beam out of the way?” Will asked.
“No. They have some sort of mechanism locking it in place.” Amalise said. “It is also warded against any magic I can produce. Maybe a saw could fit through, but it would have to be a big one.”
Will simply nodded at this. It was as he expected. Enchanting was a good counter to magecraft. Will grinned as he extended his aura toward the beam.
“What!” Amalise scurried forward and stared at Will’s extended aura. “How did you learn that?”
Will just shrugged.
“Seemed like a good idea, so I just did it.” That received a blank glare from Amalise.
“Hero indeed.” And she turned around and walked off in a huff. Will just shrugged and turned back to the door. He extended his aura out until it enveloped a small cross section of the beam. He then started to layer enchantments over the beam. He had been able to deduce a little about enchantments since the fiasco in the crypt. First being that an item’s spirit is very thin. An enchantment on an item had to be carefully applied to make the most of the item’s limited spirit, and then anchored to physical runes. That was what caused the mace to be so weak normally when a few enchantments could make it hit like a meteor. Will also suspected that most people were unable to enchant the spirit directly like he could.
When Will provided some of his own spirit, in the form of his aura, he could add more enchantments in a far larger and haphazard manner. They weren’t permanent, and they still took time to apply, but they could be far stronger. He thought of using his blade of desolation on a sword he had temporarily enchanted. A shudder ran through his spine as he saw Lord Aalto disintegrate to dust in his mind’s eye.
Will dispelled the image and wrapped four weight enchantments around the beam. He had realized after speaking to Emerys that each successive one was multiplicative in its effect. He activated the enchantments, and the beam groaned. Will groaned as well. A pressure fell on his spirit, seeming to try to crush it. There was a small explosion as the beam snapped, the enchantments failed, and the weight disappeared. Will was left gasping on the ground. No debris had hit him this time, but it felt like his spirit was on fire.
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“What’s wrong?!” Amalise fell to her knees beside Will.
“Spirit. Hurts.” Will gasped out. Amalise swore under her breath, but looked relieved.
“I told you doing magic is dangerous without proper teaching. You just experienced spell strain.” Amalise said. “If you are talking, it is rather minor, since you are so inexperienced with it. You will be fine in a few minutes. What did you do anyway?”
“Layered weight enchantment.” Will gasped out. It was getting easier to breathe, and the pain was lessening fairly quickly. “Each enchantment enhanced the previous layer.”
“Of course. As the power is exponential with the layers of the enchantment, so is the strain. That could have easily ripped your spirit apart. Instant death. Bye bye William.” Amalise paused. “You should really…”
“I am not going to Aetherglow.” Will said and stood up. The door was open and he wasn’t going to allow some spirit strain to earn him a lecture. They approached the doors, and had to shove them hard to get enough room to pass through. But it was open, and they were able to bypass the trap that had undoubtedly been in wait. They were faced with a stone hall full of arches with a grand stair on the other side. In between the door and the stair was a sea of skeletons glowing red with the telltale light of revenants.
“Hold the door!” Emerys yelled. “Amalise! Do your worst!” The fighters lined up in the door opening three people wide and three deep, the ones behind pulling out spears with which to strike from behind the front line. Amalise threw out arcing fireballs that fell amongst the back ranks of the skeletons, destroying ten at a time. In the end, while the revenants were proficient fighters, they didn’t have the firepower to blow through a solid line while a mage hurled artillery spells at them. The group was dispatched after fifteen grueling minutes, and that was after Koma jumped over them to play amongst the back ranks. Will sighed when Koma brought him three more skeletons, and diligently stored them away for later.
The castle was equipped less as a large residence than as an administrative building. It had room to house over a hundred people, who would do their work here as well. The lord of the castle would live near the top in a sort of penthouse suite. That would likely be where the dungeon core was to be found. They cleared the great hall, kitchens, armory, as well as several administrative rooms before moving to the second floor. This was full of bedrooms. They were all covered in dust but aside from superficial weathering, they were all in perfect condition. They found small staircases down to the kitchen and servant areas, as well as gathering locations where the nobility or administrative staff could stay.
They found furniture, but gold and jewels were oddly absent. Seeing this, they finished clearing the undead and made their way up to the third floor. Except that there was an ornate door that bore a giant golden padlock. Strikes from Emerys’ mace failed to deal so much as a scratch. Will groaned at the obvious gimmick. Now that they approached the final chambers, they had to go find the golden key deep in the basement or high in a tower filled with enemies. Instead Will just placed his hand on the lock and broke the enchantment holding it together. A smash of his mace, and the lock fell to pieces.
Emerys grinned and pushed the door open. Revealing a well dressed revenant standing before them.
“How dare you enter…”
“Shove it, skull face.” Emerys yelled as he brought his mace down in a giant leap. The revenant barely deflected the attack with a burst of mana as it pulled its sword.
“IMPUDENT MONGRELS!” The revenant screamed as his sword blurred in wide arcs that forced the group back. A fireball appeared in the revenant’s hand and screamed toward the open door where the rest of the party was still coming through. Another fireball met it midair causing a small explosion as Emerys and Will pressed the attack. Will darted in to deliver a blow to the revenant’s skull, which the revenant dodged. It moved right into the path of Emerys’ attack, which it blocked with a shield of mana. Its sword darted toward Will, trying to skewer him in the leg but Will deflected his attack and jumped in with a blow which pulverized multiple ribs.
The revenant screamed in rage, but it was badly outnumbered by now.
“GUARDS!” Six fully armored revenants stepped out of other rooms, wardrobes, and curtains. Will was forced to leave the Revenant Lord to Emerys as he took on one of the guards himself. But he knew more than he did before. He layered his speed enchantment over his body twice, and the weight enchantment over his mace once. And then he struck in a downward blow. The revenant tried to block, but Will easily battered the sword aside and caved in the guard’s helmet. He could feel the same ectoplasmic slime as back in the courtyard, but it could only absorb so much. The guard went down in a clatter of armor.
Will jumped to the next guard which was pressing three of the followers quite hard.` a downward blow was enough to bring this one down too. This was enough, as the numbers quickly became imbalanced in their favor once again. They turned to the lord as the last guard fell, only for the lord to scream something unintelligible and burst into flames. Everyone backed away as the heat quickly grew intense. Will could see through the flames inside the revenant’s ribcage to the two crystal spheres suspended one above the other. One was large, the same as the crystals from the courtyard. The other was a monster core.
If that was removed…
Will rushed forward, his shield up as the revenant lord opened its arms to receive him. He layered durability over his body and equipment and shoved his hand into the revenant lord’s ribcage. He grabbed the core, and ripped it out as he threw the flaming revenant lord into another room. The flames died, and the skeleton fell to blackened pieces. Will was singed, but was left holding a brand new monster core.
The group cheered and collapsed into the expensive furniture littering the edges of the room.
“Where is the core?” Emerys asked tiredly. “We haven’t finished until we find the core.”
“Is it a large floating sapphire?” Will asked.
“Yeah.”
“Next room over.”
“Yay.” And they all flopped back in their seats.