When the ship landed on the arid surface of the dungeon planet, the seekers stepped out, their boots crunching against the patches of dusty ground as they approached the daunting entrance of the dead hive city. The entrance was cleared, unlike before, and illuminated by electric-charged light lumps that flickered ominously, casting strange shadows against the fragmented walls. A handful of archaeologists busied themselves nearby, poring over ancient inscriptions of a civilization long gone, and others listened to an older man giving them directions on whether to go in the deep.
"Why are they taking the time to clear this? Shouldn’t we move to another place? We have a whole planet to explore!" Travone asked, glancing back at the bustling team of researchers.
"Yes, we do, but the UNE and the guilds want a foothold on the planet," Rai replied, his eyes scanning the horizon where the city's vast skeletal structures loomed into a dead and decrepade landscape.
Just then, amidst the crowd, a young woman and an older man broke off from the throng and approached them. The thick, patterned garbs, layered to withstand the harsh climate, swaying slightly with their every move.
"Are you two going deeper into the city?" the woman asked, her voice heavy beneath the breathing mask she wore.
Travone and Rai paused their conversation and turned to the voice, and Rai spoke up, "How can we help you?"
"My name is Keon Mays, and this is Eva Ward; we've heard rumours from the seekers about a platform within the city, and we are willing to pay you some of the profits from the discovery," the elderly man said, his eyes aged faded glinting with a mix of greed. The girl next to him was giving off similar emotions and was young, probably his student.
Rai thought and turned to glance at Travone from the corner of his eye, I don’t need the money, but Travone could use it.
"What do you think, Travone."
"Sure, there's no harm in it," Travone replied, his tone casual yet calculated. As they spoke, Rai noticed Travone’s fingers absentmindedly tapping the small bag tied to his waist.
Rai took a moment to glance at the bag, but the thought quickly faded; after all, he was still evading his brother and the UNE-sponsored families who were fighting for power in the absence of the Delta ranks and Beta ranks.
"So what direction are we headed," Rai asked.
The deeper they ventured into the dead hive city, the more their surroundings shifted from a distant murmur of academic scholars and half-druck adventuring seekers to the unsettling silence of the abandoned city only the distant echoes of their footsteps on the cracked stone floors.
-------
After several moments of silent exploration within the decaying expanse of the hive city, the wiry young archaeologist with messy hair and old-fashioned spectres perched on her forehead, Eva spoke up, breaking the tension."So, what are your Astra weapons?"
Rai halted mid-step, his frame tilting as he turned to face the voice, only to find a girl standing just inches away from him.
"You can't ask them that," the elderly man beside her interjected, tugging at the large sleeves of her tattered cloak.
Rai blinked once, twice, at the girl whose boldness struck him as unexpected; there was an innocent defiance in her gaze that reminded him of his younger sisters. "No, it’s fine," he managed to reply, forcing a small smile despite his initial surprise. "I’m a blade user, and he’s a shield user," he gestured towards Travone, with his broad-shoulders
The elderly man stroked his short beard in thought, "A good combination a shield and sword; no wonder you two make for a good team," he said, accentuating each word as though they were one of the man's many curiosities.
"And what are you two looking for this deep in the city?"Travone asked, exchanging a glance with Rai.
"Rumors have it there’s a platform with telltale signs of a door," he explained. "Can you guess what’s behind it?" he continued, and the two seekers shook their heads in unison, making the old man glance between their two faces. "I suspect there are full suits of Centurian armour. If we get them, the rich families will pay us a fortune. Imagine how much those fools are willing to part with," he mused, his aged voice slipping through the breathing mask in an unsettling yet fervent whisper.
A subtle twitch crossed Rai's face as he wrestled with memories of his grandfather and great-uncle, whose own suits of armour were displayed like trophies in glass cabinets, tantalizingly close yet forever out of reach.
The old man was certainly onto something; Centurian armour represented a significant leap in technological advancement for anybody on the surface worlds; they were valuable beyond belief, enhancing everything from the small technologies of comm links and implants to country-wide weapon platforms.
"Could you imagine spending the rest of your life living in the high towers on Mars or Earth?" the elderly man's eyes flashed, his excitement spilling over as he gestured with his arms, causing his cloak to billow around him.
His voice echoed through the vacant broken paths that carried unsettling and made both seekers instinctively take up their stances, looking around, ready for any surprises from the forsaken Alien city.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
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"Lower your voice, old man; you don’t want to attract something bad," Travone cautioned, his deep voice barely above a whisper as they moved further into the depths of the hive city.
The atmosphere grew heavier as they navigated the crumbling structures, their outlines dark and jagged against the faint light from their devices and the heavy breathing coming from the masks the archaeologists wore.
"How far do we still have to go?" Rai asked, his brow furrowed in concentration, scanning the architecture around them.
"It should be just around the corner," Eva replied, her expression focused as she studied the glowing blue light of her tablet, illuminating the features of a young woman with freckles sprinkled across her nose and dark hair pulled back into a messy bun, and an adventurous glint in her hazel eyes.
"This way, a few more turns and we’ll be there." Travone turned to her and , with a hint of skeptism
"Has anyone been to this location before?" Travone asked, knitting his brows in concern.
"Someone must have," Rai replied, pointing at a faded painted arrow on the wall that led back to safety, left by seekers who had traversed these street corridors before.
The silence was often interrupted by growls from creatures now prowling the once-humanoid streets. They paused several times, watching nervously as packs of monsters passed them by; on one occasion, they had to hold still as a pack of iron-jawed hounds raced past, their metallic jaws clicking menacingly.
"Are they gone?" the old man asked, squinting into the dimness.
Rai looked at Travone; he nodded. "Yes, they're gone."
"Well, Eva, lead the way," the old man urged, a little too loudly for Rai’s liking. "Those things shouldn’t find us down here." Eva quickly glanced at her pad again, her eyes moving from one structure to another with urgency. "This way, we're close."
With a renewed determination that forced the man to shuffle even faster in his robes, they continued on, and it didn’t take long before they arrived at a well-pressed platform area with a door set into the ground.
"This is it!" the old man exclaimed, dropping to his knees to inspect the slab of alien design, his fingers trembling with excitement.
Rai and Travone surveyed their surroundings as the stone door lay before them—unmoving yet impossibly inviting. They turned their backs and watched their surroundings.
"Can you two help us?" the old man asked, brushing away dirt clinging to the edges of the door.
"I’ll keep watch," Travone siad,
"No, you help them. i will keep watch i have better perception." Rai interjected.
Seeing no reason to object, Travone stepped back into a ruined corner of the dig site, arms going to the bag hanging on the belt at his wiest where he hid a shimmering power-class gem meant to bury, allowing him to pretend its discovery was purely by chance.
The old man and the girl began to dig earnestly; the old man was using a small shovel to pick away dirt at the age of the door, and the girl was using one of the large foldable shovels to pick large chunks of dirt away.
The old archaeologist let his curiosity get the better of him, grabbing at the dirt around the door with his bare hands.
Eva joined him, her hands working quickly beside him. "What is it?" she asked, breathless with enthusiasm.
The old man grunted, pulling at a stubborn clump of earth. "It looks like an arm in Centurian armour! We’re going to be rich!" With enthusiasm, they pulled forward, and as excitement mingled with anticipation, they failed to notice the slight shift in the ground beneath them.
Suddenly, with a sharp crack, the ground gave way beneath their feet. Rai and Travone barely had time to register the tremor before the earth caved in, causing a loud, raucous noise that echoed throughout the vast emptiness of the dungeon city.
Travone struggled to maintain his footing over the collapsing floor, but the instability was too great. Rai was caught off guard and stumbled backwards, his heart racing as he fell into the abyss. The chaos accompanying his descent swallowed his surroundings in darkness.
---
The sound of the chaotic fall echoed through the ragged corridor paths, each note underscored by the strained breaths of the two seekers as they tightened their grips on their weapons, steeling themselves as they stood, their eyes searching the rubble they had fallen into.
"Run! You need to run!" Travone looked up at the two archaeologists, his voice laced with urgency, and he tensed, surveying the figure's approaching in the darkness creeping toward them.
"His right. Run! They are coming!"
"What? We can’t leave you here!" the old man protested, his eyes betraying a mix of fear and greed as he clutched the centurain arm closer to his chest.
"You have to run; we’ll attract them!" Travone insisted, desperation rising as he heard the growls drawing closer.
"Rai, they’re coming!" Travone turned back, glaring at the now visible trench hole they had fallen into, the echoes of the old man's earlier laughter now long gone, replaced by the deep, foreboding howling that resonated in the underground tunnels.
“You two won't survive,” the girl tried to say, but Rai waved her off, his words cutting through hers.
"You two hurry get out of here! We can’t protect you!" Travone waved them off, his expression fierce, eyes narrowed as he prepared for battle.
Holding the Centurian armour tight to his chest, the old man gave them a hesitant glance before rushing behind the girl, and the two ran, not looking behind.
"They are gone, Rai! What are we doing now?"
"We hold and kill everything that comes at us," Rai clenched his jaw, his voice steady, a stark contrast to the chaos around them.
"Okay, I will try and put a barrier in our blind spots," he added, energy beginning to swirl around his hands.
The deep howling grew closer, and the iron-jawed hounds—sleek, muscular creatures with gleaming metallic jaws and wild, unkempt fur—emerged from every direction, surrounding the pit they occupied, some materializing from the very deep tunnels they had fallen into. The hounds sniffed the air, their gleaming yellow eyes locking onto the archaeologists, and Travone's expression shifted from determination to alarm.
"Here, boy! Here we are!" he shouted, desperate to redirect their attention, and the hounds paused, turning their gaze down toward him with low growls rumbling from deep in their throats.
"What are you doing, Trav?" Rai snapped, a hint of panic creeping into his voice.
"We need to keep them from running after the girl and the old man!" Travone replied, his eyes darting to their fleeing companions as the creatures circled them, saliva dripping ominously onto the ground.
The largest of hounds was a deep black, and It moved closer through the trenches, not rushed by the frenzy of its brethren. Its eye settled onto them, and it paused at a distance and settled back on its haunches, a calculated gaze betraying a sense of intelligence as it observed them.
The smaller hounds, ravenous and reckless, danced around, testing for weaknesses with brief lunges.
"How are you holding up?" Travone asked, momentarily glancing at Rai, who stood beside him.
"Fine," Rai replied, his deep voice intense even in the face of impending danger.
"I think they are testing," Travone said, eyes focused on the closing creatures.
"Yes, we must stay calm; keep your binding skill for the alpha," Rai advised.
"Yeah, he seems too smart," Travone muttered, nodding in grim acknowledgement.
"That’s because that creature is—" Rai began, but before he could finish, the alpha growled, signalling the first hound to lurch forward, and Travone instinctively pushed it back, stumbling slightly as Rai slashed down at the creature.
The Astra blade cleaved through the air, leaving a deep gash in the hound’s underbelly, wounds spilling forth as it howled in agony. The fight quickly escalated as another hound lunged toward them, and Travone swung his black Centurian blade, narrowly clipping the metallic bone of the creature's nose and forcing it back.
Integration level up.