After receiving the One-eyed Wand from her sister, Ilaria teleported with Amy to the Troll Caverns, eager to try the rare wand's capabilities next to Diana and Kyle. A part of her wished Mina had come with them, but it was too much too soon for her. Anyway, she did take fairly well the fact that she was playing as Ilaria. Although, if she knew the motive, she might have thought different; the mage hoped she would never need to test that.
“Oh, shiny new weapon,” said Diana, as Ilaria took out the wand. The catgirl had recognized it at a glance.
“Yeah, my sister just gave it to me,” said Ilaria, refraining from taking out the shield. Since the rebound only worked on objects not in contact with players, she needed to throw it for it to be of any use, and she didn't think she was able yet. Regardless, in the caverns she could use the walls, roof, even floor at her leisure. The possibilities were huge.
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Going through the first floor of the Troll Caverns, Ilaria slowly got used to the new dynamics brought by the new wand. For instance, she didn't need to time her shots taking Kyle into account. In the small cavern openings, she used the roof and walls to her advantage, so that she always had a clean line of fire.
It was a bit anticlimactic. With the addition of a Rogue class Diana and the new wand, the trolls didn't give them any challenge. Even in the last big opening–where the roof was high enough for being of no use–leaning towards one wall was enough to make it trivial. The mage missed the interaction with her tank, how they had needed to synchronize with each other. We need a greater challenge.
“That was it for the first floor,” said Diana, storing her daggers. “And I need to log out for a bit.”
Ilaria couldn't help feeling disappointed. It felt like they had just started with their run. Amy, already out of Stealth mode, walked towards them from the behind the bonfire.
“Don't look at me like that,” said Diana, smiling. “I'll be back soon and we can try the second floor; there are otterflies.”
“Okay.” Ilaria smiled, thinking about otterflies on fire falling from the air.
“Do your DD and you won't even feel the wait,” said Diana, turning around to face their other companions. “See you soon.”
The catgirl dissipated in a flash of light, leaving Ilaria with Amy and Kyle, both of them talking as they approached the mage.
“Diana is amazing; I feel so inadequate,” said Amy, with a self-deprecating smile.
“No, you are good,” said Kyle. “My sister has played this game to the point of obsession; the comparison is unfair. Not that I have done a DD with her anyway.”
Ilaria realized it had been the first time Amy had seen the catgirl in action. Both being rogues, the elf could probably realize Diana's proficiency at a glance. Anyway, now that they were back, the mage was itching to try the wand in the date dungeon.
“Should we do our daily DD while we wait?” asked Ilaria, when she judged Kyle close enough to hear her.
The warrior got startled, looking sideways towards Amy.
“Go ahead, don't worry about me,” said Amy. “I don't really care about leveling anyway.”
Were Amy and Kyle dating? I guess they did a dungeon date yesterday, after I logged off.
The silence was uncomfortable. At this point the mage realized that, no matter how they did it, one person would be left waiting alone in the Troll Caverns.
“You two go first, I can go later,” said Ilaria, noticing that Kyle had frozen up.
“No, I insist,” said Amy, walking towards the mage.
“I won't steal your date.” The elf whispered to the mage's ear, tapping her on the shoulder in the process.
After what had been a couple of minutes of awkwardness, it was decided that Ilaria would date Kyle first. Soon they got back to their usual pre-DD battle prep, though the stinging sensation wouldn't completely relent.
“Should we try to set out a position closer to the wall?” asked Kyle, eying the mage's wand.
“Too close and we'll have an enemy just behind us at the start of the round,” said Ilaria. “Maybe we should do it as usual for this one.”
When she dated Johnny, they had been against the wall most of the time. But he was level 50 and could solo any foe that would come through the door at their backs. And the mage wasn't that confident in her prowess with the rare wand either. Watching her sister, it had been obvious that she still had much to learn.
Regardless, it was time to start the Dungeon Date.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
First wave: Eleven nightmaned direwolves
The direwolves hadn't been that challenging the first time, and with their practice and levels, they wouldn't stand a chance–the extra one not making much difference.
Ilaria chose a side and started fireballing the enemies, trying to clear her running lane as fast as possible. Kyle threw his spear once–not able to afford more–before setting himself back to back with the mage.
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Second wave: Ten skinshredder hawks
When the announcement played, the couple had already finished the direwolves with time to spare. Ilaria set herself in front of one door, not as close as Johnny had been–she wanted space to shoot twice before the hawk would dive at her–but close enough so Kyle could cover her after the deed was done.
“Fireball.” Ilaria had already nailed the timing between the monster's silhouette appearance and its complete materialization, shooting in the first possible moment.
The hawk squeaked and took flight towards her. Ilaria calmly shot it again, felling it in a burning bundle. Its partners on both sides took offense, coming quickly for the mage.
“I'll shoot one,” said Kyle, turning around. If the tank threw his spear, he would need to face the rest of the incoming hawks only with his shield for one dive, maybe two. He could resist, but it would be taxing on his hit points.
“Don't; let me try,” said Ilaria, doing a quick computation in her mind. It was just for reassuring herself; she had already calculated it while moping up the trolls before.
“Fireball.” Ilaria looked at the hawk on her left from the corner of her eye, shooting at an angle towards the curved wall in front of her. Without looking at the result, she turned slightly to her other side, shooting again to the wall, this time to her right.
As the mage heard the first squeak, she turned around, shooting the left hawk point-blank. For the second squeak, she did the same. The hawks fell one after the other in a heap of flame. The second shot had to be done directly, since she couldn't predict the injured hawk's reaction. Even with that, she could get rid of both foes before they could dive on her.
“Got them,” said Ilaria, showing a proud smile on her face.
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By the time Ilaria had killed the three closest hawks, the rest of the wave was already firmly set to attack Kyle. They settled into their normal grinding pattern, the tank pushing a hawk with a Shield bash before the mage finished it. As such, they easily got through before the nightmares materialized.
And then their progress stopped. The nightmares were just too powerful, Kyle not being able to tank them for too long before needing healing. And they took at least three fireballs before going down, Ilaria not having the mana to account for all of them.
They still did their best, having only a couple nightmares left when the otterflies appeared. Ilaria decided to ignore the later, burning the last of her mana reserves in finishing the horses. At least they could say they beat them at last.
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“How did it go?” asked a smiling Amy, as Ilaria and Kyle reappeared in the Troll Caverns.
Diana wasn't back yet.
“At least we beat the nightmares,” said Ilaria, painfully aware that Amy probably got further than that.
“It went well, I leveled,” said Kyle, as his eyes went through an invisible screen.
They stood around in silence for a few seconds. Ilaria took the time to check her status screen; she had gotten to level 24.
“Want to do a DD too?” Kyle raised his head, looking at the rogue, who was playing with her daggers.
“Won't Diana come back soon?” replied Amy, holding her daggers still.
“She should take at least ten more minutes.”
“Alright.”
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And that was how Ilaria found herself alone in the middle of a cavern. She shot a few Force bolts in several directions, noting the deflection angles. It was as Mina had said, the rock walls acted like a perfectly smooth surface.
Then, the mage sat down, pondering how to improve their performance in the Dungeon Date. That line of thought didn't last; the nightmares weren't a problem that the rare wand could solve.
How does Amy do it?
She tried to imagine the elf in place of Diana–a whirlwind of daggers attacking in a frenzy–but she couldn't. Amy–Amelia–didn't fit the image in her mind.
“Hey, did they leave you alone?”
Ilaria got startled, standing up as Diana walked towards her.
“Amy and Kyle are doing a DD.” The mage looked down, as if she was using her secondary display.
“Jealous?”
Ilaria froze for a second, feeling the warmth creeping up her face.
“Don't worry,” said Diana, laughing. “Kyle adores you; whenever he dated another girl, he wouldn't stop complaining afterwards.”
“It isn't like that,” said Ilaria, hoping against hope that her blush wasn't noticeable. “Dungeon Dates are just extra experience; I'm dating other people too.”
The mage belatedly realized that Diana was the one who didn't do DDs with anyone but her boyfriend. I'm such a mess.
“Are you participating in the Valentine's Tournament?” asked Diana, sitting down. The mage had wanted a change of topic desperately, but that one was tricky too.
“I don't know.” Ilaria answered reflexively, sitting next to the catgirl.
“I don't think Kyle will, unless it's with you,” said Diana, glancing sideways at the mage.
“He could find someone else easily enough, maybe even Amy,” said Ilaria, more forceful than she intended.
“Are you participating?” Ilaria quickly added.
“I can't; well, more like Dave can't,” said Diana, her lips curving upwards. “I shouldn't say it, but he's a beta tester for VC.”
That explained all the secrets Kyle had been sharing with her.
“He must be a really good player,” said Ilaria.
“He's the best,” said Diana, smiling widely. “I'm biased, but I know it's true.”