Jordan did not know that a howl could sound spiny, but as the prickly hounds ran towards him, their howls felt like they were stabbing into his skin. The creatures before him were bright green dogs about the size of a small horse. Their spiny skin was broken up by occasional desert flowers, and their bright purple eyes were piercing. He steadied himself and took aim, barely noticing his Relaxed Hand Skill activate as he fired his first shot. He and Bryn had been working everyday with him as the main combatant, so the bow felt like it was an extension of his arm these days. As the arrow flew towards one of the dog’s eyes, it roared and released a swarm of needles from inside its mouth, throwing the arrow off course.
Jordan had already begun running, taking in the full scope of the room they were fighting in. Rangers were naturally gifted when it comes to perception, and Jordan felt the power of the Adventurers Boon supernaturally fueling his sight and awareness. As the wolves changed direction toward him, he went through the options.
“The first plan is kill them all with headshots, that’s out. Onto plan number 2” Jordan said as he searched the quiver on his back for the coldest arrow. As he found it, he jumped in the air, spinning 180 degrees and shooting the winter arrow in the middle of the pack. The ice shards from the enhanced arrow shot out, impaling one dog in the chest and stopping it dead, while the others continued their pursuit. Jordan frowned as he came back down and resumed his run around the room. Those things were 7 silver each, just getting one kill was abysmal. Fortunately the room itself was shaped like a circle, which made setting up for Bryn much easier. Jordan continued on his route, knowing taking out one more of these by himself would be easier in the long run.
He took out a small, metal cube from the bag on his hip. As began channeling his den, he hoped to tone it down a bit compared to his last time experimenting with the Doom Cube. Once he felt he got the correct amount in, he tossed the cube into the pack.
“Long, that’s long for sure” Jordan thought as the cube landed 10 feet behind the pack.
“He’s gonna be furious” Jordan said, dashing for the entrance to the room he had started at. The explosion could be heard from the other side of the room, but Jordan didn’t have time to look back. He could see Bryn standing behind a pillar shining his lamp, indicating the circle was finished. As Jordan crossed the entrance he could see the pack behind him, and he blasted den into the alchemy circle that had been drawn in the sand below him. As he landed in the stone hallway, he saw the circle glow bright purple. The dogs leaped through the entrance, and as they passed over the circle, they stopped in midair.
Confused for a moment they began kicking their legs and biting the air. One attempted to shoot needles at Bryn, but they were stopped a few feet in front of its face. Jordan sat on the ground panting, exhausted from both the running and large amount of den he poured into that circle.
“Sub me out coach, I’m spent” Jordan said, as Bryn grabbed his arm and helped him up.
“You’re out of shape. Your body still isn’t used to the armors speed and it’s tiring you out quicker. Just because you have an Adventurers Boon doesn’t mean you can skip cardio” Bryn said as wrote in his notebook.
“Don’t make fun of my fitness just because you’re jealous of my body. How much did this circle cost?” Jordan said as he looked at the cactus dogs continuing to struggle. This was the 4th different type of Convergence Circle Bryn had tried in the past 2 weeks, and Jordan hoped to get some consistency with the costs soon.
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Bryn finished writing and put the notebook back in his pack as he spoke. “1 gold for trapping up to 3 enemies is solid, but if they’re higher than level 3 it needs more den so this one will be reserved for taking out grunts, but not for a final boss I think. That pattern worked well, is the perception boost helping as much as you thought?” Bryn asked as Jordan took out the floating prisoners. The Cactus Dogs would be a new creature they could report to the guild, grabbing a small bonus as they did.
“Yeah I can take in a decent amount of information quickly, it’s more about processing it and communicating it in a timely manner that I’m concerned about” Jordan said as his arrow flew in the creatures eyes.
“No one would guess you’re smart on the battlefield based on the way you talk and act, but you’re insanely talented when it comes to battlefield tactics, you’ll get it down” Bryn said. Jordan smiled at the insult veiled as a compliment and finished the dogs for good.
The dungeon had not been open for long and this phase of exploration emphasized the importance of information. The smaller level creatures usually had hints or were related to features the final boss had, so the guild paid for reports on any new creatures or traps. As Bryn took samples from the dead Cactus Dogs, Jordan examined the room they had just fought in.
The round room was covered in sand with an intense heat much like the other rooms, but there were 6 different holes in the wall leading to stone pathways that were reported on the quest, each of them being 2000 feet long. Exploring each of these would take all day, and Jordan was already feeling tired from the first fight. “Bryn, can we spare a den potion. If I use Credit we should be able to find every creature.” Jordan said.
“Yeah if we’re taking tomorrow off we should be fine, grab them out of my pack” he said pointing his head to his bag. Considering his friend was wrist deep in a Cactus Dog mouth, he did not mind getting it himself. Rummaging through Bryns bag made it obvious to Jordan that he wasn’t kidding about needing a storage bag. They were expensive but held up to 1000 lbs, it would pay for itself quickly. Drinking the potion gave him a familiar warm feeling, and he could feel the magical energy being restored in real time.
After walking back to the center of the room, he knelt down and touched the sandy floor with the palm of his right hand. Activating the Nature’s Credit Skill, he felt the magical energy flowing through him as he attempted to truly feel his surroundings. The den in his palm shot into the floor, and green roots grew out from underneath Jordan’s feet. As they spread further, they began to snake down the passageways, and he could feel all the life force in the area at once.
Nature’s Credit was a skill Jordan had acquired at level 3, and it allows him to borrow upon the power of nature to gain insight into his environment within 1500 feet, easily enough to cover the whole section they were assigned. The environment itself became mapped out in Jordan’s mind, and the aura of each living being in the area became known to him. The cost came at his skills being disabled for 1 hour, another downside that made the Ranger class appear weak to other adventurers.
“What are we looking at?” Bryn asked walking over from the dog corpses.
“There are 9 confirmed creatures, none of them had an especially powerful aura so we can probably take them out with lures and traps if we want to go right away” Jordan said, looking through his pack for more Doom Cubes. He felt something hit his head, and looked down to see a paper bag with his name on it. He instantly realized how hungry he was upon seeing the lunch he had packed.
“You already wasted enough money with that first cube today. Let’s take a break while you get your skills back and then finish” Bryn said, opening a container that appeared to have rice and some mixture of vegetables. Jordan pulled his apple out and took a bite, enjoying the sweet flavor more than he thought he would.
“Why don’t you ever pack yourself anything different?” Bryn asked. “Every quest we go on is apple and turkey sandwich, how are you not bored of that yet?” He asked as he popped a piece of broccoli into his beak. The chopstick usage he displayed was impressive considering the size of his talons.
“When I make them I can taste the love in them. It makes it taste more delicious than any rice bowl ever could” he said, taking a bite of the love sandwich.
“Don’t people usually say that about their spouse making the food, not themselves?” Bryn asked as he studied his notes while continuing to eat.
“I think they do but I don’t think there’s anything wrong with loving yourself. Plus my other favorite food are chicken nuggets and it feels like it’d be offensive to eat those in front of you” Jordan said.
Bryn sighed deeply as he put down his bowl and folded his hands. “I’m not a chicken Jordan, how many times do we have to have this conversation?” He asked trying to keep his composure.
As Jordan continued eating and antagonizing Bryn, he made an effort to keep track of a new presence his Natures Credit had just picked up on. It came through the main entrance of this level of the dungeon so it couldn’t be a monster they were assigned to kill.
But whatever this presence was, violence dripped from its aura.