Dungeon Noble - Squire

It wasn’t fine.

Jake lay on his back, staring at the sky as his chest heaved and he desperately tried to catch his breath. Things had started out okay, but Felix had decided to test them, and that hadn’t gone well at all.

Jake had almost folded after the first few sprints that Felix worked into the run, especially when he realised that both of the older Classers were pacing him and Karl with seemingly little effort.

The true blow to his self-esteem came when they’d returned after finishing their fifth lap, and Felix had told them to rest while he set off with Ari at a much quicker pace for a few more.

“You doing okay, Karl?” Jake asked, making sure to take deep breaths and try to get his pounding heart under control.

“No,” Karl said with a groan. “I’m built for short sprints, not long distances, and definitely not both at the same time.”

Jake chuckled breathlessly, thankful that he hadn’t had Felix’s personal attention the way Karl had. Karl’s self-appointed tormentor had been on his back the whole way, making him do additional work beyond what Jake was asked to do.

“See, this is why I didn’t want to join you on your run,” Rhew said, coming into view as she walked over to where they lay. “You both look like you’ve been put through your paces, and we’ve yet to even start the Dungeon. Are you going to be able to manage?”

“I’ll be fine. Just give me a few minutes,” Jake said with far more confidence than he felt.

“Was it that bad?” Alan asked, joining them with a concerned expression. “Are you going to do it again?”

“Yes, and yes,” Jake said, his controlled breathing steadily bringing his racing pulse under control. This was the first time he’d ever purposefully exercised, and it had been horrid, but it also underlined how much work he needed to do.

Jake could sprint and scramble with the best of them, but that was about agility, not endurance. The route they’d taken around the Dungeon hadn’t been incredibly long, but it was still the furthest Jake had ever run or jogged without a break.

“What about you, Karl?” Alan asked, looking over to their red-faced companion.

“I don’t think I’ve got a choice,” Karl said bitterly. “Felix made it an order, not a request.”

“You could always say no. He’s not our instructor,” Rhew pointed out as she took a seat on the ground between them.

“Maybe, but he’s right. We’re not in the shape we need to be for the Dungeon, and this proved that. I thought I was training right with what I was doing, but if I can’t even take this much, maybe I need to change what I’m doing.” There was a level of resolve in Karl’s voice that made Jake look over in surprise. From yesterday, Jake had thought that Karl wasn’t interested at all.

“Well, just don’t go getting yourselves exhausted before we head in; I don’t want to be wasting our time in there,” Rhew said, getting to her feet and dusting herself off.

Ari rejoined them inside a short time later, fresh-faced and looking ready for more.

“So what now?” Jake asked as Ari took a seat.

“Well, once you two are up to it, we’re going delving,” Ari said, grinning as they all perked up at his words. “Don’t get too excited; you’re all still going to die down there.”

“Then what’s the point? How will we improve?” Jake asked, not particularly wanting to go in unless there was a chance of them making it through.

“Ah, well, that’s because I’m coming with you this time,” Ari said, raising a hand to stop them from asking questions. “We’ll go over the specifics once we’re in there, but in short, I won’t be helping you. I’m there to watch what you’re doing and make notes, but I’ll also keep hold of the Wyrdgeld for you and divvy it up afterwards so you can start earning some money.”

“Won’t the Dungeon attack you, though?” Alan asked, cocking his head to one side questioningly.

“Not until you’re all dead,” Ari said with a shrug and a grin. “I’ll identify as a temporary non-combatant to it, so the monsters will leave me alone, and before you ask, no, I don’t know why that works. Also, yes, you can abuse it if you want, but then the Dungeon will remember you, so I wouldn’t do that.”

“That doesn’t make any sense, though. Why would it do that?” Jake asked, but Ari simply shrugged and spread his hands. Jake sighed and ran a hand through his hair, wishing he understood more about how the Dungeons worked.

Allowing a temporary non-combatant status implied a level of intelligence to the Dungeon that surprised Jake. He’d always assumed they were just a creation of the System to house monsters. That could still be the case, though. It could be that the System recognised them as a non-combatant.

Jake’s Patron was called the Great Dungeon, which Jake had assumed was a god in charge of the Dungeons, more like a title than anything. If Dungeons were more than he’d thought, could it actually be one that had grown large enough to somehow ascend to godhood?

Ari had led the group into the inn and ordered them all some food, so Jake set aside his worries for the moment. It wasn’t like it made an immediate difference how aware the Dungeons were; his Patron would be problematic regardless.

-**-

After eating, they all made their way down to the Dungeon, stopping off at Ivaldi’s on the way to equip themselves with the free gear that came from his agreement with the Guild.

“Okay, first tip of the day! The doors are open, which means at least one path is free, so let’s get to it,” Ari called out as they exited the store, whistling merrily as he led the way through the enormous entrance.

“Don’t overthink it. Let’s go!” Ari called out as he carried on down to the door, only pausing once he was at the entrance to make sure the rest of them were still with him.

Jake was the first to pass him, stepping back into the dark confines of the Dungeon’s tunnels that were already far too familiar to him.

“Alright, next tip, prepare yourselves for the environment before you continue,” Ari said as the door to the Dungeon swung shut behind them with a resonating thud, and they were plunged into total darkness.

“Shit, I can’t see anything,” Rhew cursed from off to one side, her words followed by the clatter of something hitting the floor.

“This is why you should have lit the torches before coming inside,” Ari said in a mournful tone.

“We would have done it if you weren’t rushing us!” Rhew exclaimed angrily, making Jake shuffle away from her a little bit, just in case she mistook him for Ari.

“Life isn’t going to let you prepare properly. You need to adjust and adapt on the fly. That includes situations like this.”

“Got it,” Alan crowed, a shower of sparks erupting to Jake’s left as Alan lit one of his torches.

“Good, you’ve achieved basic visibility,” Ari said with a mocking grin. “Ready to go?”

“Yes,” Rhew snapped, lighting her own torch from Alan’s while glaring at Ari.

“Excellent,” Ari said before clearing his throat and continuing in a more serious tone. “Dungeon, my name is Ari Derth. I am here as a non-combatant to watch and train these four. Once they fall, I will continue on as a full combatant.”

“Does that really work, or is this all an elaborate joke?” Karl asked, eyeing Ari suspiciously.

“You’ll see soon enough. Now, over to you. I’m just here to watch,” Ari said, the poor lighting unable to disguise how much he was enjoying Karl’s suspicion.

“Right, come on, let’s get going,” Jake said, waving for them all to gather up and ignore Ari. “Should we change how we move or stick to what we had before?”

“Stick to the same,” Karl said, motioning to the shields that he and Jake carried. “We have the best protection; it makes sense for us to be at the front.”

“I suppose so, yeah,” Jake said, looking to Rhew or Alan for any other ideas they might have. Neither said anything, so Jake gestured for Karl to take the right-hand side of the tunnel as before.

With previous experience of what they were doing, the four of them were confident as they moved into the tunnels, a confidence that only grew as they caught several hidden rats before they could strike.

Their pace picked up as Rhew was better able to pick off the rats with her magic. Clumped bursts of icicles were intermixed with blasts from her wand to slow the rats down enough to be an easy target.

The biggest issue came when one of the ambushes was right before the final room, in a spot that had previously been fine.

“Top Dungeon tip number three, while the general layout remains the same, things can and will change between delves. Complacency is lethal,” Ari called out, making Jake jump. He’d forgotten that their instructor was trailing along behind them.

With that reminder in mind, they carefully advanced into the final area of the floor and engaged the rats that were waiting in ambush.

Unsurprisingly, the fight was shorter and much smoother than last time, and before they knew it, the final rat was dead, and they were stood before the door to the second floor.

“So,” Ari asked, walking forward to stand between them and the door. “How do you think that went?”