Dungeon Noble - Squire

Jake woke with the dawn and made his way downstairs, moving by habit more than anything. It was only when he met up with Karl outside the building that his mind finally kicked in.

“Shit, Felix isn’t going to be there,” Jake sighed and ran a hand through his hair, realising he’d gotten up early for nothing.

“Damn it,” Karl groaned, shooting a longing look over his shoulder at his room before letting out a heavy sigh of his own and trudging forward. “Come on, might as well put the time to use.”

“Yeah, I suppose,” Jake said, reluctantly falling in next to Karl as they made their way around the tavern to the usual waiting spot.

It felt odd to be the only people at the starting spot. They’d gotten used to Felix’s presence, and his absence made it all feel slightly off.

Going through the usual set of stretches, the two of them set off on their normal route.

The run wasn’t up to their normal standards, but that didn’t really surprise Jake, and he wasn’t particularly bothered. He put enough effort in to leave him a sweaty mess by the end, so that would do for today.

There was a small well at the rear of the tavern that they used to rinse themselves and cool down, but the two wagons that sat next to it weren’t part of the usual decor.

The tavern had a small stables area with a water trough, but it had been empty since Jake and the others arrived. Now, however, it held four horses and the two wagons were parked next to it.

Jake shared a look with Karl at the sight of the wagons. “Any idea what these are about?”

“No idea, maybe a delivery or something?”

Heading into the tavern after they were done, Jake immediately noticed that there were a lot more people than usual present. In fact, the whole place had a busy atmosphere to it that caught Jake by surprise.

“Jake!” Alan called out, drawing their attention to a small table off to one side where he and Rhew were sitting. “Over here.”

“What’s going on? Why are there so many people?” Jake asked as the three of them joined Alan and Rhew around the small table, which was only just large enough for all five of them.

“They all came in about half an hour ago; they said they’d been travelling to a town north of where we are but were diverted here by a bunch of Classers. To make it weirder, the few Classers that were tier two or higher went with the others, leaving the rest to come here.”

“Whatever’s going on, it’s getting more concerning with each new thing we learn,” Rhew said, eyeing the busy room warily.

“So, are these all tier one like us then?”

“Seems that way. Apparently, the town they’re heading to has a few Dungeons nearby, so it’s a good spot once you’ve got your feet under you. It doesn’t sound like we’ll get the same free ride we have here, though. I think this only lasts until we finish the Dungeon.”

“Well, it’s good to know there’s somewhere to head next, at least,” Karl said, getting back to his feet with a wince. “I’m going to order some food and see if they have any coffee left.”

“A damn good idea,” Jake said, getting up and joining him.

-**-

Over the course of their breakfast, Jake counted the number of new people in the tavern. It seemed to be around two dozen, with a few more that came and went, so maybe thirty or so in total.

It was quite the number, and they were comprised of a range of Classers, some more obvious than others.

In keeping with Jake’s experience so far, there was little in the way of armour on show amongst the newcomers. To Jake’s mind, that only made sense considering how often they died in the Dungeon; it was just more practical to save their money for other things.

Unsurprisingly, the opposite was true for weaponry, as it almost seemed that no two people had quite the same weapons. Jake wondered absently if that was Ivaldi’s doing or if some of these Classers had deliberately asked for a shorter or longer weapon.

For that matter, he could see that a good number of the Classers were part of the same guild as Jake, but there was a good number who weren’t, so did they still get their weapons from Ivaldi?

A woman near the front of the tavern was shouting something that Jake couldn’t hear over the general hubbub, but it looked like she was looking for someone.

“So, what are we doing today?” Karl asked, bringing Jake’s focus back to his companions as he pushed his empty plate away and took a sip of coffee.

“Not sure, I’d say training, but I think it’ll be good to relax as well,” Jake said, shrugging a little. They’d not had a day off since they arrived, so he wasn’t against a bit of relaxation.

“Works for me,” Karl said with a shrug as he finished his drink. “There’s a game going in the corner. Come get me if we’re going to do something as a group.”

“I’m going to go as well. There’s a group of casters over there swapping tips that might be useful,” Rhew said, giving them an absent wave as she went on her way.

Jake got a drink and kicked back for a few minutes, unsure what to do. The only thing that came to mind was how nice the surrounding area was and how he’d enjoyed the journey here.

Unfortunately, he never got the chance to enjoy it during the morning run, as they were too focused on keeping moving.

“You know, I’m going to go for a walk. Want to come with?” Jake looked over to Alan questioningly.

“Yeah, why not? Not got anything better to do,” Alan said with a shrug, getting up from the table and stretching. “Whereabouts did you have in mind?”

“North of town, I think. We saw some interesting stuff up there; it’ll be worth a closer look,” Jake said, hesitating a little before continuing. “We should arm ourselves, though. We won’t see many creatures close to the Dungeon, but we should be careful anyway.”

“A good point,” Alan said with a nod before heading over toward Karl and Rhew. “I’ll let them know we’re heading out. Meet you outside.”

Jake nodded and took a moment to finish his drink before heading outside. It was shaping up to be a reasonable day, all the better for spending some time exploring the area.

Once Alan joined him, the pair made their way over to Ivaldi’s and armed themselves, picking out their usual gear from what Ivaldi offered. It felt a little odd to be getting their weapons for something other than going into the Dungeon, but it was exciting at the same time.

There was a real chance they’d encounter a wild monster if they went beyond the outskirts of the small settlement. Even the runs with Felix stayed reasonably close to the Dungeon, so the more that Jake thought about it, the more excited he got.

Fighting in the Dungeon could only lead to one end as things currently stood, which brought a particularly fatalistic mindset with it, one that Jake was worried would be a problem in the future. Dying this many times and suffering no real consequences couldn’t be good for him mentally.

For now, he would do his best to stay alert and aware while making sure that he treated any potential fights like they were life-threatening.

Besides, they had the option to run away out here, not like in the Dungeon.

“Alright, I’m ready to go,” Alan said, hefting his strung bow and flashing Jake an excited grin. “Which way?”

“This way,” Jake said, heading toward the start of the running route. If they were heading out, they might as well start with an area that he was at least a little familiar with.

“You know, I’ve been thinking about these runs that you and Karl go on,” Alan said as they left the town behind them.

“Yeah, thinking of joining?” Jake asked jokingly, his smile fading as he saw the expression on Alan’s face.

“I am, yeah. I think I need to be more physically fit, you see,” Alan said before sighing heavily. “I don’t want to, don’t get me wrong, but I have a feeling that things are only going to get more physically intensive with the Dungeon. Especially when we move to a higher tier.”

“Yeah, I know what you mean,” Jake said, nodding along as he eyed the surrounding undergrowth, enjoying the greenery on show. “It’ll be a lot of walking and running, if nothing else.”

“Exactly, which is why I….” Alan paused and cocked his head to one side. “What’s that?”

“What’s what?” Jake followed Alan’s gaze to a slightly crushed bush off to one side of the path. “The bush?”

“No, this,” Alan walked over and pointed down at the ground on the other side of the bush. “These look like drag marks.”

Jake walked over to look, and sure enough, there were what looked like drag marks on the ground on the other side of the bush. “Weird, what caused these?”

“Well, I’m no tracker, but these look like footprints to me,” Alan said, gesturing at some impressions in the ground around the marks. Grey Wyrd flashed in Alan’s eyes for a few moments as he looked over the scene. “I think someone was knocked out and dragged off; these marks don’t look right for it being an animal.”

“Shit,” Jake glanced around them, a chill running down his spine as he considered the situation.

“Should we follow them?” Alan asked hesitantly, looking to Jake for guidance on what to do. “I can track this easily enough, I think. It’s not exactly hidden, after all.”

Jake grimaced as he tried to convince himself it wasn’t his problem and that they should leave well enough alone, but he couldn’t do it. “Fuck it, let’s track them down and see what’s going on. Do it carefully and quietly, though. We don’t know what’s going on.”

“Got it,” Alan said, drawing an arrow and nocking it before setting off by the side of the tracks.

Jake muttered a few select curses as he drew his sword and did his best to move quietly through the undergrowth as he followed after Alan.

This section of the running route bordered an area of light woodland. The trees weren’t especially big, but there were plenty of them, making it a great area to hide things.

The drag marks continued for a reasonable distance off the path, and though Jake occasionally lost track of them as they passed through areas that were rocky or were otherwise harder to track through, Alan was able to keep track.

“Wait, I see something,” Alan hissed, crouching down low and motioning for Jake to come up alongside him.

“What do you see?” Jake asked, carefully inching up next to Alan. Grey energy formed a halo around Alan’s eyes as Jake watched, making him regret his lack of an active Skill once more.

“Gods, I can barely see it, and it’s horrid,” Alan said, revulsion colouring his voice as he peered at something in the distance.

“What is it? What’s happening?” Jake asked, looking between Alan and the direction he was staring, a cold knot forming in his gut.

“There’s a clearing up ahead with a flat boulder, and there’s someone on it,” Alan said somewhat shakily, looking over at Jake with a horrified expression. “I can’t see too much, but it looks like they’re badly wounded.”

“Fuck,” Jake hissed, the knot of worry in his gut crystallising as his instincts told him that this was a bad situation. Yet, they couldn’t just walk away, not if the person was still alive. “Eyes and ears open. Let’s see if they can be saved.”

“Got it,” Alan nodded, his expression shifting as he gripped his bow firmly and lifted it slightly. “I’ll cover you.”

Jake wet his lips nervously as he began to move forward, keeping low to the ground as he went. He could see the edge of the clearing ahead through the trees, and sure enough, he could see someone sprawled on a boulder towards the centre of the space.

Looking around carefully, Jake saw no signs of movement or any hidden watchers that might be present. Inching out into the clearing, he glanced back to see that Alan had followed along behind him and had paused a few feet from the clearing.

There was no immediate reaction to Jake stepping out into the clearing, so he moved forward to the boulder and checked on the person sprawled on it.

Any doubt in Jake’s mind about the state of the person was removed as he saw the gaping, bloody hole that had been carved into the chest of the dead man.

“Gods above,” Jake jerked back from the gruesome scene, eyes wide as he saw that a series of symbols had been painted onto the rock around the body using what looked like blood.

“Who are you, and what are you doing here?” A woman’s voice rang out from behind him, making Jake whirl around, sword and shield rising defensively.

Alan was standing with his hands raised, staring at Jake with fearful eyes, which wasn’t surprising considering that there was a woman standing just behind him with a sword to his throat.

“I’ll only ask one more time,” the woman said in a cold tone, her brown eyes hard as she pressed the sword into Alan’s throat. “Who are you, and what are you doing here?”