Dungeon Noble - Squire

Darkness overtook Jake for a brief moment; it was a similar sensation as he felt when moving through the Dungeon’s doors, but it felt deeper somehow.

Stepping out from the darkness, Jake found himself walking into a brightly lit chamber. The air was thick with power, to the point that Jake found it stifling.

Brightly burning torches sat at each corner of the room, illuminating four empty pedestals in the centre and a throne at the far end.

Congratulations, Jake Khesh, on completing your first Dungeon. Proceed to the Throne to claim this Dungeon for your Plexus.

Jake’s eyes went wide as he felt the System speak to him, and he found himself walking to the Throne in an almost fugue state.

Up close, Jake could see that the Throne was formed of the same metal as Wyrdgeld, giving it a reddish-brown sheen as it glinted in the light.

Sitting down on the metal Throne, Jake felt it shift and mould itself to his frame, curving around him in an almost possessive manner.

Congratulations, Jake Khesh, you have bound the Dungeon Horlswar Murk. Choose from one of the four rewards the Dungeon has selected for you.

As if prompted by the System’s words, the four pedestals began to glow softly as an image appeared above each of them.

Something told Jake that the binding process wasn’t over, though, and he stayed where he was as the air seemed to thicken in the room.

The Throne seemed to press in on Jake as it continued to mould to his form, with the barest touch of something other than the system brushing across his mind at the same time.

The touch was so faint and gone so quickly that Jake questioned if he’d felt anything at all.

Before Jake could do anything else, he felt a wave of power rush into him from the Dungeon. The power flowed straight into Jake’s soul and vanished without a trace.

It almost felt like something rippled back out of Jake and into the Dungeon, but if so, it was too subtle for Jake to get a good sense of.

Attention. Holrswar Murk, one of your bound Dungeons, is increasing its tier.

Distantly, some part of Jake became aware that the Dungeon would be closing to complete its changes as soon as they left.

Rising from the Throne, Jake took a moment to steady himself before moving closer to the pedestals and his reward.

The first image was of a rat of some kind, though it looked sleeker and more dangerous than the ones he’d seen within the Dungeon. Examining it closer, Jake felt something whisper the knowledge into his mind that this would be a creature he could conjure.

The second was a sword that was dripping with green poisonous liquid. The whisper in the back of his mind told him this was a temporary enhancement he could apply to any weapon he was holding.

The third image was of a long dagger with a slightly hooked blade that looked designed to do as much damage as possible. A line of liquid green ran through the fuller of the blade, though nowhere near as much as the sword.

The whispers told Jake that he could use the dagger repeatedly for a single use of manifestation, not that he quite understood what that meant, but it was the weakest of the effects in a raw contest.

Jake had chosen his sword to get away from his history with daggers, to try and start afresh in this new life. Despite that, the third one called to him in a way that neither of the others did.

The fourth image was of a globe of grey Wyrd, the whispers telling Jake that he could choose raw Plexus power rather than a boon. While that was interesting, he needed something more tangible right now.

Reaching out to grasp the third image, Jake felt the touch of steel against his skin for an instant before the energy in the pedestals was drawn into him.

Gasping at the sensation, Jake shivered and looked down at his empty hands with wonder. It was almost as though the dagger was right there, and all he had to do was reach out to grasp it.

Doing just that, Jake felt a grin spread across his face as the long dagger shimmered into existence firmly in his grip. There was a sense of something being used up within him as he used the power, and he could sense the well of energy within the dagger.

Time and experimentation would tell Jake exactly what he had, but for now, he dismissed it and triggered his status.

Name - Jake Khesh

Patron Deity - The Great Dungeon

Class - Dungeon Noble - Squire

Tier - I

Rank - III

Dungeon Network - 1

Plexus Strength - Minor

Plexus Manifestations - 0/1

Plexus Points - 2

Traits

Physical - Lesser Noble Constitution (I) - Rare- Descended from a Noble bloodline, you have a minor enhancement to physical characteristics.

Skills

Passive - Personal Plexus (I) - Very Rare - You gain the ability to bind Dungeons and form your own Plexus that may contain Dungeons of minor strength. Currently, Dungeons up to Tier I can be bound. Doubles the Wyrdgeld cost of advancing in Class Rank.

Patron Gifts

Passive - Agent of the Great Dungeon (I) - Very Rare - You are bound to the Great Dungeon by blood. Other followers of the Great Dungeon will recognise you and aid you as they may.

Passive - Sense Dungeon (I) - Rare - As an agent of the Great Dungeon, you are able to passively sense the location of nearby Dungeons in a meagre range.

Plexus Boons

Hidden Fang - I - Granted by the Holrswar Murk Dungeon, this Boon allows you to Manifest a dagger with inherent poisonous properties. Using the dagger, summoning it and dismissing it all draw on the power held within it on Manifestation.

Deed requirement to increase Tier

1 - 5 Tier I or higher Dungeons bound

2 - Rank X

Requirements to increase to Rank IV

1 - 120 Wyrdgeld

Jake took a moment to breathe as he considered the information he’d been given. He understood the basics of how this Hidden Fang boon would work, but no doubt it would take practice to get the most use from it.

With no further sign of activity from either the System or the Dungeon, Jake made his way back to the door and stepped into the darkness.

-**-

Jake walked out the door alongside his companions and blinked in surprise as he found himself in step with Nepthys and the rest, as though no time had passed at all.

Fortunately, the whole group was a little disoriented, so no one seemed to notice.

The Dungeon had brought them to a larger version of the revival rooms they used, complete with a selection of furniture they could use if they wanted to.

“Come on, let’s head back,” Rhew said, stepping forward to push open the exit from the room and lead them out into the Dungeon foyer.

Jake followed the others out of the Dungeon and turned back to watch as the doors closed by themselves, sealing the Dungeon so it could make its changes.

Jake was on a clock now. While delving was seemingly paused in the absence of the higher-tiered Classers, someone would notice eventually. When they did, word would spread quickly.

The question now was how to deal with it.

Jake’s initial plan was to try and convince the rest of the group to head to a different Dungeon with him. Jake couldn’t afford to still be here when the agents of the Triarchy came to figure out why the Dungeon had abruptly tiered up.

Nepthys would come with him, that was for certain, but he had no idea what the others would do. They’d been together for only a comparatively short amount of time, but that time had been spent fighting and dying together as they learned what it meant to be a Classer.

Jake wouldn’t put staying with them ahead of his own safety, but neither would he walk away if there was a chance the group could stay together.

“You okay, Jake?” Alan’s voice brought Jake out of his thoughts, and he realised they were at the entrance to the inn already.

“Yeah, I’m alright,” Jake said with a slightly strained smile. “Just been a lot today, is all.”

“I know what you mean. It feels incredible that we’ve actually managed it. Rhew is going mad over the extra Wyrdgeld, but I can’t blame her. We’re halfway to the next rank off just that one delve.”

“Yeah, and with none of the downsides,” Jake said, doing his best to suppress his envy. The three of them were almost at rank five already, while Jake was only just halfway to rank four.

At least Jake had his first Boon to take the sting out of being left behind.

-**-

Rhew was quick to divide up their Wyrdgeld, with Jake volunteering to take the two branches to make life easier for everyone else.

“So, when do we want to next run the Dungeon?” Rhew asked once everything had been split up.

“We could go back in tomorrow?” Karl offered with a slight shrug. “A good night’s sleep would be nice. We healed up with potions, but I still feel a little battered.”

“About that,” Jake said, leaning in to get their attention. “Now we’ve completed the Dungeon. Would you all be open to moving on to the next one?”

“Why would we move on so soon?” Alan asked curiously. “We’ve only just managed to finish this one. Shouldn’t we stay here for a while?”

“We could, but Ari is going to be stepping away from training us now that we’ve finished a Dungeon. That means we need to be supporting ourselves and keep up the pressure. The town those other Classers were heading to isn’t far from here, and it has three Dungeons nearby.”

“It’s called Casthorpe. It has two Dungeons that are tier one nearby and is built around a tier two Dungeon. You won’t find a better training area nearby,” Nepthys added, leaning back in her seat as she spoke.

“That does sound good, and more variety would be nice,” Alan said thoughtfully. “A tier two Dungeon could be interesting as well.”

“I’m in favour of it, as long as the new ones aren’t based around rats?” Karl looked over to Nepthys, who nodded. “Yeah, sounds good to me.”

“Well, I’m not exactly attached to this place,” Rhew said with a shrug. “I’d like to wait for Ari first, though.”

The other two nodded their agreement, but that was fine by Jake. A day or two to wait for Ari would be as much as he was willing to take, but at least they’d agreed to leave.