Dungeon Noble - Squire

Jake trained for a little while, doing his best to ignore the pain from his leg as best he could.

There was likely a training field or something similar nearby, but Jake hadn’t found it yet. Instead, Jake resorted to a jog around the city and some basic exercises in the storage area behind the inn.

Usually, Jake would be back to feeling normal by this point, which gave credence to Felix’s warning about it taking longer to recover from higher-tier Dungeons.

The inn’s cook used the meat they’d brought back from the Dungeon for dinner that evening, which seemed to perk them all up.

The effect reminded Jake of the mead and food that Ivaldi shared with him when he visited, which made him wonder if it was the Wyrd content within them that made the difference. Could a wealthier Classer simply buy their way out of revival sickness?

Jake asked Felix once he’d finished eating, but the older Classer laughed and shook his head.

“The Wyrd doesn’t actually speed up the process; it simply alleviates the symptoms somewhat. I don’t know if you can consume enough to have no symptoms at all, but eating food like this is a good way to help with it.”

Jake nodded and thanked Felix before slowing down how fast he was eating. He was hungry, but Felix’s answer made him wonder if it would be better to have small amounts over a longer period.

The others were already deep into their meals, even Nepthys, who was usually the most reserved of the group, so Jake didn’t say anything. Better to test it himself and then see from there.

The rest of his group finished their meals one by one before heading off to rest. Eventually, it was just Jake and Felix at the table, as Ari had yet to appear.

“What are your plans for tomorrow?” Felix asked, fixing Jake with an inscrutable look.

“Well, if I’d recovered, I was going to focus on getting back into my training regime,” Jake said hesitantly.

“A good idea, but I have a better one. Rest and follow your normal routine, but don’t do anything strenuous. You need to be in good shape.” Felix left the room on that ominous comment, leaving Jake wondering what he had planned.

-**-

Jake woke up feeling refreshed and fully recovered the next day. Part of him had been worrying about just how long the recovery would take, so it was a relief that it was done.

The other good news was that his leg had stopped hurting overnight, so that seemed to be tied to the revival sickness.

Unfortunately, the other four were still struggling with their revival sickness and were in no shape to do anything more than some light training.

Felix had clearly planned for this, however, as Ari was back with them at breakfast, and once they were done, he led them off for some dedicated training of their own.

“We’re not going with them?” Jake asked as Felix asked him to wait behind.

“No, we’re going to be doing something a little more strenuous,” Felix said with a slight smile that sent a shiver down Jake’s spine. “Come with me.”

Casting a final look in the direction the others had gone, Jake followed after Felix, who led him through the town and out into the surrounding countryside.

Oddly, they were roughly retracing their steps to where they’d entered the town, but that only lasted for a few minutes before Felix turned off the original path and led them on one that ran deeper into the woods.

Shortly after the turn, Jake felt a familiar tingling sensation and looked over at Felix in surprise. “We’re going to a Dungeon?”

“Indeed, it’s time for you to do some solo delving,” Felix said casually, paying no heed to Jake’s shocked expression.

“Wait, hang on,” Jake called out as he scrambled to catch up with Felix. “What do you mean by solo delving?”

“Is it not obvious?” Felix asked, gesturing forward as they rounded a thick copse of trees. “You’ll be delving into that tier one Dungeon, but without support.”

Jake looked over to see a Dungeon entrance with a large amount of trees growing around it. Ivaldi’s store sat a short distance away, as usual, but other than that, there were no permanent structures.

A few spaces had been cleared, and benches had been set for waiting Classers, but with the town so close by, there was clearly little need for much more than that.

“Is that even possible for someone like me?” Jake asked, wondering if this was some elaborate punishment.

“Someone like you?”

“A tier one Classer at a low rank. Someone who can only just take on a single Enhanced monster, let alone more than that.”

“Well, I think that question is one that only you can answer,” Felix said as he covered the last few steps to Ivaldi’s and pushed open the door. “Come, let’s get you equipped.”

More than a little confused by it all, Jake went through the motions of getting his usual equipment while Ivaldi provided Felix with a heavy satchel.

The clinking of glass gave Jake a good idea as to what was in the satchel, and Jake felt a growing sense of worry as Felix took the lead into the Dungeon.

“Okay, it’s time to set expectations,” Felix said once the two of them were at the door leading into the Dungeon. “There’s no need for a torch here, so you’ll be fine on that front. I do expect you to take the Challenge room on if it appears. You will collect and store all your Wyrdgeld in your pouch in case of an accident. I will do my best to keep you alive and keep you moving. Understood?”

“Yes, Felix,” Jake said, feeling the blood drain from his face as he understood exactly how bad this was going to be.

“Good,” Felix gave Jake a broad smile before pushing the door open and stepping into the Dungeon.

-**-

The interior of the Dungeon was entirely unlike the other two that Jake had been to. The door that he stepped out of was framed in an archway of twisted branches, and it lay in the centre of a forest path.

To Jake’s left and right was only thick undergrowth, thicker than anything he’d ever seen before. Jake hesitantly reached out to rest a hand on one of the trees.

The reality of the Dungeon wasn’t that different, but the trees around him really drove home that they weren’t just walking below ground.

Looking up, Jake saw that the trees stretched over the path, forming a thick canopy overhead. Sunlight was coming through, but there were patches of light shadow here and there where the canopy was thicker.

The presence of the sunlight begged the question of whether there was actually a sun up there or if that was being created by the Dungeon, too. Was this just a different part of the same world, or was it something else entirely?

Jake took a moment to let it all wash over him before pushing the questions aside and focusing on the task at hand. Right this moment, it didn’t matter what those answers were.

Felix had been muttering under his breath while Jake was distracted and was waiting patiently when Jake turned back to him.

“So, do I just start?” Jake asked hesitantly.

“Whenever you’re ready. Take it steadily, and make sure to conserve energy. You’ve got a lot to do.”

“Alright, I can do this,” Jake said, taking a deep breath before setting off down the forest path.

Quite quickly, the path cut to one side, opening up into what looked like a small glade dominated by a single huge tree.

The roots of the tree were partially excavated, and Jake’s eyes narrowed as he moved closer.

This felt familiar.

Jake got within a few feet of the tree before four small figures darted out from where they’d been hidden amongst the roots.

The figures were small and humanoid, though they were made up almost entirely of roots, with a green mass of plant matter where their heart would be, just like the ones at the Hollow.

Jake had been expecting the ambush, so he was able to dodge away from them while still managing to cut one of them in half with a heavy swing of his sword.

The remaining three tried to get close enough to get their roots into Jake’s skin, but he was careful to maintain his distance.

Eventually, the last of the creatures fell, and Jake drew out their Wyrdgeld before turning to Felix.

“I never got the chance to look them up. What are those things called?”

“Rootlings, from the Widurn family. The bigger one you fought at the Hollow was a Tenebrae.”

Filing the information away, Jake carried on out of the clearing, certain that more rootlings would be waiting.

-**-

“Good, good, you’re doing well,” Felix said, tossing Jake a healing potion as he took a break at the end of the second floor.

It was the second potion Jake had drunk, and Jake felt it wouldn’t be the last.

The rootlings weren’t that dangerous, but in larger numbers, they were hard to evade, and he’d picked up a few injuries here and there.

It was a lot slower by himself than with the group, if for no other reason than him needing to be much more careful.

Felix seemed happy for Jake to go at his own pace, so they took a few minutes before pushing onto the third floor.

The path was much the same as before, so Jake started forward, expecting a glade or other clearing to come up quite quickly.

Instead, Jake found a waist-high flower with leaves that were dark blue and seemed to shimmer slightly. The flower itself was a bright yellow and was quite tight, with a deep interior.

“That’s weird,” Jake muttered, walking close to the plant, his shield held protectively in front of him. He hadn’t seen any plant life like this before. So far, the small bits he’d seen were all grass or small shrubs.

As Jake approached the plant, the yellow-rimmed flower turned to face him and swelled up, prompting him to lift his shield slightly higher.

The flower contracted in on itself rapidly, shooting out a spray of thick green liquid that splattered all across Jake. Most of it was thankfully caught by his shield, but more than a bit went over it and struck his face.

White hot pain stabbed into Jake as the sap began to burn and blister his face.

Acting purely on instinct, Jake staggered forward and cut through the plant’s stalk, killing it in a single blow.

As soon as he caught sight of the plant falling, Jake dropped everything and tried to wipe the horrible sap from his face.

A firm hand took Jake by the shoulder as Felix turned him around. “Stay still!”

Going as still as he could with his face blistering, Jake felt a soothing liquid splash over him, numbing the pain and washing away the sap on his face.

“There, it’s all gone. Drink this,” Felix pulled another healing potion from the heavy satchel at his side and pressed it into Jake’s hands.

Jake did as he was told before probing gently at his face, sighing in relief as he felt no lingering damage from the sap.

“What sort of foul monster was that?” Jake demanded, glaring down at the dead plant.

“Spite Flower, nasty things. Best dealt with at range or by holding your shield up high enough,” Felix said, resealing his satchel before waving to the plant. “Gather your Wyrdgeld, and let us continue.”

“No.” Jake shook his head, stepping away from Felix as he picked up his sword and shield from where they’d fallen. “Not until you give me some answers.”