Dungeon Noble - Squire

The fifth floor turned out to be a single, large grove of apple trees, with five rootlings, one of the tendrae that Jake had fought in the past, and a larger version of the spite flowers.

“That’s a Malignant Tender. Use that information as you will,” Felix said from behind Jake as they took a moment to look over the grove.

The Malignant Tender was a foot or two taller than Jake, with two yellow-rimmed flowers hanging from it. The base of the plant was raised, and a dozen or so thick roots spread out from it in a way that Jake found suspicious.

The tendrae and the rootlings were on the far side of the tender from Jake, which meant that he had two options. Either he looped around to deal with them first or tried to take out this tender before they could react. Either choice came with risks.

Jake looked down at his burnt and partially dissolved shield; the sap those flowers could use was nasty stuff. While the tender didn’t look mobile, Jake was leaning toward taking it out first anyway. The last thing he wanted was to be shot from behind.

Starting forward steadily, Jake got halfway to the tender before he saw the flowers begin to shift and the closest roots lift from the ground.

Breaking out into a run, Jake brought his shield up high and tucked behind it, making his profile as small as possible.

The two sprays of sap struck Jake’s shield almost simultaneously, with globules of the caustic liquid landing on the dirt around him as he threw the smoking shield aside.

Two roots the size of Jake’s wrist darted up to try to ensnare him, but he had enough speed that he was able to dance around them as he summoned the Hidden Fang to his free hand.

Jake had seen before how effective his Boon was against plants, so he plunged the dagger straight into the stem of the huge plant and left it there.

The two flowers were already swelling with a fresh load of sap, so Jake infused his sword with Wyrd and sliced them both away before dismissing his dagger.

Jake’s control of the Boon was improving steadily, so he was able to dismiss it without actually touching the dagger, giving him just enough time to land a final strike on the plant’s stem before the roots arrived.

The grasping roots sluggishly tried to take hold of Jake as he moved away from the dying plant, noting the dark lines of poison spreading through it.

Even if it survived, the tender was far less of a problem without its flowers, so Jake got far enough away that its roots could no longer follow before turning his attention to the tendrae and its escorts.

The fight that followed pushed Jake’s agility to the very edge of what he could do, but even so, he was bloody and raw by the time he finally put his sword through the heart of the tendrae.

A dozen or more pieces of root were sticking out of Jake’s body where either the tendrae or the rootlings had gotten hold of him and burrowed into his flesh.

Yanking the offending pieces of plant free one by one, Jake looked over as Felix walked over to present him with a potion.

“Not bad. Not bad at all.” Felix gave Jake an approving nod before patting his satchel. “You couldn’t have done it without these potions, but that’s a matter of funding. This was very close to a solo clear.”

“Thanks,” Jake said, revelling in the blissful muffling of his pain that the potion provided. At this point, even with the potions, most of his body was aching. “What now?”

Felix looked around the room thoughtfully before turning back to Jake with a malicious glint in his eye. “Now we get your loot, and then you do it all again.”

-**-

Fortunately, Felix wasn’t actually cruel enough to send Jake straight through the Dungeon again. Instead, Jake was given a few hours to recover and free reign on the Wyrdfruit he’d been awarded.

Jake wanted to do nothing more than collapse and rest, but he made himself stumble over to Ivaldi’s when they were back outside.

“Ivaldi, please give this to Varin with my compliments,” Jake said, passing over a branch of Wyrd-infused wood that had come with his reward for completion. “He’s welcome to travel with me. I just need to confirm with my friends.”

“Thank you, Jake Khesh. I will let him know your words and pass on your gift,” Ivaldi said, inclining his head as he tucked away the length of wood. “Here, a fresh batch of your normal equipment. I wish you luck with your next delve.”

“Thanks, Ivaldi,” Jake said, passing over his battered gear and taking the pristine set that Ivaldi had given him. Buckling on the sword sheath and potion belt, Jake grabbed his shield before turning to leave.

“As a word of advice, Jake Khesh,” Ivaldi said before Jake could leave. “Neither of the tier one Dungeons are ready to tier up, but they are close. If you bind them both within the next few days, you will have a few weeks before they reach tier two.”

Jake nodded slowly, considering how that information might change his plans. “Thank you, Ivaldi.”

The powerfully built shopkeeper inclined his head slightly but said nothing else, so Jake continued back outside.

Jake considered whether or not to speak to Felix about his relationship with Ivaldi. The shopkeeper had been dependable and helpful from the very beginning, and while Felix was helping them, Jake did feel that he had his own agenda.

That wasn’t to say that Jake thought Felix wasn’t on their side, but he had a feeling that Ivaldi wasn’t this way with everyone, and he didn’t want the extra attention on him.

No, Jake would share the information but not the source of it.

Looking around, Jake saw that Felix was waiting at one of the benches he had noticed before, the sack of apples by his side.

“Sit, eat, recover,” Felix said, tossing Jake an apple as he approached. “We’ll run the Dungeon again in a few hours. Tell me, though, can you use that dagger of yours more today?”

“Yeah, I’ve got a few more hits with it,” Jake said, biting down on one of the apples and letting out an appreciative sound. Wyrd-infused food was delicious as well as good for you.

“Good, save them for the Guardian again. The poison it contains was perfect for dealing with the malignant tender. Without it, that last fight would be a lot harder.”

Jake considered how much worse the fight with the tendrae would have been if he had been periodically dodging caustic sap or avoiding grasping roots the entire time.

The giant lizards in the fire Dungeon were a nastier fight, mainly due to their tough scales and fire breath. They were daunting, to say the least.

Still, Jake could see how this particular fight could be bad as well, especially without his dagger.

“Alright, you look like you’ve perked up a bit,” Felix said, gesturing to the apple that Jake had rapidly devoured. “So let’s talk tactics for the next attempt.”

-**-

Several hours later, Jake found himself going through the Dungeon again, though this time he knew what was coming.

Rootlings were tough to kill, but were easy to knock around, and their heart was an obvious vulnerability. It took a bit of practice, but with so many to kill, Jake eventually got the timing down on being able to backhand them out of the air with his shield.

A heavy impact like that would nearly always incapacitate them for a moment, allowing Jake to plunge his blade into their heart and finish the job.

In some ways, dealing with the spite flowers was actually more straightforward. Their flowers tracked motion first and then focused on any living creature within a certain distance.

By throwing his shield past the flower, Jake could ensure that it rotated to face the wrong way, giving him time to close the distance and bisect it.

Felix was a silent observer for it all, only passing Jake a potion or two when he was too slow or misjudged some timings.

The biggest issue posed by the first four floors was the Challenge room, but only because there was a time limit. He couldn’t spare the time to do his trick with the shield, so he finished with one moderate and several minor sap burns on his legs.

Felix gave Jake an approving nod when he emerged. “An impressive improvement. From how you’ve done today, you’re only a few ranks away from being able to run this Dungeon by yourself with ease.”

“Rationally, I know you’re right,” Jake said, taking a potion from Felix and wincing as he poured a bit on his burns before drinking the rest. “But it feels like I’ve only just started on this journey, and a solo delve feels beyond me.”

“Yes, you’re still early on, but you’ve worked hard these last few weeks. Between that and the powerful Skills and Traits you no doubt hold, including this dagger you can summon, you are stronger than your rank suggests.”

“How much stronger?” Jake asked, mentally comparing himself to the others in his group.

“At this point, a rank or two easily. Once you’ve bound a few more Dungeons, it will be more than that.” Felix paused before gesturing to the archway through to the Guardian floor. “Do you know if binding these Dungeons will cause them to tier up?”

“Yes, and it won’t. At least, not for a couple of weeks,” Jake said, repeating what Ivaldi had told him earlier.

“Excellent. We’ll have you and the rest of your group run both Dungeons tomorrow. It should be interesting to see what rewards you get.”

Jake blinked in surprise, caught a little flat-footed by Felix’s declaration. Really, now he was thinking about it, clearing both Dungeons made sense as a way for Jake to advance.

After all, if he could do it with just a small amount of help from Felix, he could definitely do it with the rest of his group.

Standing tall, Jake took a deep breath before pushing through the archway to the Guardian floor.