Dungeon Noble - Squire

Ari and Nepthys arrived the following morning, much to everyone’s relief.

A knot of tension in Jake’s gut that he hadn’t even realised was there released when he saw Nepthys walking along beside Ari.

“Hey everyone, have fun without us?” Ari called out, giving them a wave as he strolled over. Nepthys rolled her eyes, but her own smile was bright as they walked over.

Jake chuckled and shook his head before waving over Aspen and Gargan and introducing them.

He already felt a little better now that Ari and Nepthys were back, and he found himself looking forward to their next delve.

“I take it you were successful, then?” Felix asked as they all sat at one of the large tables.

Nepthys’s smile widened and she turned to show that she had a second braid. Jake noted a second tattoo had appeared next t0 her eye as well; alongside the small blue shield was what looked like a blue hammer.

“Tier two, and The Watcher rewarded me with enough Favour to obtain a second Sigil,” Nepthys said with evident pride.

“What does it do?” Alan asked immediately, leaning forward to rest his elbows on the table as he peered at the new Sigil. Jake couldn’t really blame him, though. Nepthys’s other Sigil was powerful, and had been crucial in more than a few fights.

“It’s called Hammer of the Inquisition. It’s like an infusion Skill, but better,” Nepthys said, drawing the shorter of her blades as she spoke. The Sigil on her face seemed to glow ever so slightly and the edges of the blade gained a grey tint.

It looked very similar to Jake’s own Skill, but it was more concentrated, seemingly contained to just the edges and the very tip. Jake rubbed his jaw thoughtfully, wondering if the lack of coverage meant that it was more concentrated at the edges, or if it just cost less Wyrd.

“Now that’s a pretty nice Skill,” Aspen said, his eyes bright as he regarded the blade. “How handy are you with that sword?”

“I earned Blade Proficiency the first time I went through a Dungeon,” Nepthys said with a slight shrug. “I’m working on advancing it to uncommon at the moment.”

Aspen chuckled and gave Gargan a meaningful look. “Looks like we’re close to what we need to do a full delve.”

Gargan simply nodded, though after spending a few days with the taciturn classer, Jake could tell that he was excited, in his own way.

“How many Corrupters did you hunt down?” Felix asked, bringing the conversation back on track.

“Nine, which was a few over what I needed, but the Favour I gained was just as important,” Nepthys said, her brow furrowing as she seemingly caught something in Felix’s voice. “Do you have any leads on more?”

“Yes, we’ve just been past two sites of activity,” Felix said, pulling out his map and spreading it out for them all to see. “These two Dungeons have been destroyed. When we arrived, Jake received a vision from his Patron, which seemed to indicate a dozen Corrupters were involved.”

“Destroyed?” Nepthys echoed with a horrified expression, her gaze flicking between Jake and Felix. “What tier was it?”

“Tier one.”

“Thank The Watcher for small mercies,” Nepthys said, relaxing slightly. “This is still terrible news, but if they were strong enough to take down a second tier Dungeon, we’d be in trouble. If only there were more Inquisitors to call on…”

“Why now, though?” Ari asked thoughtfully, explaining what he meant at Felix’s questioning look. “There have been no Inquisitors around for a long time, and we’ve had a few Rifts, but no Dungeons have been targeted. Why now?”

“Because it is an escalation,” Nepthys said before Felix could respond. “The situation here is bad, and my people have hated our lack of information, but the Rifts have been dealt with without issue. A Dungeon being destroyed is too far, though. They will act, they’ll have no choice. This is exactly what The Watcher stands against!”

“I don’t like the implication of that,” Aspen said grimly, shaking his head slightly. “I’m new to this sort of thing, but what you’ve said implies that they have been deliberately keeping things short of the point where your people would intervene. It also means that something has happened to make that change.”

“That would be me,” Jake said, running his hand through his hair and cursing mentally.

“Let’s not jump to conclusions,” Felix said, holding up his hand and motioning for them to slow down. “While I agree that it's likely that Jake’s emergence is linked, they might only have recently gained the strength needed to act against the Dungeons. I don’t want to underestimate them, but let's not jump at shadows.”

“Do you actually believe that?” Ari asked, leaning back and folding his arms with a sceptical expression.

“Not really, but I dislike working on assumptions.”

“Then we should work on what we know, instead,” Nepthys said, rapping her knuckles on the table for emphasis. “There are more Corrupters in the area, we should hunt them down and kill them. If we don’t, more Dungeons will die, which is a blasphemy in itself!”

Felix didn’t refute her outright, but Jake could see the reluctance in his expression. “We are being hunted by the Triarchy, and the Fatesworne are a problem that we are dangerously lacking in information about. The Corrupters need dealing with, but our first priority must be strengthening you and learning about these existing threats.”

Nepthys looked like she wanted to argue further, but Ari cut in first. “I agree, but I think we can do both at the same time. The two of us don’t need to be here while they train, after all.”

Felix frowned, and Jake thought he was going to argue further, but he eventually nodded. “I’m not exactly comfortable leaving when we know there’s a threat in the area, but it's a good compromise, and an efficient use of our time.”

“Works for me,” Ari said, patting the hilt of his greatsword, which was propped up against the table. “Any excuse to kill Corruptors is just fine by me.”

“What about the rest of you, any concern about us leaving?” Felix asked, glancing around at them all with a raised brow.

Jake shook his head, his thoughts mainly on the Dungeon and their upcoming delve. That was his priority right now, and maybe even trying to complete the second tier.

The second tier of the Dungeon was a daunting prospect, but Jake had seen how much he could do if he put the work in. He would do the same here; it would take far more than this to stop him.

“Alright, it's agreed then,” Felix said, pulling Jake’s attention back to the group. “Ari and I will plan our route today and leave in the morning. Expect us to be gone for around a week. It will take that long to try and find their trail. We may take longer, but not much, we’ll need to leave the area shortly after that point to avoid the Triarchy.”

Jake felt some of his eagerness fall away at that reminder that even now, they were being hunted.

A chill ran down Jake’s spine, but he shook it off and pushed himself up to his feet. “Well then, while you plan your route, why don’t we get delving?”

“Have you been through this Dungeon yet?” Nepthys asked, getting to her feet alongside Alan, Gargan and Aspen.

“Not yet,” Jake said, glancing over to Aspen and Gargan. “Either of you know anything about this one?”

The two classers shook their heads, but Ari let out a gentle cough to draw their attention. “I believe I know someone who may know more.”

Jake rolled his eyes and turned to the older classer, who’s eyes were dancing mischievously. “Ari, do you know anything about this Dungeon?”

“Why yes, I do, Jake,” Ari said, pressing one hand to his chest with an earnest expression that was quickly shattered by a wide grin. “It’s a forest Dungeon. It has the Widurn and Crandyn if I remember right.”

“Widurn are the Rootlings and the Tendrae, right?” Jake asked, grimacing as both Ari and Alan nodded. He hated fighting Rootlings, the sensation of their roots and tendrils burrowing into his flesh was horrible. “So what are the Crandyn?”

“They’re pretty similar in some ways actually,” Ari said, glancing over to Alan to see if he wanted to explain further. The Scholar shook his head, so Ari carried on, putting his hands behind his head as he leaned back. “Crandyn are humanoid shaped walking trees, that’s the easiest way to conceptualise them. Widurn are all tendrils and fresh growth, nasty buggers the lot of them. Crandyn are solid, tough bastards that hit like a whale. The Beasts are called Oaken and the Enhanced are Lesser Rhythae.”

Jake waited to see if he’d get any more explanation than that, but Ari seemed to consider that all he needed.

“Alright then, let’s go give it a try,” Jake said, privately sending up a prayer of thanks that they had two classers with fire abilities. This was sounding like it was a pretty good matchup for them, which boded well for completing it.

Taking a few minutes to make sure that everyone had all the equipment they needed, Jake slipped on his shield and led the way inside. If this was a forest Dungeon, like Ari had said, then hopefully they wouldn’t need any torches, or relatively few of them anyway.

Looking back to make sure that everyone was ready, Jake walked down the stairs of the path he’d chosen and opened the door before stepping through into the darkness within.