Dungeon Noble - Squire

The crackling of flames and the screeching screams of the Tendrae echoed throughout the first Guardian floor of the Dungeon as Gargan roasted the last monster.

They’d gone for an approach of overwhelming firepower to ensure that the Enhanced Tendrae didn’t have any opportunity to cause an issue.

It had been shockingly effective, with Gargan taking out most of the enemies on his own. The Tendrae had taken more punishment than Jake had expected, but once the flames got past its leaves, it was all over.

“That didn’t seem like your normal attack,” Jake said as the sounds faded and they harvested their Wyrdgeld from the dead monsters.

“No, that was my Skill, Elemental Blast. I normally stick to my wand mostly, but I wanted to make this a quick fight.”

“Yeah, it was certainly impressive,” Jake said, recalling the large projectile of flames that had washed over the Tendrae. A lot of it had even stuck to the monster and continued to burn. “Why not use it more?”

“The Wyrd cost mainly,” Gargan said, kneeling down to draw the Wyrdgeld from the dead Tendrae. “It is scalable, as with all Skills, but my wand is far more efficient for lower-powered attacks.”

“Yeah, it seems powerful. It’s Woven rather than Infused, right?”

“Yes, and it is bound to my Elemental Blast Skill, which enhances its strength further,” Gargan said proudly.

Jake nodded, filing that information away for the future. He knew that Woven items were linked to an Ability when bound by a classer, but he hadn’t realised the Ability affected them in turn.

The potential ways that could be used seemed endless to Jake, and he couldn’t wait to get his first piece. Exactly how it would work with something like his Personal Plexus Skill would be interesting to see.

“All looted up. Shall we take a break before we go?” Aspen called out from where he’d opened the reward chest, and Jake nodded, drawing the Wyrdgeld from the last Rootling and dropping it into his pouch.

“Sounds good to me. Let’s make sure we all have our Wyrd topped up,” Jake said, heading over to join Aspen as he mentally assessed how much Wyrd he had left.

They’d easily cleared the first five floors, so any Wyrd he’d used had already been recovered. From a Wyrd perspective, he was ready to go, but he doubted Gargan and Alan were in the same situation.

No doubt both of them were combat-capable, but if they had the time, they might as well use it.

“So, did you actually do it?” Nepthys asked, coming over to sit by Jake.

“What do you mean?” Jake asked, frowning slightly.

“Did you upgrade Moby’s Boon?”

“Ah. Yeah, I did.”

“So, why haven’t you summoned him yet?” Nepthys asked, arching a brow at Jake questioningly.

Jake went to answer, but he realised he didn’t actually have a good answer. “Huh. Just habit, I suppose. I’m used to trying not to use any Manifestations during these delves.”

Lifting a hand, Jake focused on the Mighty Drake Boon and summoned Moby, the duck appearing in a shimmer of grey Wyrd.

Moby had got bigger with the upgrade to his Boon, and he was clearly unnaturally large now, with a wingspan that was actually quite impressive.

Moby’s shimmering feathers had a metallic glint to them now as well, though they still felt the same to the touch. Seeing his interest, Moby shook himself and a pair of feathers fell lightly to the ground.

Picking one up, Jake cut it with his sword, noting how tough it was. It wasn’t up to the strength of something Enhanced, but Moby would be a lot harder for Beasts to kill.

A few moments passed before both the shed feathers dissolved, making Jake wonder if there was some purpose to Moby shedding them.

“Such a handsome boy,” Nepthys crooned, stroking Moby’s head as the duck cuddled up to her.

Sighing softly, Jake turned his attention inwards to where the active Boon was slowly drawing on his stored Wyrd. At the second rank, Moby was using more Wyrd than before.

It was more than Jake’s recovery rate from the first tier, but with his Ascension to tier two, it was more manageable. In fact, if he was getting the right feel for the drain, then he’d still be able to use his infusion Skill periodically and not have to worry.

“You know, you told me you had a duck familiar,” Aspen said, staring with disbelief at Moby. “But somehow, I didn’t really expect him to be so duck-like.”

“Expecting something more monstrous?”

Aspen shrugged and nodded. “Yeah, pretty much. This guy is just a duck of unusual size, though, which surprised me.”

“Yeah, and hopefully he’ll make scouting a lot easier,” Jake said, getting back to his feet and stretching. “Are we ready to move on?”

Gargan and Alan exchanged looks before nodding and joining him, Aspen and Nepthys following suit a moment later.

Moby jumped and landed heavily on Jake’s shoulder with a flutter of his wings, threatening to unbalance him for a moment. Thankfully, the huge duck seemed to be aware that he was only just able to fit and actively worked to help Jake keep his balance.

Trying to hide how close he’d come to getting knocked over by his own summons, Jake gave the others a confident smile and started over to the door that led down to the next tier.

Well, they were trees that had grown into arches that led them deeper into the forest, but Jake still considered them doors in his mind.

Pushing aside the vines covering the entrance to the arch, which Jake imagined was the same as opening the door, he stepped through.

-**-

The sixth floor of the Dungeon started much the same as those of the previous tier, with a winding path through a thick forest. The path here was wider, though, which was something.

“How does it feel committing to either completing your first Dungeon at this tier, or potentially dying in the process?” Aspen asked Jake as they assembled, ready to begin.

“Honestly, it feels good,” Jake said, letting some of the growing excitement within him show in his expression. “I’ve learnt a lot since the last time we went into one, and I want to see how I measure up against it now.”

“That’s the spirit,” Aspen said, nudging Jake with a grin. “I knew I liked you for a reason.”

Jake returned the grin before taking a breath and getting himself under control. Now was the time to take this seriously.

Thankfully, the shift in Aspen that he’d seen before happened as soon as Jake focused on what they were doing, and the two of them exchanged nods before starting forward.

“Alright, we’ll be going with Aspen and Alan at the front, then me, and then Gargan and Nepthys at the rear,” Jake said, giving their formation shape as they moved down the path.

Now that it was wider, Alan and Aspen could move side by side, letting the Scholar look for hidden enemies and dangers without being between Aspen and whatever was out there.

“Moby, can you pace us up above and call out if you see anything?” Jake asked softly, looking back over his shoulder at the duck.

To Jake’s surprise, Moby bobbed his head slightly before jumping and taking flight. Previously, he’d had to limit how much he flew, but Moby looked a lot more comfortable in the air now he was of a higher rank.

Satisfied that they were as covered as they could be, Jake focused back on the path ahead, wondering what they’d find.

After a few minutes of walking, Jake got his answer.

A clearing lay ahead of them, but it was filled with large patches of knee-high undergrowth. There was almost certainly something in there, and Jake took one look before glancing over to see what Alan made of it.

“Rootlings and a Tendrae,” Alan said, the Wyrd around his eyes fading as he met Jake’s gaze with a worried look. “I’m not sure how many Rootlings, but at least four or five.”

“Shall I give them something to think about?” Gargan asked, lifting the tip of his wand slightly with an arched brow.

Jake glanced back at the undergrowth and considered fighting Rootlings amid all that. It wouldn’t be too dangerous, but the chances of small and annoying wounds would be high.

Not to mention the danger of the Tendrae, or any Enhanced monster for that matter.

“Do it.” Jake stepped aside, so that Gargan had a good line of sight before drawing his own wand and standing ready.

Gargan stepped forward and Alan leaned in, muttering out locations with slight gestures. The caster nodded and a bright light flared as he launched a series of blasts from his wand, each striking a different clump of vegetation.

The shrill screams of the Rootlings rang out as flames tore into the bushes, followed by the screeching of the Tendrae as it rose in the centre of the room with a slightly scorched shoulder.

Like all Tendrae, the monster was humanoid in form, though barely five feet tall, and was formed from countless stems that grew out from its core to create its hollow body.

Every stem grew a series of vertical leaves to provide something akin to armour, and to make matters worse, those leaves seemed to be resistant to magic.

A blast of flame that incinerated a Rootling did little more than scorch one of its leaves, but that was where Alan came in.

Three arrows thudded into the Tendrae in rapid succession as it charged towards them, each striking the same burnt spot with unerring accuracy and piercing through the weakened leaves.

Nepthys and Aspen were cutting down the Rootlings who’d emerged to attack them, so Jake took a moment to line up his wand before launching a flurry of thorns at the broken section of the Tendrae’s leaves.

Another blast of flames from Gargan was hot on the heels of Jake’s thorns and the Tendrae screeched, roots extending from its arms as it flailed in their direction.

Jake tensed, ready to act if it got much closer, but the monster collapsed a few moments later with a final screech of pain.

“I hate the sounds they make,” Alan muttered as the Tendrae fell silent. “They don’t even have lungs. It’s weird.”

“Yeah, I know what you mean,” Jake said, glancing over to where Nepthys was finishing the last of the Rootlings before back to the Scholar. “Are we clear?”

Wyrd shone from Alan’s eyes for a moment before he nodded. “Clear here.”

“Alright, let’s harvest what we can and push on.”