Dungeon Noble - Squire

They moved on as a group, and Jake couldn’t help but feel that there was more of a sense of teamwork now that they’d had even that short conversation. It was still new, and there were still miscommunications, but it was getting there.

It took three more long rocky bridges for them to reach the end of the floor, each one ending in a shattered mountain peak with Lesser Raptors hidden around them.

Aspen was able to take the first one down in each engagement in the same manner as the first time, and then he and Jake took the rest with swords while Alan and Gargan supported from the rear.

Despite lacking experience as a group, they faced each ambush head-on and cut down every monster with comparative ease. The Lesser Raptors were fast, but they couldn’t keep up with a second-tier classer, and both Jake and Aspen exploited that ruthlessly.

The final bridge led them to a replica of their starting point, albeit with more floor space and the usual rocky columns for the raptors to attack from.

With more open space to use, Alan and Gargan were finally able to shine, and Jake couldn’t help but be proud of Alan’s progress as the Scholar picked off a pair of raptors with rapid shots.

They’d all progressed such a long way from where they’d started, and Jake almost laughed as he compared the Alan at his back to the one that he’d met just a few months ago.

Constant training, the threat of painful deaths and the will to improve could do a lot in a short space of time.

Jake’s cheer faded a little as he considered that it was just the two of them left out of the original four, but he still hoped that they could delve together again one day.

A blast of flame struck the final raptor, killing it and burning away the feathers of one wing. It was a powerful hit, and it hit a lot harder than Jake had seen any other wand-conjured attack manage, but that only made sense.

Jake’s thorn wand was a serviceable and useful length of wood that Varin had infused for him. Gargan’s wand, however, was a length of what Jake could only describe as crystallised flames that had been shaped into a long and tight spiral.

When Gargan used the wand it flared brightly, and Jake felt like he could almost see the flame burning within the wand before it shot forward.

It was impressive, damn impressive, and it made Jake yearn for a better wand of his own. Once they were done, he’d try to find out how much Gargan had paid for his, both in Wyrdgeld and in materials.

He doubted he could afford one, but it would be worth knowing more.

It also made Jake all the more eager to stop off at Ivaldi’s on the way out and see if he could get some answers about where Varin was. There hadn’t been a way for him to contact Ivaldi since they rescued Nepthys, and he was worried about the crafter.

Felix had said that he’d gotten out of Casthorpe, but that had been a while ago now, and it wasn’t like Varin could protect himself in the way that Jake and Nepthys could.

With the last raptor dead, the others were already moving to the door to the next floor, so Jake hurried over to join them. This floor had been quite easy, but it would get harder soon enough.

-**-

As in the other Dungeons that Jake had delved, the second floor was more of the same, just with more monsters. That wasn’t exactly a problem for them, not when Gargan could kill one with a single blast from his wand, and Aspen could pick them out of the air with a spear throw.

With each short fight, Jake could feel them starting to work together a little bit better. It would take time to get anywhere significant with it, but this was a good start.

Gathering their Wyrdgeld, they took a few minute’s break before pushing onto the third floor. This would be where the new monster lineage, as Aspen and Gargan called it, would be introduced

Jake understood why Ari and Felix hadn’t used all the technical terms from the beginning, but it still made him feel like an amateur when he found out a new one.

Some of the changes to the third floor were immediately obvious, as the rocky bridges between larger areas now had more of an arched shape, and the peaks they were moving between were varying in height.

The first bridge they were crossing was a steady incline, taking them up to a peak that was high enough that they couldn’t see what was waiting for them.

Moving carefully over the apex of the bridge, they advanced steadily into the first plateau. As before, a pair of raptors leapt out to attack them, and Aspen plucked the first from the air with his spear while Alan shot the second a moment later.

Aspen turned to give Alan a respectful nod before reclaiming his spear. Alan followed suit to draw out his Wyrdgeld from the dead raptor, and they pushed on, this time descending slightly.

They were halfway across the bridge when they were attacked by two fast-moving creatures stooping down from above to crash into Alan and Gargan.

At first, Jake thought they were birds of some kind, but as he turned to try and help Alan, he realised they were actually snakes, but with feathered wings stretching out from them, and had wrapped themselves around their targets.

The snake on Gargan screamed in pain and fell away with its belly scales burnt through, and after a brief struggle, Alan was able to hold the snake’s head still long enough for Jake to cut through.

The unfortunate Scholar was drenched in blood and bore a nasty bite on his shoulder but was otherwise alright. His bow had gotten in the way when the snake wrapped around him, making its bite miss his neck and catch his shoulder instead.

“Well shit,” Aspen said simply, poking the charred corpse of the first snake with his spear. “This is a bad mix for a Dungeon like this. Bad for us, that is.”

“Do you know what these are, then?” Alan asked, looking up from where he was inspecting the wound on his shoulder.

“I think this is the Quetzan lineage, but only from what I’ve read,” Aspen said with a shrug. “What about you, Gargan?”

“The same. I agree with them being Quetzan, though. There aren’t many other contenders for feathered serpents, after all.” The caster spoke thoughtfully as he crouched down and examined the dead snake more closely. “These are Gust Serpents, if I remember rightly.”

Jake did the same for the one he’d killed, taking the time to look it over and understand what he’d be fighting. The Gust Serpent was a few feet long with a substantial wingspan, though the wings seemed able to be tucked in along its body when needed.

The serpent itself had sky-blue scales, and its feathered wings were a touch lighter but close enough to have the same effect. It would make spotting these creatures difficult, to say the least.

“So, anything we should know about them in specific?” Alan asked as he finished tending to the bite wound and knelt down for a closer look.

“The Enhanced monsters of this lineage are called Wind Serpents; they’re bigger and stronger versions of these, but that’s about it,” Gargan said softly, taking a last look at the creature before turning away. “We should keep moving.”

“Agreed,” Jake said, getting to his feet before looking over to Aspen as they started forward once more. “What did you mean about it being bad for us?”

“Well, these snake fuckers will be hard to spot, and it looks like they strike fast as well. That means we need to watch for them constantly,” Aspen said, doing just that as he scanned the open sky around them. “The raptors, though, are just as fast and are opportunistic bastards. That means we’ve got to watch for them jumping out of nowhere as well.”

“Well, let’s split that up then,” Jake said, looking back to Alan and Gargan. “You two watch the skies while Aspen and I watch for raptors, sound good?”

“Works for me,” Alan said simply, his eyes already bearing a slight grey film as he used his Skill to search for the creatures.

“Agreed,” Gargan said simply, dropping back a little so he was at the rear of the group before taking out his wand once more.

Jake turned back to see Aspen looking at him thoughtfully, but the big man said nothing and instead picked up the pace as they walked down to the next plateau.

-**-

Jake’s delegation of duty worked well enough for the rest of the floor, with Alan and Gargan picking off all of the feathered serpents before they could get close enough.

Sometimes, the serpents got a little closer than Jake would like, but he understood why.

It seemed that when the serpents stooped in to attack, they folded their wings along their body, presenting a narrow and fast-moving target for any attackers. Thankfully, they still had to flare their wings at the last moment to slow down enough to engage properly, which was the perfect time to take them down.

Jake didn’t exactly like leaving it to the last moment, but neither had they suffered any more injuries, so he left it to Gargan and Alan.

Thankfully, the raptors hadn’t been too much of an issue either, but it definitely helped that they seemed restricted to the plateaus, which gave Aspen and Jake the advantage of knowing when they’d attack, if not where from.

With a routine developing, it took no time for them to reach the end of the floor, which bore the usual exit, as well as a doorway for a Challenge.

Jake and Alan both knew that every Challenge would be available to them thanks to Jake’s Class, but Aspen and Gargan were pleasantly surprised.

Jake considered explaining, but it was a bit early for that yet.

“Well, I guess we’re heading in?” Alan asked after a moment.

“I’d call you crazy if you didn’t want to,” Aspen said with a laugh, moving closer to look over the images carved into the door. “Looks like a physical Challenge, running and jumping mainly.”

“Well, let’s get to it then,” Jake said with a grin, stepping up next to Aspen and pushing the door open.