Dungeon Noble - Squire

As Aspen had guessed, the Challenge was a physical one. Namely, one where they had to run and jump between columns of rock that rose up from a pool of icy water.

Literal chunks of ice were floating down there, and Jake had no desire to fall in and find out first-hand just how cold it really was.

Thankfully, this was the Challenge for the first tier, which meant it was tailored to first-tier classers, so all of them had the capability to complete it with ease.

Alan struggled the most; his lack of a physical boosting Ability and lower rank worked against him, but he was still advanced enough to outperform the average mid-tier classer.

Clearing the last of the columns, Jake took a deep breath and shook his head. That wasn’t the worst Challenge he’d done, but it was just difficult enough to be tiring and a bit of a pain.

“Reward looks like twenty Wrydgeld apiece,” Aspen called over once Alan had completed the course and they gained access to the chest. “Divide at the end?”

“Works for me,” Jake said, taking a sip of water before offering the flask to Alan, who took it with a grateful smile.

Aspen nodded and added the coins to his pouch before they all moved on.

-**-

The fourth floor of the Dungeon took the premise of the third and expanded it with larger arches and plateaus, keeping them on their toes the entire time as they watched for attacks.

Fortunately, the monsters were too spread out to overwhelm them, but it was still a tiring process staying alert for so long. To make matters worse, the wind was picking up as well, making the walk along the rock bridges feel a lot more perilous than before.

To everyone’s relief, the wind didn’t grow strong enough to cause a real issue, and after taking a few moments to adjust, they were able to push on as normal.

“Break for ten minutes?” Aspen said as they reached the end of the floor. “Then blitz the Guardian floor?”

“Sounds good to me,” Jake said, dropping his pack against the rock and slumping down to a seated position. He wasn’t actually that tired, but it was good to take a few minutes to rest and make sure that they went into the final fight in the best shape they could.

There was no doubt in his mind that they’d win, not with three of them in the second tier, but it made sense to build good habits.

There was a companionable air to the group as they took a rest, but before long, they were back on their feet and ready to move on.

Stepping through to the Guardian floor with his sword at the ready, Jake took a moment to make sure that there were no immediate threats before turning his attention to the area as a whole.

The Dungeon had brought them to a wide open space, much like the ones they’d started each floor from, with a single straight path leading up to the shattered top of a mountain.

Ragged clouds were wrapped around the mountain, passing just below the bridge, and its top was a mess of rocky columns and spikes that were thrust up into the air at odd angles.

What looked like smaller versions of the rock bridge formed a lattice over the top of it all, which he had a feeling would be used to great effect by the feathered serpents.

“Well, that’s quite the dramatic Guardian floor,” Aspen said with a chuckle. “Chances are, the one for the next tier is even fancier, though. I don’t suppose you two have ever gotten that far, though, have you?”

“Not yet,” Jake said with a shrug. “I’ve only been in this tier for a short amount of time, so the furthest we’ve done is the seventh floor.”

“In which Dungeon?” Aspen asked.

“The fire one in Casthorpe,” Jake said, mentally vowing that one day, he’d go back and complete it. The Boon from a place like that would be powerful. He could feel it.

“Ahh, I know that one. Is that the floor with the river of lava you have to cross?” Aspen asked, making Jake stare back at him with poorly disguised horror.

The steaming water had been bad enough; there was actually lava down there as well?

“No, that’s floor nine,” Gargan said before Jake could say anything. “Floor seven is the one with the ridiculous number of snakes.”

“Got it, yeah, not surprised that is where you struggled. Floor seven is where you really get into the second tier of a Dungeon, after all.”

Jake nodded, filing that information away for the future as he did. From what he remembered, there certainly had been a jump in difficulty between the sixth and seventh.

The more he spoke with Aspen and Gargan, the more Jake was realising that there was a structure to the Dungeons. They varied massively, the stark contrast between the rat Dungeon and this one, for instance, but they had specific rules they followed.

It was interesting, and Jake found himself genuinely looking forward to learning more.

“Anyway, we should crack on with this,” Aspen said, waving a hand in the vague direction of the shattered mountaintop. “Any thoughts on tactics and the like?”

“I think the same as we did for the last floor will be fine,” Jake said after a moment of thought. “You and I will focus on threats on the ground while Gargan and Alan take out any fliers.”

All three of the others nodded, and the group’s casual atmosphere faded as they began to walk up the long bridge to their next fight.

As they drew closer, Jake saw flickers of movement among the rocky lattice, confirming his earlier fears. Glancing back at Alan, he saw the familiar signs of the Scholar using his perception Skill, his gaze also on the distant lattice.

“I’m seeing just the one serpent up there, but it’s bigger than the others we’ve seen. Twice the size, at least. My guess is that it’s a Wind Serpent based on the description of the Lineage from earlier.” Alan rattled off the information as they neared the end of the bridge.

“I’ll prioritise the big one,” Gargan said with calm confidence. “You deal with any smaller ones that are hidden.”

“Got it,” Alan said, nocking an arrow as they reached the edge of the shattered mountain peak and slowly made their way onto it.

“Looks like it’s definitely just the one up there,” Aspen called back as they caught sight of the waiting raptors in the centre of the plateau.

Five of the Lesser Raptors were clinging to rocky columns, watching them carefully, but Jake’s focus was on the sixth one. Over twice as tall as the rest, the Enhanced Raptor stood on two powerful back legs, its long feathered tail lazily swaying from side to side.

Unlike the Lesser Raptors, the Enhanced had both wings and two forelegs, which ended in large claws. A thick layer of bone, almost like an exoskeleton, formed armour around the creature’s chest and head, protecting its vitals but leaving the large, tooth-filled snout exposed.

No doubt that bone armour was going to be difficult to get through, but it had limited coverage, leaving a lot for Jake to target if needed.

The Raptor had risen from where it had been lying on the ground when it saw them, its wings unfurling slightly before folding in tight against its flanks. At full height, the creature was just over five feet tall, but it was powerfully built and likely weighed more than either of them individually.

“Let’s deal with the big boy first, then mop up the rest. Any Abilities I should know about for this?” Aspen asked as the two of them approached the creature directly.

Alan and Gargan slowed down to wait near the edge; their attention focused on the threat above them. Thankfully, none of the raptors seemed to pay much attention to either of them, instead focusing on Jake and Aspen.

“Poison dagger that I can conjure and a standard infusion,” Jake said in a low tone as they approached the Raptor.

“Alright, well, let me take this opportunity to show you some of what I can do,” Aspen said, a grin spreading across his face as grey Wyrd wrapped around the head of his spear.

Flames licked up from the spearhead as the Wyrd washed over it, starting as little more than embers but growing until it was enveloped in flames before shrinking down to become a concentrated shroud around the edges of the spearhead.

Jake could feel the heat coming from the spear as the flames grew in strength, but Aspen seemed unbothered by such things and simply charged straight at the Raptor.

The Enhanced monster saw Aspen coming and growled before surging into motion and racing to meet him.

The Raptor was fast, very fast, but as the two clashed, it was left with a burning rent down its flank while Aspen was untouched.

Crimson feathers smouldered and burnt from where the spear had struck the creature, giving off an acrid smell that mixed with the stench of burnt flesh.

The Raptor started to turn back to Aspen before seeing Jake and racing toward him instead. The monster’s powerful legs were a blur as it sped towards him, its wings whipping out at the last moment as it jumped.

Jake threw himself sideways, narrowly avoiding the dagger-like claws of the creature’s hind legs as it landed where he’d been standing.

Aspen came rushing in, grey Wyrd trailing off of him as he shoulder-barged the creature and knocked it off balance.

Rolling to his feet, Jake moved to the creature’s far side as Aspen cut it again with his spear. The Raptor seemed unsure of how to deal with the flames so instead threw itself at Jake, claws raking at his face.

Ready for the attack, Jake moved back just far enough to dodge the vicious swipe, his infused riposte catching a forelimb and cleaving right through with a spray of blood.

Blood sprayed over Jake as Aspen impaled the creature from behind a moment later, his spear puncturing all the way through its chest and bone armour.

A shrieking hiss came from above as the Raptor slumped forward, its eyes glazing over. Taking no chances, Jake infused his sword with fresh Wyrd before hacking through its neck and finishing the creature.

Moments later, a burning feathered serpent that must have been six or seven feet long struck the ground with a wet thud. The monster’s face was a scorched ruin, and it had four arrows sticking out of it, two of which had been set on fire at some point.

The five Lesser Raptors came swarming in at them, darting forward to strike at Jake and Aspen as they recovered from the fight with the Enhanced Raptor.

An arrow caught one, and a flaming projectile crisped a second, leaving only three for the two fighters, which was hardly a challenge at this point.

If the Raptor had wounded them, the situation would have been different, but as it was, they cut down the three Beasts in a flurry of attacks.

“Well, that was fun,” Aspen declared as he pulled his spear from a dead monster, the flames wrapped around its head fading as he did. “Time to see what rewards we get.”