Seeds of Discordia

The adventurers who were sitting around in the eating and resting area of the building quickly stood up and pulled out their weapons. The staff, who were in the sea of tables and people pulled out their weapons as well, ready for anything.

They turned towards the direction where the throwing dagger had been thrown from. Waylon and Knox went to look at Liam and ask him if he was crazy but as they turned their heads, Liam was already sprinting through the crowd.

It was tight in some areas as the people stood up. Liam had bumped into a few angry adventurers who were tense and confused as to what happened. Shouts and curses escaped the lips of many people as their eyes followed Liam. Liam ignored them all as his focus was only on one thing. The horrifying spider creature that tried to land on the man who was still passed out on the table.  

After he finally escaped from the adventurers who were on high alert and now focused on him, Liam approached the dead creature pinned against the wall. As he walked up to it, the adventurers started to make their way towards him. Their weapons were still brandished and as they tried to determine if Liam was a threat to them or not.

After taking two steps, the sound of flapping wings sounded above their heads while a shadow flew over their heads. The adventurers in the back followed the silhouette as she flew towards Liam and landed herself between both her comrade and the ready to fight adventurers. Her smooth handle looked like it was made out of a strong sturdy bone. The sharp serrated blade with a crimson hue morphed as it hardened as if it turned into stone. She glared at everyone who looked like they were going to attack through the eye holes of her skull helmet.

As if running through tall grass, a smaller form zipped through the sea of people. His pointed fox ears were barely visible as his tail ping ponged back and forth against everyone’s legs. He arrived a second after his dragon-kin companion dropped down, his arms crossed against his chest challenging anyone to make a move.

The people in the front row looked confused but were more on edge as they recognized their races. They were sure why a Dragon-kin and a Kitsune Fox-folk were there, let alone shielding someone. Their confusion only grew even more as a loud voice called out for them to kindly move out of the way.

A few people turned to see an orc trying to make his way through the crowded sea of adventurers. As he approached the front the people who turned to see him stood there and stared at him with a puzzled expression. Artem stared at them as he asked with as humbled of a voice as he had, “Um, excuse me, but I need to get by.”

The people he had spoken to were shocked. Never had they ever come across a member of the Blood Thirst Plain tribes speaking with sincerity, let alone not just plow their way through the crowd like someone who was self-important. His size told them he could have easily pushed his way through, but he didn’t and that was more of a shock than seeing the Kitsune Fox-folk and the Dragon-kin appear there to shield the man they wanted answers from.

After coming out of the shock they slowly and cautiously moved out of the way. They believed that he was probably on his way to confront the three since they were used to members of the Blood Thirst Plains tribes starting a fight with anyone who looked strong.

Everyone tensed as they believed this to be the case as the Kitsune Fox-folk suddenly said in irritated tone, “Dude what the hell is wrong with you?”

This was it. They were ready to protect themselves as they expected the Orc to explode with anger over the rude tone of the smaller figure. However, their expectations were shattered as the Kitsune added, “I keep telling you man you need to be more assertive.”

The crowd was taken aback as the orc, or rather half orc, now that they were able to get a better look of the guy, say with a subdued tone, “I know, but there is so many people and they are both tense and confused at what is going on.” The Half Orc had taken a spot on the other side of the female Dragon-kin, turned towards the crowd while turning his head to the Kitsune on the other side. “If I pushed my way through then that could start an unnecessary fight.”

Many people couldn’t believe what they were hearing. An orc was being…considerate? Not only that, but it looked like the three were working together. Three races known not to mesh well together were standing side by side conversing and shielding another unknown.

Waylon, Knox, and Chad stood their baffled and confused. They were still trying to process what had just happened.

“Did he just throw a dagger and perfectly strike a falling spider?” Waylon questioned as he looked at Knox.

“Did you see his speed and agility? He ran through that crowd easily,” Knox added.

Chad glowered as he turned his eyes on the two. “Don’t let such miniscule things impress you,” Chad huffed. “Crafters are known to have their precision and Fine Motor Sub-stats at a decent level due to having to craft. As for his speed and agility, he must have ran so much from not trying to die in the Tutorial Dungeon that it must be his highest sub-stat.”

Knox and Waylon looked at him. They thought over what he was saying and slowly agreed with his logic.

“I guess that could be it,” Knox stated slowly, not entirely sure about it.

“I mean it kind of makes sense,” Waylon added. “Still though, that was pretty impressive.”

Are you guys idiots? Gimmel wanted to say. He didn’t though since he didn’t want to get on their bad sides. However, he replayed the movements Liam displayed just moments ago. Those were not the movements of someone who only crafts. He thought it was strange for his uncle to take on an apprentice who would have a non-combat class, but after seeing this…he was starting to understand there was something else going on and there was a big chance he was wrong about Liam.

Whispers and murmurs started to spread throughout the room as employees of the Adventurers Association tried to make their way up to where Liam, Artem, Blair, and Roman were. Their attempts were hindered as their calls and shouts fell on deaf ears.

Before any of the employee trapped in the sea of people could resort to more physical or magical means, a loud voice called out, “What the hell is going on here?”

   Everyone turned towards the source of the voice to see two men walking out from the hallway over by the receptionists desk. One of the two men was Don. He stood slightly behind the man who had yelled out. This gentleman was a man who stood taller than Don and many of the others in the building. The only ones who stood around the same height as him were Artem and a few Bear-folks. He had a muscular build which was prominent due to his tight shirt. He had no bestial features which meant he wasn’t a Beast-kin.

“Well?” the man tried again. “Cat’s got all of yer tongues or what?”

Liam didn’t turn to look at the man right away. Instead he assessed the creature that was pinned against the wall to reconfirm that it was what he feared it was.

[Toxo Corpse Controller. 0/35 HP. 0/700 MP. Level – 6.]

“God fucking damn it,” Liam quietly hissed. He placed a hand on the body and looted it. He minimized the notification to look at later as he turned to look at the man who had everyone else’s attention. He was talking to someone who was pointing at him, Artem, Blair, and Roman. The man turned his attention towards them as he listened to the people around him.

Liam noticed Don and was about to call out to him, but stopped as he realized he wasn’t wearing his mask nor his disguise he had with his Spirit Weave ability. He had almost outed himself due to the issue that was going on. Instead he waited for the taller man to say something.

It didn’t take long for the man to call out with a deep booming voice, “It seems I have you four to ask for the tension in the room. May I ask what issue was dire enough for you to throw a dagger over everyone’s head?”

Artem, Blair, and Roman looked at each other before turning to Liam who had walked in front of the three. “I apologize for the sudden disturbance that I have caused, but once you come over here and see the nasty pest I have pinned against the wall, I believe you will forgive my actions.”

The taller man raised a brow as he stared at Liam. After a few seconds he said, “Alright. If you could give me a moment I will be right there.”

As the man took a step forward the people in front of him moved out of the way, giving him a path right towards the four. Don followed right behind him.

As soon as the man approached the four he stopped and reached a hand out. “I don’t think I have met any of you before. I am Brodie. The Branch Manager of this Adventurer’s Association. May I ask your names?”

“Artem,” Artem replied.

“Blair,” Blair responded.

Roman narrowed his eyes as he stared at Brodie’s hand. After a second he said, “Roman.”

Brodie looked at each and shook their hand as they spoke. His eyes landing on Liam as Liam informed while reaching his own out, “I am Liam.” The man’s grip was firm. Liam could tell he was strong just from the handshake alone.

“Well, Liam, Artem, Blair, and Roman,” Brodie started. “Can you enlighten me what this pest is?”

Liam moved out of the way and pointed to the Toxo Corpse Controller that was still pinned to the wall thanks to Liam’s dagger. Liam heard an intake of air come from both Brodie and Don as they stared at the creature.

Brodie quickly looked at Don who gave the man a See I told you look.

Brodie let out some colorful words that would make a sailor blush back on Earth before asking Liam, “What exactly happened? Where did this creature come from?”

Liam stared at the man. he could see a storm of anger and fear started to boil within his eyes.

“I don’t where it came from,” Liam started as he kept his eyes on the man through his goggles. “However, I was talking with some people here and noticed something strange crawling on the ceiling. I didn’t think much at first, however, after it stopped moving right above someone I witnessed it transform into this monstrosity.”

Brodie and Don looked at the area where Liam had pointed where he was and then to the ceiling. Brodie narrowed his eyes on Liam as he asked, “You say you saw it crawling and transform, but how? The only people that I know that have great eyesight on this island are Beast-kin. Albeit, not all Beast-kin have heightened sight. I don’t mean to pry or sound rude, but you don’t look like a Beast-kin.”

Liam let out a sigh as he pulled his goggles up for the man to get a better look at his eyes.

To Liam’s surprise, Brodie nodding while saying, “Ah I see. That makes much more sense now.” Brodie then looked at Don and stated, “Looks like your information was right. This isn’t good at all.”

Don nodded while keeping his eyes on Liam. He didn’t respond to Brodie, but instead asked Liam, “You said it stopped over someone and transformed. If that was the case then why is it pinned against this wall and not the ceiling?”

Liam pulled his goggles back down and answered, “That is because it was trying to lower itself down onto the person. I didn’t know what would happen and a creature like this doesn’t exist in my old world, so I thought it was best to kill it.”

Liam noticed both men suddenly tense.

Brodie quickly asked, “Who was it trying to land on?”

Liam looked towards the direction he last saw the male who tried falling asleep. He saw his buddy shaking him, trying to wake him up. Liam pointed towards the two men as he replied, “That guy who passed out. The one who is being shook right now.”

Don and Brodie spun around to look at what Liam was talking about. As soon as their eyes landed on the man, they both shouted while pointing, “Get away from that man right now!”

Everyone in the building stopped their talking as they stared at the two men. The man who was shaking his friend awake stopped to look at what the two men were saying. However, as he took his eyes off his friend he didn’t see the nasty green liquid being coughed up from the sleeping man’s mouth as the color of his skin paled.

As the man looked back down at his friend, the once living man now turned Undead, swiftly snapped his jaws down on his friends outreached hand.

The man let out a pained yelled as he tried to jerk his hand free. He was able to once the Undead person opened his mouth. The creature tried to jump at him and bite him again, but as he moved, a strong hand gripped the side of its face and was slammed down to the ground.

“Get back! Now!” Brodie demanded as he took out a massive War Hammer and slammed the blunt end down, splattering the undead’s head all over the floor. The creature’s arms twitched a few times before finally halting.

Don appeared next to the man who was bite and examined his wound. Before the man could complain, Don pulled out two potions Liam didn’t recognize. He opened one and poured it over the bite wound and watched as a steam hissed from the wound while closing it. He then opened the other and ordered, “Drink this. Now!”

The man, a bit shell shocked by everything that had just happened stared at Don.

“What are you waiting for?!” Don yelled as he slapped the man across the face.

The sudden pain from the slap brought the shell shocked man out of the daze he was in. he quickly grabbed the flask and downed the contents within it. After he finished the last bit of it, he gagged once, twice, three times before looking at Don and said with a croak, “Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me yet,” Don started. “Has the Debuff disappeared?”

The man, confused at first, looked at his information. He then looked at Don and responded, “I don’t see a Debuff. If I had one its gone now.”

Don stared at the man for a long moment before nodding and saying, “Alright, good.” He then looked at the headless Undead before turning his attention towards Brodie.

Brodie gave him a grave look before nodding. Brodie then grabbed a chair, pulled it over to a table, then used it as a stepping ladder to prompt himself on a table. The table creaked for just a moment as the man’s weight bared down on it. After Brodie determined it would hold he looked at all of the tensed and confused adventurers and employees.

He cleared his throat before stating, “I know everyone is confused with everything that had just happened. I will not lie…I am still trying to process everything that has come to light.”

Whispers and murmurs started to spread.

“However, there is something I am certain of right now thanks to the living…or rather dead proof before us,” Brodie stated. “This island has a deadly pest control that, if not taken care of, will kill all of us and all of the citizens on the island.”

The whispers and murmurs started growing the more they listened to Brodie.

“There have been reports of certain creatures suddenly appearing in the dungeons that should not be there. We had no answers as to how that could have happened,” Brodie continued as he faced everyone. “Not too long, before all of this happened, I was brought information that a certain creature was sighted in one of our dungeons…”

Brodie waited for the muttering to quiet down a bit before continuing. He didn’t blame them. everything that was currently going on was too much, happening too fast for even the most mentally capable to keep up.

“I was skeptical at first since the only evidence that was brought before me was loot that only that species would drop,” Brodie explained. “However, thanks to one of our own adventurers noticing something wasn’t right and killing a creature with a throwing dagger, it caused a big enough of a disturbance that it brought the attention it needed to stop another disaster from happening.”

Still confused with what Brodie was going on with people couldn’t hold back as some started yelling out questions. Their tension and concerns were starting to get the better of them.

Don called out for everyone to quiet down as Brodie yelled out, “I know you all want questions, but I am getting there.” It didn’t quiet them all down, but the volume was brought down enough that Brodie was able to speak clearly again.

He started back up. “There have been some rumors floating around town just recently that there was a chance that a Black Dungeon is hidden somewhere on this island. Since no one had reported any sighting of one, many of us believed it to be just what it started off as…a rumor.”

Liam heard the whispers amongst the adventurers. Some whispered things like, I knew it or how could that be? Others whispered confusion like, this is the first I’ve heard of this or how could one be here without any officials informing the people? Liam had no complaints with their whispers. Ultimately both sides were right.

“However, as of this second I am telling you with the proof set before us that those rumors are true. And, not only are they true, but it is one of the worst kind of Black Dungeons that could have appeared,” Brodie informed. He tried to continue, but the volume of the adventurers rose once more.

“What do you mean by that?”

“How can that be?”

“What kind of Black Dungeon is it?”

“I’ve never been in a Black Dungeon before how is it any worse than the other dungeons?”

Brodie waved his arms up and down trying to quiet everyone. Once the volume was managed he continued, “I don’t know what the Dungeon Type is, but we have confirmation on the Creatures. It is a Toxo Dungeon.”

Liam watched as half of the adventurers exploded.

“What the hell do you mean a Toxo Dungeon?!”

“You can’t be serious?!”

“Where’s the proof?!”

“You want proof?” Liam suddenly shouted. He didn’t understand why he did, but from what he was hearing, he could tell the ones that knew what a Toxo was didn’t want to accept it. He turned his body enough for everyone to see the creature pinned against the wall. “Here’s the proof! This is a Toxo Corpse Controller. Assess it for yourselves.”

Everyone turned to look at the spider-like monstrosity.

He heard some gasp while others cursed.

The ones who didn’t know what it was, muttered amongst the others, wanting to know why there was such a reaction from the others. Before anyone could get any answers, Chad asked out loud, “You’re kidding right? You’re afraid of such a small spider? Seriously? What is so scary about it?”

Chad’s sudden outburst brought a lot of narrowed eyes and ire his direction. Before anyone could chastise him, Brodie responded, “You want to know why people are taking a small creature like that so seriously? Alright, I’ll tell you. One bite from a creature known as a Toxo Scout Spreader can infect creatures outside of its species with something known as Rageful Rabies Venom. If you can’t get that cured then it will chip away at your life until you’re dead. After you die your body will turn into an Undead Creature. When that happens,” Brodie pointed to the Toxo Corpse Controller, “That creature right there, a Toxo Corpse Controller will try to take control of your body so it can use it for their swarm.”

Someone tried to say something but was stopped as Brodie then pointed to the Undead corpse on the floor. “That right there. He was infected and was turned. This Toxo Corpse Control must have sensed it and followed him here and tried to control him right before he turned. This is just one of the major things you have to worry about when it comes to the Toxos.”

“But,” Chad tried to interject.

“No buts. This is not the time for buts,” Brodie snapped, starting to lose his patience. “I am ordering an Emergency Adventurers Quest to everyone here and on the island. We must find the Black Dungeon hidden on this island before it is too late. If anyone has seen any strange spiders acting weird, I must ask you to step forth and let us know now. if you haven’t seen any strange behavior with spiders then…”

Liam’s attention unfocused as something tickled the back of his mind. Boride’s mention of spiders acting weird brought his thoughts on what Sleight had warned him about.

If you see any insects that stand out, keep a careful eye on them.

Sleights warning had helped him on catching the Toxo Corpse Controller before it fell on the man that had turned into an Undead. Thanks to that he noticed something about the creature that brought about other memories. Before it had transformed into what it looked like right now it had looked like a normal spider. A normal spider that had weird behavioral patterns. Much like the ones he had seen moving along the walls towards a closed door in the Dungeon Tower.

Liam’s eyes widened as he pieced some things together. No one knew what was behind that door. No had anyone seen the people who guarded it open it once. That was another realization Liam had come to. The Beast-kin guarding that door, if they knew what was behind it, they would have reported it. However, if they did not then that meant they were not actual Beast-kins, but Demon-kins. Demon-kins who were Cult members of the Seven Immoral Vices in disguise.

Liam’s body couldn’t hold still after thinking it all over carefully. Even if he was wrong, this was likely the best lead he had. Artem, Blair, and Roman saw Liam suddenly move and followed quickly behind him. They knew he was thinking things over. They hadn’t been on the island for long so their knowledge about the events wasn’t as great as his. Silently, they agreed to let him take the lead. They believed he would fill them in on everything as they went on.

“Brodie!” Liam shouted as he pushed his way through the crowd. People shouted with irritation, but eventually moved out of the way as Liam approached the Branch Manager.

Brodie and Don looked down at Liam and noticed the expression on his face.

With a serious tone, Brodie asked, “What’s wrong? Do you have an idea?”

“The Dungeon Tower!” Liam suddenly blurted.

“The Dungeon Tower?” Brodie and Don questioned.

“The Door that the guards are stationed by,” Liam started again. “I have seen spiders make their way towards that door and slip underneath. I never questioned it because I didn’t know what was considered normal behavior here. But that has to be it.”

Brodie looked at Don. Don gave him a look that said It’s worth a shot.

Brodie turned to look at him and was about to respond. However, before he could utter a word, loud screams entered the building from outside.