Soul Merger

Alissa was quite familiar with the Star Needle Labyrinth. It was one of the more commonly used dungeons for training. The upper floors were wide halls filled with orcs and ants, while beneath was a marsh that had lizardmen along with other creatures. With a wide variety of weak but cunning monsters, teams liked to test strategies here.

Which meant the bustling guild warehouse above it was filled with rare merges. Adventurers tended to pick things outside the norm, or have it forced upon them. Rosalina wasn't the only dragon in the room Alissa saw when she walked through the doors.

Still a female minotaur merge stood out. Literally. The blonde woman was wearing the outfit of a traveling merchant. Leather for protection and a fine stole to show off wealth. But she was eight feet tall and obviously had a lot of muscle hiding under a thin fat layer. The small ballista she was using as a crossbow also was fairly unique.

She walked over and waved to Rosalina, before offering her hand to the new woman. "Good morning. I'm Alissa."

"Clara." The woman's handshake was cautious but firm. She'd obviously gotten used to her strength. "Thanks for letting me join. Not many groups want an archer who uses a crossbow."

Rosalina leaned forwards. "I was going to ask about that. Seems like it'd be easier to use a regular bow." Alissa internally sighed as the priestess once again poked at what was likely a sore spot.

"My chest gets in the way," Clara said bluntly. And now Alissa's pain was sympathy pangs. She knew this problem well. "But I can load this bow by hand so don't worry about speed. Looks big but it's only a three hundred pound draw weight." Her voice had just enough humor for Alissa to tell the woman was bragging.

"Ah!" Alissa turned to see Fili hurrying towards them. The slight mage stumbled to a stop next to her, breathing heavily. "Sorry I'm late! I lost track of time while setting up my spells. I needed stuff that could be cast quickly, and bypassed the resistances, and yeah...."

Rosalina waved off the apology. "It's fine. We're all here early. And the labyrinth isn't moving."

"Which layers are still open?" Alissa asked, looking at the board by the guild tables. Since this dungeon was mostly used for practice, adventurers tended to post which layers they were using so there weren't too many on one floor.

Clara gestured to the board. "I checked when I came in. Dungeon floor one is free of course. The topmost Swamps floor is clear too, if you're willing to bring an untested fighter that far down."

"Sounds fine to me," Rosalina said. "Alissa and I can both solo that floor. We should be good so long as we take basic precautions."

Reality was a little more complex than that Alissa mused, but it was good enough for now. She didn't see any reason to distrust the other women. "I'm ready whenever."

"So the goal is to make enough to cover the entry fee and lunch?" Clara asked, shouldering her crossbow.

"A fine goal," Rosalina said. "Let's make it a good meal!"

They went through the guild line and registered their trip, then set out to the lift that would take them through the first layer. The room-sized elevator looked more like a cell than anything designed for movement, but it was the only safe way down through the fortress halls. They walked through the single door in the iron barred walls, then shut it to start the lift moving.

Alissa tensed a little as the iron cage creaked and shivered on the way down. She knew the labyrinth lifts were more durable than anything built by human hands, but it didn't feel that way.

As they reached the fourth floor Fili spoke up. "Should I summon light, or do we want to stick to the torches?"

Alissa was pleased to see Rosalina looking at her for the answer. "Bright light please. The torches only help the defenders. If I can't sneak around, let's make it so no one can sneak."

"That seems fair to me," Clara said with a chuckle.

Fili smiled and summoned up a pretty strong light orb. She placed it above Clara's head so no one would be blinded staring right at it. Alissa nodded and took up position at the front. She shook off the lingering sleepiness and drew her knife. It was time to get things done.

The group started down the wide stone brick hallways that led to the ramp down. The echoing steps of her teammates put Alissa on edge. They were at least trying to keep the excess noise down, but she was too used to soloing. Being followed just naturally raised her hackles.

As she reached a junction, her paranoia paid off. A thin rope was placed just above the floor level. Something more likely to be stepped on than trip anyone. She lifted a hand to stop the other's then checked the crossroad. Rubble to either side. Good spot for an ambush. Looking up the rope, it led to a bucket hanging behind the arch. No idea what was in it, but she probably didn't want it on her.

Stepping back, she moved to Fili. "You have something explosive?" she asked softly.

Fili nodded, her glistening hands moving to one of the spell chips on her staff. "Might not kill them all though."

Rosalina moved over. "Clara and I will handle the survivors, then we join your fight?"

"Yeah." It might not be the best plan but it would do.

Alissa drew her sword and placed it under the rope. She counted down from three on the fingers of her left hand, then sliced through the rope with a flick of her wrist. As the bucket fell she gave it a solid kick sending the liquid flying down the corridor. That done she slipped into the junction and let her cape fall back.

Two pig headed orcs stood as she showed herself, both with axes and torches. As they looked at her their mouths fell open. And then a massive explosion went off behind her.

Her targets broke out into panicked and confused squealing, and so Alissa rushed forwards. As she readied her dagger a crossbow bolt flew past and embedded in the further orc's eye. So she threw her knife at the closer one. The gleaming blade hit the orc's bare chest and bounced off the ribs, but the jolt of pain sent it spasming to the ground.

Alissa moved in and stabbed it in the throat.

A twist of the blade to wrench it free and then she was looking for other threats. Nothing was down this hallway. Turning back she saw the other corridor was scorched and smoldering. No wonder Clara had taken one of her targets. Nothing was going to survive that.

Rosalina was shaking her head in mock disappointment. "Fili, I think you underestimated your spell. It's not good to be too humble."

"It wasn't me!" Fili protested. "You might have missed it but there was a secondary explosion. I think they had gunpowder."

"That would explain the oil trap," Clara said, smearing the liquid the bucket had dropped. "Douse a group in oil, light it, and then throw in a barrel of powder."

The group looked over the failed ambush point. "Clever," Alissa reluctantly admitted.

"Good thing you saw the trap," Rosalina said. "I can't heal someone who's been blown to little bits." She pulled out a carving knife. "And on the subject of little bits, let's get our bounty."

A bit of grisly work got them enough money to cover half the entry fee. It was too bad the gunpowder had exploded. That would have fetched a fair price. But it was better destroyed than used against them.

That complete they headed down the corridors again. No other monsters had set up any ambushes or wandered into the path, so it was quiet until they reached the drawbridge leading to the Swamps.

The drawbridge that connected the two layers was the perfect introduction to the swamps. A messy patched together slab of wood planks, slanted at a horrible angle that forced everyone to crab walk down to avoid slipping on moss, and ending at a muddy reed lined path.

"You know if you ever figure out a way to etch that laundry spell of yours into a device, you'll make a fortune," Alissa remarked to Fili as they began scouting out a good hunting route.

"I heard the ancients used to have magic items that did the same stuff," Fili said. "But it's been lost to time. My spell requires a dual invocation so it can't be engraved by modern methods. It's too bad."

Clara checked over her crossbow again. "I keep hearing how impressive the ancient's magic was before the fall. Were they really that far ahead of us? Seems kinda hard for so much to be lost without a trace."

Fili nodded eagerly. "It's really interesting! A lot of scraps that remain are in the hands of wizard towers and religious groups. But we know from their writings that they used to have spells with millions of lines. Today, trying a spell with a thousand lines is really pushing your luck. However they had inferior materials due to the lack of labyrinths, so we can do some things they never dreamed of."

"Well, it seems like someone actually stayed awake in class." Rosalina laughed.

Fili shrunk a little, so Alissa walked forwards and patted her on the head. "It is interesting. No need to be embarrassed about liking something."

"Yeah." Rosalina smirked. "I'm mostly laughing at myself and my tutors. I wasn't interested in learning, and they weren't interested in teaching. Probably a mistake on my end but, oh well. Can't alter the past."

Clara nodded. "It's too bad so much of that knowledge is under lock and key at the towers. Of course if rich merchants had it they'd probably flog it off for ten crowns so...."

Alissa snorted in agreement, then rechecked her map. "Getting back to work, I think the best route would be the southern path. Easy to follow and if we get turned around we can use a compass to get back on track."

"That sounds good. Just keep an eye out for green slimes," Rosalina said. "We aren't coated in metal but I still don't want to replace all my buckles."

Fili sighed. "Don't worry. If there's any slimes in the area they'll run up and hug my legs. And then I'll boil them."

Well that sounded lovely. Alissa filed that under 'things she was glad she didn't have to deal with,' before checking the path ahead. There wasn't any sign of any other team walking down this path so it should be infested by monsters by now. Exactly what they were aiming for. "Keep your guard up. Most of the monsters are too stupid to wait to spring a trap, but some have learned to attack the back row first."

"Right." "Of course!" "Okay." The others chorused their agreement, and they began to travel down the path. Instead of walls the routes were broken up by brackish water, though hidden paths were strewn about. Alissa mostly kept those in mind to make sure they weren't going to get a monster on their flank unexpectedly.

At first she felt fairly confident. But as she continued on and on, she started to get worried. Where were the monsters? This level hadn't been cleaned. There should have been some to clean out by now. Labyrinths naturally spawned creatures to plague humanity.

Rosalina was first to break the concerned silence. "Something's wrong."

Alissa was forced to nod. "I've never seen something like this."

"Kinda worrisome," Clara said. "We wanna pull back and try a different path? No point getting killed over a training run."

It was a good question. "I don't think so. If there's something weird we'll want to scout it for the guild. Just be ready to run if things get bad."

With that they pressed further into the labyrinth.