CH: 22, 23, 24

22

We stood in front of the boss run door as ready as possible. The 9ft tall four-armed three-faced wolf undead filled with worms carried a massive war hammer and tower shield, two hands each. It was armored in chainmail and balanced on goat hooves instead of the canine that made up his legs. Wormed wrapped around hard muscle and hide around its fully armored form. It was ready to battle with its mishappen uncommon helmet built for three canine faces.

Four undead captured and in a single body was my limit.

As it turned out, my capture limit was directly related to charisma. There were two ways to gain charisma in the dungeon for me. The first was chatting with my party, and the second was led by mobs. The dungeon also did me a solid and dropped some capture cards. So instead of leaving my obvious undead abomination behind, I could card it. Thanks to the glow from the card, I could use capture through it instead of the torches to immediately store monsters.

It seemed the dungeon liked my idea of combining the monsters into a new amalgam. Dropped armor worked to power the monster up even more. It started out with 60HP and increased with equipment. Its HP increased to 150 with 45DEF. Add the shield to it, and it was a real monster, no doubt about it.

We were ready to kick ass and take names, then get back to grinding out stats on the next floor.

“I’m buffing our movement speed; let the monster take point,” Zeff said.

Our arrow had changed. Azizi and I were behind our mob on either side to take care of flanking. Haki was behind Zeff, and the zebra was between us and Haki. The last thing we wanted was for our healer and buffer to get ghosted.

I peeled the duct tape off Double Helix and felt it hum in anticipation. This was going to get good. We had three bosses to poke holes into.

Not to mention my spear had the best damage ever. 50-175 + DEX then add a D10 for every 10 points in DEX. It was a legendary weapon with legendary damage. My DEX with equipment and MOD was 71. That meant my minimum damage was 128, and my maximum was 316 per hit. Then my burst spell was calculated. That was an extra 6D4s in damage at a minimum of 6 light damage which was doubled, and the maximum of 24 doubled against undead making it 48. The most I could deal per hit at one time was 364. I could kill my own boss mob with 2 hits. Of course, that doesn’t count damage doubling criticals or the fact I had to hit the enemy.

Bosses weren’t quite the same as mobs.

The second we stepped through the doors, a spider made of feet and hooves charged. My mob blocked it with its shield, and the monster dragged it into its center of mass and grappled it with its many legs. Like that, my mob was a nonfactor for the rest of the fight. I ordered it to keep the boss busy and swung my spear at a skeleton of worms and bone. The boss seemed to teleport. I stabbed but failed to activate burst before a skeleton kicked me out of formation. A long sticky tongue shot after me, and I saw a zombie toad the size of an elephant.

The dungeon clearly cheated. I stabbed the ground and pole-vaulted to my feet. A boom shook the chamber as the toad leaped. The skeleton boss shot after Zeff while Azizi struggled to hit it with her mace. A single hit might be deadly, but she had to hit the damn thing. I pointed at the monster and used capture. At that moment, I lost concentration when the toad’s tongue hit me from behind.

My feet left the ground as the monster reeled me into its mouth. “Burst,” I yelled and aimed a kick at the monster’s lip. The blow nearly snapped my legs but gave me the moment I needed to stab the toad with double helix. Coagulated blood and worms erupted from the monster like a geyser. A single blow from my spear had been too much, even for a health pool as chunky as the toads.

The skeleton monster crawled after Zeff after Azizi took the monster’s leg out with her mace. I limped forward and stabbed it in the bag with my spear. The damage appeared to be one-fourth of what it should have been because it was a skeleton. But double light damage finished it after Azizi’s blow.

“This room would have destroyed us without a mob to take that first hit,” Azizi yelled.

“Yea, it’s a good thing our mob was on point,” I said.

I walked over to the spider and stabbed it. The monster shook before dying, holding my mob even tighter in death. My mob managed to crawl out while the boss was dissolving into goo.

“That was anticlimactic,” Hati said.

“I will rape your sister if you don’t shut it,” Azizi said.

“For the last time, I don’t have a sister,” Hati said.

“By the dungeon crack already, I want to meet some sweet slutty wolves,” Azizi said.

A scroll dropped from each of the bosses with a key and a pair of really nice boots that looked my size. They glowed yellow with their rare value. The spider dropped two yellow glowing items still covered in dissolving goop, giving us 4 rare items and 3 scrolls.

“We have two more floors before we’re done, and it's already been four hours since we entered,” Zeff said.

We needed Zeff if we wanted to descend at a reasonable pace. His movement speed buff really made us a quick and efficient fighting force. It even worked on my monster. Having that behemoth take point and clear any traps gave them a leg up.

I didn’t want to give Zeff more loot, but I couldn’t alienate him either. Zeff could be considered the most important member of their party. We couldn’t let him walk.

“Time won’t be a problem, as you know,” Azizi said.

What did that mean?

“Azizi’s from a powerful clan, and my parents were adventurers. We know about the time dilation of the lower floors.” Hati pointed at his eyes and back at Azizi. “We’re going to have a reckoning about that comment,” Hati said.

I stepped between them and held my hands up. “Not here; what did you mean by time dilation? Are we talking years in days on the outside or double time per floor?” I asked.

I could grind on the second floor and get really strong in a very short time. I had plenty of endurance. Actually, that should become my most important stat. More time in the dungeons meant more growth in all my stats.

Wait, how did others increase their stats without going into dungeons? That was a mystery no one had seen fit to enlighten me with. I was missing out on a power-up. What did I need to do to get these people to spill their guts?

“I assumed you were all as clueless as the monkey. The next floor is 5 hours in for everyone out. After that, some say it's 50 hours for every hour outside. No one who has been to the fourth floor has spoken of the time dilation, but it's even more extreme. if rumors are true, Supplies have been known to run out quickly on the lower floors, and powerful adventurers die.” Zeff said.

“You are a really smart guy; the priesthood taught you well. I’m glad you were banished to our backwater dungeon town instead of to a big fancy place. I’m sure Alayaberg or Alaya Penitentiary would have been happy to have you.” Hati said.

“Stop both of you; we need to divide the loot. Someone is going to have to go without. There are four pieces of rare equipment here and three random scrolls. Does anyone want to give up a piece of equipment for a scroll, and will anyone give up a scroll for 2 pieces of equipment?” Azizi asked.

I thought about it, and I could use either well enough.

“Who did the most work they shouldn’t have to choose?” Hati said.

“You should give all three scrolls to me; it's not like the rest of you have the training to use their contents,” Zeff said.

“You almost ran out of mana with two spells. A third one is more than you can handle. Do we know what classes these scrolls have?” I asked.

Azizi carried them over under everyone’s watchful gaze and laid them down. Each scroll had a wax symbol on them. One was fire, another was a skull, and the last was a drop of poison.

“Poison is practically useless against the undead; we might as well sell it in town,” Zeff said.

“This won’t be our only dungeon. Alaya’s dungeon features living beings of fiery destruction. Water and poison spells are some of the only effective weapons against them.” Azizi said.

“Maybe Vincent should get the skull scroll for the big guy. I would like our walking tank to have more tricks than to take hits.” Hati said.

“Filthy dog, true necromantic spells must be licensed. I will not allow him to learn a single spell from such a scroll.” Zeff said.

I wasn’t interested in getting licensed, but once I managed to snag a bag of holding, maybe I could start collecting them.

“Let's not worry about the scrolls for now. Besides the fire scroll, non of them will help us now. I think we should save them to be sold or used later. Do I have any objections?”

Zeff seethed and eyed the scrolls greedily. The priest wanted them, but he wasn’t about to make a play for them while the others were watching.

“I think you have the right idea; we’ve wasted too much time on them. That leaves the gear.” Hati said.

I grabbed the boots and looked them over while the others searched the other three. After some looking, I traded my boots out successfully.

Fierce Boots lvl2

DEF 12

+6 DEX

+5 STR

Armor Ability Slots: 1/1

Value 25 Credits

Stats   Equip  MOD

STR 31 +16 x1.3

CON 34 +19 x1.3

END 28  +10 x1.3

DEX 32 +30 x1.3

PER 20 +10 x1.3

INT 31 +10 x1.3

WIS 28 +10 x1.3

CHA 36 +10 x1.3

LUK 30 +10 x1.3

They felt like they were made for me, and my grieves easily tucked into them to help keep my feet dry. I didn’t know equipment besides legendary could have ability slots. That was something I had to explore when I found one. While legendary equipment could be leveled, rare couldn’t.

Zeff quickly tied a metal-plated scarf around his neck before tying his robe over it. The zebra appeared content with his choice.

Azizi slid a new pair of chainmail over her head, and she looked ready to bulldoze some zombies.

Hati stared at his drop. “Is this a joke?” Hati looked around, but no answer was forthcoming. “How did I happen to find a wolf piece? Why is it so veiny?”

“You don’t have to wear it,” I said.

“No, the stats are too good to go without.”

“Speaking of stats, where do people who never enter dungeons get their stats,” I asked.

“Are you testing me? I thought everyone knew about shards?” Hati asked.

I gave the wolfman a look, and he sighed and gave Azizi a pleading look.

She put her hands on her hips and sighed. “Yea, I figured you went without. On the second floor and below, mobs drop an item called a shard. They can be consumed for an increase in a single stat. Rarity determines how many of each you can consume before they stop working. Common has a limit of 10, uncommon 25, and rare is 100. Legendary shards are said to have a limit of 250. But they are too valuable for consumption by adventurers. Besides legendary, the maximum amount of stat points that can be raised with shards is 100.” Azizi said.

“Most prostitutes purchase shards with their earnings to increase their charisma and dexterity to improve their business. Some brothels will buy their employees shards as a starting bonus.” Zeff said.

I knew exactly what I would spend my shards on. The answer was obviously endurance. Stamina seemed to be the determining factor in dungeons, which were the only way to increase stats. More endurance would make killing 1000 and 10,000 enemies easier to get two more levels in my skill tree.

My party still gave me looks like this poor child never had anything.

“This was good to know, thank you.”

…

23

We unlocked the gate, entered a snug elevator, and rode it down hundreds of feet. My party looked nervous, especially Azizi. She kept checking her new mace and testing her grip. Zeff tugged at his scarf, and Hati tried not to touch his crotch.

“So what’s the second floor like?” I asked.

The zebra man froze. “Are you telling me you entered a dungeon without knowing the mob makeup of its floors?” Zeff asked.

“Unless the next floor is nothing but puzzles, it doesn’t matter,” I said.

“When you open your math, be ready to eat humble pie,” Azizi said.

“Wait, you can’t be serious?” I tried to move, but there wasn’t any space, and the elevator started smelling like unwashed balls. “What kind of puzzles?” I asked.

Hati looked up. “Let me handle this one.” Zeff and Azizi went silent. “There are twelve known puzzles and over a hundred unknown ones. Some are riddles, based on fairy tales, or literally puzzles. Not many make it to the second floor and those that don’t want any competition. If someone asks you about a puzzle, keep your mouth shut. If we talk, the other teams might find us in the dungeon, and we won’t return.” Hati said.

“So 12 groups talked,” I said.

“The monkey can learn,” Zeff said.

“Don’t talk about Vin like that; he’s my friend and our tank. I don’t care how clueless he is; he’s our duckling.” Hati said.

“Quak Quak,” I said.

“That’s the spirit,” Hati said.

“So, which one of your sisters do you think would like Vincent best?” Azizi asked.

“Skuld likes her men clueless about the world and dungeon. I don’t have a sister,” Hati said.

His sister sounded like a con artist. Getting with her sounded like a bad idea. She sounded like the type of girl who would string me along and suck every coin out of me.

The elevator stopped, and the door slid open. Flickering revealed the floor of red, irritated flesh covered in appendages like blades of grass. Small slimy filaments covered the ground, flexible enough to fold underfoot and elastic enough to stretch back into place. Each step felt squishy and wrong. I wanted to comfort the first floor over the wrongness of the second. A bell tolled as my party joined me on the second floor in a world so different from the first floor.

“If we survive this floor and return, we will be considered fully-fledged adventurers,” Azizi said.

“How are you handling this so well? I asked.

The sea of red tentacles waved in the flickering light and grew taller and deeper into the dungeon. There were no more arches, only open space and a flickering light above. My eyes had trouble adjusting to the sudden changes, and I gave the elevator a final glance.

“You wanted this; we could have returned and rested to tackle this another day,” Hati said.

I needed more than a night of rest, but they were right; I couldn’t drag them down. But the place felt wrong. Feeling the squishy appendages push against my grieves and boots made me feel like I was in the belly of the beast. But they were right; I wanted this, so I had no choice.

…

24

Our first stop was a clock half buried in the filament with red veins stretching through the wood. The clock face was on at 9:45. We poked around, opening the case and checking for any hidden keys, and moved the hands to listen for clicks. Once nothing obvious was forthcoming, we searched for anything that could link to the clock.

That was the thing about this floor; we needed to solve 3 puzzles to move on to the next floor. Each puzzle would release a boss that held a key and dropped.

As for mobs, they are mainly undead velociraptors filled with worms. My spear was put up, and I used my fists to care for them. My armor was great against their sharp teeth, and I was sure some plate would drop soon. We exchanged items with Azizi’s bag of holding to ensure we carried the best gear possible to sell, and the raptors dropped common shards.

I had already increased my endurance by 25 and needed some uncommon shards to raise it even further. More endurance helped me deal with the weird environment. The slight discomfort I felt from the ground tentacles slightly impeding my path had died down. It felt good not to be tired.

“How long until we turn back?” Zeff asked.

“It's barely been an hour on the outside. Why should we go back?” I asked.

“What did you invest your points in cockiness? Weren’t you ready to bolt four hours ago?” Zeff said.

“Nothing like 25 stat points to change a man’s mind, right. What did you spend them on? I don’t think it was charisma?” Hati said.

“I would have chosen strength; it’s the only real choice that matters,” Azizi said.

“Intelligence would benefit everyone more than something easily gained on the second floor. Did you notice the increased gravity?” Zeff asked.

“That is a rumor to get some rich researchers from the capital to invest money into the town,” Hati said.

“So it's only the terrain,” Zeff said.

The zebra lifted a foot and stomped it down before lifting it and watching the tendril stand up, gripping his foot.

“The strength gains are real,” Zeff said.

“Resistance training can be very effective with every step,” Azizi said.

I was feeling the burn from walking until my endurance increased. My undead stumbled into a raptor ambush, and I rushed in to help. One of the raptors I flanked turned on me, and I cracked its jaw.

The monster rolled, scratching the air with its claws. While it was down, I stomped it, breaking the monster’s neck. For such a squat-looking reptile, they had weak joints. It bit down on my boot, and I stomped down instead of pulling away.

The lizard’s jaw split apart from the impact.

The others joined in, and we finished off the ambush and collected what loot we could.

We were still only pulling the weakest mobs; the second floor was much larger than we thought. The keys we needed were to the elevator, not another mysterious gate. Once we used the keys for the first time, the dungeon would give us each a card to move onto different floors. Normally we would look for quests for the second floor, like collecting specific drops for customers or rare items that only grow or can be mined in dungeons. Unfortunately, Hati and Azizi made a deal with the dungeon, and the only way to remove the penalty was to kill the banshee queen on the 3rd floor.

Hey, look, I think I see something shiny.

A clock gear rested on the breastplate of an adventurer half devoured by the red tentacles. The man had no scratch, which wasn’t a good sign.

“Where is the rest of his party?” Azizi asked.

“They wouldn’t have left a puzzle piece here. Hati forgot to see if the clock's internal mechanisms were damaged or missing.” Zeff said.

I nodded; that made a lot of sense. Then an arrow hit me in the chest. Thanks to my armor, I felt it prick my skin, but not much else. A robed man erupted from the red grass and thrust his hands out. My undead threw himself in between us as purple gas billowed around it. That was something I had no defense against. The next second, the man was choking. Hati put an arrow through the man’s neck. I felt another arrow hit me in the back, but it was still too weak to seal the deal.

My undead moved to become living cover as I closed the distance with the choking man. I bashed his head in with my gauntleted fist without meaning to. The next arrow hit my undead instead of me. That gave me the chance to find the shooter. Another arrow hit my back. There were two snipers.

Hati shot again, and I heard the archer scream. I charged the other one. From the red grass, an armored warrior emerged with a sword in hand. He should have brought a shield. Azizi came up to his flank with her new mace. His nice-looking armor crumpled in like an empty can of coke. The wolf choked on his collapsed lung.

I ran into the red grass when the archer ran for it. They became tired well before me, and I punched them off their feet. A knife twirled and bounced off my armor. The sniper wore light leather armor and some cloth, a mistake in the monster-rich environment. No wonder it was more profitable to lay ambushes.

When I punched this one in the face, it didn’t break so easily. I dragged them with me back to the others for questioning.

After the ambush, it was decided that staying was a bad idea, so we left for the elevator and planned to question the sniper on the far less dangerous 1st floor. They made the elevator more cramped, but that wasn’t too big of a problem.

Azizi removed the bandit’s hood and mask on the first floor to reveal a silently seething ostrich girl. Black and white feathers fell out of the hood. She had a beak instead of lips and an orange phoenix tattoo on her neck.

“Shit, she’s one of the councilman’s daughters, and by her tattoo, she is a member of the terrorist group burning phoenix,” Azizi said.

Hati lunged and started choking her.