Chapter 11: Knowledge Is Power
Mateo was coming back from dinner with Felix. They were loud as they hit their bunks, discussing a card game they played during the meal. "Where's the mage?" I inquired.
"Still eating. She's down in the common room," Mateo said. As I rolled painfully to my feet, he advised, "Don't get too close. Mages, even pretty ones, are dangerous. Look, but don't touch, Eryk."
"It's cool. I just wanted to ask her some magic-related questions. You
know, between mages," I said with a knowing smile as I stiffly walked out of the room, wincing with each step.
The stairs were hard on my legs, and I almost fell. Fucking Konstantin had targeted my right hip flexor to teach me how to cripple an opponent. The muscle was all knotted, and I rubbed it to get it working when I reached the bottom of the stairs.
The common room was mostly empty at this hour, and we had an early start. Renna was studying one of her books at a table by herself. I sat across from her. She was young, in her late teens, I would guess. She looked up at me, making eye contact, but did not speak.
"I wanted to ask some questions about the book you're reading. And here is your disc back. I got it to work, and it was as I expected," I said, sliding the artifact across the table. She put it in her satchel.
"What questions do you have?" She closed the book and gave me her attention.
"What's in the book? Does it detail the common spell forms you can make from each affinity?" I asked, knowing the title referred to all twenty-one magic affinities.
"Yes, it does. Having the associated spellbook does greatly aid in the
process." She pulled out a thin spellbook that I did not catch the title of. "I am trying to learn one of the more difficult spell forms for the earth affinity. It is called harden rock. Extremely useful in construction. And when paired with the High Mage's earth-to-stone, it makes trapping burrowing
creatures easy," Renna explained.
"What about the other common spell forms? Like fire?" I asked, slowly getting to the information I wanted to know from her.
"It depends on your affinity strength. With my high affinity, I will probably be asked to form my fire spell form into wave of flame or flaming meteor.
Both are very difficult to learn," Renna said with a tired voice. "I will not know until I am assigned to a High Mage specializing in fire." I felt sorrow for her. Even though she was powerful, she did not control her destined spell forms. She was being directed to learn what they wanted her to know.
"I'm sure you'll do it. You have the talent and affinity for it—I mean, you can fly!" I praised her. "What about healing? What are the typical spell
forms for that sphere of magic?" Was I being too obvious with my interest? I needed to know, though. There was a risk of manifesting an ability much weaker than your affinity could manage, so I wanted to reach for the limit. Although, I didn't know my affinity for healing magic, other than it was over 15.
She opened the book and turned to a specific page. I pressed my lips together, frustrated. I could read it, but my brain was still very slow in translating the script. I would have to puzzle out each word one at a time and then read the sentence like a first grader. Thankfully, I had someone to read for me.
"There are three tiers," Renna began. "The lowest tier has three options listed here. Mend bone, knit flesh, and diagnose. This lowest tier is for those with affinities under 20."
She read for a while, then said, "The next range is for those with the affinity between 20 and 50. It has three possible aspirations for manifesting a spell form. A cure wounds that also affects organs and all flesh but does not do well with broken bones. A purify, which is weird. According to this, it can remove poison, disease, and even cleanse your bowels. The third one is
calcify; it repairs and hardens bones. The highest tier is for affinities between 50 and 70. The first is a powerful heal. It heals everything—flesh, bone, and disease—almost instantly. The only other ability noted is called rejuvenate. It turns back the aging clock slightly."
She looked up from her book. "Not all spell forms are listed in here." She turned over the book in her hands, "This is just what the mage college
suggests as being the most useful."
I nodded. "Sometimes it's fun to wonder what it would be like if I had high affinities for other magic spheres," I said. I asked about celestial affinity next, listening intently as she read and explained. Then, I went to my true goal: the affinity for convergence.
"Convergence? That is extremely rare. I'm not even sure if there's anything in here." She flipped to the correct page. "The lowest tier is just helping recover aether from the environment. At Ley Line Nexus, the mage essentially has an infinite draw of aether. They would be a terror in a dungeon, as long as they don't burn out their aether channels."
"Anything for higher tiers, for a stronger, higher affinity?" I tried to hold back my excitement.
"Uh, let me read. Give me a moment." It seemed like she was having fun with our interaction. I guess I was kind of flirting with her. "The mid-tier for convergence suggested here is some type of aether sight." That was definitely not something I had gained. She continued, "Wow, the highest tier is called assimilation. It allows the mage to maximize their benefit for consuming essences. It makes absorbed essences ten times more effective
—maybe even more! Now, that would be useful!"
Yes, it would, I thought. Is that why the only essence I had absorbed had been so effective? I had gained four quickness and even raised my potential in quickness by one in three weeks after consuming the essence. But the lesser essence was only supposed to give a relative effect boost of one- twentieth of a point. However, it was agreed the first ever essence someone consumed had a greater effect. But did my gains have to do with my affinity in convergence being so high at 74?
I asked about charm affinities next but was only half paying attention to Renna's response. After she reviewed them, we went to the room to get
some sleep. I lay there thinking and heard her shifting all night in the bunk below me. I had given her the lower bunk to make it easier for her, but regretted it, as the entire bunk shook when she moved. She was probably not comfortable sleeping on the planks without a mattress. I took my heavy blanket and passed it to her below. She hesitated before taking it and getting more comfortable.
It was cool, but not cold, and pitch black. I removed one of the horse
blankets from my dimensional storage and lay there wide awake, staring at the ceiling. I needed to get more essence. Mage Castile had an essence
array—the artifact shield used to extract the essence from recently killed creatures. Her legionaries were rewarded for outstanding performance, so maybe I could get some. But I also needed an ability tablet to see my growth and test it out. Shit, if I didn't know they could track me, I might desert. For now, I was trapped for five years of service. At least I would be free after that, as long as all my debt was paid off.
I fell asleep dreaming about my two unknown affinity ratings. How high were my healing and guardian affinities? They seemed too perfect for my career as a soldier. I needed to get access to a magic affinity tablet again. I also needed to practice reading to get familiar with the different characters. Reading like a seven-year-old, deciphering each word one at a time, was frustrating.
It felt like I had just closed my eyes when a hand slapped my bed. "Wake up, you two. Breakfast will be served shortly, and Castile likes to leave at dawn." It was Mateo, smiling brightly at my discomfort. "You shouldn't take Lucien's blankets for the horses, Eryk. He doesn't like that."
I gingerly climbed down from the top bunk. I was stiff, and moving was painful. I packed my things and stumbled down the stairs after Felix and Mateo, sending the blanket to my space when I knew I was not being looked at. Renna was slightly slower than me.
The common room was crowded, and everyone was packing saddle bags and forcing down food. I went to the meal table and got a large pocket pita filled with meat and melty cheese. I was also given another sandwich wrapped in a large waxy leaf and told it was my mid-day meal.
I drank heavily from the water barrel and filled my canteen. Outside, the sky was just starting to break with pink hues. I quickly saddled Ginger and was one of the first ones ready to leave. Just as the large sun appeared in
the distance, we moved out. I was directed to ride behind Castile and her two lieutenants, Adrian and Delmar, while Renna increased her pace to ride next to me.
I talked to Renna about magic but focused my attention on her, asking her about her life before becoming a mage. With Mage Castile being in earshot, I did not want to give any hints of my specific interests.
Renna grew up in a small village. Her father was a sheep herder, and her mother made wool yarn. She described the long process from shearing,
cleaning, sorting, carding, and spinning. I pretended to be enthralled with her descriptions and asked in-depth questions about the process. A few
hours later, we were at the base of the mountains, where the team indicated they noticed the griffins returning with a kill two days ago.
I asked, "If they're already returning with a kill, doesn't that mean they are feeding their young?"
It was Konstantin who answered my question from behind, "No. Too early in the season. The mated pair take turns hunting while the other guards the clutch of eggs. Justin may be an idiot, but his pathfinder, Marius, is one of the best. They came early in the season to scout out the nests and then
move in after they were laid. It should be another two months before they hatch."
Castile nodded to Konstantin for the information and then addressed the company. "We're leaving the horses here." A wave of groans came. I was also dreading the climb. "Lucien, Donte, and Benito will stay with the
horses." The horses would have trouble with the steep climb and make too much noise.
Donte and Benito nodded and dismounted. I was a little upset as I had been training to be a horse master, but I guess since I carried the company's potions, I needed to be with the lead element. Mateo helped me pack my backpack for two days, keeping the pack as light as possible. When we started the climb, I had trouble keeping up—not because I was out of shape, but because I was so bruised.
Renna was in worse shape than me. She was sucking wind and slowing our ascent up the game trails. On difficult sections, she would use short bursts of her flight ability, which got everyone asking jokingly for a ride. Castile eventually had everyone end the comments as they began to border on lewdness.
When we reached a summit, Castile let us eat our lunch. I collapsed hard and devoured my meal. Renna sat with me, but we didn't talk. We just ate. Orson, one of the scouts, pointed at something in the distance. A few miles away, a griffin was circling another peak further into the mountains. Damn, that looks so far away, I thought.
We descended into a narrow valley, and Orson found a campsite which he estimated to be a month old. I asked him how he determined that. He
showed me the fire pit, the decomposition of the shit in the woods, and the regrowth from where the adventurers cleared space for their camp.
We didn't pause long before heading to the far side of the wooded valley. Konstantin was next to me, and I asked, "Why haven't any of the creatures attacked us?"
"Our party is too big. They're scattering before us. They are out there, though, so do not wander off alone," he warned me.
I nodded as the valley ended, and we started to make another ascent.
Chapter 12: Griffin
As we made our way up the next mountain, Renna paused to pee out of sight of the company. I was tasked with keeping close to her by Delmar. So I stood sentry while the embarrassed young woman did her business. When she emerged, I switched with her, and she was embarrassed with having me around the corner. I chose a different rock to hide my business behind. I decided to try experimenting with my dimensional space while I relieved myself. I tried to remove just a five-foot cylinder of the stone that I was painting in front of me. It took time for me to get the visualization, and then...
I stumbled back, dizzy, and accidently urinating on myself a little. I looked up, and a five-foot round opening extended ten feet into the mountain. My aether was drained, though. The same thing happened when I killed the bulette. I guessed the aether investment depended on the mass of the object. Since I didn't have enough aether, it just cut off the object where it was. The edge of the round hole was extremely sharp. I also had a large
stone cylinder in my dimensional space. Would it take all my aether to
remove it? Or was the drain mostly from removing the object? I had no aether to test right now, so I finished, cleaned up as best I could, and joined Renna, who was bright red and avoided eye contact. Three men had waited for us, and we caught up to the main group.
As the sun set that day, we set up camp on the rocky ground under an overhang to hide us from above. I had night duty guard rotation with Mateo and Felix. We had the worst shift—right in the middle of the night, breaking up our continuous sleep. We heard some rocks tumble down from far above, but nothing disturbed our camp during the night. In the morning, Mage Castile addressed us as a group.
"The nest is about three miles toward the rising sun. When we get close, be on alert. The griffins will attack when they feel they are threatened. We will handle them one at a time. I will ground them with magic, and we will attack them together. Beware of the powerful lunge on the ground; even with their wings restrained, they will be quick." She followed up her short speech by giving the order to march. I was placed in the middle of the company with Renna for protection.
The morning was cold, but my aches and pains were subsiding as my body adapted. Renna was quiet as we walked in silence. The forward unit found a large game trail that appeared to head in the direction we wanted. We stayed on the trail, and eventually the summit where the nest was located
came into sight.
The company stopped at a cave. Konstantin spoke animatedly to Castile. I assumed he had already scouted the cave, and I moved closer to listen.
Castile queried Konstantin, "Do you think he descended?"
Konstantin shrugged, "They definitely camped at the entrance, and could have gone to the griffins or into the dungeon."
Delmar swore, "What the fuck is a dungeon doing out here, anyway? How is there even enough aether to feed it?"
Mage Castile did not seem irritated. She answered calmly, "The ley lines run deep and sometimes bleed out in unusual places. The question is,
where did the baron's son go?"
Adrian spat on the ground. "The dungeon would have been suicide. I could see that idiot Justin trying it. I say we return and tell his father he died in a wild dungeon." Castile arched her eyebrow at her lieutenant. He threw up his hands in defeat. "Fuck. We're all going to die."
Mage Castile spoke with command. "We will camp outside the dungeon entrance, and we will do as planned. We will kill the griffins, search the nest, and collect the eggs." She looked at her two lieutenants. "If we don't find the remains of the baron's party, I will consider entering the dungeon to look there."
Delmar nodded, and Adrian grunted unhappily. Orders were sent down the line to enter the cave. As we entered, torches were lit, and we filed in.
About seventy feet into the cave, it stopped with a black oily flat surface on the wall. The area before the chamber had an abandoned campsite. Seven single-person tents, a large fire ring, and bedrolls were left inside the tents with some backpacks. Adrian swore again and said in a low grunt, "Those fuckers definitely went into the dungeon."
The tents were large and nicer than ours—so were all the bedrolls. Some legionnaires started claiming better equipment. I moved to a tent near the
black wall and tossed my pack inside. Mateo was close and smirked, "You can definitely take it, Eryk, as long as the original owners don't show up.
Just realize that tent and bedroll weigh twice as much as your legionnaire- issued gear."
Renna set up her tent next to mine and seemed kind of shy about it. My
new tent was definitely big enough for two and had flaps for privacy—but maybe I was being too optimistic. As everyone settled in, I asked, "So, what do you know about that?" I pointed at the wall in front of Renna, which appeared to be slick with oil.
She paused, unpacking her gear. "Just what I read. I grew up in a small village, and my education so far has focused on learning spell forms and how to cast spells."
She sat on a stone. "Dungeons are concentrated aetheric essence given sapience. The ley lines that run under the earth carry vast amounts of aether, and the aether bleeds out and permeates the world. When it builds up in an area, the aether mutates creatures and creates passages and rooms.
The monsters changed are very strong. But they always produce an
essence when a collector is used on them. This—" she pointed to the black wall "—is how they attract the adventurous type."
"So the dungeons are alive?" I asked Renna. "Should we be camping so close to it? Is that the entrance?"
Adrian joined us, sitting next to Renna. "Yes, that is the entrance, Eryk. Dungeons are alive, but the creatures that enter are killed, absorbed, and then repurposed. Dungeons only appear at Ley Line Nexus points. This one appears to be an anomaly."
Castile joined us as well. "The lines run deep, and not all have been mapped, Adrian. There could be a nexus beneath us."
I pulled out some food and started eating, content to just listen. Adrian focused on Castile and added, "The monsters inside are strong. Only idiots travel into the dungeons seeking a big payday."
Castile seemed annoyed with Adrian's reluctance to explore the dungeon. "Don't worry, Adrian. If we go in, you can remain outside and guard the camp." That made Adrian wince as it was a backhanded reprimand.
Castile turned to me. "Dungeons are blessings and curses." Adrian nodded in agreement. "They can stretch for miles into the earth, always going down. Whatever being controls them, they try to entice adventurers to
explore them. All the creatures give essence, and the dungeon leaves
prizes. Usually precious metals or recreating objects they have absorbed in the past." This all sounded very familiar. Maybe not ideal video game mechanics, but the general idea was there.
I swallowed some salty jerky and cheese and asked, "What benefit does a dungeon get from drawing in adventurers? Can you kill a dungeon? Stop it from working?"
Castile answered, "Yes. Destroying the solidified aether core is possible.
Usually, the adventurers' guild would evaluate a dungeon's usefulness before going to that step." Castile stood. "When someone dies in a dungeon, the dungeon benefits by absorbing the gear and the corpse. It
helps them get stronger and expand. If the dungeon is smart, it will balance the lure and guillotine. Finish your food. We have enough daylight to
move on the griffin nest."
Orders were given, and six men stayed behind. That meant mages Castile and Renna were going with seventeen legionaries. It was great to drop the heavy gear. I carried a spear and had my two short swords tied to my back, out of the way in case I needed to run. We moved out down the game trail, and after an hour, Konstantin screamed, "On the sun, it's diving!"
We all turned and focused upward. It was difficult to see, but something was definitely getting larger. I took cover behind a rock and angled my
spear up. The griffin was big, with a thirty-foot wingspan. It was targeting Mateo, and I thought he was a goner as massive talons extended out.
Castile cast some wispy black lines that zipped toward the creature and wrapped around its body and wings.
The creature screeched in anger as struggled to flap its wings, crashing into the ground and slamming into someone I couldn't identify. Orders were suddenly being shouted.
"Attack!"
"Blue potion!" "Encircle it!"
"Keep an eye out for the other one!"
Oh, the potion request was for me! I grabbed the potion from storage and ran to the downed man. My only focus was getting the potion into his mouth. The violent sounds of combat rang nearby, but I did my job. The man's bones started moving into the correct place.
Castile kneeled next to me a minute later, and I looked up. The griffin was bloody and in its death throes. It was calling for its mate. Castile said,
"Give him a second one." She stood and ended her spell as she scanned the skies.
Someone pointed at the sky. It was the other griffin. Orders were shouted as we prepared, everyone much more confident now.
The griffin didn't come. Instead, it landed in its nest. Soon it was flying away with two eggs clutched in its legs. Delmar cursed. "Stupid birds are smarter than they should be. There goes the mission's bonus."
Castile didn't seem concerned and just took out her device to harvest essence. She used it on the corpse, and the essence pearl that formed was much better than anything I had seen prior. Castile said, "Greater constitution essence. Delmar, this is for you." She tossed it to him. I thought that was interesting. Delmar supported Castile, and Adrian argued with her in regard to the dungeon. "There could be more eggs. Eryk, empty your space and go check the nest. Konstantin, go with him."
It made some sense, as my space was the best way to safely retrieve the eggs. Still, why me? What if the griffin returned? I would be on my own. Konstantin put his hand on my shoulder and pushed me forward. I emptied the legion's property and made my way to climb up the frigging mountain.
The dead griffin was being harvested as I walked past it. The climb was not fun, and Konstantin didn't help as he made me go first. I assumed it was best for the new guy to get attacked first.
The griffins had chosen a steep peak to nest on. I was learning how to free climb on the fly. Going up was not that bad—I was more worried about coming back down. I reached the nest first. There were two eggs and a lot of bones in it. I immediately moved one of the eggs into my dimensional space, leaving one egg behind. A few seconds later, Konstantin was up behind me, "Looks like we got lucky. Hopefully, the griffin didn't abandon a dead embryo. Can you get it into your space?" I nodded and did so.
Konstantin was examining everything in the nest, tossing things over the edge as he sorted through it. When he was done, he shook his head, "No human remains. A few horses, but no humans. Also, they tend to tear off the clothes of humanoids before consuming the flesh. This pair hasn't killed any humans. I'll see you back at the cave."
He swung over the edge and confidently descended the steep mountainside we had just spent hours climbing. I rested in the nest, pulling out food and water from my dimensional space before following him down the mountain. I was much slower than Konstantin. Thankfully, the other griffin never returned.
Hours later, when I reached the dead griffin, it was picked clean from the legion's harvesting efforts. Konstantin was waiting for me. He had probably been watching me descend for hours, so he had not completely abandoned me. "Looks like griffin steaks tonight. Come, boy, they should have at least saved us the choicest cuts for doing all the work." We made our way to the cave, and even before we got there, I smelled the
unmistakable scent of BBQ.
Chapter 13: Dungeon First Timer
Three legionaries guarded the entrance of the cave. Inside, the men were all working to process the griffin. One man was sorting feathers, another cleaned the talons and teeth, and another cut meat into thin strips to smoke them into jerky. As I looked around, a feather pillow hit me in the face, and I caught it before it hit the floor.
"He's back!" yelled my attacker. It was Lucien, the horse master. The
soldiers parted to let me reach Castile and one of her lieutenants, watching expectantly as I approached. I placed the pillow on the ground and materialized the egg on top from my dimensional storage.
Cheers erupted, echoing in the cave. I felt like the hero returning from the war when all I did was climb a summit. Lucien was behind me and whispered, "The pillow was for you, dolt. Griffin down feathers. Already boiled and dried by Mage Castile."
Mage Castile picked up the egg and held it to her ear, listening. Everyone went silent in anticipation. A moment later, she announced, "It is alive!" There were more cheers.
Lucien mumbled, "Would have made a good omelet, though."
Delmar snapped at him, "Expensive omelet, horse master. That egg is good for at least twenty-five hundred gold on the open market to a griffon tamer."
"Good mounts should remain on the ground," the horse master retorted. Delmar gave him a hard stare and then said, "Agreed!" They both laughed.
Castile looked at me. "You did well, Eryk. Go see Adrian for a bonus." She waved to the corner of the cave. "Take the pillow. Another reward the men granted you." She smiled suspiciously.
I approached Adrian at a flat stone being used as a table with the potion
racks and coin trays in front of him. He opened the ledger and looked up, "Eryk...you have a bonus here from Mage Castile. Two large silver." he took two large pieces of silver and handed them to me. I was a little stunned. The egg was so valuable, yet all I got was twenty silver.
Seeing my disbelief, he smiled, "Once the griffin parts are sold, you will get another bonus." He checked the ledger. "Probably three gold. Don't look surprised. The Empire only lets Mage Castile keep 10% of the harvest.
She'll give half of what she gets to the legion members. That is, after she resupplies the potions. Most Mage Commanders give nothing to their
soldiers, so be happy. That pillow you are holding—" he pointed "—that is a griffin feather down pillow. Worth a gold on its own."
I felt the pillow. It was soft, and the case was silky smooth. The case was an unused Legion laundry case. Not coarse linen like the one I had been given in training. As I felt it up, Adrian chuckled. "The men voted to give you the pillow because they said you moan and groan all the time. Although they gifted it to you as a joke, I suggest you hang on to it and sell it when we reach a larger city. Quilters prize those down feathers."
I flushed in mild embarrassment, but I would lug the three-pound pillow with me if it was worth a gold coin. That was why I guessed no one wanted it. Three pounds was a lot of weight to carry out of the mountains.
"Go get something to eat," Adrian said, smiling ruefully. "You're going to need it. Mage Castile wants you in the dungeon party. Put the potions and these trays back into your dimensional storage."
My thoughts jolted. Dungeon party? Why me? I walked to someone cooking skewered chunks of griffin flesh over red coals. He handed me two of the sticks, and I started eating.
The meat was amazing, and it took my mind off the dungeon problem. The meat was salty-sweet and melted in my mouth. The cook smiled. "We had some Kraken salt left and a few spices. It's an instant marinade."
"Kraken salt?" I asked while devouring the meat. I hoped to get more.
He laughed, "Yeah, it's distilled from Kraken's blood. A byproduct of alchemists, and one of Mage Castile's vanities. She breaks it out when we celebrate." He paused and switched his tone to slightly more ominous. "Or sometimes when we are about to do something that might get some of us
killed." He looked at me seriously. "A kind of last meal."
I reached for another skewer, and he slapped my hand. "Two each." Then he reconsidered and handed me a third skewer. I walked to my tent numbly and found Renna studying her book using a light stone.
Renna looked up as I sat. "Sorry to hear you're going into the dungeon in the morning. Mage Castile announced the six delvers before you got back from the griffon nest."
"Just six of us?" I asked, suddenly more concerned.
"They tested the dungeon entrance. It only accepts a fixed number of people at a time. After that number has entered, the doorway prevents
others. The dungeon limit could be seven, so the baron's son may be alive inside," Renna said doubtfully. I sat next to her, my anxiety rising.
"Why are we even going in? I thought the dungeon absorbed corpses after people were killed. If the baron's son is dead, we won't find any evidence anyway. And it's been a month since he went missing. He must be dead already," I grumbled while finishing my griffin meat.
Renna looked at me sympathetically. "Mage Castile is strong, and she is taking her best fighters. Well, her best fighters, not including you." She giggled, trying to break my sour mood. "Delmar has been into dungeons before, and he is going. I heard them talking, and he said the dungeon had safe areas in it where the creatures would not attack you. I think the plan is to search those safe areas for the baron's son."
"So you are not coming then?" I asked the red-haired mage aspirant. "No. I have not learned any spells; as you know, my only spell form is
flight," she replied softly. "I would not be of much assistance in a
dungeon."
I finished my meat and relaxed against the stone wall, and Renna scuttled beside me. The cold stone on my back felt good, but the looming black, oily surface of the dungeon entrance nearby put a damper on my mood.
Renna's knees were touching, and I knew her closeness to me was a good sign.
My fantasies were ended when Castile announced the dungeon team had four hours to rest up. There was a brief period of silence before I asked if Renna could read to me again. She took out the book, and I asked about affinities unrelated to me before asking about the time affinity.
Renna turned to the proper page. "Time…only one is listed for each range of affinity." I waited expectantly while she read. "The easiest to learn is something called time sense. It lets you always know what time it is. That is probably useful in dungeons. Did your affinity with time gem light up on the disc?"
I lied to the young woman, "No, I'm just curious. I also like listening to your voice." She blushed at my words. "What are the other two?"
She returned to find her place in the book. "The mid-tier spell form is called hasten self. It allows the mage to move faster, very useful!" I briefly fantasized about being able to weave through an army, moving at lightning speed.
Renna continued, "The highest-tier spell form listed is called slow aging. It allows you to slow the aging of an object or person. But it fades over
time." She put down the book and thought, "Wow, that would be amazing.
It's too bad the time affinity is so rare. I would guess the Emperor has a
mage casting this on him constantly. He's been the Emperor for what, three hundred years?" She turned to me, her emerald eyes studying me.
"I don't know," I replied warily. I knew absolutely nothing about the Emperor.
"Yeah, I think his three hundredth birthday celebration was three or four years ago," Renna said, thinking. "I have never seen him in person." She softened her voice. "I am meeting his eleventh son after I form all five of my spell form abilities. We are to be married."
The air was suddenly very thick. I did not know what to say. I wanted her to read on, but I also felt I should console her. She would probably live in luxury, so should I feel sorry for her? I finally said, "Three hundred years old and only eleven sons?" That was clearly the wrong thing to say. I tried another tactic. "If you're so important to the Emperor, why did High Mage Dacien leave you with us?"
Renna huffed. "The Emperor has seventeen sons still alive. I do not know how many have died over the years. As for High Mage Dacien, he only
cares about growing his own power. We came out here to get the apex earth essence from the bulette. It is the only way he can grow his earth affinity
now, with apex earth essences." She shifted uncomfortably. "The High Mage is probably one of the five most powerful mages in the Empire. He
can pretty much do what he wants, as long as he answers the Emperor's call to war." She stared off into space. "I'm sure if I die, they will just find another wife for the Emperor's son anyway."
She had a morbid view of her plight. "How old are you anyway?" I figured an Empire year was pretty close to what I considered an Earth year from my time here.
"Nineteen this December," she replied. She looked younger, but I took her word. There were ten months in the calendar. Martius, Aprilis, Maius, Junius, Quintilis, Sextilis, September, October, November, and December.
It was another clue as I remembered that there were originally ten months in the Roman calendar. I was pretty sure the alphabet was Latin. I figured I had been transported to an alternate reality where the Roman Empire thrived in a world with magic.
I nodded at Renna and smiled, which she returned. "What else does it say about the time affinity?" I tried to return her attention to the book and killed the moment.
So she reluctantly read the next passage and summarized, "The highest affinities can do something called time stop. It appears it creates a bubble of slow time around the mage, where the mage moves at normal speed.
Anyone entering the bubble will be affected by the slow time. It takes a lot of aether to maintain the bubble, though."
My affinity was 90 in time. Was there another suggestion that was even more powerful than these suggestions in the book?
I nodded. "I think I should get some rest." I left her, crawled into my tent, and got my new pillow underneath my bed. It smelled like the outdoors. I really had missed pillows. It did not take long to fall asleep.
It felt like only moments before I was awakened. Mateo gently shook me. "Eryk, they're getting ready. I was told to wake you." He was being too polite, and it seemed he felt bad for my fate. He left, and I moved the
pillow into my dimensional space. If there was a chance it would be my end, then I was taking the pillow with me.
The other five people entering were Mage Castile, Delmar, Konstantin, Linus, and Firth. I felt out of place in the group of experienced older legionaries. They looked determined and not at all nervous. Mage Castile addressed me. "Stay near Linus and do whatever he tells you." She walked into the black oily wall. It seemed to stretch around her, and then she vanished and the wall was smooth again. Everyone else moved through, leaving me standing there.
Adrian yelled, "Hurry up, legionnaire. They'll think you're running away if you don't show up soon." I turned to rush into the wall, and it stretched
around me. It felt like I was falling into a pool of warm jello. And then I fell face-first onto a stone floor.
"Watch out, raw recruit. The first step is always disorienting. Pick yourself up, put your pants back on," Delmar said with some humor.
I stood, checking my pants. They were still on. Konstantin laughed. "Boy, he was just referring to the fact this was your first time getting fucked by a dungeon." I was not too fond of the attempt at humor.
Chapter 14: I Decided I Do Not Like Dungeons
I checked my gear. I had brought one short and one spear, and my pack had just water and food. I had two knives on my waist as well. Castile was inspecting the walls; there was script on them, but it was not Latin.
Konstantin moved next to me, "You always enter the dungeon at walking speed. Even if you run into the entrance, it takes some getting used to." He motioned to the walls. "We read the script yesterday. It says the dungeon
allows seven to enter. So there might actually be someone alive in here." He continued, "We think all the monsters are insects. Spiders, centipedes, beetles, and roaches. At least that is what the ones who came before noted on the wall there."
"Thanks, Konstantin." At least someone was telling me what was going on. As Mage Castile was still studying the writing, I asked, "What
language is that?"
Konstantin harumphed. "Orc. And an old orc dialect as well. This dungeon had not been explored in a long time before that nitwit entered. And yes,
the baron's son was here. The length of time this dungeon has been alone means the critters inside are going to be nasty." He spoke softly. "If it all goes to shit and you are the last one standing, run as fast as you can to the entrance," he whispered seriously.
I had a million questions, like why Konstantin was being so nice suddenly, but Mage Castile waved us forward. Konstantin and Delmar walked at the front as we descended a rough rock-hewn corridor. The corridor suddenly opened up. It was as though we were outside, as stars could be seen above us.
"Everyone be quiet," Delmar whispered. "We are in a massive chamber. Those are not stars. They are fire beetles. Not overly dangerous, but dungeon ecology usually means something preys on them." Suddenly, a buzzing sound started, and the stars grew brighter and brighter as the
beetles flapped their wings. The massive chamber began to light up, showing a rough rock-strewn floor and a ceiling covered in stalactites.
Everyone was on watch, looking for an enemy. I felt the ground tremble, and I was not the only one. Everyone's eyes searched the ground. Castile swore. "The fire beetles were an alarm for something. It's coming. Spread out!"
I stood there dumbly while everyone else moved apart. Someone pointed, and I saw the rocky soil collapse on itself and then erupt upward thirty feet away. A massive crawfish-looking monster emerged. Someone yelled,
"Ankheg!" which meant absolutely nothing to me.
I held my spear at a ready position, but did not think my twig would have much effect on something so large. Castile cast her wisps of black ropes at the beast. The monstrosity turned and blasted a rain of glowing green water at her. The fluid washed over her, hitting an invisible shield and splashing everywhere. Konstantin was already flanking the restrained monster. The green water was steaming where it hit the ground. I guessed it must be
some type of acid and noted to myself not to get in front of the creature. I got my senses and rushed to the flank of the monstrosity as well.
It isn't every day you get to fight a twenty-foot-tall burrowing crawfish—or maybe it was more ant-like. It had some nasty mandibles, so getting behind the creature seemed wise to me.
Everything was happening so fast. The straining beast was slowly snapping the black tendrils of smoke cast by Castile. The clang of metal on chitin rang through the air as everyone tried to penetrate the shell. I angled my spear between two plates and leaned in with my body weight. The tip of my spear entered, and the spear sunk a foot deep.
My victory was short-lived. The beast broke the black restraints, and one of the body-sized claws snapped toward me. I fell backward, letting go of my spear as the clawed arm snapped the air where my head had just been.
Okay, I decided I definitely did not like dungeons. Someone yelled, "Second coming from behind!" What was going on? My vision was blocked as I tried to figure things out. Another voice yelled, "Watch the acid spray!"
I drew my short sword and one of my knives and rushed toward the injured one. It was oozing from a dozen puncture wounds and struggling to remain upright. We needed to put it down before engaging the second. I ran up its carapace because I had the great idea of getting close to the head and stabbing it from behind—and it could not attack while I was on its back.
I realized in the back of my mind how I had been conditioned to fight, even under circumstances that seemed dire. I did not fear injury, and my goal
was to end the threat before I was killed. I ran up the shiny carapace, gaining confidence with each step. I needed to get my blade between the chitin plates behind the head. Just two more steps...
My boot slipped on the angled, shiny shell, causing me to fall to the left. My knee slammed hard into the shell, and I dropped my short sword in favor of using my two hands on the dagger to aim it at a gap in the armor. I succeeded in lodging it in the shell. This saved me from falling underneath the beast, which started thrashing to get me off.
I hung on to the handle as the beast's death throes started to whip my body with it. My focus had been on this one beast, and I had not been aware enough to understand everything else that was going on around me. As I was being thrown about, I could see Mage Castile and two legionnaires fighting the other ankheg. One of my fellow soldiers was slumped over in obvious pain. My ride slowed as the goo that made up the ankheg's blood stopped flowing from its wounds.
I pushed off hard and landed into a roll to gain distance. My shoulder was in pain; I had definitely strained the shoulder socket, and I was lucky I had not dislocated the shoulder as well. I moved to help with the other ankheg. Konstantin said, "Stay back. It is handled. Brave, but stupid boy. The beast was finished if you just gave it time. There was no need for a killing blow." He walked past me to watch the end of the other battle.
Castile, seeing I was free, yelled, "Fool! Eryk, get a healing potion for Linus!" My eyes flashed to the injured soldier and I rushed to him. It
wasn't my fault. I was ordered to follow Linus' orders. In the absence of orders, I helped fight as best I could.
I knelt, pulling the potion from my space and helping Linus drink it. He looked relieved as his injury healed and the pain faded. "Got caught in a claw. Got a wee bit crushed." He coughed up some congealed blood, the potion doing its work. The second beast was now in its death throes as
well. We had won, and everyone was alive. It was going to take some time for the potion to do its work, but other than that, everyone was in one piece.
Mage Castile removed her collector shield and placed it over the ankleg. It activated smoothly, and an essence ball formed in the center. Castile announced, "Major essence of constitution." She moved to the other beast
and repeated the process. "Major essence of constitution again." Everyone looked on as Mage Castile examined everyone present. "Linus and Firth," she finally said, handing the essence to the eager men.
Delmar announced, "Not much worth harvesting that wouldn't take a long time. I say we let the dungeon reclaim them as is. It will make the respawn process quicker, but I hope to be out before then."
Linus spoke with a rasp as his lungs were still healing, "We're not going to do that again?"
Mage Castile considered, "No. We will delve as deep as we can and then retreat. We will call for an experienced delve team if we don't find the person. Our team is not balanced enough for this dungeon, and we are a person short of the party limit."
Delmar had a sour look, but Castile mollified him. "Relax, Delmar. I know you did this for a living, but we are not equipped for it and will run out of potions before long. I want someone to capture a fire beetle and everyone else to search this large chamber. I see the one exit opposite where we entered. There should also be a prize in here somewhere for defeating the two monsters."
Everyone spread out. I remained in the center with Delmar and Castile, listening to them talk. Delmar said, "Tough first room for a dungeon, and
those ankheg were stronger than the norm. I don't see how the survivor got past them. Maybe their party was killed, and the sole survivor just ran to
the exit and will be in the next safe room."
Castile gave him a withering look. "Delmar, those were respawns. The
carapace was too shiny for them to be ancient. I've been in my fair share of dungeons, too. You are smarter than that." Delmar flushed in embarrassment.
Konstantin returned with one of the fire beetles, holding it by the wings as it flared its light in defiance. Mage Castile took the collector shield and used it on the live beetle. An essence formed, and the three of them were surprised. Mage Castile looked up. There were hundreds of fire beetles.
"It is a minor perception essence. If only one in ten of those beetles yields one, this could be quite the harvest."
Konstantin swayed her thoughts. "They're only on the ceiling. Got lucky catching this one. I don't think getting them down will be easy."
She nodded reluctantly. "Okay." She tossed Konstantin the essence. "We would need to use the collector on the live ones in order to get a chance at an essence as well. Delmar, start making preparations for the next room."
Firth came up a short time later with a small stone chest. He had a huge grin on his face. Delmar scolded him. "Fool. It could have been trapped."
"But it wasn't," he retorted. "There's seven gold inside." Delmar's eyes went up in obvious surprise.
Castile slyly took the coins. "That's one for the Empire, and one for each of us. No word leaves your lips about this." She looked pointedly at me. I nodded.
As we rested at the passage further into the dungeon, Konstantin sat next to me. "She chose this group because she trusts us. You are an unknown, Eryk. Follow our lead, and this delve could be profitable for you." He mulled next to me in silence, and when I did not say anything, he stood and walked away.
My impression from their surprise was that seven gold was a lot for a first room in a dungeon. An hour later, after Linus said he was good to go, we all stood and made our way to the tunnel.
It opened into another large chamber with fire beetles. Everyone swore as the beetles lit up the large room. We were at a bridge and had to cross to
the other side. But there were dozens of other bridges crisscrossing the chamber. Konstantin swore, "Fuck, I hate spiders." I looked again; they were not bridges, but webs. Imagining what size a spider needed to be to create those, I decided again that I did not like dungeons.
Chapter 15: First Apex Essence
The crisscrossing bridges looked different now that I knew they were part of a spider's network. As the chamber lit up from the low buzzing fire beetles, I didn't see any spiders. I looked over the edge of the bridge.
Below were shadows and more crisscrossing bridges. "How deep does it go?" I asked quietly.
Konstantin looked as well. "I don't want to find out." It sounded like an attempt at humor, but it was lost due to the situation we found ourselves in.
Delmar got everyone's attention. "We do not know what type of spiders we are facing. Most likely, their fangs will inject a paralytic poison, so don't get bit. Strike the eyes. They have two large eyes and six smaller eyes, and damaging them will usually stun them momentarily." And that was all the prep we got. My spear had broken in the ankheg; I gripped my short sword tightly, on high alert.
Mage Castile was scanning the ceiling and considering her options. "Eryk, give the potions to Linus. There are three cure poison potions in the racks.
I want them in his hands. I believe the spiders are underneath us, under this very bridge. They are probably waiting for us to cross. I'm going to
check now." Everyone backed away from the edges. Mage Castile closed her eyes briefly, then said, "Five large spiders are under the bridge." Knowing the number of spiders made it worse, and the tension rose.
"What is the plan?" Delmar asked the mage, his normally confident presence not evident.
"Someone is going to sprint across the bridge as a decoy to draw them up. If the person gets caught by the spiders, they will most likely just be paralyzed. We should be able to reach them before they are wrapped in webbing and hauled away," Castile said without any emotion. I had a bad feeling; I was the least skilled fighter, and was probably going to be selected.
Konstantin stepped forward. "I will do it." My heart soared in relief.
"No, it will be Eryk. Konstantin can better react to threats," Castile ordered. I tensed, not quite believing what I had heard.
Castile then explained the attack plan. "There are five spiders and five of us. The bridge is almost forty feet wide, so it's best to draw them all out at
once. We will each engage one in combat as they come around to attack Eryk. When someone finishes theirs, they can help someone else."
Everyone seemed so confident that I capitulated and started stretching. My knee was very sore from the fall off the ankheg, and my shoulder still ached from the last battle. The good news was the bridge was wide and the chamber well-lit by the hundreds of fire beetles.
I lined up in front of everyone. I realized I had been sweating profusely and took a long drink of water. Delmar and Konstantin were right behind me. I was thinking of two things. The first was that my surging adrenaline had
made all my aches disappear, and the second was secrecy be damned. If I needed to use my dimensional space to kill a spider, I would not hesitate. Delmar finally instructed, "Walk until you see the first one, and then run as fast as you can."
I nodded and walked. The bridge quickly got sticky under my boots, like I was walking on dried soda in a movie theater. I surmised it was old webbing on the surface that was causing the sound. The stone bridge started vibrating—the spiders were moving underneath us, preparing. I heard a clicking sound and saw the first spider legs coming from my right. Legs as thick as my arms moved to bring the giant hairy spider into view. Spiders did not need to be this size. I ran as instructed, my heart already pumping. I heard Konstantin yell, "Got this one!"
I sprinted across the bridge and entered the opening on the far side of the chamber. I spun quickly and took in the site. In the middle of the bridge, everyone was engaged with a spider. Had the plan worked? I counted five spiders...well, four, as Castile's spider was wrapped in wispy black chains and pulled over the edge. She then produced a wand and began to fire
arrows of blue light at the spider Firth was fighting. I had not liked being the bait, but the plan had worked.
I decided to rush in and help. Delmar was engaged to the spider closest to me, and I hacked the leg with my short sword. The leg cracked like a lobster shell and was severed. The spider swung around on me and tried to lunge. Instead, Delmar got his long blade into the abdomen and jerked hard. Yellow mucus flowed out of the wound, the spider twitched in pain, and the legs curled in on themselves, dropping the spider where it was.
Delmar didn't wait, turning to help the others.
The battle was over in less than a minute, and I didn't even reach anyone else to help. Castile was already applying her collector shield to a spider.
The quicker you did the extraction, the better chance you had at getting an essence. There were only four spiders, as the Castile had tossed hers over the edge, but each one gave an essence. Castile had extracted one apex
essence of dexterity and three major essences of dexterity.
Everyone huddled around on alert, waiting for the loot to be assigned.
Castile took the largest essence and put it in my hand. I was so shocked I didn't see who got the other essences. It was much larger than the minor essence I had consumed back in training. I put the ball into my mouth and
felt it dissolve as goosebumps spread across my body in reaction to it. I had to keep swallowing to rid my mouth of the aftertaste and the sticky feeling in my throat.
Delmar started cracking open the abdomen of a spider. It was a gooey mess and smelled horrific, even from where I was. I watched in fascination as he removed a soccer ball-sized object. He glanced at me. "Spider spinneret.
They are worth a good three gold each. Castile said I could have them all if I carried them out myself."
Firth had found the stone prize box again. Inside were three potions, all
cure poison. No coins. They were generic cure poisons, but being dungeon- made, they were quite valuable; their shelf life was generally centuries compared to alchemist potions that were only good for a few months. I was once again asked to hold all the potions in my dimensional space, the new
potions included. Linus was teasing the fangs and mumbling about not bringing any empty containers for the venom. He finally reported the type of venom the spiders contained to Castile. I heard him say a generic poison, with no paralytic compounds detected. When Delmar had his spinnerets, we started to move out.
I drank the rest of my canteen while everyone else moved to the far side of
the bridge. I hastened my steps to catch up to them. Konstantin slapped my back. "You did well. You got lucky they did not try and block your path.
She was impressed with your effort. Just try to keep yourself alive long enough to make use of it."
I nodded, falling into step beside my—mentor? I was still curious why Konstantin had softened on me. Did it have to do with the griffin nest
somehow? Also, I had just consumed an apex essence. They were used to
increase a person's affinity. If my manifested convergence ability let me milk essences for all they were worth, what type of benefit would I get from it? My nerves and skin were still tingly, so something was happening.
It also was not lost on me that I had been told apex essences cost fifty gold or more. And Castile had casually handed it to me like a snack. I quietly asked Konstantin, "Does she hand out apex essences often?"
He looked at me seriously, "No. That was only the ninth one she had given to a legionnaire in my eight years with her. We got lucky this dungeon has been neglected for so long. I'm guessing that's why the baron's son risked it. This dungeon is probably bursting with aether, and the first few runs will yield powerful essences. Even the respawns." We were a good distance away from the others, and he whispered, "She is trying to buy your loyalty. Do not look surprised. She has bought the loyalty of most of us. You should be happy she thought you were worth the investment."
Delmar, up ahead, shouted, "It's a safe room!" We all crowded into the small room, about twenty feet around. More orc writing dominated the wall, and a stream of water descended from the ceiling into the floor.
Castile tested the water and said, "Konstantin, scout ahead. Still no sign of the seventh?" Delmar searched the room and shook his head no.
We all sat down while Konstantin headed into the next corridor. We had only fought in two short battles, but everyone looked exhausted from the life-or-death encounters. Delmar dropped his smelly spinneret backpack next to me. "Carry it for me, and I'll give you a gold coin."
He had told me the four spinnerets were worth twelve gold, and he was just offering me one gold. I wanted to stay on his good side, though. "Payment up front," I said cheekily. He frowned but produced the coin he had received from the ankheg. I sent it to my dimensional space with the other one. I was becoming wealthy—two gold coins and two large silver! The
spinnerets were heavy, but I figured it would just be until we returned to the horses. I would be paid a gold for a day's worth of heavy labor.
It was a good half hour before Konstantin returned, and we all huddled around Castile as he reported, "The next dungeon room is another large chamber. It's down a long descending corridor." He broke into a massive grin. "And I found the baron's son. He's alive."
Chapter 16: The Baron's Son
Konstantin wore a grin as he continued. "The little boy got himself trapped on an island in the center of the chamber. There is a lake and island only
accessible by stepping stones. The water is also home to giant aquatic centipedes. They can't reach more than five feet out of the water, according to the idiot on the island."
Castile asked sternly, "So you talked with Justin Cicero? How is his health?"
Konstantin smirked. "He tried to order me to save him. He said he had a commander's rank in the army and had the right to command me. He has been catching and cooking the glowing fish with his fire magic."
Delmar asked, "How did he get trapped? What happened to his adventuring party?"
Konstantin frowned. "He lost one man to the spiders. It was his healing mage. A spider came from under the bridge and got him from behind. The water centipedes have a strong paralytic cloud attack. His two heavy
fighters inhaled it, fell into the water, and drowned while they were crossing the stepping stones."
Firth asked, "What happened to Marius, the pathfinder?"
Konstantin shook his head. "He did not say. But if the dungeon only allows seven people to enter and we number six, then it's safe to assume Marius is also dead."
"What information do you have on the water creatures?" Castile asked.
Konstantin grunted. "Glowing fish light up the chamber and water, like the fire beetles did in the prior chambers. The six centipedes are all about ten feet long and can easily be seen moving in the water. But instead of legs, they have one hundred fins. They're really fast, and I think that's why Justin's team was surprised when crossing."
Mage Castile frowned. "My shadow chains do not work underwater. Will they attack along the shoreline, or just when crossing the stepping stones?"
Konstantin shook his head, "There is no shoreline. The chamber opens right to the stepping stones. The island in the middle has a shoreline— about thirty feet circular."
"What is the likelihood of getting all of us to the island with the baron's son?" Castile asked. Konstantin shook his head again.
Delmar suggested, "As long as we don't breathe in the paralytic gas, can we sprint to the island?"
"No," Konstantin said. "The stepping stones are about five feet across, and it is about five feet between the stones. If you stop on the stones, then you'll likely get swarmed."
Castile heaved a sigh. "We have one instant ice potion. It will freeze all water in a fifteen-foot radius. If we can catch enough of them in the ice, we can eliminate all the water threats. It will take the dungeon at least two
days to respawn them if we do not exit."
Delamar asked, "Who is going to hop on the stones, draw them all in, and freeze them?" No one moved to volunteer. A long, heavy silence ensued.
Castile finally tried to entice someone. "Two essences of their choice to the volunteer." Still, no one volunteered. But I was thinking what everyone
else was thinking: you can't use the essence if you are dead. Mage Castile upped the offer. "Three, and whatever is in the reward chest for the room."
Firth started to fidget. Delmar cocked his eyebrow, thinking Firth was going to cave and volunteer.
"I will do it," I said. All eyes turned to me. "I already got some experience being the bait, and you'll have my back," I said confidently. Or at least, I thought I sounded confident.
I removed the potions from my dimensional space, and Mage Castile pulled the aqua-colored potion out. "We got this as a gift from a merchant for rescuing him from a gnoll war party. Keep the lid off, and throw it in the water when all six creatures are within range." Delmar and Konstantin had something akin to ice spikes that they applied to their boots so they would not slip on the ice.
We all walked down the long tunnel. As we approached the end, a blue light highlighted the room. When we reached the end, it was actually quite beautiful. Some luminescent fish lit up the water, giving the chamber a blue, ethereal light. The stepping stones were round and dark gray, heading out to an island in the center. A young man stood on the island, studying us. "You back, soldier?" He yelled excitedly. "At least you brought help.
Ready to get me off this island?"
I didn't like him from the second I heard his voice. To make matters worse, I was about to risk my life for him. Konstantin walked up to me, "Don't worry about catching them all. Get to the second stone and toss it when the first one attacks. When they emerge, hold your breath as long as you can. We'll be right behind you." He patted my back reassuringly.
I nodded, but was questioning my self-preservation thought process. It was a good ten minutes of preparation, with the man on the island screaming the entire time for us to hurry up. Castile told me to avoid falling into the water after I dropped the potion, jokingly saying they wouldn't have time to chip me out of the ice before I died.
I could see the snake-looking creatures in the water. The glowing fish scattered from in front of them as they swam. I took a breath and leaped to the first stepping stone. I had expected it to be stable, and nearly fell when it wobbled underneath me. Ripples of water spread from the stone, calling the creatures to me. I got my feet quickly under me. The creatures raced toward me incredibly fast. Two were trailing far behind, back near the island. I waited, a short sword in one hand and the potion in the other, for them to get close.
Konstantin yelled, "Get to the next platform!" I had forgotten the plan to get to the second platform when I stumbled. I needed to give everyone room to fight. I ran and leaped. The wobble of the platform had me not getting a great push-off, and I came up a little short. My bad knee slammed hard, and I heard a crack in my knee as my lower body splashed into the water. Water filled my boots as I scrambled to get on the platform.
Somehow, I didn't spill the potion, but the knuckles on my sword hand were smashed and bleeding as I rolled onto the floating stone.
An insectoid head appeared above water. I swung my sword as the
centipede spewed a foul mist into my face. My blade cut its face rubbery face. I swung twice more, hacking away. The exertion meant I couldn't hold my breath much longer. I tossed the potion into the water, unaware if all the swimming beasts were close enough yet.
I watched in fascination as the water crystalized and the ice spread rapidly.
Konstantin landed behind me, and I inhaled in relief, desperately needing
the air. The foul mist had not fully dissipated, and I felt the paralytic taking hold. It was hard to move and breathe, but my fellow soldiers were around me and hacking away as the centipedes were trapped in the ice.
My feet felt cold, but it wasn't from the paralyzing mist. My boots and
pants froze, and then I was a statue. My frozen clothes from the waist down held up my paralyzed body. I watched as five of the six centipedes were trapped in the ice and hacked to death.
The last one lunged up onto the ice, and its long body slid toward me. Delmar intercepted it and hacked into the body, stopping it. Firth walked into my line of sight. "Damn, if I knew it was going to be this easy, I would have volunteered myself." He tapped my forehead. "Hey, Linus, how long before he moves again?"
"About a minute, I believe," I heard from behind me. He was correct, as I felt my movement slowly return. I slowly and painfully sucked in the
precious air. If I had known the paralysis would have extended to my lungs, I would not have volunteered.
I gasped, went down on one knee, and tried to remove my boots, now worried about frostbite. As I wrestled with the boots, the baron's son came to us across the stones, reeking something fierce. "About time. Give me
some food, and you can hand me my essences from those creatures, mage."
I had only gotten one boot off, but looked up to see the Mage Castile staring at the man. He looked to be in his twenties, with weeks of haggard grow on his gaunt face. Delmar stepped between the mage and the baron's son. "Over here, First Citizen Justin. We can get you some rations." Delmar escorted Justin back up to the safe room before the confrontation with Mage Castile erupted.
Mage Castile stood over me as I rubbed my bare feet, trying to get the feeling back. I was still on the ice-covered second stepping stone. "Nice work, Eryk." She leaned down and placed three essences into my palm. "Three apex endurance affinities. All six were apex endurance essences.
The baron's son took the reward chest, as it materialized on the island," she said regrettably.
"He can just take the chest? He didn't do a damn thing! What about his claim on the essences?" I asked, annoyed, starting to feel some life in my bare feet.
Castile pursed her lips. "He is a First Citizen." My confused look had her add, "They fall under different laws."
"As a mage, are you not a First Citizen as well?" I asked.
Castile humphed. "No. You can only be born into first citizenship or raised by the Emperor for service. Otherwise, you need to be a descendent of a member of the First Legion."
I had more questions, but didn't want to show my ignorance. "So what's going to happen with Mr. Personality?" I asked Mage Castile. She huffed a short laugh.
"I'll give him these three essences and tell him that was all we collected. He didn't see me collect them all, as he was too busy opening the chest on the island and securing whatever was in it. He will probably doubt me, so consume those quickly. You may get some indigestion, as you are only
supposed to take one essence a day, but if you don't take them all now, that nitwit will confiscate them. Stay down here and take one every hour. I will see you in two hours." Castile nodded at me, then she turned away and started walking back to the safe room.
Konstantin was the only one left at the passage heading up. He said, "Since the reward chest appeared in this room, there will be no other threats.
When you feel up to it, walk down to the next chamber and take an accounting of it. If Justin asks, we will tell him we left you behind to scout. Do not enter the room, though; just note what you see from the passageway so you have something to tell Justin if he asks. The dungeon's ecology will prevent the creatures from leaving their designated room."
"Couldn't we just kill the monsters from the passageway then?" I asked, trying to find a loophole.
Konstantin shook his head in disappointment. "I thought you were smarter than that, Eryk." Instead of elaborating, he turned and left. I was left barefoot and alone on the floating stone, with three essences in my hand.
I looked around and put the first essence into my mouth, thinking about what he meant. Then it struck me. The ankhegs were underground. The
spiders were under the bridge. And the centipede fish were in the water and only came close after I leaped onto the first stone. All the monsters had only attacked after we entered the room. I surmised dungeons protected their creations from making killing them too easy.
Once I had confirmed I was alone, I sent my wet, cold socks to my dimensional storage and brought out dry socks. I put on the icy, frost- covered boots. I had a lot of time, so I decided to check out the island in
the center of the chamber. I hopped to it and almost collapsed every time I landed. My knee was in serious pain, and I think I cracked the patella. On the island, I found the mess the baron's son left—piles of shit, fish bones, dirty clothes. The smell was horrendous. I looked at the far side of the cavern. I still had a lot of time before I needed to return to the safe room. I knew curiosity killed the cat, but it couldn't hurt to take a peek. As Konstantin said, I just needed to remain in the passageway.
Chapter 17: Sisyphus' Rock
I reached the far side of the chamber on the floating stepping stones. I wished I still had the healing potions in my dimensional space; I would
have gladly taken some punishment for using one. But I had not been asked to store them after the fight. My knee was swelling, and I hobbled into the tunnel and looked back at the stones. Maybe this wasn't such a great idea.
I winced at the thought of hopping back across the stones. Perhaps I would hobble down to the next room and come back.
My right knee quickly became so stiff it was difficult to bend, giving me a strong limp. As the light faded behind me, a new light at the end of the tunnel appeared in front of me. I was close, maybe 60 feet from the next room. I continued to the opening into the next chamber. Standing in the passage, I investigated the room. It was a smooth, conical stone dome.
Lines of greenish light, like veins, lit up the dome. The lines seemed to pulse in a rhythm. I stuck my head inside to look at the wall around the door. Huh, the lines were made by fist-sized snails trailing a glowing goo
behind them. These were the first non-insects I had seen in the dungeon. I didn't know what that implied.
The floor of the domed room was flat and consisted of brown dirt with
some mounds near the center. I guessed they hid whatever creature guarded the room. Curiously, I did not see an exit around the room anywhere. Was this the final room in this dungeon? Or maybe the snails were the monster? Would they all fly together to form a giant snail?
Okay, that was a stupid thought. The first chamber had burrowers, so this chamber probably had burrowers, and the mounds in the center hid the creatures.
I stared for about forty minutes, then took out my second apex essence and ate it. Castile had said to wait at least an hour between. Shit. Castile was not joking about indigestion. I started making short belching sounds, accompanied by an attack of mini hiccups. My stomach roiled. I broke out into a cold sweat, and I sat down against the wall and then lay down till the feeling passed. I kept an eye on the room, waiting for my stomach and
pulse rate to return to normal. I was definitely going to save that last apex essence for much later. I pulled out some water and drank heavily before putting it back in my storage.
I stayed seated until I estimated that it was getting close to the end of the two hours Castile gave me. Besides the snails making slow progress along the dome, I observed no movement in the chamber. Taking one last look at
the room, I wondered if maybe there was a doorway to the right or left that I couldn't quite see. I decided to take a quick check. That way, I could say I scouted the next room if the baron's son questioned me. I leaned in further, on alert, ready to run, remembering the ankheg had spit acid. I didn't see anything and cautiously got a little further in. I looked up, searching the wall of the dome. Nothing. I moved to go the half step back and felt for
the passageway.
But the passageway was gone. In its place was a solid wall.
My heart raced as I felt the wall. I had barely entered the room, if at all.
Maybe it was invisible, some type of illusion. I slid left a few feet and then right on the wall, feeling the wall for the passage. I felt a tremor under my feet and swore. Why didn't anyone fucking tell me a dungeon could lock you in a room? Now I was going to die to whatever horrendous insect swarm came after me. I drew my short sword, pulled a shield from my dimensional space, and turned to face whatever spawn crawled from under the earth.
The ground in the center of the chamber rippled, and the body of a massive black scorpion erupted. The stinger swayed fifteen feet in the air, and each of its two claws was as big as a person. I waited with a racing heart. I could win by sending part of its body to my dimensional cube as I had done with the bulette, as long as it was just one Schwarzenegger-sized
scorpion. Nothing else came, so I started moving along the wall. The scorpion located me and turned to follow my movements. It seemed cautious.
Maybe it was stunned that only one person had come to challenge it. It tested its claws with reverberating snaps in the air. The hovering stinger did a hypnotic dance in the air as its eight legs brought it slowly forward. I prepared my dimensional space…fuck! I still had the stone pillar stored in there! New plan. Drop a big rock on a big bug. I increased my pace along the wall, and it finally charged me.
I did my best to time the stone. The edge of the stone materialized at the end of my sword arm, extending ten feet forward and looming over the confused bug. The stone hung in the air for a moment before falling. One
of the claws extended and reached for me. I rolled away, but it was not necessary. The cylinder crushed the body of the scorpion, and internal
fluids splattered in every direction, covering me in metallic-smelling bug juice.
I focused on my aether and swore. The mass of pulling the object had drained all my aether in one go. I scanned the room, thinking my bad luck would have a second scorpion show up. The stinger started to fall like a fallen tree toward me. I tumbled out of the way as it pierced the ground. It would have missed me by a few feet, but it's better to be safe than sorry.
The slimy fluids covering me were now coated with dirt from my roll. I spit something foul from my mouth.
I walked around the chamber and found a shoebox-sized stone chest in the center of the room. I breathed, relieved. Konstantin had said that if the reward chest appeared, all threats had been handled. I put down my shield to inspect the box.
The box was similar to the others we found when defeating the previous monsters. I moved cautiously past the scorpion, wishing I had an essence collector to use on it. I was about to open the chest when I remembered the traps Delmar had mentioned, instead using my sword tip to flip the lid open.
Nothing happened. Inside were twenty shiny gold coins and what looked like a pendant. A silvery chain was connected to a hexagonal brass coin, featuring an array of fine lines and small blue gems embedded at
intersections on both sides. It was like the patterns that made up the discs on the translation amulet I had during training, but this one had much finer and more intricate work.
I picked up the obviously magical item. It felt light in my hand, more like the density of plastic than metal. I thought about wearing it and channeling aether into it, but since I didn't know what it did, I decided to store it away with the gold coins.
I stepped over to the dead scorpion and wondered what kind of essence the beast would have yielded. I touched the carapace, thinking I could possibly pull the essence to myself with my ability. I focused and tried for a few
minutes before giving up. I couldn't feel anything happening and felt silly for trying.
I thought better of leaving the empty chest and stone cylinder. If they came down here to check this room, I needed to erase as much evidence as possible—although the giant crushed scorpion, still oozing fluids, was a dead giveaway.
Unfortunately, my aether didn't recover enough to put anything in my space. I buried the chest, as that was the best I could do, then hobbled back to the water chamber. Hopping across the stones this time was not fun, and I fell on each landing as my knee would not bend properly. When I got to
the far side, I quickly stripped and began to wash my clothes and armor in the water.
All the tales of glory in combat never mentioned the after-battle cleanup. Cleaning up the mess after a fight was never pretty, and this was the second time for me, the messy bulette being the first. The glowing fish seemed attracted to the gore being washed into the crystal-clear water. They were not carnivorous, and just seemed like fat trout with glowing scales. I wondered how they might taste and wished I had a fishing rod.
I was in my undergarments with everything laid out to dry when Konstantin came down the tunnel to check on me. "It's been four hours, Eryk. Are you down here bathing?" Humor laced his voice. "Castile was getting worried. And I have some bad news." He was staring at my swollen and red knee, and knelt to inspect it.
"Well, don't keep me in suspense. Is the cave the home of a dragon?" I asked while I started putting on my wet clothes.
"No, much worse. Castile is sending you to escort Justin Cicero back to his father," Konstantin admitted. "She is giving him the griffin egg, and you
are to store it in your space so it gets there safely. She's doing it so she can get the leech away from her company. Report to the Legion headquarters when you reach Varvao. They will tell you where to find our company."
"How far is Varvao?" I asked, concerned.
"Three hundred and fifty miles, give or take. But there is good news. Your little mage friend is going with you," Konstantin chuckled.
"Renna is coming with me? Is that a good thing, with the First Citizen being with me?" I asked, thinking of her safety.
"Most likely, he will not touch her. Rumor is she is promised to one of the Emperor's sons," he said, but he didn't sound confident. He pointed at my
knee. "Let Linus know, and he'll give you a potion to heal up."
I had finished dressing and was working on my armor. "Why are you being so nice to me, Konstantin? You don't have the best reputation among the
others."
Konstantin spat into the water. "I am tired of seeing young men like you die. I cannot tell why I thought you were different and deserved my mentoring. Maybe one of the gods is pushing me to keep you alive. I do not know. Just accept it." He turned and walked up the passage.
I packed my things up and hobbled up the passage. When I reached the safe room, there was no one there. I hobbled all the way back to the dungeon
entrance and passed through at a walk this time.
Delmar yelled, "About time, Eryk. Get some food and pack up your gear. We will be heading out shortly." I looked around the chamber. The tents were all rolled up. Justin was arguing with Mage Castile, and I decided I
did not need to become involved. I got some food and went to eat it next to Renna, who wore a sad expression.
"Sorry, Eryk. Your fancy new tent is over there, but you are going to be carrying it for him." Renna shook her head. Now I got to be a pack mule. At least I had wormed out of carrying the spinnerets. Maybe I would have to return the gold coin.
"It is what it is," I said to Renna. Linus came to me and handed me a healing potion. Konstantin must have already talked with him. I sat on the ground next to Renna and drank the potion. It was like a warm feeling spreading through my body and numbing me. The heat increased around my knee. I could feel the aether of the potion working and the swelling going down. After a few minutes, I could bend my knee easily again. I had magical healing performed by mages before, but this was different. The mage's healing was focused, while this potion was more like a swarm covering my body and then focusing on the injury.
I chatted with Renna for a while, telling her about the dungeon. Mage Castile finally approached with Justin Cicero, Firth, and Wylie. Castile
said, "When we get back to the horses, you three will escort First Citizen Cicero and Mage Renna to the city." I had a lot of questions, but Castile spun and left, clearly not in a good mood.
Justin held out the griffin egg. "Put this in your space, legionnaire." After I put the egg in my space, he just walked away. I could see the other
members of the company eyeing us. Justin had seized the prize, and the
malice was palpable. I would have to ask more about how the First Citizens fit into the Empire I now served. What was the First Legion?
Wylie and Firth, approached me. The older soldier, Firth, spoke. "Looks like we'll be babysitting you again. At least you get to ride. Benito will have to ride pillion with someone when we leave until we get him a new mount." Soon we were all headed out of the mountains and back to the horses.