Dungeon Tour Guide ch. 12 (Patreon)

“This is what we call tunnel vision, by the way!” I shouted, trying to make myself heard over Ryan’s horrified screaming and the pseudo-hydra’s hissing. “Never take your attention off the biggest threat in the room!”

It had only hit him once, drawing back afterwards as Troy had tossed a [Manaburst] at the thing’s head, but it had been far more than a glancing blow. Ryan was bleeding profusely from multiple gaping wounds in his side, the fangs of one of the monster’s jaws having penetrated most of the way through his side. A quick look at him told me that his life would be in grievous danger if he didn’t get help soon. I didn’t need spells to see that.

Fortunately for him, he was going to get help soon. I reached deep into my spell list, activating one of the ones I hadn’t had cause to use in some time. [Triage] brought me to his side in an instant, the movement so fast that it may as well have been teleportation.

I cast a [Spare the Dying] first. That spell would prevent him from, well, actually dying for the time being. Really handy, assuming that nothing else attacked him.

Not that anything else would. I didn’t even need to bother dealing with that. A construct lumbered over towards me, but a targeted [Song of Displacement] sent it flying straight into a stream of water, and the monster fell apart.

“Well done,” I congratulated them. “Protecting your healer is commendable.”

I looked up as I prepared to cast my next spell, catching the eyes of the Guild’s [Spellblade]. Lisa’s hand was on her sword, and she looked completely ready to hop in and take control of the fight, but I gave her a shake of my head. Not yet.

The adventuring party needed this. If their second dungeon ever was a failure that required them to be carried by the person assessing them—well, if that were me, it would’ve been an embarrassment that I would never live down.

Come to think of it, my second dungeon hadn’t been a smashing success either. Or it had been, but the end of it had led into… this. Which wasn’t bad, actually.

I shook my head. Focus on the healing.

A simple [Healing Stream] or [Rejuvenating Pulse] wasn’t going to do it here. That would stabilize him further, maybe give Ryan the ability to stand up and swing his sword a couple more times, but if I was going to heal them, I was going to do it right.

I closed my eyes, clasping my hands, and I cast [Lesser True Heal]. Despite the brokenness of [Divine Healer], I hadn’t unlocked the full [True Heal] spell, but this one would more than suffice for someone who was only level 2. It was a bit overkill, actually, but I wasn’t going to take any chances with this.

The mana that I’d gained from the strike itself fueled the spell, and Ryan’s wounds closed in fast motion, new flesh growing over it in moments.

Nothing I could do about the armor, though. It was dented and warped where the pseudo-hydra had struck, a pair of holes in either side indicating where its fangs had penetrated the metal.

“You alright?” I asked.

“Much better,” Ryan grunted, seeming surprisingly nonchalant for someone who’d been dying a moment ago. “Thank you.”

“Sorry about the armor,” I said. “Though I would advise you acquire stronger armor if you plan on doing this tour again.”

“No worries,” he replied. “It was a loaner from the order. I’ll get something better next time.”

“Alright,” I said. Tough man. He really seemed fine. “If you’re good, then we should return to the fight.”

“Right,” he said, getting back to his feet.

I looked up. The pseudo-hydra was slithering through and around the rocks closer to the ceiling now, pushed back by a wave of alternating [Manaburst]s and [Thunderspark]s from Troy. I had to be impressed with the [Apprentice Mage]. Even with his friend barely surviving an attack, he’d managed to hold concentration on his [Create Water], giving Rose the resources necessary to break through most of the remaining constructs.

In the brief period of time that I’d spent healing and talking to Ryan, she’d reduced their number to only two—one with armor and one without. Both of them were on the far side of the room, preparing for one final charge. From the senses I had as a dungeon, I was fairly sure the pseudo-hydra was going to make an attack as well.

“Careful,” I warned, pointing at the boss monster. “When you see it coiling back, it is not a respite but preparation. The pseudo-hydra tends to lie in wait and strike at the most opportune times.”

“Got it,” Rose said. “I think I might be able to drive it back this time. Ryan, can you deal with the armor on the last one?”

“Sure thing.”

“And Troy. You see that air vent there?” Rose pointed at one of the untriggered traps. They’d done a splendid job of making their way around the marked air vents so far, not triggering even a single one. To be fair, I hadn’t put many in this room.

“Yeah.”

“Put a [Create Water] there when the constructs pass by. You might be able to use the air to push the water.”

“Makes sense. On it.”

“Cool. If there’s nothing else, then… three, two, one, go!”

They split, each of them executing a different part of their plan. Troy’s [Create Water] spawned a new sphere of liquid right above an indent in the ground, and I connected the surface of the ground with the pocket compressed air beneath.

It didn’t work perfectly, but it worked well enough. The gust of air split the watery sphere in half, thrusting two separate globs of high-speed liquid in slightly different directions.

One of them went wide, not even glancing either of the two remaining constructs before it splashed into uselessness against a stray outcropping of rock, but the other one landed.

Unfortunately for Troy, the angle that his [Create Water] had been pushed by this vent wasn’t a favorable one, and it collided with the armored one. It wasn’t enchanted plate, but plate armor was still plate armor—the baseline that I’d [Replicate]d these from had survived a huge rock falling on them, after all—so the water, fast as it was, dissipated harmlessly against the armor.

“Too early!” I shouted. “If you can’t guarantee a hit on the unarmored one, then save your strength for when the armor is gone!”

Speaking of removing the armor, Ryan seemed to be having a better time of things. He had an [Agility Boost] going and an [Adamantium Strike] prepared, though no [Song of Strength] accompanied him this time. Rose was holding something back, I could tell that much.

I discovered what it was when the pseudo-hydra decided to make its presence known again, reading its head back for another strike at the [Knight].

“Not again, motherfucker,” Rose grunted, and she cast her [Song of Displacement]. This time, I could feel the strength in the air, the way the mana was more intense than it had been before.

An upcast? She had leveled up recently, but to be able to upcast her spell so soon…

The implications of that would have to be an issue for later. For the time being, I watched as the pseudo-hydra’s own head blurred with motion and slammed into another one of its heads at high velocity, dashing its second head into a rock and drawing blood. The pseudo-hydra fell from its perch, dazed, and it hit the ground with a resounding thump. Not dead, but it wouldn’t be up for a bit.

I snorted. “That’s one way to use that, for sure.”

“The [Bard] does indeed hold much potential,” Lisa said, quiet enough that she might’ve thought nobody could hear her. “All three, even.”

I smiled, making sure Lisa couldn’t see it. That was promising for her assessment of them.

“Gotcha!” Ryan shouted, having made it to melee range of the armored construct.

The construct drew a fist back to swing at him, but it was too slow. Far too slow.

With a grunt of effort, Ryan brought his sword down in a two-handed [Adamantium Strike], and the armor shattered under the force of the blow. Even without the [Song of Strength] spurring him on, this hit was far more severe than the last, splitting apart the construct’s metal helm and its head as well.

Powerful. This time, he’d placed the strike a lot better, and the construct fell apart before he could even bring his hands back to initiate a second strike.

“One more [Adamantium Strike] left for the day!”

“I’m short on mana!” Rose shouted back. “You two need to deal with the other construct yourselves!”

So she did have limits. It was quite possible she’d misjudged how much mana she’d put into her [Song of Displacement], because that spell had been ridiculously powerful for a level 2 [Bard] with (presumably) nothing that let her circumvent mana requirements. That might’ve put her mana resources out of commission for the time being. It’d also put the pseudo-hydra out of commission as well, so at least it had been a fair trade.

“I’m gonna try again,” Troy said, a little sheepishly. “I’m not going to use an air vent, though. I don’t think I’m good enough at aiming it, and [Control Water] isn’t in my spell list yet.”

Made sense. They’d been making pretty creative use of [Create Water] so far, but without Rose’s magic to direct it, it was significantly harder to aim. Compressed air was by far an insufficient substitute for the precision and power of [Song of Displacement].

Instead, Troy cast a [Manaburst]. The first one landed true, smashing the remaining construct in the center of mass and forcing it to stumble back, rocks crumbling from the point of impact, but it didn’t kill it.

The second one did, turning the rock construct into an unmagical pile of pebbles, and that was all the constructs sorted. They hadn't even landed a single hit on the adventurers, but they'd at least provided an opportunity for the pseudo-hydra to attack. In terms of dungeon design, I was pretty sure I could call that a win.

“I leveled up!" Troy shouted. "Yes!"

Neither of the other two had. Was it because—oh, duh, it was because he’d killed all the snakes in the water, which Ryan and Rose hadn’t taken part in.

Hopefully the pseudo-hydra would push them over the edge.

Speaking of which, the monster was just about regaining its bearings now. The two heads that had been involved in Rose’s little maneuver were still bloodied and dazed, but the other two seemed to have figured out how to manage with only half of the monster’s brain capacity.

“Rose, you good yet?” Ryan asked. “Could use a strength boost.”

“Enough for one,” Rose said, and she cast [Song of Strength].

Ryan dashed forward, and the pseudo-hydra slithered to meet him. It was slow, its ability to move severely hampered by the fact that two of its heads were useless for anything more than lolling around on the ground, but it was still big.

“Don’t attack,” I told Troy, walking up to him and placing a hand on his shoulder. He hadn’t created a spell yet, but I could feel the mana gathering in front of him. “The last thing you want to do is inflict collateral damage in a fight. Have faith in your team.”

I gestured, pointing at Ryan just in time to catch him heaving out a primal growl and leaping forward, his sword raised above his head. [Agility Boost] provided the necessary speed for his long jump to span the nearly ten feet between him and the pseudo-hydra—in full plate, to boot—and his blade shone with power as he struck. This time, though, the sword didn’t activate a special spell.

Right, he only had one more [Adamantium Strike] left for the day. I wasn’t sure what he was saving it for, but either way, he didn’t need it. The leaping strike went straight through one of the pseudo-hydra’s usable heads.

Before the last head could react, Ryan retrieved his sword and sliced it off in one clean stroke, again not bothering with an [Adamantium Strike].

This time, the pseudo-hydra died with a whimper instead of a bang, but the party’s celebration was no less jubilant for it.

Well, at least until Ryan realized that he’d gotten himself sprayed with snake blood.

“Ugh, this thing’s blood is gross,” Ryan complained, wiping his sword on the monster’s carcass. “I got it all over me.”

Troy gave him a side-eye. “You think we don’t know that? We were inside it.”

“Oh. Right.”

“Well done,” the [Spellblade] interrupted, giving the party three short claps. “I believe a debrief of your performance is in order, but allow me to give you the important information: both you and the dungeon passed. Your tour guide will be permitted to continue his operations.”

Rose whooped, Ryan cheered, and Troy pumped a fist silently.

“I am aware of your situations,” Lisa said. “We may be able to request a quieter registration, but it must be a registration nonetheless. If you have time to delve this dungeon, you will have time to take the requisite Guild training for a license. If the choice is not adventuring or dying, we will always advise you pick the former.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Ryan said. “We will… try.”

There was a story there, but I hadn’t pried before and I wasn’t going to start now.

“You may also discuss what you wish to be your party name, assuming you wish to maintain this party,” Lisa added.

“I didn’t even realize we could do that,” Rose said. “Damn.”

The three of them fell into conversation almost instantly, tossing out suggestions for names and ripping them apart. It warmed my heart to look at the three of them. Just a group of friends, lightheartedly arguing for their party name after a spot of adventuring. It was everything that a proper party should be.

Lisa turned towards me, gesturing with her head to indicate that we should step away.

“Hey,” I said to the newly accepted adventurers, giving Lisa a nod. “The way out will open in a moment. Thanks for touring with me, and I’ll be there to see you off in just a moment.”

I opened the pathway back to the entrance again, and the three of them departed, all of them giving Lisa a suspicious look before actually leaving.

“What is it?” I asked once they were gone.

“I lied,” she admitted. “I said that both the dungeon and the party passed, but only they did.”

“What?”

“I can’t let them inside this place again.”