Newly Summoned Demoness - Chapter 42 – The Third Level (Patreon)

Yolani held her wand up in the air, the bright glow lighting up the large space opening up before the group. Henri stood beside her, leaning a bit too close for her comfort to the edge to peer down into the abyss.

His armor was stained with ichor and dirt. They’d spent the last three days fighting and delving into the dungeon’s depths. The density of their opponents had been far higher than indicated on her father’s map. There had been scant reward as well; all the enemies had been simple-minded undead or beasts. The dungeon’s balance had somehow been changed.

Was that why there had been so few mana stones coming from the Syndicate?

They’d collected two dozen mana crystals, but on average, there should have been at least a low-quality mana shard to go with them.

The loot chests were also empty. There was no sign of another adventuring group, though.

The way the dungeon branched out, unless they had the same map and chose the same directions, there was scant chance of two parties running into each other randomly. There were just too many roots spreading out into the depths.

Yolani sighed as the rest of their party took turns looking down. They’d reached the third level. She gave a smile to Harlock.

He gave her a serious look. “It took much longer than expected.”

She glanced at the others. Lucas looked exhausted. “It’s a good thing we brought extra supplies.”

“Aye, lass. You prepared this well. Wouldn’t have come otherwise, but I’m afraid unless we have better luck, we won’t have much time to search before needing to turn around,” Harlock said.

That was like a crushing weight. They’d come so far only to have to turn around and give up… but it wasn’t that far left to go. “I think we can make it.”

The grizzled sergeant nodded. The party headed down the spiraling stairs. There was a rest spot halfway down to the next level with a security grate. They stopped to rest their feet. Rations were shared and everyone got a few hours of rest before they continued their march.

A pair of skeleton guards greeted them with halberds at the bottom, but Thoren let out a yell, then smashed them into pieces with a swing of his oversized two-handed sword. Jareth nodded to the oversized warrior and slipped into the lead, keeping an eye out for traps.

The man had a high level of [Darkvision] so the lack of light wasn’t a problem as he scouted at the forward edge of her glow lamp. That was her primary role: light bearer. The others preserved their glow lamp charges for combat, while she carefully swapped out a crystal charge whenever hers ran low.

Kael remained glued to her side. As the youngest and least experienced in the group, the young man acted as her bodyguard. Henri and Lucas acted as the rearguard and watched their flanks, while Harlock acted as a beater to move to wherever there was excess trouble.

Over the three days, they’d learned each other’s strengths and weaknesses and formed a well-oiled cohesive unit.

The air felt heavier, probably because it was. Some of the more drained crystals in her bag and began to glow with their own inner light. Mana lay heavy like a thick fog, and a shiver ran down her spine. The conditions were perfect for a demon to form or appear.

Also perfect for a mana shard formation.

There were four exits for them to choose between, at the base of the spiral. Everyone kept an alert eye while she glanced at each one. She’d memorized the map already and pointed to one with a cracked arch. “This one.”

“You sure, Yolani? That looks pretty unstable,” Henri said.

She nodded. “It’s that one. There should be three corridors and chambers before we reach the…end.”

Despite her outward calmness, a knot of fear twisted tighter in her gut. Every step forward meant…coming closer to either knowing her father’s fate, or failure and having no resolution. An icy hand had squeezed the hope that she’d find him alive until it was a numb shard in her heart that stabbed her. If she dwelled on it, she’d work herself to tears.

There was no room for that when danger lurked around every corner.

So she pushed the thought of it away.

They needed to reach the end, one chamber at a time.

The corridor wasn’t trapped, so they made a quick pace. Jareth reached the threshold into the next room first and then fell back. “There’s a [Rockbear] in the middle of the room. Didn’t see any adds.”

Harlock grunted. “How big?”

“Big enough to be trouble,” Jareth replied.

“What’s the plan?” Henri asked.

Harlock looked over at each of them before settling on Yolani. “If the girl here can create a kinetic ward of some kind powerful enough… I’d say we bait it into a charge, slam it to a stop with a collision, then hack at it.”

Yolani frowned. “You’re sure your weapons can hurt it? The ward is no problem.”

Harlock looked at Thoren. “We’ll probably want to use some elemental grease. Rockbears are sensitive to lightning and electricity.”

“Isn’t that backwards? Shouldn’t earth resist lightning and we should use fire instead?” Kael asked.

“Aye, earth resists lightning. But the insides of the [Rockbear] aren’t earth. Once you pierce the armor…that amplifies the shock internally,” Harlock explained.

Yolani set down her pack and fetched out the blue jar that glowed. The grease crackled inside, hinting at the contained elemental energy of the stuff inside the glass. She pulled out a pair of thick rubber gloves and put them on. “Make sure not to touch your weapon to anything once it is applied. It’ll wear off after a few blows or a bit of time.”

Everyone mumbled acknowledgement and then offered their weapon of choice one by one. She applied a thick layer to each blade with her gloved hand and then resealed the jar. A flick from her other hand cleaned her glove and then she stored everything back into her pack.

They were ready.

Yolani readied her kinetic combat wand as they strode into the chamber. It was an artificially abrupt change of scenery as the dungeon bricks gave way to a more natural looking cavern. A small stream ran from one end to the other, while different mushrooms and plants grew while giving off their own inner lights. High above, shining crystals glinted, casting a pale purple light across the entire chamber, highlighting the sleeping [Rockbear] in the center.

Fairly standard or a dungeon, all told.

Harlock raised his crossbow, and a bolt thwacked out to stab into the sleeping beast’s eye. The projectile dug a few inches, shocking arcs playing through the air around the impact zone. He let out an annoyed ‘Tschk’ as the bolt dislodged itself as the beast opened its eyes and roared.

Predictably, it charged straight for him, and she went to work forming a ward spell. The sergeant didn’t flinch or flee as the [Rockbear] bore down on him, trusting her completely.

She was happy to not disappoint as the bear made a final lunge and smashed nose first into a spiral of white energy that inverted all kinetic force applied to it. There was a sickeningly loud crunch of stone as the bear’s armor plating fractured from the impact. It limped to the side, partially stunned by the sudden self-inflicted blow to its head.

The rest of the group wasted no time attacking.

Thoren reached the staggered bear first, swinging his scintillating great sword with all his might. The blade cleaved into the bear’s armor plate deeply enough that the lightning grease discharged strongly. A swipe forced him to dodge backward, yanking the weapon free though.

A follow up bite from the [Rockbear] received a slash from the sword, discharging a shock of lightning into the beast’s mouth, causing it to rise on its legs and roar.

Jareth moved in on the beast’s flank, then jumped at the [Rockbear]’s hip. His two stilettos slid through an open joint in the rock before they pulsed with a discharge. The bear’s entire left leg went limp from the shock, and it toppled over.

Not wasting any time Lucas began to hack at the bear’s exposed stomach with his war pick, stone chunks exploding outward with each piercing strike.

Harlock set his spear on top of his shield and charged. The long weapon allowed him the reach to jab the beast in the throat without having to get too close. Blood leaked from the wounds, while the lightning grease played havoc on the bear’s nervous system.

Wounded, the [Rockbear] roared in pain and anger, lashing out blindly as it tried to fend off its attackers.

Yolani watched everything with rapt attention, looking for any strike that a party member might not block or avoid in time. Her wand still had nearly a full charge, and reversing a blow wasn’t impossible if she was fast enough.

She didn’t even notice when two goblins chittered and jumped from an overhang hidden above, straight at her. Kael and Henri saw them, though.

Kael raised his spear and the first goblin impaled itself all the way to the blade guard, and the young man used its own momentum to fling it against the dungeon wall.

The second one fared just as poorly as Henri’s sword decapitated it in a single, sizzling blow. Blood splattered all over her side, but Yolani ignored it. The [Rockbear] had risen to charge again, this time for Kareth.

She didn’t have a good view, so instead of placing a barrier in front of it, she shackled its rear ankles.

That worked well. The bear came to a sudden halt and slammed into the floor as momentum suddenly reversed itself. A few moments of hacking later, the beast was finished, and no one was hurt.

That was the important thing. They didn’t have a lot of healing supplies left. Thankfully, her cleaning wand was rechargeable from the mana crystals they found.

“Good job, everyone,” Yolani said. Everyone looked up at her as they caught their breath. “Let’s take a moment to rest and clean up and look for loot.”

She swapped to her cleaning wand and waved it in a single deft motion, igniting a soft glow that enveloped each of her companions. The blood stains on their clothes and armor faded aways as if they were never there. It didn’t work on the dirt and grime, though, giving them all a rugged, battle-worn appearance.

“Aye, that’s a right miracle, that is,” Thoren commented. There was a chorus of agreement.

“Not oft ye get to run with a walking clothes wash,” Harlock said.

A small smile crossed Yolani’s lips. It was nice to be appreciated, especially for her less ‘combat’ inclined utilities. Not that she hadn’t prepared plenty of those for the delve as well.

“Sadly, it won’t help with anything but non-human fluids,” she said, stowing the wand back into her tool belt. She eyed the [Rockbear] with a frown. “Not sure there is anything harvestable there, especially after the shocking we gave it.”

Jareth frowned at her. “There’s the meat.”

“We aren’t camping until we reach the end chamber. If you want to carve some steaks to carry to through the next two fights, go ahead,” Harlock said.

The wiry man did just that. Yolani shook her head. They had plenty of rations. Was there really a need to take some raw meat with them?

Jael and Henri worked together to climb up the side of the chamber’s wall, working their way up to the hidden alcove the goblins had jumped from. When they reached it there was a grunt and then confirmation. “Treasure chest up here.”

“Toss it down,” Harlock ordered.

“Make space and watch out,” Henri replied.

There was a ‘heave, ho’ from the two men up top then the metal banded chest flew. It crashed onto the floor with a loud crunch, the wood shattered in places. Not a chest-mimic then. Yolani approached warily.

Harlock reached it first and gave it a crude kick. He grunted in satisfaction. “Seems clean.”

Yolani rolled her eyes. “I’d tell you guys to be gentler with the loot, but all we get is crap so far.”

“Bad luck,” Harlock confirmed.

A wave of her wand set the chest upright and then shattered the lock and slammed it open. It was mostly empty. A knife was the only object and there were a few silver coins along with a mana crystal. Junk, junk, junk. Where was all the gold? It was like the engine that ran the dungeon had been drained of power.

She picked up the dagger and examined it carefully. The hilt was adorned with intricate patterns that hinted at an enchantment, but the crystal embedded into it was drained. Using her [Artifice] skill, she carefully measured the lines of the runs and determined what they did.

“It has a piercing enchantment,” she declared. “But it’s out of charge.”

The group looked at each other before they all glanced at Jareth. He was the one who used short blades, and whose fighting style fit the weapon the best. But he simply shrugged and said, “I don’t need it. My stilettos are better.”

Yolani nodded and opened her side back and slid the weapon into it. It was the designated house for all the ‘party’ loot that would be sold and then distributed between them equally. Thankfully, the weight reduction enchantment was working very well.

Otherwise, she’d have had to give it to Thoren to carry, considering how much other stuff she was loaded down with.

“Alright, let’s move on,” Harlock announced.

She nodded. Two more battles to go before… before they reached the end.

One way or another.