Dungeon Diving 101 Chapter 8 (Patreon)

I cut through another boggart as Harley twirled about her music drawing more of the shambling monster’s their way.

“Haste.” She shouted and I felt my blades cut deeper and my arms move quicker.

The first time she used the buff, I had stopped to check my CID, I had a twenty five percent boost to my agility under her buff.

“Restore.” Harley shouted before going back to playing her flute. A blue light covered Des as the warlock’s sweat evaporated.

It was different than Charlotte’s heal, it helped the caster’s recover their mana and removed the fatigue we felt with the constant combat.

My CID chirped annoyingly until I killed the current boggart and I stepped back realizing all of our CIDs were making a racket until I opened mine.

All students are to return to the entrance to the first floor. -Crimson

“Guess our time is up.” I wiped at my brow a map popped up on my CID with an arrow pointing in a direction. The map had a twisty path illuminated, the path we’d taken through the bog. “I’ll take the lead. We’ll hurry back.”

Running up front I wanted to get back first, before the two girls who had accosted Harley and have a conversation with Crimson.

Boggarts came before us in our path, but we were all used to the slow moving monsters by now and quite used to the locations of their mana crystals.

Des was right behind me catching some of the boggarts while Charlotte focused on just keeping up while Harley and Bun-bun collected the loot.

Bun-bun dropping it off with Charlotte. The druid fumbling with the materials and stuffing them into her CID.

For once, I appropriated all of the running grandfather had made me do. Sometimes it felt like he was pushing me to run marathons, but now I realized diving a dungeon was so much harder.

Sorry grandpa, I’ll make it up to you later.

We made good time, clearing only a dozen or so boggarts that had gotten directly in our path, we’d killed plenty while we’d been out.

As we got close to the meeting point we all slowed down and I checked my experience.

32/100

I had killed two on my own and then a good dozen or two with the three of. That put close to a hundred of them dead to us as a group of four.

It really had sped up with Harley’s buffs.

Crimson in her red dragon leather stood out, but next to her was Headmistress Marlow.

I didn’t like the look of her frown.

“Crimson.” I started stepping up.

She put a hand out to stop me. “Wait. We have one more lesson before we wrap up today.”

The students gathered up even Harley’s two attackers showed themselves.

We all paused and waited for Crimson who stood there with her hands behind her back a serious expression on her face.

“Good job everyone. You’ve completed your first dungeon dive. Some of you look pretty beat up, but be proud of yourselves for your first adventure. Unfortunately, as often happens on the first dive students try and settle a grudge or two.”

As she finished her statement people looked around making sure their friends were with them.

The Gorean girl took a step back.

“Jenn Gorean, where do you think you’d be going?” Crimson focused on her. “Do you have anything to say? Hmm? Maybe Wren has something? Few things slip my notice in the dungeon.” Crimson’s eyes glowed blue with that skill again.

Her friend stayed silent looking terrified, but Jenn stepped forward towards Crimson. “Do you know who my father is?”

“Yes. And I’ll tell him I killed you myself.” Crimson’s whip was out and lashing out so quickly my mind knew it had happened but I couldn’t tell you what it looking like.

There was a boom and both of the girls who had assaulted Harley were gone, a streak of red on the ground was the only thing to remind us that they had both stood there moments ago.

Crimson wound her whip back up. “Everyone knows the phrase ‘What happens in the dungeon, stays in the dungeon’. But let me add another to your minds. Haylon first. The dungeon is treacherous enough, while you are at this school put any grudges you have aside.  Help your fellow Haylon sisters in the dungeon for you never know when you’ll need their help in turn.”

A few of my classmates were staring at me awkwardly because she hadn’t included me in her language.

“Or your awkward only brother.” Crimson’s addition made the class chuckle.

She nodded at the Headmistress who sighed and turned to leave having witnessed what she came for.

Crimson continued though. “They attacked Harley, stabbing her and leaving her in the bog after bringing her with them in their party. Do you all know who saved her?”

Given that Harley was standing right next to me more than a few of the girls were smiling and putting things together.

“That’s right. Ken and his team saved her. That goes for each of you. If you see a Haylon in trouble in the dungeon while we are training here, help them up. It’ll save your life one day.” Crimson clapped her hands. “Alright. That’s it for class today, head out have fun and come to classroom 1-A tomorrow morning having read the chapter for tomorrow. We’ll be discussing basics of the dungeon and monster behavior.”

The class was still a little rattled from her brutal slaughter of the two students, yet at the same time we all understood why.

Which for some reason made it far better.

“Ken, you’ll come with me after class.” Crimson stopped me.

“See you tomorrow.” Charlotte waved as she walked out with the other two who joined her in waving.

I stood there a moment with her as the rest of the class departed and watched as two boggarts shambled forward to the stains of blood and they pressed their mossy bodies to the blood, wiping it up as food.

“The dungeon doesn’t waste.” Crimson said with a heavy sigh. “Stupid girls. I warned them.”

She focused on me. “Let’s go. I promised to escort you to your room after this.”

I had forgotten in the dungeon dive and the incident with Harley. “Thanks, but I think I have it.”

“Come on.” Crimson ignored me and led me out of the dungeon.

We walked in silence as we left the dungeon and the workers along with a number of the upperclassmen gawked at Crimson, and many of them started whispering about me as we walked.

I heard more than a few wonder if I was Crimson’s secret love child or other bizarre rumors.

“Don’t worry. You are going to be dealing with problems, at least I can walk with you and let those who just want to pick on you for being a man quake in their boots at the thought of what I’d do.” Crimson had a little smirk on the edge of her lips.

“And the ones that will hate me because you favor me?”

“Oh those ones will be there to make you stronger.” Crimson covered her mouth as she laughed as if it were her diabolical plan to make me tougher. “I want to put pressure on you, but it won’t do any good if I do it all myself.”

Thankfully, the visitor’s center was right next to the dungeon and it was a short walk.

The place was huge, it looked like a mansion rather than some school building.

“It has been cleaned up and well stocked.” Crimson said as she opened the door. “The school is going to house the elven delegation here when they come. You should use the opportunity to get to know them. The elves have been diving the dungeon far longer than humans. They might even have clues as to what your class is.”

“Really?” I asked, excited about the opportunity that would present.

The inside of the place was really a mansion with a huge entry hall and a chandelier overhead. There was a winding stare case and three archways leading into rooms on the first floor.

Crimson led me into the kitchen and poked around checking to make sure the place was stocked. “So. Why didn’t you kill Jenn in the dungeon?” She asked suddenly.

I thought quickly and made an excuse up on the spot. “You said you’d kill us if we harmed a classmate. I figured it was safer to just get Harley out of the situation. The Headmistress already wants a reason to expel me.”

Crimson paused her perusing of the fridge and looked around the door. “Liar. You didn’t have the heart to kill her. I watched that fight, you were clumsy because you hesitated.”

“If you watched, why didn’t you intervene?” I snapped back angrily.

“Because if they wanted to kill Harley, they would. If they killed other students, they could. I’m only going to kill them when they exit the dungeon.” Crimson said it as if she were talking about the weather and not the lives of her students.

I shook my head. “No they are your students.”

“The only reason people die in the dungeon is because they were too weak to enter it in the first place.” Crimson’s eyes were cold. “The ones that survive my class will be strong.”

I felt a chill in my spine, but refused to shiver.

“Besides.” She softened. “I had been hoping that you’d kill them and pop your murder cherry. Most people in the dungeon have, it is a brutal place. Once you dive past Haylon’s section of the dungeon, you’ll likely have people target you just because they see the patch on your shoulder.”

“Not only do I have to worry about the students of Haylon trying to attack me because I’m a guy, but then I have to worry about others attacking me because I’m form Haylon?” I frowned at the situation she was placing me in.

She smiled as she come out of the fridge with a pack of sausages and a beer. “Of course.”

Something was bothering me though.

“Why are you eating at my place?”

“Hmm?” Crimson blinked at me. “I live here too. The elven envoy practically demanded it.”

“What?!” I shouted.

“Yep. You get to live with me, though there are plenty of rooms in this place.” Crimson went back to cooking. She had the sausage cooking on the stove and just started plucking things out of the fridge and chopping them up before tossing them into the pan in some strange hodge podge of food.

I was starting to wonder if I was going to survive this year.

The idea of walking on Crimson in the bathroom or something popped into my head and then the little day dream warped into her ripping my head off.

Right, this year was going to be dangerous.

But if I had Crimson here, might as well use it. “Uh. That’s a lot of food…” I wasn’t sure if it was polite to ask if she was cooking for me.

“Sure you can have some.” Crimson just shoveled the food around with a spatula. “It’ll be a minute if you want to go shower.”

I nodded, I was pretty sweaty from the dungeon dive, plus there was this lingering smell of the bog.

Summoning the duffel bag from my CID I headed upstairs and picked out an empty room and tossed the bag on the ground.

“Towel.” I said opening it up and shifting things around.

Only for a magazine to flop out.

“Huh?!” I looked at the cover and just stared for a moment in disbelief.

…

…

It was a cartoon of Crimson strapped up in chains crying out.

GRANDPA!

“Everything okay?” Crimson’s voice came from the other side of the door. “I heard you shout. If the Headmistress pulled something.”

“It’s okay! Just a surprise in my bag.”

“I can help with it.” She said, the door handle turning.

I shot up from from where I was on the floor moving faster than even when I fought boggarts to grab the handle and keep it closed. “No. It’s fine. Please.”

“Whatever.” Crimson said and I heard her heels clicking down the hall.

Holding my chest, it felt like my heart was about to give out.

Grandfather, I knew you meant well, but you almost killed me with your ‘gift’. Then again, never in a million years would he think that I’d end up living with Crimson, much less her taking me under her wing.

I wondered what Grandpa was up to now? I could just imagine my grandmothers working hard to keep him from running off to Haylon to try and become a teacher.

Or worse, trying to sneak into the academy.

The thought sent shivers down my spine.

I tucked the magazine under my mattress hoping that I could dispose of it cleanly at another time.

One life or death crisis averted. I grabbed the towel and hurried through the shower, getting the bog off of me and hurrying so that I didn’t waste Crimson’s cooking.

This time I was able to get into my Haylon uniform, complete with the mandated tie. Though what I’d seen of the academy, it didn’t seem all that mandatory. But there was no reason to give the Headmistress more ammunition to come after me.

I’d follow the rules.

Heading back down to the kitchen, Crimson was just finishing up.

She had manged to brown everything to almost burnt and pour it in two bowls sitting on the counter.

I took the stool next to her. “Thank you for the meal.”

“Don’t be so formal.” She looked over my uniform. “And you look straight laced as shit.”

I sighed. “Less for Marlow to pick apart.”

Crimson just grunted and dug into her food. “So. I see you are already working to build your little adventuring harem.”

“That’s not what is happening.” I wasn’t sure why everyone was so insistent on me forming a harem here.

“So you aren’t trying to lure that cute adorable druid into your clutches?” Crimson teased me.

When I didn’t respond to her barb she continued in a much more serious tone. “I expect you to form an adventuring harem over your four years here. Those types of bonds are the ones you can trust on a dungeon dive. The type you need to reach the lower floors. Look at Marcus DuVell, he runs with a harem and the same with the Renard girl’s parents. Her mother has a harem.” There was a thought that passed through Crimson’s face at the mention of Desmonda’s parents.

“What about you? You don’t have a harem.” I pointed out.

“Because I can’t find a man strong enough to handle me. Besides, I’m not that old. Not even a decade older than you and with my levels I’ll out live you unless you grow strong quickly.” Crimson stretched and I was once again reminded of the sexual icon I was sitting next to sharing a meal with.

A meal cooked with her own hands.

I wondered how many men would stab me in the back to swap places.

“One day you’ll find someone strong enough.” I encouraged her.

She chuckled. “Maybe I’ll have to go dating elves at this rate. They are the only ones diving deep enough for me.”

“Are the elves really that much stronger?” I asked.

Crimson thought while she finished chewing her food. “Yes and no. Rumor is that they even have a team that is diving past the 70th floor. But starting out, they are on the same level of humans. Trick is they are longer lived naturally by about fifty years or so and they’ve been at this a few generations more than humans.

“Because we will have the envoy’s daughter in our class, we’ll discuss elven politics early. Normally it is a fourth year topic because you won’t see them until you dive deep enough.”

Crimson’s logic made sense.

“They aren’t here yet?” I asked.

Crimson shrugged. “Traveling down and back up the dungeon is tricky. We put beacons for them to travel back up to Haylon, but even so the dungeon is a giant maze, that they are late isn’t unexpected. We were given a month long window for their arrival. They have two more weeks before we would even start to be concerned.

“That and she’ll come into the class higher level than all of you.” Crimson took a sip of her beer.

“Because she’s already trained?” I asked.

Crimson shook her head. “No, because she’ll be power leveled on her way here. They have to dive deep into the dungeon with a level one and then come back up. She’ll be part of the party, meaning everything they kill, she’ll get a portion of the experience. If she isn’t level five by the time she arrives here, I’ll be surprised.”

I thought about that and gave myself a goal.

Hit level five before she gets here.

“Now stop distracting me. Let’s talk about your group before I need to go to a teacher meeting. Then you need to study.” Crimson took another beer out of the fridge and opened it and set it next to her half finished one.

I felt the portent that this was going to be a long, uncomfortable conversation.