Dungeon Chapter 32 (Patreon)

“They are so cute.” Fayeth looked at the fribbit camp with excitement.

“Ken, this is your last chance to back out. She doesn’t have to tank.” Harley warned me as we positioned ourselves up against the largest fribbit camp we’d experienced so far. We’d passed this one once before, but we’d left it alone.

It appeared to have two champions and six shamans. We were having enough trouble with just the one and four camps.

“She’s got this.” I replied, finding myself proud of my fieore.

“You wouldn’t let me hit anything on the way here. I’m ready to do my job. I am trained for this.” Fayeth crossed her arms. “Just watch.” She stepped forward, and I noticed she didn’t speak her spells as she held her hand up. She seemed to blow a soft cloud of dust from her hand over the nearest fribbits.

The dust hung in the air as the fribbits charged through.

Their varied focuses across our group shifted, as one by one they each turned towards Fayeth. Their croaking turning into garbled shouts at her.

Fayeth stepped forward, her glaive appearing in both hands. “Cleave.” Her glaive flashed forward, cutting through the first row of the monsters. Then her Fibrous Shield grew over her arm.

Her hand shifted further up the glaive as she wielded it more like a sword with a massive handle, hiding behind her shield and stabbing with it. Only then did I realize that she was using the butt of the glaive to brace herself as she took hits on her shield.

It was an interesting way of fighting, though I thought it limited her movement quite a bit, she was a tank and wasn’t supposed to be moving from where she guarded the healers anyway.

She fought in that style with expert control using both the shield and her braced glaive to batter the fribbits away.

I looked at Harley, who’s mouth dropped open. “Still want to bet?”

I’d felt like I had an unfair advantage when Harley had teasingly offered to bet earlier.

“Nope. She’s a badass! At least, when she isn’t pretending to be your housewife. Now, go take care of the shaman. I want to play.” She shooed me away as she pulled out her flute. Charlotte was nearby, casting heals as Des worked with Fayeth to kill the small fribbits.

“Sprint.” I activated my ability and raced around the mass of smaller fribbits, heading straight for the tall thin shamans.

They rattled their staffs, which were decorated with dirty bird feathers and chipped skulls.

One of them noticed me, and its staff was gathering a flickering flame before it pointed at me and pulling itself off the staff into a bolt of flames.

“Absorb.” I put out my hand, and the small ripple stayed. It acted like a suction, drawing the fire bolt onto my hand. I was ecstatic seeing my new ability work for the first time.

As the spell was absorbed, something changed inside of me. I felt a little bloated, yet filled with strength.

I barreled into the shaman with a Dark Strike. Keeping my footing, I pivoted to get five of the six shamen within the blast radius as I sent Earth Stomp towards them.

The spell broke their focus and interrupted the spells they were casting..

The shamen stumbled, but the last one managed to lash out a dark magical blast towards me.

“Absorb.” I threw my hand up and soaked up another spell, but as soon as I was done, I felt like I had eaten far too much.

Not letting up, I activated two more Dark Strikes on the nearest shaman. I quickly did enough damage that it turned into a puff of black smoke.

I looked back to see that with the addition of Fayeth, our group had torn right through the smaller fribbits. “Fayeth, get the two champions. Des, Bun-bun, help me with the shamen.” I rearranged our usual plan.

As I moved towards the second shaman, the others turned to try to heal it.

Des’s spells shot over my shoulder as she stepped in to help me.

The beautiful warlock jumped into battle, attacking them and having my back.

Between the two of us, we were able to work them down faster than they could heal. Feeling confident, I glanced over to see how Fayeth was doing against the champions.

I was happy when I saw that she was holding her ground.

She was slowly walking them back, maneuvering so that only one was swinging at her at any one time.

“That’s a tank.” Des commented. “Not that you were bad, but you weren’t a tank.”

“Gee, thanks.” I rolled my eyes before jogging over. I felt an odd sense of ease as I tore into the back of one of the champion fribbits, downing it quickly and then going after the second.

The battle was easier from there as we cleaned up any remaining fribbits.

When we finished, Harley shot forward, grabbing a scarf from the ground. “It’s pink! And it gives Magic. Mine.” She darted glances at all of us, daring us to argue.

“Enjoy it.” Fayeth just smiled, pressing her eyes into two happy crescents.

Neither Des or Charlotte fought Harley for the loot, and I certainly wasn’t going to wear a pink scarf.

Harley twirled it around in the air, doing a little dance before she wrapped it around her neck, striking a pose.

“Does that really go with your poofy dream dress though?” I asked.

All of them paused and stared at me as if I was just trying to cause trouble.

Harley frowned before she cheered back up. “Doesn’t matter!”

Fayeth sat down next to me and pulled out a water bottle and a loaf of bread to share. “So, what’s next?” She asked not just me, but the others.

I was going to answer, but as I looked across the bog, I couldn’t shake the sense that someone was watching me.

After the warning I’d received from the UG, I was probably being paranoid. But my grandfather had helped me hone my senses. And at the moment, they were tingling with a sense of danger.

I continued scanning our surroundings, but I couldn’t see anything.

“Ken?” Des got my attention.

“Hmm? What did you ask?” I focused back on the group.

“What’s bothering you?” Des zeroed in on my face.

“Nothing.” I lied. “Just thinking. Let’s keep going. With Fayeth we can do so much more, but let’s try and do the smaller camps.”

Des gave me a strange look, but after shrugging, they went back to easy conversation.

I didn’t want my paranoia to rub off on the whole group. If I saw proof, I’d raise the alarm.

***

The rest of the dive, I continued to feel someone watching us, and it was really starting to give me the creeps.

When we got to the exit, I made a hasty excuse. “Why don’t you guys go on without me? I have to talk to Katie about something.”

Des frowned. She’d been picking up my unease, but she hadn’t called me out on it again.

Luckily, Harley was being herself and pulled the group’s attention, completely oblivious to anything being off.

Fayeth and Charlotte wandered off after Harley, murmuring to each other.

Our healer and tank seemed to be getting along well, which was fantastic. Those positions often formed a bond in the dungeon; they were reliant on each other more so than many others.

That and Fayeth was actively working to try and harmonize her soul to the rest of us.

As soon as they were out of sight, I headed back down into the dungeon, slipping on my yorai and putting on a mask.

If somebody was stalking me, I would find them.

I’d kept an eye after we’d exited.

No other groups had come out, which meant if we’d been followed, they were still inside.

I moved back into the dungeon as if I was some solo adventurer, slinking into the shadows as soon as I entered the marshy bog once more. It felt natural, and I smiled to myself as I moved through the level.

The feeling hadn’t left me as we’d headed towards the exit, so they were likely still nearby.

I kept low and in the shadows. Part of the trick of stealth was moving in such a way not to attract attention.

I crept through the marsh, staying low to the ground and hiding behind bushes until I heard a voice.

“Where are Trix and Mel?” A girl in a dark purple yorai crossed her arms. She was standing next to a girl with a bow slung over her shoulder, and another who wore nothing but a chainmail bikini. The bikini clad woman was holding an oversized ax in her hands, with blue face paint streaking down her face. She seemed completely at home in the bog.

“Does it matter?” The ax wielding girl shifted, looking over her shoulder.

A boggart that was slowly approaching them, rather than at me. “We all have the stealth skill, thanks to AEF. They’ll make it out on their own.”

The assassin didn’t seem so sure. “Mel is just as likely to get lost as to figure out a way out of this place. We shouldn’t have split up to track them.”

“We thought you had it under control. But when we lost them at the entrance to the second floor, it was Gris that found them.” The ax wielder pointed to the girl with a bow over her shoulder.

Gris put a hand to her chest. “Little ol’ me? What can I say? Rangers have tracking in their blood.”

“You got lucky.” The assassin kept looking out into the marsh. “Come on, let’s go find them. Turn on your tracker so they can find us. Now that we aren’t tracking the disgusting elf and her lover, there’s no problem broadcasting our location.”

“You are paranoid.” The ax wielding girl shook her head. “The UG doesn’t even know the Anti-Elf Front exists. We’ll kill those fucking dagger ears before they know what’s happening.”

“Caution is more likely to help than hurt. Why not be cautious?” The assassin played with her CID. “Besides, once we complete what we came to do, you know the UG will break their rules and scrutinize every bit of data they have.”

“They should be thanking us.” Gris grumbled. “I hear the elves destroyed their own world. They’ll do the same to ours if we let them.”

The ax wielder leaned on her weapon. “There was credible information that elves eat their own kind. Their world is so harsh, that they eat those they defeat.”

I made a face, still hidden in the shadows.

What they were saying was idiocy. There might be some fragments of truth, but even in the short time I’d been with the elves it seemed ridiculous.

I shook my head and followed the group as they continued to chat and wander deeper into the dungeon.

The more they talked, the more I understood what they were planning. At the moment, they were tracking the route we’d taken through the second floor, knowing we would likely follow a similar route in the future.

They were scouting ambush locations.

It wasn’t an ‘if’ they would try to kill us, but a ‘when’. And I was going to make sure it was a ‘never’.

Their group managed to tear through any boggarts that got in their way, but right before the second floor, they stopped.

“Break time. Take a piss, have a bite, but not at the same time. We aren’t disgusting.” The assassin was clearly the leader.

The girl with the ax grunted and plopped down on the ground before pulling out a whole loaf of bread and digging in.

“I’m going to need a little more privacy than this.” Gris slung her bow over her shoulder and headed towards bushes in my direction, but as soon as she touched the bush, she vanished.

I stared around, bracing in case she appeared in front of me.

I forced myself to focus, searching for specifically her. And when I did, I noticed the woman crouching and finding a clear spot amid the bushes.

They had a stealth skill, and damn I was more than a little jealous. If I had that to compliment my actual skills in sneaking around, I could sneak up on any of them anywhere.

Creeping up on her, I drew my knife, lessons from Grandfather flitting through my mind.

I’d asked him on more than one occasion when I would know if I needed to kill someone.

He always told me that I’d know when it was time.

And now I understood what he meant. These women planned to attack my team. And instead, I would ambush them.

I hadn’t killed without a healer nearby before, but I felt no wrongness in my next move.

Gris must not have been the most perceptive, because she didn’t even flinch until my hand clasped her mouth and my blade drew a deep curve across her neck.

She thrashed, but my cut had done its job. Nothing but a small gurgle came out from her mouth as I plunged the dagger into her back several more times for safe measure.

The girl had too much stamina to go down instantly with just the throat cut.

“You alright Gris?” The ax wielder yelled from where they were sitting, eating their loaf of bread.

The assassin was nowhere to be seen.

I cursed.

Either the assassin had also done stealth for privacy, or she’d figured out that something was off.

“Gris?” The ax wielder stood up and had their weapon at the ready. “Don’t play a fucking joke on me today.”

I moved away from the cooling body quickly, taking her CID and leaving the rest. If there were two more, I could use the CID to lure them to me.

Slipping away before the ax wielder stormed through the bushes, I watched and waited for the assassin to show.

“Que, she’s dead. Someone fucking slit her throat.” The ax wielder bellowed as soon as she saw Gris. “Fuck. Fuck! Who’s out there? Haylon will murder you for killing here.”

I nearly made a noise at her statement. It was so hypocritical of her to say given what she’d been planning.

“Gretch, behind you.” A voice wafted up from the marsh, but it seemed to be coming from multiple places at once.

Gretch didn’t hesitate, spinning in place and swinging the ax at nothing. “Axe Throw.” Her weapons shot out of her hands, spinning like a saw blade. I had to roll out of the way as it ripped up the bushes where I’d been hiding in. “You’re fucking dead meat.” She shouted, spotting me.

My advantage gone, I came up. I popped the agility potion I’d been saving for a rough fight. I might need it.

I felt my senses become heightened and my movements sharper as the potion took effect instantly.

Gretch stood unarmed, her ax off somewhere behind me.

I came out of my crouch at a dead sprint with my sword and dagger out.

“Holy shit. It’s the elf fucker. Ha!” Gretch laughed as she squatted down, seeming to want low ground for our tussle.

“Venom Bolt.” The assassin came back into view, not more than ten feet from me as a purple sticky magic shot from her hands.

“Absorb.” I soaked up her magic, feeling my body grow stronger.

“What the fuck was that.” The assassin looked at where I’d absorbed her magic in shock.

Taking the opportunity, I threw my weight at Gretch, aiming for her gut with my knife.

“Doesn’t matter.” Gretch blocked with her arm, taking a nasty cut, while her other hand came around and snatched my wrist. “He’s dead. Axe Return.” She grinned, and I heard a whoosh just like when she’d thrown it in the first place. “Bet you didn’t see that one coming.”

She was all physical stats, and it showed. Her grip was like a vise.

I twisted and stabbed her with my other hand. She grunted as she tried to grab my wrist, but I maneuvered it so she ended up with a handful of sword.

I had to give her credit. Even with the damage, she didn’t let go.

Between her ax and the assassin, I knew I was in danger.

There was no time to hold back.

“Metamorphosis.” I growled.

If they hadn’t needed to die before, the fact that they were about to see my secret skill meant they needed to die a little extra.