Drip-Fed

“GUYS!” Reysha shouted. “COME HERE!”

The excited shout made the party hurry over to her. Although the redhead could be accused of crying wolves for the fun of it at times, they had known her long enough to notice the particular cadence of genuine alarm or, in this case, amazement.

They manoeuvred through the sandstone mesa that they had decided to rest at. Apexus got out of the shade, the other two behind him, and climbed on top of the rock that the explorative Ragressian was waiting on. She immediately pointed them at something in the distance.

In the first moment, it looked like another part of the mesa. It only took a slightly longer inspection to realize that this particular rock was too tall and too uniform in its smoothness to have been worked by sand alone. At the side, something like an entrance hinted at a bigger inside.

Like all adventurers, the Inevitable party could not withstand the sting of curiosity for long. They finished their meal, then moved the ten-minute walk over to that distant rock. Getting closer revealed more and more oddities about it. The entrance, a three-metre tall arch inlaid with lapis lazuli decorations, gave way to a highly ornate staircase, leading downwards.

Reysha whistled. “Now, what did I find here?” It was half a boast, half a genuine question and she glanced over to Aclysia.

The metal fairy had already pulled out their handy copy of the encyclopaedia and was checking the register for the correct page. Knitted eyebrows betrayed her confusion. She had memorized the whole thing front to back by now and only checked the pages for the rare instance of faulty memory. In all of the book and all of her memory, this did not pop up.

“Nothing,” she stated firmly and closed the book. “Nothing that matches the description of this place is mentioned in the entirety of the guide.”

“Unexplored territory?” Reysha asked, excited at the prospect.

“Could be a really big Incursion?” Korith theorized.

“It may be a Dungeon,” Aclysia told them.

“Really?” Apexus voiced his disbelief. “I understand large Incursions or unusually sized landmarks getting missed, but a whole Dungeon?”

“Fundamentally, our current route is not frequented.” Aclysia gestured southwards, where the water loomed at the edge of the horizon. “Lamb’s Court and Stallious are self-sufficient. They are required to be to survive in their isolation. What limited trade happens between them occurs via the water. People that travel from Drowse to Stallious will have to use the northern path if they do not have access to a ship, as we did. They would also be encouraged to do so due to the fertile strip that runs from the mountains most of the way to the city. Additionally, both the Lamb’s Court and Stallious are less than a hundred years old in terms of being notable territories.”

Korith scratched her chin. “Still though, this Leaf is… what? 200 years old?” She glanced at the entrance. “Then again, even if someone discovered this before, they might not report it? It’s kinda neat to have a Dungeon only your party can go to when you want to look for loot.”

“It could also have been reported but not verified,” Aclysia presented an alternative theory. “The encyclopaedia is supposed to contain only solid intel. Rumours that an additional Dungeon may have been found in a rough area is not for the book, it is for the Quest board.”

All of that made enough sense to the party, who then look at the staircase. “Perhaps we should explore it?” Korith suggested.

It would be profitable. Dungeon dives without competition were also lucrative. It only took a single enchanted item to make out like bandits. In addition to that, they were right in the middle of the level range of the area, going from 30 to 40. It would be a good opportunity to get some more practice in before they headed for Trauma itself.

If this was an entirely unexplored Dungeon, then the reward would be even more worth it. A first clear was rewarded with loot a cut above the average, which tempted Korith and Reysha fiercely. “Getting better gear wouldn’t be bad,” the tiger woman suggested in a sing-sung tone.

“Before darling makes any decision, I must point out that we are in the Influence Zone of the Temples of Temptation.” She walked to the edge of the entry and placed her hand on one of the symbols there. It rose from the surround lapis blue as the greenish hue of turquoise, depicting a dance with one hand above their head. “This is the symbol of Jasca, Goddess of Mystery and Mischief.” She spotted another symbol on the other side of the archway. “The fiery red brewing stand of Ouros, God of Alchemy and Ambition.” She took two steps back, then found a third symbol at the very top of the arch. “And there is the blue book of Caleb, God of Past and Propriety. 3 of the 33 have their hand in this.”

“So, it’s almost certainly a Dungeon?” Korith asked.

“We will pass through ambition and mystery to wander beneath the past,” Aclysia translated the arch’s symbolism. “These are the Temples of Temptation, I reiterate. Whatever this is could exist purely in reaction to our own burning questions. I believe it to be an undiscovered Dungeon.”

“That, in and of itself, may be the temptation,” Apexus voiced her point.

“Well, it’s working,” Reysha drawled. “Because it could also be real. The other Dungeons in the area are.”

“Affirmative. I personally believe this is worth the risk.”

“You’re advocating that we go in there?”

“With the recent intel of our relative advantage, I believe at least a scouting mission is entirely appropriate. The levels gained will make our journey down Trauma smoother.”

“Which, given the name of that Dungeon, I wanna say we want to be a very smooth journey,” Reysha said.

“However, I would suggest we set ourselves a time limit. If this is a true Dungeon and not a highly ornate Incursion, then spending months down in there in search of the Boss will be inadvisable. We have time. We do not have that much time.”

Apexus scanned the faces of his party members and loves. Korith was for it, Reysha was for it, Aclysia was for it and he saw no reason not to venture either. “We will give ourselves a week,” he decided and took the first step forwards.

“Careful,” Korith said. “One of the favourite contraptions are the retreating steps!”

“Is that when all the stairs suddenly pull in and turn into a slide?” Reysha asked.

“Precisely!”

“The angle is not steep enough that this would be an issue to consider.” Aclysia told them. “This staircase, if flattened, would have a 30-degree angle. While this is an uncomfortable angle to walk on, it is at least 15 degrees removed from guaranteeing a fall.”

“By the Hellroots, you are such a nerd,” Reysha groaned.

“It is called math and understanding it brings us closer to the Progenitor.”

“…How?”

“Math describes the natural order of the world, which was created by him and thusly to comprehend math means we comprehend the first of all gods.”

Reysha pointed at Aclysia with her thumb and loud-whispered. “Total nerd.”

While the banter between the redhead and the angel went its usual way, Apexus let his hand wander over the wall. Every step they descended, pretensions at being a natural structure diminished. Solid walls were replaced with large stones. Ornamentations grew more frequent and more beautiful. When they finally arrived at the bottom of the staircase, a solid 20 metres below where they had entered, they came face to face with a hall.

It could be called a library. Not one with books stacked on shelves, but rather one with walls upon walls of historiographics, beaten into the wall, paint pale from age yet still vibrant enough to get the meanings across. The prominent picture before them was one of the Omniverse, rising from the void. Elaborate formulas surrounded it, written in hieroglyphic Dungeon Script.

“As I said, math,” Aclysia declared.

“Cool, so now we are in a nerd’s den,” Reysha responded, then laughed and gave Aclysia a soft tap to the rear. “Relax, bubble butt, I’m just messin’ with ya.”

“My tension is related to our environment, not your crude sense of humour.”

“So, uhm, should we switch into the battle regalia?” Korith asked.

“That would be wise,” Apexus responded and pulled the key to the Mobile Estate from his bag. The door opened without issue. They were still in the safe area of the Dungeon. Several minutes later, they had put on everything needed.

[Word Count Marker]

The door was closed, the key put away, and they began to advance into the dungeon carefully. Reysha moved a few metres ahead in Stealth. She was out of her party’s perception while it was up, but she remained close enough that she would be immediately visible if she dropped it. Scouting far ahead was too risky in an unknown dungeon.

The cautiousness was near immediately rewarded. She poked her head around the corner and found a geometric shape floating down the corridor. It made no sound, did not touch the ground, and could thus be found by sight alone.

Reysha waited until it had disappeared around the corner, then dropped her Stealth and raised a hand to stop the party. “Enemy ahead,” she whispered. “Looks like someone glued two pyramids together and painted it all gold and blue.”

“Interesting. Any intel?” Apexus asked.

“Sounds like a Warden Construct. A regular enemy in the other Temples of Temptation,” Aclysia answered. “Chances that this is a Dungeon thusly rose sharply. They are rarely seen inside Incursions.”

“Recommended strategy?”

“Rush it down.” That was simple enough. Apexus and Reysha prepared themselves, but stopped when the metal fairy cleared her throat. “If I may, this would be an opportune moment to test my new Scripture?”

“If ya wanna use your ink up for that,” Reysha responded.

“Korith, I believe you would make for the best recipient.”

The blonde pointed at her face with a clawed finger. “Me? Uhm… sure?”

Aclysia pulled the Scripture from its holster on her waist. She held the book by the spine. It opened on its own accord, the pages fluttering, guided by her will to the page where the Page of Communion had been integrated. Golden ink glowed gently, a green outline surrounding esoteric letters. Arcane gestures coaxed the written magic out of the page, sending it in a coiling arch towards Korith.

The Warrior took on the soft green glow. She turned the corner, readying herself for the moment the Warden Construct showed itself. Ten seconds, twenty seconds, thirty seconds, a whole minute she remained crouched. She swallowed her nervousness and kept staring ahead. Patience was the name of the game when it came to patrolling monsters.

When it came around the corner, it did so leisurely. Two pyramids circled slowly, a small core of magical energies between them. The core switched from blue to red the moment it noted the presence of an intruder. The previous silence was replaced with an audible charge. Light was drawn into the centre of the being. Pyramids stopped spinning, locked with points aiming at Korith.

Korith zoomed forwards. Her feet hit the ground in a rapid interval, carrying her forwards. Everything around was a little slower to her perception.

The Warden Construct shot a beam of red light at her. She swerved to the side, then leapt, dodging the laser and leaving it behind her as it continued to cut through the decorated floor. A second jump brought her to the wall, then she jumped off the wall and delivered a clean sideway swipe of her hammer. The edges scraped against the bottoms of the hovering pyramids. It was not narrow enough to stop the weapon from swinging through.

The core was launched out of its socket. The laser stopped instantly. Korith kicked off the pyramid in front of her, launching her backwards just in time. The Warden Construct collapsed in on itself. Over a hundred kilogram of rock hit the ground, then tilted forwards. It would have buried the kobold under it, had it not been for the distance. An unpleasant, albeit not lethal, experience.

The green glow around Korith faded quickly.

“Pretty solid,” Reysha commented. “Still think you should have gotten your own attack spell though.”

“Aggression is not in my nature,” Aclysia responded with a mild sigh. The Spring Charge, as the spell was called, was the solution the divine had offered to the issue of the party’s melee focus. When it came to defeating enemies at range, one either had to match their distance-capabilities or close them quicker than one took harm. The Spring Charge did the latter, allowing the blessed a singular burst of extreme speed.

The advantage of the spell over similar buffs was twofold. For one, the degree of speed was truly impressive, allowing even slower Classes to outpace their enemy for one interaction. The second one was, once the blessing was applied, the actual activation of it was within the power of the benefactor. It made timings easier on everyone involved.

The drawback was that it truly was only one burst of speed per activation.

They checked around the other corners, finding more rooms adjacent to the hieroglyphic library they were in. It became swiftly apparent that this was definitely too large to be an Incursion. “We really did find a new Dungeon. Neat,” Reysha declared.

“Let’s see how deep we can get!”

Apexus and Aclysia smiled at their beloveds’ enthusiasm.