Chapter 15

Delve Redux

This dungeon had almost nothing in common with the last. It was mostly wide open caverns. Occasionally, the group came across a monster. But none of the creatures seemed to see them through the [Illusionist]s skill.

Janus worried that Fao would alert the monsters to their presence with his voice, but they would only scrabble around in confusion. Janus had already identified a few of the monsters. They were mostly [Rat Hounds] and [Carrion Crawlers]. None of them had been above level 20.

Janus wondered what these creatures were supposed to eat, or if they even ate anything at all. The caves they traveled through were nearly featureless. He knew that animals required entire eco-systems to survive, but that didn’t seem to apply to monsters.

The [Carrion Crawlers] were a disgusting mess of legs headed by a toothy maw. Mandibles extended from the front.

Stars, they are disgusting.

On the other hand, the [Rat Hounds] looked just like dogs from a distance. But it became clearer up close where he could see the strange shape of their snouts and their winding, whip-like tails.

They had been walking for some time. Janus was surprised at the size of the dungeon. He hadn’t expected it to be this large. It put into what little progress he and the others had made in the [Asgini Manor] into perspective.

“Stop. We should be close.” Fao said from ahead.

Janus couldn’t really spot any difference in this part of the cavern, but he took Fao’s word for it.

Fao must be staring at the map again. Janus wasn’t even sure how he could see the thing. The cavern wasn’t pitch black, but it wasn’t easy to see by any means.

Janus looked around. Why wasn’t the cavern pitch black? Where was this light coming from? He was not feeling quite as confident as he had back at the Jack’s headquarters.

After another minute, Fao seemed to make up his mind.

“Alright, it should be right up ahead.”

Janus crept along, following Fao’s voice. The group came upon a rusted metal grate covering an opening into another open area.

Inside was strange in comparison to the rest of the cavern. The ground and the walls were smooth, and the room was neatly circular. That wasn’t holding Janus’ attention, however. In the center of the room he could just barely make out a hulking figure. He quickly identified it.

[Three Headed Rat Hound - Level 25]

It doesn’t seem all that threatening after the [Uktena].

“We can’t get through this grate without makin’ a bunch of noise.” Said Fao. “The damn thing is probably enchanted, anyway. Those Crowfeet bastards are smarter than I thought. This keeps the dungeon boss in and keeps us out at the same time.”

Janus stepped forward, nearly tripping over the nearly invisible people in front of him. He closed his eyes and willed for his [Enhancer] perk to activate. He opened his eyes and could see the enchantment flowing through the metal.

I wonder if I could just suck the mana out of the enchantment.

“I might be able to do something.” Janus said.

He placed his hand on the grate and tried to pull mana from it. At first, not much happened. But after a few moments, he saw the enchantment losing strength. Mana was pooling in his palm and he simply let it disperse.

“The enchantment should be gone.”

“Good.” Fao said. “Get in here with your knife, Hal. Cut the grate out. Make it quiet.”

“Ah, fuck! Watch your step man!” Fao nearly shouted, but contained himself, turning his shout to a whisper. “Drop the illusion, Harry. I don’t see anyone around.”

Suddenly, everyone was visible. Janus could see Hal standing at the grate with a wicked-looking knife. The knife had a red glow along the edge as he sliced through the grate. Fao rushed forward and held the grate up so that it didn’t clatter on the ground. The two gangsters lowered it down softly.

“There’s no chance we don’t make noise takin’ this dog thing out. We gotta be fast. In and out before the other monsters hear us.” Fao said.

Or the other gang. The monsters didn’t seem that bad.

Everyone stepped into the circular room. The boss in the center seemed to be sleeping. Fao, Hal and the other 2 Jacks stepped forward. Harry and Janus stayed back.

Fao was a few steps from the best when it stirred. It was on its feet in a moment, a three toned howl echoing through the chamber.

So much for quiet.

Janus used [Pow. Enhancement] on each of them and focused mana into Fao’s arm. He was careful to control the amount of mana so that Fao wasn’t hurt.

The fight was… undignified. There was only one person with a proper weapon, Hal, and it was just a knife. The others were just punching and kicking at the 3 meter tall beast. Janus made sure to keep his enhancements on them. The [Three Headed Rat Hound] was vicious. One of its three heads grabbed at the neck of a gangster, lifting him high, and shaking him savagely. The man fell to the ground and promptly vanished.

Harry must have cast an illusion over him. Janus looked to his side, but the [Illusionist] must have already moved. The boss seemed distracted with the three remaining gangsters and Janus crept towards where the other had fallen. Before he could reach the man, Harry suddenly appeared above him. A diffuse green light was projecting from Harry’s palm.

I didn’t know he had a healing spell. Those are usually restricted to healing classes.

Janus turned his attention back to the fight. His enhancements had fallen off and he refreshed them. Over time, [Pow. Enhancement] was draining his mana.

[Dungeon Boss Defeated: Three Headed Rat Hound]

[Your Power Enhancement skill has gained 1 level]

He hadn’t expected the fight to go that quickly, but the boss was only level 25. The corpse of the monster slowly dissipated and in its place was a fang. Fao snatched up the item and motioned for everyone to move out of the chamber.

“Hide us, Harry.” He said. “I’m not leadin’ with my voice this time. We’re backtracking.”

Everyone vanished and Janus started back the way they had come, after a few minutes, he wasn’t even sure if the others were nearby anymore. Suddenly, he heard a shout from somewhere in the caverns.

“The boss is dead!”

Janus wasn’t sure how they had reached the boss room so quickly. There must have been members of their gang training in the dungeon when the boss had died.

He took this as a cue to speed up, worried that Harry’s illusion might have an effective range.

Strangely enough, as he moved back towards the tunnels, he could see the monsters in the dungeon dissipating the same way that the dungeon boss had. Clearing the dungeon must mean that every monster inside gets removed. It made sense why Fao wanted to gun straight for the boss. If there weren’t any monsters left here, the Crowsfeet couldn’t train here any longer.

I should have counted my footsteps on the way in, or something.

He wasn’t sure how far the exit was. One thing he was certain of was that he had been separated from the group at some point. No matter how hard he strained his eyes, he couldn’t see the effects of Harry’s illusions in front of him. It didn’t help that the dungeon seemed to be getting even darker with every passing moment.

From up ahead, Janus saw the telltale white glow of a [Torchstone]. The light provided Janus with enough information to tell where he was. Only another minute or two of walking would get him out of the dungeon. However, the light from the [Torchstone] was only growing brighter as a figure approached.

The man wore a jacket with a crow’s foot stitched across the front. Janus remembered the emblem from elsewhere in the station.

Janus’ foot collided with a small stone as he slowly backed towards the wall. He inwardly cursed himself as the gangster turned towards him.

“Fuck’s that? Who’s there?”

Janus was tight-lipped as the man approached. A look of confusion crossed the gangster’s face as he stood just across from Janus.

I need to take this guy out quietly.

He identified the gangster.

[Duelist - Level 17]

Just as the man pulled a shortsword from his side, Janus started pumping as much mana as he could into his torso. The gangster faltered, dropping his shortsword and clutched at his chest. Janus rushed forward, clasping his hand over their mouth.

The gangster was clearly stronger than Janus physically, but he was in too much pain to fight back. Janus held him until he could no longer feel him moving. He quickly drew mana out of their chest. The man appeared to be breathing still. That would have to be good enough.

Janus turned and headed towards the exit, leaving the gangster behind. The caverns were almost pitch black as he felt his way along the tunnel. He almost cursed himself for not taking the [Torchstone], but knew the light might attract unwanted attention.

From ahead, he could hear some whispering and then a soft call.

“Janus, you back there?” It was Fao’s voice.

Janus followed the sound and found himself staring at the tunnel. There was a very dim light floating there. He could spot the telltale signs of Harry’s illusion.

“He’s there.” Said Harry.

“Good let’s get the fuck out of here then.” Fao replied.

Janus stepped into the tunnel and began speaking. “I left a guy back there. He’s unconscious, but they’ll find him sooner or later. It wasn’t far from this exit.”

“Shit, they’ll probably find the tunnel. We need to move.” Fao’s voice was already further down the tunnel than Janus expected.

Picking up his pace, Janus rushed along the tunnel. They group traveled at a near jog, taking a break almost an hour in.

“We should be good for a few minutes.” Fao said.

“Stars be fucked! We did it, man!” said one of the others.

“Quiet! Sound travels far in these tunnels.” Harry admonished.

“I’m just trying to have a good time, chill out.”

Janus was focused on the tunnel behind him. He was grateful for the break, but wasn’t sure if they were being followed or not. He probably wouldn’t feel safe until he was back in his home, if he was being honest.

The group moved out after a few minutes.

-

We should get to the exit any time now.

They had slowed down after their initial dash down the tunnel. Harry kept the illusion running, but everyone seemed to loosen up a little bit.

Suddenly, the ground began the shake.

“Ah, shit. I think it’s an earthquake.” Said Hal.

“We need to get out of this tunnel.” Janus replied. “It doesn’t have any supports like the newer ones. An earthquake can trap us in here.”

The group seemed to get the memo and picked up their pace again. The earth continued to shake and Janus could feel a series of booms from up ahead. A sharp crack rang out through the tunnels and he slammed his hand to his ears.

Stars! What was that?

Harry’s skill must have dropped because everyone was suddenly visible. Harry himself was crouched on the ground, head in his hands. After a few moments, everyone seemed to recover.

Harry looked around. “Sorry guys, the noise broke my concentration.”

“We’re pretty much at the finish line. Don’t sweat it. We’ll need to be hidden when we leave, though. Don’t want the delver’s to see us using their tunnels.” Fao replied.

A few minutes later, the exit was visible in front of them. Janus stepped up and entered the sequence to open the seal.

As the seal opened, Janus couldn’t believe his eyes. The delver’s guild was a wreck, the ground opened into a great ravine, cracking the Backwash into two halves, and creatures were swarming throughout the wreckage.