Chapter 28

Dorn rolled onto his back, breathing heavily.

“Hey Kiera, there was something I've been meaning to talk to you about.”

“Uhhhh,” said Kiera. She was still a bit out of it.

Dorn grinned. “Kiera,”

“What?” she said.

“I wanted to talk to you about something.”

“So talk, gods, you sure know how to ruin a good moment,” said Kiera.

“There's an opportunity available for me, and I don't know if I should take it. I might be able to become a dragon again,” said Dorn

At this, Kiera sat bolt upright. Dorn thought, damn, that really is a good angle to see her from.

“Dorn, how?”

“Apparently, it's much easier for Dungeon Avatars to do soul transfers. All I'd have to do is grow an empty dragon body and transfer in,” said Dorn.

Kiera laid down on his chest, drawing lines around his muscles. She was thinking.

“Would anything change between us?”

“I don't think so,” replied Dorn. “I'd just use the natural shape-shifting magic of dragons to look exactly the same as I do now.”

After thinking about it, Kiera said, “I guess it wouldn't be too different from now, as your real body is a diamond and this body is a fake. It'll just be one more layer of fake.”

“Exactly; so, do you think I should try?”

“It'll make you more powerful, right?” asked Kiera.

“Definitely, but it's a little risky. If I screw it up, I'll have to re-create my avatar and think of an excuse for why I'm suddenly a C5 rank practitioner again,” said Dorn.

Kiera said, “I think you should go for it; it would be good protection for when you have to do those dungeon duels. They probably shifted out of human bodies as well, or at least, the top ones probably did. And I don't want to lose you.”

At this, Dorn just wrapped his arms around her. “Alright, when I have the DP's to do it, I'll try transferring back to a silver dragon's body. You won't have to worry about losing me.”

“Good.”

***

Coming down to the tavern, Dorn and Kiera sat with the remaining members of their team. “Where's the Voices?” asked Dorn.

“They've decided to try to get two new members, so they can go back to being a full party, for the Colosseum. So, we're all on our own for today,” said Vossan.

“We could also go to the Colosseum and get more Devil Points. I've been wanting to get the recipe for those C-Advancement pills,” said Thalia.

Dorn disagreed, saying, “Since Jeromy, you, and I are B-ranked adventurers, and Kiera and Vossan are both C9 rank, that pill won't be of too much use to us. Too bad the dungeon doesn't have the B-Advancement pill recipe or pill. That would be useful.”

Thalia said, “If I had the C-Advancement pill recipe, I might be able to extrapolate the B-Advancement pill recipe, but it would be a long shot.”

“Really? That would be awesome,” said Kiera.

“As I said, it would be a real long shot. Won't know until I've gotten the recipe, however,” said Thalia.

“Kiera and I could use the barrier breaking pills, as well,” said Vossan.

Kiera, who had already weaseled a few out of Dorn, just kept silent. Dorn then spoke up, saying, “I think today is a great opportunity to attempt the volcano floor. I really like the challenge; and there must be some great treasure in there that will help us in the Colosseum.”

Jeromy said, “I agree with Dorn; I'm still curious what's on the 16th floor, past the volcano floor.”

Vossan said, “We can always go to the Colosseum tomorrow, or later today, if we finish quickly. I agree, let's attempt it.”

The team headed out of the inn and headed towards the dungeon proper. They stepped on the teleportation glyph, thinking, floor 15, and disappeared in a flash of light.

***

As his team headed to the volcano, Dorn was simultaneously instructing Friedrich. He had him order the King to take his troops and leave the dungeon. The King would marshal all his forces in Khal and head east, to stop Kendra's forces from reaching the dungeon too quickly. They would also try to bloody the troops as much as they could with guerrilla warfare tactics, to try to lower their fighting ability to match Ilsan's troops.

Of course, Friedrich had to remain behind, to welcome his family when they arrived. Which should be happening soon. Dorn wished he had a better spy network, to find out where the various forces arranged against him were and when they would arrive at the dungeon.

Friedrich, he projected his thoughts, ask where your family is, and how much longer they will be.

After Friedrich used his voice communication talisman, he reported to Dorn, thinking, they say they have landed in the Northeast part of the continent, so they must be over the dwarves' kingdom, Under the Mount. They have a number of air mages, making travel easy. They should arrive within the next week.

Dorn sat and pondered. Everything was coming together quite nicely. Signs pointed to Ilsan invading after about a week. The King's information network, which Dorn had co-opted, had shown that Ilsan was still marshaling forces, and they would need about another week to be ready to invade. Kendra, of course, was waiting until immediately after Ilsan invaded. They had no idea that the King of Khal would be waiting for them.

This means that the Hartjensteins will be here prior to the invasions. The King will make sure Kendra doesn't get here until the Ilsanians have made their way from the north. The only remaining variable is the dark elves, and we have no idea when they will arrive.

The drow were the real wild cards. Dorn knew about the strengths of all the other forces, either from the King's information network or from Friedrich. He had no idea, however, how strong the forces the drow would send would be. He would have the adventurers, the Hartjensteins, Warley, and Friedrich together to deal with them. Hopefully, it would be enough.

Emelia threw some cold water on his thinking, saying, “Friedrich won't be much help in the fight against the drow. Elves have all their natural magical resistances, and they are therefore intrinsically safe from mental and soul attacks. It's how they have come to dominate the Underdark, despite the large populations of githyanki and illithid.”

Dorn frowned. He knew that he could recycle Friedrich into a large number of points, but he currently needed him to lure the Hartjensteins to the dungeon. What a mess. There wasn't much Dorn could do for now, other than wait. And hope the drow didn't show up too soon. Hopefully, their matriarchs weren't too excited about being able to destroy a celestial tree. It all depended on what their spider gods demanded, however.

In the meantime, he decided he would focus on his Dungeon Avatar and its trip to the volcano.

***

“Alright, remember to be on the lookout for little rumbles. If we feel them, we have to get to the nearest teleportation glyph as quickly as possible. Dorn, can you help with that?” asked Vossan.

“Now that I'm B-ranked again, I should be able to blink all of us to one of the glyphs. But it'll take all of my mana, so if I'm running low in the floor, and we feel the rumbles, we'll be screwed,” said Dorn.

“Alright, that means that Dorn, you must not participate in the conquering of this floor,” said Jeromy.

“Actually, I'm pretty handy with my spear. I'll just avoid using mana, in case we need an emergency blink.”

“Oh good, that should make things easier,” said Thalia, who hadn't been looking forwards to being the sole damage dealer in the party. It was hard for a ranged damage dealer to provide the sole attacking force in a party, as there were times when ranged weapons were not very functional, such as in the narrow tunnels of a volcano.

The team set out by walking one time around the entire volcano, trying to plot paths around the rivers of magma.

“Are we sure that the exit teleportation glyph is at the top of the volcano? That'd be a fun surprise, to reach the top and find out the teleportation glyph is somewhere within the network of tunnels,” said Thalia.

Dorn suddenly thought, damn, that's a good idea. I wish I had thought of it.

“Only one way to find out,” said Kiera.

They began their ascent. After only a few hundred feet, they were attacked by a small pack of fire-enhanced ravens. Thalia took out about half of them with her arrows; she really was quite deadly with a bow. Vossan just held up his shield, getting pelted by diving birds. Jeromy chucked a few daggers at the birds, killing around three. Dorn took care of the rest with a remarkable bit of spearkwork.

“That's some level of skill for a mage, Dorn. Why'd you get so good at using the spear?” asked Jeromy.

Dorn sighed, saying, “I always wanted to be a fighter, not a mage. When it turned out my affinities were perfect for being a mage, I was actually disappointed. So I started practicing the spear, as if to prove I could do both. Comes in handy when I'm restricted from using magic. I believe everyone should have some skill with at least one weapon.”

Vossan nodded his head in agreement, saying, “Aye, magic restrictions are very common. Frequently, it comes down to who's better at the sword.”

The team collected some alchemical remains of the birds, at Thalia's directions, and continued walking up the mountain. Jeromy continued to scout ahead. He came back, and told the team, “We're going to have enter the mountain up ahead. That, or circle back to the beginning and try a different path.”

“Why, are we boxed in by lava?” asked Kiera.

“No, there's a middle B-ranked fire gorilla up ahead, just past the entrance to a volcano tunnel. Hope you guys are ready to get sweaty, as the tunnel is really hot,” said Jeromy.

Kiera just glared at Dorn, like this was all his fault. Of course, it was, but that was beside the point, at least in Dorn's mind.

“Just think of the cold baths back in C-Housing that we'll be in as soon as we finish this floor,” said Dorn.

“It's too bad none of us know ice magic. I miss having Hendrik in the party; he was good at cooling things down,” said Jeromy.

“You're a water mage, Jeromy; why did you never learn any ice magic?” asked Dorn.

“Never had an application book for ice magic,” Jeromy replied with a shrug.

“Alright, we all are pitching in to buy Jeromy an application book at the Colosseum. This is simply ridiculous,” said Kiera, sweating up a storm.

“Tomorrow. Let's try to finish this floor first,” encouraged Vossan.

They headed up the mountain and inside of a tunnel. The tunnel was rectangular in shape, with big chunks of wall fallen on the floor. Vossan walked up to the wall, and picked at some of the stone. Then he gasped.

“What is it?” asked Jeromy.

“This is fire iron,” he replied excitedly.

“Is fire iron worth a lot?” asked Kiera, picking up a bit of his excitement.

“It's one of the two rarest metals, underneath mithril and adamantium. It and its partner, frozen steel, make some of the best weapons in the world. But the conditions in which to find them are extreme, like say, in a volcano, or the middle of a tundra. Hell, we could make a fortune just by mining this floor,” said Vossan.

“As long as we all don't die in a fiery explosion,” said Thalia, with an eye roll.

“Aye, there do be that. But with Dorn here, it shouldn't be a problem,” said Vossan.

“Yes, yes, I'm just your guys' personal teleport machine. I'll just sit here while you guys mine all day, waiting for a fiery explosion that could kill all of us if I'm not quick enough. Can't imagine anything more fun,” said Dorn.

“Could you elbow him for me, Kiera?” asked Vossan.

Kiera obliged. “Don't whine,” she said.

Dorn just muttered angrily. After the team spent an hour mining, Dorn decided that they should finish the floor, before coming back to mine later. They continued on in the tunnel, climbed some stairs, and entered a room with three fire elementals.

“Too bad my shield isn't made of frozen steel, or this floor would be a cakewalk,” said Vossan.

Thalia just whipped out three of the ice-enchanted arrows she had purchased before coming to this floor and quickly put them through the neck of each fire elemental. They collected the hot core of each elemental and threw it in their bags of holding. They were highly valued by blacksmiths.

When they finally emerged from the tunnel, they heard an ominous growl.

“Run,” shouted Jeromy.

As the team was running, Vossan panted and asked, “What are we running from?”

“The fire gorilla from before somehow wandered over to the exit of the tunnel, really shitty luck,” said Jeromy.

“Now would be a great time to point out, that we should have gone to the Colosseum and gotten Jeromy an ice application book, instead of coming to this hell of a floor,” said Kiera.

Jeromy just looked at her, and said, “I wouldn't have been able to learn ice magic in a day. So quit whining.”

Kiera finally packed it in, remembering that even though Dorn was the dungeon maker and her boyfriend, it was his job to make the dungeon as difficult as possible.

I'm sorry I've been bitchy, these last few days, she projected her thoughts at Dorn.

No worries, he thought back, I know to expect it about once a month.

Kiera grit her teeth, but didn't argue back, since she knew he was right. At least he wasn't like a lot of other guys, who liked to pretend it didn't happen.

When they finally lost the gorilla, they were about half way up the mountain.

Thalia said, “I see a clear path to the summit; we'll just have to deal with some more birds, and we'll be there.”

By the time the team made it to the top of the volcano, they had started to feel the shaking in the ground.

“Dorn,” yelled Jeromy, “get ready to teleport us back to the entrance glyph if we don't see the exit glyph over the lip. And get ready to teleport us to the exit glyph if it's there. Everyone, up the mountain. Now.”

They crested the hill and saw the exit teleportation glyph. Dorn quickly blinked the entire team to the glyph. They all quickly thought, Floor 10, merely seconds before the volcano erupted, showering the entire area in a mass of magma.

The team appeared back in the C-Housing meadow.

“Oh, thank the gods, we finished that floor, and we never have to go back,” said Kiera.

Vossan cried out, “Never go back? As soon as Jeromy learns some ice magic, I'm heading back with him and Dorn to mine every last piece of fire iron I can find.”

Thalia said, “I hate to agree with the dwarf, but he's right. We should get enough fire iron to make all of us new weapons. We can have Vossan's blacksmith friends craft them and have Dorn enchant them. We'll all have extremely powerful B-level enchanted weapons made from fire-iron. And the way this dungeon loves to play with environments, we might just end up in a tundra in floor 16, fighting abominable snowmen.”

Kiera quirked an eyebrow towards Dorn, who just thought into her head, no, I didn't. But I now have a great idea for floor 17!

Kiera groaned a little, and everyone else thought it was just from the thought of having to return to the volcano. They then dragged themselves towards the baths. When they got there, they ran into the Voices, and met their two new teammates. Thornley was quick to the point: “You guys look like sweaty shit. And smell like it, too. You go through the volcano floor?”

Kiera snapped, “Yes, and if you don't mind, I need a cold bath more than I've ever needed anything.”

She excused herself to the woman’s bath, disappearing quickly.

Thornley said, “She always like that?”

Dorn said, “No, only on occasion.”

All the men nodded their heads in understanding. Brook just shook her head, saying, “Men. You don't get it at all.”

She left to go join Kiera.

***

“Emelia, I know what to build for the 17th floor,” Dorn said excitedly.

“Did you forget you were out of points?” asked Emelia.

Dorn drooped, saying, “Oh yeah. I've had so many points for so long now, that I forgot you can run out. At least there are now more C-level adventurers showing up in the dungeon. My passive regeneration has been soaring.”

“Do keep in mind that you have 25 million points walking around in the form of Friedrich, as well as his entire family coming to the dungeon. There should be a few A levels and probably another S level in his family, since they are from Central Fantisa. This is the case even despite being a merchant family and not a militaristic family. You still won't have to worry too much about DP's until you reach your B floors. And that's when you get the B adventurers to show up, massively increasing your regeneration and your points from adventurer deaths,” said Emelia.

“That's true, I guess. I was just hoping to finish off my C-level floors before the drow show up,” said Dorn.

“I guess that depends on what you spend your points on, and how much earlier the Hartjensteins make it to the dungeon than the dark elves.”

“Oh well, since there's nothing we can do, I'll head back and focus on our party.”

“See ya, big guy,” said Emelia cheekily.

“Ugh, don't call me that, it sounds wrong coming from you,” said Dorn.