Chapter Nine - Hidden Dungeon, Obvious Dangers.

Rory awoke to pain radiating down his right arm, tensing his fingers and shaking his hand revealed nothing was broken he had just regained sensation in his arm and now it was needling.

Glancing around, they were all laid at the bottom of an old disused well. Algae smothered every wall, making it impossible to climb back up. Light streamed in from the hole that had so recently been covered up. Rory quickly roused everyone and was relieved that no one was injured.

Peter and Alex were with him in the dungeon as well as an Asian woman with tied up brown hair who carried a spear, a redhead women who was especially petite at five foot tall and a barrel chested giant of a man who had a full brown beard and wielded both a spear and a rudimentary shield.

Everyone had received the same notification Rory had about entering the dungeon, and there was clearly only one way out of the cramped space they were in. A pitch-black tunnel emitting a foul odour of decay and death.

Gathering themselves together, the group walked cautiously into the tunnel, none of them eager to descend back into the earth based on their recent experience.

The only source of light the group had came from Rory. Using his fire magic, he cast the smallest flame he could to provide a sliver of illumination, but to not burn through his Mana points too quickly.

The stench of decay got stronger the further the group proceeded, becoming thick enough to almost taste it.

Before long, multiple shining lights glimmered in the darkness, being illuminated by the light given off my Rory’s fire. Several low moans echoed out from down the tunnel.

The group huddled together for protection. Rory and the redheaded girl who was called Emily stood in the back owing to both of them being ranged combatants. Rory with his magic and Emily, who had apparently fashioned a crude bow somehow.

Alex and the giant of the man held the centre while Peter and the other woman were on either end. Luckily, the tunnel was narrow enough that four abreast was wide enough to cover the entire width of the tunnel. Everyone held their breath, staying still, weapons raised to face whatever was approaching.

Faint dragging sounds echoed down the tunnel, making it almost impossible to gauge how far away the foe was.

The group held...

And held...

And held...

By this point, everyone was getting antsy. The dragging noises and moaning had steadily gotten louder, however, the number of eyes illuminated had also grown.

Losing patience, Rory launched a fireball down the tunnel, freezing everyone with what it revealed.

Dozens of shambling corpses in different states of decay were slowing limping their way towards them. Not one of them was fully intact. Some were missing various limbs, others had eye balls either missing or swinging like pendulums. One even had a gaping hole where its chest cavity should have been.

They all shared one thing in common: they were all single mindedly moving one way or another towards the group.

While they were briefly illuminated, Rory took his chance to quickly analyse them.

Zombie husk – level 4

Description: One of the lowest forms of undead, created when a zombie becomes so unstable, they devolve into this lesser form. While physically weaker and slower than their original form, they are still undead and benefit from their resilience to true death.

Relieved that the zombies weren't higher levels but intimated by the sheer quantity of them, Rory started launching fireballs into the biggest concentration of undead, body parts exploding all over the place, their bodies seemingly very brittle when hit by his fire spell.

Kill notifications resounded in Rory’s mind. Not only were his initial hits deadly, but the zombies lacked any sort of self preservation or intelligence and continued to blindly walk through the flames setting themselves alight.

It soon, however, became obvious that Rory’s tactics, while effective, had one serious flaw. The undead bodies were seriously flammable and smoke soon covered the tunnel and was threatening to smother them all.

Rory was forced to cease casting his spells before even a quarter of the undead were dealt with. At this point, everyone was coughing from the smoke and rubbing furiously at their eyes, which were irritated and watering. The smouldering fires provided amble illumination as the undead continued their slow advance.

EVENTUALLY... one of the undead reached the group and with a careful thrust Alex stabbed the zombie through its head, causing gore and blood to splatter everywhere and leaving it impaled on his spear.

Alex screamed in surprise when the zombie continued to advance, arms waving wildly as it tried desperately to get to Alex despite the fact it had a spear clear through its skull, slowly pulling its head further and further along the spear shaft.

“Eugh,” Alex stated in disgust as he kicked the zombie away, causing it to lose its balance and crash to the floor, freeing his spear in the process.

Before the zombie had a chance to rise again, Alex’s boot came stomping down on its chest, caving it in and causing any movement to cease.

“Tough little buggers, aren’t they?” Alex chuckled humourlessly to the group.

Before anyone else could reply, more of the zombies were upon them. The weapons the group had were ill suited to the foes in front of them. While the spears and arrows punched straight through their frail bodies, they didn’t inflict much damage, requiring a dozen strikes to kill each zombie.

Emily was a fiend with her bow firing shot after shot into the horde of zombies, always finding her mark as she landed shots in the gaps between her teammates.

Before long, fatigue started to set in and the group was slowly pushed back, forcing Rory and Emily to rotate in to give a breather to Alex and Peter.

Rory was remarkably clumsy when it came to using the spear. Fortunately for him, it didn’t really matter what with the zombies being so closely packed together no matter where he thrust, he was bound to hit something.

One unlucky zombie was shoved forward by its brethren, forcing Rory to hastily step backwards to avoid being taken down with it. The break in formation was slowly taken advantage of, resulting in the group again losing more ground.

Quickly stamping on the fallen zombie's head, he was reassured when the resulting kill notification sounded in his mind. Glancing backwards, Rory despaired to see that they had nearly been pushed back to the well entrance, clearly visible from the light that streamed in from above. He knew that if they got pushed into the well, there would be ample room for the zombies to surround them and overwhelm them with their superior numbers.

Peter and Alex had caught their breath at this point and they rotated back in, giving the other two teammates a rest. The refreshed members helped slow but not stop the constant advance of the zombies.

Growing desperate at the prospect of being overwhelmed, Rory dropped his borrowed spear and, raising his hands, two rivers of flame burst from his palms, bathing the clustered zombies in a torrent of flames. Rory poured nearly all his remaining Mana into the attack, creating a blazing wall of flames that consumed the zombies caught in it.

Everyone was struggling to breathe, so vast was the amount of smoke and heat given off by the inferno. Hugging the ground, the group sought fresher air to stay conscious. With Rory only keeping enough Mana to stop himself from over taxing himself, the jet of flames finally died out.

With a sudden surge of inspiration, Rory remembered his ring and over the past few days had had a chance to fully charge it. With a thought the barrier sprung forth and Rory was delighted to discover that he had some limited control on it, moulding the barrier so that it was no longer a dome but was now instead like a sheet of glass which total blocked the tunnel freeing the group from anymore smoke.

With the well opening behind them and no new smoke coming through, the smoke was quickly replaced with fresher air, making it easier for the group who lay on the ground to breathe.

The wall of flames and golden barrier blocking their path did not dissuade the zombies in the pursuit of Rory and the group and they continued to shambles forward, eventually falling victim to the fire.

It took a further hour for the zombies' bodies to burn enough that the fires died out and when it did, Rory was surprised to find two items glittering in the ashes, untouched by the fires that raged around them.

Bending down, Rory examined the two items.

The first was a pair of metal bracers engraved with pictures of bulls with a wool lining to offer comfort

Bracers of brute strength (uncommon)

Description: not everyone can be fast and agile, quick of mind, or a mighty wizard. For some, the best path is the simplest one, that of might makes right.

Minor self-repair. One size fits all. +5 strength

The second was a steel short sword in a pitch black scabbard.

Blade of limited darkness (uncommon) (upgradeable)

Description: Having been abandoned decades ago in the deep dark tunnels you know find yourself in. This blade has started to take on the properties of this environment. With time and continued exposure to darkness, the full potential of this sword might be achieved.

Minor self-repair, chance to inflict darkness on hit, + 2 Dexterity.

No one but Rory had yet to receive system items, so it was quickly decided that the allocation of the items would be done to a game of chance.

Rory, for his part, abstained from the competition and the eventually lucky winners turned out to be Peter and the bearded man Matthew, who became proud owners of the sword and bracers respectfully.