eurekapd Chapter 8-2
Chapter 8-2
As a result, Dungeoneers are effectively chained to the location of their pet dungeon. They are cosseted, pampered, guarded, and absolutely never allowed to get out of range. Unsurprisingly, this tends to make them fucking weirdos.
Their questionable personalities are far from the only strange thing about this Class. I’m too fucking lazy to list all of the others, so here’s a few that happen to come to mind:
There is no known path to reliably gain the option of becoming a Dungeoneer. It can be offered to essentially anyone – the only requirement is that you’ve spent time in dungeons beforehand. Doesn’t matter if you’re a Fighter, Healer, or even a Wasted Lawyer.No one has ever obtained this Class until reaching Tier 2.Dungeoneers insist that ‘their’ dungeons have personalities. Most of them talk to their dungeons more than they do to people. Never tell a Dungeoneer that their dungeon can’t talk back.They also universally insist that ‘their’ dungeon is ‘best dungeon.’ Logical reasoning skills are clearly not a requirement for the Class.Dungeoneers only influence. They obviously can’t make every stable dungeon shit out high-Tier mana crystals, or the fucking things would be much cheaper.
- Delver’s Guild Handbook, Section 10.3 – “Basics of Dungeon Management”
My shotgun appeared in my hands in an instant, coming up to sweep the room around me as I dropped into a ready stance. The first thing I noticed was that the walls were plain stone and the room was dimly lit by an undefined glow. The second was that I was alone.
Fuck! We’ve been split up!
New Quest: Complete the dungeonRequired Objectives: Locate the dungeon exit portalOptional Objectives: ?Rewards: ?
I steadied my breathing and considered the possibilities. There were basically two options, we’d learned in class. Either the dungeon was a solo dungeon, where we’d each have to fight through the entire thing separately, or it was what was called a split-start. In a split-start the team would be separated into smaller groups, or even individuals, but would be able to reunite.
I desperately hoped it was ‘only’ a split-start and not a solo dungeon. Arlo and Tara were still only Level 4, the same as the dungeon, and if they had to fight through the whole thing themselves… I shuddered at the thought of losing either of them. I might be confused about my feelings for Tara, but I certainly didn’t want her to die.
Those two might be the lowest Level, but they have the best gear. That’s got to balance it out, right?
It didn’t matter what kind of dungeon it was, I had to move forward and hope for the best. There was only one exit from the room, a bare stone corridor that quickly faded away into darkness. I peered down it, but saw nothing in the darkness. I cast Light, and the small globe of light appeared over my head, brightening the room considerably.
Then it flickered and vanished, and my eyes widened. A second attempt met the same fate. Something about the dungeon was dispelling Light. I tried casting Fire next, and I thought the globe of flame looked dimmer than usual, but it didn’t disappear. It’s pretty fucking dark in here… I really could use some more light!
I stored my shotgun and withdrew the dungeon kit from my Inventory. Inside it were three small round glass-like balls. According to Wolf, if you channeled a point of mana into one, it would glow for at least an hour. They were also supposed to be very tough, so you could throw them ahead to light your path.
I pulled one out and channeled mana into it. It fared no better than my Cantrip, the light flickering and dying in moments. Frustrated, I shoved it back into the kit and stored the whole thing away, retrieving my gun.
I cautiously stepped towards the corridor, then stopped in surprise as it brightened slightly. What the…? Another two steps confirmed it – the subtle glow that lit the room was following me as I moved. It was a bit like a Light Cantrip, only even dimmer.
“Into the depths Delvers go,” I repeated softly to myself, then started slowly down the stone-walled tunnel. My boots echoed loudly on the hard floor, and I winced, pausing.
I deactivated my thermal regulation mod and instead channeled mana into my long-unused quiet steps mod. Then I started moving again, my footsteps no longer echoing. Gun at the ready, I stalked carefully down the center of the corridor, the dim light following me.
I could barely see twenty feet, if that, in the unnatural darkness. Fifty or so yards down the tunnel, it split in two, one path to my right and the other to the left. Cursing silently, I retrieved the dungeon kit once again and found the small bag containing several sticks of chalk inside. I used one to mark the path I was walking down with a clear ‘X’, signaling that it was a dead-end.
After looking both ways and seeing only darkness, I shrugged and turned to the right. I drew an arrow pointing in the direction I was going, then wrote ‘Az’ under it in block letters. If this was a split-start, there was a chance one of my teammates would come across my markings and be able to follow them to me. Putting the bag of chalk into my belt pouch, I retrieved my gun and moved out again.
The path led for another fifty or so steps before I detected the outline of an opening ahead. I took a careful breath, then moved even more carefully, placing each foot down gently to minimize the noise I made.
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Hah, if only someone were here to see me right now! I can be sneaky, Waste it!
Straining my eyes, I made out a long, sleek shape at the very edge of the light. Identify.
Monster: Slithering HorrorLevel: 3
I couldn’t tell where to aim. From what I could see it looked like the belly of a snake as big around as my thigh. Another step brought me – and the light a bit closer. I held my breath as the creature twitched. Did I dare move even closer, hoping to find the head? Fuck it. I gently squeezed the trigger, almost surprising myself when it broke and my gun roared.
BOOM! click-click
My new double-aught blew apart a section of the creature in an explosion of gore. The sound of my weapon echoed harshly off the walls of the dungeon, and I winced. The echo rumbled on and on, far longer than was natural. Amidst the reverberations I made out a different sound – the crash of falling stone followed by heavy thuds.
I saw bits of stone fly into the light from just beyond the monster I’d apparently killed – it wasn’t moving – and then two more similar creatures slithered into view. I had a bare instant to process the hideous jaws crammed with oversized teeth, and then I fired twice more.
Hah! Take that, you ugly shits!
I grinned viciously as each shot shattered the skull of one of the monsters, only to stagger under the weight of the sound now bouncing off the walls around me. I ripped a pair of shells from my bandolier and crammed them into my gun as another loud crash of stone joined the unholy noise.
This time I saw a huge chunk of stone drop from the ceiling and gruesomely crush one of the monsters I’d just shot. A moment later, another horror uncoiled from above and dropped down from out of sight, landing on the fallen stone. It immediately flung itself towards me, followed by more of its brethren.
BOOM!click-clickBOOM!click-clickBOOM!click-clickBOOM!click-click
Four more shots, four more dead horrors. And an unbelievable volume of echoes that made me stagger. I felt the ground beneath my boots shake slightly, and I winced.
Dead gods, I think my gun is triggering the rock fall! Shit!
I retreated a few steps into the corridor, mind racing. The path was narrow enough that I didn’t think more than one or two of the things could reach me at the same time. I came to a decision quickly, and my gun vanished into my Inventory as my right hand flashed to the hilt of my cutlass.
The heavy blade whispered as I ripped it free from the sheath, and then a pair of horrors slithered out of the dark, writhing over and around each other as they bore down on me. I brought my slightly curved blade down in an overhead chop, catching one of them in the face, shattering teeth and driving it back in a spray of blood.
My mind went blank as my focus became totally absorbed in the moment. I felt a sense of distance from the sight of the other lunging beast in front of me as I recovered from my chop to slash it twice in an X pattern, then the fight dissolved into chaos.
I came back to my senses only when a powerful wave of Essence hit me. I numbly realized that it had been many heartbeats since anything had moved, including me. Dark blood dripped slowly from my cutlass, adding to an enormous pool on the ground before me. I’d been driven back gradually to the intersection.
Breathing heavily, I winced as sensation returned and pain flared from my left arm. Dimly, I recalled one of the monsters biting down on it while my blade had been trapped in the twitching corpse of another. I felt the slick wetness running down my arm and flexed my hand experimentally, muffling a curse as the pain exploded.
I knelt, carefully and quietly putting my cutlass down, then nearly screamed out in surprise as PAST’s voice boomed into my skull.
[Congratulations Gunner, you have increased your Level in Short Blades, Battle Focus, and Intimidation by one each! Glorious! You have also accumulated enough Essence for an item!]
“AAAARRGGH! PAST YOU SHIT, YOU ALMOST MADE ME ATTRACT MORE MONSTERS!” I screamed inside my head at maximum mental volume.
[Surely that would only lead to more Essence for you, mighty Gunner!]
As usual, PAST didn’t sound apologetic in the slightest. I checked my resources, finding that my health was down nine points and my stamina nearly a third gone. Shit, was I using Intimidate in the fight? I don’t even remember that! Battle Focus is kinda scary…
I pulled out a healing potion and downed it, feeling an immediate sense of relief wash through me as it started to take effect. I leaned wearily against the wall, waiting several minutes before I tried flexing my left hand again. My arm still ached fiercely, but the stabbing pain was gone and I didn’t feel any more blood leaking out of me.
The corridor where I’d been fighting was an absolute mess. Even in the dim light I could see multiple sinuous corpses and intermingled pools of blood. Considering the pattern – 1, 2, and then 4 monsters – I assumed I’d killed 8 more with my cutlass. I tried to put aside the fact that I couldn’t remember the whole fight. There wasn’t anything I could do about it now.
I decided not to walk through all of the blood and guts unless I had to. I spent a few points of mana to clean and repair my damaged armor, grateful to be able to step away from most of the gore that had covered me. I moved back towards the intersection, where I paused and asked PAST for my item.
I was not expecting to receive a heavy gauntlet, but that’s what appeared floating in the air before me. I reached out and took it, realizing it weighed only a bit less than my cutlass. It was thick, dark metal, with segmented and reinforced fingers like Tara’s, and it was long enough to reach my elbow. I Inspected it.
Item: Biform Heavy GauntletLevel: 6Type: HeavyCondition: Excellent
[Congratulations Citizen, you have increased your Level in Inspect by 1!]
It won’t attach to my baselayer, but that doesn’t mean I can’t wear it… Let’s try it out.
I had to remove my left vambrace, but the gauntlet fit perfectly onto my left hand, covering me from fingertips to elbow. There was a leather sleeve and glove under the metal segments, making it comfortable, if a bit heavy. I wiggled my fingers, feeling the range of motion, which was quite good.
Then I tried pushing mana into it. A biform item could transform between two shapes, and after a bit of experimentation I got it to activate. The gauntlet’s metal fingers turned liquid, then were sucked back into the armguard, leaving my hand exposed with just the leather glove covering it.
Nice! Not what I would have asked for, but I can use this, especially right now. I can use this form to handle my gun, and the original full-metal one for melee fighting. No more holes in my arm!
The thought reminded me that I needed to reload my gun and refill my bandolier, which I did quietly before storing my gun away again and returning the gauntlet to its original shape. I couldn’t wait to punch some fucking monster right in its smug face with my now metal-encased fist.
Passing by the intersection, I quickly checked that my marks were still in place and sighed in relief when I saw that they were. I moved down the left-hand corridor, which seemed identical to the first one. It ended in another split, and I decided to keep going left. Quickly marking the tunnels, I continued on.