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Is It Wrong To Skitter In A Dungeon? Chapter 20: Duels and Fools
🕑 Added 2024-11-20 17:03:00 +0000 UTCChapter 20: Duels and Fools
“So, this is the City Below, huh?” Welf said, looking up at the rough wooden palisade wall surrounding the town of Rivira.
“Doesn’t look like much,” Lili commented. “And it’s more of a village than a city.”
“Agreed, it’s no Orario,” Iris agreed.
“It’s impressive that they’ve built anything down here at all, though,” Lucia pointed out, something that the rest of them could all agree with.
The settlement of Rivira was nothing at all like the place in France that vaguely shared a similar name. For one, there were less beaches and vineyards, and more buildings made out of scrap. Though to be fair, the buildings within the town were surprisingly well-made for a place that was known to be destroyed on a fairly regular basis. Perhaps the most curious part of it was that the town was built atop a series of mountain ledges and plateaus that sat underneath the branches of a gargantuan tree, one of the largest growing on the 18th Floor.
Approaching the entrance, which was a massive gate that looked far better built than any other part of the town, a pair of Level 2 adventurers jumped down to meet them. Upon landing in front of them, the Hestia Familia and friends could see they wore the elephant head pins of the Ganesha Familia, and it made sense to Taylor for the Familia who enforced order in Orario’s streets to have a stake in keeping the 18th Floor orderly as well.
“Welcome to Rivira,” one of the guards grunted out, tapping a mace against his thigh. “You look like newcomers with those wide-eyed stares of yours, so let me tell you the rules down here. One! No starting any fights within the walls. If you have a problem with somebody, you take it outside. Two! There is no haggling prices! You take it or leave it! Three! If you want to sell something, take it up with the chief! He runs the tavern! And four! Monsters cannot enter! Your tamed beasties will have to wait outside!”
“Very well, those are acceptable terms,” Taylor said, making a gesture at Chris and the other monsters with her. They obediently moved away off of the dirt path leading to the town and hunkered down to wait, though they were still well within her range.
“Alright, in ya go,” the mace-wielding guard said, and as he said that, his companion, a bull-man, bent down and proceeded to dead-lift the gate, allowing them to pass through while he held it up.
“That’s one way to do things,” Taylor noted, Lucia nodding along.
“Only a Level 2 or higher would have the physical strength to open it,” Iris guessed. “Certainly would help keep the town secure against some monsters.”
“Heh, that’s right, lady,” the bull-man adventurer chuckled, slapping it fondly. “This gate has survived eight different monster waves! Every other part of the town breaks first before it gives way!”
Entering the town, the interior was just as paradoxically shabby and well-built as the exterior. Everything had a rough and crude feeling, the building materials made of raw, untreated wood and stone. There were even marks here and there where cracks had been sealed with different materials, or entire buildings had been put back together with spit, nails, prayer and cement after being knocked down, likely by monsters.
“This place is rather rough and tumble,” Lucia noted.
“That’s a polite way to call it,” Welf chuckled. “Still, impressed they could do all of this down here using nothing but the Dungeon itself to provide resources.”
“The prices are outrageous, though,” Lili noted, glancing at the stalls. Wooden boards with charcoal words and numbers denoted the prices of everything, and a cursory look revealed that the cheapest items were at least thrice what they cost up on the surface. Some vendors even accepted Magic Stones and Drop Items as payment, which was an interesting business model.
Of course, that made sense to Taylor. It would require a party of Level 2 adventurers to safely make it down to the 18th Floor and then back up again, so any food or other goods the Dungeon couldn’t produce were likely quite expensive.
‘Though that does raise some interesting ideas for the future,’ Taylor thought to herself. Her Tamed monsters could blaze a trail down to the 18th Floor easily if she was so inclined. She could make a massive profit bringing food and other supplies to the 18th Floor and selling them to the locals.
For the moment though such things were for the future, and Taylor cast her eyes around at the bazaar-esque marketplace the town had set up in the middle of the settlement. Indeed, it seemed as if Rivira had been built around the market square, with the large building the guards had claimed was the tavern also holding a spot of importance.
There were some interesting things being sold. Magic Stones and Drop Items were the most common, but chunks of raw ore hewn from the Dungeon’s walls were also available. They had Welf almost drooling over them, as they were quite rare to find and acquire on the surface.
“If only I hadn’t left my money back in the city,” Welf chuckled to himself as he browsed the materials.
“Would any of these help with our projects?” Taylor wondered, and he nodded.
“We’ll eventually need plenty of Mythril and Adamantite, but those can be gotten elsewhere for cheaper,” Welf said before pointing to a couple of items. “Troll sinew is incredibly tough. It’s normally used for bowstrings, and we can make Lili’s crossbows with it, too. Orichalcum wouldn’t be amiss, either. Damn sturdy metal. Hardest substance in the world! Titanium would be good too, it’s lightweight and yet harder than steel, so it’s perfect for a lot of different things, but can only be found in a few places in the world. Some high-grade Magic Stones will be needed as well to be used during the forging process, as unless you use magically infused flames, Mythril is very hard to shape.”
“I see,” Taylor said, taking note of everything he said.
“If only we had some Minotaur leather, I’d be able to make some great lightweight armor for everyone,” Welf sighed a little. “Ah, well. Maybe the Loki Familia will be selling some, or we'll grab some on the way home.”
A loud rumbling cut through the air caused everyone to look at Bell, who flushed heavily and looked away, putting his hands over his stomach.
“Hmm, I suppose it is getting close to lunch time,” Taylor said, a tiny smile on her face.
“We should check out the bar,” Iris suggested. “I bet that’s where we’ll find some decent food in this place.”
“Makes sense,” Lili nodded. They headed to the building, and found that it smelled of stale beer and urine. An unpleasant combination to be sure. It was also full of adventurers, all of whom were Level 2 or higher. The bartender was one of these stronger men, and was heavily scarred with an eyepatch covering his left eye.
They stared at the group, eyes lingering on the women in the group, though nobody did anything until somebody slammed a fist onto the table and stood up.
“Well, well, well, if it isn’t the Lucky Rabbit,” a scruffy adventurer sneered at Bell. “What are you doing down here?”
Taylor recognized the man. She had passed by him in the Dungeon a while back. Mord was his name, wasn’t it? She zoned out a bit, bored by his rant, and only started paying attention when he started foaming at the mouth.
“…no way you became a Level 2 adventurer on your own!” Mord shouted, slamming a fist against the table once more for emphasis. “You must have cheated somehow!”
“Cool. Cool. How, exactly?” Iris asked, looking at Mord like he was a complete moron. To be fair, she wasn’t the only one. Plenty of people were giving him bemused and pitying looks.
“H-he must have bought a super-weapon!” Mord said, not having expected somebody to call him out on his idiotic accusations. “Or maybe a Grimoire!”
“Even if he could afford a ‘super-weapon’ or Grimoire like that, it still wouldn’t be cheating, just pay to win,” Taylor said dryly.
“Ooo, ‘pay-to-win.’ Lili likes that,” Lili murmured.
“You know, he looks familiar,” Welf muttered to himself.
“Yeah, didn’t that guy try to pick a fight with you a while ago, Bell?” Lili wondered, squinting at the adventurer.
“Did he?” Bell asked, scratching his head.
“He did,” Ryuu said flatly. “He tried to hit on Syr and myself, but got offended when we preferred your company to that of his.”
“Oh, right, now I remember!” the recently promoted Level 2 said, snapping his fingers. Mord’s face was steadily turning red as he was disrespected, and Taylor couldn’t help but smirk a little bit.
Mord may have been a Level 2 same as Bell, but it was clear to her and her swarm that Bell was stronger. His Stats alone were quite high, having been around low Level 2 in raw numbers long before Leveling Up.
Whether or not Bell’s minimal combat training could help overcome the gap in fighting experience was another matter, but add in his Skill, and Bell could likely win a fight in against Mord.
“I’ll show you your place, you little shit!” Mord snarled and took a step towards Bell, but he froze when a loud “Thunk!” rang out as an axe embedded itself into the bar’s counter.
“No fighting,” the bartender growled, out, hand resting on the hilt of his weapon, and everyone immediately settled down. Until a certain dark-haired parahuman decided to escalate the situation.
“Bell, you should fight him,” Taylor suggested, causing everyone to turn and stare at her.
“Not in here, of course,” Taylor quickly added when the bartender – whose hum marked him as a Level 3 adventurer – narrowed his eyes at her. “But outside the town.”
“Why?” Bell asked, bewildered.
“Think of it as training,” Taylor replied. “Just fighting with us and Ais will improve your combat ability, but a variety of opponents will also help.”
“She’s right,” Mikoto spoke up, and Ryuu nodded. “Different opponents grant you greater opportunities to improve.”
“So go and fight him, Bell,” Taylor instructed, using the tone of voice a mother might use on fussy children who didn’t want to eat their vegetables.
“Hold on, why are you just acting like I’ll agree to any of this?” Mord demanded, clearly annoyed at being seen as nothing more than a training dummy.
“Are you saying you don’t want the chance to, how did you put it, ‘show him his place?’” Taylor asked, raising an eyebrow, and Mord spluttered a little before glowering at Bell.
“Fine!” he spat out. “I’ll be at the waterfall! You better not get cold feet, you wet-behind the ears brat!”
He stomped out, his Familia members following along behind him a moment later, and Bell gave Taylor an exasperated look.
“What? You’ll do fine,” Taylor replied. “Besides, it’s better to not let things like that fester. Give him time to dwell on things, and he would probably try something… stupid. Well, stupider.”
“Lili agrees,” the pallum said, backing up Taylor. “Adventurers are prideful. And if they don’t have an outlet to vent their frustrations and just bottle up their resentment… it gets bad. Lili has seen it happen too often in the Soma Familia.”
“Like lancing a boil,” Ryuu said in a soft voice.
“And hey, maybe after he gets it out of his system he’ll respect you, or something,” Welf suggested.
“This isn’t a story,” Taylor warned. “Defeating somebody doesn’t just magically make them like you.”
She then turned to the bartender. “By the way, do you sell food?”
“We sell a few things,” he replied. “But shouldn’t you be getting ready for a fight?”
“I never said ‘when’ we would fight him,” Taylor replied with a smirk, and the bartender barked out a laugh which was echoed by the other adventurers in the bar.
“You’re a gutsy gal,” he chuckled as he started to grab some food. It wasn’t much, just hard tack and jerky, and ridiculously expensive for such plain fare, but they paid all the same and ate a light lunch before making their way out of town.
“Now, where are they?” Lucia wondered, looking around.
“Did you see a scruffy, brown-haired adventurer and his friends pass by here?” Mikoto asked one of the gate guards.
“Yeah, they headed off towards the waterfall in that direction,” the guard said, pointing to the north.
“Ah, good, so they didn’t change their plans,” Iris hummed. Taylor nodded, not bothering to let the others know she’d put bugs on their clothes so she’d be able to track them as soon as they came into range.
As their party headed up to the dueling spot, she gathered the monstrous members of her swarm to her, and they rode to the waterfall in style atop the back of a Dungeon Worm.
‘I think I will take the plunge and see if the Guild will allow me to bring it back to the surface with us,’ Taylor thought to herself as she ran a hand over the curiously smooth chitin of the monster she was riding. It wasn’t likely, though.
A Crystal Mantis or Killer Ant? Acceptable. A giant, burrowing worm-monster that can potentially drill right through the Dungeon itself to reach the surface? Significantly less likely to be allowed. But it had been a loyal and helpful mount so far, and Taylor, spoiled by her previous life of automobiles and capes with Mover powers had her longing for the easy days of moving quicker than a brisk walk.
Sure, adventurers were significantly faster on foot than horses and bicycles and could outrun cars at higher levels, but that still required using your own limbs to get anywhere.
‘If I can’t keep a Dungeon Worm, I should invent the bicycle to make getting through the Dungeon faster and easier,’ Taylor decided, thoughts already swirling about in her head.
Welf would be interested, she had no doubt. Could she work with the Hephestus Familia? The woman who’d taken the mantle of the God of Smiths had apparently been interested in her knife. Leveraging her knowledge of Earth Bet could be beneficial…
“We’re almost there, Miss Taylor,” Bell whispered to her as they neared the waterfall.
She already knew that, as she could detect the bugs she’d hidden on Mord and his Familia, but could also sense the presence of a few other men who hadn’t been with them back in the bar. An ambush? No, they weren’t set up like that. They were in the open, standing around in a clearing near a small lake that’d formed around the waterfall.
‘Then again, they might not think they need tricks like that against us,’ Taylor mused. All twelve of the gathered adventurers facing them were Level 2. They likely assumed their party was weak. And, to be fair, they were. There were only two Level 2 adventurers in the party of eight, but they also had Ryuu, whom the parahuman was fairly certain could handle all of them on her own.
Taylor noted how many of the adventurers flinched and tensed up when they saw the small horde of monsters approaching, and some began muttering about, ‘Bug Girl’ and how ‘this wasn’t what they’d signed up for!’
Mord hid his apprehension of the swarm better, but it was still there. Still, he didn’t do anything other than watch. And curiously, he now had a black bronze helmet hanging off his waist, and it felt magical to her swarm’s senses.
“About time you showed up,” Mord sneered, glaring at the party as they jumped off the back of the Dungeon Worm.
“Not your fault you never specified when you’d have your duel,” Taylor replied, and he growled, before huffing and drawing his sword.
“Whatever,” he replied. “I’ve wanted to do this for a while! One-on-one, no Skills or spells, just raw talent and equipment!”
“Alright,” Bell said, accepting those conditions. He drew the Hestia Knife and settled into a stance, one Taylor recognized as a defensive style he’d designed himself after facing down Ais so many times. It would let Bell counter an opponent who was larger and stronger than him.
Taylor had come to learn that Bell was a genius when it came to combat, rapidly assimilating lessons and adapting quickly to his opponents, and this duel would only help him grow.
For a few seconds, the only sound in the clearing was the roar of the waterfall as the duelists stared each other down, then it was broken by the “CLANG!” of metal as sword met dagger, and Mord and Bell began their dance of battle, blades clashing and sending sparks flying with every blow.
Bell ducked beneath a wide swing, only to have to roll to the side as a knee tried to smash into his nose. He tried to retaliate and stab Mord through the gap in his armor underneath his arm, But the scruffy swordsman jinked out of the way and slashed at Bell’s neck in response.
The two broke apart, taking a few steps back, before rushing back in. Longsword clanged against knife, and Bell brilliantly guided the sword away from him with the Hestia Knife. He then pressed on, taking a page out of his opponent’s book and driving an elbow into Mord’s stomach which did not do as much as it could have due to Mord sliding back at the last second, reducing the impact.
Taylor watched the fight closely. Mord was strong and had plenty of experience fighting, but Bell was faster, and he was able to weave around Mord’s sword strikes and counter any attack that threatened him. Unfortunately, Bell’s own weapon was too short, and Mord used his longsword’s superior reach to keep the white-haired teen at bay.
However, Mord’s sword was inferior to Bell’s weapon, and it soon began to show as nicks and scratches covered the older adventurer’s weapon, dulling the edge. He was also being pushed back, unable to immediately overpower Bell as he’d clearly expected to be fighting a much weaker opponent and hadn’t planned ahead for a longer fight.
“Shit! Fine, then! Guess I have no choice!” Mord suddenly shouted, and he jumped back to create distance between himself and Bell. He then pulled his helmet off of his belt and put it onto his head. The moment Mord did, he vanished, abruptly turning invisible.
“He has a Hade’s Head Helmet?” Ryuu whispered in disbelief as the rest of Bell’s companions watching tensed up and shouted out loud in shock at the sight of Bell’s opponent disappearing.
“You know what that is?” Taylor asked, glancing at the Level 4 adventurer.
“They’re powerful magical tools that turn the wearer invisible,” Ryuu said. “But they are expensive. Around the same price as a Grimoire.”
Taylor winced. The cheapest Grimoires went for millions of valis, and there was no way Mord could have afforded that on his own. Not to mention, he hadn’t possessed the helmet inside Rivira.
“Somebody wanted to test Bell and gave Mord that helmet,” Taylor guessed in a low voice, and Ryuu nodded.
“Yes. I think so, too.”
She glanced at Ryuu curiously. “You don’t seem worried.”
“Bell is strong,” the elf said confidently. “And look at how he’s dodging. He can detect where Mord is.”
It was true. While Bell had a few cuts on him from earlier strikes, the shock of his opponent’s invisibility was fading, and the white-haired adventurer was starting to be able to detect where the strikes would come from next.
Ryuu then shot a searching look at Taylor. “You can follow Mord’s movements as well, can’t you?”
Taylor nodded. Even if he was invisible, her bugs were still clinging to him and she knew exactly where the adventurer was through them.
“You can tell where Mord is too,” Taylor commented, and Ryuu offered a tiny smile.
“Any adventurer around Level 3 or higher would be able to do so. The Falna enhances all of your senses, after all. And elves have sharper hearing and sight than almost any other race.”
Taylor could understand that. And thinking about it further, a Hade’s Head didn’t seem to be a worthwhile investment for an adventurer. If you could afford one, you could afford a Grimoire or better equipment. Sure, the artifact could help you sneak past monsters, but at higher levels, it simply was easier to just kill them instead. Assuming a monster didn’t have a way to detect invisible opponents and thus rendered the helmet useless.
‘To think that an item that can grant anybody a Stranger rating would be considered a waste of money for the adventurers of Orario,’ Taylor mused to herself. If she’d had something like that in Brockton Bay…
She shook her head. No, she shouldn’t dwell on what-ifs.
Instead, she kept her attention firmly on the duel. Bell had recovered from his initial surprise and was now managing to block Mord’s sword strikes with extreme precision. He was using the footprints in the dirt Mord was making and listening to the rustle of his armor to follow his movement.
And then, it was all over. In a flash, Bell leapt into the air and delivered a kick which managed to not only hit Mord but also knocked the enchanted helmet off his head. Dazed, Mord staggered backwards, but Bell wasn’t done yet. He landed on the ground and then tackled Mord to the ground, before standing over him, the Hestia Knife pressed against his neck.
“I win,” Bell declared, eyes narrowed as he stared down at his opponent.
Mord stared back, jaw tight, before he murmured out, “I surrender.”
Bell’s stern expression immediately morphed into a smile as he drew his blade back, then he helped Mord back onto his feet. “Good fight! You’re really strong!”
“Ugh, well, yeah, of course I am,” Mord replied. “Wouldn’t have survived ten years in the Dungeon, otherwise.”
“Heh, Bell ought to have a Skill called ‘Charisma,’” Welf chuckled as he watched two former enemies acting friendly.
Taylor nodded slowly in agreement, taken aback by how quickly things had turned around, before her eyes fell onto the bronze helm lying in the dirt.
“Hey! What are you doing?” one of the adventurers demanded as he saw Taylor walking towards the dropped magical headwear.
“Consider it our spoils of victory,” Taylor said as she picked up the Hade’s Head.
“That’s fine,” Mord grunted out, waving off his friend’s concern. “Not like it’s mine in the first place.”
That confirmed something Taylor had assumed about how he’d gotten his hands on something like that. Mord had had a backer for the fight. But who? Her swarm couldn’t detect anyone nearby, but they could be watching from beyond her range if they were a high enough Level.
She wanted to ask him what he knew about the person that’d offered the magical item to him, but it didn’t seem like the time. Later, perhaps, when there was some privacy.
With the duel over, the other adventurers began to leave, going their separate ways. Mord seemed to have taken a liking to Bell now that the bad blood between them was gone, and they were chatting with each other as they walked back to Rivira, with Ryuu following along to keep an eye on him for Syr, or so she claimed.
Since Welf’s leg was still injured, Taylor helped him back onto the Dungeon Worm, along with the others, and brought them back to the settlement that way. Then, Welf conscripted Lili and Mikoto to help him pick out some materials for new equipment, leaving the Hestia Familia’s newbies with the parahuman.
“What should we do now?” Lucia wondered.
“Training?” Iris suggested.
“Maybe later,” Taylor said, causing the two to gasp and stare at her in disbelief.
“Who are you, and what have you done with Miss Taylor “Training Maniac’ Hebert?” Iris exclaimed, pointing at the parahuman accusingly.
“Follow me,” Taylor said, rolling her eyes at the cowgirl’s antics.
“We’re going to do training here, then?” Iris wondered, looking around at the spot Taylor had led them to. It was fairly open, nothing but fake grass all around.
“Iris, Lucia, I have something to tell you,” Taylor said, looking over at her Familia members with a stern expression.
“What is it, Miss Taylor?” Lucia asked.
“The trek back up may be dangerous, even with the Ryuu and Mikoto helping,” Taylor informed them. “And even if nothing goes wrong this time, who knows when the next incident will happen. Or what it will be.”
She took a deep breath. “That’s why I want to give you both something to help keep you safe.”
“Is this because of the fight Bell got into?” Iris asked, proving that she was quick on the uptake, and Taylor nodded. The brawl against Mord had reminded her of something she’d been keen to forget; just because she was willing to leave other people alone, didn’t mean other people would pay her the same courtesy.
Like sharks tasting blood in the water, the different factions in Orario wanted to devour Bell. He was new. Unique. Interesting. And people were going to pay a lot more attention to them.
‘Just like how somebody used Mord to get a measure of Bell’s capabilities,’ Taylor thought to herself, the Helm of Invisibility she had taken from Mord proof of that.
Enchanted weapons and magical items on par of the helm she’d obtained as spoils of war cost upwards of tens of millions of valis at the cheapest, according to Ryuu and her own research. There was no way a Level 2 adventurer could amass the money to buy something like that on their own. To compare it to her old world, it would be like a cop or soldier trying to get their hands on Tinkertech weaponry. With their sort of salary, the only way they could possibly obtain Tinkertech was through shady means. Either theft, or being given it by somebody else who could afford it.
“So, what do you want to give us?” Lucia asked curiously.
“I have the ability to grant people Skills,” Taylor informed her two Familia members.
“What?!” they gasped in unison.
“Yes. It can only be done once, but you will obtain a power that will vastly increase your power and survivability.”
“Is that what Bell’s clone Skill is?” Lucia guessed with a thoughtful expression.
“Correct. It’s the Skill I granted him,” Taylor confirmed.
“Why are you offering us something like this?” Iris wondered.
“I want to protect you. I want you all to be safe,” Taylor explained. “The Skills I can give you are powerful, and will instantly give you the power to defend yourselves better. No need to have Hestia update your Falna to be able to use them.”
“That sounds… incredible,” Lucia hummed.
“It sounds like it will make me stronger,” Iris said, and she bowed her head towards Taylor. “Thank you for the offer. And I accept.”
“Me, too,” Lucia said, quickly agreeing with her friend, mimicking her with a bow.
“Alright, then,” Taylor said, and she held out her hand towards them while reaching for her Skill. Her passenger stirred, and once more, she felt tendrils reach out from her.
Curiously, there seemed to be a bit of hesitation on the Shard’s part. Was it reluctant to grant Lucia and Iris Shards of their own? There’d been nothing like this with Bell.
‘The Skill description does say something about worthiness,’ Taylor recalled. ‘Is it judging them to be insufficient hosts?’
She didn’t like that, and urged her passenger to go forward with the Skill granting. In the end, it complied, and Iris and Lucia both tensed up as they tendrils of extra-dimensional energy reached out and connected to their brains.
And then everything went wrong.
The 18th Floor suddenly turned dark as the fake sky above them turned from calming blue to a bloody red and the ground started to violently shake, as if the Dungeon was trying to bury them all.
There were screams echoing through the air, audible even from where Taylor and the two newly Sharded adventurers were.
Worse, a massive dark shape appeared in the ceiling, slowly resolving into a massive, humanoid figure that smashed its way through, dropping down into the middle of the floor.
“A Goliath?!” Lucia screamed. “HERE?!”
“It’s huge! And black!” Iris uttered in horror as it rose up, letting out a roar that shook the air. “It’s a rare variant!”
“Back to Rivira!” Taylor instantly commanded, and the three of them jumped onto their monstrous transport, with a single thought passing through their minds.
What the Hell was going?!
111 ^^^ &&& ^^^ 111
Hermes stared up at the ceiling in absolute horror. Normally, he would have assumed that the sudden activity of the Dungeon was due to the artifact he was using to hide his divine presence having malfunctioned or gotten lost.
But no, for once, he was completely innocent of wrongdoing. The God of Messengers and Thieves had felt the explosion of foreign power erupt from somewhere near the town of Rivira, and a moment later the Dungeon had gone into overdrive in response.
‘I just wanted to offer my services to the Bug Girl and find out if my suspicions regarding Bell’s ‘grandfather’ were correct!’ he thought to himself bitterly. ‘Why did things turn out like this?!’
After a moment he shook his head, a scowl stretched across his face. Now was not the time to act like this!
“Asfi!” Hermes barked out, and his Captain jerked out of the stupor she’d fallen into at his side, glancing away from the Black Goliath.
“Lord Hermes?” she asked, and the god winced. He’d not heard his beloved little mortal child sound so afraid in a long time, and he instinctively slipped into a more commanding presence.
“Asfi! Keep it together!” he ordered her, and she shivered before snapping back to attention, her expressionless mask falling over her face.
“Yes, Lord Hermes,” she replied. “I’m sorry for that brief lapse. What do you need of me?”
“Fly out and alert the adventurers on the 18th Floor. I doubt they’ve failed to notice this, but make sure. Round them up, order them to form combat lines! If this rare variant Goliath rampages too much, it might damage the Dungeon, and cause a Juggernaut to spawn!” Hermes told her.
“Understood!” Asfi said, nodding her head before flying up into the air with her magical boots.
Hermes watched her go with a constipated look. He wasn’t exactly the kind to go around praying, but right now, he could use some divine intervention.
Comments
Ian Rodgers
Yup. Things will really start to change after the Apollo smack down. And even that will have some large changes.
Bridie
The flexing required to keep on canon is something else
