Aster Loka
patreon
Chapter 48
🕑 Added 2022-01-05 16:14:37 +0000 UTCThey returned to the car. Levi looked at the back seat, then the two eight-foot-long centipedes, Skarm, and Flomper.
"Anyone willing to ride in the trunk?" While they could technically fit in the body of the car, he wasn't sure having giant centipedes visible through the rear windshield to anyone driving past them would be wise.
Cen obligingly crawled into the trunk, coiling up with his chest plating out, which seemed to be his default comfortable state.
"You going to be okay in there?"
Cen made no complaint.
"Alright. Stoic one, you are." Levi closed the hatch. Centoo fitted himself along the floor of the car and up onto the back seat, head held down low enough that it wouldn't be visible from outside, while Skarm sprawled out on his stomach atop the centipede and Flomper settled between the two front seats.
"If we get many more, I'll need to buy a pickup," Gordon said, shaking his head at the menagerie stuffed into his car. "Or rent a uhaul."
"Might be a good idea."
“We're only twenty minutes or so out from Lexington," Gordon announced as they set off again.
Levi looked back toward the Stone dungeon they'd left, then down at the map marking his next destination, then closed his eyes to compare them to the mental map of future dungeon locations. "It's in the suburbs," he said. "I'll direct you once we get closer."
"And we're planning to march an army of monsters in? It's one thing when it's rural like the last one, but in the middle of a town?"
"If people ask questions, I'll give them answers," Levi said firmly, opening the laptop.
He'd finished copying down the basic stats of Horned Gremlins from Skarm's stat page just as they arrived in the vicinity of their next primary target, so he paused to direct Gordon through the maze of houses and streets.
"Right there." Levi pointed, as his ping returned a very close signal.
"That's someone's back yard!" Gordon hissed. "I don't know about this."
"Do you want to ask for permission to lead our army of monsters across the yard and into the dungeon?"
Gordon licked his lips, then nodded. "Honestly, yeah. That would make me feel better."
Levi sighed, but nodded. He really didn't have the right instincts any more for interacting with 'normal' life, so he leaned back and continued typing. "Let me know when we're clear to go in. I'll keep working on this."
He started inputting the data for Stone Scorpions, then checked over Horned Gremlin to be sure he wasn’t missing anything, adding details on their tamer abilities.
Gordon still hadn't returned by the time he finished.
Levi looked up uncertainly. He'd been hoping to ask for the details about Flomper so he could add Cynomis Burrower to the database with full info.
Gordon stood on the porch, gesturing as he spoke emphatically, while a woman with her arms crossed stood in the doorway, and a teen behind her waved his arms frantically in a clear attempt to make Gordon stop.
Levi raised his eyebrows and closed the laptop.
“—did you find his address?” the woman was saying.
“I’ve never met your son before today, ma’am,” Gordon said. “I’m here on behalf…” he saw Levi and forced a smile. “Mr. Morrison here is an independent… investigator of paranormal activity. He has a detector that can sense dungeon presences from miles away. That’s how we knew to come here.”
Ah, okay. Levi set his face in grim determination and continued forward. “What’s the holdup, Mr. McKaine?” Levi demanded sternly.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Morrison, these good people do not want the monster infested dungeon on their land to be cleared.” Gordon’s voice was too cheerful, too obviously forced. He wasn’t a very good actor and was clearly making this whole scenario up as he went.
“That’s fine, I’ll take it from here.” Levi inclined his head politely, while the woman looked askance at his unconventional attire. “Levi Morrison, monster exterminator. You say you’ve seen no evidence of the dungeon on your land spilling out into the overworld yet?”
“If this is for your online game, please leave me out of it.”
The teen behind her continued making shooing motions, eyes wide.
“Could I speak with your son for a few minutes? I think he may have the information we need.”
“I am not leaving Tom alone with two strangers.”
“That’s fine, you can stay. Tom? Care to discuss the dungeon in your back yard?”
The kid, Tom, stepped forward hesitantly. “H-how did you find out?”
“Like Mr. McKaine said, I have a detection ability.” Levi smiled, reading the system information that appeared once he could see Tom properly.
Thomas Arlon: Level 3
(Fighter)
“Level 3, not bad.”
Tom started, then looked up at Levi, squinting. “Level 5! Woah, yeah, I guess you really do know.” Then his eyes narrowed suspiciously. “Wait, are you from The Frires? Are you trying to poach our dungeon?”
“We’re here to clear the dungeon, yes, but I’m not a Friar.”
“So what guild are you with?”
“Guild?” That sounded promising. “So there are more of you?” Levi’s heart lifted at the thought of a pre-existing community aware of dungeons. Dungeons would have been appearing for a few months before his own Awakening, but he didn't know how many people had stumbled upon them in the meantime.
“Well, of course.” Tom lowered his voice. “Dungeons appearing in people’s backyards isn’t the kind of thing you can just pretend isn’t happening.”
“Guess not. I must have missed this subculture's existence the first time around.”
“We’re more than a subculture, we’re a movement. No one can stop us from our ascension!”
“As long as you do your homework on time,” his mother said sternly. “Ascend on your own time.”
Tom rolled his eyes. “Way to spoil the drama, Mom.”
“And don’t think I’m going to let anyone go messing up the lawn just because you’re all part of the same guild thing.”
“We won’t harm your lawn,” Gordon interjected hastily. “The dungeon is in a separate plane of reality, won’t impact your property a bit.”
Tom grimaced, but forced a smile as he turned. “It’s true, Mom, I’ve gone in plenty of times and not messed anything up. I can keep an eye on them if you want to get back to your show.”
She glanced over her shoulder. “What do you mean, ‘gone in’?”
“It’s like a game, where you fight monsters to get special rewards and power.”
“And you told these people our address. How many times have I warned you not to give out personal details online?”
“I didn’t! I’m not an idiot. I—”
“Pardon,” Gordon said, backing up. “We’ll go check out the dungeon and be out of your hair.”
“I don’t want you tramping through my lawn either.” Mrs. Arlon spun on him, her reticence vanished in her irritation. “Get off my property or I’ll call the police.”
“How can I get in contact with your guild?” Levi asked, looking past the irate mother to the cowed Tom.
“RL Game forums,” Tom said quickly as his mother closed the door. “We’re Doom Raiders Triple X!”
The door thudded closed, and Levi heard the distinct click of a deadbolt. He looked at Gordon, eyebrows raised. “What did you expect? That you could show up spouting obvious nonsense and have people concede like this is a TV show?”
“It’s surprisingly hard to come up with an excuse for bringing an army of monsters across someone’s land.”
“Which is why I don’t make excuses.” Levi headed back to the car to collect Skarm and the rest. “Easier to apologize on your way out than fight your way in.”
As he unloaded Cen from the trunk, the centipede uncoiling and stretching like he’d just had a long nap, he caught sight of the blinds in the house shift. He smiled, patted Cen on the head, and waved to the window. The gap in the blinds immediately disappeared.
They hurried across the yard toward where Levi’s ping returned a strong dungeon presence, Gordon looking apologetically back toward the house.
Levi held out the treasure map to the shimmer in the air, waiting for the dungeon name to shift to its enhanced state.
Nothing happened. The map didn’t disappear. The dungeon name didn’t change.
“Are we going in?” Gordon shifted uncomfortably, glancing back at the house. “Or just going to stand here awkwardly in plain sight?”
“It’s not activating." Levi frowned. "This is the right place, I'm certain.”
He took the map and looked at it again.
He was right that this was the place, but wrong in that something had happened after all, just not what he’d expected.
Instead of the map vanishing, the dungeon’s mark on it had.
“I think… Doom Raiders Triple X might have already found the treasure.”
