Dungeons Are Bad Business

The adventurer after Richter was a pink scaled salamander [Illusionist], who wore a fancy crimson robe and carried a spindly wand that was covered in jewels. Her arms were festooned with shiny gold bangles, and shimmering rings adorned all her fingers. She paced back and forth outside Crestheart, flicking her tongue in and out of her mouth and breathing sparks into the air as she waited for the [Dungeon Maintainers] to finish resetting things and get the dungeon ready for the next challenge.

Looking at her, Vee saw all the things he expected for someone dressed in such a gaudy fashion, and to his surprise there wasn’t any sign of lurking dissatisfaction or insecurity. The adventurer truly believed that she was uniquely talented and skilled.

For some reason, that bothered the [Dungeon Master] in a way he couldn’t quite explain, and while he went ahead and skipped activating [Boost Drops] since she didn’t look like much of a fighter, he vowed to use [Ectoplasmic Surge] at the first decent opportunity.

The doors opened up, and the salamander pranced inside. She raised her wand, and after it flashed bright white, she’d been joined by three illusionary copies. Unlike some duplicating skills, whatever version this was allowed all four entities to move independently. They worked in pairs, with one blasting at ghosts and minions from the entrance of a room with what looked like a socketed projectile attack while the other worked their way across to the next door. Once the second pair was in place, the roles reversed.

It was an interesting strategy, made somewhat more so by the constant diversions and distractions the salamander employed to throw the dungeon’s minions off her trail. She summoned boxes and top hats that hid her position, filled rooms with fog that affected the sight of minions inside, and seemed to pass through walls at times. Beyond that, she was reasonably athletic when it came to the early jumps and obstacles, but had a poor sense for traps and got hit by multiple instances of [Frost Vent] and [Icicle Spikes], which slowed her down.

Vee hadn’t been expecting her to take either of the statues, so he wasn’t surprised when she passed through the room without doing so. However, he did find the extra wide berth the adventurer gave the altar a little strange, and pointed it out to Reginald.

“Storymaker probably blamed the statue for his loss,” the hat said. “Adventurers can be superstitious like that, so I wouldn’t be surprised if neither one gets taken for a while. Before long someone will get greedy though and we’ll be fine.”

Down below, the [Illusionist] was facing off against a pair of skeleton lancers who were supported by some skeleton mages. Her projections all raised their wands at the same time, but before they could use any skills to fight, Vee felt something almost like a heartbeat in the ethereal that prompted them all to drop their wands. The images dissipated, and the [Illusionist] fell to her knees, tears pouring down her cheeks.

“I give up, I give up,” she sobbed, clasping her claws to her face.

Now that was weird, Vee thought. He’d never seen two adventurers succumb to [Aura of Fear] back to back like that before. Heck, it was rare for the aura to take down two adventurers in a day. He wondered what was going on, pressing the button to deactivate the dungeon to give himself time to activate [Third Sight].

Perhaps unsurprisingly, there were plenty of little ghosts lurking in the corners of Crestheart. In a lot of ways, ghosts were a bit like rodents, gathering wherever the conditions were suitable. However, unlike rodents, a large quantity of ghosts wasn’t likely to cause outbreaks of disease or other issues unless someone went and riled them up.

The ghosts he could see were small and malformed things, combinations of ambition, focus, and fear of failure. They huddled together in small knots, flickering in and out of existence, the way they did when in the presence of a greater spirit.

With his skill still active, Vee inspected the rest of the dungeon, looking for signs of any such being and finding nothing. However, there were ethereal blue scales here and there, and the [Ghost Maestro] could feel the Expectation pulsing on his shoulders. Through his bond with it, Vee got the feeling that the spirit was doing something, though he couldn’t identify exactly what it was. Ultimately, the specifics weren't important. Vee reached up, tapped the snake dragon’s head, and muttered, “Knock it off.”

The scales faded from Vee’s [Third Sight], and the little ghosts returned to their normal meandering back and forth.

Reginald turned toward Vee with his eyes open wider than usual. “You okay, boss?”

Vee nodded. The movement in the ethereal was similar to what he’d felt before the skeletons had started acting weird in the menagerie, which made him wonder if another [Call] skill had somehow activated. Gesturing for the hat to keep things moving, Vee clasped his hands together and fell into deep thought.

The next adventurer was a tall guy in dirty clothes who, somewhat inexplicably, carried a trunkful of junk in his arms as he walked into the dungeon. Its purpose was made clear a short time later, when he dropped it on the ground and everything inside floated into the air to form a cloud. It surrounded the man – who was a level 20 [Cluttermancer] – and served as a minion of sorts, protecting and attacking in equal measures with flying candlesticks, brooms, broken plates, twisted toys, and all sorts of other household detritus.

Vee watched him carefully, looking for any signs of undue fear or extra potent aura effects. Thankfully, the [Cluttermancer] didn’t seem to be suffering from anything other than an overeager desire to prove himself, which prompted him to pick up the big statue – the one with a [Sap Energy] crystal socketed inside it – and carry it into the next room. He sagged beneath the additional burden, but his cloud was more than sufficient to keep him safe as he finished the first floor and went down to the second.

Even in the hallway that’d felled Richter, the [Cluttermancer] carried on without issue. He blocked all of the instant kill traps with a wave of his hands, and despite his slovenly appearance proved to be rather adept at jumping and ducking at the appropriate times.

However, the biggest threat on the second floor wasn’t the instant kill hallway, but Nock.

Whistling merrily, the bow’s projection hunted down the [Cluttermancer] without mercy, firing arrows that managed to twist and dodge through the cloud’s defenses like they were alive themselves.

No matter what the adventurer did, the bow seemed to anticipate it, and along with the other hazards on the second floor, the [Cluttermancer] fell before the halfway point and abandoned his run. He got up awkwardly and shuffled toward the exit with a new and more embarrassing stain on his pants.

His projection grinning madly, Nock bowed before returning to his starting point and waiting for his next quarry to appear.

So far so good, Vee thought. He’d secretly nursed a fear that Crestheart would still be seen as a pushover despite his efforts to improve the challenge level of the dungeon and the advice and experience from the [Bellwethers]. It was reassuring to see the first runs going so well, and the [Dungeon Master] leaned back in his seat to watch the rest of the day unfold.

The first day of the circuit came to a close several hours later without any major issues or surprises. A few of the higher level adventurers made it down to Alforde, and two of them emerged victorious, though Alforde put up a good fight.

Vee didn’t mind the losses; neither the level 28 [Chaindancer] nor the level 26 [Juggernaut] had elected to carry a statue during their runs, so he was only down two pendants.

They’d gotten through thirty one runs in total, and there were still well over a hundred and fifty to go. Vee stood up, stretching his aching shoulders, and looked over at the agents who’d been mostly quiet for the rest of the day.

Neither of them said anything beyond a simple thanks and a promise to return the next morning, and Vee picked Reginald up while he waited for Alforde to come upstairs so they could count the day’s earnings.

The armorsoul didn’t look happy when he finally appeared, but neither did he seem jaded or dejected. When asked about his losses, he shrugged his pauldrons and said that he’d simply been overwhelmed.

“They were both too fast and too strong for me to keep up with, even after all my training and activating my Domain, but I won’t let that get me down tomorrow,” the [Dungeon Champion] vowed with a gleam in his eyes. “I’ll bounce back and do my best! Just you watch!”

His friend’s enthusiasm was a relief to Vee’s ears, and he clapped the armorsoul on the arm and assured him that the next day would be a good one.

Once the day’s earnings were counted up and half deposited into the vault – the other half would be deposited into the bank – Vee and his friends went down to the street, where there were still plenty of adventurers and citizens milling about. The Lobby was busy as could be, with a steady stream of people entering and leaving with various treats in their hands. Vee grinned when he saw that several of them carried boxes of dunpla figures too.

A [Guitarist] with long shaggy hair and a lost puppy dog expression had brought out his instrument near the lobby’s door, and enthusiastic – albeit slightly out of tune – music filled the air. People laughed and hollered to one another as they wandered back and forth to the spectator’s arena, and there was an inexplicable warmth in the sky that had nothing to do with the late afternoon sun overhead.

Vee stopped and stood still for a moment, simply letting the moment wash over him. This was a good start toward what he ultimately wanted – the Expectation snuggled closer to him, confirming his thoughts – but there was still more work to be done.

For now, Vee had to keep his focus on running Crestheart, but as soon as this leg of the circuit was done, he’d start more aggressively wooing other ventures out here to Westown. Restaurants, bars, musicians, shops. One day Westown would have it all. Vee was sure of that much.

Reginald’s voice cut through his thoughts.

“Time to be getting back, boss. Tomorrow comes early and we’ve got a lot more runs to get through. You need to get as much rest as you can.”

The trio made their way through the crowd, and headed back to the gate. The [City Guard] on duty looked over and smiled as they approached.

“Looks like people are having a good time down there,” she said. “A bunch of people told me that I should check it out on my next day off.”

“You should,” Reginald said. “Just remember that as big and great as it is now, it’s nothing compared to what it’s eventually going to be.”

Laughing and promising to do just that, the [City Guard] waved and Vee led his friends back toward the boarding house.

Day one of the circuit had been a resounding success.

Main Character Sheets (Unchanged from last chapter):

Vee Vales:

Primary Class: Ghost Maestro (Locksmagister University), Level 32

Secondary Class: Dungeon Master (Oar’s Crest), Level 24

Tertiary Class: Guy-Who-Takes-Things-WAY-Too-Far (Self), Level 6

Might: 15

Wit: 40

Faith: 25

Adventurousness: 7

Ambition: 16

Plotting: 19

Charisma: 17

Devious Mind: 28

Leadership: 21

Guts: 14

Intimidating Presence: 11

Citizenship: 24

Public Relations: 8

Determination: 6

Persuasiveness: 6

Bargaining: 4

Patience: 3

Competitive Spirit: 1

Pragmatism: 1

<3<3 Infatuation <3<3

Alforde Armorsoul:

Primary Class: Hammer Specialist (Self), Level 6

Secondary Class: Right-hand man (Vee Vales), Level 18

Tertiary Class: Dungeon Champion (Oar’s Crest), Level 18

Additional Class: Glaciernaut (Sacha Silverblade), Level 11

Might: 58

Wit: 15

Faith: 28

Adventurousness (Bound – Vee Vales): 9

Endurance: 33

Intimidating Presence: 15

Heart of a Champion: 14

Citizenship (Bound – Vee Vales): 9

Vigilance: 11

Vanity: 2

Single-Mindedness: 1

Reginald:

Primary Class: Core Spirit (Unknown), Level ???

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Secondary Class: Loudmouth (Self), Level 43

Tertiary Class: Majordomo (Vee Vales), Level 21

Additional Class: Announcer (Vee Vales), Level 13

Additional Class: Hyperthymesiac (Self), Level 5

Might: 1

Wit: 37

Faith: 17

Ambition: 28

Greed: 24

Deceptiveness: 27

Manipulativeness: 42

$#&*!@!!: !!!

Loyalty: 46

Patience: 11

Irritability: 25

Remorsefulness: 17

Expository Prowess: 23

#%$Pragmatism*#$: @#61$5

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Citizenship (Bound – Vee Vales): 9