The Grand Weave

It took a solid minute of shutting everyone up before I explained what happened. People started to line up behind us, so I took the token from the clerk and we moved on.

"We should torture him," Isaac growled.

Igas scoffed. "I'd like to see you try. I distinctly recall someone getting pounded into the ground only a few months ago."

The two nearly started fighting, but Celenae summoned a barrier between them before the first fist was raised.

"I'm sure he had his reasons for not telling us," she offered.

There was a round of snorts before the others pressed for more details. I had none to give, and they knew more than me anyway.

Every one of them had met the guildmaster before, so it wasn't like I held more information than them.

"What's going on?" Sereza finally asked as we exited a long hallway into an underground room.

It extended into a flat expanse with branching side rooms as well as four giant metal gates at the back. Adventurers hung out near the gates, some in camps, others moving from one place to the next.

Each side room opened up into another part of the adventurer's guild to fulfill the adventurer's needs. From food to a small underground market, there was just about everything inside the cavern.

"Hello?" Sereza asked.

I shrugged. "Brelten, their adoptive uncle I think, tier three guildmaster. They have known him since they were kids."

"And you only just found out that he has a sister? Who happens to be the head guildmaster for Solunaria?"

"Yes," Eodyne scowled. "And we shall find out why the next time we meet."

Lightning crackled, drawing in more looks who inevitably caught sight of the gargantuan bear just behind us. There was a yelp and several wide eyes, but thankfully, Arturous didn't cause any alarm.

There was, however, a series of whispers and pointing that I picked up on as we continued through the room.

I nudged Teddy. "I forget that you guys are famous. What exactly did you do?"

Sereza crossed her arms. "Seriously? They haven't told you?"

"Nope."

Teddy sighed and smiled and waved at a few who greeted him.

"We may have a reputation. One that's partially because of our status and because of a few circumstances."

Sereza smirked. "Who hasn't heard of the saviors of Ruldest."

He sighed deeper. "Like that."

"Or the valiant efforts of Broken Tower in rescuing the entire dungeon's worth of adventurers during the Labyrinth outbreak."

"Those idiots," Isaac spat.

"Oh! And the record holder for the fastest full clear of the Labyrinth while still tier one. Or your infamous alternative moniker. The Devourers. And there's the on-"

Isaac had wrapped a tentacle around Sereza's mouth and glared. "He gets it."

I crossed my arms. "What happened in Ruldest? That's a village near the northern outskirts, right? And how did the Labyrinth have an outbreak? It's delved twenty-four seven. And 'The Devourers'? Seriously?"

Igas snatched a drink off a nearby table and downed it. He then tossed the empty mug as well as a silver coin at the server who barely reacted.

"We weren't even tier one. Ruldest had a wild rift that I accidentally fell into. Instead of being smart about it and finding an adult, they all came in after me and cleared it."

"What color?"

"Blue. And tier one only. Not the worst, but we had a few close calls."

"And if we didn't come in right away, you'd be dead," Isaac said while poking the oni's gut. "No complaints. You got a good skillstone anyway."

He grunted non-committedly while brushing aside his finger.

"And what about the dungeon outbreak? And seriously, 'The Devourers'?"

Celenae took the lead and pulled out a journal. It was old, ratty, and filled to the brim with quest information.

Each page listed at least three with a giant 'Completed' stamped through it in bold red ink.

"We got overzealous trying to prove our worth and swept through villages clearing out the questboards," she said with a sour look. "Because of us, there was a new rule implemented, limiting the quests one team can take over a certain period. And we were banned from the questboards for over a year."

"Still dumb," Isaac said bitterly.

"I distinctly recall you donating most of your quest rewards to the village coffers and paying for their food."

Isaac responded by sending a tentacle her way, but Celenae blocked it with a snap of her fingers.

Sereza chuckled and shook her head. "I recall the rumors. A bunch of noble brats deprived entire villages of their economy, sending the guild spiraling and nearly causing angry mobs in more than two cities."

The others sulked and I laughed.

Not surprising you're such a big softy, Isaac.

"You know," I teased while bumping into the rogue. "You're like a Cadbury egg. Hard little shell, but nice gooey middle."

"What's a Cadbury, and what are you implying, huh?" he asked while waving a dagger at me.

I summoned one of my looted candies and tossed it before repeating the process with the others. They sniffed as one before biting down and releasing little moans of pleasure.

"That's a Cadbury egg, you big softy."

He grumbled something unintelligible as the syrup gummed his mouth.

"Okay," I said. "And what about the dungeon outbreak? How was that possible?"

Igas got through the chocolate first and crunched on some ice to clear out the gunk.

He cleared his throat. "Foul play. Mind-controlled idiots from the underground went into the Labyrinth on the final day of the month. Caused a swell of dungeon monsters that ambushed the adventuring teams inside. We managed to save everyone and bring them to safety before the guild stepped in and got everything under control."

The conversation came after the reminder of the dangers of mind control. The others didn't show it, but Helio was a stark reminder for them; one that had them uncomfortable about the subject.

Thankfully, we were near the gates and the one we turned toward had nobody in line.

"Present your tokens. No tokens, no entry," the guard rattled off.

His buddy nudged him and only then did he blink and take in the group before sliding his gaze over to Arturous. The bear yawned and pushed his hood back as spittle coated cheek.

"I-I... Broken Tower! Welcome back. I thought you were done with the Labyrinth."

Teddy smiled and held out his hand. The guard shook it enthusiastically, followed by his companion just as eager.

"It's a special occasion. Showing a friend around," he said easily.

I presented my token and the guard's face paled before he stepped to the side. Mana snaked from the bottom of his foot and into an enchantment carved into the side of the gate.

"My apologies for the delay. Please proceed."

"Don't you need to verify the token is real?" I asked.

The guard stopped, then sheepishly cleared his throat and held out his hand. I gave him the token and waited as he channeled mana throughoat the small, emerald chip.

After a few seconds, he handed it back and stepped to the side.

"We'll shut down the gate after your entry. Please note that any stay longer than a week will be investigated by a runner," he explained.

I pocketed the token and followed the others inside. My body stretched and warped, but a heartbeat passed and I landed on solid ground. Something heavy and metal met my toe, and I kicked it away, sending it crashing against the nearby wall.

A dull ring echoed between the narrow passage and Isaac appeared, glaring up from my shadow.

"Stop that."

I gently stomped and he disappeared.

Looking around, there wasn't too much to see. The walls were stone gray, and we were trapped in a dead end that branched into three passages.

The walls were tall, easily more than twenty feet, but there looked to be nearly a mile between them and the ceiling.

"I'm guessing the dungeon doesn't let you cheat and fly around?" I asked, joining the others as they waited.

"Flying mobs swarm you en masse. And most people hate fighting them so they tend to build insane numbers. The guild has a permanent quest to clear them out, so most take on a batch or two before they leave."

"Sounds all kinds of fun. Is everything in here a golem?"

"No. There are slime's near the easier entrances as well as giant rodents."

"And the lower floors?"

"All golems. Progressively more metal until the last floor."

"What's on the last floor? I never ventured beyond floor three," Sereza said.

"Crystal golems."

She scowled and thumbed a vial on her bandolier. "Hate this dungeon. My poison is useless against the golems."

Celenae tossed me another journal, opened to reveal several pages of information about different kinds of traps inside the dungeon.

"They get more devious the further you go. The acid bath is one of the worst."

The dungeon sounded anything but fun. And if that's all there was, even one that had multiple floors up to the higher end of tier twos, it didn't seem that worth it for a budding kingdom.

Then again, I bet metal is easy to acquire.

"Are all the floors the same?"

"No," Teddy answered. "One and two are stone with minimal traps that maim rather than cripple or outright kill. You'll find a couple of easy golems, more so in this area than others. Three is where the dungeon gets weird and becomes a dense jungle filled with jungle variants of floor one and two mobs."

"Four is the wailing caverns, lots of darkness and ambush-type monsters, with spider golems being the most common," Celenae said. "Five is lava, with igneous golems that like to explode."

"And on floor six is the crystal golems. Imagine gilded walls and ornate chandeliers. The crystal lights tend to be golem guardians who shoot solar-aspected beams at you," Teddy finished.

"I've changed my mind. This place sounds fun," I stated.

The others groaned and I kept smiling. I turned to where Isaac was about to appear. His head popped out, before quickly diving and trying to circle around, but I kept tracking him.

Eventually, I heard a sigh and he exited the shadows, pointedly ignoring me.

"Found the entrance. We'll need to scale the walls and drop down into a box."

"Box?"

"Exactly what it sounds like. Four walls, separated from the rest of the labyrinth. Some are duds, others contain secrets," Teddy said.

"I've never heard of them," Sereza added.

"Usually, you wouldn't find out unless by accident. Nobody willingly scales the walls, and the guild prefers keeping the floor skips a secret."

"Floor skips?! That's... cheating."

He grinned. "Exactly. So keep it hush."

Isaac led us down the left path. The hallway was empty, and we continued through a series of turns before he stopped at where an iron dagger was staked into the stone.

"Here," he said. "It's just behind this wall."

Celenae took the lead and we huddled together. A barrier appeared underneath us and lifted the group high.

As we crested the tall walls, a loud screech blared, accompanied by a cacophony of noise.. I covered my ears and squinted at the smudge in the distance.

Oh.

The smudge separated and the swarm of small metallic birds was joined by another, larger swarm.

Their wings were made of gold, and they sported two beaks with no eyes. Along the gold plumes, puffs of what looked like real feathers jutted out from beneath the metal.

The swarm grew in size, blotting out the ceiling as they formed a wall that was flying directly toward us.

"Eodyne, you ready?" Teddy asked.

Eodyne nodded and formed her bow. "Always."

As mana built between the archer's fingers, Sereza leaned into me and whispered into my ear.

"This is the largest I've ever seen. One of the guides my father hired drew in a few packs of them to feed me energy. But nothing this big."

I focused on the javelin solidifying on Eodyne's bow. It was an incredible amount of power, that only amplified when she activated another skill.

The javelin became a storm of lightning that bit the air with tendrils of bright, neon blue.

"I think we're fine," I whispered.

As the swarm was near enough to deafen me with the sound of endless squawking, Eodyne breathed in and then exhaled.

The javelin flew true and melted a hole into the horde, turning metal into slag before the javelin burst and became dozens upon dozens of electric needles that tore the remaining birds to shreds.

She didn't destroy them all, but Eodyne began rapid-firing an arrow into their heads. Picking them off one by one, the birds went down.

When the last bird dropped onto the stone floor, Eodyne dismissed her bow. The others didn't react, but Sereza's mouth was wide open.

"That's..." she started.

"Efficient," I finished. She turned to glare, so I stuck out my tongue before whistling softly. "Magic archer was always a broken class. Good to know that holds true no matter what world I'm on."

Eodyne hid her smile well, but she was definitely smug as I poked Sereza's chin back into place. It shut with a click and Celenae created steps down, leading into the box.