Troublemakers [64]
The sunlight is a sight for sore eyes after our trip into the dungeon. Henry is carrying a sack of copper coins while Leah is looking at the bubbling blue potion. I couldn't possibly keep the potion from these two after the arduous delve they experienced. I've gotten them to at least get supervision if they intend to test it. Leah is keeping ownership of it since she was responsible for saving our lives.
As we're walking up the bank of the river and into the village proper we're greeted by a man in simple garb. His wrinkled features strain as he squints at us. He looks from me to Leak, and finally to Henry. A scowl paints his features as he marches up to Henry. The boy looks up in surprise before the bag in his hands is grabbed, searched.
"Boy, what have I told you about stealing?"
"I didn't steal, Pa! This is from the dungeon, Billy took us down there and we-"
"This true, Billy?"
I don't know the old man by name, but I have seen him a few times around the village. I nod my head to affirm that Henry is telling the truth. His expression softens almost imperceptibly. He turns back to Henry and looks him up and down.
"Why're you soaked to the bone, boy?"
Leah is quick to answer, smirking as she speaks.
"Henry swatted a huge dragonfly and tripped into the river. We had to save him from nearly-"
"He just fell in, is all. I've learned not to take my eyes off him," I cut Leah off.
Leah shoots me a questioning look. Henry deflates a bit as the old man lets out a long disappointed sigh. There's a brief pause before he suddenly pulls Henry into a hug despite the youth being damp to the touch. Henry looks just as surprised by the embrace as I am.
After a quiet moment the old man pulls away and gives Henry a stern glare.
"Just watch yourself out there, Henry. I don't want you kicking the bucket before I do."
Henry scratches the back of his head, embarrassment tinting his face red. The old man takes the bag of coins from Henry and holds it toward me with the expectation of me taking it. Rather than simply accepting it, I scoop out a portion of the coins and give a pouch full to Leah. Then I push the bag back into the old man's hands.
"I've already got plenty from my last trip. Keep it."
"Don't like handouts much, but I suppose Henry earned it."
He reluctantly passes the half full bag of coinage to Henry. The old man turns and starts to walk at a slow pace toward the far edge of the village. After a few paces he turns and calls after Henry.
"Come on, boy! What're you standing there for?"
"Thank you, Billy. Bye!"
Henry gives us a very brief wave before scurrying after his father figure. Their relationship is clearly a close familial one, but the old man and Henry look nothing alike. I only have a passing moment to consider the two of them before I'm interrupted by Leah.
"I should go, too. Mama is probably worried sick."
I nod my head, motioning with my hand "Go on then. You've earned some rest."
"Hah. I don't know about rest, not with Mama waiting on me. Thanks, Billy."
Leah leaves with the coins and potion in hand. I watch the girl go with a neutral expression on my face. I find myself reaching up, my hand drifting absentmindedly to the patch covering my blind eye. Things could have turned out so much worse if it weren't for Leah and some lucky timing. Then this reunion between Henry and his Pa would never have happened.
Maybe that lady, Rebecca Hawthorne, was right.
People really do need to be taught how to explore a dungeon.
~
Deeper still, further beneath the planet's surface, I carve an immense space. Voidium embedded into the edges of the massive cavern ensures it won't ever budge--not unless someone were to somehow dig into it--so I don't need to worry about structural stability. The space is the vastest I've created yet. Three kilometers across, three kilometers deep. The mana cost of creating this area is monumental already. I've been building up plenty of mana, but this is truly straining my resources. If I don't get an influx of visitors soon I may have to simply stop building new areas.
But for now this is doable. The immense cavern gets a coating of sky stone to produce the correct illusion, while spacial warping stitches the edges together. Going too far one way will bring you to the opposite side. The same effect is applied to vertical movement as well.
The structure of the level comes next. Stone is shaped from mana, and I mold an array of massive stone pillars connecting ceiling to floor. With the looping effect they appear infinite in both directions. Each pillar is thicker than a highbark, ensuring they look like monumental towers with height and depth beyond comprehension. I hold my mana like a chisel now, carving out wave-like patterns into the sides of the pillars. Images of the shine koi, nautilurks, and glugmaws cover the pillars.
As an afterthought I add an additional creature to the carvings. One I have yet to make, but will be a centerpiece of this level. Long serpentine creatures with sharp fins along their backs. Their maw big enough to swallow a carriage, their bodies covered in scales. Both able to swim beneath the water and soar in the sky. Sea Dragons.
But I lack the mana to realize such a creature. For now, they'll just be decorative iconography.
Moving on to the water, I prepare the space by creating an obelisk. Hidden away in a room carved in the center of one of many pillars I place the obelisk. Only accessible via a narrow crack that could scarcely fit a single person. I etch runes into the obelisk, giving the level a unique and powerful effect on uncontained water.
With the enchantment in place I begin turning my mana reserves into water. The drain of mana flowing from me is constant and intense, making my core feel empty as I watch a miniature ocean form in the space. After an excruciating hour I look upon my work.
I've created a seemingly infinite body of water with several massive pillars breaking up the empty space at even intervals. While impressive, that isn't what takes my breath away. It is the fact there is a second body of water above the first. It's like I'm floating between two oceans mirroring one another. The effect makes it feel like a cross between being indoors and outdoors at the same time. Truly spine chilling.
~
The stink of fish has been driving me nuts ever since we wandered into this backwater dump. Geoff has been skulking around, looking for anyone worth negotiating with. So far no luck. Everyone here is poorer than we are!
"Hey Boss! I got something!"
Geoff's voice catches my attention. I stop, Dick and Clyde both stop walking a moment after. The dolts nearly bump into me so I shoot them a glare that gets them to back away. Geoff walks over with a smirk on his face. He's holding a few pieces of copper.
"How's a few coppers got you this excited, Geoff? What's the catch?"
"You won't believe it, Boss! They've got a dungeon!"
My eyes widen and I clap a hand over the loud mouthed fool's gob. He gives me a confused look as I slowly remove my hand from his face.
"The fuck are you playing at? What if one of those church goons are here?"
Geoff shakes his head so hard it looks like he's gonna twist it off.
"No church here! The villagers aren't very religious, either. They're just happy to fish the river and sell to a passin' merchant. They don't even realize how big an opportunity this dungeon is!"
I start chewing the inside of my lip as I think it over. Small town gets a dungeon of its own, something that spits out useless coins that don't mean much without a smith and a few weird trinkets. I don't see why this has Geoff so giddy. It was only worth looting the dungeon in Daywark because there were people to pawn the worthless coins off on.
"How's this any good? Who are we gonna sell those dungeon coins to?"
Geoff shakes his head "Boss, this dungeon doesn't spit out dungeon coins! These are Greatmane! Look!"
He once again shoves those shiny copper pieces in my face and I snarl, snatching them from his hand. Sure enough these are Greatmane coins. They're really clean too. No scratches or bends, like they're brand new. That kind of money shouldn't be in a backwater place like this.
"Well shit! Boys, we've got a dungeon to loot!"
Geoff leads the way. I don't even notice that fish stink anymore. We make our way down the edge of the river and past a few of the shitty shacks these bumpkins live in. Apparently Geoff just had to ask a few villagers and they told him everything. The fools don't realize they're living on top of a gold mine.
We get to the door in no time. It's a bit different from the one in Daywark, but the stonework is similar. We step into the antechamber with our weapons at the ready. There are no benches in this antechamber. It's more of a hallway than anything, one that feels like it should be underwater. The strange wavy blue light is trippy.
"Enough gawking. Let's move, boys."
Geoff is quick on the uptake. He's walking just to my side with his eyes scanning everything, and he's one of my best assets. His keen sense is what saved my hide back when the prison break went down in Daywark.
"Rushwater Canyon. It's empty right now, Boss."
"That it is, Geoff. Dick, Clyde, you're both taking the rear. Geoff and I take point as usual."
I'm the first to step through the partly visible barrier and into the first area of the dungeon. The name didn't lie. This is a canyon, one with a river flowing through it. The walls of the canyon are higher than Daywark's city walls. The waterfall cascading down is breathtaking, but I don't have time to focus on it. Ahead of me are several bridges and chunks of walkable land.
"Right. Let's get moving, kill anything that moves."
My grip on my longsword is relaxed as I start walking. The first few steps on the bridge are cautious, but I quickly find the wood is strangely sturdy. We cross the first two bridges in a jiffy. We're walking toward the next one when Clyde opens his fat mouth.
"Damn, this dungeon is way easier than that shitty one in Daywark was!"
Right then is when a flash of bright blue zips past my face. I feel goosebumps go up along my arms as the buzz of beating wings tells me we're fighting some kind of big bug. Clyde yells in surprise behind me, and I whirl around to see him smashing a giant dragonfly with his club.
The big guy is panting, looking down at the disfigured bug like he's just seen a ghost. I scoff, shaking my head at his overreaction.
"Don't give us such a scare! Those things are nothing compared to swarmers. Just crush them when they give you trouble."
"Y-Yes Boss!"
I turn to keep walking only to feel a sudden impact of something hitting me square in the stomach. I grunt, falling on my ass and nearly knocking over Dick and Clyde. Proudly hovering above me is the culprit: one of those giant dragonflies!
"That's it, you fuckers are dead!"
With a snarl of rage I lunge at the creature. It doesn't know what's coming, and it's sliced in half before it even thinks to move. There are more of the shiny bastards emerging from the reeds. They're buzzing around us like a group of angry hornets. Only difference is these things are way too weak to kill us, and I'm the one that's angry.
"We're killing every last one of these things before we leave, you got that?!"
"Yes, Boss!"