I Hate Dungeon School

My brain swam with the implications of what I had just witnessed, and I didn't like any of them. The smart part of my brain said I should leave and tell someone what I had seen, but the curious part of my brain wanted to know more. The curious part of my brain was being very convincing today, and I knew I was making a bad decision. That said, what was life but a series of bad decisions you kept surviving?

I was going to have to be careful here. This wasn't a dungeon, with predictable monsters and traps. I was tailing a real person, and as much as I hated Knight-Captain Carter and his ilk, he was likely more skilled than I was at not being followed.

That said, I clearly saw his face. Maybe I was giving him too much credit? No matter. Stalking time.

I carefully ducked down the same alley, peered around a nearby corner, and saw him moving slowly, trying his best to dodge the trash and stashed crashes and other detritus of urban life. As nice as Revenstahd was if you stayed on main streets, it gets seriously sketchy once you're off the beaten path.

I moved from one high pile to the next, ducking whenever he looked backwards. It was one of the most overly dramatic attempts at skullduggery I had ever seen. He never seemed to notice me, and I was starting to feel embarrassed for him.

Soon, he tapped on a door in one of the alley walls. It was a peculiar pattern, but nothing complicated, so I committed it to memory. You never really knew when something like that would come in handy.

I crept closer and realized it was another of the untold number of storage houses that littered the city, which made sense for such a district. Lots of herbs, reagents, and such things needed storing and processing, usually away from a storefront. But businesses come and go like the wind and the rain, so there were bound to be abandoned ones being used for shady purposes.

Much like Cori's little gadgeteer and revolutionary club, or whatever the hells it was they considered it.

I got as close as I could, even pressing my ear to the door, trying to see what I could hear.

I could definitely make out voices, but not what they were saying. How annoying.

I searched my brain for a spell. I had spent so much time focused on combat and defensive magic that I had an embarrassingly small arsenal of utility spells. Invisibility and light were about all I could think of at the moment.

Then one popped into my mind.

"By archers' skill and hunters might, make strong my ears and enhance my sight," I whispered the spell poem, the words focusing my mind on where and how I needed to direct my mana. It flowed smoothly now, the connection with my mana reserves stronger after my bond with the dungeon core, but I still needed the focus on the poems to help me guide it through my body. It was a weakness, one that could cost me time in a critical moment one day.

Thoughts for another day, perhaps.

I felt my ears and eyes open to the world around me, the low light of the alley brightening to the point of discomfort. My ears could hear the sound of water dripping, of the insects in the cracks and walls, the chittering of rodents scurrying. I forced the mana to channel my enhanced perception into some sort of focus.

I blocked the excess sounds of the world, focusing on the secret world behind the door, on the words of those beyond the walls. I started to feel a sweat break out on my forehead, which was wicked away by the cool spring air. I closed my eyes against the brightness and prayed to whatever spirit or god would listen that no one would take advantage of me while I was in this state.

I never used this spell as it left me rather vulnerable. My senses being so greatly increased required me to keep a tight focus, and I found that I had trouble balancing, or even so much as walking or standing. I had to crouch down and focus entirely on the stimuli to keep it from overwhelming me.

If I used this in a dungeon, I would've been backed up by a party who could defend me in case something happened. Like an overly curious idiot, I did this solo, and I was beginning to regret it.

Soon enough, though, my hearing tuned into the voices.

I recognized one of them. Carter, Knight-Captain of Obsidian Gauntlet. Even after all these months, our brief encounter in the guard station after Cavendish played grab arse with me had stuck with me.

"Did we have to meet in such decrepit surroundings, Felestil? I feel like I'm going to catch five different plagues just standing here?" Carter whined.

"Do all you Obsidian Gauntlet knights complain so much? Cavendish was the same during the experiments, but at least he had an excuse." The voice, I assumed, was Felestil scoffed. It was much deeper than Carter's. Gravely, and hoarse.

"Don't act so superior. You're on the run from your precious Everspring, whereas I still hold power and position within my order. Technically, I outrank you as a Captain even though you still cling to your little General title." Carter tutted.

"If you and your Obsidian Gauntlet weren't so damned useful, I'd gut you right here, Carter. You know that, don't you?" Felestil growled, a sound I could have almost felt in my bones.

"Enough, gentlemen. Though I use the term loosely. I think the phallic measuring part of the meeting has concluded." A woman's voice said. It was soft, almost ethereal, but it had enough presence that both Knights went silent immediately.

"Yes, Magister. Of course." The two said in unison. Now that raised a red flag.

A Magister was a high-ranking mage. Leaders of one of the academies, which was the mage equivalent of a Knightly Order. The rumors of knights and mages being up to something in town were very much true. And they were working together. This was much less than ideal.

The woman began to speak again.

"Very good. Now report your progress." The woman said again, the scraping of a chair indicating she was sitting down. There was another sound that I couldn't place in the background.

"The transportation of the seeds is continuing apace. We've been placing them in the indicated locations, as instructed, by the agents I've hired. They don't know what they're doing, exactly, so it's been tricky finding those desperate enough not to ask questions. I'm running low on funds, so I'm assuming that the Concord will be reimbursing me?" I could hear the sleazy expression on Carter's face.

"Of course. Once we can bring in the profits from the continuation of Harpy hunting for the components we need, you will get your promised share, and then some. Do not worry yourself." The woman said.

"As for my part, the manor house has proved effective in accelerating the germination of the seeds. The synthetic core you created has allowed my team to nudge the desired mutations. Implantation of the enhancements in the captured subjects has, however, had mixed results." Felestil's harsh voice cut in.

"I'm not surprised. There is still much we need to refine in our creation of the enhancement cores that we need to discover. Finding test subjects that have bonded with a newly formed dungeon core is, of course, rare, but vital to what we're attempting. These false cores are as close as we can approximate." The woman replied.

"It doesn't matter. They're all commoner trash. No one will miss them besides other trash, and their opinions don't matter." Carter scoffed. I felt a rising burst of hatred in my chest, but I knew I couldn't do anything about it right now.

"Your distaste of the commoners is almost depressing, Carter. I don't care for them either, but they outnumber Knights and Mages by such a wide margin that it wouldn't take much for them to be a problem. You discount them at your own peril." Felestil chided.

"I've neither the desire nor the patience to debate this with you. I have just noticed we lack the presence of our fourth member. Hopefully they're just busy, and not up to anything...nefarious, shall we say." Carter said, insinuation dripping from his voice.

"Of course they are. They can't risk their cover right now. Despite being an institute for greedy brutes, Dungeon School security is shockingly skilled. It wouldn't do to interrupt years of maintaining cover just for a meeting with...you." The woman's disdain towards Carter coated her words like serpent venom.

"Ah, yes, how difficult it must be to arrange petty pranks and inconveniences under the guise of data gathering. That will be most helpful to our enterprise." The Knight-captain drawled sarcastically.

"Enough. We shouldn't tarry much longer. Carter, focus on gathering more subjects and spreading seeds. Felestil, continue your work in the manor, and try to get at least a few prototypes ready to go. I have another meeting with that pig-headed city lord to try to sway him to our side. We need those harpy parts to stabilize the false cores, and even the Concord lacks the funds to pay poachers for the amount we need." The woman sighed.

"We need that many?" Felestil asked, his rough voice actually sounding shocked.

"In the amounts we need, if Harpies were classified as Mortals, the collection of them would be considered a war crime. Even as monsters, it's legally questionable in the amounts we need." She replied, sounding tired. "Begone, you two. We all have much to do, and not enough time to do it."

After some grumbled farewells, I could hear them making for the door I was crouched near. Swearing under my breath, I ducked out of sight and tried to make myself as small as possible. I didn't get a good look at Felestil, but I knew I'd recognize the voice again. After the two went their separate ways, my ears picked up something within the storage house.

"You Mortals plan treacheries and horrors as easily as you breathe. It's impressive and disgusting in equal measure." A strange voice said, almost a hiss.

"Of course. We lack the kind of longevity and power your kind do. We use treachery and, as you say, horror to do what needs to be done." The woman's voice responded.

"What needs to be done? Your goals are strange and overly complicated. Simple things are all that is needed. Grow, consume, propagate. That's all that is needed for existence. You promised me and mine a new forest, Mage. I am not impressed so far." The hissing presence continued.

"You'll get what was promised to you. Just keep providing your seeds and pollen, and you will get your reward, my Queen." The mage said, annoyed by the strange creature.

"We shall see, Mage. We shall see." The voice and the sounds it made, like leaves and vines twisting, disappeared from my enhanced senses.

Soon, I heard the mage leave outside another door, thankful I wouldn't have to risk her finding me.

I would be a dirty liar if I said I wasn't horrified by what I just heard.

I had to get out of here. I had to tell someone. But who? Or more importantly, who to tell first? Who could I trust? Too much pain to think! My mind swam as I tried. I sat as still as possible, waiting for my spell to subside, which was slow. Painfully slow. I needed to move, and I didn't have time to wait.

I had used the spell too long, and my mana control was starting to fall apart. This was a risk with body enhancement spells. If you didn't maintain the focus or maintained it too long, it would begin to run wild and backfire on you. Normally, you just had to wait till your reserves ran out. My reserves were much deeper than they used to be, and it was proving to be a bad thing in this moment.

I was going to have to try to make it back to the school with my senses on fire from an overload of stimuli. This really, really, really, sucked. I lost my focus and the sounds of the street, the wind, and everything flooded into my mind, and I gritted my teeth and tried my best not to scream.

"Alta?" A voice said behind me, and I damn near jumped out of my skin. I turned, opened my eyes, and saw Cori behind me, with a bag over her shoulder. "What are you doing here? What's wrong? You look awful!"

"Cori, I messed up a spell, and I really need help. Can you help me get back to school? Or at least somewhere dark and quiet?" I pleaded.

"Yeah. C'mon. I got a hiding place near here." The sandy-haired human helped me to my feet and began to guide me through the winding backstreets as I tried to regain control of my mana, my eyes squeezed shut.