27: Busy Scouting
Haley always knew how dangerous her brother’s job could be whenever he would go out doing quests for the guild. She always prayed that everything would go well, and hoped that Van wouldn’t come back in a sorrier state than he did that morning because of it.
But she finally realized just how dangerous it could get. She often had run-ins with some monsters throughout her time scavenging in forests, facing Horned Wolves and the rare goblins that would come out. But she was never forced to fight for her life as she just easily ran away, the forest being spacious enough and littered with obstacles that made it easy for her to lose her pursuers.
But in this dungeon, there was no way to escape, and even if she did, that would mean leaving behind the party members she was with. That amounted to her horrifying experience from facing such a large high-level creature, forcing her to stay behind and consider her options, which were slim to none.
Even if Van and even Aidan told her to run, her heart would scream in protest. How could she leave behind her brother to some beast that could easily rip him apart with his meager equipment and low level?
Even now, when the danger passed, she still gripped tight to her knees as she huddled them together, waiting for their leader to come into his senses from his meditation. They only really survived because of his amazing magic, something that Haley still had a hard time believing after all this time working with him in the Raining Treasures.
“How are you feeling?”
Her brother’s words, always comforting and slightly naggy, reached her ears. She looked at him, thankful that he looked a lot better than he did a few minutes ago. When Aidan covered the entire field in stone and got them separated, Van looked like he was at death’s door, bleeding profusely from his head and looking so disheveled and weak.
His buckler definitely took its toll, its metal bent in parts that were caused by the powerful Dweller that almost killed them. However, he still had enough presence of mind to ask how Haley, the least injured of the bunch, was doing.
“I’m fine,” She answered reluctantly. She felt a little guilty considering how Van was physically, and she was still being looked at with concern. “Worry about yourself for once.”
“I’m fine,” Van answered, and Haley knew full well how much bullshit was contained in those words. “I’m more worried about you. This is the first time you’re in a dungeon, and we just faced a situation that would’ve normally wiped an entire party in one go.”
Haley swallowed what was in her throat at the mention. That certainly seemed like the case.
“Is that normal? Do you always have to risk facing that kind of thing?”
“Not at all,” Van shook his head, surprising Haley. “I heard that there were anomalies when diving down dungeons, but I never heard of a creature so high in level just wandering around on the first floor. That kind of thing would normally be reported first, though since the Red Riot are the ones in charge here, it made sense that nobody knew.”
“I thought that was strange,” Haley muttered. She also received that level recommendation, and thought that the dungeon was a big fat liar for sending that creature at them that was way beyond their level. “What do you think?”
“Maybe something abnormal is happening around here, and we just got the tail end of it,” Van said, mostly speaking his thoughts rather than answering her. “Or it’s possible that it’s one of those traveling bosses. Those are usually rare and would usually be worth a lot in bounties.”
“Sure, if you can even survive against it,” Haley clicked her tongue. “We almost died from that thing. If it weren’t for Aidan, we’d be meat paste by now.”
Van could only nod in agreement, then turned his direction towards their sleeping leader with a careful look.
“Haley… what do you think about Aidan?” He suddenly asked. Haley looked at him with a raised brow. “After everything, is it really a good idea to trust him? He was the one that made you sign that contract to the Key Slinger, right?”
Haley lowered her head, her eyes staring straight at the floor beneath. She spotted several cracks and tiny grains on the floor, distracting her from how she felt from that question.
“...It’s not like I don’t know how dangerous he is,” Haley admitted. “At first, he scared me so much that I couldn’t sleep. The way he hunted me down would probably stay in my mind forever…”
She could still recall those shimmering rainbow-hued eyes that set her fate that night. On the first night that she was forced to sleep over in the Raining Treasures, she had a nightmare about those rainbow eyes that shut down her future and forced her into a binding contract.
But in the next morning, the man who had so casually haunted her dreams turned out to be a simple, casual man running a general store. He was kind to customers, and even dealt the annoying ones with grace. It was as if he knew how a person would act, knowing exactly how to handle them.
It got to the point where she no longer feared the man, and instead just grew wary of him. Before long, she recognized that, like her, he was also forced under Nina’s control. But it was as if he didn’t mind all that much.
“But I don’t think he’s a bad person,” Haley said, finally bringing her thoughts in order. “Maybe I’m being weird, but he doesn’t give off that creepy vibe I get from your friends sometimes.”
“Ugh, I hate that you’re right about it,” Van said, twisting his neck in annoyance as he rubbed his similar dark-colored hair as her own. “And again, those aren’t my friends. But I’m more curious about what he is. I never heard of a mage with that much power before, even if he has a super rare talent.”
“Vibrations… Have you ever heard about that?” Haley asked, causing Van to shake his head.
“Not once. That sounds ridiculous, but after seeing what he did, I don’t doubt that it’s powerful. With someone like that, what the hell is the Key Slinger planning on doing?”
“I don’t know, and it kinda scares me,” Haley said. “But it’s like… it doesn’t feel like Aidan is the type to do bad things.”
“That’s just wishful thinking,” Van stated. “People with power like that don't just stay comfortable in their old position for long. The stronger he gets, the more dangerous he becomes. I just hope he doesn’t develop a taste for cruelty…”
“Maybe don’t say it?” Haley groused. “I always hate how you just completely destroy the mood sometimes, bro.”
“It’s just being realistic.”
“You and I both know how much of a stretch that is.”
“I’ve seen people change when they get more level ups, Haley. They don’t stay quiet about it. They start taking more risks, get too high up on their horses, and end up taking everyone else down with them when they make a mistake.”
“He literally just saved us,” Haley countered.
“Yeah, and what if his boss decides we’re no longer necessary? What then?”
“Then let’s keep making sure we stay necessary. Just don’t say anything stupid that would piss him off. Like right now.”
Van rolled his eyes. “I’m just saying. We need to think about a way to get out of this situation before it gets worse.”
“If you have a plan about that, then tell me the details. Otherwise, we both know that it’s not happening anytime soon.”
“Now who’s a downer?” Van smirked.
“I got it from a dipshit of a brother that can’t stop being a downer,” Haley muttered, shifting uncomfortably.
Her iron set of armor was getting more and more itchy by the hour. She wanted to take it off, but it was such a pain to put it back on.
“Ugh… this is such a pain.”
…..
I am definitely not telling those two I could hear every word they’re saying.
Aidan promised himself with a tiny smirk on his ghostly face as he traversed the pathways around the dungeon halls. They didn’t realize that as long as he was conscious of it, he could listen to his physical surroundings even as his soul was far away.
One could say that his physical body was a receiver while his spiritual form was the connection between himself and the world around him. As long as he could return back to his physical form, he could still retain any information gained.
So he took advantage of the private conversation the siblings were having while they thought he was far into his meditation. Perhaps they were still careful, but hearing the concerned tone from Haley and the rash tone from Van made it clear that they didn’t know.
He understood that Haley was still wary of him, and he wouldn’t blame her if she still didn’t trust him. In the end, what mattered is that they were both alive and still kicking even under Nina’s controlled range.
He put that thought to the side as he looked throughout his surroundings in his spiritual form. There were other monsters at play, some creatures that were different from the dwellers and bunnies they faced before. There were also some rooms where his ghostly form wasn’t able to enter, feeling that there was some sort of magic in play that was interrupting his Sense Vibrations.
The more he traveled around the dungeon, the more he understood the layout. It felt like a maze, but there was a clear path if he followed some simple directions. Unfortunately, some of those pathways that they needed to go through had some monsters there, so he needed to make up a plan to avoid calling forth any further powerful monsters around there.
With that out of the way, his ghost returned back to his physical body. Once his eyes opened, the siblings immediately clammed up and looked at his awakened form.
“You’re back,” Van said. “Did you… find anything?”
“Yeah,” Aidan answered Van’s confused question. He still wasn’t sure exactly what Aidan did, so Aidan stood up from his position, checking his status to see that his mana was full. “I got a good look around. We should be fine to get out of here, so just follow me to avoid running into anything else.”
Considering his earlier aptitude for scouting monsters, the two followed suit as Van went ahead to drag a boulder out of the way with his high Might stat. Aidan was impressed at the quick-thinking Van did, even if there weren’t any monsters around that would find them.
Using his Sense Vibrations, he checked the area where he completely submerged the entire field with his Craft skill on full blast. Strangely enough, he couldn’t sense anything beyond that, not able to check whether the Dweller Prime was still there.
Deciding to put that into the back of his mind, hoping that it would never resurface, he led the group over to the passageways he recognized from his venture as a ghost. They picked up the torch and used the dim lighting as a guide while Aidan kept his perception peeled for anything amiss. Last time, that Dweller Prime came at them out of nowhere, not giving Aidan enough time to focus on a counter attack. This time, he kept his senses open for anything wrong, having Van stay around them with his buckler up in case something did show up unannounced.
He needed to realize that there might be times that monsters might come at them that could completely ignore his sensing, which could be fatal for Aidan considering his low physical stats. It was also possible that any creature with high magical aptitude could easily disrupt his vibration checks, basically blinding him.
All these thoughts ran through his head as the party paraded through the halls, bypassing hallways and turning in every direction where Aidan led them. Thankfully, none of them complained about where he was going as he planned on reaching the end of this maze-like structure and keep going further, preferably away from that Dweller Prime.
He needed more monsters to kill to gain experience points and level up. That’s why when they turned in the next direction, Aidan stopped the siblings and told them of the smaller Cave Dwellers strutting about.
“You sure it’s a good idea to kill those things that are the same as the Prime?” Haley asked. “Isn’t that how it found us in the first place?”
“I don’t think it’s keen on protecting its kin,” Van said. “It’s pretty much a dog-eat-dog world for the monsters too. We just got unlucky with the Prime coming after us.”
“Besides, it’s better to get some experience points and level up,” Aidan said, pulling up his shortsword and making it float mid-air. “Let me handle this.”
Just as he promised, he certainly handled it using the same method as before; trapping the cave dwellers in their place and executing them promptly with a stab through their brains. A notification hit his vision afterwards.
Level Up! From Level 7, you became Level 8!
You have gained:
+1 Free Attribute point
+3 Free Stat points
+1 Intelligence
+1 Toughness
+1 Dexterity
+1 Vigor
“Nice, got a level,” Aidan cheered, once again checking his surroundings for any surprises before nodding to the group to move forward. “Let’s get their loot.”
“I can’t believe you’re still willing to fight after we almost died to that thing,” Van uttered, moving ahead despite his grievances. “Are you made of steel or something?”
“What better way to survive against the next encounter than to level up to meet it halfway?” Aidan countered. “If you want, I can help you guys level too while we’re here. They’re plenty of monsters around if you’re up for it?”
“For real?” Haley said, hope in her eyes. “If you’re offering, I don’t mind taking that up.”
“Before I do that, is there some sort of rule about sharing experience points together?” Aidan asked, making the two look back at each other in confusion.
“Rule… well, when you hit the monster, you’re bound to get its experience points upon death,” Van said. “It’d always been that way.”
“Oh, but the more damage you inflict on it, the more experience you’ll get,” Haley continued. “That’s why there’s always groups out there offering power-leveling runs for rich nobles who want to level up their kids without risks.”
“Yikes, that doesn’t sound promising,” Aidan said. “So they can just get stronger just by paying?”
“That’s just how society is,” Van said, returning to his usual downer attitude. “When you have money, anything is possible. Even getting stronger and beating everyone else is easy when you have money and connections.”
“Kinda makes you wanna punch down on someone who keeps bringing the mood down,” Haley said, sending a glare to her brother. “You’re always saying depressing stuff like that.”
“Just because it’s depressing doesn’t make it less true,” Van countered.
“Hey, that just means you guys got a chance to powerlevel under me,” Aidan said, intercepting the two’s argument as they turned to him. “Come on, let’s put down our near-death experience with some levels under our belts.”
Aidan wanted to get a move on to the next floor to get their job under way, but hearing about their situation made him want to perk them up with some levels. It’s always a nice feeling to level up, and it sounded like both the siblings desperately needed some leveling.
For the next hour, Aidan led the two siblings down the hallways where there were monsters to hunt. This time, they faced spider-like abominations called Maze Seekers, reaching about a dog’s size in height while crawling around the walls and the roof with their sickle-like appendages.
It was easy enough to trap them before they noticed them coming, using the obstructions of some of the outcroppings that come up every now and then to hide themselves while Aidan used his magic to keep the monsters pinned down. This time, he let Van move on ahead, and he swiftly took out each one with ease, getting most of the experience for himself.
The next batch of monsters they came across were multiple bat-like creatures called Screechers, and they weren’t the cute looking ones Aidan would see on his shorts and reels, but devilish looking monstrosities with gaunt faces and almost skeletal-like appearances as though they hadn’t eaten anything in days. This time Haley took over, taking advantage of her long-distance mana sword to create arcs that sliced apart multiple bats at once. Aidan helped by pinning them down with tiny earth clamps that kept them at a single place.
Once the hour came up, with the siblings taking down most of the monsters for themselves, Haley jumped up and down in delight.
“Yes! I leveled up!” She squealed. “Just one level away for another Class Ability!”
“Gratz,” Aidan said the honorary words one would say in this situation in any MMO. He turned to Van. “You mind if I take the next group on?”
“You can have anything you want,” Van shook his head. “We’re relying on you most of the time anyways. I’d say that’s fair enough.”
For once, he had a smile on his face after seeing his little sister looking so giddy for her level. He could understand his excitement since it didn’t look like Haley had many chances to level up outside of crafting items in the city. Since she wasn’t a fighter, her only option for experience points is creating potions with her skills.
They kept moving along the maze, with Aidan focusing on the exit to the floor becoming closer by the minute. But before they could take the next turn at the pass up ahead, Haley stood in the middle with a deep frown on her face.
“Haley?” Van asked. “What’s wrong? Are you okay?”
“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine, just…” Haley said, her eyes wandering about before landing on a certain part of the wall on the other side of the corridor. “I’m sensing something over there. I think it’s my talent telling me something.”