Infinite Lives

Bryan stretched and cracked his back before sitting up.

First, we should check out the dungeon.

He stood up, put on the remainder of his armour, before joining Len for breakfast.

They woke Erran, and once everyone had eaten and they had packed away the camp. They got ready to leave.

“We will walk over to the dungeon and check that out first,” Bryan stated.

The others nodded, and they began walking.

“Why do you sit down and write most nights, Erran… Writing love letters for Bryan?” Len said before laughing.

Erran scowled at Len before replying, “No, I just write my thoughts down… ok?”

Len shrugged then spoke, “Eh, seems kinda pointless if no one will read it, but fine.”

It can be useful to document what happens to improve on it later.

They continued until they reached the clearing and walked over to the entrance.

Slightly odd; I am sure the entrance was closer to the centre of the clearing.

Bryan turned to the others and spoke, “Me and Len will go inside and investigate; logically, Erran should wait out here.”

Erran sighed and replied, “But I could handle the upper levels?”

Bryan shook his head and spoke, “With the wolves coming out, we cannot guarantee things are where they should be.”

Len chimed in while smiling, “Yeah, what would you do if you found an Ogre? Other than become its toothpick.”

If he intends to remain with us, I should use Trainer on him and get him better armour.

Erran went to argue but stopped himself before nodding lightly.

Bryan and Len made their way through the entrance and down the stairs.

Torch Light.

“Ah, a light, makes sense for a human… other races like elves can normally see thanks to faintly glowing moss in these tunnels,” Len said, looking around.

Len chuckled and spoke, “We need your light, as I don’t see any in this bit.”

Only seen that moss when using Enhance Senses.

They walked down the stairs into the first chamber and looked around.

It was a large open rocky cavern.

Bryan walked forward and knelt down to inspect the ground while Len did the same further away.

Well, there are some obvious claw marks, so I’d expect the wolves came through here.

“Looking at and tasting the blood smeared on the floor, I’d guess the wolves ate the giant rats that normally occupy this room on their way out,” Len said, examining the ground.

They both looked around a little more before heading for the opening in the wall.

Walking through a corridor for a short while before one talked.

“Do you have any idea what the issue with the dungeon is?” Len asked.

That is a dumb question.

“We have no evidence yet to form any kind of hypothesis; making a guess now would be pointless,” Bryan responded.

Walking into the open cavern in front of them, loud crashes echoed through the room.

Hmm, large creature nearby.

Bryan focused, and the Torch Light grew brighter, lighting up the cavern and a twelve-foot creature in the room.

Upon noticing them, the creature roared and began charging.

Len fired several arrows towards its chest and head, all of them stuck into the creature.

Physical Enhancement.

Bryan unsheathed his sword and dashed over to the creature, slicing its legs front and back, forcing it to its knees, before he thrust his sword into its chest.

Pulling the sword back out, Bryan saw the arrows fired into it get pushed back out and fall onto the floor.

It’s healing very fast… It’s not an Ogre.

He jumped back using evade and got back to Len.

“It is healing very quickly; it must be a Troll rather than an Ogre,” Bryan stated.

“Fuck, this is not the kind of thing I am good with. This kind of beast takes a long fight of attrition to beat,” Len said, looking serious.

The creature stood and charged towards them.

“Keep out of the way!” Bryan shouted before diving to the left, with the creature following.

Bryan landed, skidded on the floor and got back to his feet. Focusing, Bryan held out both hands towards the Troll.

Fire Bolt.

A continuous cone of flame shot from each hand, engulfing the creature for ten seconds.

The creature got closer and lifted its arm to swing down onto Bryan.

Blink.

He appeared above the creature and landed on its shoulders. Using all his force, he swung his sword and, with a smooth motion, cut the head off.

Bryan jumped back and landed on the floor before the Troll’s body slumped over.

Len scratched his head while poking the Troll with an arrow.

“I am so confused; is it actually dead?... I have never heard a fight with one being quick,” Len said.

It is about understanding what you are fighting.

“If you do small attacks over and over, it would be a long fight… the trick is to overwhelm its healing ability and then finish it in one move,” Bryan stated.

Len raised an eyebrow at Bryan before replying, “Yeah, you say that like it’s easy… weird that it’s this high in the dungeon too.”

Bryan collected an ear from the Troll and started walking off.

“Are you not taking the core?” Len asked.

Are those useful here?

“Are they of value in this region?” Bryan asked back.

Len frowned before he spoke, “Well, yeah. Often the most valuable part.”

Bryan gestured to Len, who dug his dagger into the chest of the creature and, from between the lungs, pulled out a crystalline orb.

That must be what Mana orbs are made of. Explains why large ones are rare and costly.

Len handed it to Bryan, who put it into his bag before they walked towards the next tunnel.

They walked down for a while until they entered another large cavern.

Bryan looked around the room while Len walked to the centre.

Large room, roof covered in stalactites… not much here.

Len leaned down and checked the scratches on the ground.

“Well, it looks like they came through here as well but didn’t live here,” Len said.

Bryan looked around, aiming the light. Noticing something, he concentrated.

Is that stalactite above Len getting longer…

“Do not stop walking; we need to leave,” Bryan said loudly.

Jumping up, Len’s eyes widened before he briskly started walking and looking around.

Both were walking and looking for the exit.

“I don’t see anything… Is it Stone Lurkers?” Len asked.

Bryan nodded before responding, “I do not know how many, and it is illogical to fight them.”

Len nodded. Once they found an opening, they walked down into another staircase.

“Thank you, I did not fancy becoming paste on the roof today,” said Len, before laughing.

They walked until they came across eight corridors spanning in different directions.

Not sure it is logical to go down the others yet.

“Shall we walk straight?” Bryan said.

Len nodded in response, and they continued down the tunnel and down some stairs for several minutes.

After a while, they both stopped as the tunnel came to an abrupt end.

So, it is just a dead end?

“Hmm, ok. Guess we try one of the others?” Len said before shrugging.

They tried three more of the tunnels, hitting a dead end in each one.

This is both annoying and odd.

“Have you run into this many dead ends before?” Bryan asked.

Len scratched his head before replying, “No, I mean, you often find one or two, but this is a bit odd.”

Making their way down the fifth path until it opened into a cavern.

Good. Did not want to wander around all day.

Walking in, they spotted a blue shape wandering around the room.

Both with weapons ready, they approached.

Some kind of goblin, maybe…

Len launched several arrows while Bryan fired three rock shots, all of which slammed into something before hitting the creature.

The creature turned and, while looking at them, began walking over slowly.

It looks thin and weak but has some kind of magic shield…

“It is a Wardling; this time you definitely have to wear it down… enough attacks and the shield will eventually fail,” Len said with a smug smile.

Not true… if it just has a shield, I know what to do.

Bryan gestured to Len to wait and began concentrating while holding his hands towards the creature.

Rock Growth.

Several rock spikes emerged from the ground, one after the other until the creature was surrounded. The shield shimmered as the rock pressed against it.

After a short while, the rock had formed a round sphere over where the creature was, encasing it.

Should be no threat now.

“So now you wait until the shield goes down and crush it?” Len said, looking confused.

Bryan shook his head before speaking, “If it lacks the strength to get out, don’t want to waste Mana, so it will just stay in there… the threat is neutralised.”

Len scratched his head before he spoke, “Man, you are pretty dark sometimes.”

I do not understand how… it is an effective tactic.

“It is odd there is only one creature in this room though,” Len stated, looking around.

Bryan nodded before they walked and looked for an opening in the wall.

Once they found one, they walked through and down the stairs.

They walked into another large cavern, with large runic pillars, gears and chains with weights.

The elaborate structure suggests a puzzle of some kind.

Both walked around the room, examining things.

“Found the door over here; it is open!” Len shouted.

Bryan walked over and squinted at it before looking around the room.

“This is peculiar; I have always had to solve these,” Bryan stated.

Len scratched his head before shrugging and speaking, “Me too; maybe the last person through here broke it somehow.”

Len then chuckled before walking through the door into the corridor.

They walked into a large cavern with green glowing moss on the walls.

“Is that the moss you meant earlier?” Bryan asked.

Len shook his head and spoke, “No, the stuff that is in most of a dungeon would look faint to a human”

Hmm, fair enough. It smells oddly sweet in here.

Using the light, they looked around, Bryan only noting some blood stains.

“Find anything useful?” Len asked.

Bryan responded, “No, it smells sweet, and there is some blood, but I am unsure what was in here.”

Len stood up and replied, “Claw marks from several creatures, but it’s confusing; it seems more like many other creatures came through here.”

Yes, hard to tell what lived in here.

Walking forward, until they found another corridor they walked through.

They walked until they entered a large room.

Scanning the area for a while, noting they could see no monsters.

Both wandered around inspecting both the ground and the walls until they met back up in the middle.

“Well, I am pretty sure this is where the Flame Wolves lived,” Len said.

Well, yes. The large pile of various bones that are charred and chewed on would suggest that.

“Yes, but I can’t see any reason to suggest why they left suddenly,” Bryan said.

Len had his hand on the back of his head as he spoke, “I dunno, maybe the dogs wanted a walk?”

Len then laughed while Bryan stared at him.

“Either way, I don’t think we will learn much else here. We should see if there is another room,” Bryan stated.

Nothing is an obvious cause of this phenomenon… perhaps a large monster in another room would explain it.

They walked through the large opening and down another corridor and down more stairs.

Walking into a very large cavern, they both looked around some more, noting a few large bones.

“So this was the Troll’s home,” Len said.

After inspecting everything in the room, they walked back to the centre.

“Ok, I am stumped. This appears to be the last room,” Len stated.

“Yes, it is curious. I see nothing to explain why the Wolves left,” Bryan said.

Bryan shrugged and spoke, “Well, no point in staying. We should leave and set up camp.”

Turning around, they walked back through the corridors and rooms, passed the rock sphere and other rooms until they eventually reached the surface.

Stepping out into the light, Bryan dispelled the Torch Light, and Erran waved at them.

“Hey, guys. How did it go?” Erran asked.

They walked into the clearing, and Len sat on the grass before speaking,

“Mixed. Bryan might actually be a demon… saw him kill a Troll very fast and then trapped a Wardling and left it to die of thirst,” Len said, then began laughing and lay down.

Those were efficient choices.

Erran was taken aback a moment before he replied, “Len, you do have a habit of exaggerating.”

“What he said was accurate, apart from me being a demon,” Bryan stated.

Erran was silent for a few moments before he spoke, “Ok, did you find out why the wolves left?”

Bryan shook his head and replied, “Nope.”

Len raised an eyebrow before laughing. He then spoke, “We couldn’t find any reason why they left. The whole place was a bit odd.”

“As far as I could figure out, it seemed most creatures were either leaving or attempting to do so,” Bryan said.

“So going was pointless then?” Erran asked.

Bryan shook his head and then spoke, “No, everything in there that poses a threat to the village is dead for now.”

Erran smiled and replied, “Well, that is something good at least.”

Bryan started walking away and spoke, “We should establish a camp; the dungeon took a long time.”

Len stood up, and the three of them walked for thirty minutes to the north before finding a suitable clearing to set up camp.

Once the camp was set up, they sat down to eat.

“Sorry, I was not much use,” Erran said with a sad look on his face.

Len smiled and spoke, “Don’t worry, you can write about it in your diary later.”

Erran scowled at Len before Bryan spoke, “We should head to the nearest town, as I need some supplies to make something to warn us of attacks earlier.”

Bryan paused to eat some stew and then continued, “While there, we may as well get you some better armour, as if you are to remain with us, I should train you.”

Erran was stunned for a moment before he replied, “Wow, you’d really do that for me?”

“I’m sure he just doesn’t want you to get us killed at some point,” Len said before he laughed.

Must Len always make comments like that?

Well, either way… head to the town tomorrow.