Chapter 103: Speed Run, Any Percent
After a three-hour wait, during which Kir took stock of his body and discovered this floor barely gave him any internal feeling of mana overage, everyone began to stretch and awaken. Kir straightened his stance and reached up to shake Stella gently on the shoulder.
"Five more times, pet... Give me that rich, juicy mana- bwah!"
Kir’s shaking had disturbed Cheshire, who had reacted by climbing up Stella as she awoke.
"Team meeting," Kir said, and Stella launched into her usual routine of complaining and stretching languidly as soon as she landed on the ground.
"I was having a nice dream," she concluded. "I think I have some ideas for a sequel to those books I wrote about you."
Eventually, logs were dragged into place so everyone could sit by the now-smoldering fire.
Noir cleared his throat as soon as Kir sat heavily, crossing his legs in front of him. Cheshire landed atop Kir’s mane of red hair, snapping a bit of jerky out of the air when Sam threw it to him.
"Alright Black Sheep, looks like we tested the dragon and got burned on this one," Noir started the meeting off. "Dungeon’s broken, heading back to Sousport is probably out unless you like hiking- Yes, Caroon, I know you like hiking..."
At some point in explaining their journey, Noir had told Kir where he thought they were, exploring a dungeon where Ledot had already doomed one of his teams with brutal tactics and a lack of caution.
The mouth of the dungeon was in the Frontier Forest of the Landsend Peninsula. Kir had somehow managed to come out even further away from Norneau than where he’d begun. If he traveled due north, he’d even run into Darlbridge. The only settlement near there was a permanent campsite of adventurers exploring the forest. It was where Ledot had recruited his first team, and nobody knew exactly what direction it was in, only that it was north and somewhat centered on the peninsula.
Kir and Stella were both agreeable to staying with the Black Sheep, at least to see them safely along. Their presence gave the group something they would need to both avoid trouble and find the camp: altitude.