Dungeon Annihilation 2 - 36

Good Morning everyone!

Louella

“My lady. I present the steward of the Neil estate. Sir Hector.”

I took in the man that Ezal showed in. He was a tall and strongly built man. Rather than a steward, he looked like he should have been on a battlefield with a sword in his hand. In fact, there were scars across his face that hinted at a trial through combat at one point in the man’s life.

“Welcome to my town, Sir Hector. I hope the trip wasn’t too difficult.”

“Much better to previous years. The roads in the area have improved,” he replied with a gruff voice.

“I am pleased to hear that. Please. Sit,” I said motioning for the chair in front of me. Th large man dropped into the seat without much delicacy. I thought it wouldn’t be surprising if the chair broke from the force he used.

Sir Hector reached into his bag and produced several dozen sheets of parchment. Just from the glimpse I got, they were literally packed with dense lines of script. “I want to keep this short. Viscount Niel would like you to flow these instructions for his manor.”

I took them while maintaining my composure. Reading through the first sheet, I wanted to throw the document in the fire. Viscount Neil being Duke Neil’s son, obviously thought he could demand whatever he wanted from me. That reminded me about the bandits sent after me a few weeks after the dungeon was found. At the time we dismissed the letters due to the unlikeliness of it being the noble.

I dismissed the thoughts for the time. It was something I would have to investigate though. Something my shadow told me to ask of him and it might be time to put him to work. “This is quite the request, and one that will take several months if not years to fulfill. I’m sorry, but please tell your lord that I cannot devote my already limited resources on this project at this time.” I tapped my chin as I leaned back. “Maybe in a… decade. I might be able to work on this.”

Sir Hector growled as he jumped to his feet. “You little bitch. I’ll…” He was cut short as a blade pressed against his throat. I followed the black edge to find Raven glaring at the man. The guards slammed the doors open at his shout and pointed their weapons at the man as well.

“You will be wise to release your weapon,” Raven said barely higher than a whisper. I could feel the desire for him to resist washing off her. She wanted to strike this man down. He had managed to draw his sword before either Ezal, or I could react. He quite possibly could have struck us down if Raven hadn’t been with us.

With a clatter, the sword dropped to the ground. “You will regret this. You think a hired bodyguard can survive angering a noble?!” Hector hissed.

Raven shifted the sword causing a line of blood to roll down the man’s neck. “I never understood it. How do nobles inspire such feelings that people will literally walk into their graves?” she asked tilting her head. “I mean. If I’m going to be hunted, what reason is there for me to let you live to tattle on me to your master?”

The large man ground his teeth but kept his mouth shut. I coughed to regain my composure. “Raven. Please remove your weapon, but please keep it ready.” Raven dropped her sword but held it next to her side. “Sir Hector. Judging from your actions just now. I can see that either Viscount Niel or Duke Neil has antagonistic feelings toward my rule of this area. Please return and inform them that they are no longer welcome here.”

He gave me a nasty grin. “Sure but mark my words. I’ll be back.” He bent to grab his sword, but a quick look to Raven and she placed the blade against his hand.

“You lost it fair and square. Its mine now,” she said with a cheerful voice.

“Bitch!” He made to lunge for the weapon, but a swift kick from Raven in the face sent him stumbling back.

“Last warning. Sir Hector. Leave now, peacefully, or I send you back to the Viscount in a bag.” With a nod to the guards, they unbarred the door but kept their weapons drawn.

He gave me a pissed look before spitting on the ground and pushing his way out of the room. There was a lot of banging as he made his way through the manor, but nothing here was worth more than a few silvers. He could destroy all he wanted, I would be sending a modified bill to the Viscount.

“Spoilsport,” Raven pouted as she bent over to pick up the man’s sword. “Nice sword though.”

“Keep it. Thank you by the way.”

“Just doing my job,” she replied with a smirk. “Do you think they’re all going to be like that?”

“Goddess, I hope not.”

The rest of the morning dragged on. While the other representatives weren’t openly hostile toward me. They were most certainly here to make my life harder. One of them kept me in discussion for over an hour. I eventually had to tell her that we would pick it up later after a headache started to form.

“I think I almost preferred Hector over that one,” Ezal said as the woman left.

I couldn’t hold back the laugh that came. “Funny you should say that. I was thinking the same thing.”

I noticed Raven pull the pillow off her head. “Is the annoying woman gone? Thank god,” she moaned dropping back onto the sofa.

“That is all of them. With the exception of Lady Serin, who just left, we don’t have any more meetings until the next batch arrives in a week.”

“Good.” I leaned back in my chair rubbing my head. “I wonder how preparations for the raid are coming?”

“She sounded mostly prepared when she told you about it. I would wager it could take place in the next day or two,” Ezal said pouring us some tea.

“Can’t wait,” I mumbled taking a sip.

~~~

“Earle!” I dropped breathlessly to the bed on top of Earle. This love making session felt even better than the last. While I was new to all this, I honestly didn’t think that would be possible. Earle breathed heavily under me, but something about it felt off. He was a powerful adventurer and might just be breathing like that to make me feel better. “Am I not good enough?” I asked hiding my face.

“What? Why?”

“You don’t appear as exhausted as I am,” I mumbled hesitantly.

His breathing instantly returned to normal. “Sorry, but you were excellent. I just train. Breathing aside, I still worked up a sweat,” he said with a chuckle.

I decided to leave it at that. I had heard stories from other women and my friends in the academy. From what I remembered, then Earle was a real catch. This time had lasted nearly two hours, and I was sure he could have kept going if I could.

“What’d you do today?”

“Fought a dragon.”

I jerked up and stared at him. “A dragon?! Where in the hell did you find one of those?”

“Over in the Lecazar High Forest. Was over there for a bit this morning and ended up stumbling on it.”

“Stumbling? Onto a dragon?” I asked not really believing him.

“Yep. Sadly, it didn’t want to become my pet.”

“Obviously not. Who takes dragons as pets? That’s suicide!” I replied smacking his chest.

“I would have given him to you,” he replied with a shrug.

“Really? You would really give me a dragon?” I asked not sure who to take that. Hell, I wasn’t sure I wanted a dragon.

“Sure. It would have kept some of the pests off you. Raven told me about the guy from this morning. Want me to investigate?”

I was too busy thinking about walking through town with a dragon behind to realize he had asked me a question. I shook my head to clear my thoughts. “Um, yes. Please. He was clearly hostile toward me. Likely his lord regrets selling me the land.”

“Consider it done.”

We laid in silence for a few minutes. I gulped as I rain my hand along the scales on his chest. “Is Raven correct in that you’ve climbed higher in the dungeon than is shown on the outer wall?”

“My secret is out. Yes. I am two bosses higher than Greed’s Mine.” He looked at me with a devilish grin. “Want me to help you?”

I thought about it. His involvement would mean the success of the raid, but at what cost to our pride. I slowly hook my head. “No. Its okay. I feel like we should do this without you.”

“Good. Now. It looks like you’ve recovered some. How about we have another go,” Earle said cupping my chest as he moved his lips along my neck. Needless to say, I melted in his arms.

~~~

“The parties will be ready in four hours. We just need to know if you’re ready?” Ioa asked in the morning. “The marquis also caught wind of the raid and has opted to join us. He probably wants to protect his fiancé.”

“Maybe. I’ll be ready. Ezal took care of my party yesterday.”

“Then I’ll meet you at the dungeon entrance.”

The elf saw herself out while Ezal and I moved to gear up. “How do you feel about this?” I asked thinking about my conviction last night. I wanted to prove that we could do this.

“I think we have a good chance. There are a hundred people participating in this raid. A few of them have even fought Greed once or twice.”

“I’m surprised they were able to challenge her so many times. Pride had such a high death rate then there’s Wrath,” I said shuddering at how hard that fight had been.

“Situation is different. We’re not fighting on a narrow bridge with a drop that is certain death. We’re on a field that allows for fleeing and easier long-range attacks. Though from what I hear, that appears to be Greed’s area of expertise.”

“What kind of weapon does she use?”

We haven’t named it yet, but its capable of firing hundreds of rounds a minute. The only saving grace is that a decent shield can withstand it.”

“Great. I need to give Tez a raise after this,” I said, chuckling. Deep down I was horrified that such a weapon existed. The best archers could shoot around an arrow ever three seconds but would lose out on accuracy with such a firing method. I’d heard rumors that the Gnomes possessed something that could fire a projectile that could travel up to three times of that of an arrow.

Once the last buckle of my armor was latched, we left for the dungeon. The scheduled time might be in three hours, but it didn’t hurt to arrive early. I wanted to go over the information about the boss with the various leaders in either case. We made good time, the central district felt empty for once. Though my business usually took me through the area when the markets were in full swing.

“It won’t be long before carriages start to fill the streets,” I said making note of the pedestrians walking without a care on the cobblestone streets.

“In all honest, I would prefer you to be riding one,” Ezal commented. “You have no idea how hard protecting you is when you walk in the open like this.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” I replied with a chuckle. “Though, with the nobles arriving soon. I will need to acquire one to keep up appearances.” Ezal nodded with a sad smile.

We soon arrived at the dungeon. The area around the entrance had been cleared and there was a large open area that made it easier for parties meeting up to have some privacy. Even if the adventurers share information, the top level parties generally kept the front line floor information a secret for a while in an attempt to gain that much more profit. Besides Earle, I don’t think that strategy has worked for any other party yet.

“Looks like everyone is early,” Ezal noted pointing to the largest gathering of people.

“An event like this. I doubt few would be late,” I said with a laugh.

“Countess! Glad you arrived early. All the other parties are ready and we were just waiting on you,” Ioa shouted as she ran or rather glided over to us. It was scary how graceful elves could move when they wanted.

“If everyone was going to be ready so early, we should have just set the time for now,” I commented looking at what would cause most nobles to worry. It was nearly a hundred strong band of heavily armed and armored individuals. This group could easily raid a small town if they wanted.

“Some of the other parties weren’t sure at the time. It matters not. Let’s get all the leaders and we’ll go over the boss.”

“Lead the way.”

~~

Boom! The air blasted around us as the mages unloaded on the rakshasas as they were called on this floor. The appeared almost like beastkin, only with less reason. Parts of their bodies could be harvested for the trace amounts of minerals they absorbed. The further into the floor one got, the denser the absorbed material.

“Conserve your mana! We have a boss fight up ahead!” Ioa shouted at one mage in particular. I wasn’t sure of his name, but his nickname was Meteor.

“Don’t worry. I have plenty left in my pool. I could launch those all day,” he said waving her off.

The heavily armored defenders moved deeper once the threat was terminated. We were currently on what would essentially be the third layer of the mine. The transition between layers was… disconcerting to say the least. Your whole center of gravity shifted, and you suddenly found yourself walking on what was at a ninety degree angle a second ago.

“My lady. You should be able to see the boss now,” Ioa said pointing to the left. In strange twist of space, I found I was looking down on another part of the mine, even though I should be looking at it from the side. It was hard to wrap my head around. Squeezing my eyes shut then opening them, I followed the finger and saw what almost appeared to be a mountain of gold.

Sitting towards the top on what had to be a throne, was a purple skinned woman. Rakshasas of various shapes were bringing what looked like offerings to the foot of the golden mountain. Once the lose ores were set down, they would melt and flow into the mountain. A shining green spot rested directly behind the woman’s head on her throne.

“That doesn’t look remotely easy,” I remarked. The woman, known as Greed, would have the high ground unless we managed to knock her off that mountain. We had various plans, but as they say, plans rarely go off without a hitch.

“That is one of the reason for him,” Ioa said pointing at Meteor. He must of heard her because he struck a pose with what most woman would claim was a dashing smile.

“I hope it works out.”

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