Dungeon Annihilation 13

Hey everyone! Late post today, sorry. Also I'm going to go ahead and say that uploads might be spotty for the next couple days if at all. Its my last few days at work and I have to make sure the person replacing me knows enough not to burn the store down. lol. Anyway, without being able to write at work and being tired from training for nearly 10hrs a day right now. I don't want to upload subpar content for you guys. I really appreciate that you guys work with me. Hopefully, after Friday everything should be done and settled and we can get some stories out there!

Louella

“Ezal! Who was that man!?” I said not hiding the growl that slipped out.

Ezal bowed her head. “I apologize, Lady Louella. I have not received any reports on him.”

“Damn it. I thought Ivan would be the only annoying dick in town.” I turned and kicked the wall in annoyance needing to take my frustrations out on something. “We’re diving tomorrow. No more delays. I need to kill something.”

Ezal gave me a small bow. “As you command.” 

The next morning came in a blink of an eye. My party and I were standing in front of the dungeon entrance. I glared at the red shadowy skull. I would not be running for my life this time. Ezal and I had stopped by the adventurer guild early this morning and got all the information they had on the dungeon. We were fully prepared.

Tez moved in front of the group and pounded a fist to his chest. “Everyone, stay behind me. Even if we are ambushed, nothing can drag me away easily.”

“Sounds like a plan,” I said as I took my spot in the rear of the party. Flin, Mary, and Ezal were next to me. Our party was quite range oriented. 

Tez looked at me for a moment then cleared his throat. “My lady. Focus on getting your lightning to stun levels. Lethal will take too much time, but stunning the enemy is as good as taking them out of the fight. Plus, you’ll be able to attack far more frequently.”

“I understand. You guys have far more experience with this than I do. Feel free to direct me as needed,” I replied. While I knew a few nobles would likely get offended by that statement. I was only eighteen, and the only dungeon dive I had done before, the party had been wiped out. I would take all the advice I was given.

Tez pulled his massive shield from his back. “Is everyone ready?”

“Yes.” Mary and Flin said at the same time while Sara nodded with a purr. 

We made our way into the dungeon with a bit of trepidation. I, for one, had never worked with any of these people and only had Ezal’s word to go on for their skills. That was a pretty solid word in my book, but until I saw it for myself there would always be some doubt in my mind. 

Passing through the shadowy skull, we were fully in the dungeon. It was just as dark as last time. I had personally hoped the dungeon would have added more lights. I would have to be happy with the floating lights that were present wandering around the floor. 

“Still just as creepy as last time,” I commented to Ezal from our place at the back. She created a smooth ball of flames that cast light for the party. It would give away our position but we had little choice if we wanted to be able to see while in the dungeon. 

She nodded while glancing around. “Yes. I hear people that return often suffer nightmares for a while.”

Sara moved in front of Tez and sniffed the air. I also noticed her tail would sweep the ground. “Nothing too extreme, make sure you listen when I tell you not to touch,” she said moving next to Tez and patting his arm.

“I will do so,” Tez said with a nod.

We made it halfway through the first floor without issue. We didn’t see a single goblin but that only made it worse as our tension grew. The stairs were in sight when both Tez and Sara threw up their hands. We quickly came to a stop. 

“What is it?” Flin asked after nocking an arrow. 

“Company. Quite a few of them,” Tez said and Sara nodded. I glanced at Ezal and she nodded as we began gathering mana for spells. I did as Tez instructed and created spheres that floated around me that had enough power to knock a person out but wouldn’t be lethal. I found it much easier to actually get ready than when I had to gather enough to kill.

A dozen goblins emerged from the shadows from around the pillars. They were slobbering and looked like they only wanted to eat us, which was probably the case. I’d had enough time to gather five orbs that were ready to throw, but I waited for Tez. He was in charge and I didn’t want to ruin any plan he might have.

“Flin. Start firing aim for any casters you might see, if none just take out as many as possible. Sara and I will protect the party. Mages do your thing. Lady Louella, I would like you to wait until they are closer. That way I or Sara can deal with them before they regain consciousness.”

Everyone voiced their confirmation and the goblins seemed to get tired of waiting. Flin loosed an arrow as soon as the first one moved, nailing the goblin in the eye socket. Ezal also released the two fireballs she’d been channeling and turned one goblin into a charred corpse but only clipped the second. The attack still blasted the goblin a few meters into a nearby pillar. 

With three down, the rest of the goblins finished rushing and were nearly to the party. When they were only about two meters from Tez and Sara, that was when I struck. Picking the goblins at the front with the hope to trip the ones coming up the rear. The orbs popped then six bolts arced through the air striking four of the goblins.

With painfully looking twitching, they collapsed to the ground. The goblins behind them stepped down violently on them without a care for their fellows. I think one had their neck snapped in the process. 

Tez yelled as the rest of the goblins collided with his shield. An arrow flew past him and sank into the neck of a goblin trying to get around him. Sara covered the other side moving like a ghost, giving the goblins gashes that would likely result in the loss of the limb. Tez brought down his hammer down and shattered his target’s head.

Ezal and I quickly threw out more spells when we’d gathered enough mana. I only got off another two orbs before the battle was over. With Tez and Sara mopping up the rest of the incapacitated goblins. It was gory work, but they finished it up quickly. 

With all the enemies dealt with, Mary ran up to Tez. “Do you need any healing?”

Tez smiled but shook his head. “No. They were weaklings and could not best my shield this day.” He turned to the rest of us. “That was a good battle. Lady Louella, thank you for following my directions. That made the rest of the battle much more manageable.”

“Do you think we’ll be able to go deeper?” I asked. Maybe it was the battle, but I wanted to fight some more. I’d only every trained, this was only the second time I’d actually struck something with my magic in battle. It felt good.

“Yes. I wager we should be able to reach the third or fourth floor. That is if the information from the guild is correct.”

“Great!”

The deeper in the dungeon we could cultivate the better the results. The mana in a dungeon was much purer than in the world. No matter what it's aspect. It might take you three or four hours to get to the floor you need to be at, but you might only need to spend thirty or so minutes to cultivate for the day. Plus, you got the loot from the monsters and chests if the dungeon has them.

“Let us continue, but not take any chances. You, Lady Louella, are too important to risk on an impulse,” Ezal said from the back of the group.

I blushed but nodded. “With all due prudence then,” I said.

~~~

Floor two and three were easy. Too easy in fact, as we were trapped on the fourth floor. Not physically, just by a small horde of the bones goblins as the guild had started to call them. We were resting in an alcove that was likely created for this reason. Otherwise, many parties would refuse to go further without areas for resting.

“Damn those things are annoying,” I mumbled as I rested against the wall. We had been in here for most of the day. I wanted to reach the boss but we would need to turn back if we wanted to return to the village before sunset and even that was looking dubious due to the fight we would have to finish before we could reach the stairs.

“Indeed. I feel a slight aversion from them personally,” Mary said with a shudder. 

“They do give off a foul sensation different from normal goblins. The guild is studying a few of the corpses collected but they haven’t learned anything as of yet other than their armor is more like a part of them,” Tez said from where he blocked the entrance to the alcove. 

Sara passed around some jerky that I took rather reluctantly. I’d always considered jerky commoner food, even though I knew even nobles had little choice when diving on their food choice. I still made sure to smile as I took it though then forced it down. Better to eat tasteless food than to be hungry when it mattered.

“Let us cultivate here and return to the town. No reason to push our luck on the first day,” Ezal said from next to me. 

I looked to the rest of the party and they all nodded their agreement. I personally was tired already and welcomed the idea of returning home. I gave a thumbs up and got into my cultivating position. Tez was a gentleman and took the first watch.

I was about halfway through my cultivation steps when I heard something as if the wind whispering in my ear. ‘What is your desire?’

“What?” I looked to Ezal who was in the middle of her own cultivation. She looked at me with a raised eyebrow. “Didn’t you ask me something?” 

“No, mistress,” she replied with a shake of her head before she returned to her meditation. I did the same as it wasn’t good for the body to pause for too long in the middle of cultivating. 

‘They can’t hear me. Only those destined for greatness can hear me.’

I shook my head wondering if the fatigue of the day was getting to me. I chuckled at the thought of myself having visions of grandeur. As a former noble, I was practically trained to have such ideas. My father had always talked about how to make another coin or prove your superiority when I was a child. I thought it was only natural to crave more power.

I refocused myself and dived back into my cultivation. I was probably only in it for a few minutes when the voice returned. It even laughed a little before it spoke. ‘I like you. The others I’ve reached out to ran off screaming. I think we’ll get along well.’

My eyes snapped open but still didn’t see anything that would indicate that the others had heard anything. I considered telling them but knew if they didn’t sense anything, they likely wouldn’t believe me. With a deep breath to steady myself, I returned again to my cultivating. This time I was able to finish without interruptions.

“Alright. Time to head back. That means cutting through a dozen or two of the goblins,” Tez said which compared to the whisper I had been hearing sounded like a yell in the middle of the town square. I couldn’t help covering my ears.

Ezal placed a hand on my arm. “Are you alright?”

I nodded. “Yes, just going from silence to his loud voice was a bit jarring.”

She still looked concerned but didn’t press the matter anymore. A good hour and a half later we finally emerged from the dungeon while only sporting a few new bruises. Just as I was about to leave the entrance to the dungeon, I heard the whisper again. ‘Be seeing you.’

I shuddered glancing back at the shadowed cavern-like floor of the first level of the dungeon. I wondered who or what’s attention I had managed to attract. I just hoped that I could handle whatever it was.