Dungeon Annihilation 12

Hi Guys! I am about half way done with Azaria chapter, but it needs some more work. I'll try to get it to you before the end of the day, but if not you should have a double chapter tomorrow. Anyway Enjoy!

Regan

I looked over the first four floors with a critical eye. There were about ten parties spread out over the twenty kilometers worth of space. Some were locked in battle with goblins, while others were exploring looking for treasure. Apparently, rechecking lower floors of a dungeon was a Bonafede job for adventurers. 

Only a few parties had fought Pride and all had lost so far. They gun was the biggest issue for the parties. They weren’t used to a weapon that didn’t have to be drawn back like a bow, or that required no chanting such as a spell. I knew the adventurers would grow more accustomed to in over time, but there would be quite a pile of bodies by then,

“What are you working on today, master?” Set asked as she floated near my core.

“I was thinking of taking a walk after the sun fell,” I replied. I’d been wanting to head out of the tower for quite a while now. I was trapped in a tower for nearly three decades in my last life. I just needed reasureance that I wasn’t trapped in another one. With my avatar body I would be able to walk outside.

“Then shouldn’t you have kept Hedo around so he could guard you while you visit the town?” Set asked. I didn’t fail to notice the concern in her tone.

“I might have shown him some favor, but I do not trust the man. The moment I let him out of the dungeon he became a free man again. That’s one of the reasons I want to go into the town. I want to find some slaves and learn the magic binding them.” 

Hedo wasn’t a foolish man. I believed he would make the right decision and return after he completed his task, but he was also only human. Fear might overrule his decision and he could either flee or draw the attention of people that could deal with me. Either way it was a gamble.

“Would you like me to accompany you?”

“Sure.”

I moved to the bottom floor and concentrated with my avatar spell. I’d practiced a few times over the last week. As I was tier one level five, I could keep the avatar active for three hours. That should give me plenty of time to check out the town that had sprung up from the village.

I couldn’t go as the shadow monster that was created the first time I used the spell, but I couldn’t completely escape that aspect of the summoning. After some tweaking, I had arrived at a passable alternative. A swirl of darkness sprung up around where my ‘self’ currently occupied as a body formed around me.

With a burst, the shadows vanished leaving my new form standing there. I looked like an ebony-skinned human that had two wicked horns topping my head that curled backward. Thankfully, dragonkin and lizardkin tended to have horns so I wouldn’t look out of place. Long black hair with streaks of white grew to the middle of my back. 

The spell also supplied clothes. I had on a tight suit that had had some medieval modification done to it. Plates of metal covered my vitals. I felt something next to my chest and with a quick check found a black pistol with green etchings on its surface. I sensed that if I shot someone with it, death would not be the end of their suffering. 

“Master, you look incredibly handsome!” Set said from behind me. I felt a lithe arm wrap around my own as a woman that seemed to emphasize the beauty of the darkness appeared next to me. If it wasn’t for her face being an exact copy of Set’s I would have been lost. With her by my side, we looked like a dragonkin couple. 

I gave her a mischievous grin as I took in her quite revealing dress. It barely managed to cover all the parts that would get her banned in public. “You can make yourself bigger?”

“I just combined a few of my magics. Illusion for appearance, shadow so you can actually feel something.”

“Clever. Well then, shall we?” I asked holding my hand out gesturing to the entrance.

Normally, it would have taken more time than my spell would allow to travel the distance to the town. However, as we were beings made from mana, we could escape the bounds of gravity much easier than a normal mortal could. It helped that with a thought wings of shadow formed on my back and we could fly without much thought.

We set down a few minutes outside the town. Didn’t want to raise an alarm after all. Set took my arm again and we made our way into town. Even though the sun had gone down, there was still plenty of light all around the town. Not only torches and fires, but mage light that floated lazily though the air. 

I could make out a large tent city outside of the town. People were flowing to and from it without pause. Most making their way to the tents were noticeably drunk. The village that was very much on its way to becoming a town had a decent night life already. As we walked, more than a few men eyed Set once or twice. 

I really didn’t have a goal in coming to the town tonight. Mainly to see if it raised any alarms, and what would happen if it did. So far, it appeared no one cared. Though, with so many new people coming to the valley every day it had to be hard to keep track of who was entering the infant town.

We walked the only real street in the town until we came to a rather large building. From the looks of it, it was an Inn. I pulled Set to a stop and we made our way inside. I was interested in what level this world’s culinary skills were at.

One of the servers turned toward us. “Welcome! Hurry if you want a place to sit! We’re filling up fast!”

I nodded and we made our way to one of the few empty tables in the tavern. There was a large mix of types of people in the tavern, but they all appeared to be adventurers. Only one man had better cloths than the rest and he didn’t appear pleased with the establishment. 

We waited around five minutes before a waitress finally was able to get to us. She set down two large wooden cups of what appeared to be ale then asked. “What can I get for you?”

I gave her a smug grin. “Whatever the house special is. I’m not picking,” I said. The waitress blushed before she nodded and ran off to the kitchen.

“Master. Do you plan to take her home?” Set asked looking after the girl.

“What? No,” I said with a chuckle.

“You look like someone I can have a decent conversation with. That girl called you master, does that make you a slaver too?” 

I looked from Set to the see the well-dressed man from the table over looking at Set with his lust on full display. I grinned as I wrapped my arm around her and cupped her breast. “She’s not a slave, but I am interested in the business,” I replied. Set had a decent pair on her, I thought idly.

“Pity. Was going to offer to buy her off you. That is some high quality goods there,” the man said taking a swig of ale after which he made a sour face.

“Indeed. I would have to say she’s one of a kind. The name’s Earle,” I said reaching out to shake.

“Ivan,” he replied taking my hand.

“You in town to dive the new dungeon as well?” I asked. Easiest way to get a conversation is to stick to topics everyone is already talking about.

“You got it. New dungeon towns usually cause a lot of people to go into debt so I can replenish my stock, but I might have made the wrong choice with this one. It gives out coin like the damn stuff is water.”

“That is unfortunate. What do you mean by stock?”

Ivan’s eyes wandered back to Set’s assets. “Slaves. People always think they could clear the next floor of the dungeon if they just had a better weapon. So, they borrow money, then end up as debt slaves once they fail to pay it back. I buy their debt then have them go into the dungeon.”

“Sounds like a decent set up. You get people that know the dungeon and after they are trained, you can sell them to the highest bidder.”

Ivan grinned as he slammed his fork into his steak. “You get it.”

“When do you plan to plunge into this one?” 

“Tomorrow. As it is new, I expect it should only take a few days to finish it up,” he replied with a nasty smirk.

My eye twitched, but I didn’t say anything. It was people like him that would help me grow even more powerful. The more deaths he fed me the better. I raised my mug to him. “Then the best of luck to you!” 

Ivan laughed as he smacked his mug with mine. The waitress reappeared with our food and Set and I dug in. I probably got three bites in before I turned the mana to my taste buds off. “What do you think Set?”

“I do not have any point of reference to answer, master. It does not disagree me,” Set replied as she took a bite of her steak. 

The door to the tavern burst open and a group of women came in. The one at the front shouted. “IVAN!” 

“Ah, this infuriating woman,” Ivan mumbled under his breath while cleaning his mouth with a towel. He turned to the woman. “How may I assist you, Lady Louella?” 

“I didn’t want to say anything, but I will not stand by while you let those slaves starve!” 

“Getting food once a day is more than enough for them,” he shot back waving his hand in the air.

Louella placed her hands on her hips. “I can’t force you to feed them, but I can raise the tax on your entrance to the dungeon to the max. Wouldn’t it be cheaper to feed them at that point?” 

I wanted to laugh at the drama playing out in front of me. It did feel strange to have them talking about me like this. I wouldn’t have minded watching a bit more but my time was almost up on my avatar. I placed a gold coin on the table and stood up. “Sir Ivan. Allow me to pay for the food for your slaves. You allowed me to have an interesting conversation in this mud bowl.”

“Mister Earle! I am glad to see there is another person of culture here. I appreciate your selfless act to care for my lowly slaves.”

I laughed while wrapping my arm around Set. “Then. Until we meet again.” I started to leave the tavern but paused when I came next to the Lady Louella. “It is rude where I come from to yell during a meal. Maybe you should try being a bit more civilized next time.” With a grin that earned a glare from the lady, I pulled Set along and left. 

When we were a bit away from the tavern. Set started snickering. “Mortals are such fools. You really played them.”

“Played. Its just easier to get people like Ivan to do what I need them to do. If we allow him to run free we’ll get lots of sacrifices for the dungeon.”

Set tightened her grip on my arm and we made our way out of the town. It looked like we would be having a lot of fun tomorrow.