Avarice: The Realm Chapter 10: Dungeon

Dungeon

Endiga is a city born from the ashes of another. It’s in the Apocalypse Biome, a stretch of land that looks like Tokyo’s urban sprawl plus fifty years of neglect. Vines creep up the walls of the buildings, and most of the glass is gone. Cars, covered in moss, molder by the side of the road.

I arrive at the fast travel tower, which is in the center of a large park featuring a gigantic elder tree. Outdoor shops line the edges of the park.

A massive guild of cazzies is heading towards the fast travel tower. I try to get out of their way, but their leader singles me out and approaches me.

“You there,” he says. “You can help us. We need all the help we can get.”

“I’m sorry, but—” I say.

“It doesn’t matter,” says the leader. “The Dawn Wonderers have sent out a draft notice and all players over forty are required to join.”

“I juts got here,” I say. “And I have a high-priority mission I need to complete.”

The leader clasps his hands together. “Do that, and you’ll be on the wrong side of the Dawn Wonderers.”

I put my hand to my ear and contact Garnet. “Hey,” I say, and I explain my situation.

“Sure,” says Garnet. “The Dawn Wonderers have the clout of a medium-sized government military. We wouldn’t want to offend them.”

I hang up, letting my hand fall to my side. “My superiors say I can come,” I say. I hate to cave in like this, but if I get on the wrong side of the rulers of this city it might hinder my mission.

Plus, I have time.

“Good,” says the leader. “My name is Maximilus.” He points to a pair of cazzies. “You’ll be with CA and HelpDog over there.”

I walk over to the two. They look at each other and shrug.

I extend my hand. “I’m RT,” I say.

CA shrugs. He takes my hand and shakes it. “What are your powers?” he asks.

“I’m a transition metal conjurer,” I say.

“Cool,” says CA. “Does that mean you can summon bismuth bronze and bantanum?”

“Of course,” I say. “Nearly as much as I want.”

I haven’t missed the boat, of course. I know that this CA is ColorfulAmber, my target. It’s neither lucky or unlucky that I got paired with him in this press-gang-style army. It merely changes my plans.

I don’t think I’ll need to use Tracking Beacon anymore. At the same time, if I capture him right now, it will disrupt the secrecy of the mission. Too many people are around.

I don’t know if he recognizes me—if he checks his status screen once, he’ll see me marked by the Tracking Beacon put on my by ReaperGoon.

But he doesn’t know what I look like.

The one thing that confuses me a tiny bit is the question of why Peter Cool is joining this expeditionary force. If he’s one of Mandrake Signa’s underlings, he must have a lot of power backing him up. Surely he can resist being press-ganged into the army of a guild who doesn’t have his best interests in mind.

Maximilus stands in front of the crowd of about fifty players. He sticks his gigantic sword in the ground, resting both arms on its hilt. “We’re going to beat them before they beat us!” he says. “We’re going to strike them before they strike us!” He claps his hands together. “Let’s go kill those kobolds!”

“Fill me in on the details,” I say, to HelpDog.

“There’s a clan of kobolds in a dungeon near here who are constantly stealing from us,” says HelpDog. “We’re going to teach them a lesson.”

“And this merits shanghaiing every player in the city?” I ask.

HelpDog shrugs. “I’m just a shopkeeper, man,” he says. “I don’t know why the leadership of this city does things the way they do.”

CA gives me a lopsided grin. “Well,” he says, “Killing things is always worth it.” A paintbrush and palate appear in his hand. “And I’m never one to run away from a good fight.”

Yikes. This is another type of person that I don’t deal well with. People who enjoy killing too much aren’t exactly my cup of tea.

Well, I doubt they’re anyone’s cup of tea.

It does soften the blow a bit when I realize we’re fighting against monsters that technically are not alive and are just manifestations of a large and eldritch Freax web.

But still.

Maximilus puts his gigantic sword on his back and steps up to the fast travel tower.

“Legion Dungeon!” he says, and the light carries him away.

“Legion Dungeon!” “Legion Dungeon!” “Legion Dungeon!”

One by one the members of the raiding party disappear into pillars of light. Then my turn comes.

“Legion Dungeon!” I say, and I am carried away by a ball of light.

The dungeon isn’t actually that far away. We land after about five seconds of travel.

The landscape is dominated by a gigantic mound of soil and rock. The red of the stone is saturated by the midday sun.

“So they’re in there?” I ask.

HelpDog shrugs. “Sure. I guess. I don’t call the shots.”

Maximilus stands before the raid group. “We’re going in, and we’re not leaving until they’re exterminated!” he says.

“Ho!” says a number of well-equipped soldiers. They bang their armor or their shields.

“Those are the core guild members,” says HelpDog.

“They’re pretty enthusiastic,” I say, “Considering we’re about to go into a combat zone.”

I consider taking out my specialty rifle, but decide against it. Instead, I conjure two short swords. My class is “Kenshi,” which is basically a weapons specialist, both ranged and close quarters. My “DPS,” or “Damage per Second,” is very high, but my defense is lacking.

Of course, I’m very good at dodging.

Maximilus turns to the dungeon and enters. His form is cast into shadow and then disappears.

He is followed by the rest of the raid guild. I am among the last to enter.

The sound of fighting echoes through the corridors.

“This way,” says Peter Cool. “I received orders to scout this area.”

HelpDog and I follow Peter Cool down a side path.

I am on high alert. At any point, Peter Cool could turn on me and try to kill me. HelpDog is just a bystander, but it’s not my job to protect him. I’ll still try anyways, but if it’s between HelpDog and my mission I’ll choose my mission.

Peter Cool leads us to a branch in the tunnel.

A spear flies out of the darkness and impales Peter Cool in the neck. Blood spurts across the walls.

“Whoa!” says HelpDog. He doesn’t appear surprised—instead, he appears triumphant.

“What just happened?” I ask.

HelpDog shakes his head. “The Dawn Wonderers have wanted ColorfulAmber dead for a long time,” he says.

I think it’s okay, at this point, to break secrecy surrounding my mission.

“I was tasked with capturing him too,” I say.

HelpDog chuckles. “Hey, man,” he says. “First come first sere.”

I kneel down beside ColorfulAmber. His body shimmers. After two seconds, it explodes into confetti-like pieces of tinfoil. A low laughter echoes through the dungeon.

“You thought you could pull one over on me?” it says. It is clearly Peter Cool.

A bear trap the size of a man appears out of nowhere and snaps HelpDog between two pieces of spiked steel. He hemorrhages a huge amount of blood and then lies limp.

“I wasn’t expecting you to be here,” says Peter Cool. “RoundTable. You have made an enemy of some very powerful people.”

“It’s my job,” I say.

I assume a Gold Card has to be involved in whatever’s happening right now.

I notice a tiny little glint near my feet and roll to the side. Another gigantic bear trap snaps the air where I had been a second before.

“Binder. Bright Light!” I say.

The whole tunnel system is lit up like day. A shadow flits at the end of one of the branches.

I dodge another man trap and sprint towards the shadow. The bright light follows me through the corridors, keeping them lit.

Three identical avatars surround me, flickering. I stab at one of them and it disappears into smoke.

“My boss has given me a lot of toys to play with,” says Peter. “And I’m going to use them all. Spark!”

The whole tunnel system erupts into conflagration.

“Fire shield!” I yell. While I’m protected by the shield, I grab an oxygen mask from my binder and put it on. Just as I am finished securing it, the fire recedes.

I turn around the tunnel, watching for the slightest hint of danger. Peter Cool’s ability to create anything he can draw is a lot more powerful in combat than I thought it would be.

As a transition metal conjurer, I understand the concept, but the objects I conjure come from my subconscious.

I creep along the side of a wall. The rock is warm from the fire.

The rock behind me cracks. I roll away from the wall and dodge flying debris. A monster barges out of the stone, surrounded by shrapnel and dust. Its teeth hang past it reptilian jaw, and its six arms undulate. Its eyes lock onto me, and my world begins to fracture.

Tentacles reach into my mind. I begin to lose my identity. The laughter of Peter Cool echoes in my consciousness as I begin to slip into utter confusion.

A sword slashes across from my vision and the monster is separated into two. Trails of blue blood stretch between the two halves of the former monster.

I fall to the ground, scrabbling at my oxygen mask.

“Hey, hey,” says a voice. I recognize it—Maximilus. “Are you okay?” he says.

I shake my head. “What … What just happened?”

“You just met a crawler,” says Maximilus. “Their gaze causes confusion, and they hide in the walls of tunnels waiting for prey.” He turns to where HelpDog is still skewered by Peter Cool’s man trap. “What the hell happened here?”

“ColorfulAmber tried to kill us both,” I say.

Maximilus sighs. “I always knew CA had some shady connections,” he says. “All right. As the leader of the Dawn Wonderers I have to handle this.” He rubs his temples. “This mission has already been a travesty, and now this happens.”

“Is the invasion not going well?” I ask.

“There are crawlers all over the place,” says Maximilus. “We weren’t expecting that.”

“Are we going to retreat?” I ask.

“No,” says Maximilus. “We will fight until we win. We’re no cowards.”

I nod. I understand how that works. “Do you mind if I break from the group and hunt down ColorfulAmber?” I ask.

Maximilus snorts. “If you can take down that bastard, then you’ll be doing us a great favor.”

I bow. “It’s my pleasure.” I turn away from him. A pile of glitter marks the spot where Peter Cool’s body turned into confetti.

I have an idea. I touch a piece of the confetti. “Binder. Tracking Beacon.”

It works. “Status,” I say. I can now track Peter Cool through the dungeon.

It seems that he is going deeper, rather than trying to escape.

“I’ll be going,” I say, to Maximilus.

Maximilus smiles and turns away, walking beyond the reach of my bright light.

I check my status again. Peter Cool is about a hundred meters ahead of me, through the twisting maze of the dungeon. I keep away from the walls as I follow him deeper and deeper into the dungeon.

I follow him deeper and deeper. We are heading towards the core, the deepest part of the dungeon.  

Then he stops. His marker blinks a couple of times, and then begins to head towards me.

I know he knows I’m following him. Is he trying to fight me?

I conjure my swords and stand at the ready.

The dot passes by my location, and I see nothing. Nobody. Peter Cools is as good as invisible.

“I take it you’re the one who killed my friends,” says Peter. His voice echoes through the cavern, preventing me from gauging its location.

I turn in circles as I try to figure out where he is.

“I can kill you now if I want, but I want you to suffer,” says Peter. He cackles. “The United States, and every other imperialist warmonger country, will kneel to the true kings.”

“The US isn’t the bad guy,” I say.

“Say that to the countries that you’ve invaded,” says Peter. “Imperialism and capitalism are a scourge. They must be purged from the collective.”

A see a glimmer of light. I think it’s Peter’s essence. I strike at it, it flickers, and then it reappears behind me.

“You can’t touch me when I’m in this state,” says Peter.

The back of my head tingles. I dive to the ground. An arrow flies over my head, zipping through the air.

Surprise Negation just saved my life.

“Quick, aren’t you?” says Peter. “But my next shot won’t miss.”

“I’ll take you out before then,” I say. “Status.” If I can’t see him physically, I’ll just find out where he is through Trackig Beacon. It’s going to be a shot in the dark but I think I’ll make it.

I conjure a bow and a tranquilizing dart. Watching the status screen, I fire exactly where Peter’s dot is.

The arrow stops in mid-air, and Peter materializes out of nothing. I run up to him and capture him with the apprehension module. Before he disappears, I hear him groan “Bell …”

Target acquired. I stand up and survey the tunnels around me. I have no idea where I am.

Since this tunnel is crawling with monsters, I have to be very careful not to lose my way.

I backtrack as far as I can remember, and find myself at the place where HelpDog was trapped. His body is stiffening, still encased in the man trap.

What a brutal way to die.

I pass the body, making sure to mark where it is so that his guild can recover it. I then back my way through the dungeon until I find the entrance.

11

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