Bloodfallen: Curse of The All Knowing

Thrusting the tip of my sword into the forehead of the goblin before me it went straight through the malnourished bone that made up its skull. The bone could be heard cracking and breaking under the weight and force of the strike, I quickly retracted my sword and the goblin fell to the ground like a puppet cut from its strings.

Seeing this goblin as no threat I moved my attention towards the one last goblin still half choking from the strike to the throat I dealt it earlier. It was leaning against one of the ‘buildings’ and clutching at its throat while breathing very heavily. I corrected this by striking it over the head with my sword and sending it to the ground where I stabbed it several more times until it was bleeding instead of squirming around.

Taking a quick look around to be sure there wasn’t anyone or anything watching me I sighed and sheathed my sword and sat down on the ground. I had just killed eleven goblins that unlike the ones I fought before were both armed and armored with half decent stuff this time. Admittedly the armor only protected the top half of their bodies but that was still an upgrade compared to what I was fighting against earlier.

/- - - - - -\

+ 80 Exp

+ 80 Exp

+ 80 Exp

+ 80 Exp

+ 80 Exp

+ 80 Exp

+ 80 Exp

+ 80 Exp

+ 80 Exp

+ 80 Exp

+ 80 Exp

Level 4, 1880 Exp

+ 10 points

Next at 2000

\- - - - - -/

As I saw the notifications within my sight I could feel the sudden change in my mana reserves expanding to allow for two tier two spells to be cast back to back, though I would need to allow my mana to actually recover to do that. The ten additional points were also a welcomed addition, given the physical strain that I have been putting myself through I figured that improving my strength or vitality might be a smart move considering that my mana reserves aren't high enough to allow me to rely upon completely for fighting.

‘I hope these goblins have some actual good food to eat somewhere, these mushrooms might be filling but they aren’t easy to force down. The taste leaves much to be desired.’ I didn’t remain sitting for much longer as I soon started looking through this goblin settlement for anything of value, specifically good tasting food. Unfortunately all the food that I found was either of questionable origin or what I had already eaten.

‘More of these mushrooms? Were they stealing from the one below or something? How do they even stomach these things anyways? They don’t exactly have good hygiene with the piles of shit and piss behind their crappy little homes.’ What little mushrooms I could find that were still in half decent condition I placed into my rucksack, then I turned my attention towards the weapons and armor that the goblins were wearing.

‘Dear gods they had a lot of weapons and armor didn’t they? Each one has a chainmail shirt which I could probably fit two or three into my bag without dumping any food, and then there are the weapons consisting of knives and spears. I could bring along a spear and just carry it, perhaps also a knife as well. But everything else I am going to need to leave behind.’

I slowly packed three chainmail shirts into my bag and the best knife that I could find along with the best spear I could find. The rest of the valuable weapons and armor I hid under a pile of rubble that used to be one of the homes belonging to the goblins, it wasn’t a very good hiding place but it was better than nothing.

With everything packed up I exited through the side door to the cafeteria and stepped out into another hallway that had two directions, one was around a corner which was just a cell wing, the other was a locked doorway made of metal bars that looked to lead up to the vantage point above the cafeteria though I wasn’t sure. I tried to open this door but it was locked and I had no idea where the key might be. The cell wing however was quite familiar as it was one of the ones that I saw and briefly looked through earlier for the remains of prisoners while I was exploring. Thankfully I didn’t find any in this one.

Walking down it I passed through the familiar halls while remaining vigilant, I counted enough homes for at least fifteen goblins and I only found eleven in that settlement, that left four more unaccounted for that could show up anywhere. Thankfully I didn’t find any of them on my way out of the prison level and back to the central stairway.

But now comes the big problem, do I continue exploring and killing any goblins I can find or do I find somewhere safe and drop off what I have collected. And if I chose to drop my things off I then need to decide where that place will be. ‘Right now my rucksack is full and will become a liability if I end up in a fight. I am also wishing that I had my dimensional bag with me to keep everything I have taken. But for now I will need to find somewhere to keep my things safe, I could go back to the room on the fourteenth floor with all the temples. It wasn’t the most comfortable place to stay but it was good enough for the time being. On the other hand the one room on the fifteenth floor where I woke up had way more room and a much nicer bed.’

Taking a moment to think the bed was what really sold me on the location, while I didn’t think about it a whole lot the bed on the fifteenth floor was really soft and comfortable. I didn’t even realize that I was even laying on a bed when I woke up this time it was so soft. So with a decision made I began walking back down the stairs to the fifteenth floor, past the lone goblin corpse, down the hallway and past the broken skeleton, and into the bedroom.

The door to the room was wide open like how I left it when I left roughly two days ago now. The first thing I did once inside was close it and lock it with the yellow metal wheel thing that I assumed was a lock, pulling on the door to open it showed that I was correct in that belief.

Once I was secured and safe I emptied my rucksack of all its chainmail and other metallic objects and placed them in one of the corners of the room, the mushrooms stayed in there for the time being or until I could find a container to keep them in. ‘It would be smart to start locking the door from the outside when I leave to prevent any surprises when I return as well to keep anyone from stealing from me, though I don’t see a key anywhere in this room. There might be one in the office, probably in one of the desk drawers.’

Turning to the office door I slowly opened it just in case there was something waiting in there, thankfully everything was about how I left it when I was last here. I quickly walked over to the desk and sat down in the chair as I started looking through the drawers. The first several just had more papers and documents that I couldn’t read, the second was empty, the third was full of ink pots some filled while others were empty, and the fourth was the one that I found a key chain in along with several small trinkets that the former owner must have kept.

Most of these trinkets were very simple and basic, some were made from stone while other metal, but one stood out from the rest. It was a lifelike small statue of a person, specifically a human that looked like a noble mage or something similar based on its cape rode thing and a staff with a crystal on the end. The crystal was of course a gem stone but it was definitely based on a real person just based on the extreme detail, it even had a beard which was well groomed. Picking it up I discovered that it was made from stone and was painted as well, holding it into the light showed that the painter was just as skilled as the sculptor.

‘I wonder who this is, he was definitely someone important when this was made and I would say he looks around forty years old with the beard, maybe a little less if he shaved it off.’ Placing the small statue on the top of the desk I closed the drawer and brought the keychain with me to try locking the door from the outside. Stepping outside I closed the heavy door behind myself and tried the first key against the lock which was made out of iron. The key predictably didn’t fit so I tried the next and the next after that until I reached the yellow metal key of the same material that made up the door and furniture of the bedroom and office. The key slid right in and locked with a satisfying click before I turned it the other way and unlocked it before entering again.

‘Good to have that out of the way, now I don’t need to worry about anything stealing from me or waiting for me when I return later. I should probably go and get the last of the chainmail and weapons that I left on the thirteenth floor. Afterwards I should probably grab one of those barrels that were on the fourteenth so I have a decent amount of food.’

********

“It has been a full day now, so we should probably contact your father and tell him of our progress.” Citro said as he entered the tent and removed his helmet.

“Yes, it has been. I am honestly amazed that we haven't found a single piece of evidence that there might be another way to get inside without digging a hole into the walls. You would think that the dwarves of the second era would have a backup way inside just in case.” Lyra breathed out a deep sigh as she sat down in a well made wooden chair.

“Well the dwarves of the second era were also very paranoid of outside forces in addition to being very wealthy. The human gods were trying to force their way into their societies with some being a bit more forceful than others, those like Zar'Nakth who were beyond any one race had no good intentions for these powerful dwarven city states.”

“Fair enough, but you would think they would have had something.” Lyra continued trying to avoid the topic of her father, she really didn’t like failing him and even though he was always kind to her unless she did something bad, she always felt like she was failing him when she couldn’t do what he asked of her, even when it was impossible.

“As much as I would love to continue talking about how foolish these dwarves were, we need to contact your father and inform him of the situation. That way we can get our approval to start digging and finally gain access to the city and recover anything of value. Remember whose idea it was to inquire about forming an exploratory expedition here.” Lyra tried avoiding eye contact at the mention of her ingenious idea.

“Fine I will call him and we can tell him of our progress.” Lyra said with her annoyance clear in her voice as she began working with the communication orb in the center of the room upon the center table. After a few taps on the surface of the orb it began projecting four spherical dots above it that took turns making a soft ding noise and jumping upwards. After a half minute of this the dots began to rapidly multiply and change their shapes into her father.

“Ah, there you are Lyra. I was a little worried if you were going to call, I was considering calling you myself.” Turning his head he noticed that Citro was also in the room with his daughter. “And I see that Citro is with you as well, I trust you have been keeping my daughter safe.” Citro responded with a quick nod before Sir Vettonius turned back to Lyra.

“Now, what do you have to report? Have you found a way inside that doesn’t require breaking down the walls of the city?” Lyra looked away slightly at the question and tried to hide her feelings. “No sir we have not, the only evidence of any live people down here is the front gate to Dom Badaher. Nothing we have seen or tried has opened the gate from the outside, there was no secret entrance, no hidden key, none of the blocks that make up the outside of the gate will open it up when applied with force. As far as we know there is no way to enter without breaking down the walls.” Lyra managed to keep herself from sounding worried or unsure but kept her gaze averted from her fathers out of shame.

“I see, that is rather unfortunate but we are left with no alternative now. I hereby give you permission to gain entry with whatever method you require. Whether it be the intended way or by force you may decide, but try to have it done as soon as possible. And be sure to contact me when you are inside, I wish to know of your progress so I may submit my own reports to the crown and approve a proper reward for you and your mercenaries.”

Citro smiled and looked over to Lyra, unlike himself she was looking rather worried about the situation. ‘She probably doesn’t want to damage the physical structure of the gate, it is well made and durable against both magic and steel. But we will need to bypass it if we wish to uncover what secrets might be hiding within.’