Dungeons and Dalliances

The lock-box, smaller than a typical loot chest, creaked open. Jordan and Liz bumped into Natalie as they all crowded together, peering over Sofia’s shoulder to see what was inside.

In pristine white gloves, Sofia held up their first spoils of war.

***

Potion of Intermittent Invisibility

 

Description

For three minutes, alternate between invisibility and significantly increased visibility. Effect swaps every twenty seconds.

***

The thin vial of clear liquid had bits of golden flakes suspended inside; they glinted from the illumination offered by their lanterns, flickering and disappearing as Sofia turned the vial left and right.

“Invisibility,” Sofia said. “That’s a stronger effect than I’d expect for our level.”

“Only twenty seconds,” Jordan said. “Useless in a fight.”

While invisibility would, of course, be enormously useful in normal circumstances, it was rendered rather useless when the effect swapped to the opposite: increased visibility. By the sounds of it, if a damage-dealer took the potion to flank opponents easier, when they switched to the detrimental half of the potion, their movements would become even easier to see—and maybe the effect implied it would draw a monster’s attention to them, making Natalie’s job that much harder.

“But great for utility,” Sofia said. “Making it through a hot zone, maybe. Sneaking a reward out. Something like that might be coming up.”

The dungeon had a tendency to provide consumable rewards like this when a challenge suited to it was nearby. Not always, but often enough that over the centuries, a noticeable pattern had emerged.

And even if they didn’t want to use it, it’d sell well. Invisibility, even short and alternating, was a better drop than they could’ve hoped for, being level one. Though the ‘increased visibility’ did make it far less valuable than if it’d been the real deal.

Sofia handed the vial to Liz. The healer would be the person least likely to be tumbling around, and therefore possibly damaging the potion. Not that dungeon potions shattered easily, but they were far from invulnerable, too. They wouldn’t block a weapon blow, say, or even landing the wrong way on it.

The next item out barely fit inside the lock-box.

***

Phantom Quiver

Uncommon

Lv. 1

 

Effects

- Minor increase to Prowess.

- Phantom Arrows. Fabricate ghostly ammunition that deals minor additional magical damage and has a low chance to apply a disorientation effect.

 

Description

Crafted from shimmering blue-and-silver fabric with a long, sturdy strap for carrying.

***

It was their first uncommon.

The rarity of an item wasn’t the ultimate deciding factor of how valuable or useful it would be, but it was a pretty solid one, especially when combined with the level requirement. The gaps between rarities were fairly significant. An uncommon, on average, sold for at least three times as much as a common, and likewise, a rare over an uncommon.

The higher rarities—epic, legendary, and divine treasures—were essentially impossible to find at lower levels, and especially at the beginner stage of level one. Triply so the last two rarities. Maybe there were a few epic pieces of loot floating around at level one, but probably only a couple across the entire world. The upper rarities were more typical at higher levels.

As for the item itself. A quiver. It wasn’t the best piece of loot for their team. Jordan could handle herself with a bow, and was even quite skilled with it, but her class was a melee-focused poison one. She might receive more ranged abilities as she leveled, but that was only a maybe—and once she leveled, the quiver would become outdated. So, while a decent item for her, not a perfect one, or even especially great.

Sofia handed the item off to Jordan, probably making the same assumptions that it wasn’t amazing on her, but even so, it belonged on the rogue. It wasn’t like Sofia could use it, or anyone else. Maybe they would end up selling the item rather than using it on future delves, but for now, it would be wasteful for Jordan not to make use it in the interim.

Jordan inspected the quiver, running an eye over its design as she turned the item around. She removed her previous quiver, slung the new one over her shoulder, and shifted her shoulders side to side as if to test the weight. Finally, she reached back and activated the item, withdrawing a ghostly, silver-white arrow, the supernatural object materializing with her intent. Most artifacts responded intuitively; Jordan didn’t have to spend much time puzzling out how to use it.

She nocked the arrow, lined her shot up, and released. It thudded into a far tree.

“Pretty nice,” she said. “It’s a shame I’m not an archer.”

Which summed up everyone’s thoughts.

They continued looting. This being a mini-boss encounter, there was more to pick through than just a potion and a single piece of equipment.

The next out was a bag, one of the more typical rewards from the dungeon: raw currency. Somehow, the bundle of coins ended up in Natalie’s hands as Sofia continued to rummage.

Idly, she opened the bag, then picked out one of the silver coins and turned it back and forth. The front had a symbol of a scythe, and the back, a deer. Or … sort of. Some of the dungeon’s artwork could be breathtaking—as the mural from their first delve—but some of it could be rather shoddy, as now. She could tell what the depictions were supposed to be, but they were crude, mis-proportioned and overall poorly made. The scythe was crooked in the shaft, and the deer’s legs didn’t seem quite right, even if she couldn’t place why.

It hardly mattered, though. Silver was silver. Likely not all the way through, polluted by some lesser metal, and so the bag wasn’t quite as valuable as a hefty bag of silver and bronze coins would normally be, but it would still fetch an impressive price.

Bags of currency and gems, among other raw valuables, were a common drop. Though not the pinnacle of what a person could receive—rare equipment being that—raw valuables were still welcome. They could be liquidated and traded for an item suited to your class. Especially when items could turn out as simply duds, neither fitted to the party’s use or valuable to the market, raw coins were never a bad drop. Silver and gold wasn’t going out of style any time soon.

She tossed the coin back into the bag, then tied the string. She tucked it into a pouch and returned her attention to Sofia rummaging through the loot chest.

***

Nature's Branch

Uncommon

Lv. 1

 

Effects

- Moderate increase to magical Furor.

- Nature's Blessing. Single target heals apply to friendly targets the splash effect, [Minor Rejuvenation].

 

Description

A gnarled wooden wand covered in moss and leaves. It emanates a gentle, earthy aroma, and is rough to the touch.

***

Natalie’s eyebrows went up. There was an item suited to one of them.

“Oh,” Liz said. “Neat.”

She sounded sheepish rather than excited. Natalie understood; it could be awkward having such a great, personally-tailored item dropping for you, because the standard way teams worked was that items someone ‘needed’ went straight to them, without accounting for perfect distribution of delve earnings.

So, the fortune was almost entirely Liz’s, not the team’s.

Loot could be a tricky thing to navigate for some groups, but Natalie doubted anyone here cared overmuch about it. Jordan and Sofia just seemed intrigued by the item, and Ana—well, Ana was Ana. Maybe she was cared, maybe she didn’t. Her expression didn’t provide any hints.

Plus, gearing out the team’s healer was never a bad thing. That applied to every role, but especially tanks and healers. Those two kept the rest alive.

Liz played around with the wand, testing it out, and when Sofia closed and opened the lock box one last time, it revealed an empty interior. Dried up—no more loot. With two uncommons, it had been a good yield, though nothing crazy.

Natalie was a bit disappointed she hadn’t gotten anything herself, but that was the way of the dungeon. With a day and change of delving ahead of them, there were plenty of opportunities left.