Elsewhere

When they had all recovered and recentered, Lya had decided to Tier up after they finished the dungeon. The debate over that decision had lasted longer than Duke felt comfortable but, again, he was not going to cut it short. In the end, it was Mira who ended the debate with a simple acknowledgement that it was now, and always had been, Lya’s decision to make.

The training aspect of the trip had soured for Duke. He had planned on a lighthearted romp through the newborn dungeon. Instead, he wound up with an emotion-filled journey that taught him things about his new companions that he had not expected to come out at all. As they advanced through the jungle, he took a far more active role in the party’s defense. He still allowed threats to reach the party, but never allowed more than even odds to reach the trio. Doing so, he was able to push their advancement speed considerably and they arrived at the pyramid hours ahead of his original plan.

The pyramid stood in a clearing that struck all of them as unnatural. The jungle simply ceased five meters all around the structure. When they burst out of the jungle, they all stopped to stare at the structure and, more importantly, the pyramid’s guardian. Wrapped around the entire structure was a winged serpent. From the number of coils around the pyramid, the creature had to be well over a thousand meters long. At its widest point, it had to be over fifty meters wide. The group became silent, observing the basic rule of not waking impossibly large predators if it could be helped.

Even Duke was surprised by the serpent’s size. He had known there would be a guardian or a boss monster, but he had not looked ahead to see what it was. Now, he IDENTIFIED the thing to find out just what they were dealing with.

*** You have encountered the Winged Serpent of Eternity. This is a Tier Six boss monster.

Tier: 6

Health: 1,619,000

Mana: 1,687,500

This creature is immune to poisons and has resistance to earth, nature, and water magic. It has a slight vulnerability to fire magic. ***

Duke gestured to the women to step back into the jungle. They obliged without complaint, throwing glances at the enormous sleeping serpent. When they were far enough back that Duke judged it safe to talk, he started.

“OK, that thing is just so far beyond what should be in a dungeon like this it is insane.”

“I know it’s way too big, but what else do you know about it?” Aurelia asked, her sword sheathed for now.

“It’s a Tier Six boss monster with more than a million and a half Health. That has no business in a dungeon of this age, size, and type. Nothing like that should be in a dungeon even ten times the size of this and certainly not without aging for decades. It has to be there as an obstacle rather than a fight. There must be some sort of puzzle associated with it.”

Aurelia asked, “Could you beat it, Duke?”

“Probably?” He responded. It’s been a bit since I fought something up a tier and this is a boss monster on top of that. It will have unique Abilities that might make it more than just a bit interesting.”

“So, what do we do? Go talk to it? Say ‘screw it’ and leave?” Mira asked.

“It seems to be sleeping. Maybe we ignore it and head into the pyramid.” Aurelia suggested.

“And if it wakes up?” Lya asked.

“Then we talk to it.” Duke responded.

“And if that fails?” Mira continued.

“Then I TELEPORT you three out of the way and I fight the giant serpent.”

“All by yourself?” Mira asked.

“You are all welcome to stick around if the shit hits the fan, but I may not be able to protect you if it comes down to it. I am comfortable fighting up a tier or two as I’ve done it a bunch of times before, but this thing will have Abilities far beyond what any Tier Two or Tier Three could handle. But, again, it’s your life, your choice.”

Aurelia was the first to respond. “The challenge is worth the risk if you can keep the boss’ attention. The gains I would receive from defeating a boss-monster three Tiers above me would have to be beyond measure.”

Mira looked at Aurelia, counting all the extra heads that had suddenly sprouted from her neck. “Yeah, if that thing wakes up and wants to fight, send my happy ass right back to the entrance of this place. Pick me back up if you kill it, but I’m not fighting something that might be able to fight the damned heavy cruiser we left in orbit to a standstill.”

Lya nodded along as Mira spoke. “I am with Aurelia on this one. The rewards could exceed the risks immensely. The breakthrough I would achieve after such a fight would almost guarantee my Tier Three Class change to be something unique.”

Mira shook her head. “You two are crazy. But I guess that’s why I’m a pilot and not some battle-crazed fighter. Let’s sneak our way in and not wake the world-ending disaster wrapped around the pyramid. How’s that for a plan?”

“That IS the plan.” Duke replied. “But having a backup plan is just good policy. Activate whatever stealth capabilities you have and let’s get to sneaking.” All four activated their stealth. For Duke it was a Skill that he had learned early and had not used much since. For Lya and Mira, it was a pair of magitech items that concealed their presence. For Aurelia, it was a potion that Baslin had made for her, turning her invisible. She still had to be very careful about her movements because it only slightly dampened the sound of her movement in the armor.

The four of them quietly crept through the jungle and back into the clearing. No other creatures were in the area, perhaps in a natural response to the presence of a beyond-apex predator. Stepping out into the clearing, they paused like they had done the first time. Thankfully, there was no reaction from the serpent, so they began skirting around the perimeter looking for the entrance.

The entrance, of course, was on the opposite side of the pyramid. They approached slowly and cautiously, noting that the entrance was a large opening that held no door. Duke couldn’t help but notice that the entrance was just big enough to allow the serpent’s head to fit with a little bit of room on each side. He did not take that as a good sign and was happy when the corridor took a sharp left turn. He paused and dropped his Stealth Skill.

The others did the same and looked to him for an explanation. He obliged. “Did any of you notice that the entrance hallway is just wide enough for the serpent to reach all the way down to this corridor. It might even be able to squeeze down this one. I’m not sure about that.

“I was too busy sneaking to notice.” Lya responded and received similar agreement from the other two. “What do you think it means?”

Aurelia added her thoughts. “I think it means that if we don’t solve things just right in here, we have a big ass snake blocking our way out.”

“Oh, that’s great. Let’s make sure we get it right then.” Mira responded. “Anyone happen to be able to read the writing on the wall over there? My optics pick it up but I have no idea what language it is in?”

All three others looked over to the wall where she was pointing, with both women shaking their heads. Duke nodded. “I can read it. It’s a riddle of some kind.” He read it out loud:

Four choices lie before you.

One leads to power.

One leads to fortune.

One leads to life.

One leads to death.

Seven seals bar the path.

Six turns incur the wrath.

Five lights burn but do not laugh.

Four corners complete the math.

Three hands in the darkness dip in the bath.

Two eyes are akin to the fatted calf.

One stands tall but still may fall like a giraffe.

Duke finished reading and shook his head. “That’s utter nonsense. Can any of you make something out of that?”

“What in the seven is a giraffe?” Aurelia asked.

“All that, and that’s the only thing that strikes you as odd?” Lya responded, exasperated. “And no, I have no idea what a giraffe is.”

“I don’t know what all that means but only one of the ‘choices’ listed in the first part is bad. I actively avoid death, so I’m going to avoid that choice.” Mira declared.

“A giraffe is a creature from my home world. It stood very tall at the shoulder, but its neck was extremely long, probably twice the length of its body. It was an herbivore that used its long neck to reach the higher branches of trees. But I don’t know what that has to do with the riddle.”

“Each of the numbers has a bad result but the number four.” Aurelia ventured. “That sounds like it’s tailored to the four of us. That makes me more than a bit nervous.”

“You think we need all four of us to solve the riddle?” Mira asked.

“Sounds like it. Any other insights?” Lya said.

“Although that sounds like the potential answer to the riddle, the fact that there is a riddle in here doesn’t make any sense. Up until this part, this dungeon has been entirely combat-focused. Why is it switching to a puzzle-dungeon at this point?” Duke mused.

“Well, we could move on and see what lies ahead of us.” Aurelia suggested. “And keep our eyes open for any additional riddles or clues.”

Having no better ideas, the rest of the group agreed. Duke fired up his DUNGEON SENSE as he simply hated puzzle and riddle dungeons. The fact that this dungeon had turned into one galled him. His anger seethed below the surface and waited for release and kept him thoroughly distracted.

They followed several other corridors until they came to a large open chamber. The chamber seemed to take up most of the space of the inside of pyramid and was dominated by a single black obelisk that reached most of the way to the ceiling. There were golden runes carved on each of the obelisk’s sides that the group could see.

“Those look like magitech runes.” Lya commented.

“Not like any I have ever seen.” Mira added.

“They are connected to the pyramid as a whole.” Duke replied. “Give me a few minutes to study them. I may be able to figure them out. Please stay here.” Duke didn’t wait for a response as he circled the obelisk, studying the runes. He made sure to stay behind what he guessed was a triggering line encircling it at about ten meters. After the third circuit, he was confident that he had guessed the runes’ function.

He returned to the waiting trio. “OK, here’s the deal. There is a hidden triggering line about ten meters out from the obelisk. From what I can see, it will cause some forty doors to open in the walls of this chamber. Presumably, that would lead to the release of some monsters or traps of some sort so I don’t think we want to trigger that. Next, the obelisk’s runes are all tied to the serpent. They are keeping it sleeping so, again, I don’t think we want to trigger any of them if we can help it.”

“OK, so that’s a lot of what not to do. What do we actually do?” Lya asked.

“There is a chamber below the pyramid, and I think that is the goal.”

“Great, let’s get to the chamber without triggering anything. Now if only we had someone who could TELEPORT us right there, then we would be all set.” Aurelia added, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

Duke sighed and TELEPORTED the group into the final chamber. The chamber was dark, illuminated only by an oddly-shaped golden reward chest. The chest was nearly three meters long and a only about thirty centimeters tall. It was held closed by a series of seven clasps and the entire chest glowed with a soft golden hue.

“Nice chest you got there.” Mira remarked.

“Thanks.” Aurelia and Lya responded in unison. The three of them devolved into laughter. Duke chuckled along but said nothing, knowing the minefield that was laid out before him. With a shrug, he moved to the chest to open it up.

“Don’t you want to check it for traps first?” Mira asked. “There are always traps on something like this in all the games.”

Duke shook his head. “Reward chests are not trapped. Occasionally, they will require a key, but they are never trapped.” He proceeded to open all seven clasps and made sure everyone was watching before gently throwing the lid open. The glow of the chest briefly intensified, nearly blinding all of them before it faded into darkness.

The room slowly brightened as Duke used his LIGHT Ability to fill the room with a gentle radience. Inside the chest was a single item. It was a long spear with an obsidian spearhead and what appeared to be vines snaking up from a clear gem at the base of the shaft. The wood of the shaft was dark and highly polished, giving the vines a more sinister look.

“Well, there’s the dungeon’s prize. Anyone any good with spears? I know I’m trash with them.”

“I’m not touching that thing.” Mira announced.

“Me neither.” Lya agreed.

“All yours, Duke. I have a perfectly good sword. I really like my sword. I don’t need the evil veiny spear of unholy poking.” Aurelia concluded.

Duke ignored the trio laughing behind him and IDENTIFIED the spear before he took it.

*** You have found the Spear of Halthorn. This is the weapon of an elder druid and will be most effective in the hands of someone of similar ilk, providing an enhancement to all nature-based Spells and Abilities. Additionally, it allows the wielder to call vines up from the ground to entangle their foes and will allow for the calling of woodland creatures to support the wielder twice a day. Finally, the gem at the base of the shaft will glow with light reflective of the holder’s mood. ***

Once Duke removed the spear from the chest, the exit portal formed before them. He smiled. “Well, that’s it. Dungeon completed. Let’s head out and enjoy our rewards.”