The Tower in the Shadows

“The good times are a rolling!”

A new group of Adventurers had just entered my Dungeon. Gran's team had just visited the third floor, and after they had departed, the dungeon reset. I had been slowly accruing essence when they visited. Making them use their skills and abilities gave me a slight bump. Other teams were visiting, but the essence I got from them was a fraction of Gran’s team.

“Unless they get themselves killed.”

Two weeks ago, a young group of five had decided to risk the third floor for greater rewards. The only victor in this was me, as my boars quickly gutted them with a bit of help from Puck. Nothing interesting was gained in terms of loot apart from a common short bow.

“Sitting at 66%, nearly at level four!”

Plans! Such plans are in my head. A shining vision of what was to come!

True, I had not decided on what would occupy the floor, any additional resources, or a layout, but that was not dimming my enthusiasm. Along with my essence increase, my skill of Mana Sight had increased to level six, with me checking out every team that entered for magical gear. Nothing outside of Gran’s team, but I was still hopeful to find some soon.

“So, what are these new adventurers all about?”

I focused on them—a group of six, all young between fifteen and eighteen years of age. They were poorly equipped and very nervous, so I dismissed the alert that came with them entering.

“Looks like another Tin group. Is that all they think I can handle?”

Four men and two women. Two “tanks”, two second-line archers and the last support. One of the support might be a rogue from the clothes; I might be wrong on that. Looks like there are no magic users. They all were carrying flaming torches.

“I really need to think about my Dungeons lighting or lack of it.”

Larry was in the rafters and watching the group explore the entrance room. He was unhappy with the constant flow of visitors, but I ignored this. I watched as they checked the cupboards and found the wine bottle. I had removed the coins as an extra to see if anyone would fall for the wine trap. It seemed that Gran’s team had not told the newbies about the poison, but the new adventurers had ignored the bottle so far.

“Okay, it looks like another bust with the wine. Hold on, I see you sneakily tucking it into your pack!”

The group leader had vetoed taking it, but one of the group had picked it up and tucked it into a pack as they left the room.

“If the wine kills someone outside my Dungeon, do I still get the essence?”

Now, that was an interesting question, but it seemed that the system was not in an answering mood.

“Right, they're on the way to the first floor.”

They were hesitant, choosing to ignore the rest of the building in favour of descending. I watched them as they walked onto the floor, weapons drawn, ready for violence. They whispered, but I could hear them as if they were talking directly to me.

“Are you sure the first few rooms are clear?”

“Yes. I spent most of the night listening to the adventurers that have already been in here. It’s the second full room with any monsters.”

Intelligence gathering before entering. That shows they are taking this seriously.

“Any traps?”

The rogue-like woman asked.

“Not that I heard, but we should be aware. I would not put it past them to keep that secret.”

It sounds like the adventure groups do not help each other out. I wonder what Assessor Woodland did with those floor plans she created? They found the copper vein in the wall of the first room, which it seemed by now was widely known. After the first miners hacked the ore out, I discovered the vein takes a whole night to regenerate, unlike my minions. Go figure. What would it mean if the vein reformed as fast as my minions?

“Stop overthinking back to the group!”

“Right, where are they?”

They were just leaving the first room and entering the corridor leading to the next with the first pit trap. The wasps had sensed them and were getting agitated. Several groups had suffered nasty injuries due to it.

“Come on! Trip and break your neck!”

………

“Alright, I am getting a bit more bloodthirsty, but I really want that fourth floor.”

One of the tanks walked forward and put his foot through the false floor. His boots were not very good quality as the flint-tipped spikes tore through them and his foot. He screamed in pain in a very high pitch. Collapsing, he made the injury worse by falling forward ripping the wounds open more.

I had to give them credit for their reactions. The other tank was a woman who moved over the now exposed pit to cover her wounded comrade while the others sought to aid the injured man.

The other support was a healer who was inspecting the injury. The screaming was stopped when a gag was shoved in his mouth. The healer was inexperienced from the green now colouring his face. Blood was freely flowing from the wounded foot and he bandaged it to the best of his ability. He did not try to remove the spikes and did his best to bind the foot.

“We are going to have to get him out.”

“What? We have just started!”

The archer who was hiding the wine bottle was not happy. He was the one doing the eavesdropping the previous night.

“His foot has been punctured right through. He will not be able to put his weight on it.”

The healer was talking to the other archer, who appeared to be the team leader.

“Can you do anything?”

“I can only dull the pain. We must get to a full healer or a priest to save the foot.”

The wounded man was still in a lot of pain and was letting them know with his muffled cries.

“I have the wine bottle from upstairs. Would that help? It would save on the potions that we would have to use.”

Please say yes. Please!

“I told you to leave that.”

“Lucky, I did not. We can use it now.”

They were unsure but relented due to the ongoing sounds of pain. The alcohol would help dull the pain.

“Oh, come on! This is too easy!”

The bottle's seal was broken and the wine almost was poured down the wounded man’s throat. It did not take long for the poison to take effect.

“What’s happening?”

“Do something!”

They were quickly panicking as their friend and teammate died. There was a short, stunned silence as they looked at each other and the dead body. It did not take them long to figure out what happened, and the accusations began. I paid them no mind as I opened the alert that had popped up.

Alert!

A level 3 Human has died in your dungeon.

Essence gained.

The sweet sensation of the essence flowing into my core was familiar and welcome. I wanted to check my status screen, but the group was still present. The healer turned and emptied his stomach in the corridor as the arguing got worse.

“Fuck sake! I am going to have to clear that up!”

The group almost became violent. Accusations and arguments broke out between them. They managed to stop, retrieve the body and leave my Dungeon. I watched it all until they left.

“They left the door open! That’s bloody rude.”

I closed it myself as soon as they were clear of my aura.

“Got the feeling we will not see that group again, Larry.”

I got no answer, as usual, but I think my assessment was correct. The group's interactions and dynamics were in tatters. I might see the individuals with other groups, but that collection, no, they were done.

“Status screen. Bhaldor.”

Name

Bhaldor

Essence

70%

Race

Dungeon Core

CP

38(300) /2.9 phr

Level

3

Corruption

0%

Floors

3

Health

100%

I ignored the rest as nothing had changed. My essence was sitting at 70%.

“So close!”

Then I remembered the mess downstairs on the first floor. Cursing a lot, I cleaned it up and ignored the alert that came with it. I did not want to know. The trap was reset and everything was ready for the next group. They had been coming in regularly, so it would not be long before more visitors.

## ## ## ## ##

“Granus, get everyone together. We are heading into the Dungeon.”

“Eh? Did the group of Tins not just go in? Are you trying to jest me, Ron?”

“They did but are now out carrying a body.”

His group’s rogue looked at him, understanding what had happened.

“Right, we will meet you at the gate.”

Granus got up and put the blade he had been sharpening and whetstone away. Ron knew he was going to be there soon with the others. Ron walked back to the gate leading to the floodplain and the Dungeon. The guards had been told his team was next and were waiting to allow him through.

Guild leader Woodland was watching the group of Tins carrying the dead member walk towards the under-construction temple district. The Dungeon was too new, with few Adventures available to teach such groups. They were warned but decided to go alone and now knew the cost.

Ron checked his gear. His axe, shield, leather armour and the rest of his gear were accounted for. He had been speaking to Gran and his team about the Dungeon. They had worked together a few years back before his team got rated to Iron. Gran had warned him that this one was “odd”. They had not said much more as the Guild was still trying to get established and was not selling maps yet. But that was enough to set Ron and his team on edge. Nothing was as dangerous to an Adventure team as something “odd”.

“The Tins got chewed up that quickly?”

Ron turned to see his team approaching. Myma had spoken and her twin brother Mikel was watching the other group like many of the others around. Both were wearing iron-reinforced leather armour and were carrying kite shields with maces. Granus, their Rogue, was checking his six daggers. Slivna, a Wizard, was holding her robes up slightly to avoid getting mud on them. Finally, Nicola, a Priestess and group healer, was fussing with her satchel of supplies.

“From the looks of it, some form of spike trap. His foot was badly torn up.”

“Enough to kill him?” Mikel asked.

“Not sure the group was tense when they passed. I think something else happened.” Ron never looked away from the receding group as he spoke. “Everyone be sharp in there. You have all heard the rumours from the few who have.”

They passed through the gates and walked across the floodplain. Autumn was coming and the day should have been pleasant, but the mountain's shadow covered them. It robbed the air of what warmth the sun was providing, making the whole area glum in temperament. They kept a watch on the tree line, as Shadow Wolves had been sighted near the palisade being built.

“We light the torches before we go in.”

Ron spoke as they walked, not expecting an answer. He and his team had been through Dungeons before and knew what to do, but this one was new to them and they were taking no chances.

“Granus has lead; the twins and I are in support with Slivna and Nicla ready for emergencies.”

“Mags hinted that there are three floors and we can ignore the surface building.” Nicola spoke up.

“Good to know. We sweep each room slowly and call out anything you think is amiss. I mean anything. We do not know what is in here apart from boars.” Ron looked at everyone pointedly and they all nodded with understanding. He checked his helmet one last time.

They had reached the door that led into the watchtower.

“Light your torches and stay sharp.”

Slivna used a little magic to light the torches. Each member of his team carried two spares. Ron looked at everyone one last time, turned and opened the door.

## ## ## ## ##

The alert appeared as soon as I felt them enter.

“Another group already?”

I focused on the new arrivals—three men and three women. There was no archer, it seemed, but they were moving with purpose.

“Experienced team, I think. Looks like a rogue of some type backed up by three fighters. Is that a magic user?”

Two women, both in robes, were in the back. One looked similar to Gran’s healer, Mags, but the other differed. Her robes were far more expensive-looking and colourful.

“Mana Sight. Activate.”

My vision shifted and the magic they possessed stood out to me. Both women were lit up with different magical items and their aura. It was easy to see even through the haze of the floating essence. One of the men carrying an axe and shield had some form of magic in his helmet. Each carried a flaming torch and was looking around.

“Mana Sight. De-activate.”

My vision returned to normal.

“Larry, best get out of here.”

Larry had been observing from the rafters but got up and, using his abilities, skulked away. This was going to be interesting. They were no Tin group like all the others apart from Gran’s. I settled in to watch the show.

“Granus, see anything?”

“Nothing so far. I will check the cupboards.”

They remained alert, with the two with maces and kite shields watching the door to the tower as Granus searched.

“I have found a wine bottle. It's still intact and looks like a good vintage. It is a trap. I am leaving it.”

“Good, we will move on.”

Alas, there are no easy kills with this lot.

“We check the surface building and the tower before descending.”

They moved to the tower base and checked each of the building wings. They searched each room thoroughly before moving on. I learnt all their names as they went from room to room. The tower was also checked before they gathered at the stairs leading down.

“Same as before. Take it slow and call out anything no matter what.”

They all acknowledged what Ron had said and descended with Granus leading the way.