The Tower in the Shadows

The descent to the first floor was without issue. Ron knew his group and that they were taking this seriously. The winding stairs quickly opened onto a new room and continued unexpectedly.

“Direct access to the next floor?”

Granus expressed the surprise they were all feeling. Every Dungeon they had visited or heard about required the Adventures to earn access by defeating the floor boss, but not here, it seemed.

“Stay sharp, everyone. If this is a sign of things ahead, we need to be aware of everything.”

They all nodded at Ron’s words. Granus worked his way across the room to the corridor, which was the only route there. He moved slowly, checking for traps or hidden threats. The rest moved slowly in his wake, knowing he would alert them to any danger he found.

“I've got an open doorway on the right and a closed door on the left. The hinges tell me we cannot open it from this side.” Granus said to them over his shoulder.

“Left it is, then. See anything in the room?”

“It's big. Some junk on the floor, nothing else.”

“Continue then.”

Granus moved in and the rest followed. As he said, it was big and had some junk in it. They checked everything as they moved, but nothing was of interest.

“Copper vein in the wall here.” Slivna called out.

Ron hurried over and looked at the green streak in the wall.

“It's not bad. It's a small vein. Now we know where the copper is if we need to mine it in the future.”

Like the others, he hoped to avoid that as they had moved up from Tin to Iron grade. If they were mining it out, the other groups would loudly hear the message of desperation. His group had their pride and reputation to keep in mind.

“Keep going.”

There was another open doorway Granus went through. The other went to follow.

“Hold!” Everyone stopped in place. “Trap in the floor!”

There was a cracking sound and a small grunt from Granus.

“Is it safe for me to see, Granus?”

“Yes. It is a pit trap with spikes. Nasty little thing.”

Ron moved into the corridor and found Granus kneeling on the floor. The stone paving in front of him was smashed, revealing wooden spikes with flint heads. It was not deep but wide. Anyone standing on that would be badly injured unless they were far along the Paths.

“What about the rest of the corridor?”

“It looks clear, but I think I heard something moving through the doorway.”

“Possible danger ahead. Let us be ready.” It was time to see what the Dungeon had in store for them.

### ## ## ## ##

“They are good. Not as good as Gran's group, but a hell of a lot better than the ones coming through recently.”

I watched them moving through the floor. They were taking their time and checking everything. It was slow going and I could understand why. But I was getting impatient for them to get to the third and see what they could do.

They entered the next room, ready for trouble, and were greeted by the wasps. It went badly for the wasps. It turns out the woman called Slivna in the bright robes was a spell caster and quite handy with fire spells. Wasps' wings are flammable, I discovered. Once grounded, they were quickly finished off and the coins appeared.

They were happy with the coins supplied and carried on.

I was happy to see spells in action that were not part of an object. This was interesting; I observed a lot of switching between my regular sight and Mana Sight. I am still missing contexts and knowledge, but I am starting to grasp magic, I think.

They pushed on through the rest of the floor. The wasps and remaining traps were overcome without any real issues. Things got more interesting when they met the floor guardian.

“They need an archer here, I think.”

The open spike pits limited their manoeuvrability as the Greater Wasp attacked. Slivna was brought up to deal with it. She cast her spells by channelling her mana through a wand. I had watched her do it in the last room, finding it fascinating and illuminating. No pun intended because of the fire spells.

“Right, Slivna, let's see what you will do.”

She was guarded by the two twin “tanks” as she cast. A jet of flame shot from the wand towards the wasp… and missed. She cursed loudly as my guardian dodged out of the way.

The green stamina bar above its head dropped slightly. The red health was still full and it was attacking again. It buzzed forward to strike out with its stinger. The twins blocked with their shields, stopping any damage from getting through.

Slivna cast another spell, but the guardian dodged again. The group was clustered up on the limited floor space. This gave them an advantage on the defence but cost them on the offence.

“I don’t think my guardian is going to do much more here.”

The green stamina bar was draining, but it still had options. Ron was keeping his team focused. Slivna was cursing loudly and very impressively. I learned some very interesting new insults. She acted all posh and educated, but it turns out she had a mouth on her that would put most sailors to shame.

“Slivna, focus and finish this.”

She was getting frustrated and his voice forced her to concentrate. She paused, closed her eyes and took a deep breath. It seemed that Ron knew his group and how to get the best from them.

“Looks like this is about to end.”

My guardian had been doing well and I hoped it would score a hit and wound someone. But alas.

Slivna opened her eyes and found the guardian. She lifted her wand and a fireball streaked out and struck the guardian. It tried to dodge but was not fast enough this time. The impact was a bright blast, and the health bar emptied suddenly as it was consumed by fire. The flaming corpse fell from the air into a spiked area on the floor.

“Well, that was fun while it lasted.”

There were no injuries, but the group had been pushed harder than I expected. Reviewing their actions, the next floor will not be an issue for them, but the third will be much more challenging.

“Well, it looks like my toads are going to get crushed.”

They vacated the floor and moved down to the next. Again, Granus was in the lead, checking for traps. They reached the first room and found a change in the environment. The toads were crushed with little trouble. Slivna and Nicola were the most vocal, unhappy that their robes would get soaked.

They progressed through the floor, killing toads and avoiding the traps. Slivna occasionally roasted them, but the three fighters did most of the work. The toads were not getting past their shields often, but when they did, their armour blocked any injuries. The progress towards the floor boss was straightforward and relentless.

The fight was a little longer, but Slivna used her magic to end it fast. She called out a warning over Ron’s objections, allowing them to get clear before unleashing a jet of flame.

The fight ended with the rewards collected and the flowers, which were a surprise for them, which they harvested. After the fight, Ron talked to her, scolding her for overusing her powers. He was worried that she would exhaust herself on the next floor. She was arrogant in her attitude and assured him she would be fine.

“I wonder if she is right? Or just overconfident?”

While flashy and destructive, her spells were leaking mana from what I could gather. I admit I am no expert—hell, I am not even a novice—but watching her spells, I could not be sure, but I think they could be cast more efficiently.

“More things to learn. I need some books on magic.”

“If wishes were horses, as the old saying goes.”

“I never understood that saying.”

Ron gathered his group together and they began their descent to my last floor.

“Alright, here, things get interesting!”

The floor stairwell room was checked and my Core hiding spot was not discovered. Whenever a competent team checks this room, I panic a little. If I still had my body, I would be sweating bullets.

“I might need to change my Core's hiding place.”

Something to think about for the future, but for now, they were about to meet my boars.

## ## ## ## ##

Granus was ahead of the group, slightly checking the floor and walls. He was close to the two doorways they had found on the last floors. If this floor matched the others, the reinforced wooden door would be the exit from the floor boss's room.

“No stairs flight leading down, so this might be the last floor. Expect things to be tougher here.” Ron spoke to his team as they continued.

“Really? The last floors were not difficult?” Slivna said.

“Do not get cocky Slivna. That’s how we get killed.” Ron was not in a good mood with her. She was wasting too much mana in this Dungeon. She claimed she was fine, but he was worried she was over-taxing herself. He had a good idea of what they would find down here.

Granus was at the open-door portal. He looked inside, keeping his body out of sight. It was only a few seconds before he quickly pulled back. Turning to the group, they all saw the concern in the flickering light cast by their torches.

“What is it?” Ron asked.

“A black boar and a big one at that.” Several curses were uttered at that. Ron just nodded; his suspicions were confirmed. The number of hides and boar meat supply was inconsistent with the reported local herd numbers.

“Does it have room to move in there?”

“Yes, it’s a big room.” Granus answered him. Ron took a deep breath and began talking.

“Mikel, Myma and I go in first. We attract it. Its charge will be fast and brutal, so be ready. The two not attacked will hit his flanks.” The twins nodded grimly, knowing this was going to hurt. “Granus, get behind and attack it from there. Nicola, be ready with your healing magic. Slivna, hold back and be ready to use fire magic, but first, as soon as we are in there, give us a light spell.”

Slivna had no snide comments at his orders as even she recognised the danger now. She got arrogant when facing lesser opponents, but this was not one. Ron looked at each member of his team, noting their mood.

“No one dies today.” He told them and they all nodded at his words. “Let's go.”

“My turn to lead.” Myma said. Her brother was unhappy but did not oppose his sister.

“Then lead us in Myma.” She hefted her shield, bracing it on her arm against her shoulder and walked into the room. The squeal echoed as Mikel crossed the threshold, blocking his view. Ron was fast behind him.

He heard the sound of the boar charging and Mikel moved enough to witness the impact. Myma had planted her shield, glowing with one of her skills. The boar collided and she was pushed back, gouging the earth. She grunted loudly at the impact and her shield strained holding back the boar.

Mikel went into the boar's left as Ron moved around Myma to attack its right. Myma could not help as she was focused on holding the attacking beast.

The room was suddenly filled with light as a ball of magic was supplying it, exposing the room's size and the boar to them.

“Mikel hit the bloody thing!” Myma called out in a strained voice. He said nothing but hit out at the boar with his mace. The boar moved as he swung down, missing its head, but hit its shoulder. This seemed only to make it angrier and it turned, attacking him.

Ron’s axe hit the now exposed flank. Cutting into it's hide but not deeply, blood flowed. The boar swung its attention to him now. Dropping down his shield to protect his lower body, the impact of the boar forced him to grit his teeth in pain. The attacks strained his arm and shoulder as the tusks ripped into his shield.

Granus and Mikel were attacking it now, but Myma was not. The boar was now torn on who to attack and they took advantage of its confusion. The boar died, but it died fighting hard all the way.

“Nicola, check everyone out.” Ron breathed hard as he spoke. That was a more brutal fight than he was hoping for. Nicola looked over at Myma. He noticed she was pale-faced and holding her shield oddly. Granus was collecting the reward from the kill.

“How is she?” Ron asked.

“Her arm and shoulder are injured, but I can heal it.” Nicola was focused on her patient as her hands began glowing. Ron focused on himself and was now feeling the after-effects of the fight. Mikel looked battered but ready for another opponent.

“Granus, check the next doorway. Slivna support him.” They moved away to obeying his orders. Nicola had moved to Mikel and was inspecting him. Myma looked better but not fully recovered.

“How are you?” He asked.

“Not fully healed, but ready if you need me. My shield is in worse shape.” He looked and saw she was right. The lower half was severely damaged and cracked.

“You are going to need a new one.”

“I know. It’s a shame; I liked this one’s balance.”

They both turned as Granus and Slivna came back over.

“We have a problem, Ron.” Granus was concerned.

“What is it?” He asked.

“There are two more, maybe more, in the next room. It’s a lot bigger and I could not see the end in the dark, but I made out two boars, I am sure.”

Ron let out a sigh.

“Do we fancy taking on at least another two of these today?” He asked his team. They looked at each other and he knew the answer from their looks. No. Before anyone spoke, he continued.

“I see that’s a no, so we are leaving. Think about it: we can easily return when better prepared.” They agreed with him and left the new Dungeon, planning to return and finish it.