Chapter Four Hundred and Forty-Seven — Id
Chapter Four Hundred and Forty-Seven — Id It wasn't easy to keep track of time in the dungeon, especially because the room I was in never seemed to end.And the monsters didn't either.Every now and then, one would leap at me. Sometimes it would come from the left, sometimes it would try to surprise me from the right, and every now and then one would jump at me from behind, but no matter where they came from, I had a way of dealing with them.Fireball to the face and kick to the butt.It worked for me, I think. Way of the Mystic Bun meant that my kicks were pretty powerful, after all. And I was racking up a fair bit of experience too. Of course, it wasn't all fun and games. The Mimicry Murlocks were starting to grow more annoying the deeper I went. They stopped copying what I said and started making noises that were a little strange.Lots of wet plapping noises, and weird moans that made my hair stand on end. One moment I would hear someone rushing at me from one side, only to find no one there-while another was sneaking up in my blindspot.Fortunately, there weren't that many of them down here. Or at least, there were way fewer than there should have been.I knew, because I soon found the trail of the Exploration Guild team that had come down before me. A bunch of footsteps, all more or less grouped up in single file. Lots of scuffs and steps to the side printed into the mud, along with a number of smaller, murlock-ian footprints.The group had cut through the swamp and through the murlocks inhabiting it. I was glad, and not only because the path was easier to follow, but also because it showed that the others were at least able to take care of themselves.And I had a better idea of what they were doing, too. The Exploration Guild wasn't going through the dungeon the way most delvers did, with a group of a dozen or so people working together and pushing through each area and fighting the monsters.No, the Guild had a small group going through first, and then sending word back to a larger party that was following after.At least, that's what I assumed from the footprints they'd left behind. Was the leader of the group testing its members? Awen and Calamity were with them, so they'd be able to fight from range. What about the others?In the end, the Exploration Guild group was meant to be testing their potential new members, so it made sense to throw them into a situation where they were a little disadvantaged, if only to see how well they could deal with it.They were probably fine.The strange bushes and trees began to open up into something like a clearing.Through the now-thinning fog, a wall appeared up ahead, and the ground became less swampy and more muddy.I hopped off the last stone, landing with a squelch on a patch of semisolid mud. I was at the very back end of the room, or at least, what had to be the back end. There was a tunnel up ahead, cut into the wall.Was this it for the first floor?"That was pretty easy," I said."Easy, easy," the swamp repeated.I snorted and waved the swamp off. The murlocks hadn't really been hard to deal with, just a little annoying, and the swamp itself had been a little spooky, but nothing too bad."Right, on I go!" I said. I was just a pinch concerned about how easy it was to start talking to myself again. I had only been without friends around me for... what, a few hours?I couldn't possibly be suffering from withdrawal already, could I?The tunnel led away from the swamp, and soon enough, the smell of the water and the sounds of the swamp were gone, replaced with the musty smell of earth and pine. The walls here were rough, like they'd been carved out by hand, and the tunnel was tight, barely wide enough for me to fit into without bumping my shoulders on the walls.It went on and on, winding down and down and down, until it opened up onto a large chamber. A chamber filled with more trees. An indoor forest, even.The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident."Oh, that's pretty neat," I said as I walked out onto a ledge that overlooked a massive cavern. The ceiling was hundreds of metres above, and the ground stretched out a long ways, filled with a miniature forest.I perked my ears up, twisting them this way and that, the same way Booksie did when she was listening, and I tried really hard to pick up on anything from the forest.There was something, way out in the trees somewhere. A clink of metal on metal, maybe some talking? It was hard to tell. A steady wind carried through the cavern from one side, warm and damp. It made the trees rustle which did a lot to muffle and confuse any sounds I could pick up."This is a lot nicer than the swamp," I said. It was true too. The cavern had a pleasant temperature and the air was clean and crisp, and not too moist. There was a faint smell of soil and fresh-cut wood, too.The path leading into the cavern was a wide stairway that had been hewn from the stone and led right down into the woods. There were some footprints, mostly made by boots, but there were a few sets that seemed like they came from big webbed feet.So, the Exploration Guild was definitely there.I skipped down the steps and paused before a wooden sign at the bottom.Please respect the wildlife and don't damage the trees. If you would like to hunt the creatures in the Dungeon, please contact the local Ranger's office for a licence. If you have any concerns or problems, please address them to the Freud-Slip Dungeon Administration, located on the third floor. Feel free to peacefully navigate through the forest.I stared at the sign for a good long moment. That... wasn't something I'd ever seen in a dungeon before. The sign was old and well-worn, and the edges were rounded with age. It looked like it had been put in place a long time ago.It was a little weird."Uh, is this dungeon self-aware?" I asked.No one replied, not even the dungeon."Okay," I said. "I don't want to accidentally hurt the trees or anything, though, so... yeah, I'll be careful." I cleared my throat, then spoke up a little. "I'm sorry, mister or miss dungeon, for, uh, the murder."Then I stepped onto the forest floor, my boots sinking a little into the soft soil. There was no response, but I figured that was okay. I could ask Awen or Amaryllis about it later.For now, I had a dungeon to clear, and the others to catch up to.The forest wasn't particularly dense, and the trees weren't terribly tall. There was a good bit of space between the trunks, and a lot of bushes and shrubs that grew around their bases. I could walk just fine, though every now and then I'd need to duck under a low-hanging branch or hop over a fallen log.I could still hear snatches of fighting, way off ahead, which was more than a little concerning. Were they having a harder time down here?I hadn't noticed anything to fight yet. Had they cleared this part of the forest?I decided not to bother running and instead stuck to walking. I didn't want to trip over anything.That was, until I heard some panicked shouting ahead. "Don't let zem touch you, dammit!" someone shouted. There was a small boom right after, like a spell going off. The leaves rustled, and I felt like maybe the team out ahead weren't following the instructions laid out by the dungeon.I had no idea what they were facing, but it didn't sound good, so I started running towards the fight.The trees and shrubs grew thinner, and soon the forest opened up onto a large field of green grass. A group of people were standing around, most of them hiding behind a large rock, with their weapons drawn and their eyes focused on the other end of the clearing.I immediately recognized Calamity, because he was standing on the big rock, bow pulled taut and ready to fire."Hey!"Calamity spun, clearly startled, and I ducked just in time to feel an arrow whistle between my ears."Oh," he said. "Uh. Oops. Unless that's you're an evil illusion, in which case..." He nocked another arrow. "Don't move."
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Chapter Four Hundred and Forty-Eight — Ego
Chapter Four Hundred and Forty-Eight — Ego I slowly raised my arms over my head. "Uh, I surrender?" I tried.There was a long moment of tension as I was stared down by a whole group of explorers, every one of them on a hair-trigger.Then Awen emerged, stepping closer to me. "Broccoli? Awa, hit me with Cleaning magic," she said."Okay?" I replied, a little confused, and called up my magic.One of the other explorers shouted for me to stop, but by then my Cleaning magic was already sweeping across Awen's legs.Unsurprisingly, she was covered in mud up to her thighs, and I could imagine how awful it must have been to have mud in her boots.By the looks on their faces, they were wary of me, and I guess that made sense. After all, even with all the dungeons I'd been in, only one time had I run into another group. Dungeons were weird, isolated, self-contained worlds, and it probably felt strange to encounter another person when you expected to be isolated and alone ... especially if that isolated world was filled with mud, and the person emerging from the tree line (me) was unnaturally spotless. My friends knew that that was normal, but to anyone else... yeah, I could see why they might think it was a little weird."That's the real Broccoli," Awen said.There was a shout up ahead, and all the attention twitched from me to something barrelling out of the woods.It was a pair of grenoil. They were dressed like young explorers, wearing mostly lighter, leather gear and gambesons with short swords in hand. They skidded to a stop in front of us, spinning around to face back the way they came. "Flies!" one of them shouted."Damn," Calamity said.I stepped a little closer to the group, still keeping some distance between us, not to spook anyone."Broccoli, the flies are dangerous," Awen warned.I nodded. I'd kind of put that together from context clues already, but the confirmation was nice anyway. A nasty buzz came from the trees, and I looked up in time to see a bunch of giant flies the size of my head swarming out of the trees. They had bright yellow and black patterns, and shot toward us like some of those blurry-fast hummingbirds.Calamity fired, and an arrow zipped through two of the flies before lodging into a tree.One of the grenoil aimed a blunderbuss at the sky, and I jumped at the thundering boom as the weapon discharged. The blast sent a couple of the flies crashing down into the grass, their wings aflame and their bodies twitching.Then the rest of the team joined in. Awen fired her crossbow, then reloaded as quickly as she could. Calamity fired a few more arrows into the swarm, and soon slower -moving spells joined the ranged attacks.I saw one grenoil casting something, and a moment later the ground erupted with vines that rose up and lashed out at the flies, trying to trap and capture them. Another grenoil was casting a spell with a wand, a bright blue circle with runes inscribed spinning around her, then she released it, and a blast of icy wind shot out.I joined in, flinging a dozen fireballs at the bugs, but I only hit two or three. My flames weren't nearly as strong as the others, but that didn't seem to matter. The flies went down to a glancing blow.They dropped like ... well, like flies. The last few were taken out close to the group. A few sword swings and spear thrusts and they were dead.Ding! Congratulations, you have brought about the final hour of Time Flies, level 3 (x19)!EXP reduced for fighting as a group!"What were those?" I asked.Calamity grunted and lowered his bow. He was breathing hard, but it didn't look like anyone had been seriously injured. "Time flies," he said."They fly through time?" I asked.He blinked. "No? They're called that because of their ability. You get bitten by one and your senses get messed up.""Like, your sense of smell?" I asked.Calamity glanced at me. "No. Time. Your sense of time. He pointed to one of the members of the Exploration Guild party. "Hannah got bit a while back."The grenoil that he was pointing to, Hannah, I assumed, was sitting on the grass and leaning against a tree. She had a bandage wrapped around her forehead, and was glaring at the forest. After a few long seconds, she turned towards Calamity. "Did you say my name?" she asked."Yeah," Calamity said.Some ten seconds slipped by, and I was about to say something myself when Hannah finally replied, "Okay."It looked like she was a few seconds behind everyone else, or something like that. It would be pretty hard to fight that way, I imagined. Or talk. Or do much of anything else, really.The Exploration Guild group broke up, one of them, a more elderly grenoil, pointing this way and that, and setting people in group's of two to face different directions. Then he walked over to me and Calamity and offered a webbed hand. "Jean-Pierre," he said.If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it."Broccoli, Broccoli Bunch," I said. "Are you this team's, uh, leader? Sir Tissue?"He nodded, then gestured to the pin on my bandoleer. "I wasn't expecting anyone else from ze guild here. By ze looks of it you were picked as errand-girl for something? Zat can't be good.""Uh, yes sir. It's been, uh, a very uncomfortable morning," I said.Jean-Pierre grunted. "Well, what are you here for? I hope it's not to help zese two friends of yours?"I blinked. Was he insinuating that I was here to help Awen and Calamity cheat? "No sir. Guild Master Mathilde sent me. There's an emergency in Port Royal, and we need the guild's trackers. She said you were the best."The grenoil rubbed at his chin. "Ah, Mathilde. What's going on in Port Royal?"Booksie was kidnapped."Rubbing his chin, Jean-Pierre frowned. "Bookise. Say, wasn't zat ze name of-?""The wife-to-be of the dragon Rhawrexdee?" I nodded. "Yes."The older grenoil winced. "Zat's... not great. And ze dragon isn't known for being forgiving.""Last I heard, we hadn't told him yet.""Even worse."I winced, and Jean-Pierre nodded along."Say, what does zis Booksie look like?" he asked."Oh, she's a bun, a bit smaller than me, brown hair, kind of quiet. Bookish. Long ears that stay straight," I said. "Why?"Jean-Pierre looked to the others, and then back. "Zis dungeon is acting weird, you know.""I did notice the sign at the entrance," I said.The grenoil nodded. "You'd have to go deeper to see ze difference, but zis isn't like other dungeons. It's less violent and more peaceful. Zere are no traps, just animals.""Animals, and those flies," Calamity added."Animals and zose flies, yes. It's not ze kind of challenge we'd normally use for testing, but.... ""Evil Roots?" I asked.Sir Jean-Pierre Tissue just looked politely confused, but Awen shook her head. "I don't think so," she said. "I thought the same, but it doesn't look like there's anything wrong. Just odd.""Okay? I... don't mean to be rude, but a weird dungeon, at least one that's not affected by Evil Roots, isn't as important as finding Booksie.""I suppose not," Jean-Pierre said. He glanced deeper into the forest. "I just have a bad feeling about it. Gather up, and let's get back to ze exit.""Okay!" I said."Wait," one of the others said. This was one of the two grenoil that had come running back, chased by those time flies.The entire team wasn't all that big. There was Jean-Pierre, then two teams of two grenoil, Awen and Calamity as their own, and then a final group with a human man and a mage in long robes with a hood that obscured their species."What is it?" Jean-Pierre asked.The grenoil pointed to me. "Who's zis one? Is she coming with us?""She's from ze guild," Jean-Pierre said."Does dat mean she's in ze test?""It means zat ze test has changed," Jean-Pierre said. "But I suppose introductions wouldn't hurt?" He looked at me and I shrugged. I had the impression he wanted to know who he was dealing with too."I'm Broccoli," I said. "Broccoli Bunch. I'm an explorer. I'm also the captain of the Beaver Cleaver, and both Awen and Calamity's friend. Uh, I can move fast, have a few offensive spells, but mostly I specialize in Cleaning magic and, I guess leadership stuff?""The ship is called the what?" the human asked."The Beaver?" Awen asked.The group seemed to relax a bit, but there was still an uncomfortable tension hanging over the group. Were they still nervous about the testing?"Right. Now that ze pleasantries are out of ze way, let's get back to ze camp. We'll regroup and zen I can start explaining," Jean-Pierre said. He waved towards the path leading back, and the rest of the team started marching off, each person taking their turn to face the forest, then march a dozen steps before looking again. I stayed next to Jean-Pierre, taking in the way everyone, even my friends, moved in little stops and starts."Why is everyone moving like that?" I asked while making a forwards-and-back motion to emulate how one pair would move up, then we'd catch up only for another to run ahead."Oh. It's because zere is an attack coming," Jean-Pierre said.I perked up. "There is? Where? What is it?""We're not sure," he said. "But zis way, we'll be able to react. It's a classic trick, really.""Okay," I said.He nodded, then paused. "So, what sort of trouble has Mathilde been getting herself into?""Ah, I think it's the big kind," I said. And wasn't that the truth?
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