Chapter Four Hundred and Sixty-Nine — Dragon Escort
Chapter Four Hundred and Sixty-Nine — Dragon Escort I wasn't sure what to expect of the Seven Peaks. I'd crossed over and through some mountains already. The Harpy Mountains were a treacherous collection of tall spires with many high-altitude plateaus that were beset by strong winds.The mountains around Slyphfree were a lot more spacious and spread apart, with wide gullies and rocky hills between them. Still dangerous, but not quite as tightly packed.Compared to those, the Seven Peaks were... a bit boring?As the name suggested, they were seven mountains forming the peaks of a rising and falling ridge — a mountain chain that began at Fort Cherryhold, then swept down south toward Port Hazel and the Empty Sea. The mountains felt old, worn down, like they were slowly collapsing, one avalanche at a time, leaving ragged cliffs and treacherous fields of shattered stone. Thick forests clung to them wherever the tree's roots could find purchase, and snow capped the peaks themselves.Their elevation made them kinda dangerous, but the saddle between each peak was vast, so other than a bit of added turbulence, the mountains didn't pose too much of a threat to airship travel.It helped that we had a very capable scout able to zip out ahead and check on the terrain and any threats for us.Well, the threats mostly ended up running away from our path... or becoming lunch.Rhawrexdee flew with great flaps of his massive wings, each pushing out enough wind from beneath the dragon to make the entire Beaver rock on its side a little. Orange... didn't seem to like Rhawr very much. She sat on her perch and glared out at him, but I think that was mostly just her catlike distrust of anything that might be a better predator than she was.For all that the dragon was... well, a dragon, he also somehow managed to seem kind of lazy. He drifted along, with only the occasional wingbeat to keep him afloat, which his entire body hung out from below his wings, his four legs dangling without a care and his full tummy slightly distended from all the mid-air snacking he was doing.At least, until Booksie climbed on deck and ambled over.The moment he noticed her, Rhawr straightened out his back and sucked in his gut. "Ah, hello," he rumbled."Hi," Booksie called out, her voice pitched so that he could hear. She raised a book. "I found something interesting. It's from Miss Caprica. It's a history text about dragons.""Oh?" Rhawr asked. "Written from the viewpoint of the sylph, I imagine?""I think so, yes," Booksie said. "I've heard that the sylph are quite biased against dragonkind, and even dragon-like creatures.""Hmm, we prefer dragon-wishing," Rhawr replied. "Because things like drakes and wyverns wish they were dragons.""Oh, I see. I think a lot of the people I know are mammals," Booksie said. "Actually, Amaryllis might not be? Is there a dragon-specific term for classifying creatures and people?""Hmm, tasty and not?" Rhawr asked.Booksie giggled, then climbed onto the ship's railing, straddling one leg over a very long drop to get a bit closer to Rhawrexdee. "Let's see... I think this will do for the daily reading."I smiled and eventually tuned out the two of them as she read to him, and he listened with a content, dragon-ish smile on.Deep in the night, we left the Seven Peaks behind. By morning, I awoke to find that the winds were accommodating enough, and with a dragon as escort, nothing decided to come poke at us. We did see some distant airships, but most of them did a quick turn and started heading away from us as soon as they came into telescope range.I hoped that the Beaver wasn't going to get an unearned reputation. It was going to be hard to make friends in the skies if everyone always ran away at the sight of us.Our continued approach to Mattergrove was heralded by the change in the air. It happened almost as soon as we crossed the barrier created by the mountains. The wind on this side was a lot stronger, and a lot warmer.I could taste a bit of dust and sand in the air, and the humidity that hung over the Darkwoods and the lands to the east was wicked away by some very dry heat. There were fewer clouds, too. The sky opened up into a vast sea of bright blue without a puffy white speck in sight.A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.Looking back, I could see a few cloud banks clinging to the snow-capped mountains, and more behind. It was a little weird, but I supposed it was kind of normal. Mattergrove occupied a thin sliver of land alongside the Seven Peaks. Further west was the Ostri desert, which was... well, a desert, so probably dry and warm.We were approaching early evening, with Rhawrexdee heading out and returning to us to let us know that he found the village we were going to visit.Amaryllis grumbled a little. We'd flown a smidge off-course, so we had to make a turn northwards and adjust course, but we really weren't too far from our destination.The village, from above, seemed like a pretty cozy little spot. Some three dozen homes around a central square, most of them no more than a story tall, with slate rooftops and puffy columns of smoke coming from brick chimneys. I imagined little families, snug in their homes, warding off the evening chill.The town was built alongside a long road that swayed and zigzagged across the countryside. It was pretty well-maintained, from what I could tell. Still, I asked Awen about it, since she was on deck and looking over the side just as much as I was."Ah, that's not the King's road. That's a little further to the west of here. This has to be one of the secondary roads that cuts from north to south." Awen gestured along the road. "There's an old law that says that you're not allowed to build a home along the king's road. All of the land on either side of it belongs to the crown, so there aren't any villages. But there are small, ah, capillary roads connected to it that have villages, and inns, I suppose.""Oh," I said. "Well, I guess that makes some sense. Is the King's road important, then?""It's well-maintained, and well-patrolled. Mattergrove has... issues with bandits and pirates, but not around the capital, and not along the King's road," Awen said. "It was always important since it connects all of western Mattergrove together."It couldn't connect the other half of the nation though, not with it being on the other side of the mountains. Mattergrove was a strange little country, choked and squished by the geography around it.It would probably be a lot more impressive, and larger, if it wasn't so squeezed in.I had to stop with the sightseeing to better direct the Beaver down. We selected a field that looked pretty barren next to the village. If anything was growing there, then it wasn't poking out of the ground yet, so that left a nice big chunk of open space to aim for. With the experienced Clive at the wheel and the whole crew on deck, we lowered ourselves down slowly and carefully, then came to a gentle hover a few metres off the ground.The anchor was lowered, chain pooling on the dirt below. The Scallywags lowered the ladder, and with everything steady we climbed out of the Beaver to meet some of the locals."If you think you can park on my field without paying, you've got another thing coming for you!" a man with a big straw hat said as he stomped over. He was holding onto a pitchfork as if he knew how to use it."Hello, sir!" I said as I stepped up before my friends, captain's hat in hand. "My name is Captain Bunch, this is the Beaver. Ah, this is your field?""Darn right it is!" he barked. "It ain't some landing strip for stinking ships either.""Oh, uh, that's a problem. We can move.""And what about my dirt? Hmm? You've crushed it as if it was nothing!"I looked down at the dirt under my feet. There really wasn't anything growing. "Sorry about that," I said. "I'm sure we can pay you back," I said."Oh, so you're gonna toss a few copper pennies my way and hope that'll make me happy, huh? Who do you take me for, some co-"The farmer choked on his words a moment after the ground shook a little.I glanced back and discovered that Rhawrexdee had landed on the field nearby. He extended his snoot to the edge of the deck, and Bookie hopped over so that he could gently lower her to the ground."I'm sure we can give you more than a few coppers to rent your field for the day," I continued. "By the way, do you happen to know anyone that would be willing to sell some cattle?"
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Chapter Four Hundred and Seventy — Whet Your Appetite
Chapter Four Hundred and Seventy — Whet Your Appetite "So, this is it?" I asked as I shielded my face from the morning sun.After arriving at sunset on the previous day, we unanimously decided to get some sleep before challenging the dungeon. The villagers kept their distance, and we slept with a dragon curled against the Beaver.Upon awakening, the local's attitude was much as it had been the night before. The little village was... not exactly accommodating, and I couldn't find it in myself to blame them. They were afraid of Rhawrexdee, and by extension the rest of us, to the point where parents were shooing their kids back into their homes and the entire village was almost deathly quiet as we moved through it.They'd built their homes on a wide, flatish expanse of ground not too far from an outcropping that rose out of the ground at a sharp angle. The homes were mostly split along both sides of a wide road that curved along the edge of that cliff face.That's where we found the dungeon, nestled against the sheer wall of stone, with a well-trodden path leading up to the entrance, cleared of bushes and grass and covered in loosely packed stone. It looked... kind of like the front of a kiosk, or maybe a small storefront?Most dungeons I'd seen looked a lot more cave-like, but this one had pillars on either side of its entrance and a wooden sign hanging above. The Sue-Chef."Seems like we won't be getting any assistance with this one," Amaryllis said with a final glance back at the village. "I suppose we'll have to muddle through. Booksie, did you bring the book?""I did," Booksie said as she reached into her pack. "Are we all going in?" she asked as she handed it to Amaryllis."If what I read is correct, then there's no real harm. Having a bigger team might actually help with this one."I regretted not paying more attention before, because that sounded important. I looked back over our group. There was myself, of course, and Booksie, as well as Amaryllis. Then taking up the rear were Desiree, Caprica, Awen and Calamity.Seven was... a lot, actually. In some of the dungeons we'd been in, that might have been too many, even. If this dungeon scaled its threat based on the number of people, then going in as one big group might be a bad idea."Hmm, thank you," Amaryllis said. She cleared her throat, then spoke up louder. "Alright you fools, listen up!""I take umbrage," Caprica said."I ain't no fool," Calamity added."Hah! Only fools resort to insults, fool!" Desiree countered."Awa, I... maybe a little?"Amaryllis sighed. "Broccoli, get everyone's attention.""Uh, okay?" I said, but everyone was already paying attention. "Please listen up, everyone, this might be important! This next part will definitely be on the test.""I was not informed that there would be an examination," Desiree muttered.Amaryllis nodded, then spun the book around. There was a diagram there, of what looked like the first floor of the dungeon. It was pretty simple, actually, a large room, with a single smaller room to the side."The first floor is a test, with a mini-boss at the end of it along with a group of low-to-mid-tier enemies. The test is both a legal one, and one of our cooking abilities. We will be entering the main room, where a judge will give us a task. We will then go to this side room, prepare the meal, then return to have it judged. If it passes, then so do we. If it doesn't, then we need to fight the judge as well as its minions. The group that last explored the dungeon warned that the judge is overlevelled.""Overlevelled?" Calamity asked."It's a phenomenon that will occur in dungeons on occasion. Most of the time, the dungeon will have a clear progression of threats. If the first floor has wild cats, the second might have lions, the third shadowcats. Most of the time a dungeon's rating will be based around a set level."I nodded along, I could remember previous dungeons warning me about the level of the monsters within before entering."But some challenges will present a mini-boss, or monsters that are above the normal level of strength for the dungeon. These are usually a trap, of sorts. They'll be docile, or locked away, or not present, until the participants do something that triggers them. In this case, if we fail the first test, we need to fight over-levelled enemies."Caprica rubbed at her chin for a moment. "How does the monster levelling compare to ours?" she asked."The book says they're humanoids." Amaryllis said. "The way these books are written, that means we can assume they have levelling characteristics similar to ours. They're not like dragons, where even at level one they could flatten an entire adventuring party."Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings."I see," Caprica said. "And the monster's expected levels?"Amaryllis glanced at the book, then back at the dungeon. "One moment," she said, before turning and ... walking into the dungeon.About a minute passed. We waited ... mostly patiently.Amaryllis emerged, book still in hand. "Alright, when the book was published, a normal monster in the dungeon is said to have been in the six-to-seven range. Now it seems more like eight-to-ten.""That's not so bad," Calamity noted."The overlevelled monsters will be in the nine-to-eleven range," Amaryllis said. "And there should be about twenty minions. Honestly, yes, this is not bad. We could fight them from the very start and skip the test entirely.""That doesn't sound nearly as fun," I said."Or as educational!" Booksie added. "I'm here to get the class available from this dungeon, I'd like some practical experience with related skills as well, if I can get it."Amaryllis shrugged a shoulder. "I don't mind either way. It's just an option. We can give the test a go if you want." She folded a bookmark into the page of the book, then gave it back to Booksie. "You picked a strange one. If you play your cards right, you can get to the end of this one with very little fighting.""I'm not much of a fighter," Booksie admitted. "But I do want to become a little stronger. I think that there are very few situations in life where you might think to yourself 'I wish I was weaker.' So it only makes sense to strive to be stronger, right? At least, it makes logical sense. I've spent a few years where the most physical thing I've done is lift a few books over my head. I think you're all younger than me, and every one of you is much stronger.""Levels aren't everything," I said. "Nor is being strong. What matters is the quality of your friends and how good you are at hugs.""You were halfway to saying something meaningful there," Amaryllis deadpanned. "I'm glad to see that you manage to wander off the path of wisdom the same way you wander off every other path. It's at least consistent."I pouted. "You say that as if I get lost a lot! My sense of direction is fine, thank you very much. For example, the dungeon is that way. Hmpf." I pointed right at the dungeon, and Amaryllis must have caught my meaning because she huffed a 'I don't want to laugh' sort of huff."Alright, let's go check this place out," Amaryllis said. "I'll be taking notes, the Exploration Guild will want an update, and I haven't always been as diligent in my note-taking. Awen, Calamity, Broccoli, you three might want to pay attention too. You're all members of the guild so you can't just keep riding my tail-feathers."We quickly formed up into a tight little bundle, though I wasn't sure if it was entirely on purpose. Amaryllis, Caprica and I took the lead, with Booksie and Desiree in the middle and Awen and Calamity in the back.Caprica was our best close-range fighter, I could manage in a scrap, and Amaryllis was a great caster. Then the two who we weren't sure about, and finally our two best long-ranged fighters. It made plenty of sense, even if we weren't expecting trouble.You are Entering the Sue-Chef DungeonLevels 8-10Your entire party has entered the DungeonSeal Dungeon until exit?I shook my head. If someone had to reach us...Dungeon left UnsealedAny Person can Enter Dungeon InstanceAny Person can Exit Dungeon InstanceI found myself giggling as we slipped into the darkness at the entrance of the dungeon, at least until Amaryllis reached over and poked me in the shoulder. "What are you laughing about? Or is it just the gases in your head leaking out again?""I don't know," I admitted. "I'm just excited! Another dungeon, and one that's probably not all evil and root-y, with a bunch of friends, some of them brand new! It's.. yeah, it's exciting!"Booksie laughed too, but there was a nervous edge to it. "Exciting is a word for it, I suppose.""Don't be anxious," I said as I glanced over my shoulder at the bun. "This will be fine! Trust me! We'll have a blast, and you'll have a cool story to tell your boyfriend later!""B-boyfriend?" Booksie said. "Rhawr? He's not... well, I mean. I suppose.""Did nya not think of him that way?" Calamity asked."We skipped that part!" Booksie said in her own defence. It was not a very strong defence."How fast these buns go," Desiree muttered. "Are they like rabbits in more ways than just their choice of ears, I wonder?"I was laughed as we stepped into the first room of the dungeon, a great palatial courthouse, with dozens of monsters looking at us, and a black-robed and chef-hatted judge behind the desk.
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