Haeros Dungeon - Chapter 38 preview (Patreon)

Once I had caught my breath, and drunk down every drop of water from my flask that had condensed, I proceeded to dig out the core from the cat and then turned my attention to the curshavy corpse. Pushing aside the vegetation and cutting what branches were in the way, I dug around the plant’s base to find the fallen orbs. They were not hidden on purpose, just covered by the process of death and the movement of the branches as time went on.

I took inventory of everything I had gained, a little surprised by the loot from a single battle.

2 x Shadow Cat orbs

1 x Shadow Cat shard

3 x Tarzak orbs

7 x Tarzak shards

1 x Human orb

I stared at the final orb in my hand, turning it over. Human orbs were distinct from the cores and shards found in dungeon creatures. We truly only started forming them once we started journeying into the dungeon. Until then, we basically carried shards in our body, though some of the older – higher-leveled – civilians would eventually form an orb themselves by staying near the vicinity of a dungeon long enough.

There were some key differences between dungeon orbs and human ones. Amongst them were the inner glow and color – most dungeon orbs were a darker shade of the rainbow with a pinprick of light within. Humans – sapiens supposedly – were the opposite, with a lighter shade on the outside and a darker core on the inside.

I’d heard a variety of tall tales about why, from various god blessings and mythical tales about the light permeating slowly to remove the inner darkness that never left man, to more magi-engineering viewpoints of how we created skills. End of the day, none of it mattered to me beyond an easy way to tell what was human and what was not.

Human orbs were not linked – they couldn’t be. Something in the way that they were constructed or formed made linking to them impossible, such that they would shatter during the process and injure the individuals trying at the same time. Most actually faded after a time, becoming nothing more than pretty crystal; mementos of the past.

Some mausoleums specialized in keeping family orbs together, mostly for the rich, of course. It made for a beautiful sight and was quite the marker or prestige, while normal people had a small shrine in their homes. The poorest just utilized the orbs and shards to empower their houses for a short period or traded them in for actual coin, leaving the orbs to be burnt or otherwise utilized.

Whoever had died here, their team – if they had one – had not tried to avenge them. That was the fate of lone delvers, really. To die unseen, unspoken to, consumed by the dungeon. This one had happened long enough ago that there was but only the slightest glimmer in the blue-yellow of its outer surface.

I debated bringing it back with me, but in the end, I just tossed it where I had found it. There were no forensics, no bones in significant size to tell me who it was. The best identifier I had was their equipment, and even that…

A belt knife, not so dissimilar to mine. No maker’s mark, and quite blunted, so I would guess at an apprentice’s work. Nothing worth putting your maker’s mark on, to proudly declare your craftsmanship. The belt and clothing were gone; the armor – pieces of it – had been leather, but most of it was chewed up. The braces and ties were gone for sure, such that I could maybe bring the more intact pieces with me, but leaving me with the question of why. I could earn a few levels that way, but it wouldn’t make sense, not with the way it would slow me down.

The helmet was vaguely useful, but rather rusted, so I left that behind. At least the knife sheath was – mostly – intact, such that I could stuff enough cloth around it to stick the knife within and drop it into my pack and be relatively certain I’d be safe from poking myself by accident.

That left just two other items, both enchanted and magical. I could tell they were magical because touching them made their connection points reach towards me, wishing to be connected. Turning them over, I tried to guess their abilities.

The first was a ring, a dull, tiny ruby-like orb inset in the middle. Oval design, with curling ivy and flowers etched along the sides of the ring itself. Peering closer at it, I gave up on trying to discern its use, though if I had to guess I assumed it was a minor offensive enchantment. Fire, most likely, but there was no guarantee.

The second was interesting, but just as useless. Or so I thought, since I had assumed it was a metal bracelet, until fiddling with the side and clasps enough made me realize it was meant to go around an ankle – or leg – rather than an arm. Multiple shards were inset within, only a couple of them gleaming, the rest dull now. An empowered ankle bracelet of some form, but I could not tell what it did. Protection or movement were my guesses, considering it was built into the leg, but not every crafter followed convention.

Most annoying, that.

There was no way to know how useful they were, and attaching and detaching work from my soul sucked, so I left it alone. Ignoring the discomfort was viable, but no one truly wanted to do it, sort of like willingly listening to someone run their fingers down a chalkboard. Never mind the fact that my soul continued to be abused from everything I had done to it, leaving it just a little more sensitive than ever. Bruised, if not damaged.

No, I pocketed – pouched – the findings and got up. When I returned, we would see if it was worth the trouble, though I could not help but be somewhat grateful that I had found this by my lonesome. No need to share with the team, not when it was entirely my own.

On my feet, healing flooded through the system and a bandage wrapped around my legs to help stem the bleeding and also hold my damn leg armor in place, I was ready as I was going to be to get moving. Once more, into the breach!