Lewd Dungeon, Chapter 411 (Patreon)

Chapter 411 – The Other Side

“We managed to get three barrels of [Cursewater] while crossing the lake, Master,” Elia said, once they landed on the far side of the lake that was the final area of the 16th floor of the dungeon.

Rhys smiled. [Cursewater] was not particularly useful for most people, in its raw form. Yes, it could give a random curse to anyone who touched or drank it, most people knew better than to drink oily black water, and you needed to drink it to have a chance at any of the more effective curses. However, [Cursewater] was highly sought after by Tier 2 Alchemists, as it provided a potent base for several drugs, poisons, and toxins. More importantly, it could be added to [Cursebreak Potions] to upgrade them to [Tier 2 Cursebreak Potions], if you had the right equipment. The normal recipe for a [Tier 2 Cursebreak Potion] required far more expensive materials, so no alchemist turned down a chance to get [Cursewater], if they could.

Of course, the reason the main recipe for [Tier 2 Cursebreak Potions] existed was because naturally occurring stores of [Cursewater] were exceedingly rare. They could only be found in areas infested with undead, and [Cursewater] strengthened the undead, which also made it useful for necromancers and sapient undead creatures, who did not like others tapping into their supply. To say nothing of the feral or mindless undead infesting the area.

It was possible to make [Cursewater], of course. However, doing so required either powerful magic or expensive ingredients, which somewhat negated the cost savings of using [Cursewater] instead of the normal recipe. This meant that dungeons which had [Cursewater] were extremely valuable. The only reason more adventurers weren’t diving this dungeon was because Earth’s alchemists didn’t know about the properties of [Cursewater], yet. Even selling the [Cursewater] to the System Shop would net a team a tidy profit, if they could bring it out of the dungeon safely.

Naturally, collecting [Cursewater], even in the relative safety of a dungeon, was not something you could easily or safely collect under normal conditions. You could not simply dip a barrel into the water and then haul it back up again, not unless you waited for the outside of the barrel to dry before touching it. And using Water Magic to collect the [Cursewater] altered its properties, ruining it. If you wanted to collect [Cursewater], you needed either special gear, or special skills.

Thankfully, the Master Survivalist’s [Magical Resource Collection] skill was one of those special skills. An upgrade from the Tier 1 Survivalist skill [Resource Collection], [Magical Resource Collection] allowed the user to harvest magical resources without suffering magical ill effects from contacting them. Trying to harvest something like Fey Lava would still burn your flesh if you didn’t have proper protections, but you would not suffer the magical Manamelt effect that burned your MP, permanently reducing it until you found a way to reverse the effects. And you could touch trace amounts of [Cursewater] on the outside of collection equipment without suffering the effects.

Other ‘survival’ or ‘gathering’ professions had similar skills, offering better efficiency and protection in return for a reduced scope. Miners with [Hazard Miner] would find immunity to the magical or mundane radiation that some ores and minerals produced while they were collecting and transporting materials. Herbalists with [Careful Hands] did not need to worry about the spines, poisons, or other problems inherent in harvesting some magical plants. Such protections weren’t limited to gathering professions, either. Even the Scholar had [Protected Research], allowing them to better resist the effects of works that invoked curses on the readers, or whose very nature could cause madness just by exposure to them.

These protections were not perfect, of course. Especially not in Tier 1. They kept incidental contact from causing trouble, not prolonged contact. And the effectiveness went down against higher-Tier materials, unless you purchased the higher-Tier skills. However, there were few survival or gathering professions that ignored the benefits of these skills.

Rhys nodded to Elia as he broke that train of thought. There would be time for such things later, when they were out of the dungeon. “Good. The local Alchemists don’t know the full value of [Cursewater], yet. I know we shared the basics with the local Guild, in return for the information about the dungeon, but the local market is still soft. We head back to Bluemountain, though, and those barrels will each be worth their weight in gp.”

The dungeon portals were right where they expected them to be. Blue to go forward, orange to go back to the surface. Simple, easy, and impossible to mistake. A kindness the Demon of the Dungeon did not need to show.

Notice:

The following floors are set so that dungeon creatures do not acknowledge the outside world. You may need to play different roles to advance through these floors. Your decisions will be remembered in future delves.

As expected, there was a notice from the Dungeon as they stepped through, into another dark cave. This was the start of the floor that they were supposed to test, if the Guild’s guesses about their employer’s identity were true. Finding the sword that was the actual objective of their quest would come on the next floor, but they had to make it through this floor, first, or they’d never get to their objective in the first place.

As expected, there were signs of where to go from here. Two messages appeared on the walls, written in glowing, glittering script that appeared in both normal sight and darkvision. Two messages, with very different words, and different audiences.

Tired of scratching for scraps in the dark?

Return to your Masters in Khav-Szarol!

Slaves who submit willingly will be fed well and cared for.

Slaves who are captured will be punished.

Slave Traders, Merchants, and Hunters welcome.

The first was the one that every group of Adventurers so far had followed. Even those who did not have a Slave Master or slave owners in their group followed the signs to Khav-Szarol, because that was the established path. Everyone knew what was there, and what was offered. Once a path was found, most people followed it, until circumstances changed. Diving a dungeon was dangerous enough without going into the unknown.

Those who have slipped their chains, take heed!

Shatterchain welcomes all those who would live free,

even in this dark place, rather than bow to others.

Come, brothers, and join us.

The way is marked, so that your Masters cannot see.

The second message, however, was the one they needed to follow. No one had seen Shatterchain. Everyone assumed it was real, since the Dungeon referenced it several times, and the dungeon creatures believed it was there, but no one had actually ventured out to see it. Doing that was far too dangerous. Once you were established as being on the side of Khav-Szarol, the denizens of Shatterchain attacked you on sight. And everyone knew that trying to fight them in their home would be a fancy way of committing suicide.

The path was indeed marked. Symbols helped guide them through the caves. They didn’t help with fighting the monsters they came across, naturally, but they helped with navigation, at least.

Fortunately, the monsters were mostly of the plant and animal varieties, offering a healthy supply of cooking ingredients. Apparently, the ‘story’ of the floor was that there were two outposts, one managed by slavers and slave hunters, catching runaway slaves and keeping them from organizing, and the other side was slaves trying to get more people out of the city on the next floor, and form a resistance. The ingredients from the plants and animals helped sustain Shatterchain, since they could not rely on shipments of food, and materials gathered helped to make and repair equipment.

That was what the Adventurers Guild had surmised, at any rate. The only information they had was from the Khav-Szarol side, after all. There might have been supply lines running from Shatterchain to the city, just like there were convoys of escaped slaves who managed to try and find their way to freedom. Not likely, given the nature of the story being told, but possible.

“I see light up ahead,” whispered Danyll from where she was guiding the party through the caves. The Shadowblade and Master Assassin was not the best wilderness guide in the world, but she was better at stealth and in the shadows than Elia, who was more at home in the woods. Plus, Elia’s best work in the wilds was when she transformed into beasts, and they knew that hunters were in the caves. A scouting beast might be seen as prey, while a person would be observed, with a possible ambush laid out. And that was easier to survive, or talk one’s way out of, than a hunter using stacked skills to ensure a clean kill.

“Let us know when you spot guards,” Rhys whispered back. There would be guards. You didn’t just simply not guard the ‘secret entrance’ to a stronghold designed to hide escaped slaves from their masters. There would be some kind of defense that made simply crushing the stronghold difficult, if not impossible.

That was the way the floor had been set up, according to those who had gone through the Khav-Szarol side. The people in charge of Khav-Szarol decided that it was cheaper and more effective to have a place like Shatterchain exist, so that malcontents and problematic troublemakers could naturally drift there. Restrict their hunting to keep them ill-supplied and weak, and they were a manageable nuisance, which helped keep any real trouble from breaking out in the city. Shatterchain was a release valve to keep the city quiet.

However, a release valve only worked if you managed the flow. Otherwise, it was just the beginning of a failing dam. If Shatterchain was allowed to get too powerful, then it went from a release valve to a threat. Which was why the Khav-Szarol side avoided any attempts at fully wiping out Shatterchain, but didn’t just leave them be.

Danyll held up a hand, signaling a stop. Technically, as a Thrall, Danyll couldn’t command Rhys, but the writings of Lord Kuronoth were clear. Only a fool allows pride to get in the way of competence. A smart Master, especially one who was an Adventurer, recruited members to fill different roles. To not allow one’s servants to fulfill their roles because of pride marked one as a bad Master, and ensured that, sooner or later, they would fall.

Looking past the rogue, Rhys saw a large, empty cavern. Perhaps forty meters on a side, and ten high. No obstacles to offer cover or concealment. Elia touched his shoulder, and pointed to the ceiling. There were holes, regularly spaced in the ceiling. Too few, and angled wrongly for archers. but plenty for dropping something unpleasant on an attacking force. Another set of holes, this time in the top of the arch looked distinctly unhealthy. No doubt it would allow bars to slam shut over the entrance.

That brought the size and shape of the room into focus. Anyone hoping to take Shatterchain would need to force the gate. This room was designed to ensure that an enemy could advance, and begin gathering forces. All the better to bombard them with toxic gas or other unpleasantness. And the barred gate behind would keep them from being able to escape. A surprisingly competent warding scheme, all told. Simple and low-tech, hard to overwhelm or cheat, and deadly to anyone who didn’t know enough to prepare.

Four shadows melted out of the shadows along the wall as we approached. Two High Humans, a High Knelfi, and a High Fimaazro. All three dressed in mismatched armor made of hides and chitin, with weapons that used bone instead of metal or wood, for the most part. The leader, a level 30 High Human Fighter / Gladiator, looked at  them, and said, “Who comes to Shatterchain?”