Advent of Eternity - Chapter 60 (Patreon)

He tested his bad leg and immediately regretted it as a jolt of agony rocked up his body. Knell cursed, throwing his weight back onto his staff. That was one thing that leveling up wasn’t improving in the slightest.

“Are you okay? Did the assassin get you?” Stix asked, stepping toward Knell to try and help him stand.

“I’m fine,” Knell said, raising a hand. “Don’t worry. The wound isn’t that bad. It should be healed in a day or two. Let’s just return to the ship.”

The others nodded, and they headed out of the dungeon. Everyone was silent, and their eyes scoured every corner and shadow on the way back. Knell doubted he’d find anything waiting within them, but that didn’t stop him from checking.

They made it back without incidence. Knell wordlessly directed them all to the captain’s cabin and closed the door immediately after the others had entered. The room was much to small for all of them to fit – which was exactly his intention.

“Why – oh! You chose a small space so the assassin doesn’t have room to show up?” Stix guessed.

“Exactly,” Knell said. “We don’t know if they’re listening, but it’ll be very difficult to launch any sort of attack in such close quarters. Unfortunately, we don’t really have a way to find out if someone is near, so just assume we’re under watch constantly.”

“How are we supposed to do anything, then?” Stix asked. “Do we stick together constantly?”

“For now,” Knell said, grimacing. “I don’t like it much either. Cyll is the only one that can go anywhere on his own, for obvious reasons.”

“I’m that cool,” Cyll said. “So, what now? Do we hide?”

“Absolutely not,” Knell replied. “Stix will sleep in the cabin with me. You will steer the ship. I will remain in the cabin when we are not at sea, to ensure the assassin cannot pick any of us off.”

“And our goal?”

“Another dungeon.” Knell shrugged. “Our plans cannot be interrupted now. Mount Bloodwater will open soon, and we will be there. Thus, we must grow stronger. Another dungeon will do much for us, but I don’t think we’ll have time for more than that. Let’s search along the coastline.”

“What about the assassin?” Cyll asked. “Won’t it be really dangerous to do anything with them watching us?”

Knell shrugged. “While we’re in a dungeon, we’ll simply adapt a new tactic. If I’m prepared, the assassin shouldn’t be able to sneak up on us. Life must go on. Danger will always lurk, but we cannot stagnate.”

“Whatever you say, Cap,” Cyll said. “I’ll get the ship moving, then. You and Stix staying here?”

Knell nodded. “Once we’re asea, it’ll be a little safer. For now, we shall remain here. I have much to meditate over, anyway. Perhaps I will be able to gain more strength before we arrive at the next dungeon.”

“Fah,” Cyll scoffed. “Meditation. So lame.”

He walked out of the cabin, closing the door quickly behind him to make sure nobody invisible could slip in behind him. Stix turned her eyes from the door to Knell.

“Uh, what do I do?”

“Whatever you want to,” Knell replied dryly. “As long as you remain within the cabin. It’s safer here than outside, and I can’t constantly keep you and myself alive. Even I’ll need someone to take watch while I rest and meditate.”

Stix sighed. “What about sleeping? There’s only one bed.”

“You can use it. I don’t need a bed to meditate,” Knell replied, sitting against the wall and laying his staff across his lap. “Keep watch until I finish. Then you may sleep.”

***

The next day of their journey went without trouble. Cyll manned the boat from above deck while Knell and Stix remained within the cabin. Knell spent most of the time lost in meditation, focusing on pushing every part of himself to its limits. If there was power he could squeeze out, then he would get it.

Of the assassin, there were no signs. They spotted another dungeon along the coast toward the end of the day and docked the boat, cautiously making their way over to it. The tower above the dungeon was the tallest they’d seen yet – although it wasn’t by much. The stone stood just a little taller than a large house, its old bronze and silver murals faded with time.

“Well, this looks promising,” Knell said, standing beside the dungeon marker and peering into the entrance – a wide, cavernous hole lit by dim torches. Unlike the previous dungeons they’d been to, he could actually see the door to the first room only a short distance away from them.

“That is strange,” Stix muttered. “Weren’t all the other ones kind of a pain to go through? With a bunch of rooms and long hallways?”

“Looks like a challenge dungeon,” Cyll said, studying the murals on the stone pillar.

“How’s that different from a normal dungeon?” Knell asked.

Cyll’s eyebrows raised. “Aren’t you supposed to know everything?”

“I’m a tactician, not a scholar,” Knell said dryly. “I study when I can, but much of my work is the art of strategy. I have not studied every single type of dungeon in existence.”

“Fair enough,” Cyll said, shrugging. “They’re nothing special, really. I don’t even think challenge dungeons is a title, it’s just what I used to call ‘em. They’re single room dungeons with less enemies but a much harder boss.”

“What’s the point of that?” Stix asked.

“What’s the point of any dungeon?” Cyll countered. “The gods only made them to screw with mortals or, if you believe what they say, to ‘push us all to be better’. However you frame it, there’s no real logic that went into them.”

“Interesting,” Knell said. “Is there anything else we should know about this type of dungeon? Just how much stronger is it?”

“About twice the strength of the equivalent boss in a normal dungeon,” Cyll said, rubbing his chin. “This pillar is a few feet taller than the one that the Wyvern had above it, so the boss will probably be about two times stronger than that.”

“And there’s nothing else?”

“Shouldn’t be, but I don’t know. Maybe they changed something, or maybe this isn’t a challenge dungeon at all,” Cyll said. “Do you really trust the gods not to ruin something that worked perfectly well?”

“No,” Knell replied. “Not in the slightest.”