Chapter 213 (Rank 8, 1) (Patreon)

“Is everyone ready? All equipment, rations, potions accounted for?” Alistair called out, looking over the group arranged before him.

At the voiced affirmatives, Alistair continued, “anyone need to run to the bathroom? Grab a snack?”

“We’re good, mom!” Anya teased with a wolfish grin.

“You shouldn’t be talking. Remind who it was last semester who got ten minutes into a dungeon before she needed to find a private little corner?” Alistair asked the wolf girl with a smirk. Anya wasn’t one to be easily embarrassed, and her grin only widened.

“I have an excitable bladder. What can I say?” Anya shot back.

“You have an excitable everything,” Liliana corrected with an easy smile. Far too easy, so easy to fake, to pretend, to laugh, to make her eyes light up, to make her lips split in exactly the correct amount, to leave her body loose and relaxed even when it felt like there were threats all around.

Liliana looked to Emyr, who held her gaze for a moment and she took in a breath. She wasn’t alone. Never alone, never again.

Gods, she’d have to fight with her friends again. She’d have to run into danger with people she no longer knew if she could trust to watch her back. This was a terrible idea. But she couldn’t back out. Not now. That would be far too suspicious, and they couldn’t do anything abnormal. They couldn’t chance the traitor becoming suspicious, not until they knew. They’d be left too vulnerable. Right now they were playing a game where they couldn’t see half the board. If they messed up, if she messed up, they’d lose even that small bit of advantage.

Liliana felt steel filling her spine. She had to do this. She had her task. It was so simple. Just act like normal. Like she didn’t know one of her friends had already betrayed her, betrayed all of them. Like one of her friends was right this second, possibly planning to slip a blade into her back.

“Don’t worry, Lili. We might not have Mari, but we’ve managed without her before.” Diana murmured as she sidled up closer to Liliana.

Almost instantly, she felt herself relaxing next to the other girl. Diana always had this air about her that was just soothing to be around. She never caused drama, or started arguments, and often when Liliana felt overwhelmed by her more vivacious friends, she’d find herself sitting with Diana in the library, or in her dorm room just existing. Not talking, or debating, or discussing anything. Just reading at the same time or working on their homework, not even speaking for hours.

“What gave me away?” Liliana asked wryly, mentally going over her mask. Where had she slipped up? She was certain she’d performed everything perfectly.

“You’re keeping your hand on the dagger at your hip. You only do that when you’re nervous,” Diana pointed out and Liliana blinked, immediately dropping her left hand. How irritating, she didn’t realize she had that tell. Which was dangerous. She wasn’t paying enough attention.

“It’s alright, I doubt anyone else noticed. You tend to grab your weapons for a lot of reasons,” Diana comforted her.

“Its just all this stress from the assignments. I keep expecting more bad things to happen because they keep happening.” Liliana covered her slip up easily. After all, she had ample reason for nerves and stress that had nothing to do with a traitor.

She’d been acting jumpy and irritable all term because of the increased frequency of distress beacons. All of them were unsettled as a result. Part of the reason for the dungeon was for it to be a stress reliever. Nothing calmed the nerves quite like violence.

Diana leaned towards her, voice dropping into a whisper. “If you only look for the worst, you’ll always find it, Lili. That’s why you should look for the positives. They tend to pop up when you’re looking for them, too.” Diana smiled up at her, cornflower blue eyes bright and happy.

“Why, just today I saw the most beautiful flower. It was a deep, jewel blue. Exactly like your eyes.” Diana continued and her smile widened.

Liliana shook her head, a fond not fake smile slipping onto her face, “I doubt a flower is going to improve my mood, Di.” Yet, despite her words, Liliana could feel her body truly relaxing, some of the stress slipping free.

“Well, you’ll never know if you don’t try, now will you?” Diana challenged, and Liliana snorted out a small laugh.

“I can’t argue with that,” Liliana confessed, and was rewarded with a dazzling display of pearly white teeth and sparkling blue eyes.

“Of course not. I am rather logical, I’ll have you know.” Diana informed her, affecting an almost perfectly posh accent to her words. She’d spent far too much time around nobles. They were infecting her.

“You’re something, that’s for sure.” Liliana teased. Diana stuck her tongue out at her playfully, but they settled down when Alistair called for them to enter the dungeon.

Diana fell back and Liliana approached the front, falling in slightly behind and to the right of Alistair. She always ran vanguard in dungeons. She was the most proficient physical fighter they had. Anya was on Alistair’s left, as the only other one of the group that could reasonably tank she had to stay near the front, in case Alistair needed help managing the aggro he drew. Koth’talan took the rearguard position, and that left Diana, Emyr and Corbin in the center, as both their long and wide range damage dealers, and their support.

They had a well-balanced team. Seven people were within the recommended party size and they had a good range of class types. Most importantly, they had a tank, physical damage dealers, magical damage dealers and support which were all necessary for dungeons. Miss any of those and your party was doomed to fail, if you were lucky. Death was more likely.

Alistair handed off their time slot allocation to the guards at the entrance to the dungeon. They’d be down there for sixteen hours, not as long as they wanted, but getting permission for full or multiple days was difficult even for fourth years. Though it had been hinted that for their final exam, they’d be dropped in a dungeon for an entire week.

As they passed through the ornate gate that marked the entrance to this dungeon, Liliana summoned her swords. They likely wouldn’t run into anything for at least twenty minutes, but occasionally dungeons would throw something out almost instantly.

“What’s this dungeons theme, again?” Corbin asked after several minutes of silence as they walked through what could be a castle, dungeons had the most interesting interior decorating habits. There were skulls hung on the wall, fire in their mouths that lit the path, and other skeletal decor scattered about.

“Man-eaters,” Alistair responded, frowning at a sculpture made of bones coated in something red that Liliana hoped wasn’t blood.

“Redcaps should be our first encounters,” Liliana chimed in, partially in warning.

Redcaps were swarming creatures about the size of goblins, but far more vicious. They attacked in packs of no smaller than thirty at a time, using bones as their weapons. They had razor sharp teeth that they wouldn’t hesitate to use to strip flesh from the body.

“Sometimes, I miss the bug dungeon from first and second year,” Corbin whined and Liliana shuddered in memory.

The centipede and millipede like creatures had haunted her nightmares for months, and then when they got further in, they’d discovered a colony of Arachnelines, which were giant spiders with the top part of felines. They were vicious ambush predators, and while Liliana was not afraid of them, Marianne had nearly broken down multiple times. Liliana would’ve considered bonding one if her friend hadn’t threatened mutilation if she even tried.

“Rumor is the boss is a Manticore, so do with that what you will.” Liliana tossed in, and Corbin made a despairing noise.

“After the Redcaps, we should see Kappas, then Bauks and Minotaurs.” Liliana continued, ignoring Corbin, who seemed to be having a moment.

There was a reason this specific dungeon was restricted to fourth years only, and even then one had to get special permission from a professor to enter it. Many beasts would target humans, if given a chance, as any opportunistic predator would. But few preyed exclusively on humans. The creatures in this dungeon were the kind that would seek out humans to hunt, even ignoring other prey in favor of humans.

“Vampires?” Emyr asked, and Liliana frowned, thinking. They hadn’t gone further than the Minotaur boss before, and she knew there were at least twenty levels in this dungeon.

“Possibly, after the Minotaurs, they’re man-eaters too, exclusively living off human blood and Mana.” Liliana said slowly.

Much like Werewolves in this world were not the same as the myths from Earth, Vampires differed, too. They were vaguely humanoid, but they had extra joints in each of their fingers, and long, needle like claws and teeth. Their limbs were longer than a human’s too, and they were as pale as corpses. They had a type of natural allure, and supernaturally beautiful faces used to draw in prey. They were technically related to Sirens and Lamias both, but distantly.

This dungeon, unlike ones of lower ranks, stuck to a more fluid theme rather than an element. Redcaps were Water, Life, Earth and Blood creatures. Kappas were Water, Earth, Dark, Muck and sometimes Acid creatures. Bauks were Dark, Earth, Soul, Shadow and Control creatures. Minotaurs could be Earth or Fire, Light or Wind, with Sand, Lava or Crystal. Since the creatures varied so much, having multiple affinities in a group was essential to making it through, as this dungeon demanded adaptability.

Liliana paused, and around her the others froze. Her eyes narrowed as she heard a sound again, like claws on stone. [Bestial Instincts] was shivering and [Perception] was sending anxious waves through her.

“Redcaps, at the edge of my range for [Perception].” Liliana warned. The group immediately closed ranks, all hints of joviality gone as they started walking again.

They were all staying quiet, stretching their senses as far as they could now that they knew a threat was imminent. Liliana’s blades swirled around their heads as she looked around the dark corners, where the light of the fires didn’t reach.

The sound of claws on stone got closer and Liliana shot Alistair a look. He nodded, and his skin started to glow as he walked. Others began to activate skills, and Liliana let her own wash over her.

[Radiant Rhythm] breathed power into the area around her, settling onto her skin and on those around her until there was a subtle sparkle on them all. [Dance of The Zephyr] made her steps lighter as the urge to move filled her. [Dance Of The Heaven’s Domain] shimmered in the surrounding air. As more and more skills and spells stacked Liliana could feel the power and strength humming below her skin, the magic making her practically shine as she moved.

“Incoming,” Liliana warned, as the scratching and skittering reached a new peak. She could hear a chittering noise, interspersed with words as her boon tried to translate, but it seemed the Redcaps were mostly making noise to make noise, not to communicate.

“Positions,” Alistair called out, and Liliana slipped to his side and stepped back, waiting for the first wave to hit and for Alistair to grab their attention before she entered the fray.

With swarm creatures it was more important than ever to ensure the tank grabbed the aggro, otherwise she’d risk being torn to shreds. Alistair could handle being swarmed with his defensive skills and seemingly bottomless Health. She couldn’t.

Ahead of them the hallway turned sharply and as the sounds of the Recaps approached, echoing through the wide halls and vaulted roof, Liliana could feel anticipation and fear thick in the air. The first Redcap appeared around the corner, looking like some demented garden gnome, its bloody cap dripping viscous red liquid over its face. Seeing them, it let out a high-pitched screeching cry, showing off its long, fanged teeth. Its screech was echoed by many voices, the sound bouncing and building to a crescendo around them, setting Liliana’s teeth on edge.

“Hold,” Alistair called out as the Recaps poured towards them.

Red Cap

Age: 2

Level: 197

Creatures with a vicious and all-encompassing hunger for human flesh. Their favorite prey are children, luring them into forests to consume. They are known to keep their prey alive for days at a time, slowly eating them alive.

Rank: 4

Health: 2,500

Mana: 4,300

Stamina: 14,590

Highest Affinity: Earth 74%

Highest Stat: Endurance 1,459

Liliana dismissed the window in front of her, not surprised by what she saw. Swarm creatures rarely had high Health as a rule, usually it was their Mana or Endurance that was high as compensation. Most commonly, Endurance as swarm creatures liked to exhaust their prey.

As the Redcaps got within range, Alistair let out a booming shout. Liliana could see the wave of it crash into the Redcaps, stunning the swarm for a moment before it whipped them into a frenzy. Screeches filled the air as the entire horde of them focused on Alistair, murder in their beady little eyes. The rest of them might as well have been invisible, for all the Redcaps noticed them.

The wave of Redcaps crashed onto Alistair, hitting a nearly invisible wall that lit up brightly each time one of them struck it. They were scrambling over each other, wailing on the wall. Their second highest stat must be Strength, because Liliana could hear the impacts, a dull boom like muted thunder that echoed through the dungeon.

“Melee fighters,” Alistair called out, and Liliana moved.

She could hear Anya whooping as she dived in, could see small bodies flying in her peripherals, but she kept her focus on her own side of the fight. Her blades cut swathes through the Redcaps, sheering through distracted bodies like butter as they shone in the light. Liliana waded into the thick of it, her naginata a spinning blur around her as she left Redcaps bleeding, broken or dead in her wake.

“Mages,” Alistair called out next as his first shield shattered into a haze of glittering light. Another shout sent a rippled through the Redcaps, refocusing some of the attention he’d lost when Anya and Liliana had started to attack.

Earth shook and stones rained down from above, shadows snapping and grabbing and tearing. Liliana dodged around attacks from their mages as a haunting melody began to fill the air. She could feel her hits striking with more power, cleaving Redcaps in half with each stroke of her blades.

She sheared her way through the Recaps and turned when there were no more in front of her to kill. Behind her there were only stragglers left, Anya happily pounding them into the ground while Alistair stood tall, retaining their focus. Diana was directing bricks through small clusters and Emyr was ripping them to shreds with some odd, blender-like shadow construct. Koth’talan was swiping through several Redcaps that had managed to circle their group easily enough.

Liliana rejoined the fight, and together they quickly dispatched the remaining Redcaps.

“That was easy,” Corbin remarked when the last Redcap was dealt with, poking a sharp toothed head with his boot.

“Swarm creatures are generally rather weak. They’re dangerous if you’re alone, but in a group with a good tank, they’re easy. You could easily kill an entire colony of Redcaps with one good tank and a strong fighter or mage.” Liliana said with a shrug. Redcaps were terrifying creatures, but only if you faced them alone, as their swarms were so large, it was easy to get overwhelmed. But if you took away that single advantage, they were nothing more than vermin.

“The biggest danger for a group like ours is if they manage to surprise us before I can get their aggro,” Alistair added in as he pulled out a skinning knife.

The only thing useful from Redcaps was their core, which could be sold for several gold a piece. From a dungeon or not, there was always someone who would pay for Redcap cores, if only to continue to incentivize adventurers to kill them. Their tendency to hunt and kill children made them almost universally despised.

Liliana started to rip cores out of Redcaps. “Kappas are similar, but more dangerous as they prefer water hunting, which makes it harder to see them before they strike.” Liliana continued in a conversational tone as she completed her bloody task, immune to the gore around her by now.

She’d killed and skinned too many things to be so easily disgusted. Sometimes she wondered when she’d lost that bit of innocence, and could never think of a specific day where the overwhelming scent and taste of copper coating her had stopped making her stomach roil.

“I almost wish we’d convinced Jasper to join us. Water creatures are so easy with him,” Diana sighed wistfully. She grimaced at the Redcap she was taking a core from, going green. Liliana shooed her away.

Diana still struggled with dressing kills, even if killing most things had become easier. As long as they didn’t look too human. The vampires, if they were in this dungeon and if they reached them, would likely be difficult for her.

“But where’s the fun in that?” Anya asked, not even using a knife to get the core out of her Redcaps, just shoving her hands into their chests and pulling the cores out.

“Were you dropped on your head as a child, and that’s why ‘dangerous’ and ‘fun’ are synonymous words for you?” Corbin asked Anya, looking at her with interest. Anya stuck her tongue out at the bird beastman and threw a mangled corpse at him.

Corbin squawked, scrambling away. “You almost got guts on my clothes! Do you know how hard it is to get blood out of clothing?” He demanded, quickly brushing over his clothes with panicked hands as he looked for a single speck of blood or viscera on him.

“Lili actually has this potion she made that gets blood out of clothes, she supplies it to me often since it impossible to avoid in dungeons, I’ve found it even gets it out of silk,” Emyr said as he wandered over to Corbin, for a moment forgetting his animosity in favor of one of his favorite topics, clothing.

Liliana and Alistair shared a look, lips quirking up in amusement. Both of them liked to dress well, but didn’t truly care that much about cloths, cuts and specific embroidery patterns used. Emyr, however, could write an entire dissertation on different types of cloths alone.

Liliana had, at one time, thought Alistair would know everything there was to know about fashion. He often liked to dress up, and could at times resemble a peacock given human form. She’d only found out later that it was a result of Emyr, who was obsessed with fashion. He picked out almost all of Alistair’s clothes, and because wearing them made Emyr happy, Alistair would dress up.

At this point most of her own wardrobe was from Emyr, who would every few months drag her and Alistair out to go clothes shopping and force them to stand for hours in some tailor’s shop while Emyr held long, and occasionally heated, discussions with the tailors.

She and Alistair had picked up some things through sheer proximity, but she still wasn’t sure what the difference between Gadrian and Alfein silk was, really. She’d asked Emyr, once, and never would again. His obsession with clothing was similar to her fascination with beasts, though, so she could understand in an abstract way.

It paired nicely with his enchanting, as he could imbue clothes with different properties, and it was one of his many projects, though his personal sewing ability left much to be desired. Liliana still wasn’t sure if the thing he’d given her was a scarf or a cloak, or a very odd shirt.

“Everyone ready?” Alistair asked when it looked like most of the Recaps had been separated from their cores.

Liliana cast a quick [Cleanse] to remove the blood coating her hands and arms like long gloves, sighing when the sticky sensation was gone. Various sounds of assent were heard and Alistair nodded, waving them on to continue deeper into the dungeon.

AN: Thank you all for your patience with me. I know this isn't fun, to have to wait while I recover. Sadly there isn't much I can do to force myself, as whenever I do it makes everything so much worse than if I had just been sensible and let myself heal. But the support an patience truly means the world to me.