Chapter 61: Eleczards (Patreon)

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1GeXRS-LZ4ZQN6ZDnREpCSmNMcl7sqsfcio_V9SClgC8/edit?usp=sharing

--

This is different.

Cayden and Jeremy stood side-by-side just inside the barrier marking the entrance to the dungeon, and Cayden marveled at his surroundings.

You were planning on delving the dungeon solo without even knowing what it was like? Jeremy asked. It was strange, the way they communicated while within Jeremy’s skill. Normal subtext conveyed by tone and body language was mostly gone, but Cayden could feel Jeremy’s emotions leaking through with his statement: incredulity, along with a desire not to offend. Cayden could imagine that, without practice, it would be extremely difficult to lie convincingly within Jeremy’s skill, or to even mislead or hide something. He wasn’t sure how he felt about that.

Elise explained the generalities, and that I shouldn’t be in serious danger. Other than that…I enjoy exploring it for myself. Although, this one is a bit different from what I’m used to.

Jeremy sent the mental equivalent of a shaking head, coupled with a laugh.

Technically, this dungeon wasn’t a ‘cave’ dungeon like the ratling and many other dungeons, but it functioned largely the same from a tactical standpoint. They stood at the entrance to a long, narrow hallway that ran for about one hundred feet before teeing into two new hallways. There didn’t appear to be any elevation change, and the single hallway they stood in was already longer than the entirety of the building that housed the dungeon from the outside, so Cayden assumed there were some dimensional shenanigans going on within the dungeon space. None of that, though, was what made the dungeon especially unusual.

From the moment he’d been old enough to see, Cayden had understood that he’d been transported to a fantasy world. From the various fantastical races of all the adults, to the low level of technology, to the magic that people performed on a daily basis – all of it pointed to this being a stereotypical fantasy world.

Yet the dungeon Cayden stood in was much more reminiscent of something he’d expect to find in a science-fiction book or movie than in any fantasy story.

The hallway was perfectly square, as the ceiling, walls, and floor connected at exact right angles. The material of the hallway looked to be a grey metal that squeaked and clanged after each step, though Cayden didn’t have the experience or knowledge to identify what kind of metal it was. It was entirely uniform, a silvery-grey without embellishments save the small indentations along the ceiling every ten feet that emitted a soft yellow light.

Suddenly, a light formed at the end of the hallway, a ring of yellow about a foot long that ran along the floor, walls, and ceiling. It zipped down the hallway towards them, almost too quickly to track, and in three seconds crossed the hundred feet of space. Cayden’s first instinct was to leap back out of the dungeon, but Jeremy didn’t react to the rapidly approaching light, so Cayden trusted in his teammate’s superior experience with the dungeon and remained where he was.

A second later the light reached his feet, and he regretted that decision.

“Ugh…” he groaned as his entire body flexed from the shock to his system, barely catching himself before dropping to his knees. But just as quickly as it arrived, it was gone, and Cayden stood up straight.

You handled that better than I thought, Jeremy said. It can be quite a shock when you aren’t ready for it.

Cayden looked at Jeremy suspiciously, unsure of whether or not the formine’s pun was intentional, and Jeremy looked back innocently. The shock had been surprising, but Cayden wasn’t sure if he’d actually describe it as painful. Uncomfortable, sure, but it didn’t quite cross the line into true pain, especially if he was ready for it. It reminded him of the shock that a dog collar might give.

The monsters also get a boost whenever the light touches them, Jeremy added. Are you going to be okay?

I’ll be fine. Just a little surprised, Cayden replied. How often do the shocks come?

Every few minutes, but more often as we go further in. There are a few safe spots we can use to wait them out, and we usually try to avoid fighting when one’s coming.

Cayden nodded. He still didn’t think he’d be in serious danger from the unusual dungeon, but perhaps Jeremy was right in that a little more research beforehand might have been wise. It was too late now, though, and he had Jeremy’s support, so after a mental confirmation with his teammate, he stepped forward.

They kept a brisk pace through the hallway. Though the shocks weren’t particularly painful, especially with Cayden’s boosted stats and [Resistance], they weren’t enjoyable either, and the faster they moved the less likely they were to be shocked again before their first monster encounter. They got to the end of the hallway without issue, and after Jeremy confirmed that neither path was better than the other, Cayden arbitrarily chose the right fork.

That’s one of the places we’ll be safe from the shocks, Jeremy said a minute later.

Though Cayden could have easily enough deduced where Jeremy was looking by using the second perspective granted by the skill, it wasn’t necessary. The patch of black about two feet across circling the otherwise monochromatic hallway stood out as something blatantly different, and Cayden paused as they stepped onto it.

“Rubber?” he muttered to himself as he felt the black section of wall. Jeremy gave him a strange look, obviously able to hear Cayden’s voice through the skill, but Cayden just shook his head. This dungeon certainly was strange. He didn’t know when rubber was invented on Earth, but he had yet to see anything like it in this world, which made Cayden curious as to how such a strangely futuristic dungeon like this one came to be.

Ultimately, though, he dismissed it as unimportant, another unsolvable mystery of dungeons that he might mention later to Elise. They waited on the rubber for a few minutes for the next wave of yellow light to pass, and then resumed their trek

Around the next corner, they saw their first monster.

It was a lizard, about four feet long with wickedly sharp teeth and claws and a large frill around its neck. Its skin was a mottled yellow-brown, and when it saw the two adventurers it hissed, the frill rising and making it appear to double in size. On the frill was a strange pattern of stripes and whirls, and Cayden winced after glancing at it.

Attempted mental manipulation from Eleczard.

Cayden frowned at the message. Typically, [Mind is a Temple] would warn him of the skill that was attempting to affect him. Monsters rarely had skills, though, as any magical effects they produced were most often tied directly to their physiology and unable to level. Only the rarest and most dangerous of monsters had system-granted skills, and if this dungeon happened to have one, they needed to retreat and reevaluate immediately.

Cayden looked at the monster and cast [Inspect].

Eleczard, lvl 9.

He breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that when he was targeted by a mental effect separate from a skill, [Mind is a Temple] would just tell him the monster’s name.

I’ll take the lead, he told Jeremy, who unsheathed his sword and replied with a quick mental affirmation.

While Cayden had accepted the necessity of working with a team, there was no way that he was going to let Jeremy have first crack at the new monster. Jeremy had been worried about Cayden delving on his own – it was time for Cayden to prove how little his friend had to worry about his safety.

The eleczard flared its frill again as Cayden charged, which manifested as a sharp pain in Cayden’s temples, but he ignored it with a grunt of anger. The monster would have to do much more than that to elicit any more of a reaction from him.

The eleczard seemed to realize that too, and in a single motion lowered its frill and leaped towards Cayden, the two meeting claw-to-claw in the air.

Cayden wrestled with the overgrown lizard while Jeremy watched, prepared to strike with his sword the instant he saw an opening. But that opening never came. Thirty seconds after they first saw the monster, Cayden pulled out a small experience crystal from the eviscerated monster, leaving what was left of the corpse slowly bleeding out in the middle of the hallway.

…how many sets of armor do you go through in a month? Jeremy asked, and Cayden examined himself through his companion’s eyes. He rubbed at his leather armor with the palm of his hand, attempting to wipe away some of the blood but only succeeding in spreading it further, and after a moment he gave up.

I’ve thought about getting better armor and having Elise enchant it, Cayden replied, and then he shrugged. Never seemed worth it. As it is, I’m more durable than my armor, so better to have something that’s easy to replace.

Makes sense, Jeremy said. Aren’t you worried about heavier-hitting monsters, though? Jeremy smirked as they resumed their walk through the dungeon. I know you’re tough, but you’re not indestructible.

They paused their conversation as they rounded another corner, revealing two more eleczards. Once again, Cayden led the charge toward the monsters with Jeremy following closely on his heels. Both of the eleczards targetted Cayden as the more immediate threat, but Jeremy smoothly stepped forward and stabbed the second monster, drawing its attention away and letting Cayden fight the first monster one versus one.

They defeated these two just as quickly as the first, barely finishing them off before a pulse swept through the hallway, making them flinch from the shock.

You’re probably right, Cayden said after they dug out the two experience crystals and walked a few feet forward to catch their breath on another strip of rubber. I’ve probably been a little spoiled, only delving those dungeons that I know I counter. I suppose that’s not something I’ll be able to do when I join a serious adventuring team.

Yes and no, Jeremy responded, waggling his hand in the air. Almost all teams will carefully vet the dungeons they delve to find ones they counter and can defeat safely. Those teams that don’t usually don’t last very long. But the academy has higher standards – they expect us to be able to respond to a surprise dungeon break, or delve a dungeon that needs clearing that no one else is able to get to, or even to defend the kingdom from opposing nations. All of those require us to fight above our weight class, so that’s how they’ll be training us.

Another pulse of yellow light passed through the dungeon, and they stepped off of the rubber to continue their delve.

How does that training look different from normal adventurer training? Cayden asked as he eviscerated a new eleczard, Jeremy distracting two other eleczards while Cayden finished off the first. After a final slice to the monster’s throat, Cayden joined his friend in slicing through the two others.

I’m not sure, Jeremy responded. I suppose it will involve fighting other students, but beyond that… he shrugged.

They continued to chat about adventuring and the academy as they methodically worked their way through the dungeon. Even as durable as Cayden was compared to the eleczards, it probably wasn’t the safest of strategies, yet Cayden found that there was something immensely satisfying about carrying on a casual conversation while dismantling monster after monster. Jeremy’s skill helped minimize the risk as well, as neither of them needed to speak up or worry about catching their breath while talking, and their increased mind stats further enabled their multitasking.

Only once did a pulse catch them by surprise while they were fighting eleczards, the eleczard in Cayden’s arms doubling in strength and ferocity as Cayden flinched from the shock. The increase only lasted several seconds, though, and even with their increased strength the monsters were unable to seriously harm Cayden. Jeremy was clawed on his forearm, but it was nothing that a weak healing potion wasn’t able to fix.

They didn’t find a boss within the dungeon, just a few eleczards that were a few levels higher than the average, which they managed to defeat without issue. Apparently, the less time a dungeon had between delves, the less likely it was to develop true ‘boss’ monsters, which meant that if Cayden wanted more challenging fights he’d either need to delve up another tier of dungeon or make use of the dungeons reserved for the academy. For today, though, he didn’t mind completing an easy delve.

It was early in the afternoon by the time they finished the dungeon and returned to campus, but despite having just completed a delve, neither of them felt tired. After spending hours talking with Jeremy about all the ways the academy might challenge them in the future, Cayden was eager to push himself forward, and after a quick confirmation with Jeremy, the two boys made their way to an empty training yard for some exercise.

They didn’t have access to the equalizer, unfortunately, but that just meant they had to make up for the lacking quality of exercise with increased quantity. The two adventurers trained for the next six hours until the sun set over the horizon, each other’s presence pushing them to work harder than they ever would have on their own. But regardless of their resolve and competitive spirit, their bodies could only take so much, and they eventually retired to the cafeteria for quick, yet hearty, meals before stumbling back to their respective dorms.

Cayden barely had the energy to shower after such a long day, but he refused to get into his bed as disgustingly blood- and dirt-encrusted as he was. He stumbled into his shower, and then eventually, clean and full, he fell into his bed with a satisfied smile on his face, his worries of the previous day all but forgotten.

Previous Chapter -- Next Chapter