Rise of the Living Forge

Chapter 113: Journeyman Dungeon 2 Electric Boogaloo

Arwin finished Rodrick’s temporary greaves in just under four hours. They weren’t anything special, but that also meant he’d have less gear he’d have to try to hide from Olive. Just because they were traveling with her didn’t mean they wanted to reveal just how powerful their equipment was.

After Rodrick donned his new greaves, the group set off. Lillia threw a cloak on as they left, pulling it low to cover her features. Together with that and the darkness that followed her, she was basically a walking shadow at the side of their party. If Olive had any questions as to what was up with her, she didn’t voice them.

The trip to the dungeon only took a few hours. It was in the exact opposite direction of the other one they’d been going to, and the road over to it was considerably more populated. A portion of that may have been due to the fact that there was actually a road, but Arwin digressed.

Most of the people traveling alongside – or in the opposite direction – to them were clearly adventurers. They wore battle-worn armor and carried a variety of weapons. Arwin couldn’t help but notice that he didn’t spot a single magical piece of gear.

That wasn’t really all that telling. He suspected that most people strong enough to have a piece of magical equipment were also strong enough to conceal its attributes. Nobody was going to be walking around and advertising their equipment unless they were either unbelievably powerful or an idiot.

And, judging by how we’re out in the middle of nowhere at the edges of the kingdom, I’m leaning toward the latter.

They arrived at the entrance to the dungeon without any difficulties. It was completely unlike the dungeon that they’d been clearing over the past days. An enormous pile of stone rose up to form a cave with a path that led deep beneath the ground. It was wide enough for ten or fifteen people to enter it at once without feeling too constrained and equally as tall.

A small line had built up at the start, where several men in matching green armor stood by the entrance, collecting money from the people entering and guiding their passage.

Arwin’s group entered the line and settled in to wait. The line wasn’t exactly moving quickly, but there was a steady flow of adventurers heading in and out of the dungeon. It didn’t look like they’d have to wait long.

“Just pay them the ten gold per person. Our group is big enough that they should just let us through when it’s our turn,” Olive said. She hesitated for a second but didn’t add anything else.

The line continued to move forward and it wasn’t long until the six of them were at the front. Beckoning them over, the lead guard held out his hand. He was locked in a conversation with another one of the guards and barely even seemed aware of their presence.

“50 gold,” he said absent-mindedly. “If you can’t pay, you can’t enter. No, I don’t care how long you waited. It doesn’t matter what guild you’re a part of either. Pay or leave.”

It sounded like he’d made that particular speech more than once before. Arwin took the coins out from his bag and handed them over. Between his sales and the money Olive had just brought him, he was more than good for it. The guard turned his attention to them as he realized that they were actually customers.

“Haven’t seen you round here before,” the guard said, looking Arwin up and down. “Do you know much about the dungeon?”

“No,” Arwin replied. “Care to enlighten me?”

“If it means you come back a second time, I’d be happy to,” the guard said with a chuckle. “This dungeon is pretty deep. It’s Journeyman level, but I’d assume you already know that. I wouldn’t recommend trying to pass beyond the tenth room. Our guild has only vetted the first ten rooms to be appropriate for normal adventurers. After that, it’s on you. There’s probably some form of spider matriarch deeper in the dungeon, because we’ve had a whole lot of spiders as of late. Sorry if you aren’t a fan, but no refunds.”

“I think we’ll live,” Arwin said dryly. “Anything else?”

“Yeah. Don’t bother the other teams if you run into one. We do our best to put you on different paths, but it occasionally happens. Whoever starts the fight finishes it. No stealing kills or loot. Just backtrack and choose a different path.”

The rules seemed respectable as far as Arwin could tell. He’d never been in a dungeon where other adventurers were liable to try and take anything he was fighting. If it was a rule, it meant it had happened at some point before.

I wonder if that’s a common occurrence.

“Noted. Thank you,” Arwin said.

“One last thing. Are you with a guild?” the guard asked. “It doesn’t change anything. It’s just for logistics in case you go missing. We don’t really care who you are, but guilds sometimes come knocking if their people die down there and it’s nice to be able to say if they actually entered or not.”

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“No,” Arwin replied. “We are not.”

Not officially, at least. Maybe next time.

“Sounds good. Feel free to head on in. You’ll be in the rightmost passageway. Don’t enter the other ones. Teams are already heading down those and you’re not going to find anything left to do.”

Arwin nodded his thanks and started into the dungeons. The others followed behind him, but they didn’t make it more than a few steps before the guard spoke again.

“Oi, hold on,” he barked. “Where are you going?”

Arwin turned, his brow furrowing in confusion, but the guard was looking at Olive rather than him.

“She’s with us,” Arwin said.

“She – seriously?” the guard let out a snort of derision. “Finally found a set of people to convince to drag you along, did you? That’s 10 more gold if she’s coming.”

Arwin shrugged and counted out the extra money, handing it over to the guard. He looked down at the coins, then blinked. It seemed he hadn’t expected Arwin to actually pay out.

“Well, carry on, all of you. I thought one-arm was trying to sneak in again.”

A few of the other people in line chuckled, but nobody said anything else as they set back off. Olive had clearly tried a few other ways to get into the dungeon before settling for waiting around for a one-person slot.

Arwin didn’t mention anything about it. Her past was her own, and he didn’t particularly care if she’d tried to break into a dungeon before. It wasn’t like the guild actually owned anything inside it. They’d just set up in front and were strong enough to keep anyone from taking it from them.

The path widened as they continued. Braziers outlined paths that split into twenty different passages leading deeper into the dungeon. They followed along the rightmost one and headed into a room at its end.

It was plain, aside from a shimmering square in the stone wall. If anything was a plain invitation to enter, it was that. After one last glance to make sure the others were with him, Arwin pressed his hand to the stone.

A wave of energy passed over him. The ground lurched beneath his feet and his vision flickered for an instant. When everything returned to normal, Arwin found himself standing in a large, torchlit room. A passage ran out before him and the same shimmering portal flickered on the wall behind him.

The rest of the group popped out one by one behind him until they were all standing around each other. They all took a second to get their bearings.

“Big place,” Rodrick observed. “Any tips on what we’ve got waiting for us, Olive?”

“I didn’t go down this passage last time, so I’m not sure. There were definitely spiders, though. Lots of them. Don’t get caught up in webs and try to avoid getting poisoned. If you get bit, you’ll have to head out of the dungeon and get healing. I swear the Sparrows are making more money from their healers than they are from the people entering the dungeon.”

“The Sparrows are the guild outside?” Arwin guessed.

“Yeah. They charge a fortune for healing. Getting rid of poison is pricy.”

Arwin shot a glance at Anna and she gave him a slight nod. It didn’t look like they were going to need the services of any outside healers so long as they made sure that she wasn’t the one that went down.

“I think we’ll be fine,” he said. “Let’s get on with this, then. The guard said that things don’t get good until the tenth floor, so I’ve got no desire to screw around on the lower ones.”

“I don’t think that’s what he said,” Olive muttered, but she didn’t bother trying to correct him further. She drew her sword and held it at her side in a casual stance. “What’s our formation?”

“Depends. Anna, did you want to try to get some experience in the first few rooms?” Arwin asked. “It’ll probably be the only area we’ll be able to take things easily enough to risk sparing anything for you.”

“I wouldn’t ask you to go out of your way for me,” Anna said, rubbing the back of her head in embarrassment before flashing him a grin. “But if you’re going to offer, then yes. I’ll gladly take you up on it.”

“Then Rodrick and I will take up the lead. Olive, feel free to hang back for the first fight just so you can get a feel for how we fight. I take it you haven’t worked in groups much before?”

Olive grimaced and shook her head. “I have not. That’s probably a good idea, so long as you’re fine with me not pulling my weight for a fight.”

“I figure it’ll be fine,” Arwin replied with a laugh. “If you’ve cleared these rooms solo, then I think the lot of us can handle one room without your help. Just make sure nothing can get the drop on our backline, would you?”

“Yeah, I can do that.”

Rodrick walked up alongside Arwin and drew his sword. Olive looked slightly doubtful that Arwin was taking up the lead, but she didn’t say anything else as the group set off through the tunnel.

It only took them a minute of walking before they arrived at the first room. Cobwebs lined the walls and ceiling, blocking off an entrance that Arwin could just barely make out beyond them on the right wall.

The room was thin enough that Arwin could see the majority of it from their spot in the hallway. Several large black orbs hung from the webs, roughly the size of large dogs.

Found the spiders.

He counted four of them, but he suspected there might have been one or two more hiding in areas he couldn’t see. In addition to the monsters suspended on the webs, there was a spider sitting in the center of the room, sucking on a cocoon suspended from the ceiling. It was easily three times their size and stood as tall as Arwin did. The smaller ones didn’t register with the Mesh – they must have had an ability that hid them from scrutinizing eyes while they were balled up, but the larger monster had no such luck.

[Spider Broodguard – Apprentice 9]

“Shit,” Olive breathed. “This is a horrible room.”

“Why? Five spiders, six of us,” Arwin replied. “If anything, I’d say there aren’t enough spiders. Considering they’ve got venom, I’ll call it even. Anna, I think we’ll aim to leave one for you and handle the others, just to keep things on the safe side. Sound good?”

“More than.”

“Hold on,” Olive whispered. “You realize that big one isn’t just a normal spider, right? It’s probably going to be pretty strong. You aren’t even wearing armor. Don’t you think you should be a little more careful?”

“It’s only Apprentice 9.” He grinned. “I reckon we’ll be fine. Rodrick, cover my back while we go in? And Reya – well, you do you.”

“On it,” Reya said.

Arwin activated [Arsenal]. His armor slammed to place around him and Olive’s eyes widened in surprise as Verdant Blaze formed in his grip. He strode into the room and the Broodguard spun toward him, its jaws twitching as it let out a chattering hiss.

“Do you think spiders are edible?” Lillia asked from behind him.

“I figure we’re about to find out,” Arwin replied.

A ripple of motion passed through the webs as the spiders all woke up. They let out a chorus of hisses that joined in with the Broodguard, then charged Arwin as one.

Verdant Blaze’s head crackled with [Soul Flame] and he stepped forward to meet their charge.