The Crawl Continues

Lock considered the room while the party discussed their options.

It was obvious that they were going to push on, they had never retreated from a Dungeon since he'd joined.

The issue was really that nobody knew what the first puzzle was, and Artemis was unwilling to assign someone to solve it until he knew they could.

Which was stupid.

At this stage, all the cost of failure was was a spider attack.

And even he, with his lack of offensive magic (too much effort) could deal with one if he had some warning.

He came to a decision.

If he did nothing, they were never going to leave the room.

So, he stepped forward, activating the puzzle.

A flicker passed over the cube, and each of its faces was turned to an array of (slightly muted) colours.

There were nine squares of colour on each face, he noted, with a total of six different colours of red, yellow, blue, green, orange and purple, and each face had a different colour in its central part.

Touching the cube, he tried pressing on one of the squares.

The side he touched rotated one section.

The way this changed the layout of colours gave him an idea…

"Wait, what are you doing Lock?"

"Solving a puzzle," he commented, still tapping the cube.

If this side rotated once, then this rotated here…

"Do you even know what you're doing?"

"Matching the colours, so each face is a solid block," he answered. "I think I have it…"

A few more rotations and the block was indeed sorted into separate colours.

The cube spun on its point briefly, before falling flat.

There was a release of breath from the rest of the party.

"That was reckless. What if you'd failed?"

"A few spiders would die. Better than just waiting here. Let me know if I have to solve it again."

He leant against the wall, closing his eyes.

Might as well take a break if he got the chance.

{}

Artemis shook his head at his fellow magic users antics.

"Has the next puzzle activated?"

"Looks like. The tiles of that spider picture have been shuffled, all eight are in different places."

"Eight? Way too easy. You just need to-"

"Organise the outside seven into order using the centre I know," Hana interrupted, a clacking sound underlying het words. "I'm not just a pretty face. And… done."

"Remember who the leader is? Ah wouldn't have kept you on if you were just a pretty face," Diana interjected.

"Next puzzles starting," Bharnin interrupted, a faint gurgling sound underlaying his words. "Oof, reminds me of the drainage one of the clods back home set up when I was still learning."

Artemis felt himself frown.

"I didn't realise you would be familiar with water guidance puzzles."

"You try having your people stuck in mines for generations and not be skilled at controlling water. Some of us are still agoraphobic."

"You know, I still don't understand this. Dwarves have lived underground for how long, with the church if Lumina having no problem with you, while these 'Undersiders' need to be put to death?"

"We never rebelled against the Golden Throne," Bharnin absently replied, "and we were always careful to let sunlight in. 'Sides, that priesthood are a bunch of fanatics, and they never make much sense."

Artemis could feel Hana nodding.

"There's a reason I learned at the shrine, even if my magic isn't as strong as that of a priestess. Still, a rebellion?"

"That's what the history calls it. Odd thing though, before that 'rebellion' there is no mention of the lands being under the governance of the Throne, and magical learning certainly advanced quickly after- ah, that should do it."

"You have the pipes arranged," Artemis confirmed.

"Course. Just waiting for the water to finish flowing."

"Right, time to split up the remaining puzzles properly. You said the next looked like a slab of blank stone, I'm guessing the traditional riddle. I'll take it if nobody minds, unless it's something familiar to any of you."

"Sounds good."

"After that… two next slabs next to each other? We'll have to wait and see I think."

"The next was a sideways slab, doesn't say much about the puzzle either."

"The next, after that, you said looked like a passage in the stone? Sounds like a test of dexterity. Rose, you up to it?"

"Naturally. And the last?"

"We need to wait and see."

The gurgling sound fell silent.

"Right, riddles appearing. Let's see… 'With eightfold steps we sidle by, our grip is hard to break. This questions ours you can't deny, nor our armour can you take.'"

"Sounds like a spider," Harold commented.

"Too obvious. And armour? Only a few have anything like that. Sidle…"

"You have an idea?"

"Eight legs and moves sideways. Have you heard of Riddler Crabs?"

There was a pause.

"One of the images below the question looks like a crab if you squint a bit."

"The puzzles have required physical interaction so far, haven't they? Try pressing the image."

There was a quiet thunk as one of the party complied.

"Looks good," Rose commented. "The next pair of slabs have changed too. Looks like a picture… except they're different here and here," there was a quiet sound with each 'here'.

"Seems you have to find the differences," Artemis commented.

"Yeah, I got that. Wait… wow, that was a subtle change. Any more…"

"Seems ah party without ah rogue would be in trouble," Diana commented while Rose continued muttering about the images.

"That does seem to be the trend of the Dungeon," Artemis agreed. "Makes you wonder why Rose hasn't been targeted more."

"Could be we didn't give enough of an opportunity."

"Maybe," Artemis allowed. "Still, should we have to fall back, I strongly recommend grabbing an extra rogue or two to come with us."

There was a shudder from the room.

"Well that's another puzzle done with. The next is-"

"A sequence of some kind," Mara interrupted, apparently stepping closer to the slab. "Hmm, I think this should be mine."

"What makes you an expert?"

"What is alchemy but finding a pattern in how mixtures behave and extrapolating how to make the preferred response."

"And yet your healing potions have been known to produce cat ears…"

"Better than a lizard tail. Hm. By the looks of it, this should be the one we want…"

There was a click.

"Next puzzle went active, my turn again. Does this seem too easy to anyone else?"

"It feels more like a way to delay than halt," Artemis suggested. "We need to spend the time to solve each puzzle in a row, with none of us able to truly relax in case we fail and get spidered."

"Is that even a word?"

"It is now. How's it going Rose?"

"Okay. I had to slow down slightly, if I kept at the speed I started I would have caught the side, which would probably- damnit!"

"What happened?"

"Fumbled it slightly," Rose answered sheepishly. "I was starting to feel unbeatable and took a hand away. Caught myself in time though."

"I'll stop distracting you," Artemis decided, doibg his best to relax after the cry of surprise.

Some time passed.

"Got it," Rose finally declared. "And the last puzzle is…"

"Looks like a simple obstacle course."

"That can't be right," Artemis responded with a frown.

"Ah, it has instructions. You are only able to pass the course blindfold. You need someone else to give you directions."

"Something to completely block solo Adventurers," Artemis noted. "Well, seems like I'm up. Diana, if you wouldn't mind…"

{}

It was a good thing, Diana decided, that she and Artemis had built up the level of trust they possessed.

There was no hesitation to follow her directions, letting Artemis head through the obstacles much faster than the Dungeon Master must have expected.

It was, she reflected, probably the faster 'puzzle' for them to pass.

"And another couple of steps," she finished directing, "and that's the door open. Great! We cleared the room."

"True," Artemis allowed, "but with the delaying nature we should be ready for a Boss."

"Monster or Master," Diana dismissed with a laugh. "Who goes into a Dungeon without expecting a Boss, floor or dungeon, each room?"

"As long as you're aware."

The party resumed their prior formation as they filed into the next corridor.

Despite her optimistic words Diana was somewhat concerned about what they were about to face.

She ran through a mental list of types of spider monster she'd heard of that hadn't appeared so far, as any sufficiently tricky Dungeon Master would keep the base for their Bosses for after the Boss itself was battled, to keep the Adventurers off-guard.

And this Dungeon Master was certainly tricky enough.

There were spiders of darkness, she recalled, and those whose webs crackled with bound lightning.

Or, of course, it could be a swarm-type Boss, or one of the Unique Bosses Adventurers heard hushed whispers of from lone veterans.

The possibilities…

But she didn't, couldn't let anyone see the worry.

Fear was the weapon of the Dungeon.

Let it strike true, and they were finished.

The corridor ended at a set of doors, much like those of the maze.

"Looks like they haven't got the Boss at full strength," Diana stated confidently. "Everyone ready?"

There was a metallic scraping sound as Harold drew his axe from his back, even as everyone else readied their own gear more quietly.

"I'll locate the enemies then drop [Detect Life] when we know where they are," Artemis determined their strategy. "I should be able to find any weaknesses if I can see it clearly."

Diana nodded. "Harold, the door please."

In an act close to his homelands dark past he stepped up and simply kicked the doors open, the rest of the party soon filing in behind him.

The first impression they had of the area was webs.

Lots of webs.

There was a choking stillness to the place, a sense of danger.

"I can't quite pinpoint the Boss," Artemis broke the instinctive silence, blind to the webbing. "Let me just find a better spot," he continued as he stepped forward.

There was a frozen moment when, without warning, the floor beneath him gave way.

With some warning, or the ability to clearly see how the ground shifted, he might have escaped.

Instead they could only watch their tactician follow the slab of stone that appeared to be solid ground into the darkness.

"Artemis!"

It took a moment for Diana to realise it was her who called out, or that she was running towards where he disappeared.

"Alive," he called back after a moment. "Caught in some webbing… I'm dropping the spell, might be able to find a way out."

Diana dove to the edge of the hole, peering down to see Artemis was mostly cocooned in a web, in a space just as full of webbing as above that seemed just as large as the surface of the room.

He lifted his head, nearly the limit of movement he could make, to meet her gaze.

"Sorry, I should have realised there was something."

"Who could predict the floor as an enemy," Diana tried joking.

"There are some monsters that pose as- look out!"

Diana rolled to her back as he cried out, spotting a spider falling towards her.

From instinct alone she managed to intercept its leap with her bow, only for it to be sent flying from her grasp, clattering across the ground.

Black Fang Spider, her mind supplied, as she kicked the monster off her before it could use its venom.

She spared a glance for the rest of the party as she did her best to ready herself for a dash to her bow.

Harold was down, a spider having broken through his armour despite his Unique Skill, [Ironborn], which made even the cheapest of armours more effective for him.

He should have kept the money to upgrade his equipment rather than send it home to support his fathers drinking.

Hana too was out of the fight, a cocoon like that trapping Artemis holding her in the air.

Damnit, she's the only one of us who can cure the poisoning.

Mara had her hands on her bandolier, clearly struggling to find an appropriate concoction.

After all, most didn't discriminate between living and inanimate…

Lock was chanting, clearly attempting an unfamiliar spell, while only Bharnin and Rose were able to defend the group from the pair of Black Fang Spiderd harassing them.

It only took Diana a glance to see all this before she was dashing towards her bow, managing to grab it and jump to a safer space before the slab it had come to rest on gave way to fall into darkness.

Even as she was landing into a roll across the ground she knocked an arrow and loosed a shot at her spider.

By luck more than judgement the arrow pierced its mouth, leaving the monster dead.

The immediate concern dealt with she took the time to bring herself into a kneeling position, readying herself to aim properly.

After all, if she missed while trying to support the party…

It didn't bear thinking about.

Her arrow was knocked and breathing steadied when it happened.

The first line of thread touched her arm.

Stomach sinking she loojed up.

"Oh, forgot about you," she told the Boss as the cocoon it weaved fell around her.

There had been no time to dodge.

There was nothing for her to do but feel the bindings surround her.

A shout of pain drew her attention to the others in time to see first Bharnin and then Rose fall to their foes.

They had lost.

At least, Diana comforted herself, they had got word out about where the Dungeon was first.

{}

Taylor watched as the party fell to her first Boss.

She had expected the group to win, to be able to test the Crab Floor against them, but a moments inattention had seen their defeat become certain before Black Widow needed to even step in.

There had been some interesting things she overheard from their discussions as they made their way through her Dungeon, things she would need to confirm from her current guests.

"But first things first," she commented to herself, considering the Adventurers…

{}

It was a surprise to Diana that she was able to wake up once more.

Her last memories were of the cocoon tightening around her as her party fell…

She forced herself forwards into a seated position and looked round.

The room was simple, bare of furnishings, but that didn't matter to her as she saw Hana and Artemis struggling their way to consciousness.

"You're alright," she exclaimed, fighting the weakness in her legs to try and dash towards them.

"What happened? Last thing I remember was things falling silent after that Boss battle."

"We lost," Hana stated, relief at their mutual survival turning to horror at what this meant. "The Dungeon Master must have taken us. They must…"

She trailed off, unwilling to finish the thought.

"None of that," Diana commanded, voice firm. "We're getting out of here."

Somehow, she finished mentally.

There was no defeat until they gave up.

And giving up wasn't in her nature.

AN: There isn't really a point in having the Boss monsters if they can't beat a party, is there? But with the worldbuilding changes I made to the original plotbunny I couldn't really change the first parties outcome, so...

I probably won't show the puzzle room in detail again. There's a limit to how interesting reading people solving the same problems can be, and search online for riddles and you'll just end up with a lot of jokes and it took me too long to come up with the one I used for its quality.

Now, how many of you noticed how flimsy Harolds armour was I wonder? Metal plates certainly shouldn't flex with the muscles underneath.

Which comes to the point of the party; the first to visit were all about the rank, getting better equipment and training while this party was about personal skills, which did leave them more poorly equipped, even with their experience with other Dungeons (one of the changes I made; their are multiple Dungeons at a time but only one 'Demon Lord', a point that is becoming quite relevant).