I stared up at the dungeon entrance, an imposing structure as if a European castle gatehouse had been built against a mountain face. Outside my own party, there were a couple players gathered just outside the entrance, no doubt discussing their own approach to the dungeon. I look down and back at my own party, which was going through their inventories and confirming they had whatever they needed.
"Hey, has anyone got a health crystal? I'm willing to trade a couple of speed crystals for one." Issin asks as he looks through his inventory, producing two speed crystals and showing them off for emphasis.
"Yeah, I think I can spare one. Give me a sec." Dale responds, looking through his inventory and pulling out a health crystal, he hands it over to Issin, who gives Dale the speed potions in return. Dale places the crystals in his inventory.
"Thanks. Can never have enough health crystals." Issin comments. Dynamm looks at him and grins.
"Don't need health crystals if you don't get hit." Dynamm replies cheekily. Issin looks at him and laughs.
"Yeah, because I want to play with fate with my life on the line." Issin responds, shaking his head.
"You have to go easy on Issin. He has a tendency to get hit." Harry interjects, grinning.
"Hey! I don't get hit that often." Issin counters. I chuckle and look over at Artoria, who is staring up at the entrance to the dungeon. I pat her on the back and she turns to look at me. "Huh?" She blinks. "What is it?" She asks as I cock my head.
"Nervous?" I ask her, quietly enough for the others to not hear. She smiles softly and nods, looking at the ground.
"Of course I am… I'm not a sword user. I'm supposed to use a staff and… I was never a good fighter. I won't be much use here." She confesses quietly. I pat her shoulder reassuringly.
"You were useful in Britain and you're useful here. You're a fast learner, and a hard worker, even if you grit your teeth to do it." I assure her. She looks up at me and smiles weakly.
"How are you able to do it? Don't you get angry or scared?" She asks me, inquisitively. "You brush everything off though…" She adds. I chuckle softly and shake my head.
"Oh, I get scared. I get angry. I'm just too busy to dwell on it." I respond, but she shakes her head.
"That's just warped though. It's like you're-" Artoria replies, but we are interrupted.
"Alright! Shall we get going?" Klein asks, looking at the group. Kunimittz stands up, grabbing his spear.
"Yeah, let's get this show on the road." Kunimittz nods, stepping toward the dungeon. Artoria looks at me with a pensive face, then turns and follows the others as we move into the dungeon. I frown, watching her go, then shrug.
Oh well. We can discuss at a later date. I think to myself, bringing up the rear for once.
As we enter the dungeon, the smell of the air gets a little staler. The room was a pretty typical gate house, and being the first room, there were no enemies here, already picked clean by players. As we pass across the room and through the arch on the other end, we find ourselves in a tunnel.
"Kind of an anticlimactic entrance." Issin remarks, looking around at the walls as we walk.
"I imagine it will be a little while before we encounter enemies, after all, considering how many people are hunting in the dungeon these days." Dynamm comments. Issin nods.
"You think anyone will find the boss room anytime soon? It's been quite some time. You'd think someone had found it by now." Dale states as the hall gives way to another empty room.
"Someone will find it eventually. Until then, I imagine we'll just have to do our part." Kunimittz states, looking around. There were two other archways that led to separate tunnels here. "Speaking of which, looks like this is where we part ways. We'll take the unexplored tunnel." Kunimittz states. "Dynamm can lead you through the other one, we explored a decent ways, so it should be a while before you hit unfamiliar territory." He adds as he takes Klein's group to the left, quickly entering the tunnel and disappearing. I walk to the front of my group, with Dynamm following alongside me, with Issin and Artoria following behind. We pass under through the archway into the tunnel.
Dynamm raises his shield halfway, ready to defend if there is a sudden attack. I look at him.
"Expecting an attack?" I ask. He shrugs.
"Just being cautious. We noticed the enemies this way respawned with enough frequency to encounter them on our way back." Dynamm responds. I nod and draw my sword. Couldn't be too careful.
Wow, you really lose track of time in here. I think to myself as I look at the time. It had been two hours down here, but it felt more like only an hour had passed. I checked my inventory from the kobold trooper we had just slain. I watched as another one charged out from a tunnel, its ax raised for an attack. Dynamm charges in, blocking the blow with his shield. Artoria quickly dashes to the left as I dash to the right, with me slashing across its hip as she slashes the bicep to the kobold. Dynamm pushes the kobold's ax aside, stepping into its guard and bringing his sword down vertically along its chest as I pivot around and slash the kobold across its back, finishing it off.
"They'll surprise you won't they?" I comment, chuckling.
"It's startling when they charge out of seemingly nowhere like that. I wonder how Klein and his group are doing." Issin comments as we press on down a tunnel.
"Probably pretty alright. Kunimittz and Klein are both capable fighters and Harry and Dale both can tank. For durability and endurance, they're better equipped than us." Dynamm responds, keeping his eyes forward.
"Doesn't that mean we should probably be the group that leaves earlier for the meeting? Since we have less endurance?" Artoria asks. I look back at her.
"Yeah, but then I'd have to attend a boring meeting and I'd have to chaperone you." I grin, making a light jab at her. Her face flushes and she scowls.
"What does that me-!" She is interrupted as a kobold trooper charges up from ahead. I pivot around so fast that I lost balance and fall, hitting my head on the side of the tunnel. I see my health bar take some damage as Issin runs forward, stabbing the kobold in the neck with his spear as Dynamm blocks a horizontal blow from the kobold's ax.
"Oh shit!" I exclaim in stunned surprised. Artoria charges forward, swinging downward on the kobold's forearm. I stand up and slash the kobold across the side of the chest as Issin thrusts his spear again at the kobold's chest, finishing it off.
"You alright, Kaze?" Dynamm asks, looking at me as I rub my head.
"Who are you again?" I ask, grinning.
"What shall we do? Cap's got amnesia!" Issin chuckles. I chuckle and resume moving, having reassured the group I was alright.
I blocked the ax of the kobold as it was brought down at a diagonal, aiming to strike my neck. Using the momentum of the blow to push off and into the kobold's guard, I unleash a diagonal downward swing across the kobold's chest before twisting my sword for a horizontal swing across its thighs, finishing it off. The clang of steel echoed off the room as Artoria and Issin fended off another kobold. I look over at Dynamm who was blocking and side stepping repeatedly, looking for an opening on the kobold facing him. I rush over, flanking around and slashing the the kobold across its left hip, drawing its attention. Dynamm seizes the opportunity to step in, slashing the kobold in the back, and following up with a thrust. The kobold goes down and Dynamm looks at me. He nods.
"Thanks, he wasn't giving me much opportunity to reply with an attack." Dynamm chuckles, running a hand along his mustache, smoothing out loose hairs. I nod back.
"No problem." I look over to check on Issin and Artoria as Artoria finishes off the kobold with a wicked slash across the throat while Issin backed it into a corner. They then walk over.
"That was a surprise. Wasn't expecting three to come out from different directions." Dynamm comments.
"Yeah, if there was a fourth one, we'd have been in a tight spot." I agree. Dynamm opens his menu, checking the time.
"It's three PM now. We should probably head back. Pair with the time it takes to get to the town from the dungeon, we should arrive around the same time the meeting ends." Dynamm comments, closing his menu and looking at us. I nod in response.
"That sounds about right. Lead on, tour guide." I agree, gesturing for Dynamm to take point. He chuckles and heads back down the path we had been traveling. Issin follows up behind Dynamm, with Artoria and myself bringing up the rear.
The sun was beginning to set by the time we emerged from the dungeon, stepping out, we follow the path towards Tolbana. I stare up at the sky, as does Issin.
"Ahh… sunlight! Clean air! How I missed you!" Issin calls out, grinning. I close my eyes, enjoying the cooling breeze and fresh air.
"Ah, Kunimittz? Harry? What are you doing here?" I hear Dynamm speak, and look back forward to see Kunimittz and Harry standing around under the shade of a tree. There was someone lying down behind them, deeper in the shadows of the forest edge. They wore a dark red hooded cape that was wrapped around them like a blanket. Kunimittz scratches his head.
"Well, as we were heading back to leave the dungeon, Klein heard something down a side tunnel and so we go to check and what do you know, it's the girl that we encountered the other day." Kunimittz explains as Dynamm looks past Kunimittz, recognition dawning on his face. He nods in understanding.
"Okay, and so why is she sleeping now? What happened?" I inquire curiously.
"Right, so the noise we heard was her sword clattering to the floor. Seems she passed out or whatever. Well, Klein and Dale insisted we couldn't just leave her there, after all, passing out in a dungeon is kind of a death sentence. Quite frankly, I agree. No reason not to help after all. So we carried her back here. But we were running late by that point, and I can't exactly run with some girl passed out in my arms, much less fight if there is something on the road, so I was only an inhibition for an already late team." Kunimittz continues to explain.
"So she just collapsed? Was it poison?" Issin asks curiously.
"I don't think the dungeon has any poison users, and there weren't any enemies around." Harry answers. Kunimittz just shrugs.
"Anyhow, we decided it was best to split and Klein and Dale ran ahead to catch the meeting in time, while we decided to wait here until you all got back." Kunimittz states. I nod, looking past him at the unconscious girl, then back at Kunimittz.
"So, why not just follow behind Klein and Dale?" I ask curiously.
"Because there is only two of us, and I would be carrying her, which would leave only Harry to fight if something went down. He'd have to defend me, the damsel in distress there, and himself. While I feel like we've improved since day one, I'm not interested in taking risks." Kunimittz explains.
"Right, so you decided to wait until we got back so we could travel back together?" Artoria pipes up. Harry nods.
"Correct. The six of us are more than enough to travel back safely even if things go south. Also, we were hoping you two could post her up at your place until she wakes." Harry responds, looking at Artoria and I hopefully. I cock my head, not understanding why my place had surreptitiously been volunteered. I look at Kunimittz and Harry, then back at the girl, then back again at Harry.
"Why my place? It's the smallest of the three houses in our ownership." I ask curiously, not happy to have a sudden stranger suddenly foisted under my responsibility.
"Because you're the closest to the entrance of the city and you live with Artoria." Harry explains simply. I nod, then cock my head.
"So, I understand the first part. Basically you're just saying I'm the poor soul burdened with the sleepy stranger daycare because I'm the most conveniently located. But what does Artoria have to do with anything?" I ask, scratching my head, already wondering if I'm going to have to make a shopping run to feed the girl when she wakes up. I was trying to save up money to stockpile crystals for when the boss raid came.
"Well, because Artoria is a girl. Think, you're a chick who passed out in a dungeon and you wake up in the bed of a strange man's house. I doubt she'd be very comfortable if not absolutely spooked. But Artoria is basically the perfect doe eyed, naive, peasant girl that wouldn't raise a single concern in even the most paranoid hearts." Kunimittz explains, with Artoria scowling and glaring with increasing intensity at every adjective he tacks on to describe her.
"I'm not naive or doe eyed!" She quips indignantly, earning an amused snort from Issin and Harry. I smirk in amusement, but quickly dash my grin and nod.
"Fair enough. I'll put her up then. You said you thought she was a beta tester? Maybe she can answer some questions when she wakes." I answer, conceding. Dynamm looks at me with an amused look.
"That line sounded like you were going to interrogate her." Dynamm comments. I look at him. I reflect on my statement.
"Really? Huh." I respond and shrug. Dynamm and Issin chuckles. Kunimittz turns and picks the girl up, carrying her as we begin walking back to Tolbana.
"Wait, what if she sleeps past our meeting? Where the hell am I going to sleep?" I ask, realizing a dilemma.
"You have a couch right?" Harry asks, his voice that of someone who was quite amused at my dilemma.
"What the hell am I? A boyfriend after an argument?" I remark, shaking my head as Dynamm, Harry, and Issin laugh.
We fortunately only encounter a couple wolves on our trip back to Tolbana, with Dynamm and Issin dispatching them rather quickly. By the time we passed through the gates, it was dusk, with the only remnants of sunset being dark red and violet streaks across the western sky. We approach my house and Kunimittz turns around and walks over to me.
"Here, one stray dungeon girl." Kunimittz hands her over to me. I carry her in my arms and pout as I step towards my door.
"Thanks, I'd have preferred a rare sword." I quip back jokingly. Kunimittz, Harry, and Issin laugh as they turn to leave for Kunimittz's house.
"See you in a few!" Kunimittz responds, walking off. The others look back as they follow him, no doubt deriving amusement from my predicament. I look at Artoria as she opens the door for me. I look at her.
"I guess it's right to pick up girls if found in the dungeon." I remark bemusedly, shaking my head, heading inside as Artoria rolls her eyes.
"You're dramatic." She replies, opening the door to my bedroom. "It's not a big deal." She adds.
"I know. I'm just baffled by the oddity of the situation." I reply as I enter my room and lay the girl on my bed. Artoria sets her rapier against the wall. I look the mysterious girl over.
Huh, chestnut-orange. That's a rare hair color. I think to myself, noticing a few loose strands of hair of hers sticking out of the hood of her cape.
"Stop leering at her." Artoria states, jabbingly. I look at her.
"I'm not leering!" I retort as Artoria grins cheekily. I shake my head and make my way towards the door out of my bedroom. "Anyhow, put something together for her to eat if she wakes up. I'll be back later tonight." I add, leaving my bedroom and heading for the front door, exiting the house.