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Drip-Fed – A Rivalry 26 – Unorthodox Methods
🕑 Added 2024-09-25 11:23:17 +0000 UTC
Reysha slowly reached for her utility belt. The cold metal of one of her True Silver throwing daggers felt forever pleasing in her grasp. Swiftly, she turned on her heels, drawing the weapon out of its holster and then hurling it. The force of her turn translated into the straight trajectory of the weapon.
Drawing his weapon quickly, the Rogue behind them only realized that the weapon was going to miss him anyway when he had already dropped out of Stealth. The satisfying sound of silver reverberating echoed in the otherwise empty tunnel. Clattering, the weapon bounced off the wall, then came to a still on the floor.
The Rogue immediately threw his hands up, subjected to the judging stares of the Inevitable party. “I was just heading in the same direction.”
“Sure, you were,” Reysha drawled sarcastically and walked towards him. The unknown Rogue kept his hands up and his weapons held. The redhead made sure to pass him with her demon arm between him and the rest of her comparatively very vulnerable body. To those not knowing about the capabilities of that particular limb, it looked like she was taking a confident strut past her Class colleague as she went to retrieve her dagger.
The Rogue hated to have one person behind and one in front. This was just the inevitable manifestation of getting caught with his hand in the cookie jar though. Trying not to look too paranoid, he gave the approaching giant of a Monk a calm smile. It died quickly. Something about the way the man approached, his expression a stoic mask that Monks so often displayed, felt… off.
Nothing was wrong physically. His face was perfectly humanoid, handsome even. It was in those blue eyes that the horror laid. Like the pack leader of a group of dire wolves, the Monk mustered the Rogue and weighed if he was worth the hunt. It sent shivers down the Rogue’s spine.
‘I fucked up,’ he thought. ‘How do I get out of this? Fuck, I can’t outrun a Rogue, a Warrior and a Monk… shit…’ He clenched his daggers. ‘I’ll go for the Priest and then-“
“You are part of the treasure hunters faction?” Apexus asked.
“Yes,” the Rogue answered bluntly, still formulating his plan. A Monk this big had reach, so he would have to go low… but the baggy pants of the man indicated that he was apt at using his legs as well. Then there was that tail and the green wings, both things that could break his charge. ‘What race is he even?’
“You overheard what I said?”
The Rogue shook his head. The reason why he had followed the party was not that he had heard anything, but that they had so swiftly and confidently gone back to the main track after being at the helm of clearing it. It did not take a genius to realize that party had noticed something that could be of value.
Apexus kept staring at the man, not sure how to continue. “He’s bullshitting you!” Reysha shouted from the back.
“I heard nothing!” the Rogue insisted.
“Yeah, okay, maybe, but come on, guy!” the redhead grabbed her dagger and turned around. “You didn’t follow us for no fucking reason. You’re answering the letter of the question, not the spirit of it.”
“His words are hidden behind the truth like a worm in an apple?” Apexus asked.
“Does that qualify as an Apexusism?” Korith wondered.
“An inappropriate question at this time,” Aclysia returned.
“Answer to that is yes.” Reysha dipped out of everyone’s perception for a split second, then returned when she put her arm around the back of the neck of her fellow Rogue. The gesture was casual and deeply threatening. “Looks like I’m better than you, buddy,” she whispered sharply.
The Rogue gulped and dropped his weapons immediately. There was no way out of this one.
Apexus caught the twin daggers mid-fall and inspected them. Unlike Reysha’s, these weapons were curved and had a singular edge. The spines of the True Silver blades were particularly sturdy and the tips hooked. “What is the reason for this design?” he wondered out loud.
The Rogue saw an opportunity to make himself a little popular. “Treasure hunters like me use our weapons more like multi-tools. The hook and curve helps with reaching into tight spaces. You also want something to poke the lock of a chest with.”
“Why is that?”
“If it’s a mimic, better you poke it with a dagger than a lockpick.”
Apexus hummed and kept turning the weapons in his hands. It did cross his mind to take them. Reysha was certainly eyeing them with interest. The redhead may have preferred daggers, the throwing and melee kind, but she had never complained about using other weapons either. For considerable stretches, she had used an axe, swords, and even a warpick.
Knowing the cost of equipment, Apexus considered that to be too much. “I fault you for your greed,” he stated simply. “It made you unwise. Reflect on this, before you step into the jaws of a creature hungrier than I.”
The Rogue was stunned. His hands took back the daggers by pure instinct. He sheathed them automatically, then looked after Apexus. Reysha immediately let go of him as well. The redheaded beauty went from hugging his neck to the arm of the Monk. The nature of that grab was entirely different, as was the smirk she regarded him with.
‘I should go before that gift horse bites me,’ the Rogue thought and took off in the opposite direction.
“Your keen senses are ever reliable,” Aclysia complimented, now that the situation had been resolved.
“I got more uses than being the sexiest kitty in a three Leaf radius,” Reysha purred and hugged Apexus’ arm a little tighter. “Right?”
“Make that ten Leaves,” the humanoid chimera answered and placed his large palm between her ears. Ruffling her soft red hair made her purr in a literal fashion. “I had not realized those footfalls were so close.”
“Best countermeasure to Rogues are other Rogues and Rangers,” Reysha cited one of the lessons she had learned in her days in adventuring class. Obviously, Rogues were wise to the tricks of other Rogues. Since their ‘invisibility’ relied on using magic to downplay their presence to the point of being unnoticed, the Classes that had the best chance at overcoming that were those that had the sharpest senses. While Monks, Warriors and many other martial Classes had considerably sharper senses than magical Classes, that was primarily in the active perception of things. Rangers, who specialized in tracking and who had to constantly be wary of being ambushed while holding a bow, had a much greater passive perception than the average adventurers.
They also had the habit of putting up traps in one way or another.
“Can’t sense anyone else following us,” the Rogue of the party continued. “So, can we talk about this thing you noticed yet?”
Apexus squatted down before answering. It looked a bit ridiculous, a man of his size taking a frog-like pose. Both of his hands were on the floor, as were the heels. He nodded. “Vibrations,” he stated. “Regular. Many of them. Several dozen of them. It is distant, but certainly there.”
Reysha dropped to the ground next to him. Her own hands felt nothing. Pressing her ear to the ground had her hear something. “Not sure if I can double that up or if I am just imagining things because the big guy says there’s something.”
“We can trust the word of our darling alone,” Aclysia stated and pulled out the party’s copy of the ‘Alarshus Encyclopaedia, Fourth Edition’. The tome was thick, over 600 pages on expensive paper, covered with an even thicker leather binding. Aclysia had not shied away from buying the most sturdy version of the book available. Good intel like this was worth every Copper.
“Is there something in the dungeon that fits the description?” Korith asked.
Aclysia nodded slowly, while flipping through the pages. She had read the entire thing back to front since they had bought it. Her erudite mind had committed most of it to memory, but she preferred to double check everything.
“The Blade Chamber,” she read out. “A massive treasure vault-“
“Let’s go!” Korith declared.
“Ehem…” Aclysia cleared her throat and then resumed reading. “A massive treasure vault found in Chimerion. It is filled to the brim with deadly contraptions, most commonly pendulum guillotines. Some contraptions can be disabled, others have to be stopped with brute force or dodged. At the end of the chamber awaits a singular treasure chest with… mhm.”
“Mhm?” Reysha mimicked the sound.
“They write it in all capital letters so… LOOT?!” Aclysia shouted the word, a joke that she immediately regretted. The party laughed, so she got what she wanted, but that only made her feel more self-conscious about it. The tips of her elf-like ears were red when she finished reading the entry out. “Loot appropriate for someone around Level 30.”
“Llllllet’s go?!” Korith asked and urged in the same two words.
“We’re still pretty underequipped, all things considered,” Apexus analysed the situation. They had slightly above the minimum to be considered armed appropriately for their Level. More would not hurt his three partners.
“And they may be enchanted, so that could be a huge step up.” Reysha got up.
“Further, I do not believe we have another orientation point at this time.” Aclysia’s was the third voice that advocated for them seeking out this Blade Chamber.
Apexus followed the tremors of the swinging blades some more, then marked their current spot with his pheromones. In the absence of the rest of the Expedition to keep exchanging maps with, they would have to resort to their usual methods. “Should I use this sparingly?” he asked.
“Yeah, we never know who also has fine noses,” Reysha advised.
Nodding, Apexus finally got back up as well and then scanned their environment. They had a direction. That was more than anyone else had, but it did not enable them to just sink through the floor. Now began the work of scanning through the various side corridors for a way down.
A venture off the cleared path began with Apexus picking the nearest gap in the walls. It was narrow, the kind of gap that had to be walked through vertically. “I’ll take the lead,” Apexus said. While he was the bulkiest of the party members he was also the most flexible. That his hands were his weapons further helped. If Korith took the lead and got attacked in that crevice, she would not be able to swing her hammer in response.
The preparation turned out to be unnecessary that time. Squeezing through the tight corridor was simply done. The walls were smooth and coated in a thin film of an oily substance. Both factors helped in making it around the soft bend of the five-metre stretch. Apexus emerged on the other side into another wide corridor. It tilted downwards and the oil coated the ground here.
“We’ll advance slowly,” Apexus said and gestured for Korith to take the helm again. Usually it wasn’t the smartest idea to let the densest person go first in a slippery situation like this. Korith, however, had the advantage of her clawed feet. As long as the ground was at least a little uneven, she could keep her balance quite well.
They went down the slope without any issues as well. At the bottom, they were greeted by two spawning pools. The blubbering pits of red, acidic liquid were currently inactive. Another piece of the scenery that they could just leave behind.
Apexus created a whistling sound with the wooden plates he used to talk. It was a signal, one that had Korith stop immediately where she stood and scan the situation again. “Above,” the Monk pointed out.
“I see it,” Korith confirmed. Clenching her hammer, the Warrior squatted down and leapt four metres up and forwards. The praying spider-mantis had not registered that it had been spotted yet. Its disguise as a peculiar formation of dripstones under the ceiling was broken when the kobold’s hammer turned half of its head into pulp.
The wagon-wheel sized monster fell to the ground, hissing in the way large arachnids did. Six legs and two scythe-like arms flailed incoherently. Apexus caught one, whirled the creature overhead and splattered its remaining lifeforce against the wall. “Thank fuck, I was starting to think we would starve,” Reysha groaned.
“Want to take this along?” the Monk asked and held up the monster. The primary motivation for coming to this dungeon remained Reysha’s interest in this ‘Spice of Magic’ that the journal described.
“Let’s find a Healing Fountain before we start collecting ingredients,” the redhead, but ripped one of the legs off the monster. A walkway snack was always nice to have.
And a lot of walking would have to be done.
Comments
FluffyButt Sr.
And now I have. Thanks for the great writing fun!
FluffyButt Sr.
I just found and started reading this story on scribble hub. I'm so surprised to see it here too! Loving the story so far, but I don't want spoilers so I won't read this chapter until I catch up.
