The Dungeon Without a System
Chapter 140

Chapter 140

-0-0-0-0-0-

The Weary Child, The Ninth Floor, Scorpan Village

-0-0-0-0-0-

"So there isn't a name for this village?" Haythem asked the sandy-brown-scaled drake-kin waitress as she transferred plates of food to their table. "You just call it 'Scorpan Village'? Isn't that kind of... reductive?"

"Well, the capriccio on the Sixth have a series of villages, though they call them, like, a polis instead of a village or something," the waitress explained, laying out eating utensils and some very pretty coloured glass mugs. "I'm not even sure if they call their individual towns anything unique, or just 'the northern polis', or 'the southern polis'. The minotaur on the Tenth call their village 'Minos Village,' which I suppose is different enough to not just be 'minotaur village'. The towns on the Eleventh all have names, though!"

She was quite chatty. Haythem nodded as he picked up the engraved and expensive-looking metal utensils and started cutting into the hearty-looking breakfast. "So, I recognise the eggs, mushrooms, tomatoes, and I assume those triangles are some kind of sliced bread, but what kind of meat is this? Or these other crispy triangles?"

"Oh! So, what you have there is called a 'Full English,' though I couldn't tell you why it's called that," the waitress answered. "The strips are pork belly, sliced into an easily fryable form called bacon. The sausages are also pork."

"That's runic, right? The verbal form?" Harald asked, already pulling out his book. "I think I caught 'full', but what was the second word?"

"It's the word runic uses to describe both itself and the ethnicity of the original people who used it," the waitress said. Before she could continue, there was a ping as a bell by the counter rang sharply. "I am sorry, but I have to go serve. Let me know If I can get you anything else!" She wandered off, and Haythem turned to share some pointed looks with the rest of the party.

They didn't discuss strategy, tactics, plans, or anything else. Not where all these Children could hear. Instead, they complimented the actually quite delicious and filling meal and discussed the odd dreams they'd had the night before. After they'd finished eating, they stood to leave. Isid paid the fee for the meal, and they were escorted through the village to the other gate. The village was still stirring into life, even as light crawled down the canyon wall.

They thanked their translator, Stick, and their guards, then passed through the gate without issue. The path they followed led further into the canyon, though there wasn't much of it left to explore. The canyon walls slowly narrowed to a point, and the babbling river disappeared into a grate next to an imposing castle carved into the canyon wall.

There was a stone bridge, crafted from various-sized rocks, that crossed the widest, slowest part of the river. Three supports rose out of the river to support it, and it was wide enough for three scorpans to cross abreast. They crossed easily, and as they approached the castle's main gate, Haythem spotted two scorpan standing guard, their spears crossed. Males, he quickly identified. There were subtle signs if you knew what to look for.

"May we be allowed to pass peacefully?" Isid asked politely. Both guards shook their heads and gestured threateningly with their massive, serrated claws.

Haythem had spent a long time now analysing the monsters of this dungeon for weaknesses. At that moment, he was viscerally reminded of the crabs from the First Floor. However, unlike their lesser cousins, or perhaps less evolved forms, the scorpans had covered the crabs' most glaring weaknesses. Like the Crab Guardian, the joints of their legs were armoured in such a way as to make it almost impossible to cut them off easily. Their back and sides were defended by the large scorpion tail that hung like a hangman's noose over the exchange.

Their claws were larger and far more individualised than the crabs. The left scorpan had brute-like claws covered in stiff, shallow spines and bumps. The left had two shield-like claws, though their tips tapered down to a sharp-looking triangular point. Their backs had lobster-like plates that provided perfect cover, though they could be weak to being wrenched out of place.

The scorpan's humanoid upper half was less thickly armoured, though Haythem could only guess what was actually important. They'd never fought, killed, or examined the corpse of a Scorpan before, so they just didn't know. He'd like to think they'd brains in their heads, but it'd be far smarter on the dungeon's part to have all the critical organs in its most armoured part; its lower torso.

There was about a ten-second standoff as the sides sized each other up. The humans were very aware of the Creator's rules and were reluctant to strike first. Then, the tension was broken when the Scorpan guards lunged, and the battle was joined.

The following melee was chaotic, and despite their larger size, the scorpans showed remarkable skill and dexterity. Their armoured legs shifted to block strikes just as well as their claws did. Their tails struck in the seconds following a successful block, aiming for the off-balance guilder. None of the humans had been pierced yet, but the gleaming liquid on their tips, which Haythem had seen as a tail lunged past his face, was undoubtedly some kind of poison.

Their spears were enchanted, perfectly able to contend with the guilder's own weapons, and even Isids' manablades barely chipped the wood of their shafts. It was a stalemate. Neither side was able to get a decisive advantage over the other, only influencing minor cuts. Lilliette's strange lightning balls were even reflected, the Children casting short-lived shield spells that coated their pincers, which would then bat the balls of roiling lightning mana away, most of the time aimed at another guilder.

The tides turned when Duncan managed to get an arrow past their iron defences. It was one he'd made from the metallic feathers of those vultures, and it flew from his enchanted bow at speeds even Haythem had a hard time tracking. The bolt pierced an eye, and the second quickly followed as it balked at the pain. Despite the tip piercing right through the back of the Child's head, the monster didn't fall. Their brains weren't in their skulls, after all.

But Duncan had identified their weakness; they only had the two eyes!

The uninjured Child attempted to aid his blinded fellow, but there were too many of them to defend against by himself. He was overwhelmed, and they both fell soon after. The party entered the castle, full of determination.

-0-0-0-0-0-

The Creator, Atlantis, The Kalenic Sea

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

-0-0-0-0-0-

The CHI group, rested and resupplied from the scorpan market, absolutely demolished the Scorpan Citadel. They worked like a well-oiled machine, having been working together for... was it a year now? Still, they covered each other's weaknesses perfectly. The guilders were quick to take advantage of the slightest mistake on my scorpan's part. And despite their best efforts, they made plenty of mistakes.

It wasn't their fault, really. They'd only ever practised against each other, with the odd drake-kin, minotaur or capriccio joining in. They just didn't have the experience they needed to fend off a large group of guilders this good and this strong. I had higher hopes for them against a smaller group. Actually, how far had any other guilders managed to reach... Oh! There was a group navigating the tunnels on the Seventh! Good for them. I wish them luck against the ants.

Either way, the CHI group were too skilled for the Scorpan Royal Guard, and eventually, they managed to reach the throne room. At the end of the long room was the raised dias on which King Strikes-The-Air stood. Beneath him were ten of his most experienced, most powerful guards. Three had evolved into Obsidian Scorpans and stood before the king in a chevron formation.

Without hesitation, the guards rushed the guilders.

Unlike the rest of the citadel, where the guilders were forced to fight one-on-one. The battle lasted far longer than previous fights, but the result was inevitable and predictable.

Consistently, from their very first delves, these guilders had proven that they were skilled and capable of overcoming most monsters put in their path. The only things that forced them to turn back and use their teleport crystals were environmental hazards and low supplies. They'd overcome the environmental hazards with new equipment. The low supply problems were solved by taking fewer injuries and getting better at fighting my monsters, as well as getting stronger and fast enough to make previous struggles inconsequential.

The guilders stood at the base of the stairs; the four scorpan remaining stood above them at the top of the dais. There was silence, quickly broken by a single, robed drake-kin who'd emerged from a side door. He stopped at Stikes-The-Air's side and raised a key.

"This is the key which unlocks the door to the Tenth," Strikes-The-Air began, his robed drake-kin attendant dutifully translating. "You have two choices. On one claw, you may fight us for it. Know that you have proven your strength and skill, but my remaining guards are the strongest I have. They will not fall as easily. On the other claw, violence is not the only path forward here. I will not part with this key easily, as Tear did. What you trade must be of high value and not just sentimental, either."

The guilders shared glances, and I could guess at the thoughts running through their heads. Is it a trap? It must be a test. What would be of value to a Scorpan?

After a pause, Lilliette stood forward. With a twist, the gem set into the top of her staff was released, and she held it out. "This manacore is of incredible value. Not only can it hold immense amounts of Lightning mana, but it is enchanted to absorb more easily and produce a shield. It is the most valuable piece of equipment I own, and I assume you realise how much I weaken myself by offering this."

There was silence again, her party mates sharing incredulous glances, though none protested verbally. I could see in their gazes that they were asking, 'Are you sure?' She remained resolved.

Strikes-The-Air sent forward his attendant, and the drake-kin's clawed steps echoed throughout the room. He took the offered manacore and brought it to his face, squinting. After a short inspection, he pulled out a manasight monocle and held it between his eye and the core.

It was, indeed, valuable. A manacore so immersed and altered by the sheer amount of lightning mana that'd passed through it that it was close to a complete transformation into a Lightning Core. I hadn't made one of those yet. Still, I assumed it would be able to generate a charge of its own over time, as Water Cores could produce water mana and Gravity Cores could produce gravity mana.

Valuable to me? No, I could make my own fairly easily if I was so inclined. The enchantment was interesting, but it was easily replicable. Was it valuable to the guilders? Definitely, this manacore was the core of their strategy against Pyry. It had been key in several of their fights on the Ninth Floor. I could only guess how often they'd used it on lower floors in the two full delves they'd done since revealing its capabilities.

The attendant nodded and held out the key in return. Lilliette took the key, though with a longing look at the buzzing manacore as it disappeared into the folds of the drake-kin's robes.

At Strikes-The-Air's wave, a large side door opened, and the guilders passed through it.

-0-0-0-0-0-

The Crossroads, The Tenth Floor, The Dungeon

-0-0-0-0-0-

Aston Astorionson stood alongside a Sheep Beastborn, both of them clad in the black and red robes of the Creator's Priesthood. Aston had known this day would come eventually, but seeing the guilders walk down the path into the grassland, heads looking around at the floor in awe, really drove home that things were going to change around the lower floors.

"Welcome to the Tenth Floor," Aston greeted as they approached cautiously. "You may recognise me as Aston, one of the Minotaurs who left to spread the Creator's worship to the mainland, doomed though that expedition turned out to be." A few nodded, and some eyes widened in realisation.

"This floor works a little differently than you're used to," Aston continued. "It might even remind you of the Third. The exit is hidden behind illusions, and to reveal it, you must find and kill three monsters. These monsters will not seek you out, nor will they remain in a single place. They roam the grasslands and the forests that encircle it. Each is the most powerful member of their species, and even finding them will be no mean feat."

The guilders shifted uneasily, no doubt wondering just what the monsters were.

"Down this path," Aston waved his right arm, "Lies Minos Village. You may stop and rest there overnight, but entry to our village has a cost. You must present a monster hide each every time you wish to enter. If you do not have enough, you can choose to brave the night, return to the Ninth, or return to the Surface. Be warned, you must once again fight through King Strikes-The-Air's guards to regain entry to the Tenth, even if you possess the key. All that does is mean you don't have to fight him and his Obsidian Guard."

He leaned forward, leaning against the haft of his warhammer. "And yes, they are all immortal and will remember you. Each fight will only teach them how to fight you better. It's in your best interest to fight them less, hmm?"

He picked up his hammer and rested it on his shoulder. "Hmph. Well, you've been warned. My job here is done. Kaley?"

The sheep Beastborn bleated, then blushed in embarrassment, clearing her throat to continue. Aston snorted in amusement. Some of the Beastborn were having a harder time adjusting to their new instincts than others.

"Baa- Ahem. The Church Of The Creator has a few requests- entirely voluntary! -that we'd like you to fulfil," Kaley explained. "Easy things, really, that you were going to do anyway. The collection of specific monster parts, the culling of specific monsters, and the collection of valuable herbs and other plants that grow in the forest. You'd be paid in Talons to perform these tasks, and the more tasks you complete, the more willing we'll be to give you larger, potentially more dangerous but well-rewarded ones."

She took a slip of parchment from her pack and handed it over to Isid, who passed it to her husband without looking at it. Ah, right. That was the blind one, and the ink the Church uses isn't high in mana. She couldn't read it.

"Collect... Twenty Jackalope antlers. Alright, then. Where can we find these Jackalopes?"

"The forest," Aston answered, imagining these humans running after those bounding hares. "Heh. Good luck. They're slippery bastards. C'mon, Kaley, let's head back." Aston turned and walked down the path to the village, not waiting for the beastborn. She gave another startled bleat, and he heard her shout a goodbye as her hoofclops rushed to catch up.

"Do you think they saw through me?" Kaley asked nervously, pulling a thick dreadlock of woolly hair that ran down the side of her face. Aston glanced over his shoulder. The humans were already heading towards the forest through the long grass.

"Nah, I think you nailed it. C'mon, we need to get back to the village before they call the alarm. The last one back has to eat that Limburger Daphen made!" He picked up the pace, quickly matched by the frantic Beastborn. Aston smiled. This was the life.

-0-0-0-0-0-