Chương 19: The Serpent’s Temple

The ice mage looked at him expectantly. Malachi looked back towards the swamp. There was no sign of Arisone. Hopefully, she managed to sneak into the dungeon well before that flying mage and the griffin rider showed up. He was still pissed at her for using whatever weird mind-control trick the gorgons could do with their eyes, but what was done was done. He'd yell at her later. If there is a later. Malachi started thinking up what to say to explain his presence.

"Our group was ambushed." Good start. Uh, how to explain the rest?

"They took me prisoner, but I think everyone else is dead. I managed to cut my bonds and escape."

"You're one of the escorts?" He shook his head, recalling the term for classless delvers.

"Initiate." The ice mage looked him over. He was wearing Hadaun boots and leg armor, and SERA was translating. Still, he felt a wrenching feeling in his gut that it wouldn't be enough.

"Hmm. Impressive. I guess that confirms the fate of the others. No sense delaying any longer. You three should finish the dungeon. The longer we delay, the longer the snakes have to organize. Enough lives have already been wasted." The first armored man, the one with a staff that shot tiny fireballs, and the one with quilted armor turned towards the entrance.

"I can join," Malachi blurted out. The man in full-plate opened his visor up and looked Malachi up and down with disgust.

"We're not carrying around extra baggage. Everyone has to contribute. No liabilities. This is dangerous enough without a full group." Malachi summoned a lightning javelin.

"I do have a weapon." His mind raced, and landed on a backstory from one of the RPGs he'd played.

"My family gave up everything to give me this chance. I can't let them down." The man in quilted armor said, "Ahnki gives all of us the chance of the heaven's gifts, my liege."

"Fine, Crevus, but don't waste too many healing spells on him. Remember whose gold keeps your god's temple sanctified."

"Yes, Lord Tebor." The ice mage glanced at the young lord, then back at Malachi. He shrugged, then cast some other spell. Malachi found himself hosed down with icy water. He gasped, but the worst of the mud was gone.

"Remember the first rule of dungeon delving," he said.

"Don't do anything stupid."

"Thanks." He dismissed his lighting javelin. He wasn't sure if the mage had a title or what to say next, so he followed the others through the gate. As soon as they passed beneath the glowing arch, a message appeared in his vision: Entering the Serpent's Temple (Initiate's Dungeon) The man in the quilted armor, Crevus, said, "How's your health?" Health: Good-ish Mana: Still working on ERROR"Pretty good." He'd slowly recuperated on his way to the dungeon.

The ant bites, while painful, didn't seem to actually count for much 'damage.'

"I do have, uh, some sort of mudworm."

"I can fix that," he said. He had an illuminated book hanging from a chain by his side. He held it by the spine, and as he cast, the pages flipped by themselves, glowing white. Condition (Mudworm parasite) cured!

"Thanks. I'm Malachi, by the way." They started following the other two members of the group down a stone staircase. Sconces holding smokeless torches lined the stairwell, so while the stone passages were gloomy, it wasn't too dark.

"That's a strange name. Where are you from?" Fuck. Whoops.

"The periphery," he said.

"It's… a bit embarrassing."

"I see. I'll pry no more, then."

"Uh, I know about Lord Tebor, but who's the other one?"

"Talnax. His bastard cousin, once removed. Neither of us have titles yet." Crevus looked to be about in his thirties, as did Talnax. Both were pale skinned with dark hair. Tebor was younger, and whatever hair he had was hidden in his helmet. Crevus continued to talk to catch Malachi up.

"I can heal, obviously, though I only have the single Conduit, granted through commitment to Ahnki's holy order. I will serve many years in his temple to repay the gift, but it is no burden to serve so great a god. I will become a Cleric, of course, while Talnax seeks to become a Mage as his first class. Lord Tebor will follow in his father's footsteps. And what do you seek to become?" They continued down the hall. There was still too little Malachi knew.

Yeah, it was like a video game, but depending on the game, a bad answer might have nasty consequences. Did classes have conduit prerequisites? Arisone had mentioned 'magical potential,' but was that only for acquiring cores? SERA-Phasia? For some reason, the System Unit was having trouble communicating. But it could append messages, like it had when he'd looked at the griffin. He couldn't just look at things. It had to be a creature. Malachi looked at Crevus.

[Human] - Apes with inflated egos and the most disgusting appendages you've ever seen. Their 'fingers' look like worms. They speak way too many languages, all of which are annoying to translate, but don't worry, I'm handling dialects and social forms (WINK). When provoked, they might unleash a warcry such as SPELLSPEAR or ANDDON'TREVEALTHEOTHERCONDUITSYOUHAVE.

"Spellspear," Malachi said. SERA appeared to be doing a bit more than translating. That was good to know.

"That may be difficult to acquire, given that the dungeon is nearly clear. You may have to fall back on Elementalist or Fighter."

"Any of those would be honorable," Malachi said, stealing his lines directly from the protagonist of Gates of Durabald.

"Indeed." He paused.

"I said I wouldn't pry, but we should briefly discuss your capabilities. You were a soldier?"

"How'd you know?" The would-be-cleric poked his bicep.

"Most people need a Martial Conduit for arms like these." Malachi laughed.

"Okay, fair enough. Yeah." Everyone else was talking about having one Conduit, so SERA's advice was probably sound. Best take SERA's advice about hiding that he actually did have a Martial Conduit.

"And pillage rights tend to be the only way a commoner gains coin enough for their first Core. You are familiar with basic dungeon tactics?" How different can they be?

"Fighters stand in front and draw the attention of monsters. Spellcasters and weapon specialists aim for the vital parts. Healers stay back and correct everyone's inevitable mistakes." Crevus raised an eyebrow.

"A crass summary. Have you fought monsters before?" That, Malachi could answer with absolute honesty.

"Yeah. A lot."

"Good. Education on the Dark Mire?"

"Uh, no formal education."

"Expected. You have poison resist?" Malachi tapped the steel armor covering his thighs.

"Just glad the muck asps didn't take it from me."

"Yes, they can be overly practical. You are prepared, though. We should have an easy enough time finishing this thing. You'll take a flanking position and aim for the weak points. Don't get in front of Talnax. As sponsor of this expedition, Lord Tebor has first rights to the treasures of the dungeon, but he is a generous lord. Should we find any lightning essence, he will no doubt let you use it." They continued through the corridors, turning down stone passages dripping with algae despite the lack of sun.

Crevus had, apparently, made a map, which Malachi glanced at. The dungeon could have been found in any RPG. It was several halls connecting large rooms. Most rooms had red "X" marks over them. Only a few more rooms remained, plus a larger chamber at the end. If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it. The halls were decorated with reliefs that were reminiscent of Mayan art. Snakes featured prominently, as did gorgons.

There were depictions of strange lizards, strange birds, and even a few dinosaurs. There were no humans at all. While the hallways were mostly just functional, the rooms were more elaborate. The first one they entered had a dead root haunt that had been turned mostly to ash, plus corpses of a few lesser osteovines and several swamp rats. Their corpses were starting to fade, with magical sparks dancing along the wounds.

There was an elaborate canal system worked into the floor and various stone bridges criss-crossing them. Scattered about the room were squat stone pillars, each with geared mechanisms.

"A standard dungeon puzzle," Talnax said, seeing Malachi looking about curiously. Pointing with his staff he said, "We had to get the water flowing in every channel. Some of the mechanisms opened sluice gates, others unleashed swamp monsters. It was a fairly simple pattern to figure out." Ah, the humblebrag. He fished for more information.

"Do they teach these sorts of things? I never got a chance to do much studying."

"Of course," the mage said, smiling.

"Dungeon Studies is a required course at any of the academies." Malachi had a follow up question, but the mage had only dropped back to talk to Crevus and look at his map.

"Here, I believe," he said.

"Likely we need to clear that room and then we'll see one of the Warden's Overseers." Are those like minibosses? Malachi thought as he eavesdropped. They walked through another cleared room where the floor fell away to either side of a long walkway. In the center was a stone platform. There were no remains to be seen, but a thin pillar made of twisting serpents supported a brightly glowing emerald. After that, they entered another hallway.

The ice wizard had cleared away most of Malachi's mud, but his boots were still squelching uncomfortably despite the enchantment and he was getting cold. Would have been nice if they'd offered me a cloak or something, he thought, but he also wasn't about to go issuing demands to minor Maatugivi nobility.

One of his high school history teachers was on a one-woman campaign to make sure that students understood what codes of chivalry actually were, and Malachi still had a vivid memory of her reading descriptions of stupid reasons knights and nobles had decided to duel. But these puzzle rooms might offer an opportunity to delay them, like Arisone said. That then made Malachi uncomfortable.

'Stealing dungeons' or whatever was going on here was obviously bad. But Arisone was intent on killing these people. Malachi had gotten very used to killing monsters. He'd gotten very used to death. He didn't at all like the idea of trying to kill people, even if they were pricks. Tebor was obviously an entitled jerk, and Talnax was the kind of guy who thought he was way smarter than he actually was, but that didn't mean they should die. Crevus seemed nice enough.

As they reached the next door, Tebor pulled down the visor on his helmet and drew his sword with his right arm. He held his left arm in a funny way, like he was carrying an invisible shield. Does he also have the aegis spell? Malachi wondered. Talnax pushed a stone mechanism embedded in the door, then stepped back as the door rumbled downward.

"Bog demon," Lord Tebor called out as he stepped into the room.

"Balls," Talnax muttered as he followed the armored warrior in. Malachi followed Talnax, with Crevus taking up the rear. Like the other rooms, this one had a high ceiling. There were four stubby pillars in each corner of the room. Vines draped down from the ceiling. In the center of the ceiling was a hole, and from it came a beam of light that was currently illuminating a nasty looking creature. [Bog Demon] - Not a true demon, and clearly it lives in swamps not bogs, which are not the same thing.

Humans can't even get their own made up words right! Ridiculous. This creature has natural plant and shadow magic. Remember that ethereal physics are conceptual. Animals think of 'shadows' as real things, so with a spell, they act that way, even if from a mundane physics standpoint darkness is just an absence of light. Oh I should warn you about SHITRANOUTOFROOM. SERA, what the fuck, Malachi thought. The bog demon was about eight feet tall and slow moving.

It was like a person had been draped in a cloak of writhing, thorn-covered vines. From that nest of vines, evil looking red glowing eyes peeked out. It made a weird glorping noise, then started stumbling towards them. At least it seemed slow. The group began to move, clearly executing a pre-planned maneuver. Tebor charged in, and sure enough, summoned an aegis to his arm as he lashed out with his longsword. The blade did little to the mass of vines, but along the place he slashed, small flames caught.

The way the creature recoiled, it didn't seem to like that. It brought a thick arm down, the vines dangling off it like so many whips. There was a burst of light where it hit Tebor's magical shield.

"Aggro," he said. That had to be SERA translating some sort of Hadaun technical term.

"Damage," replied Talnax, and immediately began conjuring his fire orbs, sending them in one after another. Malachi took that as his cue and conjured his lightning javelin. He moved to the other side so that he had a clear line of sight, then wound up and threw. The electric javelin plunged into the creature, sending crawling lines of electric energy over its vines. The bog demon let out a screech. Its vines all reared back like so many snakes ready to bite, then lunged. Tebor backed away, but not fast enough.

There was a clatter as the thorned vines slammed into the steel plate armor. The aegis flashed and vanished. Swarmed by vines, Tebor grasped a handful of them with his offhand, then brought his sword in and started sawing at them. Wisps of smoke erupted where the blade cut. Malachi and Talnax continued sending in spells, which only made the bog demon angrier.

"Heal!" Tebor called as the bog demon slammed into him again. One of the vines had managed to crack open some of the chain mail guarding his armpit. This time, he smashed his gauntleted fist into the creature and was then able to yank away from its embrace. Once he had room, he brought his longsword down in an arching slash. Several of the vines fell to the ground, severed. They writhed about on their own. Meanwhile, Crevus's book glowed again, and a white glow surrounded Tebor. The warrior summoned another aegis.

The bog demon hesitated. Its eyes had picked out the backline. It plunged its arm into the ground. Attacking the ground made no sense unless whatever it had just done was actually a ranged attack. SERA had been blathering about conceptualism and things to look out for. He looked at the ground. The stone had rapidly growing cracks in it. Malachi leapt forward. Sure enough, three vines burst from the ground a moment later, flailing about. Malachi turned his lightning javelin on them, using it to cut at the tendrils.

Crevus and Talnax hadn't done the same. Both were now entangled. Talnax was trying to ward away the embrace with his staff, while Crevus was grasping at a tendril that had wrapped around his torso and was slowly moving over it, digging deeper into his quilted armor. Another tendril was making its way up to his neck, and he was only just keeping it bay while the thorns tore at his hands. Meanwhile, Tebor was busy slashing at the bog demon, far too busy to help. Malachi hesitated.

Right now, the battle was at a pivotal point. If he pretended he was out of mana, he could just let the vines do their work. If the mage and healer died, he even might be able to kill the Tebor while he was engaged. That's what Arisone wanted him to do, right? The gorgons had saved his life, but he still wasn't sure he trusted them. Especially after that bullshit Arisone had just pulled. No, he couldn't just let them die. These were people.

Arisone could steal their boss-kill or whatever, but he'd seen too many people torn about by monsters already. He ran towards Crevus first, who was in the much worse position, then stabbed at the base of the vines where they had breached the stone. When two of them were severed, Crevus managed to rip the last one off himself. He backed away and cast a healing spell on himself, while Malachi ran over to free Talnax. Talnax suddenly was surrounded by a shell of flames.

Malachi felt the heat wash over him as he stepped back. The vines burnt and withered, then began to fade away with little sparks. The weird part was watching the cracked open hole in the stone fade away. It wasn't the stone repairing itself, but like the damage had just been an illusion that was dissipating. No one else commented on it, so Malachi turned his attention back to the fight.

"Heal," Talnax grumbled, and Malachi could see he had a big gash that had cut through part of his robe and opened up a wound on his leg. Crevus's book flashed, and the wound began to slowly knit itself back together. The bog demon let out a shrill cry, and this time, balls of vines erupted from hit, rolling around the room. One of them bowled over Tebor, sending him clattering to the ground. Malachi leapt over the vine ball, stabbing down at it as it passed beneath him.

Then he hurled the javelin at the bog demon and summoned another. He heard a shout as Talnax and Crevus were knocked to the ground.

"Foul demon!" Tebor growled, rising to his feet. This time, his sword was entirely wreathed in flames. He brought the blade down in an arc. This time, the bog demon began to char, smoldering as it screamed. Then it burst into flame and collapsed to the ground. As it did, ethereal sparks flitted off the corpse. The vine balls stopped moving and turned into mush that also sparked.

"Get the essences," Tebor ordered.

"You were supposed to save that ability for the Warden," Crevus said as he approached the corpse. In his hand were two crystal vials, the kind that Galadriel might hand off to precocious hobbits. He stooped down next to the slowly disintegrating corpse and held the vials close to the body. Black wisps peeled off it and into the first vial, while green motes of light danced about before settling into the second. Essence harvesting, apparently. Talnax, meanwhile, kicked at the corpse.

More sparks flitted from it, part of it collapsed into a pile of ash.

"Aetherite," he said, smiling, and reached into the center of the body where a small gray crystal glinted. He held it up to his eye.

"Cracked," he said with some disappointment, but still put it in a pouch on his belt. Malachi recalled that SERA had said aetherite was useful for enchanting, though that was all he knew. The gamer in him felt annoyance at watching all the loot go to the young lord.

"Well, get to it," Tebor said, sitting down to rest by one of the pillars.

"Let us know if anything else needs killing." Talnax sat next to him, taking out a strange looking cube that he then began to move over the lord's armor. Malachi recognized it from the wiki. Some anthropologist had insisted the things were "totems of religious significance," and Malachi had gotten into an edit war with him. Now, as the cube glowed with ethereal light, the mystery seemed to be solved. Tebor's armor was un-denting itself and the scrapes in it were mending.

"You can rest too, since your only attack is mana-based," Crevus said. Malachi didn't even bother checking his mana. It would probably say something stupid like, "what's the deal with fingernails anyways?"

"Nah, I can help," he said. That left him with a decision: help, or delay them like Arisone had asked? He was surprised that he wasn't being questioned more, but presumably the System Units translating everything helped. Or maybe they expected an uneducated soldier from the periphery of the empire to be a bit odd. He began to look about the room.