Chương 26: Party Time!

The next morning Nythera made her way with Shelly to the docks, where they met the other explorers.

"Have they managed to get any ships built? It's only been two days since the battle." Nythera asked.

"I heard they pulled it out of a shed in Halsbury, but the number of vessels remaining can be counted on one hand… though if we can retake Rustreach we can probably get a bunch more." Shelly said. Strolling through the streets of Grandport, the sound of hammering wood and rubble-laden carts permeated the city. Ah, the lovely tune of construction.

"Miss Lord, Can I touch your hair?" A young boy asked. Nythera crouched down and held out a strand of her silver hair.

"Thanks Miss!" he bowed deeply to her and ran back to his group of friends.

"It's the Little Miss Lord! Good luck on your journey! May Kronan bless your steps." one of the construction workers caught sight of her. An old lady walked up to Nythera and shoved a warm loaf of bread in her hand "You go show 'em some Myrraval spirit". This is going to become a problem. Nythera had amassed an apple, three pears, and had to refuse a full breakfast invitation by the time she made it to the river docks.

When they arrived at the "Docks" Nythera was greeted with the sight of a single lone pier jutting into the water, and a small single-sail ship tied off to the end. Four well-equipped men were on stand-by while two sailors finished the rigging for the vessel. One man, dressed in burnt and damaged armor approached Nythera and held out his hand.

"Dominic, nice to meet you." he said. He had slick black hair, and a sharp face with cuts. Nythera took his hand and shook it. OW OW OW His hand crushed hers.

"Nythera, are you guys the delvers I am supposed to travel with?" She asked.

"That would be correct, I am Captain of this squad, as a strata two, with a group of seasoned strata ones, we have full confidence we can keep you safe If you follow our instructions and don't do anything stupid." Dominic said with a smile.

"Very well, I and Shelly are in your care." Nythera relented. I don't see any rings on them, for once can I avoid the fucking cult. Nythera sent a silent prayer to nowhere. The captain slammed the pommel of his metal staff on the ground, calling the squad to attention.

"Let's be off, we should pass Halsbury by noon." They streamed rapidly up the river, two delvers on either side working the oars and a single sailor remained to steer and man the ship. Nythera and Shelly rotated in and out of oar duty several times as their stamina sank and recovered. Talvik soared above, Nythera caught sight of him on several occasions. Lazy bastard.

As the boat pulled up to the Halsbury docks, which were in significantly better shape than the Grandport docks, Nythera caught sight of a familiar face waiting at the end.

"Hey youngin's" Oswin called out with a wave. Nythera and Shelly waved back and Oswin hopped aboard the ship, a huge over-stuffed backpack in tow. The ship visibly tilted. With Oswin at the oars, the ship trudged up the current significantly faster, reaching The Mirrorwake while the sun was still high, its light scattering amongst the lake fog.

"Is this area always like this? Does the fog ever leave?" Nythera grumbled.

"Very very rarely, when it does you can catch sight of something spectacular at the center of the island." Dominic answered.

"What? What's further in?" she asked. He snickered.

"Youll have to get lucky, don't worry, come up here enough and you'll see it. I don't want to spoil the surprise." he grinned. Dominic and the sailor conversed and led the party up one of the many rivers that drained into the Mirrorwake. The paddling got more and more intense, with more than enough rocks obstructing their progress. Several times they had to anchor mid river to rest.

"Yall should disembark here, this old girl can't go further up, her keel is too deep and I'm worried she'll crack." The sailor advised hours later. The group hopped off, trying to keep the rations and sleeping packs from getting soaked. Dominic himself jumped several meters to the shore line, landing with grace. A big man with a towershield jumped off, his feet sinking deep into the mud. Unsurprising given he was carrying an entire barrel on one shoulder.

"Whoopsies, gotta keep my feet steady." He mumbled, pulling out of the muck. Another man with two hammers strapped to his back jumped off and landed cleanly on the land. He too had a barrel on one shoulder.

"Come on Hugh, don't get the booze wet." he said and walked off leaving his compatriot in the mud. Nythera's eyes went wide. Thats booze? How much are these guys planning to drink?

"Ludwig, vanguard, Hugh, you take the rear, alert us if you see anything approaching. Shelly I want you with Ludwig directing us please. Nythera, if you think we are going off course, say something. Alright lets go." Dominic issued orders with the calm confidence that only came from years of experience. As the sun began to sink beneath the mountains, the scenery around Nythera became… rather familiar. And there it is. The cord of flux she had followed last time.

Increasing flux densities and bits of crystalline flux jolted through the air. During the course of their journey she had never heard their fourth delver speak or be spoken to. A wiry, young-looking lad with short brown hair, he was constantly on alert, checking for fluxspawn. He had a long bow strapped over his shoulder and a short-sword sheathed at the waist. They arrived in a familiar clearing, no sign of the battle that had taken place just weeks before remained. And now I return, victorious.

"Alright, you know the drill. Kennick, I want that perimetered sweep." Dominic barked. Shelly and Nythera set up their tent close to the dungeon entrance, between the cliff and the encirclement of delver tents. The sun had long since sunk beneath the horizon, the party ate fast and got to bed faster. …. Under the early sun, the group ate quickly and decided their goals for the day. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

"Lance ordered us to get what we could from the Quartz dungeon, Nythera is to level as much as possible while inside. Oswin, Shelly, I don't want you two bringing anything nasty down on us, keep discrete while exploring the surroundings and do not stray too far. Once we are done with the dungeon we can spare a few hours to help you. If all goes well, we break camp for Rustreach within two days." Dominic explained their itinerary. Nythera did a quick check of her own resources.

Flux: 6061/6061 Hyper-flux: 53/60 Finally! A chance to use the strong stuff. Still, it's been days and it hasn't filled up once? Shelly and Oswin split off to prepare for their investigations of the surroundings. Nythera wanted to go with them, but she would have time for that tomorrow. Talvik had decided to join her last night and was now perched on her shoulder.

"Alright, Miss Lord, we have never worked with you before. But some of us saw your accomplishments on the seas during the last battle. If you could keep from blowing us up with the fluxspawn, we'd appreciate it. I won't try to work you into our team composition much, just try to get as many kills as possible." Dominic explained.

"Got it, I would also like to warn you guys that the shells can have a pretty big detonation radius, and they will send shrapnel flying, so please try to take cover if you can" Nythera said. Dominic and Ludwig nodded towards her, but Kennick had no reaction.

"Alright team, let's go." Dominic ordered. Nythera stepped into the familiar brown caverns, glittering with quartz. Hugh and Ludwig took point while Dominic, Nythera, and Kennick stayed in the rear. Hugh had equipped a massive tower shield and was covered in thick armor, but all he had for a weapon was a small axe. Ludwig on the other hand, was the opposite. He equipped two great hammers, the hammer heads alone as big as her own head, yet barely seemed to slow him down. Just how high is his strength?

Where are the mages around here?

"Alright Nythera, we read the report from your little excursion here, please set up and hit them the same way you did before." Dominic requested. Nythera brought forth Aether Culverin in the same spot she had on her last visit, right at the entrance to the large cavern. But my shots don't arc like they did before… Should I just blast straight through the boulders? Nythera signaled to be quiet. Ludwig and Hugh flattened against the walls on either side in the inner chamber, Kennick and Dominic watched from behind.

She picked up a rock and lobbed it across the cavern. Three boulders stood up on little quartz sticks and waddled across the room, reaching the impact site and then settled back down, still. Nythera fished around and grabbed a big rock, then heaved it with her entire body, it crashed down near her last one. Seven boulders stood up on tiny legs and waddled towards the crash site at the back of the room. Gotcha! FIRE! She issued her command.

Her culverin roared, its shell smashing straight through a bigger boulder on the way and detonating on the far side of the room. She dove for cover The shockwave was followed by sharp debris. Dominic had a shocked look on his face "I see what Lance meant now" he mumbled. This thing is getting kinda dangerous… Do I need a resistance skill for my own weapon? System notification pings spiked, but she brushed them off. Later. Talvik flew off her shoulder. Nythera peaked out from behind a rock, surveying the damage.

Two huge Quartz golems had awoken, they bounced throughout the room, looking for intruders with an armada of smaller golems trampling beneath them. Before she could even aim, one bumped into Hugh. It turned to face him, its purple quartz arms charging with energy rapidly.

"They know! Quick!" Nythera shouted. Hugh hefted one hammer and swung for its legs. Dominic stepped out from behind Nythera, flux swirling and crackling around him, collecting at the end of his metal staff. Hugh's hammer met quartz… And bounced off, knocking him off his footing. Nythera's cannon had finished aiming, but the shell could just as easily kill Hugh as it could the golem. I need to find blast resistant teammates… or something expendable.

The second golem had locked in on Hugh and begun its advance when Ludwig stepped out from the wall and shouted a battlecry to it. The sound of hammer smashing against hammer resounded throughout the cavern. What do I do? I'll kill Hugh if this goes off and I have nothing smaller and less lethal. The clack of Dominic's staff hitting the cavern floor echoed perfectly. Lightning followed, a lot of lightning.

Arcing directly to the first golem, it smashed straight into the purple quartz arms and then arced against across the room. The second golem was still turning to face Ludwig when the lightning smashed into its side, carving molten crevices in its rocky shell. Ludwig drew back both his arms, massive great hammers hung in the air behind him, breathing in deeply. With visible effort, he swung them to his front, bringing them together in the center.

Strange flux coalesced in the center between the hammers, pulling them together. They went straight through its rocky shell and made contact in the middle of the golem. The impact causing a shockwave that blew the insides of the golem out. Meanwhile, the first golem had merely collapsed onto the ground. Hugh stood above it with a disappointed look on his face.

"Captain, it' s no fun if you melt the thing's innards before I can do a damned thing." Hugh kicked the inert mound of quartz.

"You guys were taking too long, we don't have all day to dally, besides, if you're lucky this room will have one more foe left." Dominic answered and pointed towards the chest at the back end of the room. He looked at Nythera and nodded. Unlike before, Nythera made her way there cautiously, looking around for any potentially hidden enemies. I am not falling for the same trap twice! There was nothing especially suspicious about the flux or surroundings around the chest, nor the chest itself.

It seemed entirely normal. She pried the lid open with her dagger but kept her legs primed to bolt at the sign of anything unordinary. The lid opened with a painfully loud CREAKKKKK. She winced. Can't the dungeon spare a little flux to oil the damn hinges? Inside the soft glimmer of sparks and a flux-dense hammer called to her. Nythera gave up all pretenses of caution and threw herself over the box.

"8 sparks and some kind of weird hammer thing." Nythera called out to the waiting delvers.

"Does the weird hammer have two hammer heads?" Dominic called back.

"Yeah, it does." Nythera answered. The whole crew approached Nythera, Hugh hefting his towershield with surprising dexterity across the room. Dominic peered over the chest "Yup, it's a frack hammer alright, that'll be good, alright Nythera you take… 4 sparks, my squad and I will split the rest later." Dominic said.

"Where did the sub-guardian go?" Nythera asked.

"Dungeon changed layout, it's common enough. Subguardians are rarer, so we probably won't see any this time, prepare for a full guardian in the next room or two." Dominic answered. The group gathered what they could salvage from the dead golems, 3 small golem fluxhearts and 1 big one made its way into a party-wide bag carried by Hugh.

"Doesn't that get heavy? How are you going to maneuver with so much weight?" Nythera asked.

"Dontcha worry a thing Lass Lord, see, I have a secret." Hugh gestured for her to get closer. Nythera leaned in.

"The stuff we put in the bag, it's just a shield for my back, and shields are always light when Hugh carries them." He replied and chuckled to himself. Skills get weirder than I thought if he's allowed to do that. Can I manipulate the definition of artillery? The next cavern was extremely elongated, Nythera's rock lobbing trick only brought 2 smaller golems over, which she smashed to bits with a blast of her artillery. Unfortunately the ceiling being low made her near useless.

"You must acquire a more flexible skill, something you can use when you don't have the time, or space, to use your Culverin." Talvik said. I KNOW! If only acquiring active skills was that easy! I am going to throttle that bird when we get out of here. She sent Talvik a death glare, but he was busy pruning his feathers. Does he… even need to prune? She had never seen him do it before.

The next cavern was absolutely massive, easily the biggest dungeon room Nythera had ever set foot in, it sloped downwards gently to a pit in the center where a single, glittering pool of crystal clear water sat. The smell of wet stone was thick, trickles of water slowly dripped from the ceiling down into the pool. Curled around the center of the pond was a massive amalgamation of boulders, bright, jagged-blue quartz rods stuck out in a uniform fashion, like spines, three on each segment, left, right and center.

Dozens of segments at least. Is this… its head? There was one segment with two, much larger quartz rods sticking out, as if they were horns. It's a centipede? A rock and quartz centipede golem? Nythera stared incredulously at the still form. Dominic whispered to her "Nythera, blast that thing's head, how long does your cannon take to reload? Wait." Dominic held up his hand.

"I don't need to know, keep that to yourself, can you hit twice before it's on us?" He looked towards her with anticipation.

"I can blast the head no problem, but I can't get two shots off before it starts moving." She whispered back. It was time, she had waited long enough to test this skill. Hyper-flux: 54/60