Chương 94: CDM 2, Chapter 30: Territory

I woke the next morning to Dawit speaking with the man and the woman. His body language suggested he was telling them it was time to leave. The man tried to hand my sleeping bag to Dawit, but he stepped back and shook his head. I didn't think the defender was joking last night when he said I wouldn't be allowed to keep my gear, but that level of caution surprised me. When they stepped out of the gate, Dawit stared at his watch.

After a few minutes passed, he motioned for one of the defenders and one of the black mages to check the other side of the gate. They returned a short while later. No sign of the "natives," they said. The dungeon itself ended up being zombies, and I'm going to assume you saw the run on the show. Other than the two C-ranked runs that followed this one, the editors showed more of this zombie dungeon than any other gate we ran on that trip, so I'll spare you the rehash.

What didn't make it to air was how absolutely stoked I was about Multi-Shot. Zombie hordes were the perfect training ground for my new toy. Missing a target completely was difficult with so many monsters crammed into each corridor, but I have to say stacking Multi-Shot on top of Piercing helped me to fall even more in love with archery. With that combo, I could put down six zombies with one arrow, and seeing six monsters fall all at once was insanely empowering.

Granted, we had two high-level defenders Taunting the crap out of the dungeon the whole run. I tried to keep in mind how much of a difference that made to keep from getting complacent. That many zombies would have been a much scarier challenge without our babysitters. Admittedly, the voidwood bow I borrowed skewed my sense of power as well. The 25% buff to damage combined with Bolt was an obvious upgrade to my usual skills. Getting used to my arrow disappearing and reappearing was still strange, though.

I hadn't realized how much seeing the trajectory of my shots factored into how I aimed. I wondered if Tailf3ther had an opinion about whether that was bad or good. That gate pushed me over into level 9 and covered a good bit of ground toward level 10. If the next gate earned me a similar amount of XP, I would definitely make it to level 10 before I had to fly back home. This day wasn't as rainy, but it was still cold and overcast.

I put my mind on autopilot as we hiked to the next gate and looked at my unlock options for level 9: Bloody Hands Class: Archer Type: Trait Cooldown: None Duration: Perpetual Gain a 10% bonus to damage. Strong Arm Class: Archer Type: Trait Cooldown: None Duration: Perpetual Prerequisites: Power Draw The draw weight of any bow you use is halved. Echo Arrow Class: Archer Type: Trait Cooldown: None Duration: 30 seconds Every fifth arrow you loose adds an Echo Arrow to your quiver.

An Echo Arrow is an exact duplicate of the fifth arrow you fired, retaining all of the same traits and properties as the original, and disappears when the duration expires. I didn't have the prereq for Strong Arm, and I wasn't dipping into my pool of unselected abilities to change that, so it was out. Echo Arrow was really only useful if you had special arrows. Individual arrows can be enchanted, but it's hard to do, so they aren't cheap.

With Echo Arrow, you can time it so you get two of the expensive arrows for the price of one. My pick was Bloody Hands. An extra 10% damage would pay off pretty much immediately, especially since the system applied the bonus to every arrow I fired, even the system-generated ones. So when I combined Dual Nocking and Multi-Shot to shoot six arrows, two of them from my quiver and four system-made, every single arrow benefited from the buff.

I finished leveling up by putting 1 stat point into strength and 2 into dexterity, leaving my system profile looking like this: Dorion Carmino Class: Archer Level: 9 XP Progress: 14012/25600 Str: 8 Dex: 17 Con: 10 Int: 5 Cha: 3 Abilities: Piercing Shot Dual Nocking Multi-Shot Traits: Ranged Accuracy Improved Reload Sharpen Momentum Swift Hands Bloody Hands Spells: (none) Equipment: Ring of Minor Stoneskin 17 dexterity made me significantly faster than most creatures native to Earth.

If a cobra lunged at me to bite, I would have no problem avoiding it. If a level 1 human tried to fistfight me, he would hit nothing but air. When I moved at speed, anyone with high enough intelligence or high enough dexterity could track my movements, but for most everyone else, I was a blur. The next B gate, our last run for the trip, was a barnacle-covered metal door pitted with rust, so much so that the door fell apart when Dawit wrenched it open.

The smell of saltwater filled my nose long before my eyes adjusted to the wet cave. In the distance, water crashed against rocks, and strong winds made deep, haunting whistles with the rocks.

"This is an ogre dungeon," Dawit announced.

"We're going to eat and get some sleep before we go any farther." When most of the party tucked themselves into their sleeping bags, I found a dry corner and hugged my knees again. Megan offered hers, proposing we switch off or something like that so that I could get a few hours of warm sleep, but I declined. I chose to give mine away, and I was fine accepting the consequences by myself as well. So I put my head down and tried to rest.

Ogres are twice as tall as humans and tend to weigh between 600 and 700 pounds each. Their heads are wider and more square, and no hair grows anywhere on their bodies. Their skin tones range from a pale yellow to a dirty orange with layers of tattoos and ritual scarification over top. In this dungeon, the ogres were coastal fishermen. They attacked with nets, ropes, and harpoons, standing their ground to block us from venturing deeper into the dungeon rather than attacking from hiding with ambush tactics.

Their size and raw power were humbling. The first time one of our defenders blocked a harpoon with their shield, I felt the vibration of the impact from the backrow, and the sound was sharp enough to dull my hearing with a high-pitched ring for several long seconds. While that was frightening, the dungeon's greatest dangers were in the water. The cave where we made camp was at the end of a long, seaside ravine, leading to a rocky shoreline that broke waves into spray when they crashed into land.

The route for this dungeon was mostly linear. Sometimes we were right against the water, and other times we curved inland for a stretch before returning to the beach again. In the snapper variant of the squid dungeon, you may recall my complaining about slimes emerging from the canals to launch surprise attacks. If you haven't reached this conclusion already, I will readily admit it here: I'm a little bitch. Knowing that slimes might emerge from the water made me jumpy and paranoid.

A shadow from a party member would dance across the water, and I'd lurch frantically before realizing my mistake. Slimes sneaking out of canals was nothing. In this dungeon, the tentacles of killer squids lashed out of the water, attempting to drag one of us under.

At several points, we had to cross rickety bridges that were nothing more than two logs lashed together, making us especially vulnerable to surprise squid attacks, but sharks were the greater danger in those cases They burst out of the water to jump over the bridge, attempting to knock as many of us off as they could.

Since Dawit's team knew this dungeon, we were never caught by surprise, but watching a black shark the size of a great white leap into the air made me wary of being anywhere near the water and set my legs to shaking whenever I had to use any of the bridges. I was terrified for the whole run. I never felt like I was far enough away from the water to really be safe. We reached the boss of the dungeon after six hours of crawling, turning inland from the beach to climb a trail up a cliffside.

We weren't in danger of getting snatched by a sea monster, but the heights we reached triggered the same level of fear. That was a long way to fall. The boss battle itself was inside of a circular palisade. Instead of shelters or supplies, it was just the one monster, waiting patiently for challengers. This ogre was wider and taller than the others we had encountered, and the tattoos across his back and chest glowed a muted green.

He fought with a trident and a boat anchor tied to the end of a chain, alternating between violent sweeps where the anchor bounced across the battlefield and disturbingly quick lunges where he covered a dozen yards in an instant before bringing the anchor down like it was a hammer. He was especially vulnerable to the Bolt enchantment on my voidwood bow, but I'm not sure how much damage I actually delivered. Our black mages did most of the work in that particular fight.

On our way out of the dungeon, Dawit abruptly signaled for us to stop and crouch. His eyes darted all around, and his head shifted every so often, holding the new position for a second or two before shifting again. This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

"Wait here," he whispered to the defender nearest to him before slinking ahead, low and stealthy. The other guides didn't seem concerned, so I took that to mean this was an ordinary occurrence. We waited for nearly an hour for Dawit to return. We doubled back into the dungeon a few yards to shelter in an alcove away from the shore.

"Raiding party," Dawit stated simply.

"I counted 17."

"What do you mean 'raiders?'" one of the camera people asked. That was the first time I heard either of them say something that wasn't directing a shot.

"Nobody ever said anything about raiders."

"Haven't had an issue in a while," Dawit replied.

"They're natives who attack crawlers on their way out of gates. That way they get all their gear and the haul from the run. This group has a few enchanted items, so they've had some practice." Dawit looked at his watch again. His jaw flexed as he thought deeply.

"We're going to slam the door on these guys," he said, addressing the other guides.

"We'll move out in 20 minutes."

"What does that mean?" Megan asked.

"Before I explain, know that we have been in similar situations before, so there's no need to panic. They have the numbers. Instead of fighting them, we're going to run for the gate. We'll time it so the gate closes soon after we get out."

"And they stay stuck inside." Dawit nodded. Megan pulled her helmet up and put a hand over her mouth. I wasn't thrilled about sending that many people to their deaths either. Technically, this was self-defense if they did intend to attack us, but the only people I could picture were the man and woman desperate for shelter we saw the other night.

"What if we left now so they had time to get out?" I asked.

"They would follow. We have to do what's safest for you, the clients. Trust our judgment on this, please. They'll attack us on the way out. You'll see that this is self-defense. Only 10 more minutes. Use the time to focus your minds." I supposed that was that then. He was right that I would feel a little bit better if they attempted an ambush, but not by much. Despite my wanting to, I couldn't think of an alternative plan.

"2 minutes," Dawit said.

"Let's get buffs up." The white mage Blessed us, temporarily boosting all of our stats by 5%, and followed that with a Protection spell.

"Time to go. Stay close." Dawit led as we jogged along the rocky shore. When we neared the ravine, the last stretch before the cave with our exit, the pace quickened. The defenders, one on either side of our group, activated Shield Wall, an ability that summoned a protective barrier based on their constitution scores. That tends to be pretty high for defenders, and theirs was high enough that the entire length of our party was behind a magic shield. I had seen them use Shield Wall on several occasions.

Usually, the shields were mobile and followed us like they did in the ravine. If the Defenders willed it though, Shield Wall could produce a static barrier. Arrows and spells rained down from both sides of the ravine, pinging off of the Shield Walls. Each raider I saw was dressed in the same leathers as the two locals we hosted in our dungeon camp, but whether those events were connected, I didn't know. A tangle of vines burst from the ground to block our path, and one of our black mages torched them immediately.

I felt the concussion of spells that I couldn't name, like dense beams of magic that culminated in concentrated explosions or giant iron fists that attempted to punch through our defenders. I don't remember most of the sprint, to be honest with you. Once I was aware of how quickly I could die, the tunnel vision of the moment didn't bother registering memories. All that mattered was getting into the cave and through the gate. We ran out the other side of the gate.

A violent downpour greeted us, but our guides ignored it. Instead, they spun to face the gate and assumed a defensive formation. The black mages were ready to unload on whoever attempted to leave the dungeon, and the defenders were prepared to cut off escapes or attacks. For two long minutes, we waited in the rain, eyes locked on the gate. And it was gone. The dungeon was closed. I was surprised none of our attackers risked going through after us.

They had nothing else to lose at that point, but that never happened. The gate shut, and it was just our party standing in the rain. Our guides relaxed.

"Apologies for the stressful experience," Dawit said to us as well as the camera people.

"The important thing is we are safe, and we are going home. I'm afraid we need to hurry. We can still make it to the beach before nightfall, but we cannot delay." Nobody spoke, and we jogged any time we were on a trail clear enough and straight enough. Gray, frothy waves beat against the beach when we arrived, and the long stretch from the mainland to the yacht was a violent churn. I didn't know anything about sailing, but that looked bad to me. Our skipper seemed to agree.

He met us on the beach at the rendezvous point and yelled for us to hurry. In seconds, we were on the boat, looking for any passable handhold. Of all the physical challenges I faced on that trip, that boat ride beat me up the most. The never-ending rises and falls slammed us again and again, to the point that I just closed my eyes and focused on holding on. After what felt like hours, Megan grabbed my arm and helped me off the boat. The crew was there to greet us.

While half of them tended to our gear, the other half gave us bathrobes and hot tea. We sat on hard plastic benches somewhere in the hold.

"Thank you for your trust," Dawit said.

"I'm sorry the final portion of our trip was not as carefree as we would have liked. I hope that doesn't ruin the whole experience for you. Safe travels home." I hadn't seen the other guides leave the room, but when I looked up to say goodbye to Dawit, he was already shutting the door behind him. The two camerapeople, as well as Megan and I, were left behind with the crew, who were already cleaning our equipment. I nudged Megan with my elbow.

"Nathan and Beth are probably waiting up again."

"Yeah. Let's go find them." This time, I helped her up. They were in the third-floor lounge again.

"Weather fucking sucked, right?" Nathan said. He had a cup of hot chocolate sitting on the coffee table in front of him. Megan fell onto the couch and dropped her head in Nathan's lap. Beth was asleep on another couch. I decided not to wake her. Unlike Megan, I felt bad about using the furniture in the state we were in, so I sat on the floor, which soon turned into lying on my back, looking up at the dark stained wood on the ceiling.

"What's wrong?" Nathan asked.

"Did you guys see any locals?"

"No, dude."

"Raiders?"

"You guys ran into raiders?" I nodded. Her voice muffled by Nathan's leg, Megan said, "None of us got hurt. The gate closed before they could get out."

"Jesus." Nathan moved the hair out of Megan's face.

"You're sure you're okay?"

"I'll be fine. Just let me lie here for the next three days."

"Sorry that happened to you guys."

"It's okay," Megan said.

"I'm level 10 now."

"Nice!" Nathan exclaimed.

"Congrats, babe. What'd you end up taking?"

"I still have to pick." She read the unlock descriptions for what she selected at level 9: Outnumbered Class: Brawler Type: Ability Cooldown: 30 seconds Duration: Instant Prerequisites: Taunt, Knock Back Every target within a four-foot radius is pushed backward. Total distance is based on your Strength stat. Any damage you deal to these targets in the next 3 seconds is increased by 2. 5%. Level 10 was a system milestone. In addition to having the option to multiclass, unlocks were also a little different.

First of all, level 10 came with a bonus ability, which for Megan was the following: Down But Not Out Class: Brawler Type: Passive Ability Cooldown: 24 hours Duration: 15 seconds If your health falls below 25%, Second Wind activates, granting you bonus health equivalent to 50% of your maximum and a 5% improvement to all stats for the duration of the ability.

The other oddity of reaching level 10, was that the three unlocks offered at that level only appeared once, meaning the two you didn't pick would not appear in your pool of unselected options like every other ability you passed on. For a brawler, those abilities were: Stronger Class: Brawler Type: Trait Cooldown: None Duration: Perpetual Gain a +1 to Strength.

Faster Class: Brawler Type: Trait Cooldown: None Duration: Perpetual Gain a +1 to Dexterity Tougher Class: Brawler Type: Trait Cooldown: None Duration: Perpetual Gain a +1 to Constitution If you were unimpressed by those, every brawler on Earth would agree with you. Compared to other classes, Megan's choices were pretty lame.

"I'll pick later," she grumbled. Silence settled in the room, and I was perfectly fine with it. Oh. I was level 10 now. Did I read that and forget because of the chaos, or did I miss it completely? Whatever. I was level 10. I expected it to feel… better. Right now, the only feeling I had was tired. Maybe tomorrow I'd experience the excitement I expected, I thought, but I wasn't waiting that long to make my selections.

First up, the archer class received this bonus unlock at level 10: Battle-Hardened Class: Archer Type: Trait Cooldown: None Duration: Perpetual Gain a 5% bonus to damage and to damage resistance. Additionally, arrow damage and penetration ability now scale with your level. That was a pretty decent freebie, I felt.

I still had 3 new unlocks to choose from, but remember that these options were only offered once: Split the Arrow Class: Archer Type: Ability Cooldown: 1 hour Duration: Instant Your next shot duplicates the targeting of the last arrow you fired. Split the Arrow will fail if your physical aim is radically different from the original. Vengeful Arrow Class: Archer Type: Ability Cooldown: 1 Hour Duration: Instant The damage of your next arrow is increased by 10%.

Marked Class: Archer Type: Ability Cooldown: 1 Hour Duration: Instant If the next arrow hits a creature, increase damage dealt by party members by 5% for 5 seconds for the target creature. Split the Arrow was a common choice for power builds. The first arrow was only about precision rather than damage. The second arrow was the power shot, and as long as the bow was trained on the same general target, the archer didn't have to worry about accuracy while they powered up. Most any build could benefit from Marked.

It was useful for boss fights, but the ability really shone in upper-ranked dungeons with large parties. 12 crawlers getting 5% bonus damage was noticeably different from 5 crawlers doing the same. My build guide recommended Vengeful Arrow because it synergized well with Multi-Shot, so I could unleash a Dual Nocking, Multi-Shot, Vengeful Arrow combo where all six arrows benefited from the Vengeful buff. I put 2 stat points into strength and then put the last into dexterity.

When I finished, my system profile looked like this: Dorion Carmino Class: Archer Level: 10 XP Progress: 377/51200 Secondary Class Progress: 0/1000 MA Str: 10 Dex: 18 Con: 10 Int: 5 Cha: 3 Abilities: Piercing Shot Dual Nocking Multi-Shot Vengeful Arrow Traits: Ranged Accuracy Improved Reload Sharpen Momentum Swift Hands Bloody Hands Battle-Hardened Spells: (none) Equipment: Ring of Minor Stoneskin I don't remember closing my system profile. I fell asleep on the floor.