The Pinnacle Warrior

Fortunately, they made their way into the stairway to the second floor without incident. Though Muti did have two moments in which she demanded that they fall silent, there were no incidents or real causes for alarm. As the party settled to sitting on the stairs, Skandr groaned.

“Am I the only one who doesn’t want to go back to town?”

Muti laughed with a mocking look on her face. “I do not ever wish to spend more time among you humans. Except for my bound, of course.”

“What exactly do you mean?” Astrid asked Skandr.

“Every moment we walk around there, I’m sure that the next attack is just around the corner. I can feel myself becoming more and more paranoid by the day, and I hate it. Frankly, it almost makes me want to camp out here in the Dungeon.”

“Well, once delves get even a little bit longer than this one, then everybody’ll need to. I mean, I know there are some Dungeon entrances that have at least 20 floors, and each one is larger than the floors we are on now. Even with the attributes of a Steel tier, that’ll take a long time to move through hundreds of kilometers of inhospitable Dungeon territory.”

“And, because they aren’t cleared as much as these easier branches of the Dungeon, there’ll be more monsters that manage to get to where they don’t belong.”

Astrid nodded her agreement as Skandr threw his hands up.

“Yes, I know all that. But, I can also go and sleep in a bed in Kznietch here.”

“Your beds are too soft.” Muti disagreed. “I feel I am constantly sinking into thick water when I lay on them. They are bad. You should sleep on furs on the ground or a cot.”

Astrid and Skander both cocked their heads as they looked at Muti. Then, with a shrug, Skandr replied. “I like ‘em, and it helps me get comfy. But that’s beside the point. Having to trek for fiveish kilometers to get out here, then another seven or so for every additional floor that we delve deeper into, it’s just a huge waste of time. And even if it wasn’t, I’m pretty sure that we are safer on the first and second floors of the Dungeon than we are in town. At least we know what’s threatening us here.”

“Yeah, I can’t say that I disagree. Gnolls will only try to kill us while our hidden enemies want to enslave us.”

“I will not submit.” Muti said the words and Astrid nearly asked her about what her father should have done, being born into slavery among her people, but instead she swallowed the words and shrugged.

“So… what did you think about the shaman?” Skandr’s voice was unsure, picking up on the tension that Astrid had accidentally let slip.

“I underestimated the effect of the Alacrity aura. I was nearly overwhelmed right at the beginning, and if they had been any stronger, it would have been much more serious. It’s a blessing from the Duchess that the shaman hadn’t already begun the bloodlust aura.”

“There is an obvious weakness to exploit. So long as it does not continue to make the sound, the aura will fall.” Muti dismissed the threat with a shake of her hand. “It was a skilled fighter though.”

“Do you think you’d be able to hold the line against those same three under the blood bust aura if Skandr hadn’t slowed them?”

“Do not doubt my strength.”

Astrid should have seen the defensive response coming. Muti always responded that way whenever there was any communication that could have been understood to mean any sort of distrust in her competence.

“It’s not a question of if you would be able to win, Muti. I am asking if you would need to recover after doing so. So, would you sustain debilitating wounds that would need attention before you were able to finish the deed?”

“I see how much they were slowed by the attacks. If I was unlucky, then I would be struck by several arrows, or cut by the knife at least twice. My combat effectiveness would not be so impeded I would need to retreat.”

Astrid could read between the lines. It’d be wounds that’d need attention before too long. More and more settled into her position as the leader of the party, she nodded her thanks to the Rogue.

“Then, Skandr, our number one priority will be to ensure you get your spell off quickly. I know it’s mana intensive to hold the spell in limbo for a time, but if we have that ready to hit all of them while they’re all bunched up, that’ll be ideal.”

“It’ll be more draught intensive.” Skandr shrugged. “If I end up having to take a draught every time we fight a shaman, we’ll, if we’re lucky, only be breaking even on delving. This group here, that’s about the cost of a single draught.”

“We will improve.” Muti disagreed. “We will find victory. Now, the only injury sustained was you, leader. Correct?”

“Though that’s true, I hesitate to just think that will be how every engagement turns out. And what happens if, instead of the order that we had this time, we have one pack with a shaman and then another appears?”

“Then we will fight until we achieve victory or we die. There is nothing else to concern ourselves with.” Though a simplistic approach, Muti wasn’t technically incorrect. Astrid groaned.

“This needs to work better in order to make sure we pay off the debts we’ve got.”

“Then present a superior plan.” Muti’s response, as always, was quick.

“I’ve got an idea, though I know Muti won’t like it. Markus and Bogdan’s party did it for a little while.”

“If I will not like it, I do not want it to be our course of action.” 

“You said for me to present a superior plan. That’s what I’m doing, Muti. If you have a different idea, you can tell me what to do. Emerge victorious isn’t an effective plan, though, and Skandr and I are far away from accepting ‘find victory’ as an acceptable long-term idea.”

Muti grumbled as Skandr seemed to think for a moment before nodding once, slowly, in understanding. 

“Should we delve some more before we return to town, then?” he asked.

“Of course.”

***

“I’m sorry, now that you’ve moved to the third floor, the allocations for others on the second and first floors have changed. As such, there simply isn’t any availability for you to delve on the earlier floors. We can see that you are capable of finding progress on the third floor, so there is no way for us to rescind the redistributions that have already taken place. I apologize for the inconvenience, it simply is how it is.”

Anders shrugged helplessly as he briefly rifled through a stack of papers until he had the breakdown of the Dungeon’s usual monster output as well as what the acceptable per diem hunting rate was that wouldn’t incite the Dungeon to accelerated monster production. By glancing over it, what little Astrid could understand seemed to be telling her the same truth, that there would be no possibility for them to shift their delving grounds.

“Very well then. Thanks for the answer.”

Astrid led the party out of the assistant Guild representative’s office, Maria closing the door behind them.

“It is good that your plan did not work.”

Without saying a word, Astrid waved off the combat hungry Barbarian. More than anything, Muti wanted challenges and bloodshed, even more than she wanted to ensure that she and her party could continue on their path without being maimed or killed. There was a reason that Astrid was the party’s leader and while the Rogue was not.

“With that being the case, what were our expenses today?”

“Just under three silver. And, as you saw, our income was about 7 and a half silver. So, not as bad as you had feared.”

Astrid frowned at Skandr, who smiled a little and stopped talking as they walked into Astrid’s room.

“I do not understand your frustrations. We continue to grow in power and in experience, why do you wish to fall back to an easier location?”

“The much faster experience on the second floor would help us to reach level 10 faster than we’ll be able to manage to do on the third floor.”

“And we will be weakened there by, without nearly so much opportunity to practice our skills or to test our flesh against the burning blood of our foes.”

“While that is true, I would only be willing to throw ourselves more fully into the lower floors of the Dungeon if we either had a healer of some sort with us or if we all had gained another level.”

“Fear can not be allowed to rule the mind. Do not rely on so called surety when trials will better suit your goals and growth. Victory before death and blood before affection.”

“Yes, I know that’s what you believe!” Astrid snapped back. “I want to be victorious as well, but it’s stupid to possibly die simply because we think we can pull victory out of a hopeless situation!”

Muti leveled her gaze at Astrid, and without saying another word, turned her face away. Astrid shook her own head and refocused on the situation at hand. With this being the case, we will need to plan for the amount of time that we will be spending in the dungeon now. There will be much more for us to do while we are there that we cannot allow for ourselves to be distracted from doing.”

“You are not speaking sense. Speak clearly.”

“We have goals in the Dungeon. We need to ensure that everything that we do while within it are in service to our goals. To ensure we’re all on the same page about it, let me state my goals directly. Something that I have said before, but will restate now is that my goal is to reach Adamantite while my dream is to reach Arcanite level. Muti, you have said that your goals lie in returning to the Hordes and proving yourself as worthy or something along those lines, correct?”

“That is close enough to be called my purpose, yes.”

“An at what point will you consider yourself to have reached that goal?”

“There is no level to reach that will return to me the respect of my Hordemaster, so it is difficult to say. Even so, I would expect that in the higher echelons of Steel, I could prove myself in his eyes.”

Astrid nodded slowly. “So you have years of delving left before you. So what about you, Skandr? I do know that in the short term you wish for some measure of freedom from debts, but in the long-term? We’ve never spoken about what you actually wanted to do with your Class before you made some wise investments in long-term debt.”

“Well, I had some dreams of taking care of friends. No family around for me, and it’s either a damn joke or miracle that I ended up with Lightningmage. I would send money my friends’ way, but I get the sense that if I did, it’d somehow get twisted against me. Maybe it’s the paranoia, but at this point, just getting to high Steel seems like that would be necessary to ensure that I can keep myself out of some sort of forced servitude. So, to be safe, let’s say my goal is Mithril for now.”

As always, Astrid’s stomach twisted as she was forced to confront the likelihood that the Duchess was complicit in all this rampant corruption. Instead of addressing that or trying to reflect positivity and optimism onto it, she instead nodded as she continued to speak. 

“If that’s the case for all of us, then we’ll continue delving well beyond Bronze and Iron, then we need to ensure that we are taking steps to help us to reach those goals. Looking at both of you, I hope that you’ll continue with me as we deal with everything inside and out of the Dungeon. With that, I don’t mind getting new scars, shedding my blood, experimenting and practicing and doing everything that we have been doing so far. I don’t mind pushing everything we do even further, and honestly, I believe that we should. However, I also don’t think there’s any reason for any of us to get ourselves killed in our haste to reach our goals.

“Muti, I can’t say that I understand your people’s saying of victory before death and blood before affection. I don’t know exactly what that means to you, and if you want, you can explain that at some point. However, until then, we need to be sure that one of the three of us isn’t going to destroy the other two’s future. If you can’t promise that, unfortunately, I think that we will be done delving together before too long. That is something that pains me to say to my blood-bound companion, but I refuse to deceive you.”

Astrid maintained firm eye contact with the Rogue, hoping to hear an answer that would give enough clarity to continue building this relationship beyond one of party members and delving companions. Somewhere inside, she felt the twinge of fear at possibly being denied by this person that she’d grown a good amount of trust in. The Barbarian stood completely still as her eyes met Astrid’s. Her breathing was nearly imperceptible, and after a tense minute, she bowed her head.

“I will not yet share all that my people’s creed means to me, but I will say that victory and blood are all that remain for me. The past I will tread shall be scarlet and rocky, and when I stand on the peak to kick down all those who think themselves capable of challenging my return in glory, I shall do so with pride in my blood and understanding of my victory.”

“And will we stand on the peak alongside too?” Astrid couldn’t help but ask.

“perhaps.”

“And until that time, will you pay me respect as your leader?”

“For so long as you have earned that right. Be warned, especially after this next Skill, I shall be more ready to challenge you.”

Astrid nodded in acceptance and booked at Skandr. “And you? Will you have any complaints?”

“If I somehow wound up alone, I’d either get taken into custody or killed. Sure seems like sticking with two frighteningly dangerous delvers who are on my side is the best option available to me. And,” he said, as Astrid opened her mouth to say something, “despite everything else, I trust you two, and will continue to delve with you until you give me reason not to.”

“Then I guess that’s acceptable for me too. I will fight by your side, protect you with my shield, and delve to the bottom of the Dungeon itself if need be by your side. Know that you can trust me, and I will trust you.”

Skandr smiled and nodded while Muti raised her knife and, in an action that no longer surprised Astrid, cut her palm. Then, with her blood cupping in her hand, she reached her other, right hand out. The other two members of the party looked at her while she held her hand out.

“Mirror the position. Clear your wrist of anything.”

Astrid and Skandr didn’t argue, merely doing as the Barbarian demanded. As their hands meshed together, one person’s palm cupping the back of another’s hand, Muti drew a complicated sigil that climbed over each hand and swirled over their wrists. Then, when it was identical over each person’s hand, Muti muttered something in her people’s tongue and, instead of the gleeful grins she usually sported, instead, a subtler, gentler smile perked at the corner of her mouth. Then, she nodded and pulled her hand back.

They three stood in reverent quiet for a moment, then Muti’s face shifted to her more regular, fierce grin.

“Now. We delve! We shed blood! To victory!”