The Pinnacle Warrior

“So, this is mana-blessed iron. All that really means is that it’s had mana pushed through it to the point that it’s become a permanent part of the metal. So, a lot of mana. I’m sure you know generally what that means, but specifically, if you push an active Skill through this shield, it will be strengthened, whether it be a defensive or offensive Skill, doesn’t matter. On top of that, the material itself’s a lot harder and stronger than regular iron or steel. It’s heavier, but I don’t think that would be a problem for you. In addition, because of the properties of the metal itself, it gives a couple attribute points.”

Astrid didn’t even try to keep herself from whistling through her teeth at that. “Sounds like a great tool, but I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t be able to afford it. I mean, we have more financial resources than most of the delvers around here, but we’re still a couple levels from the second watershed. How much would it cost?”

“Well, like I said, I’ve got some things to explain! See, this is only in the most technical sense mana-blessed iron. It is stronger and better than iron and steel, but it didn’t get saturated enough to be considered even middling quality. As such, the iron itself won’t take to any of the enchantments and so on the way that real mana-blessed iron is expected to. It’s significantly better than mundane materials, but is half a step lower in quality than the real stuff.”

Astrid squinted for a moment thinking. Then she asked, “But Bronze tier delvers never have mana-blessed iron, do they?”

“Not usually.” The Smith’s response was casual. He explained further, “The thing is is that this is what I was using as a Class evolution. You know, the Great One’s quests? Anyways, now that I’m fully Iron, this isn’t really worth a whole lot to me. I could make something better with regular iron and steel, because of the new Class, but I want the shield to get used. Didn’t make it to keep as an ornament, and melting it down isn’t worth it either. I’ve heard what you’re doing and I figure I can give you a good deal and ensure that it’s being used by the delvers who are showing the most promise in town right now. Plus, for my vanity. You see, I’m a little frustrated that no matter what I do, you never seem to be happy with any of the stuff we have to offer. So I might have half made this with you in mind so you can finally stop moping around.”

Astrid chuckled quietly and said, “I guess I should prick a craftsman‘s pride more frequently than I do already. But you didn’t answer my question in the beginning, how much does it cost? I’ll be totally transparent with you about our maximum because I hate bartering—”

Skandr cut in with his hands up. “All right, hold up. Just because you don’t want to barter doesn’t mean that we should let the old man fleece us.”

The Smith threw his head back laughing and clapped the younger Mage on the shoulder. “Even if she wanted to do that, I wanted to stop her myself! The haggling is half the fun!”

Skandr grinned and gestured for the old man to speak.

“I’ll accept… 7 1/2 gold.”

Skandr blinked twice. Then he cocked his head to the side and frowned. “I have no doubt that’s a fair price, but that’s a price we can’t even pay half of. Hope you can find someone who will buy your shield, because if that’s what the beginnings of negotiations are, then we can’t even come to the table. Sorry to disappoint.”

Astrid wanted to say something, to beg for clemency or for a payment plan or anything, but Skandr kept shaking his head as he walked away. Astrid was relatively sure it was a negotiation tactic, but his face was stormy enough as he gestured for the party to follow him as he left the shop that she turned around to speak to the man.

“I’m sorry. Really, Skandr isn’t being greedy though. We’ve had plenty of expenses recently, and it doesn’t look like they’re going to get any smaller, so…” She shrugged helplessly as she followed the rest of her party out of the shop. Strangely, the Smith’s face didn’t look upset, but instead appreciative. He nodded to himself, his fingers flicking through a couple calculative motions, and then he whistled sharply.

“All right, all right, maybe I was being a little hopeful there. I can start negotiations at 5 gold.” Skandr poked his head back in and reiterated, “We honestly can’t pay more than 4 gold. Even doing 3 will require for us to go deeper in debt, and we have someone else that we need to see today anyways. so, we thank you for your generosity in allowing us to see what we might be able to afford someday, but we cannot accept the prices you’re giving.”

“All right, all right. You’ve tugged on my heartstrings enough.” The Smith again laughed as he said it. “3 gold.”

“2 gold.” Skandr smiled winningly

“2 gold 90.”

“2 and 50.”

“2 gold 90.”

“2 gold and 75?”

“2 gold and 90 silver.” The Smith insisted with exaggerated enunciation, and his face didn’t shift at all. “You know that’s an absolutely killer deal, and I’m not gonna go any lower. This is me taking a loss between my work and the materials, and I don’t want to hear any of your complaints.”

Skandr looked to Astrid, who nodded. “Technically,” she said, “I should probably check what options are available with Aarta, but I’m also sure that he won’t have anything so good as this. We’ll be back soon.”

The Smith shook his head, narrowed his eyes, and said, “If you walk out that door, the price is going up. Up to you, but I’m telling you, it’s going to be a copper a second for every second you’re gone.”

Skandr let his mouth fall open in disbelief and displeasure, but Astrid laughed as she strode forward, pulled her purse out, and asked, “Can we give you one gold for now and come back with the rest?”

***

Markus

“Who do you think is responsible for what’s happening to Astrid‘s party?”

“Yeah, is there anything that we could do about it even if we knew?”

“No, but I want to be able to help in some way…”

“You two are still on about this?” Kaya asked as she stepped out of the nearby fields of tall wheat. Here on the fourth floor, it grew nearly 2 meters high. “There hasn’t been anything other than their party that you’ve wanted to talk about in your spare time. Markus, I understand that you have some interest in her individually, but I don’t understand why you, Bogdan, are so interested. I mean, we’re near the entrance to the fifth floor! There are parts of the Dungeon proper that access this floor, there are irregulars to hunt, and all you can talk about is somebody else’s party?”

“I’m interested because this is something that could affect anyone! We don’t know what the thought process or the motive is for people to do this, so I want to understand how I can keep ourselves safe from whatever it is that’s happening. So, does that make some measure of sense to you?”

Bogdan looked embarrassed after snapping at her, but before Kaya could answer or he could make an excuse, Bogdan‘s eyes narrowed, then widened. Without another word, he leapt forward and threw himself at the Archer. She was so surprised that his attack drove her to the ground. They both grunted as they rolled over each other, but Bogdan seemed to wince as they did so.

“What in the name of the Duchess—”

“Ambush!” Bogdan called out as he stood up. An arrow stuck out of his side, buried between his ribs. His breath rattled in his lungs as his eyes looked everywhere. “I don’t know who or what it is, I just felt something at the last moment!”

“These aren’t gnolls!” Kaya called out as she looked at the smooth goosefeather fletching on the arrow.

Markus put his fists up as he covered for Antoni to attempt to treat Bogdan. The Rogue grunted as the Physician put his hands on the arrow and made the decision to leave it there.

“I don’t know what kind of head it’s got, but I think it’s hooked in some way. If it’s fully barbed, then I might disembowel you by taking this out. We need to get you back home.” Despite his usual composure, Antoni’s voice quivered, and his eyes ran everywhere in terror.

Bogdan struggled to his feet, his knives in his hands.

“There’s only so much I can do like this, but like hell am I going to let some yellow bellied-bootlicker get one over on us. I’m going to be going into stealth and tracking them down.:

“Like hell you are all by yourself!” Markus‘s voice was demanding. “You might just bleed out or die like that, and you’re not anywhere near good shape, much less top shape to deal with someone capable of ambushing us. We move together. Towards the exit. Go!”

As one, the four ran forward, and before long, Markus was supporting Bogdan as they continued their flight.

“Oh, dammit!” Kaya’s voice ran out as she pointed to their left. “I can hear gnolls approaching from that direction!” She raised her bow and knocked an arrow as a brawler burst through the brush with its jaws wide open she pulled and loose in a single movement, the arrow, taking it in the eye. Nobody cared about the kill notification as they continued running, and Kaya continued picking off whatever monsters she could. Before long, Markus had to foist Bogdan off on Antoni as he flashed forward and showed the brawlers what a real fist fighter could do.

Bones cracked as his fists glowed with a soft silver light, and he dismantled the brawlers’ resistance. In a short minute, he had sustained a couple small scratches, but between him and Kaya’s attacks, the brawlers were all dispatched before long. As Markus rolled his shoulders and went to continue running, his stomach dropped. The same moment he looked back, he saw Antoni slumped over on the ground. Another arrow was lodged in his throat, and his eyes were glassy.

“Where are you!” Markus demanded with his fists up. If he could see anyone, he could use his Skills to close in on the enemy, quick enough to maybe stand a chance. As soon as he made the demand though, he felt a sharp prick on the side of his neck. Immediately, his muscles slackened, and he felt himself fall to the ground more than he could consciously think it. While he laid there insensate, he saw the same loss of bodily control happen to Kaya as she stood, hyperventilating.

The last thing he could hear before his consciousness fled entirely was, “Are you stupid? Why did you have that poison on the heads? And going for the throat?”

***

Newly indebted to Aarta, Astrid happily held her new shield on her arm as they strode through the streets. The party had, meaning no longer, almost 2 gold worth of expendable funds at the time of purchase, so getting another gold worth of a loan wasn’t difficult. Checking out the shield once she equipped it, Astrid saw that it gave an additional +2 to Fortitude. A part of her wanted it to help her with Power as well, but it was well in alignment with the purpose of the shield for it to give her a bonus to Fortitude. With a smile, she pulled open her Status for the third time since she had gotten the shield.

Status

Name: Astrid 

Class: Warrior (Bronze)

Total Level: 9 (1,975/12,000)

Attributes

Current

Per level growth

Power

53 (+1)

+5

Alacrity

34 [+7]

+3

Fortitude

54 (+3)

+5

Magical Potency

14

+1

Self-Mastery

15

+1

Acumen

15

+1

Though she technically didn’t have her helmet on her right now, Astrid mentally filled in the two points it would give her. Though the attributes the items gave her weren’t particularly impressive, they were something. That combined with what her new shield would be able to do for her to keep her and her party safe was more than enough for her to be excited. Now, she was just a couple levels away from that next watershed, and then she and her party could move onto the next section of the Dungeon to delve and do more! Hopefully, in the months between now and then, their pursuers would give up the hunt and allow them to escape without having to keep watch over their backs.

“I hope this isn’t offensive to you, but you’re funnily cute with this shield. It’s almost like it’s a new pet for you.”

“It’s not a pet! It’s a new companion, and it will save your and my life both! I don’t wanna hear you talking bad about our new friend! And yes, maybe it’s weird for me to be giving it a personality and calling it a friend, but it’s good equipment!”

“I’ve got good equipment too,” Skandr said with a laugh, “but I’m not naming it or calling it anything other than the hideous eyesore that it is. I’m grateful for it saving my life so often, don’t get it twisted, just know that I also realize that, you know, it’s just a thing.”

Astrid pointed at the Lightningmage with her eyes squinted, though she said nothing. He raised both his hands in mock surrender as he continued walking, though Muti’s eyes looked at the shield.

Though it pained her, Astrid asked, “Would you like to try it on?”

Muti shook her head as she laughed. “No, my people do not train with shields. I would not know how to wield it.”

“You focus more on shedding blood and general violence?”

“No, we do not have enough wood to reliably create shields and we have insufficient steel to create ones just like the one you were holding now. Perhaps it just feels like a waste to me to use this much metal on one particular piece of equipment, but it does not strike me as being more wasteful than any of the other foolish uses of metal that your people insist on.”

Astrid shrugged, though she did internally note that she’d witnessed the defenses that Muti put up with her swords as she fought. She parried much more than Astrid‘s own training had taught her to, which had relied heavily on the shield instead of the sword as the primary defensive option. Even so, Muti’s combat style was more aggressive by nature than Astrid’s. Just another difference between them, she supposed.

As they arrived back at the Inn, there was some big hubbub that had Astrid and Muti subconsciously stepping closer together, sandwiching Skandr between them as they readied themselves for possible combat. Muti cursed to herself for a second before pulling her dagger from her belt where it hung behind her. Then, with Astrid wearing her shield, they walked in.

A cacophony of voices swelled, overwhelming any possibility for understanding individual conversations. Astrid looked around, trying to figure out if this was a bar fight, or if there was something else that had happened, but there was a sudden flash of light in the room that washed out every conversation.

Klara appeared standing on a sheet of light above everybody, her face and breath ragged. She spoke without fanfare. “Those of you who have not heard, there have been two casualties today. It has been made immensely clear that there is foul play involved with their deaths. Antoni and Bogdan‘s bodies were found on the fourth floor of the Dungeon today. Markus and Kaya have gone missing, and it is our best guess that they were dragged into the Dungeon itself instead of the offshoot all of you delve in. It’s my belief that there was a party of high Iron delvers there who carried them further into the Dungeon itself.

“This is an absolute failure on the side of the Guild, as this section of the Dungeon has been explored, but no junctures with any other familiar parts of the Dungeon have been found. We should have done more to explore every juncture here, and you have the Guild’s and my personal sincere apologies. Whoever it is that did this has scouted out the passages sufficiently to know how to get behind our lines and strike where we are the most vulnerable. I apologize to each of you, as somehow, the enemy was able to infiltrate and take these of your fellow delvers without the Guild realizing it until it was too late.

“Every one of you in here has heard about the conflict between the Guild and part of the ruling class of the country. What I am about to say is contrary to what I’m supposed to do, but you deserve to hear it, even if it gets me censured. It is rare that deaths are sustained in their attempts to capture delvers, but it does happen. I suspect that this is what has happened, that this was a kidnapping gone wrong. Even so, I will explain what I have done to search out these people.

“I was notified of the finding of the bodies two hours ago. They were left somewhere for the gnolls to eat, but when I saw the bodies, I found traces of a poison that shouldn’t have been present in this part of the Dungeon. I immediately went into the Dungeon and followed what little existed of the trail as far as I could. It went cold after there was a spawning of Drakes in the middle of what I think may have been the path the delvers took into the Dungeon proper, and I was unable to follow it any further. This method of entrance will be shut down within the week, as the Guild has been notified and will have a constant patrol of a full party of Iron tiers at the junctures between the Dungeon proper and our offshoot.

“We’ll be giving Bogdan and Antoni’s bodies the burial that all delvers merit. And I promise you, once I find out who it is, who dared to facilitate this, I will bring them to justice where all of you can watch their suffering.”

Astrid didn’t know how to respond to all this as her stomach sunk. Skandr met her eyes and both felt the fear fighting to choke them. That was when the corpses were pulled out from Klara‘s office, and Astrid saw what remained of Bogdan’s face, twisted in pain and his knives clutched in his hands. Despite what had been done to clean the body, Antoni’s front was stained with his own blood, and his hands were twisted in an obvious rictus of agony.

Looking at them, Astrid made the same promise that Klara had. I’m going to punish whoever it is that did this.