76: A Trail of Breadcrumbs

Breathing heavily, I sheathed my sword and looked over at Paisley. Wiping away sweat from her brow, she grinned widely.

“That was… intense,” I said, watching as she began to pick her way through the battlefield.

Hopping a long-dead soldier, she said, “Yeah. Haven't brute-forced a boss like that in a long time.”

Arriving beside me and the boss, her expression suddenly glowed with excitement. “You were so cool, though! Gosh, your new class is a-ma-zing.”

“It’s been pretty good, but I think you did the heavy lifting in that fight,” I said, disagreeing very neutrally. “Did you see how hard your death lightning hit that thing? Stunning a boss with raw damage is not normal, in case you've forgotten.”

“It was just the buff I get against undead, nothing special,” she whined, rolling her eyes. “You talk me up too much.”

I frowned at her. “No I don't. You're wonderful.”

She gave me the side eye, then approached the leather pouch that was now floating beside the felled dragon. “Let's see what we got, huh?”

She shared the loot window with me, and we fell silent as we read through the small list.

Necrotic Faerym ToothSlot: Class ItemA class item that can be equipped by the rare Faerym Seeker class and its various derivative subclasses. Increases the damage of AoE  ranged abilities. Imbues all attacks with Stamina draining Necrotic damage.+1 Strength+3 Resolve

Necrotic Faerym HeartContains the spirit of a long dead Faerym that was forced to rise once more and do battle. Consuming this heart will bestow Faerymic power and free the spirit, allowing it to rest peacefully.Helm of Ancient HeroismSlot: HeadA heavy iron helm, once worn by a human hero who gave his life to slay a dragon. When worn, reduces the effects of Necrotic damage by 50%+26 Strength+30 Constitution+10 Resolve

3x Bottle of Liquid Necrotic FireCrafting ingredient.

Ardegan Soldier's AmuletSlot: NeckKeepsake worn by an ancient human warrior. +14 Strength+10 Stamina+10 Resolve

“Oh,” Paisley said as she read down the list. “The dragon things are obviously for you— although, eating that heart sounds disgusting. A heavy metal helmet is useful to neither of us… Bottles of Necrotic Fire, though… I think I could use those in enchanting.”

I had to agree with her about the heart— doubly so after meeting Mheitai. At worst, I was going to steal the power I needed. I was hoping to befriend some Faerym, though.

“The amulet would be nice…” I said, staring at its tooltip. “God, and the stats on that helmet would be perfect— oh, and the buff, too. Why couldn't it have been leather?”

“Because the devs make a vague attempt at balance— sometimes,” she replied, and with a wave of her hand she pulled the three bottles of fire out from the bag. They glistened with dark, swirling magic, ready to be freed in one explosive gout of flame. Paisey, very wisely, did not remove the stoppers.

“I'm going to take the heart and the class item,” I said after a second, and pulled both out.

The tooth was about as long as my hand from wrist to fingertips. It was a grey-white colour, and slightly serrated along its back edge. As for the heart… well, it was a lump of gross, withered muscle. I quickly put it into my inventory, where I wouldn't have to touch it.

“Take the other two, as well,” Paisley said, pocketing the bottles. “I don't need either of them. Who knows, maybe if you melt the helmet down, you can turn it into something else.”

My eyebrows rose, and I thought about it. The heart said it had a spirit in it, so what if I did some more Spirit Forging, instead of eating it? I'd enjoyed the spear I used earlier… yeah, I liked that idea.

“Thanks,” I said, pulling the last of the items. They went into my inventory, and together we looked up at the now undefended gate into the keep.

It had the sort of looming, hungry aura that a lion might have when it turns its attention to a baby gazelle. Actually, it was more like a gateway, considering how the fae twisting had ruined any hope of the gate closing properly again.

Paisley sighed. “If I remember right, that castle is a clusterfuck of dark hallways and assholes waiting around corners.”

“Yeah…” I agreed. “That about sums it up.”

Looking over, I found her already staring at me like, ‘So, you really want to do this, huh?’

Wryly, I smiled and began turning my attention back to the castle. A slight shine in the darkness caught my attention, and with a frown, I focused on it. It was out beyond even the faint light of the banner, where black fog was swirling— obscuring the sheer slope that was the boundary of the dungeon.

“Paisley…” I said slowly, pointing over at the gently shining spot. It looked like someone was using a mirror to flicker dim light in our direction. “Do you see that?”

Paisley glanced in the direction I'd indicated, squinting in an attempt to pierce the darkness. “See what?”

“The glinting, or shining… there's something over there,” I said, then realised with a start, that it wasn't just a shining object— “Wait, it's my faerym seeker passive. It's highlighting something that's already glinting faintly.”

My friend perked up and attempted to peer into the fog again. “I don't see it, but we should definitely check it out, right?”

“Shiny perception hint in the corner of a dungeon?” I said with a little laugh. “Of course we go check it out.”

Together, we picked our way carefully through the ancient battlefield. Behind us, the wisp had appeared again, bobbing around in the gateway with increasing frustration. Sorry buddy, you've got competition now.

The closer we got to the slope where the shining thing was, the more confused we became. Whatever was shining, it wasn't that big, and Paisley could see it now, too. It was long and thin, and obviously metallic— hence the shine.

When we were a half dozen metres away, I realised what it was, and I began to feel overwhelming confusion. Actually, I wouldn't be surprised if this turned out to be the most baffled I'd ever been in my life. Why? Because there, laying in the dirt as if only recently cast, was a shiny new copper pipe.

“Is that…” Paisley asked, sounding equally perplexed. “Is that a copper pipe?”

I picked it up and inspected, opening its tooltip.

Copper Pipe

Useful for conveying liquids from one place to another. Catalyst for heroic quests. Underwhelming reward from a day of hardship and effort.

“Please tell me that you're seeing that tooltip, too?” I complained, while waving it at her. “That description is legit just a dig at me, right?”

“I… can't really argue with that,” Paisley giggled, staring at the pipe with utter, amused wonder.

Further along the base of the slope, another glint of light caught my eye. “Oh, motherfucker…”

Without explanation, I stomped the dozen or so metres to the next one— which, sure enough, was another new copper pipe. I held it out to Paisley like I was making legal accusations against the universe.

“What is this?” I demanded.

Paisley's expression was an uncontrollable grin, now. “Another copper pipe.”

Her eyes flicked past me, and she barked out a laugh of delighted surprise. “I see another one.”

Dual wielding copper pipes, I shook them at the next pipe. “No. This is not okay!”

Walking past me, my friend approached the third pipe, then picked it up and held it aloft. “The copper pipe of destiny!”

Following after her, I peered onwards, fearful of what I might find in the dark.

“Hey, Keiko…” Paisley giggled merrily. When I looked at her with heaping mounds of suspicion, she continued, “We're following a pipeline.”

I stared at her, dumbfounded, then groaned loudly. “Paisley!”

“Sorry, sorry…” she said, looking about as sorry as a cat that'd just stolen a hunk of chicken. “You're just so cute when you're grumpy.”

Ahead, there was a sudden, loud clang of metal on metal, which caused both of us to twitch in alarm. What… was someone actively planting the pipes? Was it one of our friends who'd somehow snuck into the dungeon?

Putting the pipes in my inventory, I adjusted the scabbard of my katana and pressed onwards, wary of an attack. Paisley, who was still smiling, readied her own weapons.

Two pipes were at the next spot, and beyond them, another one. Stopping briefly to pick up the pipes and pocket them, we followed ‘pipeline’ for almost four hundred metres, right to the big wall. More specifically, we stopped at the junction where the wall was built into the rocky slope. Several hundred metres down the wall, we could see the walkway that led over it, giving access to the rest of the dungeon.

Right in front of us, one last copper pipe was leaning on the wall. Above it, invisible to Paisley, was a block of stone with a gently shining white outline.

“A secret passage,” I said, and picking up the pipe, I poked the brick with it. It slid inwards slightly, and a series of grinding clicks began to resonate through the ground.

Wait.

The ground?

Abruptly, it gave way— two trap doors swinging open beneath us.

With a squeak of fright, I lunged for Paisley as we fell, my wings whirring furiously in an attempt to slow our fall. Distantly, a deep, rich, and feminine voice could be heard— laughing.