Chapter 23: The Vault Day 1

"Let's go dungeon diving."

Still used to a road schedule, we skip the post lunch nap, rally at the inn, and head for the dungeon. Yeah, its late to be leaving but there will be less of a crowd this time of day and we'll be camping inside anyway.

Members guarding our stuff in town have already been picked. So its me and the seven girls, Edelys, two Black Hart knights, and six Lianlaf soldiers acting as porters. Red has also hired a guide known for keeping her mouth shut.

A short loli looking guide. Halfling? Just young? Both? She's as short as Dara but with none of that yummy dwarf 'thickness.'

So this 'little' excursion for a couple of days into the dungeon has eighteen people. Yeah, that's not small. Not little. The main reason behind this 'dive' into a dungeon is to get me used to fighting 'monsters,' and I need it.

This will also let the girls who haven't dungeoned yet learn how too. Dungeon crawling can be very profitable. A good in-demand skill to have for after they leave me. Of course rare materials will be nice too. So the soldiers are here to help carry them back.

Takes less than an hour by rented wagons, yes plural, to reach the vault. Honestly? I expected more. Its literally just a hole in a hill. A cave that looks just tall enough to walk into. Yeah, its got all kinds of buildings in front of it. Inns, workshops, guardhouses, bars, brothels, etc, etc... A village unto itself.

This is the real economic heart of Colrac and the Shadefall barony. Even has its own wall. With another wall circling the dungeon entrance itself.

An ancient graveyard surrounds the place and is on both sides of the raised road as we approach. You can even see the ruins of Kilmere in the distance. Its a really, really, bad idea to leave the dungeon's village at night. Supposedly, lots of undead wandering around.

We get odd looks from the gatekeepers when we approach, looking to enter while everyone else is leaving for the day. An inspection to verify we have the minimum expected gear follows.

Our tag names and ranks are noted, everyone but the porters are required to have them. And finally, when we expect to return is noted. If we do not return in time we'll be added to the 'overdue' board.

A board where our names will remain until we return or proof of death, like our tags, is found.

The entrance isn't very tall, but it is pretty wide. Room for four people abreast. Walking deeper, we pass parties leaving. Some show injuries. All look exhausted. Look more like coal miners or slaughterhouse butchers than dungeon conquering adventurers.

A lot less glamorous than I expected.

The average group size seems to be nine. Six adventurers with three porters. As we walk further into the cave, lanterns mounted along the wall light our way. Finally reaching stairs descending into the deep.

Here, we, go.

Well, this is boring.

*scuff* *crunch* *tak* *tach*

Our boots make various noises crossing the rock, gravel, and dirt. We are on spiraling stairs for a while before reaching the 'first' floor at last. Squeezing to one side we pass more parties heading back up in silence.

They look too tired to chat.

None of them are coming back empty handed. All of their packs look full. Adventurers and porters alike. Most of their contents smelling pretty foul. Screw an off switch. Wish my nose had a plug. A couple groups are also carrying the bodies of comrades.

Olete answers my curiosity. You should never leave adventurer's corpses in a dungeon, they might become undead. Have to carry them out.

Natural rock looking tunnels and caverns colored in various shades of grey and brown is all we are encounter. The only light provided by our own lanterns, except for the occasional glowing moss. Shadows our constant companion.

The air is still, humid, and musty. Well musty and bloody and shitty. You see? There are corpses. Lots and lots of corpses. Monster corpses that is. Actual piles of them here and there. Its...

"Disgusting."

Some are skinned. Some are chopped up. All are missing bits that have been cutoff or cutout.

Dead monsters hardly ever become undead, for some reason.

According to our guide, shorty, the first level is the busiest and has the typical dungeon 'trash' mobs. Goblins, crawlers, slimes, toxic rats, iron jaws, etc... There are no mana metals this high up so the only 'harvestable' resource on the first floor are the monsters.

Today was the first harvest in over a month so there were lots of beasties to kill.

Sounds echo strangely as they bounce thru these tunnels. All we hear are our footsteps, distant drops of water, and the chewing of tissue and bone.

Moving among the corpse piles are 'rock worms.' Helpless against anything able to defend itself, they are this dungeon's clean up crew. Attracted by the smell of death their powerful jaws can crush the hardest bone with ease. They can even bite thru solid rock.

Think a pile of monster corpses is gross? Try a squirming pile of monster corpses with chewing sounds.

"I think I'm going to be sick." "Well don't throw up in your helmet this time."

Some of Red's troops seem a might queasy. I'm about to bazooka barf.

The bandannas we brought to filter out miasma? Quickly get repurposed to keep us from vomiting every few steps. Hours pass and we have still not encountered a single living thing, besides the worms. Reaching out I can sense a few but they are all far to weak and scared to approach us.

As requested shorty leads us straight to the second level. This drop has been carved into steps too over the decades. Day trippers rarely pass the first level.

The second level is more of the same except vegetation starts to appear here and there. Yeah, I don't get it either but apparently plants down here change to use mana in place of sunlight? Many of these plants glow so there is more light.

Apparently the deeper you go the crazier the environments can get. Vira says there are even dungeons with levels so wide and open that it feels like you are outside.

There are no corpses here and my [Super Senses] picks up a lot more activity around us. None of them brave enough to attack eighteen people, but that may change after we camp.

Speaking of which, shorty picks out a good spot and we start setting up. Some of the girls are good with wards so barriers and alarms are cast. A few traps are laid out too. Wards remove our scent and sound.

This will make it much harder for monsters to notice us. It even messes with their perception a bit. Making the barrier seem solid so they naturally try to walk around it instead of thru it.

We are eating a modest dinner around a small fire, have three going. Dinner tonight is a stew with vegetables and some kind of, pork? Most of the girls are still not comfortable with men besides me. So we have a fire to ourselves.

Vira and Olete are sharing stories of their adventuring days with us. Then something I keep wanting to ask, but keep forgetting to, occurs to me.

"Avi?"

"Yes master?"

"Why am I being let go?"

"Master?" She looks confused.

I continue.

"Didn't you yourself say how much it cost to summon me? How the kingdom's treasury is now empty? Or was that just another lie?"

"Its true, m-master."

Being reminded of her betrayal depresses her. So sad, too bad, bitch. Don't be a bitch to start with and your face won't get rubbed in it later.

"Then why is the King letting Grizzly adopt me and send me to the other side of the Tourin?" It really doesn't make sense. "Shouldn't I be sent after the demons right away? Or at least have the King's knights watching me instead of the Marquis's?"

"Grizz-ly?" Chyal asks. The girls can all hear me.

"The Lord General."

"Oh." Avi still looks confused.

Vira responds.

"Master is too dangerous but also too valuable."

Several girls look confused now.

"Eh?"

She continues.

"You were summoned to drive the demons out of Tourin." A couple of the girls nod. "Master, you did that within a day." Oh yeah. Mission accomplished. Right? "Even the Demon Lord leading the invasion was crushed." I did that too didn't I.

"So should I be getting a parade instead of summer school? Doesn't seem like much of a reward for winning."

Bring out the dancing girls and confetti.

"Well, you see Master? Only you won." Olete?

Dara's turn.

"The King and Pope wanted the invasion annihilated. Stomped into bloody paste and entrails set on fire." That's... descriptive. "You just made them run away."

"And while the last Demon Lord died?" Seylia gets it now. "The next Demon Lord could be even worse."

Vira looks pleased others are catching on.

"Since Master's summoning was in secret, they were going to pretend you were a northern barbarian won over by the Oracle." Avi's blushing? "But things happened too quickly and rumors are already spreading."

Looks like Avi will take this part.

"A northern barbarian appearing wouldn't scare demons into running away without a fight. Even if he somehow kills a Demon Lord." More nodding from other girls. "A hero summoned from another world though, could."

"The Master is also not a hero." No shit, Vira. "So he cannot be controlled like a hero can." Why are some girls giggling? "The legends say you control boy heroes with pretty princesses, inspiring words, and oral sex." Say what now? "Girl heroes are controlled with handsome princes, sympathetic words, and romance."

Avi leans on my shoulder, squeezes my arm, and looks at me with sparkling eyes.

"Master isn't a boy, a girl, or even a hero. Our beloved is a man, a father, and a beast."

"So the King and Pope are trapped." Vira looks pleased with herself. "Giving you recognition risks exposing that they stole Aquecia's ritual." More nodding. "While trying to control you risks you turning on them."

Avi tags in.

"So master needs to be kept away from the King and Pope until the crown is sure master won't kill them." I would totally kill them. "Master also needs to be kept from the demons until the crown is sure Master won't join them." I wouldn't join them. Probably. Maybe. Do they have good dental?

And Vira is back in the ring.

"Joining the Lord General's family and being sent off to his school takes care of both."

"Huh. I completely missed all of that." Geesh, my ego's getting beat up again. "I know I'm not the smartest man in the world but its not fun being reminded of it so often."

"Its okay my beloved." Why is Avi so nice to me when I'm so mean to her? "Its just another thing to love about Master."

She's got those crazy eyes again but she also has a hand in my pants. So I'll let it slide this time.

Wonder if they've got a Castle Anthrax around here? Bet its too perilous.

The rest of the meal passes quickly. Having my dumbness rubbed in my face gets me moody. So it doesn't take much coaxing for the girls to get me in the tent and start their nightly exercises.

Sleeping in a dungeon is very different from outside or even an inn. Well, there is an awful lot of dirt and rock over our heads. Am I claustrophobic?

So I'm looking for a distraction too.

Ernesta (female, halfling, tourinese)