NOVEL NEXT The delve continues
*Shink...Shink...Shink* I awaken to scraping metal sounds. I open my eyes. Aya is sharpening my rusty sword.
"Aya...?"
She turns to me. "Good morning master!" She exclaims.
"What are you doing?" I ask her, sitting up, and rubbing my eyes.
"I woke up early... and I thought if you were going to be relying on this sword, I should maintain it for you." She said holding the sword out to me.
"You don't have to do that..." I said taking the sword. "But thank you." I looked it over, she had cleared a good chunk of rust from the blades edge... the steel worn, and yet shiny underneath...almost like it had never been coated in rust. That didn't seem normal...
"It was my pleasure master. Your important to the world, you have to have good equipment!" Aya said. I looked up at her... she was in a standby kneeling pose at my side, probably learned during her slave training. I pet her head.
"Then good work Aya. Get a small fire going... let's eat and get going." I order.
"Yes master!" She said then set about starting a fire. For my part i readied the food. Not much, dried rations, essentially jerky, with an oatmeal like hot cereal, and coffee. All things that would last a few days without storage. I filled the camp kettle with water at a nearby stream in the rest area and hung it over Aya's fire to heat.
Before long we had our breakfast ready and eaten. Then we cleaned up camp and were ready to head back out.
......................................................................
Floor 3. This floor was skeletons once again. With a crawlsnare every now and then. We made decent work of this floor, cutting through the enemies faster than before. Seemed this old rusty sword, was adept at clearing enemies here. We fought our way to the boss room, where a single skeleton stood, not as giant as the first... but seemingly fused with l... a crawl snare? I use my identify skill to check it. A Skelesnare. Fitting...
"Fire ball!" I said setting it aflame, then Aya and I advanced. A few strikes with our blades, and the skeleton popped. No where near as imposing as the giant from floor two.... but I had a feeling the fire spell helped ruin its advantage of the vines.
"That didn't take long..." Aya remarked as she collected the loot.
"Yea... I don't trust it too much... let's keep moving." I responded. She nodded and we kept moving, down to floor 4. And then the seemingly weaker boss made sense... this floor was full of skelesnares. By the time we reached the floor 4 boss room my mana was exhausted, and the fights were getting harder.
"I wish I had mana... who knows what's in here..." I said as we moved forward. Aya nodded.
"Yes... it has grown more difficult without the fire." We slowly enter the boss room. And there it was... a large skelesnare. Literally a mix of the first and second bosses.... great. We both go in quick, trying to strike the main body before vines could grab us. And the fight seems to go much like the first one. The vines keeping them back. As it seems desperate... a thought comes to me.
"Aya fall back! Your bow!" I call, trying to draw the vines from her.
"Y... yes master!" She says retreating, she draws the bow and fires an arrow. It missed. She tries again, this one a glancing blow.
"Aya focus!" I say as I continue to cut the vines coming at us.
"Sorry master trying!" She nocked another arrow and aimed. This time she took a tad longer and eyed her target. The arrow flies and hits true to target. "Yes!" We say in unison, and Aya fires another, then a third, seemingly gaining confidence as each shoot lands. The large Skelesnare is now making a roaring moan sound, and the vines slow, giving me a chance to advance, that cut it down. The skeleton pops.
"Excellent work Aya!" I say congratulating her. She smiles and collects the loot.
"Thank you master."
With that done we continue on, stopping at the rest area between 4 and 5. I sit and while Aya prepares the food, I check my stats. Level 7. All that and I hadn't advanced very far... but... I did have some new skills. Lightning cast, energy surge, and mana regen. That last one was surely needed. I was now able to regain mana twice as fast outside battle. Handy. It seemed "will to dominate" had earned a new skill too. Summon slave and restrain. Interesting...
"It's ready master!" Aya says giving the cooked rations. It was basically stew.
"Thank you Aya." I said, and I ate it, Aya eating as well. I could feel my mana replenishing. "I think we will continue on to floor 5 after this ... at least to look around."
Aya stopped for a moment. "Uh...yes master. But...your magic?"
"It's restoring now that we are resting. And I've heard the 5th floor differs from the rest... I'm curious."
Aya nods and relaxes a bit. "I understand. I will follow you master."
I nod. "Thank you Aya. I'll keep you safe." we finish eating. And we head down to the next floor. It was indeed very much different from the previous floors. It was a wide cavern, and the celling was higher. The entire cavern was bathed in a yellow light that nearly mimicked the sun on the surface. Another key detail was the ruins sprawled out throughout the cavern, like a ruined city. This floor was often called the treasure floor.
"Wow...." Aya said taking it in. I agreed with her statement.
"Let's see what treasure we can find!" I say. And she nods enthusiastically.
But the enthusiasm doesn't last... we search through the ruins. And while the dungeon repopulated... it seemed that the fifth floor was often picked clean. Finally, we spot a gem. Both Aya and I rush forward, I grab it at the same time a hand from the other side does.
"Hey! Thats mine!" Yells a redhaired woman wearing leather armor. She narrows her eyes.
"I don't think so." I say meeting her glare. Aya came up beside me, and the redhead glanced to her. "Two against one... fine. Ill duel you for it!"
Aya's eyes widen. "Master..."
I catch her meaning. "Ok. I'll accept... but if I win..." I give her a smirk. "I claim you."
The woman glares and looks at Aya's slave collar. "...fine. it's the fifth floor, but if I'm doing that you gotta make it better for me too. If I win I get this, the cat and your loot from the bosses."
That could be a financial loss...not to mention Aya... but one look at her showed me she had confidence at me. And the gain? I look her up and down, and she rolls her eyes.
"Deal or not. You can eye me up if you win."
I nod. "It's a deal." We both let go and draw swords. "I'm Kiron, but soon you'll call me master."
"Emerie... and no soon ill have your money. And your cat."