The Human From a Dungeon

Chapter 63

Rebis Oltha

Adventurer Level: 12

Dwarf - Calkutin

Once Liath was all caught up, we began celebrating our newfound partnership. We drank our drinks and ordered some more food, and the human's party joined us and was kind enough to pay. Once everyone was done making a fuss over Nick's dietary needs, Mako and the other orcs got to chatting.

Their talk was mostly about the Unified Chiefdoms, which might interest someone who loves to travel. Travelin' is my least favorite part of being a hunter, though. Sittin' in a cart or on a hnarse all damn day just to go to someplace that people are gonna look at you funny? Fuck that.

My attention turned from the orcs and I started listening to Heino, Liath, and Gali instead, but then they began talking about the political happenings in the Empire. An even more boring conversation than the one I had tuned out. I switched my focus to the slightly more interesting discussion that Ithrima and Nick were having.

The start of their conversation made me grin. Heino and Gali are both level thirteen, I am level twelve, and Mako is level fifteen. It wasn't surprising to hear that Nick's party was comprised of under-tens, except for Olmira, who doesn't have a level. What I found funny, though, is that Ithrima and Nick are almost the same level. She's only level nine, and has been stuck at level nine for over a year now.

"Everyone else in the party is an over-ten?" Olmira asked.

"Yes. I would be too, but I specialize," Ithrima answered hastily. "My interest lies in attack magic. Fire, Ice, and Darkness to be precise. The only non-offensive spell I know is Minor Healing, and that's only because I'd be out of a job without it."

"Damn right. We don't have any use for a mage that can't heal," I laughed.

"How many spells do you know?" Nick asked.

"Eight attack spells, but they're more powerful than you'll find from most mages. My magic core is just about average, but I'm able to make my spells more intense thanks to my studies and training."

"That's awesome," Nick beamed. "I only know seven spells, but only four of them are attack spells."

I couldn't help but laugh harder. Ithrima is pretty pretentious about her magic, so this conversation has got to be needling her a bit. Of course, there's always room for more needling.

"He knows almost as many spells as you do!" I said. "Say, Nick, if the whole getting home thing doesn't work out-"

"Shut your damned mouth," Ithrima growled. "I'm under contract, you can't replace me even if you wanted to."

I gave an evil chuckle and took a bite of my bell-popper. The chefs had really outdone themselves. Bell-poppers take careful preparation because the seeds pop when directly exposed to water. Since the plant already has water in it, you've gotta be really careful while cooking it to prevent the seeds from prematurely popping.

Each seed is filled with a sweet powder that's often used to sweeten other food items. The rest of the bell-popper has a slightly bitter taste to it, so eating the whole plant turns into one hell of a culinary experience. It's one of my favorite foods.

As I ate, the ladies explained how the impact of an attack spell is based on both the expertise and the amount of magic behind the spell. Essentially, a dumbass with a lot of magic can lob a fireball that's as intense as a smart-ass that only has a little magic. I chuckled again and asked if Ithrima was sure she had an average amount of magic. Before she could react, Mako cracked his neck and patted his pants.

"This has been great, but I'm getting tired. We're setting out tomorrow, right?" he asked.

"As soon as possible would be ideal," Yulk said. "Unless we have a reason to stall?"

We all looked at each other, but nobody could think of anything. Our equipment was well-maintained because we hadn't really used it, and it wouldn't take long to pick up the supplies needed for the hike. We all agreed that tomorrow would be the day of our raid and left the Venator's Guild.

We walked together until we reached our respective destinations, which happened to be across the street from each other. The inn that we were staying at wasn't exactly the worst place you could stay in this town, but they were staying at the Marfix Inn. It wasn't that surprising considering how quickly Nick had dropped ten gold earlier, but I still felt a pang of jealousy.

The Marfix inns are well-known for their extravagance and luxuries. Massages, professional chefs, climate control, super soft beds with even softer bedding, and even hot water were standard in every inn. I'd always wanted to stay in one, just to see what it's like to be pampered like that.

Unfortunately, even their cheapest rooms run a whole gold piece per night. It's hard to justify that kind of expense when you might need to pay for equipment repairs. Even fifty silver would be a lot just to stay the night.

Our inn only cost twenty copper per room per night, and we'd doubled up to save some money. Except for Ithrima, of course. She always played the female card to avoid having to share a room with any of us. I gave an exaggerated sigh as I watched Nick's party enter the Marfix inn. Then I turned to look at Gali with pupper eyes.

"Absolutely not," he said.

"But we have ten gold!" I argued. "It won't cost more than five!"

"He's right," Mako said with a lot less investment than me. "If we double up, it would only be three gold."

"Yeah, three gold that will be sorely missed if we end up ruining our equipment tomorrow," Gali scoffed. "Plus, we already paid for our rooms here. They don't give refunds, you know."

"Who cares?" I asked. "It's only a few copper. We could be dead tomorrow, Gali. We should live a little!"

"I'd rather be dead than destitute."

"Oh come on, it's not that bad. We'll still have seven gold, and that'll be enough to replace most of our equipment. Plus, if we're successful with the vampire hunt, we'll qualify for better paying hunts!"

"And what if we're not successful?"

"Then we'll be dead and won't have to worry about it!"

I could tell that Ithrima and Mako were fully with me on this. Heino was being pretty aloof, but there's a good chance he'd vote my way if I called for one. But calling for a vote here would undermine Gali's leadership.

Heino, Mako, and I had previously spoken at length about who should be our next leader, and we'd settled on Gali. His even temperament and innate situational awareness would make him a great leader, but he's humble enough to decline the position if we tried to make it official. So naturally, we were trying our best to put him in that position without him realizing it.

"Wait a fuckin' minute. Why am I the one making this decision?" he demanded, displaying his innate situational awareness.

"Cuz you're the one carrying the money," I answered quickly. "And I don't want you to ruin our stay by bitching about how we aren't being miserly the whole damn time."

"As if I'd... Gods above and below, grant me patience. Fuckin' fine. We can stay at the Marfix. But I still reserve the right to bitch the whole time."

Once I finished jumping for joy, we got our stuff from the inn and explained our decision to the very understanding innkeeper. Then we went across the street to check into the Marfix. I tried to play it cool when we went inside, but the sheer wealth on display made my jaw drop.

It's common to see gold trim in Calkutin buildings. It's not common for that trim to have gems embedded in it, though. On top of that, in the center of the lobby was a multi-level golden fountain with water gushing out of the largest blue-sapphire I'd ever seen. It struck me that three gold would be a bargain to stay in a place like this.

We got a raised eyebrow from the front desk clerk, but other than that he was very polite and professional. There was a small argument over who the kobold would be bunking with, but Ithrima finally folded when faced with the prospect of having to share a room with one of us.

We surrendered the three gold, deposited our stuff in our rooms, and set off to enjoy the amenities. The first thing I did was visit the spa. I got a nice mud-bath and warm rinse, then went to the sauna where I ran into Nick and Nash.

"Hi guys!" I said cheerily as I sat down across from them. "Pretty hot in here, isn't it?"

"Nah, it's just right," Nash said gruffly.

"Yep, not too hot at all," Nick wiped the sweat from his forehead.

I grinned as I realized what I had walked in on. A tough-guy competition was in full swing. I let out a sigh as I leaned back against the wall, knowing that I had the advantage because I had just walked in.

"You're right, this is pretty nice," I said.

We sat in silence for a time, allowing the heat to slowly bake us alive. Eventually, the last glimmers of sunset shining through the sauna's only window began to fade. Once the glow was gone completely and night finally settled, Nick cleared his throat and stood up.

"While this heat is enjoyable, I think we should be going to bed now," he said with an air of diplomacy. "We have a long day ahead of us and will need our sleep."

Nash and I looked at each other. On the one hand, the human's suggestion could be considered a sign of weakness, which would allow us to poke fun at him. On the other hand, he had a damn good point and poking fun at him would result in us having to stay in the sauna longer to prove we weren't as weak as him. I grinned when I realized that Nash was also considering the fact that I had joined them late and had quite an advantage in this contest.

"He's right," Nash said, standing. "We'll be heading to bed. You?"

"I might as well," I sighed.

I followed Nick and Nash out of the sauna and chose a shower stall to rinse off. The cold water was an extreme contrast to the heat of the sauna, and I had to struggle to maintain my composure. Once we were finished, we nodded to each other and went to our rooms.

Heino's snores greeted me as I entered the room. He had somehow managed to clean his gear, and it was currently laying neatly next to his bed. My own gear had carried the scent of kobold corpses out of the dungeon, so I'd left it for the launders.

I disrobed, laid in bed, and tried unsuccessfully to fall asleep. At first, I blamed Heino's snoring. That didn't really hold up for long, though, because Mako's snoring is much louder. Once you sleep through that mountain of an orc's snores, you can sleep through anything.

My thoughts turned toward tomorrow, and I realized that the reason I couldn't sleep was due to nerves. Vampires are one of the most fearsome opponents a hunter or adventurer can run into. They're smart, fast, and unnaturally strong. Plus, they can turn you into one of them.

Even most legendary weapons can't do lasting damage to them, and all I have is a relatively cheap orc-made steel sword. It does the job against most other beasties, but stabbing a vampire will just piss it off. I don't even know how well my shield's gonna hold up against their claws.

With a sigh, I rose from my bed. There's only one cure for nervous insomnia, and that's exhaustion. I remembered seeing a sign for a training area, so I decided that some exercise would do me good. Thankfully, it didn't take long to find the sign and follow its arrow. When I opened the door, I was met with the sound of wood smacking against a training dummy. I turned to find Nick practicing with a wooden sword.

"Hey, Nick," I said as he turned to look at me. "Having trouble sleeping?"

"Y-yeah," he replied, fidgeting with the practice weapon. "I uh... I thought I should get some training in. Need to be in peak form tomorrow."

"Same here."

I grabbed a wooden sword and shield and picked a dummy. Nick watched me strike at the dummy's neck for a bit, then left without saying another word. I watched the door close behind him, shrugging off the paranoia that came with that awkward interaction. It was definitely strange, though...

I could swear his voice had sounded different.