NOVEL NEXT Chapter 24: Dungeon Crawling
Chapter 24: Dungeon Crawling
Because Zach had warned him in advance, Rian thrust out his right, shield-bearing arm the exact moment his large frame squeezed out of the claustrophobic, criminally narrow passageway, which made even the much smaller, slender-bodied Lienne moan. Zach saw her squirm uncomfortably, then make a very quiet, barely audible squeak as a tiny spider crawled right near her face. It reminded him of Kalana, who despite literally being a member of a predominately forest-dwelling race, had somehow developed a pathological fear of insects.
Zach, who was holding his sword in one hand with the blade pointed safely downwards, made a fist with his free hand and then squished the stupid thing between his knuckles. To both his surprise and amusement—but really, mostly amusement—the spider’s squished body vanished, and a tiny little +1xp popped up in the air in front of where it had died.
Wow, that wasn’t a real spider, he thought. I legit thought that was real. Or “biological.” Or whatever you’re supposed to call it.
No sooner had Rian emerged from the passageway than Skelly Grunt A, with a loud thunk, slammed its scimitar downwards on top of his large, round shield. Not wanting him to fight alone, Zach scrambled to move faster as he shimmied along and out of the passage which, really, was nothing more than a deep crack in an otherwise solid rock wall.
Hurrying over to the skeleton, Zach, now gripping his sword with both hands, raised his weapon to strike it from behind as Rian sliced it across the chest with his gem-encrusted blade for 10 damage. Yet, a fraction of a second before Zach brought his own sword to bear, Rian called out, “Don’t!” as he raised his shield and blocked a return slice from Skelly Grunt A’s scimitar.
“Huh? Why not?” Zach asked.
“Attack from the front or the side,” he said as his shield absorbed another attack. “But not the back.”
“How come?”
“Because there’s always the chance that”—he grunted as he caught another attack on his shield—“a mob could dodge or evade, and then you’d be slicing me open.”
Mobs can do that? Zach wondered.
In truth, despite fighting several of these skeletons, it was only really now that he became cognizant of the fact that they had thus far shown zero defensive capabilities. To be clear, it wasn’t that he just hadn’t “noticed” it, either. Clearly, he had, as he’d beaten several of them on his own. It was more that it hadn’t consciously registered in his mind until this moment.
No wonder I was able to beat them so easily.
Even though these Skelly Grunts in particular didn’t seem capable of evasive maneuvering, Zach reckoned it would be better to start developing correct habits now rather than later; and so, with a nod to Rian, he repositioned himself so that he was to the mob’s side, as attacking from the front would be clumsy and require him to awkwardly find a way to strike around his new, rotund friend.
Raising his blade high, he swung directly downwards as opposed to horizontally, as that could also unintentionally slice open Rian if either he or the mob took a sudden step forward or back. With a disturbing crunch, they both hit the creature simultaneously, with him striking for 17 damage and Rian only hitting for 8. Then, Zach immediately thrust his blade forward, dealing another 12 damage.
Together, the two of them had dispatched Skelly Grunt A so quickly that Lienne had only first squeezed her way out of the thin passageway when it crumpled first to a pile of bones before evaporating into nothingness. Zach lowered his blade and waited to see the result of his efforts; when he did, it came as something of a slight disappointment.
+12xp
Zach rubbed his eyes to ensure he wasn’t mistaken. Up until now, the “Skelly Grunt” mobs had given more than double that amount. So why did they now only give him around half? Was it because Zach had leveled up? He doubted it, as the toadfeet and plague biter mobs continued to give the same 2xp after he’d hit level 2.
“That’s so weird,” he whispered to himself.
“What is?” Lienne asked, looking his way. Zach hadn’t even realized he’d been speaking loudly enough for her to hear him, but in a way, he was glad that she had, because either she or her brother might actually be able to explain this to him.
Pointing to the spot the mob had just died, he said, “These were giving me 25xp earlier, but now I’m only getting 12.”
Lienne lifted her chin back and averted her gaze. Her mouth moved, and Zach thought he could hear her mumbling numbers. She reminded him of a kid in school trying to solve a math problem. After a moment, she regarded him once more, nodded and said, “Seems right to me, no?” Then, abruptly, she raised her eyebrows and added, “Ohh, right! I forgot. You don’t understand this yet.”
“Understand what?” Zach asked. “I’m guessing it’s something to do with experience gain?”
“Yep.” She pointed first to herself and then to her brother. “When two adventurers party together, there’s no penalty to xp. When three or four party together, you lose half, rounded down. Five or more, you only get a third. Eight to ten, you get a quarter. And after ten, you get nothing unless you’re fighting a boss.”
“Yikes.”
Lienne smiled. “Just be glad we’re only level 6.”
“Why’s that?” Zach asked.
“Because if we were any higher, you’d get even less.”
“Wait, seriously?”
Lienne nodded. “Okay, so this is a bit tricky, but I’ll try to make it simple. So, if you’re by yourself, you get the same xp for the same mob no matter what level you are. So…let’s say you’re level 20, okay? You’d still get 25xp for these skelly dudes. But! When you’re in a party with other people and you kill one, then for each person that’s at least two levels higher than whatever it is you’re killing, there’s a further xp penalty. Does…does that make sense?”
Zach gave her a thumbs-up. He was fairly sure he understood her explanation. With a degree of guilt in his voice, he asked, “So, if you two were here alone, you’d be getting 25xp, but because I’m with you, I’m slowing you down?”
This time, it was Rian who answered. He turned to face Zach and smiled. “Don’t think of it like that. We kill things way faster with three people than two. Also, it’s nice to have company.”
“Can’t argue there,” Zach agreed, very much glad to no longer be doing this alone. “Uh, hey, I know I’m asking tons of questions, but…”
“It’s okay,” Rian said. “Ask away.”
“How does…how do these mobs know we’re in a party? Meaning, when they give us xp.”
“Because we know we’re in a party.”
“Huh?”
“I know, it’s crazy. I can’t really explain it all that much better, dude. I can only say that because all three of us want to be a party and know we’re in a party, then just like that, we’re in a party together. If one of us was unwilling, they wouldn’t get any xp, or they’d steal all the xp, but…nothing in between.” Rian shrugged. “Believe me, if it helps you feel better, it doesn’t make all that much sense to me either, but some things, you know, some things just are.”
Rian turned away from Zach, now facing the cave-like opening that led to the next area, in front of which was Skelly Grunt B. Curiously, it still had the “B” at the end despite “A” dying. Did that mean that the letters could be added when the things spawned but not removed? Whatever the case, Zach watched, confused, as Rian raised his sword-wielding hand as high above his head as he could, almost as though he were trying to touch the tip of it to the ceiling. Then, before his very eyes, Zach saw the sword simply vanish into nothingness as though Rian had just performed a magic trick. One moment, the weapon was right there in his left hand, and a moment after that, it simply ceased to exist.
This is like what Fluffles does, Zach realized, thinking back to all the things the cat could make appear and disappear, including an entire satchel filled with gold.
He continued to stare, perplexed, as Rian lowered his head and began slowly craning it from his left to his right as if either reading a book or searching for something; this, while his left hand remained firmly held up above him as though he were trying to keep something from falling. “This one should do,” he muttered to himself. Almost before he’d even finished speaking, a steel-tipped axe with a black handle popped into existence, appearing in Rian’s clenched hand.
“How did you do that?” Zach asked with a gasp. “That’s amazing.”
“It’s less cool than you think,” Rian said with a laugh.
“No way. That’s freaking awesome.”
“I agree, but it’s not special. You’ll see when you get level 6. Anyways, how long is the respawn on that skeleton we just killed?”
“Five minutes,” Zach replied. “So, another four from now.”
“Okay, great. I think we should really quickly buff up and tell each other what’s in our arsenal of abilities. We probably should’ve done this first, but I was excited to start. Zach, you want to go first?”
“Sure,” he said, as a cloud of millions of dirt particles began covering him from head to toe following the sound of a deep rumble. Even as this shroud of brownish dust evaporated into nothingness, a similar rumbling began to echo from the area just in front of him, and now he saw that Rian, too, was covered in the same. Much like with Zach, every last trace of this dirt-like cloud simply disappeared almost as fast as it had arrived. One final time, the sound rang out, and now it was Lienne’s turn, using the buff on her own self.
I guess we’re going to have to do this every half hour.
Addressing the both of them at once, Zach said, “The only two abilities I have are Wave Slash and Boundless. I think I told you about each of them.”
“You’ll get more, no doubt,” Rian said. Crooking a thumb at himself, he continued, “I also only have two abilities so far: taunt and axe throw. I’m actually more comfortable fighting with a sword, but something tells me I’m destined to use an axe.”
Lienne grinned. “I have Lesser Healing, Lesser Quick Heal, Flamestrike, Lesser Enchantment of Fortification, and Unthreaten, which I can only use on myself to make a mob less likely to aggro me.”
“All right,” Rian said, giving a confident twirl of his axe. “I’m gonna pull the skeleton over there for you guys, okay? Oh…yeah, Zach, 'pull' means I’m gonna grab its aggro. It’s always best to let tanks pull.”
Zach nodded. In truth, that made perfect sense. He was still trying to adjust to the fact that he’d been called a “bruiser.” He wasn’t familiar with the term, and he wasn’t sure how he was supposed to manage himself just yet, but he hoped he’d learn in time.
Drawing back his arm and leaning backwards, Rian then lurched forward in the opposite direction with a grunt, bending over and releasing his axe at the same time. Zach's eyes followed the glimmering, fast-spinning axe; it made a distinct fluttering sound as it traveled through the air. Then, with a crunch, he watched as it smacked right into the skeleton, dealing 8 damage before flying back towards Rian in an elliptical arc.
“Frrruughhh!” Skelly Grunt B moaned, heading straight for Rian. Even before it had come halfway, a blue, missile-shaped flame shot out of Lienne’s staff, then streaked across the area, briefly illuminating everything around them with an ominous blue light, before slamming into the skeleton’s chest; it not only dealt 21 damage, but it caused the skeleton to stumble three steps back. Rian, extending his arm and putting his shield defensively in front of him, began to take slow, deliberate steps closer to the Skelly Grunt, who made another “Frrruughhh!” as it hurriedly moved towards him.
I guess this is where I come in.
Zach drew his arms back, raised his blade to strike, and then took off at run in the direction of Rian, who cracked the skeleton in the side of its face with his axe for 11 damage, then immediately struck it again directly after for another 9. Collapsing into a pile of bones, the thing died before Zach could even get to it.
+12xp
With a stupid-sounding laugh, he lowered his sword and wondered if he should apologize for having been useless. Honestly that had almost been too easy. Zach marveled at how effortlessly and seamlessly Rian and his sister had just dismantled that mob. Zach earned experience without even having to do a thing. In fact, the very idea of that was so hard to believe he had to check his stats just to be sure.
Zachys Calador: Level 4
(50/200xp)
Armor Bonus: 11
4 strength
4 dexterity
4 constitution
1 intelligence
3 speed
1 luck
With a shrug, he dismissed his stats and then followed behind Rian as his sister came hurrying over. “Have you gone beyond this point?” Rian asked him, pointing to the opening leading to the next area.
Zach shook his head. “No. I was about to when you guys fell down. I feel like there’s got to be a trap though.”
Though the entrance ahead was nowhere even remotely as narrow as the one that led into their current room—if you could even call these somewhat isolated areas rooms—it too ended in a path that was only around as wide as a standard bedroom door, which meant nothing on either side of it was visible.
With a grunt, Rian said, “Stay back,” and then ran forward with his shield held out in front of him. Focusing on him like a hawk, and ready to spring into action on a moment’s notice, Zach observed as he dashed though the opening, his feet stomping heavily down on the rocky, gravelly floor. Within just a few seconds, he made his way down the narrow, but not unreasonably tight segment connecting this area to the next, and then Zach held his breath as he passed through the door-sized opening into what appeared to be another, similar-looking area with rocky walls and gravel-covered ground.
For a short moment, it looked as though there were no more of the skeletons to be found. But then, Zach saw fear enter into Rian’s eyes, and though he did not scream, he stumbled back as five of the Skelly Grunts all converged on him at once.
“Shit! Why are there so many?” he shouted.
Zach exploded forward into a run, dashing for all he was worth as he watched his new friend take an absolute thrashing. His sister shouted his name, running alongside Zach. Yet even as the two of them charged at full speed to aid Rian, Zach’s eyes widened in horror as he wondered if it was already too late, as the five Skelly Grunts were not merely just attacking Rian with their scimitars, but three of the five were connecting, too.
“Ugh!” Rian cried each time he was struck. “Ugh. Ugh.” Then, more loudly, he cried, “Ahh!”
Rian was on his knees, but somehow, he still had his shield raised to protect his face and head, which seemed to be holding off two of the five bone-bodied creatures attacking him. The one to his left, his right, and the one behind him were hacking into him like he was a piece of meat at a butcher's shop. They were simply lifting their scimitars and then crashing them down on top of him, time and time again. How could he possibly survive this?
Zach burst into the room, and with all his strength, he unleashed upon the grunt closest to him. Not even bothering to conserve energy, he screamed at the top of his lungs, and delivered a cut across the skeleton’s neck with such force that it caused his whole body to spin in a circle.
29
The skeleton, this one labeled Skeleton Grunt D, immediately turned in his direction and slashed at his face. Zach circled around the strike, then vengefully struck out twice more in quick succession, the first taking the Skelly Grunt in its hip bones, and then the second landing on the creature’s neck with such force that its head popped clean off with a loud, unpleasant snap. Even as the now-dead mob began to crumple, Zach launched himself at the Skelly Grunt hacking away at Rian’s back.
“Come here, you son of a bitch!”
He thrust forward, skewering this “Skelly Grunt E” for 18 damage. Then, with his blade now stuck in its belly, he lifted his foot, pressed it against the mob’s bony abdomen, and then kicked off while grabbing at his sword. Strangely enough, the kick caused 2 damage and the mere act of ripping his sword free caused another 8. With momentum on his side, Zach went in to try and score a killing blow, but unlike with Skelly Grunt D, this one seemed to have enough fight left in it to push him back. He had no choice but to jump away as the Skelly Grunt released a reckless series of poorly aimed, but seemingly devastating strikes into the air in front of itself. Thankfully, though, Zach saw an opening once it had finished its wild combination, and he struck upwards diagonally, his blade slicing from the hip to the upper-right breastbone for 15 more damage.
[2/45]
Skelly Grunt E
Level 5
Zach didn’t even bother to cut the thing. Determined to assist his new friend, he ran forward, raised his knee, and then delivered a powerful round kick to the creature’s right side, dealing 5 damage, causing three individual bones to fly off its body, and ending it for good.
Now breathing somewhat heavily, Zach inhaled deeply, ignored his fatigue, and moved to engage the other three—but then he paused as, to his utter, mind-blowing confusion, Rian was now back on his feet, his shield raised, and his axe striking Skelly Grunt A across its bony lips while simultaneously blocking B and C. Zach had been so busy focusing on the two he’d taken down that he wasn’t sure at what point Rian had actually picked himself up. He especially wasn’t sure how he had done it, either.
As the brigandine-wearing “tank” managed to successfully fend off Skelly Grunts B and C, an unfortunate cleaving attack from Skelly Grunt A provided Zach his answer. Horrified, Zach shouted out in alarm as the scimitar tore across Rian’s belly, tearing an entire section of his leather brigandine off and causing a dark stream of blood to fly off and stain the wall behind him. In fact, now that Zach was able to take a closer look, similar tears were spread all across the entirety of his front and back side, nearly exposing his entire stomach and shoulders, and the rocky, gravelly ground beneath where he’d been kneeling was simply drenched in red.
“Rian!” Zach cried. “Oh, Gods, no! Are you all—”
A dark, green, shimmering light erupted around Rian like an aura before disappearing in the same instant it arrived. Then Rian kicked out with his foot, shoving the skeleton away from him, before stepping forward, twisting his hips, and once again crashing the blade of his axe into the skeleton’s face, this time killing it.
Confused, Zach noted that what should have been a bloodied gash running across his stomach just below the belly button was just clean-looking, exposed skin. With a glance over his shoulder, he saw that Lienne was now on her knees with both her hands gripping her staff, which was planted in the ground as if for support. It seemed like it was now the only thing holding her upright. Her mouth was wide open, and she was taking loud, gasping, and intensive breaths.
She must have been healing him each time he was hit, Zach realized.
Unlike the ground below Rian, which was stained with blood, the rock- and gravel-covered terrain beneath Lienne was awash in a puddle of her sweat, which dripped down both sides of her face, her cheeks, her nose, and her mouth, splashing droplet after droplet on the floor.
She’s going to enter E-debt at this rate, he realized.
Zach darted forward, and then slashed out with his sword, intending to hit Skelly Grunt B on his left; the mob had been moving in to again strike out at Rian. But even as his sword was in motion, Skelly Grunt C was moving directly into his line of attack, and the result was that Zach somehow hit them both, albeit far more weakly than if he’d hit them individually. B was hit for 6, and C was hit for 9. Now, both turned his way and roared at him.
“Frrruughhh!” they cried.
Good, Zach thought. Rian and his sister have had enough. It’s dangerous, but I think I can definitely take two of these as long as I—
With a Gasp, Zach watched as not one, but both of the Skelly Grunts immediately stopped in their tracks, almost as if frozen, and then spun around and began heading back towards Rian, who had clearly taunted them. Even after everything he’d just endured, he still insisted on tanking these things?
“Don’t act so surprised, Zach. It’s my job.”
Incredible. He’s not backing down after being cut apart like fifty times!
Though he’d been told not to attack from a rear position, Zach doubted that applied to this situation, as the two skeletons were marching single file towards Rian, and Skelly Grunt C was more than enough distance apart so that Zach could safely attack it. Even if this mob could dodge, his blade would not even come close to reaching Rian, who blocked a two-hit strike, first with his axe, and then with his shield.
Zach, bending his knees, let out a flurry of quick, powerful attacks into Skelly Grunt C’s back, even as it continued to lurch over towards Rian. Whatever Zach had done, it clearly undid whatever Rian had done, because by the time he’d hit the skeleton a third time, it once more stopped in its tracks, turned back in Zach’s direction, shouted, “Frrruughhh!” and then immediately died and crumpled into a collection of bones, as it was now at [0/45].
If I hadn’t killed it, Zach realized, then hitting it that hard must have made its aggro go on to me. I guess if you hurt a mob enough, it will still target you even if it's been taunted.
Zach made sure he kept that in mind. There was no way he could allow himself to forget something so important. Apparently, a “taunt” wasn’t an absolute thing. It could in fact be outdone with a good-old-fashioned slice-and-dice fest from a bruiser.
Together with Rian, the two made quick work of the final Skelly Grunt, and then both ran over to Lienne’s side, where she was practically on her stomach. Her knees, hips, and abdomen were all touching the ground, but from the chest up, she was still somehow off the ground in a sort of half-pushup as she gripped her staff. Exhausted, but nowhere near as exhausted as Lienne, Zach helped her to her feet, as did Rian. She was breathing so heavily.
Then, of all things, she smiled, as did her brother. “That a good enough fight for you?” she asked, panting.
He laughed. “That was awesome.”
Zach shook his head, unable to believe what he was hearing. “How are you not traumatized? I just watched you get carved up over and over again.” He pointed to the spot where Rian had just been standing. “You could decorate an entire bedroom with the amount of blood they sliced out of you.”
Rian turned over his palms, then lifted them both. “It happens.”
“I…” Lienne waved her hand, a gesture Zach took meant to give her a moment. Zach estimated they still had at least four minutes to respawn. “I had to use my quick heals there,” she said. “The exertion level is moderate-low each cast.”
“What are quick heals?” Zach asked. “Ah, if you’re not too exhausted to tell me, I mean.”
“No, no, it’s fine.” She stood up a bit straighter, closed her eyes a moment, took another large breath, and then seemingly held it. When she exhaled, she seemed as though she were finally recovering. “I have two heals. Quick heals for combat, which I had to basically spam on my brother, and slow, drawn-out heals, which don’t really exert me as much. It’s like…what you said that guy Kesten used on you. Only, I can’t repair a broken bone—at least not yet. My heals are for cuts, scrapes, and slices.”
“What do you mean by spam?” Zach asked. The only time he’d ever heard that word used before was in the context of getting annoying advertisements sent to his email address.
“Spamming an ability,” Leanne explained, now sounding as though she’d fully caught her breath, “is just a funny way of saying you’re using the same ability over and over again as fast as you can.”
Zach nodded. “Well, I’m glad that you’re okay and that you’re not—”
His words cut off and his eyes lit up as he spotted a bundle of something on the floor. As though wondering why he’d suddenly stopped speaking, in the corner of his eyes, he noticed Rian and his sister glancing first at him and then at the object he was looking at. Zach sighed a moment later when he realized it wasn’t shining. This meant it wasn’t his.
“A drop, huh?” Rian asked, bending down to pick it up. It looked like a pair of pants encased in the same shrink-wrapped plastic that Zach’s bandana and tunic had been in. Flipping the item in his hands several times, Rian pulled up his inventory and glanced at the item so briefly that Zach couldn’t see a word of it. Then he laughed, shrugged, and casually tossed it to Zach, who caught it out of nothing but reflex. “There you go. Need before greed is part of the adventurer’s code.”
“Huh?”
“Need before greed,” Rian said, extending his hand, palm up, at the piece of equipment he’d just thrown Zach. “It’s something we all follow. Even the elite adventuring guilds. Need before greed. If you get something, and someone else in your party needs it, you always give it. No exceptions.”
Zach bowed his head. He really liked the sound of that. In fact, he liked it so much that it made him forget about the horrific, gory, horror-movie-like slashing that Rian had just endured. At least until Zach glanced down and saw the state of his body armor, which now had more holes in it than a fly swatter.
“Are you sure you don’t need this?” Zach asked him. “Your gear is pretty messed up.”
“Huh? Oh, right. It doesn’t work that way.”
“Work what way? Wait, what doesn't?”
Rian ran his finger along the tear in his brigandine just below his belly button. “So, if your armor or weapons actually do break, then when you examine them in your inventory, it’ll literally say break. At least for a few seconds. After that, it'll just disappear. For everything else, it repairs automatically. Hey, check this out.” He beckoned Zach to come over, and so Zach hurried to his side. “Do you see that? Look closely?”
Zach had to squint just to see it, but to his amazement, he saw what appeared to be tiny threads of fabric extending, intertwining, and unless he was hallucinating, regenerating. “That’s incredible.”
“Right? As long as you don’t suffer what’s called a ‘full break,’ you’re usually good to go in ten minutes. Actually, speaking of minutes, how long until those five are back up? I don’t want to still be in here when they respawn.”
Zach tapped his chin a few times. “Maybe two minutes. But…can I throw this on really quickly?”
“Sure,” Lienne said, moving to stand next to her brother.
Zach waited for a moment for them to turn around. When they didn’t, he coughed into his hands. When they still didn’t pick up on his cues, he twirled his finger around in a circle. “Can you guys please look away for a second?”
“Oh,” Lienne said. “Oh!” she then said, more loudly and with a blush. Both she and her brother turned around. Zach tore open the plastic, removed the red-and-brown leggings that actually perfectly matched the tunic, and then peeled off his sweaty gym shorts and slipped into his newest piece of equipment. Knowing he had at least another minute and a half before respawn, he took a quick moment to see what he was working with. Right away, he could see it was different from his other two pieces.
Decaying Leggings of the Undying: discovered by Zachys Calador
Armor + 2
+1 str
+1 con
Decaying Set (3/5) Set Bonus:
Armor + 2
+1 str
+1 con
+1 dex
+1 spd
(300 seconds) User fires a small bolt of dread magic at target enemy, dealing 0-25 magic damage. Does not affect undead enemies or apparitions.
150 range
He couldn’t help but excitedly blurt out, “whoah!” as he saw the section of information that had been stricken through. Though he had yet to see something of this nature, it likely didn’t take a genius to see what the information was implying: that if he managed to find the other two pieces of this “decaying set” that he was currently wearing, he would get an even bigger bonus to his stats. With just under a minute before respawn, and with an impatient grunt coming from Rian, Zach stole just one last moment to take a peek at his stats.
Zachys Calador: Level 4
(110/200xp)
Armor Bonus: 13
5 strength
4 dexterity
5 constitution
1 intelligence
3 speed
1 luck
“Okay, I’m ready,” he said, noting that his armor was 5 points higher due to Lienne's buff. “Let’s get out of here!”
Rather than any more narrow pathways to traverse, the only thing around them were three walls—including the one with the door-sized entryway that led in here—and a massive tunnel with a somewhat lower ceiling. Since that was the only direction to travel without backtracking, it was naturally the one in which they ventured.
As the three of them began making their way through the tunnel towards whatever came next, Zach was once more amazed to find that, what should have been a pitch-black, completely unlit tunnel, was still through some mystical means as bright as a well-lit room. He also noted that, after just a minute or two of walking, the sensation of rocks and gravel beneath his feet gradually began to lessen until, eventually, he realized he was walking on a paved, stone pathway, at the end of which was a metal door with a push-handle leading to a stairwell down to the floor below. Above it was a sign that read: B1->B2.
“Ready to go down?” he asked. The confident nods from both the siblings was all he needed to hear. Curiously, he could already see that Rian’s brigandine had regrown to the point that only the largest tears still remained.
Descending the stairs with his new compatriots, he braced himself for whatever the three of them would find next.