Chapter 142: Catfished
If audio player doesn't work, press Stop then Play button again
Chapter 142: Catfished
The Order of Silver was outvoted. They went directly ahead. The factor was Estal’s determination to avoid filthy mud rooms and savage rituals of putting dirt on skin. Hazhur didn’t argue since they were here to explore everything so they’d get around to it all eventually.
Still, not even Estal could stop her murmur of appreciation when they stepped into a large cavern with twinkling lights and some realistic illusion of a crescent moon high on the ceiling that slowly shifted across the peaceful sky. The room was some homage to a lake-side cabin affair. It’s trees and bushes didn’t clump together to hide any monsters, and the lake was active with fish that occasionally splashed to the surface in brilliant flashes of gold, silver, and mixtures.Ñøv€lRapture marked the initial hosting of this chapter on Ñôv€lß¡n.
Off to their left was a circle of rocks, stumps, and fallen logs around a used campfire with stacks of logs nearby for ease of use.
“No traps that I can sense. But like that barmaid back in Horiful?” Karn said slowly before grinning.
“Just because they don’t see it as hiding doesn’t mean you won’t get a surprise when you get her skirt up. Not a bad surprise, just not for me,” he admitted as Estal shot him a disgusted look before she waved a hand.
“It’s a lake that is made of natural mana-infused water. A jug full of this stuff is already enough to bring in mages and alchemists. Natural occurring water like this just isn’t found so close to the surface or in such volume,” she said as she waved her staff about. Frowning, she leaned down by the lake edge, her staff recording conflicting energies.
“There’s something else... a few things... in this lake. I think that...” she mumbled, her staff prodding the lake surface. Her staff bobbed and she lifted it with confusion to reveal a red crab hanging on to the end with one claw.
“Urgh, it’s lousy with seafood,” she moaned, shaking it loose to tap the surface of the lake to make the surface turn slightly transparent as she layered a barrier spell over it, slowly filtering out the murk for a moment.
A circle about as wide as Estal herself became clear and at the bottom of the lake, only visibly due to its immense glow was a large blue crystal formation that pulsed gently. Hazhur was no merchant or wizard, but glowing crystal in a Dungeon was pretty valuable in his eyes.
“That's a water crystal... no, that's an untainted water crystal!” Estal squealed in delight. There was a tapping as the Ord... that name was a pain.
“What is it Oos?” Hazhur turned, the name coming off as ‘Oz’ aloud.
They were near a sign that said ‘Fishing and herb collection only. Don’t Duck around.-Nu’.
“It’s fine. I can’t read,” Karn said pleasantly. Oz tapped the pictures at the bottom of the sign with significance where it showed a stickman fishing or hugging a bush. This was followed by a long line of pictures crossed out.
Crystal mining, peeing in the lake, two people sharing a tent, and what seemed to be two people arguing over justice, money, and politics. All of those seemed to be ‘banned’ at the lake.
“If I obeyed every warning I ever read, I’d be a dull girl,” Estal said dismissively.
“You might also not be in severe debt to the Capitol,” Hazhur reminded dryly, getting a dark look in return.
“Watch my back. I need that crystal! I could do so many water repellent barriers or sell it as a water purifier!” Estal said, tapping her staff in a determining manner.
“How? As far as we know, no crafters have set up in snoozeville outside. Without crafters, your ‘treasure’ is going to break down unless it comes from a monster,” Karn pointed out. Estal brushed a lock of her hair back with a smirk.
“Old news, you stab-happy gremlin. Perhaps you haven’t heard that Dungeon Items only break down if exposed to outside global-mana. I just happened to have this,” she said, flourishing a big janky looking bracelet that was too big for her wrist and was gaudy beyond belief with an emerald in its center.
“I heard of storage rings, but a bracelet is new,” Karn said slowly. Estal hummed.
“It’s the newest model. It can store up to a variety of items, less if they’re magic, but still plenty of space. The added mass means I can also use it as a defensive bracer and it’s fashionable!” she said with a haughty laugh.
“The gold is flaking at the sides to show the copper underneath,”
“Shut it, Hazhur. It was an investment,” she snapped back, walking on to the lake with her magic heels creating stable platforms for her.
Oz was rapidly tapping the sign in a frantic manner, but Hazhur felt a bit bad the other two were ignoring them.
“You can lead a horse to water,” he shrugged at them before motioning towards Estal.
“But you can’t disown them,” he added helplessly. Estal swung her staff around in an arc in the air.
“Creatium Marinium Hookum!” she chanted with authority. From the tip of her staff, a long whitish line of mana flowed outwards, unspooling from Estal’s staff until she had enough to form a cross between a pickaxe and a hook on the edge.
“I really hate monthly wizard magazines and their budget spells. They all sound terrible,” Karn sighed.
“And you can’t read them?” Hazhur added, ready to swing into action the moment something began to overwhelm Estal’s barriers.
“They have nice pictures, but the content has to be garbage if Estal uses them,” Karn agreed. Hazhur would agree, but he knew the spell Estal was using. It’s original use was for a kid-size rod and a tiny hook. Estal had modified it with some work to be... useful.
That was his cousin alright. Talented to high heavens, but always falling short due to the weight of her ego.
“Gimmie gimmie some good loot... gimmie gimmie so I can give debt the boot!” Estal chanted as her magic line sunk into the water under her and moved deftly towards the crystal.
Her line abruptly stopped and Hazhur frowned, turning to see an oddly curious Oz fiddling around with a strange pedestal on the far side of the lake. Above them, the moon went from crescent to almost full in a few seconds.
“My line must be caught on another crab, it’s bobbing up and down,” Estal complained, yanking as hard as she could. The moon above slowly creeped to white fullness, lighting the chamber up like a dream.
“Estal!” Hazhur snapped as a black shadow grew rapidly under her.
“I almost have it, Hazzy! Stop... acting... like...I’m useless!” Estal said, face turning red as she pulled with all she had.
Karn and Hazhur moved across the shallows of the lake, both attempting to get to the wizard but a moment later, she was gone. Hazhur watched as her barrier utterly broke under the gulping of a giant fish that couldn’t possibly live in such a tiny lake. It splashed into the air, the last of Estal’s mana line being slurped up like pasta.
Then it vanished back into the lake.
Hazhur didn’t hesitate and dove into the water in a near perfect arc, his axe drawn. Karn cackled as he followed next.
A sign popped out of a flesh crack and hit Estal in the face with goop and mucus, the sludge going down her neck and into her dress.
Estal made a tiny growl in her voice and turned, only to nearly be hit with another sign that popped out the ceiling.
She made the growling noise again.
The first sign read ‘Welcome to the hidden First-Floor alt rooms! A fleshy space that will offer some biological challenges since I know you humans like your fluids and such. It’s called Jonah’s Revenge’.- Nu’
The other sign was a little more worrying.
‘If you don’t find an exit, the water slowly rises until you all pass out and potentially drown... I’m kidding. You won’t drown, but merely wash up on a lake a mile away from town and likely with all your valuables stolen. Good times. -Nu’.
“Where’s the exit?!” Estal said in slight panic. Karn looked around with a calm expression.
“If this is modelled after a big fish. I can think of three exits off the top of my head,” he offered and Estal stared at him in confusion for a moment before it dawned on her.
“I’m not going out a fish’s butt!” she said with the indignation of a priest confronted with his hidden ‘reading’ material by the sisters.
Hazhur put a hand on her shoulder.
“If Karn and Oz say it’s the only way? We have to go out the butt, Esty... let’s find the butt,” he said soothingly and Estal’s mouth dropped open.
This Dungeon was hell.
Pure... hell.
---
Alpha followed the demure ancient woman up a flight of stairs as she grumbled. The ‘Old Hollow’ Inn was sort of what a perfect inn should be if you asked Alpha. The slightly soft glow of candles and a fireplace spread light up the many floors as he ran his hand over slightly chipped and marked wooden banisters as the smell of bubbling stew and wax along with earthy smells filled his nose.
“At recommendation of Isanella... Madam Ghu can offer you a ‘premium room’,” she said, repeating her words from the front desk slightly. Alpha wasn’t sure who or... what Madam Ghu was, but the way she spoke wasn’t about the fact she spoke a different dialect... no Alpha was certain that the woman called herself ‘Madam Ghu’ because of some beneficial reason, as if it was both technically true and at the same time, not really her name at all.
They reached near the top where despite the fact it had a feeling of not having people visit it for a long time, there was absolutely no dust, dirt, or cobwebs to be found in the rafters. Stopping outside a very normal door, Madam Ghu reached into her sleeve with a boney pale hand that had expensive gold and copper rings on her fingers that sparkled with gems that would pay for a small plot of land in most places.
The key she retrieved also looked quite normal, but it was metal and... round... with sharp straight edges on its wooden... curving sides with glass teeth... and bone handle that meshed well with its... stone head.
“Stop staring, it’s rude,” Ghu reprimanded, breaking the spell and Alpha saw the key... was just a key.
“Apologises...” he muttered and she sighed, putting the key into the door that seemed impossibly big and small for a split second before it too... was just a door.
“Madam Ghu will collect you in the morning. You will leave the room when the sun rises, you will have breakfast. Staying in the room beyond checkout will be quite impossible. Now... enjoy,” the old woman said, more a warning than an encouragement.
Alpha once again considered just sleeping against Delta’s entrance and simply getting on with it, but he supposed he could look at the room. Inhaling, he took a step through the door and found himself in a single small room with a window.
He took a step and looked down at the soft blue plush carpet that his feet sank into. He looked up at the shade hanging down over a lightbulb... Without thinking, more on instinct, he reached over and flipped a switch, casting light over the room. To his left was a bookcase covered in hardback fantasy books, manuals for games, encyclopedias dedicated to ship designs, monster stats, and some space set aside for little plastic figures on stands.
To his right was a desk with a flat glass screen set behind a black row of keys with letters and a comfortable looking chair. A still half-popped can of soda sitting on a coaster looked right at home to the side.
Right ahead was a bed he didn’t know, but had known all his life.
He looked over at the table by the bed and saw a simple notepad for some educational purposes. He picked it up and opened it to the first page. On the first few pages were comments and corrections.
‘Need to work on your syntax, but massive improvement! - Miss D’
‘We went over this, so I have notes you can take home, see me when you feel comfortable. - Miss D’
‘I am so proud of you. 70%! - Miss D’.
Alpha dropped the book to the floor where it flipped to pages of doodles, a squibbling of a boy dressed as a knight slaying ogres and dragons, smiling. It was horrible art.
And of course, another comment.
Miss D had drawn herself as a sun, beaming down on the bad drawing.
‘It might seem really hard, but if you work with me, you’ll see all your problems are quite... light! -Miss D.
Alpha looked around, taking it all in.
He... he might need Madam Ghu’s help in the morning. He laid down on the pillow and a scent so strong hit his nose causing memories with no real detail to rise up.
He closed his eyes, settling into an unknown but weirdly familiar sleeping posture on the strange, but personal bed.
Alpha remembered dreaming of a smiling woman holding out a test with a big smiley face next to a 90% pass mark. She wore a tie over a woman’s shirt, a long skirt, and her face was blurred by light and hazy fogginess.
“Adam... you made it. You can go on the trip. I’ll drive everyone!”
Alpha curled up, resting deeply.
Please report us if you find any errors so we can fix it asap!
Chapter 142: Catfished
The Order of Silver was outvoted. They went directly ahead. The factor was Estal’s determination to avoid filthy mud rooms and savage rituals of putting dirt on skin. Hazhur didn’t argue since they were here to explore everything so they’d get around to it all eventually.
Still, not even Estal could stop her murmur of appreciation when they stepped into a large cavern with twinkling lights and some realistic illusion of a crescent moon high on the ceiling that slowly shifted across the peaceful sky. The room was some homage to a lake-side cabin affair. It’s trees and bushes didn’t clump together to hide any monsters, and the lake was active with fish that occasionally splashed to the surface in brilliant flashes of gold, silver, and mixtures.Ñøv€lRapture marked the initial hosting of this chapter on Ñôv€lß¡n.
Off to their left was a circle of rocks, stumps, and fallen logs around a used campfire with stacks of logs nearby for ease of use.
“No traps that I can sense. But like that barmaid back in Horiful?” Karn said slowly before grinning.
“Just because they don’t see it as hiding doesn’t mean you won’t get a surprise when you get her skirt up. Not a bad surprise, just not for me,” he admitted as Estal shot him a disgusted look before she waved a hand.
“It’s a lake that is made of natural mana-infused water. A jug full of this stuff is already enough to bring in mages and alchemists. Natural occurring water like this just isn’t found so close to the surface or in such volume,” she said as she waved her staff about. Frowning, she leaned down by the lake edge, her staff recording conflicting energies.
“There’s something else... a few things... in this lake. I think that...” she mumbled, her staff prodding the lake surface. Her staff bobbed and she lifted it with confusion to reveal a red crab hanging on to the end with one claw.
“Urgh, it’s lousy with seafood,” she moaned, shaking it loose to tap the surface of the lake to make the surface turn slightly transparent as she layered a barrier spell over it, slowly filtering out the murk for a moment.
A circle about as wide as Estal herself became clear and at the bottom of the lake, only visibly due to its immense glow was a large blue crystal formation that pulsed gently. Hazhur was no merchant or wizard, but glowing crystal in a Dungeon was pretty valuable in his eyes.
“That's a water crystal... no, that's an untainted water crystal!” Estal squealed in delight. There was a tapping as the Ord... that name was a pain.
“What is it Oos?” Hazhur turned, the name coming off as ‘Oz’ aloud.
They were near a sign that said ‘Fishing and herb collection only. Don’t Duck around.-Nu’.
“It’s fine. I can’t read,” Karn said pleasantly. Oz tapped the pictures at the bottom of the sign with significance where it showed a stickman fishing or hugging a bush. This was followed by a long line of pictures crossed out.
Crystal mining, peeing in the lake, two people sharing a tent, and what seemed to be two people arguing over justice, money, and politics. All of those seemed to be ‘banned’ at the lake.
“If I obeyed every warning I ever read, I’d be a dull girl,” Estal said dismissively.
“You might also not be in severe debt to the Capitol,” Hazhur reminded dryly, getting a dark look in return.
“Watch my back. I need that crystal! I could do so many water repellent barriers or sell it as a water purifier!” Estal said, tapping her staff in a determining manner.
“How? As far as we know, no crafters have set up in snoozeville outside. Without crafters, your ‘treasure’ is going to break down unless it comes from a monster,” Karn pointed out. Estal brushed a lock of her hair back with a smirk.
“Old news, you stab-happy gremlin. Perhaps you haven’t heard that Dungeon Items only break down if exposed to outside global-mana. I just happened to have this,” she said, flourishing a big janky looking bracelet that was too big for her wrist and was gaudy beyond belief with an emerald in its center.
“I heard of storage rings, but a bracelet is new,” Karn said slowly. Estal hummed.
“It’s the newest model. It can store up to a variety of items, less if they’re magic, but still plenty of space. The added mass means I can also use it as a defensive bracer and it’s fashionable!” she said with a haughty laugh.
“The gold is flaking at the sides to show the copper underneath,”
“Shut it, Hazhur. It was an investment,” she snapped back, walking on to the lake with her magic heels creating stable platforms for her.
Oz was rapidly tapping the sign in a frantic manner, but Hazhur felt a bit bad the other two were ignoring them.
“You can lead a horse to water,” he shrugged at them before motioning towards Estal.
“But you can’t disown them,” he added helplessly. Estal swung her staff around in an arc in the air.
“Creatium Marinium Hookum!” she chanted with authority. From the tip of her staff, a long whitish line of mana flowed outwards, unspooling from Estal’s staff until she had enough to form a cross between a pickaxe and a hook on the edge.
“I really hate monthly wizard magazines and their budget spells. They all sound terrible,” Karn sighed.
“And you can’t read them?” Hazhur added, ready to swing into action the moment something began to overwhelm Estal’s barriers.
“They have nice pictures, but the content has to be garbage if Estal uses them,” Karn agreed. Hazhur would agree, but he knew the spell Estal was using. It’s original use was for a kid-size rod and a tiny hook. Estal had modified it with some work to be... useful.
That was his cousin alright. Talented to high heavens, but always falling short due to the weight of her ego.
“Gimmie gimmie some good loot... gimmie gimmie so I can give debt the boot!” Estal chanted as her magic line sunk into the water under her and moved deftly towards the crystal.
Her line abruptly stopped and Hazhur frowned, turning to see an oddly curious Oz fiddling around with a strange pedestal on the far side of the lake. Above them, the moon went from crescent to almost full in a few seconds.
“My line must be caught on another crab, it’s bobbing up and down,” Estal complained, yanking as hard as she could. The moon above slowly creeped to white fullness, lighting the chamber up like a dream.
“Estal!” Hazhur snapped as a black shadow grew rapidly under her.
“I almost have it, Hazzy! Stop... acting... like...I’m useless!” Estal said, face turning red as she pulled with all she had.
Karn and Hazhur moved across the shallows of the lake, both attempting to get to the wizard but a moment later, she was gone. Hazhur watched as her barrier utterly broke under the gulping of a giant fish that couldn’t possibly live in such a tiny lake. It splashed into the air, the last of Estal’s mana line being slurped up like pasta.
Then it vanished back into the lake.
Hazhur didn’t hesitate and dove into the water in a near perfect arc, his axe drawn. Karn cackled as he followed next.
A sign popped out of a flesh crack and hit Estal in the face with goop and mucus, the sludge going down her neck and into her dress.
Estal made a tiny growl in her voice and turned, only to nearly be hit with another sign that popped out the ceiling.
She made the growling noise again.
The first sign read ‘Welcome to the hidden First-Floor alt rooms! A fleshy space that will offer some biological challenges since I know you humans like your fluids and such. It’s called Jonah’s Revenge’.- Nu’
The other sign was a little more worrying.
‘If you don’t find an exit, the water slowly rises until you all pass out and potentially drown... I’m kidding. You won’t drown, but merely wash up on a lake a mile away from town and likely with all your valuables stolen. Good times. -Nu’.
“Where’s the exit?!” Estal said in slight panic. Karn looked around with a calm expression.
“If this is modelled after a big fish. I can think of three exits off the top of my head,” he offered and Estal stared at him in confusion for a moment before it dawned on her.
“I’m not going out a fish’s butt!” she said with the indignation of a priest confronted with his hidden ‘reading’ material by the sisters.
Hazhur put a hand on her shoulder.
“If Karn and Oz say it’s the only way? We have to go out the butt, Esty... let’s find the butt,” he said soothingly and Estal’s mouth dropped open.
This Dungeon was hell.
Pure... hell.
---
Alpha followed the demure ancient woman up a flight of stairs as she grumbled. The ‘Old Hollow’ Inn was sort of what a perfect inn should be if you asked Alpha. The slightly soft glow of candles and a fireplace spread light up the many floors as he ran his hand over slightly chipped and marked wooden banisters as the smell of bubbling stew and wax along with earthy smells filled his nose.
“At recommendation of Isanella... Madam Ghu can offer you a ‘premium room’,” she said, repeating her words from the front desk slightly. Alpha wasn’t sure who or... what Madam Ghu was, but the way she spoke wasn’t about the fact she spoke a different dialect... no Alpha was certain that the woman called herself ‘Madam Ghu’ because of some beneficial reason, as if it was both technically true and at the same time, not really her name at all.
They reached near the top where despite the fact it had a feeling of not having people visit it for a long time, there was absolutely no dust, dirt, or cobwebs to be found in the rafters. Stopping outside a very normal door, Madam Ghu reached into her sleeve with a boney pale hand that had expensive gold and copper rings on her fingers that sparkled with gems that would pay for a small plot of land in most places.
The key she retrieved also looked quite normal, but it was metal and... round... with sharp straight edges on its wooden... curving sides with glass teeth... and bone handle that meshed well with its... stone head.
“Stop staring, it’s rude,” Ghu reprimanded, breaking the spell and Alpha saw the key... was just a key.
“Apologises...” he muttered and she sighed, putting the key into the door that seemed impossibly big and small for a split second before it too... was just a door.
“Madam Ghu will collect you in the morning. You will leave the room when the sun rises, you will have breakfast. Staying in the room beyond checkout will be quite impossible. Now... enjoy,” the old woman said, more a warning than an encouragement.
Alpha once again considered just sleeping against Delta’s entrance and simply getting on with it, but he supposed he could look at the room. Inhaling, he took a step through the door and found himself in a single small room with a window.
He took a step and looked down at the soft blue plush carpet that his feet sank into. He looked up at the shade hanging down over a lightbulb... Without thinking, more on instinct, he reached over and flipped a switch, casting light over the room. To his left was a bookcase covered in hardback fantasy books, manuals for games, encyclopedias dedicated to ship designs, monster stats, and some space set aside for little plastic figures on stands.
To his right was a desk with a flat glass screen set behind a black row of keys with letters and a comfortable looking chair. A still half-popped can of soda sitting on a coaster looked right at home to the side.
Right ahead was a bed he didn’t know, but had known all his life.
He looked over at the table by the bed and saw a simple notepad for some educational purposes. He picked it up and opened it to the first page. On the first few pages were comments and corrections.
‘Need to work on your syntax, but massive improvement! - Miss D’
‘We went over this, so I have notes you can take home, see me when you feel comfortable. - Miss D’
‘I am so proud of you. 70%! - Miss D’.
Alpha dropped the book to the floor where it flipped to pages of doodles, a squibbling of a boy dressed as a knight slaying ogres and dragons, smiling. It was horrible art.
And of course, another comment.
Miss D had drawn herself as a sun, beaming down on the bad drawing.
‘It might seem really hard, but if you work with me, you’ll see all your problems are quite... light! -Miss D.
Alpha looked around, taking it all in.
He... he might need Madam Ghu’s help in the morning. He laid down on the pillow and a scent so strong hit his nose causing memories with no real detail to rise up.
He closed his eyes, settling into an unknown but weirdly familiar sleeping posture on the strange, but personal bed.
Alpha remembered dreaming of a smiling woman holding out a test with a big smiley face next to a 90% pass mark. She wore a tie over a woman’s shirt, a long skirt, and her face was blurred by light and hazy fogginess.
“Adam... you made it. You can go on the trip. I’ll drive everyone!”
Alpha curled up, resting deeply.
Chapter 142: CatfishedThe Order of Silver was outvoted. They went directly ahead. The factor was Estal's determination to avoid filthy mud rooms and savage rituals of putting dirt on skin. Hazhur didn't argue since they were here to explore everything so they'd get around to it all eventually.Still, not even Estal could stop her murmur of appreciation when they stepped into a large cavern with twinkling lights and some realistic illusion of a crescent moon high on the ceiling that slowly shifted across the peaceful sky. The room was some homage to a lake-side cabin affair. It's trees and bushes didn't clump together to hide any monsters, and the lake was active with fish that occasionally splashed to the surface in brilliant flashes of gold, silver, and mixtures.NvlRapture marked the initial hosting of this chapter on Novln.Off to their left was a circle of rocks, stumps, and fallen logs around a used campfire with stacks of logs nearby for ease of use.No traps that I can sense. But like that barmaid back in Horiful? Karn said slowly before grinning.Just because they don't see it as hiding doesn't mean you won't get a surprise when you get her skirt up. Not a bad surprise, just not for me, he admitted as Estal shot him a disgusted look before she waved a hand.It's a lake that is made of natural mana-infused water. A jug full of this stuff is already enough to bring in mages and alchemists. Natural occurring water like this just isn't found so close to the surface or in such volume, she said as she waved her staff about. Frowning, she leaned down by the lake edge, her staff recording conflicting energies.There's something else... a few things... in this lake. I think that... she mumbled, her staff prodding the lake surface. Her staff bobbed and she lifted it with confusion to reveal a red crab hanging on to the end with one claw.Urgh, it's lousy with seafood, she moaned, shaking it loose to tap the surface of the lake to make the surface turn slightly transparent as she layered a barrier spell over it, slowly filtering out the murk for a moment.A circle about as wide as Estal herself became clear and at the bottom of the lake, only visibly due to its immense glow was a large blue crystal formation that pulsed gently. Hazhur was no merchant or wizard, but glowing crystal in a Dungeon was pretty valuable in his eyes.That's a water crystal... no, that's an untainted water crystal! Estal squealed in delight. There was a tapping as the Ord... that name was a pain.What is it Oos? Hazhur turned, the name coming off as Oz' aloud.They were near a sign that said Fishing and herb collection only. Don't Duck around.-Nu'.It's fine. I can't read, Karn said pleasantly. Oz tapped the pictures at the bottom of the sign with significance where it showed a stickman fishing or hugging a bush. This was followed by a long line of pictures crossed out.Crystal mining, peeing in the lake, two people sharing a tent, and what seemed to be two people arguing over justice, money, and politics. All of those seemed to be banned' at the lake.If I obeyed every warning I ever read, I'd be a dull girl, Estal said dismissively.You might also not be in severe debt to the Capitol, Hazhur reminded dryly, getting a dark look in return.Watch my back. I need that crystal! I could do so many water repellent barriers or sell it as a water purifier! Estal said, tapping her staff in a determining manner.How? As far as we know, no crafters have set up in snoozeville outside. Without crafters, your treasure' is going to break down unless it comes from a monster, Karn pointed out. Estal brushed a lock of her hair back with a smirk.Old news, you stab-happy gremlin. Perhaps you haven't heard that Dungeon Items only break down if exposed to outside global-mana. I just happened to have this, she said, flourishing a big janky looking bracelet that was too big for her wrist and was gaudy beyond belief with an emerald in its center.I heard of storage rings, but a bracelet is new, Karn said slowly. Estal hummed.It's the newest model. It can store up to a variety of items, less if they're magic, but still plenty of space. The added mass means I can also use it as a defensive bracer and it's fashionable! she said with a haughty laugh.The gold is flaking at the sides to show the copper underneath,Shut it, Hazhur. It was an investment, she snapped back, walking on to the lake with her magic heels creating stable platforms for her.Oz was rapidly tapping the sign in a frantic manner, but Hazhur felt a bit bad the other two were ignoring them.You can lead a horse to water, he shrugged at them before motioning towards Estal.But you can't disown them, he added helplessly. Estal swung her staff around in an arc in the air.Creatium Marinium Hookum! she chanted with authority. From the tip of her staff, a long whitish line of mana flowed outwards, unspooling from Estal's staff until she had enough to form a cross between a pickaxe and a hook on the edge.I really hate monthly wizard magazines and their budget spells. They all sound terrible, Karn sighed.And you can't read them? Hazhur added, ready to swing into action the moment something began to overwhelm Estal's barriers.They have nice pictures, but the content has to be garbage if Estal uses them, Karn agreed. Hazhur would agree, but he knew the spell Estal was using. It's original use was for a kid-size rod and a tiny hook. Estal had modified it with some work to be... useful.That was his cousin alright. Talented to high heavens, but always falling short due to the weight of her ego.Gimmie gimmie some good loot... gimmie gimmie so I can give debt the boot! Estal chanted as her magic line sunk into the water under her and moved deftly towards the crystal.Her line abruptly stopped and Hazhur frowned, turning to see an oddly curious Oz fiddling around with a strange pedestal on the far side of the lake. Above them, the moon went from crescent to almost full in a few seconds.My line must be caught on another crab, it's bobbing up and down, Estal complained, yanking as hard as she could. The moon above slowly creeped to white fullness, lighting the chamber up like a dream.Estal! Hazhur snapped as a black shadow grew rapidly under her.I almost have it, Hazzy! Stop... acting... like...I'm useless! Estal said, face turning red as she pulled with all she had.Karn and Hazhur moved across the shallows of the lake, both attempting to get to the wizard but a moment later, she was gone. Hazhur watched as her barrier utterly broke under the gulping of a giant fish that couldn't possibly live in such a tiny lake. It splashed into the air, the last of Estal's mana line being slurped up like pasta.Then it vanished back into the lake.Hazhur didn't hesitate and dove into the water in a near perfect arc, his axe drawn. Karn cackled as he followed next.A sign popped out of a flesh crack and hit Estal in the face with goop and mucus, the sludge going down her neck and into her dress.Estal made a tiny growl in her voice and turned, only to nearly be hit with another sign that popped out the ceiling.She made the growling noise again.The first sign read Welcome to the hidden First-Floor alt rooms! A fleshy space that will offer some biological challenges since I know you humans like your fluids and such. It's called Jonah's Revenge'.- Nu'The other sign was a little more worrying.If you don't find an exit, the water slowly rises until you all pass out and potentially drown... I'm kidding. You won't drown, but merely wash up on a lake a mile away from town and likely with all your valuables stolen. Good times. -Nu'.Where's the exit?! Estal said in slight panic. Karn looked around with a calm expression.If this is modelled after a big fish. I can think of three exits off the top of my head, he offered and Estal stared at him in confusion for a moment before it dawned on her.I'm not going out a fish's butt! she said with the indignation of a priest confronted with his hidden reading' material by the sisters.Hazhur put a hand on her shoulder.If Karn and Oz say it's the only way? We have to go out the butt, Esty... let's find the butt, he said soothingly and Estal's mouth dropped open.This Dungeon was hell.Pure... hell.---Alpha followed the demure ancient woman up a flight of stairs as she grumbled. The Old Hollow' Inn was sort of what a perfect inn should be if you asked Alpha. The slightly soft glow of candles and a fireplace spread light up the many floors as he ran his hand over slightly chipped and marked wooden banisters as the smell of bubbling stew and wax along with earthy smells filled his nose.At recommendation of Isanella... Madam Ghu can offer you a premium room', she said, repeating her words from the front desk slightly. Alpha wasn't sure who or... what Madam Ghu was, but the way she spoke wasn't about the fact she spoke a different dialect... no Alpha was certain that the woman called herself Madam Ghu' because of some beneficial reason, as if it was both technically true and at the same time, not really her name at all.They reached near the top where despite the fact it had a feeling of not having people visit it for a long time, there was absolutely no dust, dirt, or cobwebs to be found in the rafters. Stopping outside a very normal door, Madam Ghu reached into her sleeve with a boney pale hand that had expensive gold and copper rings on her fingers that sparkled with gems that would pay for a small plot of land in most places.The key she retrieved also looked quite normal, but it was metal and... round... with sharp straight edges on its wooden... curving sides with glass teeth... and bone handle that meshed well with its... stone head.Stop staring, it's rude, Ghu reprimanded, breaking the spell and Alpha saw the key... was just a key.Apologises... he muttered and she sighed, putting the key into the door that seemed impossibly big and small for a split second before it too... was just a door.Madam Ghu will collect you in the morning. You will leave the room when the sun rises, you will have breakfast. Staying in the room beyond checkout will be quite impossible. Now... enjoy, the old woman said, more a warning than an encouragement.Alpha once again considered just sleeping against Delta's entrance and simply getting on with it, but he supposed he could look at the room. Inhaling, he took a step through the door and found himself in a single small room with a window.He took a step and looked down at the soft blue plush carpet that his feet sank into. He looked up at the shade hanging down over a lightbulb... Without thinking, more on instinct, he reached over and flipped a switch, casting light over the room. To his left was a bookcase covered in hardback fantasy books, manuals for games, encyclopedias dedicated to ship designs, monster stats, and some space set aside for little plastic figures on stands.To his right was a desk with a flat glass screen set behind a black row of keys with letters and a comfortable looking chair. A still half-popped can of soda sitting on a coaster looked right at home to the side.Right ahead was a bed he didn't know, but had known all his life.He looked over at the table by the bed and saw a simple notepad for some educational purposes. He picked it up and opened it to the first page. On the first few pages were comments and corrections.Need to work on your syntax, but massive improvement! - Miss D'We went over this, so I have notes you can take home, see me when you feel comfortable. - Miss D'I am so proud of you. 70%! - Miss D'.Alpha dropped the book to the floor where it flipped to pages of doodles, a squibbling of a boy dressed as a knight slaying ogres and dragons, smiling. It was horrible art.And of course, another comment.Miss D had drawn herself as a sun, beaming down on the bad drawing.It might seem really hard, but if you work with me, you'll see all your problems are quite... light! -Miss D.Alpha looked around, taking it all in.He... he might need Madam Ghu's help in the morning. He laid down on the pillow and a scent so strong hit his nose causing memories with no real detail to rise up.He closed his eyes, settling into an unknown but weirdly familiar sleeping posture on the strange, but personal bed.Alpha remembered dreaming of a smiling woman holding out a test with a big smiley face next to a 90% pass mark. She wore a tie over a woman's shirt, a long skirt, and her face was blurred by light and hazy fogginess.Adam... you made it. You can go on the trip. I'll drive everyone!Alpha curled up, resting deeply.
