Chapter 38: Dungeon Virgin No More, Part 1

"Duck!" someone yelped.

I dropped to my knees out of instinct, which was when I heard a squeaky bellow of challenge come from behind me, and I glanced up just in time to see the creature's sharp-nailed attack blocked by Morph's battered-looking kite shield.

"Sorry," Morph squeaked. "I know you don't need help, but—"

"Don't sweat it." I rose to my feet and then hefted my glaive in both hands. "Teamwork, I get it."

Despite looking like it had been through the wringer one too many times, a dull bluish glow emanated from the dark metal Morph's shield was made out of.

"Cold iron?" I guessed.

Morph nodded. "We learned that cold iron repels monsters in Blacksmithing. So, I asked Delphine to forge me one."

"Delphine?" My brow creased. "That's the redhead dwarf girl, right?"

"Yes." Morph aimed his shield forward, keeping the creature back while maintaining his aggro on it. "Her work's cheap and go—"

Morph hadn't noticed that another creature had appeared at the edge of the miasma, so I grabbed him by the collar and yanked the infernal away from the attack aimed at his blind side. Then I twirled my glaive around so the blue stone pommel would be right-side-up and ready to amplify my next spell's power.

Now, Volcanic Step might have been overkill for these guys, so I opted to use a simple blast of arcane force all mages could theoretically use. With a cry of, "You shall not pass!" which any proper nerd would yell at these moments, I slammed the pointy end of my glaive down on the craggy stone floor, causing a near-invisible wave of magical energy to burst outward from the point of impact and force the two creatures stalking us to stumble backward.

"Now, Morph!" I yelled.

Morph took the opportunity I gave him to rush forward and skewer one of the creatures in the gut with his scimitar. Meanwhile, I dispatched the other one with a sideward swipe of my glaive that sliced through its poorly protected neck like a knife cutting through a slab of butter.

We'd killed two of the creatures in that one-two combo, although it wasn't much of a victory now that many more of these little monsters were appearing out of the miasma to surround us.

"Why are there so many of them?" I heard Dess complain, to which Lohgan responded with, "Less chatter and more slaying!"

The growing number of monsters didn't worry me much though. I was sure I could have dealt with these creatures easily enough if I needed to, but I also wanted to see just how talented my teammates were, which they proved quickly enough once Dess, Lohgan, and Brunhilde each dispatched a creature without much effort.

I watched Dess throw her shield accurately at the head of a monster that had been gunning for Scaredy Cat, who, as the team's healer, didn't have anything to do because no one in my team had been injured yet. As soon as this creature was forced back, two daggers embedded themselves in its chest, causing it to topple over and die.

The two daggers that had been embedded in the creature's chest blinked out of existence only to reappear in Lohgan's hands. Meanwhile, Dess caught her shield as it bounced back to her, and her delight at that successful 'Shield Throw' was conveyed on her face.

Brunhilde wasn't idle either. She'd just finished lifting two of the little monsters into the air with a pillar of wind that had been so subtle in its activation that I didn't even sense her cast the magical pillar.

I whistled. "We're a mixed bag of talent… groovy."

Things got a bit tougher once the number of enemies grew to three per novice, which weren't good odds for apprentices no matter how talented we were. So, it was a relief to hear the war cries resounding all around us which signaled the arrival of our reinforcements.

"Yo-yo-yo, get your wee heads in the game, supply team!" Koby Grimm yelled. "Light those sage lamps, and cream these fools with its magic beam!"

Despite his lame rhyme, Team Six was quick to follow Koby's advice. We disengaged from the fight so we could join Scaredy Cat who'd been waiting for us beside the supply cart we were responsible for.

"Um, here you go..." He passed each of us an iron candle lamp he pulled out of the cart. "One lamp each..."

"Let's light them up!" Dess said with glee. However, this was easier said than done.

I quickly discovered that something as simple as lighting a candle wick became a challenge when one was being pressured by the threat of violence so close by, and a glance at my teammates told me I wasn't the only one having an issue with shaking hands.

Again, this wasn't fear. It couldn't be. Although I will admit to feeling the pressure of my first dungeon experience. It was both a weird but refreshing sensation for me, the dungeon virgin, who faced death on an almost daily basis without flinching.

"Baldr's balls, relax, pal," I chided myself. "Do it just like we practiced."

When I finally managed to light my lantern, the scent of sage wafted out of it. I breathed it in and felt a calm return to my senses.

"Finally..." I raised the lantern high. "Eat sage, you evil little veslingrs!"

Now that I was seeing them at work, I realized that these sage lamps were pretty damn useful. Not only did their light dispel the creeping shadows gathered around us, but the scent of the sage molded into the candle repelled the miasma's evil taint which I belatedly realized had been the cause of my slow descent into a panic. Sage lamps also had the bonus effect of revealing what exactly was lurking in the dark to attack us.

As the shadows and miasma receded around us, nearly two dozen sluagh came into view, and our raid's first monster encounter truly began.

"Salt grenade!" Helm Grimm yelled.

His cry was answered by Liara, who'd come into view on my right peripheral with a metal canister about the size of a soda can in her hand. She threw this 'salt grenade' at these hobbit-like monsters that I'd read in the bestiary of Divah's guide were like the Irish cousins of goblins.

The canister flew in an arc and then dropped in the middle of a cluster of sluagh. Pressurized vapor burst out in all directions, spraying the sluagh in a liquid salt solution that burned their skin as it made contact.

I heard their ear-splitting screeches of pain as the salt's purifying nature caused the sluagh damage, and I couldn't help cheering along with everyone else.

"Do all monsters burn at the touch of salt?" Morph asked.

"I'm certain I've already explained this in past lectures, Mr. McMorbid." Mistress Lorelai appeared between the two of us like she'd been spat out of the shadows on the ground. "Salt works best on undead creatures, which is what sluagh are."

Mistress Lorelai's wolf-eyed stare was enough to make the sluagh near us flinch away from her gaze, giving our dökkálfar instructor the space she needed to turn this fight into a field lesson.

"Now, who can give me more details about this specific breed of undead monster?" Mistress Lorelai asked.

It was impressive how she managed to make it seem like we were in the safety of a classroom while she pierced the gut of a sluagh that had been suicidal enough to charge Mistress Lorelai solo with her spear.

"Anyone?" she called, her tone sounding more insistent. "Surely one of you has more than weeds growing inside your skull?"

Technically, I knew the answer. Well, I had an idea about it at least. However, I'd had the spotlight far too many times, and someone else needed to show off for me to find those teammates Divah suggested I find. Luckily, there were a few kids in this group who fit that bill, and I was looking forward to their upcoming performance.