บท 35: The Moments Before the Plunge, Part 2

"This is the grave of some big-shot human politician who'd caused a lot of trouble in the early days of the twentieth century by human reckoning," Lieutenant Doyle explained from his spot at the head of our fifty-man expedition group comprising thirty apprentices, twenty journeymen, a master, and our LEPRCON guide. "The locals hated this bastard—and this—this dungeon's the result of that hatred spilling out into the world."

'Hate' might have been too weak a word from what I could read of the angry graffiti defacing the mausoleum's walls.

"May the Morrigan throw you into the deepest, blackest pit from which you'll find no succor or peace," I read aloud.

"...and make you eat poison for eternity, you völva lover," Liara finished reading for me. Her team was in the line beside mine.

"Holy moly, that wasn't a very nice thing to write," Dess complained.

"Wicked burn, though," I said.

The chime of several notifications reached my ears, and we all checked our status bars to discover that we'd all received a message from Mistress Lorelai Lindisfarne. Tapping on the message revealed some interesting quest details.

[NEW QUEST: [Men Can't Hold Their Liquor!]]

[QUEST DETAILS: To be explained by the raid leader [Mistress Lorelai] later on.]

[QUEST REWARDS: Passing grade in Swords and Sorcery pop quiz (grade dependent on raid contribution), silver sceattas x20, and school points x1.]

"Twenty sceattas... not a bad haul for this beginner's dungeon," Helm, the bright elf Grimm, said.

"Speak for yourself, bruv," Koby, the dark elf Grimm, complained. "That's chump change... can't even buy decent mats for twenty sceattas."

"Depends where you buy your mats," Zen butt in. "Now, a point each for our schools, that's being generous."

I would side with Zen on this one. There was a lot you could do with twenty sceattas which was the equivalent of a thousand US dollars. From what I'd read in Divah's guide, there were a bunch of trade stalls just outside the campus gates that offered prime discounts to novices of the Academy.

"School points?" I repeated. "What's this for?"

"Ever wondered why we have such shabby furniture in the tower?" Liara asked.

I nodded. "Isn't that just part of its charm?"

Liara visibly resisted the urge to laugh at my joke. Yep, I do believe my Realmsflix-cultivated charms were beginning to win the she-elf over.

"School points get us two things. Novices can use points to spruce up their Academy life—new furniture for the tower and your room—or we can save up the points in exchange for equivalent, ultra-rare rewards that pop up during the end of ranking days," Liara explained.

"You forgot to add the donations," Zen chimed in.

"Oh, right," Liara shrugged before explaining further in a less enthusiastic tone, "Novices who are too nice for their own good can offer up points to their school's total tally, and the school with the most points at the end of the year gets a trophy."

"No one's foolish enough to waste points on school glory," Lohgan cut in.

"I donate my points," Dess complained.

Lohgan shook his head at Dess. "Then I guess there's a fool in every group."

"Enough chatter! We're beginning!" Mistress Lorelai growled at us. "Ready your weapons, novices!"

As a safety measure against accidents, it was a LEPRCON rule that weapons were stowed until the moment before entering a dungeon. So only now was I able to unzip my instrument bag and pull out what was inside it.

My weapon was a single-edged blade with a slight curve that was two-and-a-half feet in length. Its ash wood hilt was also two-and-a-half feet long, was roughly the same width as the blade, and ended in a softly glowing blue stone pommel.

"Oo~~oh," Dess was gazing admiringly at my weapon, "that glaive looks amazing, Will."

"It's a hybrid weapon." I hefted Divah's final birthday gift proudly in my hands. "Part sword and part wizard's staff."

"Looks a bit like a Japanese nagamaki," Scaredy Cat said as he looked over my shoulder too.

Dess's fingers caressed the metal, which I knew would be hot to the touch. "Is this… blood steel?"

'Blood steel' was an enchanted metal forged from an iron ingot quenched in blood during the hardening process. It couldn't be just anyone's lifeblood either. The more powerful the blood, the greater the quality of the metal. And, more often than not, the blood used was usually stolen from a hated foe or powerful monster.

"Yeah," I nodded appreciatively at Dess's insight. "Master and I forged it together for my fifteenth birthday."

"Super cool!" Dess took out her status bar. "Can I?"

I shrugged. "Sure."

[[ITEM: Blue Wing Redeemer] [QUALITY: Rare] [TYPE: Glaive (Blade-staff amalgam)] [DESCRIPTION: quenched in the blood of a deadly wyvern, this weapon was forged by the dutiful hands of master and apprentice as proof of the student's growth. It was made for one who excels in combat, but also possesses the gift to wield powerful magic.] [BOONS: Attack Speed +2, Armor Penetration +0.5%, Critical/Backstab Damage +5%, Lightning Elemental Damage +1, Lightning Elemental Coating Increases Stun Chance by 5%.]]

As I read my weapon's stats over Dess's shoulder, I was surprised to find that it even had a description attached to it.

"Huh, even I didn't know all these details… I need to get myself one of these," I said wistfully.

"I can get your old bar an appraisal app," Dess grinned. "I do some coding on the side. We can do it after the dungeon run."

"Groovy," I grinned.

While Dess moved on to inspect someone else's weapon, I strapped my glaive over my shoulder and then noticed Liara who was now standing at my side.

"Frightened?" she asked.

No, I didn't believe she was teasing me. It was a genuine question; one I didn't find insulting at all because I knew it had come from a place of actual concern. An adventurer's life was steeped in danger, but we all knew that adventures in a dungeon carried that extra level of peril because dungeon monsters were generally smarter, meaner, and seemed to serve a great purpose in the larger scheme of the cosmos.

"Funny story, I've never actually entered a dungeon before," I admitted. "It was the one lesson Divah wouldn't teach me."

"That's strange," Liara noted. "I would have thought her training was more well-rounded."

"Two people alone can't conquer a dungeon," I answered. Then I gave Liara a knowing look. "Soloing one is also an unnecessary risk, according to Divah."

"Shut it, Wisdom." Liara rolled her eyes at me. "I know what I'm doing."

"Yeah, yeah," I chuckled. "Seriously though, I've been waiting five years for a crack at a dungeon."

"It's something else. You'll see..." In an uncommonly warm gesture, Liara bumped shoulders with me. "That moment before plunging into the unknown is always exciting... and we never get over it."

"The call to adventure, huh," I guessed.

Liara was the last of her journeyman class to walk down the steps. And, after one last look at the setting sun, I followed her down into my first dungeon.