Dungeons Just Want to Have Fun

“Was it fun?” Kelsey asked. “I hope it was fun, at least.”

Anton glared at her. “It wasn’t,” he said. “It was a lot of hard work, and I hope you’re happy with what I learned.”

“Oh come on, you fighter types love that training nonsense,” Kelsey protested. “Going up against a duellist twice your level? I bet your Class loved that!”

“I did get a little bit of experience,” Anton admitted. “And I learned a lot. I just don’t think I should have done something that strenuous right before going to clear out a den of kidnappers.”

“That was hours ago, you must have recovered by now!” Kelsey said.

“Bruises don’t recover in hours,” Anton pointed out. “Nor does muscle strain.”

“Is it that bad?” Kelsey asked. “I can pull up a potion if you need one.”

Anton thought about it but shook his head. “I’ll be fine. I’ll be feeling it tomorrow, though.”

“You’ll be feeling good tomorrow,” Kelsey predicted, “Because you’ll have earned your first Heroic Trait.”

Anton rolled his eyes. “And I’ll have saved all those children,” he corrected.

“Sure, the brats. They’re important too,” Kelsey agreed. “So if you’re fully rested up, there’s a little disagreement that needs seeing to.”

“Why me?” Anton asked. He’d heard the argument starting up, and he didn’t want a part of it.

“Because you’re the lord,” Kelsey told him. “Hard decisions like this are why you get paid the big bucks.”

“I get paid?” Anton wondered aloud, but he allowed Kelsey to lead him over to where the discussion was being held.

“Quick update,” Kelsey said. “I think the three girls that want to fight should come, and Aris wants them to stay.”

Anton sighed. “I think I can see the motivations at play here. Aris, you’d be fine with it, as long as Cheia stays home.”

“Well, yes,” Aris admitted. “We just rescued her, it’s too soon for her to be risking herself.”

“That’s not fair!” Cheia yelled. “You won’t let me use a gun here, and you won’t let me go out!”

“That does seem unfair,” Kelsey agreed.

“Kelsey, you don’t care one way or the other, you just want them to get a chance to kill,” Anton said. “Is that right?”

“I’m a helper!” Kelsey agreed. “I help people!”

Anton frowned. “It was going to be the three of us, plus Tyla. Should we leave a guard behind?”

“I don’t think so,” Kelsey said. “We’re relying on not being found. If we get raided, then one or three first Tier fighters aren’t going to make much difference. Our best bet is for them to run and see if Zaphar can lead them somewhere safe.”

“That makes sense,” Anton agreed. He looked the girls over. Kelsey had already outfitted them in matching chain shirts. Each shirt covered a long-sleeved gambeson with boiled leather vambraces and bracers strapped to the arms.

Lyra Emberleaf: Level 4, Human, Hunter, Hunter/Doxy(broken), S: 9 T: 5 A: 9 D: 3 P: 10 W: 6 C: 11

“You got a level?” he asked Lyra.

“I had to get four levels before it counted,” the girl said morosely. “But thanks to Lady Kelsey and her skeletons, I’m back to where I was.”

Syrena Nael: Level 9, Human, Warrior, Server (broken)/Doxy(broken)/Warrior, S: 12 T: 8 A: 10 D: 5 P: 12 W: 7 C: 11

“Level nine?” he asked, wincing.

“Four from Server, three from Doxy and two from Warrior,” she agreed ruefully. “I’ll almost have the levels for third Tier before I’m ready for second.”

Finally, there was Cheia.

Cheia Lucina, Level 3, Human, Doxy, Doxy, S: 6 T: 3 A: 9 D: 6 P: 4 W: 9 C: 12

“Still a Doxy, I see,” Anton said, trying to keep disapproval out of his voice. It wasn’t her fault and it was—

“It’s the quickest way to second Tier,” Cheia said. “I got a level killing zombies, but…”

It wasn’t the most effective way to level up the Doxy class, but Anton didn’t want to think about her doing that.

“Cheia,” he said gently. “We’re going to be going up against second Tiers at least. Maybe even Tier Threes.”

She pouted stubbornly. “A gun would even out the difference.”

“Sure,” Anton admitted, sparing an angry glance at Kelsey, who attempted to look innocent. “But it’s going to be dark and confused. I’ll be in hand-to-hand combat, right in front of you. Do you want to shoot me by accident?”

Cheia didn’t answer, looking away.

“Do you?” he asked again.

“No… what about Aris though? She’s going in with guns.”

“Aris has a Trait that lets her hit what she shoots at,” Anton told her. “Before she got that, she was missing easy shots about a third of the time.”

Cheia looked pleadingly at Tyla, but the elf shook her head. “I will be taking a gun, for emergencies, but I will be fighting with sword and magic,” she said. “My magic is not yet powerful enough to injure, but it does not miss.”

“You see it, don’t you, Cheia?” Anton asked. “It’s not that your path is wrong, but you need to walk it a little further before it’s safe to bring you with us.”

She sighed. “I guess.”

Anton nodded and moved on to Syrena. “You’ve got the abilities of a Tier Two,” he told her. “No gun, but I think you’ll be all right as long as you can keep your head.”

She nodded and touched the sword at her side. Anton recognised the type as a common beginner’s blade back home. Slightly curved and with a heavy point, it was perfect for cutting down zombies. It did fine against humans as well. “I’ve been practising,” she said.

“And Lyra, you’re trained with the blade, right?” Anton asked the foreign girl. She nodded.

“I’m better with a bow, but tonight is going to be close-in work,” she agreed.

“Then that’s decided then,” Anton declared. “Aris and Kelsey will be our back line, but Kelsey probably won’t be doing anything unless we get into trouble.”

“I’m leaving all that tasty experience for you to eat!” Kelsey said.

Aris gave him a sudden hug. “Thank you,” she whispered.

Anton returned the embrace. “You can’t keep her safe forever,” he warned her. “Not with where we are, what we’re doing.”

“I know,” she said softly. “But just for a little longer.”

They didn’t know exactly where the children were being held but there were only a few buildings big enough to be a combination dormitory and workshop in the Fishers’ territory. Zaphar had wandered through the area during the day and had spotted one such building that was heavily guarded.

He hadn’t approached it, of course, lest he attract the wrong sort of attention, but it seemed worth checking out.

“Still guarded at night,” he said as they approached. At a hundred yards, he could barely see the forms of the two guards in the dim light. Disquietingly, while the outside of the building was lit, the light was kept well away from the door. The guards would still have their night vision while anyone that approached would be fully lit.

“Ware,” Tyla said. “Archer on the roof.”

Anton looked, but he couldn’t see anything. The roof of the building was flat, but there were structures up there that could hide an archer.

“Where?” Aris asked, “I can’t see anything up there, it’s too dark.”

“I can see him,” Kelsey said. “Tyla, can you take him out with Silent Shot?”

Tyla paused to think about it. “I do not think so,” she said. “I haven’t practised with the long-range gun you mentioned. With my bow… I could hit him, but I doubt I could kill him with one shot.”

“My bow, you mean,” Lyra said. “Before you ask, I can’t see him either.”

“I could light him up,” Tyla offered. “Only with a dim light, but enough to see him by.”

“If Aris shoots him, then everyone will know… that something is going on,” Anton said. “Everybody get ready. We’ll keep heading for the door. Aris, get ready to shoot. Tyla, if he looks like he’s getting ready to shoot, alert Aris and light him up. That will be our signal to rush the door.”

Aris nodded and unlimbered her long rifle.

“Ready,” she said after just a few more steps. Anton wondered what someone watching would make of it. Some kind of spear?

No one challenged them as they got closer. At fifty yards, Tyla spoke.

“He’s moving. Get ready,” she said.

Thirty yards.

“Now!” Tyla called. Aris whipped up her rifle and there was a flash of light and the crack of gunfire. Forewarned, all the girls had covered their ears, and Anton was glad of his hearing protection.

“Charge!” Anton yelled, and he took off down the street. The two guards were looking at him. They didn’t know what they’d just seen, but they knew what to do about a charging man with his sword drawn. They readied to receive his charge.

Anton hadn’t planned on fighting fair, though.

Leaping Attack.

Every point of Strength he got seemed to add a foot of height to his leap. Just before he came within reach of their weapons, he leapt straight over their heads, striking an ineffectual blow against the wall as he landed against it.

And stuck there with Spider-climb. The two guards stared at him in confusion, which meant that they weren’t paying any attention to the girls.

Tyla had said that she wasn’t going to fight with guns, but that was inside. Out here, against a pair of guards that were standing still, she could hardly miss. Anton could tell which shot was hers, because it hit the man in the shoulder, spinning him around. His wife’s shot hit in the dead centre of the other man’s chest.

That was the second really loud noise to sound out on the street, and it didn’t go unheeded by the gang members inside. The door slammed open, and a heavyset man with a bald head and tattoos rushed out.

“What in the nine hells is going on here?” he yelled. Then he took in the two guards, one dead, one down and frozen in surprise. The perfect opportunity for Anton to descend.

Leaping Attack.

It wasn’t much of a jump; or even an attack. He just dropped, swordpoint first. It was worth using the Trait for the landing though. With three bodies sprawled on his landing zone, he needed to do everything he could to make sure he didn’t trip.

Light was spilling out of the door, but no other gang members were visible as yet. He could hear voices from within, sounds of confusion, not yet alarm.

“Come on,” Anton called, pausing only long enough to make sure the others were following. He plunged into the building.

A knife skittered off the skin on the back of his neck. There had been someone else here. He’d hidden himself in a nook that seemed tailor-made for the purpose and awaited his chance.

Unfortunately for him, he only had an ordinary first Tier blade. From the looks of him, he wasn’t long out of Tier One himself. Anton backhanded the skinny man with his offhand, as the angle was bad for his sword. He went flying into the wall, and for a moment, Anton thought he’d knocked the man out with one blow. But he stayed up long enough to take a sword blow from Tyla, who was following close behind.

Anton left him to her, striking deeper into the building. The shouts were rising in volume now, becoming more alarmed.

I hope the kids are here, Anton thought to himself. I’m starting to feel bad for the gangers.

There was no doubt that this was a gang hideout. Anton hadn’t stopped to check, but enough of the guards had prominent kingfisher tattoos that Anton could be sure of that much.

Two more Fishers burst out of a nearby room and came at him with knives. In the close quarters of the corridor, that should have given them an advantage, but Anton was used to fighting in more cramped conditions than this. They didn’t look like they had the Strength to take a charge.

Running forward, Anton put his sword in the chest of one of his attackers while weaving past the daggers of the other. He slammed into the remaining man, knocking him to the floor while his companion expired.

Anton felt the experience rushing in from the death. His first actual kill of the night. It felt like a lot, for someone who went down that easily.

There must be a bonus from my class, he guessed. I guess we found the right building after all.