Dungeon Noble - Squire

Felix returned later that evening with little news, so they pushed on, heading north the following day.

Things were a little awkward with Nepthys at first, neither of them knew what to say or how to act. As the day passed, though, they started to return to normal.

Jake had no doubt he’d remember that kiss for a long time to come, but it was important that they moved past this.

Pretending everything was fine might not be the best idea, but Jake hadn’t come up with anything better overnight.

-**-

Halfway through the day the rhythm of their travel was broken as they reached a fork in the trail and Felix consulted a map before calling a stop as he waved Jake over. “Take a look.”

Jake took the map and stared at it somewhat blankly, a little overwhelmed by all the information labelled on it. “What am I looking for?”

“Here.” Felix tapped a section of the map. “We’re there, and this over here is a marker for a first tier Dungeon.”

“Oh, and you think we should stop to take a look?”

“Is that what you think we should do?” Felix asked in a slightly challenging tone, his cool gaze levelly.

Jake hesitated, wondering if this was some sort of test, before nodding. “Yeah, if they’ve destroyed it, we know they definitely came this way. If not, either we’re going in the wrong direction or we’re somehow in front of them.”

“Very well, then you should tell the others your decision,” Felix said, making no move to take the map back.

“Oh, okay.” Jake was more than a little confused by the sudden turn of events, but he looked back at the others and gestured to the map. “There’s a Dungeon nearby. We’re going to head over and see what the situation is.”

The others nodded, their expressions serious and grim, but to Jake’s surprise, none of them questioned him making that decision.

Jake glanced back to Felix expectantly, but the older classer gave a subtle nod to the map that Jake was still holding. “Lead the way.”

Feeling a little out of his depth, but determined not to let Felix down, Jake studied the map. If he focused on just their area, then he could bypass a lot of the complexity of it and find what he needed.

“That way?” Jake asked, pointing to one of the forks before checking with Felix.

“You have the map,” Felix said neutrally, but Jake was quick to shake his head.

“No, no, this is too important for us to be wandering around the wrong way. I’ll lead, but tell me if that’s right or not first.”

“In that case, yes, that’s the right way,” Felix said, the corner of his mouth quirking up into a smile.

Jake tried to hide his pride at earning that smile, and instead hunched over the map, determined that he would guide them the rest of the way on his own.

-**-

“Well, that answers that question,” Jake muttered as he stared at the dead Dungeon that lay before them.

“We can’t be far behind them, not if they’re stopping to do things like this,” Nepthys said in a heated tone that Jake fully understood.

There was something about seeing a Dungeon in this state that really got to him.

Shaking it off, Jake paused as a thought occurred to him and he turned and quickly jogged over to Alan. “Could you take a look around with your Skill and see if there are any signs of them being close by or how long ago they were here?”

“Sure thing, Jake,” Alan said with a nod, hurrying off to do just that.

“I’ll stick with him, just in case,” Aspen said, joining the Scholar as they began to search the area.

“You think they’ll find something?” Nepthys asked her gaze lingering on the Dungeon.

“Maybe, but even if they don’t, it’s worth a try.”

Jake noticed Ari and Felix were having a quiet conversation off to one side and wished he could know more about what they were thinking.

Felix was seemingly pushing him to take charge and lead the group, but Jake felt like he was trying to make it all work with only half the information.

Fighting down a sigh, Jake unfolded the map and looked at the area around them, wondering where he’d head next if he were one of the Corruptors.

There was another three Dungeons to the north of this one if they continued in that direction. Two first and one second tier.

The second was off the table, if he assumed it was still outside the reach of the Corruptors. So that just left the other two.

One of them was a day away, while the other was closer to two days travel, and was only a short distance from the second tier Dungeon.

Peering at the map, Jake tried to get a good read of the terrain in the area and work out what would be the easiest way to get there.

He was still working through it all when Alan came hurrying back with an excited look in his eyes. “I found where they were camped!”

“Are you sure?” Jake asked, looking up sharply from the map.

“Yep, and if I’m right, it’s only a day old,” Alan said, grinning at Jake’s expression.

“We’re only a day behind them,” Jake said, his eyes wide as he looked down at the map again. If they were doing what he thought they were, then they had a real chance to catch up with them.

“Just say the word and we can get moving,” Aspen said eagerly as Nepthys and Gargan joined them, drawn in by the commotion.

“Where, though?” Nepthys pointed out. “we don’t know which way they went from here.”

“No, but we know where they’re going.” Jake held up the map and tapped the closer of the two Dungeons. “If we’re lucky, we can catch them before they hit this one. If not, we’ll catch them on the way to the next.”

“Then let’s not waste any time,” Nepthys said, her eyes bright as she motioned further north. “The sooner we kill them, the sooner we can deal with the Triarchy.”

“Agreed,” Jake said, anticipation coiling in his gut as he stowed away the map. They were much closer than he’d expected, and that meant the eventual confrontation was equally close. “Let’s take five minutes to rest, and then hit the road.”

-**-

They were forced to camp overnight only a few miles from their destination. A frustrating situation, but one that couldn’t be helped on a moonless night. Pushing on was just asking for problems.

The tension in their camp was thick that evening, and little was done other than the watches being arranged, before they got their rest.

The spectre of the potential combat the following day was enough to leave everyone deep in their thoughts.

In many ways, it was similar to the feeling they’d had before attempting the second tier Dungeon. It was a sense of shared mortality, one that wasn’t there in the same way for the average Dungeon delve.

Fighting monsters was rapidly becoming routine for Jake, but Corruptors were a very different beast, and a dangerous one at that.

Jake’s mind went back to the strange powers that the ones he’d encountered last time had used. If all of them had something like that, and he was quite certain they did, then he needed to be at his very best.

Unfortunately, that meant getting some sleep and with his growing role as the leader of the group, Jake found himself worrying about the decisions he was making.

It wouldn’t take much for one of them to die here, maybe even all of them if he fucked up badly enough.

Felix and Ari were there to prevent the worst of it, but they were neither all-knowing or all-powerful, especially not in this Realm.

Taking a deep breath, Jake tried to work his way through a simple breathing exercise and banish the stress and worries that were building within him.

By the time he awoke the following morning, Jake was feeling a lot more in control, and he was mentally prepared for what they might find waiting for them at the Dungeon.

The tension of the night before lingered in the camp, but there was a certain edge to it now.

Moving quickly, they packed up their camp and finished the hike to the Dungeon, only to find it already destroyed.

They were too late.

“I’ve got their camp,” Alan called out, interrupting Jake’s thoughts before he could start blaming himself. “Looks like they were here last night.”

“Damn, only a few miles in it,” Nepthys muttered, and Jake could only nod in frustration. They’d been so close.

“They must be heading to the next Dungeons,” Jake said, calling everyone back together. “Let’s push on as quick as we can. We seem to be moving faster than them, so we should catch up before they get there.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Jake saw Felix nod approvingly as he got everyone moving. Maybe he was actually going to get the hang of this.