Isecant - Party based LitRPG-lite / Progression adventure

"Get anything useful out of her?" I asked while walking over to him.

"Did any good Information about this place reach my ears… no, it did not. However, check this stuff out." Wardi said whilst pulling the porter box out

Horace piped, "A PORTER BOX! That's so cool, you met a crafter WARDI!? Wardi shook his head. "Reconstructor mate"

Horace looked half surprised, half confused "Oh… WELL, sometimes those are good, I guess; I don't like gambling with MY GOODS though."

"Well, who said you could use it, those things only link between the giver and acceptor, so you don't have to worry at all, you don't get to touch unless Wardi says you're a good boy" I said giving Horace a pat on the back repeatedly, causing Horace to sulk and pout.

"Her name was Fijetta, would you believe the bosh gave her blessing? The last time that happened was when I met that young Impie back in forty-one. No idea what it did to her, but she was up in the clouds with energy. I got this neat little piece of tech through a trade, it's called an OWIE, it maps out areas for traps, maybe it'll come in handy soon!" Wardi excitedly told us and brimmed with energy as he examined the OWIE.

"That would be fantastic to have in our possession! If we prepare the appropriate tools, we may never have to worry about getting hurt out in the wild again, and we may not have gotten any leads, but this is good news, it's only a matter of time before we encounter an area that could be our gravesite" Lucy had a little zest in her tone causing Rhua look to look down at her and noticing something shiny on the floor.

Rushing away from us and saying to follow her, Rhua finally stopped outside Von Manor, looking to the ground.

"Alright, taking a chance here, but I think MAYBE we can get past this barrier if we take a slightly unexpected path. Let's meet back here at midnight." Rhua was beaming, she found a potential route in.

"Et-Navn hotel is near the northern gate; we should rest up there, I'll lead the way!" Lucy was excited at the prospect of sitting down again."

We sit in the communal area of the hotel, a smaller bar unlike the ones in the taverns that smell of old alcohol and tavern food gases, this one has more of a woodland scent to it. Wardi, Horace and Lucy are resting in their chairs, whilst I attempt to pass the time with my eyes wandering.

I notice that It's not long before a gentleman caller makes his attempt at Rhua, who always looks more approachable after she takes off the armour and dons her town clothes, her knitted dress with a Kanin sewn into it looked made me think of Lucy than Rhua but can't judge a book by its cover after all. I try eavesdropping, which isn't hard when the gentleman in question is loud about his business.

"What brings a beautiful creature such as yourself to these parts? The names Brianado, eternally wandering soul looking for the love that will join me in that eternal bond."

"Thanks for the offer, but I'll have to pass." The gentleman in question seemed undeterred by Rhua's rejection.

"Hey, just one drink, come on." Heading over to the bartender, paying for something, and returning with a bottle of vin.

I feel for her, she's always having to bat them away over and over, the life of an adventurer doesn't leave much room for romance.

Time passes by and when I wake up, the time was close to midnight and we should start heading over to the spot. Few are out currently and there's only the streetlamps lighting the area. When we get there Rhua makes an appearance within a few minutes of us waiting.

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Rhua waved and pointed at the ground. "I'm confident we can get into the Manor if we enter from the sewers. Get in, I'll close the lid afterwards."

I jumped in first, though in hindsight that was stupid, as my foot was screaming with pain when I landed.

"What's my score?" I joked to distract myself from the pain. Wardi, being Wardi, had already sent me a Soothing salve down fixing up my little booboo.

"I'm surprised it's so lit up in here, and it doesn't smell at all… are you sure this is a sewer?" Lucy said with concern.

"It's 2048, the Terra lot did a great job modernising the Maliterr towns and cities after the merge, lighting standards went up, drink quality, and sanitation. I'm certain you can swim in this." Rhua said, pointing at the water. Horace shook his head in disagreement, and I saw what he meant.

Throwing in a broken dagger I had in my possession and standing there with great interest for what may happen next, as it bubbled in the green-tinted water, then levitated out, swishing around in the air. "Ignis!" Lucy shouted, pointing her wand towards the dagger and melting it down with the intense flames it spewed out.

"Let's keep going, I have a hunch and I'm hoping it's right; I think it's Larry, he's been down here or still is, I'm sure of it." Lucy hastily continued, her words drowning out the further she got, though we're all much faster, so it only took three or four large lunges to catch up to her.

The colour of the water was noticeably greener as we travelled along it. I'm hoping that it doesn't mean anything, we're in unfamiliar territory, the thoughts grew in my head, making me weary. I noticed Wardi has pulled out the new piece of tech, getting frustrated trying to figure out how it works. Horace flicks a switch on the device, and it pulses out in front of us, and we all stop.

"WARDI, let me manage it, this is MY JAM after all." Horace piped. Wardi gladly gifts it to Horace, who doesn't take long to figure out that there's another trap ahead based on the weird red flickering dot on the screen that seems to be moving closer. He tells us to go to the other side, and Wardi, without hesitation, darts across with ease, pulls out a rope and hammers it into the wall using his sword like a nail. Throwing a spare rapier back across with the rope attached.

"Hammer it in on that side, then hurry over!" He shouted at the group. Using her shield, Rhua embedded the spare sword and bashed it into the wall on our side. Shimmying across was great fun I thought.

Lucy, being a lightweight, gets thrown clean over to place less stress on the rope. As we get halfway across, an exceptionally large piece of lumber shoots across and into the water. Luckily, this time it doesn't suddenly levitate and start swinging, that's a big piece, and I don't think I can do the dodge dance well with us all jammed in so close.

"DRITT, it's stopped working." Horace piped up, throwing it back to Wardi, "Well, that was fun while it lasted!" he said sarcastically.

"Stay behind me all" Rhua now stood with her shield in front of her and pressed on, ready for what could lurk ahead, reinforced by an enhancing shell effect granted by Horace's artillerist ability.

Minor traps were waiting for us as we continued, good thing they are mere low elemental projectiles, things Rhua could take head-on with ease. We finally reached the end of the sewers, and an oddly dressed man was hovering perfectly still in the air.

"It's Larry! I could never forget that custom-made robe, it's the Scrollitorium uniform!" Lucy conjured up green Arts with the words, "Depetrifi, Groundus, Soothus." The use of several arts in succession caused 'Lùth glow' to occur, and she began to emit pleasant karamel brown and skoi blue glows around her person, the typical sign that channelling Arts without rest has occurred.

Slowly, the man recovered from the wounds that covered his face, and he returned to the ground, able to move again.

"Thank the bloody stars you lot turned up, I've been like this for over a week; look at me, I'm wasting away from not eating! woe is me!" Larry said dramatically.

"You're tougher than that, Larry, everyone in your family is." Wardi had to accurately point that out, denying him some comedy gold.

"I was hoping for a little sympathy hehe. I imagine you lot are trying to figure out what's been happening at the manor? I'll let you in on a secret: I've no idea myself; I was down here investigating how to get into the manor, so I set up a few safety measures as I went along, as you know and which you bravely overcame." Larry said in one long stretch without taking a pause.

"I reached this point when suddenly the lid up there opened" Larry said pointed to the unremarkable lid above us, odd that it opened of its own accord, seems everyone else agrees judging by their looks thinking to myself. "And a white flash came through and I ended up like this!"