Squad Games [Squad Building LitRPG] [Book One Complete]

"So," Ashlyn said. "What the princess said about rewards. In the cellar."

"Sounds like a trap," said Vixen. "She's trying to kill us."

The Guvnah grinned. "But we're going, right?"

Ashlyn couldn't help smiling. They weren't the sort to avoid trouble. She looked at the expressions of her companions. Quite a few welcomed it.

They retraced their steps and found a set of stairs that led down. Clamor and Valnor held their bows at the ready. Oripione allowed Goldblade's light to beat back the shadows. Occasionally, they'd find more skeletons. Some human, some not. It seemed the greenskins who had taken the fortress had left it empty not soon after. The old Sargassian Empire had been destroyed here. She wondered why its conquerors didn't stay.

They walked through the old service rooms of the palace on the ground floor, until they came upon a metal gate. It was still locked in place in the stone wall. But in one corner its vertical bars had been bent outward, leaving a space large enough to crawl through. Stone steps led down into darkness.

Ashlyn could feel the cold and dank emanating from it.

"The cellar," said Mental, in a portentous voice that didn't do Ashlyn's nerves any favours. There was no good reason to go down there, but no one was willing to back down now.

Clamor went first, shuffling through the gap. When Oripione got through, Goldblade shed a bit of light. A score of stone steps ended in an uneven looking stone floor. There was an archway at the bottom, with stone pillars either side. They were holding up the great palace above ground.

Ashlyn followed them, then waited a few steps down, as far as she dared. The Explorer's Rod of Light would have been useful down here. Goldblade only gave them a few feet of muted visibility. Beyond, in the darkness, anything could be waiting.

Clamor and Oripione began to descend.

"We'll go next," The Guvnah whispered.

The Harvester was alongside him. Ashlyn had no objections. She fell in beside Mental, while Valnor and Vixen were at the back.

They crept down the steps. It was chillier, while the air hung heavy and stale. They gathered on the stone floor, trying to explore the area in the dim light.

Ashlyn walked into a cobweb. It clung to her face and hair as she clawed it off. She shuddered, imagining a spider was crawling on her. Perhaps it was just as well it was dark. It hid her expression of terror from the other Apples.

On two sides, the cellar ended in stone walls. There were more pillars, with storage space between them. She joined Vixen at one of these spaces, only to find empty racks.

"Maybe, once upon a time," Vixen whispered, her voice sounding strangely distorted, "Eyota would come down here to fetch barrels of wine for her parties."

Ashlyn wasn't sure what to say, or even if a response was required. She wasn't keen on thinking about the princess they had just beheaded down here in the darkness.

"Here," Oripione said.

On the opposite side of the cellar, the tiefling had found a few steps leading up to a second metal gate. Its bars had been bent in the corner, just like the first.

It was the only route, so they took it. On the other side of the gate was a rectangular room with stone flooring and walls. There were more pillars on each side, connected by arches. A pale beam of light descended from above, illuminating the centre of the room while the corners remained in shadow. It revealed human sized lumps, scattered about the floor. Ashlyn counted eight.

She followed The Harvester towards the centre of the room. The light came in through a round hole in the roof. The Livanian stopped at one of the lumps. It certainly looked humanoid. He pushed it over onto its back with one boot.

Ashlyn gasped. The creature had the physique of an elongated man. But its body was made from a clay-like substance, giving it a gnarled appearance. Its face was the same, with large empty sockets where there should have been eyes. There were two deep wounds in its abdomen.

"What is it?"

"Nothing I've seen before," said The Harvester. He sounded surprised by the discovery.

"They've been killed recently," said Valnor, kneeling beside another one of the things while Oripione gave him some light.

Ashlyn wondered how the elf could tell.

"Then it must be Eyota who was down here," said The Guvnah. "She probably made the holes in the doors as well."

"She killed all eight?" asked Oripione.

"Being undead is quite an advantage when it comes to combat," The Guvnah reminded her.

"Why was she here?" Vixen asked.

The Guvnah shrugged. "That is something we may never know. But she was certainly busy. Coming down here to slay these things. Goblin heads on the outside of the palace. Seems like there was some plan in mind. Makes me think her talk of 'rewards' may have had some truth to it."

Damn it, Ashlyn thought. That means he wants to press on.

At the end of the room was a third metal gate. This one was intact. The next room was pitch black.

"Wonder how she managed to prise these bars open?" said The Guvnah.

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

"Ashlyn," said Valnor. "Look at your weapon."

Ashlyn glanced at Greenblade. The light in the pommel was stirring. "That means there are monsters in there. Most likely, more of those things."

"I wonder," said Valnor, "whether the Sargassian used the sword to bend the metal."

"That's a sure way to ruin a good blade," said The Guvnah.

"These particular blades are magic," said the elf. "And we know of no other tool she could have used."

"We don't even know for sure it was her," Mental reminded them.

"To avoid unnecessary risk, we could just use the blades that are glowing," Valnor said.

"I still don't fancy risking Greenblade just to get in there," Ashlyn said. I fancy getting out of here, she said to herself.

"I'll give it a go," said Oripione. She put Goldblade against the bar on the far right. Levering it against the side of the door, she pushed.

Ashlyn winced. It looked like the blade would snap. Instead, there was the furnace smell of hot metal. The bar bent, then detached from the bottom of the gate, until the tiefling had prized it far enough away.

Valnor gave Ashlyn a triumphant look.

There was no room for them both to work, so Ashlyn let Oripione continue. Once she applied the same pressure to two more bars, the tiefling had created enough space for them to get through.

Clamor and Valnor put arrows to their bows and looked through the gaps in the gate for enemies.

The Guvnah put his shield arm through the gap first, then squeezed through the gate into the room. "Oripione. You will follow me and stay behind. Fighters: keep her in the middle, so that her sword light gives us some warning."

Ashlyn took her turn after The Harvester, adding herself to the circle of fighters around the tiefling. Mental arrived on her other side. Greenblade was getting brighter now, increasing their visibility. But although the sword cast a sickly green light, she couldn't make out any walls or objects.

Behind them, the two archers and the slinger entered the room, missiles at the ready.

The Guvnah advanced, making sure they all kept their positions.

Greenblade flared.

"Watch out!" cried Valnor.

ACTION ROUND

The elf had seen something no one else had. It was only when his first arrow slammed in close that Ashlyn saw it. One of the creatures from the previous room, except this one was very much alive, and headed straight for her. Its clay body made it hard to pick out in the darkness of the underground room.

Valnor's arrow caused 17 points of damage, enough to fell most humans. But the clayman still had 15 hit points spare. Valnor missed as the thing lurched towards her. But then Dragon Spine helped his third arrow deliver a massive 32 damage, slaying it instantly.

Ashlyn relaxed a little. Unlike Princess Eyota, the things could be killed with regular weapons. That made life so much easier.

The next clayman attacked from the opposite side, where Mental defended their group. Valnor didn't have a clear shot, but Clamor was perfectly positioned. He used a mere short bow but still delivered 17 damage with his very first shot. His second took another 13 hit points. With only 2 remaining, a normal adversary might have lost consciousness. But the clayman seemed very much alive.

Three misses followed, the darkness of the room affecting Clamor's accuracy. But he scored his third hit with his sixth action, finishing the creature.

The third clayman attacked the front of their party. None of their ranged warriors could risk a shot at that angle, and so it fell to The Guvnah to take on the creature.

Forced to enter the circle of light shed by Goldblade, the creature lost the defensive bonus it had enjoyed in the dark. The Guvnah's sword and shield combination was enough to kill it on his very first action.

More claymen came, from all three directions. Valnor used 3 actions to take out his second target, much to Ashlyn's gratitude. But Clamor's 3 actions only left his target injured, and he was out of actions. Vixen was able to finish it off with a well-aimed bullet. The Guvnah found his next opponent harder going, requiring 3 actions to earn his second kill.

They'd dealt with six, but still more emerged from the darkness. Valnor scored his third kill with his penultimate action. Vixen reduced her target to 22 before she ran out of actions. Mental swung her battle-axe at the wounded creature with a roar. Her reverse blow chopped it down. Meanwhile, The Guvnah landed a deadly strike with Blueblade, claiming his third kill.

Valnor struck again, leaving the tenth clayman on a mere 7 hit points. The elf was now out of actions, leaving Ashlyn to mop up. Her blow with Greenblade was more than enough to do so. Mental struggled with the next clayman, taking until her fifth action to land a blow. When she did, it was a massive 27 points of damage, leaving it on 5. She was tiring now. Fortunately, her next blow eviscerated her opponent, and she claimed her second kill. The next clayman to attack the front of the party went for The Harvester, perhaps learning to avoid The Guvnah's blade. But this option was no better. With a massive strike, Deliverer dealt 36 points of damage, enough to finish it with one blow.

With no more missile support, it was up to Ashlyn to deal with the next attacker. Greenblade wounded it badly with her third action, and the sword finished its work on her next. Mental's miss with her last action required Oripione to leave her position and attack the next clayman, still on full health. Accurate sword work saw the tiefling slay it using only 2 actions. The Harvester followed a miss with a strike, reducing his opponent to 7 hit points. Another blow, and the creature was dead.

Ashlyn was breathing heavily, as were the rest of her crew. But that was the only sound she could hear. They waited, keeping to the formation that had served them well. The action round ended, and no more claymen came.

"That's it?" Vixen asked.

"I make that fifteen of the bastards, without taking a single hit," said The Guvnah. "Well done everyone."

They dared to separate. Greenblade's light faded, and they were once more reliant on Goldblade to explore the room. It wasn't half as large as Ashlyn had imagined. A square shape, with pillars in each corner, it was almost empty.

The only item of interest was a chest, positioned in the far corner. They stood around it, hesitant.

"I'm wary of opening it," The Guvnah admitted. "Would anyone be surprised if Princess Eyota had a final, nasty reward for us?"

"I'd be surprised if she didn't," said Vixen.

The Harvester went on his hands and knees, looking at the thing from various angles. He then picked the whole chest up. "Not so heavy," he declared. "There is a solution. We carry it all the way to Avolo, and let a specialist open it."

"Vytenis," The Guvnah declared, "I like your thinking."

MISSION COMPLETE

SUCCESS: Princess Eyota was killed

Some of your mercs improved their stats:

Clamor:

Might +1

Hit Points +1

Greenblade:

Agility +1

Hit Points +1

Mental:

Agility +1

Oripione:

Might +1

Hit Points +1

Some mercs levelled up:

Greenblade is now Level 5