DTK 30.1

Sandy and Gerald stepped into the dungeon in front of me. With one last look around the darkened town, I followed behind. Gerald froze, holding his shield only a few feet out of the gate. I nearly crashed into him as reality twisted around me and I reached the other side.

“Alright.” Gerald said. “I’ll stay here. You guys go in.”

“What if someone takes one stop through the gate and crashes into you?” Sandy gestured.

“It’s safe Gerald. Just stay behind us.” I said, stepping past him. Though I was eyeing his armour incredulously. “Nothing is getting through… that.”

Gerald stared for a moment, matching my gaze through glowing blue sockets in his armor.

“Alright.” He said finally. “No baiting any giant monsters into me this time. Sandy.”

“No promises.” She replied.

The walk to the den felt slower than ever with Gerald here. He stood on my right, and Sandy on my left. She pointedly avoided looking at him.

Gerald walked slowly, scanning the land around him as he walked. The wheat was slowly being cut down, leaving wide open fields that were still half worked. Farming skills enabled a single farmer to manage acres and acres of land, and the accelerated time and permanent temperate climate meant that this village could produce literal tons of food to ship through Valjean’s domain.

“There’s no monsters out here.” Sandy said after Gerald stopped for the fifth time. “They’re all in the cave. Hurry up.”

“You’re the one that dragged me out here.” Gerald complained.

“You told your parents you were the one clearing the dungeon!” Sandy said. “Do you think they’re not going to check, now?”

She walked forward ahead of us. I shrugged. She could take care of the wolves herself. Though Gerald moved with less pauses after.

He froze at the entrance to the cave, his eyes glowing brighter to see in the dark.

There was a cut off whimper and the sound of flesh separating that caused Gerald to raise his shield, practically blocking off the entire entrance. He peered around the side, looking at Sandy. She looked unamused.

The next two wolves fell methodologically, none coming close to Gerald.

“Alright, through the portal.” Sandy said.

“Sandy!” I said, stopping Gerald in his tracks.

“It wouldn’t have hurt him. Think they can bite through metal?” Sandy asked, rolling her eyes and stepping forward. The last wolf jumped out of stealth and she cut it down, causing Gerald to step backward.

I shot him an apologetic look.

“There are six spiders on the next floor. Stay way behind us.”

We carved through the spiders with ease, cutting them down left and right. It was as natural as killing with skills had been.

Gerald paused nervously over one of the spider’s corpses. Then he leaned down and poked at it.

“I can’t believe you guys have been doing this by yourselves all this time. What are your stats?”

“By ourselves?” Sandy scoffed. “I was doing it alone for a while. No fancy magic armor or cleaver either.”

“That… sounds like a good way to get killed.” Gerald said.

Sandy frowned.

“Almost did.” She replied after a moment. There was a long pause between them.

“Sorry.” Gerald said.

“Yeah. Whatever. Just… help out.” She raised her hands to stall me. “You don’t have to fight. I get it. Most people wouldn’t want to.”

Gerald looked away.

“What now?” He asked.

“The third floor.” I replied. “And the boss.”

We crossed the dawn lit forest to the next floor, stepping over the side into the third floor. The view was no less stunning than before.

Around us a barren wasteland stretched into infinity, while below was an arena for the boss.

“Did you bring the stake?” I asked Gerald.

He nodded, stepping to the edge nervously before pulling a solid metal rod out and slamming it into the ground with ease.

I couldn’t leave my other sewing needle behind, and my first was down there somewhere, hidden in the forest. Luckily, there was hardly any foliage, unlike the second floor. Less lucky was that the floor was illuminated only by moonlight.

I tied to the rope to the stake and threw it over the edge.

“You’ll have to stay up here.” I told him.

Gerald looked around, swiveling his metal covered head.

“Alone?” He asked.

“We’re both going down.” Sandy said. “So yeah. Alone. Unless you want to fight the giant monster with us?”

As she replied, she squinted at the edge, trying to see the monster below.

I walked to the edge and joined her looking over. I didn’t see the monster anywhere.

“It starts out invisible.” I said, thinking outloud. “Once it attacks, it loses its stealth.”

“Just like us.” Sandy said.

“How many hits to take it down, you think?”

Sandy shrugged.

“Two needles in the face killed the mole.”

“How much damage did you do to the mole?” I turned and asked Gerald.

“What? Oh, uh. A lot.”

“Three needles to the face.” Sandy said.

“Don’t know I can reach it.” I replied. “We also have to not let it hit us.”

Sandy nodded.

“It can only cross the rivers one at a time, right? So that’s handled.”

I checked everything I carried.

The rope tied to my sewing needle had been replaced by a braided spiderweb rope. I called it a rope, but it wasn’t nearly as large as the other ones we used; it was more like a piece of yarn. Long, long strings wrapped around the throwing needles.

And my spiderscale dress was still functional.

Sandy grabbed the rope and looked at me. I nodded and she started to descend, kicking down off the back of the rope.

I followed once she touched down at the bottom. With another nod from me, Sandy entered stealth, disappearing into the forest.

Between the two of us, it was easier for me to survive a hit. At least until I got her own spiderscale dress completed. Once it revealed itself, Sandy would attack it. In theory.

My heart raced as I trailed deeper and deeper into the dungeon. I knew Sandy was next to me, but my eyes told me she wasn’t. My logical brain could track the truth, but it didn’t stop the animal part of me from screaming at me to run.

My predominant memory of this forest was being thrown across it. The monster hit like a truck.

We trailed deeper and deeper until we found the sleeping form of the monster snoring. From far away you could mistake its mottled colors as foliage covered in fall leaves.

“Over there.” Sandy whispered, tapping my shoulder to try to direct me.

She must have been using her butcher skill, because I couldn’t see anything.

“Where?”

“A few feet to the left of the sleeping one.” Sandy whispered.

I lifted a needle and threw it. There was no skill involved; just Strength and practice. As I threw, I mentally tugged at the string with [Thread Manipulation.]

The wire-like string unraveled as it flew. Then, with a thunk, it landed in a tree.

I missed the needle.

But the string fell like a net, hanging in midair and just barely highlighting an invisible shape.

The next needle didn’t miss, landing in the thing’s chest with a noise little different than the tree. It leapt out of invisibility and swung towards me, claws scraping against an invisible barrier that held it back across the river.

I stumbled back anyway, the sheer size of the monster and suddenness of its appearance catching me off guard.

Sandy appeared behind the monster, her stealth falling away as she activated a skill that gave her preternatural accuracy at cutting apart a monster. Red light flared around the monster’s leg where she swung, her sword bending through the air to cut apart the flesh of the monster.

It screamed and staggered forward just in time for Sandy to reactivate stealth.

Copies of the monster appeared around it, ephemeral clones charging across the clearing. One of them exploded to dust on something invisible — hitting Sandy’s stealthed form and dissipating — and then the monster charged towards her.

My eyes widened.

I threw forward two more needles, this time aiming them toward the monsters leg. One I tugged at with [Thread Mastery], tying the thread around it and pulling. Blood poured instantly, but it stopped on the monster’s hardened, muscle filled flesh.

The other landed in its thigh. I grabbed the rope and pulled.

It was a stupid decision that sent me forward splashing into the water.

I gasped and spat fresh water out, recalling the needles.

There was a tearing noise before the monster stumbled to the ground. Then the needles shot back into my hand.

What was that? A quick look told me; the returning needle had driven the tied thread even tighter against the monsters leg, causing it to trip.

“Gwen?” Gerald asked behind me. “Are you guys okay?”

The monster turned on me.