[Shrubley, the Monster Adventurer] Chapter 120 – Dungeonley 2, the Dungeoning

“What’s so wrong about calling them Calcium Cannons?” Cal asked as they came to another 3-way split in the tunnel.

“I’m not sure exactly why, but nobody seems to like it when you do,” Shrubley pointed out.

“But the cows, that’s what…” Cal trailed off. He didn’t want to be rude.

Konko had long since found relief from the stench with a conjured Dust essence mask that Sose created for her. It filtered most of whatever was plaguing the Dungeon.

It looked a bit silly, but she’d rather look silly than keep smelling blood all day long. Even the oppa has essences, and I have none, she realized with a start.

The initial tunnel had turned out to be a maze of branching corridors, each more confusing than the last.

Konko could almost imagine that the Dungeon was pulling in pieces of the real world, stitching them together into a nauseating tapestry of disparate familiarity.

One tunnel they went down was made of slimy brick and reeked like a sewer, but always with that coppery tang in the air. Another was made of smooth stone like a castle, and yet another was dirty and muddy with pale roots hanging down like dead men’s fingers.

She hated all of them, but most of all, she hated how she was afraid. None of the monsters seemed afraid. Why was she?

They chatted and talked amongst themselves as if they were strolling down a broad avenue in bright daylight, and not a dank and horrible Dungeon that very likely wanted them dead. She didn’t think that their behavior was from some lack of awareness.

This was nothing like any of the Dungeons Konko had read about in her adventurer manual. Those Dungeons were… well, not welcoming, but at least fair.

They invited adventurers in to fight and battle, but there was no malice. It was a dangerous place. People didn’t die, necessarily. Being killed inside a Dungeon merely expelled you from its domain.

However, that expulsion stripped you of all your items. Some people would think that was worse than death. The Dungeon got free loot from the people it “killed”, the monsters were able to safely fight people, and technically speaking, everybody won.

Those who lost their items could often venture in again to find them, but it was difficult and the longer they waited, the more likely the items would be digested or moved somewhere.

Konko could feel that this Dungeon was different. She didn’t think that if she died here, she would be expelled. For some reason, she had the distinct impression that dying here would be permanent.

That alone made this Dungeon immensely dangerous. Any adventuring party who wasn’t aware would lose more than their items and equipment.

The Countess had explained what they were doing, ridding the Dungeons who seemed to be sick or wrong in some undefinable way to prevent a greater catastrophe.

Konko could easily see the Guild taking up arms against Dungeons who went rogue, killing their adventuring groups and releasing that foul poison mist.

She shivered. If that blood mist reached a town, people would be dead instead of simply sick like in Talvar. Even then, Konko had barely survived the ordeal.

Even Shrubley’s healing magic would have faltered in the face of so much death.

“I cannot hear Dungeonley,” Shrubley announced.

“That’s good, right?” Cal asked. “It means we’re deep within the bad Dungeon, so we must be going the right way.”

“We do keep picking the most foul and noxious path,” Shrubley agreed. “I do not think most people would be able to survive this long in such a high concentration.” He turned his lamplight eyes on the rest of his party. “Please do not hesitate to speak up if something is wrong. I do not feel the bite of this affliction the same way as I suspect I should.”

Konko nodded, knowing he was almost exclusively talking to her but phrasing it in such a way that her feelings were spared. It’s not like I care, she thought to herself. I’m not an adventurer. I have no aims to being some great and glamorous Silver Ranker living it up in Sormwynn…

Even to her own mind, the words sounded like a lie. Something a little girl with no prospects but her sharp mind would think to save herself the heartbreak of Almora’s cruel reality.

The Countess nudged Slyrox’s leg. The koblin was still out cold. She could detect nothing wrong with her, though. It must have been the combined strain of attuning to a Guidance Stone and advancing at the same time.

For most people, the first was often the worst. Though Mistress Ceasewane had often told Miranda that every new Stage was worse than the last. Despite the warning, she was more than excited to see what Silver had in store for her.

She would do anything to break through the Limit of Steel.

As far as horrible things went, accompanying and training a bunch of misfit monsters who wouldn’t have been allowed within 100 miles of Pandaemonium much less trained at its academies, things weren’t so bad.

She would whip them into shape. By the time they reached Pandaemonium, they wouldn’t recognize themselves. Then again, Shrubley was already doing that on his own.

Even if I never met him, I think he would have eventually found his way to Pandaemonium, Miranda thought to herself. But I’m glad I get to return there with him.

“Shrubley is right,” Konko whispered to Miranda. She was looking frail and withered, despite the berries inoculating her to the blood mist.

Just to be sure, Miranda gave her another berry. I’ll have to keep a close eye on her.

“Thanks. I think we’re getting closer to the core of whatever this thing is, I feel really bad, Countess.”

“Only a little longer,” she told Konko, though already she was concerned that the girl wasn’t going to make it.

She had her suspicions about how this Dungeon worked and the deviousness it employed. Against anybody else other than a strong healer with powers to negate specific afflictions, this Dungeon would be a deadly trap that none would escape from.

They were lucky that the Dungeon was out of the way, far from civilization where the blood mist would do some real damage.

If this was any closer to the Outer Ring… Miranda shivered. She didn’t like to think about what might happen. Adventurers were known for exploring newly found Dungeons, often without any sort of backup or warning.

Delvers, is what they called themselves. Always seeking the newest and most dangerous Dungeons, confident in the knowledge that true death would not await them.

Furthermore, no monsters found within were able to leave their Dungeon. It was one of the rules Pandaemonium had enforced upon the Dungeons. Breaking that Covenant was tantamount to a declaration of war.

Dungeons were self-contained things, dangerous, but not deadly.

Until now.

Miranda could feel the malice within the fog and knew that without Shrubley’s nullifying effects, they would all be suffering.

Even me, though I would be able to get myself out if push came to shove.

And here Shrubley was, going boldly into the deepest, darkest recesses of the Dungeon as if it were an everyday affair. As if he hadn’t been little more than a wandering shrub a month ago!

How the young change.

“Pyuu…” Smudge whined.

Shrubley picked up the sticky slime and put him on his head. “It’s just a little longer, Smudge. I know you’re tired.”

The slime deflated a little on Shrubley’s head. Most of the tar he had picked up was shed by now, but a few splotches remained on his body.

It was a lucky thing that Shrubley had put him on his head, because as soon as they walked into the next room, a large rusted blade fell straight onto Shrubley’s head.

The remains of Smudge’s tarry body caught the blade, though Smudge looked far from happy about the affairs as he was nearly cleaved in two. Shrubley, despite being caught off guard, immediately drew his sword and shield.

A Bronze aura flared around his bushy frame. He lunged, leaving Smudge stuck to the blade’s edge, his [Death’s Razor] leading.

Konko had never seen Shrubley even remotely upset, but now he was mad. The little shrub moved with surprising grace. Even in the red haze, his leaves glittered a deep emerald, their edges tinged with Bronze power.

His sword glowed green and swiped through the air as a shield appeared in his free hand. Made of concentric rings, it pulsed with mana as Shrubley carved up the hulking abomination and then slammed his shield into its knee, forcing it to buckle.

Before the creature had even recovered from the attack, Shrubley was up in the air, his sword leaving a glittering trail of glowing emerald leaves. His blade radiated the power of Nature essence.

Cal began casting a spell, but Konko could already tell it was too late.

Shrubley fell onto the monster of flesh and metal, piercing it with his glowing sword. Vines sprouted from the blade and lashed around the creature, binding it and squeezing it into a sarcophagus of green.

Red liquid seeped between the thorny vines and the bound-up body fell over like a green mummy.

Shrubley ran over to Smudge, immediately casting a healing spell on him. Konko stared in amazement at how fast it all had ended.

If Smudge hadn’t been there, would Shrubley be dead?

No, that’d be impossible, she thought. Smudge isn’t even Copper. He’s stronger than me–which is pretty sad–but if that blow would have killed Shrubley, it would definitely kill Smudge, right?

Miranda caught Konko’s eye. “Smudge is a slime. He’s very tough, hard to kill or hurt, so he takes a lot less damage than you’d think. He’ll be fine.”

Konko nodded, but she still stayed far away from the wrapped-up body just within the widened corridor beyond. She noticed several pipes no larger than her hips. How did something so big fit in there? She could see the red slimy trail where it must have slid out of the tube, but it made no sense to her.

“How did you do that?” Cal asked, kicking the dead monster with a bony foot. “The vines, that was very ‘chilly-chilly’!”

Shrubley put Smudge back onto his head. The slime seemed to ponder whether this was a good idea or not considering the last time he was there. Then he settled in and shut his eyes.

For Smudge, there was nothing better than protecting his dearest friend and role model. He was much harder to hurt than Shrubley, and therefore it bothered him much less to take damage. Besides, he was tired and surely he wouldn’t be attacked again.

Shrubley smiled. “My Nature essence advanced to Bronze,” he said proudly. “So my [Budding Barrage] got a new imprint! Do you like it?”

[Budding Barrage (Nature)]

Cost: Low Stamina.

Cooldown: 5 seconds.

Mother Nature is the great equalizer.

Imprint (Copper): While using a weapon you possess proficiency with, initiate a multi-strike attack that reduces the defensive attributes of your target. The greater the difference between yourself and the target, the greater the reduction.

Imprint (Bronze): Binding, thorny vines sprout from your attacks, wrapping around your target, reducing their movement speed and triggering [Bleed]. Each vine provides a chance to trigger [The Mother’s Embrace].

[The Mother’s Embrace]: A fatal attack that wraps the body in thorny vines that drain the target’s lifeforce.

Konko thought he sounded like one of her childhood friends twirling a new Feastday dress around and asking if it looked good.

Sometimes it was hard to remember that Shrubley wasn’t just a kid. Especially after what he just did.

While Konko didn’t have much understanding of ranks, she could tell that the monster far outstripped her own strength. She would have been defenseless before it.

“Wait,” Cal said. “When you get a new rank, your essence abilities get new abilities?” He turned to the Countess as if she were the sole font of such information.

“Yes, Cal,” she said patiently, looking at the leaking tubes. Her sensitive ears picked up distant sounds. She didn’t like them. “Shrubley, pick a direction. I think we’re going to have company soon. A lot of it.”

Cal followed her gaze to the holes in the wall and adopted a look of intense concentration. For a moment he had forgotten that they were in a deadly Dungeon and that at any moment monsters might rush out at them.

Focusing, he conjured his Elemental essence into a spell, an expanding dome of extreme cold that rolled and pressed against the stone walls covering the slimy tubes set into the stone.

The slime hardened and froze solid, creating a creeping barrier of pink-red frost that clogged the tubes leading into the room.

And not a moment too soon.

A heavy THUMP-THUMP, THUMP-THUMP, echoed around the room, followed by the tinkling sound of shattering ice falling to the floor.

“That won’t hold them for long. We need to move!” Cal cried. “Shrubley, which way?”