[Voidknight Ascension] Chapter 125: Extracurriculars

Sam stepped aboard the Aker Academy Skyshard.

The first thing he noticed was the smell of pine trees in the air. It was oddly pleasant and serene. He could imagine carriages rumbling up to the gates ahead, letting years of students off one by one as they made their way through the wrought-iron gate.

He had one hand on his sword, just in case something jumped out. This place was not safe, no matter what Lenal might think.

There was a greasy feeling in the air. It set Sam’s teeth on edge.

Komachi looked everywhere at once like a kid let loose into an amusement park, but kept close while being carried on Chompers’ lid.

Sam felt a bit more confident about his cat being out in the open with that [Magus Coat] on her back, along with the rest of that gear.

Lenal sighed as she looked up at the edifice of the Academy. She huddled deeper into her gifted [Flamewool Cloak].

Sam shook his head. He was surprised at how long it had lasted. Would Lenal end up outgrowing it as he and then Komachi did? Would she then pass it down to yet another new soul?

It was a strangely comforting image.

Two statues flanked the massive gates, one man and another woman in flowing robes caught expertly in stone.

“I can see why you speak so fondly of this place,” Raiko said quietly.

“The gate’s closed,” Matt pointed out. “I haven’t climbed a fence in a decade, and I’ve seen far too many movies to think that the gate is just a simple gate that’ll let us hop over it like a bunch of truants.”

“You are correct,” Lenal said, her chest swelled with pride. “There is a password that all faculty know.”

“I’m sure we’re all agog,” Matt told her, watching the few stands of trees rather uneasily. “I feel oddly exposed out here. Could we get a move on?”

Lenal looked down her nose at him. In fact, she had adopted a haughty air that Sam hadn’t seen on her while she was staying with them.

I guess it’s hard to see your home like this, Sam thought. Still, she seems to believe everything is okay. Or at least being handled. Where would I go if my school was attacked, and I had limited people to defend the walls with?

The most defensible building, naturally. Sam couldn’t see much over the high stone wall with its plaque proclaiming itself the Aker Academy, with its date of foundation.

Looking through the iron gate, he could make out a shorter, squat building some distance away. That would likely be his bet. Few floors, not nearly as many windows as some of the buildings he could see, and centralized.

Whatever was attacking would not only have to get through tough—presumably magically reinforced—walls, but also search all the other outlying buildings, turrets, spires, and halls before finding where they were.

It would buy time, and with that time, they could create greater defenses for their home. Perhaps, Sam hoped, long enough that help could arrive.

Though who they might have thought would be coming to help them, Sam hadn’t the foggiest.

Lenal stepped up to the gate with its massive double-A’s linked in stylized serif metalwork, placed her hand on the letters and spoke a word that Sam couldn’t catch.

It was like the air itself became jelly at the same moment that Lenal spoke, preventing the words from properly reaching him. Looking around, it didn’t seem to be just Sam.

“What the hell was that?” Matt asked.

“My ears did not wish to work,” Kai pointed out.

Komachi, meanwhile, groomed her paw without a care in the world.

“It is a spell woven into the password,” Lenal explained. “Unless you are a professor or entrusted with the password from one, you can’t hear it. No offense is meant, it is a secret and the best way to keep a secret is to limit who can know it. Even if I wanted to, I could not tell it to you.”

Raiko listened to Lenal with interest, even if one kote remained on her katana in its sheath.

“Because you’re not a professor?” Sam asked.

Lenal winced slightly. “Yes.”

Sam marked that down as a sensitive subject to avoid for future conversations. He had thought she was a student or something like a teacher’s aide, but obviously she would have aspirations to being a professor.

Who would work at a university and think, “Nah, I’ll just stay in my current role as an assistant forever”? Not many.

The gates didn’t creak, they didn’t groan ominously, instead the curved metal bars slithered like a living creature and receded into the moss-grown stone walls to either side.

Once they were over the threshold, a shivering sensation swept through each of them, halting the group in their tracks.

You are now entering Dungeon: Aker Academy.

Dungeon Progress:

Arrive at the Great Hall

Sam frowned. That’s not good.

“Machi?” she asked, utterly bewildered.

Lenal was sobbing into her hands, trying to deny what she could see even with her eyes shut.

They all could see it.

Her beloved home had become a Dungeon.

“I’m so sorry, Lenal.” Raiko reached out and tried to comfort her. Not that it would do much good. A hug wasn’t going to make the grim fate of the Aker Academy any better.

Lenal lifted her head, twin tracks of tears raced down her fair features. She looked at each of them in turn. “I… always knew, I suppose. I just didn’t want to believe.”

Sam watched, unwilling to turn away from her grief. Lenal went through the stages rather fast. He saw them play out on her face one after the other as she came to terms at lightning speed.

“We’ll save those that can be saved,” Sam promised. “And punish those that are responsible.”

“Yes, there could be survivors,” Raiko added.

Lenal nodded silently. Sam could tell she didn’t believe it, and truthfully… neither did Sam.

As they stepped through the grand entryway, the silence seemed to swallow them whole. There were fires going somewhere because Sam could smell smoke and ash on the wind, but he couldn’t tell where.

Whatever had befallen the Academy didn’t happen to this side.

That doesn’t bode well.

Most of the small buildings, administration types it seemed, were left wholly intact and standing, but they had a lifeless quality that told Sam they were utterly empty.

The Dungeon Progress said to arrive at the Great Hall, which he could only assume was the large central building that looked a bit like a church. It was tall, had narrow stretched windows—most of them broken—and two large wooden doors banded with silver metal.

Nobody knew what to expect.

As far as Sam understood, Dungeons were supposed to be monster filled places. An excellent place to earn battle-oriented Experience, but not what you’d expect to find in what should’ve been a bastion of knowledge and safety.

But they hadn’t seen anything yet. It was eerie how empty this massive place was.

“Keep close,” Sam told them, his grip tightening on his sword. “Don’t wander off, no splitting the party, got it?”

“You got it, boss man,” Matt said, snapping to attention.

“We’ll stay close,” Kai assured him. “Besides, who is going to heal you when you get hurt?”

“What do you think did this?” Matt asked, looking around. “I’d normally say cultists, because it seems like their cup of tea. Desecrate a place of learning and all that… but there’s a suspicious lack of skulls, dribbly candles, bloody pentagrams, and the like.”

Lenal took a deep breath and strode off ahead of the rest of them. Sam hurried to catch up to her. He put a hand on her shoulder and spun her around. “What did I just say?”

Her lip trembled, threatening to break, but Sam wasn’t about to be soft on her just because she was having a hard time. His goal was to make sure each of them came out of this place alive, preferably with survivors.

The last thing he wanted was Lenal to get hurt or killed because she was charging ahead out of anger or fear.

The area in front of the Great Hall was a large round plaza lined with covered walks leading to various buildings. At its center was a dried fountain.

“We’ve never practiced formations,” Raiko pointed out. Too bad there had never been the time. “Sam in front? Komachi and Lenal in the middle?”

Chompers obediently scampered into the middle of the moving party. Evidently, he considered both Komachi and himself a duo.

Sam nodded. “Matt will bring up the rear.”

“Why me?” he asked.

“Because you’re the only person who can attack both short and long range. You did mention that you were both physical and magical now with your newest Job, right?”

“Yeah.”

“There you go.” Sam motioned him to the back of the group.

You have unlocked [Tactic: Delving]

Employing this Tactic applies to all immediate allies. Used primarily when exploring potentially hostile territory, Delving applies a stacking bonus to each position within the party based upon one of three locations, Forward, Center, and Rear. Stacks are gained over time. You can only have (1) Tactic up at once, canceling or changing Tactics resets the stacking buff to zero.

Forward: Strength, Dexterity, Vigor Up

Center: Arcane, Insight, Awareness Up

Rear: Arcane, Agility, Range Up

Nice!

Sam immediately employed [Tactic: Delving]. Much to the interest of his party members.

Raiko’s eyes lit up. The Ninja looked from her center position to over at Matt pensively. “Arcane and Agility?”

Matt gave her a smug grin. “The rear’s my specialty.”

“Do not say that to your Queen,” Kai said seriously.

Komachi snickered quietly.

“Center seems best for keeping a lookout,” Sam said, studying the buffs given. “While the front is obviously meant to take the brunt of any assault. You staying up front with me, Raiko, or do you want to head up the Rear?”

“I could endure incoming damage at the front better, though it would hardly help any of my offensive magic,” Raiko said. “I’d rather take a hit than somebody else, especially in this Uncommon armor. While the Rear position is ideal for my build, casting rifts over the group isn’t. I suppose Forward?”

Matt looked down. “Nobody ever wants to hang out with me.”

“Matt, this isn’t the school prom,” Sam told him.

“Oh, sure,” he snapped back, “remind me that I never went to my prom, too. Super cool of you, Sam.”

Kai put a hand on Matt’s shoulder. “If you do not stop talking, something is bound to notice us, if it has not already.”

Matt, who had a near encyclopedic knowledge of horror tropes, realized how fast he was walking into one and shut up. For once, he took on a look of concentration and awareness.

Or perhaps he remembered what happened when Darren wouldn’t stop talking that first night. Sam still clearly remembered it, thinking they’d be able to make it off that Skyshard together.

It seemed like a lifetime ago now.

Thanking Kai with a nod, Sam headed up the Front of the party with Raiko. He could feel the buff slowly ticking away as it grew a little stronger with each passing minute.

Their footsteps rang hollow on the stone blocks that made up the area surrounding the fountain. Sam kept an eye out for anything coming, but there was nothing.

The silence was somehow worse than the sounds of a battlefield. At least with all the noise, they could move relatively easily without being detected.

Even Komachi and Chompers switched places. Though the new arrangement hardly seemed like something Komachi would put up with, his cat moved quietly from the use of [Stealth] with a miniature Chompers on her back.

Despite the mimic being bigger than her, she didn’t have any trouble supporting him. Those 50 bonus stat points from Komachi’s Perfect Ascension were undoubtedly going a long way.

As quiet as it was, the slightest thing sounded obscenely loud.

And that was why Sam caught the subtle grinding sound of stone on stone, when he otherwise would have missed it.

He followed the sound to its source. Above the Great Hall there was a hideous-looking statue of a gargoyle that Sam had assumed was one of those old-style affectations.

It was not.

The creature awakened at the proximity of the party, its eyes flaring blood red as stone dust drifted down from its perch atop the silver-bound doors.

It went from stone still to a snarling, roaring leap straight for the center of their party in the blink of an eye. Sam shouted at the others, but his words were swallowed by the gargoyle’s bloodlust.