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Dungeon Devotee - Chapter 26
🕑 Added 2022-12-31 23:50:44 +0000 UTCChapter 26: When it Rains
[And in the greatest plot twist since the Sixth Sense, I actually have this month's chapter a day early! Enjoy!]
Edmund’s gear never got a chance to dry.
Raindrops pelted his body as he emerged from the darkness between levels, a gentle drizzle that blotted out the false sky above. It seeped through the gaps in Edmund’s armor, joining the lake water from the previous floor in the little pockets that trapped it.
Edmund sighed. At least now he had a camp in which dry off, if he ever found the time to stop and rest. The mark of the shouted gauntlet weighed heavily on his hand.
So he got right to work. First things first: immediate surroundings. The fairness accords guaranteed relative safety while he lingered by the entrance, a safety of which Edmund had grown accustomed to taking full advantage.
He stood at the bottom of a great gulley, some thirty feet wide at its base before a steep slope walled him in on either side. Towering conifers littered the space, impeding Edmund’s line of sight far more than they did the rainfall. Their fallen needles protected his boots from sinking into the mud, blanketing the hills and valley alike in their dead and dull browns, each soft and swollen with the rainwater they’d absorbed.
The flat light of the storm clouds above cast the space in shadowless gray, robbing the otherwise vibrant forest of its hue and texture.
The raindrops themselves carved paths through the smoke, leaving faint trails in the air as they passed, narrow lines that lingered for the scarce handful of seconds before the haze could reclaim its lost territory.
The earthy scent of wet soil and mossy bark clashed against the familiar acridity in Edmund’s nostrils, painting the gully both in the verdant tones of life and foul ones of death.
Beneath the patter of the rainfall, a panoply of sounds echoed through the air, a veritable symphony of tapping paws and rustling needles, percussed irregularly by the intermittent snapping of a twig somewhere in the distance. No amount of rain would reduce this wildlife to slumber.
Edmund managed to decipher exactly two pieces of information from the mess that reached his ear. The first, unsurprisingly, was that there were creatures out there, doubtlessly ones that would try to kill him. The second, far more curiously, was that they seemed to be moving away from him. The sounds, as he stood and listened, grew fainter by the minute.
He wondered to what these beasts raced, or worse, from what they fled. He doubted they ran from him.
First things first, had to test the limits of his surroundings. Lifting and setting his feet gently onto soft ground, he took a hard left and crossed the dozen paces between him and the hillside. Water ran down it in little streams, cutting a web of paths in the dead needles that littered the ground. The angle of the slope made climbing it a hazardous prospect at best, but one Edmund would’ve been remiss not to attempt.
So attempt he did.
The toe of his boot sank several inches into the muddy hillside offering at first glance some semblance of a foothold. The quagmire failed, however, to hold his weight, sending his foot slipping right back out and back to the gully floor the moment Edmund tried to step up.
Next, he pulled the two tips of his hyper magnetic spear from his forearms, grasping each in an underhanded grip before plunging them into the mud. Well over a foot they sank in, deeper and deeper into the muck until the base of Edmund’s fists met the damp earth. Edmund gave them a tug. They held.
Withdrawing one, he yanked hard on the other, pulling his body up jam the second in higher than he could’ve otherwise reached. For several seconds he dangled there, feet flailing about as they tried and failed to find purchase on the rain-slick slope.
In the end, it wasn’t his grip that gave in.
It was the hill.
A layer over half a foot broke away from the hillside, sending Edmund sliding down with it. He leapt back, trying to use a windstep to his advantage, but without anything in front of him to push off against, he failed to gather any backwards momentum.
Edmund hit the ground mid mudslide, the soft and saturated earth cushioning his fall even as it buried his lower half.
Edmund groaned.
“Tsk tsk tsk,” A familiar voice sounded from behind.
Edmund craned his neck to find Liam, complete with waterproof leather boots and a waxed canvas umbrella, looming over him.
“When will you learn, when will you learn,” the dungeon continued. “You can’t just abandon the intended path.”
“It’s a hill, not a wall.”
“Potato, potato,” Liam countered. “What is a wall if not a particularly steep hill? Don’t answer that. It’s actually in the accords.”
“Anything over sixty degrees and sufficiently unclimbable,” Edmund quoted, “whatever that means.”
“There’s about ten pages of legalese out there describing exactly what that means. You don’t need to worry your pretty little head about it.”
“Not that I can,” Edmund grumbled. His little pocket book on the accords didn’t include the finer details. “What do you want, Liam?”
“Ooh, where to begin? I’d like a dry gin martini with two—count ‘em, two—olives, a nice bowl of mixed nuts that goes heavy on the macadamias, light on the almonds and extremely light on the pistachios, and someone to play cribbage with who both isn’t terrified of me and perceives time in a linear manner. It’s no fun when they already know what cards you have.”
Edmund glared at him.
“Oh, you mean from you! Same things I always want: quality entertainment and the chance to get a few zingers in while you’re stuck in the mud.”
Edmund rolled his eyes. “You planned this, didn’t you?”
“Let me get this straight: you’re accusing me of designing an entire floor with just loose enough topsoil and the perfect amount of rainfall to trigger a mudslide on the off chance you tried to climb your way out rather than actually attempting the level, just to make you fall into the mud? Because yes, I did absolutely do that.”
“He’s a child,” Edmund muttered to himself. “A murderous, immensely powerful child.”
“And maybe if you found a little childlike joy, you wouldn’t be so…” Liam gestured up and down at the entirety of Edmund. “Like that.” He grinned. “Besides, we all need to fall in the mud once and a while. Something about not taking ourselves too seriously or getting too wrapped up in our own self-importance and whatnot. There’s no dignified way to climb out from being stuck in the mud. Trust me, that’s a law of nature.”
“And when have you ever been stuck in the mud?”
“Now why would I answer that? Didn’t you hear what I just said about it being undignified?” Liam leaned back against a nearby tree trunk, crossing his arms as he looked down at Edmund. “Now come on. Give it a go.”
Edmund Broke Through.
A great and horrifying slurp echoed through the gully as Edmund shot free of the mudslide. He slid wildly backwards, skidding across the slick ground until the back of his head finally came to a stop against the first tree in his path. His helmet rang like a bell, reverberating in his ears in a deeply unpleasant tone.
Even worse, as Edmund glanced down on his mud-coated self, he found a piece of gear missing from his person. His left blackbone boot, part of a set that matched his leggings, had disappeared from his foot.
Liam applauded. “Beautifully executed. Ten out of ten. Would’ve given you a nine, but I bumped you up for losing a shoe like that. Muah.” He kissed the tips of his fingers. “Perfection.”
Edmund scowled and pushed himself to his feet, stomping back across the gully. Already more mud had fallen to fill the gap he’d left.
“Ooh, and he’s back for more. Ladies and gentlemen, what a stunning display of Ahab’s trademarked stubbornness.”
“Who are you talking to?”
“You, mostly. A little bit myself. Come on. I want to see if you fare any better on the second try.”
Edmund fell to his knees, removed his finger armor for fear or losing it too, and reached into the mud. “I just need to get my—”
Something shifted. Another chunk of hillside broke away. Edmund yanked his hand free and leapt back.
“Yeah, I think that boot’s gone for good. Unless you want to go for take three?”
Edmund glowered and stepped back.
“Yeah, didn’t think so.” Liam smirked. “Have you learned your lesson? Are you finished trying to leave the boundaries of the levels?”
“Fuck you.”
“I’ll take that as a yes.” Liam twirled his umbrella. “And all it took was losing a piece of loot. Maybe I’ll start taking away your toys more often. Who’s the child now?”
“Still you.” Edmund assembled his spear and stepped past the obnoxious avatar. He’d had enough games. The sooner he cleared this floor the sooner he could get out of this damn rain. It was starting to bother him. Was it just him, or was it coming down harder than before? He couldn’t tell for certain, but the possibility spurred him forward all the more.
He stopped just before setting off to remove his other boot, sacrificing its protection in favor of maintaining balanced footing. With any luck the mud would cling to his bare feet less.
He handed the spare boot to Liam.
“For me? You shouldn’t have.”
“Well, you’ve taken the first one,” Edmund said. “Now you have a matching pair.”
With that he set off, keeping to the gully’s left side for the limited protection the slope offered. He stayed an arm’s length from the hill itself lest another mudslide restrain him at a less than opportune time, though that particular occurrence didn’t strike him as particularly likely. The soil was already so saturated that the rainwater ran right over it. If the rain alone hadn’t been enough to trigger a slide yet, it probably wouldn’t in the future, not on its own at least.
The didn’t stop Edmund from keeping an eye to his left at all times. He’d yet to spot any of the wildlife he’d heard, and something could just as easily have lurked in the trees that sprang from the hillside as in those along the valley floor.
He moved slightly faster than his normally glacial pace as he progressed down the slight incline of the gully, for a variety of reasons. As he’d struggled against the mud and Liam alike, the woodland noises had all but disappeared from the distance. Those creatures were going somewhere, and Edmund instincts screamed it had to be for a reason. His best guess implied it had something to do with the growing intensity of the rainfall.
The second reason for Edmund’s relative haste was simple enough: he wasn’t checking the hillside for secrets. After the way this floor had begun, poking and prodding at the muddy hill seemed like a recipe for trouble.
The way grew more treacherous which each passing minute as the trickles of runoff grew broader and more plentiful, melding into each other even as more flowed in from the hillside. Already they’d gathered enough strength to whisk away the odd pine needle in their path, leaving a network of slick streams ready to disrupt Edmund’s footing.
Ten minutes into his trek, he had to devote more attention than he would’ve liked to sidestepping the rivulets. Twenty minutes in, he gave up entirely. By the thirtieth minute, the blanket of needles had washed away entirely, leaving only soft soil with a near-uniform half-inch of water running over it.
It was then that Edmund found the body.
It had resembled a squirrel once, albeit one the size of a large dog. Now, only its massive incisors and bushy tail retained the likeness, the rest of its matted brown fur little more than a bloody mess. Something had not only torn this thing to shreds, but seemed to have melted parts of it. Something obviously larger and more dangerous, yet interesting, something that hadn’t eaten it. Edmund wondered if the mystery predator had abandoned the carcass to escape alongside the other wildlife, or if it’d simply killed the giant rodent for fun.
He wasn’t sure he liked either option.
On he went. Still the sounds of nature eluded him. Still the fleeing fauna maintained their lead. If Edmund was certain of anything, it was that they didn’t flee from him.
He made it another ten minutes along his way before he reclassified the water at his feet from a stream of runoff to a flood. It moved faster than he did, leaving wake as it broke around his bare ankles and splashing up with every step he took. Even beneath the growing roar of the deluge, there’d be no masking Edmund’s footsteps.
He still had yet to spot any monsters when he realized the true peril of his situation. The water level had risen to just over six inches, high enough to threaten to yank him from his feet at the slightest misstep. Edmund paused for a few moments, running his mind through his limited alternatives, before opting to sacrifice combat readiness for improved stability.
He plunged his spear into the mud, grasping it with both hands to steady himself. Once stable, he dug in his feet until the silt’s grip held firmer than the water’s tug, only to withdraw his spear and plant it yet further down the path. Bit my bit he worked his way forward, inching ever onward as the downpour thickened and the waters rose.
Another several minutes of glacial progress later, the water level had climbed high enough to both eliminate Edmund’s current plan and give rise to a new one. He set his sights on the nearest tree, one whose trunk stretched further around than his arms could reach and whose branches didn’t begin until nearly two dozen feet from its roots, and made his way towards it. There, he planted his spear in the ground between him and it, letting the floodwaters press his upper body into the weapon as he reached for the cutlass at his hip.
He raised his poisoned weapon, swung for the conifer ahead of him, and activated Savage Rend.
To say he cleaved clean through the broad trunk would be untrue.
There was nothing clean about it.
Chips and splinters exploded out in all directions as his blade met the the bark. A deafening crack echoed across the gully, drowning out the rumble of the deluge and roar of the floodwaters alike. The force of the blow sent the base of the tree launching away from Edmund towards the hillside, breaking off in jagged chunks from the root system below.
It landed in the mud, sinking in as its branches caught on the canopy above. Edmund stepped up onto the trunk, slipping his bare feet in between the spikes of broken wood. He grimaced as a handful of splinters made their way into his flesh, but he could deal with those later. For now, he had a raft to secure.
He leapt up off the solid surface, burning both windsteps to build enough altitude to land atop the leaning tree. Its steep angle and rain soaked wood made for a treacherous climb, but one Edmund managed nonetheless. His fingers found grips in the bark, his legs clamped around the curved surface as best they could.
He didn’t have to travel far to reach lowest branches. He grabbed one, clung to it as he planted his feet against the trunk of the tree. There, he counted the seconds until his windsteps recharged, until his cooldown refreshed.
Finally, Edmund again drew his sword, again he swung, and again he brought to bear his Savage Rend.
Edmund leapt from his perch as the trunk plummeted, cut free from its branches’ entanglement. It landed with a splash, sending two waves over twice Edmund’s height up and out as he caught himself with a step on solid air before landing atop the severed log.
He held his breath as needles and twigs and wood chips rained from the canopy, as the waves rippled out and back and out again, as the storm and the flood and the forest itself absorbed the chaos he’d created. No monsters pounced. No trap sprung. Within moments it was as if nothing had happened at all, as if that log had always sat there. Only the water level, nearly an inch higher than it was before, proved the passage of time.
Edmund exhaled. He sheathed his sword and sat upon his newest craft, straddling the log like some noble steed. Now, he needed only wait.
For some half hour he rested there, catching his breath and drinking from the rainwater that pooled in his cupped hands. He scrubbed mud from his armor, cleaning himself of muck and grime as best he could for little more than opportunity’s sake. It wasn’t like he had many other ways to wait. He dared not venture into his camp for fear the log would depart without him.
By the time the floodwaters grew high enough to lift the massive log from its bed of mud, Edmund was more than ready.
He made it eight feet before catching between two trees.
Edmund pushed himself to his feet and walked along the length of his makeshift raft, pushing hard against the nearer of the two obstacle to maneuver the log through the gap between them. As the rushing water whisked them off, he fell back into his more secure straddle.
He kept his spear assembled as he floated downstream, pushing against various obstacles in attempt to steer as best he could. The task grew easier as the log rotated, spinning enough to travel lengthwise down along the torrent.
Faster and faster the floodwater took him, further along the gully until, by hour’s end, Edmund finally caught a glimpse of the fauna he’d heard before. Giant squirrels clambered across the canopy, leaping from branch to branch as they escaped the flood. Dull green snakes swam downstream, eliciting Edmund to yank his legs from their submersion for fear of a bite. He need not have worried. The serpents were the least of the danger.
He felt the thing land on his log before he saw it. The motion nearly threw him from it as his makeshift vessel bobbed up and down wildly. Edmund caught himself with his spear.
A low growl pierced the roar of the deluge.
Edmund turned to find a ebon-furred feline, nearly as tall as he on its four legs. Twin tails swished through the air behind it, each ending in a curious bulb that didn’t match any cat Edmund had ever seen. Metallic claws dug into the bark of the tree trunk, holding the beast securely in place even as the floating log bobbed about.
More striking, however, than its curious tails or metal claws or coat as black as the darkness between levels, were the eyes upon its face.
Specifically, the lack thereof.
What seemed to be skull that lacked eyeholes entirely left a solid surface atop the creature’s snout. The cat must’ve sensed him somehow, but Edmund didn’t had neither time nor attention to spare on such details. His thoughts instead were drawn to the razor sharp fangs it barred at him, and smoke that drifted off its hide.
Singetail Panther
The delver’s mark of the challenger on Edmund’s shoulder tingled with activity, but before he could register any changes to the creature before him, it pounced.
He lowered his spear, planting its base into the log and leveling its tip at the panther, but the blind beast reacted even faster. A wide paw batted the weapon away, wrenching it from Edmund’s grip. At the last moment as it left his grasp, he issued the mental command to disassemble, its pieces whirring through the air to attach to his various limbs.
It did little to keep the monster off him.
Several hundred pounds of desperate panther bowled Edmund over, landing atop him as he fell onto his back. Luckily, the beast’s own need for stability kept its claws constrained to the log on either side of him, simultaneously keeping Edmund from falling to the water and sparing him their razor tips.
Massive jaws clamped down onto his helmet.
Edmund tried for his still untested Collateral Damage, but the ability refused to activate, missing some condition he’d yet to discover. Failing that, he opted for the tried and true.
He Broke Through.
He shot up and into the panther’s underside, forcing the air from its lungs in a pitiful cough yet failing to wrench its claws from the log. Edmund fell limply onto his back again, earning himself little more than a moment’s respite for his cooldown as the beast fought to reclaim its air.
And then it was upon him again.
His ebonsteel helm kept the fangs at bay, yet even it buckled under the panther’s mighty jaw. Its sides caved in, pressing painfully against his cheekbones, bruising and cutting circulation and eventually cracking them under the pressure. Pain exploded across Edmund’s face, but he shoved aside behind a veil of smoke.
His hands scrambled desperately for something, anything he could bring to bear against the beast atop him, finding little pinned to his sides as they were. He needed time. He needed space. He needed the freedom to move.
A spell came to mind, one he loathed to use under such circumstances, yet alternatives refused to present themselves.
With his focus fixed on the paw just beside his right elbow, Edmund cast Magma Fissure.
A cloud of steam burst into the air as the log split open and lava spilled out. Edmund’s rerebrace did precious little to temper the heat as the skin beneath it blistered and burned. The panther’s paw fared no better.
The magma set its fur alight, flames licking up its leg before the rain could put them out. The beast recoiled, yanking its paw from the source of the heat even as the downpour cooled and hardened the molten rock. Edmund didn’t let the opportunity pass by.
He kicked against the panther’s rear legs and rolled over his burnt right arm, slipping under the beast’s raised paw to fall into the water below.
The current pulled him under.
The roil of the floodwaters tossed him about, slamming him into the mud and the rocks and the trees it carried him past. Edmund struggled to right himself, paddling desperately with his arms and legs as he directed his will into his belt of the slumbering deep. He shot upwards, over-buoyant enough to completely clear the surface and fly through the air for an uncontrolled moment. He landed again with a splash.
Up ahead the panther prowled back and forth upon the log, claiming his raft for its own. For a second, Edmund considered letting it have it, letting the floodwaters take him where they may.
A sharp pain appeared in his left foot.
Edmund cursed.
The snakes!
He assumed it was a snake. Thrax knew what other biting beasts may have lurked below. He had to reclaim his log. He was too exposed, too slow, too helpless against the current as he was.
Another bite struck his right achilles. Edmund bit back his yelp and swam forward.
The panther didn’t sit idly by. It paced about and growled threats as he approached, saving its final weapon for once he got in range.
As one, its tails whipped about, the strange bulbs compressing at their bases to sent globs of dull yellow liquid shooting through the air. One flew over Edmund’s shoulder. The other struck the caved-in cheek of his helmet.
A soft sizzling sound met Edmund’s ear. A foul stench followed.
Edmund cursed and dunked his head in the water, rinsing the acid away as best he could. He surfaced again just in time for another volley.
Edmund deactivated his belt, hiding below the torrent as he made his approach. He drew his shield, hooking it over his arm as he swam along the gully floor. His other arm he kept free, leaving his spear and cutlass strapped safely to his person.
Against the current he maneuvered himself to the log’s jagged end, hiding beneath it to evade whatever detection the panther used in lieu of sight. He hoped against hope the water would disrupt its vision. There, he waited, grasping the spikes of broken wood and feeling with his lesser tremor sense for the creature’s motion. When it reached the far side, he made his move.
He yanked hard against his handhold and maximized his belt’s buoyancy at the same moment, launching himself up and out of the water. He took a windstep forward to position himself back atop the log, and raised his shield just in time to catch the next acid projectiles.
This time he had nowhere to dunk the affected piece, leaving the chemical free to do its corrosive work as he advanced on the giant feline. It spun to face him.
Edmund drew his sword.
The panther leapt, but this time Edmund made no attempt to meet its assault.
He jumped.
He spent both windsteps to walk on the empty air alongside the floating log, taking a swing at the pouncing panther as he passed. His blade bit flesh just above its shoulder. He tried activating Savage Rend, but the blow hit at too shallow an angle to carve more more the a handful of fur and the slightest bit of skin. Still, the cutlass applied its venom to the desperate beast. He landed behind it on their shared raft.
His shield fell askew.
Edmund cursed and glanced down to find the acid had eaten clean through it, burrowing through the ironwood and arm strap alike. He turned his arm vertical to make up for the now single point of contact, bracing the lower side of the shield against his elbow. He prayed it would hold.
The panther growled in pain.
The snake bites in Edmund’s feet throbbed to match.
It was only a matter of time before one of the succumbed to the venom flowing through them. Between The Island and his health regeneration, Edmund held out hope it wouldn’t be him.
The panther, it seemed, had no intention of waiting to find out.
Again it leapt, and again Edmund jumped to the side with his windsteps.
But this time, so did the panther.
It too ran upon solid air, spending windsteps of its own to match Edmund’s motion and meet him midair.
He slammed his shield into its face, vaulting up and over wounded beast. It ran past him, comfortably using a dozen windsteps as Edmund frantically repositioned himself to land back on the log. His arms flailed out to catch his balance. The cat launched another volley of acid.
Again he caught it on his shield. Raindrops washed the acid down, carrying it along the face of his shield in streaks, carving lines where it went. It wouldn’t hold much longer.
Dots appeared in Edmund’s vision as the pain from his various wounds joined the snake venom in assaulting his senses. He dared not falter. He dared not flag.
He knew the panther similarly suffered. He knew his rotflesh did work of its own, spreading wide and wreaking havoc. It may’ve been stronger, it may’ve had more windsteps or grace in its motion, but there was no way this cat could match his resilience.
Smoke seemed to pour into the panther’s wounded shoulder as if agreeing with Edmund’s conclusion and thus joining the assault.
Still it growled. Still it barred its teeth.
And again it pounced.
Edmund didn’t bother windstepping now that he knew it could outmaneuver him in the air. Instead he dove, holding his shield above his head as he passed beneath the panther’s leap.
Its claws tore clear through the corroded ironwood, snapping the buckler in two. As Edmund pushed himself to his feet, he did so without a shield strapped to his arm.
He cursed as the next volley of acid met no obstacles in its path to his person. They struck against his cuirass, eating away at that too as the rain washed it down in sizzling streaks. He wiped at it with his fingers of the crimson hand, the artifact the only item in his possession unharmed by the chemical. He couldn’t prevent the damage to his breastplate, but he could keep it from dripping lower, from reaching his belt. His crystal cuirass could repair itself. Once his belt snapped, he’d have to replace it.
The panther came again, and this time Edmund met it with neither shield nor spear nor poisoned cutlass, but with claws of his own.
A metallic talon pierced clean through Edmund’s palm as he raised a hand to defend himself. Again the creature bowled him over. Again it pinned him on his back.
But this time, with its claw impaling his hand, Edmund’s own fingers could reach it.
Two of the three lesser pieces of the Dread Gauntlet of Kor’Ilinesh burrowed through wet fur to find bare flesh beneath.
Together, they drank.
Life force flooded from the panther into the Crimson Hand, rejuvenating Edmund and charging his Blood Bolt at once. The burn on his arm smoothed over. The bites on his feet sealed shut. The skin of his hand tried and failed to close around the claw that pierced it. Even his cheekbones, snapped as they were by the collapse of his helmet, tried and failed to reassemble.
It hurt like hell.
And it worked.
Smoke flooded from the air into the panther’s open wound, pushing the rotflesh venom along Edmund drained the beast of its resistance. It snapped its jaws around his helm for a few desperate moments, before that strength too left its failing body.
It collapsed atop him. Edmund shoved it free.
Its body tumbled into the water.
Edmund exhaled.
What in the forty-seven hells was that? There was no way that had been an ordinary monster. It’d nearly killed him a dozen times over, not to mention ruining his shield. Thrax, between that and his boots he was already down two pieces of gear this floor.
Godsdamned Liam and his godsdamned newly-designed floors. He’d have a few choice words for that asshole when he next showed his face.
A distant roar up ahead pulled Edmund from his thoughts. He bolted upright, his hand still bleeding as his health regeneration worked to patch the hole.
As he glanced around the floodwaters, he spotted more and more of the forest’s denizens swimming for their lives, each seeming to specifically target the rightward bank. When his gaze shifted upward, he found those that had managed to remain in the canopy similarly kept to the right. Wherever they were going, it would be on that side.
The smoke alerted him to the waterfall before his eyes did.
It seemed to bend in the air, turning and flowing straight down in the distance as if there were somewhere down to go. It stood to reason there was.
No mist filled the air. No droplets or splashes or other signs of water crashing down onto rocks below. The river simply… ended.
Edmund looked to the trees, finding they too came to an abrupt end some hundred yards downstream. Some hundred yards that were vanishing far too quickly.
He gave up on his log. There’d be no stopping it. He similarly dared not try and swim against the current. No amount of buoyancy would overcome that much moving water.
He’d done well to get himself moving. Now all that remained was to stop.
He picked the second to last tree on the right, saving himself the final one as a backup as he targeted the direction in which the animals fled.
He counted down.
He steadied his footing.
He cast his Smoke Lash.
And Edmund jumped.
His lash wrapped itself around the tree’s lowest branches, securing itself as he willed it and swinging him around and into the hillside beyond. The mud loosened where he struck it, triggering a mudslide below, but already Edmund was falling back towards the trunk of the tree.
He watched, dangling from the Smoke Lash around his wrist, as his log disappeared over the water’s edge. He saw nothing beyond. Not above, not below, not in the distance, only falling rain and the haze of smoke as far as the eye could see.
On the final tree, however, the one directly adjacent to his, Edmund spotted a wooden platform. It sat comfortably up in the branches, crafted of planks angled just enough to allow rainwater to drain through them. Atop it rested two things. A gilded chest, and open door.
Animals flooded through the latter, disappearing into the darkness between levels just as the azure fox had. Edmund got the impression these wouldn’t be showing up on the other side.
It took both his windsteps to launch himself into the tree in question, from where it was a matter of wrapping his arms around its relatively narrower trunk and shimmying up. As he pushed himself up and onto the wooden platform, a chime rang out.
Edmund breathed.
The temporary mark on his hand tingled as it took note of his achievement.
He lay onto his back and let the rain wash over him, the woodland creatures leaving him be now that the floor was cleared. Thrax, he hated this place.
After a moment’s rest, Edmund got back to work. First things first, he had to remove his helmet. The task proved excruciating as he pounded and tugged the caved in sides over his head, deepening the cracks in his facial bones even more in the process. Once finished, however, his health regeneration could do its job while he hammered away with the hilt of his utility knife repair the helm.
Next, he stabbed an unsuspecting squirrel as it passed, smearing its blood across his cuirass to feed it self-reparation enchantment.
Finally, he opened the chest.
Drelnleather Boots
Provides major protection against magic, thermal, and corrosive damage. Vulnerable to piercing damage. Waterproof. Once per day, allows for sixty seconds of water walking.
Edmund had no idea what a Dreln was, and he didn’t particularly care. The deep black leather boots reached halfway up his calves, providing more protection than his old blackboon boots had at the cost of their vulnerability to piercing damage. Some form of carved resin left treads along their soles, offering far superior traction than anything Edmund had ever worn.
The water walking was just an added bonus. As with most of Edmund’s loot, it would’ve been incredibly useful on the floor he’d just cleared, but provided nebulous utility moving forward.
He slipped them on all the same.
Last but not least, he shut his eyes and brought up his constellation. He’d already decided which combination he wanted to make, so his attention immediately fell to Wrath and The Fissure. He’d questioned, on the previous floor, Magma Fissure’s versatility. It may have hurt like hell, but he had to admit it’d saved his life against the panther.
Something strange caught Edmund’s eye, though. Madness and The Guerrilla both lit up when he looked them, as if implying they could form a confluence.
But that was impossible. Madness was already one of the components of The Guerrilla. Everyone knew you couldn’t fold an Aspect in a second time.
Was this a paragon thing? Was this a Madness thing?
Despite himself, Edmund almost wished Liam was there so he could’ve grilled him on the topic.
Instead, his mind’s eye drifted over to another Aspect.
Tier 3 Aspect: The Philosopher - Silver+ Resonance
Level 3 - Glimpse the alternatives.
Was this an alternative? A chance to combine Aspects that shouldn’t have been combinable?
The more Edmund thought about it, the less certain he grew. For all he knew, this was a strange quirk of specifically Madness and The Guerrilla. Either way, he had only one way of learning more.
He made the confluence.
Tier 6 Aspect: The Anarchist - Platinum+ Resonance
Level 1 - Be uncontrollable.
Edmund quashed his disappointment at receiving yet another weirdly cryptic and seemingly useless Aspect. Other than Madness itself, it had the highest resonance he’d ever seen, and as a tier 6, it had to be powerful. Better yet, the combination came with its own slew of level-ups.
The Guerrilla, The Tactician, Wrath, War, The Recluse, Elements, and Solitude all leveled up as normal without any changes to their description. Madness, to Edmund’s dismay, didn’t level up twice despite its dual involvement in the confluence.
In the end, only a single Aspect changed its description.
Tier 3 Aspect: The Philosopher - Silver+ Resonance
Level 4 - Escape.
Edmund had long given up trying to figure out what The Philosopher was talking about. He trusted it would be powerful eventually. Thrax, if it was the reason behind his new rule-breaking confluence, it already was proving powerful.
His curiosity far less satisfied than he would’ve liked, Edmund set his constellation aside and set about his final task for the floor. He raised his left ring finger to his mouth, kissed the silver band around it, and spoke his message.
“Twenty-six cleared. I got a strange Aspect. We’ll talk about it when we see—”
The ring vibrated. He sighed. Apparently that was all he got. Edmund lowered his hand. Presumably Amelia could infer the rest of the message.
His missive sent, his boots upgraded, and his constellation behind more strangely by the day, Edmund finally escaped the torrential downpour and stepped into the darkness.
——
Hivemaster Edmund Montgomery Ahab, The Crimson Hand
Aspects Unlocked: 27
Tier 1 Aspect: Wrath - Red Resonance
Level 6 - Provides access to the Brutalize active ability.
Tier 1 Aspect: War - Gray+ Resonance
Level 13 - Provides a lesser increase to all damage dealt. Provides a lesser decrease to all damage taken.
Tier 1 Aspect: Elements - Gray Resonance
Level 11 - Provides access to the Firebolt spell.
Tier 1 Aspect: Solitude - Red Resonance
Level 13 - Provides a greater increase to constitution while fighting alone. Provides a lesser increase to celerity while fighting alone. Provides a lesser increase to perception while alone.
Tier 1 Aspect: Perseverance - Gray Resonance
Level 12 - Gain health regeneration. Gain greater health regeneration outside of combat.
Tier 1 Aspect: Madness - Prismatic Resonance
Level 21 - They’re coming for you.
Tier 2 Aspect: Vengeance (Madness and Wrath) - Silver+ Resonance
Level 1 - Reveals all enemies that have damaged you in the past two minutes. Provides a lesser increase to all damage dealt to such enemies.
Tier 2 Aspect: Fervor (Madness and War) - Gold+ Resonance
Level 1 - Empowers the effects of Madness and War for each consecutive second spent in battle.
Tier 2 Aspect: Sorcery (Madness and Elements) - Gold Resonance
Level 2 - Provides access to the Smoke Lash spell.
Tier 2 Aspect: Obsession (Madness and Perseverance) - Gold Resonance
Level 4 - Gain strength and agility for each consecutive day spent pursuing your obsession. Gain mana for each consecutive month spent pursuing your obsession.
Tier 2 Aspect: The Recluse (Madness and Solitude) - Gold Resonance
Level 6 - Empower the effects of Madness while alone. Lessen the effects of Madness while accompanied.
Tier 2 Aspect: The Island (Solitude and Perseverance) - Gray Resonance
Level 7 - Grants greater resistance to over-time effects while in groups of two or fewer.
Tier 3 Aspect: Focus (Elements and Obsession) - Silver Resonance
Level 2 - Doubles spell damage when attacking a single target.
Tier 3 Aspect: The Challenger (War and The Recluse) - Silver+ Resonance
Level 1 - Provides access to the Challenge active ability.
Tier 3 Aspect: Artillery (War and Sorcery) - Silver+ Resonance
Level 1 - Provides access to the Firestorm spell.
Tier 3 Aspect: The Warmonger (War and Obsession) - Silver+ Resonance
Level 1 - Provides a greater increase to all damage dealt and a greater decrease to all damage taken while engaged in combat you initiated.
Tier 3 Aspect: The Philosopher (Elements and The Recluse) - Silver+ Resonance
Level 4 - Escape.
Tier 3 Aspect: The Rift (Madness and The Island) - Gold Resonance
Level 6 - Provides access to the Savage Rend active ability.
Tier 4 Aspect: The Tactician (War and The Philosopher) - Bronze+ Resonance
Level 3 - Deal double damage when executing a pre-crafted battle plan.
Tier 4 Aspect: The Target (War and Focus) - Bronze+ Resonance
Level 1 - Allows the marking of a single enemy as the target. The target takes increased damage from all sources.
Tier 4 Aspect: The Fissure (Elements and The Rift) - Silver Resonance
Level 3 - Provides access to the Magma Fissure spell.
Tier 4 Aspect: Rebellion (War and The Rift) - Gold+ Resonance
Level 2 - Grants resistance to mind controlling effects. Deal bonus damage to enemies above your level.
Tier 5 Aspect: The Guerrilla (Wrath and The Tactician) - Bronze Resonance
Level 2 - Take reduced damage while executing a non-conventional pre-crafted battle plan.
Tier 5 Aspect: The Breach (War and The Fissure) - Bronze+ Resonance
Level 1 - Provides access to the Break Through active ability.
Tier 5 Aspect: The Insurgent (Wrath and Rebellion) - Silver+ Resonance
Level 1 - Provides access to the Collateral Damage active ability.
Tier 6 Aspect: The Reckless (Wrath and The Breach) - Tin+ Resonance
Level 1 - Provides access to the Reckless Charge active ability.
Tier 6 Aspect: The Anarchist (Madness and The Guerrilla) - Platinum+ Resonance
Level 1 - Be uncontrollable.
Delver’s Mark of the Challenger
Empowers nearby dungeon monsters. Significantly increases the value of loot chests you open. Slightly increases the resonance of Aspects you unlock.
The Crimson Hand
Grants minor resistance to piercing damage. Bestows ownership of the Dread Gauntlet of Kor’Ilinesh.
Hivemaster
Grants lesser tremor sense. Bestows the right to challenge other hivemasters for control of their hives.
Trailblazer’s Sigil of the Azure Adept
The fifth step on the Path of the Azure Fox. Increases agility. Grants two windsteps. Grants ten feathersteps. Increases positional awareness.
Trailblazer bonus: Sharpens hearing.
Trailblazer’s Sigil of the Rootmother
Non-intelligent Strethian lifeforms will treat you as an ally. Gain the ability to draw water and nutrients from fertile soil.
Trailblazer bonus: draw water and nutrients from all soil.
Sigil of the Slumbering Deep
Gain greater health regeneration. Gain immense health regeneration while sleeping. Gain water breathing. Gain lesser dark vision. Gain lesser subaquatic sonar.
Delver’s Mark of the Shrouded Gauntlet (Temporary)
Rewards loot of the Shrouded category based on the number of floors cleared while the mark is worn. Prize to be granted at dissolution of mark.
Time Remaining: 7 days.
