Adam
The reminiscence of times past no longer hurt as much as they had when I first arrived on Earth. Before, I had always assumed they were connections to a life that was gone forever. But now, they seemed to hold a promise of old friends I would see again. Grimbleflork’s appearance was more than enough to convince me of that.
But it was time for something else. Placing my hand on the hilt of the runic blade, I allowed some of manafire to flow into it, toward the final standalone orb. The Shield mana orb was the only one in the guard, just like the two before it had been the only ones within their portion of the sword.
Things would get more interesting after this, as the blade had three rows of three orbs apiece, and I would need to carefully balance the mana flow in order to unlock each row at once. Otherwise I risked mana pooling across the nodes, which would almost certainly damage the sword, and possibly even destroy it in the long term. And given I had zero access to anyone to help me repair any damage like that at the moment, it wasn’t something I could possibly risk.
A System message confirmed I had done, at least the first part of what I had intended.
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Mana Orb
Shield (1)
Socketed [Runic Blade]
Soul Linked
First Tier Ability Unlocked
Armored Flesh {Targeted, Pool}
When activated and a suitable target is selected, a shield is created around the entirety of the target that blocks incoming attacks. The strength of the shield is based entirely on a pool of mana that is invested from the host’s own manafires when the shield is created. Once that pool is empty, the shield collapses.
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Any consideration of trying to activate the secondary ability early left me as I saw a pair of glowing eyes enter the chamber. Dammit, I really didn't need to float anything right now. I shifted my body slightly, causing a new stab of pain as I more firmly grabbed the hilt of the sword.
Just as the eyes moved to focus on me, I flared the mana within it. The nearly blinding light revealed an odd sight. The creature that had come into the room resembled a mushroom with feet. Two glowing eyes sat atop the cap, and right below them was a gaping mouth full of razor-sharp teeth.
It shrieked in pain, likely having never seen quite so bright a light before in its life. I was used to these dark caverns, and I had essentially just flash-bombed it. And as the eyes retreated back down the tunnel it had come from, I hoped that it had been enough.
Whether or not it thought I was easy prey really depended on just what it had been used to encountering down here. And we still didn't really have any idea, outside of the slugs, what lived in these tunnels. So for all I knew, that mushroom creature was a scout for something much more dangerous. Or if I got lucky for once, it was a solo hunter that had realized I was beyond its match.
Once we return, mapping these tunnels out was going to have to move up in priority. There were so many things that we needed to do and just not enough people to do them all. That meant the first priority had to be making contact with the rest of the Rock Trolls. Working together, we could easily get much more done than we could apart.
I hoped they would understand that because I wasn't my brother, and convincing them wasn't going to be something I was great at. But between Lukiss and his father, that should be proof enough that we will come as allies.
I briefly debated pulling in some of the mana from the sword in an attempt to speed up my healing. But given how much was broken inside of me at the moment, I wasn't sure adding mana burns to the list of things I needed to deal with was actually a good idea. Floof was out there, and he could handle himself. I just needed to force myself to rest until it was necessary not to.
Floof
“So you're a dog, right? The dogs aren't usually as big as you are where I'm from. But dogs are nice. They're fluffy. They like bones a little bit too much for my taste, but I've never hated them. Not like I would purposely go out of my way to kick one or anything. So if you could try to remember that when it comes to discussing my fate with the big guy back there, I'd really appreciate it,” Gren said as Floof carried him down a new tunnel.
Gren had been silent for the first few hours of their exploration. Floof had preferred that. But it seemed something had triggered the skull's need to speak.
Floof didn't know what to make of this new companion. But the King had told him to bring him in his search, and while it was true that the skull did provide some extra light, Floof wasn't entirely sure he needed it. The differing scents down here formed a trail that was easy enough to follow. Floof very much doubted he would get lost.
Though Gren did present an easier method of communication with his lord. Floof still did not fully understand speech in the way that so many of the others did. He got the meanings behind what they said far more often than he ever had before, but the words themselves were strange, and he couldn't understand why they seemed to follow different patterns.
What baffled the dog the most was why, between the Goblins, the Rock Trolls, and the Humans, they all spoke at a different rate. And now this skull spoke even more differently than the rest. His words almost sounded like music, the way he fit them together. But the meanings came across nonetheless.
Floof just wished he could understand more. That was the curse of his new intelligence. Each bit of the world around him that came out of that fog he had lived in before made him want to know more. But so much of it still eluded him, and he knew pushing past that last barrier would be the most difficult of all.
“You don't talk a lot, do you? Well, the good news is I probably talk enough for both of us. Helps keep me calm after all, and I can't say this has been the best for my anxiety. So, the more I talk, the better that stays down. So how'd you end up here anyway? Adam seems a lot more capable than what my gang is turning out to be. Still can't believe Ryzel left me down here,” Gren said, sounding surprisingly mournful, with a hint of annoyance in the words.
It was easier for Floof to understand the intent behind the words. The annoyance that Gren was trying to hide was plain to the dog's ears. And that was something Floof could entirely agree with. He couldn't imagine a world where his comrades betrayed him as Gren’s had. Not that they would ever truly get any sort of chance to do so.
Floof would always be the first to charge in and the last to leave, unless the King ordered otherwise. Floof was but a loyal knight in the service of his liege. And he understood his duty was to lay down his life should the need arise. But what Ryzel had done to Gren was deeply without honor, and it did bother Floof more than he expected it to.
He would have to find a way to plead with the king not to kill the prisoner. Assuming, of course, Gren remained as willing to share information as he claimed to be. Should the skull exhibit any behavior similar to his own betrayal, then Floof would put him down as needed. He would never live down the shame otherwise.
“Would you believe that I gave the boss my life savings to get in on this? He had some brilliant idea that we could finally make something of ourselves if we just went into an integration and won an arena match. I mean, he wasn't entirely wrong. We had a pretty good team makeup here. You pair a Bone Mage, a Mind Mage, and a Necromancer together, and it's pretty hard to stand against them. But then everything that could go wrong has gone wrong. How the hell did we end up in an unchecked integration? How is that even possible? What kind of terrible shitty luck do I constantly have?” Gren continued his ramble.
Floof shook the skull gently, trying to silence him. He had sensed something further ahead. There were creatures in the tunnel moving towards them. It was likely far too late to surprise them. Gren had been too loud for that. But Floof at least hoped the skull would understand they were coming.
“Hey, hey. Come on. Keep me level, buddy. Wait, shit. I hear it too now. Damn, I guess we have to fight. Put me on the ground over there, maybe? I don't think I can do much in a fight anymore,” Gren said nervously.
Floof listened to the skull’s request and, with a good amount of gentleness, set him behind a rock in the cavern. The creatures coming smelled oddly earthy, and Floof didn't want the skull hurt, even if he had been their enemy earlier. He had surrendered, and that meant he was under Floof's protection, and no monster was allowed to hurt him.
Standing his ground firmly, Floof let out three loud warning barks. The stone reverberated around them with the strength of the noise. No longer were Floof's alerts as limited as they had been when he was younger. They had grown mighty alongside the King and Princess. But whether their might was enough to deter their oncoming foe, he did not know.
Several odd mushroom-looking creatures marched into the dog's view. Each of their caps had a unique pattern of coloration and, with it, a slightly different smell. All of them had their teeth bared. Despite his warning, it seemed they had decided that Floof was their next meal.
They were sorely mistaken.
The one in the front let off some sort of electrical charge, causing Floof's hair to stand on end as it passed through him. The point of impact sizzled slightly, a spot of his hair turning black. Floof had started to dislike magic and had no intention of them hitting him with any more.
He charged forward, ripping apart the first one in the pack. His teeth dug deep into its stem, tearing it apart. Clapping down hard, he threw his head to the side, using the lead creature as a makeshift club into the others.
As he knocked them down into a giant pile of flailing mushrooms, he leaped on top of it, digging his claws in as he landed hard. The creatures winced in pain, but their teeth still reached out for his paws. They hadn't yet learned just how outclassed they were here.
Sadly for them, it took very little time for Floof to finish them off. They had been much weaker than the skeletons they had fought above. But the fact that they were freely roaming down here meant his exploration was over. He had to take Gren and return to the King.
Strange message boxes that he saw every time they finished off a new monster danced across his vision. While he knew it signified the death of those monsters, he didn't fully understand what all of the words meant. Written text made spoken words seem easy to him.
“I think they're all dead. Should we get back to the big guy? I mean, we left him alone there. If there are monsters roaming these tunnels, probably you should go check on him, right? Not that I don't think he could have killed those things. They weren't that strong, but still, I figure you wanna go check anyway,” Gren said as Floof picked him up in his teeth and dashed off back the way they had come.