Chapter 575: Memory Lane

The next room was close, just a minute walk down the corridor. The room wasn’t large, just sixty feet across. Emerald grass glistened with dew drops in a misty chamber. A massive ebony-furred black bear lounged under a bright glowstone embedded in the ceiling. Bear rooms were common in the Shimmering Labyrinth, and the best part was that they always rewarded a dungeon healing potion.

“Do you recognize the species?” Konstantin asked furtively, clearly testing me.

I was focusing on the grass and not the bear. “Crystal grass. Sharp enough to cut leather and part skin,” I said just to annoy him.

Konstantin did a double-take, having missed it, grunted, and then rephrased his question, “What species is the bear?”

“If it is able to roll in that grass, then it has to be an ironhide bear,” I said confidently. Konstantin grunted in affirmation. “Should we?” I asked, looking back behind us. Our scouting was pulling us a bit farther from the others.

“I think we should,” Konstantin confirmed, and I nodded to him. I stepped carefully into the room, avoiding the grass. My sentinel boots were too valuable to risk damaging. I sent out an earth pulse to confirm there were no hidden surprises. The feedback revealed a network of burrows with fat groundhogs hiding deep in the earth. The bear was languidly rolling to its feet and yawning. Bits of fur and flesh were trapped between its teeth, and it had likely just eaten.

Walking was tricky, as there were very few patches of exposed earth to step on and avoid the grass. Raelia’s fireball would have been very useful here to clear the dangerous vegetation, but she was likely waiting for me in Nausis at the moment.

The bear roared half-heartedly and then began its charge. Konstantin had entered the room with me, and I didn’t want to risk injury to either of us. A short time later, the bear’s head rolled through the grass with neither of us having swung our blades or put in much effort. Our runic weapons could have cut the bear’s tough hide, but there was no need to risk an engagement even if it angered the dungeon. I was confident we could have taken the bear, but our movement would have been restricted by the grass.

Konstantin made his way to the chest in the middle of the room while I explored the groundhog burrows. I quickly decided they were too deep to bother with and didn’t want to linger anyway. My collector was out as Konstantin shattered the chest. “A healing and aether restorative,” he informed me happily, reading the runic labels.

“You can keep the healing and give the aether restorative to Castile,” I replied. I would take the forming essence on the collector as my prize. The bear had been well-muscled and the size of a grizzly, and I was expecting a strength essence, but the apex constitution essence that did form was very welcome. Konstantin hadn’t even been paying attention as he was picking out silver coins mixed in with the shattered stone.

“We should head back,” I decided, and the old man agreed. There was one other exit from the room, but we had ventured far enough from the others.

Konstantin soon joined me, and we headed back to the safe room. As soon as we entered Lexi was beaming proudly. “I healed him,” Lexi said breathlessly as we approached. Her body language told me she was looking for praise, but I was confused.

Castile clarified. “Lepidus consumed some of the death essence I had from the kettle of souls, and it healed his undead half, which allowed Lexi to heal the human half. He is as healthy as he could be at the moment.” The death essence that the kettle of souls accumulated was good for alchemy and artificing. Healing the undead? That was a new one.

Lepidus in Venere’s body did appear to be standing straighter and looked more alert. He even looked a little smug. “He no longer needs the Mask of Venere then?” I probed.

“I would prefer to retain it if you do not mind,” Lepidus requested immediately. Did the ancient legionnaire like being a woman?

“Only until we leave the dungeon,” I consented. I would rather look at the ebony goddess than at the withered ancient legionnaire anyway.

Konstantin approached Castile. “We explored two rooms,” Konstantin handed Castile the potion and she could read the runes.”

“I have eight essences for everyone,” I announced, causing Lexi to get excited. I counted out eight lesser dexterity essences for Castile, Konstantin, and Lexi, keeping nine for myself.

For Lepidus, I presented him with the serpent blade and no essences. “Can you discern the function of this blade for me?”

He was unperturbed by being left out and took the blade firmly in his hands, and it was clear his strength had returned. He looked down the blade’s length and studied the serpents along the hilt. It only took him a moment to know its purpose. “It is a venom blade. I do not recognize the snakes entwined on the hilt. They will mirror a real snake to determine what venom it produces on striking an opponent.” He handed it back to me, and I nodded in thanks, but I probably should have figured that out myself. It was similar to my magebane that was decorated with the type of spider that produced the magebane poison.

When I couldn’t place the snakes, Castile approached and extended her hand, requesting the blade. She ran her fingers along the serpents for a moment. “They are dreamcoil snakes. They are marsh snakes found in the Agorian Swamps in the Western Empire. The venom causes the victim to hallucinate. The hallucinations feed off the victim's emotions. If you are afraid, they will be terrifying. If you are lustful, they will be…” Castile stopped and flushed. “The First Citizens used the snakes at their hedonist parties, and they were a favorite of Duke Octavian.”

“Castile doesn’t have a runic weapon.” Konstantin gestured. “It is a light weapon, and good for a woman.”

“I have never seen her practice with a blade,” I said skeptically. I doubted Castile would need anything other than her magic on this delve. I was also a little hesitant to give away a valuable runic blade, though I had plenty in my space.

“She can make use of it,” Konstantin confirmed. I reluctantly found a sheath in my dimensional space to fit the blade and handed over the weapon to Castile. She quickly went through a warm-up sword form, and while she could handle the blade, her movements showed rust. I think she thought to impress me that she could handle the weapon, but all I could see were her flaws. I planned to ask for the blade back when we exited the dungeon.

“Do I get the next weapon?” Lexi inquired reservedly.

“You need to stay out of the fighting,” Castile informed her sternly, sheathing the weapon, ignoring her hypocrisy.

“If we find a dagger, it is yours.” I winked at Lexi. I think Castile’s control over the young woman was getting under my skin a little. Just like when Raelia was stern with Baldo, I felt the need to slip him an extra treat. Lexi needed to feel someone was here to satisfy her wants. Maybe I wasn’t a good father to Evie, as I was more keen to spare the rod and spoil the child.

“Where are we going?” Castile asked, lips pursed, clearly not liking my pandering to Lexi.

“Groundhog hunting,” I said, smiling, and led the others back to the room with the emerald crystal grass.

Castile quickly flattened the crystal blade grass with her shadow tendrils, and Konstantin started harvesting the bear for its valuable pelt that I was certain I would be stuck carrying. Lexi tested the sharpness of the crystal glass, slicing her finger and dropping it. The wound was healed before the grass hit the ground.

“Was there a healing potion?” Castile asked about the room’s reward.

“There was,” Konstantin confirmed with his arms deep into the fatty bear. By the exchange, I knew what the two were thinking. They wanted to come back to this room after the dungeon reset it. Even with Lexi’s healing, dungeon healing potions were probably one of the most valuable resources a dungeon could provide. We might not need them now, but in the coming invasion, they would be a huge asset, able to bring someone back from the brink of death.

Castile was able to drag out three groundhogs from their underground burrows, and I collected a fourth with my dimensional space. Surprisingly, it didn’t completely bottom out my aether, but it was close. The groundhogs all gave lesser constitution essences. I had hoped that might have had a magic affinity, but I guessed magical groundhogs were a bridge too far for Fortuna. Lepidus was left out of the essence distribution once again, and we continued exploring the dungeon.

The passage was winding, and I was also certain it was sloping down. When Konstantin reached the next room, he called me forward. “Look familiar, Eryk?” He remarked self-assuredly.

The room was extremely familiar to me. The massive chamber had green slime coating the walls. A large earth drake was curled in the center of the room, its eyes locked on us. On the other side of the chamber were visible stairs descending down to the second level of the dungeon. “This was the room where Maveith and I reconnected with the company and where I killed Traeliorn Kelran.”

Castile’s attention snapped to me. She knew I had killed the mage, but I hadn’t given her a lot of the details. Even Konstantin had a mild look of astonishment, and he knew the truth as well. “Who is Traeliorn Kelran?” Lexi asked when no one spoke.

Castile answered her in a lecturing tone. “He was one of the greatest elven summoners to ever live. There are books in the Telhian libraries of his brilliance and prowess that you will read,” she informed her.

“And you killed him?” Lexi said proudly, looking at me.

“It was mostly dumb luck,” I confessed. “He wanted me to suffer, and his hubris was his downfall. I will tell you the story another time.” I could tell Castile and Konstantin also wanted to hear the story, but it would keep.

“Are we going to kill the dragon?” Lexi was infatuated with the large creature.

I chuckled. Lexi hadn’t seen a real dragon yet. If she ever did, she would be in for a real shock. “That is just a fat earth drake. It doesn’t even have wings like a dragon. This is also the final room on this floor of the dungeon. If we entered this room, we would be sealed inside until either the drake was dead or we were. If this room is here, the dungeon has definitely rearranged the rooms on this floor since the last time we were here.” I could tell it was getting anxious as its breathing was increasing.

“But you will kill it?” Lexi said. I was beginning to think she had a little hero worship for me.

“Definitely,” I said. I could swear the earth drake was focused on me already. I had killed this drake twice the last time I had been in this dungeon and this was the room where I had been rewarded with Heartseeker after I had slain it alone. Maybe there were would be another phenomenal reward for killing it alone. “Give me a minute.” A minute stretched into two, and then three as the drake and I stared at each other.

“Do you want my help?” Castile asked, as I hadn’t moved.

“I am just mapping out scenarios in my head,” I replied. The truth was, I was slightly nervous that the dungeon had a surprise or two ready for me. I had also nearly died in this room to Traeliorn Kelran, so it had bad memories. The dungeon had clearly made other changes to challenge me, and the layout of the first floor had been altered. We should have encountered the harpy room instead of the ironhide bear.

“Should we all enter together?” Konstantin pressed when I still hadn’t moved. Lepidus took a step back, clearly not in favor of that plan.

“No. I will be fine,” I said, gathering my courage.

I stepped into the room with magebane drawn, and the drake immediately got to its feet, its back arched and tail twitching like a cat ready to pounce. Its eyes held a fury, and I was certain the beast recognized me now. Why did this dungeon let monsters retain their memories? Or was it just creatures I killed with dimensional cheat? Behind me, the passage had been sealed, and the others were behind the stone wall. An earth pulse told me my aether was available to utilize, and I relaxed.

The drake was cautious and began to circle the chamber, while keeping its sight set on me. The large mass of this creature would mean my thick air spell form would have very little effect on it. I didn’t sense a trap, but I felt like I was being watched by the dungeon. Was it judging me on how I would handle this encounter? Should I even risk trying to subdue the creature and not kill it with my dimensional space?

The creature finally leaped at me, and I vanished. The drake crashed into the green slime-covered wall as I appeared on the far side of the room and turned to face it. The drake was covered in the slime and had dazed itself. I was already tying off another teleport as it regained its senses. Heartseeker would have been the best weapon against the drake, but I was not going to take out that weapon again inside this dungeon.

The drake leaped again, and I vanished again, but this time it hadn’t crashed into the wall, instead breaking and churning the earthen floor. It learned quickly, and I didn’t like that. That time I had thickened the air, and it had barely slowed the thousands of pounds of angry drake. It was already breathing heavy, and that made sense. It was confined to this small room and didn’t get any exercise. It’s only sustenance being the green mold.

A plan started to form in my head. “Don’t play with your food, Eryk,” I admonished myself. “Just kill it,” I said aloud. But I couldn’t resist at least trying.

The next time it charged me, I placed numerous air shields to hinder it before I teleported. The earth drakes shattered them all but it drained its energy as I had also pushed aether to thicken the air. I rushed in and magebane cut into the tendon behind the knee joint. The blade barely got through the tough scales, and I would have preferred the black spear.

The tail and neck whipped in unison to attack its tormentor, but I was already dancing back. There wasn’t much blood from the wound, but the limp was extremely pronounced, and it was not going to be leaping at me again. “Sorry about this,” I told the earth drake even though it couldn’t understand me. Three blindness pellets flew from my hand to shatter on the floor, expelling the gas. The drake was not wise enough to remove itself from the smoke, and it was soon blinded as the spores created a mucosal layer of the eye. Blinded and crippled, I began to target vital points on the drake, using my air shields to protect me from wild tail whips and my teleport to escape frenzied charges.

Bleeding from twenty wounds and with three of its four legs crippled, the magnificent drake bled out. The dungeon seemed to emit contentment before I felt it focus on me disappear. A long stone box appeared in the center of the chamber. The exits from the room appeared, with Konstantin holding both his blades ready. This was one opponent I don’t think the old man could handle. “What took bloody so long?!” Konstantin said, concerned.

I didn’t need to explain as he walked up to the drake and examined it. He quickly discerned what I had done. “Why?” he asked simply.

“What’s in the big box?” Lexi asked before I could answer, stealing my thunder.

“Why don’t you shatter it and find out?” I told her, if it was another replica of Heartseeker, would it be sized to her small frame? Konstantin gave her one of his blades and the young woman raised the sword and brough it down.

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