We all stood before the large looming church, at least that is what the others had called it. It was a taller building made of a white stone that had a bunch of little ornate details and a set of super big wooden doors on the front. The building had been cleared out because apparently there was a dungeon that lead out of the back door and down into a sprawling labyrinth. Something I would probably be more worried about if I wasn't actively struggling to walk.
I staggered forward, fighting against the padded armor I had been wrapped in as Thalia, and Liora continued to give me worried looks as I staggered forward, panting.
"Ok, so we have physical defense covered, but what if mobility comes into play?"
Liora asked turning to Thalia who began to weave more strings.
"No, *pant* more, *huff* layers."
I struggled out as I flopped to the ground. My 4 legs giving way to the fatigue and lack of breath as I laid there struggling to breath.
A part of me understood their concern, I was several levels below everyone else, and as such was much easier to kill than they were. Despite that from observations, I had 33 HP, a point more than Thalia, but at the same time, I would rather be uncomfortable than dead.
"I think your going to smother her before she even sees a skeleton."
Jax said, rolling his eyes as he walked over and looked me over to check to see if I was still breathing.
Jax had come back with Aiden yesturday and told us about their meeting with Todis. I didn't know who Todis was, or why they all seemed to worried about stuff, but I understood the basic.
We were going to try to enter and destroy a dungeon by grabbing a special item thing at the very end of the dungeon. Trying to stop us is a group of people called necromancers. Aiden had said that they could use magic like Thalia and Liora, but their magic was about summoning the dead to fight as skeletons or zombies. We had to
Find these bonepile things being used for some ritual thing and break themKill the necromancers before they kill usBreak some alter thing that is being used by the necromancersGet out and seal the church with some stuff that's supposed to make dungeons not form as often in a spot
Thalia fussed and shifted the armor I had been given as I looked to the others. While I was still dealing with my thoughts on Jax, I found myself watching him, trying to look him over as if suddenly I could read his mind. While I have yet to develop psychic powers, I have noticed a few things about Jax today, mainly the fact that he seemed nervous, if anything everyone did.
Something that didn't bode well for me, as I have seen the size of the creature that Aiden, Thalia, and Liora took down together. So anything that worries them, should have me running in the other direction at top speed.
Regardless after around an hour or so of Aiden brewing last minute potions, and Liora and Jax getting into an argument about how much armor was too much armor before deciding mobility would be more important than heavy heavy armor.
As someone who had never been to a dungeon before, the feeling of shifting and changing as I was taken into the dungeon was super strange. Watching my paws dissolve into light before reforming with everything intact had me terrified for a moment before I was fully back.
"G-Gods I am never going to get used to that feeling."
Selene said as she and the rest of us had an unconscious shiver run up our spines as we stood there for a moment. I took a moment to check over everything as Thalia and Liora brought out torches and lit them. The sudden light caused a twinge of pain as I squinted before my eyes adjusted.
The place we were in was a simple hallway made of some kind of cut dark stone. Aside from the torches no light shone as before us stretched a hallway past where the light reached as well as several passages that lead to the right and at the very edge of the light one led to the left.
I glanced back at the others taking a moment to assess what we had brought with us.
Jax, Check
Liora, Check
Thalia, Check
Selene, Check
Thalias backpack thing, Check
The little water spirit, Check
Aiden with a bucket on his head, Che-..... wait a moment
I stared at Aiden for a moment before Aiden asked.
"Sooooo, why did one of you put a bucket on my head?"
At this everyone turned back to Aiden where he stood unmoving as the bucket shifted slightly on his head. Selene reached a hand over and grabbed the bucket and pulled it off Aiden's head as he looked around in confusion before bending down and grabbing the glasses that had fallen from his face and to the floor of the dungeon.
As we all stood there, Thalia held her free hand out as strings extended and flowed out as they began to snake their way down the hallway.
"Uh, what are you doing?"
I asked, watching as Sera and Malt floated after the strings with intrigued expressions. Ironically enough, the two of them had been excited when I gave them names because their original names were too long to say effectively.
"She's scanning in case people are waiting around the corner for us, she can feel things like that through her strings."
As if on cue, Thalia tapped her foot on the ground ahead of her as she closed her eyes and her face tightened with tension.
"We have a problem here, I think they set traps."
"I don't think a bucket falling on my head counts as a trap."
Aiden said looking up where a small mechanism hook with a string had indeed released the bucket in question. Thalis didn't reply, but instead walked over to the first right hand hallway. She walked down a small length where we could see a room being illuminated ahead before she came to a stop and went to a knee, holding her torch over a small wire around half a foot off the ground, and so thin I only saw it when the wire was illuminated by the torch. Thalia quietly stepped over and on the other side of the door gestured to something. We took care to step over the wire to where a bag that seemed to be filled with various metal utensils and plates sat on the string.
"I-Its a soldier's quick alarm."
Selene said looking the bag over as we all turned to her. She took a moment to observe more before she said.
"Its an alarm created from placing random metal like utensils and stuff in a bag, when shaken they clatter and make noise. It's rudimentary, but effective. We should be careful not t-"
Thalia cut her off with a raised hand as everyone froze. Not even a breath leaving our lips as we heard a sound. It sounded wet, and heavy, like someone in armor walking over marshland, but in the dungeon such noises meant one thing. We all quickly made our way back through the doorway, jumping over the tripwire, but as I began to move, I stepped on Selene's foot in the dark, causing both of us to fall into the wire.
Jax's paw whipped back and using a claw slashed the wire as the bag rose, but not enough to rattle loudly. Selene grabbed the remaining wire to prevent it from landing with a loud noise as we all froze. The sound of footsteps even stopped as if waiting for a moment before it spread up and began to get louder. Jax hissed a curse under his breath as he said.
"Shit, weapons out everyone."