Astrid blinked twice as she looked up at the towering figure. It had a faint semblance of a face made of cracks and crags in its trunk near the top of the trunk. There remained "hair" made of branches and leaves above that, but the thin nature of its body was offputting. Everything Astrid had ever heard of the Verdant Walkers said that they were peaceful until somebody destroyed any part of the Sanctuary. Leave the Sanctuary alone, be polite, and you should be fine. In an attempt to be polite, Astrid dismissed her helmet to make some measure of eye contact with the towering creature.
"It's nice to meet you, Cresche. My name is Astrid Warrior, and I'm the party leader of our party. We didn't realize that there was anybody waiting for their turn, go right ahead, we'll be after you."
It is good to see that some of the others in the Trials can engage in conversation. I had feared that all competitors here would be so self-absorbed that they were unable to speak like people.
The voice was deep and creaking, but Astrid still didn't get the impression that it was male or female. In fact, she hadn't heard anything about genders existing for the Verdant Walkers, so she didn't want to make herself an enemy by saying something. Cresche turned to leave, but before they could get far, Astrid couldn't keep from asking, "How are you talking? I don't see a mouth move, and it feels like your words are in my head."
Oh, forgive me. I have reached out through my roots.
The Verdant Walker gestured down towards her feet, where Astrid saw that several small roots had wrapped almost imperceptibly around the tip of her left boot. "So this is how you all speak?"
Yes. It is how the trees communicate, and we come from them. Forgive me for asking, are you not a Barbarian, along with the other large one? And these others are Human?
Astrid bristled and had to grit her teeth as she answered, "Nope. I'm Human, Muti here is a Barbarian. The ears and the sharp teeth are the best way to tell that somebody has been mutated from a Human into a Barbarian."
Oh. Those things are hard for me to perceive. I must learn to see these things as you do, then. I knew only to look for the dark skin and bright hair. Now, excuse my grove.
Cresche said nothing more as they turned. Only then did Astrid realize that, despite being in the Trials, it looked like the Verdant Walker was alone. Looking at the surroundings, all that she could see was her party and the arena where the fight would take place to get onto the 12th floor. Looking at her party, they all seemed to have been able to understand what it was that Cresche was saying as well, and Astrid couldn't help but ask, "Where's the rest of your grove, then? You say grove as if there are several of you, and the Wandering Trials let parties of five come in. So… where are they?"
Astrid saw as Cresche turned, and a root stretched out to touch her foot once again. Once it was back in contact, the slow, methodical voice addressed her once more.
We are one. You need not worry yourself about us. If you wish, you may witness our success.
The tree-like person didn't deign to answer or give any more information, and strode towards the arena. Astrid shrugged and looked at her party.
"I've never seen one of them, have you?" Benedict was the first to speak.
"I haven't, and I doubt any of the rest of us have." Skandr said as he followed Astrid walking maybe ten meters behind Cresche. "All I really know about the Verdant Walkers is that they almost always stay in the Sanctuary and that they only let people in sometimes."
"There is nothing that we will learn here talking," Muti interrupted, "that we could not learn better by observing them in their hunt. We have been invited, now let us learn."
The rest of the party didn't disagree with the idea, and continued on their path for the short time that remained before Cresche stepped into the arena. As soon as their foot passed the threshold, that previous transparent wall flashed into being. Astrid touched it once, and her curiosity was repaid with a sudden burning sensation that singed her fingers and tingled all the way to her elbow. She recoiled, and the pain immediately disappeared.
"Strange…" she muttered to herself at the strange sensation. She didn't have any longer to think about it, though, because Cresche was ready for battle the moment they stepped into the arena. The two long arms that stretched out to the side had seemed relatively harmless as they spoke. Now that the Verdant Guard was going into a fight, the plume of leaves and branches that came out of their head like a large poofy hairdo shrunk down into their body, the green leaching away. Where once there was a strange approximation of a person's figure, now there stood what looked to be a heavily armored person made out of wood, broad-shouldered and thick–waisted, with large legs that didn't lift from the ground when they walked.
Cresche squared their shoulders and rolled them, somehow making spikes ripple across both shoulders, continuing until both fists were mighty, spiked clubs. With two steps that flowed more smoothly and elegantly than Astrid had imagined possible, they grew close to the jackals. Their wooden legs seemed to compress, Astrid couldn't quite understand what the movement was, but then they turned into a whirling top of absolute devastation. Cresche spun, and in one second, nothing remained of the three Iron tier monsters but pulped flesh and misting blood.
Most impressive of all, Cresche turned towards Astrid and her party before nodding once and reverting back to their less intimidating, skinny form. As so much of their mass crawled back up into the "hair", Astrid noted that their roots also seemed to pulse deeper, shifting more mass away. She could feel the rumbling underground as Cresche went ahead and exited from the floor. While Astrid looked and thought, they disappeared behind the reappearing wall of the arena.
"Is that all five of them?" Skandr muttered to himself. "That seems to be more than just one individual, though. There was whatever Skill they used to change form, the Skill to fortify the branches, the Skill to talk? No, is that just a part of their race?"
"Skandr," Astrid cut him off. "It doesn't really matter. I think you're right, somehow there's five Verdant Walkers in that one 'grove', but that doesn't matter to us right now. Let's kill the guardians, get to the twelfth floor, and get past them, shall we?"
Skandr nodded, and Astrid saw as Muti grinned widely, ready to let loose. She was disappointed when Skandr spoke again.
"I want to test what I can do now out on these 'bosses', if I can."
Muti's shoulders dropped as she stepped to the side to let the Storm Wizard stride forward a single step. There, he looked at the rest for their permission as well. When the rest of the party gave him their approval, he smiled and stepped into the arena as he pulled his hood over his face. Clouds billowed as they covered his face, both of his hands trailing identical clouds as he started forming sigils with both at the same time. Astrid quickly understood that this spell was the same one that he'd use to qualify to evolve to a Storm Wizard in the first place, but a combination of his Skills changing as well as his Class evolving, with addition of his robe, made it so that each movement of his fingers sent a faint pulse of mana through the air that shook in her chest. Every one of his words rang in the air, and after ten seconds, the clouds that billowed around him cascaded like an upside down waterfall into the air. The clouds swirled and thrashed as lightning appeared within them, and wind and thunder menaced the three jackals.
They threw themselves forward at Skandr, but his spell was complete, and he whipped his left hand carelessly in front of himself. From his robe's sleeve came a barrier of wind that knocked all three back several steps. Before they could re-gather themselves, a singular bolt of lightning flashed from the cloud and struck the centermost jackal. Electricity arced from the first victim to the other two, and all three fell to the ground, incapable of moving by their own power. Skandr held his right hand up, and a lightning bolt smashed into his hand and knocked his arm down. As the lightning danced on his arm, he stretched it towards the three stunned monsters, and his final attack fried them all.
Jackal Alpha slain. 1,000 experience gained, split among party.
Jackal Elite slain. 1,000 experience gained, split among party.
Jackal Elite slain. 1,000 experience gained, split among party.
Astrid was about to give her congratulations when Skandr drew his left hand in a circle above his head three times. With each movement, the storm overhead drew into a tornado until, when he finished, the storm flew back into his left sleeve. His robe swelled and billowed for one second before he resumed his regular, more bookish stature, and he pulled the hood from his head. Looking back at his party, he grinned and gestured towards the exit.
"You're a damn show off." Benedict grumbled as he drew his knife and began sawing one of the ears free from the dead jackals.
"It's not showing off, it's experimentation!" Skandr laughed as he grinned widely. "Sure, I'm more impressive and handsome and strong and awesome than you, but it's not me showing off, that's just the way that I am!"
"Skandr," Felix shook his head, "just because it's true doesn't mean it's something you should say."
Benedict, who'd perked up at being defended, let his face fall as Felix grinned and piled on him. "You're cruel. Just… cruel."
"Unfortunately, it looks like you're reaping what you sowed," Astrid laughed. "But, it was funny."
Benedict started to make some complaint, but he pursed his lips and nodded slowly. "Funny does cover a whole lot of sins. But I don't know if I could call this funny. Wasn't it just a little mean?"
"Benedict, it was a little mean." Skandr agreed. "Still funny."
Benedict resumed grumbling to himself about unfairness as he smashed the fangs out of the jackal's mouth. On the other side, Felix and Astrid had finished the other harvesting while Muti stood at the edge of the arena, the side from which other people would be able to enter. It was still closed, and Astrid couldn't see anybody, but Muti seemed to be looking at one thing in particular.
"You see somebody?" Astrid asked as she deposited all the trophies into her spatial pouch.
"No, but there is a party there. They are watching us. I wish for them to know that I am watching them in turn."
"They're slower than us, so we'll move along for now." Astrid comforted her companion. "I appreciate your watchfulness."
Astrid pulled on Muti's elbow, and the Barbarian nodded towards the hidden delvers before leading the way down the stairs. The well-lit, long and straight pathway didn't show any sign of the Verdant Guard who'd entered before, but there wasn't any way for them to figure out if Cresche had moved immensely quickly or if there was something else at work in the Dungeon. To further complicate matters, Astrid and the party had no meaningful exposure to the Dungeon proper, and even less experienced with the Wandering Trials, until three days ago.
"The twelfth floor is going to be much the same. Any questions?" Astrid asked as the party stepped down the stairs.
The rest of the party shook their heads, and Astrid nodded as she fell in step behind Muti as the even, soft light of the stairway gave way to the darkness of the twelfth floor. Apparently, the sunset from the eleventh led to a dark desert on the twelfth, where predators ranged on the dunes. Astrid smiled, ready to confront the new environment and enemies. Looking at her companions, they shared the sentiment, and they followed Muti, who pointed in a direction, signing that a pack of ten jackals was in that direction.
Hopefully there were even more Irons now.
***
Caelum
"It would appear that we have found the strongest member of the half blood's party." Caelum felt his face twist as he was forced to see the wizard's prowess. What would his Magical Potency be? Well over 100 combined with high tier Skills, that was for sure. Fortunately,, because he wouldn't be higher than a rare Class, his Self-Mastery would be comparatively low. With each level, the difference between them would grow, and Caelum would be able to bring him to heel eventually. Maybe not quite yet, the Count would need to gain a couple levels to ensure his own Magical Potency continued to grow quick enough. Eventually, the half breed and Barbarian would be subjected to him, along with the rest of their party.
"So what are we going to do about the Lightning Wizard?"
The question wasn't a bad one, but questioning his ability to deal with it? An affront.
The Count sent a thought through the substance of the contract that bound them. His subordinate twitched, then writhed, then screamed at his behest. After a few seconds, he released the punishment and glared at the Shieldmaster who served him.
"He will bow to me. Whether by choice or by necessity, he will do so. Do not worry yourself about others."
With a grimace, the man bowed his head.
"And if I must seek help from the estate, I will do so once we have gained our Boon. Until then, our focus is to progress. Let's move."
***
The twelfth floor was much the same as the eleventh, surprising nobody. The party found that they needed to spend more time traveling, simply because the darkness of the new floor kept them from being able to see approaching scorpions and lurking adders. As such, to ensure none of them got poisoned by the various threats that lurked, their journey was at about half the speed of what they'd been able to make on their path through the eleventh. Strangely, even though there had been only one, maybe two minutes between Cresche's entrance to the pathway to the twelfth floor and their own, there was no trail or hint of his passage left behind that they came across as they traveled. There were no killed monsters, no tracks that even Muti could pick up on, nothing.
"I wonder if the entrance puts you in a different place every time?" Benedict mused as the party dispatched another pack of jackals. To the party's disappointment, there was still only one Iron in the pack.
When Benedict asked that, in a moment of inspiration, Astrid squinted. "Everybody, wait up for a second. I'm going to check something."
As soon as she said it, Astrid pulled out the brief on the floors and went to the front pages instead of going straight to the first section talking about the first floor. Sure enough, there, in the general points of advice, was a passage.
Each time a party passes through the passageway to the next floor, they will be taken to a different location than those who come before and after. Each seems to be generally the same distance from the passage to the next floor, with the first to enter being given a slightly more advantageous vocation.
"Well, there you go." Astrid grumbled to herself. "We'll be a little bit behind Cresche, and they'll be a little bit behind whatever the Kins' names are."
"Then we cannot allow this advantage they have gained to cascade on itself," Muti spoke up. "I shall go ahead and lead forward with much haste, if Skandr and Benedict can keep up."
"Don't worry about me," Skandr smiled. "So long as you don't go full speed, I'll make sure I can keep up."
Benedict didn't vocally respond, instead just nodding as he pulled his flute to his lips and began quietly channeling Hasty Rebuke. As the Skill settled over the party, they all rushed forward, ready to catch up to the others on the floor and continue on their path. After all, Muti, Benedict, and Felix were getting closer to their next level.