Fulfilling The Deal

January 16th, 2022

***

"Welcome back."

Richter spoke softly to the group of four standing at the entrance to his dojo. He was still cleaning up the debris from his fight earlier. His hands slowly traced over the patterns and carvings on the scattered nameplates. Old memories of each disciple played through his head while he delicately cleaned and organized them.

Rio, Brent, Koga, and Reed glanced at the damage with a mix of emotions. They couldn't tell who the blood stains belonged, but the silence was deafening. They knew asking was a bad idea.

"Uh- hey Richter." Reed cleared his throat.

"You know, there's still a Tier 1 dungeon around, and we had our deal..." he trailed off awkwardly.

Richter sighed and glanced toward them. "I'm a man of my word. We'll get going when I'm done. Won't be long."

No one objected or raised a fuss. The four simply stood and watched as he tended to his dojo with a tenderness they'd never seen him display. He almost looked vulnerable in their eyes.

By the time he finished, the sun had risen high up, almost at midday. He changed into a new set of clothes and walked out front.

"Lead the way."

Rio nodded quickly and kept a sizable lead from the rest. The others couldn't tell, they weren't sensitive enough. But something about Richter's mana circuit was seriously fucked up. She didn't dare to observe it like usual. She never thought she'd say it, but it was like his mana was...angry. If such a thing was possible.

Richter broke the silence as they were leaving the edge of town.

"So, any info on the dungeon's features?"

"No, we didn't investigate it, we just know the location because of the mana pillar it generated during generation."

"Lovely. Well, it shouldn't matter too much. We'll be fine."

***

It was a volcano. The dungeon's interior took place on an island with an active volcano. It sloped toward the center, meaning it got steeper the further inland they went. It also meant the dungeon was timed. Magma started bubbling toward the surface, slowly engulfing the island as the level rose every few minutes. The terrain was a mix of heavy jungle and desert. Walking on granules of sand made fighting awkward as their footing was unsteady.

The sweltering heat was unbearable, and if not for some natural springs they'd have likely died from dehydration. 

Koga and Brent had natural resilience due to their class so their skin fared pretty well. But the other three were dried and peeling badly. Richter's tanned skin held up against the sunlight but Rio was burning and bright red before they even encountered their first monster.

The strange insects looked like giant centipedes. They were a fiery red and seemed impervious to anything heat-related. Each one stretched 20 feet long and 6 feet across. Their mandibles were sharper than steel. The bugs didn't bother weaving around trees or foliage, instead munching through everything in their path. Their exoskeletons were reinforced with plating that rendered edged attacks almost useless. 

[Slice - 20%]

Rio's mana condensed along her fingertips, sending razor-thin blades that left left minor cuts after struggling to shear through the plating.

[Double Strength] 

Koga and Reed buffed up and ran to a different set of bugs, strength surging through their bodies before pounding away at them with blunt force, taking two centipedes each. Their brutal fists crushed and smashed down on their heads, splattering the contents along the ground.

Brent achieved a similar level of strength after cutting off two limbs. Richter watched closely, snapped from his thoughts as he observed the unique red energy once more. He was quite curious if he could find a way to acquire it for himself, but it seemed very different from mana. Brent still hadn't achieved the feat of combining them, assuming that was possible. 

As per the agreement, Richter was condemned to watch from the back. He sighed softly, critiquing their openings and weaknesses in his mind. To his back the red lakes of lava were rising, steadily getting closer.

"Damnit! Just die!" Rio was jumping up and down on the head of a centipede who looked unperturbed. The force of her body weight wasn't enough to put a dent in the tough shell.

Brent slid over and cranked his fist back, delivering a clean jab straight to the bug's eyes. Its head spurt purple blood as the shape compacted into a pancake.

Rio was fuming mad.

"Don't steal my kills! I almost had him."

"But Rio, you've been fighting it for 5 minutes. We don't have forever..." Brent pointed toward the encroaching lava.

Her brows furrowed as she scoffed and turned away, reluctantly acknowledging his claim. The group progressed forward at a steady pace, outpacing the lava comfortably. But a new problem arose.

The lava had risen enough to reach the trees and ignite them. A fire that started small spiraled suddenly when embers blew through the wind in the direction they were heading, igniting more trees along the route. Since they were traveling up - and smoke rises - it meant they were starting to slowly suffocate. Smoke inhalation would kill them long before the lava did. 

"Come on, We need to run if we want to make it before the whole island is covered!"

The group picked up the pace, breaking into a jog. The incline and thin air made it harder and harder to progress. Even Richter was panting, caked in sweat as they neared the top. What greeted them was an empty flat patch of sand.

Koga, Rio, Brent, and Reed cautiously walked forward with their weapons raised. With their eyes set forward to scan for a boss or exit portal, they didn't notice Richter's head cocked to the side behind them.

He stared at a patch of sand near the back with unwavering intensity. His Sense penetrated deep underground, putting a strain on his mind. He could feel a migraine coming on but he wouldn't make the same mistake again. After about 30 seconds, his persistence was rewarded.

'It's coming.'

Something with a big aura was tunneling up through the mountain of sand.

'Should I warn them? Nah. This is a good experience.' 

The others picked up a disturbance when the sand started vibrating beneath them. They grimaced and all ran back to Richter, arriving right as something burst out. Sand showered them, snaking uncomfortably into the crevices between their clothes and skin.

A giant red scorpion stared them down using its many eyes to glance at each prey. Two tails jutted from the back end of the abdomen. A dark yellow fluid oozed from each of the stingers moving independently of each other. The scorpion's mouth moved and chomped on nothing as if envisioning the meal before even killing them. Its pinchers stood out even more, colored light blue in contrast to the rest of its body. 

Richter squinted hard. He swore he could see frost and cold air blowing near the surface of the pinchers. But he wasn't worried for them. The aura was much weaker compared to the Vikten Queen. However, that was expected since this was just a regular boss. He wished Drek and Stel had explained what a Mutant was before leaving.

Meanwhile, the other four spoke quickly to create a plan of attack. 

[Teleport] 

[Slice - 20%]

Rio appeared behind the scorpion and sent a disc of mana at the base of its tail, hoping to sever it or at least deal damage. But the exterior was even denser than the centipedes. It spun around and barely missed her with one of the stingers. She crashed to the side, spitting out sand as she looked at the rest of them.

"Hurry up and follow the plan!" 

[Teleport]

Rio vanished much to the dismay of the scorpion but it didn't have time to worry about her. Koga and Reed charged forward with their axes raised; arcing them down onto its tough carapace above the head. A few splinters chipped from the shell and a spider web of cracks formed a few feet in each direction. The scorpion swung a tail horizontally, sending them tumbling back from the impact. It sprung toward them like a spring; with the other stinger aiming right at Reed's throat. 

"Ugh..."

Brent jumped in front to take the hit instead. The stinger penetrated his arm and pumped it full of venom, turning it a sickly yellow. Tears streamed down his face from the pain, somehow worse than he could inflict on himself. Nasty puss started oozing around the entry wound - The scorpion looked almost gleeful.

[Blood Deal - Left Arm]

He sliced off his arm at the shoulder before the venom could reach the rest of his body. The arm broke down into red fluid, disappearing from the scorpion's stinger. A new arm sprouted from his body at alarming speed.

Richter was surprised; it was even faster than the last time he saw it. But what came next made him question his vision.

[Duplicate - 90%]

Richter's jaw dropped as a complete clone of Brent appeared beside the original. His Sense told him that it was nearly identical. Aside from the fact that the clone had no mana, he couldn't tell the difference. 

Both Brents charged forward with a cloak of red covering them. Their feet kicked up sand with each heavy step. The clone gained a slight lead to draw the scorpion's ire. Its pincers streaked out and grabbed the clone, unveiling their ability. A cold sheen covered the clone as its body was encased in a solid block of ice. But any celebration the scorpion felt was cut short after the clone inside the ice disappeared.

Reed, Rio, and Brent took advantage of the small opening.

[Teleport]

[Slice - 40%]

Rio aimed at the weakened spot with her attack. The blade found purchase and started tunneling into the flesh of the scorpion. Its screams of pain rung out as it shifted focus once more. But Brent and Reed were at arm's length now.

Both men unleashed a flurry of punches on the scorpion's head, slowly caving it in. Rio sent another slash as well, drawing more blood. Punch after punch knocked the monster around until it finally twitched its last. Brent's fist retracted from the cavity of brain paste, covered in bits and pieces of flesh.

"Phew. That was...not so bad actually." Brent sighed in relief and glanced around the group.

"You jerk. Taking all the XP. I didn't get any this whole dungeon! You could have let me at least kill the boss." 

Rio punched Brent's shoulder half-heartedly.

"Sorry. Maybe next time Rio." 

Richter finally stepped forward from his spot and approached them.

"Seems I wasn't needed here. You all took care of it."

"You were our insurance policy in case things went south. Fortunately, there was a good balance between environmental and monster danger."

Richter raised a curious eyebrow. 

"What are you talking about?"

"Dungeon generation," She said like it was common knowledge. "Dungeons generate an environment and monsters. It's a scale. So the less dangerous the environment, the more dangerous the monsters generated. And vice versa. Thankfully we had a good balance so it wasn't too problematic."

Rio said a few more things to Richter in passing; but off to the side, Koga and Reed were having their own hushed conversation.

"This would have been the perfect chance to show off your skills! Why are you still waiting?"

"Trust me Reed, this just wasn't the time."

"But we could have been more demanding if you killed the boss singlehandedly."

Koga nodded softly.

"It just isn't time yet. Besides, I'd like to keep it a secret from Richter if possible. You know, just in case..."

Reed snuck a glance at Richter and turned back. "Fair enough."

"Also, I have some suspicions about my skills. They seem strange. I still have some testing to do. Right now I can barely use them at all without suffering significant drawbacks."

"You know you still haven't shown me the form you keep hinting at. How long until you expose it?"

"Next time, I promise Reed."

The two finished their talk and fell in line behind the others as they approached the exit portal.

***