Chapter One Hundred - No Strings Attached

Chapter One Hundred - No Strings Attached

Chapter One Hundred - No Strings Attached

Delver Team Two, that is, Eli, Percy and Boots, worked together like a well-oiled machine.

It had become obvious the first time we were ambushed by Manweaver spiders in the hedges and they formed a quick triangle to lay down some literal fire on the beasties. It became impossible to miss when we entered the second floor.

Calling a dozen long corridors lined with empty rooms and a ceiling so far above that none of our lights could reach it a floor was a little strange, but that was the nomenclature the delvers used, so we stuck to it.

Knights ahead, Eli said.

Boots ran up a few steps, his heavy plate boots clunking on the wooden floor until he was half a dozen steps ahead and held his axe at the ready before him. Percy stepped back and Eli moved behind Boots and to the side, his staff pointing ahead towards the end of the corridor.

We... didnt move so fluidly. I skipped ahead to be next to Boots, Amaryllis stepped up behind me with her magic sparking at the air around us, and Awen stumbled to a stop a little ways behind her.

What can you tell us? Amaryllis asked as she peered ahead.

There was a deep thumping noise coming from around a bend in the corridor, one that was growing louder.

Knights. Big bastards. Level seven. Toughest mob in the dungeon after the boss, Eli said. "If you can aim for the strings above them and cut them off, theyre finished, but anything less and theyll just keep coming.

That sounds annoying, I said.

If you make enough noise, the first knight will attract the second and third. Its usually best to tackle them one at a time, Eli said.

And then three knights walked around the corner.

I felt my neck craning back as I took them in. Each of the knights was ten feet tall, a skeletally thin body stretching up in a way that looked more grotesque than lanky. They wore thick plate armour all across their body, and two of them carried shields and swords. The third, who hung back a little, had a sword that was longer than I was tall gripped in its spiked gauntlets.

Their pitch-black armour made their details hard to pick out in the darkened corridor. I pushed some mana into my runelight to fix that and immediately regretted it.

Bloody rags were sticking out of their armour and their helmets, which only covered half their faces, revealed rotting jaws and empty eye-sockets. Oh, nasty, I said. Insight.

A Black Marionight, level seven.Fịndd new updates at novelhall.comn, Eli said. We should retreat.

I stared. Amaryllis stared. Even Awen stared at him.

What? he asked. We didnt come down here to die. We only fight when things are weighed in our favour.

But there are seven of us and three of them, I said. And were better levelled. Cant we at least try?

Thats the spirit! Boots cheered. Cmon Eli, weve taken two at once before.

Only in a pinch, Eli said.

You said focus the string, right? I asked. I can probably get to them if theyre above the knights.

Amaryllis sighed. Theyre moving closer, she said. Close your eyes for a bit.

I slapped my hands over my ears and saw Awen doing the same a moment before the corridor filled with light and noise.

When I opened my eyes again it was to see the three knights stumbling forwards, little electric currents buzzing across their armour. Im on them! I said.

A burst of stamina to my legs and I was off, soaring up and high above the knights before gravity did its thing and I started to fall towards the forward-most knight. I spotted the cords Eli had talked about just as I landed onto the knights pauldron.

The reaction was instantaneous. He immediately started stabbing upwards with his big sword, and the knight at the back did the same, lunging up at me with his big two-hander.

For all that they were fast, I was faster. It was childs play to duck one sword and step onto the other so that I could use it as a pad to bounce onto the first knights head. The cords holding him up were thin, near translucent things. I chopped at one with the sharp edge of my spade and all it did was reverberate like a guitar string.

Annoying, I said.

Magic it first! Amaryllis said.

I shrugged and turned on my cleaning magic aura. It was a weird sort of spell, one that made the world around me more... mine, and also more clean. I saw the rust flaking off the knights armour and the flesh left on its bones turned to dust and was swept away. The lines hanging in the air glowed a little.

My next swing of my spade snapped through half a dozen wires. The knight started to collapse.

I hopped off just as the other wires gave out under the knights weight and it came crashing down as a pile of armour and bones.

I felt Mister Menu congratulating me for the kill, but dismissed it for the moment.

The second knight charged at me, shield held before it and sword already mid-swing to try and take my head off. I still had plenty of time to jump out of the way, but it turned out that wasnt needed.

A foot-long bolt appeared in the knights knee. Its leg crumpled, but it still raised its arm for a stab.

Awens crossbow reloaded with a heavy crunch-crank. A second bolt punched into the knights elbow, locking it in place.

It would have fallen all the way, but its strings held it up from behind, like someone tugging at a girls hair. It didnt look all that comfortable.

Hah! These girls have spunk! Boots said as he raced ahead. His axe glowed a moment before he swept it through the strings holding the knight up. It fell with a heavy clunk.

And then there was one.

The final knight stood tall and proud, its sword spinning by its side with heavy whooshes of displaced air.

Thats why when I jumped I aimed for his other side. Another burst of magic and a few quick strikes of my spade and the knight came crashing down just like its comrades bringing me down with it.

I cheered as I landed in a roll then bounced to my feet. That was easy!

Congratulations! You have snipped Marionight, level 7s life thread. Due to combating as a team your reward is reduced!

***

Eli grumbled a little as he led us to the next floor. Still, he and his friends were out ahead, which meant I could talk to Amaryllis and Awen in peace. It is just me, or is this dungeon really easy so far?

Its a very young dungeon, Amaryllis said. Give it a few years to find some tricks and maybe grow a few more floors and its difficulty will ramp up.

Yeah, but... what levels are the delvers at?

Amaryllis peered ahead, then shrugged. Between twelve and fourteen for their main classes.

And they dont feel as... strong as us, I said. Or maybe not strong, but... uh.

Theyre cautious. They take their time, they plan things out, and they dont take undue risks. In short, theyre smart. In five or so years, after switching dungeons a few times, theyll hit their next evolution. Thats how most people do things.

Ah, but we dont.

You dont. Because youre a headstrong moron that runs into trouble around every corner and who somehow managed to not get herself killed yet. Amaryllis sighed. People like you either die tragically, or become like Abraham.

Broccoli will be like uncle? Awen asked. Awa.

Amaryllis huffed. Most die. Which is why you really ought to learn to stop jumping ahead so much, Amaryllis said.

Here we are, Eli said before I had time to really think about what Amaryllis said. I filed it in the back of my mind for later. It was worth thinking over, especially if my dying made my friends sad. Welcome to floor three.

He pushed a pair of large double-doors aside to reveal a ball room. Pillars lined the edges of the room, intricate windows behind them letting red moonlight pour into the room to splash off of mirror-polished marble floors.

The king twisted around and to the side to dip under Boots guard. One of his sickle-like blades sliced across Boots exposed ribs. The big man winced and stepped back, but the king didnt let up.

I shot ahead, spade stabbing forwards like a spear only for it to be tapped aside by the kings raised foot.

I still had tricks up my sleeves though, and I fired a burst of stamina that had me shooting off to one side for only as long as it took for my foot to touch the ground again before I shot back towards the king from a different angle.

The king dodged again, but he looked to be off balance, his leg stretched out at an awkward angle.

Then he fell onto his bum as I swiped the air where he had been.

I blinked, looked down, and only just managed to hop out of the way of his rising foot. A foot with a three-inch blade sticking out of it.

I was in midair when the kings smile turned into a frown. His jaw unhinged, revealing a pipe sticking out of his mouth.

Poison! Eli shouted.

The king spat out thick off-white fog from his mouth. It met a wall of cleaning magic that made it evaporate out of the air.

The kings jaw snapped shut. He did not look pleased.

Before he could do anything about that, a dozen small, fist-sized fireballs raced past where he was, and the king was soon busy dancing out of their way like someone dancing the robot to speedmetal.

Awen fired her crossbow.

The king snatched the bolt out of the air, and with a spin flung the bolt towards Amaryllis.

My bird friend side-stepped it. Yeah, no. Enough of this, she said.

I slapped my hands over my ears.

The room filled with light, growing warm even as a deep electric hum resonated in my bones and the air began to smell like ozone.

Cant dodge that, can you? Amaryllis asked. She was wearing a smug grin.

It was probably deserved. The puppet king had a foot-wide hole blown through his chest and his wooden arms and head were all smoking. Even his royal clothes had taken a beating, some of it smouldering away.

The puppet crashed to the floors, its strings cut.

Was that all? Amaryllis asked.

Dammit, Eli shouted. Youre not supposed to kill the puppet!

Huh? I asked.

My attention was drawn up by a flash of motion above. There, hovering by the ceiling, was a large cross. Two wooden planks as wide around as I was, each end covered in little hands pinching at torn ropes, and in the joint in the centre, two dozen mis-matched chameleon-like eyes that were twitching every which way.

Insight, I said.

The Puppet Master of the Palace of Strings, level 8.

Its above! I said.

It was too late.

Thin cords whipped down and snaked around Boots arms and legs and neck. The mans eyes went wide a moment before he started running towards his friends. I cant move! he said as he swung his axe around to try and decapitate Percy.

The healer ducked under the swing, turned tail, and started running while screaming a whole host of impolite things. Boots never let up, occasionally swinging his axe as he went.

Amaryllis aimed her arm up. Some of the eyes twitched her way. The arc of lightning that snapped out of her shot through the spot the monster had been in only seconds before.

Boots yelped as he was dragged to the side by the trailing strings.

Amaryllis growled and fired off three more blasts of lightning, but the boss monster was quick and agile, spinning out of their way each time, even when Eli joined in and started flinging fireballs up at the ceiling.

Then one of Awens bolts thudded into the centre of the cross and the entire thing went nuts, bouncing off walls and butting up against the ceiling. When it came down and tried to buzz over our heads, I jumped up and landed on its back.

My weight made it veer down, and the entire thing crashed into the floor for a moment before it started to lift.

Oh no, I admonished the boss before smacking it with the sharp edge of my spade. It took a bloody gouge into the wood.

Boots, who had recovered from his little ordeal, rushed over and smacked the boss back down with a dull thud of his axe. Then Awen came, her crossbow set aside so that she could wield her hammer in both hands. Raa! she roared with the ferocity of a yawning puppy.

Ding! Ding! Ding! Congratulations, you have defeated Dungeon Boss: The Puppet Master of the Palace of Strings, level 8! For defeating a Dungeon boss, bonus exp is gained! Due to combating as a team your reward is reduced!

Its done! I cheered.

Dungeon Cleared!

All adversaries with The Palace of Strings Defeated.

All Bosses Defeated

Broccoli Bunch, Cinnamon bun, level 9 is awarded the Puppeteer class.

All class slots filled.

Replace current class with Puppeteer?

Replacing your current class will reset your level 0.

No thanks! I told mister menu. Amaryllis, you got your class! I said.

Indeed, Amaryllis siad. She looked extra smug as she stared off into space. Then she blinked a few times and the smug was replaced by a more normal smile. Thanks, by the way. I think Ill be having a lot of fun with this one.

I was about to reply when a new prompt filled my vision.

Bing Bong! Congratulations, your Cinnamon Bun class has reached level 10!

Health + 5

Stamina +10

Mana +5

Resilience +10

Flexibility +10

Magic +5

You have gained: One Class Point

You are now eligible for Class Evolution!

Oooh!

***