Chapter 284

“Come along everyone, we’re going on an adventure today.” Kone calls cheerfully to the kitchen full of Guild Members. 

“I know Dimnys and Auntie Char said we needed more materials, but do we really need them at five in the morning?” Marco, a green haired Gnomish warlock sighs as he sips his juice and tries to wake up. No matter how long he’s been in this Guild, he still hasn’t gotten used to Kone’s perpetually cheerful disposition. Nobody should be that happy before the sun comes up. 

“Not really, but do you recall how bad the lines were the last time we went at nine in the morning like you wanted? We were there for longer than it took to do the dungeon, just trying to get through the crowd of miners.”

“She has a point. The sooner we get there the more we can get done today. Plus, I’m coming along today, along with Leafen for ranged support and Reggie the Earth Mage to help us clear rock faster than the Dolls can.” Symbia the Doll Witch points out.

“You’re a life saver Sym, but don’t think I don’t know that means Kone is going to make us go through multiple times to empty out the Stone Giant Dungeon.” Marco laughs.

“The Tradesmen need materials. They made you that new Alchemy set just last week after you blew your lab up again and didn’t complain.” Kone teases him. They didn’t complain, but they did make fun of the inquisitive Gnome for the number of times his experiments have failed. 

He’s trying to make a new battery for the moped that Kone found in Muzz. It’s a very delicate procedure and only becomes stable when it’s complete. So, over the course of the last month, he’s blown up his lab 4 times and needed healers to save his life twice after poisoning himself. But he’s managed to make half the cells for a new battery pack successfully, and he’s getting much better at it. 

With breakfast finished the odd group takes the travel circle in the Guild House to the city of Assah, and begins their early morning journey to the Stone Giant Dungeon. No longer do the Mining Guild Members give them trouble, they’re a regular feature here, and despite her tiny size and apparent youth, Kone is a fearsome fighter. 

She uses her Guild Summons to keep a pair of Lords of Decay, a Plague type Epic Demon merged with her at all times. The Merger grants her increased healing done and taken, as well as a lot of mana regeneration and HP. Compared to the Oath Breaker or the Record Keeper, the Lord of Decay is a veritable tank. 

When Summoned, it is an enormously fat being, further bloated with disease, that relies on its sheer mass to become nearly indestructible, clocking in at forty thousand HP to the Oath Breakers twenty thousand at her level. When merged it is a silent companion, only occasionally expressing amusement or concern.

But it’s the Dragons that most everyone fears. Kone prefers all nature type Dragons, and their breath and spit attacks are corrosive. Not a pleasant way to die.

There is no lineup at the dungeon, as expected this early in the morning. With the threat of attack, and the dungeon being outside the city walls, traffic has really slowed since the wars in Landis began. 

Kone started living at the guild castle, their most vulnerable location once that news spread across the desert. Nobody has been stupid enough to attack yet, but it’s better to have more capable people on hand just in case. 

The Drakes called by Su, who has shifted into her own small humanoid form are less than impressed to be back in this dungeon. There’s lots of room to walk, but it is an underground complex, with no plants and no natural light. To compensate, the giants have hung magical touches, leaving deep soot stains on the limestone walls. 

The basic design remains the same, but the dungeon changes a little every time you enter, so the group sends the drakes to scout, while Kone calls the Snapping Turtles that they’ll be using as tanks to stay near the group.

The first thing Symbia does is collect a handful of chalk out of the limestone, a ritual she performs every visit, because someone is always running out. All the crafting rooms have blackboards on the wall now, making calculations and design schematics less wasteful than using paper, so the simple gesture is actually much appreciated by the members. 

Marco is hoping to get a book drop today. The Guild Library has been slowly expanding and they’ve gained a skilled Inscriptionist, but materials for warlocks books are a real pain to obtain. Some come from the Demon dungeon, which is fine and accessible, but the rest come from various Elemental dungeons, and neither the beginner valley nor the desert really has any, except if you get lucky here in the Stone Giant Dungeon. 

The drakes have found the first group, so they start moving forward to engage. They’re all well over level 100 now, and Kone is getting close to level 170, making this a fairly easy fight. But still, Marco has a good feeling about today. 

The Drakes fire their corrosive spit at a giant with a shield, who bashes it back towards Marco, forcing the Gnome to roll away, cussing at his luck. The corrosive attack has puddled in a crack between rocks and begins to bubble, causing an angry burning noise.

That’s new, usually it’s silent. 

A huge Shadow Elemental bursts from the ground under the puddle, enraged at being attacked while it slept and immediately attacking the closest living thing to it, which is, of course, Marco. 

“Mama no! Help.” The Gnome screams, before running behind Kone as if her healing aura will get stronger as he gets closer. She sends a pair of Turtles to attack the Elemental, smashing it apart into wisps of smoke with the help of some well placed curses by Symbia and Marco while Leafen and Reggie focus on the Giants they were already fighting. 

“Reggie, I see a glimmer from underground. When you finish up there, come split this chasm open for us.” Kone calls back to the Dwarf.

They’ve found a Shadow Elemental Gem and iron deposit, Dimnys will be very pleased with her results today. So much that she might even take it easy on her group and let them go home after just one clear. 

Maybe.