Victor of Tucson

The stairs worked with the same kind of magic Victor had seen in other places. Climbing a few steps seemed to activate it, and then, without any warning, he stumbled onto a landing. He lifted his axe, looking around, startled. His caution was unwarranted; he was in a small, pale marble room with a single door on the far wall, closed and barred from the inside. Other than the stairs leading down, the only other object in the room was a marble chest the size of a shoebox sitting in the center. Victor turned, wondering where his companions were, but they didn’t arrive, and he guessed the dungeon had used its transportation magic to separate them. “Hopefully, just so we can open our chests in peace,” he muttered.

Speaking aloud reminded him that he was being observed, so he glanced up, looking for the floating stone egg recording his every move, but it wasn’t there, further reinforcing the idea that the dungeon wanted them to have a private, safe moment in which to claim their rewards. Victor slung Lifedrinker into her harness and then walked over to the chest. He squatted before it and noted it was molded to the marble floor—he wouldn’t be moving or taking this chest.

With a shrug, he lifted the lid. Motes of golden Energy sparkled out of the chest in a showy display, and when Victor blinked, clearing his eyes, he was left staring at two objects. One was a small, black pouch that looked to be made of silk, and the other was a heavy leather, left-handed glove with a wide wrist cuff.

“The hell is this?” Victor grunted, not exactly impressed. He picked up the pouch and confirmed that it felt like silk and also that it was empty. He’d been around long enough to guess there must be more to it, so he carefully trickled a tiny thread of inspiration-attuned Energy into it. Suddenly, his mind expanded with the knowledge of the pouch’s contents—it was empty but contained a vast dimensional space. Victor nodded and tied the pouch to his belt. It seemed the dungeon was giving him a container since all of his were off-limits. With that mystery solved, he reached in and picked up the leather glove.

The leather was supple and fine, but the knuckles were stitched with an extra layer of much stiffer stuff. Still, it was just leather. Victor didn’t even notice a particularly strong Energy aura coming off it. Frowning, he trickled some inspiration-attuned Energy into it, and a System description appeared in his vision:

***Gauntlet of Sojourn – This is a set item. Collect five pieces of the set and bring them to the Sojourn City Stone to imbue them with curated set bonuses.***

Victor turned the “gauntlet” in his hand a few times, wondering if he was missing something, but found nothing really notable about it. It didn’t seem like anything special to him, but he supposed it might change drastically after you collected a set and had the items imbued. “Whatever that means.” He stood up, put the glove into his new storage pouch, and walked over to the door. He paused long enough to pull Lifedrinker out of her harness, and then he unbarred the exit and walked through. His vision flickered for an instant, the only clue that he’d been transported, and then he stumbled into a gray stone chamber and almost bowled Cam over.

“Oof!” Cam said, stumbling back. He caught himself by reaching out to rest a hand on the stone wall.

“Sorry!” Victor grunted. “I just stepped through the door, and the dungeon dumped me on top of you.”

Victor didn’t see any point in lying. “Yeah. You?”

“Oh yes! Twenty-five thousand death-attuned Energy beads.”

“Death? That useful to you?”

Cam shrugged, pursing his pouty pink lips. “Only as money. Covers half my entry fee, if nothing else.”

“You paid fifty thousand beads to get in here?”

“A hundred, my friend. A hundred, unattuned. What, you didn’t?”

Victor opened his mouth to reply, but then the air shimmered, and Sora appeared, stumbling toward him. Victor held out his hand, catching her. “Gods! That was careless! I almost fell atop you,” she said, grasping his wrist with her slender fingers. He could feel the points of her nails, and she quickly let go. “I didn’t scratch you, did I?”

Victor turned his wrist left and right, displaying his unmarred flesh. “Nah. I’ve got thick skin.”

“Well?” Cam asked, his tone almost petulant. Victor turned to him with a scowl, but the young man’s eyes were trained on Sora.

“Well, what?” She snapped.

“What did you get in your chest? I was made a touch richer.”

Sora sighed and shrugged. “Just a bolt of something called Evensong Silk. It seems rather fine, but I’m not sure I’ll find a use. I’ll likely just sell it.”

She looked at Victor, and so did Cam, and he knew they wanted him to say what the System had awarded him. Their hesitance to ask outright probably stemmed from the same reason he didn’t really want to say—they hadn’t built any trust for each other yet. So far, they’d gotten into one fight as partners, and it had been mutually beneficial to cooperate. So, Victor shrugged and said, “Pretty much the same—some leather.” He almost grinned at his duplicity; he wasn’t technically lying.

Sora nodded and looked around the room. “More like a dungeon on this level, eh?”

Cam slapped the cold stone wall near the closed wooden door. “Seems so, based upon these dank stone walls.” He reached for the rough iron latch on the door but paused, turning to look at Victor and Sora. “Since the stairs deposited us together, likely because the dungeon assumes we’ve teamed up, we can assume there are multiple entry points to this level. We may run into others, or we may not, but I’m certain there will be dungeon denizens starting on this floor. I’m not the first student Duvius Black has sponsored in this contest, and he told me as much.”

Sora laughed, shaking her head. “This is what happens when you spend all of your time studying and playing Vongboard. Anyone who’s watched previous competitions knows as much, Cam.”

“Oh. Yes, I suppose that makes sense. Shall we?” He jiggled the door handle.

“You’re going first?” Victor asked.

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“Traps have a tendency to miss me.” He flashed a bright smile, pulled the handle, and stepped through. Victor glanced at Sora, and she just shrugged, shaking her head so her long, nearly white hair bobbed back and forth.

“One day, he’ll regret relying on whatever skill that is.” She eyed Victor for a moment, then added, “Perhaps you should guard our rear flank.” She held her bow in her left hand, and when she touched the string with her other hand, Victor was surprised to see a dark metal arrow appear under her fingers. Its razor-edged tip dripped something to the stone that sizzled.

“How do you do that? I thought dimensional containers were locked . . .”

“It’s a function of my magical bow. I purchased an exemption so that I could pull the arrows from its storage.”

“Purchased an exemption, huh?” Victor shook his head. It was starting to become evident to him that not every participant in the dungeon was on equal footing, even putting aside the level disparities. Sora winked and lithely followed Cam through the door. Victor brought up the rear, walking into a long marble passage dimly lit by regularly placed amber gemstones embedded in the ceiling. He could already count six branching passages in the long stretch before them.

Cam had walked ahead about twenty yards to the first intersection and was carefully peering around the corners. When Sora and Victor caught up to him, he sighed and whined, “How are we supposed to find our way through this maze? Do we even know what we’re looking for?”

Victor answered, his voice more a growl than he’d intended, “Stairs. Something to kill.”

“Suggestions?” Cam leaned against the wall, but not casually; it was more like he needed the support, as though his feet were killing him.

“I could scout . . .” Sora started to say, but Victor shook his head, channeling dark, fear-attuned Energy into his pathways. He summoned his coyotes, and this time, when they appeared, crawling out of a pool of shadows by his feet, they were eerily silent, their smoky purple eyes peering beneath dark, shadowy brows as they scrutinized Victor’s companions.

Cam yelped and leaned back. Each of the five stalking canines was large enough to grab ahold of his leg and drag him off if they wanted to. Sora stepped back, too, but she seemed to recognize that Victor’s companions weren’t being hostile so much as curious. He could see she wanted to reach out a hand toward the closest one, but she resisted the temptation.

Before he said anything, Victor silently impressed his will upon his companions, and, on nearly silent, padding feet, they darted off, separating at the various junctions to explore the side corridors. Then, he looked to Sora and explained, “I’ll know if they find something interesting.”

“Amazing!” Cam said. “Here, I thought you were just a brute, a powerful one, but a brute, nonetheless.” When Victor didn’t speak but glowered at the man, he stammered, “I mean that with the utmost respect for raw, brute power . . .”

Sora chuckled and slapped Cam’s shoulder. “Hush, Cam! You’re making things worse.” She looked at Victor. “Do we just wait here?”

“We can. Or we can go ahead and explore that passage on the left up there. I didn’t have enough coyotes to cover every option.”

“Coyotes?” Cam smiled. “What a lovely name for your hounds. They’re a special breed, indeed!”

“Quit trying to put honey on a burn, Cam.” Sora clicked her tongue and gave the youngster a shove, and he hurried ahead, bypassing another junction but stopping at the third. Victor watched him peering around the corners, but when he and Sora approached, he got a sensation from one of his coyotes—prey and danger.

“I think one of my companions found a monster.” He paused, thought for a moment, and shrugged. “Or a person.”

“Do we go to it?” Cam asked. “I see nothing but a long corridor down this way.”

Sora nodded, looking at Victor. “Better to take the sure shot than pray for another hare.”

“All right. Follow me.” Victor turned and jogged back to the last junction. He could feel his coyote to the left, so he turned that way and hurried forward. He was reasonably sure he’d know if his companion had spotted or triggered any traps, so he didn’t move too cautiously. They came to a four-way junction, and he could feel his coyote to the left, but still further ahead, so he wasn’t sure if he should turn. He paused and willed the coyote to return. “Wait. He’s coming to guide us.”

“What a skill! Are they summoned beasts? How clever are they?”

“They’re some sort of spirit . . .” Sora started to say, but Victor ignored them. His coyote was already there, silently darting out of the shadows on the left-hand passage.

“Good boy! Show me,” he whispered, then, holding Lifedrinker ready, he jogged after the eager scout. He could hear Sora and Cam following. Victor wasn’t reducing his size and had to lean forward to avoid hitting his head on the ceiling. For that reason, when he moved, he looked predatory and aggressive.

As he followed his companion, he channeled hot, rage-attuned Energy into his arms and Lifedrinker, and he recast his Inspiration of the Quinametzin, washing himself and his companions in a warm, encouraging light that pushed away the shadows. When his coyote came to a right-hand junction and stopped, pointing with his nose like only a canine can do, Victor slowed and glanced back.

He saw the egg-shaped spying stone dart back, having moved close to him as he was running. He scowled at it, something deep in his blood annoyed at being spied on. Further back, he saw Cam and Sora. Cam gave him a thumbs-up when he saw him looking, and Sora nodded. Victor turned, stalked to the corner, and leaning forward like a tiger ready to pounce, he peered around it.

A short hallway opened into an immense cavern, and near its center was an enormous, pink-skinned creature that looked like part elephant, part eel, and part octopus. It was shifting through piles of sludge-like refuse, and Victor could smell the rot and decay from where he stood despite a faint current of air tickling his ears as it wafted into the larger room. At that thought, Victor’s eyes widened; could the thing smell him?

It didn’t seem to. He watched its enormous body on its trunk-like legs shifting left and right while its great, circular maw munched the piled sludge. The tentacle-like appendages surrounding its head reached out, pulling things into its mouth, where it squeezed shut, grinding the stuff into a paste that it could swallow. Victor felt bile roiling in his gut, threatening to rise up as he watched the process. He ducked back, looked over his shoulder, and waved the others forward. When they came to the corner, he held a finger to his lips and motioned for them to peek around the corner.

“Sludge Gargantuopod,” Cam hissed.

“Shit!” Sora softly cursed, earning a smile and a respectful nod from Victor.

“Do we kill it?” he whispered hoarsely.

“Can we?” Cam shook his head. “They regenerate very rapidly, and, no offense, big man, but they’re strong and huge and . . .”

“Let me rephrase,” Victor interrupted. “Is it worth killing?”

“Oh, Gods, yes,” Cam nodded. “If we can, there’s sure to be great loot . . .”

“So, it regenerates. Anything to combat that?”

Sora nodded, “I’ll use fire arrows. That’ll help.”

“I can try to confuse it. If I can trick its mind into thinking it’s uninjured . . .” Cam trailed off, shaking his head. “My mind affinity is my weakest. No promises.”

“Do your best. I have a few tricks up my sleeve.” Victor cut the Energy feeding his coyotes as he spoke, sending them back to the Spirit Plane. He had another companion he meant to call up for this battle.

“It’s going to spew toxic gases,” Cam said, snapping his fingers as though he’d just remembered the fact.

“I’m pretty sturdy. I’ll summon a banner that should help you two; hopefully, it’ll push the gasses away.”

Sora nodded. “I have some air affinity.”

Victor couldn’t help the grin stretching his face, and he knew he was baring his teeth at his two companions while they huddled there. He probably looked insane, but he couldn’t help it—he loved fighting, and that thing in the next room looked like it would put up a good brawl. More than that, he was eager to see what kind of treasure would prompt Cam to label it “great loot.” He nodded, twisting his white-knuckled grip on Lifedrinker’s haft. “So? Ready?”

Cam slapped his thick red glass wand against his palm. “Not in the least, but I’ll do my best.”

“I’m ready,” Sora said, her brow narrowed fiercely.

“All right.” Victor looked at Lifedrinker’s shiny axe head. The rivulets of rage Energy she’d siphoned away from Drobna Wyrm-shell were all but gone, absorbed into her metal. “What about you, beautiful? Ready for another drink?” In response, her metal brightened and then burst into molten fire, black smoke billowing up to coalesce along the dungeon ceiling.

Cam recoiled; he’d been just inches from the axe while they hunkered together. Victor laughed, lifted her, and began stalking toward the giant monster, opening his Core to flood his pathways with hot, rage-attuned Energy. “Let’s kill this big hijo de puta!”

He broke into a jog, and as he ran, he cast Iron Berserk, then Banner of the Champion. He exploded with mass, taking advantage of the larger space. His banner blazed, pushing the gross, hazy, stagnant air away from him. Victor paused halfway between the tunnel opening and the giant monster grazing amid the piles of refuse and began to build his pattern for Wild Totem again. As he did so, the elephant-sized Sludge Gargantuopod whirled on him, taking note of his presence. Victor couldn’t see any eyes on the thing’s head, just a sphincter-like maw that twisted open and closed on rows and rows of stubby, razor-sharp teeth, many of which were adorned with bits of rotting flesh and refuse.

As Victor completed his spell, the creature inhaled a massive torrent of air and exhaled it in a monstrous roar that rode the wind of an acrid, green gas. The wave of caustic air billowed toward him, but Victor didn’t flinch away. In fact, he stepped toward it, unable to resist roaring his own answer to the challenge.

His voice echoed off the chamber's stone walls, and his banner’s light pushed back the bulk of the gas, but some of it touched him. It was acidic and smelled like chlorine, but Victor refused to shrink away. He was Quinametzin. He was the Herald of the Mountain’s Wrath. Gasses couldn’t bother him. Poison couldn’t take root in his lungs or blood.

“Come on, pendejo!” He roared, “I’ll burn your pinché gas up in my lungs!” To illustrate his lack of hyperbole, Victor opened his breath Core, allowing some hot magma-attuned Energy to fill his lungs. As he laughed, black smoke and flames licked his lips. He lifted Lifedrinker high as a third roar rocked the chamber, and Victor’s nightmare bear, nearly as large as the monster before him, exploded out of a pool of shadows on the far side of the chamber and leaped on the Sludge Gargantuopod’s back.

“Let’s go, hermano!” Victor cried, charging for the monster as it whirled to face the new threat posed by Victor’s massive bear. As he closed the distance, a hail of fiery arrows streaked past him, punching into the thing’s thick pink hide, and then the fight was on.

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