Drip-Fed

Korith waited for her party in the Loot chamber.

It was a room at the end of a short corridor that had opened up. As was so often the case with these Dungeons, it was directly attached to a resting area. A larger healing fountain, alcoves for sleeping, and small side rooms for privacy. Apexus had heard them called the Apartment for Adventurers. He had not heard that name often. It was not popular.

The chests were made from chitin, looking more grown than built. Their divine origin made the distinction unimportant. “Put your money on fire yet?” Reysha asked.

“No! I want you to witness the glory of Hoard!” Korith declared. “Since you are too stupid to appreciate an item upgrade, we’ll do things differently this time!”

Reysha opened her mouth to argue, but Aclysia put a hand on her shoulder. The redhead glanced back. The moth-winged angel gently shook her head. ‘Alright, fine,’ the Rogue thought. “I was just saying it’s difficult to appreciate when you have no comparison… sorry if I was overly teasing…” She scratched the back of her head. “You know what I’m about.”

Korith’s cheeks remained puffed up. An appeasing hand was placed on her head by the leader of the group. A couple of ear scratches later, the shortstack was at least happy enough to start her little ritual.

“First, we just check the loot as per usual,” she announced.

There were four chests this time around and so they checked the four items within.

First was a magical tent. It was the size for one person on the outside, but fit about 4 on the inside. With the Mobile Estate in their possession, this item could be considered useless. They considered it a good second choice. There were times at which the Mobile Estate was unviable, for social or environmental reasons.

Second was a Ring of Water Walking. They allowed for a person to walk on water as if it was solid ground for a few seconds. After some back and forth, it was decided that Korith would get it. Apexus did not need it, he felt perfectly at home in the water and, as a Monk, he would be able to solve this in different ways down the line. Reysha was the other contender. Utilizing water walking for unique ambush angles was good. However, it was not as good as keeping their fully armoured frontliner from sinking under the waves. Plus, Reysha had already gotten a ring out of this dungeon.

Korith wore the item not on her finger, but on the left of her two larger horns instead. The magical item widened as it was pushed over the ridges, then narrowed down behind the second to last segment. She would have to keep wearing it until her horn broke off, until it grew out, or until they removed it with a cutter. A drawback that was also an advantage, as it was quite firmly attached to her now.

The third item was a spear. It was of artisanal make, decorations most dense where blade and shaft flowed together. For a spear, it was heavy, making it a poor weapon for Reysha, defaulting it to Korith. As she was currently lacking in a weapon with reach, she accepted it. Testing revealed that it was enchanted to inflict a gravity effect on the enemy. A light one, weighing them down by 10% of their body weight. Not enough to cause a creature to collapse, but enough to slow most monsters down.

Fourth was a Page of Communion. It was a consumable item that Classes utilizing some kind of book could use in order to commune with a deity who could reveal to them a new spell. Aclysia took it for herself for later usage.

A good haul, all things considered.

“Alright, now witness glory!” Korith declared boastfully and pulled out 3 of her 4 remaining Favour Papers. “One to seal the lid,” she chanted and smacked the paper against the front of the chest. The lifted lid suddenly snapped forwards on its hinges, falling closed so loudly that Aclysia jumped. “One to refill it.” Korith put a second paper against the front of the chest. The first one remained glued to the surface by magical power. The gap between the lid and the body of the chest glowed in a spectrum of colours. “One to upgrade the item!” Korith adhered the third Favour Paper to the chest, then snapped back.

The religious symbols on the papers began to glow. Divine energy steeping the fibres rose from within, consuming the material in a blaze of golden flame. Translucent afterimages of the papers remained. Runes flowed into new shapes, gold coins, diamonds, books, and all else that was hoardable. They flowed from the top to the bottom.

They flowed and flowed, moving ever faster. A sound like hard money cascading down a staircase filled the room. It looked like each of the strips of golden light was a spinning wheel. The first one came to a sudden stop, slotting in with a satisfying ‘cling’ sound. An icon depicting a sword was on display.

“What’s that abou-“

“Sssssssssshhhhhhhh!” Korith interrupted Reysha. “Listen to Hoard’s coins flowing!”

The second wheel slotted into place, depicting a sword yet again. Korith squeaked in excitement, rocking back and forth with giddy anticipation. The other three members of the party watched with various degrees of interested confusion. They were not yet sure what would come of it.

The third and final wheel came to a halt with teasing slowness. Korith trembled head to toe, hands clasped in prayer to Hoard. Aclysia, Apexus and Reysha leaned in a little closer. They saw the symbol of the sword appear on the upper edge of the moving light symbols. It crawled its way down, first making them question whether it would join the other two in the row, then whether it would snail its way past.

With a sound like a click, the wheel came to a stop and spelled out their fortune: three swords in a row.

The lid of the chest burst open. A blade of gleaming silver came flying out. The edges were gold-trimmed. For all of its luxurious colours, the double-edged weapon was dangerous and sleek in its design. The handle and grip were made from carved bone the colour of ivory. A trail of large runes was burned in black into the spine of the straight blade, a curving accent to the uppermost rune flowing all the way to the tip.

“HOLY SHIT!” Reysha shouted and grabbed the Legendary item out of mid-air. She gave it a once-over, then probingly sent her Ki through the grip of bone into the runes. The flow was familiar. Her eyes widened when she recognized the Martial Art this weapon supported. Then, she started to giggle. “By the Hellroots… yeah, fuck me sideways, Hoard is awesome.”

“I told you!” Korith declared, hands on her hips and chest pushed out boastfully. After a few moments of holding that pose, she did deflate. “So, uh, what is it? Besides a cool sword?”

“It’s a Runeblade?” Reysha said, and turned the weapon to be inspected by everyone else. “I told you about it before?”

“Did you?” Korith asked.

“She did,” Aclysia confirmed. “Although this was back on Tacuitos.”

It had been over 8 months since they had left that Leaf and their teachers behind. Aclysia with her erudite memory remembered most details from conversations back then. Korith was far from stupid, but to have details slip after such a long time was only human. Apexus, for his part, did recall it as well. He did not mind the refresher, nor asking for it so Korith did not feel isolated. “Could you tell us again?”

“Sure,” Reysha shrugged, used to forgetting things herself. “Runeblades are weapons with runes on them… that sounded better in my head…” She pinched the bridge of her nose. “Okay, bad formulation. Runeblades use runes to simulate the way mana flows through the body. They usually have just one or two Martial Arts or Skills inscribed on them, which becomes way easier to turn into a Weapon Art through these weapons. Instead of having to force the Martial Art to be extended, it has a natural vessel. It makes it quicker, cheaper, and more reliable.” Reysha gave the weapon a test swing. “This one has the Ki Poison Martial Art. Mai tried to teach it to me, but I only got Edge and Spellslice figured out before we left…” Her Ki flowed into the runes of the light, sharp, and fairly long weapon. A noxious, purple glow replaced the gold of the edge. “…I fucking love this.”

“Do you respect Hoard now?” Korith wanted to know.

“I respect the fuck out of Hoard now!” Reysha assured and swung her weapon. It had to be her weapon, no one else in the party could make proper use of it. “I wish I had-“ A sheathe bounced out of the still open chest. “That!” Reysha shouted and caught the black, wooden container for the weapon. A few seconds later, she had secured it to her belt, with the other armaments she regularly used, and put the weapon away with a satisfying ‘clink’. “Scam God redeemed! Let’s buy all of the Favour Papers now!”

“Yeah!” Korith shouted.

“No,” Aclysia interjected.

“”Eeeeehhhhhh?”” Reysha and Korith complained in unison.

“Favour Papers are a costly affair.”

“Aclysia, this is the kinda shit ya can’t even BUY at our level. It won’t be made because 500 platin is barely enough money to make a craftsman capable of it spit on you!” Reysha was clearly excited. “We could get an armour for Korith – a Runeplate!”

“Do those exist?” Apexus asked.

“Yes,” Aclysia confirmed, valuing truth over making her point as ironclad as possible. “Regardless, a mass investment into Favour Papers is unwise for layered reasons. First and foremost, like all of Korith’s games, there is a chance we lose. Do not mistake your victory in this gamble for proof of the absence of misfortune in our future. Secondly, this application does only work at the end of a dungeon. Assuming we manage to engage in a lifestyle where we enter dungeon after dungeon, it would still be prudent to only clear one every two months, translating to six per year and 18 Favour Papers needed per Dungeon.”

“B-but… we can get 18 then?” Korith pleaded.

Aclysia glanced to Apexus, who slowly nodded. The guardian angel sighed. “If we have the excess funds, it shall be a priority,” she promised.

“Yay! You’re the best, Aclysia!” Korith said. “I would jump and kiss you if I wasn’t covered in armour!”

“Your awareness of your state of hardness is appreciated,” Aclysia drawled. “Shall we take a short break?” She gestured at the pool.

“Do we have time for one?” Reysha asked in return. “As you just mathed out, we spent a lot of time down here. Shouldn’t we make up for it?”

“The Atlas Party’s speed is not our concern, making our own journey as safe as it ought to be is,” Aclysia answered. “Furthermore, I believe we have the fundamental edge in this matter. The route we went for is the shortest and although the Lanaan Hives territory is hostile, it is flat. Our competition treks through the chaotic landscape of Chimerion and, likely, through the forests and jungles of the north thereafter.”

“I support Aclysia’s reading in this,” Apexus raised his voice. “We are also used to wandering. More than they are, at least. They will also have to increase their own power and thus clear a dungeon on the way.”

“Such is my assumption,” Aclysia nodded. “Ultimately, however, this does not matter. We cannot know and I am not beginning a search for divination magic to acquire intel that will not change our approach. We will move at the proper speed, quick enough to make us competitive, not so hurried that we are guaranteed to stumble into an obvious blade.”

 “Mhm… I’ll just trust ya on this,” Reysha answered after a few seconds. “Not like we’re losing anything besides our pride here.”

“Not pride, honour,” Apexus corrected her. “We do this because it is right.”

“Imma be honest with you, big guy – YOU do it because it is right. I could have ignored all of this just fine.” She tilted her head and gave him a broad, somewhat tired smirk. “Which is just one of the many reasons I love you. Sticking with you makes me a better person… or at least forces me to pretend.”

Like he had done with Korith minutes earlier, Apexus placed his hand on the tiger girl’s head. “I’m not good with words.” He left it at that, scratching Reysha’s ears until she purred. Her gaze, blue orbs in black pools, beheld him with all of the sexual intent that usually accompanied the end of these dungeons.

 “If we’re relaxing anyway, how does it sound to pound the feeling out of my legs?” she suggested seductively.

Apexus did not have to consider that question for long.