Department of Dungeon Studies: A Magic Academy LitRPG, page 52
“We’ll come back for them,” Kris answered. “I laid traps behind us. If anyone comes through the cellar in the next couple of hours, they’re going to end up blind and with serious skin burns.” She gestured for them to follow. “Chop. Chop. Let’s get moving. Lillin and I will take the lead.”
Suddenly, Nox’s vision grew sharper. The colors he saw were even more vibrant than what he saw with Sniper’s Eye, but a crimson hue painted everything. Then Kris’s form faded from view until only a faint outline remained. Her body shimmered red and orange whenever she moved.
“Only the three of you should be able to see me now. I don’t know the extent of your body modification powers, Lillin, but you’re our vanguard now. So increase your durability as much as possible without making the transformation too obvious.”
“Understood.” Lillin nodded. “I don’t know if I can keep track of you during a fight, so don’t get too close. My gravity might hurt the wrong people.”
“You should model your next planet around detection,” Lillin advised. “It will improve your abilities as a control mage.”
Fortunately, all the cells deeper in the tunnel were empty. No prisoners spotted the passing group and raised the alarm while begging for help. Kris stopped them to dispel or deactivate wards as they ventured deeper into the noble quarter’s underground levels. Her invisible light helped her detect the remnants of the arcane materials used for the spellform and mana sources. Nox struggled to keep track of the distance they walked, but he had his manameter for the time. The first bell was quickly approaching. He summoned Otis as they walked, and Lillin gave him backup equipment from her storage space, hoping the gremlin would succeed where Annabelle’s magic failed.
Nox got an ordinary bow, the quiver from the last delve, enough pills, pellets, and Trap Foam to fill his pockets and a satchel for storing them. It wasn’t the same as having Ratra’s Bow, but it would have to suffice. Besides, Nox still had plenty of essence glass arrows and his sigil’s latest ability to trigger them. He still felt incomplete without Ratra’s Bow and hoped to recover it as soon as possible.
“Avoid lethal attacks whenever possible,” Kris said, eventually coming to a stop by a blank stretch of wall. “I suspect we’ll have to deal with royalty and aristocrats. I know these bastards are criminals, but you don’t want to make powerful enemies this early in your career. Families might forgive an arrest, but they won’t do the same if you kill one of their own. Parents are often blind to their children’s crimes.”
“Or often complicit,” Nox whispered, thinking about the Gedges.
The professor’s eyes appeared for a moment. They solidified and flashed orange. Then her hands felt around an inconspicuous stretch of wall, pressing on seemingly random bricks. Nothing happened for a moment. Then the touched stones sank into the wall. A large, rectangular section of the wall parted, creating an opening big enough for a single person to pass at a time. Nox had no clue how she detected the hidden door or its mechanism. He could only guess Kris’s invisible light detection abilities helped her see things others couldn’t notice.
A brightly lit corridor awaited them. It looked like the underground level of a local mansion. The walls were bare, but the light fittings were much too fine and polished for a commoner’s home or the basements of an eatery or private club. All doors were made of heavy wood and had heavy brass handles. Kris touched none of them, and Nox ignored them, too. Meanwhile, Otis begged Nox to retreat. The gremlin detected a threatening presence ahead, and the safest way out was back.
When Nox relayed the information to the group, Kris and Lillin rejected all options that didn’t leave forward. The first was determined to uncover the group abducting mages. Meanwhile, the latter’s pride wouldn’t allow it. Lillin rarely exhibited her egotistical side. She liked to think of herself near invulnerable amongst common mages. Yet an ordinary sleeping draught had incapacitated her. She wanted to make the perpetrators pay. Only Annabelle believed that retreating was a good idea.
A hum reverberated through the floors and walls as the group delved deeper. It grew louder with every passing foot. Nox felt it through his feet and eventually his skin. When he identified it as a loud, sonorous chant, the vibrations had made it to his bones and teeth. Otis squeaked on his shoulder, and Nox could feel the gremlin’s pleading. He wanted to escape. However, the master-familiar bond kept him from fleeing without suffering great pain and discomfort. Annabelle fidgeted uncomfortably, too.
Kris took the lead when they reached the end of the corridor. A line of hooded figures walked through a grand archway. The last person hurriedly pulled the heavy wooden door behind them. Fortunately, the professor slipped her hand into the crack before it closed all the way. Kris signaled her students to stop before slipping in. A heart-pounding minute later, the shimmering outline of her hand appeared, and she waved them in.
The doorway led to a wooden balcony overlooking a grand hall with a giant statue in the rear. The sculpture depicted an eye-patched old man. He had a long beard and stood with a hunch, leaning on a long spear. A raven sat on his shoulder, and its eyes were fiery rubies.
At least three dozen robed figures stood facing the statue, and a trio of men stood underneath it. One of the trio waved his hand, and the invisible voices chanting and humming stopped.
“May the All-Father forgive us for humankind’s folly.” Then he turned to the front row. “What do you have to report?”
A hooded woman approached the aged speaker and whispered in his ear. The man’s face wrinkled face contorted into an ugly scowl.
“You dare defy the Three, Brother Gedge?” he demanded, glaring at a tall, broad-shouldered figure in the crowd’s front row. “Every time you waste our efforts on your cripple of a stepbrother, you risk exposing us more! Why can’t you let go of your petty grudge? We have all of what we need to appease the All-Father!”
“But we got him this time!” Edward’s familiar voice protested. He approached the stage. “We got House Oakheart’s oldest for ransom. Her family has been a thorn in your side for years. She is my gift to you, Father Smythe!”
“Don’t try to butter me up, boy!” Spittle flew from the older man’s mouth as he spoke. “I told you to leave the matter alone! We can’t afford the guards and inquisitors poking their noses where they don’t belong! Your last attempt already cost us the grunts and almost exposed us.” The air rippled as he spoke, and Edward winced, falling to his knees. “Especially when we’re this close to the time of All-Father’s hanging! You might as well have jeopardized all our work for your petty revenge. How many good brothers and sisters did you risk this time?”
“Fourteen,” someone in the crowd answered. Nox recognized the voice’s owner as Sara. “Brother Vys assisted in the planning.”
“If it wasn’t for your parents’ reach, I’d hang you with the others!” Father Smythe exclaimed. He took a deep breath in and then exhaled slowly. When he spoke again, his tone was considerably softer. “But we can’t risk them finding out about our brotherhood, either. Remember: there is nobody you can trust besides the servants of our lord.”
Kris nudged Nox. She glanced at his hand and nodded.
They had discussed a plan on their way through the tunnel. Their priority was incapacitation and capture. If they rescued the students and fled, the cultists would find out not long after, dismantle their operation, and flee the city. The professor didn’t want to risk any lives. Powerful members of the organization would inevitably come after the formerly captured, hoping to eliminate witnesses.
Kris was willing to accept accidental casualties in the lower ranks, but she wanted the higher-ranking members of the organization relatively unharmed. Nox knew little about Dungeon Lord Cults but had heard they operated in chapters and cells. They had factions and internal strife as opinions and views on ideologies clashed. Kris also needed to capture the people at the top to find all the agents in the university and purge them.
So Nox squeezed the handful of pellets pumped with a variety of paralytics and sleeping draughts before throwing them over the railing. Annabelle equipped everyone with goggles and breathers. Several plumes of smoke rose from the floor below, and surprised yells followed.
Nox activated a fragment of shadow essence and threw it at his feet while everyone else descended from the balcony. Lillin conjured gravity orbs. Annabelle wielded a borrowed sword and shield. Meanwhile, Kris’s palms glowed so bright the orange glare hurt Nox’s eyes. He persevered and shot an arrow at the trio under the statue.
Thunder boomed as the old man yelled again, and a shockwave pulsed through the room. It pushed all smoke away for a second before new plumes rose from the floor. Fortunately, his attack staggered the cultists facing him, too. Nox’s arrow landed somewhere in the crowd and exploded into a mass of rapidly growing white foam. A trio of cultists ended up trapped within. Doors on either side of the hallway opened, and the robed figures pushed, jostled, and wrestled each other, trying to squeeze through them all at once.
A second arrow flew from Nox’s bow. Instead of flying at the trio, it struck the statue above them and exploded with a thundering boom. The stone sculpture exploded, fragments rained on the leading cultists, and fragments showered everyone else. He followed up with an ordinary arrow with Trap Foam attached to it. The contents showered the old man and the robed figure standing closest to him. Unfortunately, the third person fled through a side door after felling people in his way with a shortsword.
Kris, Lillin, and Annabelle took full advantage of the chaos. After leaving the cell, the group passed an alcove full of mana restraints. Lillin had stored them in her dimensional storage. They attacked and disabled the panicking individuals resisting the effects of the smoke pellets before cuffing them. A third of the cultists escaped during the chaos, but the group got the majority of them.
Much to Nox’s delight, Edward and Vys were among the captured individuals. The first fell victim to a sleeping draught. While he stumbled around, disoriented and struggling to stay awake, the All-Father’s hand fell on his back and knocked him down. The aspiring Aether Warrior failed to recover from the blow. Meanwhile, Vys proved resistant to the concoctions. However, he lacked the physical strength to push through the crowds at the exits. The poison mage surrendered and returned the rod half of Ratra’s Bow when Lillin approached him with a gravity orb in each hand. He was cuffed and dragged to the destroyed statue with all prisoners.
The battle was swift. After six people suffered terrible burns and lost digits to Kris’s magic, the still-conscious surrendered. Annabelle fled through the building to fetch the city guard while the rest kept watch. Nox kept an arrow trained on his stepbrother. He knew Edward was a twisted, power-hungry, and lazy excuse for a human being. However, he never expected the Gedge-man to turn to a Dungeon Lord cult to overcome his shortcomings. As Lillin went around removing hoods and unmasking everyone, he also looked for Louis amongst them. Nox surprised himself when he was relieved at the young man’s absence.
However, the number of faces he recognized appalled him. All the male members of Edward’s entourage were cultists. The second captured member of the leading trio was the young female quartermaster from the war mage department. The rest were people he saw regularly in his classes, walking the corridors between lectures or working in the shops and libraries on campus.
“The inquisitors are going to have fun with this,” Kris commented.
“Won’t you, too?” Nox asked.
The professor shook her head. “The city government Imperian Inquisition removed me from the investigation, citing incompetence. I somehow ended up doing their job and found our missing students—or most of them, at least. I’ve done my part and succeeded where they failed. The rest is up to them.”
SEVENTY-THREE
CULT OF THE ALL-FATHER
The aftermath was anything but swift. All captured cultists begged for forgiveness, mercy, and leniency. Sobs and panic followed once the paralytic’s effects faded. Only the sleeping cultists gave them any peace.
“Please, let me go,” Sara begged. “My mother will kill me!”
“Do you have any idea who I am?” Edward growled.
“My father will hear about this!”
“They didn’t give me a choice! I either helped them or ended up a sacrifice. Please, Professor. Let me go!”
“You don’t know what you’re doing, Kris! You and your damn students will pay for this!” the captured quartermaster said, head sticking out of the Trap Foam. “Forget about your careers. Your lives are over. The All-Father will have your heads.”
“Shut up, girl,” Father Smythe said. “Don’t incriminate yourself further.”
All but the leading pair’s tone changed when the guards arrived. They offered bribes, made ridiculous threats, or tried to flee. They didn’t get far, thanks to the mana restraints. Nox had to encase a couple of legs in mana foam and even ply them with more sleeping draught. Ultimately, the guard carried most of the cultists out of the mansion.
Kris identified the building as the Smythe household’s home. She couldn’t help but feel ashamed of the revelation since the noble house was a trusted friend of the university. Kaitlyn Smythe, its founder, was a planeswalker. She started from humble roots as a blacksmith’s daughter before establishing herself as a golemancer. She played a role in the current mana system’s creation before disappearing through a portal with a couple of apprentices. Many visitors from other worlds and dimensions appeared over the decades, claiming Kaitlyn Smythe had sent them to fight the good fight against the gods and Void Lords. Kris struggled to believe her descendants had fallen to such depths after winning the city and Imperian’s favor.
The guards and Imperian Inquisition interrogated Kris and her students before freeing the captors. Several were in miserable conditions because of untreated injuries, malnutrition, and sores from the handcuffs. Nox assisted in their initial care.
The creation and study of healing potions involved the study of human anatomy and disease. Nox didn’t know enough to treat complex injuries or conditions. However, Nox’s alchemical training involved first aid and triage. He got ointments and medicine from Lillin’s storage and provided enough treatment to alleviate immediate discomforts. Healing and stamina pills helped many of them, too.
An Imperian Inquisitor appeared surprised by Nox’s skills and attempted to recruit him until Kris revealed herself as his mentor. The man apologized and backed down. As night turned morning, Nox couldn’t help but feel proud of his teacher and companions.
There were many mages more potent than Kris. However, only a few had her mind and expertise. The woman had turned a complex and mostly unknown part of the cosmos into a weapon. He hadn’t seen the full extent of her damaging spells yet, but her ability of stealth, detection, and disabling opponents was unparalleled. She didn’t just have her infrared spells—as she called them—but excellent martial abilities, too. The initial impression she made against the Cloud Hunter had initially filled him with doubts. Then his time at Woodson University taught him better. Raw arcane prowess wasn’t everything. Scholarly pursuits, research, and study were just as valuable.
It was probable Kris would never face an archon Dungeon Lord head-on or strike them with the finishing blow. However, that didn’t mean she couldn’t dismantle cults, find and guide future god killers, and act as a commander in the war against the gods. Not everyone needed to be a powerhouse. Annabelle was a prime example of that. Delving parties needed support mages to survive. Most would probably never make it to the Rift or Dungeon Lord without someone fulfilling the valuable role.
Annabelle appeared shaken but stayed strong. The woman didn’t waver when her father appeared and fussed over her. She remained stoic and helped monitor the prisoners while ensuring no cultists snuck in to free them. Lord Oakheart wanted names and heads to roll. The Imperian Inquisition and guards refused the latter demand. The man had a strong dislike for House Smythe. It wasn’t that they were newly ascended to the aristocracy but used underhanded business tactics and were rumored to engage in Pink Sellis trade. The addictive drug had turned many a city into hives of scum and villainy.
It was late in the morning before Kris, Lillin, and Annabelle were released. Kris stayed back to talk to the guards and inquisitors. Lord Oakheart insisted they take his carriage and refused to take no for an answer. Lillin didn’t have the mental capacity to return to the apartment alone. Her pride hadn’t recovered, and she missed out on the opportunity to inflict pain on the cultists. Nox had instructed her not to hurt or maim anyone, especially Vys. He wanted to see the young alchemist brought to justice. Lillin accompanied him to Annabelle’s apartment and slept on the couch in the living room.
Annabelle passed out as soon as her head touched the pillow while sleep eluded Nox. He struggled to stomach Vys’s betrayal and all the familiar faces in the cult. What concerned him the most was the dozen or so people that escaped. They were still at large, and perhaps more cells filled the city. Six people had died, five of which fell to the escaping cultist leader’s sword. He had cut through obstacles in his way like they were butter. The sixth death was a result of trampling. Someone had fallen to a paralytic while attempting to flee the room, and his companions had crushed him underfoot.
Even though the dead were criminals, preparing to sacrifice innocents to their god, Nox couldn’t help but feel bad about them. Many were his age or younger. Nox wondered how many of them were victims of circumstance. The people claiming unwilling participation and fear of death and persecution were possibly lying. However, there was a tiny chance some of them were telling the truth. It was also likely there were such people amongst the dead.
Nox had blood on his hands. He couldn’t deny it. Somewhere between thirty-six and forty souls had fallen to Lillin. Nox had picked the target and arranged their death and consumption circumstances. However, the majority of the targets were violent criminals. The authorities lacked sufficient evidence to prosecute them. He knew it was poor, self-placating justification, but Nox liked to believe he and Annabelle made the Golden Isles and passing settlements safer with their actions. That didn’t mean he didn’t question his decisions. It was tough when Nox was a preteen, and his judgment wasn’t always correct. Now, he wondered the same.
