Pocket Dungeon 3, page 15
Leather Boots of Ass-Kicking
Speed: +2
Strength: +5
Dexterity: -3
Well, those would certainly be fun to use next time I came into a dungeon.
The second item in the second chest was a small key that fit easily in the palm of my hand. It looked like a skeleton key out of every haunted house movie I’d ever seen, and was otherwise entirely unremarkable.
The text over the item was blue and marked it as Opener.
Definitely a lamer name than Leather Boots of Ass-Kicking, that was for sure. But I was impressed with the item’s stats nonetheless.
Opener
Use me to open any door. Opener takes forty-eight hours to recharge.
That would have been handy in the suffocation room, but at least we had it now.
The last item in the second chest was a pair of gloves, and I practically whooped out in triumph. Sure, gloves were far less impressive than something like a magical longsword, but I’d been stuck using the same damned Tanned Beginner’s Gloves since day two or three of the dungeons, and I was relieved to have finally leveled up a pair.
The text over the top of the item was blue and marked the gloves as Flame Catcher Gloves. Sick, they even fell in line with my fire branding.
Flame Catcher Gloves
Dexterity: +5
Fire Resistance: +4
While wearing Flame Catcher gloves, user will have a 15% increase in fire damage against opponents.
I could definitely work with that.
I pushed the second chest aside to reach for our final prize from the dungeons as Yasha finished up gathering the remaining loot. When I popped open the lid, I was surprised to find there was no gold or jewels inside the chest, but instead a katana.
It looked similar to Yasha’s katana, with its devilishly sharp blade and curved hilt, right down to the etching on the handle in a language I didn’t understand, but instead of glinting silver as hers did, this katana was gold.
“Yash,” I said to catch the fox-woman’s attention. “I think this is an item for you.”
“What do you mean?” she asked with a furrow between her fair eyebrows as she came over to peer into the chest.
As soon as she did, however, her golden eyes grew exponentially wider, and she began to bounce on the balls of her feet like a giddy little kid.
She picked up the katana with her warrior’s grace, and without saying anything, she quickly spun on her heel and moved over to where her katana was safely stashed in her locker. It would never cease to amuse me that despite the chaos of our bedroom at home, she kept her space here neat and tidy.
Maybe it was because most of the things in here were deadly. But who knew.
“Do you recognize the weapon?” I asked her as she pulled out her katana.
Side by side, the two weapons really did look like they were identical save for the color scheme, right down to the mere millimeter.
“It is my blade’s twin,” Yasha said, and her voice shook with excitement as she held the two blades aloft in the air side by side.
I moved over to gently touch the golden blade in her hand so I could see the item’s details. It was a blue text sword, and apparently its name was Day Bringer.
I’d make a wild guess that Yasha’s other katana was called something like Night Bringer.
Day Bringer
Damage- High
Speed- Fast
Skill Level Required- Incredibly High
When paired with its twin, Night Caller, the two blades merge into one, seamless weapon that may be separated at a whim. They hone the skill of a warrior within the wielder, just as the warrior hones the edge of the blade. Combined, the two blades become Twilight, as deadly as it is beautiful.
“Whoa,” I said. “That’s really fucking cool, Yasha.”
She nodded eagerly, and instead of saying anything aloud, the fox-woman slowly brought the two blades closer and closer together. Something incredible started to happen then.
It was as if the two blades were magnets drawn to one another, and the air began to shimmer around both of the blades as the very molecules making them up looked like they began to shake. Some sort of magical power or energy flowed between the two of them like molten metal.
The entire otherworldly exchange between the two blades lasted only a moment, and then they snapped together to form one katana.
The new katana, Twilight’s blade was a mixture of silver and gold and looked almost like Damascus steel patterning within the two magical metals. If I wasn’t looking so hard at the sword, I probably wouldn’t have seen the nearly imperceptible split in the hilt where the weapon could be magically pulled apart into its two halves.
Yasha beamed like the sun as she gave the blade a few twirls and slashes in the air, and it moved like a diver through water.
It was easily one of the most enchanting, beautiful things I’d ever seen.
It was also incredible to learn that gaining experience and skill in dungeons could actually earn upgrades like this. At least, I assumed that’s how it worked. The dungeons only sometimes seemed to follow predictable patterns.
This time, nothing specifically related to the new katana’s powers had occurred in this dungeon, but we had relied heavily on Yasha’s personal abilities to make it out of there in time, and she’d been through well over a dozen dungeons with me so far as well.
She’d sure as hell earned it.
“As much as I hate to deprive you of time with your new sword,” I said. “We should get out of here. We’ve been parked outside for a while now, and while I doubt anyone’s bothered us, I want to make sure. Plus, this blood on my face is still pretty itchy, and I want to get it off. It’s stopped burning at least, so small blessings.”
“You are right,” Yasha sighed heavily and replaced her sword in the locker. “I cannot wait to use the weapon to slay something soon. But let us leave so you may clean up.”
“I can’t blame you,” I told her. “And good. I really didn’t want to find out I’m allergic to wraith blood today, but here we are.”
I looked back at the table laden with my discarded weapons and armor and decided to just leave them there. I was curious to see what would happen if I left something a mess in the equipment room. Would it remain just as it was, or would it snap back into place without Mimic’s help?
But before I moved too far away, I grabbed the silk handkerchief and the Ring of Invisibility and tucked them both into my pocket. I wasn’t sure if we’d need the Well To New Worlds, but considering I wasn’t sure if Elaene wanted to stay with us, once the run of her mission was finished, I thought it was better safe than sorry. We did, however, definitely need the Ring of Invisibility for our plan to get into Black’s residence.
I briefly considered grabbing the Opener, but given the fact that it was a literal key that would require a keyhole to work, I figured it wouldn’t be much use. Black’s residence was high-tech enough to require a signet ring scanning process for entrance, and Elaene had already confirmed there were no secondary locks, bolts, nothing.
Yasha led the way out of the equipment room and up the ladder, and I was more than happy to study the view as I followed her up and out.
The darkness came over me at the same time as the tugging sensation in my gut. I felt a whoosh of air, and when I opened my eyes, I was sitting on the ground right next to my fuck-off expensive Mercedes-Benz.
I’d never get tired of thinking that.
I helped Yasha up to her feet, and the two of us got into the SUV without any fanfare. I didn’t even have to say anything to know we were both still thinking about the exchange we’d had with the man in the dungeon.
It opened up a lot of questions and gave us only a few answers, but at the very least, he was going to keep his promises. I hoped. I was still a little iffy on the specifics of the ring, but it certainly seemed like he would, and right now, that’s what kept me going.
I hadn’t been bluffing when I said I’d track him down and kill him if it ever got back to me he’d double-crossed us. I was never more serious about anything than when it came to the protection and safety of the women in my life.
We pulled into the parking lot after our silent drive, and because I was a gentleman, I opened Yasha’s side of the SUV for her after jumping out first. There was something I missed about the motorcycle and the way it felt beneath me as I zipped through traffic, but what I probably missed the most was the feeling of Yasha’s arms around me as we drove.
I decided we should take it out for a spin soon.
I unlocked the door to the tiny apartment when we got upstairs, but I barely had time to actually step in the doorway before I heard a familiar voice.
“Oh, hey,” Monty Green, half-owner and proprietor of Monty’s Music and Records, said. “I hadn’t expected you to be back yet.”
Chapter 11
I was a little surprised to see Monty had come over with Elaene and Iris, but as soon as he hefted up a large, canvas messenger bag from his shoulder as a sign of greeting, I understood at least part of the reason.
He was here to do a financial exchange.
Hell yeah.
While the numbers in my bank account had definitely increased, sometimes it still felt surreal, or like it wasn’t actually happening at all, considering I wasn’t the one who had to see how the metaphorical sausage was made.
“Hey man,” I said as Yasha and I stepped inside the apartment and shut the door behind us. “I’m glad to see you. It’s been a minute.”
Really, it had probably been about a week, but I thought that qualified as a minute.
“Yeah, uh…” Monty paused and used his free hand to gesture to my still itchy, still blood-splattered face. I was just glad that my armor had managed to block most of the spray from hitting me in the face, because that would probably have made the dude pass out.
I’d watched Monty stitch up his own stab wound in the side after a bad incident in a dungeon with nothing more than a needle, dental floss, and a beer, but ever since he’d gotten free of Harper’s clutches, the dude had gotten really fucking squeamish.
Which meant he was probably really fucking squeamish the whole time, but now he was squeamish and didn’t have to act like he wasn’t so he wouldn’t die a terrible death at the hands of William Harper and/or one of his despicable goons.
Or something like that.
“Yeah, give me just a second,” I told him and quickly ducked my shoulder to squeeze past him through the living room.
While I loved the sectional couch, it would probably work far better in whatever new place we ended up in, as opposed to the middle of the shoebox we lived in now.
But I supposed there were worse things to take up the majority of the space other than a comfortable, expensive sectional couch. Without it, there really wouldn’t be much room for me, Iris, and Yasha to lay on it together at the same time. So I’d take the victories I could find.
Elaene and Iris were both seated on the aforementioned couch, and Iris reached up to gently touch my wrist as I walked by. The small, affectionate gesture from the woman who’d been so shell-shocked and standoffish at first made me smile, but I didn’t reciprocate.
I was still a little too gross for that.
Thankfully, that’s what we had a bathroom for.
I quickly turned on the tap and started to scrub my face vigorously in the sink with a washcloth that had seen far better days. It took far more scrubbing than I’d expected, but I eventually managed to slough off all the itchy blood, as well as what had probably been the topmost layer of my skin.
When I walked back out into the living room, I felt very pink and very damp, but I was no longer itchy. I was choosing my battles.
I wiped at my face with the bottom of my shirt to dry it off.
“Much better,” Monty said. He’d dropped the messenger bag he’d brought with him onto the island in the kitchen and offered me a thumbs up.
“Thanks,” I said. “Feels better. That shit burned.”
“What creature caused it?” Elaene asked.
I was surprised to hear the Atlantean speak up, and when I glanced over at her, I was even more surprised to see that she looked almost happy. The terrified look on her face she’d been wearing like a mask since we’d found her trapped in the dungeon seemed to have melted and gave way to something decidedly more relaxed and pleasant.
Apparently, time with Iris did her some good, and I was glad.
“It was a wraith,” I said. “Ever seen one before?”
“I have not,” Elaene said. “But I have heard of them. They are foul creatures made of darkness.”
“Yeah,” I sighed. “That about sums it up. It took up an entire room and made it impossible to see much of anything at all. It seemed to rely on a sense of hearing and smell to find us.”
“It was not a pleasant dungeon,” Yasha agreed from where she’d situated herself on the couch next to Iris. She stretched out her legs, and her ears gave a little twitch in the process before she relaxed back into the cushions.
“No, it wasn’t,” I agreed. “But not just because of that.”
I must have had a telling look on my face, because Monty frowned as he leaned up against the kitchen island.
“Did something else happen in there? Other than the whole ‘blood spray’ thing, I mean?” he asked.
Instead of answering his question, I looked over at Iris.
“How much did you explain to him?” I asked her.
“Only a little,” she said. “I wasn’t sure how much you wanted me to divulge. I simply explained where Elaene came from.”
The Atlantean woman looked up at the sound of her name and held up one hand, as if in a slight wave.
“That’s fine,” I said. “But he’s as much of a part of this as we are, so we might as well get it all out in the open now.”
“What’s going on?” Monty said slowly. “Because something’s clearly going on. This doesn’t have anything to do with Harper, right? Because that guy is definitely dead…”
“No, no,” I said quickly. “Nothing to do with Harper. It’s, well, yeah okay, it’s complicated. So, Iris told you that Yasha and I found Elaene in the dungeon, right?”
Monty nodded and folded his arms over his chest. “Yeah, in some sort of big fish tank thing.”
“I am not a fish,” Elaene said, and for the first time since I’d met her, she sounded a little offended at the potential implication she was anything but an Atlantean.
“Shit, no, sorry.” Monty paled and held his hands out. “I didn’t mean it like that. Just that the tank sounded like something that would have also been used to hold... fish. Not that you’re a fish. Obviously you aren’t a fish.”
“A big tank full of water,” I said loudly to get us back on track. “We found her trapped in a large tank of water.”
I cut my eyes over to Elaene to gauge her reaction to her story being told again. The last thing I wanted to do was make the new woman uncomfortable with having to constantly relieve her trauma, but when she caught my gaze, she gave a slight nod.
I laid out everything for Monty, starting with Archibald Black, taking a slight detour for the hostage women, and then finishing up with the black market. Monty looked positively sick through all of it.
The room went quiet as the truth sank in for him. The guy looked a little squeamish, like he might very well throw up upon hearing that, but he seemed to be keeping his nausea in check.
“There’s another black market?” Monty managed after a few dragging seconds. “Is it related to Harper?”
“Well, we just got some more information on that, actually,” I said. “It’s part of why I’m glad you’re here so we can all get onto the same page.”
“Wait, did something else happen in the last dungeon?” Iris’ eyes widened.
“It did,” I said with a sigh. “While Yasha and I were nearing the end of the dungeon, we ran into someone else inside. It was the guy who tried to trap us there before, when we found you, Iris.”
“Oh, my god,” Iris gasped. “Are you two alright?”
She moved like she was going to get off the couch to check on me, but Yasha reached out and gently placed her hand on the other woman’s elbow.
“We are alright, Iris,” she assured her. “There is nothing to be concerned about. Wes, would you like to explain further?”
“Yeah,” I agreed. “We’re okay.”
I continued by explaining how we’d ended up saving the guy’s life, then held him for questioning, as well as what we’d learned about the black markets.
“Oh, my god,” Iris said again. “This is wider-spread than I expected. I was so sure they were connected…”
“Well, don’t write that off yet,” I said. “The guy we questioned said they were related, but they weren’t the same ring. So it’s not like they’re entirely disconnected, either. But it does seem like they’re two different beasts entirely.”
“What else did he say?” Monty asked. He looked a little more eager and a little less nauseated now.
Elaene, on the other hand, looked shell-shocked.
I couldn’t really blame her. This was sort of a lot of information to take in.
“He said he’d been following us,” I said. “That it had been him and this other black market ring the entire time. Apparently, whoever’s in charge was trying to sus out the competition and make sure we weren’t a threat to their business dealings.”
“He was very cooperative,” Yasha said. “I think it was because I had him tied up with a whip.”
“Probably,” I snorted. “Well, I didn’t want to leave him in the dungeon to die, and he was severely injured, so in exchange for healing him, he agreed to feed his boss false information about us, say that we weren’t a threat and had no idea what was going on so we don’t have to be worried about being followed anymore.”
“If that’s the case, do you still want me to carry my gun with me?” Iris asked.
“Yeah,” I said before the words were even fully out of her mouth. “I’d still feel better if you did. The guy promised all of this while he was wearing the Promise Ring, so I know he was telling the truth, but I can’t be sure he’s the only one who’s looking into us. I think we all need to maintain a pretty high level of caution. That goes for you too, Monty.”
