Curselock

Chapter 17: Plans

“How do you even know there is another boss?” Onryo cried. “What if we are already at the end, there’s no reason to not head back to the entrance.”

Leland spared him a glance but didn’t stop walking. “Because all dungeons have three bosses. The first was inside the lion’s den and the second was the Mana Lion Alpha. That means there’s a third. And judging by the lack of enemies, it must be close.”

Ahead Glenny scouted. His invisibility had not ranked again but the rogue kept his tracks well hidden. Leland and Jude had to really look to find their friend, and even then it was a guess as to where he actually was. Was he straight ahead? A bit to the left? Maybe he had circled around and was checking the flank?

Onryo bit his lip, a gesture which Leland saw. “If you want to leave, go ahead. The entrance is back that way, through the cave, and down the path. None of us are going to stop you. Not when we just freed you.”

“Ahha! So you admit I’m free! Why are you not helping get me to safety then?”

Leland gave him the look. “We freed you from Icewillow. That’s it. We’ll protect you if you stay with us, but nothing more than that. We don’t work for charity, and this dungeon is a great opportunity for us.”

Onryo muttered something, making dull faces as he went.

“Not used to getting told ‘no,’ huh?” Jude asked. “What’s your name anyway? We know you’re an Onryo, not much more than that.”

The young Master struck a pose, sending his nose high into the air. “I am the fourth son of the Onryo family, Alkin Onryo.”

“Jude, be nice.”

Alkin waved off the comment. “It is of no matter. I do not doubt my appearance in Liontrunk odd, but I cannot tell you. I am no adventurer, however. That is very much for certain.”

Glenny appeared at their side, having dropped his invisibility to speak to the group. “House Onryo is famous for increasing their magical ability with alchemical creations, specifically ones that increase mana or mana regeneration. I bet he is here for that – to have someone make the ‘family recipe,’ as they say.”

Alkin pursed his lips. “I see our reputation precedes us. While partially true, that is not my entire reason for traveling from my home. We have our own alchemists under tenure.”

“What’s the main reason then? Something selfless I hope?” Jude asked.

“Oh come off it. I don’t have to explain myself to a brute such as you.”

Glenny and Leland looked to Jude expecting a quippy response. The Berserker Lord simply shrugged.

“Maybe it's something we could help with,” Leland asked. “For a price of course.”

Alkin scoffed. “There’s always a price.”

Frankly, Leland didn’t care about gold. He also didn’t care about helping the fourth son of House Onryo. Not after being threatened and cried to. They had saved him, and they had yet to hear a thank you. Leland sighed internally, his parents always complained about the nobles and royals. He had hoped he wouldn’t have ‘a noble story’ quite this early into his adventuring career.

Still, at least he’d have a fun story to tell. One time, we followed this murderer into a dungeon to save the young man he kidnapped. We defeated him in the end, but the noble didn’t even say thank you! Isn’t that crazy?!

“I doubt you three could even help me. My problem lies in the more academic.”

That got an eyebrow raise from Leland. “Do tell.”

Alkin frowned. “It is my mother. She owes too many debts. I need a lawyer – a Lord of the Law, more specifically.”

“And Liontrunk has those?”

“Yes. Liontrunk’s local government constantly has to deal with petitions arguing for or against the blockade of the dungeon. I suspect their lawyer is quite skilled.”

“Suspect?” Leland asked, the group eclipsing the hill.

“Indeed. The person in question seems to be a recluse. I thought venturing to the dungeon entrance would draw his or her hand, but evidently that only brought on the crazies.” Alkin shivered, his blackened hands slowly lightening.

“Ah, well. Can’t help you there. But who knows, maybe the lawyer will make an appearance after we clear the dungeon.”

That comment sparked some life in Alkin’s eyes. But a quick firing hand blocking his mouth stopped his reply. Glenny put a finger to his own lips before pointing out across the field. The plateau had turned from lush grass to a hilly highlands. Trees were still sparse but movement in the form of animals made their presence known.

From a cursory look, Leland assumed the animals to be nothing but mundane. There were no mana signatures nor anything more deadly than a full jaw of pointy teeth. He had read about dungeons like this. While most were simply traveling from point “A” to “B”, dungeons were sometimes known to open up into a wide ecosystem.

While somewhat rare, a dungeon such as this only meant one thing – more walking.

“Uhhg,” Jude complained. “This is going to take forever.”

So they got to it. They traveled at a steady pace, taking breaks when Alkin needed or eating when they got hungry. No animals interfered with their passage, even the ones Glenny stole eggs from. Fresh eggs were always a rare treat for adventurers out of a city, they took advantage and had their fill of omelets.

Eventually they reached the domain of the dungeon’s final boss.

“Woah.”

“Something like this exists?”

“Amazing.”

“Eh, I’ve seen better.”

The three others craned their necks, staring at Jude. He simply shrugged. “I saw a picture in a book once.”

“You can read?” Glenny asked.

Before Jude could respond, Leland raised his hand. “I’d love to hear this banter, but I think this takes precedence. How do we want to proceed? Do you all think we can kill it?”

The boss in question was a variation of the average Mana Lion. While it was larger than a house, its lower half had mutated into that of a toad. It hopped around at the plateau’s edge, skipping around a small lake while kicking up plenty of dirt and mud. It had created a fort in the mud, damming the water from falling off the cliff’s edge like it was hiding something within the water.

As the boys watched the beast from afar, it suddenly jumped off the side of the cliff and fell to the land below. Everyone froze, at least until a large updraft sent loose blades of grass streaming. The hulking form of the lion-toad then appeared, having jumped from the base of the plateau back to the top.

“Uh.”

“Wow.”

“Are they supposed to get that big?”

Leland shook his head. “It must be that the dungeon hasn’t been cleared in a long while. The Mana Lion had time to evolve, thus turning into this.”

“What do we do?” Glenny asked.

“Let’s study it a bit.”

The lion-toad jumped back and forth from the top of the cliff to the bottom. Each time it brought fresh dry soil which it promptly deposited into the lake with a large spat. From there it would launch itself high into the air, reposition itself so its back amphibian legs could kick the mud into a better spot.

It was Jude who spoke up next. “We can kill it. We just have to keep our distance or stay right under it.”

“Under it?” Glenny asked.

“Below its hops, I mean.” He then turned to Leland. “How many casts of Fracture until it's disabled?”

Leland glanced to Alkin before answering. “I have no clue. Frankly I’m not sure if my spell will break its bones. That Icewillow guy shrugged off the spell without his bones breaking.”

“No they broke,” Glenny said. “It just took him moving to strain the fractures.”

They turned back to the monster, watching it hop back down then back up. “If I can break its legs while it’s at the bottom… I don’t know if I’m willing to trust such a random spell though.”

Jude hummed, “I’ll just distract it until you do, no worries.”

Glenny and Leland looked at him. “Do we need to remind you of what happened early? We can’t have you raging out again.”

That caused Jude’s face to fall. “Can we talk about that later? When someone isn’t around?”

They looked at Alkin who didn’t appear to be listening.

“Fine. But it’s a conversation we need to have.”

“I know, I know,” Jude snapped back.

Glenny pulled the conversation back. “I don’t think I’ll be able to do anything to it. Its fur and hide look too thick for my daggers.”

It was then Leland noticed something about the lake. All round the edge, animals lapped up water. They, however, didn’t cross a certain threshold of distance to the dam. It was like they were afraid to be near, like that was striking range.

“Maybe I can whittle it down from afar,” Leland said. “No one would be near it.”

“How do you mean?”

“What if I just sneak over and cast Fracture on it until it notices? Then we run away. Lions are territorial, and I don’t think it would leave its home. Then we rinse and repeat.”

“Hit and run?” Jude asked. “Doesn’t seem very fun.”

“Fun,” Glenny repeated, tasting the word.

“Right, fun. Battle is fun. Running away while Leland does all the work is not.”

Leland interjected. “Well it wouldn’t be me doing all the work. You’d have to carry me. My spells take too much out of me.”

Glenny rolled his shoulder. “I think it's worth a try. The lion-toad can jump far but it seems slow to do so. I think we can course correct so we don’t get landed on.”

“I agree,” Jude replied. “If not, we just leave Leland and run ourselves.”

“Agreed,” Glenny said.

“… hey now,” Leland coughed.