Trinity Center Request (Dungeon) | Page 2

Leon could hear his partner saying something but all the words came in one ear and out the other. His face resumed its neutral position yet there was a flame burning in his eyes. The flat line of his lips and the relaxed muscles of his face did little to diminish or muffle these flames of vengeance that roared within every fiber of his being. It seemed like this quest had revealed a side of himself that he never knew he had; the indignation of a hard job with little pay.

Gritting his teeth, he chose to forgo any type of reasoning that may have entered his mind in favor of blasting the tiny chest into little bits. Vaguely, he couldn't help but wonder what spurred this irrational side of him on, him being collected most of the time. He, however, couldn't bring himself to care or think about his abnormal behavior. In retrospect, he would find this very strange. Right now, however, he merely swiped the spell display up yet again to find a very familiar menu.

"Into the fires of battle, unto the anvil of war!"

Thrown die:

65

 

Sera watched as the boy decided that his previous attack must just have not been strong enough, or something similarly stupid, and he began to open his spell menu again. "No you don't!" She cried, reaching out to grab his hand so he couldn't tap the buttons. "Listen here! Every time you attack that chest, yes, sure, maybe you're making it more likely that you open it. But you're making it just as more likely that you are breaking whatever is inside! We look for a key, first! Do you understand me?" She growled. Still holding his wrist, tightly, she would begin to walk away, pulling the boy with her unless he fought too hard. She wound her way through the miniature maze of a room and marched to the door across from the one they just exited, to the north west side of the room. "You want to break something so bad?" She asked. She pointed to the door. "Feel free to break that shit down."

She let go of the boy's hand and took a few steps back. She crossed her arms. Men! Was every single one so impossibly pig headed? "This is why I date women," she muttered under her breath. "Right, so we have three more rooms to check. One is probably going to have the key, if that chest isn't the recipe, the one will have the recipe, and odds are one might have some kind of petty reward. Likewise, it's probably that we will be attacked in at least one of these rooms. If that happens, I don't know how useful you are in a fight, so maybe stay behind me, and do not go after that chest, do you hear me?"

 

Leon flinched as Sera grabbed his hand, stopping his plan of action. In the simple moment, he could feel shame and regret wash over his face. As she lectured on, he muted everything to concentrate solely on the thoughts in his head. He had never felt that type of anger boiling in the pit of his stomach before; especially not due to a petty quest or simple game. Even in reality, the sight of dirty surroundings have never irked him that much to the point of attempting to blow something to bits. Yet, despite his current feelings, he could feel static tingling across the tips of his fingers; the twitch of his arm; the overwhelming urge to use his magic and just ruin everything.

He gulped, trying his best to calm his nerves and, after a few shaky in-and-outs of his lungs, he felt himself calm once again. Sweat dripped from his forehead, staining his hand as he wiped it away. He nodded, head down, as he walked into the room with an observant eye. He wouldn't think of such things again. He had a recipe to find and disappointing others wasn't a thing he'd like to do.

Thrown die:

82

 

Sera scowled as she noticed more evidence of rats. "Goddess, why did it have to be rats?" She asked, shaking her head. She clenched her fists tightly. Because astramancy was a bit slower than most magics, she wouldn't be able to suddenly throw out at attack at the first evidence of a rat she saw. Aeormancy - specifically, the lightning aspect of it - seemed like it would be her best bet, as anything else risked damaging the boxes, but the pinpoint accuracy of lightning would allow her to attack the creatures without any risk of damaging boxes nearby them. Or at least, a much reduced risk than usual. Her other option was naturalmancy, attempt to persuade the rats to not fight them, but she wasn't sure how effective that would be, as naturalmancy was the one she used the least, ironically, since it was controlled by her green spirit, which was her favorite color.

Suddenly, she snapped her fingers. "I know how to be sure we don't walk into any form of a trap!" She said. She began to chant, and her prism glowed the yellow of phantasmia. If her spell worked correctly, an illusionary image of Sera and Leon would appear and walk around the accessible part of the room, then promptly dissapear. The images would also dissapear if they were attacked by anything.

If the way was determined safe, Sera would push her way further into the room and begin to look around for anything standing out, such as a chest key, a recipe, or another treasure chest. If the way was determined hostile, she would begin preparations to cast a more offensive magic.

 

Leon looked at the pitiful and gag-worthy hobo in the basement with a look of barely-contained repulsion. The man seemed to be an epitome of what Leon absolutely despised in humanity. He was the manifestation of good-for-nothings and the dirtiest of the unclean. As he watched with vague horror, the man started chanting something that seemed to be out of an 'Exorcist' movie or something. Despite his previous remorse for his earlier behavior, he felt that consuming irritation blossoming in his chest yet again. Before he could even make sense of it, the thinly-veiled wrath permeated his entire form and a fire began to blaze in his impassive, unchanging eyes.

As the rats, gigantic and malformed in every way, popped out to answer the deluded man's call, Leon pulled up the very familiar spell screen yet again. His finger twitched as he picked up one of the more potent spells and began chanting the incantation almost unwillingly. He stared straight at the elderly man.

"Darkness beyond twilight, crimson beyond blood that flows,

Buried in the stream of time is where your power grows.

I pledge myself to conquer all the foes who stand

Before the mighty gift bestowed in my unworthy hand.

Let the fools who stand before me be destroyed by the power you and I possess!"

 

The whole point of Sera's spell was to alert her in the event of a trap. As such, as soon as she saw the man and determined that he was perhaps not completely right in the head (which she was able to deduce honestly from looks alone, really, that outfit?) she began chanting the build up to her first spell under her breath.

If the man could summon the rats, odds are that killing them would just bring more. The other possibility was that the rats had to die first. Either was likely in videogame logic. Even so, it seemed summoning the rats might take a turn of his attacks, so either way, killing a rat first seemed like the best bet to Sera. As such, the moment she finished her chant, which was right about the time the man seemed to call the rats his babies, Sera pointed two fingers at the nearest rat and unleashed the full destructive powers of a lightning bolt generated by an adapt astramancer. "Fry, you little ratatouille bastard!"

She noticed out of the corner of her eye that Leon seemed to be targeting the hobo. All well enough. It would test her theory of if the rats had to both be killed first or not.

 

Leon grumbled as the rat took the hit he had meant for the old man and fell over, limp. Apparently pests were much easier to kill than he expected and, smirking, he aimed his next spell at the old man while the rat targeted his partner. A small part of him felt a bit of guilt at ignoring his partner's plight. He could feel the abject misery that surrounded himself as he readied himself for the next spell. Stop it, help her, she needs you. He shook his head. The woman was more than capable of saving herself. He's just a man, he's a human, don't hurt him. He scoffed, clenching his fists. Before any more of these treacherous feelings could rise from his chest, he swiped up the spell screen once again, eyes determinedly focused on the man.

"Primarch-Progenitor, to your glory and the glory of Him on Earth..."

He couldn't make sense of the words that slipped from his lips. A sudden, piercing ache in his head left his vision blurred and, after a second, he felt so light. It was a metaphysical feeling of nausea and, looking down, he felt himself outside of his own body. It was as if his mind was free from all the irrational thoughts that plagued him during this quest and he was free to see his own body move at its own will. And, just as the spell was cast, the feeling left and he had forgotten about his sudden realization in that state. He'd kill this annoying, dirty, impure old man.

 

Thrown die:

62

 

Sera began chanting immediately after her first spell struck home. She knew she was likely to be attacked since she completely destroyed one rat, whereas she wasn't even sure if Leon had even decimated his. As such, she was preparing a geomancy spell this time.

She watched as the old man began acting very strange. Her spell finished right as he seemed to vomit in her direction. Rocks raised from the ground directly in front of her, and luckily a good portion of the man's attack was blocked by them, but some got through. Sera shouted in pain, and then launched the rocks toward the old man with a curse. "Go to hell, you old bastard!"

She turned her attention back toward Leon. "I think he's summoning more rats, focus on him, not the rats!" She shouted. That done, she began to chant once more.

 

Sera cursed mentally when she realized that a third rat had joined the fight. Exactly as she predicted. However, since this rat was behind them, there would be no way for it to jump in the way and block an attack. Since the old man was attacking Leon now, he was wide open for another attack from Sera. Her energy was nearing the halfway point, so she needed to finish this fight fast. As her chant neared it's end, she pointed toward the old hobo. Electricity cackled along her fingers. Power flowed through her. She understood how some people went crazy with power in this game. It was a marvelous feeling! She would have to be sure later to figure out what all it's uses outside of battle might be. She wondered if she could put it to work in her crafting.

She pushed those thoughts aside even as the lightning shoot from her hand toward the hobo once again. "Give up, and we won't kill you!" She shouted at him. She wasn't necessarily true how that statement was. The man did try to kill them first, as far as she was concerned, at this point he deserved to die. But if he believed her and could prove it was all a misunderstanding, then sure, she'd let him live.