Libriohexer ~ 8!

Chapter Eight

Sam dismissed the sword with a thought and an effort of will, then took a quick moment to survey the battlefield.

Dizzy was busy bludgeoning one of poor unfortunate droids into the ground with her war maul, though she looked decidedly worse for the wear. She was limping badly, and one arm hung mostly useless at her sideburned thanks to the arc welder attached to one of the automaton’s hands. But the droid had also suffered its fair share of damage. Its body was littered with dings and dents, its head partially caved in on one side. Dizzy would prevail, Sam had no doubt, but Kai was in real trouble: he was busy fending off Buzz.

The warrior monk flowed and danced, narrowly avoiding the roaring saw blade, though his arms, legs, and chest were covered in shallow cuts and deeper gouges. Despite their relatively small stature, these things were fast. Kai’s counter blows were as ineffectual as Velkan’s claws had been against Mallet. Arrow was launching more of his acidic-tipped arrows at the bot, but its buzz saw was still whirling madly. The automaton hacked at the air, preventing Kai from closing the distance. Velkan was circling around, trying to flank the creature, but the bot seemed to sense the Wolfman and constantly readjusted its position.

Though Sam felt exhausted, he knew he could help level the playing field.

Taking a deep gulp of delicious air, he rushed once more for a nearby bed, springing up onto the mattress. He locked onto the target and let loose with a fresh barrage of Ice Orb Shurikens. The paper stars riddled ol’ Buzz like a meteor shower, spreading their icy fingers and drastically slowing its erratic movements. But even though the mechanical munchkin was slowing, the whirling blade was generating too much friction for the frost to do its work. With that blade still swinging freely, it was too risky for Kai or Velkan to get in close. Thinking fast, Sam brought Ink Lance spinning around to the front, launching a trio of sticky jet-black globs in rapid fire succession.

The first went wide, splattering against the wall, while the second hit the automaton in the chest. The jet-black goo spread like an ink stain, the metal sizzling thanks to the spell’s corrosive properties.

Damage dealt: 4 acid damage per second for 15 seconds! Target slowed by fourteen percent!

The third lance hit precisely where Sam was aiming, exploding against the screaming buzz saw in a shower of black goo. Tar-like tendrils immediately clogged the blade’s mechanism and the saw lurched to a stop, the motor sparking and smoking from the strain.

“That’s a heck of a shot,” Bill crowed wildly. Sensing vulnerability, Kai launched a blindingly fast assault of fists and feet, targeting the sections of metal pitted by Arrow’s acid attacks. This time, his blows landed with enough force to at least dent the metal, leaving fist-shaped craters across its torso. The automaton still had some fight left in it, though. Buzz lunged in, sweeping the now motionless saw blade left to right, trying to disembowel the maneuvering monk.

Kai leapt straight up, executed a flawless flip in the air, and landed behind the automaton in a low crouch. He drove forward and smashed his fist through the metallic backplate and pulled out a handful of metallic guts. “Quivering Starfall Palm!”

Tubes, pistons, and delicate clockwork gears dangled from his closed fist like war medals. The light went out of the automaton's eyes and it toppled forward; a plume of smoke drifting up from its devastated back. Dizzy raised her maul a final time and brought it down with a roar, crushing the last of the android’s head like a soda can.

Just like that, the battle was over.

Still reeling from his own battle, Sam slipped from the mattress with his army of tomes circling around him as he prepared for more of the little mustached minions to come scampering out of the metaphorical woodwork. But the only sounds were the clanks from the steam pipes overhead and the labored breathing of his friends. A pop up appeared a moment later, letting him know that combat had officially ended.

Exp: 738 (Maintenance Automaton Keeper x 4) (123 per Automaton * 1.5 difficulty)

“Good thing we listened to me and started out with the barracks, am I right?” Bill quipped into the after-battle heaving and attempts to calm down raging adrenaline. “All things considered, I’d say this went surprisingly well.”

“Yeah, that’s because you’re not the one with bruised ribs and aching skull,” Sam winced from the sound of his own voice.

Bill flapped his covers in his imitation of a shrug. “Not my fault your bodies are so squishy and fragile.”

“I have to go with Sam on this one, book bro.” Kai lifted a forearm to show one of the many gashes crisscrossing his flesh. “Those things were tougher than any of the other enemies we’ve fought so far. Besides Octavius or some of the other players, I guess?”

“No, Bill’s right,” Dizzy mopped her sweaty forehead with the back of one hand. “Kind of. Obviously, that wasn’t an easy fight, but we won without a single casualty. In the compendium, the Barracks is listed as the easiest junction. The guy who wrote the book described these things as lowly House Keepers. Even so, they almost killed us all. I’m not even sure these things are even technically monsters. Did you see their description? ‘Maintenance Automaton Keeper’. I mean in the technical sense they’re mobs, but clearly combat isn’t their main function.”

“Yeah,” Arrow agreed with a nod. “Wrench. Mallet. Arc welder. Mop. The only one that has anything that even remotely resembles a real weapon was ol’ buzz saw, and that’s probably for pipe cutting.”

Velkan dropped down into a crouch and inspected the mechanical repairmen, his ears laid flat against his skull.

“I’m guessing these are the guys responsible for keeping everything up to code,” Sam opened his book and started taking notes. “If these guys are the maintenance crew, just imagine how tough the other things in this place must be. We’re definitely going to have our work cut out for us.”

“My thoughts exactly,” Dizzy said. “Everyone stay sharp. Who knows what else could be waiting for us here? I want this barracks locked down. Arrow, Velkan, you two secure the rest of the room, make sure there aren’t any more of these guys hiding in a broom closet somewhere waiting to get the drop on us. Kai, why don’t you loot our half-pint steampunk friends here. See if there’s anything we can use.”

“Sam.” She turned her steely gaze on him, “Let’s split up and look for some way to claim this Junction. My guess is there must be a switch or control box.”

Sam and Bill backtracked toward the front of the entryway doors, searching the floors, ceiling, and walks for anything that stood out. Mostly it was clunky bed frames, old mattresses, and beefy metal chests; all of which were empty. Whoever had called this place home had done a thorough job of picking up after themselves before moving on. Despite the lack of loot, Sam was still ecstatic. This place was seriously amazing. Sure, there were deadly traps around every turn and vicious monsters to clear out, but once they managed that, this place would be perfect for a Guild Headquarters.

He’d only see a fraction of what the Irondowns had to offer, but the barracks alone would probably allow them to sleep fifty people or more. Having a facility like this would make recruitment a thousand times easier once they were finally ready to expand.

“Hey, kid,” Bill pulled Sam from his musings. “Up there on the wall. My magical book sense is tingling.”

Inscribed onto one of the stones was a runic symbol no larger than the size of Sam’s palm. It was dull and lifeless; if you didn’t know what to look for, it would be easy to pass right over without a second glance. Sam was quickly gaining a mastery of runic symbols and their meanings; he certainly used them enough in his scrolls and spells. This one was about as basic as they came.

An activation ward, not so different from the rune he used to make his Book Bombs go *kablooey*.

“Think I’ve got something over here,” Sam called out over his shoulder. Without waiting for a reply, he approached the rune and extended a hand, pressing his palm against the marking gouged into the stone. It thrummed beneath his skin, radiating an inviting warmth that pulled at his Core. A prompt appeared a moment later:

Holy guacamole, you actually did it! You claimed a Junction on your first try! Not bad. You’ve narrowly managed to defeat the Keepers of the Junction 1, the Barracks, and found its corresponding Activation Rune. Once the Junction is claimed, you will be able to utilize the space with all its corresponding perks, although both Traps and Keepers will remain defunct until functionality is restored through the Control Room. More good news, the other residents of the Irondown Burrows will generally avoid this area, since it will become hostile territory.

Would you like to trigger the Activation Rune and claim this Junction on behalf of the Wolf Pack? Yes / No.

Sam hit ‘yes’ and felt mana rush out from his body; pulsing down along his arms, through his hand, and into the sigil. First a trickle, then in a great roaring rush as over half of his five-hundred and forty-five mana abandoned him like people jumping over the rails of a sinking ship. The surge of power left him feeling weak and hollow inside, his knees shaking from the strain. But then the pull on his core trickled and ebbed, dying off as the crystalline lights blinked on overhead, illuminating the room in warm yellow light.

That wasn’t the only change, either.

The walls swiveled out, revealing a stone armor rack beside each bed, perfect for holding gear. Across the room from him a secret door also opened with a *click*. A huge slab of gray stone and metal slid away to reveal a darkened room, full of mystery and potential.

Congratulations! You have claimed Junction 1 of 8. Reward, Exp: 500. Not bad, keep going at this rate and you just might be a team to watch out for.

“Dude, like… woah,” Kai spun in a slow circle as he took in the area. “This place is totally epic.”

“You guys are going to want to see what’s in here!” Dizzy called exuberantly, peering into the darkened chamber.

“Some sort of secret weapon stash? Please?” Sam questioned aloud. What if it was a treasure vault, containing all the goodies that the heavy trunks didn’t? Sam beelined across the room as fast as his legs would carry him despite the weariness from activating the Rune. He had to know. Just had to. He was rubbing his hands in greedy expectation, but nothing could’ve ever prepared him for what he saw.

Dizzy stepped into the room and the crystalline orbs set into the walls blinked on, revealing not a hidden vault full of gold and jewels, but something that was - in its own way - worth its weight in gold.

A bathhouse inset into the floor.

It was a wide pool, covered with silver tiles that reflected light from the orbs like diamonds. Wisps of inviting steam drifted up and swirled in the air, dancing like sirens of mist. Brass pipes ran down the walls, disappearing into the floor, presumably to heat the water in the pool. It was glorious: a hot tub big enough to sit twenty people.

No more cold showers. No more wooden tubs in the middle of Wolfman controlled territory. It was more than Sam ever could’ve asked for or imagined.

Kai was already stripping down to his under clothes. He cannonballed into the water with a splash. His head disappeared under the surface only to reappear a moment later as he let out a joyous hoot, “It’s amazing! The water is totally perfect, brohams. Come on in.”

Everyone looked at Dizzy, but she was already scrambling to get in beside Kai; who could blame her? In less than a minute, everyone had removed bulky, stained armor and sat in the pool of water, soaking up the heat of the pool. Except Bill, who floated just outside the water, glaring at everyone for excluding him. Despite his protests, Sam found the book eyeing the water longingly. Wistfully even. Bill hadn’t always been a book, and there were few pleasures better in life than a good soak after a hard day of work.

“So,” Dizzy breathed out as everyone finally settled in and the mood mellowed, “Kai, did you find anything useful on our feisty metal friends?”

“Tons of scrap metal,” the monk offered, spreading his hands wide. “We might be able to smelt them down for resources or sell the parts directly to collectors, but for now I say we just leave them here. Maybe we could store them in a few of the footlockers? Carrying all that iron and steel around is going to weigh us down. Those little dudes are small, but they have to weigh a couple of hundred pounds apiece. But I also found a couple of these.”

He reached over into his gear and pulled out four glimmering sapphires, each the size of a silver dollar. “Trash-tier monster Cores. Worth three hundred experience points a pop. They’d probably fetch a wicked-good price on the market.”

“It is true,” Velkan agreed easily, “my kind values such cores highly. They are valuable components in many of our most potent spells. The Shaman Yurij Brightblood would pay well for them if you had a mind to sell.”

“No.” Sam shook his head. “With my Coreless Spell Infusion, we basically have a license to print money. Between me and Bill, we can produce enough spell scrolls to keep the Wolf Pack in the black. They’re worth more to us as experience; that or we hang onto them for Finn. See if he could use them for anything. Let’s pocket them for now?”

“So what’s next?” Kai asked as he tucked away the four Cores in a leather pouch attached to his gear.

“It’s late,” Dizzy rubbed at her eyes, “and I know everyone’s beat, but I suppose we could push on. Maybe try to capture another Junction before we call it the day? I wouldn’t mind taking the Kitchen.”

Bill laughed, the sound ripping through the room. “Are you kidding me? Guys, I don’t want to be the Debbie Downer here, but this room was the easiest of the bunch and we barely made it out. Our party almost got wiped by someone who’s only weapon was a mop. A mop. Maybe if we had our party at full strength…? But with Finn and Sphinx gone? Yeah, no. Listen, I’ve been in the adventure game long enough to know when to hold ’em and when to fold ’em. Right now we should fold.”

“Yeah, but we have no idea how long it’ll be before Finn or Sphinx get back,” Arrow argued. “Could be days. As much as I like sitting around, soaking up the water, we can’t afford to waste that kind of time.”

“So we don’t waste it,” Sam slowly stated, even as the thought appeared in his head, “we use it to get better. That’s always the answer right? We train. I mean, the Forest of Chlorophyll Chaos is new to all of us, with the exception of Velkan. True, some of the areas in the Irondowns might be a little out of our league right now, but I bet there are a ton of things out there in the forest that we could grind for points. I’m just a single level away from surpassing my wisdom Threshold, and Dizzy’s on track to push past the strength Threshold. I say we get some sleep, hit the forest as soon as the sun’s up, and find some monsters to kill.”

“Why wait?” Velkan grunted and waved at the exit. “If your goal is to ‘get gud’ as I have heard many of you humans say, then there is no time better than the present. If you desire to increase specific traits, then there is no better place than the Totem Grounds.”

“Totem Grounds?” Sam tested the new words even as he cocked an eyebrow.

“Wolfmen training grounds,” Velkan replied, as though that said everything that needed saying.

“I’m on board,” Arrow enthused, “but it seems like making a run in the morning would be better when we aren’t all wiped, exhausted, and hungry.”

“No,” Velkan flicked his ears. “Sleep deprivation, hunger, and physical exhaustion are good; they lower the walls of pride and help bring out the truth. This is a lesson all Wolfmen know. How you fight when you are tired is how you truly fight. Who you truly are. The Totem Grounds will push you to the very edge of yourself. If you are already at the very edge of yourself, the training will be even more effective. Such is the way of The People.”

“I say we do it!” Bill chimed in.

“You would, you never need sleep-” Sam snorted and paused, tapping idly at the water with his fingers. “Still. I think Velkan has a good point. My Dad always says that the greatest challenges give us the greatest opportunities to grow. Growing isn’t always fun, but it is always good. I’m game if everyone else is.”

“Sam’s right,” Dizzy seemed down that she hadn’t been the one to come up with this concept..

Bill stage-coughed, “Uh, ‘Sam’ is a funny way to say my name.”

Dizzy snorted and rolled her eyes. She stood with a splash, the ghost of a smile on her face, “Fine. Bill’s also right. So, what are we waiting for? Let’s go do some growing.”