"Is that the fourteenth pack?" Skandr asked, gasping only slightly exaggeratedly. "Or the fifteenth?"
"This is fifteen." Muti grinned back. "37 gnolls dead. It is still morning!"
Skandr groaned.
"We'll get some more, though if we need to take a moment to allow you to recover, we can." Astrid offered, her grin mirroring Muti's. Skandr didn't hesitate to fall into a sitting position far enough away from the three bodies to avoid getting bloody. There, he settled into a comfortable sitting position and continued looking around, though his focus gradually fell more and more inward. Astrid continued to harvest the ears and fangs from the gnolls, marveling at the growth she'd experienced.
311/10,000
Over 200 experience, hunting with a party, and making good money! Assuming each gnoll was the same price as yesterday, giving 9 copper, then that was over 3 silver! A silver for each of them in just a couple hours of delving!
"Muti, why do you get paid less than we do? Anders said something about taxes?"
"It is something every country does." Muti replied. "The permissive nature of Humans is why I chose to come here. Though the Verdant Sanctuary and the Freed Tribes do not charge as high of taxes as you do, I would prefer not to be indebted to the Walkers or the Kin in the way they treat foreigners. I hate the way your people fixate on money, but it makes for an easy way to evade trouble."
Astrid couldn't help but chuckle a little. "So you have higher deductions from what you make?"
"Yes." She shrugged. "It is nothing to worry about. It is merely the way of life, that prices must be paid. That the price is made in metals that only have worth because your leaders have decided that they do means it is a price I am happy to pay. Blood, effort, and war? Those would be hefty prices to pay. Mere money? An easy decision."
"What do the Barbarians charge foreigners?" Astrid asked.
"The Hordes may each make decisions as they pertain to their holdings." Muti said. "There are various possibilities, but a portion of your spoils and a favor to enter the Dungeon in the first place tend to be the baseline. The difficulty of the favor to be performed is dependent upon the Hordemaster."
Astrid nodded, yanking the last fang out of one of the gnoll's mouths. Only one more remained. "So what do you hope to get out of delving here in the Bulwark?"
"Metal, enchantments, and experience." Muti answered immediately.
"Metal?" Astrid asked. "I understand the other two, given how your people seem to pull away from magical Classes, but why metal?"
"All the best mines, forges, and smiths are Humanity's. There are no significant deposits of ore in the Hordes' lands, regardless of how many blood sacrifices are made. The Shamans have sent more iron in blood into the ground than we have found in generations. The Walkers won't mine deep enough for metal, and they are satisfied with the wood they enchant and grow while the Kin and Hiveguards trust in the strength of their natural weapons. The Hordes must fight for every advantage we can get from birth, and that continues until we are dead. Victory before death."
She said the last line almost as a prayer, and Astrid just nodded.
"What is it that you desire, Astrid? Why do you throw yourself at the Dungeon like a starving lioness?"
"I… want to be a hero." Astrid shrugged. "I say I want to be one of the delvers that are Adamantite who go around helping, but I think, if I'm completely honest with myself, I want to be a hero."
"A strange goal. You desire self-sacrifice and thankless days? To run until you collapse and curse your weakness for being unable to take another step? That seems an unhappy life."
"No, it seems like a deeply fulfilling life to me." Astrid smiled though she felt a pang in her heart for Guinevere. "I nearly had the taste of it in my previous town. It… didn't end well. But I can see the good that I can do. I can see the many people I stand able to help, and I just… have to do it! Does that make sense?"
"No." Muti shook her head. "A life of selflessness is not one I wish for. I do not believe that I could find any happiness in such a life. I live for vengeance and spite and strength."
"For spite?"
"Yes."
Astrid waited for Muti to give more information. She did not. Instead, she just watched as Astrid pulled the fangs out of the dead gnoll. They'd been remarkably effective with the new approach, and Skandr's mana was the only impediment on their continued breakneck delving speed. With him focusing on buffing Muti and Astrid, they were able to tear through whatever monsters weren't killed in an initial ambush. Over half of the time, they were able to come close enough for Muti to make her first attack mere moments earlier than Astrid rushed in to clobber any monsters that hadn't been slain yet.
The other half of the time, Muti and Astrid were together as the warning went up among the gnolls and they would kill a brawler nearly immediately. If there was a ranger, Muti would throw herself at it, if not, they'd dispatch the other gnoll without too much trouble.
"Do you have food with you to eat a meal in here?" Astrid asked as she wiped her hands in the grass to get the worst of the gore and blood off them.
"I have enough." Muti answered.
"I… have food." Skandr said, his voice slow and rhythmic. "Do not… want to… be here… too long… though."
"Then we'll about double our time here, if that's alright with you two." Astrid stated. "Now that we're closer to the middle of the floor, there's a lot more gnolls to be slain, so we shouldn't have nearly as much time walking from one fight to the next. It'll all come down to you, Skandr. If you'd like, I can give you a recovery draught."
"Next time." He intoned.
Astrid didn't say anything, just staying moving to try to keep herself limber and ready for the next fight, whenever it was coming. Muti sat and stretched, though every so often, she'd poke her head up and look around to make sure that whatever she was sensing wasn't actually close enough to pose a threat. About five minutes later, Skandr took a deep breath and opened his eyes wide. As he pushed up to his feet, he groaned like an old man while he stretched.
"I'm a bit over halfway recovered."
"That's… really fast." Astrid replied. "Weren't you pretty low?"
"Recovered about a quarter total. I have a Meditation Skill. Helps me to recover quicker." Skandr shrugged. "I can get back into the fight before too long, but I can't be interrupted more than I was already."
A quarter of his total mana reserves in a mere ten minutes? It didn't make sense. There was something there that Astrid didn't understand, but she didn't want to dig into the specifics when she was already debating when to ask him about his money problems. For now, she was left just nodding in acknowledgement and simply said, "Ok."
They set off towards the next pack to be exterminated. Astrid rolled her shoulders back, ready to fight, and as Skandr pushed his lightning into the two melee fighters, they burst into the little clearing in the field. Three gnolls. Astrid raised her hammer and smashed it into one of the gnoll's chest while it roused and started to stand. Muti bolted past, her swords ready as she sliced repeatedly into the ranger. It rolled and tried to escape her but she continued harrying it with cuts as Astrid kicked the remaining brawler's knee while it stood.
The monster crumpled back to the ground and Astrid dealt killing blows to both of the brawlers while she internally noted that there hadn't been any kill notification for the ranger. As soon as the two brawlers were dead, Astrid looked over at Muti, whose lips were curled back in rage, looking at the fields where Astrid couldn't see what she was so angry at. While she looked, though, Astrid noted the arrow buried in the gnoll's head.
"We're delving here!" Astrid raised her voice while she fought to tone down the rage that spiked in her at the words. "Come out and talk."
She waited for a full minute for the cowards to show themselves.
Nobody came.
"Come out!" She screamed, feeling something in her throat start to give out. Then, in a near whisper, she turned to Muti.
"Can you sense where they are?"
"Yes." She growled, ready to take the fight to the weaklings unable to delve.
"Good. Stay here, though. We don't want to give them any excuses to try to attack us as well. About how far away?"
"I do not know. They are hiding, so I can only feel a general direction."
Astrid forced herself to stand still, counting the seconds as they trickled by. Still, nobody came. Astrid decided to speak, and did so, loud enough for her voice to carry.
"Well, this gnoll is theirs. We won't harvest it. However, since they're too weak to take care of their own delve or harvest their 'own' kills," Astrid felt the sarcasm burn her tongue as she said the words, "we'll make life a little worse for them too."
As she said it, she hefted her shield and pulped the skull of the ranger, right across both ears. Incidentally, the arrow was crushed in that same hit. Oops. The flesh of the gnoll's ears was reduced to mush instead of something that could be easily or cleanly stored. She wasn't finished, and delivered the same blow three more times over raised voices that protested her actions. With a satisfied smirk that she was sure was mostly covered by the faceguard of her helmet, Astrid turned to the party of delvers that, surprise surprise, suddenly could hear her.
"That's our kill!"
"Why would you destroy our things?"
"That's our money you're destroying there!"
Three voices called out in anger as she hefted up her shield from the corpse and stepped away from the monster. Then, keeping herself fully prepared, she leaned to Skandr, "Be ready, just in case."
He nodded, and Muti, who'd overheard, chuckled darkly.
"So now you're willing to show yourselves?" Astrid asked with a sunny, infantilizing tone. "I'm so glad we can talk now! My name is Astrid, what're yours?"
"You destroyed my arrow!" One of the three men gesticulated wildly. Going off the bow in his hands, that was probably the truth.
"And a whole lot more!" Astrid agreed cheerily. "I'm sure the nine copper will cover that, though, so don't worry!"
"You'll need to pay that to us then!" Another of the men said. All three were nondescript, pale faces, dark hair, cheap leather armor. One with a sword and shield, another with a spear, and the last the one with the bow.
"Here you go." Astrid said, gesturing at the mangled gnoll corpse. "Ear and four fangs is nine copper, at least it was yesterday."
"That's not money, it's—"
"It's the remains of the kill you stole from us." Astrid answered, finally letting the faux positive tone bleed from her voice. "I'm not giving you money. You're lucky I'm not giving you broken noses and black eyes."
The one with the sword spat at her feet. "You Barbarians are all the same. Falling back on threats when someone's smarter that you."
Astrid's temper flared, but with a day's time spent with Muti, she wasn't nearly so incensed as she would have been three days before. Instead, she gestured for Muti to walk forward. Then as she unfastened the strap under her chin, she pulled the helmet free and grinned widely down at the shorter, slightly portly men. Muti played up the violent intent more than Astrid had ever seen, panting wildly like she was barely holding back her need to kill.
"You see, I'm the nice one. Skandr could keep her in check when it was just her and him. Now I'm here… there won't be any more of this." She forced a crazed laugh. Somehow, it didn't come out too forced as she continued, "If you try to rob me of my kills again, I'll find a kill somewhere else. After all, there's a full pack of gnolls worth of kills right here in front of me."
"You can't kill us!" The spear-wielding man protested. "That's murder!"
"Yes. Yes it is."
Astrid maintained eye contact as the men glanced between each other. Muti, adding to the strange intimidation she'd build up, started to laugh and talk to herself in the Barbarian tongue. The words, though something that none of the people present could understand, were obviously insulting and threatening of violence, and the three men, without looking at each other any longer, turned tail and fled.
"You're insane." Skandr said as the three cowards' silhouettes faded into the distance. "I think I'm going to lose my mind with you two."
"No!" Muti laughed. "With us you will find it! Astrid, I am proud to call you my leader!"
Astrid chuckled as she pulled her helmet back down over her arming cap and fastened it under her chin. "Now, the question is if we harvest the ears and fangs or not."
***
Stark
Stark watched as Astrid's party decided laughingly to leave the mutilated corpse there in the Dungeon and allow the three cowards to possibly return to collect the spoils. He let a small, satisfied grin cross his face as they stalked off, the Lightningmage pretending reluctance but obviously enjoying the opportunity to indulge in the wildness of the two women he delved with. It was always the women who did the best delving, in Stark's opinion. Something about how there were fewer who decided to, so those who ended up in the Dungeon really wanted to be there.
Hopefully the Lightningmage could keep up. Stark would send a prayer to the Duchess one of these nights in the poor boy's stead.
And that Barbarian… it was almost humorous to see Astrid delving next to one. She'd seemed to hate them so fiercely when she'd come to Schteldt, so why was Kznietch different? Probably because she saw this Rogue as a companion and a person instead of a faceless monster. That wasn't any concern of his, though, as he could see that she was truly settling in well. Leading her party well, dealing with these morons without much difficulty, and keeping the rules. He'd stick around for another day, but he was confident that she'd be ok, given the positive relationships she'd cultivated with several other delvers in town.
He stretched his awareness around him, feeling for any more delvers nearby. None… for at least 2 kilometers, given that those three were currently sprinting back to the city as fast as their craven little legs could take them. A part of him thought of roughing them up, doing a little extrajudicial teaching…
But no. Klara was here. The woman was terrifying, and he could guarantee that, somehow, the witch knew he was here. How she knew it, he couldn't say, but that was a Steel tiered delver. And a mage? No chance. Even if she'd been missing from her office this morning when he'd gone to report to her, she would know. She always did. Where was she? What was she doing? Whatever she wanted, as always.
Instead of psychological torment, he sighed quietly, feeling the single irregular up ahead of the delvers, and smiling as he turned to beat the three cowards back to the inn. Between being an Iron tier and getting there first with the truth… maybe he could consider this something of an extrajudicial teaching session. Stark activated his Hustle Skill and felt his Alacrity double.
Time to set a new speed record.
***
Four more packs succumbed to their party's attacks, and Astrid felt her grin widen. Though this was still the first floor of this Dungeon entrance, they were settling into an easy rhythm. How well they'd continue going until they'd gained a level was yet to be seen, but for a first day's delve in truth, it was a good day and a good pace. That was when Muti perked up, her head cocked to the side.
"What is it?" Astrid asked. "The cowards've come back?"
"No." Muti shook her head. "It is something else entirely. I cannot say what exactly, but there is something like a gnoll but not those we have fought before, and it is close. The closest thing to us."
"Lead the way." Astrid said, curious. "Any idea what it might be?"
"Could be an abnormal." Skandr shrugged. "I doubt it, but I suppose it's possible."
"Why do you doubt it?"
"They usually only appear on the lower floors. Closer to the access point of the Dungeon itself, not just a branch."
While Astrid nodded, Muti whispered. "I do not suppose you are taking bets on if it is an irregular? I will bet that it is."
Astrid poked her head just slightly higher out of the field and whispered to herself, "What in the Duchess's name is that?"