Survival Quest (The Way of the Shaman: Book #1) (27 page)

"The clan gets my vote. As soon as we get out, I'll make sure to add everyone as a friend and we'll form a clan. But now, let's go. We've been hanging around here too long already. Clutzer, Leite - ready?" I saw them nod and looked at Eric. "Well, dwarven tank - lead on."

"We all come up to the veil, form a line and step in on the count of 'three'. Ready? Then it's countdown time. One. Two. Three."

I got out the Tambourine and the Mallet and stepped through the shimmering entrance.

Chapter 11

The Dungeon

A
s soon as the shimmering veil disappeared, Eric took two steps forward and put out his shield, Leite and Clutzer stood either side of me, their new weapons in hand, and stared ahead intently. We were ready to repel any attack, but for some reason no-one was attacking us. It seems that I was again slow on the uptake: why would there be mobs right at the Dungeon entrance? They are all further in. I barely moved myself forward when a message popped up:

Message for the player! A new territory has been discovered:
The Mushu Dungeon. The probability of finding a valuable item from an ordinary opponent has increased by 49.999%, Experience received is increased by 20%.

I couldn't help smiling when I read the message. Only quest items had a drop rate over 50%. As a rule, the greatest probability of other items being dropped was exactly 50%. We've discovered a new territory, which meant that no-one's been through this Dungeon before us. Unless I was mistaken, the first explorers had the greatest likelihood of getting loot. We already had the chance of items dropping off the Rats in the Dolma mine; keeping in mind that it had increased by such a high percentage, this original chance amounted to just 0.001%. And despite it all the ogre told us that there was a possibility of getting additional income. Some joker he was!

The place where we found ourselves strongly resembled a tunnel: the three meter high corridor disappeared into the distance. At intervals of also about three meters lit torches cast strange shadows on walls made of roughly hewn stone. There was a sense that the passage had been dug out with picks and any further work on the walls was deemed unnecessary. Only the floor was more or less even, so you did not have to trip at every step. After about fifty meters you could barely see anything, even with the help of the burning torches. It looked like the developers had imposed a visibility limitation to make going through the Dungeon more interesting. Once in the tunnel, I immediately noticed a strange green bar appear before our eyes.

"Careful as we go," I said and an echo went through the passage: "...go..., ...go...". "This place gives me the creeps." The strange bar started to fill with red as echo made its way around the tunnel. Eric gave me a reproachful look, put his finger to the lips and we slowly went on to the sound of the dying echo. As soon as the echo disappeared and the bar became completely red, a strange rustling sound came from down the passage, growing louder every moment. It wasn't even a rustle, but more like a myriad of little legs hitting a stone floor. In about ten seconds we saw a wall of incomprehensible something moving at us from the depth of the corridor. When it was about forty meters away we could finally see what it was: a giant worm, which took up the whole of the corridor space and was moving towards us with the implacable certitude of a real full-track tank. The entire perimeter of its body sported small appendages with which it pushed itself against the walls as it moved forward. So that's what had been making that disgusting rustling sound! The worm's head had no eyes, but sported an enormous round opening - about a meter and a half in diameter - that served it for a mouth. The whole of this mouth was full of long teeth, making it resemble every type of shark at once. The moment I spotted the beast heading for us it became clear to me that we'll never kill it, because it would simply crush us with its mass and then eat us, and our expedition for extra bonuses would end before ever really starting.

"To the exit, move it!" I shouted and run up to Eric, who was getting ready to take on the beast, pulling him towards the shimmering veil. "That's not the way to deal with it! Out, before it crushes us all."

We sped to the exit and again stepped through the shimmering veil. As soon as we were back in the mine grounds I shouted:

"Everyone back off from the exit and get ready! That bastard could follow us out!"

We set ourselves at the edges of the Dungeon exit and started to wait for the weird beast to come out. A minute went by, then two, but the thing never appeared. That's right, it won't set a foot (or appendage) outside the Dungeon. As soon as we left the Dungeon the red bar disappeared, which gave me an idea about what to do with the pseudo-millipede.

"I think I'm too freaked out to jump this beaster...." Clutzer ventured.

"No need to jump it," I cut off any disputes, when I saw Eric preparing to explain to us that we had to go back and finish off this thing before it crawled away. Everyone looked at me in surprise and Eric asked:

"You think of something?"

"That's right. When we came in, did everyone see a status bar before our eyes?"

The others nodded and I continued:

"When I started talking an echo spread through the tunnel and the bar started to turn from green to red. And as soon as the bar turned completely red this thing went for us. Something tells me that we've got to make our way towards some point very quietly and carefully, without disturbing this sleeping beauty. If we don't make any noise, we'll get there. If we make a din this wonderworm will be on top of us again and swinging our picks under its nose is totally useless. It'll swallow us whole, totally disregarding our epic efforts."

"All right then," said Eric, "but in about three minutes I'll still go in and check if that thing has crawled back where it came from. And then come back right away to call the rest of you. And if I'm not back...  Well, it won't be very nice if we all came in and it was right there. Best if it's just me..."

Eric's explanation was a bit muddled, but I got him. Why risk everyone if we have a specially trained tank, whose role dictates he should always go first.

The beast wasn't by the entrance, so five minutes later we were all again standing at the start of the Mushu Dungeon and getting ready to clear it out. The bar took its place before our eyes, all green as before.

Very slowly, with each taking care not to make any extra noise, we moved forward. We walked for about 10 meters: the bar wasn't turning red, and the tunnel remained completely silent. 40 meters... 60 meters...

A hundred meters from the entrance we came to a fork: the corridor split into two passages, equally illumined by torches. The others gave me a questioning look. Fair enough, I was the raid-leader and it was my call to decide which way to go. If I guess right we'll bypass the worm and it'll be 'well done' to everyone. If I guess wrong - it'll be the raid-leader's fault, not that of the group.

I silently indicated the left passage. I know that good heroes never turn left, but now I had a feeling that this was the direction we should head.

We carefully made our way along the corridor and after some time came to an enormous cave. Well, well. Tough luck. That THING was lying right in the centre of the cave, about twenty meters from us. We stopped dead at the cave entrance, examining this creation of the developers. Now we had the chance to have a proper look at the wonderworm, but did we really need all this?

Tunnel worm. Level: Inaccessible. Hit points: 45 000 000.

Inaccessible level meant that the beast was at least thirty levels above me. There's no point in even trying to bring this one down. Because it's totally useless.

I looked around the cave. It was large - about thirty meters wide, its ceiling spanning out of sight. The 'wormie' was nestled in a special hollow in the floor and paid no attention to the guests that just dropped in. We carefully turned around and headed back. They're right when they say that turning left leads to a sinister end. You should only go right! In about a hundred meters the right corridor was blocked by a thick grate, with bars you couldn't even squeeze your head through. We spent a few minutes searching for hidden levers, locks or secret stones, but it was no use. In a fit of anger Clutzer grabbed the grate and started to shake it. 'At least it's not making any noise', a thought flashed in my mind, but then there was a rattling sound, the green bar turned red by about 30% and Clutzer was holding a long metal rod. Glancing in surprise from the rod to us and then to the newly-made gap, Clutzer very carefully put the bar on the floor and then wiped the sweat from his forehead. Had it been any louder, it would have started an echo in the corridor and the lovely worm would have dropped in for tea. Still, we got away with it.

We squeezed through the gap and went on. Just a few dozen meters later the corridor took us to a cave or, to be more exact, a giant hole. The bottom of the hole was about three to four meters deep and was full of stakes pointing upwards. The hole itself was about twenty meters wide, so jumping over it wasn't an option. We didn't find any hanging bridges, ropes from the ceiling, grips or levers to help us get to the other side. What a snag! One cave with a worm in it and the other full of spikes. How do we go on from here? The fact that we were meant to go on was clear from the passage at the opposite end of the cave.

When we came back to the fork, I explained in gestures: 'we're taking a break' and then sat down for a think.

There's no way that the Tunnel Worm was the local boss. Otherwise it would be a rather silly Dungeon - a single boss without a crowd of mobs. It had been a mistake to leave the hall with the worm without first examining it properly. What if it was hiding a lever that was key to getting through the second cave. We had to be thorough.

I gestured the others to stay put and once again headed for the cave with the worm. Once there I carefully made my way along the wall, mindful of any movement from the beast - in case it got curious about who decided to pay it a visit. But all was quiet. When I got to the opposite side of the cave, I discovered a strange device on the wall that looked like a crossbow. Is this what we should use to bring down the worm? But where were the arrows? Besides, it wasn't meant for normal arrows, being large enough to hold a spear. If not a spear...  Perhaps we could use that rod that Clutzer tore out of the grating. It was about the right size. We had to try it. Judging by the lever on the crossbow, I couldn't load it by myself, we needed the whole group for this, and as soon as we shot the worm, we'd be able to hide in the alcove next to the crossbow. It's decided then: that's what we'll do!

I went to fetch the rod, gestured the others to follow me and brought them to the cave. We carefully made my way to the contraption and, gritting our teeth from tension, managed to lift the crossbow and load it with the rod. It was now or never... When everyone hid themselves in the alcove I pressed the trigger.

You wouldn’t think it’s possible to go deaf in virtual reality, but this is probably exactly what happened to me a moment later. As soon as the spear hit the worm, it flinched, lifted its front end and screamed. Although no, that's not right. It SCREAMED! The deafening roar filled the whole Dungeon and our green bar instantly flashed red and disappeared altogether. Well, at least we're making some progress.

Letting out another scream the worm started to race around the cave. If we weren't in the alcove we'd have been immediately flattened, since the beast's speed was insane. A couple of moments later it discovered the exit and sped off in search of the attacker. The cave was filled with the scraping sound of the monster racing down the corridors. Suddenly and clearly we heard the creaking of metal, a piercing roar from the worm, a loud thump and... the Dungeon was filled with silence.

Experience gained: +350 Experience, points remaining until next level: 480.

If the message was anything to go by, the Tunnel Worm had roared its last. We carefully left the alcove and started to examine the cave. If we were to go ahead we first had to make sure we've not missed anything of value. The said things of value were promptly found in a small hollow in the middle of the cave. Clutzer took out a couple of items and a bag of gold and then laid it all out on the ground. I looked at the item properties.

Leather Belt of the Sorcerer.
Durability: 50. Physical damage resistance: 20. Stamina: +2. Intellect: + 5. Item class: Uncommon. Minimum level: 10.

Chainmail Pauldrons of Strength. Durability: 50. Physical damage resistance: 60. Stamina: +2. Strength: + 5. Item class: Uncommon. Minimum level: 10.

We dividing the coins into four equal piles, each of us receiving 53 gold. Not bad for the first mob, not bad at all. The belt with Intellect I could take for myself, but the pauldrons suited both fighters at once. So we had to cast lots with 'Rock-Paper-Scissors', which resulted in Leite becoming the happy owner of the pauldrons. We equipped the new gear and went on, curious to see what happened with the worm.

Continuing to move with care, we came to the place where the way was blocked by the grate. Small broken pieces of the bars sticking out of the ceiling were the only reminder that it had ever been there. Some green slime was dripping off them - probably the monster's blood. Trying not to step in the puddles of slime in the wake of the worm after it had crashed through the metal obstacle, we came to the cave with the hole. At the moment its size was measured by a unique unit called '1 worm'. Pierced by the spikes, the familiar-looking worm formed a bridge of sorts across the hole. It must have gained an impressive speed when rushing through the corridors to fly over such a distance. In any case, this was the cause of that last deafening roar.

Now we just had to carefully make our way to the other side of the hole. Eric went first.