Part Seventy-One

“Awwwoooooo!”

“Arroooo…”

“Errggg…”

Not this fucking shit again!

Dozens of wolves were pursuing us through the forest, weaving through the trees and each other as they went. This was like a recurring nightmare that I just couldn’t shake, especially since it was the third time I was being chased by a large pack of wolves.

Any time one got close, it would be immediately cut down by one of us, but that didn’t dissuade the others from continuing to chase us. Even watching other wolves' heads rot away hadn’t worked. I was just glad that Edwin woke up pretty quick, allowing Hunk to fight back with us. Having someone capable of powerful long-range attacks was always good. His accuracy rate was just as high as Alicia’s.

As for Edwin, he was running while cradling his arm. I had to hand it to him, running with a broken arm couldn’t be easy, but he was doing it all the same. He was not able to fight back though, so it was up to the rest of us to protect him.

“AWWWOOOOO!”

A particularly large wolf bounded towards us, straight into a [Rot] that sent it cartwheeling over itself, taking out a dozen other wolves in the process. Even if they were bigger, they were still ordinary wolves. They had no chance against my magic.

“I can see the field! We’re almost there!”

Just to ensure that nothing managed to catch up at the last second, I left a few Combustion Bombs behind to cover us. Hopefully there wasn’t anyone else in the vicinity that would get caught up in this.

*FWOOOOOOOM!*

The wolves closest to us were all struck by the blossoming flames, and those further back balked at the sight of the flames. It appeared that even monstrous wolves weren’t fond of fire.

With the monsters pursuing us deterred, there was nothing to stop us from returning to the fort. Seriously, this better be the last job we have.

***

Short version: it was. The quartermaster instructed us to head to the conference room after we returned, since the Archmage was going to hold a debriefing, so that's where I was at now. Edwin had been allowed to go to the infirmary to have his arm treated though. I’m pretty sure not taking care of it could cost him the limb.

The conference room was almost empty when we arrived. We must’ve been one of the fastest to finish our quests, meaning we’d have to wait the longest. Hunk-lite immediately sat down in the corner and started servicing his guns, while Tiffany and Serena must’ve spotted someone they knew, who they then went to talk with. And thus I was now alone. Again.

I’m, I’m not sad now. I certainly don’t feel abandoned at all! I’ll just sit over here and-. Do what exactly? Hm, oh! I never looked in the bag Kalia gave me last night! I guess I can do that! Huzzah!

I retrieved the bag she’d given me, and began sorting the contents out into my bags. Most of what was inside was simple things, consumable items and spare armor sets that they’d probably gotten from this Dungeon. There were only two things of real interest to me.

First was a black gem, something which I quickly recognized. How Finnél had gotten a Gem of Hatred I didn’t know, though I’d later find out that the Gem had actually been found in the ashes left by Finnél when he died, or whatever that was. Someone had found the thing, but hadn’t known what it was, and had nearly given themselves Miasma Poisoning because they’d mishandled it. Ordinary people couldn’t handle the Grudge coming from the Gem, which made sense since it was three time bigger than the first one I’d found.

The other thing was a single vial of a dark green liquid. Reading the Analyze result caused my jaw to drop to the floor.

Mana Tonic

Rank: Special

Description: A Tonic designed to restore the drinker’s mana pool all at once. The effect is extremely powerful, but because it works by causing the metabolism to speed up rapidly for a few seconds, repeated usage can lead to death by malnourishment. Still, it is a valuable commodity anywhere.

I had to read that three times for it to fully sink in. My mana pool was my greatest limiting factor in a fight, so having a way to restore it easily was extraordinary. The side-effects sounded scary, but if it was between surviving a fight or preserving my nutrition, I’d choice the former every time.

Actually, why wouldn’t Finnél or the butler have used this? Hm, maybe they just didn’t have time? Or they were warier of the side-effects than I am. Also, why was I given this? Or do they have a lot of these? Eh, maybe I’ll ask someone later. That is if I don’t forget to do so.

Considering that I’d kinda, sorta screwed everything up just before that all happened, I hadn’t actually expected to get anything. That I had was honestly puzzling to me. I doubt I would’ve been as charitable if I were in their shoes. Maybe I should be less hostile. Eh, I’ll work on it. I should really try and figure out what I’m going to do abou-.

“Gah! S-since when were you here!?”

I looked up from the bag, only to discover that Alicia had somehow snuck up beside me without me noticing. The worst part was that she was just sitting there, staring at me unblinkingly. Did, did she use Stealth to get there? What a misuse of that Skill.

“Um, hi?”

My poor attempt at diffusing the tension failed, probably because Alicia still couldn’t talk yet. She just kept staring at me, or perhaps it was more glaring, as her eyes were narrowed. A bad premonition came over me, but she slapped a piece of paper on the table before I could flee. I just knew that this wasn’t ending well for me.

*It’s almost time.*

“What? Alicia, are you going for some kind of weird cryptic thing or something? Because this…doesn’t…make any sense. Oh shit.”

A quick glance at my watch confirmed it. It had been roughly forty-three or so hours since the battle with Finnél, meaning that Observer's effect was almost up. In about five hours, Alicia would get her voice back. That would ordinarily be a good thing, but considering the events leading up to that, it wasn’t this time. I kind of thought that maybe Alicia had gotten over it early on, but she clearly hadn’t.

*I’m not taking my eyes off of you, because if I do, you’ll slip away somehow.*

“Uh, I wouldn’t do that.”

I immediately began trying to concoct a way to do exactly that. Trying to distract her would only backfire, and it was doubtful I could use Stealth to get away. Her proficiency with it was just that much better. Maybe if an attack happened I could use the confusion to slip away? Or I could somehow reroute her attention to something else. I’d have to think it over for a while.

***

The rest of the mercenaries trickled in over the next half-hour. Alicia sat beside me, staring the entire time. After a while, I just got to a point where I stopped caring and moved onto practicing Sword Aura. I was starting to get the hang of gathering the concentrated Aura required for the enhanced slashes, and with another week or two of practicing, I thought I’d be able to use them more effectively. And more often

*Ka-clunk*

::Dungeon Scenario Update:

Remaining Challengers: 789.

Mid-bosses remaining: 2 of 3.

Monster Army Remaining: 64.49%

Time until escape is possible: 1 Day 15 Hours 47 Minutes.

The Dungeon Boss will arrive one day after all Mid-bosses and 90% of the Monster Army are killed.::

The last of the squads must’ve returned since the Dungeon Scenario was updated. The meeting was likely to get underway pretty soon. I was a bit disappointed to see that there were still two Mid-bosses left. It would’ve been a fine ending to the day if we’d managed to kill the Void Wolf. I definitely should reread the entry on Void Magic at some point after this meeting, just in case.

Less than two days left. I wonder what’ll happen between now and then. And how many will choose to escape the Dungeon then. I’ve seen a lotta people looking more and more stressed as this has gone on. Especially the last two days. The back-to-back battles have really frayed our nerves. Even I’m starting to want a break.

Cameron’s group entered just then, quickly followed by the Archmage and Commander Argoth. Finally the meeting could begin. Alicia’s staring was minutes away from driving me insane.

“Hello again everyone. Before I begin the debriefing, I feel that I must say that it is due to the collective efforts of every single person that this fort still stands. Many of you have gone above and beyond what we’ve requested of you during the course of this siege. For that, you all have my thanks.”

That may be the most honest display of emotion I’ve seen from an NPC. Is this really something that was preprogrammed into it?

“As many of you have no doubt already noticed, several squads did not return from their assignments. Three groups were completely annihilated, while two more took casualties in the course of their work. But their losses were not in vain, as the monster’s assault has been successfully delayed. For the time being, we will have a chance to breathe.”

Saying that there was a mixed reaction to that was an understatement. Many of the mercenaries, more than half, cheered that news. But some of the others just about came out of their seats. The Commander had sounded somewhat unconcerned with the deaths, but this was neither the time nor the place to complain.

“I’m sure you all have many questions, but I must warn you. While the monster’s attack may have been stalled, they will try something either tonight or tomorrow. Allowing us to rest unaccosted would be a foolish mistake, one which the monsters will not make. Just as we make our preparations, so too will they.”

“The commander is right. Our scouts have already discovered a few groups of Mivians constructing Golem War-machines, though whether they intend to use them in the same way last time is still unknown. And there is always the possibility of disposable monsters being sent in waves designed to wear us out. We must remain vigilant, up until the moment every monster is dead.”

“And when will that be? Do we have a timetable for this?” Said Braddock, asking a most poignant question.

“We do. Considering the extent of the damage inflicted, along with the original time it would take for them to prepare, we believe it will be about forty-five hours before they will be sufficiently prepared to attack. Most likely in the evening the day after tomorrow.”

That would put it a little bit past the end of the week-long timer that was set when we entered the Dungeon. If that timer designates a moment when we will have the chance to escape, then will the Dungeon get that much harder afterwards? Maybe it would be best to escape then? Hm, I just don’t know. I’m not one to run from a fight I think I can win, but this could be so much worse than I’d suspected. I should talk with the others about this. We should decide on this ahead of time.