Delving into the Darkness
"You doing okay?" asked Cairn.
Nodding in affirmation, Kaia replied, "Yes. Those with Restia's blessing are equally resistant to corruption, so I'll be fine so long as my mental energy isn't depleted."
Returning Cairn's gaze, Kaia looked between him and Zarah, asking, "How are the two of you faring?"
Exhibiting her usual lack of care, Zarah covered her mouth to stifle a yawn before responding, "It'll take more than a few whispers to unnerve me. So long as we don't have to make camp, I'm fine."
"That's good to hear," said Cairn, smiling wryly as he resisted the urge to shiver. The surrounding air was frigid, but his body was covered in a cold sweat due to the pervasive, indiscernible whispers that seemed to pierce directly into his mind.
*Ding! Your Corruption Resistance has increased to 7!*
Feeling a little better, Cairn reached into the velvet, gold-laced pouch Vira had given him before his departure. It resembled a coin purse or a pouch used to store marbles, but the mouth could miraculously stretch upwards of ten meters. More notably, the interior was a forty-acre plot of land with a tiny cottage, an artificial river, and a water wheel...
Withdrawing his hand, Cairn produced a decanter larger than the pouch's dimensions, using it to quench his thirst before passing it to the two girls. Tarou also took a sip, but instead of drinking from the decanter, he drank from the tiny pool formed by Kaia's cupped hand.
As Cairn returned the decanter to his inventory, disguising his actions by sinking his hand into his pouch, Zarah remarked, "It's strange. It could be a byproduct of the Subterranean Spire's unique structure and restrictions, but in locations permeated by miasma, there is typically an increase in the number of immaterial and undead-type creatures. A complete absence of monsters is abnormal. Unless..."
With Cairn's and Kaia's attentions focused on her, Zarah adopted a toothy, deliberately mischievous grin as she held up two fingers, stating, "I have two theories. The first is that someone or something killed every monster between the entrance of this floor and the Guardian's chamber. The only issue with that assertion is that the floors above appeared normal. With that in mind, the most probable explanation is that this miasma interferes with the Dungeon's functions. That shouldn't be possible since the mana veins of the Dungeon flow through its structure, but if someone were to access the core..."
Realizing what she was suggesting, Zarah lost her smile, her cat-like pupils contracting as goosebumps spread across her body. After all, if someone was deliberately tampering with the Dungeon Core, the odds of a Mana Efflux occurring increased tremendously.
Taking off at her maximum speed, Zarah shouted, "Move your asses! If a Mana Efflux occurs, tens, maybe hundreds of thousands of people could die!"
Seeing the usually lax lioness move with purpose, Cairn became equally serious as he struggled to catch up to her. His raw Agility was higher than hers, but due to the weight of his gear and other factors, she was slightly faster than him.
Fortunately for Cairn, Kaia quickly overtook Zarah, barring her passage and stating, "Calm yourself. Haste is important in a crisis, but if a powerful foe awaits us at our destination, it would be detrimental to enter the fight fatigued."
Though her first instinct was to smack Kaia with her hammer for daring to block her path, Zarah was weak in the face of reason. There were ways in which they could supplement their diminished stamina and offset fatigue, but when faced with uncertainty, it was important to remain cautious and in peak condition. Even more so when they could barely see a few meters ahead...
Closing her eyes, Zarah exhaled an exasperated sigh and, instead of apologizing, remarked, "It appears I am not as impervious to this miasma as I believed. I'll be more careful from now on..."
Catching up to the trio, including Tarou, Cairn caused Zarah to frown by extending his hand to ruffle her hair, smiling as he said, "There's nothing wrong with being worried about the lives of innocents."
Directing his gaze to Kaia, Cairn suggested, "You should scout ahead and attempt to ascertain the situation. We'll catch up as quickly as we can."
"Understood," replied Kaia, reaching for Tarou but stopping when Cairn shook his head, stating, "Take him with you. If the situation is pressing, having a 'capable mage' on hand will make things easier."
Hearing Cairn's praise, the somewhat fearful Tarou immediately perked up, standing proudly atop Kaia's head and puffing out his chest with an affirming squeak. His Level had increased to 15 since Cairn encountered it in the Gnawing Burrow. Thus, despite seeming small, weak, and cowardly, Tarou had the greatest firepower in the group, much to Zarah's chagrin...
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With Kaia and Tarou departing to scout ahead, Zarah walked alongside Cairn in silence for several minutes before, rather abruptly, expressing, "I don't like dark, damp places..."
As Zarah moved closer and grasped his arm, Cairn couldn't help raising his brows. Before he could respond, however, she added, "The next time you pet my head without permission, I'm biting your pinky off..."
"That seems a little extreme..." replied Cairn.
"Maybe..." admitted Zarah, shrugging as she added, "But I've warned you several times. I'm not your pet..."
"Whatever..." muttered Cairn, resisting the urge to roll his eyes. His actions earned him a narrow-eyed glare from Zarah, but instead of continuing to threaten him, she leaned her head against his shoulder, her tuft-tipped tail swishing behind her as they resumed walking in silence...
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Reaching the door to the Guardian's Chamber, a massive stone slab that vaguely resembled the maw of a dragon with a broad, shield-like crown, Kaia placed her hand against its surface and closed her eyes.
"There's no one inside..." muttered Kaia, sensing that she could enter the chamber whenever she pleased. Had there been someone inside, her hand would have been repelled from the door's stony surface like trying to force together two magnets.
"Chi chin...?" questioned Tarou, tilting its head to the side from between Kaia's ears.
Shaking her head, Kaia retracted her hand from the door and stated, "It would be better for us to wait. My Level may exceed the difficulty of this Dungeon, but the Guardian of the Subterranean Spire is a Ground Dragon. It may be the lowest tier, but it's still a True Dragon..."
Hearing Kaia mention that their opponent was a dragon, Tarou's multi-colored eyes lit up, blazing with anticipation. Cairn had persuaded him with the promise of dragon bones, but he never thought his chance to feast upon them would come so soon.
"Chi chi chiiii~!" exclaimed Tarou, pointing to the door as if to urge Kaia to enter.
"We will wait," Kaia reiterated, her voice firm as she promptly plopped her rear end on the floor. Tarou deflated atop her head and slid forward along her bangs, but Kaia was familiar with his antics, catching him with her left hand before rubbing his belly with the tip of her right index finger.
"Chi chiiiiii~" groaned Tarou, narrowing his eyes in contentment as Kaia reached up to scratch under his chin. Unfortunately, it only took a few minutes for Cairn and Zarah to arrive, the latter taking the initiative to ask, "How is it? Anyone inside...?"
Shaking her head, Kaia replied, "Negative. I detected a powerful presence within, but it likely belonged to the Guardian. The teleportation formation permitting entry is intact, waiting to be stirred."
"Hmmm..."
Though she didn't doubt Kaia's words, Zarah approached the massive, twelve-meter-tall stone door and placed her hand against its surface, confirming things for herself.
"There doesn't appear to be any cracks around the door's perimeter..." stated Zarah, activating her Analyze to gather more information as she muttered, "So where is this miasma originating...?"
"It could be as you suspected previously," contended Cairn, emulating Zarah's action by placing his hand against the door. When she invariably looked to him, he returned a smile and said, "This is pure speculation, but if someone managed to gain access to the Dungeon Core and understood its functions, they could theoretically alter its structure and reprogram it to emulate a different environment, right?"
Furrowing her brows, Zarah compulsively replied, "Impossible..." even as she considered the possibility. The practice had been outlawed to protect the residents of Cliabhaan, but as a member of the Palace of Wisdom, she had read at least a few documents regarding the study of Dungeon Cores. This included the research compiled by Sage Eidolon, one of Maa Viraja's disciples and the Architect of the Artificial Dungeon, Merkabah. So, while it was unlikely that someone had modified the Dungeon Core to suit their purposes, it certainly wasn't impossible...
"It's pointless to continue speculating at this point," said Zarah. "Since we received permission, we simply need to defeat the Guardian and examine the Dungeon Core directly."
"That's something we can agree on," said Cairn, shifting his gaze to Kaia, prompting her to reach out with the hand she was using to support Tarou. Once they had their hands on the door, Cairn did his usual three-second count before they each shouted, "We wish to challenge the Guardian/Chi chi chiii~!" in concert.
Just as when Cairn entered the rat-filled chamber of the Gnawing Burrow, his settings changed in the blink of an eye. Instead of standing before a massive stone door, he found himself in the middle of a vast, rectangular hall that was at least five hundred meters long and fifty wide from floor to ceiling. Stone reliefs depicting draconic creatures leveling mountains and constructing roads lined the walls, but Cairn was far more concerned with the very real dragon at the opposite end of the chamber...
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Name: Guradakahn
Race: Ground Dragon
Gender: Female
Age: 39 Days
Title: Bulldozer(Increases resistance to status effects that affect mobility. Drastically increases damage from charge attacks)
Class: Earth Mover(Rare)
[Attributes]
Level: 25/30(Restricted)
HP: 138,129/138,129
MP: 32,096/32,096
Str: 318+239
Agi: 83+41
Vit: 449+674
Int: 91+45
Dex: 60+30
Cha: 49+25
Talent(s): [Earth's Blessing(25/30)], [Dragon Heart(25/30)], [Ground Dragon's Physiology(25/30)], [Indomitable(39/54)], [Territorial(35/50)], [Adamantine Bones(19/38)]
Skill(s): [Charge(MAX)], [Headbutt(MAX)], [Upheaval(MAX)], [Tail Hammer(7/10)], [Tremor(4/10)], [Earthquake(2/10)]
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"At least now we know what the design of the door was based on..." said Cairn, smiling wryly as his throat tightened. The Ground Dragon wasn't as frightening as the Rahagora, but its shield-like head was nearly 12m from the tip of its nose to its massive jaw. It was a quadruped, standing on four powerful legs, and its forty-meter-long body, half of which was derived from its massive, hammer-like tail, was covered in a carapace resembling red, brown, and beige stone. Thick hair covered the underside of its body, much like a broom, but the feature Cairn's eyes were more drawn to were the appendages it had in place of wings. They resembled another pair of arms but were far larger than the Ground Dragon's other limbs, tipped by five massive claws, crimson in color, and between four and ten meters in length...
Seemingly in response to Cairn's words, the Ground Dragon raised its colossal body from the ground and brought its substitute wings forward, aligning them with its chin to form a wedge-shaped battering ram. Then, like a train leaving a station, it began to charge toward them, quaking the ground as it gradually picked up speed.
"Just to clarify, there's no way in hell I'm blocking that," said Cairn, his smile becoming even wrier as the shields attached to his arms suddenly felt like lead weights.
"No shit...!" exclaimed Zarah, grabbing Cairn by his mantle and pulling him to the side as Kaia stood her ground, smacking her shield with her spear as she taunted, "Your mother was a turtle and your father a blind mole...!"
Accelerating even faster, the Ground Dragon lowered its jaw and claws to begin tearing up the chamber's foundation. Rocks the size of Cairn's head ricocheted around the room like lethal projectiles, but Kaia remained firm, weaving between the massive stones until the Ground Dragon was right in front of her...
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(A/N: Sorry for the super late post. I played 75.3 hours of BG3 over the span of four days and burnt myself out. I'll see if I can't post an extra chapter today to help make up for it.)