Dungeon Titles


I know that after all if this was a quest I could check the character sheet.

Fine then is the viewpoint character we are meant to emphasize with still carrying the equipment given to them by the historian that records the data of their adventures during the boss fight and use of salvation.
 
Chapter 63
Jessy gripped her staff in her hand with trembling fingers. That old fear that she had felt on her first fights was coming back again. She squashed it as best she could, but couldn't really stop it. She was in good company. Almost everyone in the hall looked nervous. Well, aside from the old man next to her.

"The world boss was first sighted in the Town of Woodrow." The man in front of the hall stated loudly. "We're assuming that the town no longer exists at this moment. All fast travel methods are being used so we can't confirm."

"Lucky that we even know about the thing right now." The man next to Jessy stated lowly.

"Lucky?" Jessy whispered.

"You likely weren't alive for the last one. First thing anyone figured out about it was when it decided that a city looked like a tasty snack." The old man replied back with a snort.

"The plan at the moment is to focus on identifying where the monster is and then arranging for several raiding guilds to destroy it." The man in the front continued, likely not even hearing the byplay.

The old man snorted again and got to his feet.

The man in front paused from his explanation. "Excuse me sir? Is there a reason you're leaving?"

"Arranging for several raiding guilds to destroy it." The old man replied back sarcastically. "Do you really think that the boss will wait in place? Why do you think they're called world bosses?!"

"We know they move. We're working on getting someone tailing it and will predict it." The man in front replied back with a calm and reasonable tone.

"Then you sent that person to their death." The old man spat out without a care for his words. "If you can see the world boss, it can likely see you. It will hunt down everyone it can. It will move towards cities and dungeons, and then eat."

"The baron has hired some of the best scouts and trackers. We will be able to track it perfectly fine." The man continued with the same tone he had been. "World bosses can be killed. It just requires careful and deliberate actions."

The old man scoffed loudly and began to leave. The man in front didn't stop him at this point.

Frowning, Jessy looked back and forth and then followed after the old man. She had learned a fair bit about world bosses herself, and the person in front sounded more like he was dealing a casual fire or something else. All calm tones and no real plans of actions for the gathered adventurers.

"What are you doing girl?" The old man called back as she followed.

"I was wondering. You seem like you've dealt with world bosses before." Jessy replied tentatively as she clutched her fluffy robe.

"Aye. Fought it even." The man grumbled and cracked his back. He gestured down the street. "Let's go ahead and head towards my place. Not getting any younger here."

Jessy nodded and then blinked as his statement registered. "You fought a world boss?"

"Oh yes. The Hydra. A nasty thing that had eight heads that each spat a different sort of elemental attack." The man paused in remembrance as he spoke, then shook his head and kept moving. "Took almost a full year pin it down and kill it."

A chill crawled down Jessy's spine. "A year?" She couldn't even envision a monster raging across the country that long.

"I know what you're thinking. It wasn't killing people all that time. They tend to disappear after a good meal or two." The old man barked a laugh. "That's why that idiot's plan was stupid. World bosses are terrifyingly good at hiding."

The summoner gulped in reply. She had come to the city to take a vacation, not to wonder if everyone was going to die. "What can we do then?"

"I need to get my maps." The old man muttered. "You can typically get a good idea of good targets at least. The way we got the last one was making it work for a meal long enough to get a few elites in and then swarmed it." He paused again in remembrance.

"I can't imagine that worked that well." Jessy shuddered at the thought. Normal bosses weren't easy, and a lot of them had some brutal area attacks. She couldn't imagine world bosses being different.

The arrived at a manor before the man replied again. He waved the girl in and ignored the servants as they took his coat and arranged a small snack for the two inside a lovely looking room. Jessy looked around the place with a hint of embarrassment. It was a richer looking house than she was really comfortable with. Something she had dreamed of owning when she was younger.

"Ah, I did forget something. I'm Grand, the Swordmaster." The man introduced himself as he sat.

"I'm Jessy, the Summoner." The girl replied reflexively as she sat and then blinked. Swordmaster? That wasn't a trivial title.

"Ah, another summoner? My wife would love to see what the new generation is doing there." Grand grinned widely as he gestured to a few paintings of various people in the distance. "None of our children went into the magical arts, so she's been feeling a bit disappointed. Though between you and me, she hasn't been able to declare as a summoner for years." Grand whispered the last part with a wink.

Jessy smiled tentatively but it didn't last. "So, about the world boss."

"Ah, me getting distracted." The man clapped his hands. "I need the good maps!" He called out to the servants nearby.

A few moments later, several large rolls of paper were in front of Grand. The man traced a few areas and sighed.

"Town of Woodrow was here." The swordmaster tapped at a place to the southeast of them. "Now, world bosses don't have maps, but they do sense somehow. They go straight lines until they're full and the disappear. Best guess is it will hit this town. It's closest." The swordmaster tapped at another town right next to Woodrow. "If we had actual plans instead of incompetence, then that would be where we'd hit it next. Instead if we're lucky they've evacuated. It will eat the buildings and likely disappear."

Jessy nodded rapidly. That made sense she supposed.

"Now, we'll get get from a few days to almost a month before it will come back. I'd have to know it's travel time, but worst case." Grand drew a circled around the second town he had identified.

The summoner felt her blood chill. Practically the entire province was circled now. "How would we stop it if it could hit all of that?"

"We need a survivors testimony, and a few predictions cast." Grand stated with a grim tone. "Without both, the prediction would be off. Fortunately, we have competent people on that." Grand shrugged and leaned back in his chair.

"Who?" Jessy asked quickly.

"Girl if you don't know about clans, then you've been living under a rock." Grand chuckled at the look on Jessy's face.

Smoothing her face out, the girl nodded. "I'm with the Steelguard. They do this?"

Grand shrugged again. "All clans do. Admittedly I'm a bit out of the loop on which ones are active. Ours is mostly retired, so I couldn't help you there. I do know this is ultimately why they're encouraged."

Jessy frowned and then slowly nodded. Then got to her feet. "Thank you then Grand. I think I should contact them about this."

"That would be best. Though first have a few cookies." The man gestured to the snack. "Wife would kill me if I didn't give a guest some refreshment."

The summoner laughed a moment and sat down again. "All right."
 
Hmmm. From the way that man out laid the Baron's plan ( though there is the possibility of there being more to the plan, ) it seems likely that his treatment Samael and the existence of the Monk Title in general are just symptoms of a larger problem in general that the Baron is likely a part of. And the World Boss is probably the World's response. But if the World Boss is beaten, it may still leave the Cause that summoned it undealt with
 
"Ah, another summoner? My wife would love to see what the new generation is doing there." Grand grinned widely as he gestured to a few paintings of various people in the distance. "None of our children went into the magical arts, so she's been feeling a bit disappointed. Though between you and me, she hasn't been able to declare as a summoner for years." Grand whispered the last part with a wink.
Hmm. Some type of retired adventurer title? Matron, maybe?
 
Love this story! Looking forward to more exploring of this world and how dungeons "level" up and how the different Titles evolve.

I honestly don't think it's that big a cliffhanger :) The interlude is mostly to sort of make it feel a bit like time is passing more than anything else. Basically a pacing bit.

While Samael's fate is probably known given the hints and foreshadowing, the rest of the party could be a smear across the countryside :o I want to know more about the party and their deaths would be tragic
 
I honestly don't think it's that big a cliffhanger :)
The ability Samael used and how he likely immediately splatted again might not be cliffhangers, but whether or not he was able to pass on his information, whether or not his party was in the path of the World Boss, and whether or not any of them will be identified for resurrection (and thus, whether or not you're going to go back to those characters or leave them dead) are all fairly big cliffhangers for anyone invested in the story or characters.

You already know approximately where the story is going; that will always make cliffhangers smaller for you than it is for your readers.

(Also, there are probably at least a few people who, having seen what progress Samael made on his first try, thought he might be more successful on his second, especially since he knows he can hide by holding his breath and how to dodge most of its attacks. If it wouldn't change tactics, and he was lucky, he could even win that fight, proving World Bosses can be slain relatively easily if you just catch them early enough.)
 
but whether or not he was able to pass on his information, whether or not his party was in the path of the World Boss, and whether or not any of them will be identified for resurrection (and thus, whether or not you're going to go back to those characters or leave them dead) are all fairly big cliffhangers for anyone invested in the story or characters.
.)

I really doubt a single person can kill a world boss, and for his party they were actively running away from the world boss while he ran where it was going. They should be completely safe. In my mind the only real question is how many will it kill before he can find someone to pass the information on.
 
Chapter 64
"He is over here!" The voice was the first thing that Samael heard as he opened his eyes.

Gritting his teeth, the man forced his up on his elbows and looked down at himself. He wasn't sure what he was expecting, but seeing his naked legs and feet hadn't quite been it. Realizing he was healthy and whole made his arms tremble, and then the sudden exhaustion from the minor exertion made him drop down to his back again with a grunt.

"Samael! Oh, thank the heavens!" Camila's voice made the man turn to see his party members running up to him.

The man waved a hand weakly and gave another grunt as he was hugged by a relieved looking Camila. The rest of his friends seemed equally relieved, though Knuckles just patted him on the shoulder.

"We had to hide and be very quiet when we saw the monster moving towards the town." Camila babbled. "We thought you were dead."

"Got closer than I would have liked." Samael croaked out. He had just barely managed to grasp the technique for salvation in the end, and hadn't been able to hold it enough to completely fix himself.

"You are in a field of stone pillars and ruined earth. I would believe that." Seonag knelt down next to the downed man and pushed Camila away to examine him. "I will not ask where your pants went." She commented dryly.

"Hah." Samael barked out a laugh and hacked.

"How is he?" Knuckles rumbled out as he glanced around the area.

"He needs food and water, but he looks fine physically. What happened?" Seonag asked after she was finished examining the monk.

"Fought the world boss. Got my ass kicked and barely dented the thing." Samael replied back and wiggled his toes as he glanced down at his feet.

"And you live? You are lucky indeed." Seonag commented as she stepped back to look at the other male in the group. "Lift him and bring him to the cart."

Knuckles nodded in reply and reached down to do so. Samael grumbled at the treatment, but couldn't dispute it as weak as he felt at the moment. Sure he could try to use salvation again, but he didn't think he could grasp the focus and magic as weak as he felt. He endured the manhandling into the cart as best he could.

Once in the back of the vehicle Knuckles moved to the front of the cart and had their transport moving again. The donkey didn't care one bit that it was moving through ruined and broken terrain. It just calmly set one foot in front of the other. Samael envied that just a bit.

As they moved, Samael recounted the boss battle briefly. Considering what it had done to the terrain, some of it didn't need to be explained. The resulting mess of the ground was more than enough to demonstrate it.

"As mighty as we were told." Seonag responded neutrally after he was done.

"We can use it though. Well, my brother can use it." Camila tried to flash a smile, but she couldn't. "Hopefully we can stop it quickly."

"How'd the town make out?" Samael asked after a moment of silence.

No one looked at the monk. Samael felt his heart sink and he levered himself up again. In the distance he could see where the town had been. Had been.

Now there was no building left standing. There were piles of dirt here and there just barely visible from where he was sitting. The man tried to see any hint of life, but with a sinking heart found he couldn't. He dropped down to the floor of the cart and closed his eyes.

"About a quarter of the town's dead." Knuckles finally stated without cheer or emotion at all. "Everything's ruined, and several basements were dug up and the people aren't there anymore."

"Towns are usually wiped off the map with no survivors." Camila stated with a fixed expression on her face. Like she was unsure of what would be appropriate. "It's far better than it could have been. Usually the people try to run and the world boss will hunt them down or simply kill them with incidental damage as the fighting starts inside the town limits."

Samael winced and opened his eyes to look at the sky. "Can we help them?"

"Take care when saving a drowning man. His panic would drag others down into the icy depths." Seonag's expression wasn't visible behind her mask, but her words were heavy. "We are but three people. We gave what supplies we could and we must continue on. The information we have is needed."

"There should be a meeting of clans in capital of the province." Camila stated with certainty. "At the next town we'll send off more messages, and include one about the survivors." She grinned just a bit. "You'll be able to see my brother soon too! He's like the best astrologer ever, and with all our information we should be able to find where the world boss will strike next!" The grin turned vicious. "Then we rip it apart."

"You're sure your brother will be there?" Samael asked the girl.

"Of course, all the clan leaders will be there. Someone has to coordinate things." Camila blinked as people froze around her.

"You didn't think to mention that your brother was the clan leader?" The monk asked the question everyone else wanted to ask.

"It's not like it's not that big a deal." Camila waved off the question. "I'm a grown woman capable of killing a man at twenty paces. I get some fun stuff from him, but that's about it." She gestured to the glimmering star earrings she wore constantly. "These and the dress are fairly high level items you know?"

"No, I didn't." Samael stated faintly.

Camila grinned warmly at the man. "Don't worry. He's great, and you're all my favorite teammates. He'll be happy I found such a good group."

"You will forgive me if I am not completely happy with this knowledge." Seonag replied back with a heavy sigh.

"Think of it this way. World boss first. Then panic." Knuckles muttered to everyone lowly.

Camila looked almost adorably confused by everyone's muttered agreement to that remark.
 
Everyone lives!

Hopefully the Starseekers can do an end run and help organize the raid to take down the world boss without the nobility gumming up the works
 
... Y'know, if you think about it, Knuckles is the most normal Titled in their group. Let me repeat that. The Ex-Thieves Guild Thug that accidentally and probably unintentionally became a Terror Knight (and likely mostly because of his necromantic prosthetic arm, ) is imo the most normal person in this group, with a possibility of being tied with Seonag for that.

Shaman from a Amazonian nation whose former guild hold a grudge against her because of the death of another guild member. Nah. Still think Knuckles is the normal person in the group.
 
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