The next day started off with something that was perhaps a bit overdue in coming: an Initiate party had grown overconfident and gotten in over their heads. The group of five was led by a pair of co-leaders, a human brother and sister, and after putting down BB relatively easily they managed to talk the rest of the party into giving the second floor a try. After Lollyp blew up the sister's head with a lightning bolt and the brother's with a fireball however, the survivors had a sudden change of heart and fled the room without even finishing the fight.
| ------------------------ NEW CONSTRUCT PATTERN QUALITIES ACQUIRED/UPGRADED: LIMITED ITEMS OBTAINED: |
Otherwise the day had gone rather quietly, and Lollyp and Beatrice both had a bit of time to train the ghostly armors in proper group tactics, rather than the boss arena tactics they were familiar with and which mostly consisted of 'wait for your enemy to come to you and then stab them'. Before the light faded for the day Beatrice had gone upstairs to poke her head outside, and with no signs of more parties scaling the mountain climb, everything seemed prepared for the second attempt at raiding the Great Dungeon. So it was that once again Xenia found herself garbed for battle and with her companions around her, including Beatrice who had come to see them off. "Alright! Everyone ready? I am. Trust me, whatever bullshit my soul throws at me, I promise I am not going to look that stupid twice in a row."
Sincere gives her a slight bow, and responds in an only slightly condescending tone of voice. "I am certain that when it comes to defeating yourself, you are the expert."
Xenia glares at the demon and points a finger at him, but finds herself having a very hard time coming up with a counterargument. "...I will choose to take that as a compliment. Because yes, I am gonna kick my soul's ass if that's what I gotta do, and then we're gonna kick some dungeon ass. So, again, everyone ready?" As the group nods or shouts out their agreement, Xenia once again pulls up her curse menu and speaks the words. "Alright, me...I'm coming for me."
Xenia opens her eyes, feeling oddly groggy. After having to sit up she realizes she was lying down, probably sleeping, on some sort of...couch? With too much wood and not enough cushion, it wasn't exactly the most comfortable bed. As she lifts a hand and it comes into view, things start to become much more clear. Feminine, dark brown skin, fingernails painted white. "Actually swapped my body this time, huh? With this skin tone, then that makes me Xenia of Khaloom, and this must be...the Easthall Guild office, eh?" After standing up the woman looks down at herself, noting a form-fitting but fashionable green blouse with golden trim, and a complete lack of any other clothing. Eyes a little wider, she quickly turns her head to a second couch in the opposite corner of the room, this one hosting a sleeping man without any clothing at all, plainly displaying his yellow skin, red hair tied into a high ponytail, and very notable muscle definition.
"Annnnd that would be Reglas, the ol' half-djinn. Which means this is the day after my promotion to guild master, huh? Surprised it didn't pop me out into the actual party the night before..." Tapping her chin in thought, Xenia steps over to consider the man in more detail. "This is all just a fake dimension, right? Sooooo wouldn't be any harm in waking the dude up for another round, would there? If I remember right, ol' Reglas wasn't as good in the sack as his brother, but wasn't anything to complain about...oh, right, shit. Dude was out for like two days straight after the party, wasn't he? Told him not to get into the old master's special stash...guess I may as well find my pants and take a wander, then."
Eventually finding her remaining clothes from where she had dropped them several centuries prior, Xenia exited the large office and made her way down the stairs to the ground floor of the guild hall. The main tavern area was mostly empty, as it usually was in the mornings, although there were more than a handful of other people who had also taken to sleeping off the night before in whatever location they happened to pass out in. Across one wall a banner reading 'Congratulations Xenia, Master of the Easthall Guild' still hung, bringing a smile to her face though not as much as the sight of some of the dozing faces do. "Ah, man, I haven't thought of some of these dudes in ages. Let's see, that there's Zurlp the Frog at the counter, of course. Sandmancer Kalell, Broken Tusk Fost, Shy Anliese..." She pauses as she stops at a booth holding a sleeping figure whose long, dark hair obscures most of their face, and squints in thought. "...Prince Aller! That's right, though we didn't know you were royalty til like three years from now, did we? Actually, we didn't even know you were a dude at the time I got the promotion, no wonder I didn't recognize you."
Before she can wander much further however, Xenia's thoughts are interrupted by the noise of footsteps, probably someone returning from the privy by the sound of it. Turning around to say hello, the words freeze in her throat once the individual in question comes into view around the corner. The arrival is well-dressed, considering the man probably slept in those clothes the previous night, including a black cape and boots that cost as much as Xenia's annual salary even with her new gig. Not to mention the goatee...god, that evil goatee. How had she not seen it? She knew all the man's tricks now, however, and whatever wistfulness Xenia may have been feeling a moment ago suddenly transforms into rage. "Lancer Poleri! You've got some friggin' nerve, coming in here and joining the fuckin' party."
The man's eyes grow wide as Xenia stomps over to him, a mix of fear and confusion. "I - excuse me? I seemed quite welcome last night, wasn't I?"
Xenia scoffs as she grabs onto the man's expensive tailored vest. "Yeah, cause last night I didn't know you were the one who killed ol' Master Depthys! God, what an actor! You even led the memorial speech and everything!"
"That - that's ridiculous! Excuse me? Help! I think the new Master of the Guild perhaps got into something too heavy last night and has lost track of her senses!" Despite the early hour and the hangovers, the adventurers scattered around the room hadn't earned their reputations for nothing, and slowly figures begin to stir to life in response to the shouting.
"Nah, Lancer, today I'm seeing really fuckin' clear. Ooh, this is gonna be sweet, getting to kill you for a second time." With her left hand still holding onto the man, her right draws her blade, thin but magically sharpened, and presses its point against his chest. "To think I was worried about where it'd send me this time - maybe this whole soul bridge thing ain't so bad after all."
"Help!? I think she might have gone literally insane!" Lancer's cries are about to be ended for good, when suddenly a heavy orc hand grabs on to Xenia's arm. Broken Tusk Fost leans down to look into Xenia's eyes.
"This is misunderstanding, yes? Heard rumor Master Depthys kept strong powders hidden in office...perhaps new Master needs to sleep a little longer, yes?"
Finding herself having some trouble shaking the orc off, Xenia looks around and notices the others beginning to gather around them. "I'm not insane, I just know more shit now! Lancer Poleri poisoned Depthys cause he found out Lancer was lying about his contract completions! He never slew that two-headed dragon, he just tricked it into attacking a town over the mountains instead!"
Lancer's voice grows calmer as Xenia lays her accusation. "Oh? And you have proof of that, do you?"
"Yeah! Your partner in crime Anliese spilled all the beans! Tell em, Anliese!"
Startled by all the faces turning towards her, a pale-looking mage near the rear of the group takes a step back. "What? No I didn't! I mean, there's nothing to spill beans about!"
Xenia shakes her head. "...Fuck, right, you didn't have that change of heart until you tried to make a move on the shit and he called you an ugly piece of gutter refuse. Which was like...shit, a year and a half from now?"
The mage's eyes grow wider at that. "He said what!? ...We didn't kill Depthys though, or that other stuff! Xenia's crazy!"
As the crowd begins to close in on her, Xenia rolls her eyes. "Fuck this, it's not real anyhow. Ether Sword!" While her right arm remains firmly held in the orc's grip, her left pulls back and generates a copy of her blade constructed of solid mana. Short-lived, but effective enough at this range - until Zurlp's long tongue suddenly wraps itself around her wrist, and Kalell leaps in to tackle her to the ground. "What? Hey! I'm the boss here, just let me stab the fucker a little! He's got it coming!"
Kalell shouts into her ear, as if volume will make him more convincing. "Guild Master, drop your arms and surrender! This is all a misunderstanding!"
"Misunderstanding my ass! Get off me!" She tries to squirm, but she's now fully pinned down, and as the others lean over her Xenia can just make out the smirk on Lancer's face as he begins to slip away. Something about the sight of it makes her blood begin to boil, and the fact that none of this is real doesn't seem to matter any longer. "Hey, don't you go anywhere, fucker! I'm gonna gut you! You hear me!? COME BACK HERE AND - "
"LET ME STAB YOU!" Xenia's arms swing wildly as she finds herself once again on her feet and unrestrained, although the sudden transition nearly makes her fall to her knees. "What the fuck!? Is shouting the thing that gets me through, or what?"
Lollyp once again closes in, concern on her face. "Xenia, are you alright? How bad was it this time?"
Taking a deep breath, the dungeon master manages to steady her nerves, although she can tell that her rage over the ancient betrayal is still fueling her. It's ridiculous, she knows - she's had her revenge, and everyone involved died ages ago, and yet suddenly she finds herself struggling to think about anything other than her hatred for a man she'd barely thought about at all in multiple lifetimes. "I'm fine, Lollyp Pop. Just really in a mood to fuckin' kill something right now."
"Well, it's good that you're amped up, because kobold bones are incoming now!" Looking up at the torch-lit chamber they'd found themselves in, Xenia once again spots a pair of skeleton archers taking aim at her, with a third charging in their direction with a sword and shield. Tank actually performs his team role this time, bashing the first two arrows out of the air with his shield before engaging the melee combatant, but Xenia's finds herself with no interest in letting Tank have all the fun.
"Alright, boys and slimes, it's finally time to cut loose!" Dashing forward and ignoring the combatant being pounded into bone dust by Tank, Xenia charges the pair of archers with her sword drawn. After ducking low under another volley, the woman leaps and spins through the air, her blade severing one skull from its spinal column while her boot finds the other's snout, collapsing its face into fragments. By time she turns back the sword-wielding skeleton is down as well, with Sincere and Lollyp barely having had time to prepare their spells before the fight was over. Adrenaline rushing through her veins - Oh shit, I have veins now, she pauses to think - a wild grin begins to spread across Xenia's face.
"Alright, now this is more like it. Kids...we're gonna have some fun today."
Announcement Quick scheduling note - as we're getting closer to catching up with the Royal Road posting, I'll be slowing down to one chapter a day rather than the usual two. Wouldn't want to make you go completely cold turkey, after all.
The next day started off with something that was perhaps a bit overdue in coming: an Initiate party had grown overconfident and gotten in over their heads. The group of five was led by a pair of co-leaders, a human brother and sister, and after putting down BB relatively easily they managed to talk the rest of the party into giving the second floor a try. After Lollyp blew up the sister's head with a lightning bolt and the brother's with a fireball however, the survivors had a sudden change of heart and fled the room without even finishing the fight.
| ------------------------ NEW CONSTRUCT PATTERN QUALITIES ACQUIRED/UPGRADED: LIMITED ITEMS OBTAINED: |
Otherwise the day had gone rather quietly, and Lollyp and Beatrice both had a bit of time to train the ghostly armors in proper group tactics, rather than the boss arena tactics they were familiar with and which mostly consisted of 'wait for your enemy to come to you and then stab them'. Before the light faded for the day Beatrice had gone upstairs to poke her head outside, and with no signs of more parties scaling the mountain climb, everything seemed prepared for the second attempt at raiding the Great Dungeon. So it was that once again Xenia found herself garbed for battle and with her companions around her, including Beatrice who had come to see them off. "Alright! Everyone ready? I am. Trust me, whatever bullshit my soul throws at me, I promise I am not going to look that stupid twice in a row."
Sincere gives her a slight bow, and responds in an only slightly condescending tone of voice. "I am certain that when it comes to defeating yourself, you are the expert."
Xenia glares at the demon and points a finger at him, but finds herself having a very hard time coming up with a counterargument. "...I will choose to take that as a compliment. Because yes, I am gonna kick my soul's ass if that's what I gotta do, and then we're gonna kick some dungeon ass. So, again, everyone ready?" As the group nods or shouts out their agreement, Xenia once again pulls up her curse menu and speaks the words. "Alright, me...I'm coming for me."
Xenia opens her eyes, feeling oddly groggy. After having to sit up she realizes she was lying down, probably sleeping, on some sort of...couch? With too much wood and not enough cushion, it wasn't exactly the most comfortable bed. As she lifts a hand and it comes into view, things start to become much more clear. Feminine, dark brown skin, fingernails painted white. "Actually swapped my body this time, huh? With this skin tone, then that makes me Xenia of Khaloom, and this must be...the Easthall Guild office, eh?" After standing up the woman looks down at herself, noting a form-fitting but fashionable green blouse with golden trim, and a complete lack of any other clothing. Eyes a little wider, she quickly turns her head to a second couch in the opposite corner of the room, this one hosting a sleeping man without any clothing at all, plainly displaying his yellow skin, red hair tied into a high ponytail, and very notable muscle definition.
"Annnnd that would be Reglas, the ol' half-djinn. Which means this is the day after my promotion to guild master, huh? Surprised it didn't pop me out into the actual party the night before..." Tapping her chin in thought, Xenia steps over to consider the man in more detail. "This is all just a fake dimension, right? Sooooo wouldn't be any harm in waking the dude up for another round, would there? If I remember right, ol' Reglas wasn't as good in the sack as his brother, but wasn't anything to complain about...oh, right, shit. Dude was out for like two days straight after the party, wasn't he? Told him not to get into the old master's special stash...guess I may as well find my pants and take a wander, then."
Eventually finding her remaining clothes from where she had dropped them several centuries prior, Xenia exited the large office and made her way down the stairs to the ground floor of the guild hall. The main tavern area was mostly empty, as it usually was in the mornings, although there were more than a handful of other people who had also taken to sleeping off the night before in whatever location they happened to pass out in. Across one wall a banner reading 'Congratulations Xenia, Master of the Easthall Guild' still hung, bringing a smile to her face though not as much as the sight of some of the dozing faces do. "Ah, man, I haven't thought of some of these dudes in ages. Let's see, that there's Zurlp the Frog at the counter, of course. Sandmancer Kalell, Broken Tusk Fost, Shy Anliese..." She pauses as she stops at a booth holding a sleeping figure whose long, dark hair obscures most of their face, and squints in thought. "...Prince Aller! That's right, though we didn't know you were royalty til like three years from now, did we? Actually, we didn't even know you were a dude at the time I got the promotion, no wonder I didn't recognize you."
Before she can wander much further however, Xenia's thoughts are interrupted by the noise of footsteps, probably someone returning from the privy by the sound of it. Turning around to say hello, the words freeze in her throat once the individual in question comes into view around the corner. The arrival is well-dressed, considering the man probably slept in those clothes the previous night, including a black cape and boots that cost as much as Xenia's annual salary even with her new gig. Not to mention the goatee...god, that evil goatee. How had she not seen it? She knew all the man's tricks now, however, and whatever wistfulness Xenia may have been feeling a moment ago suddenly transforms into rage. "Lancer Poleri! You've got some friggin' nerve, coming in here and joining the fuckin' party."
The man's eyes grow wide as Xenia stomps over to him, a mix of fear and confusion. "I - excuse me? I seemed quite welcome last night, wasn't I?"
Xenia scoffs as she grabs onto the man's expensive tailored vest. "Yeah, cause last night I didn't know you were the one who killed ol' Master Depthys! God, what an actor! You even led the memorial speech and everything!"
"That - that's ridiculous! Excuse me? Help! I think the new Master of the Guild perhaps got into something too heavy last night and has lost track of her senses!" Despite the early hour and the hangovers, the adventurers scattered around the room hadn't earned their reputations for nothing, and slowly figures begin to stir to life in response to the shouting.
"Nah, Lancer, today I'm seeing really fuckin' clear. Ooh, this is gonna be sweet, getting to kill you for a second time." With her left hand still holding onto the man, her right draws her blade, thin but magically sharpened, and presses its point against his chest. "To think I was worried about where it'd send me this time - maybe this whole soul bridge thing ain't so bad after all."
"Help!? I think she might have gone literally insane!" Lancer's cries are about to be ended for good, when suddenly a heavy orc hand grabs on to Xenia's arm. Broken Tusk Fost leans down to look into Xenia's eyes.
"This is misunderstanding, yes? Heard rumor Master Depthys kept strong powders hidden in office...perhaps new Master needs to sleep a little longer, yes?"
Finding herself having some trouble shaking the orc off, Xenia looks around and notices the others beginning to gather around them. "I'm not insane, I just know more shit now! Lancer Poleri poisoned Depthys cause he found out Lancer was lying about his contract completions! He never slew that two-headed dragon, he just tricked it into attacking a town over the mountains instead!"
Lancer's voice grows calmer as Xenia lays her accusation. "Oh? And you have proof of that, do you?"
"Yeah! Your partner in crime Anliese spilled all the beans! Tell em, Anliese!"
Startled by all the faces turning towards her, a pale-looking mage near the rear of the group takes a step back. "What? No I didn't! I mean, there's nothing to spill beans about!"
Xenia shakes her head. "...Fuck, right, you didn't have that change of heart until you tried to make a move on the shit and he called you an ugly piece of gutter refuse. Which was like...shit, a year and a half from now?"
The mage's eyes grow wider at that. "He said what!? ...We didn't kill Depthys though, or that other stuff! Xenia's crazy!"
As the crowd begins to close in on her, Xenia rolls her eyes. "Fuck this, it's not real anyhow. Ether Sword!" While her right arm remains firmly held in the orc's grip, her left pulls back and generates a copy of her blade constructed of solid mana. Short-lived, but effective enough at this range - until Zurlp's long tongue suddenly wraps itself around her wrist, and Kalell leaps in to tackle her to the ground. "What? Hey! I'm the boss here, just let me stab the fucker a little! He's got it coming!"
Kalell shouts into her ear, as if volume will make him more convincing. "Guild Master, drop your arms and surrender! This is all a misunderstanding!"
"Misunderstanding my ass! Get off me!" She tries to squirm, but she's now fully pinned down, and as the others lean over her Xenia can just make out the smirk on Lancer's face as he begins to slip away. Something about the sight of it makes her blood begin to boil, and the fact that none of this is real doesn't seem to matter any longer. "Hey, don't you go anywhere, fucker! I'm gonna gut you! You hear me!? COME BACK HERE AND - "
"LET ME STAB YOU!" Xenia's arms swing wildly as she finds herself once again on her feet and unrestrained, although the sudden transition nearly makes her fall to her knees. "What the fuck!? Is shouting the thing that gets me through, or what?"
Lollyp once again closes in, concern on her face. "Xenia, are you alright? How bad was it this time?"
Taking a deep breath, the dungeon master manages to steady her nerves, although she can tell that her rage over the ancient betrayal is still fueling her. It's ridiculous, she knows - she's had her revenge, and everyone involved died ages ago, and yet suddenly she finds herself struggling to think about anything other than her hatred for a man she'd barely thought about at all in multiple lifetimes. "I'm fine, Lollyp Pop. Just really in a mood to fuckin' kill something right now."
"Well, it's good that you're amped up, because kobold bones are incoming now!" Looking up at the torch-lit chamber they'd found themselves in, Xenia once again spots a pair of skeleton archers taking aim at her, with a third charging in their direction with a sword and shield. Tank actually performs his team role this time, bashing the first two arrows out of the air with his shield before engaging the melee combatant, but Xenia's finds herself with no interest in letting Tank have all the fun.
"Alright, boys and slimes, it's finally time to cut loose!" Dashing forward and ignoring the combatant being pounded into bone dust by Tank, Xenia charges the pair of archers with her sword drawn. After ducking low under another volley, the woman leaps and spins through the air, her blade severing one skull from its spinal column while her boot finds the other's snout, collapsing its face into fragments. By time she turns back the sword-wielding skeleton is down as well, with Sincere and Lollyp barely having had time to prepare their spells before the fight was over. Adrenaline rushing through her veins - Oh shit, I have veins now, she pauses to think - a wild grin begins to spread across Xenia's face.
"Alright, now this is more like it. Kids...we're gonna have some fun today."
Announcement Quick scheduling note - as we're getting closer to catching up with the Royal Road posting, I'll be slowing down to one chapter a day rather than the usual two. Wouldn't want to make you go completely cold turkey, after all.
