Chapter 16 - Touring the Baths

“It’s lovely,” I said as I followed the edge of the massive pool over to where Kassandra and George were waiting. “It’s definitely different than I was expecting.”

Kassandra nodded, “The design keeps adventurers on a set path, despite the open air design. Each level is a separate encounter, and there are spells that prevent adventuring teams from just trying to fly past. Everything leads up to here, the boss arena.”

Once I arrived at Kassandra's location I stripped off my boots, then sat next to her, dipping my toes in the warm water. “So, what exactly is your specialization? You’ve never told me.”

“Haven’t I?” She looked over at me for a moment, surprised, before looking down at the water. “Well, it’s not anything special.”

“Really?” I felt one eyebrow raise. “I find that hard to believe considering you’re one of the top people in the dungeon. You already know my abilities, and have seen me fight, I barely know anything about you.”

“I summon elementals,” she said with a soft smile. She reached down into the water with one hand, imbuing it with her power. After a few seconds a small humanoid shape made of water crawled out of the pool and waved. George immediately growled, and poked at it, but because it was made of water his leg just went right through it. Kass chuckled at his attempts to identify the creature, before sighing. “I also know blood magic. I’m not as fond of it, but it was drilled into my skull as a kid.”

“It’s still super impressive,” I replied. “Most people struggle to learn a single school of magic. Your boss fight must be quite the spectacle.”

“It is, I usually have two greater elementals with me while I fight.” She paused, then scooped up the little elemental and held it out in front of her with a smile. “But the real challenge to the Baths isn’t my fight, it’s maintaining quick progression.” She bent down, releasing the little elemental, who immediately headed to the edge of the pool. The little creature pulled itself onto the edge, then toppled into the pool below. “See that? When an adventuring party enters the Baths I summon a constant stream of lesser elementals and send them into the lower levels. If the adventuring group struggles to progress, or delays for some reason, the elementals build up making subsequent areas harder.”

I squinted my eyes. “That’s devious,” I said.

“That’s how it is with a professional level dungeon,” she replied with a laugh. “If an adventuring team gets stuck due to a few extra elementals, then they don’t deserve to be here.”

She stood, then extended a helping hand towards me. “Come on, a few of the staff should be arriving soon. Practice isn’t scheduled to start until later, but a couple of the Sirens like to come in early and play with their familiars.”

I let Kass pull me to my feet, and briefly considered grabbing my shoes before leaving them behind. Instead, I just walked beside Kass as she headed towards the stairs. “I think I’ve seen a couple of the Sirens around, what other races do you have on staff?” I asked.

“Just the Naiads, or water nymphs as some people call them,” Kassandra replied. “They don’t like staying indoors for long, so they’re typically out on the grounds, lounging in the ponds and streams until it’s time to work.” As we were talking, the stairs we were on passed under a waterfall, and emerged on a lower level. In the pool were half a dozen women with webbed hands, gills, and aquamarine scales on their legs, and each one seemed to be playing with some type of semiaquatic animal. I could see otters, sea birds, turtles, and all sorts of other animals frolicing in the water.

The women all waved as we approached, but only one swam over to us. “Morning boss, I see you’re up early. Eager to start that tour you mentioned yesterday?.”

“Yes, well…,” Kass stuttered, before taking a deep breath to get her thoughts in order, “Calliope, meet Talia, the new Ballroom boss and future strategist.” As I watched Calliope seemingly stood up, on the surface of the pool, and extended her hand. I cautiously leaned out and shook it.

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“It’s nice to meet you. The boss lady here has been singing your praises since you arrived,” Calliope said, shooting a smug glance over at Kassandra, who blushed a little. “Based on the fight I saw yesterday, she wasn’t exaggerating your skills.”

“Well, I’m glad I could live up to everyone’s expectations,” I replied. The water around Calliope bubbled for a moment, causing the woman to sigh, before dropping into a sitting position. As she did, a gigantic crab slowly rose from the water underneath her. The creature slowly eyed both George and I up, before settling down.

“Sorry about that, Toto here just wanted to be involved.”

“No problem,” I replied. Ignoring the fact that George and Toto seemed to be sizing each other up. I could hear the sound of growling, followed by bubbles, but I really doubted George would try to get in the water. “Can you tell me a little bit about how you guys operate here in the Baths?”

“Sure! I’m sure Kass could tell you all this, but I don’t mind. Our game plan is pretty simple, the Naiads are the heavy hitters, relying on water manipulation and magic to attack adventurers, while us Sirens use our innate charm magic to throw them off balance.” Calliope leaned down, slid one of her hands across the giant crab’s back, distracting it from the argument with George. “Our pets help however they can, but they’re mainly there for support.”

I nodded, “Simple but effective, especially when the adventurers are stuck on a set path.”

Calliope smiled back, and was about to say something when Toto shuddered, shaking the woman violently. “I’m sorry,” Calliope sighed, “but mornings are playtime, and if Toto doesn’t get his exercise he’ll be testy the rest of the day. It was nice meeting you.” She barely finished her speech when Toto pulled away, swimming back to the other side of the pool. We just waved good-bye as she was carried away.

“Calliope is the Siren supervisor,” Kassandra explained, “and I probably wouldn’t get anything done without her.”

I nodded, “I get that, Bella’s the same way.” I noticed George was still staring at Toto across the pool, so I bent down and gave him a pet. A few seconds later he let out a ‘Hurumph’ noise, and went to investigate some carving on the path. Kass snorted at his behaviour.

“We have about an hour until practice starts,” she said. “I’m sure one of the girls could lend you a swimsuit if you’d like to take a dip, but if not, there’s a greenspace one level down, next to the stairs. We could relax and chat there.”

I briefly considered going for a dip, but shook my head. As much as I enjoyed swimming, George did not. The little guy would freak out if I was away from him for too long. “Let’s head downstairs.”

Kassandra nodded, then took my arm. “You know, just before we logged in we were talking about that troublemaker of yours, and you mentioned something… what the FUCK is a Titanranchula?” she asked as we made our way towards the stairs downward.

“I’m not super surprised you haven’t heard of them, I very much doubt one has ever made it topside,” I said with a laugh.

“Why? Are they sensitive to light?”

“No? Well maybe. As far as I’m aware no one has tried to blind one with bright light, and if they did, I doubt they’d last long. Titanranchulas are, as the name suggests, titanic, and can’t really leave their territories; The tunnels are too small. The average Titanranchula is about twenty feet tall, and has a leg span of forty to fifty feet.”

Kassandra paused, “Wait… that means they’re on the same scale as elder dragons. What do they eat? How do I not know about these?”

I shrugged. “I honestly don’t know why people above ground don’t know about them,” I replied. “I guess they’re not a threat, and people don’t want to explore outside the subterranean strongholds that often.” I stared at George as the big spider sprinted down the stairs in front of us, eager to investigate the vegetation. “George and I met when Narhas, one of my older sisters, captured him. She wanted to sacrifice him to ‘Aggorath,’ the Titanranchula near my mother’s dungeon, to try and curry his favor. I challenged her to a duel for him, that was the first and last time I beat her.” I smiled bitterly, “She’s probably still pissed until this very day, but I don’t care. It was totally worth it.”

Kass listened to me recount my experience in silence, then patted the back of my hand. “That’s rough…” she paused, unsure on what to say next. “I know your family is a sore spot, but if you ever want to talk about it…”

“You’re the first one I’ll ask,” I replied with a smile. “Not right now though.”

She nodded, and the two of us fell into a comfortable silence, just enjoying the scenery and each other’s company.