Chapter 11: Chapter 10: Foundation of an Introduction

Bike was furious, “How could you do that?” he asked as he raised his voice to the Elven Archer.

She turned to him, “Do what?”

Bike angrily pointed to the body of the man who was killed first, “You killed that man who was begging!” he yelled as he began to turn red.

The Elven Archer flicked her hair, “I’d hardly call him a man, but yes, I did.”

Bike was preparing to respond, but as he turned to the man’s body, he was taken aback by the site of Cardinal looting the bodies of VanKnight, his crew, and the man the Elven Archer killed prior. He had already finished the right pocket of the man and was onto the left.

“You too?” Bike said angrily, grabbing Cardinal’s attention.

“Uh, yeah,” Cardinal said as he took the materials of the pocket and put them in his bag, “Why would I let this stuff go to waste?”

“I agree,” Veronica said, “We need as much as we can get to complete this mission.”

“Jackpot!” Cardinal yelled as he searched VanKnight’s corpse, “White VanDriver finally contributed something to the world!”

“What did you find?” Veronica asked as she went over to his location. “

Take a look!” Cardinal said excitedly as he threw some of the things to her feet.

Veronica picked some of the items up. The pile contained 4 Medium Health Potions, 1 Medium Sack, Necromancer Robes, 2 Medium Mana Potions, and an item Veronica was not familiar with.

“Nice, but what is this?” Veronica asked.

The Elven Archer walked over and inspected the item, “It’s a Golem Core.”

“How do you know?” asked Bike.

The Elven Archer started walking, “I have no reason to share that,” she said as she furthered her distance.

“Wait!” Veronica yelled.

“Yeah,” Cardinal said as he finished pocketing the gold and standing up.

“What?” the Elven Archer asked.

Veronica ran toward her before speaking, “You have to join our team!” Veronica stretched out her hand, presenting the Ally Stone Millie had given her days ago.

The Elven Archer pondered, “Hmm, no.”

“Why not?” Veronica asked, taking Cardinal’s chance to.

The Elven Archer cleared her throat, “Well, I’m on a quest I have to finish, and I don’t think it would do me any good to have you as company.”

“Then we can help!” Bike said as he rushed over to Veronica and the Elven Archer.

The Elven Archer was confused, it was clear from her expression, “I thought you didn’t like me all that much,” she said.

Bike pressed, “I don’t like how casual you are about taking lives, or how Card loots bodies without a care,” he started.

The Elven Archer asked, “But?”

Bike continued, ‘But, I realize that is a need for our mission- My mission. I promised Marsa I would help you all, so I’m going to do that, even if I disagree with some things!”

“You done?” Elven Archer asked.

“Will you join us?” Veronica asked as Bike and Cardinal glanced to the Elven Archer.

She looked socially cornered, “Uh, fine.”

With her confirmation, the group buried the bodies of VanKnight and his group.

Veronica set them as allies in the ally stone, on the first try.

“Uh, I think this is how it works,” Veronica said as she toyed around with the They set out past the clearing and onto a forest path, being led by the Elven Archer.

Cardinal asked while showing her the map, “So, do you have a name?”

“Archer is fine for now,” she said.

“Really?” Veronica asked, not too far behind them.

“Or Elf, that works too,” she continued while eyeing the map and the path.

“Do you not trust us?” Bike asked as he scurried forward.

“I just met you,” she responded.

Veronica was about to speak, “S-”

The Elven Archer raised her voice, “Okay, how about this; you help me with my quest, then you learn my name.”

“Noted,” Veronica said.

“What is this ‘quest’ anyways?” Cardinal asked, still moving.

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

“It’s pretty easy,” she started while jumping over a hedge, “I just have to kill a golem from a dungeon that has occurred,” she finished as she landed her jump.

“Dungeon?” Bike asked.

“Yes, a dungeon has occurred in this area, one where a man is trapped. His family wants him to be brought back before three days pass.”

“Three days?” Veronica asked, following Archer as her and Cardinal made a turn.

“I guessed you were an outworlder,” Archer said as she stepped over a stone that lay in the path, followed by the cutting sound of Cardinal removing leaves.

“How so?” Veronica asked.

Archer continued, “Any person from Lacritia would know about Dungeons, especially the fact that they disappear after a week.”

Veronica was surprised. She had spent many days wondering what dungeons felt like to challenge. Her Bunny Beastkin account wasn’t high enough level to play them, she actually hadn’t been playing Goblet of Lacritia for too long either.

“What happens if someone stays in the dungeon when the week is up?” Cardinal asked, a concerned worry audible.

“Poof,” Archer said.

“Yeah,” Bike added, “They disappear along with the dungeon, same goes for towers too.”

“So how hard is this dungeon going to be?” Cardinal asked.

“Don’t know,” Archer said as she shrugged her shoulders.

“Seriously?” Veronica asked. “You were going to solo this quest without knowing it’s difficulty?”

“Yeah,” Archer said.

Veronica was going to comment on the absurdity, “You-”

Archer interrupted her, “We are here, at least, we should be,” she said as she looked around the area.

“I don’t see a dungeon,” Bike said.

“Me neither,” Cardinal added.

“Throw a dagger at that wall of vines,” Archer said as she pointed to a wall of vines.

Cardinal nodded and threw a dagger. Suddenly, the falling of the vines was followed by a flash of light. A door appeared in its place, looking aged and weathered.

“Wow!” Bike said.

“Pretty neat,” Veronica said.

“Shall we?” Archer asked.

The group nodded and followed her into the dungeon, the door sealing again after they had all entered.

The dungeon opened with brief area, a starting point with grass and flowers. Overgrowth lined the aged blocks of temple-like ruined walls, cementing the theme of the Golem’s lair. Above the group was a chamber, opening to a giant pair of doors.

“Well, this should be fun…” Cardinal said.

“Definitely,” Veronica added.

The group followed Archer as she surveyed the areas before going forward.

“This way,” she said as she passed the chamber in the lead. After a few minutes of walking in darkness, candle lights began to appear on the walls. The candle light grew stronger the further down the hall, until it eventually fully illuminated the area.

“It looks like someone has been this way,” Veronica said.

“Yes,” Archer said. She began to ready her bow.

After more walking and 3 more corridors, the group came across a pack of wolves. The leader looked the largest, having a slightly darker brown coat than the rest. Archer started to draw her bow.

“I’ll take ca-” before she could finish, Cardinal had already started swiftly taking out the wolves.

[-30 -30 -30]

“Done!” Cardinal said as he dusted himself off. “It looks like this dungeon won’t be a problem after all.”

Archer sighed and put her bow back to her side, “Of course.”

“Looks like Veronica and I don’t have to do much for now,” Bike said playfully.

“Looks like it,” Veronica said.

“There is still more ground to cover,” Archer said.

Veronica and Bike nodded, beginning to follow Cardinal and Archer. Veronica was still amazed at how vast the expansion of Lacritia was prior to being teleported. She could enter dungeon, something she wouldn’t have been able to do on her Beastkin account. Did the level requirement apply still? She wondered if the towers were more difficult. Were new towers and dungeons added? There were so many things she wanted an answer to, along with how to get home and why she was chosen.

The group passed another corridor, this time accompanied by a foul smell.

“What is it?” Veronica asked, her zombie nose making it less prevalent. She thought of it as some type of blessing in the moment.

Cardinal got close, his dagger at hand. After a few steps, the source of the smell was cast into the light. Cardinal smelled it, turned, and tried to stop himself from vomiting.

“What is it?” Archer and Bike asked.

“It’s just wolf shit,” Cardinal said while picking up a leaf and using it to edge the remnants aside. “Really old wolf shit.”

Everyone laughed before Archer sternly reminded them they had to press onward.

After a decent walk, the group came to a series of doors that had already been opened. They went through them, each more destroyed than the last. They had hints of concern in their path, but continued anyway. After a few more minutes, they came to a giant area that had things in its path. Boulders, split rocks, and a litany of other scattered debris.

“Well, looks like this is where we would find a golem,” Cardinal said as he a Archer eyed the location.

“So then where is it?” Veronica asked.

“Yeah,” Bike asked.

“Shut up!” A voice yelled suddenly, stunning the group.

“What?” Veronica asked.

“Shut up, you’ll alert it!” the voice yelled again.

Archer turned and saw that the voice had been coming from a small crack in the wall. In it was a man who fit inside of it, barely concealing his arm. His short blue hair contrasted with his black eyes. He looked no older than 20.

“I think we found our missing man,” Cardinal said.

“I warned you!” the man said.

Before the group could collect their thought, a rumbling was heard. Small debris started falling from the ceiling of the chamber, amplifying as the stones started to shake.

“What the hell?” Cardinal said as he tried to keep himself on his feet.

“The golem is coming!” Bike said.

“Shit!” Veronica said aloud.

“It’s already here! Archer said as she jumped on a rock and propelled herself, landing on a crevice after swinging from a stray vine.

The giant debris shook, before eventually coming closer together.

Fwoom!

A boulder nearly hit Veronica, but she managed to get out of it’s way.

Fwoom! Fwoom!

The boulders started shooting towards the center in uniform fashion. After the last boulder reached the center of the chamber, they all started glowing in a yellow light. Before Veronica could see what was happening, before her stood a hefty golem.

[Boss Encounter: Great Golem]

“It’s a Great Golem!” Veronica yelled, the terror translating in her mind as soon as the words were readable.

Archer’s eyes widened, “A Great Golem? In the same dungeon as measly wolves?”

The man groaned as he pointed past Veronica, “My party died, we didn’t expect it to be so strong!”

Veronica turned, being met with the site of the bludgeoned and unrecognizable remains of adventurers. She couldn’t even tell how many there were.

“I’ll get the man to cover, figure something out Cardinal!” Veronica yelled before summoning skeletons to distract the golem. The golem flailed at them, smashing 2 of the 4 to bits as Veronica tried pulling the man out of the crack. He was nearly out before she heard the shattering of the last skeleton.

The golem directed its attention to her and the man, slowly making its way towards them. Each step felt like a high-magnitude earthquake. “Damn!” Veronica thought to herself as she tugged on the man, his efforts to get loose not helping in the least.

“How the hell did he even squeeze into here?” She yelled in her mind as the struggle continued.

Bike was caught amongst the turmoil, using light blast to divert attention from Veronica. It worked to no avail. “Let me try this!” He said, stretching his arm and staff outward. Nothing happened for a few seconds, but then- Veronica started to glow.

Confused, she looked up to see the words.

She saw nothing, confused, she looked back. Thorny plants had started growing from the ground.

“Here I go!” Bike said, his voice intensifying as the thorns grew into large vines, soon being met with him riding on one.

[-10 -10 -10 -10]

The vines were doing damage, not enough to kill the golem, but enough to distract its attention away. Veronica had gotten the man loose amidst the distraction and quickly found cover.

“Thank you!” the man said as he was bordering on crying.

“Not now!” Veronica said, throwing him aside and readying her wand.

She summoned 4 more skeletons to aid Bike. “What’s your class?” she asked the man. She figured if she knew his skillset he could be useful.

“Warrior,” the man said, brandishing a long sword.

“Warrior with a long sword?” Veronica said confused. Last time she checked, non of the in-game Warrior Class branches used longswords, only greatswords and normal swords.

The man blushed before turning away, “I know, I haven’t advanced in my class path yet.”

“Hurry up you guys!” Cardinal yelled. He had been rummaging for useful things in the Chamber.

“Here,” Cardinal said as he threw a Stamina Potion to Veronica, she gave it to the man, along with a Medium Health Potion.

“Be useful,” she said.

The man nodded and drank the potions, standing up as he brandished his sword with fierce eyes.

“Veronica!” Cardinal yelled as he hurried to the ground to assist.

She turned to him.

“You can’t wait on orders in this world, you have to be the one to move first! Clearly you have a skill of some sort, don’t wait to utilize it!”

Veronica stopped before regaining her thoughts. She nodded and then started willing the words into existence. She directed her gaze to the Great Golem.

[Boss Health: 4700/5000]

The boss battle was just starting, but the group was in high spirits.