Duelling Dungeons

I honestly thought Bea might actually have a chance against Sullivan this time,” Bella groaned as I flicked off the display. “She looked like she was on the top of her game out there. I didn’t expect Sullivan to handle her so easily.”

”She did extremely well,” I replied, “but unfortunately, she and the Anthophilans were outnumbered by the time they faced the Revenants, and as skilled as she is, Bea couldn’t get through a fight with Rembrandt without getting hit. Those wounds might have been minor, but they were enough to slow her down just enough for Sullivan to catch her mid-flight.”

“So you’re saying she might have had a chance if she were fully healed?” Bella asked curiously.

“No, I’m saying it would have been closer. Bea may be skilled, but she still has a way to go to catch up to Sullivan,” I said. “Give her a year or two or more, and she might present him with a challenge.”

I dug through the pile of tablets at my side until I found the one that had the time. “Now that the match is over, we should move to the games room. Bea is going to take a couple of minutes to finish up, but we could start setting up while we wait.”

“It’s game time?” Bella asked, surprised. “I didn’t realize it was so late. I need to get snacks!” Bella exclaimed as she floated swiftly towards the door. “Don’t start without me!”

“Don’t worry, we won’t,” Luther called as she disappeared through the door. He stretched his arms out above her head, causing a wooden clacking sound, before levitating out of his chair and landing on his feet. “Shall we go?”

“Just give me a moment,” I replied as I scrambled to collect all my tablets. It took me a minute, despite only bringing a handful, I’d somehow managed to scatter them around the area during the practice.

After I gathered all my stuff, I rushed for the door, only to find Luther holding the door like a gentleman. As I slowed to a walk and nodded my thanks, George rushed past me, moving at a full sprint. When I stepped out of the room, I just caught a glimpse of him as he slid into the cafeteria.

“I guess Bella wasn’t the only one looking to get some pre-game snacks,” I muttered, before falling into step next to Luther.

“Are you sure you want to run the Black Sanctum? This might be the last time we have to relax before the next match,” Luther asked, as we wandered down the hall.

“Unfortunately, we don’t have much time until our match starts. There are only a few days left, and I want to do my best to prepare. Don’t worry, though, even though Dungeon Delve uses extremely accurate dungeon layouts, it’s still a game. So even though I’ll be evaluating the Sanctum’s forces and making plans in my head, the others can just enjoy the game,” I explained.

“You know, we do rely upon you to come up with strategies for our matches, but you are allowed to put the tablets down and enjoy yourself. No one is going to blame you if you overlook something, or don’t have a strategy to deal with a specific floor boss,” Luther said. His face was a literal mask of concern. “You can take it easy for a couple of hours.”

“I appreciate your concern,” I chuckled, “but I really enjoy coming up with these strategies. It’s not a struggle or a chore; I honestly enjoy doing it. It’s fun!”

“I know, but it’s not healthy to obsess on just one thing all the time. You should try to take breaks, work on other things once in a while,” Luther replied.

“I don’t obsess all that time, just when we have a match coming,” I explained.

“Still doesn’t make it healthy,” Luther grumbled. “At least think about taking a break and working on something else for a couple of hours. Alright?”

“Alright…” I begrudgingly agreed as we arrived at the game room.

I pulled open the heavy wood door, let Luther pass through, then followed him into the large room. A couple of people were crouched over the small wooden tables scattered around the room. The heavy wooden shelves lining the walls were filled with tons of games, both traditional and modern.

The two of us carefully made our way between the different groups to a much larger rectangular table at the back of the room. The shelves in this section of the room were filled with dozens of Dungeon Delve sets. Each set included boards, tokens, and rules that allowed players to replicate famous dungeons, then create a party of adventurers and challenge them.

The game was fairly simple to play, but both the sets and the rules were so accurate that I could use the boards to evaluate the layout and forces of the other dungeons.

After placing all my tablets on one of the empty shelves, I carefully made my way around the large table and headed to a small shelf that held row upon row of carved figurines. It took me a moment to peruse the shelf and locate the figurines I was looking for. I carefully pulled out a small version of myself, George, Bella, Bea, Chelsea, Calliope, and Toto. In addition to the special sets of figurines you could buy for each of the most famous adventuring teams, the game also had rules to run the bosses of different dungeons as adventurers.

Normally, we’d have Kass playing with us, but since she was still away, Bella had agreed to step in.

While I was retrieving the team, Luther pulled one of the oversized boxes off the far wall and started laying out the tiles, one after another. As the map slowly came together, I found myself just staring at the board.

The sanctum was unique, even when compared to other dungeons. It was tiered, like the ziggurat the dungeon was built into. At the beginning, Adventurers could challenge their choice of four floors on the first level. Once they completed any two, they could challenge one of the two floors on the second level, and after clearing all floors on the bottom two tiers, they could finally challenge Nor’goth in his sanctum. Those who defeated him could then take his amulet, unlock the tomb lying deep under the ziggurat, and challenge Thuli, the fallen one, the true master of the dungeon.

Although this layout gave us plenty of options in the opening of the match, we still needed to complete the rest of the dungeon to reach Nor’Goth at its peak.

“Hey Talia, is something wrong? That’s one heck of a frown you’re sporting,” a voice asked.

I was so surprised that I took a step back and jerked my head upwards, to find myself face to face with Chelsea.

“Don’t sneak up on me like that,” I gasped. “You surprised me.”

“I didn’t sneak up, I walked normally,” Chelsea smirked. “You were just so focused on the board that you didn’t see me. What were you staring at anyway? Luther hasn’t even put out any tokens.”

“I was thinking about the Sanctum’s layout,” I admitted. “We have a lot of options at the beginning, and it’s important to figure out which order to challenge them in.”

“Does it really matter? We have to challenge them all eventually?” the girl asked, as she placed a silver platter full of finger food on the side of the table. Luther immediately looked up and scowled.

“No food on the game space, that’s what the side tables are for,” he grumbled. “You know that.”

“Fine,” Chelsea pouted before scooping up her treats and placing them on one of the small carts littered around the area. I think they were originally put here to hold the extra game pieces while people were playing, but we often used them as snack carts during our games.

“It matters because we only earn respawns by defeating the second and third tier floors. So if we take too many losses before we challenge those floors, we’ll be at a disadvantage,” I explained, once she returned.

Chelsea glanced at the board for a moment before sinking into one of the oversized armchairs arranged around the table. “Why concentrate on one? We have enough forces, can’t we attack them all at once?”

“We could… but I’m not sure if that would be a smart idea,” I replied, as I sank into my own chair.

“Why not? Can you imagine how difficult it would be for the Sanctum to respond to us if we hit four floors at once?” Chelsea asked.

“About as hard as it would be for us to coordinate it in the first place,” I muttered.

“Well… you could trust the people you assign to lead those attacks to make decisions, so you don’t have to coordinate everything,” Chelsea replied. “Sometimes you just need to trust your friends to do what needs to be done.”

I didn’t reply, not right away. She had a point; almost all the floor bosses had more experience directing their staff than I did. As much as I trusted them, a tiny voice in the back of my head told me that committing so many of our forces to an initial assault was a bad idea. No, it would be a disaster. The problem was, I couldn’t figure out why…

“I’ll think about it,” I finally said.

“Good! Just let me loose, and I’ll make up for my mistake in the last match,” Chelsea declared. “I’ll show you!”

“You don’t need to make up for anything,” I replied quietly. “Just do your best, that’s all anyone can ask for.”

Chelsea gave me a pained smile. “You may not think I need to make up for anything, but I think I need to redeem myself. I’ll prove myself.”

I didn’t quite know what to say. I didn’t want to admonish her, but I didn’t want her to feel guilty either. Thankfully, that’s when the door opened, and George came rushing into the room, followed by Bea, Calliop,e and Toto.

Both Chelsea and I turned and watched them approach before turning back to the table.

“You don’t have to prove anything to us,” I finally said, passing Chelsea her figure.

“I know,” she replied. As she took the figures, we locked eyes, and I could see the determination in her eyes. “But I need to prove it to myself. And that’s exactly what I’m going to do.”