"So...ya'll figure we should just...knock?"
Blake, Mason, and most everyone else gave Becky a glare.
"I'm just sayin'." She held up her hands. "Maybe it's like...a magic door."
Navi had identified it already, so Blake knew it was in fact not a magic door. Of course that didn't mean it wasn't booby trapped. Some kind of trap expert seemed a thing they were missing, and Blake made a mental note to encourage someone's class in that direction. Maybe Tommaso...
Mason grunted as he pushed at the doors. They creaked a little, but actually what had at first seemed like wood turned out to be painted metal. Mason was strong, absurdly strong, but he didn't really have the leverage or weight to just push open two giant pieces of iron.
Blake watched in silence a little while. People were already frightened of him and he wasn't sure how much power he should keep on demonstrating. Ultimately animating the door or unmaking it was fairly benign and straight forward, but it would seem fairly...dramatic, from the outside.
Nonetheless, as the other players bickered and Mason just kept on pushing, Blake cleared his throat.
"I...have a couple options, if you'd like."
Mason turned and glared, then threw up his hands. "If it means I don't have to start punching until my hands get strong enough to break it down, I'm all for it."
Blake blinked as he considered that might be possible for his brother. Then he tried to imagine the horror of the goblins inside if they went that route. No doubt they had spy holes. No doubt they'd begin watching the human punch their metal door with amusement. Until it started to bend...
But who knew how long that would take. And Blake wasn't sure he could stomach watching Mason's bones break a few dozen times. So he walked closer to the door and activated True Making.
To 'unmake' the giant iron doors wasn't so easy as a little talking lantern. Size seemed to be the main contributing factor in the process, and it would not only take some time, it looked like it would cost Blake a good 25% of his mana.
"Animate it is," he muttered, swapping to the other section of his power. That looked considerably easier. He picked the simplest personality options, with a very brief duration, then took a breath.
"Do you need assistance?" Seul-ki whispered at his side, and he at least considered before he shook his head.
"Simplicity itself, my dear. Try not to get too alarmed."
He activated his power, almost closing his eyes in pleasure as the arcane strands of power wrapped around him like a robe. They snaked and chained towards the door until it popped up in his mind as a new minion.
"Greetings, Master." A dull, lifeless voice emanated from the iron as magical grey eyes blinked open. A few of the players gasped or leapt away in surprise or drew their weapons.
Mason raised a brow and gave Blake a good long look, but he pretended not to notice.
"Open please," Blake commanded, not entirely sure how the door actually worked. Fortunately the door knew very well, and a series of metallic clicks and clacks followed the order as bolts and maybe sliding barriers opened one by one.
When the noise stopped, Blake gestured for Mason to try again. He braced himself and pushed, and the huge doors screeched open with ease.
"Jeesus." John the Scot whistled. Blake glanced at the others with a friendly smile, pretending not to notice the discomfort. No doubt commanding doors reminded them he could command people in a not so different way.
"That was far too easy," Mason muttered, poking his head through to take a look.
He pulled back in a hurry, and a series of pings and thuds followed as he closed the door and sighed.
"Right. That's more like it. I didn't see clearly but I'm pretty sure there's a few dozen goblins ready to shoot us full of arrows. I'm thinking about just charging in."
Blake pursed his lips. "Constructs aren't very scared of arrows. Send one in case there's...oh, I don't know, a giant bomb?"
Mason looked ready to go, then stopped and pursed his lips. "That...actually sounds a lot better than getting blown up. Send one. I'll follow with Rebecca. Then you can follow, check for magic, and if it's safe enough send everyone in. Sound good?"
Blake grinned. "The dynamic duo. Back again."
Mason rolled his eyes, but when his brother was starting to have fun, Blake always knew. He activated a psionic construct, waited for Mason to pop the door, then sent it charging.
* * *
"Yes, you stay too, Streak." The wolf whined but Mason ignored him. Ready?" He gestured Becky to the front and listened to the construct taking a storm of arrows. She grinned with a determined nod.
"Thanks for trustin’ me, and you know, not bein' too scared and all. You big softy." She winked and was so damn adorable Mason almost forgot he was here to murder everything. Almost.
"I'll go right. You go left. Now." He pulled open the gate and ran through, turning right to follow the wall with his Claws at the ready.
Arrows, stones, and the occasional chunk of something less wholesome flew past, at, or around him. Nearly all just bounced away from Becky's shield, the rest slowed enough they wouldn't have hurt Mason ten levels ago.
Despite the gloom he saw a small herd of goblins shrieking and loosing their projectiles ahead, some starting to fall back as Blake's construct got close enough to worry them. It didn't seem like much of a threat, so Mason shouted for Blake to hold the others back.
He activated Aspect of the Cheetah and sprinted forward, flying past the construct in seconds. Then he was on them, swords slashing and thrusting every piece of green flesh that failed to get away. He felt like the proverbial wolf in a chicken coop. Or goblin coop.
The creatures didn't even try to fight. They just ran and dropped some kind of spikes on the floor, which hurt but not enough for Mason to stop. He felt several of the triangular metal traps enter his flesh and stick until he had spikes for soles.
He growled in pain and kept hacking, kept chasing, leaving the less mortally wounded for the construct dicing its way through his wake.
"Shit, Mason," Becky came in behind him looking at the gloomy, blood splattered floor. "You're leavin' a trail of blood. You alright?"
He sat and pulled out the spikes, feeling Becky's wide and probably grossed out eyes as he tossed them one by one against the wall. He took a few deep breaths and told himself again that he didn't sort of like it—the pain, the anger it made. That he wasn't becoming some kind of murderous masochist.
"I'm fine," he said, then called for Blake and the others. They came in two at a time, a few complaining about the gloom until Blake created torches from nothing.
"Sorry," he said. "I'll need a little research to do flashlights. It's hard to explain. I have to know the details."
"Oh I’d say making torches from nothing is pretty good," Mason said, still no idea how to process all his brother's new powers. But it sure as hell wasn't a bad thing.
"Becky, John, you're up front with me and Blake's minions. Be ready for anything, folks. This is still too easy. They might be surprised, but that won't last long."
Mason could practically—OK, literally—smell his enemy's panic in the air. It smelled delicious. But he also knew it wouldn't last long. He was torn between moving cautiously and racing ahead to exploit every moment, but after a brief debate decided on the former.
At the end of the day, he suspected if his players were united and working together, there wasn't much these goblins could do to stop them. Rushing was just likely to get someone killed.
So step by step they walked further into the darkness, the sounds of goblins always racing ahead, no doubt fleeing for their lives. The tunnels began to branch, but unlike gnolls, the goblins apparently actually labeled things.
One tunnel said 'Wizard's Order', another 'Engineering Guild', another 'Prospectors', all in nice, clear block letters etched into stone. With a satisfying grin, Mason decided these bastards didn't expect to get a taste of their own medicine.
"Any thoughts?" Mason said as Blake stepped up beside him.
"Quite a few. I wouldn't mind getting a good look at those engineering fellows before you went out and slaughtered and smashed everything."
"Fair enough. You figure all three of these are dungeons?"
"A fine question. I expect we'll find out soon."
Mason nodded, no longer sure he could clear the whole place, or if he'd need three full groups. The thought annoyed him and he put it away.
No, he decided. This was ending now. Even if he had to come out of one with the group, send them home, and solo the other. By morning, the Greenblood Order would be gone.
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Calippya· Apr 29, 2024
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