After an hour of exploring the cavern carefully, I found a medium-sized lake on the other side of the city. It was full of pale, blind fish and had a few docks along its shore. Boats were tied up to the docks, but it didn’t appear anyone had been fishing on the lake for some time.
I ignored the lake for now, continuing to circle the city to get a better sense of the entire cavern. When I finally found myself near where I had originally entered the cavern, I settled down on another ledge overlooking the dark elf city. I stared at the walls and buildings with mixed feelings. It might be for the best if the spiders killed the dark elves, even if it meant I didn’t complete my quest. I wasn’t sure the world would be better off having more of the cruel dark elves in it.
As I considered what to do, I felt a single monster approaching my location. I glanced toward the monster but couldn’t actually see anything approaching. My sense told me exactly where the monster was, but my eyes couldn’t see anything moving in front of me. I frowned, standing and drawing my sword and revolver. The monster froze when I moved, until finally it appeared in front of me, becoming visible as if by magic. Standing about thirty feet in front of me was a female dark elf in dark leather armor, a crossbow over one shoulder and a pair of large daggers at her waist.
“I don’t normally get spotted like that,” the woman said in formal Latin. Her hair was dark purple and hung past her shoulders, and her eyes matched her hair, glowing purple in the dim light of the cavern.
“Come on forward,” I told her, lifting my weapons to make clear I was armed and prepared to defend myself if needed, “as long as you are just here to talk.”
She walked forward, an arrogant tilt to her posture as if she doubted I could actually harm her even if I tried.
“I’m here to talk,” she said, eyeing me up and down when she got close. “I have been sent by my matron to find out who saved our workers earlier. She wanted me to thank you.”
I seriously doubted she was here with good intentions. Otherwise, she would have approached me openly.
“Not a problem,” I told her. “I came across your city and I can see the predicament you are in. I’m open to helping you all, for a price.”
She gave me an arrogant smirk. “I’m sure you would be very useful,” she said mockingly, “a man from the surface like you. Are you here to save all us poor dark elves when an entire city of us can’t save ourselves?”
“So you aren’t in trouble, then? Guess I can just head to one of the nearby tunnels and be on my way. My mistake.”
“Bah,” she said, clearly annoyed by my reply. “My matron bids you welcome. Come with me to the city and she will speak with you.”
“I’ll want a guarantee of my safety from your matron,” I told the dark elf woman.
She glared at me, as if insulted by my request, but eventually sighed and softened her glare slightly. “Yes, yes, you have our guarantee. You are welcomed as a guest into our city.”
I didn’t know if that really meant anything, but some of the mythology from my world spoke about the importance of being formally treated as a guest when dealing with creatures such as elves and other fae.
“Then lead the way,” I said, gesturing for her to walk in front of me. She didn’t move immediately, tilting her head to inspect me like I was a bug she was interested in studying and then squishing under her boot, but eventually she turned and walked toward the city. I followed her a few feet back with my weapons still drawn. When we approached the gate on this side of the city, the guards immediately let us inside.
The city itself was as crowded and dirty as it had looked from a distance. Poverty was rampant, mostly in the form of skinny male dark elves and the smaller monsters wearing little but rags. Up close, I also noticed that the smaller monsters were collared as if they were slaves of the dark elves. The woman I followed ignored them all, not deigning to even look at the many starving people that lined the streets or huddled in the slums that filled the city.
Next to such stark poverty, the massive villas looked even more ostentatious. Each villa was its own little walled city, the walls guarded as thoroughly as the outer wall had been. I suspected each villa represented one of the “houses” that my quest had mentioned I could align myself with. The only other well-maintained buildings were the temples, which also soared imperiously above the poverty of the city around them.
“Follow me and don’t let anyone touch you out here,” my escort said. “They will try to rob you or kill you if they get the chance.”
Everyone turned to watch us as we passed, either with greed in their eyes or dull curiosity. I sheathed my weapons, not wanting to reveal too much to the watching crowds. I heard conversations in what must be the dark elf language. I made careful note of the words I heard, putting part of my mind to the job of deciphering the language while I focused on more immediate concerns.
We eventually arrived at one of the bigger villa compounds, its walls enclosing enough space to fill a city block. The female dark elf led me to the gate and we were admitted inside without fanfare. Male guards stood watch on the walls and the gate, eyeing me warily as I entered. These dark elves were all tall, skinny, and looked healthy and well-fed. They wore chain armor that glistened in the purple light, and each carried a crossbow and a sword.
Inside the walls of the villa was indeed like a small city. A central keep dominated the middle of the villa, but around it were shops, buildings, and workshops. I heard the ring of a smith working nearby and saw small gardens here and there being tended by enslaved goblins. A stable full of beetles took up one corner, and I saw several unarmored dark elf men tending the recently returned beetles that had helped carry the mushrooms into the city.
My escort led me around to the back of the compound, where a training yard had been set up. There, I saw a contingent of male guards standing at attention behind a tall, older dark elf woman dressed in immaculately designed clothing. She oozed power, so much so that I could feel it even from across the courtyard. She glowed a subtle purple, distinctly different from the actual purple light of the city. If her glow was like the other sub-bosses and bosses I had encountered, she was more powerful than a gold boss. I felt a prickling of danger when I looked at her and the courtyard full of her soldiers, and I realized I might have made a serious mistake in coming here.
I suspected many of these dark elves could use powerful and deadly spells, something I had very little defense against. I tensed, prepared to use my Trickster’s Dash if there was even the slightest hint of an attack or spell cast in my direction.
The dark elf woman who had led me here stopped and bowed deeply in front of the older woman. I stopped as well and bowed deeply, trying not to reveal my growing nervousness. The older woman stared at me, not acknowledging me immediately, just inspecting me with her harsh purple eyes.
A moment of silence passed and I stared back at the woman awkwardly, unsure if I should speak first. Nobody had briefed me on the protocols for meeting intelligent monsters in this world.
Eventually, one of the men in line behind the matron stepped forward and spoke in Latin.
“I, Vornhriir Baeniryn, do challenge you, stranger. You are not welcome here. Your presence here poisons our air and brings shame to our house. You have insulted me by existing.”
I blinked in surprise, looking over at my escort, who ignored me. I wanted to protest about the guarantee of safety but knew it would make me look weak. Maybe a formal challenge fell outside of such protections or maybe they really didn’t care about their promise of protection at all.
I looked back at the man who had challenged me. He wore chainmail like the other male guards I had seen, but the crest of his helmet was different, as if he was a leader of some kind. He had a large sword over one shoulder and a small crossbow strapped to his left forearm. And he glowed blue, indicating he was ranked as a sub-boss. I had to wonder what it was like to have such a visible indication of one’s own power. Was it helpful in establishing the pecking order in dark elf society? Or did it make one a target and reveal a person’s personal power in a way that made the weaker dark elves vulnerable to the more powerful?
I cursed my mind for so often getting sidetracked by questions about the world around me, refocusing on the situation in front of me.
“I accept,” I said after a moment, deciding I had little choice. If I didn’t accept, I didn’t know what the matron would do, but I was sure I wouldn’t be able to defend myself against her if she tried to attack me or imprison me.
The older woman stepped back, clearly prepared for the challenge, and the other guards formed a square around us. The dark elf who had challenged me drew his sword, and I took several steps backward, drawing my own weapons. I debated whether to challenge the man to a duel, but the look in his eye told me that he was planning to finish this duel to the death, so I didn’t have much to lose in using my skill. If I lost, I was dead. If I won, I might be able to steal something useful that could help me get out of this situation.
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I felt my luck begin to tumble in my mind, telling me I had made the right choice.
“Duel Me,” I told the dark elf, activating my skill.
Duel activated. You and your opponent have both wagered a skill. Good luck.
The look on the dark elf’s face told me he knew I had done something to him, and he raised his left arm and shot a small bolt at me before charging me. I activated my newest skill, If It’s a Fight You Want, It’s a Fight You’ll Get, to give myself +1 to all attributes for every minute the fight continued. I also tried to activate Never Bring a Mob to a Duel, but I didn’t feel any attributes empower me other than my opponent’s, which confirmed the skill only worked when I was being actively targeted by multiple enemies.
I dodged to the side, narrowly avoiding the bolt the dark elf had shot at me, and then raised my sword and parried the follow-up strike the dark elf warrior had made with his sword. We exchanged several rapid blows, and I realized I was once again outclassed when it came to sword fighting. I tried using my Leeching Strike to steal the dark elf’s attributes as we fought, but I couldn’t land a single blow on the skilled warrior. He parried or dodged all of my strikes, and it was all I could do to avoid most of his attacks thanks to my high attributes and my Absolute Evasion skill. He began to move faster, and more and more of his attacks began to cut into me. My enhanced clothing and chest armor kept the worst of the wounds from crippling me, but I already felt the drain from my Regeneration as the numerous small wounds began to accumulate.
I activated Trickster’s Dash, throwing myself backward and firing several shots from my revolver at the warrior, but at the sound of the revolver firing, he activated some kind of skill that surrounded him in a shell of blue light. The bullets pinged harmlessly off the shell, and the warrior activated another skill in quick succession. He raced toward me, leaving illusory echoes of himself behind him. I parried a powerful blow of his sword as his charge slammed into me. He quickly struck again, but as I parried the blow, he twisted his sword and somehow disarmed me, sending my sword flying several feet away from me.
Before I could react, he lunged forward to take advantage of my momentary shock at losing my weapon. I frantically dodged to the side, but the dark elf still managed to drive his sword deep into my shoulder. I reached forward with one hand and grasped the warrior’s forearm in an attempt to stop him from withdrawing the sword, holding him in place momentarily. With my other hand, I threw a punch at the dark elf’s head and activated my gloves. The golem’s fist appeared over my own as I swung at the dark elf’s head, but he turned his head to the side so fast that my fist sailed past him, missing completely.
I growled in frustration and tried to punch the dark elf again, but he drew a dagger from his waistband and stabbed me in the stomach before I threw a second punch. Panicking, I activated Trickster’s Dash again, launching myself away from the warrior and forcing the sword and dagger to slide out of my body as I flew backward.
I couldn’t stop myself from screaming in pain as the sword and dagger were violently ripped out of me by my Dash. My Regeneration kicked in immediately, healing my wounds, but it drew deeply from my energy reserves to do so.
I began to feel panic bubble up in my mind. I was clearly outclassed by the dark elf warrior. I dashed a second time to where my sword lay on the ground, then quickly grabbed it and turned to face the warrior before he could track my invisible movements. He hadn’t stood idle, though, having reloaded his mini crossbow. When I reappeared, sword in hand, he fired another bolt at me. I was caught flat-footed as my Dash froze all of my momentum, but my Absolute Evasion kicked in, somehow twisting my body to the side and letting me dodge the crossbow bolt.
I tried to think of a way to defeat the dark elf, but he ran forward and continued attacking me, giving me no room to concentrate. He pressed me hard, forcing me to parry, dodge, and evade multiple attacks every second. I tried to retaliate with my Leeching Strike, but I still couldn’t land a single blow.
Minutes passed as I frantically tried to keep the dark elf from injuring me too severely. The only good thing was that my If It’s a Fight You Want, It’s a Fight You’ll Get was starting to kick in, my attributes climbing slowly but steadily. I felt myself growing slightly faster and stronger, and my Regeneration was draining me slightly slower as my endurance increased every minute. I was sweating and my breath was beginning to become strained, but I refused to give up.
My Absolute Evasion was helping me drag out the fight, as the majority of attacks that would have hit me were miraculously avoided. Without it, I was sure my Regeneration would have already drained me, or the dark elf would have been able to get a finishing blow on me. I continued fighting, letting time work to my favor, trusting my Absolute Evasion and Regeneration to keep me alive until my attributes rose high enough that I could hit the dark elf back.
Finally, after over ten minutes of fighting, one of my attacks was fast enough to cut the dark elf slightly on the arm. I felt my luck begin to tumble through my head again as I activated Leeching Strike to steal one of the dark elf’s attributes. Realizing the tide was turning in my favor, I felt a surge of adrenaline and began to attack even faster, allowing him to get more hits against me in return, but I leeched an attribute from him every time I got a hit back on him in return.
It took the dark elf several minutes to realize what was happening. He stepped back and shook out his arms, as if he didn’t understand why he was moving slower and his attacks were weaker than they had been before. He glared at me, suspecting I was doing something to him but not understanding what exactly was happening.
I didn’t attack right away, taking several deep breaths. He shook his head and then attacked again, grimly silent even in the face of his slowing and weakening body. I took advantage of the space between us to fire another bullet at him, but it bounced harmlessly off his shield once again. Lowering my revolver, I met the dark elf sword to sword as the man renewed his attacks.
As my Leeching Strike stole more and more of his attributes, he finally broke a sweat, his endurance no longer allowing him to fight so effortlessly. The stolen attributes were supposed to be random, but my luck was tumbling now, suggesting that the attributes I stole might not be so random after all. I felt myself rapidly growing faster and stronger, as if my luck was allowing me to steal more of the attributes I needed, my luck influencing the random nature of Leeching Strike in my favor.
The warrior showed no fear or frustration as he became slower and weaker. My If It’s a Fight You Want, It’s a Fight You’ll Get skill and my Leeching Strike had boosted my attributes high enough that I could finally outmaneuver the warrior with ease. He now appeared like a novice fighter trying to strike a master swordsman. Despite the obvious shift in power, nobody in the courtyard called for an end to the duel and the dark elf never gave up, grimly attacking even as he could barely lift his sword and he was panting like he had just finished running a marathon.
I didn’t take any chances and refused to offer mercy after the man had so clearly been trying to kill me. Once I had a clear shot, I stepped forward and sliced through the man’s neck. My sword cut deep and he froze, feeling at his neck where his lifeblood began to drain from his body. With a resigned look on his face, he accepted his fate, dropping his sword and standing still until his body collapsed to the courtyard.
I stared at the warrior as his blood pooled around his body. The silence of the training grounds told me everyone else was staring at the fallen warrior as well. Finally, after a minute of complete silence, I received a notification that the dark elf was dead.
Dark elf warrior defeated—200 experience awarded.
Winner: Alexander! You are awarded the skill Swordmaster.
Swordmaster: All training with a sword is doubly effective, your skill with the sword increases, and you gain an instinctive understanding of opponents when wielding a sword.
It wasn’t the most powerful of skills, but it would be helpful. I felt the bonus attributes I had built up and stolen fade, and I turned to look at the matron and the other warriors surrounding me.
I could tell the fight hadn’t been particularly impressive from my side. I was clearly outclassed when it came to the sword, but I had still won in the end. Not that I cared what the dark elves around me thought. After they had promised me safety, I took the duel as a violation of that promise, and my anger grew as I stared at the silent dark elves who just stood by and watched me fight for my life.
The matron finally stepped forward, deigning to address me now that I had won her staged contest. As she opened her mouth to speak, I held up my hand rudely and stopped her.
“I don’t care,” I told her bluntly. I heard gasps from some of the watching dark elves. “This stunt has cost you my goodwill. I believe I can help your people survive your current situation, but I will not be working with your house to do it. You have lost yourself the opportunity to be the savior of your people.”
The matron’s face became more and more outraged as I spoke, but I activated my Trickster’s Dash to launch myself upward before she could retaliate. I heard her yell something in their language to the soldiers around her and they scrambled to draw their crossbows and fire bolts in my direction, but they were firing blindly and missed me completely.
I dashed again as I reached the apex of my flight, shooting forward across the city and out beyond the walls of the villa of the treacherous dark elves. I eventually flew over an alley that looked secluded and dashed downward, landing softly in the darkened alley. I lifted the hood of my repaired cloak with its Concealment enchantment, which I had managed to restore to working condition. I was significantly taller than the dark elves I had seen so far, but I hunched down, trying to hide my size as much as possible. I also activated my Stealth to try and prevent anyone from noticing me. Hopefully, my cloak and my Stealth would be enough to let me blend into the city around me.
