Saga - 5
Blackraptor
Not too sore, are you?
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To my surprise, it didn't seem like the rest of the party saw through King Roland's Masked Knight disguise at all. Not even people who should have absolutely recognized him like Angie and Hertrude.
"I have heard of the Masked Knight before from my mother." Clarice commented after I introduced him to the others. The recent graduate was wearing her dungeoneering gear, which consisted of a grey studded leather vest and white crop top that just happened to show off my fiancée's fantastic abs. She also had dark blue trousers and black thighboots. Completing the look were a pair of armored gauntlets that had reinforced metal knuckles. Her lack of any other type of weapon made it obvious how she preferred to deal with threats. No wonder Jilk looked so bad after their talk where they officially broke things off. "She said that you are as skilled as an adventurer as you are a flirt."
"I will not deny it, though I would like to think that I merely appreciate the beauty of women." Roland rolled with the backhanded insult. He must have been used to women being on guard if they already knew about his alter ego's reputation.
"Still, it is rather convenient that you would appear just as we are about to delve into the dungeon." Angie pointed out with narrowed eyes. My other fiancée was wearing a really fancy red sleeveless battle dress. It had an armored collar but was cut low enough to also show a lot of cleavage, there was even a large gemstone in the middle that drew the eye directly at her chest. She did have a small pauldron on her left shoulder for some protection though. She wasn't wearing trousers so her thighs were on full display whenever she moved but she thankfully was also wearing sturdy looking boots. Angie was armed with a single-edged broadsword that was strapped to her waist.
"Isn't it great? It's good that he can fill in for Dierdre!" Ever the ball of sunshine, Livia looked on the bright side of the situation. She was wearing the same white number she wore when we went to Elven Island, complete with her handgun and rifle. Clara also wore the same thing she did during our trip, opting to just silently stand behind me.
"Exploits of the Masked Knight have even made it to the Principality. The rumors of your skill and power approached the utterly unbelievable." Hertrude added her own opinion on the matter. Just how long had the king been doing this if he was also known all the way out in Fanoss?
The Princess of the Principality was wearing a dark red battle coat that had a furred collar. It was buttoned up to cover her entire torso. I could also catch a glimpse of what looked like black shorts as well. She too wore leather boots and even had leather gloves as well. The only weapon I could see on her was a handgun strapped to her waist. The most striking thing about Hertrude was that her hair was tied up into twintails instead of her usual hime cut.
Control was also there using a drone I had never seen before. It was the size of a basketball and was colored yellow and black. It also had box compartments on the sides and what looked like a flat rotating dish on top. When I asked what this particular drone was for, they said that it was used for Emergency Search and Rescue. While they didn't think that it would be used for its intended purpose, the utility tools packed in the side compartments and the ground penetrating radar it came equipped with would help a lot when it came to the actual traversal of the dungeon.
After introductions were done, we talked about the kind of formation we would use once we were inside the dungeon.
"With eight of us here, including an Academy Alumnus and a veteran Adventurer, we could probably get away without any formation until like the tenth floor." I pointed out. Honestly, the team was a bit of an overkill since the protagonist and her chosen love interest should have been able to acquire it with just the two of them. Hell, Livia and Anne could have probably done this by themselves.
"I would be fine with taking the spear tip of the group. I have visited this dungeon literally hundreds of times now, sometimes by myself. I am intimately knowledgeable of the first fifty floors." Masked Knight boldly suggested. No one really spoke against it so we settled on a hexagon formation.
King Roland would take point, forward flanks would be Clara and myself, rear flanks would be Angie and Livia, rear guard would be Clarice. The center of the formation would have Control with Hertrude. When the princess complained as to why she was basically being protected by everyone else, Livia just told the reason to her straight.
"The rest of us here have been delving into this dungeon a lot for adventuring classes, so we know what to expect. This will be your first outing here so you don't have the same awareness that we do." Man, it felt like ages ago when Livia was terrified of fighting giant ants and thought that healing herbs were great treasures.
Hertrude accepted the reasoning well enough and we went down to the entrance of the dungeon proper. In the game, the Saint's Bracelet was located on the twenty-eighth floor of the dungeon. There was a hidden wall that the protagonist would notice once the window to get it opened. Players would have a few weeks of in-game time to get strong enough to make it that far. It would no longer be possible to acquire it once the practical exam for second years to reach the thirtieth floor started.
The first ten floors were a complete joke for our party, the most notable thing about it were all the fake walls that Control detected that held some cheap loot. Oh, and there was also the event of Clara being able to defeat the boss of the tenth floor by herself. The giant ant queen being bisected by the General Studies student after she easily dealt with its guards was a thing of beauty.
"I gotta say, I never expected that from you. I'm really proud of you, Clara." I told her with a big grin on my face. I would have expected that kind of performance from Angie or Livia, but certainly not Clara.
"Thank you, my Lord! I have been working hard to become strong enough to keep up with you and the others!" She proudly said as Livia healed her wounds while giggling. Masked Knight pretty much dominated the next five floors, his swordsmanship and magic being on a completely different level from what we could do. Well, with the exception of Livia and Anne when it came to magic. Even Clarice grudgingly admitted that he was an incredible fighter.
Things evened out a bit once we got to the twentieth floor. The area was just a labyrinth of hallways so there were attacks and traps from all directions. Control was able to stay on top of trap detection if Mask Knight missed any of them himself.
"So how are calling out numbers supposed to help with spotting monsters?" Masked Knight asked me skeptically. Numpad notation was more common when it came to fighting games, but one thing I noticed during my time playing the game's dungeon sections was that it was also super useful in monster and trap callouts. Since the dungeons were mainly grid-based, it was pretty easy to mark where ambushes or traps would happen by just assigning a number on a square of the map.
"Well, we split up what we see in front of us into nine squares." I demonstrated by moving my arm to metaphorically split the hallway in front of us. "One, two, and three are the bottom row. Four, five, and six are the middle row. Seven, eight, and nine are the top row."
"So, say Control detects an arrow trap coming from the upper-left corner of the ceiling, they can just call out Arrow Trap Seven instead." It would have been even better if we all had a HUD that showed a compass, but this would also work. "It'll be faster to convey than actually calling out where threats will be in real space."
"Hmmm, an interesting concept. I shall remember that if I end up in an unfamiliar dungeon with a party." Masked Knight said with a nod. We pretty much ended up calling out traps and monsters using those designations and it went super well.
"Angie! Giant Viper Four!" Clarice called out just as she punched clear through the carapace of a giant beetle. Angie immediately turned around and swung her sword, the gimmick of her weapon activating as it split up into multiple segments that were held together by a steel wire.
"Flame Slice!" Angie yelled, engulfing her whip sword in fire just as it made contact with the snake monster that launched itself at her. The results were pretty immediate as it was cut to pieces and burned to a crisp.
"Monkey Six! Livia!" Hertrude called out before shooting at the rabid monkey that appeared from the shadows. She missed but it had to change direction and flew right past its intended target and right into the path of my tomahawk swing. Livia then pulled out her rifle and started shooting at where the monkey monster appeared and flushed out four more. She, Hertrude, and Clara made short work of them by way of gun and sword.
It appears that the concept you introduced has yielded great success.
"Just standing on the shoulders of giants, Control." I said with a laugh just as we reached the boss door for this section of the dungeon. I was thinking about how to deal with the ape boss there when someone started opening the door.
"Please, allow me." Masked Knight stated as he stepped forward to face the gigantic gorilla monster boss. "This has become a routine for me of sorts."
What followed couldn't even be called a fight. The gorilla couldn't come close to hitting Masked Knight at all. Even after pulling out a stone sword that was as big as it was, there was no mistaking how outmatched it was. Every swing, every strike, every single move it did was evaded and countered with contemptuous ease.
"Does this count as animal cruelty?" I asked as the boss slammed its sword on the ground, which only allowed Masked Knight to run up the blade and slash its face with his magic enhanced sword.
"His swordsmanship is impeccable." Angie muttered in keen interest while Masked Knight continued to dance around the poor monster. The others were watching with varied degrees of interest. Clara, Hertrude and Livia were really into it, while Clarice didn't look too impressed.
"Hey, Control." I whispered to the drone while everyone was too distracted by the demolishing that was happening. "Can you see through Masked Knight's disguise?"
There is a faint distortion around him when I visually try to acquire him. I assume that this is some form of magic.
"Enchantment that keeps people from finding the wearer's true identity." I quickly provided. Control slowly backed away from everyone else and spoke in a deliberately lowered volume.
Then I assume that you already know that Masked Knight is King Roland?
"It doesn't work on me for some reason. How did you find out?" The drone bobbed up and down to indicate a nod.
I performed a search in the database I have been building of people that we have encountered. Masked Knight was an eighty-six percent match to the king.
I blinked at the new information. Control has a database of people now? "I thought you don't scan people without their consent?"
I did not scan any of them. The database is purely made of visible visual information that anyone can see. People can disguise themselves, but there are mannerisms that are difficult to remove. Moreso if they do not realize that they have said mannerisms.
I nodded at the explanation. Well, that was fine then. We both turned back to the fight when we heard the boss scream out in pain. Masked Knight had used the boss' own sword to decapitate him. I whistled at the impressive feat while the boss dissipated into motes of light. "That's just mean."
"Apologies for the wait! The beast is vanquished!" He proudly said before taking a bow. He even took the time to bask in the applause from Angie, Livia, Hertrude and Clara. "Please! It was not a problem!"
"Not very humble, is he?" Clarice asked just as I stepped up to stand at her side, Control floating towards the others.
"He has good reason to brag." I said with a nod. He was a terrible husband and father, but no one can say that King Roland was a weak man.
We eventually made it to the twenty-eighth floor and I noticed Livia immediately tense up. "Can you feel it, Livia?"
"Yes, it's this way." She nodded, voice a bit tight. Was Anne talking in her head about something?
For the first time since we entered the dungeon, Masked Knight relinquished the front of the formation. Livia walked purposefully through the dungeon, gunning down anything that even looked at her funny. It was pretty hot to see her like that, rifle in her right hand and handgun in her left. From the flush on the faces of my fiancées, they both felt the same way. She eventually led us to a dead end, but she kept moving forward without a care. Clara was about to call out to her about the wall Livia just walked through it and caused a ripple to appear on the surface.
"An illusory wall?!" Masked Knight called out in obvious surprise as we all looked at each other. "I have been through this part of the dungeon, back-to-front, for years and I never noticed this!"
"Fuck waiting." Clarice hissed out before running through the wall. We all soon followed in her wake. The other side of the wall was a small room with a dais that dominated the center. On the small platform was a pedestal that held a green bracelet. We all watched Livia reach out and take it before putting it on her right wrist.
Angie walked up to her and touched her upper arm. "Livia? Do you feel any different?"
Instead of answering, she slowly turned and focused her widened eyes directly at Masked Knight. She then pulled out her handgun in an instant and shot at him, the king barely having the time to evade it.
"Livia?!" Clara yelled out in a panic. Livia ignored Angie and Clarice calling out to her to stop as she just kept shooting Masked Knight.
"I see through you." My blood froze at Anne's hollow tone of voice, seemingly having taken control of Livia's body again. That didn't sound like the Anne we had known all this time. "HOLFORT!"
"I have heard of the Masked Knight before from my mother." Clarice commented after I introduced him to the others. The recent graduate was wearing her dungeoneering gear, which consisted of a grey studded leather vest and white crop top that just happened to show off my fiancée's fantastic abs. She also had dark blue trousers and black thighboots. Completing the look were a pair of armored gauntlets that had reinforced metal knuckles. Her lack of any other type of weapon made it obvious how she preferred to deal with threats. No wonder Jilk looked so bad after their talk where they officially broke things off. "She said that you are as skilled as an adventurer as you are a flirt."
"I will not deny it, though I would like to think that I merely appreciate the beauty of women." Roland rolled with the backhanded insult. He must have been used to women being on guard if they already knew about his alter ego's reputation.
"Still, it is rather convenient that you would appear just as we are about to delve into the dungeon." Angie pointed out with narrowed eyes. My other fiancée was wearing a really fancy red sleeveless battle dress. It had an armored collar but was cut low enough to also show a lot of cleavage, there was even a large gemstone in the middle that drew the eye directly at her chest. She did have a small pauldron on her left shoulder for some protection though. She wasn't wearing trousers so her thighs were on full display whenever she moved but she thankfully was also wearing sturdy looking boots. Angie was armed with a single-edged broadsword that was strapped to her waist.
"Isn't it great? It's good that he can fill in for Dierdre!" Ever the ball of sunshine, Livia looked on the bright side of the situation. She was wearing the same white number she wore when we went to Elven Island, complete with her handgun and rifle. Clara also wore the same thing she did during our trip, opting to just silently stand behind me.
"Exploits of the Masked Knight have even made it to the Principality. The rumors of your skill and power approached the utterly unbelievable." Hertrude added her own opinion on the matter. Just how long had the king been doing this if he was also known all the way out in Fanoss?
The Princess of the Principality was wearing a dark red battle coat that had a furred collar. It was buttoned up to cover her entire torso. I could also catch a glimpse of what looked like black shorts as well. She too wore leather boots and even had leather gloves as well. The only weapon I could see on her was a handgun strapped to her waist. The most striking thing about Hertrude was that her hair was tied up into twintails instead of her usual hime cut.
Control was also there using a drone I had never seen before. It was the size of a basketball and was colored yellow and black. It also had box compartments on the sides and what looked like a flat rotating dish on top. When I asked what this particular drone was for, they said that it was used for Emergency Search and Rescue. While they didn't think that it would be used for its intended purpose, the utility tools packed in the side compartments and the ground penetrating radar it came equipped with would help a lot when it came to the actual traversal of the dungeon.
After introductions were done, we talked about the kind of formation we would use once we were inside the dungeon.
"With eight of us here, including an Academy Alumnus and a veteran Adventurer, we could probably get away without any formation until like the tenth floor." I pointed out. Honestly, the team was a bit of an overkill since the protagonist and her chosen love interest should have been able to acquire it with just the two of them. Hell, Livia and Anne could have probably done this by themselves.
"I would be fine with taking the spear tip of the group. I have visited this dungeon literally hundreds of times now, sometimes by myself. I am intimately knowledgeable of the first fifty floors." Masked Knight boldly suggested. No one really spoke against it so we settled on a hexagon formation.
King Roland would take point, forward flanks would be Clara and myself, rear flanks would be Angie and Livia, rear guard would be Clarice. The center of the formation would have Control with Hertrude. When the princess complained as to why she was basically being protected by everyone else, Livia just told the reason to her straight.
"The rest of us here have been delving into this dungeon a lot for adventuring classes, so we know what to expect. This will be your first outing here so you don't have the same awareness that we do." Man, it felt like ages ago when Livia was terrified of fighting giant ants and thought that healing herbs were great treasures.
Hertrude accepted the reasoning well enough and we went down to the entrance of the dungeon proper. In the game, the Saint's Bracelet was located on the twenty-eighth floor of the dungeon. There was a hidden wall that the protagonist would notice once the window to get it opened. Players would have a few weeks of in-game time to get strong enough to make it that far. It would no longer be possible to acquire it once the practical exam for second years to reach the thirtieth floor started.
The first ten floors were a complete joke for our party, the most notable thing about it were all the fake walls that Control detected that held some cheap loot. Oh, and there was also the event of Clara being able to defeat the boss of the tenth floor by herself. The giant ant queen being bisected by the General Studies student after she easily dealt with its guards was a thing of beauty.
"I gotta say, I never expected that from you. I'm really proud of you, Clara." I told her with a big grin on my face. I would have expected that kind of performance from Angie or Livia, but certainly not Clara.
"Thank you, my Lord! I have been working hard to become strong enough to keep up with you and the others!" She proudly said as Livia healed her wounds while giggling. Masked Knight pretty much dominated the next five floors, his swordsmanship and magic being on a completely different level from what we could do. Well, with the exception of Livia and Anne when it came to magic. Even Clarice grudgingly admitted that he was an incredible fighter.
Things evened out a bit once we got to the twentieth floor. The area was just a labyrinth of hallways so there were attacks and traps from all directions. Control was able to stay on top of trap detection if Mask Knight missed any of them himself.
"So how are calling out numbers supposed to help with spotting monsters?" Masked Knight asked me skeptically. Numpad notation was more common when it came to fighting games, but one thing I noticed during my time playing the game's dungeon sections was that it was also super useful in monster and trap callouts. Since the dungeons were mainly grid-based, it was pretty easy to mark where ambushes or traps would happen by just assigning a number on a square of the map.
"Well, we split up what we see in front of us into nine squares." I demonstrated by moving my arm to metaphorically split the hallway in front of us. "One, two, and three are the bottom row. Four, five, and six are the middle row. Seven, eight, and nine are the top row."
"So, say Control detects an arrow trap coming from the upper-left corner of the ceiling, they can just call out Arrow Trap Seven instead." It would have been even better if we all had a HUD that showed a compass, but this would also work. "It'll be faster to convey than actually calling out where threats will be in real space."
"Hmmm, an interesting concept. I shall remember that if I end up in an unfamiliar dungeon with a party." Masked Knight said with a nod. We pretty much ended up calling out traps and monsters using those designations and it went super well.
"Angie! Giant Viper Four!" Clarice called out just as she punched clear through the carapace of a giant beetle. Angie immediately turned around and swung her sword, the gimmick of her weapon activating as it split up into multiple segments that were held together by a steel wire.
"Flame Slice!" Angie yelled, engulfing her whip sword in fire just as it made contact with the snake monster that launched itself at her. The results were pretty immediate as it was cut to pieces and burned to a crisp.
"Monkey Six! Livia!" Hertrude called out before shooting at the rabid monkey that appeared from the shadows. She missed but it had to change direction and flew right past its intended target and right into the path of my tomahawk swing. Livia then pulled out her rifle and started shooting at where the monkey monster appeared and flushed out four more. She, Hertrude, and Clara made short work of them by way of gun and sword.
It appears that the concept you introduced has yielded great success.
"Just standing on the shoulders of giants, Control." I said with a laugh just as we reached the boss door for this section of the dungeon. I was thinking about how to deal with the ape boss there when someone started opening the door.
"Please, allow me." Masked Knight stated as he stepped forward to face the gigantic gorilla monster boss. "This has become a routine for me of sorts."
What followed couldn't even be called a fight. The gorilla couldn't come close to hitting Masked Knight at all. Even after pulling out a stone sword that was as big as it was, there was no mistaking how outmatched it was. Every swing, every strike, every single move it did was evaded and countered with contemptuous ease.
"Does this count as animal cruelty?" I asked as the boss slammed its sword on the ground, which only allowed Masked Knight to run up the blade and slash its face with his magic enhanced sword.
"His swordsmanship is impeccable." Angie muttered in keen interest while Masked Knight continued to dance around the poor monster. The others were watching with varied degrees of interest. Clara, Hertrude and Livia were really into it, while Clarice didn't look too impressed.
"Hey, Control." I whispered to the drone while everyone was too distracted by the demolishing that was happening. "Can you see through Masked Knight's disguise?"
There is a faint distortion around him when I visually try to acquire him. I assume that this is some form of magic.
"Enchantment that keeps people from finding the wearer's true identity." I quickly provided. Control slowly backed away from everyone else and spoke in a deliberately lowered volume.
Then I assume that you already know that Masked Knight is King Roland?
"It doesn't work on me for some reason. How did you find out?" The drone bobbed up and down to indicate a nod.
I performed a search in the database I have been building of people that we have encountered. Masked Knight was an eighty-six percent match to the king.
I blinked at the new information. Control has a database of people now? "I thought you don't scan people without their consent?"
I did not scan any of them. The database is purely made of visible visual information that anyone can see. People can disguise themselves, but there are mannerisms that are difficult to remove. Moreso if they do not realize that they have said mannerisms.
I nodded at the explanation. Well, that was fine then. We both turned back to the fight when we heard the boss scream out in pain. Masked Knight had used the boss' own sword to decapitate him. I whistled at the impressive feat while the boss dissipated into motes of light. "That's just mean."
"Apologies for the wait! The beast is vanquished!" He proudly said before taking a bow. He even took the time to bask in the applause from Angie, Livia, Hertrude and Clara. "Please! It was not a problem!"
"Not very humble, is he?" Clarice asked just as I stepped up to stand at her side, Control floating towards the others.
"He has good reason to brag." I said with a nod. He was a terrible husband and father, but no one can say that King Roland was a weak man.
We eventually made it to the twenty-eighth floor and I noticed Livia immediately tense up. "Can you feel it, Livia?"
"Yes, it's this way." She nodded, voice a bit tight. Was Anne talking in her head about something?
For the first time since we entered the dungeon, Masked Knight relinquished the front of the formation. Livia walked purposefully through the dungeon, gunning down anything that even looked at her funny. It was pretty hot to see her like that, rifle in her right hand and handgun in her left. From the flush on the faces of my fiancées, they both felt the same way. She eventually led us to a dead end, but she kept moving forward without a care. Clara was about to call out to her about the wall Livia just walked through it and caused a ripple to appear on the surface.
"An illusory wall?!" Masked Knight called out in obvious surprise as we all looked at each other. "I have been through this part of the dungeon, back-to-front, for years and I never noticed this!"
"Fuck waiting." Clarice hissed out before running through the wall. We all soon followed in her wake. The other side of the wall was a small room with a dais that dominated the center. On the small platform was a pedestal that held a green bracelet. We all watched Livia reach out and take it before putting it on her right wrist.
Angie walked up to her and touched her upper arm. "Livia? Do you feel any different?"
Instead of answering, she slowly turned and focused her widened eyes directly at Masked Knight. She then pulled out her handgun in an instant and shot at him, the king barely having the time to evade it.
"Livia?!" Clara yelled out in a panic. Livia ignored Angie and Clarice calling out to her to stop as she just kept shooting Masked Knight.
"I see through you." My blood froze at Anne's hollow tone of voice, seemingly having taken control of Livia's body again. That didn't sound like the Anne we had known all this time. "HOLFORT!"
