Nabiki grumbled and complained quietly under her breath. “How long of a walk is it? Aren’t we there yet?” Her new slippers, while comfortable, did nothing to ease the fatigue in her legs. Nabiki had been quite pleased to have been able to put on her new dress, but currently her irritability drove away all thoughts of her clothing. It did not help any that her companions were all cheerful and wide awake this morning. It was also no help that she was trailing behind Ranma, with a leash attached to a collar around her neck, and Ranma casually holding the other end like he was just out for a stroll with a dog.
Kasumi swallowed some food and looked over to Ranma. “Sorry about the well, Ranma-kun. We can try it next time. R’aul’s Dungeon is the traditional first stop for players who enter this area, after all.” Kasumi then tore a bite out of her salami on a stick.
“No problem, Kasumi,” Ranma said between mouthfuls of his turkey-leg. “I am just intrigued by the compass and the tunnel. I am also anxious that the well will fill up when the drought ends. I don’t think we can put the well off for too long.”
“I was thinking about the drought, Ranma-kun. What if it ends because of something a player does? Perhaps in beating one of the local challenges, we end some sort of diabolic magical plot to stop the rain or the river or something. Maybe it is the bathhouse investigation? They, certainly, have the most to gain from the town during a drought. What do you think Nabiki?” Kasumi slowed down and turned around so that she gave Nabiki some attention.
Nabiki paused to think before looking her sister in the eyes. “I am not sure what to think. But, I would love to go to that bathhouse just to be clean for once. Maybe we can stop by there tonight on our way back to town?”
“And what of the kidnapped women? I would hate to lose you girls.” Nabiki was touched by Ranma’s concerns. “And I would be bathing separately, so it is not like I could protect you either.”
“We could always be bait, Ranma-kun. Luan Ko is marvelous at going unseen. She could keep an eye on me, or me and Nabiki, and bring you to where they take us. You and Luan Ko should have no real problems fighting your way in.”
“Well...” Ranma was trying to think why that plan was a bad idea. “What if we can’t get your armor and equipment back? You'd have to strip to bathe and there is no guarantee we will find your stuff again after beating them all up. They could sell it off, it could be left behind at the bathhouse where someone else just takes them, or it could end up locked up in a secret room we don’t happen to find. I wouldn’t want to risk our belongings. Also, what if they torture their prisoners?”
This seemed to quiet Kasumi, who became contemplative. Suddenly, Kasumi blushed. “We could see if we could lock our stuff up at the inn. Or maybe, if there is a bank in town, we could rent out a vault or a locked chest. You do have a good edge with your armor and weapons, wouldn’t it be more of a fun challenge if you had to save us naked. And which dungeon would be more appropriate to run around naked in than a bathhouse one?”
Ranma looked sideways at Kasumi while Nabiki just shook her head. It was Nabiki who spoke up first, “So we just walk around the countryside naked trying to find this bathhouse?”
“Why, heavens forbid no. I am sure we could buy some kind of simple robe, yukata, or kimono to walk about in. We would be naked otherwise. I imagine anyone going off to bathe would not wear more then a robe anyways. We would look more the part of innocent bathers. We shouldn’t enter together, though. Ranma needs to come in later or go in earlier, so no one suspects that he would notice us missing and would come looking for us.” Kasumi paused for a moment. “What do you think they do with the girls they take?”
Ranma just smirked, “You better hope they aren’t used for virgin sacrifices.”
Kasumi just smirked back, “I always wondered if virgin sacrifices were perhaps in reality recently virgin sacrifices. Seems to be a waste of a perfectly good virgin and evil cult priests probably don’t get very many girlfriends to begin with.”
“Maybe you and Nabiki can find out with this fool plan of yours.” Ranma then turned serious. “No armor, no weapons, and being bait. I don’t like this plan. Why can’t we just storm in fully armored and beat up people until they talk?”
Nabiki snorted, “Sounds like the kind of plan the old Ranma would prefer too.”
Ranma shrugs. “Anyhow, we can figure this out later. For now, what do we know about R’aul?”
“He has been dead for a long time now, but his dungeon is a favorite raiding site for adventurers. The dungeon is full of devious traps and many different monsters have made it their home. Plenty of riches to find, and the final boss says something as he dies that will clue us into another adventure. It is suppose to be easier then the dungeon we found Nabiki in, which I think we should properly finish before we leave the area. Lots of adventurers go to R’aul’s and we should bump into a bunch of them while in it. Maybe we can find out more information from them.” Kasumi had counted off each point on her fingers, making sure she remembered them all. “It’s an easier dungeon, so don’t expect any great treasure, but it’ll earn us some more money and maybe we might find an item or two worth keeping.”
“How do we know where to even find it?” By this point, Nabiki was very tired of walking. “I don’t feel like walking all day. Can’t we take a break?” Nabiki started to fidget with her collar, putting a finger between collar and neck.
“I told you to get some breakfast, little sister.”
“What? A giant drumstick? Salted meat on a stick? Sausages and eggs smothered in gravy? Pigeon pie? They had nothing but fatty meats. Nothing I would consider a proper breakfast. No rice, no miso, not even toast or coffee.” Nabiki complained, feeling put out at the lack of coffee in the morning.
“You’ll learn to eat all that. Better then starving. Let us rest in the shade over there.” Ranma pointed towards a big tree that sat on the crest of a small hillock. Once seated, Ranma nudged Kasumi and pointed at the view overlooking the valley ahead of them. They bent their heads together and conferred in whispers. With a quick hand gesture, Ranma sent Luan Ko climbing up the tree.
“What’s wrong?” Nabiki asked, noticing the two of them acting strangely.
“Looks like we may be close to the Dungeons. Rest up, little sister. Soon we will be going in.”
Ranma and company did not have to go far before they encountered their first group of adventurers. Entering the dungeons, Ranma had released Nabiki from her leash, and then they had turned to take the hallway to their left. It was soon after that turn when Ranma and company had came upon a group of heroes in the hallways.
"Excuse me folks," Ranma says with a nod to the other heroes. Nabiki was feeling more then a little self conscious. Even though Ranma had given her a nice dress to wear, she felt sure that everyone could tell she was a sex slave. As such, she tried to stay out of sight behind Ranma.
"Greetings travelers," one of the men says, eying Ranma suspiciously. "Were you planning on going into the Rookery too?"
"No, I did not know that there was a rookery here to begin with," Ranma explained, worried about attracting too much trouble when he should be making friends or contacts. "What sort of winged creatures do they keep here? By the way, my name is Ranma and this is Nabiki and Kasumi." Ranma decided to not draw attention to Luan Ko hiding in the shadows.
"I'm Galgaroth, and this is Paula, the ranger is Tetsuro, that's Rat-oni the dwarven monk, The thief over their is Sakura, the paladin over there is Roy G. Biff, he's Jazz, our elven mage, the black mage is Rasputin, and the high elf cleric is Mae. This rookery is for dragon hatchlings. Not too hard if you don’t attract all of the baby dragons at once. The real fight are with the keepers. Enslaved monsters that the parent dragons command to protect the children. And, of course, the room’s boss. He may be tough but you get a reward for defeating him. Having a larger group helps, and dragon eggshell can be sold for money. If you like, you could join us in our raid. Safety in numbers, after all."
Nabiki wasn’t sure if it was the poor lighting or her cursed libido, but some of the toughs in the group were rather sexy looking, in a bad-boy kind of way.
"No thanks," Ranma politely declined. Something about the group or this part of the dungeon just did not feel right to Ranma. "We are new here, and just started to explore this dungeon. Do you have any suggestions on where to start?"
"The south-east portion, down a floor, is easy enough and is where most people start. It’s a bit of a maze, the monsters are not too tough, and there are plenty of treasure chests, though they do not have much in them. If you change your mind, just let us know." Galgaroth turned to address his men. "OK guys, these eggs have given us a lot of trouble in the past. Ahhh, does anyone need anything off this guy or can we bypass him?" Their leader seemed hopeful that he could just skip this part of the dungeon.
Tetsuro the ranger responded, "I think Roy needs something from this guy," as he gestured towards the paladin. Nabiki noticed that, oddly enough, the paladin seemed to be staring off into space and not all there. Nabiki gently nudges Ranma and points out the comatose paladin.
"A.F.K." Ranma quietly mouths to her. Nabiki wonders just what he meant by that.
"Uh ... he needs his devout prayer beads, right? Isn't he a paladin?" A small redheaded girl dressed like a thief mentioned.
"Yeah, Sakura, that will help him heal better and have more mana," Tetsuro said, with a thoughtful expression on his face.
Galgaroth scowled. "Crap, OK, so here's what we'll do. I'll run in first and gather up all the eggs, so we can kind of beat them all down when they hatch. I'll use my intimidating shout to scatter them so we don't have to fight a whole bunch of them at once. When my shout is done, I'll need Rat-oni to come in and drop his shout too so we can keep them scattered and not fight too many. When his is done, Jazz, of course, will have to run in and do the same thing. Uh, we're going to need Avatar Intervention on our mages. So they can be safe, because we will be bringing them down fast. We will be in trouble if we don't take them down quick. I think this plan will work for us, we should be able to pull it off this time. What do you think Paula? Can you give me a number crunch?"
"Hmmm, give me a sec ..." A scholarly looking woman, her black hair up in a bun and wearing glasses, pulled out some sort of golden abacus from her dark velvet robes and started sliding the beads back and forth. After a moment of nothing but the click clack sound of the ruby and emerald colored beads, she looks up, "I'm coming up with a 35.33 repeating percent chance of success if we stick to the plan."
"Well, that is a lot better then what we usually face-"
Suddenly the Paladin springs to life while wiping his mouth on his sleeve. "Alright chums, let's do this! Heeeeeeeeeeere's ROOOOOOOOOOOOY GENNNNNNNNKINSSSSSS!"
"Oh my god! He just ran in," Galgaroth screamed in amazement.
"What should we do? Stay here? Oh geez!" Tetsuro panicked.
Galgaroth started to run in after Roy, "No, stick to the plan. Let's go, let's go! Stick to the plan!"
As Nabiki started to move closer to get a better look into the room the heroes ran into, Ranma's hand came down onto her shoulders holding her back. "They're screwed, come on, let's go," Ranma advises Nabiki. “Coming Kasumi?” As they walk away, a plaintive voice wailed, "It's not my fault!"
Ranma and friends found their way to the south-east section as directed. The hallway ended at a doorway. A giant stone lintel above the tall opening in the wall was carved in snakes and nagas. Hanging from the lintel was a sign that proclaimed, ‘You first must be lost before you can find yourself. You must first be challenged before you can succeed. A journey is not the distance traveled but the obstacles passed.’
“I guess this is the place. The sign sounds like a warning for a maze.” Ranma glanced at the others to see what they thought.
Kasumi just eagerly smiled, “Lets go kick us some monster patooty!”
“Patooty? Kasumi, I am starting to worry about you,” Nabiki said in concern to Kasumi.
Luan Ko just gave a happy little purr and rubbed her face against Ranma’s armor.
Ranma nodded his head. “Alright, let’s see what this dungeon has to offer us!”
Nabiki tried to shrink further into the shadows cast by the flickering torchlight. Some sort of character had rounded the corner, and upon seeing them, sent a group of giant mutant penguins to attack. Mutant penguins that kept saying, “D00D!”
Kasumi smiled at the sight and squealed, “Prinnies!” Then she jumped into the group of 6 prinnies.
Ranma locked eyes with the Beast Leader. Drawing his sword, Ranma rushed the Beast Leader while looking towards Kasumi. “That Disgaea mod you patched in, did it have some character types too?”
However, Kasumi was too busy fighting to answer Ranma and soon he was busy as well. Kasumi, while fighting admirably, was being overwhelmed. So she leaped back and grab her bow. Soon, arrows were raining down upon the Prinnies. Meanwhile, Ranma engaged the Beast Leader. Letting the leader attack first, Ranma flowed out of the way of the attack before sweeping his sword up and through the leader’s arm. Continuing the motion of the sweep, Ranma spun in place into a back kick that launched his foe into a prinny. Making a rushing dash, Ranma thrusted himself into the pack of weakened prinnies. His sword mowed down prinnies where they stood as Kasumi rushed the group from the opposite side. She met Ranma in the middle, surrounded by dead bodies.
Kasumi politely asked, “What was that, Ranma?”
“One moment, Kasumi.” Ranma noticed the Beast Leader was getting up again. A quick barrage of chestnut fists put the leader down for good. “I was wondering if these characters came from the mod you added to the game.”
“Oh... hmmm. You know, that mod did offer a lot of changes. Not just character classes and reincarnation, but also monsters, item worlds, and so forth.” Kasumi paused for a moment, then her face brightened in the light of realizing something big. “You don’t think we could enter Nabiki like that?”
“Uh ... would it be safe to try? Maybe later, when we’re not in the middle of a dungeon with Nabiki surrounded by lots of monsters.” Ranma looked at the bodies Luan Ko was busy looting. “That wasn’t so hard. Good for experience points, but kinda easy.”
“Don’t worry Ranma-kun. It is still early in the dungeon. Maybe this maze will get tougher. Speaking of which, how are we going to find our way around it?”
“I was just going to follow this wall on the right. We’d eventually have to go through most if not all of the twists and turns and find ourselves back at the doorway.”
“That’s actually intelligent... Ranma, where’d you learn that trick?” Nabiki was genuinely surprised. Ranma never struck her as the type to have good ideas outside of a fight.
Ranma just shrugged. “It was something I picked up discussing battle strategies, once. I think it was while Pops and I were in Okinawa. I got to hang out with a bunch of American Marines while there.”
Nabiki was silent, absorbing the new facts about Ranma.
Seeing that Luan Ko was done collecting loot, Ranma turned to continue on down the hallway.
Some time, and many fights, later, Ranma and his gang sat on some treasure chests to rest up. They had just dispatched some green skulls, blue mages, and a couple hoshikage. Many of their fights had also been with goblins and kobolds with a few bugbears, however some Disgaea classes were making an appearance as well.
Ranma looked over to Nabiki and said with a smirk, “Well, you have to admit, this has been better then going to school. Today beats any day at Furinkan, don’t you agree?”
Nabiki just snorted. “I get dragged places and used like a bandaid to heal. I don’t earn as much experience as you do and I don’t get any money or loot. However, I have to carry the extra items you keep picking up.”
“Admit it, little sister. Even with all that, you are enjoying yourself.” Kasumi gave Nabiki a knowing smile.
“Well ... OK. I actually am enjoying this. Seeing something I normally don’t get to see everyday. And I don’t feel so frightened, knowing I get ignored during battles anyways. My feet are tired though. There’s so much walking and this place is huge. We’ll be in here for days. Will we even get to sleep? If so, where?”
Ranma just chuckled. “Naw, we’ll do a different part everyday. We’ll go back to town to sleep. We’ll leave at about dinner time. We should get back in time for a late meal and to catch some sleep. We could buy camping gear, but sleeping in a dungeon has a lot of risks. As long as we can afford it, I rather play it safe and sleep in an inn.”
Whatever Kasumi was going to say next was cut off when some gladiators walked by and saw them. Before anyone could blink, Ranma and Luan Ko were up and at arms instantly. Nabiki ducked into a corner to wait the battle out while Kasumi positioned herself in front of Nabiki.
Ranma intercepted a gladiator charging for Kasumi. Kasumi had been keeping back, using her bow and magic to soften the enemies. However, the occasional frustrated gladiator would eye her as easy pickings and attack. For this gladiator, his attack was knocked off course by Ranma’s flying jump kick. Tossing a few Möko Takabisha to disperse the gladiators into disarray, Ranma turned to give Kasumi a cheeky wink. Kasumi softly giggled at Ranma’s antics.
Luan Ko, meanwhile, leaped onto a gladiator, wrapping her legs around his head. She then buried one of her poisoned daggers into his back. Nabiki couldn’t help but notice how sexy Luan Ko’s maneuver was, and how it cause her short skirt to ride up, showing off her thighs nicely. Giving her head a hard shake, Nabiki reprimanded herself, ‘Bad girl! Stop thinking like that.’
A gladiator tried jumping Ranma, only to have Ranma fall back, plant his foot in the gladiator's gut, and throw the gladiator onto the floor behind him. Kasumi quickly drew her sword and severed the head off of the thrown gladiator. Kasumi then blocked the attacks of some gladiators that tried to take advantage of Ranma being on the ground while Ranma flipped himself back onto his feet. Ranma and Kasumi then found themselves in a sword fight with those gladiators. Luan Ko, after breaking the wrist of a nearby gladiator and throwing him into a wall, threw another poisoned dagger at one of the gladiators surrounding Ranma. Drawing her poisoned ninjato, Luan Ko dashed in to join the sword fight
Ranma, holding his sword in two hands, stood with his sword low and pointing behind him on his right side. His non-sword side advanced forwards. The gladiator took the bait and swung for his unprotected side. Ranma stepped back with his left foot, out of the reach of the gladiator’s sword, while slashing his sword upwards. Dismembering the gladiator, Ranma stepped in quickly to thrust his sword through his enemy’s rib cage and into the heart. Not having the time to draw his sword out of his fallen opponent, Ranma dodged the next sword blow heading towards his head by stepping to the side. Ranma grabbed the gladiator’s wrist with one hand and pinwheeled that arm while grabbing the gladiator’s head and yanking down. Ranma directed his attacker’s arm towards the opposite shoulder, and the gladiator found himself on his back. Meanwhile, Ranma had stripped the gladiator’s sword while tossing him. Ranma reversed his grip on the captured sword and thrust it down into his foe’s head. Reaching back, Ranma grabbed his own sword, and Ranma pulled it out of the fallen gladiator while dancing to the side to avoid an attack.
Kasumi, having just finished her attacker, spun to engage the gladiator that Ranma had just dodged. With a vicious stroke of her sword, Kasumi decapitated the foe. Ranma then threw his sword, spear style, into the gladiator sneaking up behind Kasumi. Luan Ko then used her ninjato to dismember that gladiator at the knee caps. Stepping to the side, Luan Ko avoided an attack meant to cleave her head in two. Ranma immediately launched a sidekick into Luan Ko’s attacker. Kasumi responded with a front kick of her own to a different gladiator as Luan Ko decapitated the one Ranma had kicked. Kasumi then dodged the charging rush attack of the gladiator she just kicked. Ranma, not bothering to retrieve his sword, dashed in to judo throw the last opponent. Picking the gladiator up off the ground by his face, Ranma got a good grip and broke the gladiator’s neck.
Slamming the door shut, and leaning against it, Ranma breathed out in relief. “The fights themselves are not so bad, but the number of them get tiring. Kasumi, remember to buy more healing potions when we get back to town. How’re you holding up, Nabs?”
“Tired and my feet hurt. I’m out of SP too, can’t heal up anyone anymore. Say, what’s this big puddle doing here?” Nabiki had walked further into the dimly lit room and found a softly glowing pool of water in one corner. “Do you think it’s poisoned? Maybe a magical trap?”
Ranma, Kasumi, and Luan Ko approached the pool. Kasumi noticed a placard posted on the wall. Reading it out loud, “Welcome adventurers, you have found the healing Pool of Radiance. Congratulations! For solving the maze you get to heal up before finding your way back through it again.”
“That’s a rip! All of that work and all we get is a puddle of radioactive water.” Nabiki couldn’t believe that all they got as a reward was a bath.
Ranma started to walk into the pool. When he reached the center, the glow intensified and light erupted from around his feet. Music, lilting and airy, filled the air as strains of flutes, violins, and harps filled the chamber. Only a few seconds later, the effects ended and Ranma was looking much better.
“Hmmm, restored my HP and my SP and I feel refreshed. Come on in girls, the water’s fine.” Ranma beckoned the others to join him. Kasumi wasted no time wading in while Luan Ko gave an eager leap and splashed in. Nabiki followed at a more sedate pace. Once again the light show and music played. Once those were finished, everyone felt restored and rested. “Well, I guess we better head out. We better go back to South Town. We can work our way deeper into the dungeon tomorrow.”
Nabiki stared at the water in longing. “Do you think it would be OK to take a bath here?”
Kasumi sadly shook her head, “I don’t think we should risk offending the fairy spirit of this pool by spoiling her water.”
Ranma was pretty sure he was near the entrance to the maze. Soon, they can get out of the dungeon and head back to town. That idea appealed to Ranma on the basis that he was hungry and missed lunch. However, fate had another random monster encounter in store for him.
“Ranma, Kasumi... There’s some monsters behind us.” Nabiki called out in warning. She had heard some sort of scuffling noise from behind and around a corner. Looking over her shoulder she watched as a group of kobolds and redcaps walked into view.
Ranma and Kasumi turned, standing shoulder to shoulder as Nabiki scampered to hide behind them. Luan Ko once again dissolved into some shadows. She also used her claws to climb the wall and perch near the ceiling. The kobolds, armed with staff-slings, immediately fell into position and started to lobby exploding clay pots at the heroes. The redcaps rushed forward in a berserker frenzy, with much gnashing of teeth and pulling of hair.
Ranma and company were forced to fall back when fiery explosions erupted all around them. Three of the pots needed to be swatted away by Ranma and Kasumi with their swords, resulting in the pots shattering mid-air near them. Three other pots shattered against a nearby wall. Nabiki jumped away from all of the sulfurous flames, not being as armored as her owner and sister. The redcaps arrived before the second volley of pots could be thrown. The three redcaps near the front threw themselves at Kasumi with a bloodcurdling howl. Kasumi tried to swat them away, but had to fall back in the face of their assault. Ranma turned to help Kasumi fight off the redcaps, but the remaining two bull rushed his legs, tackling him by the kneecaps. That was when the second volley of clay pots exploded around them. However, the third volley never came.
Luan Ko, seeing the strategic necessity in disrupting the monsters’ ranged support and aerial bombardment, worked her way along the top of the wall towards the kobolds. With a silent leap, she landed in their midst. Suddenly, the kobolds were using their staff-slings to try to bludgeon Luan Ko, and were too disarrayed to attempt any ranged attacks. With a high jump, and drawing her knees up to her chest, Luan Ko cleared a horizontally swung staff. With a flash and a snick, her poisoned dagger cut through a kobold’s Adam's apple. A back kick knocked another kobold away, followed with Luan Ko leaping clear of the pack.
Meanwhile, Ranma regained his footing, picked the redcaps up by the back of their heads, and smashed them face to face. Kasumi had scored a critical hit on a redcap with her sword, and danced out of the reach of the other two. Ranma, seeing that it was now just two redcaps against Kasumi, decided to go help Luan Ko who was still fighting off five of the kobolds.
The kobolds rushed Luan Ko, staffs poised above their heads ready to strike. This presented her with all the opening she needed as she dashed in between two kobolds, burying two of her daggers into their hearts. The other kobolds, in trying to hit her dashing form, only managed to whack each other with their staffs. This was when Ranma got a little payback by strafing the kobolds with a barrage of Möko Takabisha chi balls. In the resulting confusion, Luan Ko and Ranma made quick work of the remaining kobolds.
Kasumi was now facing against just one redcap, having dispatched the other by cutting its face into two. The redcap disappeared in a flurry of motion as Luan Ko pounced upon it like a rabid jungle cat and the two of them went rolling across the floor. When they stopped, Luan Ko stood up revealing that the redcap had a torn throat and a broken neck.
“You can come out, Nabs. Are you OK?”
“A little shaken up, but I am fine Ranma. I did not know that I would have to dodge stray grenades, that was scary.”
Nabiki, once again on her leash, walked besides Luan Ko and behind Ranma and her sister. Her haversack was slung over her shoulders, her clothing was grimy, and her face was caked in dust. And everyone stunk. Trudging along besides a skipping Luan Ko, Nabiki mused, ‘That girl is always happy and perky. And Ranma and Kasumi seem to be enjoying themselves. *Sigh* That bum was correct. Times are tough.’ Needless to say, all Nabiki needed was a nice warm bath.
“The sun has only begun to set and we have made it back to the town.” Ranma noted as the group marched pass the old man at the town’s edge. “We can dump the booty tomorrow. For now, let us eat and get a room again.”
Kasumi stretched to work the kinks out of her back. “I think we had a productive day. Usually, in the games I’ve played before, you could ignore details like sleep, food, and going to the bathroom. Working on a dungeon is much different when you need to stop for breaks, and when human needs other then healing drives you back to a village.” Taking a sniff, Kasumi figured that bathing would be in their future.
“So tomorrow, we go back?” Nabiki groaned at the thought of another long walk to the dungeon followed by walking all over the dungeon. ‘At least I get to rest some when the others are fighting.’
While holding the door to the inn open for the girls, Ranma replied to Nabiki, “Yep, unless something else happens that we need to worry about.” The four of them walked in and found a table to sit at.
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(Posted Sat, 12 May 2007 22:20)
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