Chapter 40 #2
“Maybe take a day and enjoy the city?”
A beautiful blonde with big tits and big hips came into the guild hall right then.
She passed my table to reach the counter at the back.
The guild girl greeted her and started weighing the mana crystals Solara placed on the counter.
She giggled at a joke I didn't hear. Another adventurer passed between us, momentarily blocking my view of her exceptional ass.
“She’s not a brawler,” the man said, following my eyes to identify what had my interest. “She’s actually a candidate, hoping to earn her full membership soon.”
“Yeah?”
“Mmhmm. Well, thank you for being understanding. I’ll catch up with you tomorrow.”
This girl looked like she could use a mentor. As she passed my table, I said, “Maybe you and I could work together.”
She stopped. “I’m sorry?”
I gestured for her to sit. She didn’t.
“I was a candidate once. I’m Byron, and you are?”
“Solara.”
“Nice to meet you,” I replied. “I’m in town on business. Maybe we could trade? You show me around the city, and I’ll give you some advice on passing your entrance exams.”
“That’s very sweet of you.” She tucked a lock of blonde hair behind her ear. “I’m afraid I’ve committed to working with another candidate today, though. Otherwise, I might take you up on your offer.”
Brenin of Borja stepped through the door. I recognized him immediately, but when I reached into my mind for the memory of how I knew him, the idea slipped from my grasp.
“There he is now,” Solara said. “I hope you enjoy the city.”
She offered Brenin a shy wave as she stepped away from me to cross the guild hall. A moment later, her delicious ass was gone.
With Trina running late, I had a whole day in Flowst to myself.
I strolled the muddy streets, going from shop to shop, looking at this armor or those magic items. I had plenty of gold to spend but saw nothing worth buying.
Reaching my level of success refined my tastes and my needs to the point that any normal business was unable to properly serve me.
When the sun began to set, I had run out of things to distract me. Having no better thoughts, I decided I’d head back to my inn room, catch a nap, and then hire an obscene number of whores just to see how far I could push them. I climbed the steps to the inn and ventured inside.
My head swam, a sudden dizziness striking me. I needed a moment to collect myself and remember what I was doing here.
“You look like you’re from another chapter,” a man behind a battered desk said.
The Borja chapter of the Dungeon Brawlers Guild was a hole in the wall. If you had told me the building was abandoned until this morning, I would have believed it. This place wasn’t nice enough to be the toilet in the Grubiit or Minsic guild halls.
“You feeling alright?” the man asked.
“I’ve got this fog in my mind I can’t seem to shake,” I said.
“Hungover?”
“Don’t feel like it.”
“Moonrock or dreamdust then. If I overdo it on either of those, I spend the next three days feeling like there’s a hole in my brain.”
“Yeah, maybe,” I replied. “I was passing through and thought I’d get a few dungeon runs in.”
“Excellent,” he replied, pulling a drawer open to remove a clipboard and paper. “The Borja dungeon isn’t the biggest, but the XP and money are pretty good for what it is. If you could give me your name, rank, and home chapter, I can take care of making sure your records are updated back home.”
The man at the desk looked over my shoulder at something outside. His look of concern made me curious, so I followed his eyes.
A young woman stood in the street speaking to Brenin of Borja.
How did I know who that was? I just got here. Had I met him somewhere else, perhaps?
I came to my senses. Staring at that toothpick of a man was foolish with such a beauty right next to him.
Her blonde curly hair was vibrantly golden against her tan skin.
She had sharp facial features and a muscular thickness to her body.
She reminded me of the girls I knew who grew up working on farms, hauling around slop buckets and baling hay.
The conversation seemed serious, and a moment later, the girl came inside. Brenin disappeared around the corner.
“Everything alright, Podni?” the man at the guild asked.
“I have a… situation. Can we speak in private?”
The man nodded. “Yes, just one moment.” He looked down at my paperwork and then back up at me. “Gods, sir, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize I was speaking with Byron of Zaglis.”
“It’s fine,” I said.
“I’ll be with you in a minute,” the man said to Podni.
“I can wait. She seems worried.”
“It’s guild business,” she told the man.
“Byron outranks all but maybe six people in the Guild at this point,” the man said. “If he’s willing to listen, his wisdom could be very helpful.”
Podni leaned both hands on the desk to brace herself. She seemed exceptionally tired. “There’s a goddamn slavery ring in Borja, and I’m on their list of people to kidnap.”
“Truly?” the man asked.
Podni nodded.
“I keep saying I need more people helping me out here. We would have known about this if we had the proper staff.”
“They’re after a friend of mine too, can you help us get out of town?” Podni asked.
“Of course,” the man answered.
“I could get you out of town,” I offered. “We don’t even have to hurry. If you stay close to me, no one will hurt you.”
“Would you let my friend come with us?”
I shook my head. “I can take care of one person, not two.”
Podni studied me. “You expect me to fuck you.”
“No,” I replied. “I wouldn’t complain if that happened, but no, that’s not required.”
“I’ll pass, but thank you.”
“I’m sorry to ask this of you, Lord Byron,” the man behind the desk said, “but would you mind taking a letter to the guard station? We have a friend there who can help. I should stay here with Podni and make preparations for her.”
“Sure.”
A few moments later, a piece of folded paper appeared in my hand. “His name is Tad. Thank you so much for doing this. I know it’s beneath you.”
Hearing that name was like a gong sounding in my brain.
“No problem at all.” To Podni, I added, “Good luck. I hope it works out for you.”
I stole a peek down the front of her shirt. A muscular girl with breasts that size was a rarity, and it deserved a moment of appreciation. Such a shame I wouldn’t get to play with them.
Borja was a small town, so crossing it took all of five minutes. When I stepped into the guard station, a man in chainmail greeted me.
“Business?”
“I have a letter for Tad,” I said. “I was told I could find him here.”
“Yep. He’s three doors down.” The man gestured over his shoulder.
One, two, and three-Huh. There was a third door on my left and on my right. The guard hadn’t said which to take. My crawling instincts took over, and I turned right.
I opened the door to find a toned raven-haired woman sitting on top of a desk with her legs spread. She leaned back, clutching one of her breasts with one hand and spreading her tight pink slit with the other. A young man knelt to lick her.
“What the fuck?!” she yelled, hurrying to cover herself.
The young man turned to me, wiping his mouth on his sleeve as he did, and looked ashamed. Did Brenin go straight from the Dungeon Brawlers to the guard station? He had, at best, a five-minute head start on me, and he had gotten this far along already?
“Sorry,” I said, slamming the door.
I tried the other third door.
A short man with thinning gray hair and a paunch greeted me. “Did I hear Invia yelling out there?”
“I didn’t get her name.”
“That girl is as mean as they come. Best steer clear of that one.”
“Are you Tad?” I asked.
“That’s me.”
I passed him the letter. He put on a pair of glasses and read it.
“Troubling, troubling, troubling,” he said with a sigh. “I’ll take care of this. Thank you.”
“That’s it? You don’t need anything else?”
Tad nodded. “That’s correct. Appreciate you bringing this over.”
“Sure,” I said, letting myself out.
When I was back on the street, I looked up at a sun approaching noon. That little sidequest ate up too much of my morning. I wondered if I could get any meaningful dungeon time in. At least, I could get a feel for the layout and be more prepared for a proper start in the morning.
I paid one of the guards at the dungeon entrance for a pass and trotted down the stairs.
I appeared in the teleporter room of the tower, gasping for breath as if I had just washed ashore after a shipwreck. My head swam, and my arms and legs were numb and unresponsive. It took immense concentration to move them, so I sat down.
I remembered everything I had just seen but now had the full awareness of who I was.
What the fuck kind of dungeon floor was that?
How much control did the tower have over my mind?
A lot, obviously, and that felt dangerous.
After living with a sorceress in my head, ceding control of any of my faculties disturbed me deeply.
The only person allowed in my thoughts was me.
No towers. No Aurketzus. My mind was my own.
Nothing about the teleporter room had changed.
The statues of my wives were exactly where I left them, and I didn’t see any doorways or passages.
I didn’t have anything other than a gut feeling, but I was certain I had failed whatever test I had just gone through.
Whether that thought was my own or something the tower implanted, I didn’t want to know.
What mattered was that I had failed. The 100th floor, potentially the last in the tower, and I couldn’t overcome it.
I was tempted to step back into the teleporter and repeat the trial right then, but no, I was tired. Some rest and some time to ponder how to go about this would be wise.
So I went back to Sanctuary South as a failure.