52
“Are you guys going to lunch?” Cerena asked.
“Not yet,” Milo said. “We booked some time on the Rifle Range.”
“We’re gonna learn to shoot,” Tania said. She reached out and ruffled Milo’s head. “Gonna pop bullseyes better than Milo soon. I mean, how hard can it be, right?”
“Shooting’s not easy,” Cerena warned. “I can’t hit a door even if I’m right in front of it.”
“Well, the last dungeon was pretty tight for us,” Selma lied. “We figured we oughtta have more back-up options.”
“Good idea,” Cerena said thoughtfully. “Actually, Jassie said something like that the other day.”
“You should try shooting,” Milo said, holding up his rifle. “It’s not so hard with practice. You don’t need to get so good anyway. Just need to blast whatever’s right in front of you.”
“I guess.” Cerena smiled. “I’ll think about it. Maybe talk to Belt first.”
“Well, we better go,” Tania said. “Catch ya, sister.”
The three moved swiftly through the common room, heading towards the Dungeon Hall.
“Milo!” a sharp voice whipped out.
Turning, he saw Ket. The blue-haired little woman had her hands on her hips.
She flicked her gaze to Tania, then to Selma.
Then back to Milo.
“Hmm?”
“I ain’t seen ya doing any sweeping lately, kid,” she said.
“He’s part of a team now,” Tania put in. “Team members don’t need to swing no broom.”
“I ain’t saying he should,” Ket said calmly. “I was gonna say it’s nice. In all the time I’ve been here, I ain’t seen no one with his mana lift themselves outta the gutter and actually start doing dungeons. Let alone survive in them. Nice job, kid.”
Milo felt his cheeks warm, though his heart was racing.
He didn’t have time for this.
“Thanks, Ket,” he said. “Umm. We gotta go. We booked a range slot. We’re running late.”
“Alright,” she said. Her gaze slid to the rifle. “Unusual gun you got there.”
“It’s been modded.”
Her eyes twinkled, and she nodded. “Alright. Off ya go, kid.” She turned to her office. “Seems like my lock is working better lately. Been a while since I found the door open.”
Awkwardly, the trio scooted away as quickly as they could walk without looking too suspicious.
“I don’t like her.” Tania scowled.
“She’s weird,” Selma agreed.
“She’s the Hall Monitor,” Milo said. “It’s probably her job to hang around being strange. Let’s get a move on.”
Sliding into the Dungeon Hall, they saw immediately the closed doors.
And the dead mage.
Milo winced, then dropped down beside the second one. He put a finger to the man’s neck. “He’s alive.”
Tania squatted down next to him.
She put her hand against the mage’s neck.
There was a sharp snick. Then the unconscious mage convulsed. Blood spread out below the body, making Milo stand to step out of the growing puddle.
He sighed as Tania pulled her blade from the body’s throat.
“Well,” he said, moving to the slot by the door and sliding the small card into it. “That’s it, then. If we get caught, we’re done for.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Milo,” Tania said. “Do you, Selma? We ain’t killed no one. They were dead already. Fergus has lost his mind, that poor old brush ape.”
“Brush ape?”
“A yokel. A sap. A boob?”
Selma lifted her head and grinned. “Wanna see my boobs?”
“I wasn’t talking about your saggy old milkers,” Tania growled.
“They’re not saggy!” Selma puffed out her chest. “See? Milo, look at my boobs. Are they saggy?”
The door rumbled as it opened.
He glanced over his shoulder. His eyes drifted towards her chest. She was only wearing her little chain mail bikini. “If you both don’t mind,” he said. “We’re in the middle of a mission which could see me dangling from a rope and you both being chopped up and your cores used as wands.”
Tania shuddered. “That ain’t a nice thing to say, Milo.”
“So get your minds out of the gutter. Let’s go.”
“That’s a big okey dokey.” Tania tossed him a salute and threw her camouflage on before stalking into the hallway.
Milo glanced at Selma, who was standing around looking disappointed.
“Are you ready?”
“But they’re not saggy.” She pouted. “Are they?”
“No,” he said. “They’re not. Can we go now?”
Selma threw him a big smile full of teeth and nodded. “We can now, yes.”
“Don’t forget the alarm.”
“Oh, right.”
Selma reached out and snatched the alarm as he tugged the key free from the door. As they entered the hall, the doors closed.
While, far away in the Academy, alarms clanged.
Milo felt the door crunch shut behind them.
“Well, that’s that,” he said.
“We’ll be fine,” Tania said, hunched over the access panel on their side of the door. She was stabbing it with her long blade, drilling deep into the wall to break the mechanism.
“All good?”
A loud thunk echoed deep within the stone, and she gave a satisfied grunt. “Done.”
“The other side?”
“Click should have it.”
“Alright.” He lifted the rifle to his shoulder. “Let’s move.”
They headed down the corridor, moving quickly. A few more bodies were crumpled in the hall. Ice still clung to the walls. Signs of Fergus.
Scorched blast marks along the walls showed where rifle rounds had burned holes into the granite.
Or holes through flesh.
And here and there, webbed burns had blistered the stone. Lightning. Jin Stimpleton’s specialty.
Tania slit throats as she passed the living.
Milo tried not to think about it.
The corridor wasn’t straight. It turned and twisted, carving through the Keep.
“We’re close,” Tania said suddenly. “Fighting up ahead. Want me to check it out?”
“Go on,” he said with a jerk of his head.
She ducked low, slipping ahead. The camouflage on her made the air ripple around her. But it was subtle.
Selma pulled out her sword and flicked the edge with a fingernail. “Think I’ll get a chance to use it?”
“Yeah,” he said grimly. “I do.”
“Good.”
As they rounded a corner, Milo’s eyes narrowed.
Two mages were holding off Fergus and Fulka while a third was blasting holes above Jin’s head. All three were ducked behind rubble. The fight here had been rough. Already there were a handful of bodies Tania wouldn’t need to finish off.
Fulka’s work by looks of it.
“We don’t want to kill you!” Fergus shouted. “Just put your wands down!”
“Arrogant brat!” a mage yelled back. “You’re Paddstone’s little spawn, ain’t ya? You think you can just waltz into the Vault and take whatever treasure you want?”
“We just want the Primal Core,” Fulka called. “If you stand down, you get to live!”
“Primal Core?” The mage shot a confused look to his colleague, who shrugged. “What are you on about?”
The other mage frowned. “You think he means the Leveler?”
Jin was losing his patience. The big man flinched as a blast of fire splashed against the wall over his head. “Fergus!”
Fulka slapped the rifle to her shoulder, scowling.
She was quick as she rolled to the side of the rubble. Thrust the barrel out. Aimed.
Pulled the trigger.
The pyromancer targeting Jin let out a scream as a bolt of mana blew through his shoulder. His arm dropped as blood sprayed.
He didn’t scream for long.
“Bitch!” The first mage was an electromancer. A bolt of thick lightning punched through the air. It hit Fulka’s arm and jolted up to slam into her brain.
With a shriek, the girl scrambled back behind cover.
She was lucky the bolt hadn’t killed her.
But smoke drifted from her sleeves, and she started sobbing with pain.
Fergus spat a curse, then lifted himself over the top. “Go! I’ll cover you!”
Jin charged.
Milo watched as Fergus threw shard after shard of ice at the two mages, forcing them to duck back behind the corridor.
He wasn’t bad, Milo allowed. While he was throwing a lot of shards, they were only small. Not small enough to be less deadly. But not big enough to drain his mana too quickly.
He was good at preserving his power.
Jin let out a roar. He was carrying a heavy mace. As he reached the corner of the corridor, his arm lit up with electricity. Sparks crackled down his fist, enveloping the mace.
He went around.
Milo flinched. The sound was sickening.
He was glad he couldn’t see the mess the enraged Tank was making. Fergus, meanwhile, was helping Fulka to her feet.
“Are you okay?” There was genuine concern in his voice. Something Milo found oddly irritating when balanced against the permanent sneering hate he always endured from the young man.
“I’ll… I’ll be fine…” Fulka sounded shaken. The rifle trembled in her hand. “Just need a second.”
“Ready?” Tania whispered from Milo’s right. He hadn’t heard her approach.
He nodded. “Let’s get started.”
Then he stood up as Jin returned from his gruesome task. The big man was the first to see Milo stepping out from behind the corridor. He was covered in blood.
His expression shifted from a scowl to one of shock as Milo lifted his rifle and aimed it at Fergus’ back.
“Fergus! Behind you!”
Whirling, Fergus shot a shard of ice at Milo without hesitation.
Good reflexes, Milo thought, ducking back.
“Normie!” Fergus hissed. “What are you doing here?”
“Saw your work out front,” Milo called, calmly leaning his back against the wall. He was holding the rifle vertically in front of him. “Thought I’d come say hi. I pulled the alarm, by the way. Everyone knows what you’re doing by now.”
“Bastard,” Fergus hissed.
“We don’t have time,” Fulka groaned. “If the guards are coming. The headmaster might come, too!”
“Blast.” Jin sighed. He thumped his fist into his palm. “Ah, well. Go on. I’ll hold him off.”
“What?”
“I said I’ll hold him off. You go get the core. Then we can all get out of here, right?”
“But-”
“Hey, if I kill him here, it’s something. Right?”
“Fergus!” Fulka screeched as Milo whipped himself around the corner and aimed and fired. The bolt tore past Fulka’s head and into the wall behind them.
Snatching the young woman, Fergus dragged her out of view behind the rubble, throwing shards at where Milo had been.
Back behind the wall, Milo grinned. “All I gotta do is hold you here. Guards will be here soon, right?”
“We’ll tell them it was you!” Fulka cried. “You did it all! We tried to stop you.”
“Yeah…” Fergus said, but he wasn’t sure.
“Oh?” Milo called. “And what about the mages you left alive at the door? I bet they saw you, not me.”
“Blast.”
“Face it, Fergus,” Milo added. “You’re done. Put your wand down.”
“That’s enough,” Jin said. “Go.”
“Jin!”
“Go!” The big man slapped a hand down on Fergus’ shoulder and threw him back towards the corridor. Then he jerked his head at Fulka. “You too. I don’t like you much, but you’ll protect him. That’s good enough for me. Go.”
“I won’t forget this,” she said earnestly. She was all big eyes as she hefted her rifle and limped quickly after Fergus.
“See you don’t,” Jin rumbled, his eyes firmly on where Milo was out of sight.
Fergus froze, halfway round the corner. “Jin… I…”
“It’s alright,” Jin called, not looking back. “I’ll tear the normie’s arms off. Catch up to you in a few seconds. Won’t take long. Not long at all.”
“Fergus,” Fulka hissed, snatching his sleeve. “Come on! We have to get to the core!”
When the two were gone, Jin took a deep breath.
“You ain’t alone, are you, ya sneaky little shit?”