It wasn’t hard to find the dungeon. All they had to do was follow the stream of adventurers heading out of Milten. The entire trip was surprisingly short. It only took a little under fifteen minutes and led them to a crowded, hastily erected camp.
Several dozen tents had been set up all around a roped off cave entrance. A number of fast-moving merchants had brought their wagons to the area and had set them up amidst the camp to sell food to hungry adventurers.
Arwin and his group joined the long, snaking line leading up to cave. By squinting, he was just barely able to make out the form of a woman wearing black clothes — the Secret Eye representative from the day before.
I hope she doesn’t remember me. It’s not like I did anything wrong, but I’d rather avoid an awkward situation if I can.
“How big is this dungeon?” Reya asked as the line slowly snaked forward. “There are so many people trying to get in. It’s got to be a shitshow in there.”
“Not everyone is getting in,” Lillia said. She’d wrapped herself in a cloak and pulled her darkness back as much as she could. She was still shrouded in a patch of shade and was standing close enough to Arwin with hopes of using him to hide from any prying stares. “Look at the front of the line.”
Lillia was right. Even as they watched, the Secret Eye representative shook her head and a team of adventurers broke away from the line, joining the stream of people heading back into the camp.
“Huh. That’s interesting,” Rodrick said. “They’re turning people away? I thought they were trying to get as many bodies in the dungeon as possible.”
“It is a bit odd,” Olive agreed. “I bet they got so many people showing up that the ones that knew what they were doing couldn’t even move anymore. It only makes sense to limit the amount of people that enter.”
Olive nodded. Arwin and Rodrick moved to block out the view of the rest of the crowd as she pulled the blade free of its sheath for just far enough that the Secret Eye representative could see it.
A few murmurs of disapproval rose up from the people behind them at the amount of time they were taking, but Arwin ignored them. Unfortunately, he wasn’t the only one that picked up on their annoyance.
The Ardent guildmember sitting at the base of the dungeon looked up. His eyes focused on Arwin and he rose to his feet, striding toward them. His eyes flicked down to the maker’s mark on Arwin’s armor. Like the woman, Arwin could tell the man recognized him.
At least I can’t say that the armor isn’t doing its job. People know who I am. It’s just the wrong damn people.
“Selen, what’s the holdup here?” he asked. “My guild allowed you to oversee the entry of members into the dungeon, not stall the line out. This group isn’t worth your time. It’s the smith and the team of idiots that we’ve got blacklisted.”
Selen’s gaze sharpened and she glanced back at the man as a flash of anger crossed her features. “Your guild may have purchased the land that this dungeon is on, but I will thank you not to attempt to order the Secret Eye around. You have no power over me, Busal.”
Aha. So that’s what’s going on. They bought the land the dungeon was on, knowing they’d be able to charge people a good amount of money to enter it. That’s a clever business move. They must have moved quickly — but why would they be filtering people out if that was the case? It should be in their best interests to have as many people as possible pay to enter the dungeon.
The man — who Arwin presumed to be Busal — raised his hands. “I’m not trying to tell you how to do your job, Ma’am. I’m just pointing out that you’re wasting your time. The smith and his group wouldn’t even make it through a single room. They’ll die to the first group of monsters they run into.”
Lines of annoyance creased Selen’s face. She clearly wasn’t a huge fan of the heavily armored man, but she turned back to Arwin and gave him a small shrug. “I’m afraid he is correct. I cannot allow you in unless you’ve got something else to sway my decision.”
It sounded like Selen was actually hoping that Arwin would have a way to make her change her mind. Arwin almost laughed at Busal’s expression. The man looked like he’d eaten a lemon. He really didn’t want them entering the dungeon. And, if anything, that only made Arwin want to enter it more.
They’ve got something against us and I don’t think it’s just something that Madiv did. There’s no way the vampire could have pissed anyone off that badly. Unfortunately, I’ve got no damn clue what it is they’re pissed about.
Either way, it doesn’t matter. These idiots have money, but they’re not stronger than Jessen. If they were, the Iron Hounds wouldn’t have gotten such a strong hold in the city. All I care about is getting into this dungeon and taking whatever shit Jessen left behind.
Therein laid the problem. Arwin didn’t relish the idea of getting into a pissing contest in front of the crowd or revealing any of his stronger magical items. They could always return at a later date — but the longer they waited, the more chance that someone just broke into the locked area and made Jessen’s key worthless.
“Just leave, would you?” Busal asked, shaking his head and letting out an exaggerated sigh. “You have no idea what you’re trying to enter. I’m showing you mercy. My own team is composed of members far greater than you, and they’re currently working to get into the fifth room.”
“Says a lot about your own abilities if you aren’t there with them,” Arwin said dryly. “Seems like the rest of them are clever enough, though. They left their worst member behind.”
Busal’s jaw clenched. “I am more than capable of handling every part of this dungeon myself. Watch your words, Smith — unless you’re trying to start a fight? You’re the leader of your guild, aren’t you? It would be quite pathetic if you lost to a mere officer.”
A smile crossed Arwin’s lips, but his helm blocked anyone from seeing it. Busal had just given him the perfect excuse to enter the dungeon and the man didn’t even know it yet. There was no chance that Busal was stronger than Jessen.
“If you’re challenging me, then I accept. I’m unsure as to why the Secret Eye is turning anyone away if the only standard to enter the dungeon is just being stronger than you,” Arwin said. He rolled his shoulders and took a step forward. “As the challenged, I set the rules. The fight goes until one of us kneels.”
Busal let out a snort of amusement. “Not first blood? Coward, but I should have expected it. Come on, then. This ought to be fun. You can have the first move so rumors don’t start going around that I’m bullying noncombatants.”
That’s going to make things even easier than I’d planned.
“I’ll gladly accept.” Arwin extended his hand.
Busal stared at the hand. “What are you doing?”
“It’s a handshake,” Arwin replied. “I trust you know what that is.”
Anger flashed over the other man’s features and he spat on Arwin’s armor. “Don’t act as if you’re a proper warrior, Smith. I’m not shaking hands with a coward and a scammer. If you try to make a mockery out of me, I’ll crush you.”