A Gunslinger’s System in a World of Magic

Reading through the description of 'Faith' and how it could be increased, Henry wondered if Eloise's conviction to offer help to the downtrodden —like he and the other cuff-wearers— was born out of a natural desire or was just because she wanted to please some god.

All in all, Henry didn't care either way. She had a right to do things for whatever reasons she wanted to do them and as long as it was in his favor, he saw no real reason to question it. That said, it still made for an interesting thought.

Henry had no idea how long he sat on the ground with his back against the wall. It could have been an hour, it could have been two. Without an actual conference of vocal decision-making, the two Parties present (Henry's and Eloise's) came to a silent agreement to take as much rest as was required to have everyone back in top condition.

At some point, with his hand on Nyx's head, Henry realized there was something he wanted to know. Something he had started to ask before the calamity of summoned Mummies interrupted and shut the conversation down.

"-So how is it you came to be in my shadow?-" he asked her through their Telepathic connection to keep it from the others in the corridor.

Nyx made a move that Henry decided to have been a shrug. As much of a shrug as she could manage.

"-That day, something pulled you. I could feel it— Your soul was gone from your body. The absence, as well as what happened before that, made me weak. <ShadowScape> came to mind and your Shadow expanded to swallow me.-" she said in a candid matter-of-fact tone.

"-And how was it?-" Henry asked, "-In my Shadow, I mean.-"

"-Not bad-" Nyx answered, "-I mean, I took a nap for heavens knows how long…-"

"-Nine days-" Henry interjected then, "—It's been about Nine days since the incident at the Hadron Mansion.-"

"-Wow-" Nyx said, "That long huh…-"

'Long?' Henry thought to himself, 'I wonder…'

He had spent four days of the Nine days that had passed since the Hadron Mansion incident, asleep, and considering he had spent the rest of the days actively in captivity and then fighting for his life and his freedom, it did seem a bit long.

'What comes after this?' He wondered, 'Do I go back to New Freudein? Seems redundant but What about Yelena? If Maude sold me, he must have her too. Maybe he sold her… Either way, to save her, I'd have to confront him.

Can I win as I am?'

Henry gave it some thought and then shook his head with a self-deprecating smile,

'Nah, I can't,' he decided.

His current stats were lacking compared to what Angus had had during the Black Manor job and the Gang Leader/Hive-King had still failed. Hell, Angus had had to sacrifice the integrity of a powerful artifact so they could get away and it hadn't killed Maude Aleric.

No, no, returning to Saint Claret to confront Maude Aleric seemed foolish at the moment. Going anywhere close to that city was probably unwise too.

Henry's mind was still busy when he noticed the shuffling of movements. Eloise, Aurelius, and their Party of Squires were gathering.

"We're going on ahead," Eloise told Henry when she saw him looking over at their party.

"So you've decided to take them along?" Henry said with a gesture at the Squirre whose expressions ranged from worry to determination with most being a mix of both.

"We'll protect them," Aurelius jumped in to say before Eloise could speak, "They'll be fine."

'A bit overconfident, but alright,' Henry thought. It was extra muscle after all, so why would he care?

He did look at Eloise though and the look in her eyes as well as the sigh she let out made it clear she had lost the argument she had been having with Aurelius earlier. Which led to this outcome.

Louis and Andor stood up, both well rested with Andor's face screwed up with a strange focus like he was determined to make up for some inadequacy.

Anyway, they all moved through the corridor, leaving the still-shaking hall behind as they headed deeper into the gloom ahead.

Henry had Nyx trotting by his side. The ceiling of the Corridor kept getting lower the further they walked and it would have been uncomfortable to attempt to ride in her saddle. Besides, it would also have been awkward with everyone else on foot.

Henry brought his Stat Points to mind and decided on how he wanted them allocated;

'7 Points into Agility. 5 into Stamina.'

[Are you sure?]

'I am.'

[Agility: 63 ———> 70]

[Stamina: 30 ———> 35]

"We're close," Louis said just as Henry swiped away the tab screens that were in front of his face.

"I can sense it," Louis continued and despite his enthusiastic tone, there was an edge to it. Caution for what other horror awaited.

A few more steps and Aurelius who walked at the front of the Party paused with his ears keen. Eloise's posture was similar and then she frowned as she said,

"I hear Fighting."

Almost like her words opened up his senses, Henry found he could also hear what had warranted the pause.

Bangs, slams, blasts, strikes, groans, grunts, crunches, and overall sounds of pain were coming from up ahead. Whatever the next ordeal of the Dungeon was, it had been engaged with before them.

"Come on!" Eloise said like she couldn't stand the sounds of pain. She edged past Aurelius and sprinted the rest of the way through the Corridor.

"Wait," Aurelius called out but she was already gone.

Both 'Violent Retort' and 'The Hydra's Sting' appeared in Henry's hands as he followed after Eloise with Nyx, Andor, and Louis following after.

They reached the end of the corridor soon. It ended in an archway that opened up into a larger area. Eloise stood at the archway with her eyes wide and her hand on the handle of her sword which was still in its scabbard by her waist.

The larger area the Archway led into was a Hall at least three times wider than the Hall they left behind but half as long. If they wanted to sprint across and were on a time crunch, Henry was sure he would make it across in maybe 10 seconds even without Nyx. This, of course, was assuming the ground didn't start to shake.

Anyway, the floor of this hall wasn't segmented into squares and Henry doubted there were any summoning symbols to be wary of. However, that didn't mean it was safe… Quite the contrary, in fact.

"Get away from me!" A man in a robe yelled out as he tried to outrun an attack and give himself the chance to cast a spell.

He never got that chance and with his eyes widened in horror, he had to attempt to use his Staff to parry the large blade of a massive sword.

The sword cut his staff in two and went on to cut a large gash across the robed man's chest in a forceful strike that sent him to the ground, at the mercy of his attacker.

The attacker in question was clad in black Armor complete with a Helmet. The Helmet had more than enough opening, however, to reveal a decaying face with most of its flesh already gone and exposing a blackened and horrid bone structure lying underneath.

An Undead Knight.

With its eyes glowing a malicious Violet color, the Undead Knight brought its massive sword down on the robed man but Eloise was suddenly there. She braced herself as well as she could and swung her sword to intercept the enemy's blade.

*CLANG!*

"Hng!" Eloise groaned as though she had not expected the force behind the strike.

Henry watched her in a stalemate with the Undead Knight and then looked all over the Hall. There were multiple Undead Knights. Henry counted at least 10 already and they were all in battle against Fighters and Mages. Some of whom Henry recognized;

They were the other groups that had entered the Dungeon besides his group and Eloise's. He saw the man who had approached Eloise and Aurelius outside the Dungeon and addressed them with some familiarity, and he was not doing well.