The crowd gathered into the vacated space created by the removal of the stalls was mostly Runners. The only ones Tibs saw who weren't, were the townsfolk who'd paused in their shopping at the further stalls and permanent shops to watch. Among the nobles, who were on one side of the field, Lamberto waved at him, tried to break away, only for Palden to grab his arm. The exchange was heated, but the younger noble didn't act as cowed as Tibs had seen during the run. Lamberto shrugged, gave Tibs another wave and stayed with his siblings.
The Runners broke into their teams as more of them arrived until they were all there.
It felt strange for there not to be the crowd of Omegas of the previous times. Was the guild really satisfied with only these few teams to do the runs now that the fourth floor could be reached?
The woman who took position a few steps higher was a clerk of some sort, with Water as her element. Certainly not a guard. She dressed well, and Tibs sensed the medallion around her neck; it had the same feel as the one he'd copied from Brogan. She was one of the more important clerks.
"Welcome back," she announced, smiling. "I'm glad to see we didn't lose anyone this time around."
"Really?" Quigly muttered, stepping next to Tibs and his team. "What happened? No one new to impress, so the higher ups figured we didn't merit more than a clerk?"
"As you can tell," she continued cheerfully, "the dungeon has reopened its door. This means the fourth floor is now accessible to anyone strong enough to clear the third."
"Been there," Manas, Quigly's rogue, said. "Done that. Didn't even get scars to prove it."
There was pride in how the clerk stood and spoke. Whatever the Runners might think of her being the one to explain how things would proceed going forward, she felt it was something she'd earned.
"Now that the dungeon is Lambda, there will be changes."
"No, really?" Don drolled. "However will we deal with it?"
"The first one is that clerics will be joining any team Rho or higher. Those teams will be allowed to switch out one of the two runners occupying the same role, but will not be required to do so. Do remember that the dungeon is also getting stronger, and that it could stop giving healing potions as rewards at anytime. A healer on your team can make all the difference, even if they won't be fighting."
Tibs shrugged at Jackal's questioning look, as mutters spread among the Runners. Sto hadn't responded when he walked by the cliff the previous evening, and he wasn't commenting on the announcements, so he was busy elsewhere.
The two archers on Quigly's team studied each other before looking at their team leader.
"No," the warrior said. "I'm not saddling us with someone who can't fight."
"If you chose not to take one now," she said, once the muttering died out, "you will have to take one when one of those two Runner die."
More muttering.
"Not if," Mez pointed out.
"The dungeon will be eating a lot of us on the fourth floor," Don replied with confidence.
"Makes you wonder why the guild isn't bringing anyone new," Jackal said, looking at the sorcerer. "All the cells are empty? The kings have had enough of not having anyone to release when they felt the city needed to see they were benevolent?"
Quigly snorted.
"I never read about guild procedures," Don replied. "It wasn't something I considered I'd have to deal with before, and once I was here, I didn't want to know the details of what waited for me."
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Breaking Step (Dungeon Runner 3)
الخيال (فانتازيا)Tibs and Kragle Rock survived Sebastian; but at a cost. Friends and allies died, people crossed lines they might not be able to come back to, and Tibs... Tibs no longer believes there are any lines that can be crossed to make the guild pay for their...
