Breaking Step (Dungeon Runner 3)

Breaking Step, Chapter 95

Tibs returned to the hall and unlocked the next door to look at yet another small office. This one with only a woman golem clerk seated behind the desk and no apparent cache. It didn't even have a safe, he noticed, once he'd made his way around the desk. He almost continued around her for the side with the pouch, but realize this would break the pattern of how he'd done things since realizing the sheath was enchanted. It and the coin pouch were attached to the belt, so he'd gone for that instead.

He made a knife, all metal essence, and readied himself. The golems were quick to react, but once he had hold of the belt he could hang on as it was hit and slice it off. A glance over the desk showed Mez, flaming arrow ready.

He quickly took hold of the belt, only for it to be yanked out of his fingers as the golem jumped to its feet, then it staggered back as heat bloomed. Tibs jumped as it fell against the wall and sliced the belt off as a second arrow destroyed its torso. Then he rolled away and was sprawled in the corner, watching it crumble, sword in hand.

"Tibs?" Jackal called, and he raised his hand to show the belt. "That's good. Are you okay?"

He stood. "The sword was in its hand. It's gone now."

"Isn't it the sheath that's enchanted?" Mez asked.

"The sword had a weave on it too," Tibs said. The pouch contained a blank silver coin and a ring.

"I don't know," Don said. "Making the two one item should mean it's less costly to make from what I read, but that was only about sorcerer's work."

Sto was right, the difference between this and gold was minor, and he'd held gold coins. The only gold Sto had made was part of decorating items.

The weave was too dense for Tibs to think it was a useless enchantment, even without a sense of what Ganny was aiming for, but if it was possible to add uselessness to a weave, then he certainly would be fooled by this.

"That's new," Jackal said, at his side.

Tibs grinned. "It's gold."

Jackal took it and turned it over. "Are you sure?"

"Or course." Why wasn't he impressed. "And there's a weave on it. Darran's going to give us a lot of coins for it."

His friend studied the ring closer. "What does the weave do? Because I don't think it's—"

"Trust me," Tibs said, fighting to sound casual and staring at the fighter. "I know what Darran is looking for. That's going to help make sure the guild doesn't own us once we reach Epsilon."

Jackal searched his face.

Just how well did the Them know people? They'd travel, and had been in the town, but they were dismissive. Could they read Jackal uncertainty? He'd never asked Sto how he saw them. Was it the same way Tibs saw the world, or was it more like how he sensed thing? Forms without the details that let him know how someone felt?

The fighter shrugged and handed it back. "Okay. You're the one who knows that stuff. So long as it's good loot, I'm happy."

"What happened?" Mez asked. "I saw the belt on its hip as I loosed the arrow."

"I think the golems are more alert in this part. Or it was just this one. I wasn't ready for how fast it reacted." He looked at Don. "Do the people in offices get more important as you go further in?"

"I don't know. Tirania has her office in the back, but most of the others seem to be for regular clerks. But that's the guild, and this isn't a real city office. There's no telling how the dungeon set it up."

The next office was unoccupied. Books were lined up in the bookshelf. "I'll check them for traps," Tibs said before Don commented. There had been three 'real' books among all the previous bookshelf, each trapped with a vial containing a lot of fire and air essence set to break if not disarmed. Fire loved paper, Tibs knew.