Gauntlet testing

As we made our way into the dungeon, Ami suddenly held out her hand.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Up ahead," Ami grumbled as she gestured towards an obese man with pale skin and thinning hair clad in a tattered overcoat entering the elevator.

"Who is he?" I whispered.

"Paul Cowherd. Long story short, he's the lowest of the low. As long as he gets money, he'll do any dirty job, so I've heard. Worse, he's able to spawn a gold barrier around him that prevents anyone from getting close to him. Not even the hag can bust through that shit."

"Slavena can't hurt him!?"

"Sadly no. That's why he pretty much gets free reign to be as big a lowlife as possible. At the very least, he doesn't get touchy with women, as if he does, his barrier won't work as it only spawns in a ring 6 ft away from him. That said, it has a life of its own and activates faster than even I can move," Mariamne scowled.

"If you wanna pursue him, be my guest. LaNorne and I have other business to attend to," Ami growled as she began leading me towards the stairs.

"It's true he's suspected of doing things that would justify arresting him on the spot, but even when I try to pursue him, he always manages to give me the slip, so I think me n' the girls will stick with you," Mariamne smirked as she, Perl, and Penina began trotting along after us.

"The one time I wish a knight was more dutiful," Ami groaned.

Thus, we all began our descent down the stone stairs leading to the first floor of the dungeon. 

"Hmm, it's been a while since I took the stairs. At least, in a dungeon within Central. Come to think of it, I've also got elevators in the dungeon near my manor, and Penina, I believe I fitted some in the dungeon near your place too. Why, I think I'll be tapped to fit every dungeon in Kreplach with elevators at this rate," Mariamne mused aloud. 

"I don't care about that. Elevators need to be the standard for dungeons anyway, so as long as the quality's top-notch, it doesn't matter who makes them," Ami snarled.

My skin began to tingle as I felt Ami's glare upon me. I really messed up getting lost. If I botch this, her rage will be even greater.

When we reached the first floor, the only monster present was a lone goblin in the center of the room. Making sure the gauntlets were on, I rushed up to the goblin and attempted to punch it, however, my hand stopped just before hitting the goblin's face.

The goblin didn't seem surprised like I was though, and seized the opportunity by raising its club high for a mighty strike. I quickly delivered a kick to its stomach, disrupting the attack, and retreated a few feet.

"What happened?" Ami growled.

"When I tried to hit its face, the gauntlet stopped!" I called out.

Ami frowned as she put her hand to her face. "Can you hit the club?"

I nodded and rushed for the goblin. I was able to shatter the club with no issue, but as I went for a follow-up punch to the gut, my hand stopped once again before it could connect. 

"Take off a gauntlet and slug him!" Ami called out.

I leaped back and took off a gauntlet before rushing in and unleashing a punch. This time, my fist connected, and the goblin was slain.

"Down in a single punch? You must have low magic levels, otherwise you'd be an instant recruit to the martial artist division," Mariamne smirked.

"Could the peanut gallery shut up!?" Ami fumed.

"Oh, but we are doing work. Documentation, yes?" Penina chuckled.

"YUP! Gauntlets don't work on goblins," Perl smiled as she nodded her head confidently.

"Well no shit. Any idea why?" Ami snarled.

"Like I said before, they're water-repellent," Mariamne smirked.

Ami went quiet.

"Like humans, most monsters and creatures have blood, which is ultimately water at the end of the day. And for the ultimate test... Um... LaNorne! Yes, that was what Ami called you. LaNorne, try hitting me with the gauntlet on. Right in the face," Mariamne grinned as she began walking towards me.

"What happens if I hit you?" I asked.

"It lands, I'll shave my head," Mariamne smirked as she planted herself confidently before me.

"Please be wrong, please be wrong," Ami mumbled under her breath, albeit, loud enough for all of us to hear.

Penina began to laugh. "Oh, what an entertainer you are, witch of the amethyst. You should know Squad Leader Mariamne takes great pride in her hair. If she's saying she'd part with it so easily..."

"HAH!"

"...That means she's ensured herself of winning such a trivial bet."

My face began to grimace as I stared directly at Mariamne's smirking one. My fist had stopped mere inches from her face.

"Seems I had no need to fear for my hair, or my intellect," Mariamne scoffed as she turned and gave her hair a haughty flick.

Ami began trembling like a child ready to throw a tantrum as I remained standing there with my fist still outstretched. I wonder if I had the same look on my face as Ami, as I too really wanted the punch to land, mainly because of what Mariamne did to me in the... green stick place I got lost at. If I hadn't gotten overpowered, maybe Ami wouldn't have had to come to my rescue, and I could've avoided having Mariamne and her posse follow us here. Although... I'd still be lost... maybe?

"Are you two going to sulk forever in here? I believe we do need to test the gauntlets on other varieties of monsters not known to have large volumes of water in their systems," Mariamne called out as she began ascending the stairs.

"LaNorne," Ami groaned as she began trudging after Mariamne and the others.

I stared down at the ground and shook my head a bit before chasing after everyone.

Once we were all at the ground floor, we hopped in the elevator and rode it down to a treasure floor.

"This is why I decided to call Perl and Penina to join us," Marianme smirked as the elevator began its descent.

"Yeah, nothing like treasure hunting n' skull bashing to help out the nerds at the academy," Perl grinned as she slammed her fists together.

"You'll also get to see a proper martial artist squad in action. Lucky you," Penina winked.

"Just wear one gauntlet for this. You can punch with your other hand even if your main one gets frozen, right?" Ami growled.

"That's right, I have a technique like that," I smiled.

"Hmm, I am intrigued as to how you fight proper. Perhaps you could show me-"

"No," Ami glared, cutting Mariamne off.

"Huh? Why-"

"If you show her your moves, she'll copy them all and make them her own. Then she'd be someone you'd never be able to beat," Ami warned.

A sinister grin spread on Mariamne's face. "Hey, I'm sorry I'm just that smart, that all I gotta do to learn something is see it in motion. Really, I don't see why you'd be against having a bodyguard that could actually make all the things you do, know all the spells you do, and have the strength to actually defend you too. Oh, at that rate, I'd have the be the one getting a bodyguard due to my VIP status," she laughed.

Ami clutched her fist as she began to brood.

"I don't quite get it, but if Ami's saying not to go all-out around you, I won't. You're not exactly someone I consider a friend," I angrily smiled.

"Oh? Well who cares? I got your sloppy punches memorized. Good enough," Mariamne scoffed as the doors began to open.

Just like in Golde dungeon, there was a safety barrier present, however, the floor itself was a whole different story with trees and vines adorning the whole area. As for the monsters, it was mostly goblins just like back in Golde dungeon, though now there appeared to be walking mini tree trunks in the mix along with a large roundish rock creature covered in moss.

"That's a drywood and a moss golem. Latter's just a regional variety of golem, though the moss can cause skin irritation. The drywood's just a dead tree trunk. It'll snap to bits with a powerful attack. They can absorb water to become stronger though, so don't let them take a hold of you," Ami grumbled.

"Will do," I nodded as I charged for the golem.

Just as Ami suggested, I only fitted one of the gauntlets in order to still have some attacking power. Since the golem was made of stone, I assumed I'd have no trouble hitting it with the gauntlet, but as I tried to hit it, my fist got redirected off the moss, and hit the rocky part of it. Luckily, I had speed on my side and leapt over the golem in order to deliver a punch to its head, shattering it instantly.

"You better know how to deal with a golem!" Ami called out.

"Don't worry, I do," I smiled as I held up the golem's core, and broke off the first letter of it.

"Ah, suck up that moss golem debris," Ami called out as she tossed the rock vacuum to me.

"Aye, aye!" I smiled as I began sucking up the debris.

"Collecting the moss samples on it, I assume?" Mariamne smirked as she downed a goblin king with a spin kick.

I had no idea if that was the intent as Ami refused to answer the question, but once I finished sucking everything up, I sped back to the safety area to deposit the vacuum there, before rejoining the fray. As predicted, rock monsters, drywoods, and moss golems, if I aimed for their rocky parts, got decimated by the gauntlet. Goblin kings and zombies, not so much, but I managed to avoid getting hit by them thanks to my follow-up punch technique.

Then came a dybbuk...

"Oh? We got 2, 4, 5 lovely ladies! I need some flesh to possess so I can get a better feel of them titties y'all got," the dybbuk swooned.

Wouldn't be happening as I went in for the kill, however, my fist froze just before it could connect.

"Oh? What's wrong? You one of those- GAH!?"

Good thing I had quick reflexes and a free fist still rocking the gloves Ami gave me. And with that, the dybbuk turned into gold particles and vanished.

"Hmm? You can exorcise dybbuks? Or did Ami power you up?" Mariamne scoffed.

The retort would have to wait as seven more dybbuks suddenly appeared.

"A lady party? The old geezer got done in by women?" one scoffed.

"Must be exorcists. I don't see anything around to possess. Tch, I'm not going to fall here," another growled. 

"Guess ya gotta get in the box then," a voice cackled. 

We all went on guard as a man emerged from behind a tree carrying what looked like a large wooden box. It was Paul. 

"Well hello, ladies. I thought you were sticking to the upper levels. Ah, don't mind me. I'm just here for a little... pick-me-up," Paul sneered as he slammed down the thing he was carrying.

Ami's eyes widened in horror. "No... It can't be!"

"What is it?" I nervously asked.

"A dybbuk box, or as I call it, a dybbuk's carriage to freedom, courtesy of me," Paul chuckled.