Catherine teetered left and right, going on a battered forest path. “Evans told us to go straight along this path, until we reach a big dried tree, with a sizeable trunk of about two meters, Then, we turn left,” Catherine explained as we walked.

The forest path was packed with green trees on both sides of it. There was an overgrowth on the road, but since the path was well-used, it was hard to stray off the road. There were a couple of dandelion plants with flowers of an unusual pink color, every few dozen meters or so. The air was at an ambient temperature, a bit on the cooler side. So, it was hard to work up a sweat. Of the animal population, there was no monkey or bird to be sighted, which was weird, since we had seen a monkey right before we entered the forest path.

Mr. Evans did warn us of deers and wild hogs though. ‘Be careful of the small hogs. Their mothers are overprotective’ – was what he had said. So, I held my sword close to my body as we walked. My spare sword hung over my shoulder, in its scabbard, the same as Catherine’s did. It felt surreal to walk while armored inside a forest. In particular, Dalton’s armor, which he said weighed 50 kg, based on the scales of the blacksmith, made him out to be a complete misfit in the group, which comprised of only lightweight armor users.

I was more puzzled as to why Benjamin, an archer, used a crossbow instead of a bow. “Benjamin, why did you choose a crossbow, instead of a bow?” I said.

“Well, it’s more efficient. Since they had a crossbow, I thought ‘why not’. That’s all, man,” replied the latter.

“I see.” I kicked a rock off the path. “Can you tell me what happened after I got detained?”

“Lol, you still hung up about it or something?” he joked.

“I’m not. I’m curious.”

“I see. Well, speaking for the results of what exactly down, one of the people who were resurrected into this world along with us is now dead,” Benjamin said.

“You mean, he was executed for some crime or something?” I asked.

“Not exactly. Look, we don’t even know who died.”

“And then?”

“That’s it.”

“Why did he die?” I ensued.

“The goddess went berserk and we had to stop her. End-result was that someone died because of it,” Dalton said.

“What do you mean, she went berserk? You guys just let her do it?” I asked, alarmed.

“The goddess has a few loose screws. She’s suffering from the corruption of Caecus or something,” Benjamin answered.

“I see,” I said dully. ‘So she’s a danger to her own people.’

“I mean, we were even forbidden to meet each other after the incident happened,” Catherine added.

‘You are righteous, I am wrongful.’ My conversation with the dark king came back to mind. “Well, this is unsettling. I hate it when they try to suffocate us.”

“Us?” mused Benjamin.

I raised an eyebrow. “Fine, maybe not you then.”

“Woah, woah, calm down.” Benjamin chuckled. “You are a demon lord wannabe, remember? Why do you get to say all these things?”

“Hah? Becoming a demon lord was a choice I had. Not my choice so far.”

“It may be so. But the choice had already been done for you. For four days, we thought we had seen the last of you. It was thanks to the goddess’s mercy that you got another chance.”

“I could care less about that,” I replied.

“You could use a little bit of censor to your words, you know?” offered Catherine.

“Damned if I do, I shrugged.

“Spoken like a true man,” Dalton joined in. I sighed with relief, not realizing I had been holding it back. In the back of my head, Dalton became a trustworthy friend.

“So, the goddess is also a risk factor, I guess,” I said.

“Well, the point is,” Catherine hesitated, “that it was not her fault. It was her familiars’ fault. She said, apparently, that she has little control over them. And besides, the fault is partly yours for instigating her.”

“I did what was needed,” I replied.

“No, you did not,” Catherine said.

“I did,” I insisted.

“Fine, have it your way,” Catherine relented.

“If you are talking about who instigated her, it has to be that rabble-rouser, and the rest who joined in,” noted Benjamin.

“Speaking technically, you are not wrong there,” Dalton concurred.

“Drop it. Violence is never the solution to speech,” I said.

“Unless it’s hate speech,” Benjamin said.

“Saying ‘kill the jews’ will get you arrested, sure,” I relented. “But you don’t get into a fight because of it.”

“I feel like punching you,” Benjamin said.

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

‘What are you? A violent antifascist (Carlson, 2019)?’ I thought. “No, you don’t.” I stopped and turned to face Benjamin. He stopped, in turn.

“We are not on Earth. You guys know that?” Catherine said.

“Sure do,” I said, walking on.

“He does not know when to give up,” Benjamin said after some time.

“Well, I tell you what. That wasn’t a pleasant experience,” Dalton said.

“That’s certainly true,” Catherine said, smiling with wry.

We walked on in a gloomy mood.

We reached the dried-out trunk of two meters without encountering any animals. As Evans had advised, we turned left. It was another five minute’s walk, before we reached a cave’s entrance. The cave had a height of three meters and a width of two meters. A green-lit title was lined up at the top of the entrance, saying [Dungeon of Flowers].

“So, the dungeon has its name plastered on it like any building, huh?” I said.

“Seems like it,” Catherine said, before becoming flustered for some reason, as she looked at Dalton and Benjamin.

“Get a grip on yourself, Catherine. We are in enemy territory,” Dalton said.

“Yeah… sure,” she said in a low voice.

It occurred to me that Catherine was an awkward woman.

The cave was lit with some fluorescent fungi that grew about the walls. These glowed a yellowish color. It was enough to illuminate the entire cave section we were in. Stalactites – mineral formations which hung down from ceilings of the cave – blocked the light in some places, casting multilayered shadows over both walls adjacent to us. There was green moss that trickled about the lower end of the cave, before abruptly stopping. The cave was humid, as most caves were, and yet, the light projected from the fluorescent fungi was slightly warm.

It was an odd sensation.

As we walked along the damp ground, our footsteps echoed from the distance. We reached a clearing the size of a football pitch, which meant roughly 105m in length, by 71 m in width. I was surprised by the sheer dimension of the clearing, which negated the effect of being inside a cave. The clearing had definitely taken away the breath of Catherine, Benjamin and Dalton. I stood there in awe at the immensity of the place, and the way it was all lit up. We had gotten out into the clearing from an entrance situated at one of the widths of the space there. It was not a perfectly rectangular place, but it was close enough, as if built so by design.

We could see an exit at the other end of the clearing. Even so, there were holes here and there about the cave, and two gargoyles protected one upper area of the cave, directly in front of us – there was an opening there. At each corner of the clearing, there was a statue of a bush blossoming with what appeared to be flowers, based on the closest corner we had near us, since we had entered a bit from the left side of the room. As we walked toward the center of the clearing, I looked up behind us to find a stag’s head stuck into the wall. It had huge antlers and its eyes shone red, like a ruby. Although, I couldn’t be sure if the eyes were an actual gem, or just some colored rock.

The ceiling was covered with the fluorescent fungi, with some stalactites readily underhanging the former to reflect off the light. There were a few boulders about the clearing, and it looked like we could climb on top of them.

I felt my back grow cold despite the gentle heat radiating from the fungi which populated the ceiling. My skin felt like it was on fire and gradually grew numb. My eyes stung with cold and dots of white appeared at the back of my hand. I brushed them off, though they shortly reappeared. “Command: status” I shouted intuitively. The button on my left blinked and then shone a dim blue color. I touched it with my hand.

[Status]

Goddess’s negligence

You are no longer under the goddess’s protection.

You have a low risk of dying if you remain in the castle.

Moderate risk of death in the city of Schema.

Caecus’s corrosion

You have been exposed to the elements of Caecus, that is, blindness and faithlessness, in your current location. As such your Caecus affinity has risen,

As if on cue, a new table presented itself to me, saying [Caecus affinity: 0.75 (up 2%)]. I checked my status table. I noticed that I had 0.4, that is, forty percent, efficiency in the ice attribute. I also noticed that my [Nox resistance], which included resistance to ice, was thirty percent – more than my resistance to Lumen, which meant light, and therefore day, if I remembered correctly from Ambrosia’s explanation.

I clenched my hands into fists; ice gathered on them, forming a natural gauntlet.

I did not remember my affinity rising from my encounter with the dark king. It meant that it mattered now, since I had my status table inscribed upon me. Dark fumes mingled with the ice on my hand.

“Wait, what’s happening to you, Aidan?” asked Catherine.

“Your turn to go berserk now?” asked Benjamin, placing a wooden bolt with a steel tip on his crossbow. Dalton observed me cautiously.

I clenched my right fist harder, holding my attention in that particular hand. Ice accumulated about it. I then released all tension and moved my hand forward, consciously trying to push the ice away. I succeeded in throwing a shower of ice on the ground in front of me. This was not as effective as I thought it would be. So, I held both hands close together, and accumulated ice in the center. I constrained and constricted the ice, until it stuck firmly together. Then satisfied with its density, I propelled the ice directly in front of me.

The ice shot forward without delay, and travelled 30 meters, before stopping. I dusted off my hands.

[Caecus affinity: 0.74 (down 1%)]

My status was updated. I congratulated myself on forming this new kind of attack. I repeated my actions, both palms facing each other. This time I yelled “Ice bolt!”

The ice ball lengthened up and sped through to the other half of the room. Its speed was a lot, but not so much that I could not see it. “Wow, that’s awesome,” said Catherine.

“You got this, man,” commented Dalton.

New skill unlocked:

Ice Bolt

120% damage

Concentrate ice between your hands, or on a single palm, to a high density. Hold it in your hand and aim at the target, before releasing. It works in the same fashion as spear-throwing works. Be sure to correct for its parabola.

‘[Ice efficiency: 0.42 (up 2%)]’ was another notification that I received. I smiled.

As I formed a third ball of ice, something emerged – or rather, took birth – from the left wall. It was an anthropomorphic creature, that is, it resembled a human. It also had wings, of a translucent green color. “Puny human. You have contaminated this place!”

Its eyes glowed a verdant green.

System Notification:

The [Dungeon of Flowers] has been upgraded from level 1 to level 2, due to the influence of its owner, Oberon. The dungeon has deemed you are a threat.

“Level 2? What the hell does this mean??” shouted Benjamin, his hands crouched in front of his face,