“Finished!”
Ci-cin, Ci-cin, Ci-cin…
Ah! It took me a long time to get everyone sorted out!
Meanwhile, others rained down and I thought I would never get back to breaking even!
From time to time, I have to check that the core is safe; luckily the bird hasn't reached it yet.
“Open.”
WARNING!
A deceased being of [lv] equal to or greater than [50] entered the Underwasteland dungeon without the supervision of the [Empress].
Identified as [Kirlh'iau] [lv: 61(60)].
Intentions: hostile.
Elapsed time: 29,991.47 hours.
Oh, its level is going up.
This is a problem. The fact that my poison dissipates before I can reach the right potential with [Judgment] is a problem.
Apparently, [Judgment] only increases when I successfully judge deaths relevant to my capabilities.
So far, only Ilnerio has responded to this requirement.
But I don't want to think about it.
The good thing about having time is that I don't need to stress. I can't squeeze out non-existent solutions anyway.
Maybe I should think of an action plan but, to be honest, I haven't slept or eaten for over a thousand hours.
So…
♦
Ci-cin.
“Awwha,” I wake up yawning. I move my ears, stretch my legs and arms, and shake my tails.
I needed a rest.
The alarm notification remains. It is not possible to remove it until the problem is resolved. Knowing how to do it would already be a good start.
I go out on the veranda to see if there are any new guests. Luckily the desert is quiet and there is no one on the horizon.
I use [Dungeon path] to get to the core.
Purple light.
Woodworms burrowing in the distance.
Nothing.
Well. My fiend-friend hasn't arrived yet. If only I could locate it…
[Dungeon path]
I reach the pier overlooking the Ocean and the noise changes instantly. Instead of crackles and creaks, here is the echo of the Whirlpool at an enormous distance.
[Will-o'-the-wisp] to turn on the street lamp closest to me. I'm at the edge of the pier and the water is so dark it could be mistaken for a chasm. Only the small ripples of the moving surface betray the true nature of the place.
The reflections of the blue fire constantly break and recompose.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
Ci-cin.
I sit down and soak my feet.
Like everything, this water is freezing. A normal living being would freeze, unaccustomed to this dungeon.
As a child, let's say between [lv: 1] and [lv: 9], I feared this water. I hid behind my father, holding his leg.
“But no monsters are lurking, ha ha ha,” he laughed.
Which is true.
The room beyond the stairs contains the real monsters. This liquid abyss is empty. Maybe that's why it's scary. It's intimidating.
Immensity.
Empty.
Insignificance.
Ah! But what am I thinking? Am I already moving from boredom to cosmic despondency!?
…
Father…
How can I stop it?
I disperse my [Will-o'-the-wisp] letting absolute darkness surround me.
I'll wait a few minutes. I listen to the rumbling sound in the background.
But no response comes.
As is normal.
So, since my legs are starting to freeze, I decide to go.
It's too early for this place, it's too early for me.
♦
Since boredom is always around the corner, I decide to spend some time in the forest.
It is an atypical plan. By dividing the dungeon into three types of places, we obtain external buildings (corridors, stairs, bridges, passages, walls, etc.); internal constructions (rooms, core); and natural places (ocean, desert, whirlpool, forest, etc.).
But the forest is remarkable. It is the only place in the entire dungeon that is one hundred percent natural.
I challenge anyone to find a single piece of evidence of building in this place.
It is a complex of underground caves in which rocks and plants blend and are not always distinguishable from each other. It is a bright place, a sort of albedo dawns between many openings. Furthermore, some flowers are fluorescent and have colors ranging from purple to blue to orange-blue.
There are no bugs here.
It's like a dungeon within a dungeon and can only be reached or left thanks to [skills] like [Dungeon path]. I often find myself even doubting whether it is a place inside the dungeon.
Listening to my father, [Bakenekro] who wants to get to the bottom of this mystery is not uncommon but – like many others in the Underwasteland – It seems destined to remain so.
My grimoire has a fairly large map of the place, inherited from my ancestors. But I have no idea how much it maps.
As I think about it, I decide that today I will try to map the sector [A-9].
It's not a distant sector. The problem is that it overlooks a very narrow sheer wall, which is why no one has mapped it.
The idea of falling into an unknown abyss does not appeal to me and I have always avoided going beyond the threshold.
But now I'm immortal, he-he.
Ci-cin.
Yes, that's right, tail. Now I can afford to fall.
It makes me smile and I'm very excited.
I don't use [Dungeon path] and I travel on foot. Which is a great relief, as the turf is soft.
In front of the abyss, I stop.
The path along the wall is illuminated by fluorescent ivies.
I push a stone off the edge with my tail and listen.
Thud?
Nobody.
Echo?
Nobody.
Deep is definitely deep.
Well, let's begin!
I keep my back and hands close to the wall and advance slowly. Ivies are not a problem, on the contrary, they provide a valid grip in the most dangerous or slippery points.
The branches, on the other hand, are a great nuisance, I have to use all my agility to advance between them. Fortunately, no brambles or particularly sharp stones.
I continue like this for a while, until the passage widens again and I can separate from the wall.
“Open.”
The grimoire appears and I want to check the updated map, but the miasma alerts me to a notification.
[new skill obtained]
Walking close to the wall for a long time has allowed you to adapt to its surface.
[other requires]
[Dungeon path], [Magic], [ip], [Bakenekro]
[Shadow wall] [mastery: 1]
[element: Shadow] [target: Self]
[ap: 250*sec.] [ip: 50*sec]
[Shadow wall] allows the user to merge and move as a shadow between the surfaces of the Underwasteland.
During use, you merged with the shadows of the plane for about ten miles.
Ah! This ability is very strange.
Hmm, it might come in handy when looking for the [Half-demon].
In any case, let's see the map.
Two step forward.
Ci-cin.
Nothing new apart from my path to this clearing. Now I can get this far with [Dungeon path] and continue exploring at a later time.
For now, I would say that I can feel satisfied and return.
[Dungeon path]
…
It does not work?
Now this is strange. Does the Underwasteland end like this?
And if that's beyond the limit, what's beyond?
I'll try [Dungeon path] again.
Nothing.
I take a couple of steps back, returning to the edge of the abyss. I wait a moment. I feel my hair stand on end with anxiety.
Ci-cin.
[Dungeon path]
This time it works and I find myself on the porch.
This is bizarre. Very bizarre.
The System doesn't notify anything about it and that doesn't reassure me at all.
I would like to think about it since perhaps I missed some important details (plant drains [ap] or similar). However, the approach of a silhouette on the horizon attracts my attention.
A guest!