[Firesap Oil] = Tree Sap (Any, 0.25-0.75L) + Oil (Hemp, 0.05-0.15L) + Vines (Any, 0.2-0.6kg) + [Knife] (Any) + [Bowl] (Any, 1L)
----------------------------------------
It just kept going and going.
Jay ascended another floor, only to see the same pathway forking to the side, and hear that same sound of a gargoyle traipsing about, not far off behind. The sweat built more as he kept going past.
It can’t just be an endless loop. That would be insane! And Jay’s sanity was still in the 90s, right where he’d left it. He’d checked the moment he’d come across that first repeating hallway, just to make sure. His Stats all hovered in the comfortable place they had started, even after hours of being trapped down here.
Jay just had to keep moving. That was it. He continued to climb up, hoping to reach the surface. Or maybe something that wasn’t a fresh gargoyle.
He’d made sure to test that as well. Jay went down the hallway to confirm his suspicion, and fought another level 12 gargoyle in all its might. Defeating it was simpler than the first, and he’d even gained a fresh monster core for doing so, but this hallway didn’t reach a narrow end, nor did he face another monster. It simply circled back to the start, with that same stairwell going up and down, no matter which direction he came or went.
He reached another repeated hallway with the gargoyle beyond and kept climbing, his breath heavy after ascending so many floors.
Part of him considered the possibility that had been gained here. With the loop existing, Jay could farm an infinite number of T-3 monster cores, to be used in whatever manner he saw fit.
But he’d also be fighting an infinite number of gargoyles, and his sword would only last so long before breaking. Without a workbench to repair whatever became damaged, it was only enough time before he’d be powerless.
Then he’d be truly screwed.
Another fork in the rounded stairwell crossed his vision, and again he ignored it in the hopes of reaching that coveted spot. The worst part of this crisis was that he could see the exit. It could not have been more than a hundred feet from his vantage, sitting at the top of the stairs that spun around and around. But no matter how many times he turned the corner or floors he surpassed, the doorway to the surface could not be reached. Like staring up from the bottom of a well from its base, the tease of light always remained just at of which.
He could do nothing to reach it.
Meanwhile, an ever-shifting pit of darkness sprawled out below. Like the rest of this space-disorienting dungeon, looking down yielded nothing new. The stairs either went up to an unreachable surface or deeper into an abyssal chasm. Jay’s skin crawled at the prospect of plunging into that sea of black, and he’d even burned a second torch to confirm the pit that did not end.
Maybe I don’t have to. With the surface stairs not bringing him closer and the other route a non-starter, Jay considered the next way out. He pulled his copper pickaxe from his toolbelt and held it tight. If there ever was a means to test its full potential, it would be now.
He struck the cairn’s concrete wall. Sparks shot out, but no crack formed. He tried again. And again. No effect against the wall. It was like it was protected by some invisible barrier, or just made of diamonds in the shape and size of stone. Only his tool seemed to wear down a beat. He winced, realizing how futile it would be to try and mine his way out.
There’s got to be something else. Jay stroked his chin, considering other prospects. The exit was right there. All he had to do was reach it.
Or maybe get someone else?
With that new thought in his head, he pulled out the radio and tuned to the main channel. Thank goodness that Naomi had lent him this tool.
“Hello!” he called out. “Is anyone there?”
No response.
“Please, guys, it’s Jay! Someone answer!”
“Oy!” Desmond responded. “What you on about now?”
He breathed deep. “You gotta help me, Desmond. I’m stuck in a cairn and I can’t get out.” He explained the details from there while the other man listened.
“Got yourself in a loop, eh?” Desmond asked with a chuckle. “Right ‘ole cunt those are.”
“You’ve got to be able to do something!”
“Can’t, fam. Even if I broke Rule 5 for ya, I’d be entering a different cairn as you. Those ones like to fuck with you that way.”
“So, I’m just stuck down here now?”
“Nah. You just have to beat the Guardian, same as always. Piece of piss, really.”
“How?”
His voice took a more somber tone. “Oh, well that’s simple enough. If going up isn’t working, then there’s only one other way.”
Jay’s heart sank. Every fiber of his being screamed against the idea of going deeper into the black pit of death, but there was no other way right now but to give it a shot.
He sighed. “Thanks, Desmond.”
“No problem, mate. Try not to die while you’re down there.”
The radio whirred out. His torchlight started to dim as it reached its end. Jay replaced the dying torch and lit another.
That settled it. No way up, no lateral escape, and no help coming. Not with his Stats slowly dwindling and a limited amount of torches to burn through. As much as he hated to admit it, there was only one way to advance in this cairn.
With another long sigh, Jay ignored the painful sense at the pit of his stomach, raised his torch, and began to descend the stairs, into the unknown beneath.
Almost immediately, the environment responded. Because of the dimness inflicted on his torch by the cairn’s magic, Jay could never see more than a dozen yards away. That created a pocket of light in an otherwise blank tomb. But the moment he walked down the stairwell, the walls bowed out at a gentler angle, widening the pit between.
The bricks themselves changed as well. As Jay crept down this untrodden path and deeper into the earth, the worn concrete took on a more darkened hue, cascading and blurring into bricks. By the time he reached a fork in the path, they appeared to have a basalt aesthetic, with an even black sheen flecked with holes like Swiss cheese. A slight warmth resonated out.
But Jay focused instead on the path that had been created. Unlike the one before, this route stretched onward in a straight line, and no gargoyle could be heard hiding beyond. Only silence.
Somehow, that felt worse.
Jay steeled himself and advanced, his torch held as far as possible to give those extra precious inches of light. Worked basalt bricks ran along the length of the path, cascading ever further before disappearing into the veil of black.
From the confines of this shadowy pit, more moans echoed out. Jay shuddered without command as silhouettes took form in the blackness. He recognized this sound at once.
Two ghouls shambled forth, their androgynous, humanoid forms swaying back and forth in the basalt tunnel. Milky-white eyes peered into his own, and yellowed teeth clattered without intelligence. The decayed skin sagged where it hadn’t peeled off, with greasy strands of hair spilling to the sides.
They groaned and raised their arms.
Jay retreated a few steps and raised his copper sword above his improvised torch, remembering how he’d defeated the last ghoul. The flame licked the firesap oil that he’d applied to the blade.
But it did not light. Jay cringed as he realized what had gone wrong. He’d been underground for too long, and the oil had dried out.
More moans echoed behind. His eyes widened as an identical set of ghouls marched to sandwich him in, their teeth snapping just as mindlessly as the first. Where did they come from!?
There were only seconds to act. Jay dropped his torch and threw his backpack on the ground. His fingers dug blindly before he found the firesap oil pouch. Why didn’t he think to put this on his toolbelt?
Claws and teeth scraped against his armor. He sent the ghouls back with a [Push].
Before the moment could get lost, he desperately slathered the firesap oil against his copper sword and ran it against the edge of his torch. The sword burst into flame, but it was not alone. Jay cried out in pain and batted his off-hand against the wall where it had caught fire.
The ghouls advanced and delivered another flurry of attacks.
Jay grit his teeth and launched a [Stampede] of his own, barreling inward to gain more distance. As the squad of ghouls turned around, he whacked them with a set of [Pushes], clumping the first duo into the second. He exhaled, his limbs strained from such a quick use of armor skills.
The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
But the result worked out. The ghouls marched forth, mouths slathering and minds empty for the trap they’d wandered into.
Jay [Slashed]. The flaming copper sword blade cleaved through rotting flesh easily, exploding out blackened ichor. He followed with a second [Slash], now aiming for their midsections. The ghouls flinched against the fire damage and tried to push forth, but their numbers were now a disadvantage as they clambered against themselves. Jay could [Slash] against them without risk and [Push] back as needed.
The ghouls dropped down, one after the next, until none were left. The taste of their noxious scent was thick in the air, but he’d at least survived this engagement with only a few minor scrapes.
The firelight burnt out, and he grumbled as he fumbled through the dark to get his torch replaced. A couple clicks of flint against bark, and the tunnel lit up again, still with four dead monsters on the floor.
Jay took out his knife and went to work, collecting the monster cores. Four total, all ranging from levels 7 to 10. The Lexicon adjusted to show the new levels, and he tucked the cores into his shorts where they wouldn’t get lost.
If only he could figure out how these cores could be upscaled…
Jay continued down the basalt tunnel, sword and torch in hand. The path shot straight forth, with no turns or deviations for another minute.
Then his torchlight flickered, and he caught a glimpse of four dead ghouls on the ground, with a rounded stairwell behind.
Can’t be. Jay confirmed his kills, exactly how he’d left them. He inched forth, into the rounded staircase with an open door leading to daylight above, and a vacuous pit that went on without end. He stared down the hallway, where he had come, having walked straight forth with neither turns nor deviations. His mind did a somersault.
This has to be tested. The bend in time and space was too trippy to not be examined further.
Jay lit another torch from his dwindling supply and leaned it against the stairwell edge, highlighting the dead ghoul corpses and pit to nowhere. With his other torch in hand, he started to advance down the basalt hallway, into the veil of black.
His footsteps resonated against the worn bricks and his heart continued to move at an accelerated pace, but he kept his eyes fixed, into the void. He checked behind occasionally and watched as the torch dimmed in strength.
Only to see it suddenly reappear in front. Jay blinked, looking at the same torch burning next to a group of dead ghouls. He turned behind, and saw a wall of black. But the moment he stepped back the magical darkness cleared, and the torch became visible with those same dead monsters.
Yeah, cairns are complete bullshit. Just like the magic of his Guide by generating infinite pages, this one seemed to be able to create and fold space on a whim, using his inability to see everything at once to obfuscate how its twists and turns evolved.
Jay surmised what he should’ve done from the start. The only way out is to clear each level.
He returned to the stairwell, one of his torches beginning to dim again. He tossed it over the edge and watched as it went lower. And lower. And lower.
And lower.
Then it was gone, just like the last attempt.
Jay held up his radio again. “Desmond, you still there?”
“Yeah, mate. What you need?”
“So I cleared the first two levels, but it just seems to keep going. Are you sure this is a good idea?”
Desmond scoffed. “Well, what kind of dungeon would it be if there were only two levels? You gotta go deeper if you want to go up.”
He blinked. “That doesn’t make sense.”
“Just trust me on this one. You gotta go deeper if you want to go up.”
With another heavy sigh, Jay descended further, sword and torch in hand. The environment changed anew, and the bricks changed into cracked concrete again, now with electronic wires and alien symbols running along its design. Cobwebs ran the length of the walls, spreading deeper into the darkness within.
Skittering echoed out, heralding the latest enemy. Jay sighed, knowing he’d confront another spider or other vile monster.
Man, did these insect types make his skin crawl.
With his torch and sword at the ready, he made another advance, plunging deeper into the darkness, and hoping beyond hope that this would be his last fight…
* * *
It wasn’t.
The spider was easy to clear, and Jay even collected some silk and hide from this one, though without a workbench at the ready, he could not make necessary repairs. But the path looped back to the start like always, and Jay was forced to go down another floor. And another after that. And another after that.
The bottomless pit grew wider with each level he descended, with a new monster or group of monsters he had to fight. Just about all of them were in the level 6-9 range, so they weren’t too difficult with his current kit, but he’d occasionally run across a higher-level slime, gargoyle, or – in the most extreme case – a level 16 suit of spectral armor. This became his toughest fight, and to Jay’s dismay, he only gained a single monster core from it. The armor itself was rusted beyond use and could not be broken down or crafted into anything else. At least I’ll finally be able to cap my sword when I get home.
On and on, Jay continued this loop, his Stats, weapons, armor, and tools slowly wearing down. The light of the surface continued to grow more distant as the hours went by.
But there was no way out of it. If Jay attempted to climb or descend without first clearing the floor, he’d end up stuck at the level he’d left. Even after defeating the monsters, he could only go down from there. Never up. Doing so only repeated the floor.
How much more of this could he take? Only a few torches remained, and his flares wouldn’t buy much more time. As soon as he lost access to light, he’d be stumbling in the dark, along with all the terrors that came with it.
He held the radio close again, unsure how much more the batteries could take. “Hey, Desmond. Can you still hear me?”
“Oy,” his voice even more clear than before. “How you doing, Jay?”
“Not great. I have to have cleared like ten levels, but I just keep going deeper into the pit, and there’s no sign of the Guardian.”
“Just keep going, mate. It’ll be fine, trust me.”
“I don’t know. I’ve got this bad feeling ab–”
The radio crackled with Desmond’s heavy laughter, even though Jay still had his finger on the push-to-talk button. He stared at the radio, his mouth wide.
“I’m sorry, mate,” he said, his laughter dying. “I really was enjoying this bit but I can’t keep it going.”
“What are you talking about, Desmond?”
“I ain’t Desmond, fam.”
His heart skipped a beat. “What!? What are you talking about?”
“What do you think? I’m the cairn itself, mate.”
“How is that even possible!?”
The entity with the voice of Desmond chucked. “Used me magic against your radio to fuck with you. Got you real good, I did. Talked you into trying the loop, and you fell right for it. Now, you’re trapped in here with me, and will die. Die. DIE!”
It guffawed anew, now with a deeper, more alien hue that sounded anything but human.
Jay flipped off the radio, but the fell laughter continued.
“Not gonna help you, mate,” the radio continued. “We’re going wireless here!” It roared even louder.
Jay looked around his world. The ever-dwindling light above, the infinitely growing pit beneath, and the evil radio that had gained sentience in his hand. There was no way out of how this cairn run was going.
Shit just got cranked up to eleven.
Name: Jay Reis (Copper Age)
Vitality – ??/46
Hunger – 69/72
Thirst – 21/24
Fatigue – 43/48
Sanity – ??/100
Main Crafts: Alchemy 0, Armor Crafting 2, Base Building 2, Cooking 1, Medicine 1, Tailoring 1, Tool Crafting 2, Weapon Crafting 2.
Weapon Crafts: Axes 3, Bows 4, Clubs 3, Daggers 3, Spears 5, Swords 5.
Armor Crafts: Heavy Armor 5, Light Armor 2, Medium Armor 0, Shields 5.
Armor Skills:
Heavy Armor: [Push], [Stampede]
Light Armor: [Dash]
Shield: [Brace], [Track]
Weapon Skills:
Axes: [Chop]
Bows: [Sharpshooter], [Longshot]
Clubs: [Bash]
Daggers: [Slice]
Spears: [Thrust], [Sweep]
Swords: [Power Attack], [Slash]
Armor:
[Lizardscale Helmet+2] (Hardened+1), (Reinforced+2)
[Lizardscale Chestpiece+4] (Hardened+1), (Reinforced+2)
[Lizardscale Leggings+2] (Hardened+1), (Reinforced+2)
[Lizardscale Boots+2] (Hardened+1), (Reinforced+2)
[Lizardscale Gauntlets+2] (Hardened+1), (Reinforced+2)
[Scaled Roundshield+4] (Hardened+1), (Reinforced+2)
Weapons:
[Copper Sword] (Hardened), (Reinforced+1), (Stable)
[Wooden Bow+3] (Reinforced+2)
[Basic Leather Quiver]: Contains 20 [Flinthead Arrows]
[9mm Semi-Automatic Pistol] (Accurate+2), (Quick): Contains 5 [9mm Cartridge] (JHP)
Tools:
[Copper Knife]
[Copper Axe]
[Copper Hammer]
[Copper Pickaxe]