Author’s Note: So yay chapter done! I noticed that after the last chapter I finally have one of those fancy little scrolling arrows on my main page. How nice! Also I counted up all the words I’ve written and I’m up to about 95 thousand now. I’m seriously amazed that I’ve written this much. Please enjoy!
I'm editing this into my Author's Note. I'll probably add it to next chapter's too. I don't mind bad ratings or anything but please if you're going to rate my story low at least give me some kind of feedback on the review system. It makes me really disheartened when I see I got a new rating, my score took a huge hit, and then when I look to see if there's new feedback, there's nothing! I can't really improve as an author if you just rate my story bad and don't give me any thoughts or criticism, you know? Honestly, I'll probably get even more bad ratings now that I said this.
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Chapter 24
"Hello and welcome to the newest installment of 'Seri is an idiot'! Our usual co host is unavailable, but luckily we have a new face, the dragon Coa, filling the role. Coa say hello to the non-existent audience." Coa warbles a few times. "And there you have it!" I sighed. Even Coa was looking at me oddly. Is it bad that I wanted to distract myself from my situation with some random levity?
Well, the first order of business is to admit that I fucked up majorly. I failed as a mercenary because I overestimated my abilities and underestimated the dangers of a dungeon. I should have gathered information as per standard procedure rather than just charge on in like a moron. The only bright side of the situation is that the monster level is so low that I’m not in any real danger, unless starving to death counts, but that would take a while with my level of supplies. I suppose I will run out of water in a few days which is a more immediate problem, but that is still not exactly life threatening yet.
Ok with that out of the way, next step is to figure out how I’m going to get out of this situation. I’m pretty sure the mist is what is causing this effect, but I don’t want to take anything for granted, so let’s confirm it for sure. Right now, I’m at the stump in the middle of the clearing. There’s only a very little amount of mist and that clings to the ground. I took my bow and aimed for a random tree along the edge of the clearing and fired. It hits exactly where I aimed with no deviation. I walked over to the tree and recover the arrow. I’m now in the mist that is swirling around the edges. I took aim at the stump and fired. My arrow went wide from where I had aimed by about fifteen centimeters and flew over the stump rather than hit it.
Confirmed, it is indeed the mist or at least something in the mist that is messing with me. Now, the next thing to confirm is if the effect is caused by breathing in the mist like some sort of hallucinogenic gas or at least a similar type of thing. If that is the case then I should be able to block it with some fiddling with my shield. I configured my shield settings to block any type of hazardous air and only allow known safe gases to flow through it. There was a momentary light headed feeling as even more of my psi was drained to power the stronger shield, but it faded after a minute or two. I once again took aim and fired and again my shot went off target. So, it’s not something I’m breathing in that is causing this. Well, or the mist just ignores my shield, but either way this proves I can’t solve the problem with this method.
I adjusted my shield settings back to their previous ones, returned to the tree stump and sat back down. Alright, so there’s two further ideas I can think of for what is going with this clearing. Either the mist is continually messing with my perceptions to lead me back to this place or the dungeon itself is changing to make sure the path I choose leads back here every time. I do know that the perceptions thing is already happening and I haven’t noticed the path changing at all each time so I’m inclined to doubt that the second possibility is what is going on. It’s still a possibility that the two are working in tandem though.
Come on Seri, or rather Aaron. You played VRMMOs for 14 years. This kind of thing shouldn’t be a problem for you to figure out. My experience as Seri though is already out. I know that this effect is creeping through my psi mental defenses and my amazing shield couldn’t solve the problem either. I’m kind out of ideas from that playtime. Then let’s move on to my play time in my previous game. That one was even a fantasy game and there were even dungeons that had this kind of curse effect that would make you get lost in their labyrinths. The problem with that, is that I never did those dungeons without Carol and Carol played as a Saintess. Her holy blessings and other spells negated curses from affecting the party and thus I never had to learn the actual methods other parties had to use to conquer those type of dungeons. Sure, I read strategy guides and stuff for fun, but that was twelve or more years ago, which was even more if I started counting all the time I spent playing as Seri which would be more than two decades. I never really paid much attention to it, either, since I never needed it.
So, in conclusion, my experiences as a gamer are also totally useless. I slumped backwards, lying on the stump. I feel totally and utterly defeated all of a sudden. I looked up at the sky and at the mist that hung over the clearing like a dome. It was kind of weird how the mist flew freely up there like that when otherwise it would just stick to the ground or trees. I assumed it just had something to do with it being a dungeon. The mist is probably what is also jamming my communication with Lynn. I bet she’s really worried right now. I need to make sure not to tell her the whole story of what happened in here. I’ll just get scolded a lot.
This kind of reflection isn’t solving my problem. I sat back up. Is there any good ways to counter this mist? Do I have anything in my pack that could be used? A month worth of food is obviously not useful unless the mist would be appeased by tasty food. I kind of doubt that. My camping gear is also basically out. I don’t think items like my tent or water purifier or cooking tools would serve any use. My guns or grenades? Unless I want to destroy the dungeon entirely I don’t think I can see those serving a purpose. I don’t have enough grenades to level an area this size anyway. I’d need a portable nuke to do that, and while the thought of using a portable nuke and reducing this dungeon to ashes is a very appealing idea at the moment, I don’t have a portable nuke on me. Plus using one while inside the dungeon would just kill me too. Not a very good way to solve my current status.
What else do I have in there? Just my plasma knives? Well, there’s also that large fang that I don’t have a use for yet. I should ask Huvreck if it is worth much or what can be done with it. Now’s not the time to care about that though. If I had rope I could maybe tie it to the stump and then use that to make sure I don’t back track, but I don’t have any rope. It’s not something I usually have much use for, unless I’m infiltrating somewhere. That might end up as a possible need in the future. Note to self, make sure to acquire some good rope. Again these thoughts aren’t helping me any at the moment.
What else is there that I can do? Wait, let’s think more on what happened related to the dungeon. What did the guy at the entrance say? He asked if I had a party and then when I answered negatively, he asked if I at least had a lantern. A lantern? As in something that gives off light? Was it really that simple? Do I have anything that gives off light? My plasma knives glow a bit at least so they would have to serve. I hurriedly pulled them out of my pack and unsheathed them. I walked over to the side of the clearing so I could get a good close look. I held the glowing knife out into the mist and got a very pleasant surprise. Around the light given off by the dagger there was a very clear space that was now empty of mist. Damn, I’m a moron. If I had spent just a few minutes outside the dungeon or listened to that guy just a bit I would have gotten a lantern and had no problems. I really deserve to be scolded after all. Still not going to admit anything to Lynn, though. Her scoldings can get pretty lengthy.
My knives don’t really give off much light though so the effect on the mist is limited. I don’t know if they’ll be enough. I guess I’ll test it and see first. With my telekinesis, I hold the two daggers up near my head and walk back out of the clearing and through the path. I get back to the intersection and once again take a random path, but once again it was no good. I ended up back at the clearing and fought some more bats. I need something that gives off more light. Could I make a torch? I think making a torch is more complicated than just lighting a stick on fire. I think they do something like wrap the end of the stick in rags and then soak the rags in some kind of fuel and then let it sit for an hour or two before lighting it? The problem is that the only fuel source I have on hand is cooking oil and I don’t think that will work for a torch. Ahhh, if only I had some alcohol! It would actually come in useful right now! The other problem is that the only thing I have that could pass for rags would be my clothing, and my clothing was made by my synthesizer, so it’s not actually flammable at all. If anything it’s highly resistant to flame.
Fuck it. I’ll just light a stick on fire and hold it with telekinesis slightly away from me. I’ll make new ones as necessary. I used my knives to cut a branch from one of the nearby trees and then I used one of my cooking items to light it on fire. It definitely gave off more light than the knives, at least. Time to test it though. I held the torch out in front of me and strode down the path.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
The mist fled from the light given off by the makeshift torch. There was now no mist within a few meters of me. This might really work! When I reached the intersection the first thing I noticed was that the previous seven different paths, weren’t actually seven different paths. How in the hell did I get confused to this extent!? There were only four paths here. I took the path to the left and ended up at a different clearing that looked identical to the other clearing, except this time weasels came out to attack me. After killing them I returned and went to the right path and at that clearing, bats attacked me. I see how it is. The mist messed with my perception so I would think there were more paths than there actually were and then made sure I kept taking one of those two paths that end in identical clearings to further mess with me.
This means that the correct path to take is one of the other two. One of them is the path I initially came from and the other is the path that should lead deeper into the dungeon. I don’t have the slightest idea which direction I came from anymore. Well, with the torch and thus the mist no longer being a problem, I can just choose one of the paths and if it turns out I’m backtracking I can turn around. Thus, my current problem solved, I took the path that was across from my current one.
Almost immediately, I felt like this was definitely the right direction. For one I was being attacked by new monsters. The monsters looked similar to venus flytraps. They would try to catch me with their vines and then pull me toward their large open mouths. That’s what they tried to do at any rate. Their vines couldn’t exactly get a grip on me with my shield active and my plasma knives which were still out, finished them in one blow as soon as I spotted them. I still had to deal with my detection being limited to the space where the mist was absent.
I finally came to another clearing. This one had something very interesting in the center of it. It looked like one of the bats I had been seeing but super sized. It was like the size of a bear. There were also a number of the smaller bats flying around it. A scan provided me with pretty useless data.
Running into a sub-boss means I’m headed in the correct direction right? I decided to use my bow for this fight, and I quickly took aim and fired at the elite bat. I hit it directly in the head and it died immediately. Afterwards I started picking off the small bats that were now aware of me. Without the mist messing with my perception, it was a joke to take them all out from afar. Hunter got a few more levels, bringing it up to level 13. The fiend stone the elite bat left behind was a bit larger than the other stones I had collected as well.
There was only one path to follow that had been behind the boss, so I continued on my way.
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After that, I wiped out a few more clearings of monsters, had to replace my torch two times, took a few wrong turns and ended up at dead ends, and leveled Hunter up to 17. I was a bit surprised that during all that time I hadn’t seen any other adventurers. I had heard the sound of fighting a few times though, so I knew I wasn’t alone in here. I’ve probably spent at least five hours in this dungeon, so I really needed to finish up in here already. By the time I get back to the town and inn, it’s going to be pretty late in the evening.
I was at the end now, at least. I’m pretty sure it’s the end, anyway. Unlike the rest of the dungeon, I see what looks like a very healthy tree growing out of a glowing pond at the far end of the glade I had just entered. Between me and that was a very nasty, spooky looking tree. It had what appeared to be a face twisted in anguish on the side that I could see. I assumed that tree had to be the boss. I didn’t waste any time, I sent my plasma knives at it and started to attack it. As soon as I did, large roots erupted from behind me making a barrier blocking me from escaping. Not like I was going to though.
The treant didn’t get much of a chance to show its abilities. With my plasma knives carving it apart, it had barely enough time to pull itself out of the ground before it fell apart and died. Pretty anticlimactic, but that was fine with me. I collected the fiend stone that was the size of my fist and then walked over to the target of this dungeon hunt.
Huvreck said to collect branches that were a few meters long. I walked around and examined the tree, picking out the ones that fit that as close as possible. I used the hatchet to chop the branches. I had thought to use my plasma knives, but the cuts they made might be hard to explain to an experienced weaponsmith. The hatchet chopped the branches quite cleanly, and it only took me five minutes to gather four branches that were about three meters in length. I stored the hatchet along with the wood in the bag of holding.
With the mission completed, I took some time to make a late lunch for myself and Coa in the boss room. The boss didn’t seem like it was going to respawn so I made a nice bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich. Coa enjoyed some bacon, and since she is pretty much omnivorous I gave her some lettuce, too. The good thing was that she was satisfied and went back to sleep. That should hold her off until we get to the inn. I then started on my journey out of the dungeon.
Thankfully with my experience now, it only took me a bit less than two hours to rush through the dungeon. I did take the time to clear out the monsters along the way. I got Hunter up to level 19, which was a tad regrettable. I had hoped to get it at least to 20.
When I got back to the original intersection at the start of the dungeon, I finally ran into some adventurers in the dungeon, even if it was obvious that they, like me, were now on their way out of the dungeon. They gave me odd glances, seeing the path I had come from, but I decided to splendidly ignore them and and just walked past.
The person manning the check-in stall at the start was someone different and didn’t pay me much attention as I left. This was good, because I wouldn’t have been able to spare much attention to him if he had tried to talk to me.
As soon as I had left the dungeon, Lynn’s panic filled voice had started ringing in my ear. “Mistress, are you alright!? Nothing happened to you in there right!? You aren’t injured or anything right!?” And on and on it went. I don’t know how she expected me to respond when there were people around.
I walked off to the side and acted like I was resting by leaning against a tree. I received a few glances, but no one really paid any mind and I quietly spoke to fill Lynn in, leaving out any details that would be inconvenient for me. It took quite a while for Lynn to finally be mollified and it was starting to get dark out. That taken care of, I decided to check how my status looked after my dungeon adventure.
Name: Seri Race: Experiment S341(Unique) Displayed Title: Dragon Tamer Class: Hunter L19 ⏬ Subclass: Ranger L100 ⏬ Vitality: 2040/2040 Psi Energy: 5355/8355 Physique: 567 Endurance: 158 Willpower: 764 Expertise: 701 Resilience: 189 Grit: 351
Hmm, only a small change as expected, but not too bad.
All the other adventurers had long since left, and I was stuck alone with no one in sight as I made my way back to town. That was a good thing though, since it let me hurry along. Eventually along the way I felt some presences at the very edge of my senses and I immediately slowed down to a ‘normal’ pace. There was someone along the road ahead, and there were other presences in the woods off the road hiding around that someone. There were a few possibilities, but I have the feeling that this was definitely an ambush. The question was whether the ambush was targeted at me or not. What am I saying? With my luck, I’m most definitely the target! I finally could clearly see the person, it was a man wearing bulky armor fitted with metal at key places. He had a sword at his waist and a shield strapped to his arm. He looked like an adventurer if I judged just based on his appearance.
As I came closer, he walked out into the middle of the road. The other presences in the woods sneakily spread out too. Now that I was closer I noticed there were some presences in the woods on the opposite side of the road as well that were also moving around. Surrounding me huh? Other than those thugs back in the first town, I guess this will be the first time I get attacked by people on this world.
The question is what they are after, is it my money or possibly- “Miss, why don’t you hand over that dragon of yours, so you don’t get hurt?” Right. Or they were after Coa. I knew once I heard how much she was worth that some people would target her. Didn’t really expect it to happen in the same day.
These damn vermin have perfect timing though. Please allow me to work out all the stress I’ve accumulated today.