LENIN

"Run!"

Holy shit. . . Never have I ever run this much.

The wind whipped my face, trying to drive us backwards as the Plantea Beasts ran at us.

"Where are we going!"

I continued to run after Pam, who ignored me once more.

"Are you seriously still not talking to me!" I shouted as I looked over my shoulder to see that the Plantea Beasts continued chasing us.

It felt as though we had been running for ages; hell, I wouldn't have been surprised if it was

I could admit I wasn't helping; they weren't chasing Pam.

They were chasing me.

"Duck."

"Wh-"

I instantly ducked, looking over my shoulder to see a bag of Solum being dropped to the feet of the Plantea Beasts as they went to eat it.

While it was good to have the Plantea Beasts get distracted by eating the Solum, it only made them stronger.

They would grow in size and become more aggressive until they wanted more.

"Right!"

We both moved right, but there was a dead end.

"Not to hurry you up, but we are dead." I chuckled lightly as I began to hear the growls of the Plantea Beasts.

They would be sure to come and catch us, and I was certainly not looking forward to that.

I examined Pam as he touched the wall, which had inscriptions that I could recognise somewhat.

"The door of praesidium."

The door of praesidium?

The door of protection, what did it have to do with anything in a dungeon like this of all places?

WHOOSH!

As if Pam had read my mind, the inscription had blinded us with a bright purple as the wall slowly opened itself whole for us.

"What the hell?" I muttered lowly.

I had seen a lot of things during my time, but I had never seen something like this before.

It was out of a book I read in the Kingdom of Juvo, but seeing something like this was special.

Pam looked over his shoulder, "Are you entering or what? Do you want to be eaten by them?"

I chuckled lightly and jokingly saluted him, "Of course not."

He rolled his eyes as we stepped into unknown territory—well, everything here was unknown territory.

Something told me for Pam; it was another story.

What kind of person knew that those ancient words had any value to them. . .

On second thought, that sounded dumb.

The growing silence within the tunnels was killing me. I was itching to talk to him, but I knew all I would get from him was a simple shrug.

I'd be lucky if he managed to respond to me.

So there was only one thing I could do: whistle to myself.

Pam stopped in his tracks.

"Can you please stop that?"

"Stop what?"

Pam sighed, rubbing his temple as he began muttering to himself, "You're going to get me killed one day." He looked over his shoulder, "You're whistling; stop it."

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I raised my hand in surrender, "On one condition."

"What."

"Will we start having a friendly conversation from now on?"

He paused for a moment, almost as if he was trying to weigh the pros and cons.

Was I really that annoying to the average person outside of Kassie?

"Fine." He sighed, "If that means you'll stop whistling."

I nodded excitedly as I noted that whistling could solve many problems in life, including this.

"So. . . Now that we're friends."

"We're not friends."

I nodded, "Cool, cool, cool, understood. . . Since we're acquaintances, mind telling me how you understood those words?"

"I studied them when I was younger." He answered back.

A smile appeared on my face; we were getting somewhere now.

"Oh, you studied them? So I'm assuming you're not from here?"

He shook his head, "I am from here; I'm self-taught."

"Self-taught?" I declared in awe. "So you can speak Vestivian?"

He nodded, "I can, but I'd rather not; that language is for those who don't live in these conditions." Pam slowly eyed me.

An unsettling tension crept onto my shoulder, grabbing hold of me, but I shook it off as we both continued walking.

Soon enough, we had found our way to a door.

This was seriously getting weirder. What kind of dungeon had a door to it?

Slowly, he opened the door, and a fresh air scent hit my nose whilst the wind washed my face.

I looked over at him, and there was something I had never expected to see in a million years.

A whole underground system was working here.

It was filled with people moving around, having a task to work on.

Even kids, we're currently running around the place, this underground system, which is acting as a play area for them, too.

"What is this place?"

"This." Pam gestured, "Is what I call the Tubes."

"Pretty basic name if you ask me," I muttered lowly.

He glared at me, "That's beside the point. This is where everything happens—all the magic," Pam declared.

"Magic? What do you mean magic?"

For the first time, a slight smirk appeared on his face. "What do you think? Our escape. Follow me." He waved his hand over at me.

I followed him from behind as the people here greeted us with happy smiles—a stark contrast to those from above.

To think that these people were more alive and lethargic here.

"Here we are." He stopped in his tracks as we both looked up at the way.

"Woah. . . Is this?"

Pam nodded, "These are the routes of the dungeon, as we know of them."

"Who did this?"

"Well, that's easy to answer; I did." He declared.

I stared at him blankly, "How did you manage to do all of this?"

He shrugged, "A lot of time scouting this place. The ones that you think don't come back usually end up here, but some are more unluckier than others. . ." Pam drifted away.

"So everyone knows this place?"

Pam shook his head, "No, not everyone knows this place." He replied, "Only those who were willing and capable come here to help the cause."

"Those who are willing and capable, huh?" I smirked, "I think that's the first time you complimented me."

"Firstly, it wasn't a compliment." He shut down my joke in an instant.

What a way to ruin a blossoming friendship between us.

"Secondly," he folded his arms, "you have value; after all, you are a Solum user, aren't you?"

My eyes widened, "How did you know?"

"They don't call me a crazy genius for nothing." Pam noted, "Besides, Plantea Beasts don't usually run that fast for something that doesn't have immense Solum."

"You make a great point there." I chuckled, "So, since they call you a crazy genius, what's your plan for taking over?"

"Simple." He declared as he pointed at me, "You."

I pointed at myself, smirking, "You think I can do something about this."

"I know you can," Pam responded. "If you wanted to, you could level this whole area. Am I wrong?"

I chuckled and shook my head. "No, not at all. But still, what's in for me?"

He gestured around us, "Is this not enough? You help people, letting them return to their families safely?"

Pam had a point; that was all I needed to hear to agree with what he wanted from me.

But I could've done all of that way earlier if I wanted to; there was still one thing I needed to know, and Pam was probably the best person

"Sure, but before that, I need to know something first."

"Go on."

"The bandits." I declared, "What is their end game here."

"To expand, of course." Pam responded, "But if you want to know, something big is going on, which is why it'll be in your favour to stop them before they do it."

"Is there anything else I need to know?"

"No." He shook his head, his gaze never leaving me, "Just that all hell will break loose once you do what you do here."

"Is that so." I smiled, "What will I be doing here."

"I think you know the answer to that."

Oh, that I did.

"Alright." I clapped my hands together, "I'll do as you wish, but before all that, this dungeon has a core, right?"

"It does."

"Good!" I smiled, "I'll deal with that little situation first."

Pam nodded, "If that's what you want. . . Also, there's no one else deeper in this dungeon, so do what you want."

I returned the nod, "I also have something else I want to ask; I need to find a friend."

Pam continued to look at me. "You have nothing to worry about; your friend is at their doctor's."

I titled my head, "Medic? How do you know that."

What would Zac do to end up in a medic?

Did he do something to injure himself so severely that he needed one?

"How else? As much as you think most bandits here are evil, I can assure you that some are good and willing to help."

I see. . . Some bandits were working behind the scenes to help these people.

"What happened to Zac? Is he doing okay?"

Pam waved his hand in dismissal, "He'll be fine. The best medic is treating him there is here." He paused for a moment, "You should probably get going soon. You wouldn't want to miss out?"

"Alright then. I'll trust you on that." I nodded and left the room.

Do what I want, huh?

It was about time that I would have a little bit of fun.

The walls had opened up to me, and I was ready to explore more of this dungeon, but there, the Plantea Beasts that I had encountered before were waiting, hungrier and more robust than before.

Just my luck.

I smiled, forming a Purpura sword.

Let's begin, shall we?

WHOOSH!

Before the Plantea Beasts could even think to attack me, I had already done them a favour and stopped them from feeling altogether.

Their heads landed on the ground, and I walked over them.

I channelled my Solum, checking out the surroundings.

There were a couple more Plantea Beasts before I reached the dungeon's core.

So what would I do now?

Easy, I would simply kill them all.