… I am not going to mention 5 comments under last chapter. I am not angry at all that barely anyone fatigued himself/herself to write few sentences under 2.7k word chap. It’s not like I was furious, then despaired to finally sacrifice like 10 hours to look if I have made some kind of mistake that made me less popular. And as I found none I wasn’t raging and cursing around, and finally – I didn’t punish you by NOT writing for past two days even as I had time, will and motivation to do so. And I hope that you won’t learn from that. In the end what kind of author that writes for free likes to be praised and spoiled and told how wonderful he is… Ya get what I mean? Gut.
Very next day
Haste. The spell I hated, then loved just to hate yet another time. Remember that part which said that it will help you listen to your heart? I thought it was some kind of metaphor… but…
STOP SLACKING ASSHOLE! KEEP MOVING YOU LITTLE FUCK! YA GOT JOB TO BE DONE YOU LAZY PIECE OF SHIT!
It wasn’t metaphor. Yet still, I hoped for a voice of heart be more… subtle… bah! Ethereal and gentle even! Nope. Not mine, at least
I AM THE VOICE OF HEART YOU NEED BUT DON’T DESERVE!
Just shut up already!
SURE! HUSH ME LIKE YOU ALWAYS DO, INSENSITIVE BASTARD! Just turn your tail and run from problems! Fear has…
SUCK A COCK!
…
… Is it quiet? For the first time in five hours!? BLESS THE GODDESS!.... no, wait. 30 min passed. I need to recast the spell…
… two meanings! Forget Everything And Run or Face Everything And Rise! It’s up to you what you shall become!
WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME!? I AM GOING! IT’S NOT MY FAULT THAT FLOORS ARE GETTING MORE AND MORE COMPLEX!
JUST DO IT WITH PASSION!
… whose heart’s voice are you… cus’ surly not mine!
CUZ YOU HAVE NO HEART AT ALL!
… WHERE IS FUCKING MUTE BUTTON!?
Meanwhile – Minotaurs village.
The wife of one of chieftain’s sons was treating the wounds of dragoness. She had a great experience with treating broken bones pulled muscles and even patching up bigger wounds, yet she overestimated her own skills – she has never seen something like that before. On the first glance her patient was mostly healthy – her wounds were closing with extraordinary speed, she was regaining her colors and bones almost magically popped back on their places. Yet she was barely moving, even then those moves were brining her lots of pain. She slept for most of the time too regaining consciousness only for hour or two in a whole day, just enough to eat something and say a word or two.
As she pointed that out, dragoness with weak smiles said to worry not as it was natural backlash of what she did.
Apparently she managed to use more strength that normally anyone could forcing her muscles to work at full speed which left them damaged. Now she needed just to rest. Few warriors stepped in checking on her health, few with interest, few with hate… and few with those dirty glares. Even the chieftain himself came for a moment or two. I still remember the terror I felt when he stepped by.
* “So… that’s a wench that killed my son? The future of our tribe? That barely breathing corpse?”
* “Y…yes… o… or so I was told…”
* “Silence. It was not a question addressed to yourself.”
I could only lower my head and tremble. Everyone in minotaur tribe is huge, only few humanoidal races stood taller than us, but he… he was in league of his own. Even as young man he was over head taller than elders, thanks to his brute strength he was respected by all generation. When he fought for a role of chieftain, challenger is allowed to pick a weapon. And he decided for bare hands, which he used to tore previous chieftain into pieces.
But it’s not the strength that made me shiver on mere sight of him. He was smart. He always picked the best decision. Living in tower was a harsh life, barely any food, lots of threats… until now we were nomads, traveling between 41st and 50th floor settling down for a month or two, harvesting everything we could find just to move to another spot. But for over then a decade we kept living in same spot. He reorganized patrol units, because of his leadership the floors 41-50 became almost unconquered. Higher floor barely seen any intruders.
Each time he looked at me I could have sworn that he looked into my very mind, as if his cold stare could pierce through my soul. I was convincing myself that he would know in the instance if I would lie.
* “Now I am asking you, woman. How is she?”
* “… I… I am not sure, chief… I am seeing such condition for the very first time… H… her wounds were treated… but she is constantly exhausted… she rarely wakes, barely eats… as if her spirit is wandering between worlds…”
He snorted. I could do nothing but tremble.
* “How long will it take you to fix her?”
* “I can’t be sure, my lo…”
* “JUST GIVE A BLOODY TIME!”
* “M..m..m…maybe three days… maybe a week…”
* “Two days. So be it. It is your responsibility to make her fully functional for the trail” He was about to leave
* “But it’s impossible!”
His huge head turned back at me, I was rewarded with pitfalls and hateful glare.
* “You prefer to do it in one day?” And he moved in my direction. I tried running in the corner, but tent wasn’t that spacious for me to hide.
He grabbed me by neck and lifted off ground. Slowly he was suffocating me
* “Listen carefully, woman. I don’t care if you will have to spend days and night without sleep nor rest, I don’t care if you will use every herb, every potion or witchcraft you know. Day after tomorrow morning – she will be ready. She will, or else you will meet consequences.” I was dropped. After greedily taking few breaths I checked if baby in my belly suffered any harm. It doesn’t look as if it was threatened in any way.
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
* “Listen you sow, unlike you I have responsibilities. My job is much more complicated than spreading legs apart. I am leading hundreds of people. Hundreds which lost brothers, fathers sons and friends. She needs to face trail. Or else some fool will challenge me and we will lose another warriors.” He kept leaving again “… you started?”
He dropped yet another time before leaving for good.
I am sorry Gisele. I am so, so sorry, but I can’t help you! If I would cover you, life on my family would be threatened.
I kept apologizing over and over again in mind as I kept picking stamina regenerating herbs and mashing them into a pulp.
Next day. Zari POV
I have awoken, got up and prepared myself. No camp was made and no clothing needed to be worn thus I was able to march out pretty quickly. Which floor am I on? 32? Just where the hell were you send? It’s not that I am worried… but I am… worried?
~Easy champ! That girl knows how to take care of herself!
Yes, but she also said that with whole team she reached level fifty some… now she is alone and she got kicked over 40… I AM WORRIED DAMN IT!
~ Well… there is something that can be done in that manner…
… keep moving?
~ You are surprising me, Watson! Very well, if you know what has to be done, then what is left is…?
… doing it?
~ Outstanding. Truly, outstanding!
Codex…
~Hm?
Just… shut up? Please?
Opening map in my mind I forced my way to unexplored part of floor. As soon as I left the room that I used as bedroom, a growling sounded through the air. New one. Not human-like growling of zombies, not angry whistles that elementals let out of themselves as they passed through corridors, nor scratching sounds of bones over the floor. Growling. Beast like growling. From opposing way I was faced by herd of doglike creatures.
They almost weren’t reeking like corps, using my outstanding intelligence I deducted, that they had to be living creatures. First alive creatures… you know what it meant? A breakfast. It meant that I am about to have an actual warm meal, not that bloody, dried packed lunch.
No. Wait. I can’t. Gisele in somewhere over there… and if I would turn [Haste] on again, Voice wouldn’t stop yelling. But… maybe I could take just a bit and warm it up with fire magic? Now, think… the enemies are dog-like creatures. Dogs moving in herds. Fast type. My fancy insectoid-naga form may not as efficient against agile-herd monsters… Jesus… Gisele – you are going to pay me back for all discomfort I put myself through to save you!
Gisele’s POV
I have opened my eyes. Unbearable pain after leaving berserker state was mostly gone, leaving me only in strong discomfort. Balkia was running back and forth through the tent with handful of herbs. It was… sweet of her. Taking care of someone she barely knows with such passion… wait, why her expression is so… troubled?
* “Bal..kia, something wrong?”
When she heard my voice she dropped a bowl that she held in her hands.
* “Ha… sorry, you scared me…”
* “I just wanted to say… thank you… for everything you are doing for me, even as you don’t have to…”
* “No! You got it wrong! You got it all so wrong! And I am so sorry, but… but I don’t have choice!”
I smiled weakly
* “You are still patching me up, so…”
* “Chieftain was here. He ordered me to prepare for trail… tomorrow morning. I am… I am… I am sorry… I… I have family… if I won’t bring you to best possible condition till tomorrow… my daughters… sorry.” She put vial with some strange liquid to my lips. “… please… drink.”
She was almost crying. I parted my lips and willingly drank it.
* “Don’t be. I am an adventurer. I signed for horrible dead when I chose that life. If I can save few more innocent people before my fate would come, whatever it would be, then I am glda to fulfill my duty. Plus girl, I am not going to leave without a bang.”
Tears escaped her eyes.
Zari’s POV
Shade fiend’s (doggies) meat wasn’t tasty nor filling, but after few days of eating cold tasteless lumps of fat one could find pleasure eating anything that contained meat. Yet in the very end I decided to stuff myself as much as I could… reason? Doing so I increased DNA of wolf-kin which I used right away in morphing process. Perfect for faster exploration of floor. Combined with [Haste] speed of my movements made me a little dizzy. If some villager would see me passing through the woods with both my body and speed… well, guild would have yet another quest added on the board in no time.
This floor was getting weird. Previous ones had mostly form based on squares, yet those were getting round. Curved corridors, round areas instead of rooms… bah, it even had platforms that allowed you to enter hidden rooms and different paths. Slowly each floor was shifting from 2D orientation into 3D… Please, just don’t add levers hidden on different planes!
I moved passed yet another round room filled with small humanoidal monster, bit similar to goblins, but far more savage, less intelligent but armored with deadlier claws and fangs. Another thing to note in mind – the higher I get the more organized monster society becomes. From lone zombies at lowest lever, via unorganized herd of mobbing corpses, party of reversed adventurers, packs of elementals and wolf-fiends… and now some primitive nomad tribes? And all of that we are still in about 1/3 of the tower… does it mean that at the top of it there is a whole city? ‘Tis but a speculation. Out of pure curiosity I pulled one of creatures away and killed it. For research purposes.
You have killed [Bones Gnawer - Ogr-kin Level 16] You have obtained [72 exp]
Ogres? OGRES?! Ogres have strong regenerations… right? RIGHT?!... Nah. Not those one. At least the one I tormen… I mean… test subject No #1 showed no significant regeneration abilities, further researches needed… well, further test subjects will be needed too…
I needed to occasionally morph my lover limbs structure from running into jumping, as well as front ones from slashing to grabbing as I jumped on almost completely vertical pillars in order to get into hidden passage. Something in my mid kept telling me that I have to hurry… and no, it was no Codex, Nor sins, no Heart-kun. I just had that small tingling sensation on my neck. Sensation of dagger put up to your throat.
Next morning. Zari’s POV.
I managed to jump to 41st floor. It got… exotic here. This place was hot and humid, also some plants start growing from walls, but no your average moss – more like Venus flytraps. Small one, yet I simply know in my guts, that few, maybe few dozen floor higher those plants would be big enough to much something bigger than just flies.
Feeling vibrations of horseshoes hitting the floor I ran behind some pillar. At first I thought that someone was riding on a horse, but quickly I casted those thoughts aside. Many places were good for riding on horse, but this dungeon was not one of such places. In many corridors there wasn’t enough space to turn around, few were so low-pitched that rider could hit his head. It was also the reason I didn’t summon familiars. Kaito was horse sized, ravens wouldn’t had enough space for flying maneuvers and Greg… Greg… Greg was even bigger than Kaito!
Uh, all those moments when I head to morph over and over again just because I couldn’t fit my snake body to next room… FOCUS ZARI! FOCUS! Horseshoes!
The sound was repeating the pattern of humanoid steps – not a horse. Satyrs? No, Satyrs should have pretty much same high as humans, those were bigger, heavier… more like… no way… that’s too cliché! Just don’t tell me that here are minotaurs in dungeon! Come on! It’s pathetic! Who was so fucking lazy that couldn’t make a better script!
Whatever, I have two more empty cores, I can fill one with some beef DNA… hey… if I would combine snake and bull… and then I would shed my skin… unlimited barbecue? SHAKE IT OFF ZARI! DON’T LET THE THOUGHT ABOUT YOUR HUNGER DISTURB YOUR GOAL! FOOOCUS! MIGHTY AS DRAGON! HIDDEN AS TIGER!
~I Wonder how it would taste like….
STOP IT!
Two of them. They made few more steps and stopped in halfway. Apparently that was their patrol spot. What did we learn? They are far more clever that those petty snacks that I encountered this far – maybe even intelligent, two…. They ain’t going to move from here for next couple of…
* “What a pity…” One of them snorted “… I wanted to see the trial. Woman. Can you believe? Woman killed over fifty warriors, all by herself. And I won’t be there to see what was she made of.”
Ho?
* “She killed my brother… don’t get me wrong. He was an asshole, I am even happy that he died… but we, as the youngest, have no chances of even getting close to the trail. Damn it… Ya saw her?”
* “No. But Kirhor did. He told she is weird. Adventurer judging by equipment yet no human. She is… scaly.”
Ho-ho…
* “Exotic, that is… damn, how much I would give to lay with her…”
… do what? You lil’ piece of…
* “Maybe we would get our turn…”
* “Ha! Dreams! We are lowest in hierarchy. Barely higher than women. If we would ever lay hands on her you can be sure, that she would be a corpse.”
* “Whatever. Are we done here?”
* “Yeah. Corridor safe. To the next point…”
* “Excuse me gentlemen. I am afraid I have overheard your conversation, mind telling me where the whole trail will have it place…” I said from the shadows
* “WHO’S THERE?!”
* “Someone that could kill you, you pathetic thrashes that can’t even patrol correctly, but instead mercifully decided to have a conversation…”
I used the echo to hide my presence even further as I kept creeping toward them over their head, pillar by pillar.
* “Step out from the shadows! You have two options! Steps out at die quickly, or let us find you and die slo…”
They separated a little checking both sides of the corridors. When one of them, talking one, was directly under me, I jumped aiming on his neck. His posture was bit lowered so I my target was completely visible. I began to furiously tear, bite and slash carving my path in his flesh to his spine. He did try to shove me off him, but he was lacking experience, skills and common senses. If he wanted to survive he should drop on the floor and roll over, if he would do so I would get trapped under his body. Because my current avatar was bit fragile, damages could be severe.
Instead he tried reaching me with his hands, which he did clumsily, while he kept running blindly over the room hitting few pillar every few moments. My strikes were swift and precise. It was but a matter of time till his lifeless body fell on floor. The other bull-kin looked at me dumbfounded. Using the moment I burrowed my mouth in still warm carcass and took few bites, making sure that I made is as good show as possible…
* “…Now… mind telling me…” I said between bites “…where is Gisele?”
* “H…How do you now that lizard name? We never said it?”
* “Oh, cuz she is acquaintance of mine… now, you friend was rude and didn’t answer… see how he finished? If you don’t want to end in same way… Lemme ask one more time. Where. Is. She…” Last part I growled.
* “45th floor… i… it will take you over a day to get in there… up until then, she will be done for…”
* “I see… I see… Now tell me… what does the trail means…”
Do you remember the part in which I could not directly mention that if he would answer my questions I would let him live?... well. I am a liar.
10 pages. 3.1k words… ya better comment shit out of this chap >.<