Deep in the chasm of the cavern dungeon where everything was wet and dark. Slippery and cold. A boy walked staying close to the wall, using it as a guide.
Simon was walking blind using only his hands as he guided himself to the rigid walls of the dungeon, he was a little bit bruised but his body overall was okay, he was walking with his eyes currently closed.
Although he could see in the dark the old man screamed to him ‘Do not open your eyes at all times!!!!’ as he fell down together with the doppelganger who followed him.
He fell down 5 floors deep, luckily the walls were a bit slanted and he managed to roll over it while reducing his fall’s speed. He could tell that the doppelganger did really follow him while he was rolling on the cliff along with it, he promised himself that he would always be aware of all of his surroundings from now on.
He checked on himself from time to time as his skin hurt but no broken bones… a chill behind his back… he was sure as he memorized the vibration of the monster's steps; it was the doppelganger. It was upon him.
Simon began to move by stepping his foot to his right… the doppelganger immediately reacted and started assaulting him. It meant it could hear him, Simon started dodging using the footwork he had just learned. He was not allowed to get hit or the old man would scold him.
Slowly while dodging, Simon was shifting his weights until he was not making a sound anymore, and like that the doppelganger missed him… he was gone for the monster. Simon started walking silently making sure that he would get as far away from the doppelganger. He didn’t know what direction he was walking but knew he had an advantage against it, he could tell the lay of the path, the lay of the ground. The boy will survive.
<--->
The old man punched the ground in frustration… he could have followed them down but… the dungeon chasm usually was a home for another type of shadow monster. But how could that be? This dungeon was just 10 years old. How could an advanced monster be housing on it?
He immediately placed his baggage down, he noticed that Simon also left his baggage, the kid was a genius. He gathered their baggage and placed it in a spot where it would be safe. He took out his metal flask.
His hands began shaking, there was a reason that he could last longer on a dungeon than anyone else. The old man’s stomach rambled as fluids tried to escape from his esophagus but he controlled it by forcefully gulping down…
“I know this is an excuse… I must do it,” the old man muttered. He started walking… then jogging then running, he had to find a flower that usually bloomed on dungeons.
The Dragoon Blood Flower.
<--->
Simon carefully threaded the uneven ground… the ravine was annoying, although the boy could tell the lay of the ground, walking with his eyes closed was really difficult. With the pressure of the one following him and the fact it was his first time walking blind, the boy was sweating.
He could tell that it was not only the doppelganger he must be wary of, there was still something in the ravine. He remembered that the old man didn’t want to take the shortcut by climbing down the chasm, he said it was because of the darkness and that he had to activate his magic all the time.
Simon then stopped for a while, he didn’t feel it coming but something was staring at him dead in the face, a cold sensation ran through his nose… it must be some kind of floating monster because it was not registering any vibrations. For some reason or a sort of instinct, he knew he was still safe to proceed, he walked again passing through against a misty feeling that enveloped his body and he continued walking, he was walking in the opposite direction of where he fell, away from the doppelganger.
'Don’t panic… never panic,' the boy kept repeating in his mind, it was the old man’s 1st rule and he was now learning it at heart. It was easy when the old man was together with him, 10 times harder when he was alone but he steadied his heart, the old man would come for him he knew, he just had to survive, what could be more easy… then Simon’s stomach growled… he was getting hungry.
He then felt the only creature he was wary of reacting to the sound. ‘Stop, Stop!!’ he thought but it was his nature to be hungry well it was already mid-day what else he could do? He finally calmed his hunger and he hid carefully. The doppelganger was getting close to his position but stopped moving when the sound disappeared. 'Old man hurry up!' Simon thought.
<--->
Somewhere around the dungeon, it was like a hidden sanctuary, a safe place. The old man knew the place existed by heart, it was always there when a dungeon was there. A moist place where the Dragoon Flowers would grow. The old man sat there waiting.
The old man was tapping his feet… it has been 3 days. He was worried but much more frustrated about how slow the process was in making the Dragoon Blood Flower consumable… his tumbler was a special container that could process anything and would turn it into alcohol. Although it was originally meant for something greater; for the old man it was good as it is.
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There was a pile of flowers that was squeezed and crushed beside the old man as he sat on the rock watching his tumbler. He had to manually squeeze each flower and crush it to get the most out of its extract.
The Dragoon Blood Flower was a reddish flower that has a tinge of color yellow as the petals go into the middle. This flower bloomed on some parts of a dungeon but it was always somewhere around a dungeon. More than a hundred years ago a scholar discovered that consuming this flower allows one to become temporarily buffed, turning it into an extract also makes it more potent.
Mind, magic, and spirit buffed to the limit while reducing pain and some of the natural human desires like sleep and hunger.
But there were side effects. First of all, continued use of this would weaken the body, joints, appetite, and the ability to digest food. The worst side effect was, its addictive.
It showed why the old man was tapping his feet. The guilt and the pleasure, the plausible excuse and the ease of access to the drug were making him mad.
The carvings on the tumbler would show how much was already processed. To that note, when the process started it couldn’t process a different liquid and the normal process of the Dragoon Blood Flower would usually take months but his tumbler was special.
As a part of the tumbler’s carving glow, he immediately took it to take a sip but as the tumbler’s mouth touched his lips he shuddered… it was really hard to stop… Simon’s situation might be an excuse but… guilt and pleasure surrounded his brain. Should he just not use this? Try saving the boy with the power that he could still muster.
He could tell that he would die when he encountered that other shadow monster that was on the ravine as how he was now.
He took the drop.
<--->
Hunger, pain, and the lack of sleep, Simon was still hanging on. His stomach had stopped growling for a long time now, his senses on its edge, in just a few days of dodging he had mastered all of the footwork the old man taught him. He had no way to fight back. He tried hitting once but instead, he got a cut on his shoulders that the doppelganger failed to cut off.
Right now he was kneeling down, calmed and relaxed, the doppelganger was just behind him on a corner of the ravine. He did his best but he was already losing space to run. He had to conserve himself… the second rule of the old man.
Well if he just thought of it like he was training it would probably be okay.
“BOY!!! SIMON!!!” and the voice that he had been waiting for.
“OLD MAN I’M HERE!!!!” Simon screamed back.
The doppelganger that was looking for the boy immediately located him.
“CLANG!!!!” but the old man was there to intercept.
He deflected the attack of the doppelganger. Simon couldn’t open his eyes but he could tell that the old man was overflowing with magic.
“Simon!!! Reach me your hand!!!” the old man said and Simon did, the old man touched his hand and Simon felt magic instilling in his fingers.
“Don’t open your eyes, find an opening on him and hit him on a flank!!” the old man said.
Simon nodded “Good boy, let's have a good meal once we are out,” the old man said.
“Release-” the old man muttered and he burst with magic as his sword was enveloped with light, he was going to use it again… it seemed that the doppelganger did the same. “-There are 2 of us monster,” the old man said.
The 2 began a series of swordplay. The doppelganger was clearly imitating the old man’s deed. The old man could tell that the buff would only last for a limited time, the flash step he was doing was weakening his knees. Unlike the doppelganger who had all the resistance it needed to beat down the old man.
“Annoying!!” the old man screamed, it was strange that the doppelganger was using light magic even though it was a shadow property monster, the fact that it couldn’t be explained is one of the mysteries in dungeons.
Simon was silent, the old man was fighting with all that he had and Simon could tell it wouldn’t last… he needed to attack, find a good spot, good timing, and a hard blow. Although he was just 6 he knew he had all the tools to do that. As the 2 clashed swords and got absorbed in the fight he was starting to notice patterns.
Simon began moving. ‘It should be around here,’ Simon thought, the old man quickly noticed Simon, since the boy couldn’t keep up with the speed of the 2, the boy had been predicting and waiting on a spot.
“All yours,” the old man said as he activated his 2nd Phase, strangely enough, the doppelganger did it too.
Simon went to the right, it would happen in just a flash but he knew where the doppelganger would land.
“You figured it out on your own huh…” the old man said, his release vanishing as he landed on his spot.
“Old man!! This is my new technique!!! Puncration!!!” the doppelganger was right where Simon wanted it, like the weakness of the old man’s 2nd Phase the doppelganger staggered for a few minutes.
Simon was there. As soon as Simon landed the fingers that the old man enhanced earlier with magic it created vibrating waves, the shadow quickly dispersed as the light erased it.
“Nice one!!!” the old man muttered as he was out of breath. The core shard dropped from the shadow, still, it tried to take hold of it in its last seconds, and Simon took it.
The boy grabbed the shard even though his hands were injured because of the technique he used.
“Come here, boy!! Quickly!!!” the old man screamed. Simon ran to the old man’s side.
“You can open your eyes now!!!” the old man said.
As soon as Simon opened his eyes he was terrified… a legion of shadow monsters all around them and it seemed that the old man’s shining body was the only thing that was keeping it away from them.
“Those red-eyed shadows are called nightmares, they invoke nightmares through their target’s eyes… nasty but it's all they can do,-” the old man said. The boy finally understood why he had to close his eyes. “-Well… time to fix this ravine!!!”
The old man then raised his sword into the air.
“Oh light… banish the darkness… invoke your will and let them disperse,” it was the first time Simon had seen the old man use some kind of magic.
Usually, he would just cover his sword with some kind of light and swing away, right now it was different, Simon could tell.
“Thanks for training my boy,” the old man said as he swung down his sword. The whole ravine was covered in light, dispersing any shadow-type monsters. Even the boy tried to cover his eyes. Magic sparked on his skin, making all the strands of his hair stand on end. The light then faded quickly, and the old man stood there with his back straight and his sword lowered in front of him, assuming a Fool’s Stance.
“Did you see that?” the old man asked before instantly dropping to the ground.
Simon, worried, tried to pick up the old man like a piece of baggage.
“I can walk on my own!” the old man complained, but he still stumbled.