Most of the cave was relatively empty compared to other floors of the Ocean or Great Forest. Glowing mushrooms lined the walls to keep things illuminated, but there were whole stretches where Owin walked without mob or trap, or even without talking. Even Ernie and Katalin were quiet as they walked. Unlike the goblin caves or the ogre caves Owin had been in before, the underwater cave was eerily quiet without sound bouncing around in the water.

Ernie stopped briefly at each intersection, checked his map, and guided them in the correct direction. After a few minutes, they rounded a turn to see a groin vault built from brown stone bricks that was unlike anything else within the caves.

“The arches?” Owin asked.

“Yeah. Take a look while we get the mushrooms.” Ernie pushed right past the odd structure to a cluster of mushrooms hidden in an alcove. Katalin patted Owin’s head as she passed and joined Ernie in collecting the gilled mushrooms.

Owin slowly approached the intersecting arches. They looked as though they had been transported from somewhere else. The caves were natural without smooth or predictable surfaces. Meanwhile, the bricks were perfectly cut and placed to form the intricate groin vault. In the center, directly below the middle of the arches was a pedestal with a bowl on top, all made of the same smooth cut brown bricks.

The bowl was a little taller than Owin, so he tested the pedestal by kicking it a few times before risking climbing on top. The bricks didn’t shift, even as Owin put more of his strength into the kicks. He tapped the hammer against them a few times before setting it aside. When he was certain they wouldn’t topple from his weight, he grabbed the lip and climbed on top. A blue orb sat right in the middle of the bowl, giving off its own glow similar to the mushrooms around the cave. Owin used Examine, but received no information.

“How can this not have anything when I use Examine?”

“That’s the mystery,” Ernie said. “You can pick it up and carry it, but it disappears when you go through the exit or the stairs. Some people have theorized it draws the boss to you. No real evidence of that. There’s nothing to slot it into on the floor. Nowhere else to put it.”

“Somebody has probably figured it out, but nobody is going to tell us what it’s for,” Katalin said. “People don’t want to help each other in the dungeons.”

“I’ve noticed,” Owin said. He poked the orb a few times. It felt like glass and rolled a little with each touch. “It has to do something.”

“Obviously, but we don’t have time to figure it out. Another mystery for you to solve in the future,” Ernie said.

“There are a lot of those,” Owin muttered. He sat on the edge of the bowl and moved the orb with his foot. “The only reason he had figured out any of the secrets in the Great Forest was because Artivan was there specifically to find and explore each of those secrets. Without the old knight, Owin wouldn’t have seen anything special. He had already missed the secrets on the first two floors of the Great Forest before he had even met Artivan.

Even through the Ocean, Owin had thought he had found a secret until he learned it was simply part of the floor’s quest. Ligala Lepis was meant to be found and explored. They were on the fourth floor without finding a single quest, which was disappointing.

“Is this wandering boss strong?” Owin asked. He didn’t need to let his thoughts go deeper back into his experiences in the Great Forest. The fourth floor was where everything really went wrong. And now on the fourth floor—

“Remember the whole big lizard comment?” Katalin asked. She dropped a mushroom into Ernie’s bag before standing, stretching, and casually walking over to the pedestal. She leaned on the opposite lip of the bowl and stared at Owin. “What are you going to do back in Atrevaar?”

“I haven’t thought about it. I guess I will talk to Chorsay first.”

Katalin nodded slowly. She tapped her fingers on the bowl and let her eyes drop to the blue orb. “Chorsay was really confident standing up to the Izylian council. I haven’t seen him so lively before.”

“How long have you known him?”

“A few years. How old am I?”

“Twenty six,” Ernie said.

“Wasn’t asking you,” she said over her shoulder. “About five years, I guess.”

Owin rolled the blue orb up the edge of the bowl, nearing Katalin’s fingers. “I do owe you another escort.”

“We’ll come get you when we’re heading out again. It sounds like the two of us will be pretty busy upon getting back to Althowin, assuming she remembers what she wanted us to do.”

“She forgets?”

“Not necessarily forget. It’s more like her brain is moving so quickly some of us are left behind when something new arises.” Katalin shrugged. “Trying to do too many things at one time.”

“Sorry.”

“It never bothers me. I like moving quickly. It’s helping me progress.”

“Are you ever going to get a shard?”

Katalin grabbed the orb with both hands and turned it over. It emanated a soft blue glow that spread across the cave walls. “Probably not. Having a shard changes the dungeons, which makes it more difficult to harvest. And I don’t want to lock myself out of a dungeon just to be stronger. It won’t help in alchemy.”

“Can you be as good as Althowin without any shards?”

“Well . . . no. Uh. Ern, this is a good question for you.”

“Hm?” Ernie grabbed the last couple of mushrooms and gently put them in his bag while he stood. He winced as he stretched to full height. “What are we talking about?”

“What makes Althowin stronger than us?”

“Being a 7 Shard Hero.”

“That makes her a better alchemist?” Owin asked.

Ernie’s eyebrows lowered. “No. It shouldn’t. She’s also level 100, so that’s a big part of it. I don’t know what she wished for either, and that could influence her alchemy. She could’ve just wished to be the best alchemist. Or maybe for some secret recipe. I really have no idea.”

“She won’t tell us,” Katalin muttered.

“Kat keeps asking.”

Katalin smiled and set the blue orb back in the bowl. “Eventually she’ll crack.”

“Crack your head, maybe.”

“Are we done here?” Owin asked.

“Yes. Three more to go, then we can head to Atrevaar.” Ernie adjusted his backpack straps again. “The next two are directly ahead on opposite sides of a fork. They’re both in the path of the wandering boss.”

Owin left the blue orb and hopped out of the bowl. “It sounds like I just need to fight this boss if we’re going to stay close to its path.”

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Ernie patted him on the shoulder as he passed. “I agree.”

Owin hefted the Thunderstrike Maul up and let it rest on his shoulder. He slowed for a moment in the nearest intersection, looking down the cave closer to the entrance where a bristle worm slithered about, unaware of his presence. The obnoxious mob barely disturbed the mushrooms as it passed through a cluster before disappearing around a corner.

He had to find a slightly different way of fighting to manage the bristle worms. Any way to avoid being peppered with bristles was great. What kind of different thing would he need to do when fighting a giant lizard? How big was considered giant? Etosai had been called the Overgrown Crab, and he had been massive.

“What can you tell me about the lizard?” Owin asked.

“Which one?” Ernie asked.

“There’s more than one?”

Katalin, who was walking beside Owin, chuckled and held up two fingers. “Both bosses on this floor are lizards. The same kind. Brothers maybe? I don’t know. Doesn’t matter. Proteunia are found in a few dungeons. I don’t know all the variations.”

“Me either. Bigger mobs tend to be on the higher floors,” Ernie said. “We can watch for Olma by checking for a white glow on the walls. Same as the mushrooms, just pure white instead.”

Owin leaned to the side, checking past Ernie. Currently, there was only blue and green light on the walls of the cave path ahead. “I’m watching for a giant glowing white lizard.”

“Good. We wouldn’t want to miss it,” Katalin said with a laugh. “It could sneak right past us.”

“Sneaky little bastard,” Ernie said quietly.

That only made Katalin laugh harder, just like when she had seen the cetanthro with a mug. She slapped Owin’s shoulder as she laughed.

Owin spotted another bristle worm down a different path, but Ernie still had his index up as he followed the map from his previous trips to the Ocean Dungeon. Owin hadn’t realized how helpful the map could be for repeating the same floors in the future. If he had entered the cave without Ernie and Katalin, he would have walked in several circles and would have probably had to fight every bristle worm on the floor.

Ernie dug through his bag with one hand while walking. Every few seconds he pulled a bottle out, looked at it, and put it away. One he pulled out was filled with the silver worm blood. It swished around as he swirled it and held it close to his eyes. “Katalin. Why do I have a full bottle of bristol worm blood?”

“I don’t know. I wanted to run some tests.”

“Okay.” He put it back in the bag without another question. “We need to get you a new bag right when we get back.”

“Yeah. I miss my backpack.”

“Try to not blow up the next one.”

Katalin rolled her eyes.

Owin hopped forward to walk beside Ernie. The cave widened ahead, splitting off into separate alcoves. “How close are we?”

Ernie pointed to one of the alcoves along the right side. “In there.”

“Okay.” Owin leaned forward, trying to see around the bend. The wide area continued for quite a distance. “Why is this area so much bigger?”

“It’s a cave. I don’t have all the answers.” Ernie stopped at the alcove and took off his backpack. “Keep watch. This one shouldn’t take long.” He had to turn sideways to sidle through the narrow opening. After a few steps, it widened enough for him to walk normally until he disappeared around a sharp turn.

“Is it safe in there?”

“Plenty. There’s only gilled mushrooms. No mobs.”

Katalin stopped right outside the alcove. “Don’t forget.” She poked Owin in the forehead. “Big. Glowing. White.”

“Lizard,” Owin said.

Katalin flattened his hair as she patted the top of his head. “Perfect.” She slipped through the narrow pass and yawned. “Wow, I sure love mushrooms.”

Ernie loudly sighed. “We’re almost done.”

“Usually I want to take a good shower after a trip, but I am so sick of water,” she said.

“I don’t even want to drink a glass of water for a week.”

“What about whiskey?”

“Now that sounds incredible.”

Owin listened to their conversation as it continued onto things he didn’t recognize. They were lost in their own little world, discussing things about their home and the things they were missing while out in the dungeon. Meanwhile, Owin hadn’t even been out of a dungeon enough to miss anything. The Nimble Hogs were great for the short time he had spent with them, but he didn’t miss any of them. Any other than Artivan, of course.

Owin sighed at the thought. He set the Thunderstrike Maul to the side of the alcove and sat on the edge. Overall, this fourth floor seemed smaller than the massive floor in the Great Forest. That had included ruins, caves, a lake, a castle, and a whole forest. This was just a cave. Maybe there was more of it that Owin hadn’t seen, but from what the alchemists had said and what he had seen, there was little more than the sandy area outside the stairs and the whole cave system they had been exploring.

“Sloswen,” Owin said, looking at the ceiling. “Do you know who I am?”

Owin waited, staring above. No response. Even if the god of the Ocean could hear Owin, he had no interest in responding. Ruvaine never seemed that interested in Owin. She helped him figure out what was happening when he first awoke, but after, she only ever told him to climb. She had threatened him, saying he would die if he escaped, and now he sat in a different god’s dungeon, still alive.

Ruvaine had lied and tried to scare Owin. A cowardly thing to do.

“How are the mushrooms?” Owin asked.

“Gilled,” Ernie said.

Owin nodded even though the alchemists couldn’t see him. He supposed that was the right answer. It felt odd thinking about traveling so far, fighting so many mobs and even some heroes just to harvest some mushrooms.

Was it worth it?

Katalin laughed at some comment Ernie made. Something Owin didn’t understand.

After they got back to Atrevaar, what was he supposed to do? He had no reason to train like other heroes. Learning how to use things better was one thing, but without training, other heroes wouldn’t get stronger. They wouldn’t raise their attributes or gain levels.

None of that mattered to Owin. He knew how to use his main weapons and he knew some uses for the limited number of spells he had. What was he supposed to do? Return to the Ocean and climb to the top? He already knew the first four floors. Well, most of each one. He was still curious about the secrets and quests on each floor. They had even skipped the chest guardian on the first floor. First floor loot wouldn’t be nearly as good, but that didn’t stop Owin from wondering what he possibly missed.

What kind of loot did he skip? Did he miss more chitin armor? Did he miss a Bone of the Withered Shade?

The curiosity held tight, forcing the thoughts to repeat over and over in his head. Any unturned stone could be some other loot, another void gem, another unique item. The alchemists had joked about the way other heroes had to clear floors of every mob. While Owin did enjoy a good fight, he didn’t feel like he needed to kill the bristle worms just to kill them. But what if they were protecting loot or part of the secret?

He looked back toward the arches and the blue orb. There was something to that secret that reminded him a lot of the violet halo that doomed Artivan. It couldn’t be more clear that it was connected to the secret of the floor, but his job was only to escort and protect the alchemists. If he wanted to uncover everything within the dungeons, it had to be on his own. Would the Nimble Hogs let him wander into a dungeon on his own?

“Are you almost done?” Owin asked.

“Close. How is it looking out there?” Ernie asked.

“Dark.”

“Only two more after this.”

Owin drew the lich bone knife and held it in front of his face. It had its own soft glow, but it was so dim he had to focus to even notice it. Was that the undead damage or something to do with the lich? What lich did it come from? So many questions and never any answers.

Asking questions was one of the few things Owin knew he enjoyed. Fighting and learning. Maybe Chorsay could teach him how to read. With an office full of books, Chorsay was certain to have something interesting for Owin to learn. Or maybe Miya or Myrsvai had something to teach him, or questions he could ask them. They were both fascinating people.

Farther ahead where the widened cave curved, a white glow painted the wall, causing the whole cave to feel brighter. It was difficult to look at after having been in the dimly lit tunnels for so long.

“Katalin, what’s it mean when the cave suddenly glows with white light?” Owin asked.

Katalin snorted with laughter. “Better get those knives ready.”

“Anything I should know?”

“It doesn’t have eyes. I don’t know how it senses heroes. Its bite is venomous, and this venom will probably work on you.” Ernie poked his head around the corner. “Try to keep the head together. We could really use this venom. Assassins love it.”

“What’s it do?”

“It makes your entire body feel like it's on fire,” Ernie said. He smiled and disappeared back around the corner.

“That doesn’t sound that bad,” Owin said quietly, remembering the lich’s mist that caused his skin to bubble and burn. “Nothing worse than I’ve dealt with before.”

A blunt snout appeared around the corner as the massive boss strode around the corner. Its face was smooth white with a wide mouth. Fangs jutted from the lips, too big for the mouth to contain. Red gill plumes surrounded its head like a mane.

He had thought the ogres and Etosai had been huge, but Olma, as it marched around the bend, was by far the biggest mob Owin had seen.

“That is a big lizard,” Owin whispered.