"18 more xp." He had gained 18 more xp on his way back, and as Hunter stepped into the healing fog, he felt his shoulders sag. "How much longer? How much longer do I have to do this?"
He felt tired, not physical; the fog did a nice job of wicking that away. No, a prolonged mental exhaustion of not feeling like he was going anywhere. He was progressing, but how many more floors did he have to go? Was there any way to heal later on, or would he just trap himself to die?
"Time for a change of pace." Hunter thought back to the cave; nothing stopped him from going that way. "What if there is another cave of monsters like the other." He shook his head. "No, what ifs. I need to make a decision."
Hunter sat down near some of the flowers and took a bite. His taste buds had lost any flowery taste that had once been in the flowers, so it felt like he was chewing on tasteless salad greens. He again wondered if there was any way he could eat anything but these.
"The worm didn't disappear, "his brain helpfully pointed out. His stomach turned. "No way am I eating that." Sighing, he decided to scout out the cave below.
———————————————————————————————————————————————————
Blue flower X2 consumed
2 XP gained
———————————————————————————————————————————————————
After finishing his disappointing delicacy, Hunter started cutting the flowers at the stem; he had learned that anything he placed in his inventory didn't go bad unless it was just the flowers; he hadn't had the chance to test with anything else.
He kept cutting them until only a quarter of what was first in the room was left. The flowers didn't stack, but he estimated he collected about fifty. Getting up, he looked over the room. Those weird shapes or letters around the fog chamber were going to bug him.
He took a long look at them, trying to commit them to memory, before walking through the fog one last time and then to the stairs. He took one last look at the room that had saved his life many times in the previous few days and smiled. "Thanks," he said before walking downwards.
The rooms below were still empty, and he had no issues walking to the large stairway and down to the cave. The way down still glowed with a faint light emanating from the walls.
Walking down, he could start to hear the familiar sound of the river rushing along. He reached it before long and felt the cold water rush around his ankle.
The light quickly disappeared as he started walking, and he put his dagger away. Fearing to slip and hurt himself, Hunter used the wall as a guide as he continued walking.
"Is it getting louder?" he wondered at the river, which seemed to be picking up the pace as the closed cave also seemed to become smaller.
Hunter felt the floor change from smooth to jagged and started taking his steps more deliberately. Then he saw it: a faint light in the far distance.
He felt his heart jump into his throat. "The sun!" he shouted, pushing through the water to get out quicker, not realizing that the water was now up to his thigh.
Hunter slipped.
His foot flew sideways as his body was pulled under the current. He tried to right himself but only lost even more of his balance as his head went under.
Hunter reached out for a purchase on the ground or wall but only got a slick rock back.
He continued trying to slow his movement, holding his breath as well as he could.
The stones dug into his hands as the water whipped him along.
The water rushed him even quicker.
He could see more light now; it felt like it was rushing toward him.
All at once, he was blinded, his eyes burned, and he quickly closed his eyes.
That was a mistake; he lost which way was up and down and started spinning.
Opening his eyes, he saw light and darkness as he flipped in the water.
He again tried to right himself, pushing his arms out.
Hunter felt like he had been sucker punched as he hit something hard.
The water tried to whip him past it, but even as his mouth gasped for air and found water, his arms reached out, pulling on the thing he hit.
His lungs filled with water as he tried to regain semblance of what was happening.
"Air," he thought, pushing himself toward the light.
His head breached the water, and he started coughing out the water.
He held tight, which allowed him to dispel the water for a few long moments.
Finally, with room for air, he breathed. "I'm alive." He said, looking at what had saved his life.
He held a log that had fallen into the water. He tried to reach his arms closer to the shore, but they felt stuck.
He pulled harder, and his hand flew off all at once. Feeling the power of the water, he quickly regained his grip a little higher.
Hunter looked at where his hand had gotten stuck and saw an indent of a hand. "Did I do that?"
He looked at his arm; it had bruises and gashes from the rocks all over it, and a small amount of blood flowed down the river.
Ignoring the pain, he slowly went to the shore and pulled himself onto the short grass.
He lay in it. Looking up, he saw the cloudless blue sky and felt the warmness of the sun. Sure enough, the sun was right above him, as if it were midday.
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
He breathed slowly to slow his racing heart. Muttering between breaths. "I did it, I escaped."
The heat from the sun enraptured him. feeling the gentle breeze, he closed his eyes and drifted off.
Waking up with a start, he looked around, momentarily confused. 'Where am I?'
He looked to be in a meadow interspersed with trees. They looked like birch trees but didn't have leaves; instead, they had needles like pine trees.
Standing up, he groaned as he felt the soreness from the washer experience he had garnered.
"I'm glad I put away my dagger." He thought, walking up to one of the trees.
It smelled like lemon? Orange? It was a weird citrus smell that came from the tree. Upon closer inspection, the bark itself gave off a fresh scent. "How odd," he thought.
The lowest branch was only a little above his head. A smile breached his lips. He reached up and pulled; lifting himself up on the branch was surprisingly easy. "That twenty strength does wonders," he muttered, looking for the next branch.
After a few more branches, he looked around. He saw the mountain he had rocketed out of. On the other side, The cliff face was also almost at a 45% angle. There weren't many trees, so he could see quite far, but he still couldn't spot anything but a meadow in the distance.
Climbing down, he wondered. "How do I find people? Assuming this world has people, they need water, right?"
He approached the raging water, "Let's follow this for now."
Back in the dungeon, Ezra was trying to untangle the mysteries of this new part. They had killed a Plink and Cowird, but the anomaly was nowhere to be found.
Ezra pulled out his map, which now had crinkled edges and was starting to look worn from all the fidgeting. He bit his fingernail as he muttered, "It was supposed to be on this floor. Where is it??"
Kyle, on the other hand, was feeling more disappointed than anything. He had expected the dungeon's secret passage to be teamed with monsters and traps, but there was nothing. In fact, these monsters were so easy that any civilian could defeat them. "When will this end?" he grumbled.
Taking the last step down the stairway, he paused. "Ancient runes," he muttered. The room was pretty spacious, with white arches leading up to a cylinder of fog in the middle. Around the middle were characters of light and shadow from some unrecognizable language.
Ezra paused his fidgeting when he ran into Kyle's back. "Why do you keep stopping?" he asked, more than a little annoyed. Ezra stopped and waited for the large man to walk into the large room. "Ruins," he whispered.
Ezra took in the room. It was beautiful but also somewhat uneven. All the structures seemed normal, but flowers with a light blue hue were found in only one corner.
"A trap?" he wondered as he meandered over to the flowers, his trusty shield ready just in case. Then, he used a skill any researcher had: "Identify."
———————————————————————————————————————————————————
Royal gernia
———————————————————————————————————————————————————
Ezra felt his jaw drop. No one had seen these flowers in decades, and there were so many; there must be 20 of them here.
He used Identify again, not believing his eyes.
———————————————————————————————————————————————————
Royal gernia
———————————————————————————————————————————————————
That is when Kyle broke his reverence.
"There is nothing here; I thought runes like this are supposed to have treasures."
"Believe me, this room is enough of a treasure itself," Ezra said. "And that is even without the Royal gernias."
Kyle shrugged. "The what?"
Ezra pointed to the flowers he was kneeling next to, saying, "These flowers are extremely rare. They got their name since they were always given to royalty."
Ezra didn't see Kyle's predatory smile as he asked his next question: "How much are they worth?"
Ezra, still mentally in shock, stuttered through his explanation. "Th-these flowers allow you to push past your limits; with this many, anyone could become the highest level on the continent."
Kyle always felt like there was a higher purpose in his life. His family was meant for greatness, but nobody could ever see it. These flowers weren't here by accident.
Resolute in his decision, he walked casually closer to Ezra.
Step, the sound echoed in the silence.
Step, he gripped the haft of his lance harder.
Kyle stopped; Ezra looked up at him, a Royal gernia in his hand.
"Those are mine," Kyle growled, stabbing at Ezra's heart.
His lance bounced off a glittering shield, sending sparks of white light flying in all directions.
The shield repaired itself and encompassed some of the flowers.
"No!" Kyle spat. He had seen that shield in action, and Ezra had enough Mana to make it run indefinitely.
The towering man glared down at Ezra, who had fallen on his back, but "Those are my birth rite; give them to me."
The guards turned, seeing the bright flash, "Are you guys ok? Was there a trap?"
Ezra wasn't able to find his voice. He swallowed a few times, his eyes darting from Kyle to the other two researchers and lastly to the other six guards.
He felt his heart beating a million miles a second as sweat poured down his brow.
"I have to keep the others safe; this man is crazy," Ezra thought, swallowing one more time before squeaking out. Run."
Some of the guards saw Ezra on the ground and said, "Don't worry. That little shield will keep you safe from any traps. Let us handle it."
It was too late. The voices reminded Kyle of the other people in the room. He grinned, picked up one of the Royal gernias, and ate it.
Ezra could see Kyle's eyes unfocus, a sign he was reading a notification. He was apparently happy with what he saw. His grin turned into a vicious snarl as he lunged at the closest person, a researcher.
The lance skewered the man in one strike. The man slumped down onto the lance, and Kyle just flicked him off, his body hitting the wall hard, an echo of breaking bones reverberating as Kyle looked at the notification.
———————————————————————————————————————————————————
Researcher Gerald killed
92 XP gained
———————————————————————————————————————————————————
His heart beat an excited rhythm for the first time in ages, and he slashed at the other researcher.
A loud "Clang!" resounded as the lance hit off a large shield one of the soldiers had.
"Get in formation and guard the researcher." He yelled
Ezra wished he could remember the man's name but instead yelled out. "Kill him! He has betrayed both the guilds and the people!"
The other 5 guards were on Kyle as quick as lightning, a flash of blades and strikes against armor.
Kyle used the arches to make it difficult for them to gang up on him, and he used the surroundings to wear them out.
Ezra saw each guard start to flag against Kyle's seemingly infinite energy one by one.
The numbers were against him. However, the guards spread out, causing Kyle to backpedal. He did so while stabbing at any unguarded spot.
The guards were making progress, pushing him back when one of his strikes overextended and got stuck in a shield. The guard pulled down on his shield and twisted it, breaking the large weapon in half.
The guard's leader stepped another step closer to Kyle. "Kyle, you have betrayed everyone who ever believed in you and trusted you with their lives. For this, I will execute you!"
The snarl turned into cackling laughter as Kyle tossed the broken weapon aside. "This is what I was born for!" he spat and started attacking with his fists.
His large gauntlets resounded against metal, a red blur in the dimly lit room.
One by one, each guard went still, Kyle strangling or stomping on each.
Ezra saw the man walk toward the only other researcher and stood up, finding his voice enough to call out. "Don't kill them! I will give these to you!" He held out the 5 Royal gernias that his shield had encircled.
Kyle just turned to him and shrugged, no sorrow for the lives he had taken evident. "No, I won't need those. Right now, I need XP."
Ezra slumped back down, watching him punch the last researcher through the chest, lifting the whole man on his fist before flicking him off.
"He was worth quite a lot." Kyle laughed
Kyle then walked over and picked up the rest of the flowers, shoving them in his bag. "I know I can't get in there, so hold on to those. I'll come get them with interest." He then walked down the stairs further, leaving the massacre in his wake.
Ezra stared down at the worn map he had brought with him. "What do I do?" he asked, looking up at the pile of bodies and blood already being absorbed into the dungeon. "I can't die here; I have to let the city know."