Part 2

A solitary man sat on the ground, only occasionally taking the time to stir the pot of greens and soup he had at his feet. Training did make one hungry, although in his case, it was more of a fight for survival, as rudimentary as he made it seem. Despite his brutal training however, it seemed to be the least of his problems.

“Haa… I’m telling you, you can’t just say for me do something and get me to understand it. This oath-thing is way out of my comfort zone,” said Peter in a flat voice.

“And I’m telling you, you don’t need to understand it, you just gotta feel it,” insisted the Grimal. “How is that so hard to understand, you stubborn Inumimi?”

“It’s hard to understand, because I’ve never been able to even feel mana, let alone this weird type! Moreover, the name is Peter. Say it with me, P-e-t-e-r.” He spelled each letter out, one by one, in a vain attempt to at least drill it in the creature’s head to stop calling him by his race.

Peter and the strange, cat-like creature near his feet were at each other’s throats as per usual. Only this time, they were discussing the finer points of Peter’s own growth, concerning the strange magic he had been gifted during his stay in the dungeon. A mixture of nature magic, and holy mana, a special mix all due to Aesir’s status as a mythical tree. The perfect mixture for one such as himself, that had little to no talent with the ambient mana surrounding him.

Grimal, on the other hand, was certainly a special case. A feline chimera, his species were often used to assist with sorcerers and the like with their experiments, although that was really only in the obscure stories he emerged from. In the depths of Aesir’s dungeon, he took on a different role, although one that was likely no less stressful than the story he was created from.

“Listen, would you least attempt to tap into the power? This place was hand-crafted for you. For you to so blatantly ignore it seems unwise, oh great Peter.”

“There’s the sarcasm, again,” he sighed.

For Peter, the presence of the cat-like creature wasn’t altogether unwelcome, but he could do without the constant stream of abuse. Besides, it wasn’t as if he could even catch it to shut it up. He had tried once, but it had merely laughed at him before simply running behind a tree and appearing almost twenty feet behind him. Without any form of magic, it seemed impossible to catch the creature if it didn’t wish it so.

As for his own, apparently latent abilities he had been given, naturally, he was told nothing. Nothing more than what Grimal had said, at least. Still, for a person who had focused almost wholly on the finer arts of hitting things really hard and being able to hold his own ground against the same, magic had always been a pipe dream. It was why he had thrown himself so fully into training with Luke, and one of the reasons Morgan stayed with them, despite her propensity to get them into trouble with her magic.

“… Do you really think I’ll ever be able to master something like this?” asked Peter with a grim look.

Although he anything but human now, he honestly hadn’t ever considered himself any different from when he was just human. Sure, he was faster, stronger, and grew a tail, but that was it. If push came to shove, he was honestly unsure if he would ever be able to tap into mana. Especially one that was apparently intangible unless you could really feel it out.

“Probably,” Grimal smirked. “To tell you the truth, you’re actually quite gifted. You wouldn’t have lasted as long as you have otherwise. I wouldn’t have stuck around, either,” it snickered.

“Gee thanks. Nice to know I’m so gifted,” laughed Peter.

Grimal gave a toothy smile, before it’s ears suddenly swiveled towards the entrance of the forest, high up in the ceiling.

“Looks as if we are receiving more of them,” it remarked. “Break time is over for you.”

Grimal was, of course, referring to the spiraling staircase that was slowly descending down from the opening in the ceiling. Peter and the others had come down it themselves a few weeks earlier, and intermittently, the staircase would come down to refresh the stock of monsters and pseudo-animals for those inside to fight and hunt. It wasn’t as if they were mere punching bags either, Luke had been badly injured by one, when he got sloppy and it had clamped down onto an arm, nearly taking a hunk off him entirely.

After the fight, he had simply disappeared into the depths of the floor with a promise that he would be healed and returned to the surface. Morgan however, wasn’t so lucky. In the center of this layer of the dungeon, was a tree, one that was guarded by what he could only assume was the boss of this level. A massive creature that Grimal referred to as a Fomorian.

Malformed, disgusting, and absolutely massive, Peter could do little more than get a rank of B for how powerful it was, along with the name he already knew. His lack of training in the identification skill was certainly hurting him now, although he never planned to be using it so extensively, and in such a dangerous place. Unknown to him at the time, the creature had a powerful curse ability, and when Morgan snuck off one night to steal a powerful source of mana she had felt from the tree it was guarding, it had struck her with it, causing Morgan’s body to become just as horribly misshapen it the Fomorian.

Not soon after, she was taken away as well, although he received no such promise to gently return her to the surface. Only that he would need to kill the Fomorian to have any hope of saving her.

“How am I supposed to make any headway if the same tree keeps being replenished with monsters to guard it… let alone kill the disgusting creature sleeping under it,” Peter lamented. While he was certainly gifted a few tasty monsters to eat, given he waited for the mana to drain out of the meat, the more dangerous monsters only built up. If he waited too much longer, he really would run out of time, regardless of the Fomorian.

“If you blindly attack it head on like a muscle-head, maybe. I mean, sheer violence is a valid choice, don’t get me wrong, but a single person can only accomplish so much. Of course, that’s why you need to tap into the power of your oath.”

“You say that like it means something,” Peter sighed.

He shook his head, before grabbing his axe and shield and moving towards the bottom of the stairway. It typically took three to four minutes for the staircase to completely descend, although if one was inside, they wouldn’t even notice the slight movement until they emerged near the top of the structure. Depending on one’s luck, the staircase might even be fully extended before they noticed.

“Still, isn’t it early? I could have sworn there was still time,” he questioned. Given that he typically positioned himself near the entranceway when he estimated its descent, it wasn’t unexpected that he had gained a sense for when the stairway descended.

“Indeed. Something does seem off.”

Peter scowled, before moving even faster towards the portion of the forest where the stairway would touch down. He was there within a minute, a somewhat lucky coincidence given he typically stayed further away from the center during the times when the stairway had receded. Taking his standard position roughly a hundred yards out from the bottom, he laid in wait for the release of the expected monsters to replenish this part of the dungeon.

Although it was purely conjecture, typically, a slot opened up near the bottom of the stairwell. From there, monsters would begin to spread out in all directions. Likely, there was some hidden mechanism that transported all of the creatures at once, letting potential adventurers simply walk down the exterior stairway, while the more dangerous creatures who couldn’t be trusted to simply walk down would be forcibly transported in the inner portion. They exited in waves, so it was at least likely that he was correct. However…

“What’s taking so long…?” Peter mumbled.

It was a process that he had seen time and time again, hell, the entire process practically ran like clockwork. There had never been a time when the dungeon master had delayed on releasing any creatures, so why now?

He shook his head, before turning to small Grimal next to him.

“You’re better at this than I am. Any ideas?” He sighed.

“Don’t turn away. Something is coming.” The Grimal looked to the top of the stairway, it’s eyes in lock-step with whatever it felt. A small wave came over the creature as it’s hair spiked up all over it’s back, a gesture that Peter recognized almost immediately. It was the same look that all cats gave when they were afraid.

“Grimal, what is it?”

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

“I… don’t know,” it muttered. “It’s heavy. It’s near the top of the stairway, just looking down over us. I get a horrible feeling whenever it’s gaze passes over us.”

“The top of the stairway?”

It was practically a rule. That wasn’t an entrance meant to be used by monsters. It was the same entrance into this subterranean forest that he and the others used. One that only dungeon-goers used.

“Should we run?”

“No. It’s coming down too fast, it’ll catch you. Hide.”

“Wait.” Peter stared wide-eyed at the Grimal. “Catch me?”

The Grimal voiced its opinion before quickly running around the tree and disappearing completely from Peter’s sight. It only took a moment for Peter to realize what happened, but it didn’t leave him any less in shock at the creature’s actions.

That damn cat!! He just left me here near the bottom of the stairway. He can practically teleport away, but he just leaves me here in the thick of it!

“Aaghh..” Peter grumbled as he quickly looked around before clambering into a thick bush nearby. If what he was told was true, then he really wasn’t left much choice in the matter.

He lowered himself down as far as he could, as he simply watched the bottom of the stairway. Thankfully, it wasn’t as if he had to wait long, given the Grimal’s warning, but even then, he was surprised at the appearance of the creature. Rather than simply walking down it as he expected, it practically catapulted down the staircase, using it almost as a method to slow itself down.

It used a continual method of shooting down thirty, or forty feet at a time, before a strange mist emerged and ‘grabbed’ at the edges of the staircase. The mist seemed to provide enough of a force to slow it down, while allowing it to entirely bypass the long walk down. A strategy that left him in utter shock at first, when it suddenly landed on the ground with a slight groan.

Thick, black horns, a dark shade of red covering it’s scales, and a considerable predatory appearance. It almost reminded him a bit of a group of Kobolds he had fought recently, to be honest, although the intimidating aura that radiated off of it separated it entirely from a simple race of trap-makers like the Kobolds.

“Identify.” He whispered to himself.

“Oh for the love of…!” Instantaneously, a massive headache came over Peter as a horde of information assaulted him, the pain only slightly fading as the information began to set in inside his mind. He had expected it to be dangerous given the Grimal’s warning, but only the upper levels of B tier had enough power really affect him like this, especially given how much he had trained the skill recently.

Peter took a deep breath to center himself before training his mind on the information that was transmitted through the skill.

Monster identified as a Crimson Fiend Draconian. Named: Unknown. Partner: Unknown. Original threat level: C. Current threat level: Unknown. One of the draconic class species. Born as one of the first of his kind, he was gifted with a powerful *#@ forbid#*@ magic, and has grown considerably under #$’@ influence $&#^@ then. Capable of class A corru$#*$@ Warning: Identify level insufficient.

“This… is a lot more than I was expecting.” He murmured. “A partner? As well as it being named…”

Normal identification typically only gave a threat level, the race, and some background information over the race itself. This tended to be the same across the board, in fact, it was basically standard to almost every monster. However, there were rare cases where it had strayed before. Unique monsters.

“Tch…” He bit his lip, as he watched the creature gaze around the surroundings, with a look he could almost describe as curiosity.

He severely doubted what he would even be capable of even killing such a creature. At most, maybe he would able to fight it off, given his considerable defensive abilities. Normally, Identify would at least give one a proper threat level, but it didn’t even do that. Thankfully, he was able to gain access to at least some information, so the creature wasn’t at the top of B class, but even then, that made him incredibly dangerous to deal with single-handedly.

I need to run…

That thought was firmly planted in his mind. Right now, he was little better than when he first entered the dungeon. If he mastered his new oath, then maybe, but now…?

No. The moment it turned away from him, he would bolt in the opposite direction. As long as he made it back to his camp, he’d be just fine. Grimal never had issues finding him even when they were separated either, and given the frankly absurd abilities it had, bordering on cockroach levels of survivability, he had little doubt it would be safe.

Peter waited with bated breath as the creature seemed to pause. For a moment, it almost even seemed as if it was thinking. It lifted its nose in the air, as a hungry grin emerged, and it slowly began to walk towards him.

“…!”

Peter crouched down and lowered himself, his eyes wide with trepidation. Why… why was it coming straight towards him? He shouldn’t have been discovered.

He froze up, only staying as still, and as quiet as he possibly could, hoping that somehow it would walk past him. And surprisingly, that’s just what it did.

Well, to be correct, it bolted past with him with a speed that thought he was going to die for half a second, but yes, it went past him rather quickly.

“Wha…”

He found it hard to believe. What did it find so enticing that it ran straight past him without a moments notice? There was very little in that direction that a monster would find enticing, he was sure of it. It was nothing but a small portion of the area that he had largely cleared out, mainly for his own safety as ‘night’ fell.

Well, ‘night’ as in the luminous rock in the ceiling growing dark for a period of time, but that was often when the most dangerous creatures would come out. He had made a good base of operations in that direction and it was typically where he kept all of the most valuable materials he had retrieved from various corpses. He had planned to sell it all off, in an effort to make this entire dungeon trip worth all the trouble.

“Well, weren’t you were quite lucky.”

Though the words and tone sounded warm, the borderline sadistic grin the Grimal was giving him as it suddenly appeared next to him made him wish he could throttle it. Appearing and disappearing in the blink of an eye, and it had the gall to taunt him as soon as it felt it was safe.

“And what a reliable partner you are,” Peter replied while sighing anxiously.

The Grimal’s smile only grew wider, as it quickly turned towards the direction the Draconian had raced off to.

“What do you think it could be wanting in that direction? It seemed as if it smelled something, but truthfully, most creatures do their utmost to avoid the exact scenario we just witnessed. If particularly tasty creatures were able to be sniffed out that simply, they’d be extinct, and at a quick pace at that.”

Peter couldn’t help but agree. In any case, could it have been that it had smelled where he had been? If it was that simple, then it likely would have found him where he had hidden…

“I can’t just leave it all because it haphazardly rushed in that direction. Abandoning an entire camp just because a new creature came along. What would the others even think of me for doing that? Ideally, it leaves this area soon to go off and hunt, but until then, I’ll need to keep an eye on it,” Peter muttered.

“Whatever you say.” The Grimal responded matter-of-factly. “As long as you keep a proper distance, it should be safe. Be back in a second.”

Peter nodded, before slowly moving in the direction that the Draconian had ventured off in. Grimal often warned him away from the more dangerous creatures, just as it did with this one, however, it also performed the roles that were impossible for him. Simple missions such as scouting and investigations. He truly had to thank whoever thought of the creature, despite his sarcastic nature.

“Haa… now…” Peter took a few more deep breaths as he reminded himself just what he was going up against. Despite his thoughts on how it even entered this portion of the dungeon, the origins of it’s demonic influence certainly held some interest. From what little he was told, the ‘powers’ he was given by the Tree Spirit should be directly counter to such an influence, especially given that his brand of holy magic wasn’t the standard type, but instead imbued with nature mana as well.

Such a thing was incredibly useful, especially since almost everyone who lived inside of Fortress knew of how horrific demonic mana could be to the surrounding environment. Turning entire swaths of land into little more than a monster-making factory full of demonic creatures, not even considering the local Lord who could potentially turn other types.

It was a problem that had posed intense concern from what he had heard. For someone like him and his group, it was something they merely pushed out of their minds, but for those who had actually gone up against demons? Apparently, it caused a whole host of issues if a person was exposed to it long enough. Simply put, they were never good, which was one reason he was so surprised when Drake had wandered in with an imp on his shoulder.

It was practically admitting that they had wandered in far enough to catch one. Not to mention had dealt with the problems such demonic influence could have on them personally.

Putting a demonic-influenced creature in the dungeon… Don’t tell me that it’s another test of some kind…? He groaned internally to himself as he continued forward.

In any case, all he could do is take it one step at a time. Unfortunately, that first step involved getting the damn creature out of his camp.

“Uhm… Peter. You might want to see this.” Appearing from behind him, the Grimal suddenly stepped forward, likely as a result of its strange ability.

“The creature?”

“Yes. It’s uh… eating your stew,” the Grimal seemed almost reluctant to say anything, as if it couldn’t believe what it had seen with its own eyes.

“What…?”

“You’re lucky. It seems quite hungry, but it settled for something like that. Although, settle really isn’t the right word. It kinda just started… well, downing the entire pot once it reached it. Quite impressive really.”

“But…whyyy?!” He yelled out, completely exasperated.

He fully understood that the creature was dangerous but… they didn’t even normally like his food! Why would it go so far? Let alone that it literally raided his camp for it!

Utterly incredulous, Peter stomped off in the direction of his camp, barely consolable as he continued forward. Granted, it didn’t take very long for him to reach the camp, nor did the object of his interests seem to take any notice in his abrupt approach.

However, the dark-haired beast-man could do nothing but half-groan, half-scream in frustration at the sight in front of him. The food stocks he had so carefully maintained over the past week, gathered through a hard process of careful trapping and a bit of luck, were being devoured whole in front of him. They contained some of the tastiest creatures he had managed to catch. Worst yet, the occasional looks of disgust were all too plain to see on the creature’s expression, not that it stopped the creature’s voracious appetite one bit.

Just as the Draconian was about to open up another storage bin, Peter yelled out in frustration towards the creature, to the Grimal’s complete surprise. He certainly couldn’t kill such a creature, but at the least, he might be able to scare it off. Waiting at least, certainly wasn’t an option anymore, not when it possibly could raid the entire camp empty of its food-stock.

With a worried look, the Grimal had vanished completely behind a tree not a moment later, while Crimson Draconian only seemed to take a vague look around at the source of the interruption. Once it did however, a clear smile emerged that took Peter by complete surprise.

It waved him closer, as if it was all too familiar with him, before that same strange mist he saw before suddenly enveloped the creature whole. In its place, stood the man that he had given up for dead all those weeks ago.

“Drake?!”

“Yo.”