The wind grew in volume as he continued the ascent. He left the forest for a clearing where the ground-wall turned into mossy stone. The bridges grew to be stairs and ladders made of rope. Further proof of civilization came as rusty equipment littered the road. Pickaxes, a broken shovel, and a barrow hanging off into the void.
The high of the battle still poisoned Tanuki’s veins, only fading when he realised, this area had no opponents. His mood grew bitter as he put away his sword.
“Seems like an excavation site,” he noted upon observing the area. Suspicious holes big enough for two grown adults decorated the wall. When he finally passed by one, he noticed these were cave entrances. The inside was incredibly dark, and he had no way to light the way. He was not too upset for them though, he found the claustrophobic corridors to be the thing of nightmares.
Further climbing brought him to a larger hole, this one being only a few meters deep. Three tents hid inside, two erect while the last one collapsed in on itself. They surrounded what must have been a fireplace once, empty bowls and mugs scattered around it.
Searching the smaller of the tents revealed a hay bed with a journal next to it. When Tanuki tried to peek inside the book, it let out the wettest, most disgusting sound. The pages were stuck together, most unreadable as rain washed away the ink. Only one page he could be fully deciphered.
“Summer 14, 36.
Another day, another disappointment. Master Garmo woke us before dawn, he said that he had heard one of the underground geysers. We told him that it must have been the wind and that he should rest. Of course, he did not listen and threatened to cut our pay, which left us with no other choice.
He brought us to this enormous wall on the west side of the cave, then had us put our ears to it to listen for something. It was so quiet I could hear mice fucking, but there was no sound. We argued about it, but again, we had to listen because he is our boss. Well, was.
Hours of gruelling work later we found a passage to what we assumed was another cave. Eirikr went to tell Master while I tried to make a small path amidst the rubble. That was when I heard the wind blow from the other side. Scared the soul out of me! It sounded like somebody was whistling. I turned around but, it was only my imagination. Still, I am no madman, so I kept my distance from that hole.
When the Master arrived, we asked him to shine a light into it, but he got upset, then ordered we go fetch something from his tent. Long story short, there was nothing and when we got back, he was gone. We tried looking for him, Eirikr even tried climbing into that hole, but some sort of vines were blocking his way.
That brings us to now, Eirikr is breaking things, and I’m thinking about where Master could have hidden our pay. We tried to look before, but we never dared to enter his tent. Sadly, we found nothing of value besides a bottle of wine and some kind of salat-things he had collected.
We plan to feast tonight, then head home in the early morning. I was wondering if I could sell his tent for some quick gold, but the guards would probably think we killed him. I think it’s best we leave it here.”
This was not just the only page to be read, but also the last to have any writing. All the other pages after it stood blank.
“Something must have happened that night,” Tanuki muttered.
The other in-tact tent was larger, but it had nothing of value. Its inside looked just like he imagined after reading the journal. The hay bed was torn apart, a broken chest sat empty in the corner, dirty clothes moulding around it.
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Last was the ruined tent. When he approached it, the smell of rot assaulted his nostrils. He used the staff to raise the cloth of the tent, and as he did, flies swarmed out from within. He saw a pair of bloodied shoes, then noticed the pair of thin ankles sticking out of it.
He was not going to look.
A corpse lay inside that tent.
Tanuki got up fast and after making sure there was nothing of value, he continued the ascent. The wind grew stronger as he got higher. He wondered why it was so strong, which led him to realize the different weather of this world. It was a lot harsher in open areas and there were also the things he had been looking for, clouds.
“I should have brought the grid token,” he thought while climbing a ladder. On the last step, he noticed a nestman ahead of him. It was eating something green.
Tanuki raised his staff and cast an acid spell. The monster heard it and turned just a second too late, exposing its full body to the strong acid. As the liquid tore open its skin and deep within, the monster howled in pain, losing balance and falling back onto the wall. A few seconds later, it burnt to death.
Tanuki climbed up to approach the monster’s food but stopped almost immediately. He was surprised if not confused by the sight. In front of him was not just some plant, but something human-shaped. It wore a white chest piece paired with boots and gloves. The treelike body of the creature was dressed with leaves running up to its shoulders, where it grew into a larger bouquet to form a cape.
A white mask covered its face, a cheerful smile carved within. More leaf faux-hair ran from its scalp where two large wooden antlers stood broken.
There was a faint green light emanating from under the mask, but by the time Tanuki fully took in the creature, its light had faded. It died as the monster tore open its trunk-like abdomen. Strange, it had no intestines, just a single empty pipe running through its body.
He was still observing the corpse when two pairs of footsteps made noise above. There were two more just like the corpse, though they brandished wooden swords of worse quality than Tanuki’s. His first instinct was to cast an acid spell to burn away the bridge beneath their feet, but he saw the hurry in their step and decided to wait a little. Not for any strategic reasons, simply, he found humanity in the way they moved, which made it harder to blindly murder them.
Their voice grew as they approached and Tanuki could listen in on their conversation. They sounded just like how he imagined, hoarse much like a chain smoker after watching their favourite football team lose. That, added with the creakiness of a hundred-year-old door that tried to imitate human speech and barely passed the test.
“Do you see him?” one asked.
“No! Must have fallen deeper,” the other replied with short pauses between his words.
“We need to go deeper!”
“Cannot! Nest!”
They stopped and argued, failing to notice Tanuki. He stood a bridge below them, listening quietly. The two soldiers discussed leaving due to some kind of nest.
“That’s where the monster must be coming from,” Tanuki thought. These guys had information, and when entering uncharted enemy territory information was more valuable than anything.
Even more valuable than his safety.
Whether these soldiers would greet him friendlily or draw their weapons, he was willing to risk that. Best case scenario, he gets two companions. At worst, he gets to enjoy a duel. He felt confident in his ability against the two, mostly because of the acid spell. It was unfair, and he loved it. Especially against plants, he would burn through them like he burned through the husks.
He felt a bit guilty for finding so much joy in this power trip, but he argued this was deserved after all the shit the dead bride threw at him.
He drew his weapon and raised his voice, “Hey, you two!”
The soldiers jumped from the shock of another voice and quickly searched for the source.
Tanuki ran up the stairs to meet them face to face. He sported a shit-eating grin.
“Yeah, I’m talking to you!” — he shot his index finger at the two — “My name is Hachiro Tanuki! I am the human who came to invade this dungeon. Now tell me, are you friend or foe?”
The soldiers froze in place, fuelling Tanuki’s ego even more. Though he basked in the feeling, he was pulled out of it by the surprise when the soldiers dropped their weapons and bent the knee. They lowered their head and one yelled out something that left Tanuki even more puzzled about this dungeon and its origins.
“I never thought I would live to see the day! Great hero, you finally came to liberate us!”