The creatures bowed their head respectfully.

“Great Hero! We are honoured by your presence.”

Tanuki did not expect the positive reception, less so that they would be joyous to see him. When he entered this dungeon, he expected something traditional, like an underground cavern with traps and monsters out to get him. But friendly creatures? Moreso ones that bore signs of civilised life?

“Who are you guys?” he asked straightforwardly.

“We are guardians of the Yoshimura village. Our task is to secure the east side of the cube and keep the Nestmen at bay.”

“Has Hero seen friend?” the other asked with short pauses between each word.

Tanuki thought for a second. They must have meant the corpse he saw.

He pointed downwards and the soldiers peeked over the bridge. They got a clear view of their dead friend but made no emotional response. The one with clearer speech sent the other to gather the corpse while he was bombarded with Tanuki’s questions.

“You said something about a village. Is it owned by a god? Do you have any crystals in there?”

“We own no crystals. The god? Died long before us. Only the True Heir remains and the Five Pretenders.”

“Who are they?”

“The True Heir is the King of the Yoshimura village. He is the one commanding the resistance. The Five Pretenders are the false gods. They want to enslave us! But you have come to save us, Great Hero.”

Tanuki had mixed feelings. He expected to rampage through a dungeon full of evil monsters, but now he was telling him there were friendly lifeforms and a history to this place.

“And Five Pretenders?” he thought, “That means five bosses! I only brought enough food for one!”

He expected this adventure would take no longer than a few hours, but this revelation changed everything. Without a sure way home unless all bosses died, he was stuck.

Worst of all, if he could not finish this dungeon in a few days, he would have no time to prepare for the next set of waves.

He sighed and put a palm to his forehead. “Man, how big is this place? You said it was a cube, right? I’m guessing there are six sides to it.”

“Indeed. Each side beards a different opponent. Some Pretenders also hide below the surface. The Nest is one of them.”

“Nest? As in the spawn of the Nestmen?”

“As you say, Great Hero. There are two Nests, but they behave as one. We want to end them, but our strength is not enough. The Nestmen have the higher numbers. I fear that without you, our village will succumb to the raids of these monsters.”

“No worries, dude. That’s all you had to say,” Tanuki drew his sword in anticipation, “Where are the nests? Give me five minutes and I deal with them.”

The soldier shook his head. “Unfortunately, we do not know. Our king forbids us to delve deep, even by walking here we insulted his ruling. But we had to, for one of us.”

The soldier looked over to his partner as he put the corpse over his shoulder. Meanwhile, Tanuki pondered. The journal, the dark cave, the nests.

Only one thing did not make sense.

“Hey, how do you know there are two nests?”

“Our king said so! He is a wise man.”

The guardian’s answer raised a few red flags, but Tanuki decided those could wait after he got rid of this boss. If he was serious about eradicating the spawns, he had to delve into the claustrophobic nightmare that lay below the surface. That would require a light source.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

“Do you have anything that can produce light?”

The soldier leaned forward. His mask lit up as his face emanated a green light. This confirmed Tanuki’s presumption that these creatures had no human face. But then what were they?

“Okay, that will do,” — he put his hands together — “Alright! I think I know where to find that nest, but I need you guys to follow me. I need someone to light the way.”

The soldier signalled to his partner and took the corpse from his back, then returned to Tanuki.

“My partner will accompany you. I need to report to the King.”

Tanuki raised an eyebrow. “Why are you not coming with me?”

“I am healthy. He is damaged.”

Tanuki expected this would cause the soldier to throw a punch or at least curse the other’s mom. He did neither but respectfully bowed his head.

Considering how the damaged guardian spoke during the conversation between the two, Tanuki assumed he had suffered brain damage or struggled with a speech impediment. Nonetheless, calling him that felt unnecessarily cruel.

Tanuki shot a friendly smile at the soldier. “It’s okay. Raise your head.”

The other guardian said his goodbyes and left. Tanuki wasted no time and climbed down towards the hole he saw before the camp.

On the way there, he observed the new companion’s outfit. It was the same as the other soldier’s, with the only difference being more claw marks decorating his battle-hardened chest piece. He had the same kind of badly made wooden sword and a round wooden shield attached to his back.

Tanuki tried to strike up a conversation, but it did not go anywhere.

“So, what’s your name?”

“Six.”

“Nice name!” he waited a little, “Is it like the number six?”

“Yes.”

“Okay…”

He tried not to look at the tents as he passed, choosing to cover the side of his view with a hand. A few more stairs later, he was back at the narrow cave leading into the wall. He listened closely and it appeared there was no movement inside. He asked the other soldier to step into the hole and shine down on the path.

The green light was moderately effective at showing the way. Tanuki climbed next to the soldier, he could see the path leading into a larger cave. The soldier began to walk inside, but Tanuki pulled him back.

“Listen,” he said as he grabbed a large rock and threw it into the hole. It bounced twice before rolling into the open field.

A few seconds of silence followed, culminating in… nothing. Tanuki nodded, “It’s empty.”

“No,” the soldier answered, “Nestmen sleep during day.”

“Is that so?” Tanuki shot him a surprised look. Half an hour ago he was assaulted by a group of monsters. He suspected they might have been attracted to him by the fish being used like a security camera, alerting the horde. It gave him an idea. “Do these things have eyes?”

“No. They listen.”

Tanuki understood. These were creatures of the dark, cave dwellers who had no eyes and used sound to navigate. He could ask the soldier to shine his light without attracting unwanted attention, but he had to be careful about making noise. He let his companion in on the information, then followed him into the hole.

The opening led to a tall room within a cave. Dripstones hung from the ceiling and sent droplets on identical pillars growing from the ground. Due to how gravity affected Tanuki differently, it appeared to him as if they were growing out from the sides of the wall. The silence of the place was broken by the periodic splashes of water falling from the ceiling.

Three holes presented the way forward without any indication of which one led to the nest. Tanuki had an easy solution for the problem, he grabbed the stone and threw it into one of them. When no sound came, he took another and threw that into the second hole. When the rock fell, it was quiet for a second, then clattering echoed from within.

“Jackpot,” he raised the sword and prepared an acid spell.

The way forward was just as claustrophobic, the walls forced them to climb sideways through the passage. Tanuki went ahead to avoid hitting his companion. He prepared an acid spell that let some light into the room. He saw a sharp stinger-like leg in the dark.

Furrowing his brows in concentration, he cast the acid. It lit the way as it flew, revealing the two nestmen ahead, before obliterating one. The monster howled as the acid burnt its tissues, drawing the attention of the other to Tanuki. It ran to the passage, pulling its spider-like legs close as it wormed forward.

Due to the narrowness of the way, Tanuki could not draw his sword, which left him with the staff as his only weapon. Though he saw it as an irresponsible and even wasteful act, he spent another quarter of his mana to shoot a spell at the creature.

Unfortunately for him, it somehow managed to evade the attack, leaving behind a glowing green puddle. Tanuki hissed in frustration and prepared another spell but just a second too late, and the nestman successfully clawed into his thigh. It was not a deep cut, but it still scared the boy.

Quickly, he shot the acid at it, which though sealed the monster’s fate, some of his own attack bounced back onto his shorts and leg.

“Shit!” he panicked as the liquid began to eat his clothes, but his worries suddenly focused elsewhere when he felt a burning sensation tore open the skin on his thigh. It was eerily lukewarm, yet heavy and painful. It was as if his body was quite literally melting away. He rubbed off the acid using his hoodie but in return, some of the fabric burnt.

“Are you okay?” the guardian asked with worry.

“Yeah-yeah, it’s nothing,” Tanuki barked back, quickly shutting off the conversation. They continued to the next room.