It took an hour to get the bird summoned, running back and forth between the first room, regenerating, and summoning other pets. I summoned one new pet I hadn't seen before, a thrilling experience for sure.

[What is that thing?] Crystal said when the turtle-like oddity appeared in front of us. It was a diminutive, turtle-like being with green, textured skin and hands clasped as though in meditation or prayer.

“I was going to ask the same thing. Isn’t it your job to tell me? Can't you make one of those status boxes appear?”

[I’m too lazy. You’ve already summoned 10 pets, and doing all your work for you gets exhausting.] She whined.

My favorite pot started simmering, but I bit my tongue. And asked nicely:

“Can you please give me a chart for the turtle?”

[...Fine.]

??? Level 1 Holy elemental

Stats

HP

30/30

Stam

10/10

MP

40/40

Skills

Effect

description

Pray

1-6

??? prays for healing. Uses 4 mana

Cure

Cures poison, burns, or stuns

??? prays for a cure. Uses 10 mana

Holy Bolt

1-4

Only deals damage to the undead. Uses 2 mana.

Bark

Confuses and terrifies opponents

??? Lets out a fearsome bark, scaring opponents.

–

Ever seen a turtle bark? It’s terrifying.

“It can bark? What?”

[Don’t ask.]

“Alright then, guess there's only one thing to do. Name it Dog.”

[I hate you.]

On the twelfth summon, I finally had my little Squawky boy back. I looked at his yellow feathers and stroked his frame, feeling relief and affection. The one thing I didn't like about this class was that every time one of the pets died, it felt like losing a piece of myself. These creatures weren't just tools; they were companions, each with their own quirks and personalities.

"Squawk, I'm so glad to have you back. You're going to my permanent collection. I can't wait until I get the option to choose which pets I get," I said warmly.

Squawk squawked in response, and with a smile, I headed back to the Magic Carpet Ride room, a vast chamber filled with floating carpets that shimmered in the dim light. The room was both enchanting and intimidating, a place where the rules of reality seemed to bend and twist. I had already tested it, and Squawk couldn't support my total weight, but he could help offset some of my weight as I jumped between carpets.

Then, the creature Crystal informed me was something called a Giraffe did something I didn't expect. He picked me up with his mouth and gently placed me onto the first carpet. As I found myself almost 15 feet up in the air, a mix of excitement and anxiety washed over me. This new vantage point was breathtaking, and I could see more glowing carpets in the shrouded-in-darkness room. It was a vast expanse of moving, floating carpets, almost like a river moving in a chaotic symphony, but I could now see that there were also more treasures than I first thought. I knew I would discover something if I rode those carpets down into the depths.

The uncertainty gnawed at me—whether it would be a treasure or a trap, I couldn't tell. But my curiosity, that relentless drive to uncover the unknown, was impossible to resist. I had to find out, no matter the cost. After Giraffey had lifted me into the air, Squawky landed on my shoulder. He pecked at my hair briefly and then flapped his wings a few times.

"Hey, Squawk, can you do me a favor and dive down where that carpet keeps flying?" I asked.

“Squawk! In a hole! Squawk in a hole!”

While waiting for Squawk, I focused on memorizing the patterns of each carpet. The carpet I stood on followed a distinct pattern. It rose, paused for five seconds, descended over ten seconds, then waited another five seconds before rising again. Each movement was predictable yet disorienting, a dance that demanded my full attention. While every rising carpet adhered to this sequence, the horizontal movements were so varied that I couldn't keep track of them all. I would have to make my decisions after every couple of jumps.

Just as I started worrying about Squawk, I saw a bright halo of electricity. In a flash, the bird burst from the depths, surrounded by yellow sparks of magic.

"Squawk, you’re okay!" I said as my bird returned to my shoulder.

He squawked again, and I realized the major flaw in my plan of sending the bird down as reconnaissance. While I knew he could kinda talk, it wasn’t real language more like a kind of mimicry

"Okay, Squawk. I'm going to ask you a bunch of questions about what you saw down there. Squawk once for yes and twice for no. Is that alright?" I asked, hoping for clarity.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

“Squawk! There’s stuff! Squawk”

“Alright then. Did you see anything dangerous down there?”

“Squawk, danger! Squawk!”

"Oh, good. Did you see anything down there?"

“Squawk! See!”

"Was there a floor to land on?"

“Squawk, no floor, floor! Squawk!”

"Okay, so it was all just carpets?"

“Squawk!”

"Were there any chests?"

“Squawk! Shiny, shiny!”

“Is there anything else I should know about down there?"

“Squawk! Down there!”

I turned to Crystal, raising an eyebrow. "Crystal, any chance you're able to speak bird?"

[Oh yeah, sure, I speak beaver. I speak bird. I speak about every language there is.] I could feel the eye rolling.

I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose. "When we get down there, will I notice what I need to know?"

“Squawk, Squawk!”

"Okay, will you be able to show me?"

“Squawk!”

I smiled, feeling a bit more confident. "Alright then, let's try to escape this death trap."

I inched to the back edge of the carpet I had been standing on. It was only around six feet long and two feet wide. With a death grip on Squawk's talons, I waited twelve seconds for the arc to be correct, then dashed forward. Heart pounding, I rushed ahead, one foot in front of the other, and took a leap of faith. Midway through the jump, Squawk stretched up in the air, making it feel like we had jumped again. My left foot found purchase, and I stumbled safely onto the next carpet, landing on my stomach and knocking the air out of me.

"Good job, Squawk! You saved my life there," I praised, catching my breath.

“Squawk!” The bird squawked cheerfully.

Ahead, the next carpets were a series of horizontally moving platforms, each with a different speed but much closer than the previous gap. I counted seconds, watching the first carpet, then the second, and finally, the third complete a full lap past my position.

The first carpet was the slowest, taking thirty-five seconds to move back and forth. If I timed it right, I could step down onto it, using my downward momentum to carry me forward. The second and third carpets would be more difficult. At slightly different elevations, with the center one lower and the third higher, I'd have to time my movements perfectly. To make matters worse, they moved at entirely different speeds—carpet two in around fourteen seconds and the third in twenty-eight, moving twice as slowly.

I decided to get closer before figuring out a plan. I looked at the center carpet, counting out its approach once more. "Twenty-two, twenty-three, twenty-four, twenty-five," I muttered, then took off on a running sprint, gripping onto Squawk but hoping I wouldn’t need him. If I didn’t make this jump, the others had no hope. At the last possible moment, I put all my energy into my feet and leapt the three-foot gap, landing on my stomach once again. I was beginning to think I liked having the air knocked out of me.

I rolled into a sitting position, catching my breath as I studied the carpets. Heights had always made me uneasy, especially after a friend broke his leg in a fall. I shook my head, rejecting the memory. Now was not the time to lose focus.

The advantage of the faster-moving carpet was that it gave me momentum when jumping and pulling myself up onto the next one. Even though I hadn’t moved in a few minutes, my heart pounded in my chest. I'd already died four different ways that I could remember and a fifth that I couldn’t. I wasn't eager to add a sixth to my collection.

I counted the seconds and took a sideways running jump with four seconds left between the carpets. Squawk used his magic to elevate us again, and I managed to grab a fistful of shag material with my right hand. Letting go of Squawk, I grabbed the carpet with my left hand as my momentum threatened to pull me away. Had I still been alive, I wouldn’t have possessed the athleticism to grip the carpet and make the jump. As it was, my muscles strained against my weight as I pulled myself up. On the first attempt, I couldn’t get my leg onto the carpet and swung back down, panting. I was running out of energy fast.

Knowing that my death hung in the balance did crazy things to my body. Even though every muscle screamed in pain, I changed my grip and tugged myself up with the last of my energy. I cried in relief as I lay back against the plush carpet, immediately closing my eyes. When I opened them, what felt like seconds later, Crystal spoke up.

[Did you know you snore in your sleep? You should get that checked out.]

I shook my head to clear the fog of sleep away and sat up. I must have been exhausted to fall asleep instantly. Suddenly, I heard a shriek and looked over to see Giraffey fall over, dead.

"Uhh, Crystal, what is that?" I asked, my voice trembling. Hundreds of feet away, floating off the ground, was a dark, black cloak wielding a reaping scythe. Black skeletal fingers grasped the scythe while the other hand absorbed what was left of my turtle named dog..

[I don't know everything! Use Scan!] Crystal’s genuine fear was evident in her voice. Even though I was ridiculously far away, Scan still worked.

Enemy Entry 0021: Room Reaper Weak Point: ??? Strong Point: ???

I do not know what this is, and Scan doesn’t tell me anything. I am terrified. Run, idiot, run!

Stat:

Level

Health

???/???

Mana

??/??

Item drops

Amount

Chance to drop

???

?

???

I didn’t wait much longer; I took off running, leaping between carpets without bothering to figure out how they worked. The fear of death loomed over me, and the memories of my past demises flashed through my mind. I knew I was missing out on multiple treasures and whatever Squawk had wanted to tell me, but I had one goal left: the Aerlyntium. It was at the top of the room on a carpet that moved from the top to the bottom of the room.

My heart pounded as I jumped from carpet to carpet, my muscles burning and my breath coming in ragged gasps. The Room Reaper's dark presence was a constant threat; every moment felt like it could be my last. I focused on the orb, my one chance at getting out of this mess, and pushed myself to keep moving despite the dark thoughts saying this was the end.

At first, I worried that the Reaper might fly, but in an almost comical twist of luck, it could only hover a few feet off the ground. It floated up, then landed on a carpet, moving steadily toward me. I realized I wouldn't make it to the Aerlyntium before the Reaper caught up… but maybe I could fight it. The idea was reckless, possibly the dumbest thing I'd done in the dungeon so far, but the Reaper needed a surface to keep floating, right?

I turned around immediately, feeling a physical pain as I headed back toward the monster. My body was beyond screaming at me to stop, my muscles past the point of exhaustion and into new realms of tiredness. I didn't even feel the pain anymore. Instead, the weariness fueled me. The sooner the Reaper was gone, the sooner I could sleep again.

The moment of truth came as we met on the plush carpet where I had slept. I timed my move and ran toward the Reaper as it leaped onto the carpet. Using my elbow to focus my momentum, I jumped and elbowed the Reaper in the face. It stumbled back over the side of the plush and started to fall. Something slowed its descent, and I feared it might rise again. Then, I received the notification.

[You have killed a Room Reaper. You have received a one-time-only bonus of 100 death boons for killing this mob.]

I collapsed onto the plush carpet but didn't let myself fall asleep. "What? Are you joking? 100 death boons? I’m rich! How long was I out earlier?" I asked.

[You slept for around eleven hours. The time limit per room appears to be twelve hours. That wasn’t the only Room Reaper that would be sent after us if we didn’t move forward faster.]

"But why is it here? And why doesn't one come after everyone at the entrance?" I questioned.

[If we recover your companions, perhaps one of them can enlighten us.]

"Right." I sat there for about twenty minutes, soothing my aching feet and arms. The memory of Dog’s death and the fear of another Reaper gnawed at the back of my mind. As soon as my stamina was full again, I felt fine—as if I had never run at all.

I picked myself up and looked around at my options. While it would be quicker to get the chests first without sharing the loot with my companions, I now knew how dangerous it was to travel on this floor alone.

I worked my way up to the Aerlyntium. It was ridiculous how tired I got just jumping between a few carpets. Each jump cost five stamina, and I only had twenty. I didn't stop, though. In the back of my mind, I was constantly afraid that another Reaper would come for me. The sickening crack as it killed Giraffey still echoed in my ears. It had been sheer luck that my gamble had worked, and the Reaper fell to its death.

With each leap, I pushed past my limits, driven by the need to survive and the hope that the Aerlyntium would offer some respite. Finally, I saw the orb within reach, its glow a promise of hope in the dim, dangerous room.