Chapter Thirty-Nine: Caution

I was thankful for my armor's barrier to the cold but still shivered. My breath hung in the air, mingling with the fog like dust in the wind, and I moved my torch closer to my face for warmth. The heat felt good against the frost, quickly nipping at my nose, but I moved it to a normal position to move forward again. [I am fine, Rod, just not much to comment on now. The Maze is not something I can help you with as it is different every time; a path that might work this time may not work the next time.]

I moved like this for what felt like hours, following the path of the new glyphs. I was beginning to get frustrated with this floor. There were no fights, utter darkness, and nothing but long corridors, which meant sheer, utter boredom. I resisted the urge to sigh, getting annoyed at myself for even having the urge. Thankfully, a new light appeared ahead, pushing back the fog and warming me.

"Finally, some heat," I sighed in relief. The cold had seeped into my bones, but this heat melted the ache away like the first warm day after winter. This golden light was refreshing, making my aches and pains disappear. I was drawn into it and then felt a deep, primal fear. Was this my own decision? Or was something compelling me? What if this had to do with that weird memory blip? Who is Aunt Ersid? I again tried to remember what had occurred, but nothing came to me. I tried to turn around, but my feet moved independently of my thoughts

I gulped as my feet walked me through the light into the lush, gold-adorned room. It was like a palace that had thrown up all its carpets, clothes, and awnings. Without warning, I could control myself again, which, of course, caused me to fall flat on my face. I had half a mind to turn around and leave the room, go for the blindingly bright hallway, but an altar was in front of me.

Something I had come to associate with bosses in the dungeon, but there didn’t seem to be one this time. And then, I did something that I knew would surprise Crystal. I moved forward with caution. Looking every way and whispering, “Crystal, any idea what this altar is for? Should I be on the lookout for something?” What can I say? Maybe I was the kind of person that liked being unpredictable.

[Wow, Caution. That's… new.] She paused, maybe thinking or taking a second to look around. [This is a relic altar. Starting with this floor, there is a powerful floor item called a relic that grants you a powerful boon. Some allow you to jump a second time in mid-air, some allow you to push heavy objects you should not be able to push, and others still grant you one-time power boosts. As for this altar, No bosses are present if that is what you were worried about, but I still would—]

She kept talking, but I ignored her. It was probably important, but I was entranced when I spotted the object on the altar. The altar wasn’t very grand, about three feet tall, and decorated with a white ornamental cloth. But that wasn’t what grabbed my attention. Instead, the golden object resting on the altar drew me like a moth to a mattress. It looked slightly like a flute or an ocarina but something about it was wrong. I held the object in my hands and finally realized my error. It wasn’t an instrument at all.

[Spout of the Immortal. Second Floor: Relic 1 of 3. This relic is a key. It can open any secret door on the Second Floor. Don't drop it, or it will break.]

The spout, crafted from solid gold and quite heavy, featured ridges at the other end, clearly designed to screw into something. There were tiny, illegible letters on the spout in a spiral pattern.

Before I had a chance to do anything else, I felt a searing pain in my back, like someone had grabbed onto my spine through my skin and was trying to pull it out. I screamed in terror and jumped forward, wrenching the serrated knife from the hand of the black-clothed, eyless goblin that had been wielding it. His comically large ears fluttered towards the noise as the dagger clattered to the floor behind me as I fell, rolling away.

[Sneak Attack! 23 damage!]

I yelped in pain and scrambled quickly to my feet, found the dagger, and kicked it as far away as I could, quirking an eyebrow as it vanished. The monster growled at me, enraged that I had taken his weapon. In my panic, I hadn't noticed the second goblin wildly waving his weapon, trying to stab me. A die rolled in my mind, time paused, and I quickly sidestepped the flailing goblin as time resumed. Panting, holding my bow with an arrow raised, I backed away, creating space between the monsters and myself. I used that space to cast SCAN!

Enemy Entry 0008: ShadowStrike Goblin (2): Level 2 (The Third Tribe)

The weak spot is their ears, particularly auditory attacks.

Stat:

Level

Health

10/10

Potency

12

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Vitality

2

Precision

12

Evasion

7

I didn't have anything that could produce loud noises, but it would be good to know for future runs, especially once they were stronger. I was probably going to 1 shot them. I took my bow and cast aim at the goblin with a dagger. The goblin, busy shrieking at his friend, turned his ear, and my arrow flew straight through his eardrum.

[Critical Strike! 14 damage! You have slain ShadowStrike goblin 1.]

The other goblin shrieked in rage and started running away. Not worrying about critical hits, I used AIM and targeted the goblin's spine for some cathartic revenge. I launched arrow after arrow, exhausting my stamina. The arrows ripped from my bow like dogs let loose upon their dinner.

[5 damage, 3 damage, 6 damage! Congratulations, you have killed ShadowStrike goblins]

“That was much better, Crystal, just saying the damage is much easier to follow, especially if we get into one of those hordes fights Klericho mentioned.] I rubbed my back where the knife had cut me; unlike on the first floor, I still felt a lingering pain where the knife had gouged into my back. My hand came away slick with blood.

"Crystal, what's my health at?" I asked, feeling a knot of worry tighten in my chest.

[You have 2 of 25 health remaining, Rod.] I sighed in relief and then immediately grimaced. It was a hard habit to break. I must have been a weary soul to sigh so much at 16 years old.

"Did I clear all of the monsters for this room?"

[Yes, you cleared all of the monsters for the room. However, the final decision must still be made.]

“What do you mean by final decision?” I asked. Deciding to make the most of my time, I looted the two corpses.

[You have looted Shadow Cloak. You have looted 14 Gold.]

“Woah, Shadow Cloak, what's that? And what slot does that even go on?

[Weird, I haven’t seen an item like that before. It looks like it goes into a cloak slot.]

“What do you mean you haven't seen an item like this before?”

[I mean that in my time in Penance, I have never seen a Cloak slot. But now its there in your equipment list.]

“Alright, go ahead and show me just the inventory updates, please.” I paused and quickly added, “Oh, and then equip it!”

[You have looted Shadow Cloak and Serrated Shadow Strike Dagger.]

I glanced over the words, curious at first about the dagger but then disappointed because of its low durability. The cloak, though? That was amazing. I would need to be careful, though, and make sure I didn’t let it break.

I felt it flow around my neck and billow downward, enshrouding me in a cloak of inky, black mist. The color of the mist looked familiar, but I ignored it. A much more nagging thought crowding my mind now that the excitement of post-battle loot was done with. “Crystal? What did you mean by the final decision.”

[I can’t elaborate on that. Please just continue forward. All will become clear.]

I shook my head at her ominousness and moved forward. The path split again; by this point, I had to be approaching the middle of the room and the wall, or further, given that I could not tell how large the room was. I could move left or forward. Provided that I was still reasonably close to the wall, I figured that the forward path would lead me to another room if it weren't a dead end. It felt like a 50/50 shot.

The darkness around me eased as I held the golden spout. It worked much like the torches I had seen in other rooms. Instead of the pitch-black void that previously clung to the walls, shadows now danced along the quilted surfaces. The faint glow of the fabric made the walls appear more distant than they actually were.

The tunnel seemed to trudge on and on, but eventually, I came to a flat terracotta wall with another altar in front of it. What is with this dungeon and altars? This altar was gray, almost my height, and a couple of feet wide, but it was bizarrely shaped. It was thin, too thin, barely a hand across. In the center, an indentation indicated the shape and size of my newly acquired golden “torch.” Without thinking, I took the spout and slid it into the keylock ridge side first. It slid into place with an audible click, and the altar shrunk into the ground. The wall soon followed suit as it shifted downward. In its place was the same wooden doorway shaped like an arch. I opened the door and paused.

“Crystal? Come on! What was the final decision?” I said, my voice an octave higher than I’d intended.

[Oh ye of little faith, walk through the door, and you will find out.] I walked through the doorway.

New Inventory

Name

Amount

Condition

Effect

Description

Shadow Cloak

1

12/15

Plus 5 Evasion

This cloak has a shadowy, inky quality. It absorbs light and leaves behind a ghost-like afterimage as you move.

–Now with added arrow holes!

Serrated ShadowStrike Dagger

1

4/5

Deals 2-7 damage.

Guaranteed to deal 7 damage on a critical strike through defenses. Deals additional damage for every point of durability lost. Low durability.

This serrated dagger, a favorite of the shadow strike goblins, is great at dealing killing blows on weaker enemies, but its low durability makes it difficult to use as a main weapon.