After defeating Jeeves, Maya finally went back to the basement: this time bringing his handkerchief. Descending down the stairs, she walked to a familiar corner where she spotted Anna: who was smiling.
"Oh? Do you have something for me?"
"Just take the damn thing."
Maya pulled out Jeeves's handkerchief and gave it to Anna. The girl giggled and took the item with glee. "Thanks!"
"Alright, now what do I get?"
"Close your eyes."
"What?"
"Just close your eyes, dummy."
"Can I say no?"
"Not if you want the reward."
"Tsk, fine."
Reluctantly, Maya closed her eyes. She then asked. "Alright, so what's my reward? Hello?"
The moment she opened her eyes, Anna was gone. Maya muttered a curse under her breath at first, but she soon noticed a small green vial that was sealed with a cork, under the vial was a note.
She leaned down and picked up the two items. The note reading:
Congratulations for completing my little quest
This vial contains a poison you can use to kill the Master
Once he's dead, the portal to the next floor should open
Good luck!
The moment she finished reading it, Maya crumbled up the note and threw it away. For some reason, reading those words only made her angrier. She then tucked the vial of poison in her cloak for now.
After her encounter in the basement, Maya's resolve hardened as she made her way out. She climbed the ladder back to the ground floor before making it to the stairs that led to the second floor.
The moment she reached the second floor, she heard the sound of loud snoring. The noise grew louder with each step she took, leading her through.
Eventually, Maya found herself in front of a large set of ornate doors, the source of the snores was loudest here. This had to be the Master's chamber. She reached for her mithril dagger and began to manipulate the lock. The mechanism soon gave way with a soft click.
After slipping the dagger back into her cloak, Maya gently pushed the door open, careful not to make too many sounds. She peered around the door, her eyes adjusting to the dim light of the room.
Inside, the Master was sprawled across an expansive bed, his snores echoing off the walls. His gravid belly heaving with each breath.
She gently shut the door and then moved as quietly as she could. Until she stood just inches from the Master's head.
Maya's fingers closed around the vial of poison within her cloak and pulled it out. She carefully removed the cork and placed it at the bed stand. She waited for a moment when the Master's mouth gaped wide during a particularly loud snore. Then, she poured the contents of the vial into his open mouth, ensuring every drop was swallowed by him.
And then... nothing seemed to happen, even as Maya waited for roughly a minute. Figuring that whatever poison the girl gave her was defective, Maya pulled out her mithril dagger and made a swift, but deep cut across the Master's throat.
As black blood dropped from the wound, she thought that her work was done. But she soon realized that she didn't see the usual notification that would appear whenever she killed a floor guardian.
Suddenly, the wound on the Master's neck rapidly healed and closed. Maya tried to slit his neck again with her dagger, but she couldn't keep up with the rate of regeneration. It wasn't long before the Master's body began to convulse as one of his eyes began to open.
Seeing this, Maya turned on her heel and made for the bedroom door, slipping out just as the Master's screams filled the air. His voice echoed through the corridors. "Come back here, you traitorous bitch!"
Maya didn't look back. She sprinted down the hallway and ducked into the first room she came across: a guest room with a fireplace.
Quickly scanning her surroundings for a hiding spot, Maya noticed a large grandfather clock near the corner of the room. Its tall frame provided just enough shadow and cover. She positioned herself behind it and tried to slow down her breathing as she tried to calm her nerves.
The sound of a door slamming open caused every hair on Maya's body to stand. She listened intently; her senses heightened as she anticipated the Master's next move.
Loud thuds echoed with every passing second, each step heavier and more ominous than the last. The Master's chilling voice seemed to grow louder. "I can smell you...little pig."
Swallowing a lump that had formed in her throat, Maya tried to steady her breathing. Though her heart pounding fast against her chest did little to help.
As the Master's footsteps grew intolerably close, Maya's instincts kicked in. She burst from her hiding spot behind the grandfather clock and ran as fast as she could.
The chase was on. The Master pursued her with a relentless fury. Maya's legs carried her to the stairs, where she managed to slide down the railing.
Landing on the ground floor, she clutched her knees, panting from the exertion. Every muscle in her body screamed in protest.
Before she could catch her breath, a familiar voice boomed from behind her. "I got you now!"
The words forced Maya to turn. She saw the master high above on the flight of stairs, glaring at her.
The Shapestealer attempted to run and put as much distance between herself and the Master as possible. However, her body soon betrayed her. Her legs gave out, causing her to collapse onto the cold floor. She laid there, unable to do anything but watch the Master's laborious descent down the stairs.
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The Master's movements were clumsy, perhaps partially due to rage and the lingering effects of the poison. Midway down the stairs, his foot slipped, and he began to tumble forward.
Maya forced herself to roll to the side, just fast enough to evade the Master as he rolled down the stairs. He crashed through a couch at the ground floor, the impact echoing through the hall.
As the dust settled, Maya observed the Master slumped against the remnants of the couch, his body convulsing slightly. Froth appeared at the corners of his mouth and within moments, his movements ceased.
Then a notification appeared before Maya's eyes:
[Congratulations, you may now access the next floor]
In front of the Master's corpse: A familiar white portal opened. Maya could finally leave.
***
Maya was engulfed by an overwhelming sense of fatigue. She felt disoriented, feeling a peculiar and unsettling texture beneath her. It was uneven, jagged, and strangely organic.
Abruptly, a sharp pang of pain coursed through her, causing Maya to groan. She forced her eyes open, only to find that she was lying atop a large pile of bones.
After lifting her head, the Shapestealer took in her surroundings. She was at the bottom of a deep pit, its walls towering far above her. So much so that she couldn't see where they ended.
[Tribute has entered Floor 4]
[Level up awarded]
[Updating status]
Tribute Name: Maya
Level: 7 >> 8
Physique: 2 >> 3
Dexterity: 4
Magic: 1
A sigh escaped Maya's lips as she saw the notification. At least she was on the fourth floor now.
She pushed herself up, trying to stand on the unsteady surface of the bone pile. Maya cautiously stepped over the bones as she searched for a way out. After some digging, her hands brushed against something odd: a lever attached to one of the pit's walls.
Gripping the lever, Maya pulled with all her might. It resisted at first, but then gave way with a heavy groan. Almost immediately, a deep rumbling echoed through the pit as parts of the surrounding walls began to move: revealing a passage.
This caused the bone pile beneath Maya to shift violently. She was swept off her feet, carried along by the skeletal wave. After a disorienting ride, Maya unceremoniously dumped onto the ground in another room.
Maya brushed the dust and remnants of bone off her clothing as she slowly got to her feet. This room was actually lit, unlike the previous one. There were several torches that hung from the walls, except that their flames were a bright green. The Shapestealer curiously prodded at one of the torches at first, but as she glanced further into the room: she couldn't help but gasp.
The room was a bloodied mess. Mutilated corpses hung from the ceiling on large, rusty meat hooks. More bodies were scattered throughout the area on top of metallic tables, each splayed open with flies buzzing around and above them.
The stench was overpowering. Maya clamped a hand over her mouth, trying to suppress the rising bile, but the putrid smell was too much. With a lurch, she turned and vomited on the floor.
Trying to regain her composure, Maya wiped her mouth with the back of her gloved hand, her eyes watering from sheer disgust. Desperate to get out of the room as fast as possible, she forced herself to sprint towards a set of doors she saw at the far end of the room.
As she closed the door behind her, she ran further away until she could no longer feel the stench from the previous room. Immediately after, she gasped for air and took in deep breaths.
Once she composed herself, the Shapestealer stood up and saw that she was in what looked like some kind of abandoned workspace. The place was filled with shattered vials, broken tanks, burnt pieces of paper and empty cabinets.
Maya tried to look for something useful. She rummaged through piles of dusty documents and broken equipment. She hoped to find something, anything. However, the only things she could find were either too complex for her to understand or too damaged to be legible: often both.
Sighing, the Shapestealer decided to leave the lab and try her luck elsewhere. But her plans were interrupted by a loud rumbling sound. The sound drew her attention towards a set of double steel doors at the far end. Though she couldn't have possibly known what was on the other side, an instinctive sense of fear gripped her.
She crouched beneath one of the many tables scattered throughout the area and waited. Until finally, the doors were slammed open.
Dust and debris swirled in the air as an undead centaur emerged from the metal doors. Its body was a blend of rotting flesh and exposed bones. The centaur's lower horse-like body constantly oozed an odd, brown liquid. While the humanoid upper torso was adorned with tattered remnants of what was once probably armor. And in one of its skeletal hands, it wielded a rusted spear.
Its hollow eyes then seemed to fixate on Maya's hiding spot.
Maya's instincts screamed at her to escape. The more that the centaur moved, the more she wanted to flee. Waiting for the creature to move further into the room, she tried to look around the workspace and search for an alternative exit.
Just then, her gaze fell on a small, almost hidden door in the corner of the lab, obscured by a tangle of ivy that had somehow crept into the room. It was an opportunity.
She inched her way towards it, keeping one eye on the centaur. As she reached the door, she glanced back. The centaur was now fully inside the lab, its attention momentarily caught by the array of broken equipment. Seizing the moment, Maya quickly opened the door and slipped through.
The door led to a narrow, spiraling staircase. Maya hurried down, the sounds of the centaur's frustrated groans echoing behind her. After what felt like an eternity, she emerged into a forested pathway, the air fresh and filled with the sounds of chirping birds and rustling leaves.
She paused for a moment, catching her breath. The forest was dense with countless trees towering above her. A dirt path stretched out in front of her, though she was unsure where it would lead, Maya decided to keep moving. Just in case the centaur somehow found a way to get to her.
As she ventured deeper down the path, she saw more strange creatures. Headless figures crawled on the ground aimlessly: their limbs scraping against the earth. Worse still were the humanoid abominations with three heads and twice as many arms that lumbered through the underbrush.
Maya's heart thundered in her chest. She just kept running, never once looking back.
But her escape was abruptly halted when a large, winged creature swooped down from the sky, blocking Maya's path. It was an abomination: boasting several dozen pairs of wings, each flapping with a sickening, fleshy sound. Its body was made out of human heads, their eyes empty and mouths agape. The heads screamed all at once, the sound so loud hat Maya instinctively clutched her ears.
The winged monstrosity shuffled towards her with a clumsy yet menacing gait. Not wanting to take her chances, the Shapestealer turned and fled deeper into the woods, the creature's screams echoing behind her.
As she dashed through the undergrowth, she failed to notice the ground giving way beneath her. Suddenly, she stumbled into a concealed pitfall trap. With a startled cry, she plunged down.
***
Maya's fall was fortunately interrupted by a splash into deep water. She flailed around at first, until she managed to calm and pull herself together as she swam towards the surface.
Soon, Maya pulled herself out of the water and onto a nearby ledge: gasping for air and coughing up the water that had forced its way into her mouth. She stayed there to catch her breath for a few moments. She thanked her lucky stars that Officer Mabel insisted she learn how to swim a long time ago.
Looking around, Maya saw that she was at the mouth of a cavernous passage. Its walls were covered with thick roots that seemed to pulse every so often.
The Shapestealer exited the pool and pushed herself onto her feet. She began to navigate through the dimly lit passage. But as she walked, she heard sounds of pained moans and groans that grew louder as she went further in. She could feel goosebumps break across her skin. But Maya swallowed down her fears and forced herself to keep going.
Finally, the passage opened into a large root-filled chamber that was stuffed to the brim with people. Each one had half or more of their bodies fused into the walls. The roots appeared to be consuming them, almost as if they were sucking the people into them. Maya's heart pounded against her chest as she took in everything she saw.
But suddenly, a voice called out to her. "Hey kid, over here."
With a slight jolt, Maya turned left and saw a man with his body from the waist down merged into the wall. Despite this, he managed to wave his one remaining hand at Maya. "Please, we need to talk."