The loot the spider skunk guarded proved to be much better than Levi expected. A mana and stamina restorative elixir — unexceptional, but nothing to complain about — as well as another dungeon token and a second Beast power stone.
Levi couldn't help but feel a thrill of excitement at the sight. It was normal to get one token or none from a beginner dungeon like this, but power stones were uncommon even in higher level dungeons. To find two in the same one was a windfall he'd not have dared to hope for.
He almost slotted the second stone into the dagger, then hesitated. Gremlins had no mana. There was no point in putting a power stone into a weapon if its user couldn’t power it.
He handed the dagger back to the gremlin, frowning slightly, and slipped the power stone into his belt pocket for later. The thought of empowering a better sword in future allayed his momentary uncertainty, returning his mood to high spirits. Though he hadn’t leveled, he’d cleared the dungeon and earned a second set of excellent items.
Now, to search the place high and low for the next clue in his treasure hunt.
First he double-checked the treasure circle guarded by the spider skunk. He carefully ran his hands along the ground and up the sides of the table, shoved at it to see if it would slide or tip over, and patted down the ground a second time in case he’d missed anything the first time.
He determined that the circle was as mundane and ordinary as they came and moved back to the main exit door and its treasure room. Gremlin Two helped search every inch of the floor, poking at anything that could possibly be the treasure they sought, but found nothing.
Levi sighed and stared at the ceiling one last time in case there was anything off about the beams of light coming from above. Nothing unusual, no change in texture or brightness.
“I guess we need to search the whole place.” Not every hidden treasure would be in the treasure room, or they’d be a lot more easy to find. In an arena as varied as the Beast dungeon, it could be under any rock or hidden in any crevice. “Good thing there’s two of us.”
Gremlin Two seemed happy with this development and dove into the search with gusto.
Levi circled the outside edges of the dungeon to be sure there was nothing in the walls.
Gremlin Two scurried up and down the trunk of each and every tree and peered into every knothole or crevice in the bark.
Levi searched the trap crevices that ran unevenly across the landscape.
Gremlin Two started turning over individual rocks in the area around the spider skunk’s lair.
He finally found what he was looking for at the end of a particularly deep rift. The false sunlight caught on something throwing tiny glints of light in all directions. Almost as though an invisible chandelier were catching the light and refracting it.
He leaned down and reached down, his fingertips brushed something solid and cold protruding from the side of the rift. It took a bit of fumbling to jostle it loose, then he scooped it out. A small oblong crystal, much like the first.
Unbound Seed Fragment (Rare)
1 of 3
Reclaim what was abandoned
He pulled out the first piece and pressed it together with the second. Nothing happened, but the cracks lined up perfectly. Two-thirds of the seed, which was clearly going to be long and thin and not the shape of a power stone. He placed both pieces back in his pocket, then called Gremlin Two over.
“Can you reach that?”
Below, tucked into the very bottom corner of the rift, he could see the small rolled up page of the next map. Too narrow and deep for his arm to fit through.
Two’s arms were shorter, but he had those extra long claws and his shoulders were skinny enough to wiggle his way down. It took him a few tries, but he snatched it out with a triumphant squeak and held up the page.
“Nice work.” Levi patted his minion’s shoulder appreciatively and spread it out on the open ground beside the rift.
Two more locations. The same two as before. One in Kentucky, the other in Michigan.
If Irene had followed his instructions, she’d be waiting with Peter at her parents’ house in Oregon, so he would start in Kentucky and work his way toward them.
His stomach clenched at the thought of her worrying, of the chaos he’d already brought upon her and Peter without meaning to, but more so at the thought of having to face her.
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
In all his dreams of reuniting with his family, he imagined a joyous occasion without tension or uncertainty. But reality wasn’t likely to play out like his fantasy. One brief text exchange was enough to prove that. And Levi wasn’t sure he remembered how to relate to people normally any longer.
The thought made him feel vaguely ill, and he forcibly drove it from his mind. He would deal with that problem when he had to. Until then, he had a treasure hunt to finish, and a great many levels to gain as quickly as possible.
Before he could exit the dungeon, Gremlin Two poked his leg.
“What is it?”
Gremlin Two pointed to his chest, head tilted to the side.
“I don’t understand.”
He ran around in a slow circle, then poked his chest again, then ran in the circle slightly faster, then poked his chest a third time.
It took Levi a moment to catch on. “Yes, of course. Right away.”
In the excitement over his new sword upgrade, he’d forgotten to assign Two’s stat point. He dropped it into Spirit.
Name: Gremlin Two Type: Horned Gremlin Level: 4 Strength: 2 Psyche: 0 Spirit: 2 Health: 60/60
(+3/min) Mana: 0/0
(+1/min) Stamina: 70/70
(+3/min)
Levi stared at Skarm's grayed-out name on his sheet. The unavailable Revive option haunted him. He wasn’t going to give up. Not until he absolutely had to.
“Anything else I’m forgetting?”
Gremlin Two shook his head and rushed to the portal. Levi stepped out, orienting to the darkness outside. Though they’d spent hours preparing to fight the turkey boss, the sun still hadn’t risen, but distant glimmers of paleness on the horizon heralded the dawn.
Congratulations, Levi Morrison!
Due to your discovery of three hidden treasures, you've earned a title.
Claim Title Abdicate Title
Was that even a question? Levi had only met one person with a Title before. They were incredibly rare.
Secret Seeker (Title, Rare)
Dungeons containing hidden secrets will be unable to hide from your sight: when entering a dungeon, if it contains an accessible treasure, you will be aware of its existence.
Treasures obtained from all dungeons will have a higher chance of being uncommon or rare items.
No evolutions available
He re-read the message, excitement building. Not only would he be alerted any time there was a secret treasure, but he’d also have an increased chance of getting better rewards from typical dungeons. This would be a welcome change from the uninspiring fare thus far.
And it looked like it could be evolved in the future, if not now, probably by finding even more secrets. Levi grinned. He was not opposed to searching out more secrets.
He jogged back toward the highway, bringing up the Uber app as he went.
This time, though, things did not go smoothly.
His account had been locked.
He sent a message to customer support but knew it would be hours or days before anything came of it. Too many unexplained charges outside ordinary usage, presumably.
He reached the gas station where he’d started, looking around the small stopover town in annoyance. New York was nowhere near where he wanted to be. It would take days of running nonstop to reach the next location.
The sudden loss of freedom staggered him. He’d gotten too used to the convenience of on-demand drivers so quickly, he felt adrift without them.
But only for a moment. He was used to battlefields with changing conditions, to campaigns with unexpected shifts.
He tucked the phone away, ignoring the notifications, and closed his eyes to focus on his memory of the dungeon map of the country. He had multiple goals, and he could advance them all at the same time.
If he pushed himself, he could reach a new dungeon every few hours. They weren’t distributed evenly, often more closely clustered around population centers and more sparse elsewhere, but he could chart a route through both destination dungeons on his treasure map, and dozens more on the way.
It would extend his travel time significantly; he’d not reach the Kentucky destination for more than a week, another week to Michigan, and well over a month until he got to Oregon.
His hand twitched toward his phone. The thought of going a month and a half without being able to ensure his family's safety... Anything could happen in that time.
Dungeons usually kept to themselves, aside from sending out scouts to lure people in, but what if a dungeon he didn’t know about popped up near Irene’s parents’ house? He’d already proven his knowledge from the future didn’t include all possible dungeons, including some pretty high level ones. Or what if Irene decided he’d been off grid too long and came looking for him?
He could do this if he had to but it was too long to wait. He couldn’t risk it. If there was any other choice...
Taking a steadying breath, he pulled out the phone and looked down at the contact list.
Seven missed calls from Irene, six from other numbers he didn’t recognize, and four from Gordon.
He hesitated, but remembered the genuine concern and affection in Gordon’s voice from their one conversation. Irene... he still couldn’t decide how to handle talking to her. Gordon was the nearest and least dangerous option with the highest chance of actually being able to help.
Taking a steadying breath, Levi pressed call.
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