Griffin wasn’t sure if he wanted to commit to an ‘arms outstretched on his either side’ style dramatic pose or ‘the classic one fist in the air I have a dream’ pose as he finally stepped outside the Dungeon’s door.
The chestplate that Jun-Ra had bought him after accounting for his low-level yet high requirements was now dented in two places and lightly scorched in a third, courtesy of the single Solcervi that he had encountered during his stay in the Prism of Shifting Sands.
Two claw-marks had finally torn their way through his hardened leather chaps, even as the bleeding had healed without leaving behind a scar.
A tuft of hair had been burned off his head, though Griffin still managed to pull off the lightly singed look without looking too disheveled.
‘Huh,’ He thought as he finally recouped enough strength to scan the hubbub before him. ‘Why are there so many people?’
“Hey, is the first floor supposed to be that hard?” One disciple asked in a lowered tone.
“All I encountered were some eel slimes on the first floor. It’s the third floor where it’s supposed to get difficult…,” A male disciple trailed off.
“His hair is singed off. Was there any creature capable of breathing fire mentioned in the First Floor’s records?” Another asked.
‘Oh well,’ Griffin thought. ‘A larger audience always makes for a more entertaining performance.’
He raised a single triumphant fist in the air, having made his decision between the two options. For a solid thirty seconds, he stood there unmoving, as if he was a figure whose name would be recorded in the history books for generations to come.
Then, just about as he was done letting the commoners bask in his radiant glory, what little strength he had remaining left him.
Griffin fell face-first, as the last wisps of his consciousness left him.
The last thing he remembered was a firm hand halting his fall.
----------------------------------------
Griffin awoke to a strong herbal aroma that was quite literally flooding his senses. His eyes stung, his nose itched and his tongue communicated the aftertaste of a particularly bitter medicine to his dazed mind.
“Ack!” He coughed out a bit more violently than intended, spraying a burst of green-colored spittle outwards.
“Senior Sister Jun-Ra, he’s awake,” Shen-Ya’s usually unenthusiastic tone was tinged with a genuine concern.
“Oh,” Jun-Ra softly replied, clearly surprised at being caught off-guard.
The sound of a single pair of approaching footsteps clapped against the wooden flooring. Griffin blinked a few times to clear the haze out of his vision, his eyes coming to focus just as Jun-Ra came to a stop at his left.
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He was on a bed, Griffin realized. A warm, comfortable bed that was flanked by a side-table to his left.
“Are you alright?” Jun-Ra asked, her usual polite tone carrying an undercurrent of worry.
“Maybe?” Griffin answered honestly, his reply coming out in a far hoarser tone than he had expected.
“Do not worry about the medicinal paste. It is a bit strong, but you will get used to it over time,” Jun-Ra promised.
As Griffin took in her expression, he noticed that she seemed a little off-balance. Her usual poise and the effortless grace she seemed to exude, whether it was haggling with shopkeepers or confronting Elders to get what she wanted, was still present, but Griffin felt like her expression seemed forced today—- as if the creases of worry were tucked away behind the pristine, system-enhanced body of a cultivator.
“I guess it wouldn’t be medicine if it didn’t taste bitter,” Griffin joked, though he himself wasn’t feeling too amused.
“So,” It was Shen-Ya who took over the conversation, the blunter of the duo, always indispensable when it came to asking the direct questions. “Just what happened in there? Why did we find a kilo of sand trapped in your armor? Why was it so viciously damaged and had clear signs of heat warp and damage?”
“I went inside the dungeon,” Griffin deadpanned, before throwing his hands up in the air in exasperation.
‘Ow,’ He thought, noting that his arms were still sore from the overexertion he had put it through.
“Look, I didn’t know anything out of the ordinary. At least, as far as I know of. Anyway, your benevolent system decided that it would be funny to put me in a giant glass prism with Sirroco Nibblers and a single Solcervi that almost killed me even after I ambushed it. Oh and did I mention that the system shook it up, quite literally and almost buried me under a sea of sand?”
Shen-Ya had a shocked expression on her visage before she looked to Jun-Ra for confirmation.
The ever so wise Jun-Ra also seemed at a loss.
“What is a Solcervi?” Shen-Ya asked. “A prism of glass… The first floor is supposed to be an initiation into the dungeon, so it is almost always an underground cavern or an open field…”
“Look, it’s like a flaming deer— actually, never mind. Regardless of what went down in the blasted dungeon, I got the job done,” Griffin claimed, as he found his stride in the conversation.
He willed his open palm forward and visualized his Flame Creation skill into being.
A ball of flames materialized onto his right hand as Griffin once again felt the pull on his soul, their intensity worth noting.
“You stole a skill,” Jun-Ra muttered under his breath, her eyes wide as the shifting ball of flames lay nestled calmly on Griffin’s palm, without scorching his skin at all. “And a powerful one at that.”
“The Solcervi— it was a flame aspect beast, right?” Shen-Ya asked, her tone sounding a little….afraid.
“Yeah,” Griffin admitted. “This will make things easier, but it’s clear that whatever the Gilded Dungeon is for others, it’s entirely something else for me. The second floor will be even harder….” He trailed off.
“If you want to quit, it will be difficult to complete your—--,”Jun-Ra began.
“No,” Griffin shot her down. “No, I’ll do it. But before I take another step into that hell-pit, there’s something I want to ask you two.”
Jun-Ra’s expression hardened as she realized that Griffin might have finally decided to address the elephant in the room. Her gaze intersected with Griffin’s own, before she nodded, “Ask.”
“Fine, I won’t mince my words. Just what do you both want from me?”