Three rafts, large wooden things with plenty of space for several people to move around on, are tied off to the dock and gently swaying in the calm dark waters of the underground lake. There is a slight current, with the water of the lake seemingly flowing towards the other side where the water no doubt continues to flow further into the Dungeon, but it is so slow that it might as well be still. With the rafts held in place by thick ropes that tighten and slacken as they sway, Bug looks the big wooden things over with naked curiosity.

Bug has never seen a boat before, let alone a raft. She does have some knowledge about them however, even from before Hannah taught her about ships and about other things up on the surface. Contained within the Magic Knowledge that Bug had learned a while back, in the subject of Water Spells, there is one that is designed to propel rafts through the water. This knowledge came with the bare basics of what a raft is. However, it did not come with the know-how for how to operate a raft. That, she only has from putting together pieces of other information and again, from what she was able to learn from Hannah.

Obviously, Bug can’t use Water Spells. The closest she has access to is Ice, and that is only in relation to Death. However again, the Knowledge of this Spell did come with something useful.

The Spell’s purpose is specifically mentioned as being made so the user doesn’t have to use sails, oars, or expensive mana engines to drive with something called a propeller...

Bug has no idea what an engine is, the concept not being taught to her as anything more than just a word and an idea of some kind of 'machine thing', but sail and oars, being far simpler, she knows what those are at least.

Looking over one of the rafts, the first thing to note is that they don’t have sails. Not too surprising considering that there isn’t much wind down here, as those would have been largely useless and just served to complicate something as simple as a raft. Instead, these apparently have a couple of large oars, their lengths being several times longer than Bug is tall.

Taking a careful jump onto the raft, Bug holding out her arms as she fights to hold her balance with the raft rocking, heads over and picks up one of the long poles.

“Ok, obviously, the flat end goes in the water, right? And then I just move it around, like this, or…?

With the raft still tied up and her skeletons all patiently waiting on the dock, Bug plays around with the oar and experiments with how she can push the big raft around with nothing but a stick. A big stick, yes, but still a stick.

This is cool. How heavy is this raft even? And I can push it around so easily... Water is cool, I think I might enjoy this!

Once Bug feels like she has a good enough idea of how to do it, she orders Bob the Archer, Sam the Shield Man, and Zax the Axe, to board the vessel with her. All the other giant skeletons get put back into her inventory with Bug doubting that, even with how large the raft is, that it would actually be able to carry them all. Worse would be if any of her boney minions were to fall in the water. Retrieving them would be a headache. As for her flier and the Kappa, they are perfectly fine right where they are.

Speaking of the Kappa, with their skeletal bodies that still have bits of meat and flesh on them, they seem to be attracting hungry fish that are coming to nibble on the floating corpses. Little do the fishes know, the seemingly still corpses are not so still, and whenever a hungry fish comes by for a nibble of bloody skin hanging off a shell, the Kappa lash out and kill the fish with their claws. And they apparently have been doing this for a while as Bug was playing with the raft…

Watching a Kappa kill another dumb fish, Bug then witnesses said dumb fish come back to life and promptly swim away, presumably to go and unalive even more fish.

“Meh, I’m sure that won’t cause any issues… I hope…”

Giving a quick order to the Kappa to stop killing the harmless little fish and to let them eat the meat off their bodies if they want to, Bug unties the raft from the dock and pushes them away. The raft lazily flows out into the open waters, carried slowly on the current as Bug moves to try and drive the thing forward with one of the oars.

The end result is just the raft spinning around in a circle as she fights to get it to move properly, but they are heading in the right direction. Just slowly and with a lot of spinning.

“How the heck is anyone supposed to do this by themselves? It just keeps wanting to turn! Sam, help me, grab an oar!”

The silent skeleton obeys and grabs an oar.

Bug looks at him as he is just standing there, not moving to do anything else.

“Are you going to help or not? Hah… Mindless things… Put the oar in the water and row like I am d- NO I DIDN’T SAY DROP IT IN THE WATER!”

With two of the Kappa retrieving the lost oar, Bug has her braindead minion pick up another one. Carefully wording her orders and showing what she wants him to do this time, Bug manages to get him to start rowing.

With the two of them rowing, the raft starts to move through the water much better, but Bug’s short stature makes it so her rows aren’t as wide as Sam’s, making her have to row twice as fast just to keep the boat for turning. Deciding that she has had her fun for now and is quickly growing tired of rowing, Bug orders Zax to take her place, again, being careful with how she does so.

After a bit of work and some corrections to make it so the two are rowing together at the same pace and as smoothly as possible, Bug then gives some extra orders to get them to learn how to turn the raft as she wants. Some experiments later, and the raft is sailing across the lake at a good pace, able to turn and stop with nothing but a command on her part.

“Good, now I can relax for a bit. Take it nice an easy for a while~”

Feeling rather proud of herself, Bug moves to the center of the raft, beside a waiting Bob, and digs out her sleeping rolls and some old blankets to relax on. Not the newer/cleaner ones though. Bug is still dirty and in desperate need of a bath and her clothes of a wash, and she doesn’t want to dirty the ones she actually sleeps in. She’s not a savage after all.

Lounging on a soft nest of blankets and letting her minions do all the work, Bug pulls some of the still fresh food that she had stolen form one dead party or another- a pot of stew that they had been cooking before Bug showed up- and gets herself a bowl of the tasty stuff made to enjoy.

“Haaaah, tasty~ So much better than eating moss. Hopefully my food will last until I get out of the Dungeon. I really don’t want to go back to eating moss again…”

The moss has been a prevalent thing throughout the Dungeon so far. From growing everywhere in the first layer, to being patches growing amongst the foliage and on the branches of the second layer, Bug has seen no shortage of the stuff. Even down here, in the third layer, there is still more moss. It doesn’t grow anywhere near as densely as it did up above, but Bug hardly has to look hard to find a large enough patch of the stuff to fill her stomach if she were so inclined as to do so. Even just looking up at the ceiling where her flier is soaring around in lazy circles, she can see large patches of the stuff growing on the bricks and around the lights, wet with moisture.

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It's not as if the moss tastes bad or anything. If anything, it actually tastes alright. It’s just that compared to a hot bowl of stew, or even something as perfect and wonderful as a cookie, the moss is just… meh…

At the very least Bug doesn’t have to worry about starving to death or anything, but if she runs out of tasty food, she would be rather upset. Oh, she could just eat the Death Fungous! It does taste pretty good after all. Maybe Bug should learn how to cook? That could make for a good hobby…

Bug takes a sip of broth and talks to herself as she is carried across the lake in comfort, “Really wish the Points Store had food available as an option though. Devs really need to hurry up and finish that part already…”

Enjoy her raft ride in silence as her minions tirelessly work, Bug finishes off her meal and then stores away her bowl. Getting nice and comfy, she lounges as she watches the distant shoreline slowly grow closer. Even with the skeletons rowing at a steady pace, it is going to take a while to cross the lake.

Feeling her eyes growing heavy after a long and stressful day, Bug slowly closes her eyes and lets herself be drawn into a nap, the gentle rocking of the raft lolling her into a light sleep.

…

…

…

A beautiful beach with sand like pearls and water like shining diamonds. The gentle waves laps at the shore in a relaxing rhythm that leaves little crabs skuttling and quickly burying themselves in the sand as the retreating waters reveal their hidden homes. On the horizon, the sun hangs bright and large like the most radiant of topaz in the sky, with cotton candy like clouds floating lazily though a big blue sky.

Lounging comfortably in a beach chair under the shade of an umbrella in a two piece bikini, Bug watches as people she vaguely recognizes run and play on the picture perfect beach in colorful swimsuits of their own, laughing and smiling as they play with a ball, and making castles from the sand, or splashing about in the water. A bunch of the guys seem to have gathered to one side and are all digging a big hole together, looking rather proud of their work. Bug doesn’t know what the appeal is or why they seem to be enjoying digging so much, but as long as they are having fun she guesses it doesn’t matter. Today is just a nice day, relaxing under the sun. And that’s all that matters.

Beside her, lounging on another chair and reading a book, is a happy looking Hannah wearing a cute one-piece that daringly leaves her bellybutton exposed. It looks good on her. Her face is a bit blurry, but Bug can tell it is Hannah. She just knows. Hannah asks her a question, ending it with a joke, but the words are unintelligible, like a sentence scrambled and spoken in reverse. Bug just smiles and laughs at the joke, enjoying her time with her best friend. Enjoying being on the surface. Maybe she should give surfing a try, those waves look fun.

Meh, right now she is happy to just lay here and sip on this fruity drink she is only just now realizing she was holding. It tastes like a good flavor. She likes this flavor. It makes her smile and let out a satisfied sigh after a satisfyingly cold sip.

As Bug and Hannah are relaxing side by side under the shade of the umbrella, enjoying a peaceful and beautiful day, the tide slowly drawing nearer, Bug notices as the others on the beach are gathering around her. She doesn’t really care though. This drink tastes like happiness and her best friend is right next to her. That is all that matters. But why does she recognize these people? Despite their faces being blurry she can tell that they are smiling, she can tell that some part of her mind recognizes them from somewhere. But where?

They continue to gather around, all smiling and looking happy, as one should when enjoying a good day at the beach, but Bug can’t help but to grow a bit concerned as they continue to surround her. She looks over at Hannah, but the other girl apparently isn’t worried. She just turns a page in her book and keeps reading. Bug can’t understand the jumbled words on the cover, but Hannah looks like she is enjoying reading it.

“Can I help you?” Bug eventually decides to ask the gathering people, her curiosity making her even forget about the incredibly tasty beverage in her hand. Though, only for a moment.

The people don’t answer, just continuing to smile down at her.

Bug can’t be bothered to get angry at their silence. Today is a beach day and she is in too much of a good mood to get angry.

“Who are you?” She chooses to ask next, directing her question to the nearest man wearing a yellow and green pair of swim trunks, since she can’t place their blurry faces to memories of people she thinks she remembers.

…

“netu ’suo mroem erbdY?”

“No… I don’t remember you. Should I?"

The smiling man steps closer, still looking happy despite being forgotten. Something that should make most people understandable upset. He places his hand on the pole of the umbrella and looks down at Bug.

“oe u,kmli Yedemrembe?lr”

Bug blinks as she looks up at him, mildly surprised by his words.

“I killed you?”

The man nods, still smiling.

Looking around at all the other gathered people, recognition fills her.

“Oh, I did! Huh… Sorry that I forgot your face... and your name... that was rude of me.” Bug says with a smile before taking a sip of her tasty drink. It just has such a great flavor!

“ohT's.tak” Says the man, an arrow sticking out of his rotting back, his skin turning black and green as poison ravages his veins and mushrooms sprout from his face like horns.

Setting aside her drink on a little table that wasn't there a moment ago, Bug smiles and asks, “So, you all enjoying the beach? I wish I could play under the sun to…”

Bug doesn’t know why she can’t also enjoy the sun yet, but she is currently relegated to staying under the umbrella for now. It would be nice if she could feel its light on her skin like everyone else.

The man says something that she doesn’t quite catch, and Bug blinks at him with a questioning “Hm?”

He doesn’t repeat himself, instead choosing to work on removing the umbrella’s pole from the sand.

Bug doesn’t know why but this has her panicking.

“Wait! You shouldn’t do that! I’m not – AHHHHHHhhhAHHhhhahh!!!”

The umbrella is pulled away and the sun’s light is finally able to reach Bug’s exposed legs. A searing heat finds her as her flesh is lit a flame. With the shade pulled away and her body exposed, the fire spreads and engulfs her, Bug screams and flails in her chair as she and everyone else on the beach panics at the sudden inferno.

People panic and ask what to do. Someone makes a suggestion and others quickly agree. Bug, chair and all, is suddenly lifted by many hands and carried forward by a multitude of dead people. With a heave-ho, she is suddenly in the air, looking at the quickly approaching waters. With a splash, she is submerged and wet.

She panics.

She gasps for air.

She can’t tell up from down and as the waves hit her, her world is sent tumbling around and around and around as clouds of sand are kicked up by a wave crashing down on her head.

…

…

…

Dirty water filling her mouth and threatening to flood her lungs, Bug finds herself underwater and understandably panics. She has no idea how she got here, and worst of all, she doesn’t know how to swim.

Flailing around, her arms and legs kicking in every direction, Bug panics in the dark water as her brain screams for air and she is knocked around by raging underwater currents.

Not knowing what else to do, she sends out an order to her skeletons. Nothing more than a desperate ‘HELP!’ as she continues to panic under the water and sink deeper into the dark.

A skeletal hand quickly finds her back and pushes against her, soon followed by another and then a third as her Kappa reach her. Pushing against her, the skeletons bring their master back up to the surface and Bug is soon breaching the black depths to find breathable air.

Gasping, she chokes and coughs up a mouthful of water, her body wanting to retch and cry as her lungs force up the bit of water that she had accidentally swallowed.

With adrenaline pumping through her veins, dazed and confused, Bug quickly remembers what she was doing and looks for solid land, her Kappa working to keep her head above the water.

There, off in the distance, Bug can see her destination, the other side of the underground lake. It’s much closer than it was when she dozed off, but still a worrying distance away. Where is the raft?

Bug looks around, her wet hair slapping around as she turns her head in a hurry.

“Shit…”

She found it. Or what is left of it, that is. The raft is now several pieces of driftwood floating in the water, her blankets stuck to the wood or floating around before slowly sinking into the dark water.

There is no sign of Bob, Sam, or Zax the Axe, and to make matters worse, her other Kappa appear to be fighting something under the water and are losing badly.

Cursing, Bug points to the largest of the remaining pieces of raft and orders, “Get me over there, now!”

What the Hell, can I not just take a nap in peace!?