Chapter 32: Field of Death
As the metal door shut on its own behind him, Zach knew there was no going back. All at once, the lovely smells of the tavern, the jubilant sound of cheering and singing, and the warm glow of comforting light—all of it simply evaporated, and now there was nothing but a silence so intense that he could hear a sound of ringing in his ears.
“At least it didn’t fall on us this time,” Rian said with a snicker. Though he spoke in a soft, conversational tone, his voice managed to echo due the absolute quiet. “What happens if we try opening it?”
With a shrug, Zach turned around and pushed open the door. Then he couldn’t help but laugh aloud, as there was nothing behind it but a steel wall. “I guess nothing happens.”
As the three of them began to descend the stairs, Zach didn’t have to be a mind reader to know that they were all worried they’d be subjected to another seemingly endless, multi-hour journey down a dangerous flight of “steps” that would only become more perilous the farther they ventured. Thankfully, however, it took less than a minute to reach the bottom, at which point they were greeted by yet another metal push door labeled B3, which Rian approached as if intent on opening.
“Wait, before we go through,” Zach said, reaching into the pocket of his red-and-brown, mob-dropped pants, “mind if I check something really quickly?”
Lienne came to a stop by his side, and Rian, who had his palm laid flat on the push bar, paused a moment then nodded. “Sure, what is it?”
Removing his cell phone, Zach swiped the screen, then held it up in the air above him before showing it to his two friends. “I have service,” he said. “I mean, barely any, not even a full bar, but that’s not what matters. What matters is that I have service at all.”
“What do you mean?” Lienne asked him.
Zach half turned around and then extended his arm in the direction of the stairs. “Right now, we’re back on Galterra—we’re just really, really far below the ground. Out of curiosity, I wanted to see if I could piece together events so far, and I think I have.”
Lienne made a slight humming sound as if considering something. “Piece…together events?” she asked.
Zach returned his phone to his pocket. “When we first came into the dungeon and made our way through the first floor—all of that was on Galterra. After that, when we took that strange stairway down to B2—that was also Galterra. But then when we walked through the door, we somehow walked onto another planet, as insane as that is to say. Then we went from there to—and I can’t believe I’m saying these words—but we went from there to beyond the edge of the universe, and now we’re back in Galterra. So it seems this dungeon loops in, out, and around various places in the world.”
“And beyond here?” Rian asked, lifting his chin at the dark blue metal door labeled B3.
Zach shrugged. “No idea. But based on what we now know about dungeons, it could be literally anywhere.” He tapped on the steel wall to the left of the door. “It could be somewhere on the other side of this wall, or it could be a place so far away that the light from it hasn’t even reached our planet yet. We just don’t know.”
Lienne grinned, playfully pushed Zach aside, and then peeled her brother away from the door. Now, it was her palm that was laid flat on the push bar. “I think it’s my turn to find out,” she said. With that, she shoved open the door, and immediately, a gust of dry, frigid air enveloped Zach like a blanket and made him shiver.
“First instinct? Not Galterra,” she said, sauntering through. Rian was quick to follow behind her, and Zach equally as quick to follow him.
Together, the three of them stepped out into what looked like a massive, wide-open field with a dirt path cutting directly through the middle of it. To both the left and right of the path were very short stalks of green grass with pumpkins growing out of the soil just about everywhere for as far as the eye could see; only, far removed from the typical orange color that Zach was used to, each and every one of these pumpkins were a vivid purple, which was unlike anything Zach had ever before encountered.
Despite being slightly past noon in Galterra—or at least in North Bastia—it had to be well into the night wherever they currently were. Zach didn’t even bother to check his phone for service to see if they were still on their home planet, as there was no need; simply glancing up at the unfamiliar constellations in the sky was enough of a clue on its own. That, along with the presence of two greyish-looking full moons confirmed this was a place that was far from home.
It's almost too hard to believe.
Zach was once again blown away by the idea that he was now on a world that was not Galterra—a world with its own unique geography, climate, and physical features. It was a place that had existed likely for millions of years, and here he was now, walking on it. It gave him an appreciation of just how large the world was compared to him or even just compared to Galterra.
Mr. Oren once walked this same path as us, he realized. He and Kesten stepped on this very same dirt. Did they feel the same way too?
Stuck in the ground on a small metal pole in front of him was an old, dusty sign that read: Follow the path 4.5 miles for B3->B4. Reach the exit in 59:54 for a 450xp bonus.
Reading it over, Zach immediately looked at Rian, who looked at Lienne, who looked back at Zach, and then all of them nodded in unison. “We should go as fast as possible,” Zach said. “That’s a shit-ton of experience points.”
“Not too fast, though,” Rian said. “We have no idea what we might aggro out here.”
“Good point.”
With that, they took off at a brisk pace as the sound of a door slamming shut echoed behind them. Out of curiosity, Zach glanced over his shoulder to see that what was once a metal door was now a wooden one, and it belonged to a two-story cabin that almost looked made out of straw. Without a doubt, if he opened it, he’d find nothing inside but a dark, creepy old home that was very likely empty.
It’d be even worse if it wasn’t, he thought, stifling a chuckle.
As they continued to walk, Lienne folded her arms across her chest and shivered. “It’s f-freezing here,” she said, her teeth chattering. Zach, having already begun to shiver himself, found himself in full agreement. The air here was very dry and cold. Seasonally, it felt like the end of fall if not quite the start of winter. Back home, summer was only first beginning, and even in the middle of the night, it was hot and humid—especially during their current heat wave. Thus, none of them were appropriately dressed for this kind of temperature.
As they made their ways along the dirt path, the only sound other than their feet as it stomped down on the ground was the whine of a breeze and the rustling of grass as a periodic gust made Zach cross his arms, trying to stop the wind from sapping the heat out of his body. He couldn’t wait to be somewhere warmer. And also somewhere a bit less ominous, too.
Aside from the pumpkins, there was nothing to see for what looked like miles in either direction to both his left and right with the exception of the occasional, terrifying-looking scarecrow. Every so often, they would spot one of them in the distance, and it added a sense of dread to each of their steps. Their eyes and mouths were blackened and looked like they had been burned on as opposed to drawn, and rather than straw fingers, the scarecrows seemed to have five- or six-feet claws that looked genuinely sharp. They wore overalls and jeans, typical farmwear, but the fabric was torn in places, revealing what almost looked like blood-stained straw beneath.
“It’s so creepy here,” Lienne said, her head darting every which way as if searching for any sign of danger. Though it was quite dark, it was bizarrely better lit than Zach would’ve expected, and he supposed it was due to the light reflecting off both of the large moons in the sky. It basically made it slightly more than twice as bright as he would normally expect if this had been a dark, unlit field somewhere in North Bastia.
The terrain was not entirely flat, and there were frequently hills; this, combined with the dark of night, made it difficult to gauge how much farther they had left to travel. Yet at their current pace, he estimated they’d journey the full four-and-a-half miles in just over a half hour with plenty of time to spare—well, provided Rian could keep up.
“Gods,” he said with a huff. “I need to…I need to lose weight and work on my cardio.”
“You’re doing fine,” Zach said to him. He meant it, too. Sure, Rian was a bit stout, but his ability to keep pace while carrying such a heavy shield and axe while also lugging around his own natural body weight meant that he must have really been pushing himself for the sake of Zach and Lienne. It was impossible not to respect that level of effort. Rian was clearly the antithesis of laziness. Zach actually found it inspiring.
For the next ten minutes, the three of them traveled mostly in silence along the dark, more-or-less straight path through what Zach now thought of as some kind of otherworldly pumpkin patch. Each time he spotted one of the scarecrows well off into the distance on either his left or right side, he averted his gaze, and he noticed that Rian and Lienne did the same. They were unpleasant to look at, and they made him nervous, which in turn made him facetious.
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“This seems like a really great place to raise a family,” he quipped, breaking the silence.
Barking out a laugh, Rian said, “Sure, just build a nice little cabin right here next to the purple pumpkins. Prime real-estate.”
Lienne shivered. “I don’t even want to be out here for another five minutes, let alone imagine living here. Those scarecrows are seriously freaking me out.”
“Just don’t look at them, Li,” her brother said.
“Believe me, I’m trying not to.”
Zach shuddered as another icy breeze swept over him. “Don’t worry, guys,” he said. “We’re making great time. We’re probably more than halfway to the exit, and it’s only been about twenty-five minutes. You’re both doing awesome. And…and in all honesty, I don’t like these damn scarecrows either.”
Unfortunately, simply “not looking” at them became somewhat more difficult as, the farther along they traveled, the more numerous the scarecrows became. Eventually, they came across one of the hideous things directly in their path ahead; it stood in the middle of the dirt road, which made it impossible to completely avoid glimpsing its deliberately unsettling figure. The scarecrow was actually so intimidating that, for a short moment, all three of them came to a halt as if not wanting to go near it.
“Should we just walk around it?” Lienne asked.
“Why waste time? They’re everywhere,” Rian said. “Hey, I’ll go first.” With a disgusted look on his face, he crept forward and towards the disgusting creation of straw and cloth. Zach watched as he kept to the left side of the somewhat narrow dirt path as if to avoid coming close enough to brush against it. “It really is disgusting,” he muttered to himself. Much like the other scarecrows, the portions of its cloth that were ripped revealed reddish-colored straw as opposed to the pale yellow that decorated its face.
With a nervous sounding laugh, Rian continued to approach the scarecrow—and then something happened. And it happened with such rapidity that Zach’s eyes barely had time to register it. The moment Rian moved to within ten feet of the creature, a bright, green flame burst into existence over its eyes and mouth; where previously its lips had been nothing more than a straight, blackened line, they now took form, becoming distorted and deforming into the shape of a scowl. Then the creature screamed—and it was a loud, terrifying shriek like that of a man who’d been set on fire. In the same exact instant, words popped into existence in the air above the scarecrow’s face, and it was this that caused Rian to holler in panic, raise his shield, and jump backwards.
[??/??]
Aggrieved Scarecrow
Level 10
“Shit!” Zach swore. “We should’ve known something like this would happen. We should’ve known!”
“Level 10!” Rian yelled, backing away as the thing moved towards him. “I…I…I’ve taunted it. Light it up, Li!”
The creature raised its claws, which were so long that, if held vertically, they were taller than the height of the average person. “Ssssrraaaaaash!” it yelled. “Ssssrraaaaaash!”
The world around Zach briefly glowed blue amidst the creature’s green fiery face as a missile-shaped flame struck it dead center between its eyes, dealing 31 damage but not causing it to miss a step or even slow in its advance towards Rian.
Extending its arms and by extension its massive claws forward, it exploded into an unexpected run, heading straight for him. Then, with a speed that defied logic, it spun around in a full, three-sixty-degree arc, and Rian barely managed to catch its claws on his shield, one hitting instantly after the next. The impact was enough to cause him to drop down to his knees. Yet the creature was upon him again before he could even rise to his feet, spinning a second time and causing another thud-thud as it struck his shield back-to-back. This time, the second hit caused the shield to fly right out of his hands and sail across the air until it landed a second later on the dirt near Zach’s right foot.
He’s defenseless! Zach thought, horrified.
The creature raised its claws, ready to strike a third time. Somehow, Zach knew—he just knew that if the creature managed to land that one-two on Rian, Lienne’s heals would be of no use. It would slice his entire head off. It would kill him in a single strike.
With zero time to plan, zero time to think, and zero time to spare, Zach prayed his recent stamina growth, his previous night’s rest, and his hearty meal with Mr. Oren were enough to see him through what he had been warned to avoid doing. Thus, powering through the fear in his heart, he attacked in a desperate attempt to save the life of his friend.
“Wave Slash!” he screamed, the words coming out on their own as his body made movements beyond his control. Lifting his blade high above his head, he slashed downwards diagonally, creating a streak of green, semi-transparent energy that quickly coalesced into a fast-spinning, double-bladed metallic disc that made such a tremendous, high-pitched shriek as it soared through the air that it drowned out even the sound of the scarecrow’s cries.
A moment before the creature began its spinning attack and finished Rian off with its sizeable claws, the disc slammed into the scarecrow’s waist—and eviscerated it, causing the creature to almost bend forward as its top half became completely severed from its bottom half. It made a barely audible thud as both pieces hit the ground before evaporating into a puff of smoke. Then came gasps from both Rian and Lienne as they pointed into the air above its head.
516
“How the hell did he do that?” Rian shouted. “Did that say…five-hundred sixteen? Did Zach seriously just hit for five-fucking-hundred and sixteen?”
“Gods above,” Lienne whispered. “What level are you again, Zach? Better yet, who are you?”
Zach tried to reply, but a wave of exhaustion crashed into him—one so powerful that it took all of his energy just to remain on his feet. He wobbled, he nearly fell, and his eyes became blurry. It was for this reason he thought he must be mistaken as he saw the number they were referring to. But they’d said it out loud. Had he both misheard them and been mistaken by what he’d seen? He must’ve been. After all, how could he possibly have hit for so much? Especially with his stats? Soon after the number faded, another took its place.
+100xp
For the second time, Zach tried to form words, but as if fighting a losing battle, his blade slipped out of his fingers, and he dropped to one knee. He tried again to stand, but it had the result of him stumbling backwards, off the road, and into the pumpkin patch. A mere instant before regaining his balance, he tripped over two of the purple pumpkins, landing with a painful thud on his back. This, for some Gods-knew-what reason made the two pumpkins growl at him
Wait…they growled at him? But since when could a pumpkin—?
“G-guys!” he screamed, as both of the wrongly colored pumpkins came to life before his eyes. “Guys!”
Throwing himself up into a sitting position, he backed away on his ass as the two pumpkins he’d just bumped into sprouted a pair of arms and legs, and also a mouth. Though eyeless, they bared sharp, square, and somewhat human-looking teeth at him. Then, with another growl, the nearest pumpkin jumped into the air towards his head. Zach rolled over onto his stomach a moment before it bit his face. Then he rolled over again as the second also leapt at him. Now, above their names, he saw words that had not been there only a moment before.
[??/??]
Audacious Pumpkin
Level 4
“Zach! Come back to the path!” Rian yelled. “Don’t aggro any more of them!”
Scrambling back to his feet, he ignored his exhaustion and ran towards his friends. But as he was disoriented, he again stumbled. Even as Lienne ran straight for him as though to help him steady himself, he tripped over a third pumpkin, and then fourth pumpkin after that. Had Lienne not caught him, he would have face-planted a second time. As things were, he nearly caused the both of them to fall over. Thankfully, he managed to regain his footing and stop her from toppling over.
“I’m sorry,” he said, gasping for air.
Now, there were four of the creatures, and all were growling and snarling at him. As soon as he and Lienne made their way back to the path, yet another jumped into the air, propelled itself forward, and made as if to latch onto his face. But this time, however, Rian, having recovered his shield, stepped in front of him and blocked. The creature made a loud clack as it bounced backwards and off the shield.
“Everyone stay on the dirt path no matter what,” Rian said. “We have to deal with these four before we go any farther.”
“I’m so sorry,” Zach said, panting, still trying to catch his breath.
“Sorry?” Rian asked, repeating the word as though it were absurd. “You just saved my Gods-damned life. Just take it easy for a second. I think Li and I can handle these.”
With that, Zach tried to regain some of his stamina as he watched the two of them leap into action. He should’ve known things wouldn’t go so easy. Even still, he hadn’t expected this. With his heart pounding in his chest, he fought to get his breathing under control, and then, slowly retrieving his blade off the dirt path where he’d dropped it, he waited for his moment to strike.