"We don't know what the purpose of the place is, how The Architect exactly built it, and how it was built in the first place. What we know for certain is the fact that the shit down here is dangerous and unique at the same time. You will never find similar sights and opportunities on the surface compared to here. And as long as I have more wonders to see and more power to gain, I don't care whether I am merely entertainment for The Architect or a mouse crawling through his maze."
-An answer to the question 'What do you think about this place' asked to one of the delvers.
37 AA
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Lan continued observing the humans and their expedition, as they descended deeper into... himself, however awkward that sounded.
When they entered the second Chamber, which they, for some reason, kept calling the second floor, one of their scouts went to explore the Right Path. Not the best decision in Lan's opinion.
At first, he advanced rather quietly, successfully maintaining his stealth, but when he got near the first Place of Power, which had its own guardian, he 'tripped the alarm' by activating one of the near-invisible threads that the Great Spider spread.
And the spider which was hidden among the branches, covered in shadows, revealed itself in the form of an ambush, which the scout somehow sensed and avoided. It probably had something to do with the Heart Core he absorbed.
Not only was the spider's ambush unsuccessful, but the supposed prey also retaliated with a slash of a dagger while retreating.
Whether on purpose or not, said dagger happened to critically injure two of the spider's eyes, which thoroughly enraged the arachnid.
With a cry, it called on its kin, with various smaller spiders gathering from all over.
At the same time, the scout fled back to the group. But try as he might, he wanted in the spider's territory, and the beasts were faster than him.
Although the human was deft and agile, not tripping even once, and his breathing was even despite the threat to his life, the beasts closed the distance quickly by scuttling on the webs amidst the trees.
Those very same webs also hindered the scout, forcing him to avoid them, limiting his escape routes, and forcing him to slow down.
But even the mightiest make mistakes, not to mention an almost regular human.
Amidst all the running, the scout occasionally retaliated against the arachnids which were getting too close for comfort in the form of throwing weapons that were previously strapped all over his body.
Those needles and daggers often struck down the beasts that lunged at him mid-jump or pierced the eyes of the spiders, slowing down or even killing them.
When he turned around to do so once again, he didn't notice a web that was strewn between two trees which he ran towards.
That mistake caused the web to be torn away and instead cling to his head and face, disorienting the human, and causing him to trip, consequently falling to the ground.
The lone human grunted and looked back towards the chasing beasts, and upon finding none in his line of sight, he rolled away under one of the trees, hiding amidst the roots.
As the skittering of many limbs grew closer, the scout steadied his breath, becoming quieter and quieter until his breathing was quieter than the surrounding breeze.
It seemed as if shadows began to envelop him, embrace him as if he were part of them.
What nearly broke him out of his concentration was a crack of the branch above him.
Upon slowly raising his head up he saw something which caused even his tempered heart to skip a beat.
A massive form of a Greater Spider moved above him, climbing down from the branches and down the tree trunk. Blue blood dripped from its wounded eyes and onto the ground.
As a drop of blood dripped onto the human's face, he dared not flinch, for the spider was now mere meters away from him. He dared not make a move or sound.
The Greater spider slowly moved down the trunk, its legs missing the human scout by less than a meter. He, however, was not discovered.
Lan watched all of this with fascination, and his gaze which was akin to a magic microscope painted a completely different picture.
Where a normal human would see a scene of fear and admiration of the scout's display of stealth, Lan saw what truly happened.
When the human tripped and consequently hid from the chase, he started to resonate with the surrounding shadow mana by lowering his own presence, unconsciously attracting it.
The gathered shadow mana covered him like a blanket, enveloping the human entirely, hiding his temperature, scent, and overall presence. It was as if he was just another part of the ever-present shadow under the trees of the Right Path.
Had the Greater Spider possessed a better sense for mana, it might have noticed the abnormal concentration of mana, but it didn't, so it missed the prey which hid in plain sight.
'...Damn, that's what I call Stealth 100!'
But it would seem that the human would not be able to keep up this state forever, as internal mana which was contained in the Mana Circuit was dispersing into the cloak of shadow mana, keeping it stable.
If the man didn't get moving soon, then he would be at best too exhausted to run, or at worst unconscious and ripe to be eaten.
Fortunately for him, the Greater Spider seemed to follow his previous general direction after it lost sight of the scout, so the human then started moving yet again, breaking the shadow cloak immediately by getting up.
He then managed to gain some distance before being found yet again, but this time he was close enough to the exit of the forest, so he just kept on running until he reached the clearing, where he was almost shot to death by his allies.
The spider swarm followed him in pursuit, which led them to the group of humans, causing the two sides to clash.
Although the spiders were rather imposing with their sizes, their carapace didn't give them much protection against human weapons. Although swords sometimes didn't slash through, weapons such as hammers easily crushed the arachnids.
The woman who was the leader engaged in battle with the Greater Spider but proved inadequate against its superior mobility and protection.
As Lan now observed her, he had noticed the moment when she was left defenseless by a spider's attack.
If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
Moments before her supposed demise, Lan noticed a burst of mental mana blast out of her and converge on her sword. The Core, with his superior cognition, had seen the whole process which followed afterward.
The mental mana stimulated the light mana that was stored within her Circuit, directing it toward her sword, where it erupted in a flash of light. A similar trick to what Tag did, really.
'To be fair, compared to Tag, this is amateur work... No, I am not biased at all.'
That trick of her's blinded the attacking beast, herself, and the teammates near her. Fortunately, the Ranger that was previously chased helped her not get eaten by starting to harass the Greater Spider.
Shortly after it was finished up, and the rest of the spiders were killed too. How totally unexpected.
What did surprise Lan a little was the fact that none of the humans died this time. To be honest he expected at least one or two casualties due to the venom that the spiders had greatly developed.
A Life Core was then left behind on the ground where the Greater Spider was slain.
'Life? I thought it would be shadow attuned... The spider must have gotten its affinity thanks to the Place of Power. It seemed to possess enhanced regeneration and no supernatural stealth capabilities. So I should have seen that coming.'
After that the humans conversed, and the scout turned out to be named 'Leopold', Lan decided to remember his name, as he seemed to be a skilled individual. Leopold then got sent out to scout the other Path.
During that time the leader 'Marilyn', gave the Life Core to one of the remaining Mages.
Said crystal was perfectly drained, proving that the girl's Circuit was Life-attuned. As such, she absorbed all the mana contained within, and her own mana gained Life properties.
That showed in improved healing prowess, making her a perfect example of a healer.
'To be honest she might as well become an alchemist or something. I think her mana also gained the ability to enhance plant growth. Wait, do they even have alchemists..?'
During his deliberations, Lan also kept an eye on the scout Leopold, not even noticing how he himself seemed to split his attention in two.
Said scout was much more cautious while scouting out this Path, being slower, and checking out where he moved before making a step. Leopold was looking up and down, to the sides as well, in order to not be ambushed anymore.
His efforts paid off, as after a period of time shifting amidst the trees near the path, he noticed the clearing where he discovered a great boar sleeping under the tree. Leopold promptly retreated to report his findings after observing it for a while.
Upon returning and reporting with no trouble, the exploratory group gathered and moved down the Left Path. Some among them seemed wary, having already lost many of their comrades since descending here, but some stared in fascination.
Lan gathered from their talks that it was not often that they visited places with such dense vegetation, as it often meant great danger. Which was the same in this case as well, just a bit more structured.
The group then came across the sleeping boar, arranged themselves according to their plans, and began the battle.
The hide of the beast proved tough, its might great, and its charge heavy.
The results of being hit by such a beast were clearly seen in one of the warriors who battled it. Although he wasn't set to another world by Boar-Kun, one impact was enough to incapacitate him, rendering him unable to continue the battle.
But he didn't die due to being dragged away by those not fighting in melee.
In the end, this fight ended with no human casualties as well, but some people were severely injured.
Lan's attention was captured, and it was extremely fascinating to watch humans fight through the obstacles of his own design.
It was similar to watching a TV show where contestants went through a challenging obstacle course, showing off their skills and prowess.
Lan looked at the humans who were cheering and celebrating, one of the warriors lifting up the gray crystal in his hand, showing it off to everyone. He wasn't very lucky as this was no Mana Beast, but False or Pseudo Mana Beast, having formed a Core, but having no affinity and, as such having no extraordinary powers.
The man who wielded the Greataxe tried to absorb it like he had seen others do, and the crystal in his hands attracted jealous eyes from other people, as they had seen how those who absorbed them became stronger and gained new powers.
Still, they didn't stare for long, as the crystal flashed briefly and crumbled into dust. The Warrior had a confused expression on his face, the increase in power not being significant.
Meanwhile, Lan saw what happened, only a small portion of mana within got absorbed by the man, the rest only dispersing chaotically through the environment.
'It seems that a crystal without the affinity isn't accepted by the Mana Circuit that well. Or maybe the man doesn't have the corresponding affinity. Whatever the case, it was pretty much a waste, as the increase in power was negligible in comparison to the previous ones.'
Still, the other humans didn't know that it was the case, being jealous and respectful towards him at the same time. Empowered or not, the man already had expectations laid down on him due to absorbing the loot.
After around fifteen minutes, thanks to the group's newfound healer, the wounded returned to their optimal states. Removing the wounds didn't recover the fatigue or apprehension, as some of the Warriors looked towards the continuance of the Path with tired or fearful gazes.
That didn't apply to the leader 'Marilyn' however, as she provided yet another short but motivational speech to the group, talking about the victory over a mighty foe, and talked about how in this place struggle could earn power.
At the mention of rewards and loot, humans naturally cheered up. Greed, as much as it could tear the group apart from within, at the same time could motivate it and hold it together. Rather ironic.
'Still, however many powerups they gain, and however motivated they may be, they don't know what lies ahead. Hehe.'
Lan was snickering when he was thinking about their hard-won victory when all they defeated was a mini-boss... One of five. On this path. And that is without counting the four waiting together before the Floor Boss itself.
In the end, Lan also decided to follow the humans in naming and switching the Entrance Chamber to the First Floor, the Second Chamber to the Second Floor, and the former First Floor became the Third Floor.
Perhaps his size perception was slightly skewed after becoming what he was now, but a room 100x100 meters could be counted as a floor in a human building.
At the same time, the humans had arrived at the next clearing without much trouble, easily repelling solitary beasts that attacked them. Along with their newfound confidence, they didn't even scout out the clearing itself, probably thinking that they would overcome it anyway.
When they arrived, they saw no visible beast near the tree. Thinking something along the lines of 'It probably ain't here', they slowly marched into the clearing.
As nothing attacked them after around five minutes of waiting, the group relaxed slowly, now taking time to look around.
This clearing was near-identical to the last but with a lack of visible beast. And the only interesting point was the white tree anyway, which they didn't examine in the previous clearing, due to leaving that place too fast.
Soon one of the mages said out loud. "That tree... No, within that tree there is something gathering and emanating mana. My guess is it might be similar to those crystals we looted. But we would need to carve through the trunk to get it."
His words gathered the attention of the group, and their greed as well.
Eager to get the treasure, one of the warriors tried to use his axe to chop at the tree, probably intending to cut it down. To his surprise, however, he saw that the cut was quickly getting covered in new bark as if it was never there.
"The bloody tree is healing! What the hell!"
After several other group members tried to dig into the trunk, their attempts proved futile. Their hopes were once again reignited by the mage though.
"According to my senses, the treasure is in the upper part of the trunk, close to where it splits into the tree crown. It might be possible to get it from there."
The humans then looked into the branches covered with dense golden leaves, wondering whether they might find anything. One of the Rangers made up his resolve, charging to the tree before beginning to climb it.
The group leader Marilyn, who was observing the situation but otherwise didn't interfere as that would make her seem hypocritical, as she had taken one crystal for herself, now couldn't help but shout out.
"Wait! We don't know what's up there!"
Her shout was either ignored or unheard by the ranger, as he climbed up into the branches and disappeared, covered by the leaves.
Soon only rustling and sounds of movement could be heard.
But that tense moment was broken through by a scream... Coming from amidst the branches.
"Max! What happened!"
The distressed question of the acquaintance if that ranger was only answered by something falling out of the tree. Upon a closer look, they were mortified.
It was a mangled and torn body of that scout, looking as if it was torn apart with claws and it had organs ripped out at the same time. The body was missing an arm.
And the whereabouts of that arm were quickly revealed by the head of an animal with said arm in its jaw peeking out amidst the leaves. It was a giant Wolverine.
It seemed to taunt its prey before it jumped down from the tree, and swiftly disappeared amidst the bushes in the clearing.
'Reminds me of when I was once a DM with the boys... I remember how fun it was to see them struggle and complete the encounters and challenges I laid out for them. It's really interesting how it all looks from different perspectives.'
Lan looked at the distressed group of humans.
'And just like them, the promise of treasure overrides caution.'
Lan's chuckled in... Mild amusement.
'Nothing is easy in my... Dungeon.'