"Alright, time to decide which one of you is going to 'assist' me in my little experiment."
Scanning the tree line, I see that there is a ridiculous amount of monsters watching me. And most of them have almost nothing in common with one another.
This is odd... Why are there so many different monsters watching this gate? Normally they'd be eating each other. The scrawny human is barely worth it compared to some of the meatier creatures in front of me. Unless... Hmm, I suppose the Demon could have told them to make sure nothing escapes the gate? Seems pointless if you ask me. Anyone this far away from the cities of Luvara can either warp back like me or are strong enough to force their way through these monsters.
Walking forward, I stop within six feet of the tree line, which seems to surprise the monsters as they have stopped growling, preferring to enter a guarded stance while they wait to see what I'm going to do next. Upon raising my hands into a standard ready stance for weapons, a well-ordained longsword appears out of thin air, right into my grip as if it was always there to begin with.
Purely out of instinct, a panther-like creature known as a Jaga leaps at me. Normally I could deal with this kind of monster with ease, but the second the Jaga went past the treeline it exploded into a million pieces. Surprisingly, even its blood, guts, and assorted body parts bounced backward into the trees. Not even an ounce of blood was allowed to pass the tree line.
Well, that settles it... This is the Demons or something else's doing. They're only here to make sure anyone approaching the gate has to go through it. This may be a problem though. If I carry some monster fingers over here and they explode, I'm going to be quite annoyed. Odds are though that it all bounced backwards because its soul had no time to decouple from the creature. It all happened at once after all.
Enhancing both my body and my blade, I blitz towards a pair of monsters, one small and another medium-sized.
I decapitated the small one before it could move, but the other monster leaped backward the second it felt my aura spike up. However, even with its superb reaction time, it split in two down the middle mid-leap, sending the nearby monsters into a frenzy to escape.
Your fast reaction would have been more than enough to escape the average adventurer, but not from me little guy. My defenses have always been garbage, and unfortunately, there's just no fixing that, I learned that long ago. My offense though? I was always the best of the best. I sent an aura blade out toward the medium one the same moment I began moving. More often than not monsters will flee backward or leap directly at me when I sprint toward them, so that attack is perfect against small fry like these.
Entering the forest, I begin chopping the fingers off of both the dead monsters. Most of the other creatures have fled, but a few of the larger ones are staring at me, likely contemplating whether I'm worth the risk.
Without further incident I return the longsword and walk out of the forest, strolling right up to the gate. After pulling the long claws off, I try to put the stubs from the larger monster into the holes, but they're a little too big for the holes. Trying the small monsters 'fingers' next, they slide right in with some room left over.
"Hopefully they don't need to be a perfect fit..."
Reaching out for the knocker, I bang it like I did before, and sure enough, the door unlocked soon after. I also heard the fingers in the hole get cut up, but that doesn't matter this time.
"It's nice I was right but damn... I definitely can't half-ass this. Every little bit of information matters, that much is clear to me now. Speaking of which..."
Opening the door, I run up to the end of the hallway, looking down at the barred window below. And just as I thought, there's a small doodle of a bowl on the red carpet next to the window.
Hmm, so the sword door killed me, and the bowl here is pointing toward the large golden-eyed predator that is staring out at me again. Does that mean spear is the right way to go? If I die in that door too, then that means I have to kill one of the monsters behind those doors. Which would mean this area here is merely a warning to what you're going to fight behind each door. It goes without saying that there's no way in hell I can win against a massive monster that's on top of me the very second I walk through the door. Very few solo adventurers could pull that off, and with my shitty defenses, I'm not one of them.
Opening the next door, I begin sneaking towards the podium when another idea occurs to me.
The boy... If the monster didn't absorb him he will be alive again. It's risky but...
The medallion hums, telling me that my Lord feels the same way as I do.
Right, I will try and save him. If he turns hostile then so be it.
Just like before, I duck low behind the ferns to my right, staying still while I wait for the boy. About ten minutes later he walks into the room and promptly hides behind a bush to his left. Seeing that, I stand up and wave in his direction, and then slowly walk towards him while hugging the wall. As I near him I can see a dagger in his hand, but he's clearly not hostile. If anything I'd say the look on his face is curiosity and confusion.
Holding my hands up, I approach him and sit down nearby.
"I'm sure you hear it, but there's a large monster sleeping in that hole, and it'll pop out and eat anyone who messes up the small puzzle on the podium nearby," I whispered.
The boy's eyebrows shoot up. After some deliberation, he sheathes the dagger and moves slowly over to me.
"How do you know this?" He whispered back.
"... I saw someone get eaten earlier. There's a key and an orb on the podium. The person grabbed the key but was too late to notice the ether stuck to the bottom of it. It rang a bell which woke up the monster, and well, you can guess the rest." That someone being you of course.
The boy grimaces and then looks over at the podium for a bit.
He's trying to decide whether to trust me. A rather natural response in this situation.
"Here, I'll show you. But when I have the key I'm immediately heading for that door over there." I point towards the door I went through last time. "I suggest you meet me there. I assume another key takes its place, so you're free to wait till I'm through the door, but I'll happily move forward with you if you're up for it."
I'm ninety percent positive another key will appear. The way the lid just randomly replaced itself after the boy died last time, and I severely doubt whoever set this place up would want only one person progressing further. I'm not really sure why they'd want anyone advancing deeper into this place, but that is part of what I'm here to find out.
Standing up, I sneak over to the podium and solve the puzzle like I did last time. After setting the orb down I head straight for the exit door. As I reach it I see the boy quickly sneaking in my direction, apparently having decided to join me. He reaches me as the door begins to slowly open.
The boy looks back at the hole and completely freezes up. "H-Hey, it's uh, um..."
Yeah I know, it was looking at me last time too.
However, looking back I see something quite different from last time. This time the monster is half out of the hole, and looking quite angry.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
Why?! Last time it let me go in peace!
Willing my longsword into my hands, I enhance myself and prepare to fight the monster, but upon seeing me ready for battle it stops crawling out of the hole. We stared at each other for what felt like an eternity until I felt the boy move behind me.
"It's open mister!"
Hearing that, I leaped backward while keeping my eyes on the monster and my blade at the ready. Always best to be prepared when dealing with the unknown. It could be unbelievably fast or even have a warping ability. But fortunately, nothing happened. The door closed unceremoniously, leaving the key behind.
The boy groaned as he sat down with his back to the nearby wall. "O-Oh my god... I almost shit myself!"
You had a much worse encounter with it last time, but it's best that I don't tell him about that.
"Hah, yeah, it's not exactly the kind of situation I want to find myself in often. I'd love to leave this place right now if I could."
"Is that possible?" The boy asked.
Technically I can, but Arkaios would not allow it, nor should he.
"No, not that I know of. All we can do is progress forward."
"Right... Let's reach the treasure room, then we can get out of here. Unless you're planning on going further?" The boy said, standing up and dusting himself off.
"The what?"
"Huh? Why are you acting like you've never heard of the treasure room before? Isn't that why you're here?"
A... Treasure room? What kind of nonsense is that? It sounds like something straight out of those video games I've seen others play in my travels.
"I'm here for something else... Before we continue though, can you tell me your name?"
"Oh right, it's Billy sir! And you?"
"It's Keith. Nice to meet you, Billy. Now can you tell me about this 'treasure room'?"
"Hmm, it's very odd that you don't know about it, but if you really don't know, then that means you also don't know about the rest areas, right?" Billy replied.
"... You are correct."
Normally I'd dismiss this as something the boy dreamed up with his friends, but this place is odd so I wouldn't be surprised if something as ridiculous as a treasure room was waiting for us up ahead.
Billy nodded. "Then for now let's advance. We'll reach a rest area soon enough and then we can continue talking there. I've heard places that appear safe like this hallway, can quickly become unsafe. It's to stop people from resting in non-designated rest areas.
"Regardless of whether that's true or not, it's definitely for the best that we keep advancing, so I'll table this for now."
"Don't worry sir Keith, you'll see I'm telling the truth soon enough! Oh uh, do you happen to know anything about this area too? I assume not since we both just got here."
"Hmm, well I do recognize that bowl insignia. It was on the red carpet next to that barred window in the first hallway."
"Shit, you serious? I didn't even think to look for little details like that. It's impressive that you already thought that far ahead!" Billy said.
Ugh...
"... Thank you, Billy. Judging from what you just said, you didn't see what insignia was on your carpet, right?"
"I did not. Sorry about that..."
"Don't sweat it, kid. Let's just say I have a feeling the spear is the correct choice."
Either that or we're both about to be pummeled to death.
Billy chuckled. "Heh, now I know you're just guessing, but that's fine. You did complete the first part so I'll trust you on this too mister."
Walking over to the door, I unlock it with the key and wait for it to open up. When it does, I see yet another pure white space ahead of me.
"Ugh, I hate teleportation..." Billy said.
You and me both kid.
Lifting my sword, I enhance myself again just in case there is something I can actually beat waiting for us inside this door. Seeing this, Billy also enhances himself and follows me as I jump through the door. Immediately a new hallway appears before me, one lacking in monsters thankfully. Another long red carpet stretches forward to the door at the end, with the only other noteworthy mention being a door on the left, halfway down the hall. Except this one has a weird golden triangle above the door.
"There it is, the rest area! That was fast. I heard the first one shows up pretty quickly but I didn't expect to see it so soon." Billy said, walking over to the triangle door.
Following him through the door, I'm shocked at what I see, which is very rare for me these days.
"Daaamn look at all this mister! A TV, games, food, drinks, a comfy couch and beds... This place is fucking amazing!"
This is becoming more and more bizarre...
"Billy, how long can we stay here?"
"Three days. After that your soul 'starts to hurt', or so I am told. It's something the grand wizard setup so people know to keep moving."
Grand wizard... Dear god, that embarrassing name made my soul hurt more than this room ever could.
Billy walks over to the table and sits down in front of a plate with a steak on it. He looks over at me as he grabs a bunch of other food to fill his plate with.
"You gonna eat mister? I hope you're not in a hurry. We should at least stay here for one night. I've been in this place for almost six hours now... I really want to rest."
"Six hours?! How is that possible? There was nothing but a single hallway before the room I met you in. Did you have a different experience?"
"Huh?" Billy stops eating and stares at me for a bit. Suddenly his eyes go wide. "No way! You entered through one of the main gates Mister Keith?!"
"There are other ways to enter?"
Just how pervasive is this place? Normally I'm given time to research before a mission starts, but this time when I accepted it from Lord Arkaios he immediately warped me in front of that creepy gate. I wasn't sure what to expect, but a Demon creating something so... I don't even know. Game-like? It definitely sounds like those video games I've seen in the past.
"Wow, you really don't know anything mister... And yet you came through the main gate? Why are you even here then if it's not for the treasure? The only people who brave this place are greedy morons, wanna-be adventurers, and desperate people who need a miracle. You... Don't seem like any of those?" Billy said.
"I'm here to kill whoever or whatever created this place. They are the reason so many people are going missing, and I'm here to stop them."
Billy dropped his fork and just stared at me for a while.
"W-Why would you... No, this has to be a joke. Surely you're joking, right?"
"Hmm? Why would it be a joke? Someone needs to put a stop to it, and that's why I'm here. However, I'd greatly appreciate it if someone beat me to it."
"And you're fine with someone else taking the credit..." Billy sighed. "Mister Keith, if you're being serious then by all means, throw your life away trying to 'save everyone'. Hell, the leaders of Luvara aren't even concerned with this place. They're all too busy trying to figure out what's wrong with their precious crystal."
"And they don't believe it's related to this place? There's an area in their very own region that is kidnapping people from Luvara and every other nearby region. A place filled with monsters, treasure rooms, and fucking 'grand wizards'... But they think it's unrelated?"
Billy shrugged. "Apparently? I only read about it in the paper, but they did an extensive review and even sent multiple groups into the dungeon who successfully cleared the first couple of areas. No matter what they did, they found no trace of the corruption that is damaging the crystal."
Sighing, I walk over to the table and sit down.
Billy laughed. "There you go mister! Just eat your fill and rest up for now. We'll continue our trek tomorrow, and who knows, we might even have a few new allies by then."
So this room remains open to other people? Can't say I like the sound of that.
"Bah, I see how much that put you on alert. You can't harm anyone in this room, so just rest up. I'd rather you weren't exhausted tomorrow for absolutely no reason." Billy said.
... I see. Even if this place is unbelievably bizarre, it does have a certain logic to it. It wouldn't make for a very good 'rest area' if the people inside were completely on edge.
I began eating while pouring over all the knowledge I'd gained. Afterward, me and Billy took turns bathing before finally settling in for the night, laying on the most comfortable beds I had ever experienced up to that point.
----------------------------------------
The next day we were both standing before the door that leads to the next area.
"Ready sir?"
"Of course, let's go."
Turning the handle, I open it up to reveal yet another vile white space.
Sighing, I enhance myself and jump through the doorway, landing on some copper flooring on the other side. Billy appears behind me and ducks low at the same time I do. Looking around I see we're in some kind of darkened engine room.
"God damn that is loud. You ever heard an engine like that before?" Billy said, but I barely heard him over the roar of the engine.
"No, I haven't. Which is strange for me..."
I've been on an endless amount of different vehicles in my time. None of them sounded like this, nor did they have an engine this massive. There is one engine on each side of us, and they're easily twenty feet tall, with the length being more than triple that.
There are tiny orange lights in different parts of the room, giving off just enough light to barely see in here.
They're more like nightlights instead of actual lights. What's with this strange lighting design?
Just then at the far end of the engines, a ten-foot-tall winged creature walks into view. Both me and Billy dive behind the generator on the left.
"D-Did it see us?" Billy kind of whispered.
I shook my head, despite not knowing whether it did see us or not. Just then Billy slaps the side of my leg. Looking over at him I see his face frozen in terror again. Following his eyes, I immediately see why he looks like he's freaking out. I didn't notice it before, but there is blood strewn all around the copper flooring, and by the walls there are dozens of corpses. Some mangled, some crushed, and some appear to be partly eaten.
Shit... This just went from strange to deadly in seven seconds.
From behind I can hear the stomping of heavy feet approaching us. It's also accompanied by the sounds of scratching.
Billy shakily stands up, drawing his knife. Following his lead, I stand up and will my longsword into my hands while enhancing myself.
If there's a puzzle here, I'm not seeing it. So for now let's see if I can handle the monsters in this area.