Liam walked into the first-level treasury room of the Adonis Guild. Rows of valuable items displayed on the meandering racks and tables. He was mesmerized by the number of treasures encased by shimmering orbs of light. However, only the thought of their worth was on his mind.
Ordinance again advised Liam, “Master, I recommend taking the token of the dungeon.”
Ordinance’s specific mentions of the token were odd and curiously drew Liam’s attention.
“Dungeon token? What is that, and why take that over the others, Ordinance?”
“The uses for tokens are many, but for you Master, the dungeon token is very important. From the books I scanned through, dungeon tokens are similar to tower tokens. Do you remember the circular metal badge in your room?”
“The one I got from Ms. Maribell the day I went to take the first trial?”
“I am not sure when you got the token of the Ivory Tower, Master, but you only have one token in your possession. It is a symbol that you are a climber of the towers. Like how climbers receive a token of the Towers, dungeon divers too receive a token. A token representing their respective dungeon.”
“Yes, that much I know. But is that it? How would the dungeon token be of use to me?”
“The following features are not necessarily applicable to your current situation, however, I shall explain the other uses of the tokens according to the data collected. To enter a new dungeon or a new tower peacefully, requires the respective token. Without one, trespassers would be deemed hostile. The tower or dungeon would attack with the hoard of monsters within them.”
“Well, in that case, I won’t be going to another tower, let alone a dungeon. I can see how the tokens would be useful if I went to another tower. Maybe if I infiltrated a dungeon, then a dungeon token would be useful. However, I’m not sure I can even climb the Ivory Tower, let alone go anywhere else.”
“Correct, master. The use of the dungeon token is not for you to enter the dungeons. It is for your second summon. You are unable to form a contract with any of the other supreme entities due to your affinity. Only one entity consented to make you an offer; the one listening to our conversation when we first made our contract. The requirements were a symbol of both the Daemods and the Sepharaths. The tokens would fulfill that requirement. Finding other symbols of the Daemods would be near impossible, given your current circumstances. However, the affinity of the promised summon is questionable. He seemed to be purely offering a contract out of curiosity.”
“I still get goosebumps thinking about that being. Just its laugh shook my soul palace.” Liam hesitated, looking at all the other treasures in the room. “I don’t know. I’m not sure, Ordinance. There are so many items to choose from. Highlight where the dungeon token is, and let’s take a look first.”
“Yes, master. Highlighting in blue now.”
Liam saw a small blue light flickering on the right side of his eye. Walking towards the token, the blue light grew and glowed brighter. Finally in front of the semi-transparent orb of light, Ordinance disengaged the blue highlight. Within the barrier was the black circular metallic badge. Liam scrutinized intensely down at the dungeon token.
***
At the same time, a young lady gazed down at a black circular metallic dungeon token in her hand.
At the bottom of the depths of a deep dark crater, a hooded young woman stood in the moving masses of similarly cloaked figures. Her emerald-green eyes looked down at the dungeon token in her hand. A familiar man’s voice broke her out of her stare.
“Leyah, pay attention and put away your token. We’ll be entering the second floor of the Stygian Dungeon shortly.” A tall cloaked figure turned around and told Leyah.
“Yes, brother Elijah.”
Leyah opened her small bag, which clipped onto the waist of her pants. After securing her token inside, she followed after her brother. Without hesitation, Elijah walked towards the far side of the ravine-like crater. Elijah ignored all the others around. He entered into the light emanating from the entrance of a large cavern, jutting out at the base of the stone walls. Leyah looked at the warm glowing light, welcoming her back into the Stygian Dungeon. She felt the warm glow was misleading for such a cruel and tyrannical place.
Following her brother, Leyah ignored the others and walked into the light emanating from the cave. She squinted her eyes from the harsh light beaming down from above. Immediately, she was on guard upon entering a massive cavern-like room.
The entire room was illuminated brightly, but the center area was the most intense. The center area was almost ablaze. Strident light radiated down on a towering and unmoving statue of a man-like creature, but it did not seem to be bothered by the light. Rather, the harsh light further outlined its threatening figure.
The statue eyed the entrance where Leyah came through. The giant statue was a half-naked muscular man in a crouching position. It looked as if it was ready to lunge forth and attack at any moment. Had it not been for the horns curling around the sides of its menacing face, the stone creature would have passed as a life-like human.
Leyah’s brother was already waiting for her on the far side of the massive room. She quickly made her way to him, keeping a wary eye on the statue. Others were in the room, but the statue’s eyes moved and looked back at her. It followed her as she arrived near her brother.
Without a hint of noise, Elijah stepped down the set of stairs leading to the second floor of the Dungeon. Leyah still kept a lookout at the statue. The peering stone eyes of the statue blinked, creeping her out. She quickly followed after her brother.
It whispered as Leyah disappeared from sight, “I have high expectations for you, wary diver.” The menacing face of the statue further warped as it scowled, thinking about its enemies. “Grow and fight those damnable Sepharaths, always trying to sabotage and get in our way. Defeat them and kill them, young diver. Or be killed. Grow and become strong. Fight the war against the Corruption or be consumed.”
On the floor below, Elijah swiftly moved in the dim light. Leyah was a keen observer and a fast learner. She imitated her brother's movements and chased from behind without making a sound.
The second floor of the dungeon was a dark cavern. Luminescent plants growing off parts of the ceiling barely provided any light.
Elijah turned around and whispered to Leyah, “silence is important for stealth. Keep all your senses on the surroundings. Not many beasts can track through smell on the first couple of floors. Keep to the shadows and move quickly, but stop or slow down if needed. Take out your daggers and keep them ready. You will watch me, and then you will kill your first dungeon beast. I will show you how to harvest its origin crystal.”
Leyah nodded, taking out the twin daggers by her waist and observed her brother in action.
Elijah drew a katana from the sheath on his back. The sharp weapon cut the darkness, but Elijah quickly hid his blade in the shadows. He crouched and remained still and silent. Leyah could not hear her brother’s breathing, and his presence began to fade until it disappeared. A little time passed, and Elijah seemed to merge with the darkness.
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Like an assassin, he silently moved in the cover of the shadows among the edge of the rock walls. Squeaking and squawking in the darkness caused Elijah to retreat slightly and hide behind the protrusion of the wall. He peeked around the corner and whispered to Leyah, who was not far behind.
“Imps. See their white fur coats? You can harvest and sell those too, but the Dungeon Lord requires a fifty percent tax tribute. They hunt in small packs similar to goblins, but they usually don’t have weapons. However, their claws and jaws are sharp and will rip off flesh nonetheless. Watch me.”
There were three imps the size of a medium-sized dog, fighting and wrestling over scavenged pieces of rotting meat. Elijah saw the imps distracted. Without making a sound, Elijah moved around the edge of the protruding wall. He followed along the rough walls of the cavern, closing in on his prey until he was within striking range. Elijah knew he had to be quick. Gripping his katana firmly, Elijah circulated his soul energy into his blade. The unique blade sharpened and slightly glowed, ready to taste blood.
Elijah pushed his lower body against the ground and lunged out from the shadows. With the blade drawn at his side, his arm muscles tensed. He swung his blade forward, slashing through the necks of the two imps, wrestling and trying to bite each other on the ground. The blade cut smoothly through the flesh and clipped through the bones, leaving a gash in the stone floor. Two imp heads tumbled and rolled off on the ground as blue blood began to pool from their neck. The last imp hissed as it rushed at Elijah, but he simply spun using the momentum of his lunge and slashed off half of the imp’s head, exposing its brain. The massacre was over. There was no fight.
Quickly, he ran and held up the three imps by the legs to drain out the blue blood. Motioning with his blade, he beckoned Leyah to come over to him.
“The cleaner the fur, the better you can sell them at the Dungeon Exchange. I’ll let these drain, and then I’ll show you how to remove the fur for the best price. We’ll take the origin crystals afterward. Now that you’re an official diver, your weekly quota is higher than the non-divers, but you’ll be able to earn much more.”
Leyah nodded in understanding. Elijah showed his sister step-by-step how to skin the Imps. Skillfully, he made an incision below the skin and cut around the body of the imp. With experienced small movements of his blade, he sliced off the upper layers of skin holding the white fur.
“As you have already learned from school, the origin stones are located near the heart of the Imps. Although the origin stones are sturdy, a blade through one is more than enough to shatter it. You must be careful when cutting and extracting your prize.”
Elijah showed a rare smile at his attentive sister. He didn’t exhibit the delicate care he just stated to his sister. He simply swished the sharp tip of his katana at the chest of the imps. With the fluid motions of his blade, Elijah flicked out three undamaged origin stones.
Leyah looked at her brother’s effortless handiwork in amazement. Her face was dimly lit, but Elijah enjoyed seeing his sister impressed with his blade skills. He quickly put on his serious face and commanded his sister with her awaiting task.
“Since this is your first time, call out your summon to assist you. Imps usually hunt in a minimum of two to a group.”
“Yes, brother,” Leyah acknowledged. “Come forth! Empusa of the Evening Twilight!”
A fissure cracked the space before Leyah, and a quick flash of light illuminated the rocky cavern. A young half-woman, half-serpent creature slithered through the crack onto the ground. Her scales were dark with a metallic sheen, covering her back and parts of her bosom.
“Show me what you learned, Leyah. I will not help you deal with these low-stage creatures. Use your skills. Eventually, you won’t need any skills to deal with creatures like these.”
Leyah nodded, but she was still nervous inside. Not from killing as she’s hunted and killed beasts in the Wild, but from her observing brother. She wanted to show him that she was competent.
Leyah commanded her summon, “follow me quietly, Empusa. Be ready to use Shadow Bind to constrict our targets when I tell you.”
Empusa hissed in reply, “yessss, but youss mussst let me devoursss my prey. You can’t have itssss.”
“You can only have one for now. We need to pay off our quota first to the Dungeon Lord.”
Empusa snapped back with a hiss. “Sss! You meansss your quota! Not minesss, but I will compromissse that much, ssss.”
Leyah nodded, but Elijah frowned. He would advise his sister later when her summon was no longer present. He understood each summon had different personalities, but he disagreed with summoners being friends with their contracts. They were masters, and their summons were servants, not friends. To Elijah, summons were pets at best.
Leyah recalled what she observed and displayed uncanny movements resembling her brother. She moved swiftly through the shadows without making any noise, and Empusa followed from behind. Elijah smiled again. His chiseled face was rather charming when he smiled. He was proud of his talented sister. But his smile soon disappeared and was replaced with a solemn look. The squeaks of Imps alerted the siblings. Leyah hid closer to the walls, readying herself.
Elijah heard the subtle breaths of his sister’s heightened breathing. He knew she was nervous and would remind her of her blunder later. He said he wouldn’t help Leyah, but he only said so to ensure she didn’t grow dependent on him. She had to be strong on her own.
Two Imps were squeaking and squealing as they scoured a small pathway leading away from the larger areas of the cavern.
Leyah commanded Empusa, “Bind them, you can eat one of them, but the other is mine.”
“Sssstingy. Finesss,” Empusa hissed back.
The shadow underneath Empusa moved around and hovered above the ground. Suddenly the shadow split and flew forward, racing towards the imps. The poor creatures didn’t know what hit them. The shadow tentacles wrapped around their mouths first, binding them shut. More wrapped around and bound their arms and legs. The imps struggled, but it was useless.
Empusa slithered to her prey and wrapped her serpent tail around the imp. A primal grin spread out on her beautiful face. Empusa released the shadow bindings of her prey. Using the snake half of her body, she constricted her hold on the imp. The imp let out a muffled shriek, but Empusa enjoyed playing with her meal. The pain only made Empusa more frenzied.
The cracking of bones resounded and finally, the imp went limp and died. Unlocking her jaw, Empusa’s mouth enlarged and displayed rows of razor-sharp teeth. She retracted her teeth back and swallowed the hairy white-furred imp whole.
Leyah was accustomed to the sight, but she was still a bit disturbed seeing her summon’s mouth enlarge and the razor-sharp teeth inside. She focused on her imp instead.
Still bound by the shadow tentacles of her summon, Leyah quietly lunged forward and used a skill to reinforce her daggers with her soul energy. They glowed as they cut through the neck of the imp. But unlike her brother, Leyah had to use more force and soul energy to cut through the bones. The imp died a painful death.
Elijah walked out from the shadows and guided his sister. “Not bad. Your use of the Soul Blade skill will grow with use. To cut bone easily means you're at the early advanced stages of proficiency. Not bad, buttercup.” Elijah smirked.
“Brother! I told you to stop calling me that! And tell that vixen in your party to stop too!” Leyah let go of her cold demeanor and pouted at her brother.
Elijah chuckled and refocused on their task, “I can’t control the mouth on Cas. You can try again after we finish up. Let’s get you enough to fill up your quota for the week and some more for you to absorb.”
Leyah ‘humfped,’ but she quickly turned back to a cold killer and proceeded to hunt with her summon.
The two only returned after both their bags were full. Leyah recalled Empusa back into her soul palace. Elijah took off his cloak and turned it into a makeshift bag. He helped haul their harvest up to the first floor. The siblings were met with the blaring harsh light, and Elijah’s rival.
“Yo! Look at our hardworking Eli! Decided to make a white fur dress for your icy sister? She would look beautiful in white fur. Wouldn’t you Lee Lee?”
Leyah glared coldly at the sizable muscular man in a black cloak.
Elijah responded to his friend and rival, “shut it, Damien. I won’t help you if Leyah skins you alive. She did a pretty good job on these imp skins.”
“Oh? That’s quite a bit. Knowing your brother, he probably made you do all the work. He’s rather uncaring. If you call me brother, you wouldn’t have to dirty yourself. I would do all the work. How about it? Call me brother instead?”
Leyah’s emerald eyes glared dangerously as she gave a death stare at Damien. She walked nonchalant to her brother and lifted his makeshift bag, holding their spoils. Grabbing them off Elijah, Leyah ignored Damien and walked to the Dungeon Exchange in the corner of the expansive cavern-like room.
Damien smirked at Leyah’s receding backside, “icy princess, cold as ever.” Damien turned serious and looked at his friend. “Elijah, did you hear? There might be an upcoming battle soon between us and the Tower Infidels.”