<~> CHAPTER 20

Our group was slowly advancing up the stairs, trying to pace ourselves so that we weren't tired once we reached the top.

("What is the next floor up like? What kinds of monsters?") I asked Luna.

We were in a similar formation as before, Maxwell up front, me second, Piper and Luna trailing a little behind us. It was a little cramped on the stairway in my wolf form but I felt safer like this, I also physically blocked anything from getting to Piper and Luna which may be a plus, depending on the situation we were headed for.

("The next floor looks a lot less natural than this one. It's a maze of corridors made from blue-tinted stone. You can still mark them but they heal a lot faster than the stone walls did on the lower floor, it seems to be more effective to mark the ground instead. There are also more traps on this floor than others. We had a scout with us on the way down here that guided us past a lot of the traps so we'll have to take things a lot slower on the way back up. Not unless you have some experience?") she asked hopefully.

("No, sorry,") I replied. All I could picture were spike traps and giant rolling boulders, I'm not sure any of my 'experience' on the subject would be helpful.

("A shame, not unexpected though. As for monsters, mostly slimes and these large bat monsters. I'm not sure I would recommend... eating these ones but you'd be a better judge of that I suppose, maybe if you could grab them out of the air. These monsters aren't usually sanitary enough for us to eat and the only part of them that's worth anything is their wings. Unfortunately, it can be difficult to fight them without damaging those, and the area they're found in is usually covered in guano so it can be difficult to collect them before they roll in it...")

My snout wrinkled up in disgust at the thought.

("The meat is considered edible for us but I think I can safely guess that all of us would prefer to stick with our rations. Nothing I've seen you eat is something we would usually think is edible though so it's up to you. Maybe those monsters Maxwell skinned might be edible but we don't know what those even were.")

We crested the top of the stairs and Maxwell and I fanned out into the room. After a quick check, nothing seemed to be dangerous at the top so the other two followed us up. The room was simple, just four even walls with one ratty-looking wooden door with rusted bands across it. The stone was indeed a dark blue and the bricks looked mostly evenly placed and regular. Enough that they didn't look artificial but not enough to look cobbled together either. The ceiling was a bit taller than I had feared and allowed me to stand up comfortably in my wolf form, though I could nearly touch the ceiling if I reached for it.

".... .... dangerous .... .... .... floor .... .... .... .... monsters .... .... dangerous .... Helena .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... she .... .... want .... eat .... ....?" Maxwell asked Luna.

I squinted, hoping to pick out any words I could recognize but a lot of them weren't ones that I had heard before.

Luna shrugged back at him and his mouth drew into a sideways frown at the response.

("What did he ask?") I said to her through the rings.

("He warned us of traps, told me that you might need an explanation for the slimes, and asked if you wanted to eat the bats,") she quickly replied.

("Do I need an explanation on the slimes?") I asked.

("Uh, I often forget that none of this is familiar to you. Slimes are very common monsters, they have these little mana stones inside of them that hold them together. If you want to kill a slime the easiest way to do that with a weapon is by attacking that mana stone. These ones are acidic though, so it might not be easy for you to deal with them using just your claws.")

I hummed. I glanced at the sword on Maxwell's belt.

Luna must have seen me because she added to her last statement. ("Swords are more useful at piercing the slime's outer layer. Maxwell does carry a spare mace but it's not very effective on slimes.")

I sighed. ("So what should I do? Hold them for Maxwell to pierce?")

("That might be the best way to go, yes. You could try and see how your regeneration holds up to it but I would be cautious. Acid burns can be painful even if you can regenerate.")

My greatest foe... slimes...

Once Maxwell felt comfortable that Luna had properly explained things to me he prepared to open the door. This time his large shield was on his back, I guess it wasn't necessary for this floor. The idea seemed odd to me since the slimes they were describing seemed fairly dangerous but I didn't know his fighting style.

He cracked the door open slowly and quickly glanced through the crack before ducking back behind it. When nothing seemed to have happened he opened the door the rest of the way.

("Doors are often trapped on this floor and Maxwell has always had a hard time spotting traps,") Luna told me.

("Should I go first?...") I didn't like the idea but maybe with my regeneration it would be okay...

Luna pursed her lips ("I'm not sure. You don't know what to look for but Maxwell has always been bad with them. If you did trigger one, most probably wouldn't kill you... Let me ask Maxwell, give me a moment.")

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

Maxwell stopped and turned to Luna while she spoke to him through the rings. He looked at her skeptically and said something before giving me a concerned look.

("He says he doesn't mind you taking on the danger but wants to know if you're sure.")

I had a bit of a lump in my stomach but I nodded anyway. He gave a half-hearted smile and gestured me to head forward before quickly filling Piper in.

("Helena, be careful,") Luna whispered to me.

I took a deep breath, headed into the corridor, and immediately triggered a trap.

A wire as thin as fishing line was pulled forward by my foot and three wooden spikes burst through the, until then, invisible cracks in the stone. One of the spikes pierced my left lung which caused me to cough blood onto the floor in front of me. My body was tough enough that it stopped the spikes from going too deep but the impact pushed me against the other wall and stunned me.

Maxwell yelled something that I was sure was some kind of swear as I reached over and tried to pull the spikes out of me. The wood felt soft as my claws snapped the poles off where they met the wall and I tossed them to my feet one by one. I was wheezing and grasped at the wall for support while I felt the wounds in my side burn as they healed.

After a few moments, I was forced to cough out more blood but once I had, I was able to take a nice deep steadying breath. I turned to look down at the holes in my sides as the blood slowed to a stop before hardening to scabs. Only a moment later, they had fallen out and new smoky fur had taken their place. I suddenly felt a pang of hunger but I didn't think I was bad enough for it to be a problem yet.

("Helena, are you doing okay?") Luna hesitantly asked.

I calmly turned to look back at her. ("I'm... a little hungry now...")

I could see the relief in her eyes as she sighed, Piper caught on to this and said something to Maxwell but I didn't pay attention to that. Instead, I trailed my fingers through my fur where there had been a big hole a second ago. This was the first time I actually got to see myself healing this fast. The last time I had been nearly cut in half I basically blacked out... things got fuzzy and confusing and I couldn't remember it well. This time, while it did hurt really fucking bad, I was able to manage. The worst part was coughing up blood, not the stab wounds or the regeneration.

("Maxwell wants to know if you still want to go in front...") Luna told me.

I looked up and nodded once at Maxwell before turning to Luna. ("I'm sorry for scaring you. I'll try to be more careful from now on.")

Proceeding forward I led our small group through the hallway. This time I paid special attention to the floor and ceiling, looking for any signs of traps. Right after a fork that bent to the left, I triggered another one. This time I was more ready to react to the trap and managed to jump back just as the floor gave out under where I had been standing. With this path cut off I led the group down the other fork.

("Didn't you come through here earlier? Does none of this look familiar to the three of you?") I asked Luna.

("This floor changes about once a day so maps aren't very useful. There are a few bends in this maze and while you can still get turned around, it's pretty straightforward to navigate as far as dungeon floors go,") she replied.

As we continued I smelled them before I heard them. Little squeaks and calls echoed against the stone walls as the strong stench of guano filled my nose. Oddly I could recognize that it smelled bad but the smell itself didn't really bother me.

("I can hear and smell those bats up ahead,") I told Luna.

("How many?")

I shook my head. ("I can't tell, more than one.")

("Give me a moment.")

I stopped and turned to look behind me where Luna was trying to communicate what I had heard with Piper. The redhead relayed it to her brother and with a nod he grasped the hilt of his sword as we continued. The corridor we were following opened up into a large octagonal room with a high ceiling, up there hanging upside down were five bats about three feet tall, around half the height of Maxwell. The moment we approached the monsters cried out and fell into a dive.

My pupils dilated and the ravenous hunger came back as my mouth began to water. Despite the foul ammonia scent in the air, the creatures themselves smelled tasty, and after getting partially impaled I needed this feast.

I leaped half my height, snatched one of the bats right out of the air, and snapped its neck in one motion. I couldn't wait any longer and pulled the monster's chest open with my claws. I dug into the meat mid-battle and the sweet taste of flesh and blood filled my senses. They didn't taste as good as some of the things I had eaten on the lower floors but hunger was the best spice. I swallowed down large bites of bat flesh before I found it.

THE HEART

I bit down on the small organ like an apricot and swallowed the tasty meat in two bites before tossing the corpse back to the hallway and out of the guano that was coating the floor. Just as I looked back at the fight a large flash of pale green light exploded two of the bats into charred corpses. Another of the bats was dead and lying in the muck already and the last of the bats was trying to wrestle with Maxwell's shield. It seemed he wasn't able to get a good swing in.

"Helena attack monster!" I called out in broken language before coming up on it from behind. I reached around and crushed the base of one of its wings before using the leverage to pull it back and grab the back of its head so I could snap its neck to the side. The body fell limp and I caught it before it could fall on the ground and be ruined. I shook out my hand and I looked to see a rapidly healing bite on my palm. The wound oozed a sickly black color before clearing up and healing the rest of the way. I hope that meant I didn't need to worry about diseases.

I carried the body back to where I had thrown the other's corpse and dropped it down next to it. I let out a breath and leaned back against the wall to catch my breath.