Among myths was the third circle of hell, which was linked to gluttony and was referred to as a place where an infinite amount of food was available, only in a sludgy, putrid state.
In the present world, it was the stupid mistake of a greedy delver who wanted to remove everything from the dungeon, including many corpses. Around seventy, all in a state of decay that wouldn’t make it surprising if the air itself decided to rot.
Yet a lone maiden snaky-alien female was wrongly abandoned in this hell.
Negligence proved sometimes to be more harmful than inaction.
A fact Stephen had to face painfully as he was confronted with death’s ripe and overwhelming scent. It blasted him like a punch in the guts, forcing him to throw up and let go of the sledge he was pushing. It took him a few minutes to regain his bearing, after which he wet the rag covering his face again to dampen the smell. Then he looked around, first for the portal and what changes had happened to it, then for the captive he had intended to save and the facilities he had bought.
For the portal, it wasn’t much different than the one in his basement. Its vortex glowed with the same vibrant blue. The prompt was also similar.
Dungeon Portal #MW-SOL-EARTH-PIGMED-QUEEN
Status: Free access
Inner door: Unlocked
Dungeon Breakout: 3d 18h 58min
While he hadn’t clear memories of how the rest of the room looked when he got out of the dungeon, his mind muddled by exhaustion, he did remember the first time he entered. The changes now could be seen quite easily. On the right was the enclosure he had inexpertly built, the snake lady lying in the furthest corner away from the bodies. Barely five feet away from Stephen.
[Lamia – Lv 2]
She, apparently, was a Lamia, his new [Identify] skill already proving its usefulness. That was one thing cleared out at last. From his knowledge of myths and fantasy, Stephen had believed her to be another race altogether, as lamias were a uniquely female race.
Seeing the lamia he held in custody shivering on the floor prompted Stephen to step toward her. He made sure to stay close to the wall and away from the sledges that contained the corpses. Those were in the middle of the room, slightly closer to the stone doors. Quite a distance away, around nine meters from the lamia, yet much too close.
However, despite his reason telling him he should hurry to check on the lamia girl, his curiosity got the better of him. Stephen halted after his first step and turned to the other side, where he had glimpsed the new facilities bought moments before.
The closest visible upgrade was a massive rectangular chest. Its width and height appeared to be under a meter – the chest’s height reaching just under Stephen’s hips – while its length was easily double that. It was put against the wall where the portal was embedded. Albeit its design was old-fashioned, made of wood and metal banding, its colour was quite unusual and a clear indication of its purpose. One that was confirmed as soon as Stephen focused his gaze on it.
[Ice-Chest] - The wooden part was pale, almost white, like spruce or birch wood. As for the metal bands visible on each edge and face, they had a blue tint that seemed to be freezing the wood. It might very well be, what with the chest being what it was and the reality of magic.
Being curious about his investment was one thing. Getting distracted into inspecting each of them was another. On this, at least, Stephen had some self-control. He didn’t get closer to check his investment.
Further behind the chest, along the same wall, a sign could be guessed at, just above a well of some sort. Its purpose as a [Garbage Pit] seemed evident, as weapons racks and dummies could be seen even further, lined along the left side of the room. There were three of each, empty and waiting to be used in their enclosure, a squared line of brick not even a foot high delimiting the [Armoury] ’s area.
It was only made more explicit by the hovering text appearing as soon as he focused on each facility.
Satisfied with seeing his purchases, the hazel-eyed man turned back towards the caged area, this time walking resolutely. Nevertheless, the closer he got to the lamia, the more worried he became and the more frantic his movements were. He could already see that her scales had lost some colour, the vivid greens akin to precious stones now closer to her blood-stained scales, in shades of muddy greens and browns.
As he arrived at the wooden grid serving as a door, Stephen struggled to open it, his hands shaking from nervousness. Inside, he saw the confined lady shifting about, a welcomed proof that she was still alive. Whether she was waking up or being tormented in a nightmare was hard to say.
“Hello, miss, my name is Stephen Veil. I’m the one who got you out of the dungeon.
Even if right now you might be wanting to curse me. I understand. I’m terribly sorry for leaving you there.
I’m going to get closer, alright?” And he did, with slow, measured steps, ensuring he could be heard as he moved towards the lamia.
He didn’t know if the method was valid, but it was something he knew was done with scared animals. Ensure they know your location, and let them get used to your voice. Stephen was aware they didn’t speak the same language. He also knew that intent and feeling could be felt from your tone. In the same way, a dog or a horse would immediately feel it if you were nervous or afraid. He hoped the girl would perceive his worry and guilt. And that he didn’t want to harm her. It probably wasn’t fair to compare that girl to an animal, but considering how much Stephen cared about Comtess and saw her as his family, it had no significance whatsoever in Stephen’s mind.
“It’s been fourteen hours since you’ve been here. Or, well, slightly longer than half a day.
...I suppose if our way of measuring time isn’t the same, you wouldn’t have the correct idea of what it means. I’ve no clue how I could explain it…
Oh, or maybe I do. Right! Mississipi! It’s about, hm, fourteen, by sixty, by sixty Mississippi. So… that makes something like three thousand six, by ten and by four. Uh. Thirty-six a~nd, fourteen thousand plus four hundred. So yeah, like fifty thousand and four hundred times the time it takes to say – mi-ssi-ssi-pi.
It sure is a very roundabout way to figure out the time. Believe me, I know. I don’t think I ever used it, actually.
Anyway~ Since you’ve been here, I’ve mainly been sleeping, so I didn’t completely forget about you either. Just that I might have overlooked your situation since the beginning?
It’s even worse, I guess, selfish, too. You have every right to be mad at me.
Still! I’m here now, and I promise I will heal you and give you better lodging, too.
And water. And fo–od? Okay, so I might have made yet another mistake. Please don’t hold it against me. And let’s hope I still have some cereal bars in my bag.”
By that point, the clumsy saviour was a step away from the lamia. He could see how wrinkled her skin was, especially the tail part. Despite not knowing how much time she spent in the dungeon, from her emaciated state and the way her bones could be guessed from under her skin. It was evident she was in desperate need of care. She hadn’t moved more than before, leading Stephen to believe she was having a nightmare. He was worried about her reaction when she would, ultimately, notice his presence. No matter how weak she might be, her physique still seemed stronger than a human. A fact that seemed proven by her tag of being a [Lamia – Lv 2]. Whether it was by comparing with a baseline unawakened human or unawakened lamia, it would still mean she was capable of hurting him. Either intentionally or not.
Therefore, once Stephen found some partially crushed food at the bottom of his bag, he gently placed the six cereal bars on the floor atop a dry rag, ensuring he wouldn’t startle her by touching her. Another humid cloth was put just next to it, along with a filled flask.
“You have to wake up, girl. You’re safe now, I promise. There’s food, however simple it is, and some water. You’re going to be alright, okay?
I’m going to move back. I’ll still be in the room, just a call away. Hopefully, by the time you wake up, most of this nasty smell will be gone.
Please, wake up.”
Before he did move, though, he threw the fabric sheet over her upper body. He knew it was a risk but believed it would do more good than harm. Ultimately, her movement didn’t change from the erratic shifting provoked by her supposed nightmares.
Then, as he said, Stephen slowly moved back outside the cage. He eventually moved the sledges filled with corpses towards the garbage pit. The idea of keeping some bodies to examine still was on his mind, but he didn’t need that many. The few he had brought with him to his basement in the first place were enough. Those would be put inside the [Ice-Chest], provided it was big enough. Otherwise, he would think of something. Even if it meant doing the gruesome work of dissecting the nine bodies he intended to keep.
“I’m going to make some noise, don’t worry about it. I’m just moving the sledges from one part of the room to another. The scent might get stronger for a while, though. It won’t last long.”
Indeed, it didn’t. With Stephen’s increased stats from his level up and title, pulling the sledge was much easier than the first time. The noise of the wooden blades gliding against the stone was anything but silent. It also was anything but gliding. Try grinding. However, the oppressive scent when just next to the sledge made it excruciatingly awful. For Stephen, at least. The noise might be more unpleasant for someone further away.
Now, he only had to move each body into the pit. It might prove to be the hardest or easiest part. Depending on whether his [Inventory] skill allowed him to store them.
Awkwardly, Stephen reached for one of the frog people and focused his thoughts on the inventory skill.
It worked, though not in the way he expected:
2 Uncommon Proof of Reward – Weapon
Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.
1 Rare Proof of Reward – Armour
Book - “A Guide to Parseltongue”
- Empty -
- Empty -
- Empty -
- Empty -
- Empty -
- Empty -
- Empty -
While opening his inventory and seeing its contents was a pleasant surprise, revealing his quest rewards, it wasn’t what Stephen intended to happen from his request. Still, it was a very welcome incident, as he had expected he would need to find the correct prompt to get them from the system.
Looking at each item, the novice delver wasn’t as interested in the weapons and armour as in the language book. After all, even if his current gear wasn’t exactly the best, he could still find a way to improve it without relying on the dungeon. A guide to learning an entirely new language, on the other hand? That was priceless. For now, at least. It would considerably shorten the time he would’ve needed to communicate efficiently with the lamia.
Returning to his current problem, he focused on the body he was touching to [Identify] it.
[Hyanura Peon – Lv 1]
Perplexed by the result, Stephen tried to store it, wanting to deal with one problem at a time. Willing the body to go into one of the inventory’s slots unfortunately didn’t work. Thus, he tried to say his thoughts out loud the next time. “Store Hyanura Peon into Inventory 4th Slot.” Once again, it didn’t work. Only this time, he knew why.
Entity needs to be small enough to be held and light enough to be lifted without impeding your mobility.
So it wasn’t that he needed to have the potential to do those actions, but he needed to be doing them before storing an item in his inventory. This was much less convenient. In the present situation, it was practically useless, as what bothered Stephen the most was having to carry each corpse. They were unwieldy and prompt to lose their cohesiveness, not to forget repugnant.
It was one thing to want to dissect them, with the proper equipment and his arms being the only part in contact with those bodies. To carry them was more reminiscent of a zombie apocalypse tactic to move unnoticed among the undead.
“Let’s not be stupid there, buddy. Just like before, let’s not get lost in the moment. There’s a single problem, and there has to be a simple solution. Emptying the sledge. Think.” It was more a desperate need to find another solution than one that implied carrying each body manually from the sledge to the garbage pit.
“Using the spear as a fork to move them is going to be a disaster, but maybe…? Yeah, that could work.
Okay, so, Miss Liama? Once again, noise warning!
If everything goes well, I should’ve reduced the source of smell by a fourth in a couple of minutes. Hold on for a while longer. You’ll soon have a liveable place.”
While until now, the sledge had been moved with its side toward the pit, this time Stephen moved it once more so that the back was against the rim of the hole. Then he started dismantling the back rail so the sledge’s contents could be discharged in one move.
The hardest part was to lift the sledge from the other side so the bodies could fall. For that, Stephen wedged what pieces of wood he had removed from the rail to place them under the sledge’s blades. It wasn’t much, but every bit helped. What made it more efficient was to push the pieces of wood further under the sledge, thus lifting this side higher. When he felt moving any more would risk having the weight shift to the other side, Stephen put his back against the vehicle while bending his knee. Then he started pushing up the weight. Soon enough, he felt and heard the corpses dropping into the garbage pit.
“And that’s one done! Let’s just hope the room can eliminate the smell once the source is gone. Otherwise, I don’t know how long it will take to disperse, if ever.
I’m not proud of this idea. At least emptying the dungeon allowed it to delay its Breakout even further, but damn. If that wasn’t dumb. The worst part is that now, I will want to do the same every time. Twelve hours of added peace for a fourth of the time invested is a great payout. No way I will miss that!”
Nonetheless, there was still another three sledge to empty. It was exhausting, and the physical effort wasn’t the leading cause. No, it was the fact Stephen couldn’t prevent himself from puking his guts out another two times. So strong was the decaying odour permeating the room that his damp rag was barely helpful.
The only thing left was to deal with the load he had brought inside.