Brandon led the companions down the corridor until they reached a T-junction. It was the first time within a corridor that they had a choice of direction other than straight on. "Which way should we go?" Brandon asked.
"I would suggest splitting up, but with the traps we have found so far, I do not want to chance triggering one, and you seem to be the only one able to spot them," Kyto replied.
"Left or right then?" Brandon asked.
"Right," Sniffer replied.
Brandon turned right and continued along the corridor; it twisted, following an incline before again reaching a crossroads this time.
"Damn. Which way now?" Brandon asked again.
"Shall we just keep heading right for now?" Sniffer said.
Again, the companions set off and, after following the corridor for another hundred feet, found themselves at another junction.
"Let's keep going the same way," Brandon said, not asking this time and turning right again. The companions followed in silence as Brandon moved ahead, surveying and turning right as they came across more junctions and forks in the corridor.
"This is a maze," Sniffer said.
"I think it is, but leading where?" Kyto replied.
"We have been travelling for ages now, and we have not come across a trap or a doorway or anything," Brandon stated as the companions paused at another junction.
"We just have to keep going. We have to finish this dungeon and know we are on the last level." Kyto replied.
"I can smell something," Sniffer said.
"What?" Kyto asked.
"Not sure it is very faint, like fresh bread," he replied.
"Fresh bread down here, so you can smell someone baking?" Kyto asked.
"No, it just has a similar smell," Tiddles replied.
"You lead then if you can track it," Kyto replied.
The others picked enough meaning from Kyto's conversation with Tiddles to understand as Tiddles led the group to the right again. The corridor twisted and turned, forking off twice again, Tiddles moving right before he spoke again. "It is getting stronger now. Can you not smell it yet?" he asked.
"Can anyone smell anything yet?" Kyto asked, looking at the others. They all shook their heads.
"Meh. Risen have such a poor sense of smell." Tiddles replied, muttering to himself.
Kyto frowned at him as he turned, walking down the corridor again. They followed it for a few minutes with no signs of the corridor splitting off before Brandon commented, "I can smell something." he said.
"At last, one of you smells it," Tiddles replied.
As the group continued, the remainder began to pick up the same scent in the corridor. It smelled like freshly baked bread, making Kyto's mouth water as they continued. Tiddles continued leading the group until he eventually came to a stop. They looked ahead and could see the opening of a room. The smell was strong now, drawing them towards it. Kyto drooled from the sweet scent, drawing him forward. They approached the end of the corridor and could see clearly into the well-lit room bathed in the same artificial bright light the corridors had. A large wooden fired stove, stocked pantry shelves, and preparation tables were in the centre of the room. Behind the stove stood Matilda, of all people.
"Matilda? What are you doing here?" Kyto called as he walked into the room.
The buxom woman turned at her name being called and looked up from the pots she was busy cooking. "Hi, Kyto. Can I get you something to eat?"
"Matilda! What are you doing here?" he said open-mouthed, looking at the barracks cook, completely confused.
"I have no idea. I woke up this morning here. I had no idea where I was, but there were so many ingredients just sitting on the shelves that I had to start cooking. Some of these meat cuts and grains are not normally available at this time of the year." she replied, smiling at him.
All five of the companions looked at the woman who was busily and happily moving between the surfaces as she hummed to herself, chopping and preparing food. She opened the door to the large stove and withdrew three loaves of freshly baked bread. The smell flooded all their nostrils, and Kyto knew he was not the only one whose stomach was growling at the delicious aroma.
"I even have some fresh Spylore steaks," Matilda said as she showed off two huge slabs of meat from the countertop.
Tiddles drooled slightly at the thought of fresh Spylore, although he had promised not to eat it again due to the cubs he had taken in. The temptation was so strong, though.
"Please come and eat something. I have been cooking all morning." Matilda said.
Lars walked up to the counter, looking at the selection of foods that sat there, prepared and ready for tasting. He picked up one of the fresh loaves of bread and tore a large chunk from it, juggling it between his hands from the heat, dipping it into a bowl of steaming stew placed by its side. He blew on the end of the bread before placing it in his mouth, chewing and swallowing it. He let out a deep, satisfied sigh. The others soon followed. Even Tiddles gave in to his urge, and Matilda was happy to feed him two large fresh steaks. Matilda even had non-nectar and fresh coffee, and as they stood chatting to Matilda, they all had their fill of fresh and delicious food. Matilda was happily talking to them all and was in her element. The happiest Kyto had ever seen her in his brief time of knowing her.
"We will need to take you to the exit," Kyto told her. They had been discussing the dungeon and what had been happening to them, and Matilda had shown concern for their tales.
"Of course, but I think you should rest before we go anywhere, and I would love to take some of these ingredients back out with me." She replied.
All the companions were fully fed, and even Kyto, with his mana-improved endurance, was feeling sluggish from the amount he had consumed. "That sounds like a good idea. I do feel a little sleepy. I have not had such a well-fed belly in a long time," he replied, rubbing his distended stomach and smiling at her.
The others all agreed and made their way to some chairs by a fireplace, which Kyto could not remember noticing before, settling into them. It did not take long before all five of them had fallen asleep with full bellies and the room's warmth with the tantalising smells of freshly cooked food filling the air.
You have died and respawned in the safe room. The time remaining to complete the quest is 5 days, 9 hours and 57 minutes.
"What happened?" Kyto said as he sat up on the Glyphs in the safe room, seeing Sniffer and the others sitting with him.
"I have no idea. All I can remember is eating our food and then appearing here," Sniffer said.
Kyto checked his logs.
Poison damage received 100% efficacy.
"Shit, we were poisoned," Kyto stated, looking around the companions.
"Thinking about it, it was a bit strange but felt so right at the same time," Sniffer replied.
"It felt so natural," Brandon said, nodding in agreement.
"I ate Spylore again." Tiddles looked dejected where he lay on the floor.
"I do not think anyone is to blame for what just happened. It must have been the dungeon playing its mind games on us," Kyto said.
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
"You do realise we now have to clear the Oscalak again," Tiddles huffed.
"Fuck, I had not thought of that," Kyto replied, punching the ground with his fist in anger and frustration.
"What?" Sniffer asked.
"Oscalak." is all Kyto replied.
"But the portal is there," Brandon said.
"Good point," Kyto said, looking at the orange glow. He stood and walked towards it, placing his hand in the light. His hand did not penetrate the barrier, being prevented from entering it.
"Damn this fucking dungeon." He cursed vehemently.
"Our weapons have gone as well," Sniffer said.
"I hate this place," Brandon said.
Lars signed at Kyto.
"True, at least we know what to expect and can save time killing it this time," Kyto replied.
"We need to go and get some decent clubs before we go back in there," Sniffer stated.
It took the companions a while to sort themselves out, Kyto going out to see TJ briefly explaining what had happened and that they required clubs. TJ provided them from the guard force outside willingly, although deeply concerned with what they were going through inside the dungeon. The mind tricks and mental pressures they were being put under were not insignificant, and he was getting concerned about Kyto and his blasé behaviour. Every time he came outside, he seemed more distant from reality.
"You do know this is not a game?" TJ said to him.
"I believe it is, though. Maybe the sickest and weirdest game ever, but I think it is a game." Kyto replied.
"The lives of several thousand people do not feel like a game to me." TJ frowned in response.
"I understand your concerns and am as frustrated and angry as you are with what has happened, but I think this is one large game. The fact there is a countdown timer that mentions challenges and the trials we are facing in the dungeon; it all seems to be a dreadful game that the System is playing," he replied.
"No one knows about the System, though. We have all been born with the interfaces from our coming of age. How can you say that it is playing a game?" TJ replied.
"It has to be. What other reason does it have for the changes it has made." Kyto had been thinking about what had been happening since the update, and it was the only plausible solution he had come up with. The System was making them practice and develop. They had both started at level 25 and since the beginning of the invasion, they had both increased significantly already, the skills they were developing were aligned to a larger goal by all accounts and had to be aligned to the challenges. There was no other reason otherwise.
"I need to head back," he said to TJ as he walked back to the mine entrance.
TJ watched Kyto go and shook his head with concern. He knew the young man walking away from his was changing, and he only hoped it was for the betterment of all.
∆∆∆
"Ready?" Kyto asked as they stood by the entrance corridor to the Oscalack’s chamber.
The companions had discussed their approach, and they proceeded inside again. They were more efficient the second time, clearing the room, taking it down without receiving too much damage, knowing what would happen. Kyto focused his strands from the start on the various skeletal remains before they transformed into their colossal form. They then Systematically attacked, destroying the creation. The most damage received was from the blast, as it died when Kyto was thrown back against the nearby wall, and his shield plummeted, draining his final mana. He had to draw from the companions to heal himself from his sustained concussive damage, as his shield had failed to protect him fully.
They went straight through to the antechamber upon completing the room and through the portal to the safe room. It was active again, and now the Oscalack was defeated for a second time. They took some time to rest, and Kyto refilled his mana pool again before returning to the maze corridor.
"You do realise that we are gaining awesome experience each time we kill that thing," Tiddles told Kyto as they started into the maze of corridors.
"I have not been checking the logs. How much did we get?" he asked.
"12,000 experience," Tiddles replied.
"Damn, that is good."
"Yes, it is. At this rate, we could reach another level pretty soon. I have already gone up a further individual quest level. Have you?"
Kyto looked at his quest log. "Yes, I am 12655 out of 25000 for my next one as well."
"I am 631 of 700 kills on mine. It seems each of those skeletons was classed as an individual kill. I could batter that room and get kills easily."
"I had not thought of that, but I suppose if it is reset and we can regain experience, it is not bad."
"Yeah. That is what I was thinking. We could keep repeating the room."
"Let us see what we have to deal with first in the rest of it. Maybe we can consider it if it is manageable before the timer runs out."
"Which way this time?" Brandon asked as they arrived at the first junction.
"Shall we try left this time," Kyto said.
They began their maze journey again, keeping to the left on each fork or junction. "I wish we had a map," Sniffer said as they took another left turn.
"I have checked the display, and there does not appear to be a map option. It would be amazing if it did. We could show the routes we have taken," Kyto replied.
"I agree, but if we get nowhere this time, our next venture will have to involve taking different routes rather than just going right or left, and we will need to remember the routes we take," Sniffer stated.
"I agree. I was thinking the same. Do you have your notebook and pencil with you?" Kyto asked.
"In my backpack, yes. I did not bring them, though, as I did not want to lose them," he replied.
"Maybe we can bring a sheet if we need to and a pencil. I have not yet lost anything inside my clothes pockets through death. Only my backpack or a held weapon." Kyto replied.
"What the dungeon claims as lost in comparison does not seem to make sense," Sniffer said.
"I am glad it did not take items from clothing, though otherwise, we would have lost the power crystal and never been able to activate the portal.
They continued following the left route for a couple of hours, drawn deeper and deeper into the dungeon until Brandon turned the next corner and stopped the corridor, which ended abruptly not ten feet away. "Dead end," he said, turning back to the group.
"Damn it." Sniffer griped.
"This is so time-consuming," Brandon added.
"I think we need to split up. We have not encountered any traps and know we cannot keep going either right or left now. We must decide how to approach this and keep track of our movement. We can then meet back up again." Kyto said.
"I agree," Tiddles said.
"What if we find something, though," Brandon asked.
"Well, we can use the timer as a guide to meet again. We currently have 5 days, 4 hours, and 13 minutes left. We can agree to meet again at a certain time, give or take a few minutes," Kyto said.
"Sounds good, but we don't have visibility of the timer," Sniffer added.
"Tiddles and I do so we can split into two groups. I will go with Brandon and Lars, and you two go together." Kyto said.
"Ok. But we need to get paper first, and I only have one pencil." Sniffer said.
"Let's head back to the safe room and go and see TJ. I am sure he will have some with the guard force," Kyto replied.
The companions returned through the maze, turning right at each junction until they returned to the portal. They did not take long to source some paper and another pencil before they returned and split into their two groups. Tiddles and Sniffer heading left, Kyto and the others to the right. They had 5 days, 2 hours, and 25 minutes left when they returned and agreed to meet back in no more than six hours.
The time flew by as they walked the corridors, taking new paths and choices at each step. Kyto started to mark their movements on the paper. They had found nothing interesting or different and, thankfully, no more mind trick rooms. They returned to the portal room with ten minutes to spare and sat waiting for Tiddles and Sniffer to return. About twenty minutes passed before they heard movement in the corridor, and they soon appeared from the doorway.
"Anything?" Kyto asked.
"Nothing," Tiddles replied.
"Shit," Brandon said.
"I was thinking while walking the route we took that we also need to mark where we go," Kyto said.
"We are?" Sniffer said.
"No, I mean the actual walls with a cross or something. We do not know if we are potentially crossing each other’s paths." Kyto said.
"I had not thought of that, but it is possible," Sniffer replied.
"I will mark our path with a cross. If you see one, you will know we have been down there," Kyto said.
"I will draw a circle," Sniffer said.
"Ok, we have 4 days and 22 hours left. How long is this time?" Kyto asked.
"Six again, and then I think we will need some rest," Sniffer replied.
The companions split again and began their separate journeys. Not until Kyto and the others were two hours into their travels did he notice a circle on the wall at head height. "Looks like they have been this way already," he said.
"Yeah, but the next thing is, are they checking all routes," Brandon replied.
Lars looked frustrated, and Kyto felt it as well. This maze was eating up the timer, and, apart from the poisoning, nothing had been found yet. "We have to persevere," he replied, sighing.
The time whittled down until they again had to turn back to go back to the portal room. On returning, they arrived behind Tiddles and Sniffer.
Tiddles stood as they approached. "We found something," he said excitedly.
"What have you found?" Kyto asked, feeling a sense of relief.
"Another doorway. We have not entered it yet as we wanted to come and get you guys first," Sniffer replied.
"At last," Brandon said, Lars, nodding in agreement at the news.
The corridors were mind-numbing, traipsing their paths continually.
"Great news. Let us rest, and then we can follow your route." Kyto said.
They went back to the safe room and grabbed provisions while resting. After a few hours of the companions sleeping, Kyto woke them again.
"Ok, let's go and see what you found," he told the group.
They had just under 4 days and 8 hours remaining when they arrived at the door Sniffer and Tiddles had discovered. The marked route was easy to follow.
"Here goes," Kyto said, grabbing the door and opening it.
The stench hit them almost immediately. "Geblex," Tiddles said.
Hefting their clubs, Brandon walked into the small chamber on the other side of the door. It was lit dimly, lower than the corridors, but still enough to see by. They were now standing in a small antechamber leading into a much larger one. He checked their surroundings before giving them all clear to proceed.
The chamber was massive, and they were met with hundreds of sacs of black, translucent material. On looking at the nearest ones, Kyto could see the form of a creature moving inside the sac. "What are those things," he whispered.
As they stood watching, one of the sacs further into the chamber began to move more violently, and a three-fingered arm tipped with claws suddenly shot into the air.
"Fuck, they are Geblex eggs," Sniffer said.
The Geblex forced its way through the torn membrane, rolling onto the floor before slowly clambering to its feet. It stood unsteadily on its newborn legs, stretching for a few moments before it let out a deep croak. It looked around the chamber and turned until its gaze fell on the companions. The next sound it made was not a deep croak but a shrill one as it snarled, showing its teeth, and started to move through the masses of sacs towards them. That was as more arms began to erupt from their translucent birth pods.
"Oh shit," Sniffer said.