Morning came quietly, as even in a dungeon one can take the simple joy of getting a well earned nights rest.
There was no sunlight underground, of course, so we weren't exactly sure if it was morning or not, but we'd both slept for a good while, so it was enough for us to declare it to be morning whether or not it actually was.
I awoke before Sara, and quickly got into performing my daily warmups i had picked up fromt the dream guy, no idea if it does anything, but if someone from a period that looks so much more advanced from our own does it, it surely can't hurt to mimic him... right?
Sara woke as i was in the middle of doing my stretches, and seemingly decided to join in whatever i was doing without asking a single questions.
Following that came a simple bite to each of some ration bread, and jerky to supply us with the energy to support another day of dungeon diving.
Once we had been watered and fed, the true first task could be undertaken.
Mainly the Goblin knights loot.
It had dropped and been collected yesterday, but neitehr of us wanted to deal with it, having been to worn out from the fight, and it wasnt like the dungeon was going to steal our rewards from us.
The prize from beating the Goblin knight was an assortment of money which we stored in a satchel the use for which we currently didnt know, but if it weighed us down to much, tossing it was also an option.
Money was great but if our greed for money became the reason for our deaths down here... i would be sure to come back and create a cursed dungeon where the spirit of greed would be killed in every single explorer, adventurer, and hero who set foot within my domain.
The other loot was just some pieces of equipment, a talisman or necklace which went to Sara since i didnt much care for jewelery myself, while the goblins dagger which was more like a sword went to me to replace the sword that broken during my fight with the knight itself.
As for the rest... well we were going to be abandoning it.
Even for fun putting on the pauldrons, and boots were just so damn heavy even with strength at 5 i was surely getting some sort of a penalty for wearing armor like this while not having any points in the armor stat.
Besides i wasnt the type to wear heavy armor anyways, i was a run and slice kind of swordsman, valuing my mobility and freedom more than high defence.
Sara likewise rejected the armor, more because she couldnt even lift the pieces which caused her to puff up her cheeks in displeasure when she'd seen i was watching her attempt doing so.
Once we were all packed up and ready to go, i gave one final glance at the pile of loot we were leaving behind and headed for the dungeon door. The one that the Goblin knight had walked out of, and which would be leading us deeper into the dungeon, down to the sixth level and beyond.
Just a simple push, and the door swung inward. It was weird almost like the door which looked like it should weight thousands of pounds actually weighed nothing at all.
Beyond it was darkness, not pitch darkness but the morbid gloom of dungeon passageways, with minimal lighting, a farcry from the well lit room we'd been spending the last dozen hours within.
If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.
But it was already decided where we were going so with a draw of my new sword from its sheathe, i steped forwards into their looming darkness, and from the pitter patter of footsteps behind me, Sara was right on my heels in pursuit.
BOOM. The door slammed shut behind us.
The way back was shut, and even after a nudge or two it was not going to open, our only path forward now was to keep going down, no retreat, no surrender.
And so thats just what we did, only unlike against the goblin knight, the following floors felt like we were going through the 1st-4th all over again.
The scneary was different with new snaking paths and foes to face, but the challenge of facing them was not much different than the regular goblins, and goblin hounds of the first few floors.
Even on the ninth floor when we faced off against a pair of Goblin knight at the same time, the first fell to Sara's Immolate spell upon her casting, while the second fell during the commotion as i snaked my way through the shadows and dealt a decapitation strike across the back of its neck with <Assassination>.
And in the end after walking for an inordinate amount of time killing who knows how many goblins and their familiars within the depths, we finally reached the next stopping point.
The third safe zone of the dungeon, the waypoint leading to the tenth floor.
A simple small room setup with a few stone benches as if the dungeon itself was saying 'go ahead take a load off, you're gonna need it.'
Which was a godsend for us since for hours on end we'd been walking in the dark, fighting monsters, dodging traps, and getting lost as we tried to navigate the ever expanding labyrinth floors that only got bigger the deeper we went down.
As i was unrolling my travel blanket to create a bit of padding on the stone floor my eyes tracked to the adjacent wall, where yet another Mural was composed.
Instinct was again sounding off in my head, and from the feel of this one it was clear to me that this was the end of the dungeon, we had reached the boss room, the 10th floor was the lowest level, and to defeat the probably goblin king inside would mean we would get the chance to also slay the dungeon core itself and put an end to this goblin hole.
But the mural was before the dungeons end, was there a deeper meaning to the murals? This one was the most detailed of the three, and also proved itself to be the first in the sequence as they had been shown to us in reverse from my reckonning.
Once our camp was setup and the meal served i got into my best storytelling voice, as i explained the story of Lord Arthas, whom i assumed was the lord since the dungeon was named that.
'Once upon a time, in a far off land, there lived a lord who treasured his people above all other things, but one day his kingdom was threatened by forces beyond his comprehension and in an act of desperation he took the hand of a shadowy figure who promised him the power to solve all his nations problems. Only the lord did not know that by accepting the demons offer he had sold him his very soul and condemned his nation to even greater horrors. When the lord returned to his capital, he experimented with the means to achieve power enough to stop the invasion of his lands, converting his houses staff into super soliders whom could stand against hundreds all on their own, except that what the lord didnt know was he hadnt converted his staff into heroes, but turned his own family into monsters. Monsters who after killing all in the palace descended into the city bringing about an end to the domain from within, and giving rise to a new species of monsters that could populate quickly and become a new scourge upon the lands.'
When the story finished Sara was beside herself with worry, "That poor lord, he got tricked when all he wanted to do was protect his people"
"Yeah, but it was that same desire to protect that made it possible to trick him into doing the opposite."
"It almost would be better if he had never woken up, to see what he'd done to his family, and lived that sweet dream of thinking he'd done everything right."
"I guess, but that would probably mean that in the end his own family would be the ones to kill him along with everyone else after they were turned into monsters."
"Yaaaaaaahh... stupid dungeon, why's it showing us something so sad when it should be showing something heroic to bolster our spirits and make us want to fight on harder, not want to curl up tight in bed and wait for the sun to shine brighter and wash away the darkness."
I could only chuckle at her comment, it felt very much like the dark dry writing of the man from my dreams, maybe the murals did hold some secret but what it was i did not yet know and probably wouldnt for quite some time, for now i would be content with clearing this first dungeon collecting the spoils and carrying on our journey to the capital in chase of Cole and Cade to right the wrongs i myself had set unto the world.
Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!
Use arrow keys (or A / D) to PREV/NEXT chapter