Liam found the portal waiting for him just outside the city where he’d exited it from. He was rather eager to step back through it. He couldn’t wait to test his new sword along with bringing some fancier rations to Melissa. It was his way of trying to feel less guilty about having delicious food and booze while she was all alone down there, probably bored out of her mind.
Finally, he was back in the dungeon, surrounded by the woods. The camp was exactly as he’d left it; the sight of her by the firepit inside the undisturbed sanctuary spell washed away the worry he didn’t know he was even feeling with relief. He trusted her spell enough to think she’d be safe from monsters of this floor. He’d after all spent enough time inside one to know it was perfectly functional.
Adventurers, on the other hand, were a different story. There were those who’d hunt a low rank like her for fun, and a high-ranking adventurer could break another’s spell. It wouldn’t be the first time nor the last. There were plenty of stories about adventurer groups going missing due to things other than unexpected packs of monsters. For example, nobody had heard from the group that bothered him before. That group was made of higher-ranked adventurers than him, and they were known to stick to higher floors to avoid risk. It was pretty clear another party was the cause of their disappearance.
“Welcome back, Liam. I do hope your time back in the city was pleasant. Did you get everything you need?”
His attention snapped back to her as she stood up from her seat, the thoughts of other parties disappearing from his mind. There was no reason to think of them after all; she was safe, and that was all that mattered.
“I did.”
He drew his longsword out of its sheath on his belt, showing it off. It felt much better in his hand than the shortsword ever had; he was far more accustomed to the balance of the longer blade and slightly heavier weight of the sword. He also dropped a backpack filled with supplies and took out a core pouch; these were designed specifically to carry monster cores and were basically bottomless while negating the weight of the things inside. It had cost him a decent amount of coin, but considering the amount of cores they were starting to gather, it had felt like a necessary purchase. He wasn’t the biggest fan of carrying around a backpack weighed down by a bunch of cores in addition to the necessities for their survival.
“I hope you weren’t too bored down here on your own.”
Melissa chuckled softly.
“I am perfectly fine, Liam. It was only a day; I am perfectly able to spend that amount of time and entertain myself. That being said, it is better with you around.”
He didn’t know he needed to hear that last part until the words left her mouth and the relief he felt from seeing her safe turned to warmth. He liked the feeling of knowing she appreciated his company. He’d known in theory, of course, if she hadn’t, they wouldn’t be a party, but the confirmation made it all better.
He shook his head side to side in an attempt to clear his thoughts and prevent the flush threatening to creep onto his face from becoming a reality. He wanted to get going soon; being distracted wouldn’t exactly be ideal. This chapter was copied from novelping(.)com without permission.
“Shall we start packing and get going? We probably shouldn’t waste too much time idling. We only have so much daytime after all.”
She nodded in agreement. Liam immediately started to pack up. He glanced at her, wondering whether or not she’d offer to help. She didn’t.
It seems she really meant it when she said she wouldn’t do things that bored her if she could get away with not doing them.
He was slightly disappointed; she’d been helpful with everything else, even gathering cores, which wasn’t the most fun thing to do either, so he’d thought maybe she’d help with this too. No matter, even if she didn’t help with this, there was no denying having her with him was worth every bit of extra effort. He wasn’t delusional enough to think he’d be able to survive the fights without her healing or make progress as easily as he’d been without her sanctuary spell.
It didn’t take him long to finish. Between his excitement and the fact that he’d spent a night in a proper bed without her very lovely but also distracting presence in the same room, he’d been very rested and was feeling energetic. He also felt like his training with the mana was allowing him to move better, even if just a little bit, though that could just be in his mind.
The two were making their way through the forest when a pack of three hollowlings tried their luck with Liam. He was done with them much faster than before and almost took no hits, unlike before. It was clear that the new sword was something he was much more comfortable using compared to the shortsword.
The same story repeated with some spiders, though it was still more challenging than the tree-like undead creatures. It felt much better than the last time he’d needed to take on a pack. Still, even with the added range, one of them had managed to land a bite, and the feeling was as shitty as the first time he’d gotten bit.
It seems no matter how many times someone feels their bones melt, it never gets any more pleasant than before.
Despite the few speed bumps along the way, the duo was standing before the way that led down before much time had passed. Liam had kept the fights short and efficient. Even if that’d cost him a couple of bites more than he strictly needed to take. All that mattered was that he was now one floor closer to his goal than before.
“Please tell me there are no nasty surprises like the last time you didn’t tell me.”
“Well… If I recall correctly, the next floor does not have any enemies you have not seen. Though they do travel in packs more often and the packs can be larger than the ones we have faced here.”
The words were somehow both comforting and bothersome at the same time. He liked that he didn’t need to face some new abomination, but he couldn’t say he was a fan of the larger pack sizes. He especially despised the idea of even more verdant spiders ganging up on him at the same time. Three had been problematic enough; he really didn’t want a fourth or, gods forbid, a fifth one joining in. This chapter is updated first at novelping.com.
The difference in the frequency of encounters was apparent immediately. The moment they stepped on the floor, there were already a couple of hollowlings on them. They were swiftly dealt with as usual, but still, Liam hadn’t exactly expected such an immediate encounter. In the upper floors, you usually had a grace period, a safe zone of sorts until you made it deeper. It seemed that wasn’t the case for this floor and most likely any floor lower.
The next encounters came one after another. There was barely any time for him to catch his breath after each one. He felt as if every other step rewarded him with another one. It was quickly becoming clear she wasn’t joking about the pack situation. Every single encounter had at least been a duo or a trio of creatures more often than not.
He stopped at a clearing just to gather his breath. He’d figured a clearing at least meant he wouldn’t get ambushed from the trees. He was correct. His next foes didn’t ambush him, just outright rushed him. Two hollowlings and two spiders. He felt the bark-like claw tear into his flesh while a bite barely missed his arm. He’d dodged purely out of instinct.
He sliced at one of the hollowlings, the longsword easily cutting through the softer tissue of the creature’s neck. He looked at the rest with a satisfied smile. Then realisation struck; he’d been driven towards the trees while dodging around. Another pair of claws grabbed at him from the bark as a verdant spider dropped down from the same tree. Three spiders and two hollowlings…
Shit! There’re too many of them.
Dread and panic were starting to flare to life deep inside him. He wasn’t sure if he could deal with so many of them even with the constant healing from Melissa. He glanced at her; she was currently safe as the monsters were focused on him. He intended to keep it that way; even in this situation, one thing was clear: he wouldn’t go down without taking at least a few of them down with him and giving her a chance. He’d never been one to give up, and that wasn’t about to change now.
His eyes lit with determination. He took a bite out of his arm and returned the favour with a slash of his sword. It hurt like hell, but that didn’t matter now. He’d not die from it. As long as his body could push on, he’d do just that.
Something he’d only felt last night stirred inside him. His mana was running through the channels in his body; he could feel his body moving better than before. Yes, he didn’t have a massive pool to draw from, but any amount was better than none. His dread quickly got replaced with glee and adrenaline as he swung away. The feeling of mana coursing through his body was more intoxicating than he’d ever thought it’d be.
I’ll bury you lot if it’s the last thing I ever do.
Melissa smiled from his back, outside his line out of sight. She looked less like someone watching her friend having a life-or-death fight and more like someone watching their favourite play.