-H.T.D Lv2: Day 3-

The second level is beautiful; an endless wilderness of grasslands, mountain ranges, forests, and mounds with wild animals all around; foliage in lustrous, healthy green, as flowers and shrubs enhanced the beauty of the land. The road was unbeaten, only marked by the line of stones on each shoulder as if a road was planned to be built but never used. In the day, there is a typical blue sky that transitioned to shades or orange at dusk and dawn, but at night it became a beauty of stars painted on a giant canvas, and planets were easily visible as close as possible without colliding.

There has been nothing but silence for two days. Hiking along the path, I saw horned rabbits and other bizarre creatures but not once did any trouble occur. I walked, rested, ate, and slept under the stares, with only Mandy's daily checks before and after school to keep me company.

Now the third day, I stop to rest on a rock in a holloway, eating some jerky as I consider my options.

If I stay, I could be wandering indefinitely, but if I go back I could plan at the risk of being sent back to where I started on the floor and have to cover all the distance again.

~crumble~

My thoughts were interrupted by a rustling approaching me. I didn't sound dangerous, so I waited to see what it was approaching. Pouncing out a pile of leaves was a small creature. From the size it was very young, maybe a newborn and had the head of an avian with the lower body of a cat. I came to realize that it was a baby griffin:

image provided by DeviantArt 

"Huh? Aren't you cute." I've read that griffins were a dangerous monster in this world but this was a baby, barely knowledgeable of the world. "What are you doing out here all alone?"

Hesitant, the baby griffin approached me, laying down at the side of my seat.

"I think he's wondering the exact same thing about you." Like the Ghost of Christmas Past, I turned to see familiar face.

"Bow-Wow?" It was him, the "guardian angel" assigned to me.

"How ya been?" He asked, a fake smile on his face. "As if I need to ask."

I was conflicted; I was pissed at him for being gone so long, but happy to see an old face. "I know you came to tell me something. What is it?"

He looks at me sullen. "I'm sorry for not being of any help, but I have come to give you some words of encouragement. Never let your guard down in battle, most defeats are made by not taking your opponent seriously."

It was funny how corny his message was, I looked to the small animal. "Are you saying I should be cautious of this little guy?" I turned to ask him, but he was gone. Alone with the baby griffin again, I looked in my bag and pulled out my last piece of jerky. "How about a deal, you let me go and I you get the meat?"

Hungry, the small creature bit into the meat. "Guess we have a deal."

Out of food, I decided to push forward, now I feel luck is on my side. I soon left the holloway, finding no imminent danger in my vicinity, but caught sight of something else, a town.

"I don't believe it... a town in a dungeon?" I've found a town in a dungeon before, but this one was inhabited.

Bow-Wow warned me to be cautious, so I approached carefully to he European aesthetic village. As I got closure, I found there was no guards and people simple went about their day without noticing a stranger arriving, but that wasn't the most bizarre feature, all the people looked human but had giant flowers on their heads. I entered the village and spoke to a man with an orchid flower.

"Excuse me Sir." I got his attention. "I'm new here, where am I?"

He looked at me confused. "A new arrival, haven't had one of those before." He smiled and gave me a handshake. "Welcome to Flower Village. If you are from out of town, you should speak with the Mayor. To see him, go straight down this road and you'll reach City Hall. Enjoy the rest of your day!" He walked away.

I followed the orchid man's instructions, reaching a building with flowers growing all around it. I went inside and saw an older man with a tulip flower in his head at the desk; he seemed to understand why I was here and nodded for me to enter the door behind him, the Mayor's Office.

I opened the door, and saw a heavyset man in a nice suit sitting at his desk. "Excuse me, are you the Mayor?" I said before approaching. "I was told to visit you if I was a new arrival."

"Ah, you must be from the 'outside'. Mayor Bloom is the name. Please, come closure." He welcomed me and pulled us some water from the pitcher on his desk. "Have something, you must be parched. I can promise you it's not poison."

I had a feeling I could trust him, if he wanted to kill me he could have done it earlier. "I take it you know who I really am and why I'm here."

He laughed lightly. "Indeed, as the Lv2 Mayor, I am instructed on what to do when the first adventurer arrives at our town. I am to inform you on the dungeon; from level 2-50, you must reach a series of towns and defeat the Floor Boss to progress to the next town; if you don't you will appear at our village again and again." The Mayor informs me. "The boss of our village, Nightshade, will appear at the clearing in the northern field."

"Can you tell me anything else?" I asked.

"I'm sorry, but I do not possess any more information out of what I just told you. However, I can give you this." Mayor Bloom reached into the desk and pulled out an old book, handing it me. "This is map of roads, after you beat the floor boss, the route to the next town will appear.

"Thank you... but may I ask, why would you be helping me? Wouldn't you try to defend the Floor Boss?" His actions were bizarre; the Cheraneura were a major help to me, but not to fight in the dungeon.

"Sorry, I do not have the information." He answered. "If you reach another town, you might learn."

The rest of the day, I got ready for the Floor Boss.

It was night time, and the Mayor was with me at the clearing to see someone finally challenge Nightshade.

Spurting out the ground, a giant vine monster with large thorns appeared. It had a head like a Venus-fly-trap, and moved its vines like tentacles to fight.

Time to fight. I wasted not time and charged. With my sword infused with fire magic, I slashed the monster. Amazing, my one attack cut the creature down the middle and set the remains on fire, killing it instantly.

Alone with the Mayor, we both tried to absorb my one-sided win. "I was expecting more of a challenge." I told the man honestly.

"I think Nightshade was just vulnerable against fire."

In a glow of light, the monster drop appeared; it was a magic wand with blue jewel in the handle. "A wand?"

"Yes, it's a very rare reward, the 'Wand of Saving Rain' it increases the size and effect of water based magic tenfold. If you don't want it, I'd wager you could sell it for a generous sum." The Mayor appraised.

"Thank you, if we never meet again, I just want to say you were a great help." The generosity he showed was very endearing. With a tip of the hat, the Mayor left and I was alone in the clearing.

Because I beat Nightshade, I can progress to Lv3 and can appear at the Flower Village gate when I come back. I was ready to return home and rest after a long day when I heard a whimper behind me. I turned around and saw the little griffin again.

"Hey little guy, what are you doing here?" I bent down to talk, then the baby monster nuzzled up to my leg. "Do you want to continue with me... Mandy and her parents might have an opinion, but I'll take my chances." Carefully, I picked the little cub up and held him in my arms. "A fella like you needs a name... small and bashful but you got a lot of courage in you, I think I'll call you... Valiant. Like it?" My little friend cooed as he rested in my arms. "Valiant it is. Come on Valiant, let's go home."

I took a deep breath and used my new ability to return by from the dungeon. Me and Valiant were consumed in light for a moment, when it lifted I found we were at the front door of the Fullerton estate in Kenley Valley.

We ain't home Todo, but we're someplace close enough to it. I looked at Valiant, grateful that I found a new companion to explore with.