Evren had made it to the 20th floor. He was now outside the door to the boss’ chamber repairing his armor. His left arm had been bandaged and was in a sling, and his forehead was covered in blood from a wound he had already closed. He thought he may have to spend a few days here as his left arm had a broken bone in it. He had cast ‘set bone’ on it, but that didn’t heal it right way, just got the bone in the right place. He was going to try casting ‘heal deep cut’ on it later, but he had to get his mind in order first.
The 19th floor had started off much the same as the previous ones but became a challenge when the monsters suddenly started calling out for help from allies. There was a whistle one of them would hold that it would blow if one member of their two-to-three-person team fell in battle. When that happened, the monsters in the adjoining caverns would rush in to join them. The first time this had happened, Evren wasn’t expecting them to arrive and didn’t notice them until they were almost in the room with him
Just before coming down to the 20th floor, he was fighting eight snake-men at the same time. He was using ‘fire wall’ to keep them away, telekinesis to push them back, and ‘skewer’ to hit anything he had a chance to at range. One of them had hit his left upper arm with a mace and fractured his bone. He wasn’t sure what he had done, he just knew that when he was finally the last one standing, he was holding his dagger in his hand, and his sword was on the ground some distance away. He collected his things and the mana gems and pulled the wagon down the slope to where he was now with one hand.
His armor had been cut in several places, he was using ‘mend’ to repair it, each cut taking at a minimum 4 castings to seal. When he finished with the armor, he stripped himself of his clothing and took a few steps away, casting ‘drench’ upon himself. He rubbed the bloodstains on his body to wash them away, using ‘drink’ to rinse himself. He didn’t have a towel to dry himself off with, so he walked back to the wagon and pulled out his bedding, setting it in a dry spot near the wagon.
He then sat on the back of the wagon and closed his eyes, putting his right hand over his left upper arm and focusing. Thinking back to all the medical training he had been through, and the medical courses he took in school, Evren concentrated on imagining the bones mending themselves and cast ‘heal deep cut’. He was assaulted by pain as the bones adjusted themselves to the spell. He cast it a few more times with the same mental image, but then he got mentally tired and decided to rest.
He had a fitful dream in that he had gotten down to the 86th floor and found everyone to be dead as everything else had been when he arrived at a new place. The first town, the fort, Plinth and Aernide Fortress had all been destroyed by the Holy State. If the Holy State had no problems sending their ‘puppets’, as he had read they were called, to be slaughtered, why couldn’t they send a company in to destroy everything on the way down, then seal the entrance?
Disheartened when he awoke, Evren stretched his left arm and found it to be feeling fine. He didn’t have any of the pain as he had the night before, nor did he experience any loss of motion. As he moved it about, it felt as if it had been completely healed. He got dressed and put his bedding and soiled clothing away, donning his armor and fixing a bite to eat. He didn’t have wood for a fire, but he would occasionally heat things up using ‘heat’. He couldn’t cook with it, but he could have something warm to lighten his heart. Doing some quick maintenance on his weapon to ensure it was free of damage and sharp. Evren then strung his bow and put it on the wagon holder.
He opened the door and pulled his wagon inside, leaving it at the entrance after the door had closed. He found something that seemed to be squatting down in the center of the chambers, and when it stood up, it seemed almost the complete opposite of what he had been fighting. Its body shape was humanoid, but it had the head of a hooded snake, and its body was like a human’s covered in snake scales. It wielded two swords in its hands and held them familiarly as Evren drew his sword.
Evren gave a small salute, and surprisingly it was returned to him. The two then walked forward to meet each other and swung at each other to start the melee. This one was fighting with two hands differently. Instead of both being on the attack or defense at once, it seemed to switch fluidly between the two, with one hand being offensive and the other defensive as needed. When an opening arrived for the defensive hand to strike, it would do so unhesitatingly.
Evren had gotten used to fighting against snake-men with two swords, and even against multiple snake-men, but none of those compared to the fight he was having now. This monster was faster and swung with accuracy that was precise and had no extra movement. This was a fight Evren was beginning to enjoy. Evren would adjust his sword style to mimic the monster as they fought in the center of the room. Occasionally, Evren would be pushed back towards the wall. Evren would notice, and try to keep away from the wall, but the monster would aways step in the way.
Whenever Evren tried to go around to get back to the center of the room, the monster would counter him and leave him defending. But, when Evren tried to drive the monster back, the snake-man could easily defend, and wouldn’t lose ground. The fight continued on for several tens of minutes before Evren could finally stand his ground. That wasn’t saying much though, he was about five meters from the wall.
The thing Evren understood about dungeon monsters was that they wouldn’t improve during a fight. If they fell for one trick, they would fall for it again. At least that was something he understood until now. This snake-man was no exception. It’s expressionless face only showed a robot-like programmed pattern of attack and defense. Once Evren understood the patterns, he eventually was able to overcome them. After several tens of minutes later, Evren was finally pushing back the snake-man.
He had been fighting for around an hour now, and he could feel his fatigue building. His stamina was still good, he could keep fighting, but he didn’t want to push his luck. He doubted the monster would get tired. While the creature wouldn’t feel fatigue, it would react to injuries, and Evren began to stack more and more injuries on the monster’s body. When he sliced the inside of the monster’s leg, his movements slowed down. When he slashed the forearm, that weapon would defend more than attack. Each hit Evren did to the monster put him in a greater advantage.
This was until Evren finally stabbed the monster in the throat. It fell to its knees and bled out, staring up at Evren, and before it fell, it closed its eyes and bent its head forward. Evren watched it fall, watched it dissolve away, and the green mana gem fall to the ground, along with a pair of silver earrings.
When Evren exited the boss’ chamber, he blocked off his wagon and walked down the ramp to the next floor. Along the way, the dungeon began to change. There was an earthly smell coming from ahead, with a hint of putrefaction. As Evren approached the doorway to the first room, he noticed the walls had been changed to a dirty white brick, and the floor was made of cobblestones. As Evren stepped through the doorway, he found he wasn’t in a room, but a completely open area. There was a cobblestone path leading away from him, with cut grasses growing all around. There was the occasional tree that lacked leaves and appeared dead. Ahead, there was a wrought iron fence surrounding what appeared to be a cemetery. The sky had stars in it and two full moons were visible. Occasionally clouds would darken the area, but he could still see enough to move around.
He stretched out with his sensory field and felt a presence that felt very familiar. It was unsettling and unnatural, “Skeletons.” He said as he looked around. The wrought iron gate continued to the walls on the left and right which appeared to be a stone wall with spiked iron at the top to prevent intruders from climbing over. As Evren looked around, he frowned, “Am I still in the dungeon?”
