Darkness pressed in on Marcus from all sides as he fought against the whatever gripped his leg. Shit, shit, shit! Marcus’ heart beat rapidly as he fell into a panic, wasting precious oxygen as he fought against the force dragging him through the murk.
The waters around him churned furiously, silt and mud lifting to further obscure his senses. He couldn’t tell how long he’d been under by the time he could hear and feel his heart pounding directly in his ears, when the tension dragging at his ankle vanished with a sudden jerk.
Up, gotta go up! He thought frantically. In his rush to get to the surface, he failed to realise he’d been tumbled about and disorientated. He struggled to rise, only to plunge into the muck at the bottom of the pool.
His lungs were long past burning at this point. What little vision he still possessed had already started to fade as he struggled to get out of the situation. Don’t breath, don’t breath, don—
His body rebelled against him, drawing in mouthfuls of water that filled his world with searing agony as it reached his lungs. His consciousness vanished as an arm grabbed the back of his suit firmly, dragging him to the surface.
“Blergh~!” Marcus retched repeatedly as he regained consciousness, his chest felt as though it’d been trampled on by an elephant. Ringing filled his ears as he thrashed around, trying to escape whatever was trying to pin him down.
“—us! Marcus, calm down! You’re alright!” Hunched over him was an armoured figure, the one pinning him down as it shouted at him. Get him off me! Still in a panic, Marcus continued to struggle, pushing against the armoured form and getting nowhere as it continued to hold him down.
“Marcus, you’re OK. Just take a minute to breathe.” Even now as he was struggling, he continued to retch and every breath was agonising. “Marcus, look at me.” Next to the armoured figure was someone he recognised.
“Jess?” He croaked. “Yeah, Marcus. You just had a bit of a scare. Take a minute, remember where you are.” Her voice was calm, and it helped to clear his thoughts momentarily, allowing him to think for the first time.
“We’re in the Dungeon… and something pulled me into the water.” It took him several minutes to process what had just happened, all the while his lungs and ribs continued to ache fiercely while his body shuddered with cold.
“S-sorry I freaked out.” He managed to stammer out, his face still pale. “It’s fine, you were in shock. Dave’s lucky he was wearing armour, though. You put up a bit of a fight.” Jess chuckled. “What… what was that? What happened?”
“You got grabbed by a monster that lives in swamps, bogs, and lakes. It’s a carnivorous plant called a Drowning Root. It extends grabbers into the sand and mud near the surface, and when something steps nearby, it drags it into the water.”
“Fuck me.” Marcus swore, exhausted. “Alice, does that thing really need to be in the first layer?” “That particular plant’s only means of offence is to drown its prey. Had you reacted in any way rationally, you could have dealt with the situation on your own.” She replied smoothly. “So you tell me, Marcus. Does it need to be there?”
“I almost drowned you know.”
“Yes, Marcus, because you were unprepared made the worst possible decision at nearly every turn. I was there.”
~
Treatment in the Hospital went smoothly after the group returned, but Marcus’ lungs still felt quite raw after the incident. Despite the desire to progress further through the dungeon, he currently wasn’t fit to do so.
Instead, he found himself lying on a large sofa in the living room of the Keep, watching the news while his nieces napped alongside him. As of yesterday evening, the national government had declared a state of emergency, as had most other nations across the world as monsters began appearing near population centres.
Unfortunately, matters only became worse from there as in numerous major cities, people were taking advantage of the chaos and panic with widespread acts of violence and looting. “Glad it’s not just monsters we have to worry about out there.” Marcus muttered. People are just as bad.
While Marcus passed the afternoon idly resting, Jess had worked on developing her skills in the training hall while Dave had set himself up in the Workshop to do the same. It was now clear to the group that they were truly unprepared for what the System had brought to their world, and it was going to take considerable effort to ensure their continued safety.
~
The group advanced slowly through the boggy area of the first layer, much more cautious after yesterday’s encounter with the Drowning Root. Marcus’ lungs still felt slightly tender, but after a night’s rest and use of the magical healing available via the fortress’ Hospital, he was already fully recovered.
“Watch your steps. The ground is getting pretty soft here.” Jess called from the front. It had been thanks to her enhanced perception that they’d been able to identify several Drowning Roots despite their concealment, avoiding a repeat of yesterday.
Alice really went all out with this. Marcus was thinking to himself when Jess’ figure suddenly froze. “There’s movement ahead.” She whispered, shifting back to let Dave take point. “It was low to the ground, I couldn’t get much of a sense of whatever it is, but I think it’s pretty big.”
For the sake of caution, Dave projected his shield towards the front, keeping his body low as he advanced. Crack~! A projectile shattered into dust as it struck the front of Dave’s shield, consuming a small amount of charge as it was blocked. Ahead of Dave, a figure loomed up within the fog, revealing it’s large fluid body as it launched more projectiles at the shield.
“Is that a damn Slime?” Dave shouted incredulously. “It is a Muck. It belongs to the same family as Slimes and Oozes. Mucks are highly attuned towards the earth element.” Alice replied as the Muck launched a chunk of its own body towards Dave’s shield as a projectile, further draining it.
“Bullets aren’t working!” He called out, hefting his mace as he advanced to swing at the Muck’s shapeless form. Chwick~! As the head of the mace impacted the creature’s surface, the body shifted and flowed around it, trying to draw the weapon within itself.
“Shit!” Dave cursed, pulling a metal cylinder from his waist, he hammered his thumb down on one end of it before shoving it into the Muck’s side. “Flash!” He shouted, closing his eyes while projecting his shield between himself and the monster.
In the rear, Jess and Dave squeezed their eyes shut, but only managed to partially cover their ears before the surroundings flared impossibly bright. BOOM~! Globs of the Muck’s body scattered to the air as the stun grenade detonated from within. As stray chunk of sodden earth and dust settled, the group were able to spot an odd brown crystal that had partially crumbled as a result of the blast.
Muck Lv4 slain. Gained 14xp.
Marcus’ ears were ringing while he took in the aftermath, still wary of attack. Well that’s one way to deal with them, I guess. He thought to himself. “Alright, Dave?” He shouted to his armour-clad brother who’d been right beside the blast. “I’m alright, Marc. Just glad my armour has hearing protection.” He called back as he dug his mace out of the Muck’s remains.
“Blowing it up seems a whole lot more effective than hitting the damn thing, that’s for sure. That thing was just about the worst possible match-up for a melee hitter.” Dave said after they regrouped. “Looks like it had a solid core that cracked from the blast. We’re gonna need to come up with a better way to fight them though, I’ve only got a couple more stun grenades.”
“We’d better figure it out fast,” Jess called out. “Looks like the blast drew more of them.” The damp earth rippled in the nearby fog, three large mounds rising up as they prepared to attack the group.
Dave rushed to intercept two of the incoming Mucks with his projected shield that had approached the group from one side. Meanwhile, in the back, Marcus’ focus was sharp as he cast his Binding Seal at the remaining monster, allowing the group to keep their focus in one direction.
As the two Mucks came up against Dave’s projected shield, cold vapour began to gather around Jess’ hand, forming an ethereal arrow that emanated cold. “Dave, be ready to drop the shield,” Jess called. As the arrow grew more solid, she drew back harder on her bow, extending it to the limit. “Rime.”
As the word left her lips, the temperature plummeted and frost formed across her bodysuit. Almost effortlessly, she released the string casting the frozen arrow towards the two Mucks as Dave dove away, opening as much space between himself and them as he could.
From Marcus’ position, the whole scene looked unnatural. The arrow seemed to move deceptively slowly through the air making no sound while it blanketed the ground in frost with its passing. In an instant, the arrow struck the two Mucks where their bodies touched, vanishing as a wave of cold swept outward in total silence, freezing everything within 2m.
The trio observed carefully, uncertain of how to act when there was no reaction from the monsters. Dave moved towards the frozen figures carefully with his mace drawn, receiving a nod from Jess and Marcus before swinging towards them heavily. Crick~.
Cracks began to spread across their forms following the strike, causing several fragments to drop to the ground as the group received notifications.
Muck Lv5 slain. Gained 16xp.
Muck Lv6 slain. Gained 19xp.
Jess was breathing heavily in the aftermath of using so much mana, her face covered in sweat and now-thawing ice that had formed in the presence of the arrow. “You OK, Jess? That skill was nuts!” Marcus found himself wishing he had a healing skill with how many close calls and mishaps they were running into.
“I’m alright. Just overdid it a bit.” She replied, catching her breath. “Got another one of those left in you? Maybe put less mana into it this time.” He asked, nodding towards the Muck he still had bound. “Yeah, I’m pretty sure I’d die if I tried to use Overdraw like that again, but I should be able to manage a Rime or two.” She replied.
~
Shortly after defeating the last of the Mucks, they found the passage to the second layer. Leaving the fungi and bogs behind, the felt like they had stepped into a completely different world, emerging into a land blanketed in twilight.
“Wait, how can we see the sky here? Also, it’s night!? What’s going on?” Dave voice the surprise they all felt. “The Dungeon’s interior exists in a space separate from the rest of the world. It would be impractical to build something so large underground.” Alice asked. “The sky and night are tied to this particular environment.”
“Before we go any further, Alice, is there an easy way for us to return to the surface, or will we have to backtrack the whole way?” Marcus asked as he surveyed the surroundings. “It is possible to add Return platforms with the appropriate Dungeon upgrade, otherwise you’ll be forced to backtrack every time. One of your Dungeon Enhancement Tokens would be sufficient to add them.”
Hearing that, Marcus looked at his inventory, tapping his watch to select the appropriate token.
Select Dungeon Superior Enhancement
Mana Density (Superior) Mana density within the dungeon rises, increasing the availability and quality of resources, as well as the power level and numbers of Dungeon Entities.
House Rules (Superior) Impose certain rules and restrictions on Dungeon Environments.
Time Dilation Alters the flow of time within Dungeon Environments. Ratio can range from 0.025 to 2.5.
Gravity Adjustment Dungeon environments can have altered gravity.
Return Nodes Enables the addition of Return Nodes, sparing delvers backtracking.
“Any other upgrades you want from there, Alice?” Marcus asked while looking at the list. “I will need Gravity Adjustment to realise some of my plans. Thank you.”
Using both of the Dungeon Enhancement Token (Superior) that he possessed, he selected the Return Nodes and Gravity Adjustment upgrades, watching with interest as a rune carved stone platform emerged from the ground nearby. “With this, as long as you reach a Return Node within the dungeon, you can travel to its paired exit point and vice versa.” Alice said.
Thanks!