Gilgamesh sat down. He heaved a sigh of discontent before lifting sandwich to his mouth.
“Sir you have to see this!” said a baby-faced soldier bursting through the tent flaps covered in rain.
Gilgamesh paused, the sandwich halfway towards his mouth before furiously getting up from the chair.
“How many casualties do we have now!” He barked. “We’re already on our last men!”
“I can’t explain it, you have to see it,” said the soldier straightening, between panting breaths, “Although there were no more casualties, sir! Please follow me, sir!” He then rushed out.
“What’s this nonsense!” shouted Gilgamesh but he still followed the baby-faced soldier.
The soldier was already mounted on a horse with another prepared next to him. Gilgamesh jumped onto the saddle. “Let’s go!” He barked.
They rode through the camp and into the forest. Cadets were by the entrance to the forest, tending to injuries and serving hot food.
“There was a disturbance a couple of hours ago!” Shouted the soldier over the rain and galloping horses.
“I know, it shook the damn earth!” shouted Gilgamesh.
“Just now one of the cadets discovered what it was!”
“Well what the hell is it!” shouted Gilgamesh.
“It’s right up ahead sir!” said the soldier.
The soldier stopped his horse. Gilgamesh followed suit and hopped off.
Gilgamesh’s eyes widened. “What the hell is that soldier!” He commanded. “And where the hell is the rest of its body!”
Parts of a bloodied tusked monster was half buried in the ground. Its face was scowling hideously and split into pieces held together by skin.
“What the hell is this devil-spawn!” Demanded Gilgamesh.
“We believe it is what’s been causing the disturbances lately. It is probably behind the recent surge in monsters appearing from the lower levels, sir!”
Gilgamesh walked closer to it.
“Be careful, sir! The ground is unstable, sir! We believe it has shot up from deep the dungeon, sir!”
Gilgamesh reached forward with a shaking hand. The skin felt rough, like rock beneath his fingers. Gilgamesh inspected it with an experienced eye. This monster was threatening but its bloodied figure and the gashes in its flesh indicated a fight. A fight that it had lost.
“What the hell could have done this!” demanded Gilgamesh although he already knew what the answer would be.
“We have no idea, sir!” said the soldier. “One thing is certain, it is a monster of divine power, it is on an entirely other level and a threat to the entirety of mankind.
“Demonic,” Muttered Gilgamesh.
“What sir,” asked the soldier quizzidly.
“It’s a monster of demonic power,” repeated Gilgamesh.
Gilgamesh strode back to his horse and mounted it.
“We move at dawn!” he commanded.
“Sir, what do you mean!” asked the soldier.
I said we’re getting the hell out of here,” shouted Gilgamesh. “This is way beyond our jurisdiction, not that we’d be able to make a difference. If you’re willing to deal with whatever the hell killed that thing you’re more than welcome to stay!”
With that, he whipped the horse reigns and rode off.
A couple of days later . . .
“It won’t be the same without you,” said Olivere.
“Aw chucks,” I said smiling sheepishly. “You’re gonna make me blush,”
“How are your injuries?” asked Olivere.
“They’re doing good, it's a wonder what modern magic is capable of,” I replied.
“You still want to be careful, you practically destroyed the carapace thing you were wearing, while the device doesn’t only have an outer layer you should get it checked out as soon as you can,” said Olivere.
I nodded.
I grabbed my sack and slung it over my shoulder. I walked over the edge of the platform and landed casually on the jungle floor. I walked to the tree perimeter.
“Sebastian!” shouted a voice.
I turned around.
Olivere raised an arm and waved.
“Take care!” he shouted from the treetop.
“You too!” I shouted while waving back. With a warm feeling in my heart, I journeyed into the forest. I hummed softly to myself, gently sending mana into the ground. The vegetation parted soundlessly. Man, This had really been an adventure! I clenched my fist. I felt that I was really becoming strong. I felt like a new man from when I had fallen down here. I couldn’t help but grin at the thought that I had defeated the entire monster colony and the ogre. I munched on a fruit I had grabbed from a vine earlier.
“Should be about here,” I said to myself.
The foliage came to a stop leading to a rock wall. Two holes punctured its rough side. The very ones that I had crashed through. A growl sounded to my left. I turned to face a green canine creature, the size of a small car.
“What a surprise to see you still here!” I exclaimed.
It growled menacingly and moved toward me, its body low to the ground. I sighed.
“I’m warning you, I won’t go easy,” I said, wagging a finger disapprovingly.
It roared and charged me. I slapped its snout with the back of my hand. It crashed into the ground next to me. I shook my head.
“What did I tell you,” I said.
It struggled to its feet only to fall over again.
“You really ought to work on how you say goodbye,” I said disappearing into the tunnel. I walked up the sides of the steep tunnels using the threads to continuously bind and release my feet with each step.
It was quite easy to make my way to the top. The darkness felt normal after spending so much time in pitch darkness. My mana sense anyway allowed me to sense everything in my surroundings.
I continued through the upper forest past the tunnels. I forgot how deep this dungeon was. I could hardly notice a difference between the visuals of the upper and lowe levels. It was so easy for one to forget that they were deep underground. However one thing was obvious. The forest had barely any mana. There were licks of it sure but not nearly as overbearing as the mana in the jungle with Olivere.
I passed through this forest and into the open fields beyond. The fields were empty but I could sense several rabbits gnawing on the grass or in burrows.
Tears welled up inside me. I never would have thought that I would miss this place, not in a million years. I wiped my eyes, they came away wet. I looked in the direction of the camp. I didn’t see the usual smoke and ashes that came up from the various fires used for cooking or smithing. I sniffed the air. I couldn’t sense anyone. They didn’t seem to be there. When I entered the camp I couldn’t see anyone there. There were no tents or carts just the open space things had been in. There were still some barrels and materials on the ground. The deep scuff marks on the ground indicated that they had left in a hurry. The tracks from carts continued into the distance. I think I could still catch up to them, the tracks don’t seem more than a couple of days old meaning they can’t have gotten far. I walked for a bit before I realised that I would never catch up to them going at this pace. I tightened my bag around my bag and crouched down. I took off sprinting in the direction that they had gone.
It was when the sun - or rather fake sun began to set that I sensed a large number of people in the distance. I snapped my fingers. A glowing blue clock displayed itself above my hand. It had been just over 5 hours since I started running. The resistance seemed to have set up camp here. The entrance was guarded by 3 armed men. I approached them and attempted to cross through the gate. Their spears crossed in front of me blocking me.
“Do not enter!” They roared. “You will not be warned again!”
“Whoa there, I’m not some stranger, how don’t you remember me, I’m your saviour,” I said my voice dripping in sarcasm when I emphasized saviour.
They didn’t budge or say a word all they did was glare at me. I didn’t remember security being this strict when I was here before, did it have something to do with why they moved?
“Let him through!” Said a voice. “He belongs here!”
Lula burst past the guards despite the guard’s protests and nearly tackled me to the ground with her hug.
“I knew you were alive!” she said. “Nobody believed me!”
“Glad to be back,” I said smiling warmly.
