“Hunt me some rabbits.”

Rena agreed willingly. Victor was not sure if she would return, but even if she didn’t he had other matters to think about. The sun was still blazing high, which meant it would be at least a few hours before the soldiers would attack him.

And when they arrived, he needed a plan.

[Formidable Beast Creation - Basic Level - 3 Beasts available]

Victor  had only two souls with the affinity of a warrior. He could either create a slime and a mimic, or limit to creating a weakened stone golem. Even if the stone golem could handle two easily, the party would consist of more than two people. And then he’ll have to survive on my own strength.

If Rena came back with at least four dead rabbits Victor would have four dead souls, and he could lay out some traps. But even the traps would be obvious after two attacks.

He looked at the core, which was gleaming in a strange color of blue.

He had one plan.

And if it didn’t work, he would be dead.

*

Captain Haro of the Eastern Division never liked to leave his position near the shore. It was the one place where he could avoid the king’s gaze and live like a normal human being. Commanders inside the city had too much work in their hands, but he got to chill on the shores while getting paid by the Black Company for acting like their pawn.

He didn’t mind being a pawn. Heck, he’ll let the pirate queen even step on him if she threw him a few bags of gold.

But now he was recruiting a bad of five cussing pirates across the forest to find their comrades dead in the evening. His legs ached from walking, and his throat was sore from yelling the crew orders.

By the divine, I would usually be sitting in my cabin sipping a glass of wine by now.

“Footsteps,” Bachin, a short and stumpy pirate who seemed to be the smartest of the crew pointed a set of broken twigs. “Aye! These were recently cut, someone has moved through here.”

“Where is that girl of yours?” Haro grumbled. “Wasn’t she the one leading them?”

“She’s one of your kind Rakka!”

As far as Haro’s vocabulary went, he knew Rakka stood for the curse word that involved one’s mother. He was wondering whether to hit the short bastard with the pommel of his sword when his eyes caught an entrance.

He hushed the group of pirates to be silent and pointed at it.

Bachin frowned. “It looks like an entrance to a cave.”

Another pirate muttered something in a different tongue, and the others nodded.

“Not a cave,” Haro snapped. He looked at its walled structure. It looked new, and the sign of cleaned twigs at the entrance said it was built recently.

But how? He wondered. There was no way a group of people could build something like that while there were patrols of soldiers crossing the kingdom and the shores every month.

“Follow my lead,” he said, pulling his sword. It’s been years since the Great War ended, and he only touched his sword for his morning practices. But he at least had the basic skill to cut down a few thugs inside.

As he got closer he realized the two pirates had been in here. Inside, he could see a weapon lying around, and beside it….blood.

“Rakka!” Bachin’s voice almost startled him. “That’s ole’ Asha’s weapon.”

Haro looked at the structure again. Close walls going inside into the darkness.

“By the gods, is this a dungeon? Weren’t all of them destroyed in the Great War?”

“A janjon?” Bachin growled. “What is that?”

Haro didn’t have time to explain him that. “Keep two pirates outside. The other three, come with me.”

Bachin translated it for the rest. When Haro stepped inside, he felt a sudden ominous feeling. It felt so…malevolent. For a moment he was back in the battlefield, sending the sword into some monster who came out from god-knows-where. The only thing he had confidence about was the three armed pirates behind him. Even though they had the brain of a rock, their weapons skills was what pushed them to the top.

“I want eyes on the back too,” Haro said. “And check the damn ground you walk. These places have traps.”

As if on cue, he stopped as his foot was about to step on a pedal. It looked almost like another tile, but the little pop from the sides confirmed Haro it was a trap.

A dungeon still starting to learn, he looked around. The interiors looked newer, with few patches of moss and dirt. If he could reach the core, and destroy it, he’ll be awarded for preventing a danger about to come.

“Check the ground,” he said, jumping over it. “Don’t step on it.”

He heard grunts along with more foreign cussing, but a few steps later, he forgot all of it.

There it is.

At least a twenty paces ahead of him was a small, blue, glowing crystal. It was giving a weak light like a moth, but it was the core. He was sure of it.

Far more easier than I thought.

Even growing dungeons has its fair share of monsters. Heck, he was at least expecting a mimic for one of the idiots to open.

He stepped into a vast hollow chamber. Unlike the corridor that led to it, this had signs of age in it. But his eyes were interested in the crystal in front of him.

It’s glowing so beautifully, for a moment his eyes were mesmerized. He wonder if he could pull it free from the strange crystal structure encompassing it, and then sell it off to the market for a good price.

He almost raised his sword before one of the pirates shouted.

He turned back, and there were two other pirates outside the little chamber. They were pointing at something. When Haro looked up, he saw a little door at the top of the chamber was closing down.

Shit. It’s a trap.

He looked at Bachin who was near him “Run!”

The both turned and scrambled out. But halfway through Haro realized it was too late. The door was already halfway closed, and unless they were rats, he had no way to escape it.

He stopped midway, and dragged the idiotic pirate behind, and the door shut with the grim sound of stone scraping stone.

“Tell your friends to call the outsiders……wait,” Haro thought for a moment. That would be dumb. Perhaps the dungeon’s plan was to trap them inside all along. “No, tell one of them to run back to the shores and call the other guards. Tell the other three to find a damn switch that could open that door.”

Bachin was sweating, but he blabbered something, and there was no response outside.

“We were too cocky,” Haro grunted.

“Fuck this Rakka,” the pirate held to his axe. “Bachin only know one rule. If something fucks you, fuck them back until they can’t fuck you.”

As if on cue, another door to their left groaned as it lifted up. Haro hadn’t even seen that door before.

But his eyes went to the shadow behind it. It was at least twice larger and more bulkier than him. When it moved all he saw was a mass of stone, but when he focused, he caught two fat hands, a round head, and short legs that moved a giant, bulky stone body.

“A golem,” he yelled, holding his sword. “We can’t take it down with weapons. Dodge it and run for the-”

It was then he saw a person behind the golem. Not a person, a boy. Probably in his early teens, and his mouth was a snarky grin. And with that grin, the door started to close back.

“Fuck!”

“I’ll show how axes cut down those bastards,” Bachin broke into a run, but he only kept two steps before the tile he stepped into sinked down.

Another trap?

Haro’s thoughts only had time to possess the idiot’s perplexed face before something fired behind him and hit right on the nape of the man. An arrow —an arrow that pierced out his skin and came out from his jugular.

Bachin fell to the ground.

Haro looked up at the golem who was steadily advancing.

There is still a chance.

Back during the Great War, the mages used magic to kill golems, but whenever soldiers encountered one, they were advised to attack the back of it’s knees, where the veins that held it’s structure was in.

“Bastard!” he screamed as he charged forwards. Golems were slow, and he saw the attack coming five feet away. He dodged to the side, avoiding a punch from a fist of stone. Then he rolled back, and before the golem could move he struck at the back of its knees. Bless the gods, he still had good skill with his swords.

He heard something tearing, and the golem fell to one knee.

Giving a mad glee, Haro cut its other leg, bringing the creature to the ground.

“Haha bastard!” he danced back, bringing his sword front. “Did you think you could-”

CLUNK.

He looked down. He had stepped on a tile.

At the same moment he felt a sharp pain from his back. Something sank in, and all of his veins screamed in pain.

Shit…poison darts!

He kept two feet back, and fell down to the ground.

No. No. Get up…please…

He tried to grab his sword, but his hand didn’t move. His whole body was going numb. But his eyes worked, and when he looked down he saw the beast was crawling on the ground towards him.

“No!” he screamed. “NO! PLEASE!”

He wanted a drink. He wanted to be back at the guardhouse on the shores sipping his favorite wine. Why did he agree to come with the pirates? He could have avoided it and sent some soldier for it.

Please….

He saw the golem’s figure towering on top, raising both its hand, and before Haro could utter another word, it brought both fists down. And everything went black.