Milo tried to wrench the third of a binder out of the baby’s head, but it was difficult given he couldn’t see it. It snagged on something inside the skull. The binder ceased being a valid Fetch Book target shortly after that, so he figured the paper must have torn free of the ring.

Welp, that’s gone forever.

It was fine; he still had the other piece, as well as his textbook. Switching gears, he turned to Backlebutt.

“Did you get an option for a healing potion?” he asked, still fighting the urge to gag at the baby’s dirty diaper stench. “Anything like that?”

“No,” Backlebutt replied, browsing an invisible screen. He held his sleeve over his nose. “It’s as expected.”

“I see.” Milo’s feelings were mixed about that, so he just left it there. He changed the topic.

“Hey, I have an option for something that...isn’t known, or it won’t tell me, until I choose. Do you have something like that?”

“Yes.”

Come on, do I have to drag it out of you?

“Well...what’s that about? Do you know what kinds of things it could be?”

“Anything. I’ve heard of people getting weapons, armor, fusion points. Magical (trinkets). Anything.”

“Is it—would you get something that wasn’t useful to you? Like, would it ever give me a bow or you a book?”

Backlebutt’s brows furrowed. “I do not know.”

Milo sighed. “How’s your leg feeling?”

“Not good.”

“Alright. Well. I guess we’re done, then. I think I’m glad, actually.”

“Really? You seemed (reluctant) to quit the Descent when we spoke earlier.”

“That was...I was being stupid. I’m not ready for the Descent. One reward is not worth putting my life in great danger. I could have died several times if things had gone just a little differently. In the fight with the baby, all it would have taken was one...sharp rock from the ceiling. There was nothing that I could have done to stop it. I need better skills and equipment. A team, like you suggested. That’s the smart thing to do.”

Backlebutt nodded. “Wise.”

“Yeah. But instead of wise, I feel...what’s the word for someone who is always scared and runs away instead of facing things?”

Backlebutt grunted wryly. “A (coward). I can tell you now, you are not one of those.”

“Thanks. Uh...you’re also not a coward.” Milo winced internally. He never knew how to take a compliment, and he always felt compelled to return them even when it didn’t necessarily make sense.

Backlebutt laughed. “Thank you.”

A noise made both of them glance over at the baby. Dingos. The ones that had stayed away from the fighting earlier had approached the baby and were already beginning to feast. One of them growled threateningly at the two of them before joining its fellows in gorging itself.

There were only a handful of them. One last straggler limped up, favoring one of its hind legs. It glanced at them consideringly, then decided to ignore them.

“(Handsome) creatures, these dingos. Do people keep them, where you are from? As (pets)?”

“I don’t think so. There are creatures that are very similar that people keep, but I don’t think you can keep a dingo. They are...they won’t...they will always want to be out? Won’t do what you say?”

“(Wild). Won’t (tame),” Backlebutt supplied.

They were silent for a time, watching the dingos feast; they were truly ravenous. Milo wondered what would happen to them when the two of them left. Backlebutt had said the System manifested creatures Milo was familiar with. That meant the System had created them when he’d entered the Descent for the express purpose of providing him a challenge. Presumably, the dingos would simply disappear once Milo and Backlebutt left.

No sense letting XP go to waste.

“Want to fight them?” he asked Backlebutt. “I can stay out of it. They’re closer to your level, so you’ll get more experience for killing them than I would.”

“I wish to go. This smell is...not something I have experienced before nor ever wish to again.”

“Fair. I’ll do it then, if you want to go get our things we left out in the tunnel. I’ll join you in a moment.”

Backlebutt nodded and began limping away.

It didn’t take long to wipe out the small group. He started with the ones that looked strongest so that the only ones with a chance to flee would be the slower ones, and therefore easier to catch. The last one he killed was the one with the wound on its leg. It collapsed with a yelp on his first hit. It lay there whimpering pitifully until Milo ended it with one more decisive strike.

I’m getting better at murdering things without feeling bad about it. I think that means I’m growing as a person.

Yup, that’s definitely what that means.

Milo tried not to think about it too much. A harsher world meant a harsher Milo.

He flew over to the tunnel’s entrance, arriving at roughly the same time Backlebutt did.

The air was blessedly odor-free in the tunnel. It seemed to stop right at the threshold to the cavern for some reason.

After shouldering his pack, he turned to face Backlebutt. “You’re sure you’ll be able to come with me? What happens if you appear where you left? Won’t you be killed?”

“I would be killed in that case, yes. This is the best option.”

“What if you finished the Descent, though? Would you be strong enough to escape, at least?”

“No. The Descent has five layers, each spanning 5 Levels. I would be roughly Level 25 on exit. Probably higher, since there are only two of us sharing experience, but a few levels would make no difference; there will be at least one person much stronger than that waiting for me.”

“Oh. How strong are the nobles, usually?”

“There will be someone on (duty) who is at least level 40. The highest are...much stronger. I don’t know how strong, but much. Why all the questions? I thought you were glad to be done.”

“I just like to be...I like to think of everything. I like to be as sure as I can,” Milo answered. “I don’t see any reason to wait. Are you ready? Should I go first, or you?”

“You were the first one inside. I think it should be you.”

“You don’t know?”

“No.”

“Are you really sure about this?”

“Yes.” The man’s tone brooked no argument.

“Okay. Fine. Sure.” Milo opened the rewards screen and selected the option to leave the Descent.

-

You are certain? You will forfeit valuable rewards should you choose to leave at this time. Yes/No

-

Yeah, yeah, I know. Milo selected ‘yes’, feeling a stab of instant regret upon doing so.

-

The Descent awaits your return. Farewell, adventurer.

-

The world dissolved into black around Milo, a jarring but familiar experience. He reappeared back in the little room at the bottom of the mineshaft underneath the forest where he had inexplicably found himself just a few days ago.

It was dark. No light filtered down from above, and only a small amount escaped from the little hole in the floor. It had been over a year; anything might be down here. Not wanting to wait for his eyes to adjust, he used Skim to search for any entities worth worrying about in his immediate vicinity. He found none.

Relieved, he waited expectantly for Backlebutt to show up.

And waited.

And waited.

After that he waited some more, just in case there were some weird time dilation shenanigans going on.

But Backlebutt stubbornly refused to materialize.

Well this is just...what the hell!

So what, Backlebutt had been wrong? He’d returned to the entrance where his team had been attacked after all? That was it? The man had seemed so sure. So confident! And now he was dead, or soon would be. Presumably.

There was another possibility, of course. Perhaps Backlebutt had been lying to him the entire time, but that just didn’t seem to add up. He’d appeared in the preparation room bleeding, riddled with holes. He would have died if not for Milo feeding him a potion. He’d been helpful, too, giving Milo a lot of information that had no bearing on their immediate survival. Why would Backlebutt do that if he were some kind of double agent?

Maybe because he was that confident someone with high level Skills could find me and take care of me with the information I nicely gave him. Maybe...maybe he was one of the guards who fought the group that tried to sneak in, and got pushed into the entrance during the fight.

But if that were the case, why was his level so low?

He said there would be someone at least level 40 guarding the entrance, but not that everyone would be such a high level. So...that could be it then. Unlikely, but possible.

But Milo was basing this on information that Backlebutt had given him, all of which might now be suspect.

Ugh. Why is this happening?

Milo walked over to the base of the mineshaft, peering up. He saw a speck of light up at the entrance. Daylight.

I should go. Someone could be coming here right now. There might be someone who can teleport, or fly at the speed of sound or something ridiculous.

He honestly didn’t think Backlebutt had betrayed him, given all of his interactions with the man, but it was a possibility he couldn’t ignore. It was too bad; he’d been hoping to once more abuse the exploit of dropping rocks down to take out some more of the dungeon monsters for risk-free XP.

Looking back now, it surprised him that that had worked. Given the teleportation mechanic when he touched the invisible threshold, combined with the fact that the System had clearly populated his level of the Descent with creatures it had plucked from Milo’s world...it was supremely weird that there was another part of the dungeon with creatures that existed independent of someone fighting inside of it, and which could be killed from outside the dungeon.

Whatever. A mystery for another time.

Rather than hike up the annoyingly steep incline, he let Fetch Book do all the hard work. His mana was low compared to his new max, but he was currently at 6, which had felt pretty comfortable before the boss fight. Plus, now he didn’t have to worry about being jumped by a skeleroo or a cassowary.

When he reached the surface, blinking, he decided to use the remainder of his Skill time to get a better feel for his surroundings. Milo climbed rapidly to the treetops. He stopped when he was level with the tallest branches, lest he make a target of himself by flying higher.

Looking around, however, he decided it was worth the slight risk to go up further; all around, for miles and miles, he saw nothing but forest. In the off-chance that someone was looking up, the likelihood of them spotting him through the canopy seemed negligible to Milo.

He had to re-up Fetch Book as he flew higher, looking around for any kind of a landmark worth heading toward. There were some low-lying mountains in one direction, and in the opposite direction there was a big wall of fog hiding anything from view, but other than that he saw nothing. He activated Skim to scan around for any signs of habitation, human or otherwise. When the ‘otherwise’ blinded his vision with Skim hits, he amended it to ‘habitation by roughly-human level sapient creatures’. He’d neglected to find out from Backlebutt if there were other races on the planet, so he was just covering his bases.

But there was nothing. Not a road, not a building, not even a campfire.

Huh. Well, I guess I’m on my own again. Why doesn’t anybody live here?