Chapter 30: As Above, So Below

“Oh shit!” Eric cursed as he stomped his foot. “Can’t we go back that way?”

“Not if you want to say hello to the Boss Man and his lackeys.” Richard shrugged. “There’s probably an exit here somewhere or I’ll just make another exit. Just not near them. I can feel them above the earth.”

“Feel them?” Beth asked as her eyebrows furrowed. “What do you mean?”

“I’m a geologist.” Richard proudly responded. “I used to work for a mining company.”

“And how is that even relevant?” Beth retorted.

Richard sighed as he shook his head. “That means I have a high affinity to earth magic. I can feel the monsters above, below and nearby. As long as they’re on the ground.”

“Then why didn’t say anything about the slimes?” Dianne raised her voice and put her hands on her waist.

“Oh, I’m sorry.” Richard replied in a sarcastic tone. “I thought they were just puddles because, you know, it was raining hard last night, remember?”

Dianne gritted her teeth as she fumed silently. Like I said before, I think Richard’s attitude was somewhat unbecoming of mages. That was until I learned that mages are the snobs of all adventurers. It’s the stereotype of mages and Miguel was the same.

“Okay.” I nodded. “So what the hell is a dungeon?”

“Yeah, what’s a dungeon?” Melissa asked as she wiped Eric’s face with a handkerchief. “Why are you sweating so much?”

“This is where they spawn. Those slimes come from here.” Eric said.

“So we just went into deeper shit.” Gerry sighed. “Fuck me.”

“Your luck sucks, Sir.” Mark commented.

“That’s because you kicked me from the game last night.”

“Alright, that’s enough.” I said as I raised my hand. “What else do we know about slimes and dungeons?”

“I read a book about monsters in Camp Aguinaldo.” Richard replied. “From what I remember, dungeons are also living beings and they spawn monsters to defend their selves or kill other living beings to become stronger. Unfortunately, that’s all I know. I’ve only skimmed the book.”

That’s right. I remembered that Miguel had a book about monsters and he always read it at night. He also read it when we first encountered trolls. I regretted that I took the book about magic. I think the reason why Miguel was willing to let go of that book is because the book about monsters was more valuable. Why didn’t I take that book instead? Gosh, I’m an idiot.

We discussed everything that we observed from the slimes. First, the slimes were unaffected by arrows. It’s most likely that swords, axes, spears and maces were also useless against them. Second, the only thing that had an effect against the slimes was fire which would be a problem since we were underground. Third, the slime’s spit is dangerous. It’s likely that their body is a strong acid.

“How about our other skills?” Melissa asked. “I haven’t tested my [Phantom Arrow] on them.”

“I don’t know.” I answered. “I haven’t tested [Wail of Agony] too.”

“I don’t think these slimes use magic.” Dianne said with a frown. “I don’t have any other skills that can help.”

“Me neither.” Beth said. “I only got [Cleave] so…”

“I can enchant our weapons with holy element, but the thing is, it only works against demi-monsters and undead and I can’t detect any in this place with my skill [Smite].” Mark said.

“How about ice?” Gerry asked. “If we can’t use fire, why don’t we freeze them, then attack?”

“Ice? I don’t have that skill.” Richard said. “I only have fire, earth, wind and water, but no ice.”

“Miguel doesn’t have one either. He froze things with [Fire Manipulation].” I said.

Richard shook his head. “I don’t think that’s possible.”

“It is.”

“How did know?”

“Because he told me.” I replied. I didn’t mention that it’s because I saw his memories. “You can manipulate heat through [Fire Manipulation].”

“Oh!” Richard’s eyes widened as he stroked his beard. “I haven’t tried that, but that’s a good idea.”

“There’s only one way to find out.” Eric shrugged. “But I certainly don’t want to use [Taunt] on them. Sorry guys.”

“Yeah, yeah, we know.” Melissa sighed and rolled her eyes. “You had one job. Just one job. And that is to tank. You suck.”

“Did you even see what those things did to my shield?” Eric pointed to the hole in his shield and knocked on it. “This is made out of metal. I can’t even imagine what it can do to my skin.”

“Don’t be too harsh on him, Mel. He’s right. We shouldn’t let them touch our skin. We should stay away as far as possible if we wanted to make it out of here alive.” I said. “Now that we settled how we should attack. How do we defend ourselves from them?”

“Plastic?” Dianne suggested. “I heard that plastics are resistant to acids.”

“Not just any plastic.” Eric shook his head. “We need thicker plastics.”

“Oh, I have ten water containers here.” Melissa took out the water containers from her inventory. “Maybe we can use this against their acid attack. Eric can work something out of it like a shield made of these.”

“That could work, but it’s better if it’s made of Teflon.” Eric said. “You have those non-stick frying pans-”

“No.” Melissa immediately declined. “I won’t let you ruin my frying pans.”

“Come on, Mel!” Beth scratched her head in irritation. “It’s a matter of life and death. No one gives a shit about your stupid frying pans.”

“They’re not stupid, they’re expensive and I do give a shit about MY frying pans and no, I won’t le-“

My head was about to explode in anger when I suddenly touched Melissa on her shoulder. I glared at her with my most serious face. “We need those frying pans.”

“B-but…”

I let out a sigh as I managed to calm myself down. “When we get out of here alive, I promise you. We’ll loot some frying pans for you, okay?”

“You promise?”

“I promise…” I said as I crossed my heart. “With all my heart and hope you die.”

“Ha-ha-ha.” Melissa faked a laugh as she took out four large frying pans.

When I was about to take the frying pans, Melissa suddenly pulled it back. “Say please.”

“Please.” I said in a sarcastic tone.

“I’d appreciate it if not for sarcasm.” Melissa sneered. “Say please with concern.”

“Pretty please…” I said in more sarcastic tone while making a circle motion with my middle finger over my head. “With cherries on top.”

I snatched the frying pans from her hand and gave it to Eric. “Make those shields.”

Melissa, on the other hand, stared at me with her piercing eyes and when our eyes met, she immediately turned her back. “Hmmp!”

“Ehem! Okay. Uhmm. I’ll make those shields right away.” Eric leaned closer and whispered. “Wow, good job! How did you do it?”

“Did what?”

“I couldn’t control her.”

“Of course not.” I snickered. “Make those shields.”

We decided to rest for a moment while we waited for Richard to figure out how to make ice with his magic and Eric to make those Teflon shields. It took Richard for a while to figure it out, but at least it he could made freeze an entire bucket of water in just a few seconds. Meanwhile, Eric, with Mark’s help, started to make the shields. We were too exhausted from the journey and running from the slimes, so we slept in shifts while others watch. Obviously, we couldn’t get much sleep because we became too paranoid with the sound of water dripping from above and the cave was dark and cold.

Improvised Square Shield

Armor Rating: 3

Durability: 22/22

Crafter Perk Bonus: 10% Armor Rating and Durability

An improvised shield made by Eric Reyes

The shield was mostly made with the water container plastic and on the middle of it was the frying pan. Eric put a rubber straps on the back for easy handle. The four us: Eric, Beth, Mark and I got the shields with frying pans while the rest got the regular plastic shields since arrows and snare drums won’t be needed. However, we weren’t even sure that these shields would work against the slimes. Mark also blessed our weapons with holy element. We didn’t have too many options and we had to try everything we had.

“Alright guys, stay close.” I said as I unsheathed my sword. “Richard, how many are there above?”

“Too many.” Richard closed his eyes and exhaled deeply. “They’re still waiting for us.”

“How about there?” Dianne pointed at the dark tunnel.

“Less.” Richard shook his head. “I’m not sure. It’s hard to tell.”

“We move as silently as possible. Don’t talk. Use party communication system until we get out. Let’s hope we go unnoticed.” I said.

With that said, we moved in deeper into the dungeon while Richard lit the way. The entrance of the cave was narrow, but as we went further, we realized that the tunnels were wider than we thought. However, the air was thin and each time I breathed, I felt like there’s a heavy object on my chest. Luckily, Richard silently made a small hole above the ground to let in some fresh air.

Glowing Mushroom

There were also weird glowing blue mushrooms growing on the walls, which gave off a faint light, but still the rock bulb gave off a brighter light. We decided to take everything we could just in case because the rock bulb won’t last long. Dianne also mentioned that these glowing mushrooms were alchemy ingredients which can be used to increase HP temporarily. We strapped the glowing mushrooms on our wrists, so even if one of us drifted off too far, we could, more or less, see where they were.

A few minutes later, we encountered a lone slime. It didn’t notice us and wandered along the corridor. It seemed that it can’t see. I think that’s because it didn’t have eyes, but it could detect us by sound or maybe vibration.

Slime Lvl. 28

[Let’s see if holy element works. Dianne, shoot the thing down.] – Claire

-0 HP!

Dianne fired off a blessed arrow, but it has no effect. The slime noticed Dianne and slowly moved towards her.

[Should I test my ice magic?] – Richard

[Go ahead.] – Claire

Richard pointed his staff on the slime and cast his magic. The slime stopped in its track while its body and the water around it was frozen solid in a matter of seconds.

Target is Frozen!

[It worked!] – Gerry

[What would happen if we attack it with our weapons?] – Eric

[Let me try.] – Beth

[Don’t! You’ll make too much sound. Just let it go.] – Claire

[Come on. It’s just a single slime.] – Melissa

As much as I disagreed with their plan, Beth took out her battle axe and raised above her head. Her axe glowed with yellow light as she activated her skill [Cleave]. She hit the frozen slime with so much force that it shattered into little crystallized pieces in one blow.

-612 HP!

Target Died

[We did it!] – Dianne

[I leveled up!] - Mark

Level up!

“Loot.” Beth whispered.

Silver Coin X 2 Copper Coin X 14 Small Mana Stone X 1

As Beth stored the loot in her inventory, Richard noticed that there were slimes coming our way.

[Three slimes incoming!] - Richard

[Shit! Get out of there!] – Claire

We pressed our backs into the walls as the three slimes slowly slid towards the middle of the corridor. Being a leader was stressful and I wanted to punch each of them so badly for their recklessness. I guess it was the reason why Miguel thought they were idiots. They really are idiots. And come to think of it, he thought I was an idiot too.

[Don’t. Make. A sound.] – Claire

The slime tried to investigate where the sound came. It roamed around the corridor and searched for us. My heart raced when one of the slimes got too close to Dianne and stayed a few inches in front of her as if waiting for her to move. Dianne closed her eyes and her knees were shaking in fear.

[Hold on. Don’t move.] – Richard

Richard silently picked up a stone with his magic and threw it across the tunnel to distract them. The slimes heard the sound and went to investigate. When the slimes were far enough, he cast magic on them one by one until all of them were frozen. Dianne sighed deeply in relief.

Suddenly, one of the slimes caught wind of what was happening and tried to spit acid. Luckily, Richard caught the slime spit with his shield and we learned that even a plastic from water container would work well as a shield against them. I pity Melissa for the waste of her frying pans.

[Okay, new rule. Don’t kill them unless we really have to.] – Claire

The rest of them nodded in agreement. Thank goodness.

[Can’t you just dig a hole above and get out the same way as we get in?] – Beth

[There are more of them above than below. Trust me.] - Richard

With that said, we moved on slowly and this time, more carefully, to the next cavern where the three slimes came from. The cave was huge and had a hole on the top of it. It was already night and the moonlight shone through the hole. I was thinking of getting out of this dungeon through that hole, but Richard was right. The slimes crawling in and out of the hole and there were probably hundreds crawling on the ceiling. However, there were only five to six slimes on the ground.

[Holy shit. They’re too many.] – Eric

[What now?] – Melissa

[We make our way to that tunnel.] – Claire

There were two other tunnels across the cave. The tunnel on the right was the nearest to us, but also closer to the slimes. The tunnel on the left was farther, but it was the farthest from the slimes. It wasn’t a hard decision obviously.

As we sneaked our way to the left tunnel, the slimes on the ground seemed to become more active whenever we make a step.

[Stop! Stop!] – Claire

We waited for the slimes to stop before we made another step. This cycle continued for more or less an hour before we made it safely to the next tunnel.

We began to notice that the caves had a pattern of some sort: A narrow tunnel between each cavern. Each of the cavern has two to three tunnels and the entire dungeon was designed like a maze. The cavern in-between had most of the monsters while there were a few strays and patrols in the tunnel.

The next one was filled with eight slimes and in that cavern, we passed by a tunnel which was sloped downwards and we guessed that it would lead into the deeper levels of the dungeon. Obviously, we didn’t go down further as we never came into that dungeon to conquer it. We moved slowly to the tunnel across the cavern while Richard froze the slimes to prevent them from moving around.

[They’re blocking the way!] – Dianne

[I think we entered the wrong tunnel. We should go back and try the other two.] – Gerry

[Yeah, let’s go back.] - Claire

There were three slimes that blocked the narrow passage. However, as we moved back to try the other passage, another slime appeared blocking our exit. We were trapped in the middle and we had no choice but to kill them. Richard began to freeze the slimes one by one starting at the one in front of us.

Slime Lvl. 28

[You know what to do. Richard, watch out if there are more slimes coming this way.] - Claire

[Will do.] –Richard

Target is Frozen!

[Mark, Beth, you need to kill them at the same time] - Claire

When Richard froze all four of them, Beth stood near the three and waited for Mark to get close to the one on the back.

[Okay, on the count of three… One… Two… Three…] – Beth

Beth and Mark attacked the slimes at the same time and shattered their frozen bodies. We looted them as fast as we could and ran towards the walls. The sound echoed throughout the tunnels as the other slimes were attracted by the sound. Richard made another distraction by leading them the other way. Fortunately, it was an effective tactic against the slimes.

The dungeon was more massive than we first thought and you can easily get lost because there were too many passageways. We had to mark each tunnel we passed, so we wouldn’t get lost. There were also some close calls with the slimes even though we tried our best to avoid them and we killed more of them. Sometimes, they were just too many to handle. But we still managed to make it alive by some miracle or, possibly, by dumb luck.

We rested for a few moments whenever we were in the narrow tunnels and slept whenever we could while we waited for Richard to recover his mana. We didn’t know how much time we spent in the dungeon. I think it was after we were in the dungeon for an entire day or two as the rock bulb finally gave out and the only light source we had were the glowing mushrooms.

Whenever we had time, we distributed our stats each time we levelled up. I put 5 points to AGI, 5 points to STR and 5 points to VIT. Also, we began to notice that when Miguel wasn’t around, we leveled up much slower. Could it be that his EXP rate also affects his party members?

Name: Claire Roque Race: Human Level: 22 HP: 440/440 MP: 380/380 SP: 610/610 EXP: 48.80% STR: 46 WIS: 18 AGI: 61 INT: 29 VIT: 44 LUK: 14 DEX: 14 CHA: 36 Satiety: Hungry Status Tired Undistributed Attribute Points: 0 Title(s): Sadist: +10% Damage and chance to stagger Perk(s): N/A

[Is that what I think it is?] – Mark

[It’s the exit!] – Gerry

Finally, we could see a light from a distance. Mark took out his binoculars and confirmed that it was an exit. The only catch was the cavern between us and the exit was far and there were at least a hundred slimes on our way. It was like the dungeon was dangling the prize for us while there’s a pitfall trap below. So close and yet so far.

[There’s too many. I can’t freeze them all at once.] – Richard

[How about you dig a hole on the ceiling?] – Eric

[That could work but how?] – Richard

[You know, like how Miguel created that rock tower?] – Eric

[Are there still slimes above us?] – Dianne

[There’s a few slimes above, but the thing is, if I make a hole, the other slimes will hear the noise before we get out.] – Richard

[So we have no choice but to cross that sea of slimes, huh?] – Melissa

[Exactly. We need to sneak our way to that exit somehow.] – Richard

[That’s impossible. Look at them.] – Beth

As we scanned the area, we realized that the slimes everywhere, on the ceiling, on the walls, and every nook and cranny. Sneaking our way might be impossible, but running towards the exit was out of the question as there was not enough space where we can walk to. It was literally a sea of slimes.

[How about we lure them here one by one and kill them?] – Melissa

[That could work, but with these many slimes, I don’t think we have enough mana potions and it could take weeks to clear them out.] – Richard

[Why not just burn them all at once? I mean, these slimes are flammable, right? They’ll catch fire quickly and they’re clumped together.] – Gerry

[You forgot the fact that we’re also flammable, Sir Gerry. That sea of slimes will turn into a sea of flames. We don’t want that. Luckily, we’ll die of suffocation first] – Mark

[But that exit’s a big hole, we’ll have enough air.] – Beth

[Yeah, and so does the people who die in a burning house. A house has lots of windows, but they still die of suffocation. Burning them while we’re in a closed space is out of the question.] - Mark

[We don’t really have to fight them. We need a distraction to lure the slimes to a corner and then we run towards the exit. Richard, I need you to raise some walls to block their spits while we run.] – Claire

[That’s actually a good idea.] – Richard

[Are you sure that will work?] – Beth

[Not really, but it’s a better option than fighting all of them. I’m gonna need a lot of mana potions though.] – Richard

Dianne ran through her inventory of potions and handed Richard three bottles.

[That’s all I got. I ran out of ingredients for it.] – Dianne

[Does mana regen potion stack?] – Richard

[Unfortunately, no.] – Dianne

[Oh, I’ll also need someone to shield me while I raise the walls.] – Richard

[I’ll handle it, bro.] -Eric

As our discussion ended, we took off everything that could weigh us down and stored it in our inventory so we could run faster. I stored my shoulder guards and breastplate in my inventory. I still recommended carrying shields and their weapons just in case. Meanwhile, Richard drank a bottle of potion of mana regeneration.

[Hey guys, who has an additional inventory space? I ran out and I need someone to store my drums.] – Gerry

[Can’t you just throw something that you don’t need and store your drums?] – Beth

[Well, I don’t want to throw away my clothes.] – Gerry

[I’ll hold on to your drums, Sir.] – Claire

[Thanks! I’ll get that from you as soon as we’re out.] – Gerry

Sir Gerry handed me his snare drum and his drumsticks. Thankfully, I had lots of inventory space left. As Richard readied his staff, the rest of us crouched down as we prepared for the sprint of our lifetime.

[Okay, Richard. On count of three… One…] – Claire

Before I could count to three, Richard cast his magic on the left side of the cave and destroyed a column of rocks. The slimes took the bait and went to investigate the noise. When all of the slimes were on the left side, the cave shook violently as rocks continuously fell from the ceiling.

[I said make a distraction, not collapse the entire cave!] – Claire

[Well, they’re distracted. It worked.] – Richard

[Come on, let’s go! Run!] – Claire

With that said, we all sprinted towards the exit as we tried to dodge the debris falling from the ceiling. However, the slimes began to notice us even though the sound of the cave shaking was louder than our footsteps. We didn’t just have to dodge the rocks, but we also have to dodge slime spits as Richard’s casting of earth walls couldn’t keep up with our running speed. The slime spits almost caught Eric again, but he managed to block it with his shield.

“Shit!” Eric cursed as a drop of slime acid got into his shoulder guards. “Can’t you go faster, Richard?”

“I’m trying!” Richard panted as he drank a bottle of mana potion. “I’m running low of mana.”

A huge boulder fell out in front of us and when it was about to hit Beth and Dianne, I immediately grabbed Beth’s wrist and pulled her out of the way while Dianne did a tumbling roll and dodged the rock.

“Wow, that was close!” Beth shouted as she pulled herself up. “Thanks!”

“Thank me later when we get out alive!” I said.

The cave shook more intensely and let out a violent grumbling sound.

Slime King [Boss] Lvl. 45

“Holy shit! It’s the fucking boss again!” Mark screamed.

“Just keep running!”

Not only the slime king and the sea of slimes were chasing us, the dungeon behind us was collapsing like a domino. At that moment, it seemed that we were having a streak of bad luck, but then, the collapsing cave proved to be useful as it buried the slimes that couldn’t keep up.

We were only a few meters from the exit. Dianne was the first one to get out, followed by Melissa and Mark. I was one step from the exit, when we heard someone screaming.

“AHHHHHHH!!!”

I stopped. I turned my head around to see who it was.

“GERRY!” Beth shouted at the top of her lungs.

Gerry was caught by an acid spit and he was down on the ground screeching in pain. His entire body was smoking as the acid slowly melted his body. The slimes caught one of his legs and began to surround him.

“AHHHH! HELP ME! AHHHHHH!!!”

Beth tried to go back and save him, but Eric caught her in time. “No! Let me go! Gerry!”

Eric tried to stop her, but Beth struggled fiercely. She was too strong, so Mark and I went back to stop her.

“WAAAAHHHH!”

That was the last scream that I heard from Gerry. At that moment, I felt like my whole world became silent. I couldn’t hear him or Beth screaming, but I could see the terrible amount of pain on his face. The slimes covered him with more slimes and devoured him whole as he flailed in desperation. I wanted to puke when I saw his flesh breaks off and dissolved into a red paste and floating in the slime’s clear body. The flesh then breaks off further and the slimes became slightly red with blood.

I was in shock. All of us were in shock. My mind was blank as I watched the rest of the slimes gathered at what remained of Sir Gerry. I only snapped back into reality when a hand suddenly grabbed my shoulder.

“Come on! The cave is collapsing!” Mark shouted as he pulled me towards the exit.

We quickly ran towards the exit just in time when the dungeon collapsed.

We ran and never stopped running.

We didn’t even stop for a while to grieve the loss of our friend.

We ran aimlessly forward even though there was nothing chasing us from behind.

I felt that my face was wetter than usual. I wiped my face only to realize that I was crying the whole time. I looked at the others and they were in the same state as I was. I heard Beth whimpered as she tried to keep herself composed. None of us could find anything to say as we ran.

It was already night. I didn’t know where we were at that time, but I noticed that there were a lot of ashes and charred bones scattered throughout the road. The place seemed familiar to me as if I’ve already been there before. Dianne suddenly quickened her pace.

[This way.] – Dianne

Dianne led us to a huge house as the others followed sullenly. I stopped at the gates as I realized that it was Miguel’s house.

We were all silent as Melissa did her best to cook a meal for us. We hadn’t eaten anything since we stumbled in the slime dungeon, but that night, I did not have the appetite nor were the others in the mood to eat anything. We forced ourselves to eat even just a bite to keep us going.

Meanwhile, Beth was still sobbing in a corner while Mark tried his best to console her. Dianne stood and stared at a wall next to a broken TV. I looked at the direction of her eyes and I noticed that there was a message written on the wall.

“Miguel, if you ever find this message, we want you to know that we’re okay. We’re going east. Follow the signs.”

“His family’s alive.” Dianne murmured. “We only need to follow those signs.”

“What signs are they talking about?” I asked.

“I-I don’t know. I’m sorry.” Dianne’s voice cracked as she covered her face. “I’m sorry. If it wasn’t for me, we won’t be in that dungeon. Gerry would still be alive.”

As I wrapped my arms around Dianne to comfort her, Beth stood up and approached her.

“Don’t blame yourself. None of us wanted this to happen.” Beth said as she rubbed Dianne’s back. “I just… I just wish we could bury him, you know. There’s nothing left on him.”

I remembered that I was the one who stored Sir Gerry’s snare drum. I took it out of my inventory and gave it to Beth. “Here. We can still make a grave for him… I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have dragged you into coming with us in the first place.”

“No. It was our choice.” Beth said as she stared at the drum. “We knew that we couldn’t survive with just the two of us. Thank you for this.”

I gave Beth a hug to express my sympathies for her. All of us gathered around her and gave her a hug. We felt sadness, yes, but Gerry’s death wasn’t in vain and it taught us an important lesson. We shouldn’t rely on our luck and we have to be careful for each second of our lives. As long as there are monsters around, we will never be safe.

Suddenly, we heard a scratching sound outside the gate. We unsheathed our weapons and went outside while Beth and Eric stood near the gate and prepared for the enemy. At that moment, we became as paranoid as Miguel. Probably more.

“Who’s there?” Eric’s knees were shaking as he held the doorknob.

Whatever it was, it wasn’t responding and it continued to scratch the gate. I nodded at the others to open the gate and kill it as fast as possible. I was about to lunge forward and attack when Eric opened the gate.

“Piper!” Melissa shouted as the wolf quickly pounced on her and licked her face. “Where have you been?! I’m so worried about you!”

I let out a deep sigh. “Come on guys, we should at least make a grave for Sir Gerry.”

Melissa gave each of us a candle and lit it. Richard dug a small hole in the ground with his magic and shaped a tombstone from the rocks outside the house. He also inscribed Gerry’s name on it and a few words to describe him. We didn’t put a date of birth as none of us knew his birthday. We put the snare drum into the hole and covered it with earth. We didn’t have a body to bury, but these would have to do.

Gerardo Bato

The song is ended, but the melody lingers on.

When I read the tombstone, I couldn’t help but shed tears. I felt like I was somehow responsible for Gerry’s death. Back when Rhian and Samuel died, Miguel, even with his condition at that time, tried his best to help us. I think it was the same feeling that he felt when our party members died. He felt guilty because we were his responsibility. But now that I became the leader, I felt the same guilt when Gerry was killed by the monsters.

“Is it okay if I say a few words?” Mark asked as he took out a book from his inventory. It was thick and had a brown leather cover. It was more like a tome.

“Yeah.” Beth nodded.

Mark flipped a page from his book and sprinkled water on the grave. “My Fair Lady, Sinestra, I, your servant, humbly request to bless your son, Gerardo Bato. For his deeds were noble and his heart was caring. He was merciful in life and may the Lady of Mercy and Love find him worthy of her mercy and forgive him for any of his trespasses. May his soul rest for eternity and find its way to the Palace of the Forgiven.”

“Is that holy water?” Dianne asked.

“Yeah, I can make these if I use [Sinestra’s Blessing] on water.” Mark replied as I used [Observe] on the bottle.

Holy Water

Quality: Rank E (Low)

Effect: Dispels curses and damages demi-monsters and undead. Enchants with Holy element if used on items.

A low quality holy water made by Marco Del Carmen.

“Who is Sinestra?” She asked again.

“She’s the goddess of love and mercy. Don’t get me wrong. I don’t believe in these gods or goddesses, but most of my skills are related to gods and goddesses and this book: The Great Seven. I thought it would be good to read a few passages from this book for times like these.”

“I see.”

“You should pray to whoever god you believe in. It won’t hurt.” Mark suggested.

“No need. God has already abandoned us.” Richard shook his head.

“Praying would help you move on. Even if it’s just talking to yourself.” Mark said.

Richard was right. There was no god who would hear our prayers. Even so, I still prayed to God. Not the one who destroyed the world, but the one I used to believe in. It was stupid of me, I know. You can only imagine my surprise when it was the other God who answered. It wasn’t that I dared to pray to Him. He was clear that He didn’t want our prayers and I was afraid of Him. I only mentioned Him in my thoughts and vain wishes.

God, I wish I could turn back time to save Gerry. I thought.

*DING!*

YES! FINALLY!