Floor 6

The Encroaching Horde

My eyesight was filled with the image of a lance, the tip nearly in my eyeball, when I first arrived on the next floor. Instinctively I swayed to the left, then my body leaned forward as I slipped down the length of the spear toward its holder. The imp at the end could barely react in time before my dagger tore into its face, which I followed by doing a straight kick that sent the little monster flying.

The leaves nearby rustled, a warning sound of more imps, and I leapt backward as they tried to spear me. When I touched down on the ground I threw the poisoned dagger into the nearest one, before I retrieved the stone knife from my waist. As always the movements of the imps were slow, slow enough that I had plenty of time to close the gap on the remaining imps and dispatch them.

When silence fell I let out a long sigh and focused my attention on my surroundings. The arrival point had placed me in the middle of another forest. The leaves had grown brown and amber, as the smell of fall filled the air. A carpet of fallen leaves blew as a gust cut through the forest, flying over the short beaten down grass .

Etched into a couple of the tree trunks were symbols, crude in design and recognizable to me. Though I couldn't translate what they said I knew that the symbols belonged to the goblins. Even as I gathered not only my poisoned dagger and a spear from the ground I kept my eyes open. If a group of goblins came across me it would be prudent to have as many weapons as possible.

"Perfect," I murmured to myself as I studied the dry leaves.

With a new body I had also lost a lot of the finer skills ingrained into me. This floor would prove to be a good place for experimenting, especially before I pushed on to the goblin nest. Through the leaves I walked out of the glade, the noise of each footfall obnoxious to my delicate ears.

If I was to fight on I would need to relearn how to move with minimal noise and energy expended. So it was for a few hours I labored at teaching my own feet and legs to move how I wanted. The shifting of weight, the tightening of certain muscles, every little aspect that most wouldn't think of were all I focused on. My progress was limited, and after the first hour frustration started to set in.

Near the middle of the third hour a distraction arrived to take my mind off of the training. The telltale noise of metal on metal, along with voices speaking in a language I couldn't translate, drew my immediate attention.

With footsteps that I could only hope were as quiet as I wanted, I slipped up next to a tree and put my back to it. Cautiously I peeked around the trunk in the direction of the noise, sighting two goblins who casually strolled through the forest. As always the goblins were just shy of four feet tall, with misshapen ears and dark green skin. Their long and bulbous noses along with the sickening pure yellow eyes only added to their disgusting look. All in all the goblins were a creation by Lute that I had never found enjoyable.

My pulse quickened as a thrum of excitement ran through my body. I could barely contain myself with joy at the sight of a fairly long dagger in one of the goblins hands. It may not have been steel but it was iron, and since one of my only weapons was stone it would make for a huge upgrade. The armor that they wore, however, didn't even matter to me due to our size difference.

As the patrol continued to stroll through the forest the goblins refused to stop their talk. As though uncaring about the potential for ambush they made plenty of noise to warn even the moronic imps of their approach. The goblin who didn't have the long dagger carried a stone club, iron bands wrapped about it for added weight and damage. It was a heavy looking weapon that would only slow me down in combat.

Oblivious to my presence the goblins wandered toward where I hid, and as they neared I slipped back fully out of their line of sight. When the noise of their footfalls on the leaves placed them somewhat close to five feet from the tree I went into action.

The cheap spear was what I used first, tossing it straight into the head of the goblin on the far side of the pair. He crumpled to the ground without a noise, his companion temporarily confused by the sudden attack. Before he could even lift his club up in defense I had already dashed next to him, my poisoned dagger flicking across his throat. While the blood flowed from the neck I backed away, leaving the goblin to finish dying on his own.

While he died I pulled out my canteen and sipped from it, my attention once more turned to the surroundings rather than the goblin pair. Soon I would reach the seventh floor, a place that was very important to me. A wistful smile crossed my face as I thought about the past, and of her.

When the noise of the goblin thrashing about came to an end I approached the two corpses. The long dagger was the first item I procured, followed by the little pouches each goblin had. Though I didn't know what was inside of them I could only hope it was rations, or perhaps even a magical item. Once I had finished looting the dead I slipped back into the depths of the forest, my search for the portal having started.

☗ ☗ ☗ ☗ ☗

The pouches I had stolen ended up having food and some bandages in them. One of the pouches I opted to throw away, while the other I attached to my belt. The poisoned dagger I carried openly had finally found a new home, as I put it in the pouch after moving the food out of it. My new iron long dagger even came with a poorly crafted sheath, which I put on the opposite side of my waist of the pouch.

Reinvigorated by the acquisition of a new weapon and some extra food, I began the long search for the portal. Without a compass to lead the way I was relegated to the old fashioned approach, which meant wandering randomly across the floor until I finally found it. Minutes turned into hours, hours turned into days and by the time I finally found what I sought my inventory had grown.

A new goblin dagger had been gained, along with enough food to last me for weeks, and I had even managed to find a couple of waterskins. Though I couldn't carry everything that I looted, what I did gain as I murdered everything in my path kept my food and water well stocked.

When I found the portal I also discovered a bit of a problem. A large canyon spread out in front of me, the edge of the forest on the fringe of a cliff that could easily kill the unwary. In the middle of the canyon I could make out the white sphere, but it was not alone. All around the portal were tents and campfires, a gathering of goblins had settled to control the only way out of the floor.

I knelt at the edge of the cliff, as I studied the encampment to see how the patrols moved and where I could slip through easiest. One goblin stood out predominantly, a hunched over one that carried a staff adorned by a crystal.

A goblin shaman had finally appeared. For the novice diver it was a deadly opponent who would most likely kill them, but to an experienced one such as myself it was a foe we wanted. That silly trio of adventurers I had tried to work with feared them, which meant they didn't know the secret behind the magic.

Darkness fell before I made my next move, the canyon below brightened by various torches. The goblins, unlike the imps, had poor eyesight in the dark and it was that failure which I had hoped to see. They were very much like a human in that they moved about in daylight.

Clouds covered the heavens as I started my descent down the cliffside. It was slow going, as I had to avoid making too much noise, but there were plenty of footholds so I never felt truly in danger. The sound from the camp grew quieter as the night continued on. By the time I reached the bottom the patrols and guardsmen had for the most part dwindled down to almost nothing.

Perhaps it could be viewed as a cowardly act, but the first task I chose to undertake was not going to the portal. Instead I went to where I had watched the shaman go, a fairly large tent near the center of the camp. When I entered quietly into it the shaman didn't stir from his slumber. When I left the tent a few moments later I had assured he never would awaken, and in my left hand I clutched his staff.

It was not much later that I reached the portal, having weaved my way carefully through the tents. Unnoticed by the complacent goblins I put my hand against the warm sphere and closed my eyes. Within my mind once more I opened that mental door and passed through it.

Floor 7

The Hillsides of Water

From the thick forest that felt almost like a cage of trees, I instead arrived in a land wide open with almost no trees at all. Hills dipped and raised as far as the eye could see, with most of the grassy landscape dotted by rocks of varying sizes. Large boulders could often be seen in the lowest areas, having rolled there either by force or mere gravity.

Why the floor was named what it was became obvious to even the most unobservant. Streams and rivers flowed all over the world, criss crossing the hills and eventually back into themselves. Somehow Lute had crafted rivers without end, and without a source.

I glanced at the staff in my hand, but I chose not to get around to the removal of the crystal yet. It would be prudent for me to move away from the entry point of the floor and to set up camp. So I began my trek across the seventh floor.

Of all the floors this was one that I knew far too well, having spent many years in the first ten floors. As I walked I went past hills and streams that brought up flashes of memories, of my past life and my time with Luticia. Before the sun had set for the day I came upon a large rocky outcropping, one that slopes downward and away from the hillside. A stream flowed down the outcropping and formed a waterfall that fed into a pool.

I couldn't resist smiling as I walked toward that waterfall and pool. This was the place that had completely changed the entire course of my life. From a rookie into one of the most experienced divers in the labyrinth. From a bumbling oaf into a Godslayer.

When I reached the edge of the rocks I chose to hop down, rather than following the rest of the hill. The drop was short enough that I had no chance of injuring myself, and when I landed I smiled and turned to look at the waterfall.

What I saw froze me in my spot, as a woman stood in the waterfall rubbing dirt off of her body. Slender hands ran through her hair, and she was completely oblivious to my presence. During my youth when I had first arrived on the seventh floor I had encountered a woman at this pool, one who had also been naked. Her response to my accidental peeking was to beat me within an inch of my life.

In truth I couldn’t even stop myself as I spoke a single word, "Lute?"

Though it was a waterfall the noise wasn't too high, and so the woman heard me and turned to look. The response was normal for a naked woman, she cried out in shock and covered her ample chest with her hand. On her head fox ears twitched, while behind her a wet red tail tried to puff up.

She was clearly a kitsune. Lute had created them by combining foxes with humans, and had granted them a metropolis on the tenth floor. I had always had a favorable relationship with the kitsune, which was one of the reasons the armory had been housed in their city.

A hint of disappointment rose as I realized it was not Lute, but I was in the presence of a stranger. I had met many people in my life and sometimes they proved deadly to trust, not to mention the shifters who loved to emulate allies. My eyes locked onto the alleged kitsune, while I prepared myself for the potential that she might be an enemy.

"STOP LOOKING!" the woman cried as she backed away from me and to the edge of the pool. Near the edge a pile of bloody and torn clothing had been left, clothes that I could only guess she owned.

Instead I pulled out a piece of jerky and kept watching.