Chapter 12: Mileth Crypt [1]

Halfway down the stairway the echoes of shouts and grunts reached his ears. But the sounds didn’t resemble those of dying. There were a few laughs in there, and casual talks could be heard if one listened closely.

Upon reaching the next floor below, Morr saw the crowded room full of energy. The room was entirely lit by torches, lamps, and ceiling lights. Aislings had their stick, wooden sword, dagger, or wand equipped and swung at the rats and spiders infesting this area. Many of them were at least in a group of two, casually talking and fighting at the same time. And just like on ground-level, there were even some people who had the audacity to carelessly sleep on the ground.

An elderly man with an arched back rested on the ground with a granny to his side. They sipped their cup of tea as they watched their grandsons and grandkids happily train. It didn’t seem like they were worried at all going by their carefree expression.

Morr checked his ID:

Mileth Citizenship Name: Morr Yore Occupation: Adventurer Level: 1 Path: #####

It was the same as before, except his level changed to 1 and his occupation changed to “adventurer.”

Morr found a group of two and observed them. They swung their weapons in a wide arc to try and hit the rats. The small stature of the rat gave them nimble movement and a small-hit area. They eventually killed one, and it disintegrated into dust. The group picked up a moldy bread that was found in the rat’s dust and continued their hunt.

Looking around at the other groups proved that this was the norm. Almost all the adventurers here killed a rat or spider, and looted a moldy bread or rotten tomato from its dust. But just doing this over and over again made Morr questioned whether or not this job is profitable.

Morr walked forward on the main path and entered the first doorless room on his left. Even this room had people fighting the creatures infesting it. Northwest of here was an unoccupied corner, which Morr quickly ran to. He observed the other adventurers whacking away. It wasn’t long until a rat with bloodshot eyes saw him alone and mercilessly attacked him.

The chakra in his body concentrated to his foot. As it inched closer, he lifted his knee and held it. The rat bared its sharp teeth. But that was all it could do; it didn’t even last long. The kick, powered by his dormant chakra, immediately forced the rat to disintegrate upon contact. As one become closer to death, they tend to experience time in slow-motion and recall all the faithful memories in their lifetime. This poor rat didn’t even have the pleasure to experience that when it was obliterated by his kick.

“That was it?” Morr picked up a rotten tomato left in its ashes. “And why a tomato?”

“Actually, how much does this even cost? Can I even sell it?” Morr pocketed the rotten tomato and stood in his self-proclaimed corner.

Another rat came crawling out of a hole and leaped towards Morr.

A quick end came to it by a swift kick. He didn’t even bother concentrating his chakra to his leg anymore. This time the rat dropped a moldy bread.

“This sure is fun…” Morr said sarcastically.

Day in, day out, stuffing his pockets full of rotten things made him worry for his future. The strategy of camping in a corner seemed to be working, though. In a short amount of time his pocket was filled with 5 rotten tomatoes and 4 moldy breads. In fact, they were peeking out of his pockets.

His tenth monster, a spider, attacked him as he was trying to make room for more items in his pockets. But during its jump, the spider was crudely interrupted by the swing of a dagger. It suffered a one-hit-kill and dropped a spider silk.

That spider silk immediately caught Morr’s attention, because it wasn’t a moldy bread or a rotten tomato. No, what appeared before his eyes was the greed of something new. Gone are the days of moldy breads and rotten tomatoes. This is the only thing he wants to see now.

A girl in an orange magi-skirt bent down and looted the spider silk. Black stockings accentuated her lean legs. Her wild and straight auburn hair beautifully extended passed her neck. A brown satchel, strapped around her shoulder to her waist, greatly complimented her busty-petite physique.

Morr clutched his fist and swore that he had been robbed.

The girl looked up with red-violet eyes. The smirk that followed her stare was extremely intoxicating. Her entire outlook was the embodiment of a devil's charm.

“Hey, you.” The girl waved.

“I intended to kill the Church of Salvation first… but for today I’ll change my mind.” Morr mumbled and glared at the girl.

“Wait, it’s me! Priscilla!” She pointed the dagger towards her face.

“What?” Morr rubbed his eyes. “Really? The Priscilla I know is incredibly messy and dirty.”

“I couldn’t do anything about it before.” Priscilla stowed away her dagger in her satchel. “You know my circumstances.”

“That’s true.” Morr nodded. “So, what have you been up to?”

“I sent a message to my family in Rucession, then rent a room at the inn and took a bath. After that I visited the Temple of Choosing and walked the wizard path. Of course, shopping was a necessity.” Priscilla informed.

Morr nodded and asked, “How did you become an adventurer so fast?”

“I’m a Rucession citizen, and the permit of an adventurer only requires citizenship from any major city.” Priscilla said. “Didn’t you do the same?”

Morr explained his debt situation with Daith, the Master Rogue.

“Why not just kill him and wipe away the debt?” Priscilla blatantly asked.

“I can’t.” Morr shook his head. “I couldn’t tell whether he was a Mundane or an Aisling. Also, I’d like to keep my enemy count to one for now.”

“Ah, I understand. It'll be bad if you kill a Mundane and break Temuair's law.” Priscilla nodded. “Want to team up?”

“My pockets are full.” Morr shook his head.

Priscilla glanced down at the moldy bread and rotten tomatoes peeking out from his filled pockets.

“Dump those.” Priscilla chuckled. “The only thing worth grabbing on this floor is a spider’s silk.”

“Huh?” Morr looked at her with a confused expression. “Are you some sort of an expert?”

Priscilla took out her ID from her satchel and presented it to Morr.

Rucession Citizenship Name: Priscilla Belladeon Occupation: Adventurer Level: 4 Path: Wizard

“Alright. I’ll trust you.” Morr dumped all the nasty items in his pocket.

“Good. I wanted to practice the magic I learn today.” Priscilla took the leadership role and guided them onwards.

They got back on the main path and traveled forward. The journey to the 2nd floor was painless. The groups of adventurers were plentiful, and they immediately engaged a rat or spider upon notice. A set of descending stairs awaited them once they reached the end of the trail.

The 2nd floor’s scenery was much like the 1st; the walls shifted and the room was more spacious, but it was still crowded with many groups of adventurers.

“Check your ID.” Priscilla suggested.

Morr took his ID out of his pocket.

Mileth Citizenship Name: Morr Yore Occupation: Adventurer Level: 2 Path: #####

“So level is tracked by the amount of floors we’ve descended?” Morr asked.

“Something like that.” Priscilla commented. “It’s a mystery how it works, isn’t it?”

Morr nodded and asked, “Do you know how many floors are in Mileth Crypt?”

“Who knows?” Priscilla shrugged. “I eavesdropped on a party at the inn earlier today, and I heard them getting as deep as the 8th floor.”

“I see. Well, let’s go. Let’s see some of that magic you learned today.” Morr said.

Priscilla gave a charming smile and led the way.

They ventured deeper into the room. Their ears were bombarded by a group who boasted their victory over a centipede. The group was loud and obnoxious over defeating one enemy, which made Priscilla immediately turn towards the opposite direction. Walking through the room was dangerous, but not because of the creatures. The adventurers here paid no mind to their surroundings. Wild swings and inaccurate spells made Priscilla and Morr vigilant at all times.

A set of descending staircase was easily spotted after walking around for so long. They passed it and searched every nook and cranny, but there were simply too many groups of adventurers in this room. Finding a rat, spider, or centipede to experiment on was extremely difficult due to their seemingly scarce population.

Priscilla led them towards the 3rd floor which had a drastic reduction in noise level. The occasional grunts and shouts were still there, but the volume was nowhere near the level of the 1st and 2nd floor. Venturing further in made them quickly realize that the amount of adventurers here was true to the noise. The numbers of groups had significantly reduced, and there were barely any groups traveling in twos anymore.

“Look.” Priscilla pointed to a centipede a few meters from them. “Just watch.”

She pulled out a squiggly stick from her satchel and pointed it at the centipede.

“[Fire - 1: Beag Srad]” Priscilla invoked a fire spell.

A red magic circle expanded under the centipede and, a second later, unleashed a fiery flame before disappearing. The centipede suffered a burn and slithered its way towards its aggressor. Priscilla casted [Fire – 1: Beag Srad] once more, but the centipede was too quick! It bared its venom and leaped!

Reacting to that, she quickly pulled the dagger resting in her satchel and pierced the leaping centipede. The centipede died and left behind a centipede’s gland. She picked it up and handed it to Morr.

“Oooh. It went sparkly sparkly.” Morr accepted the gland and stashed it in his pocket.

“Hey! I’m still new at this.” Priscilla averted her gaze.

“Yeah, sorry. I couldn’t help myself.” Morr laughed. “I’m sure the next time will be better.”

The practical application of magic continued, but she still could not manage to land a 2nd consecutive hit. She tried again and again, but the instance of casting a 2nd spell was too slow. The first instance was thanks to the creatures being non-hostile. But after grabbing their attention, their speed was too fast for her spell.

Out of frustration, Priscilla invoked [Fire -1: Beag Srad] on all the targets in her vicinity. Two centipedes, two spiders, and one bat came charging towards her. Their fates all ended the same -- a single stab was all it took. Upon seeing another bat minding its own business, she repeated the process and ended its life. Ultimately, 4 centipedes, 4 spiders, and 3 bats lost their life to one girl.

The striking image of her magic performance caught the eyes of drifting adventurers. Her magic was as expected of any new wizard, but her stunning pose and alluring gaze attracted everyone’s attention. The way her hair brushed against her face was picturesque. Both men and women stopped upon seeing the captivating face of someone oozing with unbelievable confidence. The sheer passion on her face as she casted a magic spell was beautifully contrasted by her swift movement and strong mentality to kill.

“Who is that?” An adventurer stopped and asked.

“Kill me now. I don’t want to live knowing that I can never marry her.” A wizard dispiritedly said.

“Steal my heart!” A swordswoman screamed.

“You go, girl!” Morr cheered.

“Please, join my party!” An axeman begged.

“No, join mine! We have snacks!” A group of adventurers shouted.

Priscilla looked at the crowd surrounding her. She couldn’t help but feel a sort of disconnection when their voices came from their blurry faces. Those loud cheers only reminded her that they were so similar, but she couldn’t bring herself to believe it.

“No. Go away.” Priscilla mumbled.

“Guys! Shut up! She just said something!” A wizard shouted.

“Shhh! Shhh!” A swordswoman hushed the crowd.

The crowd unanimously halted their voices and perked their ears.

Priscilla relaxed her body and sighed. She walked away in a deafening silence and refused to even look at the crowd. The crowd just stared until she was completely out of sight.

“What just happened?” A wizard asked.

“Did we do something wrong?” A swordswoman audibly thought.

“Good luck on your adventures.” Morr said before chasing after Priscilla.

It didn’t take long to catch up to her given her speed. She was on the 2nd floor, leaning against the wall near the entrance to the 3rd floor. One of her hand was in her satchel and the other was loosely hanging.

“Sorry,” Morr apologized, “I was part of the cheering crowd.”

“It’s not… Nevermind.” Priscilla sighed. “I’m going back to the inn. Good luck on the 4th floor.”

“Yeah…” Morr watched her walked away.

She crossed her arms and her body subconsciously slouched forward. Her face was always down, as if she didn’t care about the dangers of friendly fire from the other adventurers. Small and light steps were taken as she made her way out.

After seeing her ascend to the 1st floor, Morr descended the nearby stairs to the 3rd floor. Eagerness to earn money was still at an all-time high. Priscilla was generous enough to gift all the loot from her earlier performance to Morr.

“4 centipede’s gland, 4 spider’s silk, and 3 bat wings… how much do these go for?” Morr pondered. “Bat’s wing should be more expensive because they started appearing on the 3rd floor. So going by that, the quality order would be bat’s wing, followed by centipede’s gland, and then spider’s silk.”

His pockets were nearly full. With one groped at his pockets he estimated that he had enough space for one more bat’s wing.

“Bat’s wing or something at a lower floor?” Morr pondered.

A party of four passed him, and he was immediately intrigued by one of their party member. Of the four party members, one of them was only equipped with a large sack. He dragged it along the ground in anticipation of saturating it with all sorts of items.

“What a genius. Definitely stealing that idea.” Morr clapped his hand.

He searched for a nearby bat, killed it, and pocketed another bat’s wing. Then, he departed for the surface.