Chapter 94: Approaching Danger

Nathan stared up at the entrance of the dungeon, sprawled around it were large tree roots. A large tree hugged the far side of the altar, as if trying to consume it, the massive tree trunk and roots completely blocked of the northern half of the large altar, leaving the steps on that side untraversable. The other three sets of steps also had roots, but not so much that the couldn’t be climbed.

Ramol: “Alright, we’ll be heading out tomorrow so if you need us, we’ll be over there.”

Ramol pointed out a small building nearby, where those who were planning to explore the dungeon for the entire week could stay. He made a reservation for one day, so he could head out after a quick look inside.

Nathan: “You want us to wait for you?”

Ramol had decided to enter the dungeon, with the inventory he planned to gather as much of the vegetation he could in the ‘Farmer’s Market’.

Ramol: “That’s okay, I need to park the cart and check in, also I need to put Kyr to bed, I’ll catch up with you later.”

Ramol waved to us as he along with Anais, Ena and Kyr, headed over to the building, leaving around else to head up stairs. Anais and Ena planned to escort Ramol around the dungeon, while Nathan, Iris and Ash planned to complete the trial as quickly as possible; before doing some blind exploring.

Nathan: “Alright here we go.”

Nathan made his way up the steps, his anticipation growing ever higher. This fact was relayed to everyone else by the force of his tail, creating a small gust as he continued up the stairs, passing under a large root that acted as an arch above the stairs. A large tree’s roots sprawled all around the platform, as if trying to keep it from escaping. At the top of the stairs, Nathan found a platform with several rune circles sprawled across it. All around him groups of people would enter a respective circle before being enveloped in light and vanishing from sight.

Ash: “NATHAN!”

Nathan: “Woah!?

Nathan turned to Ash, annoyed at him for screaming in his ear.

Nathan: “Why are you shouting, you gonna bust my ear-drums.”

Ash: “We’ve been calling out to you for a while now, you’re leaving us behind.”

Iris: “We know you’re excited, but please pay attention to your surroundings.”

Nathan: “Sorry.”

Nathan let everyone catch up, he didn’t realize just how far ahead of them he had gotten. He watched in awe as group after group of people, appeared and or disappeared.

Ash: “Alright let’s go, you ready?”

Nathan: “Dumbest question ever.”

Nathan approached the closest circle to him, ready to be teleported.

Ash: “No…not that one.”

Nathan: “What, why?”

Ash: “Look at the colors of the circles.”

Nathan looked back and forth, there were a group of red circles, while others were green, the color of the one he was currently standing on being the former. While he examined them, the red one he was standing in began to glow.

Ash: “The red colored are for exiting while the green are for entering. The glow you’re seeing is someone trying to get out, but being stopped because you’re standing there.”

Nathan: “Oops.”

Nathan hurriedly jumped off, the light erupting from the ground no sooner than he did, forming into a group of adventures and they all turned to look at Nathan.

Adventurer: “Hey, what’s your problem?”

Ash: “Sorry about that guys.”

Female Adventurer: “Hey, well if it isn’t Ash.”

Adventurer: “Ash, is this one of your team’s members? What…? You were kicked off so many teams your now working with ‘amateurs’ who don’t even know how to enter a dungeon ?...”

Ash: “Ahahahaha, thems the breaks, but you have to make do huh.”

Adventurer: “Hey…wait isn’t that the dark-skinned Lycanian?”

Female Adventurer: “The one everyone’s been talking about, my…such a little cutie.”

The female adventure poked and prodded Nathan who tried to fight her off.

Female Adventurer: “Look at you, we sure you would have quit this by now, but here you are...?”

Ash: “It’s all I know.”

Adventurer: “Well do us a favor and teach him how to be a proper ‘adventurer’, but first of all; how to get in and out of a dungeon. I mean even a child would understand that. Just how much of a beginner are you?”

Nathan: “Miss, I really need you to let me go.”

Female Adventurer: “Oh, trying to act tough for big sis, so adorable.”

The two began to laugh out loud at Nathan, the female still holding Nathan in an embrace, while the man continued to ridicule Nathan. While this was happening, Iris was becoming increasingly angrier, every moment the woman was over familiar with Nathan, an anger both Nathan and Ash quickly took note of.

Ash: “W-Well, nice seeing you, but we got to get a move-on.”

Adventurer: “Alright, good seeing you Ash, seeya shorty, don’t jump in the wrong circle again, the next people who come out might not be as kind-hearted as us.”

Nathan: “I’ll keep that in mind.”

Female Adventurer: “Bye cutie~”

The woman blew Nathan a kiss , before the two headed off on down the stairs.

Nathan: “Friends of yours.”

Ash: “You could call them that. Sorry about them.”

Nathan: “No problem, I mean it’s not like I’m upset or anything. And they weren’t wrong.”

Iris: “………Oh dear.”

Nathan: “What’s wrong?”

Iris: “It completely slipped my mind, but I must speak to Anais immediately.”

Nathan: “You forgot something? That’s pretty surprising.”

Iris: “These things happen, now if you will excuse me-”

Iris glanced back down the steps at the two who had spoken earlier, a glance that both men caught on to.

Iris: “I’ll be right back after I speak to Anais, why don’t you two go on without-”

Nathan: “Aw, no you don’t.”

Nathan quickly grabbed Iris up and held her tight.

Nathan: “You’re not going to blow them away for something silly like this.”

Iris: “But, Master…the sheer audacity…… I mean, what ever do you mean. I merely wish to convey some things to Anais.”

Nathan: “Your true intention slipped out there.”

Nathan held on to Iris, struggling to get free from him, as Ash lead onto an unoccupied circle. Once they were all in the circle, the circle began to glow and then they were enveloped in light.

Nathan: “Iris I’m not letting you go, so quick struggling.”

Iris: “Curses, I will make them regret what they did to you. Mark my words, they shall rue the day they made light of my Master!”

Nathan: “(Rue?) What did I say, about talking like a villain?”

When the light subsided, the three had vanished like all the others.

_

_

Nathan: “What the hell?”

Nathan looked back and forth, what he saw before him was a huge green land. Plains stretched on for miles on end, rivers, mountains and forests laid out into the distance. The area was busting with flora, plants Nathan had never seen and was all too eager to add to his collection, but that could wait for later.

Ash: “What’s wrong?”

Nathan: “What do you mean what’s wrong, we’re back outside.”

Ash: “Hold up, calm down, there’s no mistake, this is dungeon.”

Nathan: “Ash, we’re back outside.”

Ash: “It only looks that way; see, look the landscape has changed completely. This is the ‘Viridi Wilds’ aka ‘The Farmers Market’”

Nathan: “Seriously, this is a dungeon...?”

Ash: “What were you expecting?”

Nathan: “A huge cave with lot of different tunnels, with traps, dead ends, treasure chests and things like that.”

Ash: “Then where would all the flora grow?”

Nathan: “Ah, I guess that’s true.”

Ash: “Well its not like it doesn’t have those things, I’m sure will come across each while we explore it.”

Nathan looked around in awe, it was beyond his expectations. Much different from the dank dark dungeons of the video games he’d played in and now in which he was rewarded with a vibrant landscape right for the picking.

Nathan: “Alright I’m going exploring.”

Ash: “Wait, let me fill you in on some things, some rules of the dungeon.”

Nathan: “Rules?”

Ash: “Not actual rules just things you should be wary of.”

Nathan: “Wary of, you mean monsters and traps?”

Ash: “More than that, beware the people.”

_

_

_

Jonathan: “Hurry up, we can’t keep stopping.”

Jennifer: “If it’s such a bother just leave me behind, that way I don’t have to hear your complaining.”

Jennifer used a staff to prop herself up, as they made their way through the streets of Loegrey. From the hideout they had walked from, being a good two miles, she was now exasperated. She had never left the hideout her entire life and now she was forced to exert energy she previously had never needed to. That and her constant interest in the world around her, the mission that they were on was being delayed, by a good three hours.

Jonathan: “If that’s what you want, we’ll be on our way. Or you can accept our friends offer to carry you again.”

Jennifer: “So he can keep feeling me up!?...I rather drop dead.”

Shane: “I wasn’t feeling you up; I have to hold your bottom to keep you up.”

Shane pushed his hat up and smiled his usual toothy grin, veins appearing on Jennifer’s face as he put out his hand to help her up.

Jennifer: “Then I guess every time you squeezed my ass, you were read-adjusting your hands?”

Shane: “………………….Hey that’s a good excuse, I’m gonna use it from now on.”

Jennifer: “Can I kill him now? I’d really like to kill him now…”

Jonathan: “You know can’t, my da…..Simon, your boss said we had to work with him.”

Jennifer: “Tch”

Shane: “So sad, now about that ride.”

Jennifer: “DON’T TOUCH ME!”

Jonathan sighed and held his head; they were making no progress with the constant bickering. As if he needed another reason for his father to get upset.

_

_

[Midnight 2 days prior]

Simon: “And just once I think I couldn’t be even more disappointed with you, you let something like this happen.”

Jonathan gritted his teeth, listening to his so-called father speak. After Jonathan finished his report, his father began to ridicule him. Every single time without fail, whenever they spoke it was nothing but spite that left his mouth. His newest so-called failure was completely the making of his now deceased brother, whom Jonathan repeatedly warned him of his actions.

Simon: “On top of letting your brother die, you lost almost all your men who are now most scattered about, and the mountain of treasure you acquired was stolen.”

Jonathan: “Stolen, ridiculous, they should be buried under tons of stone and dirt. No-one could have gotten to it that fast.”

Simon: “*Sigh* And yet, when we went to investigate, a tunnel had been made and all the treasure gone.”

Jonathan: “A tunnel?”

Jonathan was surprised by this, not only was someone able to build a tunnel through collapsed caves, they were able to locate the hidden room that was separate from the rest of the cave.

Simon: “Warmwether, if you would please?”

Ashley: “Huh me, I-I mean right.”

Ashley stood up from her, fumbling with the documents in her hand. The nervous wreck of girl hardly able to keep her bearing after suddenly being called out to.

Ashley: “Ah, wait, no not this one, oh no…I dropped it.”

Simon: “Any time today Ashley dearie.”

Ashley: “R-RIGHT!”

Ashley, quickly finding the right document, read aloud all the information.

Ashley: “Upon arriving at the caverns, we found the deceased, Gideon, along with several of our men, stabbed to death with their own weapons. Furthermore, a tunnel had been located leading directly to the treasure chambers, where all of its content had been emptied out. Upon further investigation we found that the tunnel was dug from the inside-out.”

Jonathan: “The inside-out…………impossible.”

Simon: “Which brings me to your third failure; letting the Lycanian, who killed your brother, get away with all of the treasure you acquired over the years.”

Jonathan’s eyes went wide, he couldn’t believe it. No one could survive that blast and if by chance they did they should have been crushed by the mountains of dirt and stone that was made to fall. And yet the Lycanian was able to do so while carrying all of that treasure.

Jonathan: “Impossible.”

Simon: “Is that all you can say…it seems your time away has somehow made you even more incompetent then you were before. I knew it was a bad idea to take you in, but Gideon was so kind-hearted and talked me into it. He so wanted a brother and honestly, I could have given him one no problem, there are no shortage of women who I could use to accomplish the task. But no, he wanted you, some mangy street garbage who he came across one day, just because he showed a bit of intellect. And look where that lead him…dead, while you still live.”

Jonathan: “YOU-”

Jonathan couldn’t take anymore and jumped to his feet in his rage, but his neck quickly met with the edge of a blade. Jennifer had cleared the distance between them and held the blade to her friend’s neck, if he moved any further, she would end him. Simon smiled at the display, both at the situation and the outcome.

Simon: “What do you think you’re doing…sit back down boy.”

Jonathan reluctantly sat back down, as Jennifer retracted the knife, standing behind him, rather then moving back to her original position.

Simon: “But I do admit, Gideon was somewhat at fault, his ‘trophy’ collection, came back to bite him. I told that boy over and over, if you going to keep such a thin; you have to break them completely, not just mentally but physically as well. But alas, he wanted them to be beautiful and I guess removing an arm or leg, would in fact steal away that would it not?”

Simon turned back to Jonathan.

Simon: “But as his strategist, you should have come up with a counter-measure for his hobbies, a way he could indulge himself and live to tell the tale, but you failed. And because of it, my son is-”

Simon trailed off for a moment quickly bringing himself back to attention.

Simon: “No matter, I have many children, though I must say Gideon was the best of the bunch, but you have to deal the hand your dealt.

Jonathan wanted to launch across the table, but he knew the moment he moved, Jennifer would end him. His on son was dead, but only a moments thought and then its business as usual.

Simon: “Anyway, since leaving you, the Lycanian has thwarted yet another of our dealings. And even before that, he messed with our obtaining some really rare merchandise. We’ve been tracking one of them , the other is traveling with the Lycanian. So, here’s what’s going to happen. We learned that the Lycanian will be heading into the dungeon soon. That is where you will go.”

Jonathan: “What!?”

Simon: “You’re going to finish what you started and end that mutt’s life. I have some men waiting for you upon arrival and take Jennifer with you. Oh, and if you can retrieve the merchandise along with the treasure she stole,do so. You will leave immediately.”

It didn’t show on Jennifer’s face, but she was honestly surprised when he called out for her. She knew what it meant, that she was being sent with him and though she didn’t like it; she would complete it without fail. Jonathan on the other hand was livid. He had no chance to talk and before he could even fully heal, he was being made to travel again.

Jennifer: “Yes master.”

Simon: “Good, oh and I hired some help for you.”

Jonathan: “Assistance?”

Simon: “Someone who’s spent some time with the Lycanian and who also needs to repay a debt to us. He will meet you in Borice and will be helping you with your task. That’s all. You may go.”

Jonathan wanted to speak, but Simon was done with him and turned to the other members at the table, ready to begin their meeting; although he did say one thing to his adopted son.

Simon: “Don’t fail me again.”

_

_

Jonathan: “Ugh.”

Jonathan’s wound still ached, being forced to travel, before his wounds could properly heal. But what could he do? Simon was not someone he could defy, at least right now.

Shane: “Well, I want Nathan dead more than anyone, he ruined the deal I had with your pops, now I’m stuck in debt until its done.”

Jonathan: “Even more of a reason we should hurry along, the sooner we’re done, the sooner when can go our separate ways.”

Shane: “Aw you hurt my feelings…parting with you will be so depressing. Especially you Jenny, that ass of yours is just so magnificently plump, I really want to give another squeeze.”

Jennifer: “Grrrrrrr, let me kill him, I reaaaaallllllllly want too.”

Jonathan: “Come on, we’re wasting time.”

Like this, the strange trio, headed for Viridi Wilds, Nathan completely unaware of the danger closing in on him.