The tunnel twisted and turned, and before long I lost sight of the light from Cain’s torch. No matter how much and how loud I called out to him to come back, or at least stay put, he never listened, or even gave sign that he could hear me.

An uneasy feeling grew inside my chest. Like anxiety, but a bit different. Something was amiss, and I couldn’t figure out what it was. It wasn’t the dark, as Etienne’s torch did manage to reclaim some of its dull yellow light from the surrounding walls. It wasn’t the cave either, as I’d never been afraid of narrow spaces. There were no monsters around either-

“Careful, did you hear that?” Etienne asked, as he slowed down his pace.

“What?”

“It sounded like a monster noise.” He replied, coming to a full stop. “Hush.” He added, bringing a finger to his lips.

The flame of his torch flickered, like a failing flashlight in a horror movie. Its light twisted his face into a non-defined mixture of crevasses and bumps, and I had to rub my eyes to get that image out of my mind.

A low, soft, almost questioning growl came from the depths of the hallway.

“Please don’t go running to check what that was.” I attempted a joke, but kept my tone quiet, reflecting the true unease I felt towards the situation.

“Why would I do that?” Etienne asked, raising an eyebrow. “I think it’s just echo anyway. From the sounds of it, the creature in much further down the dungeon. Shall we continue searching for your brother?”

I frowned, then hastily corrected my expression. A part of my mind tried to convince me that this was just a slip-up, due to stress and whatever else, but Etienne’s words, his ever so slightly misplaced mannerism, and everything that had happened earlier suddenly reminded me of a scene from ‘immoral immortality’.

Four pairs of steps echoed through the tunnel, their sounds reflecting off every rock and every crevasse, even those smaller than a human’s hand. Each sound copied itself against those surfaces, filling the dungeon with the reckoning of a thousand steps.

The group pushed through, ignoring their own fears and discomfort. Their leader, perhaps the most scared of the four, felt the need to reassure his companions. But he was afraid that the second he’d open his mouth, the stone walls would take and twist and change and amplify his words, to the point where they’d be all but his. So, Huang remained silent, as only the deafening sound of his and his companion’s steps filled the air around, and the space within his mind.

“I can’t take this anymore.” The red-haired young man who closed the march suddenly spoke. He stopped net in his track, looking up at the two men and woman before him in defiance. “Let it take the fight to us. We shouldn’t be playing its games.”

“If master has decided to push through, then we will push through.” A tall and broad man, with two swords holstered on his back spoke.

“Shut up Yuuto. I agree with the kid. Huang, this is too much!” The woman nervously spoke. Her tone had not quite come-off as affirming as she’d wanted, but her blue locks angrily bounced off her plum chest nonetheless, as she clenched her magic sceptre closer to her body.

“I say we call it to us. Take it on here and now.” The red-haired teenager spoke again. A spark of excitement and lust for blood flashed across his eyes, as he very voluntarily transformed his arms into wolf-like claws. He was showing that he was ready to fight, but was still waiting for the order to do so.

“You’re right.” Enmei Liu agreed, as she forced herself to shift her grip on her sceptre, holding it as the weapon it was meant to be, and not the crouch she’d made of it.

The swordsman Yuuto frowned, as even as much as he did not want to admit it, the Dungeon was getting to him too, and he could easily excuse his two secular companions. So, he turned towards their leader, and simply asked:

“Master?”

But Huang did not have it him to reply. Even if he’d wanted to speak, he would have been unable to force the words out of his mouth, as fear of the sudden silence overtook him. The dungeon was so big, so full of unseen dangers, and creaks monsters could hide in. And what was he in all that? An office worker, and a mediocre one at that, an office worker whose life was so easy to erase; to consume.

Cain

MP

139 (150 (+3/minute))

Luck

301 (250 (+0.5/minute (forced transfer)))

Wondering mind

· 10 MP

· Target: unidentified creature

· SKILL FAILED

· [effect revealed] Attempts to posses and influence the actions of the target creature. The target creature cannot have less than 1/5 or the caster’s intelligence. The target creature must be capable of comprehending the orders (does not affect eldritch and exo-plannar creatures). Using this skill costs 10MP per order or per minute, depending on which ends first.

Shadow Puppet

· 2 MP

· Location – four meters ahead, behind unidentified creature.

· Characteristics: Unarmed, wendigo

· [effect revealed] Creates a body-double of the caster that follows any orders. Its Luck will be half of the maximum or current luck of the caster (whichever is lowest) and it does not possess nor can use any skills.

Enmei Liu

MP

184 (220)

Luck

33 (35)

Grappling flare

· 13 MP

· Target: unidentified creature

· [effect revealed] creates tentacles of burning smoke around the target, binding it in place and inflicting flame/fire type damage.

“Hey, behind you!” The red-haired kid called out, while his teammate wasted no time and spawned smoke-like tentacles that grabbed the shambling mass of flesh that had snuck up on their group.

Huang slowly turned around, only to watch his trusted right hand run towards the creature, European sword in one hand, broken odachi in the other. But the eyes of the Enlightened could not focus on anything but the mess of limbs and bones, and flesh and thick blood-like slime that had locked dozens of its deformed eyes with his. It was smiling. It had no mouth, not teeth, just arms and legs and organs, not all of which were on the inside of its skin, but it had no mouth. And yet it smiled; a smile that reached past its cheeks and past its ears and that kept and kept going, beyond the borders of its body, beyond the borders of the page it existed on.

“Master!” was the last thing Huang heard before the creature merged into him.

“h̴̡̉̐̔ȇ̷̱̱ ̵̥͛̽͠f̴̜̺̀e̶͈͑ę̴̒̃͝d̸͉͉̺̐͘s̵̲̘̔͘ ̷̙̀͘m̴̧̪̊ͅé̶̞̭͓͛.̵̪̪͚̕ ̶̫̬͆͛” the creature spoke through the mouth of Huang.

s̸̨̹̳̦̜͍̤̖͎͆͐̋w̵̱̹͙̖̭̗̥̄̍͋͊̈̄̐̎̐é̵̢̨̨̯̜̭͖̰e̴̯̫̼̯̓̎t̷̡̯̝͚͆̇͊̚͝ẖ̷̱̪͕̰̟̽̍̃͊͛̍́ȩ̸̢͈̩̖̦̍̾a̶̬͓̼͔̫̖͎̟̝̒̈́͂͊́͘͠r̷̛͈̦̜͖͈̘̯̃̈́̓̈̽t̵͇̭̮͈̘̙̳̣̀͝?̵̩̣͎̫̇̈́̊̉͑̊̒̿̍ ̷ H̸̱͆͜o̷̢̰̎̉n̸͚͓͋̂e̵̻̖͐͐y̷̳͂?̷͎̓̋ ̸L̷a̶u̷r̵a̷

“Laura?” The voice of the man next to me snapped me back to reality.

We were no longer in that twisting and yet somehow straight corridor, and had entered a small, almost cosy junction. Its walls were lined with those same glowing mushrooms, which brought a welcomed feeling of familiarity and, dare I say, safety into the place.

“I zoned out again, didn’t I?” I stated more than asked Etienne.

“You do that a lot.” He agreed, as he slowly walked around the junction, lighting in turn each of the four corridors, plus the one we’d come from, branching of off it.

And there it went. Whatever sense of false security had take over me was gone in an instant. I thought back once again to that sentient man-eating dungeon from the novel, how the main cast struggled to get out of it, and how the fandom debated over the alignment and level of sentience of the thing. I never participated in those debates, but with the foresight of my current situation, I probably should have, as it might have enlightened me as to what to do when confronted to one of them.

Perhaps it was more to calm my nerves than anything, but I still decided to double check a small detail.

“Etienne, do you remember where we first met?”

He turned towards me with a curious expression.

“What do you mean?” He asked.

It was his voice, but not his intonation. And he avoided the question –

“I fucking knew it!” I exclaimed, as I opened my ‘holding void’ to extract Namura from it.

Or rather, I tried to. But, to my greatest confusion, nothing happened.

ǎ̵̡̪̝̖̺͋̒͗̑̀͌́͑͜ͅĥ̴̡̪̗͎̩͇̘̉͂̔͌,̵̟̱̿͂͂̿̀̆̂ ̶̡̨̘̲̱̦̙͈͓̀̔͗͗̌̀͘m̴̟̥͆͋̒̿͑ȋ̷̛͕͈̠̯̫̦̠͔͐͐̈́͑g̴̡̡̛̙͙̪̯̋͗̒͗̐͒͠h̶̟͓̯̏͆̇͌̊̏̽ͅt̷̻̩̮̠͌̉̎͌̀̆̂͗̒ ̶̬̰̊̂͌̍͠a̴̧̛̙͍͔͙͙̒̍͆͊̆͝s̸̡̤̜̣̳̫̙̲͋̔́͗͘ ̶̮̮͔̳̝̈̌͠w̷̳̤͇͚̼̹̟̦̐̀ë̶͓́̇̌̓̀̅̅̄͘ḽ̶̖̰͈͙̟͙͕̻̈́l̶̛̝̞̻͉̦̼͈̮͐̉̈́̅͝ ̵̛̼̮̼̮̰̜̣̇̋̐̅ḑ̵̢̨̪͓͍̫̒̃͑͆͜ŕ̸̛̻̫͎̬̥̀̐͆̎̀ͅō̸͇̜͓͕̈́̀̆̅͐̅̒̏ṗ̴͙̟̘̲͒̋̔̄͒̑̽͜͜ ̵̦͎̝̻͙̳̄͐́t̸̲̉̾̃͊̎͗͑͘͜h̴͎̺̰̞̆̉͋̈́͋̾̇̑ͅe̸̯̰̺̯͚̙̍̍̐̇̅͝ ̷̨̫͍̞͐̏̊̈͝a̵͉̪̮͕͠c̵̝̍͑̆͒̄̒͘t̷̢̡͇̱̺̦͍͍̉.̷̹̳́̍̉̅ ̵̢͈̜̟̺̂̀̾̀İ̶̱̲̪͚̩̺̻̀̀͐̈́̒̓̑͠ ̶̣̰̆͋̆̌͂͐ǧ̴̛̤̈́̈́̊o̶͚̼̼̤̦̩̍̓̌̎͛̾̅̄̎͜t̴͔̫̼̞̩͇̆͒͑͗͂̃̀̂̋ͅ ̵͎̫̃͆͒̏͆́ą̷̡̬̮̀̈́͆͆̌̆̽s̴̨͙͎̰͗́̃͝ͅ ̸̨̦̤̰̫͓̞̮͌̾̍͋͘m̶̪͉͈̾͛̈́u̶̧͙͔̥̝̟̤̻͚̾̅̍̀͋͝c̴̰̠̈͂̈́̀̚h̴̭͖͙̞̦̆͛̈́͗ ̴̧̥̠͗f̷̩͙͎͗̋̈́̐̀͊͘ō̵̘͖̺̱͈̩̂͊̽̒͜ò̴̼d̸͇̖̟͕͍͚͓̹̂͐̈́͒͒̚͝ͅ ̵̙̞̻̤̰̖̩͕̉̌̊̔͒͂͑͘o̴̖̜̹̖̗̦̣̮̮̓͗̈̋̔̃̃̌̚u̷̧̜̤͕͗t̵͕̘̰͑̏͘͝ ̴̻̈͒o̵̗͍͕̼͇̗̝̔̓̏͋͠͠͝f̸͇͌͒̈̑́̈́̈́͠ ̴͈͍͚͖̲̍̀̈̃͌̓̆̈́́y̷͖̐͑̊̂̊̋́͘o̴̻͓̱̮̤̮̾̈́́̓͌u̴̩͖̯̯͇̐̎͐̎͛ ̶̫̻̮̤̣͒̊̈̽a̶̛̱̓̎̉͛͑̈̕s̸͙̭̘̠͓̪͑ ̷̪͠͝I̴͈̻̩͚̯̙̦͇̿ͅ ̵̠̲͇̯͓͊̑͋̆̅̿̕͝c̸̲͕͖̻̬͂͗̍̇̎̓͊̕ͅỏ̸̹͎̼̮͉͖͕̿͗ụ̸̐͊̉̈́l̶̦̙̱͓̲͐̿͛̓d̷̹̗̈ ̵͕͙̥̂̿̆̄̀̚͜f̶̡̗̟̣̥̥̓̏̈́̏̾̀̄͜͜o̷̢͓͚̖̾̊͆͘r̷̫̬̭̲̈́̽̒͌́̑̂ ̴̡͔͇̥̤͋̐͊̒̑͑n̷̄̄̅̚͝ͅȍ̶̳̰̫͇̗̱͈̓͜ͅẘ̴̫̱͔̠̯̰͔̀̚.̴̨̧̤͉̯̌̈̀͐̈͛͑͑̕͜ ̶̘̊̏͛͌̈́̒͌̈́

Etienne spoke, as his features slowly merged together into a non-distinct humanoid shape.

In a rush of clarity, or adrenaline, I reached out for the gun that the real Etienne had given me. Just as the torch that the creature pretending to be my crush was holding dropped to the floor, as the fingers of the creature merged together into a slimy tentacle, my finger slipped over the trigger of the pistol.

Luck -27

I fell to one knee with a pained cry.

“Fuck.” I swore, as I, now very carefully, pulled the gun out of my back pocket.

Ignoring the pain in my bum and leg, I aimed at the creature. It had collapsed on itself, loosing half its height and becoming more and more slime-like.

I shot at it. Again, and again. Five times in total. It wasn’t that far, and it was rather big, but if my bullets reached it (which might not have even been the case, considering the kind of mind games it’d been playing so far), it showed no signs of being hurt.

İ̸̯̾́̒̔ ̸̛͓͚̹͕̮͉͠w̸̮̼͕̫̹̎̊͂̌̉̕i̸̙͈̳̪̻̥̠̇̐̀̽̾͆l̶͓̯̔ḷ̴̯̦̃ ̷̹͕̥̫͇̫̙̏̊́̄̅̈́̍r̴̨̮̥̱̟̯̺͂̈́͗̽̓̕͜e̵̙̜̣̭̫͠t̴̻̒̀͗͂̔̅̃̚ͅu̶̧͖̹̱̭̝̙̎̀͘ṙ̷̦̝͓̝͗̈́̉͠n̴̛̺͙̬͇͂͐̆́.̷̨͍̪̥̗͚̘̠̒͗͊̂̈́̄͋͘ ̷͙̖̗̪͌̉̋̚͝y̸̢̹̼̥̭̠̒̊ơ̶͙̗̓̃̈́̑̈́͆͜ȕ̴͇̱͚̍̓̓̇̀̕ ̵̠̭̝͎̗̼͔̣͛̔̍̈́w̵̨͈̬̓̿i̶̼͖̞̤̹͇͍̫͂ͅĺ̵̨̮͎̻̯͚̫̍̇̂̾͘͘l̴̖̣͂̔ ̵̮͍͎̍̀̕̚ḧ̴̛̩̱͇͂͛͒̾ả̸͍̘͈̫̗͋̈́̑̃͠v̴̡̺͙̽͋̃̚e̶̢̺̝̤̳͋̑̓ ̷̝̞̪̼̀́͆̊̈́̎̚͝ͅm̶̫͇͚̙͌̽͌o̷̢̦̝̙̝̎͜r̵̬̱̫͋̔͋̎͑͛̿ĕ̸̳̋̀̀̒̑̈́͒ ̶̱̯̳̞̗̑̄́̆͘͜͝s̴̛̲̣̭͎̄̈́ͅú̵̟̼͐̇ş̸̫̝͇̺́͂̇̔̀̀̀͛͜t̷̼̲͒͑̃́̏͂͜͝ė̴̞̦͎̹̦̖̃͊̿̍̐n̷͈̻̠͌̍̈́a̷̢̯̺̞͐́͗͒̏͋̌̎ͅń̷̨̧̺͍̭̙̫̌̈́̌͜͜͠c̴̞̻̺͔̩̹͇̿͜͜e̶̛̖̣̤͕͕͕͖͚̳͆͊̔̇̌͝ ̷̮̯̱̯͙͇̘͐̒t̶̰̿͑͋̎o̵̫͖̹͔͈̍̑̃̂̂ ̸̨̹͕̯̪̗̳̓̋̈̈͊̒̾̏͘o̴̢͖̱̩̺͕͛f̶͈̜͍̤̋̃̕f̵̜̑̐̇̑̈́̄̇͝ẽ̶̘̃̽̇̊̓͘̕͝ř̴̛̽̃̑͛̀̚ͅ

It said, with a tone resembling a laugh, before slowly sliding away.

“Shit…” I swore again.

Without Namura, there was nothing I could do. And worse yet, Cain and Etienne were somewhere in here, no doubt, and there was no way of knowing what the dungeon had done to them after having separated us.

I got up and looked around.

The five corridors were identical. Rocks and moss and glowing mushrooms. I wasn’t even sure which one of them led back to the surface, as the intuition brought on by my ‘Backtrack’ skill had become so faint I could barely feel it.

For the longest minute, or perhaps more, the air around me was filled with nothing but my irregular nervous breathing, and the very distant sound of dripping water. But quickly approaching footsteps broke that silence.

I hastily (and clumsily) swapped the magazine in my gun, and prepared myself to face whatever it was the dungeon was throwing at me this time.