Chapter 86: The Second Floor Part One
With the puzzle completed and the loot split, we could finally exit the room and back track down to the right passageway. "Is it just me or are the enemies here much harder than before?" Sam asked.
"They are harder, I have a feeling there was more to that puzzle room than we think." Able replied. I am not so sure if it was the puzzle room or not but the monsters seemed to be well informed on how to fight us, making our encounters much more difficult.
"Either way, it is still in our range of ability so let's just keep going." I said. Able nodded and we continued forward. Most of the monsters were either groups of slimes, kobolds, or goblins. We had to stop at every junction and decide which way to go while keeping track of our progress on the map we were creating of this dungeon. Marsil was in charge of the map since she seemed to be best at it.
From what I could tell it took almost a week to finish the first floor. This was not including the time we spent in the puzzle room. So all in all we had been away from home for almost a month. It was kind of exciting really. Although I hated the fact that this dungeon was very damp and only the side rooms were somewhat livable when we needed to rest. Oh, and then there was that musty smell that came with it, or the fact that we were fighting with our lives on the line, it still had its own charm. It might sound strange but the whole adventuring thing makes one excited and wanting to dive deeper no matter the danger all because you never know what you will discover next.
This world has its problems. There is no doubt about that, but it also had a lot of mystery to it. I wondered if this was what it was like when people began migrating from different areas while exploring new lands back on Earth. Even if that was the case, it was never at this kind of level though. I mean no place on earth can give you a treasure chest that would spawn puzzles, monsters, and even amazing loot. This is not to say the tombs or dungeons if you would like to call them back on Earth did not come without their dangers. When people were first discovering these places they had found many with traps inside that could kill a person instantly if they were not paying attention.
But this world had a vast history as well which I really wanted to learn about. I would not mind spending time reading up on this world, it was something I actually needed to do anyway for when I entered the magic academy.
Currently, we were sitting in front of a stairwell that leads to the next area. Yes believe it or not there was actually a set of stairs leading down. We decided to take a break for the night so we can tackle the next floor tomorrow. "So the area may change quite a bit when we enter the second floor. Some dungeons had different ecosystems based on the floor you are on. It could be hot as can be or as cold as can be. It may even look like a large valley with a blue sky. But those kinds of floors do not show up much until more towards the end of the dungeon. Just be prepared for anything."
Able was giving us a lecture on dungeons once again. There was so much to learn that I knew I was going to need to ask Able to go over this stuff again once we got home. I did remember a good half of it but only half.
After a night's rest, we finally gathered our things together and looked down the staircase leading down. It was pitch black, not really giving us any clue as to what was down there. "I will use light magic to light our way, one second."I waved my hand and sent a bunch of light orbs down the staircase. After spending so many battles fighting monsters in the puzzle room my control of magic has become much better.
We all stood at the top of the steps and looked at each other and gave a nod before Able led the way down. This stairwell continued on for almost thirty minutes until we finally got to the bottom where a large wood door stood. It looked more along the lines of an ancient medieval door that was made out of many pieces of wood bound together with metal. The handles were in the shape of large skulls that had metal hoop handles hanging from their mouths. There were also strange creatures or monsters carved into the wood that seemed something from a horror movie than a fantasy creature. The thing that made me feel chills run down my spine was the eerie white smoke that flowed out from under the door.
"Are you sure we should be going in there? It feels a bit ominous to me..." I said while gripping Able's arm tightly. Yes, I was a scaredy cat when it came to ghosts and undead things that moved. There was nothing I can do about that since it stems from my past life where my mom scared the crap out of me when I was two years old with a very realistic ghost custom. You could say it was a traumatic event for me. I mean I was so scared I peed my pants! I was doing my best to not let that happen again, at least not in front of Able! I would sacrifice myself if I ever did such a shameful thing in front of him. Not to mention Marsil would come up with some kind of silly nickname for me like Pee Princess or something along those lines.
"Yes, we will go in if you are scared just hold on to me." Able said with a smile. His smile was warm so it did calm me down a bit. But that did not stop my shaking knees and chattering teeth.
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