Chapter 21

Michael turned suddenly, ready to face off against whatever threat the dungeon had thrown at him. Even though he was strolling through a very nice forest, he had not forgotten where he was, and was on high alert. Except that the so-called threat was a little winged creature, looking at him with fearful eyes. Its face and features were humanoid but resembling those of an animal, like a crossing between a fox and a person, save for its wings.

It’s only cute because it’s small. If it were person sized… ew.

The creature stared at him for a while, and he was possessed by the desire to reassure it that he meant no harm, that he would never harm it. In fact, he wanted to pet it, to show it some love—

Then it screeched, the sound like nails being dragged against a blackboard, and Michael’s ears started bleeding as his hearing was replaced by painful ringing. He staggered, and before he could start healing, a burst of magic was heading his way, invisible save for his mana sense revealing the hidden world of mana to him.

He threw himself to the side, knowing that his [Distortion Field] would be useless against the strange projectile, but he wasn’t quick enough. It clipped him in the leg, and a burning sensation spread through his body, like being dipped in acid. He screamed, trying to put some distance, but his leg wasn’t working properly, and the monster—for it was clearly a hostile monster, no matter its looks—was readying another shot.

Shit, I need to be proactive. There was no other way. The flying offender was close enough that he could reach it. Michael leaped, most weight on one leg even as his healing worked overtime, a message appearing in his vision but being quickly dismissed.

Then he realized he wouldn’t reach far enough, jumping on one leg not enough to bring him in range. He wanted to squeeze the life out of the bringer of his pain with righteous burning hands but was denied. Except…

He reached out with one hand, his flexibility allowing him more range of motion than the average person. Then the [Distortion Field] sprung into being, above the flying creature. A bolt of magic passed harmlessly through the bubble, no, not harmlessly, it changed path a bit, and he was forced to dismiss another message. Then the creature touched the edge of the sphere before it disappeared. Since it was above its head, the contact sent it tumbling to the ground, where Michael was falling. He quickly gripped it, and then his hands burst aflame, burning mana to generate tremendous heat.

The mental image of feeling a living being turn to ashes in his burning hands, then dissipating into mana would remain in his mind forever.

Fortunately he could distract himself with two skill level-ups. Dismissing the level-up messages, he went directly to the skills themselves.

This is great. The range could be bad, but it’s not like I need it when I heal myself. It might be an issue down the road, but not now. The efficiency on the other hand… this also confirmed that whatever was burning his leg was some sort of poison. Poison his ability was still struggling to cleanse. A few more minutes, and he would have full mobility back. Minutes are ages in a fight, I need to be careful not to be hit again.

Then there was the other skill.

Which meant, he knew instinctually, that the ability would now activate automatically even in case of non-physical threats, trying to deflect them away from his body or towards places where they would do less harm.

Which is huge, explaining why it went from common to uncommon, as the changes are more than they seem at first glance. The distance at which it could be cast had also changed, now clearly stated within the skill. Another huge upgrade, it basically doubled my range.

It also meant that the skill was now back at level four, where it was before he had cannibalized its useless parts. It would be hard to level it further, from now on.

Alright. Let’s see, he looked up, through the canopy. The exploration and battle had taken up quite some time, and Michael noticed that the fake sun in the sky had moved a little. Which means that there’s a day-night cycle. Since the dungeon won’t let me leave until I have a glyph, whatever it is, I need to approach this like a survival situation. One with monsters.

The priorities were water, shelter and food. Water he had in abundance, and even now he could hear the sound of a nearby creek. He had a few bottles he could fill in his backpack and he wasn’t worried about possible contamination, not with his healing skill now able to deal with poisons. Bacteria is like poison, right?

Food wasn’t a problem either, at least for now. His backpack was full to bursting with high-calorie, high-protein food, and the only reason he always ran out was due to his training and healing regimens burning through it all in a matter of hours. If he rationed it, he reckoned it could last for days.

Shelter it is, then. He couldn’t sleep out in the open, not with monsters roaming around.

After some consideration, he decided to backtrack, getting closer to the mountain in search of a defensible position. There were still a couple of hours of sunlight when he found a suitable spot, a little nook in the rock that would cover three sides from exposure and the elements, assuming they were a thing in here. For all he knew, the trees and the rivers could be entirely sustained by magic.

What was left was to cover the entrance to the little nook. For that purpose, he used [Distortion Field] rather creatively, willing the repulsive force bubble to appear next to the trees as they swayed in the breeze, so close that even a tiny movement was enough to make their bark collide with it. Then he cut the felled trees to pieces in a similar way, letting them fall upon a bubble. The result was explosive, bark and splinters flying everywhere, but it was quick and effective. Soon, he had dragged enough thick logs to make a barricade, and had enough timber for a fire.

Which I can light super easily with my [Candle Light].

He made a bedding with leaves, and sat by the fire as the sun set. It was beautiful, reminding him of what he was planning to do and see when he initially planned to hike the Appalachian Trail, but never got around to doing. For a moment he wondered how Josh was doing, but he no longer had his number, and he found that he didn’t much care after all.

Unlike on the Trail, however, sleeping proved to be difficult. As soon as the fake day turned to night, before even the last ray of molten gold disappeared from the tip of the trees, the forest came alive with monstrous life. There were calls, snarls, eerie sounds of battle and trees breaking, growls and howls, and other sounds that were difficult to place.

They are close.

That was the true danger of this place. Even during the day, it had managed to catch him by surprise, but it seemed that it was at night that the danger level truly spiked. It was then that he heard a monstrous screeching, not too far from where he was, loud enough to make his head hurt.

It’s one of those flying foxes.

He tried to peek outside, through the logs that made up his shelter, without revealing himself. Seeing nothing, he decided to sneak out, sticking to the shadows. A fake moon was shining up above, surrounded by fake stars, bright enough to easily see the world in shades of silver and blue.

Growls and howls could soon be heard, before Michael could even see that the flying creature was surrounded by a pack of monstrous wolves. Some of them were stunned into motionlessness, no doubt by the terrible screech, while others were staring at the creature transfixed, in awe.

Is it something like a charm effect?

It didn’t last long. The winged fox knew it was surrounded, and tried to press its advantages. Magical shots burst out, three of them at the same time, targeting the few wolves who had managed to shake off the stunning effects of the screech. A fierce battle ensued, with more and more wolves coming out of their trance state only to be mauled by magic as the winged creature fluttered around, dodging and attacking relentlessly.

It’s much stronger than the one I killed. I would have died against it.

The tide of the battle was decided. The few wolves remaining were struggling, joining their fallen brethren one after the other. It would only be a few more seconds until they were all dead, without even having managed to lay a paw on the flying monster.

It was then that a goblin, similar to those of the first floor, appeared. Michael could see an aura of magic around it, unlike those he fought above. The goblin strolled towards the fight, unhurried, until it reached the flying fox.

He slapped it, swatting it away. The thing slammed against a tree and slumped down, twisted and broken, dissolving into motes of mana.

“The forest king won’t be happy, no. No, he won’t be,” the goblin muttered, “these annoying foxes, they should go back to their swamp, they should, yes.”

The forest king? Sounds like a clue. I need to be careful, that goblin is strong, but… I need to follow them.

It was then that he felt a sharp pain in the back of his head, and the world started spinning. He felt the wet dew of the mossy ground against his cheek, but before he could react another blow struck him, and the world went dark.