The guard couldnt follow inside. I knew that, but still, I felt like I was being chased. Maria hadnt recovered from that guards last remarks either. Entertaining the idea that the dry man only wanted her for the sake of killing her made nauseous.
I couldnt imagine delivering this little girl, who wasnt even ten, to the jaws of death. Yet, I had little choice in the matter as of right now.
I continued to debate my options as we headed deeper and deeper into the mine shaft, the previously rocky walls slowly turning as white as marble as we progressed. Eventually, the wooden support beams turned into strange animal bones, and the white dust at our feet continued to pile up. Here and there, rusty weapons were dug into the floor and walls, as if they had been left there by fallen warriors.
In ti, our surroundings could only be described as a ss of bone and tal, a grave site rather than a dungeon. Thankfully, no monsters had co to attack us yet.
At so point, Maria had stuck her head over my shoulder.
Is daddy really going to kill ? she asked. I winced. So part of had hoped to spare her innocence throughout all this, but that hope had been naive, in hindsight.
I... dont think so. Why would that guard speak the truth? Hes the enemy. I attempted to convince her.
Maria shook her head defiantly. I dont care what happens, as long as daddy is happy. He sent you to save ! If I die, daddy can kill all of them, too. She said, determined.
My eyes went wide and a pang of pity appeared in my gut, but it was quickly replaced by rage.
YOU DONT KNOW A THING ABOUT DEATH, MARIA! I shouted, unable to hold back. Maria recoiled and hid her face in my back. I cald myself down, then resud. Listen... I spoke in a harsh whisper, Your father would have told to simply kill you if your death was necessary for his ascension, but he didnt. He wants you to live, Maria. I dont think he would be happy at all if you died.
... She stayed silent.
Just... just put what those bad guys said out of your head, all right? Everything is going to be fine. I attempted in a more gentle tone. Unfortunately, she still wasnt responding.
A few minutes passed in silence as we delved deeper into the bony mineshaft. Its layout was a confusing ss; the dungeon seed to rearrange itself sporadically. Either that, or my sense of direction was significantly more impaired than I had originally thought.
Eventually, the mineshaft led to a wider chamber, that left enough space for a small group of people. At its centre a small campfire had been made, though it had long since gone out. Who knew when people had been here last? What I did know, was that so battle must have taken place here, because a random collection of intact bones were strewn across the room. None seed to be human, strangely, their shapes and sizes varied widely.
Hesitantly, I took a step inside, expecting so kind of ambush. I ended up being half right, because the bones in the room started to rattle, and the old rusted weapons shook. The pieces dislodged themselves from their place and flew towards the center of the room, where they slotted together to form one creature. I was faced with so kind of cat-like creature, the size of a horse.
Its skull was made out of small fractured bones, while its teeth were actual daggers. So spears stuck out of its ribs, and sickles ford its claws. The strange amalgam of bone and tal took a mont to form, giving ti to hush Maria out of the room and draw my sword.
Once it finally finished forming, however, it wasted no ti and leaped at with the desire to kill. Aware of Maria behind , I opted to parry, and threw the creature halfway across the room with a single swipe of my weapon, which astounded even .
The creature quickly recovered and tried again, only to be thrown into the wall a second ti with minimal effort on my part. Was this the result of my newly improved physical stats? Tier 3 creatures werent my match before, but this was getting ridiculous.
Due to our lack of ti, I had little opportunity to test my stats, unfortunately. Afraid that overloaded orbs could collapse the mineshaft, I used my onyx chains instead. They constricted the creature, which wasnt smart or fast enough to react, and squeezed it till it broke.
After a mont where nothing seed to happen, I realised that this dungeons monsters specialty must be resilience. That ant that my chains didnt have enough killing power to finish it off. Instead, I used them to hold it in place, before chopping off its head with an empowered overloaded sword. The skill had, thankfully, remained usable, even after it evolved into [Sword laser].
Annoyingly, the creature was sohow still moving. Even without a head, the undead tiger was clawing at my chains, and the head was trying to bite by snapping at the air. Seeing no other option, I used an overloaded orb and stuffed it down its gut, which finally put the cockroach to rest. No level up, though.
Seeing that the creature had died, Maria shuffled back over to . She had hidden around the corner, and been wise enough to stay there while I dealt with the threat.
I put her onto my back once more. Ti was of the essence.
As we headed deeper into the dungeon, in search of the exit, Maria broke the silence.
Wh... What will happen? Once were on the other side, I an... she asked hesitantly.
I took a mont to gather my thoughts.
Uh... I guess... things will go back to how they were before? Youll stay with your dad and... be free? Happy, too. I hope so, anyway.
With daddy?
Yup. Do you... rember him? I asked cautiously, not sure of the tiline of events. For all I knew, Maria had been kidnapped when she was a babe...
Of course! she began enthusiastically. Daddy used to give sweets, and read stories, and teach ... many things! she spoke happily.
I nodded. Surely, a father like that wouldnt kill their child, would they? Then again, the dry man was centuries old... Marias life had been only a blip of ti to him... Compared to the opportunity to reach tier 7, sothing so many classers craved...
In an attempt to take my mind off of it, I resud the conversation.
What was your favourite story?
Uh... Sword in the stone! Dad read it to so many tis already!
I cringed. I had briefly perused Sword in the stone what felt like years ago, though I didnt rember where I had read it. If I rembered correctly, it was about so kid that beca a king after pulling a rusty sword out of a stone. Still, I continued. Anything to keep the kids mind off of what that guard had said. Never again did I want to hear a child accept death...
Why do you like that story so much?
Because in that story, even a boy my age can beco strong! Arthur didnt even need to wait for his awakening! If I pulled the sword out, then I could help daddy right away! she said happily, Then I wouldnt be taken by bad people... she added quietly.
My na is Arthur too, you know... I grumbled.
She seed to perk up when she rembered that fact.
Oh yeah! Is that why dad told you to co save ?! Are you the king? Is that the sword from the stone?! she asked, pointing at the great sword that currently hung from my hip.
I moved to respond negatively, but Maria continued to rattle question after question.
Did daddy give you a quest, then? Will he reward you with great riches when Im safe? Will there be a story about us soon? she spoke excitedly.
With a wistful smile, I decided to indulge her.
Yes to all of that. The book will be called The princess in the tallest tower. I joked.
Clearly, the joke flew over Marias head, because she actually squealed, unable to contain herself.
Thankfully, I was saved from my plight by another open chamber appearing in the distance.
We repeated the sa process as before. This ti, I had to defeat three foxes, that were similarly made up of tal and bone fragnts. They fought viciously, and their speed was nothing to scoff at, but in the end they fell in the sa way the tiger had. These monsters were though as nails, but lacked ranged attacks and versatility.
After having picked up Maria again, we went on our rry way.
For a few more hours, we encountered chamber after chamber, with no exit in sight. My instincts told that the tougher creatures would be closer to the boss chamber, so I decided to head away from those chambers whenever I could.
We encountered a variety of undead beasts, including a bear the size of Revan, though neither of them could fit in the tight mineshafts, as well as swarms of smaller animals and packs of dium-sized animals.
It quickly beca apparent that just like its monsters, this dungeons main strength was its resilience. It tested its delvers patience and toughness by throwing the sa challenges at them over and over again, room to room.
Thankfully, my hunch eventually proved to be correct. By searching for and following the weaker rooms, I found my way to a mine shaft that slowly beca less and less dusty. The tal weapons stuck in the walls beca less frequent, and wooden support beams replaced the bony structures that kept the dungeon stable otherwise.
Though the journey through the mineshaft had been tedious, it hadnt co without its rewards. I opened my most recent system notification and dismissed the rest, while also investing my free points equally into my physical stats, bringing each of them up to 509 exactly.
Ding! Combat finished. [Hollow Ding! Combat finished. Congratulations on reaching [Hollow essence Knight] level 19!
Four entire levels from as many hours spent delving into an easy, albeit tedious dungeon. Maria had spent that ti prattling on and on about her favourite story, while I played along to keep her happy. By the end of our journey, I had to admit the girl had grown on .
Unfortunately, with the end in sight, I still had no answer to the dry mans possible intentions.
Keeping Maria from him would result in my death, while giving her to him could result in hers...
I sighed. This was where I drew the line. I wouldnt sacrifice an innocent child to save my own skin.
I had one option. Nobody above tier 3 could enter this dungeon, and it wasnt that dangerous in here as long as you avoided the chambers. I wasnt willing to stay here permanently to hide from the dry man, that was just a stay of execution, but I could at least leave Maria here for a few minutes, while I got my bearings and had a talk with the dry man...
I decided upon this course of action, when, suddenly, the dungeon shook and a loud crash resounded throughout the mine. Sothing had just blown up, and it wasnt far from here...
Shit. Maria couldnt stay here, the pursuers would get to her first!
I resud my sprint, and saw light at the end of the tunnel.
Ti to face the music. Hopefully, I could keep Maria safe, sohow.
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