[Chapter 116. Navigation in a New Old World]
Iris began moving toward the tower, its dark, monolithic silhouette piercing the distant horizon like a jagged needle. For the first few kiloters, she felt invincible, her steps light and her mind racing with the thrill of her recent level-up. However, as the minutes ticked by, the inevitable crash hit her with the force of a physical blow. The frantic, buzzing energy that had surged through her veins during the dungeon clear vanished all at once, leaving a hollow, aching void in its wake.
She stumbled, her breath hitching, and quickly leaned her shoulder against the rough, mossy bark of a towering oak to keep herself upright. The world tilted slightly. The adrenaline had masked the true cost of her solo run; every muscle now felt as though it had been replaced with lead.
Straightening her back with a grimace of effort, she continued. Her steps were slow and heavy, her boots dragging slightly through the thick undergrowth. The battle against the stone wolf had robbed her of more strength than she had initially realized, and the return journey took more than twice as long as the trek to the dungeon. By the ti she finally reached the clearing surrounding the tower, the sun had begun its final dip behind the trees, casting long, skeletal shadows across the grass.
On trembling, weak legs, she entered the tower proper. She didn't stop to check the atrium or look for Searanox; she went straight to the fourth floor. A long, scalding bath followed. As she subrged herself, the hot water washed away the dried blood, the pulverized stone dust, and the gri of the caverns. Slowly, the bone-deep fatigue began to recede, replaced by a dull, manageable ache.
Afterward, she dressed in clean armor and stood on the east-facing balcony. Thick, low-hanging clouds obscured most of the forest canopy below, making the world look like an ocean of shifting green mist. As she surveyed the vast expanse, the sun finally slipped entirely behind the horizon, leaving the world in a state of deepening indigo.
`They should be arriving at their destination by now, she thought.` Her eyes narrowing as she looked toward the east.
"How many more of these damn beasts are hiding in this forest..." Vanessa complained, her voice tight with exasperation as another pack of wolves collapsed lifeless onto the forest floor. She lowered her weapon, her chest heaving. "There shouldn't even be wolves in Germany to begin with."
"Shut up and keep watch," Sarah said curtly. She was crouched over a fallen carcass, efficiently wiping dark, thick blood from her twin daggers onto the fabric of her trousers. Her movents were sharp and irritable.
"It’s quite a lot of them, isn't it?" Carn noted, standing a few paces away. She glanced westward, where the tower’s dark silhouette lood like a distant mountain on the horizon. "The ecosystem has completely shifted. We’ve been at this for most of the day now, and the frequency of attacks is only increasing."
Lana quickened her pace at Carn's observation, her shield held tight to her chest. "The sooner we get to the portal, the better. I don't want to be out here when the 'True Night' settles in."
The past few hours had been an exhausting, repetitive blur of combat. Low-level beasts—mostly mutated wolves and oversized wildlife—appeared with disturbing frequency, their mangled bodies now littering the path behind the group. They had killed so many that the tally had beco aningless; they were simply obstacles to be cleared.
"We’re never going to find that portal," Vanessa whined again, kicking at a loose stone. "How are we supposed to locate a single hole in the ground in this endless, repeating forest? Everything looks the sa!"
"The map is crude, yes, but it shows the general direction," Lana replied, unfolding the scrap of canvas and examining the shaky drawings once more. "Though I admit, it’s not much use when there are absolutely no landmarks to follow. No roads, no signs, nothing."
"What landmarks did you honestly expect in a primordial forest?" Carn countered, gesturing broadly at the ancient, towering trees surrounding them. "A bus stop? They all look the sa because they are the sa."
"There must be a big rock, or a clearing, or a specific ridge—sothing distinctive," Vanessa insisted.
"Oh, a clearing? You think a clearing would be easy to find in a forest that covers that much ground?" Lana raised a skeptical eyebrow.
"Better than nothing!" Vanessa shot back with a scoff. "How hard can it be to just spot a hill or a plateau? I'm going up."
This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.
"Then go look for one," Sarah retorted, her eyes narrowing as she scanned the treeline for movent. "The rest of us will stay down here and follow the base of this ridge northward. Try not to get eaten."
Vanessa glared at Sarah before beginning a spiteful stomp up the steep, rocky incline to their right. Roots and loose shale tripped her progress as she climbed, her breath coming in frustrated huffs. When she finally reached the summit and crested the ridge, she stood still for a long mont, her shoulders slumping.
"Nothing! It's just more damn trees stretching endlessly in every direction!" she yelled down to the group, her voice cracking with exhaustion and mounting frustration.
Lana shot a small, knowing smirk toward Sarah. "Looks like you’re stuck with us for the long haul, Vanessa."
Sarah rolled her eyes, sheathing her daggers with a tallic shing. "I wasn't the one who decided to go exploring the scenic route."
The sun dipped lower as they progressed, the light shifting from a warm gold to a bruised, dusty orange. Shadows lengthened across the forest floor, stretching out like reaching fingers. The familiar day sounds of the forest—the chirping of birds and the rustle of small ga—began to fade, replaced by the rhythmic chirps of crickets and the occasional, haunting hoot of an owl.
Hours later, they finally reached a section of the hillside where the dense treeline began to thin, revealing a rocky outcropping. At its base, nestled into a natural hill in the ground, a dark blue portal swirled with a slow, hypnotic energy. Lana stared at it, srized, until a translucent system window materialized in her field of vision.
[Dungeon]
─ Na: Burrow Warrens
─ Level: 5
─ Status: 1h 12m
"An hour," Lana said, her legs finally giving out as she slumped against a mossy tree trunk. "The portal will reset for over an hour. We have ti to eat and catch our breath."
She glanced at Vanessa, then back at the crude map in her hands, realizing they had actually made it. "This is it. Iris wasn't kidding. We have to do this entirely alone."
Vanessa shook her head, taking a seat on a flat rock nearby and letting out a long, theatrical sigh. Carn joined her, stretching her sore back, but Sarah remained standing. Her eyes were fixed on the swirling azure of the portal while her ears remained tuned to the rustling of the surrounding forest.
"That map is officially useless," Vanessa said, pulling a piece of sweet bread from her pack. "From here on out, we have to rely on our own instincts. No Iris to bail us out."
Sarah turned back to them, her daggers already back in her hands—a habit she couldn't seem to break. "I’ll keep the first watch. You two eat quickly, then we switch."
Lana stared at the portal, her hands trembling slightly as she reached for a water bottle. She had faced the horrors of the Depths Devourer and the dark burrow, but the prospect of entering a new, unknown dungeon without a high-level guide sent a fresh shiver of dread through her.
Carn reached over and placed a steadying hand on Lana’s shoulder. "We’ll be fine, Lana. We cleared the last one, didn't we? This is also only Level 5. We can clear this one too."
Vanessa looked at the portal, her expression a fragile mix of bravado and genuine fear. "We’re going in, and we’re clearing it. For the 'Master'." She took a large, aggressive bite of her bread, her eyes never leaving the swirling energy.
"Actually... I think we should just go in now," Lana said, her anxiety pushing her to get it over with. She started to rise, her armor clanking.
Carn’s hand pressed firmly down on her shoulder, forcing her back into a seated position. "No. We wait for Searanox." Her tone was level, but her eyes held a dangerous, flickering glint. "Iris was very clear. We go in with approval, or we don't go in at all. We don't overstep."
Vanessa scoffed, her patience finally worn to a thread. "And how long exactly are we supposed to wait? An hour? Two? Until the sun is completely gone and every nocturnal monstrosity in this forsaken forest wakes up and finds us sitting here like a buffet?" She gestured wildly with her half-eaten bread toward the deepening, ink-black shadows.
Sarah cut in before a fight could break out. "We wait as long as we have to," she said, her voice monotone. "Disobeying the direct orders of the Tower is a risk none of us should be willing to take. I don't want another 'training session' with Iris."
Lana sank back down, her brief spark of courage replaced by a cold, heavy dread. she looked at the darkening woods; every rustle of leaves and snap of a twig now sounded like a predator closing in. The portal pulsed in the gloom, its soft blue light the only thing keeping the encroaching darkness at bay.
As the shadows stretched to their limit, a faint, rhythmic chanical hum began to echo through the trees. It grew louder, a high-tech intrusion upon the primitive forest, until the sleek form of a travel drone descended from the canopy above. Its anti-gravity engines whirred softly, stirring up a cloud of pine needles and loose dirt as it settled gently to the ground.
Searanox stepped off the chassis before the engines had even fully powered down. His boots made no sound on the forest floor, his silhouette tall and imposing in the twilight.
"What do we have here?" he asked as he approached, his voice a low, resonant rumble that seed to vibrate in the air. "A group of adventurers who actually managed to find their way. Do you truly intend to brave a dungeon all by yourselves?"
His cold, chanical gaze swept over the four won, lingering for a second on their drawn weapons and their weary, dirt-streaked faces.
Vanessa stood up imdiately, brushing the crumbs and dirt from her trousers with deliberate, sharp movents. "We're ready," she said, her voice firm despite the slight tremor in her fingers. "We cleared the last one. We can handle this." Her green eyes t his visor without flinching.
Searanox looked from her to Lana and Carn, his expression unreadable. "So I have heard from Iris. She seems to think you've finally developed a spine." He paused, the scraping of his armor the only sound in the clearing. "If that is the case, it ans I have debts to pay for your performance."
Reviews
All reviews (0)