[Chapter 77. Change of Plans]
The travel drone was already hovering, as the rest of the group materialized from the shimring exit portal of the Fungal Caverns. Iris was the last to step through the threshold, her expression remaining a perfect, unreadable blank slate as she transitioned from the damp rot of the dungeon to the fresh air of the clearing. Without needing a command, she moved with fluid grace and settled onto the drone directly behind Searanox. Her body molded against his back to provide stability, and she rested her chin lightly on his shoulder, her silver eyes scanning the horizon.
"Next stop, the Burrow Warrens," Searanox announced, his voice carrying over the chanical hum as the other four won scrambled to board their respective drones. The machines lurched upward, gaining altitude as they banked toward the next objective.
"Vanessa, your earlier assessnt of the situation—the frustration over the experience gain—was technically correct in its observation, but you lacked the necessary context to truly understand it. That is your primary weakness."
They flew in a heavy, contemplative silence for several minutes. The only sounds were the constant whir of the drones and the violent rush of the wind whipping past their ears, tugging at their clothing. Below them, the vast expanse of the forest was nothing more than a blurred tapestry of deep greens and earthy browns, broken only by the silver threads of distant rivers.
Eventually, the drones began their descent, but only Searanox’s unit actually touched down. It settled onto the damp grass a few ters away from a sloping hill where a subterranean portal pulsed with a rhythmic, earthy light.
"Go," he said, turning slightly toward Iris. "I will leave one drone here to monitor the area and watch for your return."
Iris leapt down from the drone before it had even fully stabilized, the massive, black Zweihänder appearing in her hands in a flurry of dark energy. Her silver eyes t his for a brief mont—steady, unwavering, and filled with a cold understanding. She gave him a single, brief nod, then turned and walked toward the shimring portal. She stepped through the light without a single backward glance, disappearing into the Warrens to begin her solo clear.
Once the portal's light faded into a dull glow behind her, Searanox’s drone ascended once more. He turned his attention to the four won huddled on their own drones, their faces appearing exceptionally pale in the harsh morning light.
"Plans have changed," his voice carried over the short distance. "You four are coming with to the Tidal Terrace. However, you will not be entering. You will wait outside."
Vanessa’s jaw tightened visibly, her teeth grinding together, but she managed to force herself to say nothing. Frustration and a sense of helplessness burned in her green eyes like smoldering embers. Carn gave a simple, stoic nod, her expression remaining impossible to read. Lana, however, looked physically ill at the re ntion of another dungeon site, and Sarah just stared into the empty distance, her gaze vacant and hollow.
The drones soon reached the riverbank where the Tidal Terrace portal rose directly from the rocky bed. Its ring of floating stones had returned to their full, hovering height, circling the portal in a slow, hypnotic orbit. As Searanox dismounted, he surveyed the empty, sun-bleached riverbed.
"You can spend your ti training out here while I clear the interior," he said, looking over the group. "This one is a larger layout; it will take ti. Do you need anything before I head in?"
The won exchanged uncertain, wary glances. Finally, Carn stepped forward, her voice remarkably even despite the circumstances. "Water," she said. "And bandages. Just in case anyone gets injured during the practice."
Searanox gave a short nod of acknowledgent. He reached into his storage ring and pulled out four plastic bottles of soda, placing them on the smooth rocks at their feet. "I can provide you with drinks. As for bandages... Carn, you are the designated healer. You don't need cloth and tape. You are the bandage."
Without waiting for a reply or acknowledging the look of indignation that crossed Carn's face, he turned on his heel, stepped through the portal, and vanished.
He materialized instantly in a vast, echoing cavern. The sheer roar of falling water hit him like a physical blow to the chest, and the air was imdiately thick with the taste of salt and damp stone. He stood on the highest natural terrace of the cave system, looking down at the sprawling, multi-leveled environnt stretching out below him in all its echoing vastness.
With a series of ntal commands, he summoned his tactical squad: four assault drones, four offensive units, and two defensive models materialized in a halo of light beside him.
He directed them to split into two equal, balanced teams. They imdiately began clearing the first level, their sensors locking onto the aquatic mutations hiding in the pools below. A quick check of his internal tech point counter showed that this intensive deploynt wouldn't last long—perhaps thirty minutes at most. He calculated that it would be just enough to clear the first two levels of the terrace.
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He settled onto a smooth stone near the entrance, his mind racing with logistical variables. Clearing every local dungeon was a solid, predictable path for resource accumulation, but he knew it wasn't enough to secure the future. Strength alone ant nothing if he was the only individual capable of fighting for this territory. Still, to progress his own leveling further, he realized he would eventually need to find a level twenty dungeon—sothing far beyond the current capabilities of the won outside.
Gradually, his TP hit zero. The tactical drone connections severed instantly, the machines powering down and de-materializing. Silence returned to the cavern, broken only by the distant, thunderous rush of the waterfalls.
Searanox stared up at the cavern’s distant, jagged ceiling. The vast openings to the sky far above appeared as little more than bright, unreachable patches of blue against the dark grey stone. He let out a long sigh, the sound lost in the imnse, echoing space.
"Planning for the unknown," he muttered to himself, his voice sounding small against the roar of the water. "A waste of fucking ti."
He knew the second stage was approaching. Incursions, Iris had called them. But a na wasn't enough information. Knowing that sothing was coming and understanding what that sothing actually looked like were two entirely different things. He could ask Iris for more details, but he suspected her answers would remain the sa: stronger beasts, more complex dungeons, and the appearance of the incursions themselves. It was useless data. A guild required mbers to be worth anything in a large-scale conflict, but he was currently working with raw, terrified recruits. Planning was usually his greatest strength, but this felt like trying to map a landscape shrouded in permanent fog.
Almost an hour passed in this state of quiet frustration, the silence of the cave broken only by the rhythmic drip of water from the stalactites. Then, a notification flickered in his vision.
TP: 895/895
With his tech points fully replenished, he imdiately re-summoned the sa ten drones: four assault, four offensive, and two defensive. They shot off into the darkness of the lower terraces like streaks of silver, their crimson and violet energy beams resuming their systematic work. His train of thought derailed by the sudden return to action, Searanox stood up and moved closer to the edge of the terrace, watching the distant flashes of light as the drones purged the lower levels of the aquatic threats.
The final system announcent arrived a short while later, glowing in the center of his vision.
[System Notification]
─ You have cleared Dungeon: Tidal Terrace
─ [ 3,570 EXP]
The drone connections severed once more, and he replaced the combat units with reconnaissance models. They fanned out across the vast cavern, their sensors scanning for anything the initial assault might have missed. Their thorough search yielded only six silver coins, scattered across various nooks and crannies of the dungeon's multi-leveled floor. In the center chamber, near the primary waterfall, a reward chest materialized. He opened it, finding five additional silver coins and a pair of leather boots. The leather was stiff, dark, and clearly unused. All of it vanished into his storage ring in an instant before he turned and stepped back through the exit portal.
On the other side, the sight that greeted him caused him to pause. The four won were actually training. It was clumsy, hesitant, and barely above the level of panicked flailing, but they were doing sothing. Lana stood with her shield raised, her eyes squeezed shut as she absorbed a series of half-hearted blows from Sarah’s basic dagger. Vanessa stood apart from the others, her hands outstretched as she launched weak, flickering bolts of energy into the dense treeline. He could see several fresh scorch marks on a thick tree trunk where her spells had actually managed to land. Carn sat near the water's edge, silently observing their movents with a critical eye.
"I'm back," Searanox said, his voice flat and projecting easily over the sound of the river. "Vanessa, how long would it take for the four of you to cover fifty kiloters on foot?"
The group froze instantly. All four won turned to face him, their expressions a mix of confusion and rising dread.
"We can't run that far," Vanessa said, her voice sounding tight and strained. "Not in this gear. Not in this heat."
"Did I ask you to run?" Searanox asked, raising a single eyebrow behind his shades.
"No, but—" Vanessa began.
"Good. I will see you back at the tower. It’s just upstream," he said. Without waiting for a response or providing any further instruction, he summoned his travel drone, stepped onto it, and began a rapid vertical ascent.
"YOU CAN'T BE SERIOUS!" Vanessa’s scream ripped through the air, her voice cracking with fury. "YOU EXPECT US TO WALK FIFTY KILOTERS THROUGH THIS?"
He didn't answer. He was already a rapidly shrinking dot in the vast blue sky, her fury and her questions lost to the rushing wind and the roar of the water below. All that remained on the smooth river stones where he had stood were plastic bottles and a few cans of food he had left behind as a final, silent provocation.
Vanessa’s face was a contorted mask of pure rage and burgeoning fear. "He's not coming back for us," she whispered, her voice trembling. "He's actually leaving us out here."
"Just upstream," Carn repeated, her voice sounding unnervingly calm and detached. She pointed a finger toward the direction of the river's flow. "He said the tower was just upstream. This isn't abandonnt, Vanessa. It’s another lesson."
"A lesson?" Sarah spat, her grip tightening on her dagger. "He's a fucking psycho, Carn. He’s toying with us because he can."
"Perhaps," Carn conceded, her eyes already tracking the most efficient path along the river's winding bank. "But arguing about his ntal state changes absolutely nothing about our current reality. We need to start moving while we still have the light."
Vanessa stared out at the vast, indifferent landscape, the sheer hopelessness of their situation pressing down on her like a physical weight. Carn’s cold logic was a very thin rope, but it was currently the only one they had to hold onto.
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