Abandoned Dungeon (2)
The Ernst from the novel first cleared a dungeon half a year after he entered the academy. The concept of a ‘dungeon’ itself must be new to him now, before he’s even enrolled in the academy. The sudden increase in difficulty was giving me a headache.
“It’s just as it says. To continue in this ‘dungeon,’ you have to give up one of your senses.”
“I’ve read about it in books, but I never thought it was real… Rose, you seem to have expected this situation.”
Just like a main character, his instincts are good. This instinct of his was a nuisance to me. Before he got triggered by something, I changed the subject first.
“You don’t see any other messages besides the one about giving up a sense, do you?”
“No, I don’t. Should there be?”
“No.”
There shouldn’t be. If you see another message, it would mean you’re part of my family. I took my eyes off Ernst. I pretended to be looking around him, but my gaze was actually fixed on another system window that had popped up in front of me.
[Quest: Restore the Temple!]
Clean the altar of the ‘Abandoned Temple’ by opening the dungeon’s waterway.
(Success: Ariadne’s Box)
(Failure: Loss of one sense (*random))
(*Exclusive quest for members of the Elias family.)
An exclusive quest for members of the Elias family. It was truly a place where the first Elias Count family came to be. But to even replicate the condition of the first Elias Count who got injured during the expedition? The part about ‘losing’ a sense was frankly a little sadistic. And the fact that they’d give me a ‘box’ if I succeeded in the quest said it all.
Here, ‘box’ meant a box containing the healing potion. In the novel, this potion was a cure for any incurable disease, and to me, it was a treasure that would heal my weak body.
I looked from the system window to the path beyond the water droplet. The moving walls had stopped because of the water droplet. But I couldn’t let my guard down. The moment we gave up a sense and came out of the water droplet, the walls would rush at us from all sides. There was only one way for us to escape this cave: to find the waterway and clean the temple. To do that, we first had to give up a sense.
Just as I was about to choose, Ernst seemed to be deep in thought about something, and then he said to me, “Rose, you should choose between taste or touch. It’s better for me to give up sight or hearing—”
“I’ve already given up ‘sight.’ You should hurry up and choose, young duke.”
“No, why would you, a sick person, give up your sight!”
Ernst shouted at me, who had already given up ‘sight.’ He seemed to think that giving up sight was dangerous, but in fact, the ‘Cave of Oblivion’ had a special characteristic. If you give up ‘sight’ or ‘hearing’ in the ‘Cave of Oblivion,’ the remaining senses become twice as sensitive. So why did I choose to give up ‘sight’ of all things? Because to clear this dungeon, ‘hearing’ and ‘touch’ were absolutely necessary. That’s how I chose to give up ‘sight’ by elimination.
But Ernst, who didn’t know about this characteristic, was grumbling and huffing. I wanted to avoid this weird power struggle, so I reached out my hand in the direction of his voice.
“If you’re going to come with me, please hold my hand. If you’re not, I’ll just go first.”
“No, where are you going alone? Just grab my hand!”
Surprisingly, Ernst quickly grabbed my hand. He gripped the hand he was holding tightly.
“…I really can’t feel anything. You were right.”
Did he choose touch? If I hadn’t read the novel, I would have chosen that too. Ernst tightened his grip on my hand. It didn’t hurt, but for some reason, the hand he was holding felt hot.
The awkward atmosphere only lasted for a moment, and surprisingly, Ernst was the first to change the subject.
“Now we have to find water droplets, right? The walls didn’t approach when we were trapped in the water droplet earlier.”
“That’s right. But we need to find the source.”
“Then we have to find the water. Is that why you gave up ‘sight’? So you could use your hearing and touch to find the waterway?”
I nodded quietly. What Ernst said was the correct answer. At that moment, I heard the sound of stones flying from behind me. Before I could tell him to hurry, Ernst grabbed me by the waist and lifted me up.
Is he trying to kill me while I can’t see? Just as all sorts of weird thoughts were running through my head, Ernst said in a grumpy tone, “Relax. I’m the one with working ‘eyes,’ so shouldn’t I be the one to be the ‘horse’?”
Was Ernst always such a twisted person? I tried to review his character setting but soon stopped. Clearing the dungeon was more urgent right now.
“Then let’s stick to the wall. We have to find the waterway.”
Ernst chuckled briefly and then lifted me higher. It was a blow to my pride, but it was faster for Ernst to do that than for me to walk. I made an unhappy expression as I groped the wall, relying on my touch and hearing in a state of not being able to see, trying to find the path where the water flowed inside the wall.
And finally, I got the answer I wanted.
“I found it!”
I stopped my groping hand. I could definitely ‘feel’ the waterway on the hand that was touching the wall. At the same time, I could also hear the sound of water flowing.
At my words that I had found the waterway, Ernst carefully lowered me. I heard his voice along with the sound of him tapping the wall. “So if we break this, the waterway will open?”
“Probably. But we could get swept away by the gushing water, so we need to get to higher ground—”
Swoosh-
At that moment, I heard a strange sound in my ears. It wasn’t the sound of water; the intervals were too short. Ernst, who had noticed my unease, suddenly lifted me up again.
Shhhwick!
“Damn it, duck!”
Whoosh-!
As soon as Ernst spoke, a gust of wind blew over my head. It wasn’t the wind of the cave but the wind caused by a knife passing by quickly. Soon, something wet fell on my head. This was definitely monster blood. It had a foul smell, like several-year-old food waste, not human blood.
“Please put me down, young duke!”
“No! Are you going to go down and fight?”
“Do you even know how to fight, young duke?”
“I d-don’t know. Something will work out.”
His useless stubbornness proved that he was just a kid. But I couldn’t let Ernst get hurt. If anything, Ernst was going through hardships he didn’t have to because of me.
Then I had no choice.
Thump!
“Ack!”
I kicked Ernst near his armpit with my heel. He instantly dropped me, and I was lucky enough to land on my bottom. Since I was in a dangerous situation anyway, I might as well use the new ability skill I got before entering the dungeon. As Ernst stumbled from my kick, I took the knife from him and cut my palm.
[[SYSTEM] Voice Guidance (ON)]
[Activating the ability ‘The Path to Overcoming Trials (Lv.2)!’]
I couldn’t see anything right now. But I could feel it.
Whoosh-
[Activating the ability ‘The Path to Overcoming Trials (Lv.2)!’]
[Deploying the sub-skill ‘Shackles of Ordeal.’ (Activation condition: Blood of the target)]
[Please set the starting and target points.]
[Starting point: Amila Elias]
[Please set the target point.]
The stage was set. I let the blood from my palm drip onto the knife in my other hand and held it out in the direction where Ernst was.
“Young duke, there’s a monster in front of you, right?”
“There is, but do I have to kill it?”
“No, just give me a wound on the monster in front of you with this knife? And cast a support spell on me, too.”
“What kind of support spell are you talking about? I haven’t learned healing magic yet.”
“It’s okay. You just have to cast an ‘Amplification’ spell.”
If I had gone into the dungeon alone as planned, I would have found the waterway using the path I knew from the novel. But the path I knew was a narrow sewer that only one person could pass through. And I was with Ernst right now. So I had to use a method for both of us to get out of the dungeon together.
“Giving orders to the young duke? What an impudent servant.”
“Are you going to refuse?”
I thought he hadn’t come to his senses yet, but Ernst soon took the knife from my hand. I felt a cold energy beside me, so it seemed Ernst had moved away from me.
Kieeeeek-!
Shhhwick, shhhwack-
Kiiik-
The monster’s wailing. The sound of a sword being dragged on the ground. The sound of a huge foot stomping on the ground. All these sounds mixed together in my ears. The footstep sounds were constant, so there was probably only one monster in front of us. Ernst was fighting the monster quite intensely, as sand and stone fragments kept flying and hitting my arm.
Shhhwack-!
“I wounded it!”
Something hot splattered on my cheek. A metallic smell wafted to my nose. It was probably blood, but I wasn’t surprised.
Perhaps I had been secretly hoping for a situation like this. Unlike the time when I couldn’t do anything even when a loved one was in danger, I now had the ability to do something. It was as if an invisible god had bestowed a grace upon me. Under the wind that enveloped me like a blanket, a subtly foreign warmth passed between my fingers.
And my ability was activated at the same time.
[Sub-skill ‘Shackles of Ordeal’ target point set.]
[Target point: The Gatekeeper of the Abandoned Dungeon (Half-Astherius)]
[Casting skill!]
“Grrrr… Ahhh!”
Thud-!
The inhuman scream and the sound of a giant body falling overlapped. The one that fell was the monster, the Half-Astherius. The sound of the walls moving could be heard from a distance. The silent Ernst made a sound of hitting something.
Following that, the sound of water was heard.
Ernst immediately hoisted me over his shoulder and ran. As soon as Ernst’s footsteps stopped, a huge sound echoed in the dungeon.
Shwaaaah-!
The water was flowing. The musty, metallic smell was gone, and a refreshing scent came with the cool breeze.
Soon, my sight became clear. In my vision, I saw Ernst’s dazed face and the system window.
[Dungeon ‘Abandoned Dungeon’ has been cleared.]
[The penalty of the dungeon area ‘Cave of Oblivion’ has been lifted.]
[The quest exclusive to the Elias family has been cleared.]
[Granting rewards. (Reward: Ariadne’s Box)]
It was time to leave the dungeon.
