the first glimpse of a living Dungeon
Looking at the top of the baobab-like trees, he started to make his way between the thick trees. Waving between them, he had already counted more than hundreds of them, making him wonder of the size of the iron deposit underground.
That right, Alex had already guessed what was making those tree so particular. Like the Mythril tree on the island, the trees here fed on the underground iron ore to growth. It was only due to his close connexion with his trees that he could guess it. Adds to that the rocky ground on which they grow, was all he needed. All that left for him was to understand what makes this particular deposit turn into magical steel.
Making sure to erase the little tracks he left behind him, Alex stopped in front of an unseemingly tree. Nothing was differentiating from the other. It had the same length, foliage, thickness and sturdiness. The only detail slightly different was the fact it was at the limit of a small cliff.
While not higher than ten metres, the cliffside was angling inward the more its descended, making it impossible to climb from either side. A torrent was angrily jutting from the underground, forming a waterfall drenching the rocks if it wasn't enough.
The place was too suspicious for Alex. Ever since he appears here, he didn't detect a whiff of goblins. And while he would never trust the adventurer group, he knows that the trail wasn't far from the place.
The waterfall was the only possible entrance. Because Alex wasn't in this world for long, he wasn't contaminated with this world superstitions. One of those was that no goblin would approach large bodies of water on their own to baths.
Thus, Alex didn't lose time. Stripping down, he jumped in the water, after storing his clothes. The cold water was nothing more than a sweet caress for him. Swimming up after letting the waterfall crash on him and bring him underwater, he exited from the other side.
Entering the concealed grotto entrance, he wiped himself with a blanket and dressed back, before making his way in.
~~~
Like the previous lair, the walls exude enough light to allow him to walk without much problem. Unlike the other, the cave was a series of chambers with wide entrance to the next.
In the following ten minutes, he only wandered from room to room, searching any trace of the goblins, or even iron ore but to no avail. After walking back to the first chamber, he understood that the cave network was in fact restraint, only five. As the ceiling wasn't much higher than three to four meters, he knew they were elsewhere.
~~~
After leaving the caves, he exited the cluster of ironwood and returned to the trail. From there, he rapidly tracked the odour trail to the same stream.
'That doesn't make senses! I know the entrance is in the surrounding, the trail shouldn't cut so cleanly if it wasn't, but I can't seem to locate it!' Vented Alex, not accustomed to being stumped in such way.
-Why if it was the case.- CS said tentatively.
'What do yo means?'
-It's a dungeon, what if the entrance is concealed to you, or anyone else...-
'Other than goblins, of course! Thank buddy.' Hastily finished him.
Retrieving the pouch, he was about to take a core out, when he felt something latch on them, like a tenuous link, threatening to snaps at any moment. Following the pull of magic, he slowly made is way back to the cliff, walking in knee-high water.
He stopped on the waterfall side, not bothering with the water sprayed over him, as he was already wet. Moving the cores slowly, he was momently surprised when seeing a slight crack in the wall rapidly expand, until forming a small passage in the rock.
-I see why Josh said that the dungeon was alive.- Commented Cs, uneasy at the image an opening chiasm in the rock was giving.
Squaring his shoulders, Alex bent and entered the dungeon. The second he stored the core back, the crack snapped shut, in an ominously soundless motion.
-Ok, now that creepy.- Alex didn't respond, but agreed with CS, he too, didn't like the connotation it could have with the one in Orario.
Changing his clothes and drying himself again, Alex wasn't sure it had been a good idea to not takes the other backpacks with him, even more so the one with his hatchets.
-The moment we're back to the settlement, you don't move until you made throwing knives. I don't particularly appreciate how things go, and you are awfully under-armed to face all the threats those lairs represent.- Said CS seriously, a little worried about what they would found here.
~~~
Unlike the caves he visited not far off, the place had a completely different feeling. The pathways between the sides of the rocks were barely enough for him, and he suspected that things would have been worst without the hobgoblins.
The ground was unequal, and the walls were pressuring, adding to the suffocating feeling. Lines of pale green light ran at the junction between the walls and ceiling, killing off any natural structure thought.
'I'm starting to think that the previous lair wasn't a true dungeon.'
-I was about to say the same thing. there something different here, and I'm not too fond of it.- Responded CS quietly, unwilling to pollute Alex focus too much.
Following the narrow path, Alex could see some darker trace on the walls. He had at first tried to take some to see what it was, but the rock was nothing like above and would have rapidly drained him. Rather than risk it, he chose to wait for another time, once he dealt with the goblins here.
~~~
After a long ten minutes of travel, the path started to widen, until leading to a cavern. Alex sudden appearance was greeted with shrieks. Looking wildly around, he could see the eight goblins in the small chambers dart toward him.
Taking his bow, he was able to dispatch three before they were on him. Letting the wooden weapon clatter on the ground, he swiftly took out the two knives on his back and slashed at the incoming goblins. Taking a step back, he retreated in the pathways, forcing the four remaining goblins to stand behind the others.
Rather than confront them, he throws one knife after the other, killing the goblin, and making it collapse on the ground to hinder and access those behind.
-I'm not too fond of this place, period.- Say CS after the short face-off.
Ignoring CS, Alex took the blades and cores, throwing the corpse back in the room each time. Looking around, he could see that the structure had nothing on the first lair. This one was a simple natural cavern.
Alex left the goblins there, before starting to walk to the second opening. Even if he knows he was feeding the Dungeon, he didn't have other means to destroy the bodies and was unwilling to store them. Following the single path, he rapidly arrives in another room. While a little wider, it was similar to the first, with four opening rather than one.
Remaining hidden in the shadow of the pathway, he didn't wait for them to spot him but directly shoot the goblins.
~~~
The enclosed place rapidly resounds of bowstring flexing, arrows flying and goblins yelling. Even after delt with the eight in the previous room, Alex didn't dare to approach. The yells had been potent enough to warn those further, and he wasn't willing to part with his spot, as it gives him and overlooks at the other entrance.
'As expected.' Shooked him his head, hearing the sound of footstep rapidly approaching the room.
Aiming at the innermost right opening, he released his nocked arrow, soon rewarded by the sound of gurgling and dampened *thud*.
The sound made him frown before he understood. Having aimed for the head, the only reason he heard the goblins chocks was because it wasn't one, but a variant. Having no time rejoice at the crashing sound, he aimed at another entrance, mimicking his previous shoot.
Juggling with the four, he was soon overwhelmed by the high numbers of goblins pouring out of them. As the tunnel was wide enough to let three walk side to side, he couldn't cover the four simultaneously.
Giving a brief glimpse to his quiver, he bitted his lips.
-Eight arrows left, twenty-three goblins and three variants incoming.- Informed CS' Alex.
'I really should have kept some hatchets out.' thought him, kicking himself for his lack of foresight.
-You couldn't know that there would bee so many goblins or the layout of the dungeon.
Firing his last arrows, he left his bow on the side and immediatly equipped three knives. Running at the first goblins, he rapidly hacked at their neck and jumped to the next group, not having time to make sure they were dead.
On the side of the wall, Alex spared no effort, waving and cutting, exploiting his natural nimbleness at its maximum. While he was facing a far greater force, Alex had speed on his side.
As he flashed through the goblin's rank, the goblins had no time to react, nor enough place to move, as they swarmed the area freely. Their footwork became even more unstable when they started to step on the dead' corpses.
Knowing that staying in one place was a disaster in the making, Alex let his instinct control his movement, allowing him to remain light-feet and balanced, seeming dancing on the pilling corpses.
~~~
Releasing a deep breath, Alex felt the tension leave him. Opening his closed eyes, he lowers his head, facing the ceiling, on the ground. His gaze landed on the green carpet covering the grey rock ground. He momently chocked on the pungent odour of blood saturating the room. Carefully stepping, he neared the only free spot on the floor, a small ring of one meter surrounding the 'pit'.
Looking at himself, he wrinkled his nose at the stench of his blood-soaked shirt and pant. Even if he had evaded most of the goblins, small rips here and there were lingering on his clothes, thankfully not deep enough to leave anything other than scratches on him.
Taking the last of his gathered harvest, he rapidly munched on the fruits, regaining a little of force. Looking again around he sigh before starting to work.
Goblins corpse could be soon seen flying, threw in the rapidly feeling pit. Extracting the core was a tedious task which required time and stamina. As the minutes passed, Alex cleared the pit's immediate surroundings before needing to walk further to collect the cores.
A specific time after he threw the first goblin in the pit, he felt a slight movement. Turning around, he looked like the corpses slowly sink, until none were left inside. Weirded out by sight, he didn't dare to near the pit too much but continued to feed it. Even if the room was small, barely enough to house around fifty peoples, the layer of the corpse was enough to need him another twenty good minutes to clear it.
It wasn't the fact that he extracted all the cores, but the dungeon had already swallowed all other corpses, leaving behind the cores and occasional arrows. Nearing the pit, he could see the yellowish liquid constantly bubbling, confirming to Alex that the Dungeon had carried the corpses, its absorbate, in the pit.