Vol.4 Ch.81- The Iron Grip.

Cer—

Ah… just another nightmare.

My body jerked me awake and my eyes slowly fluttered open. I scanned the stone room that was being used as our base camp for the night. It was made out of a black metal. I thought at first it might have been Mythril but I don't believe that's the case. Sylvia's sword had no problem scratching the walls. Orangish bronze lines ran along the walls like seams at regular intervals, almost like veins that were straight.

I tried investigating for any identifying markings or something special about this place, but I couldn't make anything out. I also didn't know how the building looked from the outside, considering we were brought via a floating bridge.

I watched the fire listlessly. Judging by the current guards still awake, I must have been asleep for less than an hour. Sleeping is… becoming a problem. I don't want to rely on the chocolate I mixed with drugs to help me sleep every night. I imagine it's terrible for your health… then again, so is not sleeping.

Maybe I should just put myself into a perpetual coma so I don't have any nightmares and can get some real sleep.

Sylvia stared at me from across the fire but didn't say anything. Ryan was sitting cross-legged, his eyes slowly scanning the leather-bound book he had in his hands. His deep blue eyes reflected the campfire almost as much as his bald head. My groggy mind ran up and down the adventurer.

His Dwarven Steel plate was a light silver color and showed clear signs of wear and tear. However, one can also tell he maintains it frequently as it shined with oil and was buffed often. Ryan's mace wasn't anything special, just a hunk of iron forged to crush things. His shield… his shield, huh?

The wooden kite shield wasn't anything to write home about. Iron bands reinforced the front, and it was slightly damaged from the Ghoul attack. The only other important thing about it was the symbol painted on the front. It was worn, and long scratch marks cut across it, but it bothered me just how familiar it felt in its current state.

I asked Ryan last year about this symbol, and I was told it was the marking of a warrior from the Moon Mother religion. As the second-largest religion, the Moon Mother religion has origins in Tel'an'duth and is primarily a High Elf faith. Although Ryan is Human, he is still from Tel'an'duth.

Three smaller circles surrounding one large circle…

I shifted slightly, and Ryan's eyes darted to me. When he saw it was me getting up, he gave me a warm smile. "Hard time sleeping?" he asked.

"Always," I groaned.

"That's not good. A young man has to get his rest. Even Elves need to sleep, Voker" Ryan chided, almost in a fatherly tone.

I grunted at him and moved towards the fire while sitting down next to him so I could get a closer look at the symbol. "Something the matter, Voker?" Ryan questioned. "Are you perhaps interested?" Ryan started tapping the book cover he was reading, but it had no discernible features or title. It was just a brown leather book, although it was surprisingly thick and it appeared to be made of paper.

Ah, that must be his scripture for his religion.

"You could say that. But, I have a… odd question."

The crows' feet on his face stretched wide as he gave me a genuine smile. Ryan wasn't that old, maybe late twenties at most. But every adventurer seemed older than they really were. The job could cut off years of your life… even if you survived the quest.

"I am an ordained warrior of the Moon Mother, after all. I can answer any question you may have."

"In that case… does there happen to be guardians for the religion?" I asked.

Ryan rubbed the stubble on his chin and gazed off into the corner of the room. "Can you be more specific?"

"Mmm… how about any description of large statues? More specifically, a knight with a large two-handed sword and a priest with flowing robes and staff."

The light of recognition blinked in Ryan's eyes as he started nodding his head. "Yes, actually, there is something like you described. Mind you, I've only been there once, but at the main church in Thaymar, there are two statues at the front entrance to the massive plaza. Yes, a robed priest and knight would be the best way to describe them."

Ryan pondered for a few more seconds, then quickly opened his book, flipping through the pages as his eyes scanned the text. "Ah, here we are… let's see." Ryan looked up from his book, and his gaze drifted into the ceiling. His smile morphed into a sad frown. "Guess you can't see the moon from in here, huh? " He shrugged his shoulders and used his finger to trace the page. "The Knight of the Moon was created in the Moon Mother's idea of protecting her children. The Sage was given life so he may bestow upon the knowledge of the Goddess to her children."

It seems like the knight got shafted on the holy jobs. If I'm not mistaken, the "children" refer to the people of this world.

"I see. Thank you, Ryan," I said.

No doubt about it. What does this mean though? Is there a connection between the Moon Mother and dungeons? Did the dungeon take over an old Moon Mother temple? Is this Moon Mother a real god, and is she creating dungeons, or is this just all a coincidence?

Maybe I'm just looking too deep into something that isn't there. If that Slime can reach into my mind and create a mental construct, then surely a dungeon can use symbols from the surface. Maybe the dungeon can use monsters to peer into the minds of its victims?

I can only speculate.

Ryan shifted nervously on the ground and gave me a wry smile. "Did I help you or hurt you?"

"He's just thinking himself into a corner," Sylvia snorted. "Don't take it to heart. He doesn't mean it."

"Oh, that's good… I guess I remember being that age as well," Ryan said fondly.

Suddenly Sylvia looked right at me, and her eyes went wide as her ears twitched slightly. My own ears twitched as sounds began flowing in. It was far away, but I could hear the sound of metal scraping against the floor, bones rattling against armor, and the groans of the undead.

"What's the matter?" Ryan asked nervously.

"We are surrounded. They are coming from all three tunnels and will be here in a few minutes," I said while getting up and dusting myself off.

Ryan's eyes went wide as he rolled off the ground and started waking his teammates up. Bella and Veme were awake the second the commotion started, while Artemius was the last to be roused from his slumber.

With groggy, sleepy eyes, Artemius grabbed Veme by the shoulder. "What is going on? Are we under attack? How—"

Veme flinched slightly and narrowed her cold eyes at him while brushing his hand away. "Be quiet, please. I am trying to listen," Veme said pointedly.

"Skeletons on all three sides. Ghouls and Zombies are in the right hall. And maybe a few Dread Knights down the center behind the Skeletons," Sylvia stated.

"I agree. That's what I hear as well," Bella said.

Nick rolled his shoulders, but he already seemed wide awake. "Well, what are we going to do? Pick a tunnel and fight?"

"Retreating into a tunnel would be a mistake. There are still traps ahead in these tunnels. We would be running into our deaths. The traps would threaten us as the undead close in on both sides. I say we fight here in this room," I suggested.

There was no way we could clear the traps in a timely manner while fighting this many undead. One wrong step, and we would activate a trap that might end up killing one or even all of us.

All eyes drifted to Veme. Despite Bella and I both being Ruby adventurers, she was technically our senior. By how long, I wasn't sure. She was also the de facto leader of this little dungeon dive. Something I was more than happy to concede.

I don't ever want to lead a team into battle ever again… fighting for myself is enough.

Veme's cold cyan eyes glided over all of us. Her face was in its usual placid mode which made her nearly unreadable. "I agree with Voker. We have two vanguards and plenty of support. We can hold the tunnels. Voker, can you eliminate an entire tunnel by yourself?"

"Shouldn't be a problem. I'll take the Dread Knight hallway."

"Everyone into positions then," Veme ordered.

I strolled over to the hallway and peered down into it. The gloomy blue crystals continued, illuminating the space, but there was a bend down the hallway. The undead would be here in two minutes maybe if I had to guess. This group was also moving much faster for whatever reason.

I figured a few well-placed Fireballs and maybe an Arc Lightning or two would be enough. Of course, doing that won't even put a dent into my mana pool anymore, so I should have plenty of charge in the battery to help the others.

The first to arrive were the short-statured Skeletons. Their bones and loosely hanging armor dangled and rattled against each other as they moved forward with surprising speed. It's not like Dwarves are particularly known for their speed, short legs and all. Then again I guess these undead were pretty fast, considering they are made from Dwarves.

I let about ten or so round the corner and sent a single Fireball into the pack. The orange flames consumed the lead Skeleton and scattered the rest with the explosive force. The shockwave rolled out from the tunnel and past me. However, that was just the first group. There had to be at least fifty of them coming from my side alone.

Oddly enough, I'm not getting that same feeling I was getting earlier. Was it just for the first few hours? Have I already gotten used to killing these things? What a weird sensation that was…

Another group came and was greeted with another Fireball. I could hear the others engaging in combat as swords clanged off each other and bones fell to the stone floor. I spared a glance over my shoulder to find Sylvia watching me from the corner of her eye. I couldn't help but smile.

It felt good knowing she wanted to protect me. I can say I didn't or still don't have many people in my life that would say that to me. Mom, Dad, Grandpa, Cerila, and Padraic? Other than those people, who else? And I haven't seen them in seven years.

Maybe in my previous life, Hades squad would have protected me. Nyx did in a way and looking back, I think the others might have as well. But then again, I would have never given them a chance. Maybe somewhere in the back of my enslaved mind, I understood they had more value than me. Or perhaps that was just the Human in me.

Either way, Fireball.

Another group of Skeletons was blasted into pieces. I made sure everyone wasn't getting overwhelmed and saw that they were doing just fine. Nick, Adrian, and Ryan held the front against Zombie Dwarves with putrid rotting flesh, and lifeless non-swirling eyes sat in their rotting skulls. Bella, Veme, and Sylvia were making short work of the Ghouls and Skeletons in their tunnel. And Artemius was cowering away in the corner like a scared kitten, all according to plan.

The first Dread Knights rounded the corner in my hallway. Three of the heavily armored undead started sprinting down the hall straight for me. I extended my hand, and yellow lightning licked my arm as the spell core finished forming. A bolt of lightning raced off the tips of my fingers and bounced between the three Dread Knights, leaving smoldering holes in their armor and dropping them to the floor.

I don't understand. I don't feel threatened whatsoever right now. Have I gotten stronger or is this dungeon just that much easier than what Sylvia and I went through? Maybe it's a combination of both, considering people widely use this dungeon, and puberty really has done a number on me.

Increasing my height, muscle strength, bone density, VO2 max, red blood cell count… the list goes on. This was long overdue. Besides the whole hormone deal… I could do without that… then again, I don't mind it all that much…

Crap, what am I doing? I can't grow too lax no matter how easy the situation appears to be. I should know better. Every fight is a life-or-death battle.

Maybe puberty isn't all that great… I've been getting way more distracted recently.

Another Arc Lightning fired off and removed another group of Skeletons and a Dread Knight from this world. I was waiting for the last group to round the corner when I heard Nick yell from behind me.

"Hey! What the hell is going on!?"

Mmm? I looked over at Nick, who was busy shoving his dagger into the rotting head of a Zombie. Adrian came over and assisted him by cutting off the Zombie's head with his scimitar. The rotting head hit the ground with a wet thud and I was about to turn around and discount his outburst as just frustration. I mean, I could smell that Zombie from over here and it wasn't very pleasant.

However, I kept watching Nick as my eyes caught the tail end of the Zombie corpse trying to grab ahold of Nick's legs. A Zombie could only be defeated if you completely destroyed its body or entirely removed its head from the body. Even if a Zombie had a small portion of its head connected to the torso, it could still move about. But I had just watched Adrian cut that Zombie's head clean from its shoulders.

It should not be moving.

"Something is going on over here! The Skeletons are getting put back together!" Bella shouted.

I looked down my hallway to see something that confused me. The Skeletons that I had all but obliterated were being pulled back together by some invisible force. The bones started floating in mid-air and rearranging themselves back into their original shape. Even the Skeletons that took direct hits from my fireballs were piecing back together. Along with the Dread Knights who were now clambering back up to their feet.

That's not supposed to happen…

"Everyone, get ready! It's a Li—" Bella roared before being cut off.

Boom.

The far wall exploded into a shower of stone and dust. A rogue stone chunk nearly took my head off, but I sliced it in half with my summoned sword. A short Dwarf covered head to toe in black robes sauntered into the room as the dust settled.

The black staff was made of some gnarled decaying wood, and it moved awkwardly with a limp. The monster's unkempt dirty black beard was long and tied off with knots at varying lengths. With a skeleton for a face and swirling orange gemstones for eyes, the creature glared at us and bathed the entire area with its bloodlust.

Not good. No more holding back anymore. Things just got serious.

A monster of a threat level of one hundred and eighty just showed up. The most powerful and the highest level undead. A creature that can bring other lesser undead back to unlife. It's one of the few recorded monsters that can use magic. An Earth Lance left the monster's staff and hurtled towards me at blinding speeds. My cobalt gladius was a blur as I sliced the spell in half and forced mana into my legs. I had to close the distance and kill this thing.

A Lich. To think I would run into one here.

Everyone was frozen in place for a moment as the Lich continued its bloodlust aura. The only person still swinging was Sylvia, who was doing her best to destroy a Dread Knight and a Skeleton that had encircled her. I could see the fear in her one blue eye as she gave me a quick glance. She didn't need to hear my words to know what I was about to do. And I couldn't let Sylvia use her Blood Sorcery in public.

Another barrage of Earth Lances flew towards me, and I cut them down all the same. A Lich should be at least an Expert level mage, if not more. They were also capable of using whatever magic the host was able to use if you could even call the former corpse a host anymore.

I formed the core for a Lightning Bolt, and the yellow lance of light arced out at the Lich. The monster merely swatted my spell away with its staff and countered with an earth spell. Then, a row of spikes shot out from in front of the creature and moved straight for me. I dodged to the side, but I could sense the spell core about to form underneath my feet.

I spun around in midair with a jump and sliced the stone spike down the center before it could form completely and impale me. I continued my midair jump and was only a few steps away from the Lich now. Its orange eye swirled like a small storm, and then suddenly, it faded out for a moment. I got a weird feeling in my chest, and before I knew it, my sword covered in fire magic was being rammed into the monster's chest.

The sheer amount of force and speed I was running at sent me barreling into the Lich as I drove it back through the hole it made. I felt weightlessness grip me for a few seconds as I fell through the hole with Lich in tow. It was only a scant few moments until we hit the ground, my sword driving through the creature even as I collapsed on top of it.

I stood up and ripped the sword out of the creature to finish it off, but a wonderful feeling gently weaved through my mind. It felt like a warm summer breeze, and I was lost in the monster's eyes for a moment. The orange glow started wavering and fading out slowly, almost like it was blinking. It brought a shaky bone hand up and reached it towards me like it wanted to say something. Its jaw was moving, but no words left its skeletal mouth.

The undead couldn't talk, but this thing was trying to.

I felt a warm liquid leave my eyes and fall down my cheeks. I was at a loss for words. But, more importantly, I felt at peace. My heart felt full, and my mind was empty of all thoughts.

I could only watch as the Lich's hand collapsed to the ground, and the final bit of life left its eyes. I heard bones clattering to the floor above me, and I put my sword back into its storage.

What is going on? What is with this feeling? Why do I feel so happy? Am I losing my damn mind? Why didn't that Lich fight back? Did it want me to kill it? I…

"Voker! VOKER!" Sylvia shouted.

I looked up at her as she was peering down from over the edge. She was about to jump down to get me, but Bella yanked her back by the hair and took her place. "Are you alive, Voker?!"

"Yeah… I am."

"And what about the Lich?" Bella asked.

"Dead."

"Okay! We are good up here as well, let me grab a rope, and we can pull you up! Just hang on— stop pushing me, Sylvia! He's fine!" Bella growled.

Sylvia looked over the edge again, and I just gave her a nod of confidence. I bent down and grabbed the dead orbs that had been Lich's eyes. Although Sylvia and I agreed not to accept any loot and took a flat payment for this job, it was still worth grabbing along with the staff.

So… the Lich was dead, just like that? And now, despite feeling all that joy moments ago, I'm just left feeling empty inside once again.

What is going on inside of these dungeons? And what is going on with me?