Chapter 19

"What's the chance that this is all that's inside of the dungeon," I asked Daisy.

"Uncertain."

"I just haven't ever seen a creature like this before."

"If this is the only type of monster inside of the dungeon, it would never last long. The weak dungeon would most likely get destroyed by the first dungeon it connects to." It made sense. This was an easy lunch for any dungeon looking to expand. As we talked I ordered the surveillance spider to go through the vortex and see what was on the other side.

It was a vast desert. Large dunes covered the view in all directions and a blazing sun made it painful for the surveillance spider to move.

"Sorry little guy. But I'll need you to climb to one of the dunes and see if you can see anything." At my order, the spider raced to the top of the dune moving slowly as its legs sank into the sand. After a little bit of a struggle, it finally made it. I let out a sigh of relief as a small oasis appeared in the distance. There were a few dunes in between the vortex and the oasis. Everything else was barren all but for large round cactus-looking plants that grew out of the sand. As I looked through the spider's eyes, the sand near one of the large cacti nearest us bulged, and out from the ground came another Elton. It moved shockingly fast in the sand almost like it was swimming along the surface. It approached the cacti and took a huge bite out of it. I was shocked to see how wide it could open its mouth, and how large of teeth it had. The creature chopped down on the cacti completely oblivious to the needles that stuck out of it and munched away looking satisfied. So far it looked like they were the only creatures in the dungeon.

"I'm going in. Want to come?" I asked Ella. I already had plans to take the poison spiders with me. The tanks would just sink in the sand and there was no good way for the trap to tunnel.

"Can I?" She jumped us excitedly. Elton who had just started to open up shut again.

"Sure." I stopped for a second. "Can you use a bow?"

"Yes. All elves learn how to shoot at a very young age." I had already ordered a miner to bring the bow and arrows we had kept off the dead elves. It was risky to give Ella a weapon, especially when she could use it to try and kill me, but I think she was smarter than that. The miners brought her the bow, arrows, and one small sword.

"Use this. We might have to fight once we get to the other side." She looked down at the pile of weapons in front of her.

"Are these from the men we sent into the dungeon first?" She sounded sad.

"Yes. I won't apologize for it, nor say that it was merely self-defense. We fought, and I won. That's the end of the story." I said looking at her as she bent down and grabbed the bow. She tested the string a few times and drew it back. "While I don't think you would try, let me remind you. If I die, this dungeon will disappear. That and you better kill me in one shot, or I will fight back." My tone was cold. She looked down at her feet sadly.

"I don't think I hate you. You didn't ask for me to get thrown in here. You also did not attack my village when you could have easily destroyed it. I won't say that I forgive you. But I don't hate you, and I want to survive so I won't try to kill you if I don't have a good means of survival." Her words struck me as someone who was rather mature. I smiled a little at her words and faced the vortex giving her my back.

"I'll accept that. Let's go." The order was to her and the poison spiders as I stepped through the vortex.

The sun was blazing hot on the other side of the gate and I blinked frantically covering my eyes from the sun. It was an actual desert in every way, dry, hot, and sandy. My pointed legs sunk into the sand making it harder to move. The tanks would have definitely not been able to make it. The other followed through behind me. Even Ella was struggling to move as we headed in the same direction as the oasis. As we capped the first dune I had the surveillance spider crawl onto my back and brought it with me.

It took over 30 minutes to make it to the oasis, our slow-moving pace was due to the sand making it painful to walk quickly. We definitely need to keep the time limit in mind. If the dungeon starts to close, I'm not sure if we could get back in time. It made me nervous and reminded me of Daisy's words about dungeon masters usually staying in their dungeons. I'm already this far. It's too late to back out now. I said to myself pushing the worry aside. While I was justifying it to myself, I knew my own curiosity and boredom were actively putting me at risk.

We reached the oasis and a wave of cool humidity hit me in the face. It was a green paradise. There were tall trees that created a canopy over a massive pond of water which was surrounded by lush green grass. It felt like the entire environment flipped 180 degrees from the hot desert behind us. The pond was crystal clear and very deep. I could see the Eltons swimming around in it looking like hippos.

"So they can live in the sand and water," I said as I approached the water.

"This is insane," Ella said with her mouth open looking around. It was incredibly peaceful. It's obvious as to why a dungeon like this wouldn't last long. I looked around to see if I could tell where the dungeon master was. It didn't take long before an absolutely massive beast pulled itself from the water. Its skin was much darker than the others around it and it was over 3 times the size of them.

"Oh my." Ella's words kinda incorporated my thoughts as well. This one was a complete monster. An elephant-sized parmadillo bear. It shook itself, getting some of the water off and looking around at us. All of us tensed as the beast locked eyes. I had brought two spears with me, but I was definitely at a disadvantage with the terrain. As I met its eyes my worry faded. The same dumb expression that Elton had was just magnified three times.

"Harmless." I shock away the tension. "It's completely harmless."