Dungeon Crawling

Faruk gives another advice to her. He directs her to get a thin rope in the backpack.

"This one?" she asked as she fished out a short piece of rope.

"Hm. That's the one. Now, I want you to try think what you can do to make your sheath stick onto your leg with that piece of string."

"H-How?"

"Think. Use that brain of yours. You're a human, aren't you?"

"Ehh, but what about the training?" she pouted.

"Hmph. Don't worry about the training. It can wait. No need to fear, too. I'll wait all day long if I have to."

"Ah... o-okay... I'll give it a try. Errm... uhh... (what am I supposed to do with this small rope? I can tie it to my thigh, but... oh, wait...)"

Oria notices a hole in the sheath cloth. "This tiny hole... Its distance to the outer edge of the sheath is far enough to make sure it won't tear. Maybe... I can knit the rope like I did with the tent. But will the rope be enough, though...? Ahh, I will not know if I don't try it!"

She then tries to make a knot with the rope and try sticking it to her left thigh. At first, the rope isn't tied properly, so, it loosens, and the sheath falls off. Secondly, she does the same thing again, but this time trying to tighten the knot. ...Naturally, it loosens again, and the sheath crashes to earth.

"Oooh... this is a bit frustrating..." she murmured. Her forehead is visibly seen slightly full of sweat. She's doing her best, after all. But still...

"Aww... this is harder than the tent ropes..." she cried. Faruk approaches her afterwards.

"So, what seems to be the problem, hm?" he asked.

"Umm... Faruk, if I may..." she asked with a careful tone. Faruk nods. "Umm... I can't seem to find a right way to tie the rope together... I think it's too short, oh, no, wait, the sheath isn't like the tent... it's uhh..."

"Haha. I see the conundrum here," he chuckled lightly.

"Aww... please don't laugh..."

"I jest. Anyway, the problem is that..."

Faruk eventually gives out another piece of advice. Following his words, Oria learns how to tie the sheath around her thigh properly. And of course, the sheath didn't fall off or the rope loosened. She succeeds.

"We did it, Faruk! Heehee. Thank you!"

"Hmph. I do nothing. I simply give you word after word, and you follow them and managed to craft it yourself."

"E-Even so! You've helped, too!"

"(Huh... this soothing sensation...)" Faruk thought for a second. He notices his consciousness is flying off into space. He brutally shakes himself off to get back to earth. "(Get ahold of yourself... ME!)

"Faruk? Why did you shake yourself like that?" she asked adorably, frowning her brows. Faruk replies in a rapid voice.

"A-Ahem! I just somehow feel strange. It's nothing to worry about. Anyway, now that the sheath is all set, let us go!"

The floating iron ball flies away, heading to the long trap door to activate it.

"H-Huh... (Why do I feel like he's blushing... heehee, must be my imaginations. I mustn't think of such a thing about him.)"

Finally, Faruk uses his mana to open the trap door. The trims of blue crystal on it shines as it slides open, revealing a staircase beneath it.

"This is it. Are you ready, Oria?" Faruk asked.

"Yes. I have everything I need with me. Let's do it!" Oria nodded, excited to undergo the dungeon.

"Very well."

With that, they stride down the stairs. Followingly, the trap door behind them closes, making a thudding sound as it shuts completely.

"Oh, no..." Oria said as she looked back.

"Ah, right... the entrance door is inaccessible the moment we enter," Faruk said in such relaxed tone.

"H-How are we going to get back?" Oria asked, obviously fearful.

"We finish the dungeon. Go to the end and we'll get out of here," again, Faruk said that in composed voice of his. "Remember, this dungeon is the easiest level. If there's anywhere that can train newbies like you, then this dungeon is the best."

"Okay... (Am I going to be okay...)"

With that, they travel through the first area of the dungeon. It's unbelievably contrast in difference compared to the shrine area, whereas the shrine has beautiful walls and soothing scent combined with clear eye-candying waterwork while the dungeon has a construction that of an old fortress with terrible smell and humid air mashed up with the mosses on the blackened stone walls and a clearly soiled flow of water beneath.

"...Uugh..." Oria nearly fainted as she smelled the stench coming from the water.

"What's wrong?"

"N-No, it's just..." Oria pinches her nose before continuing, "This place is kind of different... The smell, the air, the water..."

"Well, it IS a dungeon. Adapt to it, Oria."

"Oooh... I'll try."

"Hey, don't just 'try'. You MUST be able to adapt to your surroundings. Adapting to the environment around you is vital if you wish to survive."

"O-Okay..."

"Also, don't cover your nose. If you don't get used with this odor, you'll never make it to the end."

"Agh, s-seriously? Awww..."

Oria has no choice but to follow. She lets go of her pinch, allowing the agonizing trash smell to invade her nostrils.

"Ooomph..." this time, she nearly puked, paralyzed too by the stinging odor.

Meanwhile, Faruk has already in front ahead of her, casually ignoring his sickened protege as he crosses a stone bridge.

"(I... gotta adapt... back at the camp, I was fine even with the smell of blood and humid air... but now...)" said Oria in her heart. The difference of the smell between the shrine and the dungeon is so massive that her nose lost the immunity of terrible odor. It's not just that, though. Her new life also contributed to her loss of odor immunity.

Oria forces her legs to prop her body. The horrid smell pierces her nose, she coughs every time she breathes. Her tears fall off without consent. Even with that condition, she pushes herself to move deeper into the dungeon.

"Ahh... Faruk is already on the other side... J-Just... how is he fine with all this putrid smell flying around?"

"Hm...?" Faruk turned around. He just notices his protege falls behind quite far.

"Heeey!" he called from the distance. "Is it too hard for you?" he asked.

"I... I can... do it!" said Oria, struggling to move past the stone bridge.

"Hoh... (Maybe it was too harsh for a child like her? No, no, no, she MUST be able to get through this! Don't spoil her.)" Faruk turned back to the front and proceeded to a passage turning left.

"Come on...! Come on! I must move...! (Just past the bridge, I believe the smell will be lighter...)"

She's right. ...At least, that is what she had hoped for.

The moment her struggle ends as she meets the end of the stone bridge, and as she moves past the turning point, she discovers a grander chamber where the waterwork is far more complicated. And yes, the smell is horrendously worse with the water closer to the ground.

"A-Argh...! (When will this nightmare end...?)" Oria thought to herself.

Faruk is waiting patiently by the end of the path near a stone-handled wooden lever with a standing wooden bridge beside him.

"Gee, she sure takes it long to reach here. (...Hm, I'm a bit worried...)"

But Faruk's concern disappears to thin air as he spots Oria approaching. She's visibly sweating, obviously from the terrible smell that's basically everywhere in the dungeon. Even so, she forces herself to withstand the air and walk herself to Faruk's position while holding onto the amulet on her chest.

"(Remember... Hilda... Hilda wanted me to bring this amulet with me when I go outside... if I can't make it through here, I will never be able to survive the outside world...!)"

Oria motivated herself by remembering that woman. Finally, she reaches Faruk's position, panting as she still struggles to confront the awful scent.

"I'm sorry, F-Faruk... but, why this dungeon is so... smelly?" she asked.

"Oh, about that. This dungeon was a sewage system from roughly 1,000 years ago," Faruk explained.

"S-Sewage system...? No wonder it's reeks horribly in here... I kept wondering why it smelled like dung..."

"Hohoh, really, now?"

"Y-Yeah... a-and about that! H-How come you're not troubled by this smell? I-It's not fair!"

Oria nagged, her eyebrows furrowed, her lips pouted. Once again, that childish part of hers appears again.

"Heh, me in this Observer form has no 'smell' apparatus. I rely entirely on my sights and sixth sense to know my surroundings."

"That's... really nice."

"Don't say that. Having the ability to smell is a blessing by the Goddess. You must make sure you don't lose it. After all, humans only have one of each five primary senses, eh?"

"O-Oh..."

"Anyway, shall we continue? Past this point is where monsters prowl. If you're not well-adapted to the atmosphere in this dungeon, you're good as finished. Monsters do not care whether you're strong or not, child or adult, kind or evil."

"D-Does that include you?"

"—Don't lump me in together with those monsters, thank you."

"Eh? A-Ah! Eeeep!" Oria instantly covered her tiny lips with her palms as she realized something fatal. Immediately, her heart gathers a deep fear, beating incredibly fast. She accidentally spoke her thoughts out loud. "(I... I didn't mean to say that to him like that...!)"

"Hm? What's the matter?" Faruk wondered, oblivious of the fact she had just accidentally insulted him. "Did you forget something?"

"N-No... I think not..." she slowly reacted.

"Huh... well, come here, then. We cannot continue unless we pull this lever here..."

Oria lowers her hand in a sluggish fashion. Her body is slightly shaking. In her mind, she thinks, "(I-Is... he not angry? M-Maybe not... w-well, he doesn't look like he's angry.)"

"Hey. What are you doing staring into space like that? Get over here!"

"Y-Yeeesss!" Oria hurried to his place.

Faruk instructs her to pull the lever. "Use your full force," he told her.

"R-Roger...!" Oria reaches the stone handle with both her hands. She pulls the lever as hard as possible, but the lever is barely moving.

"Seriously, is that all you got?" Faruk taunted her.

"Arrrgh...! Cooome oooon!!!" she yelled from the bottom of her heart. The monsters on the other side stop moving momentarily to take a quick look at the direction where the shout came from. Then, they just continue wandering around the dungeon.

"Why isn't it moving...! Uuuurrrgh!!!"

Ultimately, the lever moves.

...But only a centimeter from its initial position.