Clouds

Hugh was expecting a dark interior filled with rocks and stone formations, but he was surprised to see the fluffy clouds in front of him.

He rubbed his eyes, not believing what he had seen. The cool wind breeze that blew over him made him realize that he was in a different dungeon. He had explicitly asked for an underground dungeon, yet it seemed like the Student Council meddled with the navigation.

He should have expected this, but he had no choice but to trust them. If he had not said he wanted an underground dungeon, he would have also been put in a different dungeon.

Hugh decided that he would just have to make do with what he got. A dungeon is a mysterious place, and many things are in store here that he could eat.

He took a big breath and stepped forward the floor of clouds. He had always wondered how a cloud feels like, but that was when he was a child.

Right now, he had a chance to walk in the clouds that all kids dreamed of. He knew that a cloud was just a frozen crystal made of water, so he was not expecting a solid ground.

He put more pressure onto his foot outside, expecting that his foot would go through the clouds. Contrary to his assumptions, the clouds felt like cotton.

He stepped onto a small mound of clouds, and it flattened under his foot until it felt like he was on solid ground. This gave him the confidence to walk with his other foot.

Now that he was in the dungeon, Hugh looked around the cloudy floors and the bright blue horizon. It felt empty, and there was nothing in sight.

It was just a never-ending expanse of clouds with just him in the center. He did not know where to go since this was not part of his plan.

If he had been in an underground dungeon, he would have looked for rocks and gems that he could eat to finish his daily missions. He bent down and touched the floor, and it felt like he was touching cotton wool.

There were no rocks nor gems in here, only clouds. He did not know where to go, so he just started to walk in a direction hoping for something to catch his eye.

Hugh walked and walked in the cloud desert with no goal in mind. He just kept his eyes out in the distance as he searched for any building or any movement.

After about an hour of walking, Hugh started to feel bored. He wanted to do something, so he looked around the clouds.

Then, a thought formed in his head; what if he were to eat these clouds? He could not ignore his curiosity, so he bent down and inspected the cotton-like clouds beneath his feet.

He grabbed a handful of the clouds and tried to rip it apart for him to take a bite out of. It quickly separated from the bodies of clouds like unprocessed cotton.

He smelled the cotton first and found that it smelled like a mint candy, cool and refreshing. He opened his mouth and let the clouds meet his tongue.

As soon as the clouds reached his tongue, it melted like snow on a hot day. Then, he tasted it as he closed his mouth and savored the taste of this fantastic food.

It was spicy and sweet at the same time. It had the consistency of cotton candy, but it tasted nothing like it. Cotton candy was just glorified sugar, but the clouds tasted like it was a dessert from a five-star restaurant.

He was instantly hooked, and he grabbed more of the clouds beneath his feet. Before he could fill his mouth with the delicious clouds, the floor started to tremble.

Hugh did not know what was happening, so he stood up and looked around with wary eyes. He was at a dangerous dungeon, and mutated monsters could come at any time.

He looked around until he saw a movement from a mound of clouds nearby. Suddenly, something burst out of the clouds at high speeds. That was not the only thing that popped out as Hugh saw multiple more pop out, surrounding him.

Hugh looked around and saw a worm-like creature with white wings on its backsides. This was not a bitterly nor a moth because it seemed like it was still a caterpillar that had sprouted wings.

They had a white color, perfectly blending into their surroundings. Hugh had a hard time counting their numbers because he could not see them properly.

He felt an itch in his back as he observed their white hairy bodies. They had small little eyes that were directly looking at him like he was prey.

Their wings were pure white as if it was made of marble. Its design mimicked the mounds and curves of the clouds on the floor, giving them a stealthy nature.

As he observed the sudden monsters that appeared out of nowhere, something in his mind popped up.

++++++++++++++

INSPECT

Species: White Winged Caterpillars

Stage: *unadvanced*

Rank: F-rank

*Locked*: *locked*

++++++++++++++

His inspect skill came in handy and gave him information about the winged caterpillar. His heart stopped when he saw that his opponents were at the F-rank.

He could probably defeat one of the winged caterpillars if it were one-on-one, but multiple caterpillars were coming his way. He had to separate one of them from the pack.

He looked around and saw that they were floating towards him with their mouths wide open. He could see their sharp teeth ready to tear out his flesh at any moment.

With this kind of numerical advantage, there was only one thing that Hugh could do, run. He gathered the strength in his feet and bolted out of the enclosing circle of winged caterpillars.

Luckily, the winged caterpillars did not seem to be fast with their wings. Hugh was able to get away from them, but they were closely following him.

Hugh did not use his armor, so he was comparatively slower than the winged caterpillars. He could feel their hairy bodies coming straight towards him.

He turned his head and saw that one of the winged caterpillars was closing in on him. Seeing that the caterpillar was alone, Hugh took this chance to cleave their numbers one by one.

Hugh activated his armor on his fist as he was running. Then, he came to a complete stop as he turned around and punched the caterpillar right in its face.

Hugh felt a squishy feeling as he dented the face of the caterpillar. It was flung away due to his force, further separating him from the caterpillars.

Seeing that his attack was effective, Hugh continued to run away. Hugh observed the caterpillar that he beat up and saw it continue to chase him with a dented face.

It seemed like his explosive power was not enough to kill the butterfly in one punch, so he continued to run away.

Hugh noticed that the caterpillars were following him mindlessly like they were on autopilot. Hugh used this fact to use a hit and run tactic to cleave the caterpillars' numbers.

Hugh would stop, turn around, and punch the caterpillar nearest him, then run away again. Hugh continued this cycle until he found that he could kill a caterpillar once he had struck them three times.

As he continued to run in the endless clouds, he noticed something in the distance. He squinted his eyes and saw a caterpillar lying on the clouds.

Upon closer inspection, Hugh saw that the caterpillar had a deformed face as if a strong force bashed it in. Hugh remembered this caterpillar as the first one he had killed.

Hugh furrowed his eyebrows as he continued to run in a straight direction. As he ran, he saw more and more bodies of the caterpillars, dead, the same way as the first one he had seen.

These were the caterpillar that he had defeated, which meant only one thing; he was running around in circles.

He looked back and saw that there was only one caterpillar left alive. He slowed his run and let the caterpillar catch up to him.

When the caterpillar was about to take a bite out of his neck, Hugh turned around and punched it in the face with his armor.