So, there is a limit on how many items each slot can carry. Looks like Laila was right on the money.
I had a hand on my chin, inspecting a few crystals I'd gathered, adding up to thirty-two. The mass did not particularly matter as one small crystal and one enormous crystal still equate to one unit. And that's for only one slot of five. Three others already have my trusty sword, claw darts, and a bag of rations I gathered before teleportation. I want to save the last slot in case of an emergency.
Man… I wonder if there's an Inventory upgrade available somehow... That would be great.
I glanced over and caught Laila leaning against the wall, her eyes still and her expression distant. She's probably looking at her Status and Inventory. Looking closely, her white hoodie seems to be slightly singed. Probably the magic from earlier that caused it. I should check up on her soon. Speaking of Status, I should peep at mine real quick.
"Status."
A red screen popped up, showing my attributes.
Name: Isaac
Rank: Undecided
Strength:5 Agility:4
Durability:4 Mana:0
Masteries: Marksmanship Lvl 2 Swordsmanship Lvl 1
Yep, I still get annoyed every time I see this number. The number zero. The more I look at it, the more it makes me feel inadequate. As someone with a big ego that accumulated through video games, just failing anything gets me irritated. It's just how I function. The only solace is that my stats are somewhat balanced. I also ranked up my [Marksmanship] by one level. Figuring out how masteries worked was easy once you discover one, albeit accidentally. The simplest explanation is you just gotta do specific actions to discover them and level them up.
Wait a minute. If I follow that logic., will self-harm increase my durability? No, stop those thoughts. I have no way of healing myself If I were to inflict wounds. I'll have to try this method for a better time.
Waving the screen away, I headed to where my sister was resting and squat near her.
"I noticed your shirt got burn marks. You injured?"
Laila glanced over her shoulder. "It's faint. Barely any pain. I was able to mitigate most of the explosion."
"Yea. I saw. You're quicker than me. If it was me, I probably wouldn't have dodged it like you and probably suffered more, even with my durability level. I'm guessing your agility is at a seven or an eight. Maybe you broke double digits?"
"It's at a nine." Laila corrected.
"Congratulations. You'll be the first to get out of the single digits. Maybe."
Laila rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Hand me a bottle of water."
"So unenthusiastic...." I whispered. I grab the ration bag out of the Inventory and place it in front of Laila. She reaches inside and pulls out a seventeen oz bottle of water. Quickly chugging her drink, she released a contented sigh.
"I'm so glad I thought ahead and told you to pack food and water. We probably wouldn't have survived without food and water."
"Eh. Depends on how long we are in here. Since our phones don't work at the moment, we can't tell how much time has passed."
"Or if we'll be stuck here until we're fertilizer," she warned, crushing the seventeen oz bottle.
I put a hand on my chin, thinking about what to do next. "I don't think we're necessarily 'stuck' if there's a possible exit. Remember the split path those two demons came out of? I'm ninety-nine percent sure one of those passages leads to an exit. The one percent, on the other hand, I don't have to spell it out, do I?"
Laila stayed silent, eyebrows scrunched up. She usually does that when she's deep in thought. She then speaks up.
"I say we keep sticking together and check out each tunnel one by one. Separating to find an exit doesn't sound wise. What if something were to happen to either of us all alone?"
I shook my head. "With how we handled ourselves so far, we can fight just fine individually. We need to get out of here asap, right? Separating allows us to do that, covering more ground. If the situation gets dicey, we just run towards the other person."
I'm not gonna mention my ulterior motive of wanting to grind all the enemies myself. She would probably give me the death stare if I said that out loud.
"You probably want to handle the enemies yourself so you can 'level up', right?" Laila scoffed.
Shit. Quick! Think of an excuse!
"Of course not! Why would I think about this dire situation in that regard? When did your opinion of me plummet?"
"As soon as you got crazy-eyed in this Dungeon."
I sighed heavily while scratching the back of my head. My wary sister is making this pretty difficult for me…
"Okay. Listen. We need to get stronger as quickly as possible. I don't want to let this chance go to waste. Hunting on our own will speed up gaining Stats. With increased Stats, our chance of survival rises exponentially. If we're strong, what in this Dungeon will stop us together?"
Laila opened her mouth, as if ready to refute my idea, but she paused momentarily. "When you put it like that, it sounds reasonable."
"No. It IS reasonable." I assured.
And she's doing the eyebrow scrunch again. I wonder if she's aware of this habit of hers.
"Alright fine," Laila conceded. "Let's go with your idea. Just promise me that if you're in danger, you RUN to me, got it?"
"Right back at ya."
"Then it's settled."
Grunting, she slowly rises from the hard cavern floor. With a quick pat around her dark leggings, she sticks her hand out to me.
"How many darts do you have? I ran out while fighting the mage."
"I've got around sixteen. I'll split half with you. Here." I handed over eight of my claw darts in her palm. She gives me a small nod while she stores them in her Inventory.
"Thank you. Without these things, I probably would have died back there."
"What are you saying? You weren't going to die. I wouldn't have let that happen."
"Of course not."
The corners of her mouth twitched, forming a small, secret smile. It quickly went away when she threw a question at me. "I almost forgot. What happens if one of us discovers an exit?"
"Hmm. We'll just leave it be and meet up. What I mean by meet up is that the area with no exit seen runs towards the other path."
"Alright." Laila cautiously glanced towards the mysterious entrances shrouded in the darkness. She lifted her arm, pointing her finger in the direction of the rightmost path."You get the left, I'll take the right."
The longsword then appears in her hand while she was making her way into the dimly lit pathway. With a sudden halt, she glanced at me with an anxious expression.
"Be careful in there, okay?"
I replied with a thumbs-up and a smile. Giving me a narrowed look for a few seconds, she sharply moved her body, with only her footsteps receding with every passing second.
"Now then..." My attention was then switched to the ominous path set before me. This time, my sister won't be with me while I adventure through this heart-throbbing experience. It was difficult to stop my twitching mouth that wanted to form a smile.
"Let the fun begin!"
****
This is already getting boring.
All I've been doing this whole time was hacking away at things weaker than I. The small demon imps species from earlier? Fodder. The only time I was interested in them was when new ones showed up, this time with wings attached to their backs. Thinking they would be stronger, I experimented with them for a little, until they died in one hit, either from one swing or a claw dart to the face. That was when my expectations lessened. At that moment, I thought to myself, maybe I chose the wrong route?
After about a ten-minute jog, something in my peripheral vision caught my eye. I stepped back a few meters and was greeted by the sight of an insect mounted on a bed of blue crystals, glimmering with light. While it may be weird to stop what I was doing just to observe an insect, I could tell that this thing was not normal. At all. Like everything we've encountered here... Anyway, it looked like a regular centipede, except it had a sort of sucker sticking out between its teeth. The sucker also had a sharp needle attached at the end. Moments later, it injected the needle into the rock.
"Does that not hurt? That sucker must be sturdy. I wonder what's it doi-" My voice trailed when the blue light in the crystal dulled. The light was being transferred from the rock and to the centipede itself like a person sucking through a straw.
"It sucked out the mana from the rock and it is now inside its body?" I wondered out loud.
After having finished its meal, the centipede mounted off the rock and crawled right under it. I sat there, shocked at the discovery I stumbled upon.
"That thing definitely fed on the mana. I'm guessing that's their food source."
A thought strutted in my mind when thinking about what just occurred. I looked around and saw some blue crystals scattered about. My eyes were then drawn toward my stomach.
"As they say, we humans used to test medicine and poisons on our bodies to determine the effects."
Determined, I pulled out my longsword and started hacking away at the rocks until they were pea-sized.
"The more I think about it, the dumber it sounds. Am I really going to eat fucking rocks just because there's a slight chance I may absorb the mana and be the first Gandalf? 'Course I am!"
Picking up one rock, I opened my mouth and swallowed like it was candy. "Huh. It goes down the throat smoothly. I thought I would be choking my lungs out. It also strangely tastes like fondue…"
While I was judging the taste of the rock, a speck of light caught my attention.
"Hm? Was that glowing butterfly always there?"
Out of nowhere, more lights started appearing one by one. They then multiplied. I was so overwhelmed by the intensity of the light that I had to shield my eyes with my hands to protect myself from being blinded. After some time had passed, it was safe to open my eyes. As soon as that happened, a blue screen appeared with the message:
[Mana absorption completed.]
Reading those words, laughter erupted from my mouth. "Hahahah! It worked! My genius frightens me sometimes. Who would've thought that these rocks were the key to unlocking mana? Let me make sure just in case."
Name: Isaac
Rank: Undecided
Strength:8 Agility:7
Durability:7 Mana:1
Masteries: Marksmanship Lvl 2 Swordsmanship Lvl 1
Just as I thought. I have finally achieved my goal… I've increased the mana Stat. Not only that, but all the others also increased by three points. This feels like I've just ranked up from newbie to beginner.
"It's time to do a bit of testing with this newfound knowledge. Let's start, shall we?"
****
"Did I choose the wrong path?"
After walking a great distance, I felt the ground start to angle downward.
"Usually when you want to get out of caves, you want to find spots with a higher elevation. Not the opposite. Should I go back?"
No Laila. You must see the end. It would be dumb to leave without checking it out. What if there was an exit and my foolishness missed it? And I don't want to hear Isaac rubbing it in with that annoying tone of his.
Steeling my resolve, I started my descent toward the unknown, killing anything that attacked me.
"I think I'm getting used to seeing in the dark. I can see clearer and further ahead. There are also little creatures scurrying around the floor."
To my left, an Imp could be seen resting on a stalactite, upside down like a bat. Upon closer inspection, it had wings.
"Well, that's new. I have not seen one with wings before. I'll leave it alone since it isn't bothering me. If it attacks me, it won't be a problem. I'm confident in my reaction speed."
Walking past the demon, it opened one of its eyes as it sensed my presence. It gave me a little snarl, but then stopped as soon as it sniffed the air, its body quivering soon after. It unfurled its wings and retreated in the direction I came from.
"Do I look like a scary person and smelly person? It ran away when it took in my scent."
Feeling a little glum after that event, the trek downward continued, until I ran into another demonic ogre crouched down, feasting on something unidentifiable from this distance.
"Okay. Since its skin color isn't red, it is safe to assume it's not like that mage from back then."
Without taking my eye off the occupied demon, I slowly approach from behind. Its ears perked up at the sound of my footsteps. As soon as it turned its head, my blade was already stabbed through its skull. Droplets of its blood splattered out.
"Sorry big guy, but I'm not taking any chances with you. I have experienced what you are capable of."
Retracting the sword from the demon's head, I peeked over its body to see what it was consuming. What I saw was the remains of an imp, missing a chunk of its abdomen.
"Yep. That's disgusting to look at. I'll have to cleanse my eyes after this."
Drip...Drip...
Ahead, I heard the faint tinkling of water droplets.
"I'm not going crazy, am I?"
Curious about whether the sound I heard was just my mind playing tricks or legitimate, investigating was sensible. I strained my vision ahead and could see a dim, shimmering light in the distance. I hastened my stride as the sound of water grew louder with every step. After about a minute, my feet come to a halt as a cliff was met. Looking over, what I saw was something I would never forget. A vast lake at least four km stretched out onto the cavern floor. The lake was a mesmerizing blue, its surface reflecting the light from the blue crystals on the walls. From my view, this huge body of water looked to be made of clear glass! I stood there in awe. It was like I was in a Bob Ross painting. But, while I would've liked to sit here and admire the view, I didn't have time to lounge around.
Smacking both my cheeks, I leaped off the cliff. It wasn't that high off the ground, and I'll be able to come back up easily.
"Well... let's take a look around."
...Is what I would like to say, but all I saw when I was observing on top of the cliff was the lake. There's some life scuttling about like centipedes with stingers, dark salamanders with six legs, and an orangish spider that had eyes all over its small body. They weren't doing anything important, so I ignored them and pressed further. I could get closer to the lake, but I had a feeling there's probably something in there. Let's see if anything reacts If I were to throw a rock.
Picking up the nearest rock, I chucked it as hard as I could into the lake. Nothing happened.
I clicked my tongue and said, "Well, this was a waste of time other than that gorgeous view my eyes were blessed with. I see no exit around here, so it's probably on Isaac's side."
As I turned to leave, I took one step and was just about to jump when I heard a soft but commanding voice in my head.
"Wait. Do not leave yet."
Feeling frightened, my body snapped back towards the lake, sword already in hand. "Who's there? Where are you? Show yourself!"
"We have little time. You have alerted the guardians slumbering deep within the lake."
When I heard the warning, I immediately sprang into action and raced away from the area, my feet pounding against the ground as I leapt onto the cliff.
"It is not wise to run. You cannot outrun the wardens once they know there's an intruder. I also know a way for you to escape."
The calm voice made me stop dead in my tracks.
"You know the way out of here?"
"Yes. I will tell you after I help you deal with the oncoming threat. For now, follow my advice."
I thought about it for a few moments. "I don't know. You're a stranger who I've never seen and you're talking inside my mind. You could probably be someone with evil intentions."
The voice was quiet. After seconds of silence, it spoke. "My name is Solgen, leader of the Apithiens. I have been imprisoned here for a decade by the Pillars because of a revolt I led for the freedom of my people, and many others. The Pillars are slavers, tyrants who deserve death. After all this time, a speck of hope has arrived; you. If you free me, I will be in your debt, and you would not regret it."
In the distance, ripples started forming in the middle of the lake. The voice spoke again, this time with a hurried tone. "They are approaching. They will come out any moment now. You cannot free me unless they are defeated. Do not fret, though. While I am here giving you advice, they are but mere fodder as long as you take advantage of the abundant mana in this cave."
"Ah well... the thing is... I don't know how to use mana," I stammered.
The mysterious person then raised their voice unexpectedly. "YOU WHAT? Were you one of the unlucky few born without the gift? Bah. There's no time for that. Consume one of the Torqinites in this cave."
"The hell is a Torqinite?"
"The shiny blue rocks scattered about!"
Listening to the desperate voice, I went towards the nearest so-called Torqinite and sliced it into little pieces with no further questions. Once in my hands, I surveyed the rock. It was smooth and cold to the touch. There was a faint blue glow emanating from within it. Is the blue light mana this mysterious figure is talking about?
"Oh god. I'm actually going to swallow a rock," I grumbled. Closing my eyes, I dropped the rock into my mouth and swallowed. It wasn't as bad as I thought - it was unexpectedly sweet. Small balls of light then appeared in my vision.
Wait... They look more like butterflies? Wow, that is bright.
They started getting brighter and brighter to where, if I kept staring, it would scorch my retinas into nothingness. After some time has passed, a blue screen appeared.
[Mana Absorption Completed.]
I gasped as I felt all around my body for any abnormalities. "I can't believe it... It was a success..."
"It worked? I'm surprised. Consuming a Torqinite would have major repercussions on the body. There are no negative side effects shown... Interesting."
Before I could reply, the sound of rushing water caught my attention
"They're here."
Two enormous figures rose out of the lake, one by one. They stood a solid three meters, with an exterior made of what appears to be black rocks? Each one held a hammer made of dark metal, the size of an average adult male, and its face was illuminated by two eerie black eyes. They looked like humanoid golems with slabs of rocks glued together.
"The guardians are golems made of a special type of metal found in my homeland. The weapon you possess will not even scratch it," said the voice.
"Dear lord, my neck is already straining itself by just looking up at these things! You're telling me to fight the spine-chilling behemoths?"
"With me here, you'll be fine. As long as you listen to every word I say."
"You better not be betraying me. If I die, you'll be stuck here forever," I threatened.
"I know what type of situation I am in. Now stop blabbering and focus! They are coming!"
With thunderous footsteps, the golems trotted towards the intruder; me.