The party members gathered around a bonfire, relishing in their victory. Lua, however, wasn't as lively. He was focused on one thing - the broken arm of Arc. Lua had predicted something like this would end up happening, and as such, he had brought tools with him just in case.
He slowly reattached the snapped arm, making sure it wouldn't fall off again. He also reduced the maximum length of the gadget, increasing its reliability. After all, the longer something was, the more susceptible it was to snapping.
Lua sighed, putting down his tools. He turned to his teammates who were drinking and celebrating without a care. However, as someone who knew enough, he was undoubtedly curious as to how a bonfire of this size hadn't been slowly suffocating them.
He looked up, and was quite surprised to see small holes, drawing the toxic air out of the dungeon. They were clearly designed as air holes. This revelation however brought more question than it answered.
For example, how did the dungeon know how deep it would be when it appeared randomly? Are these dungeons randomly generated, or is there someone creating them? These were all curiosities that needed to be investigated by a relevant authority.
Lua decided to snap out of his boring thoughts. He returned to the team as they laughed and drunk a copious amount of alcohol. He couldn't help but wonder if this was alright.
"Are you sure the noise won't draw any more of those creatures in?" he couldn't help but raise.
Everyone suddenly dropped their cheery mood, and stared at him. Anthony sighed, and shook his head. "What a party-pooper.. It's fine, Mick did a search up ahead. We're good."
Lua felt kind of embarrassed for ruining the mood, but it was a valid concern. After all, Lua wasn't quite interested in getting killed by a blind mutt.
Lua got up to his feet, and excused himself from the tense situation. "I'll go do my business then. Sorry for that."
Everyone returned to their cheery attitudes, as if nothing had happened. Lua walked into the darkness, finding a nice quiet spot to relieve himself in. He zipped his pants back up after finishing.
Rustle!
Lua was suddenly alarmed by something that sounded like rustling. It was uncanny.
There are no bushes here.. Lua looked around, yet found nothing. Arc joined him, and looked around the room as well. Arc's vision in the dark was considerably better, so he could see a lot more than Lua could.
"Nothing." Arc gave his observation.
That's odd.. Lua became considerably less guarded, deciding to calm himself down. "Perhaps it was just the sound of my clothes.."
Lua convinced himself that this was the source. My lack of sleep is getting to me. I wonder if the evolution process has negatively affected my mental state as well..
Lua joined his friends back around the campfire, and enjoyed his time. "What's the plan for tomorrow?"
Victoria drank a bit of her beer. "Same as usual. We're going to be delving further into the labyrinth.. According to the maps, we should be pretty close to the centre."
"Is the centre the area where the strong creature is in?" Lua decided to ask, and get his concerns out of the way.
Victoria shook her head. "Not always. The entity could be a wandering type. However, there have been no instances of an entity moving too far out of the center. We are out of it's range, if that is what you were concerned with."
Lua nodded, in relief. However, it scared him that he would be fighting a very strong creature in a short time. He needed to prepare somehow, and quickly. He looked down at his glove, and decided to make last minute modifications.
"I'll go take a leak." Anthony excused himself crudely, and got up from the bonfire. Nobody cared.
Lua began tinkering with the glove, adding a few things that could be useful during battle. One of the features he added was something he had learned - smelting. He was going to utilise the glove to liquidate the surface he was in contact with in an instant, hoping it would be able to kill the creature if he came in contact with it.
On the other hand, he modified the arm of Arc further. He reinforced the already strengthened arm, making sure it wouldn't snap. He needed to make sure they would be in a ready position by tomorrow, after all.
This process took Lua roughly a hour and a half. He spent another half an hour making sure everything was functional. He confirmed they were, at least in a controlled environment. Little could be said for a battle scenario.
Finally, someone asked a question nobody had thought of so far. "Where the hell is Anthony?"
This question was raised by Mick, who finally remembered the absence of his friend. Their alcohol intake had fogged their judgement.
On the other hand, Lua and Arc had been too focused on developing their gadgets, so they had cared too little to notice his absence.
Winston facepalmed. "That drunkard probably blacked out in his own piss."
"That's disgusting." Luna pointed out.
Lua, who had just finished making his modifications, volunteered to go check on him. "I need a walk anyway. I'll check on him."
Lua slowly got up, slightly exhausted from the work he had done. Just in case, he signaled Arc to follow him. Arc got up from behind him, making sure Lua didn't get into any trouble.
Lua reached the spot where he had done his business, however, Anthony wasn't there. Lua knew there was more than one spot in this room, so he decided to check on each spot individually.
One of the spots was behind a pillar that was located next to an edge. Lua reached it, and noticed something amiss. His eyes widened in horror as he turned, seeing the terrifying sight he wished he had never laid eyes upon.
Anthony stood on the ground, impaled with what looked like a spike. His eyes were lifeless, long gone from this world. Blood gushed all around him, and he had bite marks over his body.