Chapter 56: Ch 56 – Corpse

Devin showed up while I was talking to the goblins, and it was time to eat. He brought bowls that Jenny had given him. For today this meant that Devin was eating breakfast and I was eating lunch. While we ate I explained what we were going to do.

Devin thought we were overcomplicating things, which perhaps we were to an extent. He explained that we should just make Gerl pick, at least after I explained why I couldn't just stick him with the goblins. I wasn't fond of that, and the conversation fizzled out.

In the end, he just shrugged and agreed to go along with the plan.

When we climbed down the ladder the goblins gathered up with us and we took the light source with us down the passageway.

We untied Gerl’s ankles and helped him up.

“What's going on?” Gerl asked.

“We’re finding, or making a second way out of here.” I stated.

Gerl frowned, “Where?” He said looking at the water and the otherwise shadowy depths.

Now that Naan had reclaimed the passageway I could see the outlines of our dungeon. I suppose that answered a pretty good question already didn't it? If Naan was claiming this space with Gerl in it, that had its own implications? Or maybe it was because of his opinion of me? I was now the dungeon... This was hurting my head.

With me Scout and Devin holding our two light sources it left me off to the side focusing on standing up straight. I wish I could say I was getting used to things, and maybe I was a little. But the darkness was making the general strategy of focusing on my sight harder.

“How's the bridge?” I asked Naan.

“I’m raising the steps above the surface now.” The voice in my head replied.

Sure enough one by one I saw stone steps rise from the otherwise serene surface of the water.

“What... what's that in the water?” Gerl said leaning forward to look at it.

“That's our way across.” I explained with a bit of smugness.

The last step rose up, and I reminded Naan to ensure they wouldn’t be slippery which resulted in steam pouring off of them.

“Scout, take the lead?” I said giving the goblin leader a smile.

The goblin nodded and started across with the other goblins following along. The steps were a bit far for them, but they managed with a careful pace.

When Scout reached the far side with most of the goblins he waved his mushroom ink vial in the air and I started over. Glancing down I could see the slight flow of the water around the steps now. Something I probably shouldn’t have done. But it didn’t really make my condition worse luckily. Gerl followed behind me, and Devin behind him with the light source. The last goblin stragglers followed behind him including Kosue.

A few minutes later we climbed up the far passageway. It was not quite so far as we’d walked down towards the river. But enough that the soft sound of the river’s continuous flow was practically inaudible.

The passageway ended, and I couldn’t help but pause staring at what I saw. There were a few boxes, crates, and bits and bobs. But far more importantly, spread across the sizable wall was an enormous double door of carved stone.

I reached out towards it running my fingers over it, its design was intricate, as though the door itself was cast from stone rather than chiseled. Lines ran all around like someone wanted to create a massive maze on the surface of the door.

That caused something in my brain to trickle to the surface, something Devin had once said to me, “...a magical labyrinth…”

While I was focused on the door and all that it meant I felt Kosue hug my leg.

I glanced down at her and found she was staring at the door with apprehension. Maybe she had a bad feeling? I guess there was a little something there? Some vauge concern in the back of my mind?

“I don’t see any way to open this…” I noted glancing around as though there would be some switch or lever to open this massive stone doorway. I tried pushing on it, but the door refused to even budge. Not that I really expected my meager strength to do something.

I couldn’t help but wonder if someone else once made a contract with a dungeon in this very building? How had that turned out? Jenny had said the inquisition had come for them. What exactly had they done down here? My mind couldn’t help but churn with thoughts.

“Yeah, it's sealed pretty well.” Devin noted giving the door a shove as well.

Scout and the goblins were poking around in the remains of crates as if expecting to find the answers within.

“I can open the door.” Naan spoke to me.

“You can? How?” I asked back.

“There is a weight-driven mechanism within the walls. The door itself is unlocked, but someone pushed it closed.”

“Someone managed to close this with manpower?” I asked back, I was more then skeptical.

“Look near the center, within the small split.”

Looking down the middle where the two doors met, I examined the indentation. About halfway down I found what Naan, no doubt wanted me to see. The remains of rope that had been frayed and cut pinched between the sides.

“So someone really did want to close this door then huh? This dungeon… isn’t alive right?” I asked as I felt at the frayed rope.

“Shouldn’t be. I see no claims in this area.” Naan explained.

“Alright… then let's do this.” I told Naan while stepping back, “We’re going to open the door now.” I announced to the rest.

Gerl gave me an incredulous look while the rest just looked a touch uneasy, including Devin.

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I could feel a shift inside of my body, mana flowing through me, I’d faintly picked up on it when Naan had started claiming again. But whatever it was doing now was certainly using more mana. I focused on the sensation, trying to trace it as it moved. It didn’t quite mesh with the layout of my body. It almost seemed to… leave my body. Trace through the air and into the walls. Now that I thought about it, that sort of made sense, yet it was sort of unnerving.

As if all at once the sound of the doors grinding on the floor filled the air. The doors pulled gently inwards and the lengths of rope that had been pinched between dropped away, dangling behind the doors. Something that I hadn’t seen fell down smashing onto the stone floor, shattering into tiny shards of purple.

Bit by bit the doors pulled away to reveal a long unusually bright passageway beyond. The area near the door was dim, but the farther back you went the more green, and brighter it became. There were vines and flowers growing in the various cracks and crevices in the otherwise smooth stone passageway. The flowers themselves were the source of the light, most of the petals were glowing with an almost white light there was a small discoloration based on the flower, some were pink, and others were light blue. I wasn’t sure if it was intentional or not as the crevices seemed to imply stone panels and segments. They reminded me a bit of the way the door had a maze etched into it, while these were not intricate designs the lines and right angles that traced around the stone reminded me of them.

“That's… not natural.” Devin noted, I could practically hear the concern in his words.

“Is this… is this a dungeon?” Gerl said looking around, I wasn't sure, but I thought he was worried too.

“It used to be at least. Everyone stay on your toes. We really don’t know what to expect inside of here.” I pointed out.

The doors stopped moving with little additional ceremony.

“This is a good idea right?” I asked Naan starting to second guess this plan. Even if I wasn't getting strong vibes, they were kind of there, and everyone else didn't look, like they wanted to go inside.

“It should be fine. The plants are likely similar to the mushrooms. They were mutated by the mana-rich environment and no longer require sunlight.” Naan replied.

I guess it was the best I was going to get, it did sort of make sense too.

We started inside and I could see Naan claiming the area around us as we moved. We started passing the vines and large flowers which didn’t so much as sway at our passing. They only added to the otherwise cool and surreal atmosphere that this place oozed.

Kosue who was practically clinging to me seemed to feel about the same.

We kept moving down the usually long passage before finding branching rooms on either side. Though the rooms themselves seemed almost empty, just the same overgrowth that was present on the walls and ceiling of the first passageway.

Naan directed us to make a turn and we went into the side path, it only got worse from there as we started making turn after turn slowly working our way somewhere. If it wasn’t for the fact that I could see the outline of our path I’d feel quite lost during the whole process. I couldn't help but let my curiosity pull my attention to Naan's sight taking in the details and strangeness of the area. Naan could see the mana in the air. Yet it didn't interfere with the sight. It was less a fog, and more just that everything that Naan observed was in perfect clarity.

Before long Devin who was just behind and to the side of me spoke up, “Let's take a break.”

It hadn’t even been that long, “Why? We can keep going.”I said turning.

Devin might have been about to say something else, but now that he looked at my face he ended up saying, “Actually you look like you're about to throw up.”

I just frowned at him, but my stomach did feel a bit unhinged. “Fine…” I admitted.

We all found seats among chunks of stone that had dislodged from the ceiling or walls, or just opted to sit on the floor. The plants in the hall were mostly on the walls where we were sitting, though it was obvious that down the passageway that would change.

“This place is creepy.” Devin noted sitting next to me on the floor.

Even the goblins nodded along with that agreeing with the sentiment.

“Naan. Maybe this isn’t such a good idea after all?” I repeated the earlier question internally.

“I don’t quite understand why you might think that. Or why the others find this place, ‘creepy’.” Naan replied.

“You don’t? Maybe it's just in our heads then? That and I just feel like I’m second-guessing myself at every step.” I admitted. I just focused on my breathing and on myself. The more I focused on that tiny feeling the more it was hard to shake the feeling that someone or something was out there watching us. If it wasn't for everyone else I probably wouldn't really notice it either. Maybe that had to do with me and Naan? Because we were dungeon? Maybe everyone else was just feeling the "dungeon-ness" and interpreting it as a threat?

I didn't know, but I did sort of have a question that had been building during our trip, "Naan, is this how you always saw the world? It makes me think of a magic camera."

"I do not know what a camera is. However, it is a strange question to ask." Naan mused.

"Is it why?" I asked.

"Because you are asserting your strange ideas on my senses." Naan noted.

"What? I am? Why didn't you say something?" I said feeling bad about that.

"Because every time I try to change it you show adverse reactions." Naan stated.

I frowned. "Even when I'm not attempting to watch it?" I asked.

"I can't be certain, but I've tried doing so several times while you were moving. Each time our body feels sicker and sicker." Naan explained.

"That... I don't know what to say." I said perplexed by that.

"I've been managing so far. Perhaps we can try and find time to consider it more in the future." Naan offered.

"Alright." I agreed. I wasn't sure what to say or do about that. If just doing whatever Naan was trying was making me sick could I get over that? Maybe I would need to build up a resistance to it? I thought I was getting better, but maybe part of it was that Naan just was avoiding the worst of it? I had to at least try to keep optimistic about this, we'd figure it out. At least for the moment, I felt like my gut was feeling better.

I was about to recommend that we start moving again with the sound of something shifting caught my attention. A few of the goblins glanced that way as well. Clearly, I wasn't the only one that had heard something. Just the sound of a rock? It had come from down the hall, but there wasn’t anything moving. Moment by moment most of us found ourselves looking ahead and down the hall.

I lifted myself up to a standing position. I stared down the hallway. Was it just the sound of a stone breaking lose? Maybe it wasn’t so uncommon after all? Still… Did I want to walk down the hall?

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