Chapter 231 - Day DCLXXXVI, Part III

The passage was wide enough for at least two trucks. Few meters in, the tunnel was splitting to left and right. We chose one side randomly, just to soon arrived at another branching. One way was lighted up by torches fixed to the walls, the other was completely dark. I, out of curiosity, followed the dark one, just to discover that it was the one we didn't follow previously, which made us circle around. Then we finally went in the right direction.

There was plenty of light, and I could lighten the torches whenever I wanted, so we put them down.

It was quiet at first, but then we started to catch the echoes of shouts, grunts, and working, coming from the depths. There was definitely some blacksmithing going on, as I could hear the faint sounds of hammers hitting the metal.

With weapons at the ready, we went further. I was leading, with Boris and Will just behind me. They didn't talk at all, probably because of the nerves.

The noises became louder and louder with every step, and soon we entered a chamber that was nor small, nor big. It was empty, with many tunnels heading in many directions. Witch torches at every passage, making that place well lighted up.

- Which way? - asked Will.

- They are orcs probably at the end of all of those paths. Why don't we make some ruckus, and let them come here? - proposed Boris.

- Good idea - I agreed.

- Come here, you assholes! I beat you up so badly that your own mothers won't recognize you! You bitches! - Yelled Nil.

I couldn't help but smile, and I was not the only one.

- What? - he asked.

- Nothing. Just... You know you could just yell anything, right? - I asked.

The ruckus came from all the pathways. Orcs were on the move.

- Yeah, I know. So what?

- Nothing. Never mind.

- What's so wrong with dissing them a bit?

- Nothing, never mind. Just forget about that.

As I finished the first bunch reached the chamber. I shadow walked to them, and just slaughtered them. My friends split apart, so every postage way was covered. There was no problem with holding them off as they kept charging in small groups, or even without any support. It was clear to them that they didn't organize themselves, and just ran to the noise. Because of that, the fight took some time, but eventually, it looked like we got rid of them all.

Then we split into two teams and searched the tunnels one by one. We found rooms that were filled with equipment, tools, anvils, and forges. There were some weapons, but nothing of quality even close to what Rishi was producing, so there was very little sense in taking all that junk. 

Other chambers were clearly sleeping quarters with simple beddings, and spots designed for social encounters. Short tables, small sculptures, and ornaments lying here and there. Everything was well lighted by the same ever-burning torches fixed to walls. All a facade that was supposed to hold the image of them being real creatures. 

It took us some time to finally find the one leading further. We followed it and found ourselves in a natural cavern with a large group already awaiting us there. Large bowls filled with fire were giving plenty of light to see everything, even the stalactites on the ceiling. There was no time for thinking. They charged at us, and we charged at them.

Maybe there was way more of them than us, but with the strongest people at the front, we just pierced through their lines splitting them in half. They surrounded us, but that didn't change anything. It was just a matter of time for us to win.

Then we took a break. Few people sat on the ground. I found myself piling up the crystals lying on the floor. Sanders came to help me.

- It's way easier than I thought it would be - he pointed out.

- We are still fighting with regular orcs. There are armored ones, the berserkers, and then mages. There is plenty of things to watch out for.

- Maybe. I still think we can do it. Easly. You really got strong, Peter. Way stronger than I expected... How much stronger are those bears than orcs exactly?

I couldn't hold my smile.

- They have great defenses, so if you cant kill, them, you can forget about that spot. The second type is even worse, and the third one... Well, you would die.

- That strong?

- Well, it was dark and there was a bunch of them, but they kept me on my toes. So yeah... I don't recommend going there yet. You should first find out if you can even kill them.

- Maybe when we are finished here I'll try.

We worked in silence for a moment, and then he suddenly asked:

- What's your story, Peter?

- What?

- I can't help but always wonder. What the hell is this guy's story so he had it in him, to do all the crazy stuff he does. So... What's your story?

- It's nothing special, really. I had a nice family. Not poor, not reach. Just... At some point, nothing worked for me. No matter what I tried everything was so damn hard, and I would fail eventually. University, job, life itself... The worst part was, there was nobody to blame but me or the world itself, so I blamed both. I grew spiteful and resentful of myself. My self-esteem died, and I stopped coming out of the house. I just hated myself.

He was silently nodding.

- Then this happened, and I brought all my emotional baggage with myself here. So it wasn't better here either. I hit rock bottom, but... But I had my hatred, and I used it to pick myself up. It wasn't the best way, but it worked, and somewhere along the line I realized that everything got better than it was. I wasn't ashamed of myself anymore.

- I get that. I had a moment like that myself. I put my everything into boxing, and one day realized that I'm leaving in a shitty place with rats, every day struggling, doing my work diligently, and nothing gets better. Everybody has their limits. I believe that I reached mine. But then I woke up here, so... yeah.

- We got our second chance. We know how to work hard, and hard work here is paying off like nothing else. Maybe this is our salvation.

He chuckled.

- Maybe. Still... I would love to see my mother. I never missed her birthday, but now I missed two of them.

I patted him on the back.

- We will get there.

That's how our conversation ended.. We piled up the stones, and the break was over.