Chapter 11: Lost

Chapter 11: Lost

“I’m telling you, we are lost,” Glenny said to the group.

It was well into night at this point but the group was still in the tall, grassy, soulless savannah wilds. Since their battle with the pride of lions, they had not seen a single monster besides the benign or mundane animal. Even with Glenny’s heightened senses, there simply wasn’t anything to do but aimlessly wander.

“If someone hadn’t let go of the map...” Leland teased, smirking.

“You know how I get when there’s something in my eye!” Jude exclaimed.

“Yeah, you get teary.”

“Do not!”

“Do so!”

“Maybe I do...”

Leland took his victory with a laugh. “If worse comes to worst, then we camp out here for the night. We never got an inn, so we still have our camping supplies.”

Glenny rolled his eyes at that. “You know how I feel about camping out in the open.”

Jude saw an opening. “You get cranky,” he said with a smirk.

“No I don’t.”

“No he doesn’t.”

His smirk fell.

The others laughed.

“Still,” Leland continued. “We should probably try to find the town. I don’t want to camp out with monster parts stinking up the area.”

So they got back to walking, their packs full of meaty bloody organs and pelts. Glenny also kept the lions’ claws and teeth, stating that he would look into getting a pair of bone daggers crafted later.

During the down time, Leland checked over his grimoire’s newest entry.

You have assisted in killing multiple Mana Lions. An appropriate reward has been added to your Legacy.

Fracture has increased to rank 5.

Crow Massacre increased to rank 3.

Just as he expected, Fracture’s percent chance to hit went up by five and Crow Massacre increased its crow count by one. Honestly, Leland was a bit disappointed that Curse of Collapse didn’t rank up. Despite him only using it once, he thought the situation would have given him more rewards than simply nothing.

He shrugged, checking the next page. It was still stuck shut. Putting the grimoire back into his hand, Leland saw the crow tattoo move. It changed its perpetual flight to something more guarded. At least, as guarded as a bird could get.

I wonder what—

His thoughts were cut off when Glenny gasped.

Glenny nodded to the notion, activating his invisibility. He led the way, pushing through the tall grass like the very lions they hunted earlier. Coming into view of the entrance proper, a flickering mana light was all there was to illuminate the building’s interior.

Glenny let out a long breath, signaling the others it was safe.

Leland cursed, “My Lord, that's a lot of blood.”

The tattoo on his hand tilted its head, but no one noticed.

“Yeah,” Jude said robotically. “Too much blood. Trust me, I’ve killed a lot of things. There has never been this much blood.”

Red stained the building’s walls and ceiling, droplets fell to the hardwood floor, the stench of iron perforated the windows they looked through. As they pushed in, they found the mangled body of the attendant behind a countertop. It was an older gentleman, the fading tattoo on his hand all but confirming the man was not a combatant.

“The Legacy of the Quill Lord,” Leland said, recognizing the feather pen ink. “He was a receptionist, he didn’t deserve to be killed like this.”

“He didn’t deserve to be killed at all,” Glenny said before taking a deep breath. “The Master Onryo is still missing. There is no body.”

“Hey guys... you should come see this.”

At some point Jude had stepped further into the building, a set of red boot prints leaving a path. The others followed his voice into the back room. They found Jude standing before a broken open vault door, melting red ice dripped from the mangled hinges.

“Someone went in,” Jude said, pointing into the vault. “The dungeon is activated.”

The green shimmering entrance all but confirmed his words. Dungeon portals are typically blue, signifying the dungeon is ready for delving. After entering, teammates had an hour to exit before the entrance “closed,” turning a deep red. Only one group was allowed in at a time, which only meant one thing.

“We are the only ones who can help Onryo.”

Both Jude and Leland turned to Glenny. The young man gripped his twin daggers with all his might. His breathing was erratic and harsh, a stark contrast to his statue-like face staring at the shimmering portal entrance.

“We don’t have much time. The entrance will close soon. We need to decide what we are going to do.” Glenny hesitated before adding, “I recognize who the killer is.”

“Who?” Jude asked.

“An Icewillow.”

Leland shook his head. “No, that doesn’t make any sense. They were all branded Witches and executed for their crimes. This can’t be a member.”

Glenny shook his head, tears forming but never falling. “After the funeral for – for mom, I overheard an Inquisitor telling my dad the youngest son had escaped.”

“Their youngest son?! That means the last surviving Icewillow is the man who—”

“Killed my mom, yeah,” Glenny finished. “And another is about to fall to his hand, if Onryo hasn’t been killed already, that is.”

Leland and Jude glanced at each other, a silent agreement forming. Leland took the initiative. “What do you want to do? We will follow your choice.”

Glenny gave them a shy smile. His fingers loosened and curled around the hilt of his daggers, the gears in his mind turned.

“We go in.”

“Damn right we do!” Jude bellowed, pulling his axe to his shoulder. “I’ll take point.”

And just like that, it was time for their rookie team to delve their first dungeon.