Chapter 24 Fishman Dungeon II

Surveying my surroundings, I found myself standing in a small, clear area surrounded by trees.

To the north, an endless path led to a bridge and river, while to the east and west lay a dense forest. Approximately a hundred meters behind me, to the south, the river stretched from east to west. One could tell just by hearing the sound of the river flowing from a distance, that the river was flowing fast.

"Surely the path ahead is where the dungeon boss is waiting for us, right?" I squinted, surveying the path ahead, to the north, for any signs of danger with my Clairvoyance.

"Perhaps," Goose replied.

To the north lay a once-grand bridge, spanning the rush of the fast river below. Its crumbled remains now lay scattered across the water, a testament to its tragic collapse.

As I gazed upon the wreckage, a sense of unease crept over me, for I knew not what could have caused such destruction.

"Hmm. This is bad…"

I had believed that the bridge to the north was the only way to cross the river, but it had collapsed, leaving us stranded.

To my left and right, the forest stretched on endlessly, the same scenery I had been staring at for hours in the last dungeon.

To the south was even more dangerous than the bridge to the north, with a wide, fast river that could bring disaster if we attempted to walk near it. It was also the only place where the Fishman boss was likely to be hiding, waiting to ambush us.

According to the information I had gathered and what I remembered from a description I'd written, a Fishman monster was something akin to Lizardman, not by the shape, but by their abilities and advantages. They were monsters that relied heavily on their environment.

The water was obvious to tell us that the boss monster was there.

But, there was also another possibility. They could also be hiding inside the forest, which environment was humid.

I stood frozenly, my mind racing with uncertainty. I turned to my companion, Goose, and asked for his opinion.

"Any suggestions on where we should go? The bridge to the north has collapsed, and to our south is a wide river which is likely where the boss monster is hiding."

I explained to him, even as to what the bridge and rivers looked like in detail, according to what I had seen through my Clairvoyance as well as Pathfinding.

Goose rolled his eyes and replied irritably.

"Isn't our goal to kill the boss monster? Why hesitate? Let's just go and kill it already."

I understood where his attitude came from, but I couldn't help but to feel a pang of annoyance at him.

Sighing, I straightened up and tried to subtly apologize to him.

I knew that I needed his abilities and perceptive mind to complete this dungeon, but if he kept behaving like this, it wouldn't be possible.

"I'm sorry, okay? I promise I will never do that in the future. It's just that it would be a waste to let this chance slip from our hands, don't you think?"

Goose kicked a rock in frustration, but eventually returned to his usual self, exuding a positive vibe and optimism reminiscent of when I first met him.

"Haa… Okay. But, I want to know about the cure right now."

"I understand you want to know about the cure, but please help me first,"

I said with a bitter smile, trying to persuade him.

"Once we've completed our task, I promise I'll give you all the information you need."

Goose let out a resigned sigh, seemingly giving up on arguing with me.

"Fine," he said, "you'll be dead anyway if you break the contract."

I beamed a smile and shook his hand excitedly. "Great!"

"So, where do you think we should go?"

He surveyed the area, as I had done before. After a while, he clapped his hands and began walking.

"We'll head north."

"Why north? The bridge has already collapsed, and there is nothing there," I protested.

"Just trust me,"

A smirk plastered on his face as he said those lines I had said to him earlier before we entered the dungeon.

I followed him closely, keeping a watchful eye on our surroundings.

Even though pre-outburst dungeons were supposed to be free of monsters except for the boss monster, I couldn't let my guard down.

There could always be unexpected variables, like the demonic human I encountered in the flash dungeon, or maybe hidden treasures like Retro and Avatar Mask might be lurking behind those trees, or somewhere in this dungeon.

As we walked, the trees thinned out until we could see the last line of trees a few meters ahead of us.

Approaching the broken bridge and the fast-flowing river, the rain suddenly poured down, making me shiver with cold. It was only a hundred meters away until we reached the riverside, but damn this rain…

The three layers of clothes I wore, including a shirt, waistcoat, and a Victorian-style black cape coat, weighed me down and restricted my movements as the rain dampened them.

Flicking my cape, I freed my hands, hoping for mobility under the rain.

'Now that I realize… Didn't I dive down underwater to enter the dungeon?'

I sure did dive into the water. But, I never realize that my clothes were dry once I get inside. It felt so natural and sudden that I have forgotten I had just dove into the water to reach the portal. I shook my head and threw the useless thought, focusing on what was currently in front of me.

"This rain..." Goose muttered, pausing in his tracks.

He looked up at the sky and stretched his hand to feel the raindrops against his skin.

"I feel like something bad is going to happen."

Ahead of us, the river was wide and fast, and I noticed the water was moving oddly. Goose was right, something was about to happen.

I pulled out my sword from my Storage Cube and stood beside him.

"Get ready."

As we got closer to the bridge, the sound of rumbling water grew louder with each step.

I gripped my weapon tightly, ready for whatever lay ahead. Goose, on the other hand, appeared unfazed.

"Stay alert," I warned. "We don't know what's waiting for us."

Step by step, we advanced toward the bridge, but nothing seemed to happen.

Was it a false alarm?

Despite the lack of activity in the river, I refused to let my guard down.

The rain had picked up, and the ground was slick with mud. The area near the river was particularly damp, making it an accident waiting to happen.

As I took another step forward, disaster struck, just as Goose had predicted. But it was not the one I expected to be…

My foot slipped out from under me, and I crashed to the ground.

"Guh!" I groaned in pain.

The smell of wet earth filled my nostrils, and mud covered my face.

The pain was nothing compared to the embarrassment of falling in front of Goose.

When I looked at him, he was trying so hard to hold back his laughter that his face was as round as a balloon.

"Shut up, Goose!" I yelled in frustration. "If you want to laugh, then laugh or that face of yours will have an imprint of my fist!"

"BAHAHAHAHA!!!" he cackled.

His laughter echoed through the air, and I couldn't help but join in because how his laugh sounded like a duck's laughing sound.

We both had burst out laughing, and Goose had to wipe a tear from his eye.

When he finally caught his breath, he asked, "What's wrong with you? Suddenly acting like something's going on."

I, too, had tears streaming down my cheeks. I wiped them with the sleeve of my coat since I had no tissue or handkerchief as he asked me a question. Standing up, I gave him a puzzled look.

"Didn't you hear it? The rumbling sound of the water as we got closer to the river? It sounded like a thunderous roar echoing through the canyon."

Instead of answering me, he just tilted his head with a raised eyebrow.

Did he really not hear the rumbling sound? I couldn't tell, but I couldn't shake off the feeling that something was off.

As I stared at the fast river, the rumbling sound faded away, and the eerie movement of the water returned to its calm flow as if nothing had happened.

…

We continued on our way towards the bridge, and as I had seen it through my Pathfinding, it had indeed collapsed.

"See?" I gestured toward the broken structure.

Goose remained still, his brow furrowed as he appeared lost in thought.

The sound of the rain pattering against the ground and the rushing river nearby was deafening, almost as if we were caught amid a raging warzone.

Suddenly, he squatted down and reached for the end of the bridge's debris.

However, his hand couldn't seem to reach it as if an invisible force was blocking him. It dawned on me that it must be the dungeon's barrier, which was to be expected for an (E+) rank dungeon.

"I thought at least there would be something here."

I nodded in agreement, feeling a sense of relief that we were in this together, looking for treasure first before fighting off the boss monster. I thought he was going directly to the boss's location…

"Wouldn't it make more sense if we search for the forest instead here if we're looking for bonus looting?"

Goose nodded then stood up. "Yeah. I'm just curious about this side."

We pushed on through the rain, determined to reach our next destination, the forest where we first came here.

The way back was uneventful and the only sound was coming from me getting to know Goose.

I never had any chance to develop his character in the novel, but just know that he was the vice leader of Utopia and the most cunning and smart-brain character that hindered the protagonist's way.

However, even here, he was very secretive about his origin. What I gained from him from the conversation on our way to the forest was only the surface level of what he hide.

pαndα,noνɐ1,сoМ If he didn't want to tell me his origin, surely he would tell me about other things, right? For example, what was his relationship with Shannon, or how did he know Shannon?

"Shannon…" I began.

Goose flinched a bit when I mentioned her name, his expression guarded.

"How did you know her and what is your relationship with her?"

For a moment, he seemed lost in thought, his eyes fixed on the ground as we walked.

"...we are just acquaintances, she's my employer. She had hired me in the past for healing service for her friend just like she did for you."

Shannon's friend? In the past? Who could it be? Shannon herself never told me about her life before she enrolled in the academy. And it sucks that I didn't retain the memory of this body's previous owner.

"Who is this friend you're talking about?"

"Not gonna tell you. I respect my client's privacy. So, this information you are going to tell me about the cure will be forever a secret between me and the client, this is what I call business," he said, his hand gesturing to a coin symbol.

Despite my efforts to extract more information from Goose, it became clear that he was a highly secretive individual, just as Shannon had told me.

Although I admired his commitment to client confidentiality, a niggling doubt crept into my mind.

Could his allegiance to his profession be used to manipulate and exploit his clients? He was that kind of character after all, at least in the future.

As my mind was still occupied with thoughts of Goose's character, a sudden flash of a scene played out vividly inside my head.

The scenery and the place were still the same as the dungeon we were currently in, walking and talking just like we had right now. With the cold rain on my skin and the distant sound of the fast river. I could smell the rain and wet earth, and in the distance, I saw a glint of movement flying toward us.

Before I could react, a powerful jet of water shot toward us from a few hundred meters away to the north of us and killed us in a flash.

The vision ended abruptly, leaving me feeling disoriented and alarmed. I was still alive and so do Goose, but it won't be for long before that incident I saw happening.

I immediately yelled

"Get down!"

But it was too late.

Goose had been hit by the water jet and his heart pierced, while I narrowly dodged the attack by rolling to safety.

With my eyes and Clairvoyance focused on where the water jet came from. I saw a window screed pop up in my vision.

[Finrax]

[Race: Monster / Fishman]