Dungeon of Fire - 3

The wall sank back smoothly, without resistance.

Clara, losing her support, was dragged toward the open hole and fell in. She flailed her thin arms helplessly through the air, but it was all in vain.

They all dashed off. Kenny was the fastest.

He surprisingly moved quickly, grabbing Clara's clothes with a swift motion and flinging her forcefully toward the hard ground. Alec caught her, but the momentum sent his body tumbling toward the hole.

Just as I finally reached Kenny and tried to pull him back, my footing gave way.

In the end, both Kenny and I tumbled down into the hole. We must have fallen several meters!? My whole body ached.

There was no light where we landed, though the space seemed to exist—its full extent impossible to grasp.

My entire body was covered in dirt. I had bruises, but I could still move without issue.

"Kenny, are you alright!?"

"I'm fine. But it's dangerous being in total darkness. We need light."

I scattered faintly glowing magic stones around the area. The dimly lit space turned out to be surprisingly large.

The scattered magic stones weren't enough to illuminate the entire scene. But one thing was unmistakably clear.

Dozens of eyes were staring at us.

Whereas before we'd only seen groups of five or six, there were now perhaps twenty to thirty of them right in front of us—wolves, deer, moles, all gathered together.

"Kenny!" "Uss!"

Kenny steps forward, raising his large shield in response to the signal. I quickly fire iron-tipped bolts from my crossbow at various locations, then hurl all the light crystals I'm holding.

I'm worried about the wall's strength, but when facing a large number of enemies, there's no choice but to do it.

First comes a swift wolf-like subbeast. Kenny blocks its charge with his shield, then slices the staggered enemy with his short sword. A solid move, but there are just too many foes.

Little by little, Kenny begins to sustain wounds.

I’ve finished shooting arrows at the subbeasts and the wall. No more arrows remain.

"Good work, Kenny. Fall back!"

"Ugh."

Taking Kenny's place, I stepped forward. The greatest attack I could muster—

I activated a high-output thunderbolt that spread throughout the room.

A chaotic web of glowing lines surged across the chamber, crackling with thunder. The lightning surged through the arrows I had scattered, spreading to every corner of the room.

Currents flowed from one enchanted stone to another, pulsing through the scattered gems. The electric blue light of the thunder connected every corner of the room.

Enemies were swept up in the flow and struck down by lightning.

The large room was illuminated in a flash, briefly revealing its entire shape—an oval tilted sideways like a flattened egg.

Gradually, the light faded, and the open space regained its silence.

The scattered light stones had lost their power; their glow vanished, and darkness returned to the room.

...There's still a faint noise. Not all of them were defeated? The number has been greatly reduced, but...

A large wolf-like sub-beast emerged from the darkness.

Reaction was slow. I cast my usual small-scale lightning spell, and a wall of lightning formed in front of me.

A technique I've used on people—will it work against this!?

The wolf-like sub-species charged forward with full force. Though it lost its balance upon touching the wall of lightning, it kept advancing without slowing, slamming into me with the bulk of a large dog. My defense came too late—I was knocked down.

"Guh!"

I was sent flying backward, sliding about a meter.

The taste of iron filled my mouth, and dull pain spread through my body, but I ignored it and got back on my feet.

This is bad... I have no way to attack.

Throwing the shattering gemstone proves ineffective against swift, small enemies resembling wolves.

As expected, he skillfully dodged, and the distance closed once again.

Trying to unleash the lightning spell once more, I raised the light crystal. But it was already upon me—would I make it in time?... However, the wolf-like creature was blown away by the large shield.

It's Kenny.

After Kenny blew the wolf-like creature away with the large shield, he finished it off with a short sword.

"I'm sorry... the sound and light were just a bit overwhelming, I got startled."

"I should've made myself clear too. My bad. I'll be more careful from now on. Anyway, did you take care of all the enemies?"

"There's no trace of them... Let's go check around just to be sure."

We cautiously explored the interior, following the walls. We retrieved arrows and recharged the scattered glowing points with mana, making them bright once more.

It seems we’ve managed to defeat all the enemies.

Now we’re collecting gemstones from the sub-beasts and disposing of the corpses—the aftermath of battle. Thanks to Kenny’s efficient work, we’ve gathered a decent amount, but it looks like it’ll be over soon. For now, we’ve at least overcome this crisis...

Why is Kenny even adventuring with Clara? If he's that dexterous, he could probably find a more stable job...

I let my guard down and ended up asking things I normally wouldn't have, lulled by the sense of relief after defeating all my enemies.

"I don't have any parents. By the time I could understand things, I was already being taken care of by Clara's family. Though I'm not very friendly, they raised me without ever treating me differently. That's why I want to repay their kindness."

"I see... Then I should head back quickly... But how do we get up there?"

After finishing our task, we looked up at the hole we'd fallen through.

It's a steep slope—almost like a wall. Climbing up looks like it'll be tough.

It might be possible to climb up if we can drive something like an ice axe into the solid wall of earth... huh? Something's falling from above.

"Kenny! Taro!"

Clara and Alex came tumbling down from above.

"We came to help! Wait... could it already be over?"

Kenny nodded, giving a look that said, 'What, already?'—but clearly relieved to see Kenny safe. His expression softened.

"I saw a strong light shooting from above, Taro. It looked like lightning magic. How are you feeling?"

"I'm tired, but I'm fine. Since the incident in Akau Village, I've been researching and adjusting it to work even at high output. I realized that when I scatter light stones and use magic, lightning also comes out from the scattered light stones. Thanks to that, I've managed to increase the number of uses slightly."

"Yeah, I see. That's quite admirable. By the way, was that mass of bestial creatures an enemy that was in this space? There are quite a few of them."

"Seriously impressive... Did you really take them all down? Sorry about that..."

I was suddenly apologized to on impulse. Well, unexpected situations happen all the time—let's call it even.

I replied with a "It's fine."

After finishing a general check of the situation, I finally asked the question I'd been wondering about all along.

"By the way, how did you figure out how to climb up and then come back down?"

"Ah!"

Four people—two men and two women—had gathered in the center of a vast space, discussing how to exit this large area.

Since it's hard to describe, let's call it the Monster House.

Aleks said,

"Let's just climb that cliff with sheer determination!"

Maybe Aleks could manage it, but I'm certain I'd just fall midway.

Clara said,

"Maybe we can dig our way out!"

How deep do you think we'd need to dig?

Kenny replies.

"Shallow."

Well, what now... The simplest escape route would be to climb out of the hole that collapsed on us, but upon inspection, it was clearly unstable. Climbing out with bare hands feels risky.

Is there another way? For instance, those fallen sub-beasts were once just ordinary wild animals. Where did they come from?

Exploring inside the Monster House. The space is quite spacious, and sparkling lights can be seen coming from the walls. Tiny fire crystals.

It was said this dungeon would yield fire crystals, but I never thought they'd actually exist... though they're small.

"Tarou, come over here."

Following Alex's call, I approached and found a hollow shell of something.

Could it be a snake...? I can see a mottled pattern. The problem is how unusually large it is. One scale alone is at least fifty centimeters across—undoubtedly abnormal.

This is a monster. It clearly exhibits the characteristics of a magical beast whose body undergoes drastic changes.

A monster with these scales must be lurking deeper inside this cave. Taking it down will be no easy task. Looking at Alex, he's clearly smirking—definitely has the makings of a battle enthusiast.

What was Kenny feeling, exactly? It was hard to tell. Clara looked unamused. Everyone seemed just as they always were.

Behind the hollow, there was a hole about waist-high. Another hole...