Chapter 35: Trap Gate
'Make new records? My axx!'
Kyriaki clenched her teeth and looked down at the pile of monsters she was standing on. She was leaning on the Cadmus' Dragon Slayer with a look that screamed she was very displeased with this situation.
The semi-transparent holographic window softly glowed before her eyes.
[Welcome to the dungeon;
[Day of Undead
Rank: &_#$_
Type: Double Dungeon
Theme: #$_&]
"Tch." Her small face hardened at the sight.
—This must be a trap gate— Ebrah's voice, mixed with sincere amusement and a subtle fear echoed in her ears.
All gates, dungeons and towers are there because the will of the world is working hard to prevent mass destruction to their world. They manipulate space, reality and probability to trap monsters in any way possible.
As for trap gates, those types of gates are the ones that the will of Mitherr-ge lose control over once in a while. It was completely controlled by the boss monster of the dungeon.
In short, trap gates are a rare kind of gates that deceive adventurers by appearing like a low ranking gate. Almost all trap gates are connected to dungeons. However those dungeons are not just mere monster pits.
Just like the name suggests, the dungeon was a trap as the real dimensional crystal lies in the joint dungeon connected to the first one adventurers enter. And the monster can be either extremely high ranking or low ranking, without any order and balance.
Simply put, it was a double dungeon with who-know-what kind of monsters roaming around. There was only one way to face this kind of mess; they have to clear both dungeons and run out of the portal before it gets closed forever.
'First, I have to gather my scattered teammates.' Ignoring Ebrah, Kyriaki descended the ground using monsters as if she was descending stairs.
Scattering the people who enter the dungeon was also a trick trap gates use often. It places each member of parties that enter the dungeon in different places to prevent them from working together.
Most of the time, adventurers fall into these kinds of traps and get eaten by monsters. It was a common story in places like Frerland.
Kyriaki immediately became a victim of trickery the moment she entered the gate. She recalled how she fell from the sky, right into a Gremlin den.
Gremlins, also known as graveyard monsters due to their habit of eating dead bodies, disgusted her to no end. She has to massacre the entire den while holding back her emotions. These E rank monsters that looked adorable when calm but got ugly and violent the moment they spotted prey made Kyriaki's heart uneasy.
She knew of Ogofa's misfortune, but she never thought it could cause this kind of distraction to her plans. It was a serious mistake. She should've just postponed the schedule for a few days and requested Lucky Fireflies from EESOP or the Titans.
'I have no idea of the theme of this dungeon. Is it undead type? Can't really trust the name, though. And on top of that, E+ Monster from the start? just how high is this dungeon?'
—Want me to guess? I bet it's D rank—
'Then I'll make plans for a C rank dungeon'
—Hey! I said D not C!—
'You expect me to believe in a slave demonic sword that used to be one of seven deadly sins?'
—I wasn't lying! I'm wrath not envy!—
'Shut.Up'
—…—
Shutting Ebrah with one sentence, Kyriaki examined her surroundings. She has
It was a cave with a high ceiling, so high that she calculated it to be over 100 meters. It was dark and damp, yet if one saw it only in pictures, they'd have mistaken it for a beautiful sandstone canyon that was supposed to be dry all-year-around.
It reminded her of the Antelope canyon in the USA, Earth. In other words, it looked like a modern work of art. With molten sandstone ribbons and dramatic sculpted walls, it was a perfect inhabitant for Monsters.
However, Kyriaki doubted how those graveyard monsters managed to live there.
'Damn Gremlins. I'll end your bloodline like Fairies did to Greenlings.'
Gremlins doesn't level up over E+. Which meant she'll meet more monsters of different kinds on her way. After all, she can't forget this is a trap gate.
Kyriaki waved Cadmus' Dragon Slayer leisurely, shaking off all the red blood without getting herself dirty. After the Crimson Moon incident, Endymion had trained her hard to reach this level, where a single drop of blood wouldn't grace her body. Surprisingly, it was a direct order from her father; Elysium.
She didn't refuse.
Those kinds of lessons suited her taste better than anything else. The Ego of a hatchling that wanted to be more elegant and graceful than anyone else was radiating in her each move as she put her Whip-sword in the watch's inventory.
'I can't detect anything'
Kyriaki closed her eyes softly and inhaled air tinted with the scent of blood. A few seconds passed and her long golden eyelashes fluttered open.
"Activate
[Ding!]
[Activating
[X-ray Vision
Rank: S+
Category: Bloodline Talent
Type: Active
Effect: Allows you to see through objects.]
Her pupils turned to their original form and glowed in a neon golden light. Those slit pupils of a predator shone brilliantly, to the point the sun itself would shy away from competition.
Beyond rock hard walls, like peeling an onion, she looked beyond layers and layers without any change in her expression. Her dragon eyes carefully observed her surroundings that visualized in her eyes in red, yellow and green due to X-ray Vision with caution.
North,
East,
South,
And west.
Then, she spotted a few humanoid shaped silhouettes.
The golden glow in her eyes flickered and went dim. Kyriaki smirked wickedly.
∆ ∆ ∆
People tend to be more sensitive to the misfortunes that are close to them rather than the fortune they gained by surviving the misfortune. Sentimental minds are almost always just that, simple and sometimes unreasonable.
"I should've just listened to that arrogant princess."
And the boy who gritted his teeth and glared at the empty space with his sapphire blue eyes was one of those sentimental people in misfortune.
The sapphire eyed boy—Ethan, panted as he collapsed on the floor. His axe fell with a loud clang, but he didn't care.
"That sxxxxxx bird is definitely cursed!" he exclaimed in anger.
At first he had no idea. It acted just like any other ordinary bird. Born and lived on the moon all his life, he never bothered to know much about Animals.
The Bloodline Talent all High Elves receive;
Since it was his first time, he was overjoyed. When that joy only lasted a few seconds he was furious enough to mutter courses to the Prince of Titans and the Crown Princess of Dragons.
He had always been short-tempered, no one dared to fix it for him anyway. Not even his timid and loving father. Even if it was a dragon, if they dare, he'd have willingly left the moon on his own. Not just moon, he was prepared to leave his entire clan if possible.
He was a High Elf, after all. He was sure the outside world would welcome him with open arms. Humans would worship him, a higher race superior to them.
"Fxxxxxx hell." Ethan muttered a curse under his breath, looking at the deep wound he received from a Death Beetle, a F+ rank monster reeking of the scent of death.
"That bird…it's true…misfortune is clinging to me like a leach now." He laid on the blood soaked floor, looking at the high ceiling of the cave.
Jet-black colored insect monsters that looked like beetles the size of a German Shepherd Dog scattered around him in pieces like a decoration of a demon's gathering. But his sapphire blue eyes were fixed on the single red butterfly fluttering its soft wings above him.
"Go back, Cassia." The moment he uttered those words, the butterfly caught on fire in an instant and disappeared.
Cassia, a lower rank spirit, lives on the Primal Plane. It was a fire attribute spirit helpful for beginner spirit mages.
"I'm gonna quit the academy after this fxxxxxx mission ends. I'll definitely leave this useless clan who bow to other people like slaves. Living with humans would be much easier. Just you wait! I'll sell some information about dragons if needed, that'll gain me respect and popularity. Huh! I'll definitely overcome this curse!!" He mumbled like a madman and clenched his fists. His eyes gleamed in greed, envy and arrogance as he smiled as if he made the most greatest plan of his life.
"Ugh…but first, I have to find a way to get out of here. The only thing I can think of is the Dimensional crystal." His eyes turned to the south with bitterness.
∆ ∆ ∆
'I shouldn't have come to the moon. I shouldn't have taken the exam. I shouldn't have obediently followed young master Ethan around. I shouldn't have enjoyed it when he ordered me to bully others. I shouldn't have—ugh'
Adam's thoughts stirred around like a flame of chaos as he took shelter inside a narrow crack formed on the wall. His head was messy, just like his current appearance.
He felt dizzy, panting like an exhausted dog, throwing away whatever dignity he had left.
He could hear the sound of monstrous growls. His eyes were fixed on the massive shadows of the monsters that resembled crocodiles closely. The sticky air became heavy.
His heart sank with each step they took towards where he was hiding. His front was blocked by a rock, but still, it seems his smell was lingering around the crack entrance.
'I should've listened to my mother.' He bit his lips, holding back tears. He felt like everything he did until now was wrong. 'Is this what they call life flash before your eyes when death comes to you?'
Adam had always been a greedy coward. His greed made him outstanding in talents compared to his peers, but his cowardliness made him afraid of everything that could harm him, even with words.
After all, he wasn't a High Elf that lived up to 5000 years with the honor of being personal assistants to the dragons. He wasn't born on the moon either. He was just an ordinary Elf, born in the forest and could only live less than half of the years an average High Elf could live.
It was fine, he thought. He at least has talent. He might be a coward afraid of shedding his own blood, but his outstanding abilities outshone those little cracks on his personality.
That was why he was able to take the EESOP exam and win a sponsorship from House Benowitz. It was a famous Dark High Elven clan among both Forest and moon elves.
He thought he was safe and sound when he arrived on the moon. He thought he'd finally be recognized for his abilities. He went against his mother's wish to move out of the Sea of Trees to live on the moon. But everything flowed down the river like broken tree branches in a heavy rain when he stepped into his academy life.
Everyone he saw was outstanding. Extraordinary and splendid. He was just average compared to those shining prodigies. And not to mention, the difference of social status and wealth was so distant that Adam felt suffocating among his new academy peers.
That wasn't all, he was able to see how unfair the world was to those of a lower bloodline with his own eyes. Among powerful dragons and high elves, a mere ordinary elf was nothing.
Just because they were lucky enough to be born that way and he was unlucky enough to be born this way, he was hit with the reality in a very short period of time.
He was so much weaker and pathetic. That was his reality. And that reality was confirmed to him by none other than Ethan, the young master of House Benowitz.
He was weak so he had to obey the strong. The first dominating strong he met was Ethan. From that day on, there wasn't a single command he failed to achieve.
He was so cowardly that even if he knew what he did was wrong, he did it anyway. He didn't want to be in the shoes of those people who were wronged.
At the end of all sorts of excuses, Adam found himself enjoying the thrill of tiny power he held. If he wasn't strong, he just had to follow the will of the strongest. Even those stronger than him fell under the fist of the strongest.
It felt thrilling to see noble High Elves crawling under his feet. Those who were shining with talents were nothing but playthings to someone else.
Just when he was covering his weaknesses with his own selfish reasons, he got stuck here.
All because of a bird.
He never felt this stupid in his life. Elves were always weaker to animals and nature, yes. But even so, he wasn't a High Elf who was highly sensitive and directly connected to them. How could he be swapped away by the death of a little bird? He had done worse to his fellow classmates.
He regretted not believing the Titans, and he resented his team leader who continued this mission despite the risk.
'Yeah, it's all that bxxxx's fault. She acts all high and mighty but can't even judge a situation properly beforehand. I'm in this situation because of her.' Adam's wheat brown eyes shone with deep hatred.
Bang!
"AHHHH!!" The rock in the front was smashed by a powerful force in the blink of an eye.
Adam curled up in the crack and peeked his eyes under his arms, only to see a giant eyeball of a Poison Crocodile. A large green reptilian eye that shone in unresolved hunger and bloodlust, peering into his very being like a demon. Adam felt a chill down his spine from that gaze.
"Roarrrrr!!!" The eyeball moved away and a claw attack hit the wall immediately.
The aura of death clinging to the monster seems to wrap around Adam like slowly growing roots of a tree.
"Ahh…ahhh…" his chin trembled.
He felt like his voice, breath and everything chock up inside his throat as if an iron hand was wrapped around it. Bathed in cold sweat from head to toe, Adam tore his brown hair that was tangled around his fingers like a madman.
"Ahhh…ahhh…save me. Please, someone please. I don't want to die."
Bang!!!
"Roar!!!"
"I don't want to die. I don't want to die. I don't…I don't… no. No. No. No. Nonononononononononononono."
Slash!
Because of the sudden mental breakdown, he couldn't hear the sound of a sword slashing through flesh nor the pained roars of the monsters.
"Dying…no. I don't want to. No. No. Go away. Don't kill me. Don't kill me. Don't kill me. Don't kill me. Don't kill me. Don't. Don't. Don't. Don'tdon'tdon'tdon'tdon't."
"Tsk, how pathetic." When he kept mumbling like a broken machine, he faintly heard a familiar voice from the distance.
"Save me, please. Please, I beg you. Please. Please. Please. pleasepleaseplease." As if grasping for the last straw before his death, Adam roughly pulled his hair with dilated pupils, begging for the voice to save him. The frown on his eyebrows never left his face as he mumbled in panic.
It was madness.
The kind that had been formed by the shattered emotions of a weak mentality.
"What a weak being. Both physically and mentally." A low mumble, as if the owner of the sound had given up and coldly evaluating his everything down to soul, reached Adam's ears. He flinched, partly coming to his senses in an instant.
"Hey, Sir Adam Chazan. Aren't you disgracing your academy right now?" A cold voice, devoid of any positive emotions, woke him up from his madness as if someone had poured cold water over his head.
Another chill ran down his spine, but strangely, Adam felt relieved to hear that voice.
"L-lord Euclid!" Adam slowly lifted his head. Tears, snoot and cold sweat wetted his face like a second skin.
Euclid stared at him for a few seconds and turned away, hiding his face full of disgust skillfully. He was dripping wet with water droplets dropping like dew on a morning.
However, the twin swords he held had different kinds of droplets sliding down. Red and sticky, smelling like iron, it made its presence known.
Adam crawled out of the crack in a haste nonetheless.
"Lord Euclid! Gasp!! D-did you kill all of these monsters?" He paused his hands which were whipping his tears and sweat.
His brown eyes landed on a pile of Poison Crocodiles and then they slowly moved to the swords dripping with blood. Adam shivered at the sight of the cheerful dragon hatchling looking at the distance with a cold expression.
"This is bad, Sir Adam. If you can't fight, you might die. Although I am now with you, I can't protect you all the time. Besides, we came here to fight, not cower in a corner." Euclid's ocean blue eyes turned to him.
Adam shut his mouth in puzzlement. Euclid was smiling at him with an innocent and concerned gaze.
'Did I see an illusion?' He tried to calm down his trembling heart and again looked at Euclid, who was now babbling about how he was thrown into a pond of Phiraha and Poison Crocodiles the moment he stepped into the dungeon.
'I must've seen things.' He then shook his head and opened his mouth in relief.
"My Lord—no—Sir Euclid…this is a trap gate right? What are we supposed to do now?"
"First, we should find our team leader and reform our party. I'm fine but you guys might get exhausted from continuous battles that might happen day and night from now on. It's risky to fight alone." Euclid calmly explained with a kind voice. At the mention of team leader Adam's face darkened.
He reluctantly nodded as it was the most rational decision anyone would make to survive in this kind of situation. Having two hatchlings means having meat shields and guards that are more similar to robots than mortals. The rate of surviving could go over 90% just by having them release their scent and the aura.
"But how are we going to find them?"
"By finding the Dimensional crystal. Or more accurately, the boss room." Euclid answered without hesitation. "Remember what Ria said? Don't forget our main goal. We just have to find the Dimensional crystal and wait for others to arrive. Once we are rehrouped, we can defeat the dungeon boss and shatter the Dimensional crystal. And voila! we are back home safe and sound!"
This time, Adam nodded his head vigorously.
"That's true. We can go back if we break the crystal anyway."
"Then let's go! We have to search for our teammates quickly! Let's go! Let's go!!!" Euclid cheerfully jumped up and grinned widely. Then he started running towards the north energetically.
There was no one who saw Euclid's smile fade away to a cold expression the moment he turned around.
∆ ∆ ∆
Levana has always been clumsy. Even her very first memory of childhood was a clumsy one where she tripped and fell in front of her childhood crush, with mud and pigeon feathers all over.
And with dramatic sighs and living experience of 300 years, she just accepted her reality and got used to every clumsy action she took without hesitation.
Alas, who would have thought that would be why she was often targeted by bullies?
However Levana was not so saddened by those kinds of bullying attempts that looked like they were done by people with low self-esteem.
The world was large and she had so many things to learn and explore. She had to make friends, confess her love to the person she admires, take care of her aunt and uncle, her siblings—who were her source of strength after the death of her parents.
The countless reasons why she ignored her own clumsiness could be counted from dawn to dusk. But she had never hated her own circumstances so much in her entire life until now.
"Huff huff huff." She gripped her daggers tightly and leaned on to the cave walls.
She cursed at herself for being so clumsy.
The minute she fell from the sky into a massive den where only Doom Pythons of E- rank lived. It was fortunate that her brain didn't freeze on the spot after realizing that fact.
Yes, looking back, that was the only fortunate thing she experienced after meeting that bir
Yes, looking back, that was the only fortunate thing she experienced after meeting that bird.
Levana swallowed her sigh in sincere disappointment. She was disappointed at herself for not recognizing the truth. If she had identified the bird, no, if she had believed Bjorn and requested a mission delay, this wouldn't have happened.
And if she wasn't so clumsy on the top of it all, she wouldn't have nearly died by the sharp fangs of giant Doom Pythons.
Doom Pythons.
It was a monster species resembling a black python if it was not for the beautiful white patterns and the size that could easily gulp down a cow in one bite. They were a type of monsters that fed on dark emotions and the flesh of spoiled corpses.
Sounds spooky, and almost like a horror fairytale. But that information cannot be less truthful.
Levana took a breath as deep as the abyss itself. Her grey eyes failed to hide her exhaustion.
It would have been fine if the monsters were of around F rank. But for an F- ranker, fighting E rank monsters was a life and death battle. And to fight with a whole nest of monster pythons of E rank meant immediate death.
If she hadn't used
But alas, even after giving her all, she was chased by dozens of Doom Pythons for hours.
Not second.
Not minutes.
But hours!
Levana managed to shake off most and even killed two by careful assassination. She was a bit proud to level up one sub rank too. Nonetheless, those emotions couldn't overpower the emotion of hatred she felt towards her own clumsiness.
〖You've leveled up!〗
〖F- > F〗
She glanced at her sky-blue system window and chuckled.
'I'm certain I'd die by my own hands one day.' She shook her head.
'But what's important now is not my clumsy death, but a way to reunite with my teammates.' Levana's eyes turned serious as she gazed at the corridor leading to an endless darkness. 'I should find the boss room first.'
And so, the little dark elf stood up with an exhausted expression and serious eyes. She turned and headed east stealthy like a true assassin.
∆ ∆ ∆
"The average lifespan of an ordinary elf is around 2000 years."
—From the book