Chapter 12

They had little time to rest after their training sessions. Roddrick wanted them to try out their new skills in the midst of battle and they agreed.

Using his mana manipulation abilities, Roddrick shared mana with them to restore their stamina. Their choice to take the corpseeater along was wise considering all the talents the man brought with him. If the Coalition or the Inimi couldn’t see that then better for those who could.

With dagger and hammer in hand, Axel and Rayner barreled through the monsters in their way. Axel’s mana and Rayner’s fists, boosted by their understanding of violence and confidence, hit as hard as any hammer.

But by no means were the monsters easy to defeat. Made from moss and vines, the monsters could recover quickly and used their green appendages like punishing whips, lashing out at the two teens from afar.

After each encounter with the moss ball monsters, stinging red marks would mar their skin.

While they provided cover, Roddrick would stick out his tongue to taste the surrounding air. Axel figured out it was the mana in the air that the blue-skinned man tasted.

It kind of creeped Axel out when Roddrick would extend his tongue to wiggle it then smack his lips when looking at them as if he wanted to have them for dinner. A fantasy world cannibal.

It explained why Roddrick faced discrimination if even Axel who benefited greatly in such a short time from Roddrick’s help found him creepy.

As if sensing Axel’s thoughts, Roddrick turned to Axel. “Brace yourselves, we are moving through another floor.” Just to mess with him, Roddrick licked his lips and dashed toward a gate of mist.

“You heard that, Rayner?” Axel yelled.

Rayner fought some distance away, having drawn the monsters from Roddrick so he could search for the next floor uninterrupted.

Instead of answering, Rayner spun on the spot, swinging his hammer in a circle, and knocked away the monsters surrounding him. After finishing with the monsters, he joined Axel and ran to Roddrick who had already passed through to the next floor.

Roddrick refused to slow down for them but after their training, it had become easier to keep up. At the gate made of mist, Axel cloaked himself in mana and prepared to do the same for Rayner.

“No need.” Rayner let out a shout and his chest puffed out and he stood straighter like getting ready to accept an award. Then before Axel could say anything, Rayner ran through the gate.

Axel followed right after him.

He was surprised to see Roddrick waiting by the entrance, having grown used to the fast pace he kept. Axel’s surprise turned to caution at seeing Roddrick’s expression.

From behind him, Rayner said, “It’s the butterflies.”

Putting aside the question as to how Rayner ended up behind him after passing the gate first, he took in the new surroundings.

Unlike the other floors, thick mist floated around them. Extending an arm, he waved his hand through a thick patch of mist and could feel it as if it were a solid cloud.

Axel took a step back when several black-and-green butterflies fluttered out from the patch of mist he disturbed. He raised his dagger but the strange butterflies ignored him, floating around him then away.

Axel remained on guard. Roddrick thought these things were a threat, so he would as well.

Rayner had his hammer resting on his shoulder. “Not every living being in a dungeon is a monster. So far none of the butterflies has attacked us. I can’t say for sure why though.”

Axel had a clue to the difference. “The ones who attack us for breathing are the monsters. The ones who don’t are just strange critters.”

Roddrick answered them. “Axel is not far off in his guess. But Rayner has the right of it. Non-aggressive life is the majority of a dungeon’s ecosystem. Problem is, they are not what a worshiper will see or care about when entering. That and any of the peaceful lifeforms could cause harm without intent.”

“I suppose this is why we are standing in fear of these butterflies. Will they enter my stomach and ruin my future dates?”

Despite himself, Rayner chuckled. Got him.

Ignoring Axel’s joke, Roddrick gave reason to their caution. “There are too many butterflies on this floor for them not to be an aggressive lifeform: monsters.”

Roddrick had a point. While traveling through the dungeon, Rayner would give a running commentary on all the interesting creatures he saw and for the most part, there was indeed a healthy balance. When there seemed to be too many of a certain creature, another would appear and eat it on a mission to restore the balance.

The implications stabbed at Axel. Both were bad news. Either a predator on this floor ate the butterflies for lunch or the butterflies had dominated this floor somehow. Maybe both could be true.

Hopping on his feet, Rayner shared an idea. “I kinda just want to attack them and see what happens.” He rubbed his hammer like it were the trigger of a gun.

Roddrick disagreed. “Not always a bad idea. Usually better than waiting for an attack but my taste is warning me against it.”

“Right then. Time to put our thinking caps on. How to get a response that does not lead to an attack?”

Spinning his head back to Axel, Roddrick said, astonished, “You’ve obtained a thinking cap! Give it to me.”

At first, taken off guard at Roddrick’s excitement and the thought of a thinking cap existing, Axel muttered out a denial. And then Roddrick started chuckling, Rayner joining soon after.

Axel narrowed his eyes. “Oh, you little shit.”

“That’s for all the inside jokes you keep spouting off.”

“It was a bit rude,” Rayner added unhelpfully.

“Taking his side, huh. What happened to bros forever?”

“Is that a thing we’ve said?”

“I’m sure it was at some point.”

They started their usual back and forth but Roddrick stopped them, but he smiled as he did. “Back on task boys. It is good to have levity in tense situations such as this. I’ve seen many break under the same pressures.”

“They are still just butterflies. As long as they don’t explode, I think we can handle it,” said Rayner.

“That’s the point. It’s the stress of knowing that you face a small insignificant creature but always wondering if they actually can do something like exploding that breaks people.” Roddrick refocused on Axel. “You look like you have an idea brewing. Share it.”

While he doubted the idea, it wouldn’t hurt Axel to voice it. He hoped. “Maybe they do explode.” The others looked as if they were going to explode as he said it. “Look at the moss on the ground. It’s scorched. Then there are these patches of mist. At first, anyone would think that the butterflies hide in them but what I think is more likely is the butterflies have exploded as a group and pushed away the mist leaving only these clusters remaining.”

“I see. This begs another question. What to do about it?”

Taking the lead, Rayner raised his hammer to the dungeon sky and green light burst from his hammer. Reacting to the light the butterflies fled into the mist.

“How did you know they didn’t like a light?” Axel said.

“I assumed that’s why they hide in the mist. They were flying from one mist patch to the other. They don’t live in them but they like the lack of light.”

Running ahead of Rayner, Roddrick guided them. “Good thinking. Violence is usually the worst option. Continue trying to find answers that involve avoiding fights. Fights waste mana and risk death. What you are doing drains mana but that can be replenished with rest.”

Soon enough, they passed the area with no fanfare and entered a new area with a much heavier mist and no butterflies. Moving deeper into the mist their vision obscured, and they had to bundle together under the green glow of Rayner’s hammer.

Pace slowing to a crawl, they stopped moving forward. If they continued under such low visibility, they could fall into a trap or worse, walk into the black-and-green exploding butterflies. With the glow of the hammer losing its effect, the butterflies again reappeared, and Axel had no idea what would set them off.

Rayner tripped, his hammer falling to the moss ground and the light disappearing. “Sorry, I don’t know what tripped me.”

Now unable to see more than an arm’s length in front of him, Axel felt around for Rayner’s hammer. Using the glow from his own skill wouldn’t work. The light from his skills was small and could in no way project itself to cover all of them.

Then he felt metal that wasn’t in the form of a hammer. Searching with his hand he gained more detail on its shape. A half-oval top and a rectangular bottom.

“I think you tripped over a treasure chest!” Axel said.

“Seriously! Don’t joke about this.”

Axel heard Roddrick helping Rayner up out of the moss before joining him, touching his back to make known his location. “Careful. Most of these treasure chests are traps. Then again, this dungeon is half-formed, cutting the chances of trap chests significantly.”

Axel knew he should have taken greater care but his excitement overwhelmed him. A real treasure chest! Since coming to this world, the lack of loot drops from monsters filled him with disappointment.

While he understood the silliness of the idea, that monsters would disappear and leave behind legendary swords, he continued the hope to see something like it. Now he could.

Fiddling with what felt like a lock, Axel attempted to force the treasure chest open. Failing, he stabbed at it with his dagger. He jammed it in the keyhole, used his skills on it, said a good luck charm. Nothing.

Rayner shoved him aside and smashed it with his hammer and the chest lid popped up. Thick mist prevented him from seeing the reaction on Rayner’s face.

Staring into the treasure chest with awe, Axel saw the separated wings of the butterfly creatures, black with green dots at their center. Not what he expected but appropriate to the location.

In a moment of foolishness, Axel almost touched them before snapping his hand back. The wings might explode.

Roddrick closed the lid to the treasure chest. “We can’t take this with us. It’s not heavy, but it is large.”

Unable to argue, Axel left the chest behind, face set in a frown.

Their crawling pace through the vision-obscuring mist continued and instead of tripping over treasure chests, the group actively felt around for them, finding even more great treasures.

One chest was filled to the brim with a purple liquid that on contact with the moss caused an explosion of growth, turning the green patch into a tangled bush. Another chest held the tails of the lizards he saw skittering on the walls of the dungeon, maybe a delicacy or what Rayner suggested: poison.

When they actually found a chest of money even Rayner had enough. “We should stop, take the chests, then come back later.”

Shaking his head, Roddrick shut the idea down. “No. We have to find the God Rock soon before others flood this far into the dungeon.” Axel and Rayner froze. “Oh what, thought I didn’t know? Please, I am much too experienced for that.”

“What gave us away?” Rayner edged his hand to his hammer.

Waving his hand dismissively, Roddrick settled Rayner’s concern. “No need for that. I don’t want it. As for what gave you away. It was your reaction to the treasure.”

“Shouldn’t that have led you to think we are here for treasure hunting like most worshipers?”

“You two only talked about getting treasure once you saw it. Other than that, all you have spoken of was how to go farther into the dungeon and training. That indicated to me that you two were searching for something specific. As this is a new dungeon that means the God Rock is your goal.”

Axel combed his hand through his hair. “Well, damn. So, what now?”

“Now, I help you two find it. There is a chance Turin and his worshipers are looking for it as well and I don’t want it in Coalition hands.”

“But you want it in ours?”

“I have no wish to deepen my connection to the gods. I prefer to achieve that by myself if at all.”

“Then I guess we don’t have a problem. We get the God Rock for ourselves. But I have a hard time believing that you would do this for us for nothing.”

“Oh, I will get plenty,” Roddrick said then licked his lips.

“You want to eat the mana resulting from the stronger connection with the gods,” Rayner answered.

“Not why I originally came to the dungeon but since the opportunity presents itself, I can’t see why I should deny myself the best meal I would have in decades.”

Removing his hand from his dagger, Axel relaxed. “Great, so how will you find it? Is it giving off mana right now that you can track?”

“The God Rock itself does not give off mana, it’s the connection that does so.”

Beside them, Rayner shuffled for something in his pocket, his notes. He squinted to read it as the mist must have made it difficult for him to read. They waited for him until he let out an “oh!”.

“Care to share?”

“Are you looking for—tasting for, deific mana?”

Roddrick raised his brows. “You are aware that there are different flavors—types.”

Axel then remembered where he heard that term before, from their run-in with their first god, the false Yazid, the giant mushroom, and Forest God of the Corpsewood.

“We’ve come across it in our short travels,” Rayner said.

“Hmmm.” Roddrick peered at Rayner in a very unnerving manner. “Discussion for another time. Follow, we are almost to the next floor and the God Rock tastes close.”

Glad to have the corpseeaster’s eyes off him, Rayner, then Axel, put a hand on Roddrick’s shoulders so he could lead them the rest of the way.

When a semi-solid wave of mana washed over him, Axel knew they’d moved through a floor. Oddly enough Roddrick was behind them. This had happened before when Rayner went through the floor gate. He would save the question for later and leave it for the notebook. Now, he had to find the God Rock.

Around them hovered a thin mist in contrast to the clouds of mist from the previous floor. In front of them, a shimmering but gaseous wall of mana surrounded a pale egg-shaped rock.

“That must be the God Rock,” Rayner said.

“It looks exactly how I thought it would,” Axel said.

Still leading the way, Roddrick stood before the barrier and licked it. “The naming is accurate. Consider it a blessing. Some people love to give the most useless names to weapons or other special objects.” Again, he licked the barrier, this time smacking his lips after he did so.

“I’m going to assume you are using your special sense of taste to analyze the barrier.”

Turning his head to the side Roddrick looked confused. “Why no, I know what made this barrier. I just wanted to taste it.”

Axel and Rayner shared a look once Roddrick’s back was turned. This was supposed to be their super awesome sensei but now they stood watching him lap at the barrier like ice-cream.