Chapter 156 (Patreon)

Just ahead, near the end of the branch where the thick wood meets the wall, I see an opening. It seems obvious. Too obvious to be the secret stairs, it was literally a straight-forward path from one end of the floor to the next. Are these really them?

But then I realize, as my gaze drifts down below, that yeah, these are probably them. The war below rages on. It looks like so much fun! But down in-between the chaos, I see a group fighting around the real-staircase and I understand. The hero-party has to cross through the war-zone to reach the other side. Nobody goes all the way up here. Nobody could. It’s too high up, it’s as if we’re at the top of a mountain. It’s a good thing I’m not afraid of heights. I suppose being essentially immortal will allow you that luxury. I step forward and she doesn’t say anything as we reach the next set of secret stairs that are literally right in front of me. This was the easiest floor ever.

Then again, I suppose the real fight here was with myself. I really, really wanted to go down there, guy. But I shake my head. Maybe next time. Maybe next time. We begin to ascend once again. She doesn’t say anything. That’s fine. If she’s quiet, then I don’t feel so bad about everything. I can let my mind focus on my rambling.

We climb higher, this time the stairs aren’t spiraled and winding like the last set. These are just plain old straight-forward stairs. Nothing wrong with that, guy. As long as they get the job done, I don’t really care how they look. Floor eighty-three, huh? Talk about progress. We’re almost a clean twenty through. A fifth of the dungeon. We’re moving fast. I suppose that’s a good thing. I’ll be happy when this is all over.

I think?

I think I’ll be happy when this is all over. I don’t know exactly what it is that I’ll do in my uh… ‘final’ life. Hard to say. What is it I like doing? Hard to say. I like fighting, but I wonder, will I have the resolve to fight once I run out of free retries? Once I exit the dungeon and I only have one life left. Will I still want to put it at risk so often for a thrill? Dunno. Hard to say. Guess we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.

I rise up higher still. Clank. Clank. Clank. Haha.

Something buzzes. At first I think it’s the sound of insects, like some great swarm. But as we walk higher, the strange humming becomes louder and deeper. The low note of the constant, unchanging buzz audible in my metal plate armor that almost begins to rattle, as the vibration shoots through me. My vision becomes somewhat distorted as the metal helmet that serves as my head begins to vibrate against the nape of my breastplate. The sound of the two colliding ringing out like the chattering of teeth in a frozen hellscape. The thief is at this point awake as I am basically shaking her around like an angry parent would shake their crying baby.

Ah. Was that too dark?

I apologize, guy. It gets blurry what’s ethically okay to say down here and what isn’t, between all the murder and death. You understand, right? Yeah, I’m sure you do, tell you what.

Leaning down, I set her to the ground and watch as she braces herself against the wall, her face a little flushed and her legs a little wobbly. Guess she gets nauseous. Walking on, not thinking about it any further, because I don’t want to, I take the last step and look out into the world before me. Ah. Before us, I amend myself. Us. Not me. I make a skittering sound in my own head. Haha!

The deep resonance that shakes my rattling body like a tin-can in an earth-quake, is ever-present, surrounding me. It just seems to fill the air and at first I’m not sure from what. But then I see the blue lights and for a moment I feel a tinge of fear. However it subsides quickly, as the bolts of electricity begin to arc around the room before us. Great bolts of lighting, controlled by metal fastenings and cables run down in all directions. The great electrical hum can be heard even without ears. It shakes through your bones.

I step inside and she steps in after me into the arc-light lit chamber. Something shifts, the stone-wall behind us seals itself shut, as a collection of bricks fly out of nowhere to solidify the passage. Once they are finished,  there is nothing left to see. It looks like all the rest of the dungeon.

I step forward. The room is fairly small, rectangular. The walls are lined with all manner of piping, like in the foundry. But more importantly, the wiring. Simple metal coils span along the walls, electricity visibly flowing and arcing through and over them, jumping this way and that, as it makes its way down towards someplace far off in the darkness. The rectangular room has a doorway to the left and a doorway to the right. Both of them lead down shadowy hallows in which nothing can be seen, except the glow of the tamed lightning. All the while, I feel it in my bones. The vibration. The hum. The energy.

Turning my shaking head around, I look at the thief. She is facing the other way however, her hands clasping the sides of her face as she mumbles something I can’t understand. Okay. Sure. I turn back forward and walk ahead alone, deciding to make the choice myself. Standing between the doors, I look down the left-hand path and see nothing but darkness; save for the flicker of a single blue light jumping on and off in the distance.

I turn to the right and look and see nothing, but darkness; save for the glimmer of a single blue light, zapping back and forth in the distance.

I look down to my own hands. They both look the same.

The strange thought makes me stop for a moment. Huh? My hands? Why do I care what they look like? I shake my head and make my choice, lowering my palms again.

I turn to the left and begin to walk down the way. A pair of soft leather-boots runs after me from behind.