[LitF] 16. Crimson Stairway (Patreon)

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[A/N: This is last Saturday's chapter. Sorry for the delay!

I retconned a few things. Most notably:

Wizards have become sorcerers. Just a name change, no special meaning.]

Arthur looked at the empty cave chamber one last time.

He wanted to feel something other than indifference for leaving; after all, he had stayed there for one year and seven months. However, most of it had been in a catatonic state or consumed by training. He only thought fondly of his relaxing baths.

Regardless of his feelings, it was time to leave.

The prince double-checked his equipment, starting with the royal knight's armor. It was golden, and the lion insignia of the Golden Kingdom was shown in high-bass black metal on his chest. Yet, he didn't wear the black cape. Graham had said it was more trouble than it was worth it until Arthur improved his combat ability.

Next, he confirmed his sword belt was firmly held in place. So were the two crisscrossed leather sheaths on his back, holding his short swords—little more than long daggers. His longsword's scabbard was also okay. He took all his blades a few inches from their sheaths to confirm they weren't stuck, then pushed them back.

Lastly, he made the two nearby magically prehended blades move around him. There was no issue.

Arthur was satisfied with what he found. He wouldn't get slowed down by poorly maintained equipment or inferior magic ability in the unlikely event of him having to fight any monster, which would only happen if the grand knight messed up.

"I'm good to go," he informed Graham, who stood to his side.

"Are you sure, sire?" the man asked suggestively.

Arthur triple-checked everything and noticed he had forgotten the helmet. He always trained without it because he wasn't supposed to depend on its defenses in a fight. Instead, Graham cast a spell to limit his vision and head movement like a helmet would.

"Can I have my helmet?" he asked the knight, who produced it from his spatial storage. The prince took it and put it on.

"Head Maid, Junior Maid, are you ready?" Graham asked.

"Yes, Grand Knight," the two replied in unison.

"Good. Wait here."

Leaving them with those words, the knight took his own longsword from its scabbard and moved to one of the neighboring cave chambers—the one deeper into the dungeon.

For a while, Arthur still saw nothing but blinding light from that direction, but soon, he could watch the battle with fascination. Now that he had some knowledge of combat, he could just begin to glimpse at how impressive Graham was. Unfortunately, this fight was so fast and high-level that he couldn't learn anything from it.

As it became clear that Graham would take hours to clear the thousands upon thousands of lightning elementals there, his interest swiftly changed directions to Sophie. The girl had been so mortified when her voice affected him during his birthday that she couldn't look at him at all. She always lowered her eyes when facing his direction, looking at the ground in shame, and only replied with a weak voice when talked to. No matter how much Arthur tried to reassure her that everything was fine, she didn't get over it.

It was a little sad, really—for both of them. Maybe more for the prince.

Graham had accomplished his mission of keeping Arthur too tired to think about leaving during their first year and four months in the dungeon. However, Arthur had found himself constantly relaxing in the past three months. The physical training wasn't as demanding, only requiring him to learn how to use his stats effectively with the right movements that he quickly memorized. The skills training was also relatively easy, merely about learning to use his skills at the right time. They didn't tire his mind nearly as much as hunting for achievements did.

So, he discovered he yearned for companionship.

None of the three people with him could wholly fill that role. Graham was his knight, and the women were his maids. His hierarchical relationship with them would never change, for he would one day become king.

Yet, any master could get closer to some servants. Regrettably, Graham ignored or cut off any attempt Arthur made. He wasn't Charlotte and didn't want to nurture any similar feelings that the woman had developed for the prince. Tamara also kept a meticulous professional distance from him. That only left Sophie, who he admittedly was more interested in getting closer to than the others.

Not romantically; he would marry politically in the future, not out of love. He owed his people that. But she was the one closest to his age, and they shared a unique experience: being trained in a dungeon isolated from the rest of the world.

She obviously wasn't ready for that, though, and while not a master of social interaction, Arthur still had plenty of mind stats to know that ordering her to get over her embarrassment and interact normally with him wouldn't work. Even if it did, it would be a terrible way of starting an almost-friendship. He thought of himself as better than that.

Though he did think about it multiple times...

Maybe he was a bad person after all. He would ask Graham about it later.

Sophie noticed him looking at her and immediately lowered her head in shame.

Arthur sighed and resumed watching the fight.

= - = - =

Arthur saw the first level 51 monster of his life on floor 59 after Graham killed a plethora of level 50 lightning elementals. The level 51 creature was the floor's boss, a huge wyrm that swam through the earth as if it were fish in the water. The thousands of lightning elementals protecting it didn't hurt it.

Floor 60's first room had three wyrms, which wasn't much different from other floors. However, the dungeon was cunning and sneaky.

"Inspect the pebbles," Graham said just before stepping in.

Arthur did as told, and his eyes widened with the utmost astonishment.

| Pebble Elemental — Level 51

As the race's name suggested, they were... pebbles. They looked like small rocks and acted like it, just lying about, scattered throughout the room, thousands of them. They didn't react even when the few dozen wyrms moved about and threw them everywhere. Arthur didn't see more mana inside them than usual, which added to their stealth.

Nothing suggested they were special.

It was a dangerous trap. Although Arthur could check their levels, it was only if he specifically inspected them. Fate had no "show me the level of everything in sight" function. Even when inspecting multiple beings, Arthur had to at least unconsciously acknowledge which beings in his line of sight he believed could have levels.

The prince didn't go around wondering if walls, furniture, sand, the air, or pebbles had levels. He should, though. According to Graham, every delver either learned to do that or died.

Arthur put it in his mind to remember that and looked at his grand knight's fight.

Graham first went in and out of the room quickly, showing that stepping on a pebble elemental didn't make it react if the awakener was just walking. They would probably only attack at the worst moment possible. Arthur had also learned how to walk without his strength destroying the floor, and it had become second nature. The trap was really crafty.

Then, the grand knight went back in and purposefully stamped on the first pebble he saw, using his strength and maybe some skills.

The monster was crushed and died instantly. The next moment, all other elementals started shooting pieces of the floor and themselves toward Graham from all directions, assisting the wyrms in the ensuing battle.

Feeble as they looked, the elementals were still level 51 monsters. Their size and weight didn't mean much; if they had 1,000 points of strength, for instance, they would be able to use it regardless of their weight. That's how Fate's stats worked, and monsters were similar.

The knight focused a lot on dodging or only striking at the right time. He was still struck multiple times, and his armor bent, but at first, the prince thought it was half on purpose. The man couldn't dodge everything, so he consciously chose which attacks to take and where.

The battle took a while, the longest and most challenging yet. The grand knight's armor was soon wholly deformed, and Arthur realized something was wrong. Graham didn't use his ability to turn himself into flames. In fact, he seemed almost afraid of striking freely.

Hours later, the wyrms were dead, and only a few pebble elementals remained. They kept trying to attack Graham, whose armor had actually been pierced multiple times. Red blood poured from numerous holes in the black metal, making the man look like a creepy undying warrior.

Graham was tired, breathing haggardly and moving slowly. Fortunately, the elementals didn't just attack from a distance. They were dumb monsters that always used the same tactic: magically prehending pieces of the ground and shooting them at the enemy while also hiding amid the projectiles to strike with their bodies. Their bodies could do much more damage than their magic, and they had no fear of death.

Graham always seemed to know which punched once and killed one incoming elemental.

He punched another time and killed another.

And then, he punched the third... No! It wasn't a punch! His hand was open and covered by a purple light. He grabbed the last elemental in his hands!

Nothing moved, but he didn't relax. He gave the room a long look before walking around, inspecting everything. After two complete circuits in the enormous cave chamber, he took a deep breath and approached the room's entrance, where Arthur waited with his maids.

"Come on in, Head Maid, Junior Maid, milord," Graham said with a coarse voice, sat down, and placed the pebble beside him. He kept it clenched between his thumb and indicator, though, and a transparent purple layer surrounded the elemental, clearly magic, keeping it locked down.

However, there was a thin line above the monster that was uncovered by elemental mana.

"Your Highness," the man said after a few moments of silence, "your next achievements will be for killing a monster above your levels. Take out your sword and strike this monster until you kill it."

Three feelings quickly passed through the prince's heart.

First came the humiliation.

He knew all his achievements were freely given to him by his father's plans, but this was different. It was the same as being told that they didn't believe he could get this achievement honorably! That he couldn't kill a higher-leveled monster by himself!

Then came the shame.

How could he think like that?! This wasn't for him; it was for the kingdom. It didn't matter if he could get that achievement by himself at a later date or not. His feelings also didn't matter when people were dying for him. This training plan was based on efficiency, and his father had determined that it was better to get some achievements now rather than later.

Lastly came the mortification.

His knight was bleeding for him, exhausted but still doing his best. Yet, here he was, thinking only of himself.

How arrogant could he be?

It fit his earlier thoughts about Sophie. He really considered ordering her to ignore her feelings. Yet, said feelings didn't interfere with her ability to work as a maid. He had no right to put his needs above hers.

Maybe he would have that right after he became king. The lives of countless people might depend a little on him not feeling lonely, which might cause him to make bad emotional decisions. But now? Now, he had no excuse. He didn't need to feel good about leveling up to fulfill his promise and reach level 100.

So he silently took out his sword, placed the pointy end on top of the pebble, and used all his strength to hammer it down.

The prince was incredibly weak compared to a level 51 monster's defenses. It took an entire day to pierce its body, and it didn't immediately die. Graham told him to sleep, but Arthur refused. If he couldn't stay awake a few nights after what his knight had done to him, he had no business ever calling himself king.

At last, two days later, the pebble elemental died an underwhelming death, simply disintegrating in silence.

| Progress to Level 2: +1% → 1%

「 Achievement: First Blood

Tier: D

Reward: +6 stat points

You killed your first monster!

Your true enemies are the invaders that want to consume your world. You shall not let them breathe while you live. You shall obliterate them all on your way to a grand fate. 」

「 Achievement: Daring

Tier: D

Reward: +12 stat points

You solo-killed a being 10 levels higher than you!

Some pursue the thrill of the battle for vanity, but you understand its true glory. Survival has no meaning without grand feats to pave your way to your grand fate. 」

「 Achievement: Overreacher

Tier: B

Reward: +48 stat points

You solo-killed a being 25 levels higher than you!

Some have talent, others are hard-working. Only those with both characteristics can ever hope to accomplish what you did. No matter who comes, you shall kill them regardless of their strength. Levels are meanings before true power. You shall not suffer anyone barring your way to your grand fate. 」

「 Achievement: Overconfident

Tier: S

Reward: +192 stat points

You solo-killed a being 50 levels higher than you!

They call you overconfident; you wear the mantle with pride. The weak can only be confident when they are sure of their victory, but only those who surpass themselves and the limits of their very existence can dare to fearlessly brave the way ahead as you do. If fate itself ever dares to block your way, you shall not walk towards a grand fate; you shall force it to submit to you instead. 」

Arthur was tired, but Graham was something else. The knight said an emotionless "Good job," lay down on the floor, and just... slept.

"It'll take him a few days to wake up, Your Highness," Tamara said while taking a bed from her spatial storage.

= - = - =

Tamara quickly built a new residence in that cave chamber. After resting a little, Arthur spent most of the following days training his forms.

He wasn't a genius, but he wasn't stupid, either. It was evident that Graham hadn't expected to pay such a high price to give Arthur these three achievements.

Killing enemies was easier than capturing them, and the achievements mentioned "solo-kill." The grand knight had used some magic to lock the pebble elemental down without Fate considering it a form of assistance. He also hadn't covered his body with flames to prevent the pebbles from getting damaged when attacking him—thus, preventing Fate from considering him to have assisted.

That was impressive—and foolish.

Graham was Arthur's protector in this dungeon. Without the knight, the prince would die of madness or old age, trapped between rooms with enemies too strong for him to do anything about. The knight had overestimated himself and almost caused a calamity for Arthur, the maids, and the Golden Kingdom.

And so, the prince trained with renewed vigor.

The first conclusion he got from all this was that he needed power. With power, he would win the war. With power, he wouldn't need to almost die to give whoever he trained in the future a few extra achievements.

Paradoxically, the second conclusion was that even if he died out of idiocy one day, he wanted to be doing something like Graham. He was willing to sacrifice himself to protect the Golden Kingdom. If reaching level 100 ended up not being enough, Arthur would fight to the bitter end, doing his best instead of running like a coward.

Five days later, the knight left his bedroom—where Tamara had placed him. In hindsight, Arthur wasn't surprised to see the man wearing a brand new grand knight armor that he had evidently brought in his spatial storage. The prince was also not surprised to see him move much more slowly than usual. He wasn't fully recovered yet.

The man immediately kneeled before Arthur. "Milord, I apologize for delaying your ascension, but I'll need to rest for a few weeks before we can continue with your intended progression."

The prince didn't even stop using his longsword to cut imaginary enemies while the man talked. "Did you learn from your mistake?" he asked between swings.

Arthur couldn't deny he felt a little arrogant and ungrateful saying that, but it was his duty. Graham had messed up. A leader who ignored their subordinates' mistakes only encouraged dumbness and weakness—or so Charlotte had taught him.

"Yes, Your Highness," the man said, his head still low.

"Make sure it doesn't happen again," the prince concluded. "Help me train while you heal."

"Yes, my prince." He stood up, then guided, "Put the 258 stat points you gained from the achievements on intelligence."

Arthur complied, and the stat reached 444 points.

It took him a few days to get used to having more than double his previous intelligence.

= - = - =

Guilt ate Sophie from the inside until she finally talked to Arthur. They had been traveling back to the first floor for five days—Graham had needed an entire month to recuperate—and she approached him when they took a break.

"Your Highness," she said with her head low.

Her face was red, and Arthur even glimpsed a teary eye. At first, the prince thought that would be the extent of her show of discomfiture.

He was wrong.

Sophie swiftly knelt as a supplicant: two knees to the ground, forearms touching the floor with the palm of her hands pointing up, and forehead also touching the ground. She was completely exposed, and that position meant she put herself entirely at his mercy. She could not make herself more vulnerable and open to anything he did to her. It also had a strong psychological effect on those who put themselves in that position.

"I beg of Your Highness, end my sinful life and free me from this cursed existence," she pleaded.

Arthur had been taught many things, but what to do in such a situation was not one of them. It was worse because it was beyond all his expectations; he thought of Sophie as an old teenager, if even that, yet she was speaking grand words.

From Tamara's wide eyes, the junior maid hadn't talked with her about it. Graham looked down and shook his head in silence. More importantly, both were very consciously avoiding Arthur's eyes, which were desperately seeking the two people's support!

He immediately recalled one of his father's teachings during one of their talks in the palace's garden.

"How can I find good people to help me?" Arthur had asked.

His father had raised an eyebrow. "Help you with what, son?"

"Everything," the prince breathed. "I... It's not very princely of me, but I'm afraid of the future," he admitted. "What if I'm not good enough? But I have a plan. If I find the best people in each area, I'll ask them what to do."

The king had chuckled. "As wise a plan as any, I suppose. But I must warn you: a leader's burden can only be shared so much."

"Huh?"

The man sighed and looked into the distance. "There will come a time when you'll need to use your judgment to make a decision and no other, even if it ends up being a mistake. When that happens, to ask for anyone's help is to burden them with weights they were not born to bear. And those who try to interfere will be trying to rise above their station; take that as a sign of enmity. You are the crown prince, not anyone else."

Arthur hadn't been told when that time would come, but he knew supplicants were something special. He wasn't sure how special, but it evidently fit what the king had mentioned. Tamara and Graham knew not to overstep the invisible boundary and didn't try to help him.

Only Arthur could resolve the situation now—as unprepared as he felt.

That was his burden to bear.

He considered Sophie's words. Letting her die because she was ashamed would be absurd. However, if she really couldn't stand staying alive, he supposed he could send her out of the dungeon when they got to the first floor. His father could deal with her then.

But how to deal with the here and now?

Arthur had enough intelligence points to easily recall Charlotte's and Tamara's lessons on general things leaders were supposed to do and how they should act. Fortunately, the heart of conflict solving was simple: understand the situation and figure out which rules or morals to apply to them.

There were three things that Sophie had said that Arthur needed to understand better: why she wanted to die instead of being pushed any other way, what life of sin she supposedly lived, and why she believed her existence was cursed.

"What sins have you committed that warrant death?" he asked.

The girl raised his head so her forehead stopped touching the ground but kept her face parallel to the floor. He couldn't see her eyes, but by how fast she moved her head, she was clearly surprised by the question.

Arthur shook his head. Did she really think he would just kill her? Or maybe that he would just ignore her plea?

He wasn't that heartless. If a servant went to such lengths to ask for his judgment, it was only proper that he at least investigated the matter.

"I– I took Y– Your Highness under m– my spell," she stuttered.

The prince frowned. She had not used a spell. Tamara and Graham had said she had just been unable to control her innate racial ability, and he had no reason to doubt them.

Was Sophie outright lying to him, or was she just ignorant of what had happened?

"Did you?" he asked. "What spell did you use?"

She took a while to answer again. "I don't know," she admitted.

"Tamara, did you explain to Sophie what happened that day?"

"Yes, Your Highness," the maid said, bowing her head.

"Sophie, what did Tamara tell you that happened that day?"

"Y– Your Highness..." She started crying. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I didn't want to! I swear!"

The scene moved Arthur's heart, but he couldn't let her corrupt this process. Sophie had started it, and he would see it through to the end. He owed it to her and any other subject that might one day learn about it and think they could beg for something like their deaths, then dismiss the matter with tears.

"Tamara, use a spell to calm her down," he ordered.

The head maid bit her lower lip but obeyed. She approached the girl and put a knee on the ground to touch her head. Sophie stopped crying a few seconds later.

"Sophie, what did Tamara tell you that happened that day?" Arthur repeated the question.

Her voice came lifelessly, like an emotionless puppet. "That my vampire biology acted out because I had no control over it yet."

"Do you think Tamara lied to you?"

"Yes," the girl said, to Arthur's surprise.

"Why?"

"Your Highness," Tamara interrupted and put another knee to the ground, turning to face Arthur. "She's confused due to a personal matter of hers. I beg you to accept my words that she is a fool to think I lied to her."

Arthur frowned but ended up sighing and nodding. The head maid had done so much for him. How could he not trust her now?

He did wonder if he could consider that ill-intentioned interference, as his father had said, but discarded the thought. If Tamara was his enemy, she had many other ways of hurting him. Moreover, Graham was also watching, and the knight would protect Arthur.

If both were working together against him, he could only die.

"Very well. Stand up, Tamara. Sophie, what other sins have you committed that you believe warrant death?"

"None," she replied at once, her voice still lifeless.

Arthur smiled slightly. "So I declare your single sin against me, which you had no control over, is not enough to have you killed. You are officially forgiven." Unfortunately, it wasn't over yet. "Why do you think your existence is cursed?"

"I'm half-vampire. People point at me, mock me, humiliate me. My family abandoned me at their first opportunity. Even my father did. I'm just trash being thrown around. When I was finally accepted, I betrayed the one I'm being trained to serve. Everyone was right. I'm a monster; I don't deserve to live. I don't want to live."

The words shocked the prince, and the lack of emotion in them only made it worse. So horrible! Were those her true feelings? Had her life as a half-monster been that hard?

"I'm sorry you feel like that," Arthur said quietly after some thought. "However, you're a subject of the Golden Kingdom. Your life belongs to the king, not to you or me. I can't give you the release you want." He closed his eyes, then said, "I also can't bear to part with you, so you can't leave the dungeon. You'll stay here with me."

That last decision weighed the most on him.

He felt it was the right thing to do. Sophie believed she was a burden being thrown around, and telling her to leave, even if she might want that, would only give her biased confirmation. Instead, he thought it better to keep her beside him despite her feelings as proof that she was wanted and valuable.

Arthur might be wrong, though. He was also not unbiased on the matter. The thought of staying another eight and a half years alone in this dungeon with Graham and Tamara wasn't pleasant.

The worst part was that he didn't feel like he had near enough knowledge to even conclude those things. Maybe he was hurting her more instead of helping. Perhaps he was so egotistical that he couldn't even see it.

"This matter is over," Arthur declared. "Sophie..." He crouched before her. "Raise." She obeyed, raising her body but still keeping to her knees. Her pupils were dilated and unfocused due to the head maid's spell. "Tamara, will she recall this conversation?"

"Yes, Your Highness."

"Sophie, I won't say I like you. We don't know each other well enough. But I enjoy your company and want to befriend you. I say that from the bottom of my heart. Also, if I would blame anyone for the birthday episode, I would blame Graham instead. He knew what would happen and still let it happen as a lesson for me. You had no idea. You're not to blame. I command you, as your master, to stop blaming yourself. And please, just... talk to me."

She replied emotionlessly. "Yes, Your Highness."

Arthur sighed again and stood up. "Tamara, please, comfort her."

The head maid also replied, "Yes, Your Highness," but her voice was filled with emotion.

Arthur walked a dozen yards away to give them privacy. Graham followed. A few moments later, the man silently put his hand on the prince's shoulder and clenched gently.

Arthur smiled sadly. "Thank you."

He didn't feel good about what had just happened and couldn't ask the man for his opinion to avoid burdening him.

A king's life, he learned that day, was a lonely one.

= - = - =

The next day, Sophie was mortified about her impulsiveness but made an effort to be more friendly with Arthur when he talked to her. The prince appreciated it, but she was clearly uncomfortable, and he didn't push it. Giving her some time and space sounded like a better idea.

Graham kept killing monsters on their way back to the first floor. It took another five days.

At last, they arrived in the dungeon's very first room, which had no monsters.

"Sire, we'll stay here until the goblins in the second room respawn. Then, you'll fight for the first time. Use this opportunity to prepare your mind. You'll kill your second living being today, but the pebble didn't feel like it, did it? Goblins are biological monsters. Cutting through their bodies will affect you."

Arthur nodded. It indeed felt like a momentous occasion. He sat down with his legs crossed and meditated.

Hours later, the knight said, "It's time, milord."

The prince opened his eyes and stood up. After seeing powerful monsters on the dungeon's lower floors, the three short level 1 goblins looked pathetic. Small, famished, weaponless except for their yellow nails, and wearing no protective gear, only a loincloth. Arthur had no doubt he could kill them.

Yet, the first rule of engagement was not to underestimate your enemy or overestimate yourself.

He double-checked his equipment, unsheathed his longsword, held it with both hands in a horizontal position, ready to defend or attack, and stepped into the goblins' room.

The first thing he noticed was how slow they were. They simply couldn't touch him if he didn't want them to. He still approached only as fast as he could without messing his guard. He was still about five times faster than the creatures.

Arthur swung his sword.

He had gotten used to the solidity of Graham's blade. This time, he found softness and almost no resistance as the blade met and went through the monster's neck. Only its spine slightly slowed his blade down. The little beast was too slow to even start defending itself before it was beheaded.

Blood splattered everywhere as the head and body fell down separated.

The prince was supposed to swiftly turn to the next enemy. Instead, he froze, watching the fruit of his labor in macabre fascination. The dead monster's eyes were wide with surprise as its head rolled through the floor, and the headless body fell like a log.

There was no beauty to it. No glory. Only the fragility of mortality.

One moment, the goblin was alive. The next, it was dead. It only took a piece of metal, and it was gone forever.

"Life's cheap," Arthur breathed as a goblin used its nails on his forearm. They broke when they struck his armor.

It woke the prince up. He turned and beheaded another goblin. Then the last one.

| Progress to Level 2: +0.003% → 1.003%

Arthur felt nothing.

He didn't value the goblins' lives, but he also didn't think they were worth killing. It felt like just... a cleaning job. A task he had been given and had to complete. Things even feel less somehow because the goblins just turned into light and disappeared.

Arthur found he didn't abhor killing monsters, but he also didn't rejoice in it. He felt empty instead. The thought of unceasingly killing monsters for the next eight years only made him...

...sad.

Fortunately, things became more interesting as the number of enemies increased in the next rooms. He still didn't like killing, but he enjoyed the challenge. Overcoming his limits time and time again was a marvelous sensation.

As for the river of blood that he left in his wake?

He didn't care.

Those were monsters, the enemies of the Fated Races. It was he or them. He would never fall so low as to experiment on or abuse them as it had been done in the past, but their deaths didn't even deserve a second thought.

And so, after years and years of preparation since awakening, Arthur finally started climbing the crimson stairway to Fate—and he climbed fast.

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