The party of five found the exit that led towards floor 31. It was hidden in a cave inside the bigger cavern.Unlike the other transition tunnels, this one was far too quiet and far too long. They had been walking for several minutes now, and they never seemed to get closer to their goal. In the tunnels, there was always a darkness present—it was unnatural, as no matter how bright a lantern may be, it would shed light only so far. In the transitioning tunnel, the light reached only ten meters or so ahead, and the tunnel looked exactly the same behind them, as it did in front of them.
Perhaps they weren"t heading towards floor 32, some of them thought. This tunnel was longer than even the one that led to floor 48. It seemed unreasonable to call whatever comes next floor "32" by their own standards. But that was a fault of their standards, not the dungeon. The Reclaimers of old would simply call this "Area C - Section 1". Arcadia often talked about the Reclaimers as it had been part of her teachings when she became a Priestess of Het. She was a Keeper of Knowledge even before she joined Somnus and his Kingdom.
Eventually, Somnus slowed down and looked behind him. He was considering turning back and leaving.
"Master? Something wrong?" Lod asked, also turning to look behind them, but he saw nothing beyond the darkness.
"Should consider retreat. Dungeon threat level high," Somnus said. This was that voice in the back of his mind—the only useful thing about being a human. Instinct. It was not a supernatural power, but the ability to connect unrelated events, compare them and evaluate the products—all simultaneously and subconsciously. As a machine, Somnus could do that as well but he lacked the certain degree of abstraction that humans possessed. He was bound by rules and procedures that humans simply did not possess. They were effortlessly capable of leaps of logic that somehow worked out in the end.
"Det no sense anything…" Det muttered as he looked ahead.
Det also did not possess hundreds of years of warfighting knowledge like Somnus. Somnus had been in countless ambushes, and was the ambusher countless times. Somnus fought an enemy more desperate to win than any person in this world could ever even imagine. Humans could set an entire planet on fire; they dropped extinction-event asteroids on Somnus; they invented weapons so terrifying that the G.o.ds themselves, if there really were any, left the world. That is how it should be. That is the enemy Somnus wanted. That was the only ent.i.ty in the entire cosmos that could give Somnus meaning—without it, he was nothing.
"If you think it is a bad idea, then maybe we should go back and sell the route?" Gemma offered. She was still angry at Somnus, but she wasn"t going to allow that to interfere with her common sense.
"I agree," Mia said.
But Somnus was still, in great part, a machine. Even though he was made of flesh and blood, and had the ability to think and feel like a human, he was still bound by his old protocols. In the absence of clear danger, there was nothing to fear but fear itself. This was no different from a recon-by-force tactic. It was basically provoking a reaction from the enemy to understand their disposition and to gain valuable tactical information on their numbers, strength and more.
"Negative," Somnus said. "Proceed."
Det shrugged and took point. Lod took the rearguard while the two females were on either side of Somnus. It was a proper diamond formation, with Somnus in the center.
In the distance, they could hear water droplets falling on the ground. The air also became more humid the further they advanced. It was also colder.
Yet, no matter how far they walked, the sound never seemed to get any closer, or get any further. It was a strange sensation to walk, feel the fatigue of all that work, yet have nothing to show for it. How many minutes had it been since they entered the tunnel? Twenty? Thirty? They already crossed a few kilometers, deep into the crust of the earth and there was still nothing; just more tunnel ahead.
Somnus began to wonder if this was the reason why no one ever returned from beyond floor 31. What if the tunnel stretched on for infinity? What if they themselves could not return? Was this the nature of the danger that Somnus felt?
Somnus stopped once more and turned around. Were they stuck in a loop? Was there a way to verify it?
Somnus considered the obvious solution of leaving one of their lanterns here, and seeing what happens. However, the fact that they never came across any bodies made him doubt that method. For all he knew, the dungeon could extend forever, rather than loop in on itself—as in, the further they walked, the more tunnel would be created in front of them.
Was the experiment worth risking one of their lanterns?
"Continue," Somnus said and began walking once more. Of course it wasn"t worth risking the lantern. It had only been less than an hour. The situation was not dire enough to start throwing resources away and hope to gain something.
"I am getting tired," Gemma said. "It is really cold, too. Can we stop for a moment?"
"Negative," Somnus said. "Continue. Comply."
"Lod tired too. Want sleep," the goblin said as he stumbled forwards like a punch-drunk person.
Somnus glared at Lod. The goblin was a Hero with enough stamina to march for days without rest. He could understand that the human was tired, but the goblin?
He knew that this was somehow related to the Dungeon. He could not prove it, but this anomaly was more than indicative of the special circ.u.mstances Somnus found himself in.
Mia leaned against the wall and slid down along its surface until she was laying down on the floor, eyes closed. Her breathing was steady, but slow. She was asleep.
"Good idea…" Gemma whispered and stumbled next to Mia, laying next to the elf and nestling her head on the elf"s lap.
The goblins followed suit and also lay down next to the two females, all cuddling together like one big, messed up family.
Somnus understood that something, beyond what he could perceive, affected the four adventurers and put them to sleep. Yet, this same thing did not affect him. Why? What was the difference? What was the clue that he was missing?
Somnus had seen and experienced many things since he came to this world, therefore he could not disregard this event as something that was "impossible".
As he considered the problem at hand, he realized that the sound of distant water had come closer. As if it was right next to him. Just beyond the darkness of the tunnel.
He sensed a presence waiting for him there—an ent.i.ty filled with madness. Madness and rage.