The Dungeon
Joseph looked down at the cave.
"What made you think that was a dungeon?"
The word had certainly caught his interest, but he couldn't afford to jump to conclusions. He wasn't even sure the cave was a dungeon. All Refn had really asked was whether a hole that demonic beasts were hiding in might count as one.
And yet a faint presence leaking from the mouth of the cave held Joseph in place. It was a dangerous kind of curiosity.
The proper course would have been to send a messenger to Folmers and let him deal with it. Counting Joseph himself, only six of them were even capable of going in. You did not stick your neck into a place like that unprepared, with no idea what waited inside.
But what if this really is a dungeon?
What could possibly be in there for mana to leak all the way out here? And if his hunch was right — if something mages would kill to find was hidden within?
...Is this a crisis, or an opportunity?
He couldn't be sure of anything. There was no one to ask. Joseph stood there for a long while, turning it over in his mind.
And then a low, rumbling growl rolled out of the darkness.
"A demonic beast!"
"What's a demonic beast doing all the way up here?"
"It must've followed that bastard!"
The villagers startled at the sudden sound and immediately backed away from the cave. They didn't get far — Joseph and the soldiers still hadn't moved.
"Villagers, get down the mountain. Now."
Joseph spoke without taking his eyes off the cave mouth. The people fled down the slope in a rush, as if they'd been waiting for permission. In moments, only Joseph and the five soldiers remained.
"What are your orders?"
Refn asked. He and the others had already drawn their swords and raised their shields. They clearly intended to fight. Tension showed on their faces, but not fear. That was faith — faith in Joseph, or more precisely, in Joseph's firepower. And Joseph himself hadn't retreated. He just stood there.
"Since we're already here, let's draw it out."
Joseph decided to gauge the beast's strength. At the end of the day, this was a creature that hid in the reeds and snatched a single villager. Hunting it shouldn't be difficult. He'd treat this one as the average of whatever demonic beasts were waiting inside.
"If we leave some food at the entrance, that should lure it."
One of the soldiers, catching on quickly, handed over a strip of dried meat. Joseph conjured a torch with Fire and began searing the meat over the flame. It crackled as it cooked. Dried meat didn't give off a strong scent, but the beast's nose would be far sharper than a human's.
As the faint smell drifted into the cave, the growling from within grew louder. It was coming closer.
"Will this actually bring it out? It seems like a cautious one..."
A fair point. The beast hunted people from the cover of reed beds — caution would make sense. Joseph couldn't smell it himself, but the area had to be thick with human scent by now. The creature would know they were here. Wouldn't it just turn around?
Joseph shook his head.
"It already followed the bait this far, didn't it?"
A truly cautious beast would never have chased the lure all the way to the cave mouth. This one had hunted humans more than once. It clearly didn't take them seriously.
Joseph tossed the charred meat toward the entrance. From inside came the sound of something scraping the earth as it ran.
"Form up!"
At Refn's command, the soldiers immediately locked into formation in front of Joseph. Some of them had fought in the northern demonic beast subjugation — their reaction was remarkably fast.
Better than Auger, at least.
A dark brown mass burst from the cave, shattering the dirt at the entrance, and hurled itself straight at the wall of shields.
"Push forward!"
At Refn's shout, the soldiers drove their shields ahead with everything they had. The mass flying at them bounced right back the way it came.
The damage couldn't have been severe — the beast was on its feet immediately, glaring at the formation. It hesitated, looking startled, as if the thought of a counterattack had never crossed its mind.
It really does look like a wild dog.
The long snout and dark brown fur made it unmistakably canine. But it was closer to a wolf than a dog in size. If it stood on two legs, it would tower over Joseph.
Joseph swept his staff and summoned a Mana Orb, then launched it at the beast at maximum speed. The creature leapt aside at the last instant, just before the orb could connect.
It's fast!
Joseph immediately took control of the orb and sent it after the beast. The creature darted this way and that, dodging the pursuing sphere again and again. It looked almost like a circus act. Every so often, without warning, it would come tearing toward Joseph. The shields bounced it back each time, but a single gap in the line would have been dangerous.
Joseph deliberately varied the orb's speed a few times, testing whether the beast was consciously managing the distance.
Not that clever, then.
Fortunately, it didn't seem capable of that. Whenever the orb drew close, the beast simply ran for its life. Joseph chased it around a while longer, then guided the orb beneath its feet, closing in at maximum speed. The instant the sphere grazed the creature's legs, he spoke the word.
⟨ Flame Bite ⟩
The Mana Orb erupted into a mass of flame and detonated beneath the beast's legs. The creature let out a strangled yelp as it was launched into the air. It spun, then slammed into the ground head-first, and did not move. Dead on impact, apparently. The smell of burning flesh rose from its hindquarters, smoke curling off the ruined hide. A fainter vapor was still seeping from the corpse — definitely reacting to Joseph's Divinity.
Demonic Energy.
Joseph summoned more Mana Orbs and battered the carcass from a distance. It still didn't so much as twitch, and the smoke eventually faded.
Not as threatening as I thought.
Even if there were other demonic beasts in the cave, they probably wouldn't be much different from this one. Anything stronger wouldn't have let this creature roam so freely.
It might even be in there alone.
"Let's take the carcass and head down for now."
"Yes, sir."
At Joseph's word, one of the soldiers immediately hoisted the corpse onto his back. Given its size, dragging was more accurate than carrying.
When the party came down from the mountain, the villagers were waiting on the far side of the river. Their faces lit up the instant they saw the carcass. Joseph handed it over to them. Demonic beast meat was supposedly something of a delicacy, but he had no interest in putting that in his mouth. He had no use for it anyway — better to let the villagers deal with it.
"I intend to go back to the cave tomorrow."
Joseph told Refn he would return.
"That would be wise. Other demonic beasts may still be inside. Best to confirm."
Refn nodded and ordered the men to spend the remaining time making torches. At the same time, he was looking at Joseph with something close to awe. So not every mage was another Zalier. To step forward so readily and take the territory's problems into his own hands!
Of course, Joseph harbored no such sentiments whatsoever — not that Refn had any way of knowing.
At daybreak, Joseph climbed the mountain again with the soldiers. They had swapped their swords for clubs and shields. Swinging a blade inside a cave would nick the edge against the walls in no time. A solid club was far safer. They also brought three torches apiece. There was no telling how far the cave stretched, or how wide it might open up. The bait villager had mentioned standing water on the floor, so they'd made as many as they could, just in case.
They entered the narrow passage in single file. Joseph followed at the rear, keeping his distance. The lingering trace of mana he'd sensed at the entrance grew thicker the deeper they went. After walking a while, just as the bait villager had described, the tunnel opened into a wide space.
They splashed through the standing water, holding their torches high to survey the surroundings.
"This is..."
The place they had arrived at was unmistakably man-made. Support pillars held up the ceiling at regular intervals, and a closer look at the flooded floor revealed wooden planks laid beneath the water. The sudden appearance of human construction left everyone speechless. And among them, Joseph was several times more stunned than the rest.
What... is this place?
The unidentified passage was saturated with mana several times denser than anywhere else. Worse, the mana was moving — flowing as if being sucked into the darkness. The current was so intense he could almost feel a will behind it.
Is this a dungeon...? Or something else?
He had no information on other dungeons. There was no way to know if this truly was one.
"Let's keep moving."
Joseph immediately started in the direction the mana was flowing. The soldiers fell in behind him. The party advanced as slowly as they could. The dark passage made it hard to see, but more than that, Joseph kept stopping.
My head hurts.
The closer they drew to where the mana was flowing, the worse the headache became.
It feels like mana is being forced into me.
A mage accumulated ambient mana in the body through meditation. It normally required intense concentration. But here the surrounding mana was so dense it was shoving itself into him uninvited. In short, he had mana sickness.
"Is everyone all right?"
"Sir? All right how?"
Apparently ordinary people weren't affected.
Only mages, then?
"Perhaps we should turn back."
Refn, who had been watching Joseph's face, spoke first. Joseph considered it for a moment, then tried to form a Mana Orb. Even a small one wouldn't hold its shape properly — the mana sickness, no doubt. That meant something significant. The party's main firepower was compromised. If another demonic beast appeared further in, they could be in real danger.
"We go back for today."
Joseph answered with a sigh. They would come better prepared next time. Until he dealt with this headache, searching any deeper would be difficult.
"We'll need to stay in the village for a while."
Joseph told the soldiers. He couldn't leave this passage behind and walk away. If there was no way to eliminate the headache, he would take the time to adapt to it instead. Auger waiting at Malešov was a concern, but there was no other choice. Refn didn't object — he didn't want to leave the cave unattended either.