Touch of Fate

Chapter 33: Come With Me if You Want to Live

When Philomena had yelled her warning, Brenden, who was standing closest to Devin, tried to grab him and pull him back. Somehow this had caused the two of them to teleport together once the trap went off. Luckily the pair had emerged in an empty chamber. They had initially argued about what to do.

"The longer we wait here, the more likely we are to be attacked by some monster. I'm not sure how far down we were teleported, but it shouldn't be more than a few floors. Considering how easy it was to fight the kobolds, this shouldn't be too difficult." Devin claimed.

"Yeah, but Philomena said to hide and wait for her." Brenden returned, internally conflicted about maintaining his guise in the face of this newbie's idiocy. Not only had he tripped the trap that had gotten them in this mess in the first place, but he was seriously underestimating the increase in difficulty one dungeon floor could make.

Devin's face twisted into one of disgust. As the Rank 2 Adventurer, ordinarily Brenden would have been expected to take charge, but Devin dismissed the foolish looking beastman as more of a burden than anything else. "Look, is there anywhere to really hide around here? Lets at least try to find the others. That way we can defeat this level's boss and leave the dungeon. Come on." The young human said while walking towards the nearest entrance. [I'll take the useless fool with me. He should at least serve as a decent meat shield.]

Brenden acquiesced reluctantly. [He does have a point, even if it is a misguided one. We can't really hide here. I suppose I can let him lead. Hopefully, that way he'll bear the brunt of the monsters' attacks.]

Unaware of their remarkably similar trains of thought, the pair wandered the dungeon for a good ten minutes before they encountered their first monsters on this level.

A trio of large, red lizards occupied a steam filled room, and the two newbie adventurer's were at a loss on how to deal with it.

"Maybe there is another way around." Devin was whispering, although he seemed to lack conviction is his own assertion.

"Maybe." Was all that Brenden was willing to say. [We walked straight here from an empty room with only one entrance. There were no other corridors or doorways along the way. Unless there is a secret passage at some point in the length of travel, we have no other option but to move past these lizards.]

The monsters in question seemed quite content to remain in the room, and after a lengthy internal debate, Devin decided to break the deadlock.

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"Alright, here's what we are going to do. I'm going to use my stealth to sneak past them. Once I'm clear, I will find the others and bring them back to help you. Just sit tight for now, and I'll make sure to get you out of here."

Brenden wasn't surprised the other young man planned to abandon him. After all, Brenden would have done the same in similar circumstances, but he suspected the stealth skills of a Rank 1 adventurer would not be up to this particular task. However, he didn't think Devin would listen to him. Lacking any other option, he simply nodded his acceptance of the plan.

Devin revealed a quick malicious smile, before his neutral features returned. Without another word he slipped into the shadows and began moving into the room, skirting around its edges.

Brenden readied his sword, knowing that the fool would likely drag him into the resulting conflict. If he was lucky, he could get a few good shots in before the lizards swarmed him, maybe enough to break through by force.

Due to the way the room was laid out, Devin was forced to approach within 2m of one of the lizards in order to reach the other side. For a second Brenden thought he might actually get away with sneaking by them, but the closest lizards lifted its head, and started tasting the air, before turning in the adventurer's direction.

Devin tried to freeze, but the damage had already been done. The lizard sprinted forward before the youth had a chance to react. As it closed its jaws around his torso, Brenden could hear bone breaking. Devin tried to scream, but could only emit a sobbing wheeze.

Taking advantage of the lizards' distraction with their new prey, Brenden approached quietly. When the first lizard lifted Devin into the air and began to shake him like a dog, Brenden struck. He delivered a powerful blow to the spine of the closest lizard. An audible crack echoed around the room. As the wounded creature collapsed, the only unoccupied lizard turned to face him.

Brenden braced himself for a charge, but it unexpectedly unleashed a burst of flame from its mouth. His combat-honed instincts allowed him to dive out of the way, but a large portion of his right side was still engulfed.

Searing agony tore through him, as he dazedly tried to regain his feet. He barely managed to block as the lizard delivered a devastating tackle, catapulting the young beastman across the room.

He knew he needed to get up if he wanted any chance of living through this experience. He tried to stagger to his feet, but his foot slipped on something wet and squishy. A quick glance told him that he ended up next to the crumpled form of Devin, blood and viscera creating treacherous footing.

Seeing the two lizards approaching to finish him off, Brenden felt resigned. There didn't seem to be any means of escape left to him, and with his injuries he didn't think he could defeat one of the monsters, let alone two.

[I guess this is it. F***, I should have slept in today.]

As he raised his sword and delivered a couple of feeble slashes in an effort to keep the monsters at bay, Brenden couldn't help but feel bitter with regret.

[All that work, all that effort, everything I've done to survive, and I'm going to die here, because that idiot couldn't control his greed.] There was a tinge of guilt at the thought.

A quiet voice, deep in the back of his head whispered, "You let him die. These lizards are going to tear you apart just like him, and you deserve it. You are cursed."

Brenden felt his throat constrict. His heart beat wildly. The lizards pressed forward, jaws open wide.

"Murderer," The voice whispered. "You left him to be torn apart by beasts, and now you will share his fate."

He shut his eyes and waited for the pain. A pain that never came.

"How long are you going to stand there with your eyes closed?" A young masculine voice broke him out of his trance.

Brenden opened his eyes and was overcome by what he saw.

Mike stood nonchalantly beside the disintegrating corpses of the two lizards, a simple looking sword thrown over one shoulder. Both monsters had been decapitated with clean strokes.

In that moment, the youth reminded Brenden of a mural he'd seen once in a city cathedral during his time on the streets. It depicted an ancient hero, who stood triumphantly over the corpse of a dangerous looking demon. At the time Brenden was struck by the sheer presence of the hero, the power. Mike stood in almost the exact same pose, missing only the fine weapons and armor.

[He must have killed both of them in a second, no a fraction of second, and he did it in near perfect silence. Presumably without making use of his already terrifying fire magic. This.....this is a Rank 3 Adventurer? There was no way.] Brenden was filled with disbelief.

"Okay, the staring is starting to get a bit creepy. Hm, I bet you're in shock from those burns. Hold on, let me see if I can work on those." The youth said while approaching.

Before Brenden could react, Mike had already pressed a glowing hand onto his chest.

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The beastman was staring at him blankly for a good ten seconds before Mike thought about the possibility of shock. [Oh s***. This is no time to act cool.]

He ran over and began channeling mana into Brenden's burns, but for some reason was having trouble. He had to expend nearly five times the amount of mana that would normally be required for healing, but it was having little effect.

[Maybe its hard to heal burns?]

A familiar pop occurred deep within him, and suddenly the healing process got significant easier. Within a few minutes Brenden's injuries had been completely healed.

Mike sighed and stood up straight, since the beastman had fallen to his knees during the process.

He glanced over at Devin, or what was left of him. It was quite obvious that no amount of healing magic would be able to fix this. The sight caused some disquiet in his heart.

He had been treating this whole dungeon delve as a game, despite Philomena's many warnings. It had all seemed so convenient, so easy compared to the other battles he fought, he didn't take it seriously. But here was visceral proof that he was engaging in a dangerous profession. That people died playing this 'game.'

He shook himself out of his morbid thoughts. Now was not the time to deal with these feelings. He need to get himself and the rest of the surviving adventurers out.

He glanced down at the beastman, who was staring numbly down at his injured hand. [Guess I need to be gentle with this one. Dealing with this kind of situation was bound to be traumatic.

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Brenden was staring at his hand. The one that was burned mere minutes ago. [How can one man wield both life and death with such proficiency? How is he this powerful?]

"Hey." A soft voice broke his meandering thoughts.

He looked up into the face of his savior.

The youth was leaning over, offering a hand to the kneeling beastman. "Lets get you out of here." He said with a gentle smile.

A genuine smile.