"I have an idea," I said.
We had been clearing monsters on the 11th layer. We had found nothing else left behind by Stormy, and there was no sign she was following us.
Staying in the dungeon was fine, but the main issue was supplies. Fighting and killing beastkin that came down was too risky. They could be completely useless, or they could be a legend. It was too risky to attempt ambushes at entry passages.
"What are you thinking of? Not another bad idea, I hope," Harren asked.
"The triggering of a monster horde from the dungeon wasn't terrible…anyway... We go back to the 5th layer and try to find the war mech. Then, get the flight engine out. Get to the surface and build a flying vehicle to fly back to the Eldarin Continent over the Great Ocean," I suggested.
Harren let out a sigh. Yeah, it was a bad idea. Not just a bad idea, but an impossibly stupid idea.
Suggesting it made me feel dumber.
"I think you should give up sharing your ideas," he muttered.
I scoffed dismissively. He wasn't trying to figure a way out of this situation. He had resigned himself to fighting for the rest of his life.
"Then let's talk goals. The main thing we need is food. There is water in the dungeon. But we need food long term."
"I have an idea," Harren said, and I listened closely. "We intercept some beastkin and skin them. Wearing their flesh over ours."
That took a very dark turn quick.
"It won't work. Any kind of analysis skill will see right through such a macabre disguise."
Harren let out a sigh. At least he was thinking of ideas, even if they were disgusting and horrible.
"What about leaving runic markers behind? Mapping out an area?" Harren asked.
I had asked that same question myself.
“They disappear unless they are attached to a person. When a dungeon removes a chamber, it erases everything or puts it into a pocket space to fill up with monsters to use again. That is why we occasionally run into gear that other teams have abandoned."
There was no way to map out the dungeon. Countless people had tried; the College had used mathematical models. The dungeon was completely opaque in how it operated beyond being large enough to be infinite and altering itself based on unknown rules and parameters.
I checked my spatial pouch. The food and potions were getting low. Eating monster meat was a good way to mess with your Mana. Mixing Mana through consumption would cause damage to one's soul and lead to things I saw at the Five Star Institute of Healing. While I wasn't pregnant, it could affect me, which would be terrible. I knew enough about medical stuff after spending so much time with healers that messing with one's soul in any way was just asking for a terrible end or death.
I pulled out the Book of Rituals. If anything could get us out of here and back home, it would be a ritual. I began flipping through the book, looking at examples that were listed out. About two-thirds of the way through the book, I found a ritual that might work.
Ritual Of Ascending Exit
This ritual is used to force the dungeon to create a passage to the surface in a new location. It is best used with a Ritual of Descending Entry to link both together to target a specific location with a new surface passage.
However, the ritual is usable by itself if something blocks the exit passage. The following components are needed:
7 Yellow Monster Cores
49 Bound Monsters
1 Gallon of Alchemically Prepared Ritual Ink
Stone Carving Kit
The requirements were quite high, but they weren't impossible.
"I might have a real solution to get to the surface without entering a beastkin settlement. From there we can figure out things."
"Oh, what is it?" Harren asked.
"A ritual. The materials needed aren't impossible to get." I listed them off as Harren listened to the plan. "What do you think?"
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"We exit and then what?"
"Figure out more about the beastkin, gather supplies, and try to find some way to get back."
"Another bad idea. Rituals are dark and dangerous," Harren said.
I just stared at him. This was a legitimate idea, and he was just giving up.
That's when I realized he had given up when Stormy killed our other two team members.
He was struggling to come to terms with what had happened and was letting it consume him.
I felt bad for not finding this option before, but I had put the ritual book from the Dark Cabal to the side and hadn't given it much thought. I planned to review it thoroughly one day. But between graduating from the College, going right into the dungeon, and then dealing with my team, I had never read through it.
There was some aversion to the book as well, since it was from the Dark Cabal. Could it have been used to keep the team together? Possibly, but doubtful. Once we got to the surface, it would be every person for themselves. I would also need enough supplies to make another entrance into the dungeon from the surface.
It would be foolish to think that I could use the same passage that I created. It would be highly likely that the beastkin would discover it and seal it off. Once I got to the surface, I needed to find a remote place to make a passage and use that passage for going into the dungeon.
Getting supplies would be tricky, but that was something I could figure out once I was on the surface.
Ozy would be a great help in scouting, and I had some stealth skills.
My knowledge of the beastkin was very limited. I hadn't talked with Judy's father much, and he had only shared a little about his home.
I needed information, which meant going up to the beastkin continent and trying to get information. It would be difficult and dangerous, but food was an absolute requirement. If I could stock up on a lot of food, I could stay in the dungeon for a long time.
There was a large surge of Mana that swept down from above and at a slight angle. That was weird, since most surges of Mana came from below, not above. The angle was sufficient, and I wasn't near a passage, so I wasn't concerned about a monster swarm.
Ozy was checking the area, and my Danger Sense wasn't triggering either.
"What was that?" Harren asked while looking around nervously.
"That much condensed Mana makes hard to say."
I didn't want to say the first guess that came to my mind. Stormy died, and her spatial pouch had been ripped apart.
She likely took the cores that Sam and April had.
I felt a bit frustrated leaving all that wealth behind, but it was better to have a quick and clean break.
That much Mana was likely a result of her being killed by a monster and that monster eating all those cores at once, breaking them apart, and then exploding from all that Mana.
A Mana shockwave like that was usually the sign of someone dying after a long descent. It normally happened lower, but Stormy was probably exhausted and made a mistake.
A monster or even an Abnormal might have killed her. Regardless, it meant that Stormy had perished in my mind, which wasn't surprising. It was a lot of cores, which was why we sensed it all the way here in the 11th
layer."I think we should try the ritual. It is the best way to get to the surface in a remote location. From there we can work to get food and supplies before creating a hidden entrance to use in a remote location," I replied.
"And if it doesn't work and we die horribly?" Harren asked.
He was clearly becoming unstable, which was sad to see. I moved him from the column of annoying but dependable to mentally fracturing. It was shocking to see such a man have such a weakness.
But the dungeon could break people if they weren't ready. The training I had growing up was harsh. I couldn't forget that time in the 1st layer I was almost killed, and Squire Jessica intervened.
Harren had gone down on his own as well, but he clearly had never faced life or death. He hadn't been told constantly that his life could end at any moment from being careless and losing his common sense.
"Then what do you suggest we do?"
"I don't know!" he shouted.
He then grabbed his axe and stormed off.
Ozy looked up from my shoulder. He was getting bigger and heavier. It wouldn't be too long before I had to kick him off his perch for good.
"What do you think, Ozy?" I asked, and my pet let out a hiss as I scratched his black-scaled head.
His red eyes looked up at me with happiness and contentment. He didn't care about human drama or considerations. He would follow and obey me no matter what happened. That was why a pet was superior to other people.
Even using up one tier 4 skill slot, he was worth it. Though I lost out on experience, he was still worth it. Perhaps that was why I could endure the pressure of our situation and Harren couldn't.
There was another option.
Xanatos could be my savior. I could learn soul skills and use the link between us somehow to find my way back through the dungeon. Perhaps it might work as a long-term strategy.
Putting the ritual book away, I looked through the book on soul skills my mother had gotten me.
It contained foundational and other higher tier skills.
I frowned.
Using these skills to track the cursed skill back to Xanatos wouldn't be simple. While I had a start with Soul Sensing and Soul Strike, getting the skills I needed would take time. There was also my Mind stat to consider. Another possibility appeared in my mind, but it was one that would require years of effort to come to fruition.
I put the book away and let out a sigh.
Harren had left the chamber we had cleared; Ozy had seen the tunnel he had gone through, and it was filled with monsters.
He was leaving my team.
He clearly didn't want anything more to do with me. Not even a goodbye after our years of friendship.
There were worse ways to part, as shown with Stormy. At least his departure hadn't ended in a fight. He clearly had his own ideas, including finding some beastkin and wearing their fur like some kind of crazed person. That wouldn't do anything without actual skills, and just the thought was enough to make me recoil at the thought.
If there were absolutely no choice, I would make it. I would never give up or let myself die. But it was a bad idea based on fundamental principles.
Harren clearly wanted to die fighting instead of slowly starving to death.
That was ultimately his choice, but it was a poor one.
"Goodbye Harren. I guess you want to walk your path. I hope you survive," I said quietly with only Ozy to listen to me as he landed back on my shoulder.