The trio, followed by the herd, settled down by the entrance of the dungeon. As they all grouped together, Himmel began planning. He looked into the entrance, started formatting how the party would enter, and how the loot would be distributed. While he was deep in thought, the silence was broken by Texan.
"Soo, the fuck is that?"
Abbot and Himmel both looked at him with slight confusion.
"You don't know what a dungeon is?" Abbot smirked at the ignorance shown by Texan.
"Look, man, I get fucked by orcs. They only grunt and fuck—it's not like they explained their jobs to me."
Abbot gave a sour look, a bit disgusted at the thought of it.
"Texan, that is unruly to say. No one wants that type of thought in their head." Himmel began scribbling in the dirt with his axe.
"From what I've experienced, these dungeons are a labyrinth of stone. So far, each dungeon is different and has a theme to it. My first dungeon was an alchemist's room, the second was a prison. I'm lucky enough to say that I haven't met any dangers in the dungeons, but I will say this dungeon here gives a completely different atmosphere. It really feels dangerous." Himmel laid out each of the dungeons in the dirt.
He showcased their layout as well as he could. He elaborated about what he found in each room: the rings, the alcohol, the weapons. Although, he left out some details, such as what the items did.
"Oh, alright. So what about this one, ya know, can you figure it out?"
"No, but there is an ominous aura that feels quite dangerous."
"Don't worry, you two." Abbot then walked to the entrance of the dungeon and began examining the rim of the door. There he found a few short inscriptions and began reading them out. "Level 1, combat type."
Himmel was dumbfounded—he had never even noticed the inscriptions.
"It's a little trick I learned."
After the little showcase, Himmel was suspicious.
"What are you?" Himmel's interrogation began.
"Oh, just a human."
"A human, you say? Take off the hood."
This entire time Abbot had a hood over his head, concealing parts of his body as well. Abbot then made a feeble attempt to flee, but he backed into a wall. He looked up at the wall—it was Riaz.
"Take your hood off or I will."
After a few moments of thought, he complied. He took his hood off, and there his secret was revealed. He was an Elf.
"Ah-ha, no wonder you were hiding your ears. Your race hates the orcs."
Texan's words were true. Throughout most of history, elves have always had a grudge toward orcs and goblins. The elves belittled them, saying they weren't good enough, spitting cruel words, and taking actions that were never meant to be done.
Himmel's anger rose a bit. Maybe you haven't noticed, but the orcs are undeveloped. They live in tents and have primitive ways of handling themselves. There are reasons for these things—the elves simply never let the orcs thrive.
Long ago, orcs lived alongside the elves and spirits. They were the warriors who protected the lands they lived on, and for a very long while, because of the fact that orcs had brute-like lifestyles, the elves despised them immediately. Although despised, the orcs held a sense of pride in protecting their lands, even if some of the inhabitants disliked them.
Truly, the orcs thought nothing of it. They hoped the elves would simply forgive and forget. This lifestyle was maintained long, long ago—before the first treaty. And when that first treaty occurred, there was a short time of peace. The orcs and elves finally had peace: the elves treated orcs with respect, and the orcs forgave the elves for their harms.
This peace did not last long. Fifty years after the demons' attack, a betrayal occurred. During a defense against the demon race, the king of the orcs took the front line because the elves informed him the demon king had shown himself. He charged to the front line with his personal squad and prepared for battle. But he was met with an empty field. The elf king showed himself first, and in a sudden moment, they were hit with a barrage of spells.
The elves lied about the demons' involvement. They lied about a defense. And with the orc king's death, the orcs were swiftly taken by the demons. Then, now in the present time, Himmel saw his mortal enemy. He raised his sword high and slashed down. Abbot closed his eyes and prepared himself for death.
When the dust settled, Abbot's eyes opened. He saw Himmel's blade buried deep in the ground.
"I've cut our ties to the past. We are partners now, and we won't let our ancestors' fight be our fight."
Abbot was surprised. An orc forgave an elf. It felt unprecedented.
Himmel extended his hand, awaiting a handshake. "To our great friendships."
Abbot took Himmel's hand. "Normally people would drink wine, but hey—to our friendship."
As the two were gaining each other's trust, Texan began looking into the dungeon. Unable to get any extra clues about the insides, he was curious.
"It looks blurry. The fuck can't I see inside for?"
"Ay, Himmel, Abbot—when we getting this started?"
The trio then got prepared. They equipped all they had and positioned themselves like previously planned. The trio then moved in. Texan kept an eye on the entrance. When the trio walked about five paces into the dungeon, everything became clear. The insides of the dungeon were visible.
"What in Neptune's name is this weird shit… whatever, we're alive, that's all that matters."
Met with an odd room, the trio began examining their area. Texan noticed the water flowing—it came from an entrance to the east and flowed under metal bars. Himmel noticed the moss that grew around the room, the area humid and unkempt. Abbot noticed the infrastructure.
"Oh, we're in a sewer system."
Himmel was born and raised on the orc continent, which was known to be primitive. He simply did not know that this type of infrastructure could be made. Texan, who was born in the sea, simply didn't need this, so he never knew either. The two looked at Abbot like he was a scholar, but in reality he was your average joe.
The trio then prepared themselves for the next room: Himmel in the front, ready for combat; Abbot in the middle, ready to spot any booby traps; and Texan in the back, prepared for sneak attacks.
As they entered the next room, it was quiet. There was a large rectangular pool of water in front of them. It had a shallow area at the edges, but in the center it was noticeably deeper. Then there were two more passageways to the west. In the southwest corner was an easy walkway—there weren't any obstacles that stood in their way. In the northwest corner was a somewhat blocked passageway, right next to the pool of water.
Himmel's intuition began to alarm him. He felt a dark and dangerous aura in the pool of water—it was hostile, and anyone in the area would be harmed.
"Something is in there. I want to kill it."
Abbot and Texan's heads shot around, staring at Himmel.
"Ay, man, we can just walk into the passage right over there. We don't HAVE to fight."
"Yeah, you're right. But I WANT to. I need to get stronger."
"Himmel, let's not be stupid here. Let's just go into the other passage, get loot, then come back and fight."
It was a good idea. Texan's plan would guarantee the safety of the group. It would guarantee that the fight would be easier.
"No. Raise your arm when you see it."
"The hell is that supposed to me—"
Texan was grabbed by Himmel and was placed into the deep side of the pool. He was being used as bait by Himmel.
A hand being Texan's only lifeline was not reassuring. He was filled with fear and anxiety, but he knew Himmel wasn't going to be easy to convince. So Texan did what he was told—he looked for what lurked in the water.
Deep in the pool, a shadow moved. It was a large reptile that had grown to much larger proportions than what should've been natural. And it got close. Texan raised both hands as he saw it gaining speed.
Himmel pulled out Texan and threw him away to safety. Right after came the beast, leaping out of the water.
Himmel stood beneath it. The beast was massive, malicious. As it hung in the air above him, Himmel could respond however he liked.
So he *snapped*.