The moment Arthur crossed over, he felt it.
The pressure that had been sitting outside the dungeon felt like it was nothing compared to this.
Arthur blinked once.
"…Huh."
He rolled his shoulder slightly, relieving himself of the heaviness.
"The air feels heavier now."
"Yeah," Torren muttered behind him. "That's… not normal."
It wasn't.
Arthur could tell right away.
The air inside the dungeon felt wrong and dirty.
Like breathing through something that didn't belong in your lungs.
Arthur took a slow breath, then frowned.
"…Tainted."
Ryn nodded.
"Bad one too."
That confirmed it.
Arthur glanced around properly this time.
The dungeon stretched ahead in a narrow forest path, but the trees weren't right.
They were tall, twisted in odd directions, their bark darkened like it had been burned and left to rot. Some of the branches hung low, almost clawing at the ground, while others reached out in uneven angles like they were trying to grab something that wasn't there.
