Dungeons Online

Chapter 176: Not at the front anymore

"You are not used to this body yet?" Marvin muttered, his eyes widening. 

"A slip of the tongue," Tom was quick to rectify his mistake. "I'm not used to how sensitive it is," he explained what he actually meant before. "It's like... I can feel the damned wind in the dungeon. Can you?" he asked, bringing forth the simplest possible example to help his friends understand the situation. 

"What are you talking about?" Cleo flared up. There is no wind in the dungeon at all!" she said, grabbing one of Tom's spears littering the floor, and hanging a small piece of cloth from it. Then, she erected the spear up, allowing the cloth to freely hang from it. 

"See?" she said, pointing at the complete lack of movement of the cloth. 

"If there is air, there is wind," Tom muttered, using his spear as a walking stick. "I don't blame you for not feeling it. Just like I don't blame you for not hearing the flow of magic either," he added. 

"Tell us something that only Tom would know," Cleo muttered, clearly unsatisfied with Tom's explanations so far. 

"Are you for real?" Tom whined, shaking his head. 

"Yes, I fucking am!" Cleo shouted her reply back at Tom. 

"A mole, two centimeters above your clit, slightly to the right," Tom spat out his response, instantly causing Cleo's face to go red. 

"Okay, guys, stop it," Marvin intervened, noticing how quickly the situation was deteriorating into a plain argument. "Tom, what exactly happened?" he asked.

"It's hard to explain," Tom shook his head. "It's like... Every part of my body suddenly became more sensitive. I can feel the rifts in the texture of this spear's handle," he said, shaking his weapon that he was using as a walking stick. "I can feel the tiniest crevices, I can feel its temperature, I can feel the flow of magic reinforcing it from the inside," he spat out information bit by bit. 

"Why did you act so weak, then?" Marvin inquired, still not satisfied. 

"Because I'm not used to this kind of sensory overload," Tom replied, a nauseating feeling conveniently bringing him to the brink of retching again. 

"What do you want us to do, then?" Marvin finally asked, his shoulders sinking. Finally, he was done with his interrogation and was willing to accept Tom's explanations. 

"For now, I don't think I can deal with any of the monsters. But still, we need to hurry," Tom said, a wrinkle forming on his forehead. "While it was just a guess, I believe we should start meeting with others relatively soon," he added. 

Right now, their party was on the forty-third floor, just a single step from the forty-fourth one. With the multiplication of mana that both slime and Tom's abilities brought forward, both Marvin and Cleo had levels high enough to deal with the monsters on this level, boss-monster included. 

And so, the answer to Marvin's question was pretty obvious. 

"For the next one, two or maybe three floors, I hope I can count on you guys," Tom said, looking up at his friends. "I'm trying to force my body back in shape, but it doesn't seem like I can speed this process up by any bit," he said, walking a few steps forward, right towards the gate. 

'I better get away from those golden stones,' Tom thought, sending a glance over to the prize remaining after Faunaris unfortunate demise. Yet, thinking about his recent opponent, Tom couldn't help but think about its last few words of advice. 

'This heirloom skill... Origin mage, was it?' he thought, biting his lip. 'Just what the hell am I supposed to do with it? Ignore it to not upset whatever force killed Faunaris?' he asked himself only to shake his head a moment later. 'But it's not like I can ever learn to use it... without using it!' he opposed his own idea, stuck in the limbo of the massive risk and unknown reward of taking it. 

"That seems like the only option for us to move forward," Marvin said before looking over to Tom. "And where are you in such a hurry to go?" he asked, raising his eyebrows.

"The next floor?" Tom asked, turning his head to the back and looking at his friend with a slight surprise. "How else do you want to hurry up if not by actually going ahead?" he asked. 

"Tom, listen," Marvin sighed. "If you are not going to be the vanguard, then you are the one to stick to the rear," he said as a vicious smile suddenly appeared on his lips. "Now it's your time to learn how it feels to be a dead weight! Cleo!" Marvin shouted. "Go and call Kira and Rufus. They are going to be Tom's company for the foreseeable future!"

Unable to as much as protests, Tom could only stand his ground as the girl ran off to the corridor of the dungeon, only to bring the two of their luggage to the boss room. 

From then on, Marvin and Cleo rushed towards the next floor, leaving the remaining three of their group behind. 

"Did something happen?" Kira asked, using the first opportunity when she was relatively alone with Tom to speak up. 

"A lot happened," Tom replied, only to release a deep sigh and struggle to make his way forward. 

"Do you want some help?" Kira approached Tom and offered her arm. "I know we stood against each other, but I can't bear to see you move like that," she added, only to turn her face away as soon as Tom raised his eyes on her. 

"I actually would like it," Tom said, grabbing hold over Kira's shoulder as he made his way through the portal. 

Appearing in the next, forty-furth floor, Tom couldn't help but release yet another sigh. 

Right off the bat, the entire corridor was filled with stinking remains of the monsters, scattered all over the place. 

It appeared that they passed the portal just before the dungeon could finish absorbing the monster's remains, forcing them to gawk at the disgusting sight. 

"Barbaric..." Kira muttered, turning her lips into a single, thin line. Her eyes were filled with disgust. 

"Don't blame her too much," Tom responded with yet another sigh. "This is just the nature of her most powerful skill. It's not like she wants to decorate the corridors like that," he said, pushing his weak body forward, right through the bloody mess that Cleo left in her wake. 

"I still can't understand one thing, though," Kira said softly. "What is it that pushes you so hard into conquering the dungeons?" she asked. 

"That came out of nowhere," Tom replied, twisting his lips a little. 

'What's her purpose in asking this?' he pondered, unsure how he was supposed to reply to it. 

"You don't need to answer if you don't want to," Kira sighed, proving her awareness of her position in the group. 

"Thanks for reminding me of something I'm perfectly aware of," Tom ironically replied before shaking his head. 

'Still, once she gets to the other side, she will be stuck there for the foreseeable future. I guess it won't hurt explaining,' he thought. 

"I never wanted to explore the dungeons for the sake of it. Getting stronger? Living through adventures? This kind of bullshit could work on Rufus, not on the people like me," Tom said. 

"Didn't it feel nice, though?" Kira asked, once again puzzling Tom about her way of thinking. 

"What?" Tom asked, unsure what she was hitting at. 

"To fight with the others while knowing just how massive the gap of strength between you and them was?" Kira explained her mind. 

"Them?" Tom couldn't help but smile when she heard this particular word. "Weren't you with... them?" he asked, raising one of his eyebrows. 

"Only for the convenience's sake," Kira replied with a deep sigh. "Listen here, I'm not trying to judge your choices or make myself a victim, but not everyone had the luck to be born in an influential family," she pointed out. "I just did whatever I could to get myself out of the garbage. I managed to do it with my own strength. I lost my bet, but please," she said in a stern tone, stopping in her steps and throwing a furious glance at Tom. "Do not compare yourself to me. YOu know nothing about what I went through," she said. 

"Aren't you quite the hypocrite here?" Tom asked, a small smile appearing on his lips. While Kira might be right about him not knowing shit about her, the reverse also applied. "You know nothing of the trials and tribulations I went through. You know nothing what it feels like to be born with the burden of the entire family on your shoulders from the time when you were still in the womb," Tom pointed out. 

"So are we going to just both assume that since we can't understand each other, we have no other choice but to go to war?" Kira spat out. "Isn't this sort of thinking that brought all three world wars forth?" she added, clearly trying to fan the flames of Tom's rage. 

"If you really think that's what was the reason behind the third, then you are just a misguided child, roaming in the dark, touching stuff and assuming it's what you believe it is," Tom laughed at Kira's attempts instead. 

"What brought the third war, then?" Kira took on air before pursing her lips and moving her face away. "It's not like you would tell me in the first place; why do I even bother asking," she muttered. 

"You won't believe me," Tom shook his head, a sad smile appearing on his lips. "But what if I told you that the entire war... was caused by nothing more but an accident and misunderstanding?"