Jack's POV

  Remember the time I told you about how Dungeon tends to spring up surprises from time to time?

  Yeah, this was one of those times.

  I led Jensen to the town hall building at the heart of the safe zone. This building was the sole structure built with stones, and was also the only three story structure at this floor of the dungeon. It was a giant circular structure, with a cone shaped roof and had tiny window openings on the walls at each story.

  If I were to believe the stories of my grandfather, told to him by his grandfather. Then, initially, this structure was all there was in the safe zone. People usually hid inside it, and as the population grew they started pitching tents all around it. Fast forward a couple of generations, and we humans had but built a small town all around this stone structure.

  Getting inside the safe zone was as easy as leaving it. But we faced some resistance at the entrance of the town hall building. The two guards posted at the large wooden door each carrying swords while wearing leather armor had some questions. I did my usual routine of being unable to speak in proper sentences, and trying to explain something in haste with words like father slipping out among some gibberish.

  They had no issues with me as they had seen me grow in the safe zone all these years. And also knew my father as he was a merchant. But they did have questions about Jensen. But I vouched for him. And by that I mean. I held his blue cloak and yanked on it for him to come along.

  Either way, once inside though, no one paid us any attention. Because last night, when the floors had opened up. The elder of each floor had gathered here, and the council session had officially begun when the clock stuck mid night.

  So right now, as we took the staircase down the circular corridor and made our way to the basement. An all out verbal war was going on inside the town hall between the factions of the dungeon. They were all the way on the third floor, but their voices reverberated through the walls.

  The council meetings were always held at our safe zone. Not only because it's safer than floor one, but also because it's easier for the deeper floor adventurers to come up and be a part of the meeting. Instead of top floor adventurers moving down the floors and joining the meeting there after facing goblins who will be much stronger.

  The thing is that even though the entire dungeon has been mapped out. There are no direct paths available from one safe zone to another. Once you take the stairs down to a lower floor. You either need to fight your way to the next safe zone. Or fight your way to the next staircase, which would take you even lower. That's one of the reasons why Mom and Kara don't come and visit as often.

  But if moving down from floor two of the dungeon to floor thirteen was as simple as this.

  I eyed Jensen as we stood in the cold basement of the town hall tower made of the same stones as the structure above. It was pitch dark here, so Jensen used his orb to light up our surroundings.

  The guards usually posted here were up in the town hall meeting area. In fact, we had encountered no guards except the ones at the entrance. So all Jensen had to do was break the lock on the wooden door that led us down here into a chamber. And now we stood in front of another wooden door with steel bracings and bolts.

  "You sure that this is it?" I asked him.

  "Well, this has to be it," said Jensen, his hair disheveled, but his eyes still having that madness. "You ready?" he asked me.

  "I would feel much safer with a weapon," I said to him while looking back and making sure no one had followed us down here into the chamber.

  Jensen reached into his cloak and, from his waist belt, unsheathed a dagger and handed it to me. Even though I had questions about a mage having a dagger instead of a wand. I didn't want the System to flag my presence. So I took the steel dagger without question and nodded at him. It was the length of my forearm, and it seemed to be in pretty good condition.

  As a matter of fact, that dagger wasn't the only thing that looked like it was in good condition. Jensen's grey hair had turned black, and the wrinkles on his face had all but disappeared. I was sure he was using a spell this entire time which was now clocking out on him. But again, didn't want the System to know about my existence. So I shut the hell up and went ahead with it. Him being old or semi-old for that matter had nothing to do with me handling the boss for five seconds. I gripped the handle tighter in my hand.

  "Here goes nothing," said Jensen, and I looked at him. And the moment Jensen touched the latch on the door. He froze as a prompt might have appeared in front of him. I didn't even have to ask him about it. Because he gave me that classical laugh of his which was equal parts rich and greedy.

  "Ha-Ha-Ha..."

  *****

  "Slash, slash, slash," Jensen screamed at me at the top of his lungs while my shoulders burned from all the slashing I was doing for the last five minutes.

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  We both had our backs to each other as we fought off the hoard of goblin monsters which were two feet tall, and had razor sharp nails for weapons. The only source of light inside that pit like dark room was the orb that Jensen had carried with him, and the red eyes of those goblins.

  "Die, die, die…" Jensen burned up the little monsters back to back while launching fireballs with both of his hands. While I protected his back by kicking and slashing at the goblins with everything I had in me.

  Before today, I never had the courage to fight these creatures. I was an uninducted individual after all. So every time I moved out of the safe zone it would be with other people. Even when I would go to gather the manure and move back in. I would always be with other adventurers. Tagging along with them and keeping my mouth shut.

  But today, for the first time in my life. I had fought back. Not because I wanted to. But because I had no choice but to do so, as I had followed a madman.

  We had entered the bonus floor with no issue. But the moment the orb lit up over Jensen's head a little brighter than before. It was like a trap was released on us.

  "So much for a bonus floor," I said out loud, while slashing. "It's a bloody trap." I switched hands and slashed with the other one.

  "Fuck you, Benzo," said Jensen. "Fuck you, and fuck your exploration records." He yelled out.

  "For the tenth time, who is this Benzo?" I asked, while kicking away a goblin into the dark.

  But Jensen kept cursing at that man while burning the goblins down. The mages tempers were infamous throughout the dungeon. So even though the dungeon had sprung this thing on us. I was thankful that Jensen had some place to channel all that rage of his. I frankly didn't want to be the one at the receiving end of it.

  I switched the daggers between my hands again and slashed with my left at the incoming goblins.

  "You okay?" asked Jensen when he had let out his frustration.

  "No," I said, yanking a goblin that had bitten my forearm and threw him away. "There is no end to them," I said. I wanted to ask him if the System had given some end condition for this. But I knew better than to say anything that was even remotely related to the System. So I tweaked my question, "How much longer?"

  In response, a fresh wave of strength coursed through me, and the fatigue that I had built up faded a bit. It was just like back then when I was yanking those flowers from the floor.

  "Just keep fighting," said Jensen, and buffed me up once again.

  "Slash, slash, slash…" I yelled out this time around and killed goblins left and right. If only I could have gained experience for this, or better yet, gained credits, I thought as the bodies started piling up all around us.

  "Ha-Ha-Ha…" Jensen laughed like a bad guy and burned them all.

  By the time the goblins died, new ones stopped coming. I was covered in thousands of bite marks and tiny slashes. Jensen, on the other hand, had no scratch on him. If anything, he seemed gassed out at best.

  I wiped the sweat off my brow while we stood facing each other. He was staring at nothing in particular, which told me he was looking at his screen, and when he looked my way, I asked him, "Did it work?"

  He nodded and pointed a finger at a wall which behind my back. "That's the boss's room."

  "You sure?" I asked, having figured out that he had some outside information about this dungeon all along. "That information of yours doesn't seem too reliable," I said.

  "We have come so far," he said, as if it would be a pity not see things through.

  "You think you can one shot it in your condition?" I asked him, as there was no room for any more surprises here. Because if he missed. It would be my head that the boss would take.

  "Can you keep him engaged for five seconds in your condition?" he asked me in return, eyeing the slashes and bites.

  "If you buff me up, I can," I said, swallowing in empty and tightening my grip on the hilt of the dagger.

  "I have already buffed you up four times today," he said. "If I buff you anymore, your body will go under severe fatigue once the last of the buffs wears off." He warned me while looking younger by the minute. He now looked like he were in his thirties and not sixties like last night.

  It was something unreal to see an old man turn young right in front of you, and a part of me wanted to ask him about it. But my heart beat had still not calmed down after fighting off those goblins, and my muscles were still sore. So I needed those buffs in order to dodge the boss. And pointing out his appearance in that moment. It might have resulted in him getting on edge, and deciding not to buff me up and letting me die just so he could keep his secret.

  My thoughts came to a halt as a question popped into my head.

  Wait, why do I even have to go through with this? I asked myself.

  I had not only gotten back my watch. But had also made the money already. There was no need for me to risk my life the way I was going to. I eyed the wounds on my arms, bathed in the light of the orb that was hovering around Jensen. Unlike him and the others. I had no regenerative abilities or spells or anything I could use to save my skin.

  I need to get out of here, my gut screamed out at me.

  I looked around, hoping to find something I could use to make an excuse and leave.

  My eyes wandered back to Jensen, and the smile on his face had changed like he had just read my mind now. His smile was warm and welcoming again, like it was when we had met last night.

  "Give me the device with which we had our transactions so far," he said, and put his hand forth.

  "Why?" I asked, holding on to the dagger a little harder.

  "I have an active System. I will loot the coins by using that device," he looked around at all those coins, which I couldn't even touch. "And you will have some more credit to do whatever you want," he shrugged.

  I blinked at that.

  "You will really do that for me?" I asked, feeling like an idiot for trying to grab those coins earlier with my bare hands.

  He nodded.

  "I could see you being worried about all these coins going to waste just now," he said, and huffed at me like he was willing to do me a favor.

  He misread me, I thought, calming down a little.

  He put his hand forth demanding my device. And a part of me didn't want to hand it over to him. But, it wasn't like I was so rich that I could say no to the extra credits.

  So I reached into my pocket and handed him the rectangular device. Jensen smiled and with just a click. He collected all the coins in the entire room without moving an inch. His eyebrows raised at the amount that must have flashed on the screen, and then he promptly pocketed my device.

  Wait, what? I looked at him with wide eyes.

  He patted my head with a smile.

  "I will keep it safe for now and hand it over after we have completed our task here," he said.

  In that moment, I couldn't help but just smile back at him while internally cursing myself. Even if I had lost all that money lying around. I could have just walked away from here with my life and that device intact. But now, with him holding hostage my sole source of earning money inside the dungeon.

  I had no choice.

  He had me trapped.

  Fuck.

  *****