Chapter 6: The Merchant of Shadows (Part 2)
Location: The North Gate, Perimeter Fence.
Time: Midnight.
Weather: Heavy Mist (Visibility: Low).
The moon was a sliver of bone in a sky choked with clouds.
Ren walked the perimeter fence, the rusted lantern swinging from his belt, unlit. He didn't need the light. His eyes had adjusted to the dark, aided by the passive enhancement of the [Analytical Eye].
Hork, the guard, was asleep in the guard shack again. The man had grown complacent after Ren returned alive the previous morning. To Hork, Ren was just a lucky rat who knew how to hide in trees.
"Perfect," Ren whispered.
He slipped through a gap in the fence he had identified earlier—a section where the iron bars had rusted through near the ground.
He was back in the Dark Forest.
This time, he didn't stop at the edge. The Goblin Nest he had cleared was empty, its inhabitants dead or scattered. He needed fresh hunting grounds. He needed to go deeper.
He activated [Shadow Veil].
A cool sensation washed over his skin as the shadows clung to him, blurring his outline. He moved past the marker stones that warned: DANGER: DEATH BEYOND THIS POINT.
The forest changed as he went deeper. The trees grew larger, their bark black and slick with moisture. The silence was heavier here. There were no crickets, no owls. Only the sound of his own heartbeat and the distant, unsettling rustle of things that slithered.
[ Area: Dark Forest (Inner Ring) ]
[ Mana Density: Medium ]
[ Threat Level: C-Rank ]
Ren stopped. C-Rank. That was a significant jump. C-Rank meant monsters level 10 and above.
"Risky," Ren analyzed. "But high risk yields high rewards."
He climbed a massive oak tree, perching on a thick branch twenty feet in the air. He needed to survey the terrain.
From his vantage point, he saw it.
About two hundred meters to the east, the mist was swirling in an unnatural pattern. It wasn't drifting with the wind; it was spiraling inward, like water draining into a sinkhole.
[ Analytical Eye ]
[ Anomaly Detected. ]
[ Type: Mana Leak. ]
[ Source: Underground. ]
Ren's eyes narrowed. A Mana Leak usually meant one of two things: a high-tier monster was evolving, or a Dungeon Gate had formed.
He began to move through the canopy, jumping from branch to branch. His Agility (8) allowed him to make jumps that would have broken a normal child's legs. He landed silently on the mossy boughs, closing in on the spiral.
As he neared the center, a low growl vibrated through the wood of the tree he was standing on.
Ren looked down.
Prowling around the base of the tree was a wolf. But it wasn't a normal wolf. It was the size of a pony, its fur a shifting grey that blended perfectly with the fog. Its eyes glowed a luminous, ghostly blue.
[ Monster: Mist Wolf (Alpha) ]
[ Level: 5 ]
[ Health: 150 / 150 ]
[ Skill: Phase Shift (Becomes intangible for 1 second) ]
[ Note: Highly aggressive. Hunts by sensing mana. ]
Ren froze. He touched the Ring of the False Null. It was hiding his core, but if he cast a spell, the ring would deactivate for a moment.
The wolf sniffed the air. It looked up. It couldn't see him through the Shadow Veil, but it knew something was there.
"It's guarding the anomaly," Ren realized.
He couldn't use the shiv. If he got close, the wolf would tear him apart. He needed range.
He raised his hand, aiming down through the leaves.
Mana Arrow.
He focused. He didn't just shape the mana; he compressed it. He poured more energy into the spell than the standard cost.
[ Mana Overload Initiated. ]
[ Cost: 40 Mana. ]
[ Damage Multiplier: x1.5 ]
A bolt of blue light, brighter and denser than before, coalesced in his palm.
Fire.
The bolt screamed through the air.
The wolf's ears twitched. It tried to dodge, its body shimmering as it activated Phase Shift.
But Ren had anticipated the lag. He hadn't aimed for the wolf's head; he had aimed for the ground directly beneath it.
BOOM.
The Mana Arrow struck the tree root the wolf was standing on. The explosion sent a spray of wood splinters and concussive force upward.
The wolf yelped as the blast knocked it into the air, disrupting its Phase Shift. It slammed into a nearby tree trunk, dazed.
Ren dropped from the branch.
He fell twenty feet. As he fell, he drew the black iron shiv.
"Gravity assist," Ren muttered.
He landed on the wolf's back.
The impact drove the breath out of the beast. Ren didn't hesitate. He drove the shiv down into the base of the wolf's neck, severing the spinal cord.
CRUNCH.
The wolf convulsed once, then went limp. Its body dissolved into grey mist, leaving behind a glowing blue stone.
[ System Alert ]
[ Defeated Mist Wolf (Alpha) - Level 5 ]
[ XP Gained: 120 ]
[ Level Up! ]
[ You are now Level 5. ]
Ren picked up the stone.
[ Item: Mist Core (Rank F) ]
[ Material: Used for crafting or mana absorption. ]
He pocketed it. Then, the System chimed again—a different, deeper sound.
[ Milestone Reached: Level 5. ]
[ Class Feature Unlocked: 'The Librarian's Eye'. ]
[ Ability: You can now identify 'Hidden Spaces' and 'Sealed Texts' in the physical world. ]
Ren felt a burning sensation behind his eyes. He blinked, and the world shifted.
The swirling mist to his right didn't just look like fog anymore. He could see lines. Thin, glowing golden lines etched into the air, forming a geometric pattern around a hollow beneath the roots of a massive dead tree.
"A seal," Ren realized.
He walked over to the hollow. The air was cold here, smelling of ozone and ancient dust.
He reached out and touched the golden lines.
[ Barrier Detected. ]
[ Type: Weakened Spatial Seal. ]
[ Key Required: None. Mana Signature required. ]
Ren placed his hand on the invisible barrier. He pushed his mana into it.
The golden lines turned blue. The air rippled like water, and the barrier shattered with the sound of breaking glass.
Revealed beneath the roots was a stone staircase spiraling down into the earth. It wasn't natural cave rock; it was cut stone, smooth and precise.
[ Discovery: You have found a Dungeon Entrance. ]
[ Name: The Root-Cellar of Gluttony. ]
[ Recommended Level: 5 - 8. ]
[ First Clear Reward: Unknown. ]
Ren stared into the darkness below.
"Gluttony," he whispered.
The Seven Deadly Sins. First, the Silver Chest of Greed (Mammon). Now, a Dungeon of Gluttony (Beelzebub).
"The hidden continents are leaking," Ren deduced. "The seals are failing faster than the lore suggested."
He checked his Mana. [ 105 / 185 ].
He checked his Health. [ Full ].
He checked his Inventory. [ Shiv, Potion, Poison Mushrooms ].
He stepped onto the first stair.
"If I clear this," Ren thought, "I won't just level up. I might find the next Chest."
He descended into the earth, the darkness swallowing him whole.
Location: Inside the Dungeon.
Depth: Floor 1.
The dungeon was not a cave. It looked like the basement of a giant's castle.
The walls were made of wet, grey bricks. Moss hung from the ceiling, glowing with a faint bioluminescent green light. The floor was covered in a few inches of water that smelled sweet, like rotting fruit.
Ren splashed quietly through the water.
Squish. Squish.
He stopped.
Ahead of him, blocking the corridor, was a massive, pulsating mass of vines. But as he looked closer, he saw they weren't vines.
They were intestines.
Giant, fleshy tubes writhing and constricting, blocking the path. And embedded in the center of the mass was a large, toothy mouth.
[ Monster: Gluttonous Creeper ]
[ Level: 6 ]
[ Type: Plant / Demon ]
[ Ability: Acid Spit. ]
The mouth opened. It didn't roar. It burped. A cloud of green gas rolled toward Ren.
Ren held his breath and dove to the side, rolling behind a pillar. The gas hit the wall where he had been standing. The stone sizzled and melted.
"Acid," Ren noted. "Don't get hit."
He peeked out. The Creeper was stationary. It blocked the only path forward.
Ren looked at his hand. Mana Arrow would damage it, but the creature was thick. It would take too many shots, and he would run out of mana.
He needed a multiplier.
He looked at the water on the floor.
"Analytical Eye."
[ Environment: Sweet Water ]
[ Properties: Highly Flammable due to fermentation gases. ]
Ren smiled.
"The Manual of Survival, Page 402," he recited mentally. "When outgunned, use the environment."
He didn't have a Fire spell. But he had physics.
He grabbed the Prisoner's Shiv. He ran the blade against the stone pillar hard.
Scrape. No spark.
"Harder," he gritted his teeth.
He waited for the Creeper to open its mouth to spit again.
"Hey! Ugly!" Ren shouted, stepping out.
The Creeper turned. The mouth opened wide, gas building up in its throat.
Ren slammed the black iron shiv against the granite floor with all his strength, right near a patch of dry moss he had kicked the water away from.
SPARK.
A single, hot spark jumped from the iron.
It hit the layer of fermented gas hovering over the sweet water.
WHOOSH.
Blue fire raced across the surface of the water like a living thing. It rushed toward the Creeper.
The monster tried to recoil, but the gas in its mouth ignited.
BOOM!
The explosion wasn't massive, but it was internal. The Creeper's head exploded in a shower of green gore and burnt flesh. The rest of the vine-body thrashed wildly, burning, before slumping into the water, dead.
[ Defeated Gluttonous Creeper - Level 6 ]
[ XP Gained: 150 ]
Ren stood up, brushing soot from his tunic. The fire died down quickly, having consumed the gas.
"Cooking is complete," Ren deadpanned.
He walked past the charred remains.
At the end of the hallway, sitting on a pedestal made of bone, was a chest.
It wasn't Silver. It wasn't Gold.
It was Iron, but it was wrapped in heavy chains that pulsed with a dark red light.
[ Item: Sealed Iron Chest (Type: Gluttony) ]
[ Requirement: Offer Food to open. ]
Ren blinked. "Offer food?"
He looked at his inventory. He had the Moon-Shade Mushrooms. He had the Mist Core.
He tried putting a mushroom on the chest.
The chains rattled. The mushroom withered and turned to dust.
[ Offering Rejected. Insufficient Calories. ]
Ren frowned. "It wants a meal."
He looked back at the charred Creeper. It was gross, but it was meat.
He dragged a chunk of the roasted Creeper flesh over to the chest and slapped it on the lid.
The chest groaned. A mouth materialized on the wood—a literal mouth with wooden teeth—and ate the monster meat.
Crunch. Gulp.
[ Offering Accepted. ]
The chains fell away. The lid creaked open.
Inside, resting on red velvet, was a single item.
It was a pair of gauntlets. They were made of dark leather, with metal plates on the knuckles that looked like teeth.
[ Artifact: Gauntlets of the Starving Wolf (Grade: D) ]
[ Effect: Unarmed attacks drain 5% of the damage dealt as Health to the user. ]
[ Curse: Increases user's hunger significantly. ]
Ren's eyes widened. Life Steal.
In a world where he had no healer and limited potions, Life Steal was the holy grail of survival.
He put them on. They tightened around his hands, feeling like a second skin. He felt a sudden pang of hunger in his stomach, but he ignored it.
"Worth it," Ren said.
He checked the time in the Archive. Dawn was approaching.
"Time to go."
He had cleared the first floor. He would come back for the rest later.
Ren turned and began the climb back to the surface. He was Level 5. He had a weapon. He had a Life Steal artifact.
The Stable Boy was ready for war.
End of Chapter 6 - Part 2
Summary of Events:
The Patrol: Ren sneaks out during Night Watch and enters the deep forest.
The Encounter: Ren fights an Alpha Mist Wolf (Level 5) using a Mana Arrow to the environment (root) to disable its phasing ability.
Level Up: Ren reaches Level 5, unlocking [The Librarian's Eye] (sees hidden spaces).
The Dungeon: Ren discovers a hidden dungeon: The Root-Cellar of Gluttony.
Dungeon Clear (Floor 1): Ren defeats a Gluttonous Creeper by igniting flammable swamp gas.
The Loot: Ren solves the chest puzzle (feeding it) and obtains the [Gauntlets of the Starving Wolf] (Life Steal).