The dungeon smelled like mold and decay, making me wanna vomit thankfully enough I got used to the cave I used to sleep in back with Kron and the others.
I'd been in worse places, other than the cave sure, but this one felt... personal. The air was thick with mana, unnatural mana, the kind you could feel crawling under your skin. It was uncomfortable.
Walking forward with my clones, I could feel a heavy weight given by this place.
My clones were chattering amongst themselves, excited about the monsters we were encountering.
I really do not know how these guys can still be so easy going about everything right now.
We already came across a handful of them on the way—slimes, mushrooms, and flowers. It was like someone had taken the worst parts of nature and fused them into twisted mockeries of life.
"Ugh, look at this!" Clone #2 grimaced as she kicked a slime with a human arm attached to it. "That's just fucking wrong."
"Yep," I agreed. "Whoever's behind this is seriously messed up in the head." I gave the slime a once-over. Its gooey, translucent form bubbled, its eyes somehow looking both confused and angry.
The arm, a pale human appendage, hung limply from its side. Not the weirdest thing I'd seen, but definitely on the top ten list of them.
"What about this mushroom?" Clone #4 piped up, pointing to a mushroom with a kobold tail and fur. The fur was matted with dirt and what I hoped was just slime, but I wasn't getting any closer to confirm. "Is this like some mutant mushroom?"
"More like mutant mushroom gone wrong," I muttered. Seriously, this Enrai guy is disgusting.
But the flowers were the worst. They weren't the kind you could just ignore. As soon as they bloomed, their petals opened to reveal human eyes staring back at you—unblinking, unnervingly aware. The eyes blinked sometimes, and that was enough to make the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.
I wasn't just imagining it, something was going on in here. And it probably wouldn't be a stretch to assume it was all the doing of Enrai, the so-called genius magician behind this forsaken place. The system's dungeon description was enough to give anyone the chills:
[System Inspection:
Name: Enrai's Laboratory
Type: Dungeon
Rank: C
Description:
A genius magician named Enrai has lived his whole life researching how to create a magic that would etch his name in history! Unfortunately, his path was a very disturbing one, as he experimented on other beings as the subject.]
Genius magician my ass, he's more like a fucking sicko.
"What the hell is this guy even trying to make?!" Clone #8 muttered under her breath as we continued deeper into the dungeon.
I didn't know, and frankly, I didn't care. All I cared about was getting through this place, figuring out what had happened to my missing clone, and getting out. But that was easier said than done.
Then, we found it...
"Hey! Me's! Look!" Clone #10 shouted, her excitement was infectious as she pointed toward a wall.
We all turned to see a faint outline in the stone, a hidden room. The runes on the wall glowed faintly when we stepped closer, activating them and revealing the secret passage behind.
Looking inside the room, the atmosphere shifted. The air was thicker, colder, and the eerie silence pressing in on us. As we stepped inside, the first thing that caught my eye were the cages.
A row of them. Each one containing something I didn't even want to guess. But what really made my stomach twist was that one of them had a child inside.
"Look Me! A child!" Clone #4 said, her voice high with surprise.
I blinked, my heart lurching in my chest. A child? Here? In this hellhole? What the fuck.
My eyes scanned the girl before me. She was about seven or eight, with dirty black hair and cheeks streaked with mud. She was wearing a brown shirt that barely covered her legs, looking like she'd been here for weeks, maybe longer.
Her skin was pale, almost unnaturally so, like she had been locked away in darkness for far too long. But what really stood out were her eyes. Emerald. Bright, glowing emerald eyes that shone even in the dark.
I didn't know why, but she looked familiar. Where have I seen her before? My mind raced, but I couldn't place it.
"Woah! What a beautiful child! Look how her eyes glow in the dark, such a pretty emerald. Me, let's take her with us!" Clone #4 continued, her energy radiating off of her like always.
"Hey, kid! What're you doing here?" I called out, kneeling down to her level. She didn't flinch or back away. Instead, she just stared at me, her gaze unwavering.
She wasn't afraid. That made me both relieved and uneasy.
I stretched out my hand toward her, offering a small smile. "Do you wanna come with us?"
I wasn't sure if this was a trap or if we were about to be ambushed by more of Enrai's freaks, but something told me she needed to get out of here.
No child belonged in a place like this, no matter what magic was behind her existence.
To my surprise, she rested her left hand on mine without hesitation, her grip surprisingly strong for such a small little thing.
Her emerald eyes locked with mine, and for a moment, time seemed to stop. I wasn't sure why, but I felt... connected to her, like there was something pulling at me from deep within.
"Me's! She's so soft!" Clone #10 squealed, her voice high-pitched as she leaned in to inspect the child, who didn't seem to mind at all.
I scooped her up into my arms, feeling the warmth of her tiny body against mine. She didn't squirm or fight. Instead, she shifted slightly, making herself comfortable, before wrapping her chubby little arms around my neck in a firm hug.
"What should we do with her?" Clone #5 asked, looking concerned.
I glanced at her, then back at the child. "We take her with us. She's not staying here, and if she's connected to this place, we'll find out what's going on."
I could feel the child's breath against my neck as she snuggled closer, her small hands clutching tighter. It was a strange sensation, having someone so vulnerable trust me so completely. But I'm not going to let her down.
"Well, I guess we're done here," I said with a sigh, standing up straight, cradling the child in my arms. "Let's keep moving."
We left the hidden room and continued deeper into Enrai's laboratory. I really wanna get out of this place, but we still haven't found my missing clone yet.
As we made our way through the corridors, I could hear the echoes of something lurking out of sight. If it were before I would be shivering and feeling scared but with the child in my arms...I sort of don't feel scared. Maybe it's because she's warm? They do say that people's warmth can enhance a person's confidence right?
Besides, I could feel it. This was going to be one hell of an adventure.
If so then bring it on.
Little Theater:
Clone #4 *Finds a flower(?) and picks it up for comparison*: "Look! The child's eyes glow prettier than these creepy flowers!"
Clone #10: "You're comparing a child to a nightmare? What's wrong with you?"
Clone #5 *dryly*: "And here I thought we were the weird ones."
Author *looks at them*:... All of you are!
(￣_￣)