Chapter 4

Taku mouthed that everything would unfold at his call. Teri nodded. They steeled themselves. Taku smacked the door with his weapon, snapping it open. No trap. Next, he slammed the floor. No trap. Taku snapped his fingers—attempted to—but his fingers were sweaty. That was Teri’s signal.

Teri cut through the short corridor. It took him three steps. He used the fourth to leap into the room, but he failed his landing. He rolled a bit further than he should have. Though he recovered and got on his knees with a firm grasp on his shield and weapon, he lost his element of surprise.

That overpowering smell of roses, ink, and flesh made itself known. The air alone was enough to make him want to puke, but he swallowed the feeling and forced himself to focus. Still on his knees, eyes wide, Teri caught a glimpse of a shadow slithering toward him. The monster was in the air. Lucky. He raised his shield. Just in time to block five spikes about to punch holes through his head. They’re fingers. Two managed to nick his face. Blood tasted his lips as it began to smile.

In front of him was a faceless doll with porcelain-like skin and bulges of flesh underneath; it appeared to be a maid with a dress sewn from different types of clothing—dresses, jeans, and even school uniforms. Its left hand appeared relatively normal, this means that it can pull out its claws at will.

In normal circumstances, Teri would just let his shield go and back away. However, unlike humans, this monster was so fast it could just stab him the moment he did so. Instead, Teri yanked his shield down and dragged the monster with it. Then, he smashed his spiked wooden club straight into the monster’s head.

The monster grunted—no, moaned—as Teri’s blow cracked through its skin, dug into its skull, and sprayed blood on the floor. It moaned even more. Louder. As Teri pulled the weapon with some of its flesh still clinging to the head of his weapon’s nails. The monster screeched a chuckle as if there was a mouth under its face. Seemingly encouraged by pain, it pulled up its left claw and whipped it upwards. Teri barely dodged it, the attack leaving shallow cuts on his left forearm and the top of his forehead.

“Bind!”

Taku’s thematic voice rang and strings of light emerged from the ground, snapping and binding the monster just when it was about to punch through Teri’s heart. The monster screeched again, it seemed to be a scream this time. But it won’t be able to move for the next few seconds at least.

“SWING WIDE, BEST FRIEND!”

Teri cringed, gritting his teeth to stop a laugh. He grabbed his weapon with both hands, planted his feet on the ground, and roared as he used his entire body to swing as wide and as powerful as he could.

“POOOOOOWWWWEEERRRR—”

Teri dragged the word, making it louder as his weapon ripped through the air and cutting it at the moment his attack exploded into the monster’s face. Its skin shattered. Its skull bent. Eventually, the better part of it all was ripped off and slapped the floor as the nails of Teri’s club combed through its meat. The monster moaned louder, convulsing backwards with its legs shaking. It didn’t have a face, it seemed like it never had. It wanted to fall, but Taku’s face didn’t let it.

The spiked wooden club, now caked with monster blood, was let go. Teri pulled up one of his sharpened wooden spikes and buried it into the monster’s chest. The monster moaned yet again, and the long sound was dragged until it got weaker and weaker as the air left the monster's lungs—if it even had one. It seemed to lose strength just as Taku’s spell was about to fade, but Teri still kicked the monster away for good measure. The fight, overall, he just had was weirdly satisfying. Fun.

Then, the cringe got to him. Upon seeing Taku running towards him, he scanned the room, chuckled, and fell to his knees. Other than the fact that he made a terrible named attack, he was made aware that his body was burning up and he’s catching his breath. And Taku, who he expected to give him a gross hug, passed him and went straight to the monster he defeated—no, they defeated.

“Die monster! You do not belong in this world!” Taku then screeched like a rat as he hit the monster’s head again and again with his own wooden club. This went on for a few minutes until Taku ran out of energy and proclaimed that the monster was truly dead.

Teri scanned the room again as Taku ran around and did something else. He recalled his previous conversation with Taku and grimaced at the thought of being right. First, it’s not that the monster’s “aura” felt like a wave of blood. It was blood. And other than this dead monster. Four dead people, humans, filled the room. All are dismembered. All have holes punched through their heads. This monster probably got the jump on them. To be able to finish them so quickly… and silently. Teri sighed, covering his mouth and eyes strained in a bit of disbelief. He could’ve died. He barely defeated one. But what if there were two of them? There could be more. Teri found himself glaring at the door on the western side of the room, now he’s afraid to even touch it.

“Sneak attack,” Taku whispered as he laid his hands at the top of Teri’s head. “Heal.”

A golden light enveloped Teri’s body, and this sudden wave of comfort filled his heart. He found it within himself to laugh as his whole body relaxed, smirking as he watched the light glimmer while fixing the wound on his forearm.

“Monster’s dead. Room's clean too.” Taku patted Teri’s head and sat in front of him. He was dragging another backpack behind him. “Well… not really but you get my point.”

“Yeah…”

Taku took out a piece of bread from his backpack. He broke it and placed the other half on Teri’s thigh. Teri glanced at the bread and his friend. Both of them had rations. But there was no room for words. He found Taku eating happily, so he shrugged, picked up his half, and joined his friend for a snack.

“You did good out there.” Taku broke the silence.

“You too. Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.” Taku gave him two thumbs up with a pure smile. The crumbs on his face kind of ruined it. “And yep, I was amazing.”

“I like your confidence.”

“Thanks. Though, you’re not as confident as you should.” Taku finished his bread and drank some water from his waterskin. He also pulled another waterskin from his other backpack and gave it to Teri. “Drink up. It’s a bit bloody, but its contents are clean. Checked it for leaks.”

“You looted the corpses?”

“Yep.” Taku pulled his other backpack to the front. “I moved the bodies to the other side of the room while you’re spaced out. I couldn’t bury the bodies. I didn’t want to claw dirt. The floor was also made of paper. That reminds me, we have to look for a fire spell in the future.”

“Noted.” Teri finished his bread too. “Did you ask for their permission?”

“Yep. Did my ritual and everything. I also wished them well and hoped that they would also do the same for us.” Taku pulled out a few items from his other backpack: a thick sleeveless shirt, some kind of armor, which Taku dramatically called a gambeson; a pair of thick gloves, made from the same material; a blood-covered scroll; and a few pieces of stale bread. To top it all off, he laid bare a long—about a meter and a half—stick. “The rest of their gear was badly damaged or bloodied. It felt gross to take it.”

“Let’s split the bread as normal.” Teri started getting his share of the bread. “Have you checked the scroll?”

“Yeah. It teaches you the Barrier spell. There’s also this sick staff—it’s broken so it’s probably only half as good. I think it increases the oomph of my spells. You interested in learning a spell? I can give the scroll to you.”

“Does it need anything?”

“Ah, at least one open hand.” Taku scratched the back of his head. “Well, I have no interest in playing support, so I’ll keep it for now and trade it if we run into other people. Maybe they have a fire spell. Can I also keep the staff? You can take the rest, I think you need it more.”

“Sure…” Teri picked up his loot and started wearing them. The following moment of silence felt natural for him to break. “So, aren’t you affected?”

“Affected by what?” Taku was posing with his new sick staff. He looked so serious as he swung it around and mimicked the sound of spells being fired and the applause from a crowd.

“Everything.”

“I mean… Yeah-ish?” Taku faced him, his expression sincere and without conceit. There was a sense of pity in his air, but it wasn’t directed to him. “But we’re dead already, aren’t we? When I woke up here, I kinda decided right then and there to take things one step at a time. I got to finally make the choice that I didn’t have to care about everyone or everything. So, if you’re asking me if I feel bad that these people are dead, I do. And I will go out of my way to treat them with respect. It’s just that I chose to care more about surviving. Besides, it's fun…”

“What is? Specifically?”

“Adventuring…” Taku smiled, his gaze a bit afraid of what he was about to say. “With you. The thought of having more people to go on adventures with. Despite everything. You enjoy it too, don’t you?”

Teri glanced at the monster. His hand was still shaking. “We almost died—”

“But a win is a win.” Taku clapped his shoulder. “You should own that more. If you think more about it, the fact that we struggled doing so changes nothing. If anything, it lets us know that we have to approach our enemies carefully and try to get the jump on them as much as possible.”

“So, that’s how you stay positive?”

Taku had Teri sit down with him. “In the most twisted and possibly fucked up way. Yes. Besides, dungeons are supposed to be fun—the fact remains even when it’s a horror one. So, take your time. Rest. We won’t be moving forward until you’re feeling fine.”

“Thanks.”

The smell of blood lingered in the air, added to it was the scent of mold and dust. The floor was cold. Teri still felt the same fear grip him every time he looked at the door on the western side of the room. But somehow, its grip loosened whenever Taku—while posing with his sick-ass staff—comes into view. He wasn’t alone. This silence isn't so bad, after all.

“So… about the cat girls—”

“Oh god.”