Chapter 8: Dungeon Exploration 2
The bright light assailed Marie’s eyes like daggers. The rays, artificial in nature, were merciless as they bore into her pupils while she could do nothing except stare into them with half-lidded eyes in a haze. There was no strength left in her naked body, molested by the foul air and the lukewarm slab of metal she was strapped to.
“Vital signs are stable… no signs of elephantiasis or mutation… a success…”
The voice, madness and jubilation masked with a practiced composure, was followed by a dark silhouette eclipsing the relentless light. The merciful shade allowed her eyes to gain focus, bringing clarity to the smiling Elf now towering over her petite frame. He stood tall and lean, though there was a vague definition of muscle hidden behind his turtleneck shirt and opened lab coat. Piercing green eyes, half-obscured by the glare upon the rectangular glasses framed perfectly over his long-stretched ears, were fixed on her bare chest.
A long, gloved finger ran down the swollen line of flesh that sank past the low valley of her breasts where her flesh was upraised and red. The touch alone felt like a molten-hot rod was burning her to the point where she couldn’t help but scream. Yet only a choked whimper escaped her throat, which had become raw and hoarse.
“Couldn’t you have done something about the screams?” Another voice. Distant. Out of vision. “The mess it made was already unsightly enough, but I can still hear the ringing in my ears.”
The Mad Researcher pushed up his glasses. “Really, referring to the subject as an ‘it’ is unfounded, Head Elder. Even if she’s one of the inferior races, she managed to keep her form without any signs of mutation. A precious sample merits its name for posterity and identification… er…”
“Marie,” a younger voice responded almost robotically. “The subject introduced herself as Marie Fou Lafan.”
“Yes, that’s it. Thank you, Kyle.” He brought the finger to her chin and tilted her head up so that their eyes could meet. “Our first successful Artificial Adept, who will no doubt prove instrumental in our plans going forward, Ma—”
“—rie?”
Marie’s attention snapped back to reality upon hearing her name called from beyond a moment in the past best buried. She was no longer in that laboratory and on a cold, soiled slab under the knife of a mad scientist. No longer beneath the gaze of the head elder of Fen and in a place filled with failed experiments that were once humans sold and smuggled for the purposes of their ambition.
Instead, she was at the entrance to the First Floor of the Dungeon located beneath the Capital, surrounded by the five most prominent boys within the Royal Academy. It was the most prominent of them who had called out to her—Crown Prince Julius. “Are you okay?”
She put on a saccharine yet nervous smile as she brushed down her slender combat armor that looked like a mixture between half-plate and a short dress. The boys had bought it for her based on the current trends, and it had been tailored for her petite size. “I am a little nervous since it’s my first time in a place like this. My Septima isn’t really suited to combat after all, and I barely passed the qualification for being able to use firearms thanks to Lord Jilk.”
The small handgun was a perk for doing Jilk’s route, as part of his events were centered around it. The weapon itself was fairly weak in terms of gameplay and meant to be symbolic more than anything else, but in the early game it was useful. Normally, it would take longer to get to that point without neglecting any of the others, but Kyle was incredibly helpful in optimizing her progression with them.
“You have nothing to worry about,” Julius reassured her with a level of confidence that had yet to be earned. Though he didn’t need it, he boasted stylized half-plate armor with grieves that were a dark-blue color, along with a cape—all of which were emblazoned with the emblem of the Royal Family. The only weapon he carried was a specialized firearm known as the Dart Leader, holstered at his hip. “I’ll keep you safe.”
“You say that, but spending all your time in palace walls is a bit different than getting down and dirty in places where monsters can get you from all angles,” Greg was quick to say while brushing back his red hair from behind his armored headband. He eschewed the protection of half-plate for merely having a breastplate over his red bodysuit, armored boots to go along with his greaves, and armored sleeves to protect his forearms. “They’re not going to go easy on you like your trainers just because of whose family you belong to.”
“You know nothing of what you say,” Chris said with no small amount of bite on the prince’s behalf. The bespectacled swordsman was kitted out in silver half-plate over a light-blue bodysuit with half-cape connected to his back using a pair of emblazoned pauldrons. The polish of his armored gauntlets caught the glint of the light as he pushed up his glasses with one hand while the other rested on the pommel of his blade. “Then again, expecting more from a countryside hick would be asking a great deal.”
Inwardly, Marie fought off the urge to sigh as the rivalry between these two sparked up once more. Greg was a meathead, to be blunt about it. He was the type who would rush into trouble and rely on his own ability, which served him well to this point considering he had a number of dungeons under his belt and practical experience in killing monsters.
In contrast, Chris was meant to be a calm and collected Swordmaster, being the son of the Sword Saint who’d earned the title by merit and held onto it. He was a bundle of insecurity issues and unpacking that was the crux of his route, which was held back by the fact that he lacked practical experience. He was also quick on his feet, which was fine for someone who would excel at close-range combat, but struggled with ranged enemies.
“Results speak louder than words, Chris,” Jilk said in a placid tone that lacked any warmth. Like Greg, his outward armor was minimal with only chest protection, protectors on his arms and knees, and rounded pauldrons shaded a deep green hue over his black bodysuit. But he had two belts that had many compartments, no doubt housing ammunition and other assorted things he needed, while holstering two sidearms along with a combat knife. And the rifle he was carrying, of course. “He may boast, but Marie will be able to see for herself the truth once we engage the enemy.”
“Fine by me. How about we go a step further with lowest kill count buys dinner?” He turned to the last member of the group and flashed a grin. “Hope you don’t mind your wallet ending up a bit light, Brad.”
An exasperated sigh slipped out Brad’s lips as he crossed his arms. His long and luxurious hair, which was the envy of more than a few women, was bound and tucked into a sleek bascinet. The open-faced helmet framed his face perfectly with engorged sections at the cheeks that could deploy a visor when in combat. Unlike the others he didn’t have any metallic armor or extraneous plating, instead settling for a bodysuit that had reinforced plating woven in, emphasizing mobility more than defense.
Then he took a step closer towards Marie and gently put his hand on her shoulder. “By all means, feel free to compete with one another against the beasts. I’ll happily keep Marie company in the backline and ensure that no harm befalls her. After all, my defenses are second only to the Azure Striker.”
It was a bold claim. But not unfounded. Not to Marie.
She knew the Prism Adept had the lowest base HP in the game, and his attack speed was among the slowest compared to the others at the endgame. But the trade-off was that he had the highest SP out of everyone else. He also naturally learned Skills to reinforce his defense, from raising protective walls to encasing himself in it.
On top of that, his attacks naturally had a penetrative property due to how hard and sharp the crystals he made were. There were enemies who required armor piercing rounds, expensive equipment, or certain gimmicks to get through for the others except for Julius. But Brad could deal with them without any extra investment aside from the fact that he was fragile.
Still, Marie offered him a smile before turning her attention to the Dungeon itself and the bonus event that should take place if they were following the Updated Edition. One of the biggest issues during the original version was how strapped for cash the Heroine ended up early on, since she was a poor Commoner who didn’t want to lean on the others for handouts, and how difficult it was to get a feel for how certain characters played. If she had timed it right, the Guild Executive should be approaching the professor and looking for someone with previous adventuring experience, which made Greg the natural recommendation, and the others would insist on going in as well, giving them a head-start…
“Okay, everyone,” called Professor Monica. “There will be a delay of thirty-minutes or so before we can begin the delving. Please start breaking into teams so that we can go over some of the basics again while we wait.”
A delay? Her brows furled slightly at that. The reason for the delay was supposed to be the event, but they hadn’t gone in yet. And it wasn’t as though anyone else could have taken the job considering the problem at the end of the Third Floor was a nest of Cave Ants. The entire reason they went as a group was because against that many all five of them would have to work together, allowing you to play through each one to get a feel for their combat styles.
Pursing her lips thin for a moment, she then lightly brushed her finger against Brad’s hand to grab his attention while the other boys were discussing their little competition with one another. “Lord Brad, it sounds like something might have happened. Could you see if anyone knows something?”
“Of course.” His gaze spanned the room before settling off in the distance. “Give me just a moment.”
Marie watched him depart only to suddenly have tension thread her spine when she saw that he was walking straight towards the Heroine, who was standing against the wall. She was dressed in an Exosuit that didn’t seem to suit her, which it didn’t considering she couldn’t wear powered combat armor in the games. But more importantly she was sporting a smile as she spotted him coming and straightened up, giving off the impression of an air of familiarity that shouldn’t be possible.
A myriad of questions cropped up in Marie’s mind since she knew that the Heroine shouldn’t have access to her Septima. The Muse was hers now. And there shouldn’t be any events between them since she went through the gateway event already. So how did he know her?
Marie’s focus was so fixed on trying to read their relationship from the distance as the girl wrote something down on a notepad, something she had to be good at considering her former occupation, that she barely be bothered to feign fear when the Villainess approached her. Just curling behind the Crown Prince enough to hide her face and make her seem meek to get them feeling protective like big strong men should be. She already knew how it would play out, with her trying to grab Julius’ attention, then yelling at Marie about knowing her place when he stated he was going to be protecting her, before the boys came to her defense.
The only good thing was that the sudden shouting pulled the attention of the Heroine and Brad from each other. He quickly came over as Julius declared his intention of partnering up with her to the professor and the others kept themselves between her and the fuming Villainess. “My apologies for the delay, Marie.”
Marie shook her head. “You’ve nothing to apologize for. Did you figure out what was causing the delay for the class?”
He nodded and then elaborated on what she feared. The Guild Executive had come by and given the quest to another student. One who was apparently a friend of the Heroine according to him.
“You seemed to quite worried about that girl,” Marie said once she noticed he turned to look back at Olivia, who was now starting to hover around the Villainess’ group since everyone was forming up into teams. “Is she a friend of yours?”
“Ah, Olivia?” Brad gave a slight inclination of the head. “We attend service together and have some familiarity with one another. She’s a gentle soul, so I do hold some concerns considering she might face trouble inside of the Dungeon given her… circumstances.”
“Not even five minutes and you’re already hitting up another chick?” Greg looked at the Heroine with a raised brow, red eyes running over her combat armor before he let out an appreciative whistle. “Not a bad choice of armor though. We use that model back home—it’s old but reliable because of how durable it is despite being on the older side. Didn’t think I’d see a girl wearing it though considering it’s not easy to move in without burning the battery out.”
“A necessity,” Brad said. “Unfortunately, Olivia was born without a Septima nor a voice to complain about the unfairness of her circumstances.”
Jilk shifted slightly as some thought crossed his mind. “She must be one of the two scholarship students then.”
“Her partner would be the other…” Brad crossed his arms. “Though from what I understand he happens to be an accomplished Adventurer who earned enough acclaim with the Royal Family to purchase his way into the Ninth Rank despite his powerlessness. It makes sense then that he would be the one to act considering the rest of the students likely have no experience or little of note.”
Marie took in the information while masking her confusion. She expected the Heroine to be powerless, but not mute. The scar on her chest ached for a moment when she considered there might be some correlation between the Muse and her lack of a voice. But it was fleeting as she turned her focus on this unknown factor of a second scholarship student.
Logically, it made sense that there would be a male counterpart to the Heroine. The fact that it went unmentioned in the game was likely because it wasn’t important unless they suddenly made a galge spin-off. It wasn’t like the Muse could be useful for someone who didn’t have a Septima to augment after all, so anyone with adventuring accomplishments on paper could take up the male slot.
Though, when she considered he lacked a Septima to handle the nest, she didn’t think his odds of success were very good. It really wasn’t something that any of the others could handle alone at this point, while they were just starting to really develop their abilities and before they discovered the Muse. Hence why they should be working together.
Could it be that due to her intervention the scenario was changed, and they were supposed to go and save him instead?
Asking the boys to go save the powerless student does sound like something the Heroine would do, she reasoned while playing the scenario out over her head. If they pressed ahead then they would likely find him over his head and then could take over the event. Really, it isn’t like he could have gotten too far ahead with only a small head-start, right?
[—Leon Fou Bartfort—]
“So… do you want to talk about it?”
The Combat Support Pod’s artificial voice pulled Leon from the doldrum that was culling a ridiculously large number of Cave Ants throughout the Second Floor. The monsters whose maws had carved their way through the unworked stone in networks and threaded the top levels of the floors were the predominant encounters to this point. He had lost count how many he’d killed, not bothering to count the raw crystals occasionally left behind as he pressed ahead, though he was certain that if he asked Lola could give him an accurate count.
Ranged weaponry and Septima were best for dealing with these things. Numbers were their primary advantage, whereupon they would be willing to sacrifice themselves en masse to swarm a target. Those jaws could exert enough force that stone and low-quality steel could be crushed with ease, let alone flesh and bone.
“There’s nothing to talk about.” Leon’s voice lacked any emotion as he fired three shots of superheated bolts from the photon emitter sidearm towards the dog-sized insects scurrying toward him from the floor, walls, and ceiling. The shots bore through the exoskeletons and flash evaporated the liquid contents within their bodies, causing the exoskeleton to rupture from the inside. The bursting remains went from viscera into particles of mana near-instantly and dissipated as he pressed forward.
“Leon, I am literally monitoring your biometrics and can tell you’re mad by even your normal standards.”
The only response was a roar of the jets as he opted to burn a bullit to speed ahead, the Combat Support Pod keeping pace until the corridor of stone opened up into a massive chamber that branched in multiple directions, acting as the heart of the Second Floor from which there were several diverging paths. Some would lead to dead ends, while others would converge. There were even some portions where the floor had given out from being hollowed by the tunneling ants, creating shortcuts to the Third Floor at the risk of dropping you right into a nest of them.
No sooner than he breached the opening did all of the P-Bits that had been keeping themselves affixed behind him suddenly become more active. They spun around him, and he recognized it as starting the formation for the Flashshield, leaving him to come to an immediate stop to avoid running into the stationary electrified field. It proved to be the right call as the shield intercepted bombardment of fist-sized stones flung at speeds that could fracture bone, all aimed at his head from a higher angle and meant to concuss or kill in a single blow.
His visor immediately tracked the angle of the projectiles, and indicators locked onto to a troop of Cave Leapers clinging to the stalactites above, cleverly positioned so they could peer from behind cover and go unnoticed. They were dark-eyed simians that were covered in white fur over brown flesh, roughly the height of a small child. Yet despite their small stature, they were surprisingly strong enough that they could wedge their pointed claws into the cave stone and tear off chunks to fling like ammunition.
Leon burned another bullit as he kicked off the ground backwards, retreating into the mouth of the chamber to limit the angles from which they could hit him from above. At the same time, he angled himself facing upwards and snapped out three shots to destroy the stones coming his way while the P-Bits entered the lightning-generation configuration. Lances of lightning cut through the air towards the troop, with the less nimble of their number who thought the stone would provide them shelter learned otherwise as the bolts slammed into the stone with enough force that they detonated before piercing their hides and cutting their lives short.
The bold ones who weren’t so naïve, probably those who had survived encounters with other Adepts by retreating as they learned, had already let go and were spared from an initial death. They descended along with the falling rubble through the stone dust cloud made by the blast and landed on the ground. Then they immediately began hopping around erratically, making lining up a shot near impossible while they closed in.
“Reconfiguration: Aqua Bind.” Lola’s body and the P-Bits shifted to a light-blue hue as the formation changed into the pentagon formation, with the inner array generating balls of water. “Firing!”
The bits that made up the inner array spun around like a propeller, shooting a barrage of cannonball-sized liquid pulled from the mass that was steadily shrinking with each shot. The simians were deft and erratic enough that there were more misses than hits. But for those that connected the water swelled and left them entrapped within, which Leon followed up a superheated bolt from his firearm that tore through the film of the aqueous prison and into the immobile targets for a clean kill.
The barrage ceased once the weapon energy for the EX-Weapon was depleted, with only a single survivor of the initial ambush. It knew only contempt and rage as it bound towards Leon but was met with the underside of the barrel of his gun as he burned his third bullit to dash in the air towards it and then pistol-whipped it into the ground from midair. The motion itself left him twisting his body, but the jets of the suit slowed his descent as he opened fire with another three-shot salvo.
The Cave Leaper moved. But its erratic motions were met with curving light as the bolts chased it down thanks to the ‘X’ marking the spot where the light emitter had branded it. The simian lost a limb as the first shot tore through its shoulder blade, suffered a fatal wound as the second pierced its chest from the back, and then dispersed into mana as the final shot finished the job.
Leon cut the jets so that he landed on the ground hard, allowing the kinetic force to be converted into energy that replenished the expended bullits. Then, after noting there were none left, he began to consult his mental map of the layout of the Second Floor. But the moment he turned to move Lola floated in front of him.
“Leon. Talk to me.” Her robotic voice carried with it an earnestness as she spoke. “Please.”
In contrast, his own voice was hollow as he tried to go around her while claiming, “There’s nothing to talk about. I just want to finish this job.”
Lola immediately circled back to his front. He considered trying to move past the A.I. but found himself unwilling to when her optics stared straight past the visor and into his own eyes. “We’re alone, Leon. And I’m probably the only one who you can genuinely vent to without secrets. You don’t have to hold it in anymore. Please.”
He stood there for a moment in silence before letting out an exasperated sigh and opening the visor to meet her gaze unbidden. She deserved that much, at the very least. “Okay, I’m mad. But I think its justified considering that I’m clearing out hundreds of these man-eating monsters so that some high-ranking harpy can try to stroll through the place with the prince while playing adventurer.”
They were making it seem easy, but Leon knew for a fact that was only because of the armor’s capabilities and by extension Lola. But no one knew he had them. Especially not the Villainess who they hadn’t known they existed until now. She had basically sent him to his death for her own amusement.
No different than Zola. “What’s the life of a Minos so that she can entertain herself?”
“She never said that explicitly.” Lola pointed out. And her memory banks meant she knew for a fact that was the case. “I genuinely think from her tone she suspected you were the most capable person to handle the situation based on what information she had, faulty or not. The fact that you were a Minos probably didn’t even enter her thoughts considering no one brought it up.”
“It doesn’t change the fact that I’m still out here instead of helping Olivia, does it?” Leon snapped back in a sharper tone than even he had been expecting. He regretted it because Lola didn’t deserve that. “Sorry.”
Lola only shook herself back and forth like she was shaking her head. “It’s okay. Vent as much as you need, but don’t let that anger twist what you might not know. I mean, realistically speaking, even if weren’t you here, do you think that the situation would be any better?”
He took a deep breath and gave it some thought. The Guild royally screwed up their estimation along with the fact that thinking that this was something any single person could handle. None of the students could barring one. “The Azure Striker could probably do it, but that’s only because he’d have nearly infinite energy so long as he could charge himself. The rest would tire themselves out by this point if they were alone.”
“Exactly,” Lola confirmed. “There is no way a student would have enough ammunition to deal with everything using an ordinary gun, none of the armor models the others had have close to the same mobility and durability that you have now, and the EX-Weapons can thin the numbers out before they overwhelm you. So, while it might suck, in a way you’ve saved someone else from potentially dying down here considering that most of the students in the class don’t have adventuring or monster exterminating experience.”
He scoffed. “Yeah, I’m sure they’re going to repay me for it by not being pompous little bastards.”
“Miracles can happen.” Whether or not she was joking was anyone’s guess before she moved on. “Anyway, based on this we can assume that it wasn’t done purely out of malice like Zola. You just happened to be the nearest person who could clear up the problem. It wasn’t a personal attack.”
“Yet she promptly tried to make it personal by using her family and rank,” Leon pointed out. “She’s clearly used to being on top to the point where most people don’t tell her ‘No’ because they’re beneath her. Favors don’t mean a thing when you’ve got no way to enforce it and someone as high up as her knows it.”
“You’re projecting again,” Lola warned. “Getting mad at the unfairness of the situation is fine, she did twist your arm by using her family name. But there’s a difference between actively sending you off to die in a war because you’re an eyesore and ignorantly telling you to go step on some ants without having a realistic gauge of the difficulties involved. Something she will hopefully learn after a few classes and be more considerate of going forward.”
Leon shook his head to make it clear what he thought of that likelihood. “Let’s get back to making sure the spoiled kids don’t stub their toes on their first adventure. If we’re fast enough we can get back and make sure Olivia’s first time here isn’t ruined entirely.”
[—Olivia—]
Olivia couldn’t say that she was having fun in her first Adventuring class.
She found herself alone in one of the side tunnels within the Second Floor of the Dungeon. Though she had been supposedly in the care of the entourage of Lady Redgrave, the ducal daughter had long since gone after the Crown Prince with the encouragement of her followers in the wake of what happened shortly after they had arrived on the floor. Another argument between the two over the presence of Miss Laufan.
Honestly, Olivia felt badly for Lady Redgrave considering what she learned from her encounter with Brad’s wife-to-be. It could send the wrong message when you chose to spend so much time with another member of the opposite sex. To be rejected like that must have deeply hurt her, given she seemed to really be fond of him, so her pursuing him with the encouragement of her supporters was understandable.
Of course, the moment she was gone, the other followers had made it clear they didn’t want to be seen with Olivia and tasked her with picking up the core fragments that could be found scattered about. It was something so simple that even a broken Minos in clunky armor like her could do, they had said. Granted, it was in slightly ruder terms than that, but that was what it boiled down to in the end.
Olivia would be lying if she said that it hadn’t hurt hearing that. In the time since she had enrolled and the ‘lesson’ that she had been given in warning, she had become very aware of how most of the other girls in the Academy perceived her. She could imagine the boys were little better, but they mostly avoided her entirely for the same reason that Brad had been given not to be seen with her outside the church. She was aware many did not like her being there for the simple fact that she was not like them.
Yet it really didn’t take the sting out of hearing them say it to her face so bluntly. She was grateful she had a helmet that hid her face so completely to avoid anyone seeing her eyes starting to tear up from it. She didn’t want them to get any satisfaction from it as she only nodded her head and complied.
It was times like this made her want to go back to the parish and forget her time here. But that would mean forsaking the reason she came here in the first place: to pay back the kindness she received by learning what she could and bringing that knowledge back to improve the lives of those in her community. Not to mention it would mean leaving the few people here who she enjoyed spending time with.
Master Lucas remained the gentleman and scholar she admired. And while they could only see one another during service thanks to their devotion to the faith, she did enjoy the time she spent with Lord Brad. There were so few pious among the campus population.
Perhaps this is my punishment, Olivia wondered in a silent voice as she picked up yet another of the glowing fragments while her thoughts turned to Leon. She knew that these were Drop Items instead of mined. And given the sheer number of them that they had come across, to the point where a good portion of the class (minus some of the lower-ranked boys) had chosen to make a beeline for the Second Floor in pursuit of monsters to test themselves against, she knew that Leon had been diligent in clearing out the various threats.
All because she had asked him to.
The warning Leon’s sister gave her had surfaced in her mind back then. Though the professor was seemingly on Leon’s side when it came to not pushing the issue, the moment that Lady Redgrave made her desire known that support had quickly crumbled. Knowing what little she did of Leon, Olivia guessed that he wanted to refuse—if not for his own reasons, then because he wanted to keep an eye on her.
But Lady Redgrave was just short of the Royal Family in terms of importance. Olivia didn’t want to risk him getting into trouble with someone so powerful when he didn’t have to. So, she took what his sister said to heart and used whatever reason he was fond of her to her advantage to get him to take the task.
And Olivia felt horrible about it.
It was true she was looking forward to exploring the Dungeon. Not only because of how it was something made to sound so adventurous, and she had been learning to use a weapon for that purpose. But because she wanted to know more about Leon by stepping into his shoes and experiencing the sort of world he lived in, for the good and the ill of it.
He had earned his way into the gentry by braving an unknown place like this. Filled with monsters, traps, and threats. She had hoped that going through with him would help her get to know him better, since she hated her own ignorance of his circumstances while he had been learning more about her and accommodating her needs.
She still didn’t know how Leon perceived her. She was still too cowardly to ask him herself. And now she was using whatever fondness he had of her was to manipulate him into doing whatever she wanted. Was she any different than the sort of women he rightfully held disdain for?
I don’t even know how to make it up to him. As she traversed one of the side tunnels, Olivia’s thoughts turned to how she wanted to do something to make things right. To apologize for twisting his arm the way she did, and to express how grateful she was to him for everything he’d done for her until now. But there was nothing that came to mind that would be enough. She just didn’t know enough about Leon to give him something that would hold the meaning she wanted it to.
He seemed to like playing host during their Tea Party. But considering that she was the primary person who he would be having them with, that seemed a little like she was trying to reward herself instead. Like she was being nice to him because she knew it would benefit her. That would just make her feel worse.
Maybe his sister would know something? She tried to guess what Jenna would tell her if she brought her desire to make amends to light. But she got the impression that the older girl would simply tell her that she was doing the right thing by forcing Leon to keep his head down and toe the line to stay out of trouble.
She could even imagine that Jenna would want her to marry him just to keep it that way. But Olivia felt that might have just been the selfish desire she held speaking up again and immediately tamped down on it. Leon didn’t even show the faintest inclination of attraction when she was in something as revealing as the bodysuit worn under the Exosuit, so marriage was something that would probably never cross his mind.
It isn’t like I’m very attractive anyway. Her silent musings came to an end when she reached what appeared to be the end of the side-tunnel. Ahead of her was a large hole that seemed to descend in a steep slope that would offer no way up. Now that I think about it, the professor did mention that because of the Cave Ants there were natural traps that could leave you in one of their nest chambers.
She didn’t think that Leon would be so reckless to just jump into a nest to clear them out faster, no matter how skilled he was. Most likely the fragment she found here was because he’d simply shot down the path and then moved onto one of the branching tunnels she passed by. She made to turn around the way she came…
Only to find herself suddenly being driven towards the hole midway by something before she knew what was happening.
In the moment between the sense of weightlessness and gravity reasserting itself, her eyes caught the silhouette of a hand retreating beyond the edge of her helmet’s visor. Then she only knew the rough sensation of her body being pulled down. Every outcropping and bump along the path violently knocked and scrapped at her Exosuit, as if clawing to get at her flesh, only for the thick plates of metal to rebuke them while sparks left a trail until she reached the opening at the end, which was a fall just shy of a story off the floor.
Olivia hit the ground hard enough that stone dust billowed from the point of her impact as all that momentum transferred into the landing. Her heartbeat was like a drum against her chest as she lay there on her back, panicked breaths escaping as the nausea in her stomach settled down. She didn’t think she was injured or really hurt thanks to the entirety of the armor.
Leon and Master Lucas had chosen a model meant to handle warfare. She supposed a sloped fall wouldn’t be enough to really damage it. One of the few things to be grateful for as she stood up and found herself inside of a massive chamber with more than a few tunnels scattered across the various surfaces around it…
Each of which was filled with more than a few Cave Ants.
Horror rooted itself in her very core as she realized that she had been pushed into what seemed to be one of the active nests mentioned before. As the chittering from the insects ramped up in the wake of prey falling into their nest, she quickly realized that soon they would swarm her. And her only way out was if she could get past the horde at entrances closer to the ground, which had most of the ones that were starting to march towards her as trembling fingers reached for her holstered pistol.
She opened fire.
Twilit Dreams Circle 