Chapter 53: Natural Predator
The basement of the mayor’s estate was dark and desolate. Dust swirled through the air, prompting the intruders to cough. Well, except for Jack—his Deflection skill had naturally formed a bubble of dustless and sterile air around him. Melinda waved her hands and summoned gusts of wind, manipulating the dust into small piles.
Jack had personally never visited this dungeon during any of his play-throughs. The villagers had abandoned it for a reason. This dungeon was indeed beyond pointless. Yet he had visited Blackthorn Village during side quests and heard of the tale from a local elder. Therefore, he carefully observed the surprisingly large basement, with various crates of abandoned dungeon-delving gear, forgotten to gather the dust and rust of time.
Along the far wall were tables that reminded Jack of a supermarket butcher’s counter. Monster parts were likely sold to people standing behind those counters, Jack thought while inspecting the rest of the basement. There was no obvious dungeon entrance like he had been expecting.
Remembering he was a Master Mage and deciding that looking around for the entrance was far too bothersome, Jack closed his eyes, leaned on his cane for support, and activated his Perception Field. It was a truly bizarre experience. His brain received sensory information that was impossible to process, causing disorientation. The world became clear yet confusing. Jack’s view was everywhere yet unfocused all at the same time. Finally, feeling his headache returning, Jack collapsed his Perception Field, and the world returned to normal.
Although he only used the skill for a fleeting moment, it revealed all the information he required. The cavern was directly below, yet its connecting point was through the far wall. Jack’s vampiric night vision penetrated the dark basement and helped him locate the outline of boxes and crates stacked along the far wall, covering the entrance point.
Psychokinesis lifted the clutter and relocated it to the side with a wave of his hand. Varn jumped at the sudden sound of movement, and his wild mana surged through his body.
"Relax," Jack commanded, and Varn hesitantly deactivated his raging mana. Ever since Jack returned from his meeting and told his two disciples they would be entering a spider-infested dungeon, unsurprisingly, they had been on edge. Especially because this basement was totally dark. A problem Jack could ignore with his vampiric vision.
Now that the crates were out of the way, he could see a magically treated steel door built into the far wall. He walked unimpeded through the room, skillfully avoiding haphazardly placed items that littered the floor.
Suddenly, the dark basement was bathed in warm light. Leon had lit a torch.
’Sometimes I forget I have night vision. Day and night look so similar to me.’ Jack thought as he turned his attention back to the door.
After a moment, the others joined him in their observation. The silvery steel door was covered in blue lines that formed runic circuits. Thar adjusted his magnifying glass and squinted at the patterns with a frown on his face. Jack had no idea what the door did, so he patiently waited for Thar to explain.
Meanwhile, Thar thought Jack was challenging him, as he seemed in no hurry to explain the door’s functions. After a few minutes, Thar let out a sigh and explained his thoughts. "Whoever made this runic circuit is an amateur, or this door predates current runic knowledge. Half of these runes are unnecessary and obsolete."
Thar then pointed to the top of the door and slowly traced his orc finger along a section of the runes. "This part here is supposed to stop the door ’rotting’? Which makes no sense. How could a magically enchanted metal rot? Also, this section..." Thar then pointed near the door handle. "The handle is fake. The runes here say, ’Explode upon contact with a...’ or something to that effect. The direct translations of runes belong to A-grade rune engravers, but I can understand the gist at least."
Thar looked expectantly toward Jack, waiting to see his master’s opinions on his assessment.
Jack personally couldn’t read runic circuits. To him, they looked like circuit boards with transistors, diodes, capacitors, resistors, etc. He understood the very basics but couldn’t comprehend their exact functionality. On the other hand, the runic language was just English, something he was all too familiar with. Coughing awkwardly into his hand, Jack replied, "Your assessment about the runic circuit is correct for the most part, but the runes read, ’Upon contact, emit a burst of light.’ So I assume it functions on both sides and stops the spiders from escaping. Cave-dwelling spiders detest light, after all."
Leon then asked from the side, "If the handle is fake, how can we open the door?"
Jack gave Leon a confused expression, and with a flick of his hand, Psychokinesis swung the door wide open. A smell of death and decay assaulted their noses.
"Can you feel that lingering decay in the air, Thar? That’s the reason for the rotting runic circuit."
Leon just pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed in annoyance. "Stupid magic. Of course it had to be magic. Everything can be solved with magic."
Melinda innocently asked, "Why don’t you learn magic?"
Leon just looked at Melinda as if she were stupid. "Do you think I don’t wish to become a mage? Everyone in this world dreams of having unimaginable power, living for hundreds of years, and having people grovel at your feet. However, learning to become a mage takes years of practice and guidance from Master Mages like Duke Wilson. Only wealthy nobles and the social elite can afford to send their children to these places of knowledge and study of the arcane."
Leon then looked at everyone present with annoyance and continued. "Not only is money required, but so is an incredible talent. Look around. You are a human surrounded by beings born with magical abilities. For us humans, only one in a hundred even has the ability to sense mana and become a mage. The majority of humans instead focus on Weapon Arts."
Melinda looked to Jack with confusion. "Master, isn’t this a C-grade dungeon? If mages are so rare, how was it ever cleared?"
"I’ll explain as we walk." Jack bid the group follow him inside with his hand.
As the group made their way down a steep tunnel, illuminated by Leon’s torch that cast dancing shadows, he explained, "The grading system means a lone skilled C-grade mage could clear the dungeon. Dungeons themselves aren’t that dangerous and can be cleared by a group of humans utilising Weapon Arts. Mana makes creatures more intelligent. Once a level of sapience is reached, the monsters will leave the dungeons and form societies."
Jack gestured to Thar and Varn. "Both kobolds and orcs originate from dungeons. But now, they are no longer considered monsters but rather humanoid beings. Therefore, we as a society don’t train combat mages to fight against monsters but rather other sapient beings in wars."
As Jack finished his monologue, the group found themselves in an expansive cavern. Water dripped from the ceiling and formed small pools. Unfortunately, the cavern was so large that the light from the torch couldn’t penetrate the darkness, leaving many blind spots. There was a thick layer of black, twisted vines encasing the walls.
Jack walked over, and with a swift slash from his claw, sap seeped from the opening. It was white, quite the contrast compared to the vines’ black colour. The fluid smelled rather sour to Jack’s enhanced senses.
’It’s exactly as described in the game, a black vine that releases a sour white liquid that can only grow in the presence of death, decay, and low light. This dungeon has truly perfect conditions to grow this rare narcotic.’
"Duke Wilson," Leon said nervously, "why are there no spiders?"
Jack looked around the cavern with confusion. "No spiders? What are you talking about? Although it is rather peculiar that they aren’t striking."
"Where are the spiders?" Leon asked with confusion.
Jack realised that the others couldn’t see what he could... "The water on your cheek—try tasting it," Jack said with a playful smile.
Leon was wary due to Jack’s attitude, but he swiped the water from his cheek with his finger and licked it. "Tastes like water, a little salty," Leon murmured.
"It’s saliva," Jack said as his smile widened.
"Saliva? How could saliva come from the ceiling..." Leon’s face went pale as he slowly looked up. But only the uncomfortable darkness and eerie silence greeted him. "S-surely you jest, Duke Wilson. How could pools of saliva drip from above us?"
Jack sighed and took out a metal card. Then, with a simple thought, it flew up toward the cavern’s ceiling. An inhuman hiss bounced around the cavern, and an enormous black lump fell a second later. The lump hit the ground a few meters away and exploded on impact.
Leon screamed and threw the torch in the air, illuminating the cavern’s ceiling along with hundreds of meter-long spiders and a sea of blood-red eyes staring back at them. The torch then struck the ground and went out, plunging the surroundings into darkness.
"See? I told you there were spiders," Jack said in a nonchalant voice as he observed the thousands of red eyes glaring at him with both hatred and something else: Fear.
The spiders smelled something dangerous, something superior to them, a natural predator perhaps? Their instincts screamed to devour, yet they could not move.
Seeing their reaction, Jack grinned, showing his fangs to the spiders.