Kapitel 53: Dungeon Diving (II)
The day trickled by slowly, the rush of water slapped both sides of the beachfront. At first, Snow was worried that the water would come rushing in and devour them whole. She couldn't help but look back and forth at both sides just to make sure that it wouldn't happen.
"You know, you don't have to be so worried." Dairen slipped in next to Snow, telling her for the third time. "We went through this way quite often, and it hasn't changed. For some reason, the ocean waters don't go past the point that you see now; it seems the dungeon master specifically made it like that."
Snow didn't say anything; she still couldn't get this ugly feeling that things could change, but this was her first dungeon dive, making everything that she saw brand new and different.
"I'm not that worried." Snow replied, trying to cover up her nervousness. "How close are we again to the next level?"
Dairen gave her a knowing look that told him that he didn't believe her.
Already, she had run across a few hostile fish-men that came jumping out from the ocean waters to skewer them. If one could describe what they look like, they were a large fish with two legs and two arms, which Snow couldn't help but look at such creatures funny. She had wondered what was going on in the Sea God's mind to create such a beast. It hobbled out of the water, trying to balance on its stick skinny legs with its large body that caused it to teeter-totter a few times as if it was about to fall.
Mike bravely rushed forward like an idiot and had a few spat with the Fishmen. "Fishmen, incoming!" He yelled, while his sword clashed with the Fishman's trident.
Everyone got ready to fight, waiting for more to appear. They knew that the Fishmen came in a large group, and if one popped out, a dozen more came crawling out of the waters with a trident in hand.
A flash of fire flew through the air and splashed on the feet of the Fishmen. The monsters screeched in fear, stumbling back into the waters.
Everyone looked around, wondering what had happened.
Snow had multiple small fire energy balls in her hands, juggling. She cast a few more low-level fire magic that made the Fishmen scramble back into the sea just as quickly as they came out.
"What?" Mike was halfway in a slash when he gave her a stupefied look that told her he didn't get what just happened.
"They are afraid of fire." Snow bluntly replied. "Any form of fire." She quickly added because her fire magic wasn't as powerful. It was just that the Fishmen were deathly afraid to be dried out and die. Red was excitedly taking notes as she watched.
"Really?" Mike asked dumbfoundedly, lowering his sword. "I just fought without thinking…"Then he became embarrassed.
Snow shrugged, moving past him. "Almost all monsters have some form of weakness. If you can find and exploit it, your ability to fight against them will greatly assist you, but sometimes some monsters don't have a weakness, making it difficult to win." Like a teacher, she explained. "For example, the Wendigo is a natural hunter in a forest, but when you draw it out in the open, it can't use its natural ability to hide.
Mr. Everrett nodded at Snow, pleased at her knowledge and explanation.
The others walked on, Mike, who was proficient with many elemental magic. He used this to practice his fireball. Red couldn't help but point out a few things. Even Snow paid close attention to the easy explanation that Red has given. She noticed that her control of magic had exponentially grown, giving him credit at his controls.
Another Fishmen popped out of the sea.
Mike looked at her; she nodded for him to go ahead.
A flash of fireball flew through the air, landing straight at the fishmen. With a croaking like yell, the Fishmen fluttered around in pain. It got back up. It half waddled and ran, which looked too close to a stumble as it fell forward into the ocean water with a splash.
Snow laughed at the weird attempt of the Fishmen, washing away the worry.
The rest of the journey was a bit uneventful as the Fishmen ran away before they even tangled up together.
Eventually, they made their way to the third gate. Upon entering, an endless cemetery stretched out into the horizon. Two giant statues of a skeleton angel that reminded her of a grim reaper stood over the gates as if it was scrutinizing them.
There were even Mausoleums present around the gate with temples in between, giving it an odd mixture of death and life. Each one was dedicated to a major God from around the world. Mike and Dairen split ways, heading straight for their pantheon of God's, which Snow wondered how such tablets and temples even ended up here. From her understanding, the dungeons were not places for God's interference.
Out of the many small temples with trinkets of offerings, she saw one of the God statues present freshly cleaned and more significant than all the others. It was a simple human-size statue, in the form of a large white eagle with gold markings, sitting on a sword stuck in a human skull. In its mouth was an olive branch with its wings fully opened. She knew instantly who it was; it was one of the many messengers of the God of Light that overlooked all the other Gods present.
Fresh olive branches were present beneath the feet of the eagle, while Snow could feel a powerful holy energy around it. She looked around and could feel other God's power around their temples, statues, and memorials. With a silent prayer, she pulled out an olive branch from her storage and placed it at the foot of the eagle statue. A wash of peace settled in her mind, giving her an uplifting feeling.
On the direct opposite side of her was another black eagle with red-tipped wings the same size as the God of Light statue. This eagle had a snake coiled around its body as both of them intimidatingly stared down her very soul. The eagle was perched on a staff next to a baby curled. It was entwined around the staff with its wings opened wide. An intimidating, dark energy radiated out from the statue itself, but the other eagle statue countered the power, keeping it checked.
Snow wasn't used to the holy powers of both the light and dark, sitting so close in proximity in each other, clashing in a wild frenzy but was harmonized in a swirl of its little dance. This time, she pulled out a different offering. A gem of magical power, placing it next to the baby. Compared to the Statue of Light, which had a proliferating amount of offerings, she was one of the three.
Snow felt a dark energy swooshed onto her in a frightening presence, but just as it came, it went away, leaving her shivering. She wasn't a fan of such a powerful surge of magic, mostly from the God of Darkness.
Getting up, Snow searched for the others. She walked up to Mike, who was cleaning up a small statue that didn't compare to the other figures that were present around it. It was a lot more shaggy and looked more handmade from the rough edges.
"Your goddess?" Snow asked.
"Yes." Mike nodded, "Goddess of Ishtar. I made it." He touched the statue on the head, gently caressing it.
Snow could see that there was a bit of a complicated relationship between the two.
"Compared to the other Gods and Goddess here, she doesn't have many people who come to offer prayers. Like you said, she was a forgotten goddess. I am the only one who prays for her."
A hint of sadness dripped in his words, but Mike quickly hid it away. "There are many small gods and goddesses here. Most aren't as powerful as the God of Light and Darkness." He replied, looking over towards his shoulder. "The strange thing is that there is no Hero selected from those Gods, which is honestly quite surprising. I assumed there would be some kind of Hero born for the two." He half-hearted spoke. "From my last check on the information that the Player shares, there is only a handful of Heroes chosen after they go through a trial."
"Oh?" Interested in what he had to say, Snow listened. "What was yours?"
"Raiding a drug dealer's home, turning them into the police, and finding my Goddess statue." A
smirk appeared on his lips."It was a simple in and out job."
Snow couldn't help but look at him strangely. Raiding a drug dealer's home wasn't a simple job, he could have died. "You raided a drug dealer's home." She didn't quite believe him.
"Well…" Mike felt a bit embarrassed, "it was a drug dealer, but it wasn't some mafia kind of person: just a street vendor. I was lucky enough to find him and report him."
"You do know that your name will be tagged by whoever was dealing with the dealer." Snow replied. There was no way that he would just walk out scot-free.
"Yea, I know. That is why my Goddess decided to help in exchange I do things for her." Mike shrugged.
Snow knew what the protection of the Goddess would mean, even if it was from an old god that wasn't as powerful as the God of Light and Darkness.
Snow replied. "I'm guessing this is one of the things she wanted from you?" She pointed at the statue.
"Nah, it's more for me," Mike replied, placing the statue back down. He clasped his hand and prayed.
Snow left him alone as she made her way to Dairen, who was just leisurely walking around, looking around. She came up next to her.
"You know, I always wondered why Mike would pray for his Goddess, but now I finally understand. It's the blessing." Dairen spoke, stopping in front of a small temple. It was a large rock with a name of an old fallen God written on it as he gently rubbed it.
"Do you have a god or goddess you are working with?" Snow knew that the Players all had a specific God or Goddess that they worked with even if they weren't heroes.
"Yes." Dairen nodded, he turned and pointed towards the direction of the God of Light.
"The God of Light?".
"Yes as well as the God of Darkness."
Wöchentlicher Energiestatus
-- Power-
Rangliste 
-- Power-
Stein