Blood Curse Academia - Orientation

Chapter XXXII (32)- Dungeon Denizens

Kizu stood in a bog. A hazy fog obscured everything beyond a few feet. And yet, despite the dreary location, he felt utterly safe. He had the inexplicable feeling that all he had to do was remain where he was and wait. A log stuck out from the ground close by, near enough that he could see its hazy outline through the mist. He took a few steps toward it, each one accompanied by a slurp as he peeled his foot off the marshy ground.

“Hello?” someone said timidly. “Are you there? I can’t see you.”

Kizu froze. Small balls of light appeared dimly in the fog. They reminded him of wisps, but their colors were wrong. Professor Grove gave off a bluish light. These wisps were a conglomerate of scarlets similar to the eyes of the bloodspawn.

The bog’s water soaked through his boots. He could feel his toes shriveling up. After a moment of silence, he carefully took the final step towards the log.

“You’re there, aren’t you?”

He lifted himself up onto the rotting wood. Perched on top of it, he removed his boots and massaged his wrinkled feet. He peered out into the fog. One of the wisps was different from the rest. Not red, but not blue either. It was a dull yellow. Like the sun shining through an overcast sky.

“Please!” the voice wailed. “Help!”

The command shook everything around him. He barely managed to grapple the log before being knocked into the swamp. The red wisps snapped into motion, but not towards him. Instead, they fell upon the yellow wisp as one and smothered it. Then, once they’d fully extinguished their prey, the lights turned to him.

Kizu woke up.

He sat up with a gasp, looking around frantically for scarlet suns. They were gone, and so was the bog. He was in the dungeon with Ione. She was still dozing beside him. He winced as his gaze passed over her twisted foot. She needed help.

He wondered if he could scrounge up the materials to brew a potion of healing here in the dungeon. Going over the usual ingredients in his mind, he pondered possible subterranean substitutes. Nothing feasible. He might be able to mash up a poultice to numb the pain, though. If anything actually grew down here in the dungeon, that was. In a normal cave system he knew where to look for ingredients, but this place was different. For a moment, he wished he was back in his dream, even despite the sinister wisps. At least he knew what grew in a bog. But, then again, he’d still have to set the bone before feeding her a potion. A skill he didn’t have. No, better to get her to an actual healer than accelerate healing in the wrong direction. If the break was clean, it was possible it would heal fine from just a potion, but not worth the risk.

“So annoying,” someone grumbled. The words shattered his thoughts.

Kizu glanced frantically around. Ione was still asleep. Her summoned creature hovered over her. The voice had come from beyond them, around the corner.

“Stop grumbling,” a second voice said.

“I hate it up here,” the first whined. “It’s so hot.”

“And you think I like it? Think beyond yourself for once and do your job. Suck it up like everyone else does.”

“Why should I? You don’t see Otochi coming up here, do you?”

Kizu snatched Ione’s summoned creature from the air and pulled himself close to Ione. With a deep breath he focused. An illusory boulder appeared over them. He designed it to appear like any other bit of ancient rubble around them. Nothing out of place. He even crafted a few smaller rocks strewn about nearby to make it more aesthetically fitting. Kizu designed it as a one-way illusion, so he could see out while they couldn’t see him. A favorite trick of the crone’s.

He finished not a moment too soon. Two figures rounded the corner. They both had long black hair. One wore it down, so it dangled by its feet, threatening to trip it with every step, while the other wrapped it around its waist like an obi sash. But more startling than that were their eyes. Both a vicious, hungry scarlet.

“You’re not speaking ill of the lord, are you?” the second voice asked icily. The one that wore its hair like a belt. As it approached, Kizu made out its features. It was horribly scarred. It looked like lumpy dough mashed into the vague shape of a face. He was amazed it could speak so clearly.

“Of course not,” the first one said. This one, Kizu noted, had an incredibly pale face like the bloodspawn he and Ione had killed. With the exception of their hair, it could almost be its twin sibling for how close they resembled one another.

“Then what are you saying?”

“I’m tired and hot. I hate it up here. This whole layer is just a glorified cave. So let me complain in peace. All I want is a drink.”

“Why should I let you complain when it disrupts my peace? I have half a mind to tell Otochi what you said. He might give me your rations as a reward.”

The unscarred one stopped and stiffened. “You wouldn’t.”

“Keep complaining and find out,” the scarred one replied.

The summoned creature squirmed in his arms. Kizu held it tighter.

Ione shifted in her sleep. Then she yelped in pain as her damaged leg bumped the dungeon wall. Kizu slapped a hand over her mouth, but the damage was already done.

“What now?” the scarred one asked, turning to look over its shoulder at its companion. “Was that your attempt at a sob?”

“Of course not,” the unscarred one snapped. “I think something is here.”

It looked around, its gaze lingered on the boulder. Kizu could hear his own heart pumping. The summoned creature squirmed again in his lap, attempting to get free while Kizu held it down with one arm.

“You’re sure you heard it here?” the scarred one asked. “These tunnels play with sound.”

“You heard it too,” it snapped back.

“I don’t know what I heard. I thought it was you whining more, but it could have been a magma flow popping for all I know. Do you actually sense something?”

“Well, no,” the unscarred one admitted.

“Then keep moving. You’re the one who’s been complaining about spending so much time on this layer. Keep your eyes peeled, but more than that look for magic. Otochi said that if there are people here, they’ll have been casting spells and lugging enchanted equipment. We’ll sense them if they’re around.”

The two bloodspawn shuffled off.

Ione yanked Kizu’s hand off her mouth.

“Good news for you, you taste disgusting.” She spat theatrically. “If they capture us, I guarantee they’ll drain me dry first.”

Kizu didn’t bother with a response. He maintained the illusion and sat perfectly still.

“When was the last time you washed your hands? Actually, scratch that, I don’t want to know. Do you have any water on you?”

“No.”

The summoned creature in his arms attempted to escape again. He held it tight.

“What is this thing?” he asked Ione after a few minutes of silence. He nodded down to the summoned creature in his arms. “I’ve been wondering for a while.”

“A grotesque. They’re actually dungeon denizens. They live deep underground and eat fire.”

“So, the rivers of fire up here exist further down as well?”

“As far as I know.”

“I thought you couldn’t summon magical creatures.”

“No, I said I could easily summon any creature that wasn’t magical. Magical creatures are more difficult. Each one requires a lot more studying than I can usually be bothered with. It’s not like there’s an abundance of resources either. Most people aren’t talented enough to summon anything magical.”

“So… hypothetically, you could summon a dragon?”

She laughed. “First, I would need easily twice the strength of any living summoner I know of. The closest I’ve ever heard of is a wyvern summoner. But they’re a fraction of the size and not nearly as intelligent. Then I’d probably need an entire library’s worth of informative tomes strictly about dragons. And more likely than not, that still wouldn’t be enough. Most magical breeds require the summoner to consume a piece of them. Usually blood. And good luck finding a live blood sample of an extinct race.”

“But it’s possible? You could hypothetically someday do it?”

She rolled her eyes. “Sure, it’s not ‘time travel’ levels of hypothetically possible. But it’s close enough to it that nobody will ever be successful.”

“Do you want to?” Kizu asked. “Summon a dragon, that is.”

“Are you stupid? Of course I do! Who wouldn’t want to be able to summon a dragon?”

Kizu thought about it as he stood and stretched. Then he bent and lifted Ione up in his arms. Despite her light weight, he felt his sore muscles strain a bit with the effort. She inhaled sharply as he repositioned her.

“Life would be a lot easier if I could just summon a dragon.” Ione sighed.

“I think they’re gone,” he said. “Let’s keep moving.”

The illusionary boulder faded as they abandoned it.

“Wait, turn around,” she said. “We want to go the other direction.”

“You mean the same direction the crazy bloodthirsty monsters just went?”

“If there’s an entrance, they probably know where it is. And where do you think they’d look first for intruders?”

“The entrance,” Kizu admitted grudgingly.

He turned and followed her instructions. To his delight, the path did take an upward climb for a while. But then it flattened out. At most forks he just took the largest path, judging it as the ‘main’ route. But then it splintered into six equally sized paths.

“You mentioned my bond to my summons,” Ione said. “But what about yours to your monkey?”

Kizu shook his head. “I’ve tried reaching out. He doesn’t seem to understand what kind of danger I’m in. Currently, he’s angry that I didn’t bring him food.”

“But can you tell what direction he’s in?”

Kizu considered. It wasn’t perfect, it wouldn’t lead him to the door, but she was right that he could at least sense the general direction. He closed his eyes and focused on his bond. It went taut like a fishing line. Yes. Even with Mort irritated with him and largely blocking him out, he could still get an impression of his location.

“This way,” he said, carrying her off to the right.

They had only just started walking down the new path when the ground began to shake. Curses echoed from further down the pathway.

Kizu slowed but didn’t stop entirely. He peered around each corner before continuing on. It was painstaking, and Ione complained several times that he was moving too slow, but eventually his caution paid off.

The color of the cavern floor was off slightly. The shade of the stone appeared wrong, for some reason. And then he realized why. There was no dirt on it. As if someone - or something - had meticulously cleaned off that specific three meter stretch of the dungeon.

He set down Ione behind him and found an old, rusted pole that looked to have been left behind a century ago. He jabbed it down. First carefully, but then when nothing happened, he tried again with full force.

The ground gave way. It collapsed in on itself, rubble falling away into the darkness below. Kizu had to jump backwards so as to not get sucked in with it all.

“Hello?” someone called up from below.

“Shut up,” hissed another.

“It could be our relief shift.”

“And if they find us trapped in a pit, do you think that Otochi will be ecstatic to hear about it? Be quiet and let me find a way out of here.”

“They’re not responding,” the first voice said morosely. “I guess it must have been another straggler from the depths. Probably too stupid to talk back.”

Kizu rather thought he was wise to keep his mouth shut.

“Good, let’s consider ourselves lucky. Now grab onto some of that rubble. Maybe we can ride it back up.”

Ride it up? Kizu only had an instant to ponder the words before the cavern shook. An identical quake to the one he had felt earlier. Then, to his horror, the blocks of stone began to rise up from the bottom of the pit and fit themselves back into their original places.

He only had moments. He scooped up Ione, disregarding her yelp of pain, and backed up slightly. Then he ran and flung himself forward. The momentum carried him through the air and his stomach slammed straight into the ledge on the edge of the pit. He dropped Ione and she rolled away as he attempted to claw himself up.

“Did you see that?” someone said below him. Far below - but getting closer.

“Stay focused!” the other one snapped.

Kizu felt himself slipping. He managed to wedge his fingers into a crack between stones on the dungeon floor, but the tips of his fingers couldn’t hold his entire body weight for long.

“It actually is someone! He looks… human!”

“It’s the intruder! The one who contacted Anata! Grab him on your way up!”

“Do it yourself.”

“You’re closer,” the voice growled.

The first voice must have decided to comply because Kizu felt something grab his ankle. The weight became too much. He felt his grip slip.

Ione threw herself at him. She grabbed a hold of his wrists just as he was about to go over. Her eyes were wet with unshed tears of pain, and she was panting from the effort.

Kizu kicked out with his other leg. His foot connected with something, and there came a cry of pain. He slammed his foot into it again, harder. Kizu felt the grip on his ankle loosen. Using the momentum from the kick, he managed to get his upper body back on the dungeon floor. Then with one last kick he ripped his foot free and scrambled up over the ledge.

Not knowing what else to do, he quickly threw out illusions towards the pit. One showed a rough image of himself falling down into the darkness. Then, while he hoped they were distracted with that one, he threw up illusionary stones and chunks of debris in random places over their heads.

“Watch yourself!”

The call was cut off by an audible grunt. In attempting to dodge the fake debris, they had inadvertently hit their heads on the real deal. Kizu held back a smile as he heard them fall crash down at the bottom of the pit.

Kizu palmed his last few explosive brews. Then he hesitated. Dropping them below would keep the monsters from following them. But…the way they spoke. They didn’t feel like monsters. His resolve wavered for a moment too long. The holes slipped into place, the floor appearing just as they had before. He pocketed the remaining potions.

He scooped up Ione, who glared at him.

“What’s that look for? Would you rather be left behind?”

The summoner huffed.

Kizu’s bond with Mort guided him through the next few turns. His sense of direction strengthened the closer he got to the monkey. Then, finally, he let out a breath. He recognized where he was. Back in familiar territory. It only took them a few more minutes before Kizu found the door leading from the dungeon back up into the academy.

“No way,” Ione said. “You actually found the exit?”

“Of course.” He gave her a tired grin.

He shouldered the door open. On the other side of it was a familiar spiral staircase, and his nook behind it. It looked the same as it always did as they stepped out of the dungeon.

“Shouldn’t that door be locked?”

Kizu looked back. He tried opening the door again. It didn’t budge.

“It is locked,” he told her.

“But only from this side? The academy’s side? That doesn’t make any sense.”

“There must be an enchantment that only lets humans through.”

“Then how did the bloodspawn originally escape?”

“Well….it must have had some human blood in its system at the time.” He decided to turn the conversation in a different direction. “We need to get you to a healer. And I need to tell Roba about the dungeon breach under that woman’s house.” He still wasn’t sure how he’d explain Ione’s presence, but he doubted he could omit her from his report after everything that had happened.

“As you command.” Ione waved him forward. “Onward, my valiant steed. We must away to the medical wing.”

Kizu blinked at her word choice. “Wait. Couldn’t you have just summoned something to carry you this whole time?”

She laughed delightedly, as if she’d been sitting on a joke for hours, waiting for him to find his way to the punchline.

“Of course! But where’s the fun in that?”