231
Without saying much more, the group headed off towards the dungeon. Along the way, there were a few monsters, but Nyoka, Sara, and Jeff were all easily able to handle it without even bringing out their avatars. After draining the corpse of its blood, they would continue on. Afterwards, Kairos would eat their corpse as they wouldn’t need it. He was able to get a bit of black blood from it, but it wasn’t all that much
Kairos thought about helping, but he was still a bit tired. And it worked out since they really didn’t need his help in the first place.
The occasional encounters with monsters did end up slowing them down, however, that amount was negligible. Not because the dungeon was close by, but actually because it was incredibly far away.
They continued to walk for an entire day.
Since his improved stomach came at the cost of draining more black blood, it was pretty disadvantageous for Kairos. However, eating the corpses along the way was more than enough to cover for his natural consumption.
He asked a few times whether or not they were actually on the right trail, but Nyoka reassured him. Surprisingly enough, he pointed toward Jeff and commended him for his sense of direction. Kairos couldn’t help but feel a little nervous. First off, Jeff didn’t seem the brightest.
Second of all, a sense of direction didn’t mean you could get to somewhere else over a day of walking away when there were practically no landmarks to even use as reference.
Yet, as though to make fun of him, an ominous large black building appeared in the distance as he got closer. Kairos’ vision had improved considerably from what it once was. Now, he could easily see a kilometer ahead of him, though it seemed he still had ways to go if he wanted to get on the other’s level, as they pointed towards the dungeon and mentioned it a little while ago.
Kairos lifted his head and got a closer look at the dungeon. He wanted to rub his chin with his hand, but as he lifted his paw, he realized that it would be awkward to do so in his wolf form, so he put the paw back down.
The so-called dungeon looked like a giant castle, almost like what one would see at the end of a game, a demon king’s castle. The peaks of the roofs stood out quite a bit and appeared rather ominous. But it was quite hard to make out the features, mostly because the entire thing blended in with the general color scheme of the place.
“So this is the dungeon?”
Nyoka gave a curt nod before holding out one hand casually toward the dungeon.
“Pretty much. Thankfully nobody cleared it before we got here.”
Kairos shot him a glance.
“Can only one person clear it or something?”
Nyoka smirked, just now realizing that Kairos hadn’t known. He clearly didn’t feel bad about it though, and just started to explain.
“You can make it through certain stages within a dungeon, and get things. However, if someone gets all the way to the end, they can get the object that allows the dungeon that exists in the first place, after which the dungeon will collapse. From what I recall, that object will always have a certain standard of value that cannot be ignored.”
Kairos tilted his head to the side and continued to look at the dungeon for a little while.
“You guys have already been here before?”
Nyoka nodded.
“Several times. Out of all the dungeons, this is probably the hardest one for people to clear. That may be in part that only people are able to clear the levels in this dungeon in the first place.”
Kairos took a deep breath and tensed up his muscles.
“Alright then. I guess we should get ready to fight.”
Jeff looked at him strangely, while Sara just smiled bitterly. As for Nyoka, he simply laughed all the while his arms were crossed.
“Though that would be the correct assumption in most cases… this dungeon is a little special.”
Kairos was confused. He thought about asking, but the others wordlessly continued onward, making him follow after them.
The entrance to the dungeon was just a giant passageway, one that was more than enough for many people to walk in at the same time. Though, there was nobody at the time.
As they continued to get closer, Kairos couldn’t help but wonder how they were supposed to get inside. Because the entrance they were walking closer to was actually just a giant wall.
Just as he was thinking over it, Nyoka spoke up.
“For this dungeon, you have to be with one other person to enter. It’s one of the reasons why not many people have gotten too far. Taking you along with us conveniently rounds out the numbers. You’ll have to go with one of us. Is there anyone you wish to specifically go with?”
Kairos looked at the three of them before falling into thought.
“…I don’t really have enough information to make a correct judgment. Since you guys have done this dungeon before, why don’t you all make the arrangements?”
Hearing that Sara slowly raised her hand, just above her shoulder. She spoke after a second of hesitation.
“Um, then how about I go with you?”
Kairos tilted his head to the side.
“…Just to make sure, does it have anything to do with the fact that I’ve become more dog-like in nature?”
Sara couldn’t help but smile after hearing that and laughed.
“I wouldn’t let personal feelings get in the way of my decision. I already read the futures of Nyoka and Jeff, and I can tell that they won’t die at the very least. But as for you… I can’t be sure, so I want to personally oversee it.”
Kairos stared back at her for a few moments.
“…But I still have the ability to see my own future. Isn’t that unnecessary?”
Sara tilted her head to the side.
“But there are limitations, right?”
Kairos raised an eyebrow.
“How do you know that?”
Sara smiled bitterly, like she was being asked the answer to an obvious question.
“You wouldn’t need help in the first place if your future vision really was that strong.”
The corner of Kairos’ lip twitched.
“Fair enough. I have no objections to these pairings.”
Nyoka let out a soft chuckle and gave a non-committal wave.
“Alright then. I’ll see you two soon.”
Jeff gave off a wave as well, with an expression that was neutral, but gave off the vibes of not caring much.
“Bye.”
From there, Nyoka put his arm over Jeff’s shoulder, while Jeff did the same. Their posture made them look like best friends. They proceeded to walk forwards, and when it appeared that they would collide with the black wall they just passed on through.
Sara looked over with a smile.
“We should go too!”
She reached and placed her arm on top of Kairos. On the other hand, Kairos looked at her awkwardly, since it wasn’t convenient for him to do the same in his form. Sara realized that soon enough. After a moment of thought, she got on top of Kairos and rode him like one would ride a horse.
As her weight shifted onto him, Kairos felt displeased, but as his fur got brushed, it felt quite nice so he decided not to complain.
Kairos tilted his head up to look at her to see that she was looking right back.
“Uh, do I go in now?”
Sara smiled.
“You can no longer see the wall, right?”
Kairos looked on ahead, and as she had said the wall was indeed gone. And so, he walked inside and got a better look at it all.
The first place held two doors. One was light gray and had the rough figure of a person that had one hand up to their face like they were speaking. The other one was dark gray and also had a rough figure of a person, but instead there looked to be a blindfold on them.
Kairos raised his question immediately.
“What is this?”
Sara smiled and lightly brushed his fur. After a moment to collect her thoughts, she explained.
“Basically, we have to split up into these two different rooms. One of us will be going through an invisible maze. The other one can figure out the directions and has to guide the other, only through words. The one in the maze itself can’t speak back.”
Kairos slowly nodded.
“So the one in the maze has to use sign language?”
Sara shook her head and let out a helpless laugh.
“Unfortunately, the other person only appears to be a hazy figure to the guide. It would be near impossible.”
Kairos blinked a few times.
“…That sounds like a pain. It seems like you’ve done this before quite a few times.”
Sara nodded before sheepishly giving a suggestion. Her eyes seemed adrift as she gave him a passing glance.
“It would be best if I was the guide since I understand how the process works. But most of the risk ends up with the person navigating the maze. If you don’t like this arrangement, I can instead teach you how to be a guide.”
Kairos shook his head.
“I’ll just walk in the maze. My future vision will prevent anything bad from happening and all I have to do is follow your instructions, right?”
Sara leaped off of him and landed at his side before giving him an enthusiastic nod.
“Alright then! Let’s start right away.”
She walked up to the gray door and opened it. But before entering, she looked over her shoulder.
“Make sure you follow my directions exactly! Even the smallest mistake would be quite bad.”
Then, she closed it. As for Kairos, he decided to walk through the other door, using his paw to awkwardly open it before letting himself go inside.
Almost immediately, he could tell why Sara called it the invisible maze. What he expected, was just ground while the walls of the maze wouldn’t be seen, the reality was a bit harsher. Kairos couldn’t see at all.
Thankfully, he still had his senses so it wasn’t as though he had to doubt whether or not he was even moving his foot.
That’s when he heard Sara’s voice next to him, which sounded both fleeting and ethereal.
“…Three steps forward… Turn left… six steps forward.”
Kairos couldn’t help but speak up.
“How far is one step?”
There was no reply, which reminded Kairos that he couldn’t communicate with Sara. In the end, a soft voice drifted by him.
“If you are speaking, I can’t hear you.”
Kairos let out a sigh hearing that before deciding to just go with it anyway. If he really did step too far, then at least he would get a warning from his future vision.