Jay and his troops crept through the forest towards Handy, but as Jay got closer he didn’t see any signs of a castle or anything of the sort.
It would have been hard to see through the thick canopy, yet there would have still been glimpses of a dark monument looming through the leaves.
“Huh… no castle? So why did Handy stop…”
As they reunited with Handy, they walked a little further and finally Jay noticed a structure up ahead.
It was nothing like a castle, being far too small, almost insignificant in this forest.
Large slabs of granite covered with moss formed the base of a lonesome tower, peaking only just above the trees.
The creeping roots of the forest crawled up its walls, but were not large or numerous enough to threaten the tower, only making it half-way up its sides.
At the base were three more of the knights, and nearby them was a large pit of which Jay couldn’t see the bottom from where he was looking.
Yet what was strange about the pit was that it wasn’t being covered up by the endless weaving roots.
Jay began to plan, but seeing that there were only three knights, he didn’t get it much thought.
“Seems like it’s just a lookout tower. Could be more knights inside, but I don’t want to waste more time coming up with the perfect attack plan.”
(Take them out, then block the tower exit.) Jay glanced at Blue.
The skeletons assembled under Blue’s control before moving out.
Jay’s plan was a simple one, but one which was tried and tested: kill the enemies in a chokepoint - the tower’s exit.
It had served him well in two dungeons already, as well as when the wood elemental horde had attacked Losla - the choke point being made from other adventurers in that case. It had worked effectively in the mist keep dungeon too.
The skeletons had Handy with them now too, and five against three led the undead to an overwhelming victory.
Severing the spines, they made short work of the three knights outside the tower and quickly formed a blockade at the tower’s exit, a wall of death.
After a few moments though, only silence filled the empty tower.
“It’s either empty or they didn’t hear?”
Jay left the cover of the trees after the outside area was scoured and all threats had been eliminated.
[345 Exp]
Before exploring the ancient stone tower, Jay first noticed the pit.
Well, not noticed - he couldn’t look away.
Roots forced the earth open, forming walls of a dark underground cavity which seemed to beckon passers-by into its mouth.
In the center of the pit which all the roots connected under was a gathering of undulating bulbs, of what seemed to be closed roses - yet each of them were the size of humans.
A few of these roses were still open though, and instead of a beautiful flower was instead fleshy petal-like flaps, covered with serrated spines, dripping with drool.
“So that’s what happened to the cannibals.” Jay thought.
It didn’t take a genius to figure out that they had tossed the corpses into this den of flesh, but what Jay wondered about was the relationship between the parasites in the knights, and this grotesque flesh-eating plant which the roots seemed to be emanating from - or at least partly connected with.
Looking around, a comparatively larger root caught Jay’s eye.
Unlike the other roots it seemed to almost be alive, as it was contracting and squeezing in peristalsis.
This particular root curved up the wall and out of the cavity, then headed into the forest going deeper into the knight’s territory, and if Jay guessed, it was like an artery, sending nutrients back to the main nest.
Or whatever it had in place of a nest.
“I wonder what happens when it’s cut” Jay scratched his chin, a mischievous look appearing on his face.
“But first…” he glanced at the tower.
(Move in. Secure the tower.) he ordered, then went to loot the three dead knights originally guarding this place.
Jay only received another gauntlet, which he saved for Blue.
The skeletons had disappeared into the shadows inside the tower, but he heard no sounds of fighting, and Jay guessed they were ascending some internal staircase as he walked over.
The door of the tower had since disappeared, the only traces of it left were some hinges and the wooden frame which was built into the curved arch entrance.
As Jay stepped closer, two glowing dark eyes were gazing at him. It was Blue.
Oddly enough, Blue stood in the way, blocking Jay from entering.
Jay was curious why it would do such a thing, and wanted to both push past while ordering the skeleton to move, but maybe to even his own surprise, he stopped, and decided to trust the skeleton.
“I’m sure it must have a good reason to stop its own master and creator…” Jay thought, “...well, it better have.”
*Thud! Fwoosh!~*
Suddenly, a heavy earth-shaking crash of metal caused a gust of dust to come from the tower entrance, causing Jay to shield his eyes for a moment.
When he opened them again, Blue had already turned around, standing over a knight with a bone sword in its back.
With a swift ring of its sword, Blue severed the spine and pulled its sword out in one clean movement; the blade trailed along the armor’s edge causing a ringing while a splash of green blood spattered out.
[115 Exp]
“Fuck.”
Jay whispered, impressed. He could think of nothing else to say as he just avoided being crushed.
Not only was the knight’s armor-clad body imprinted into the foundation of the tower by the force of the impact, but Blue had looked like a veteran while executing it.
As Jay handed Blue its new gauntlet, he almost felt like he was not cool enough to be around his own undead.
Blue gazed upwards for a moment and turned to Jay, stepping backwards into the tower, signaling Jay a safe passage.
Jay glanced upwards as he entered the tower and a stream of light illuminated the roof, allowing him to vaguely see his skeletons running back down the turning staircase towards himself and Blue.
“Huh, just one guard.” he thought, looking at the body on the ground.
“Maybe the skeletons got the drop on the knight and killed it the easy, and arguably, the most funnest way possible.” he nodded approvingly.
Jay looted it but received nothing.
“Hm, next time,” he shrugged.
Jay thought about ascending the tower next, hoping to find some loot or some magic puzzle, yet as soon as he laid his foot onto a wooden stair, it croaked and warped so much that it seemed like it was about to snap.
“No wonder the knight didn’t come down. Not worth the risk,” Jay frowned, “it’s only a low level dungeon anyway, so there probably won’t be anything of lasting value. I should just complete this dungeon and exit, before that vampire Asra wakes up.”
Jay walked out of the tower, guesstimating (guess+estimating) at how much time had passed in the real world.
“Hmm, I think I’ve been here for a little over twenty-four hours. I left around the afternoon, so about two to three hours have passed in the real world.” he nodded.
“Another day in this dungeon, and she might be awake by the time I return… hmm…”
Jay’s eyes landed on the thick writhing root coming out of the pit by the tower, and he subconsciously placed a time limit on himself: 24 hours.
(Cut open that thick living root.) Jay ordered, monitoring the skeletons while planning about what to do with Asra.
