--AN) Running late. Another chapter will be up soon!--
When I went back upstairs, everyone else was already gathered. "Any clues?"
"Nothing. Just dust and cobwebs." Adel answered.
"I got one downstairs in the basement. Iena, have you heard of apparitions?" I wanted to confirm everything before I explained anything. I could not be sure if what I saw was real or not.
"An apparition? Those are rare. They are known as guides. They will help those who are seeking things. If you saw one and it was what gave you a clue, then it should be trustworthy." Iena answered. I let out a relieved sigh because this meant I was at least able to find a single clue.
"If that is the case, then my father did come to this house. He seemed to be searching for something. I am not sure what, but he searched the entire house. But what I do not get is the dust factor. The dungeon should not have been reset if someone was inside it. At least, I think…. I could be completely wrong, as dungeons are not really understood yet. But it's a gut feeling. But I wonder if there might be some kind of time dilation going on because this dust is too thick. And you can clearly see our own footprints on the floors, so if my father was here, there should be some kind of sign." I had been wondering this since I saw the images of my father walking around. If he had truly been walking around, then the dust should have been disturbed, but there was no sign of it. Everything looked untouched, as if no one had entered this place for many, many years.
"Boss, don't worry. This is at least a sign. We will figure something out. We just need to head to the next house and hope we find another clue." I smiled, knowing that Amanda was trying to make me feel better. I nodded my head and took a deep breath before slowly letting it out.
"Let's search the next house." I could only hope to find more clues. Maybe a kind of path that would eventually lead me to my father.
But even after searching house after house, no more clues appeared. I even searched each floor myself just in case but still nothing. "The trail ended on the first house…."
"Faith, don't give up hope yet," Sophie said as she came over and hugged me. I was not sure if she was just trying to take advantage of the situation or what, but her fluff was definitely warm.
"Mm… Let's keep searching." I never planned to give up. I promised my mother that I would find him. But I found it strange. We had not run into even a single wraith since coming here, which was making me feel a bit confused. Part of me was yelling at me to test out a theory that was forming in my mind.
"Everyone, we are going back to the entrance." I suddenly started causing everyone to look at me in surprise. "Don't get me wrong, I am not giving up, but I want to test a theory out about this place. I find it strange. Not a single speck of dust or footprint can be found in this place, even though my father should have been here. But no proof can be found. If we leave something as a means of a marker and then leave and come back, I want to see if it is still here. I can't be sure, but I think if we return to this place, the whole area may just change again."
"Alright, let's do that. Your theory might just be sound. Undead realms can be tricky and such things are also possible." Iena seems to think that I might be onto something.
We ended up taking a bunch of broken wood and piling it just at the entrance of the village area. It was right on the main path, so it should be easily seen. We then walked back to the entrance of the dungeon and into the safe room. "Should we exit first?" Steven asked.
"We will exit if we go back out there and find the pile. If we don't then we can just continue as is and try to find more clues. Otherwise, we will exit and try again." The thing that I worried about was the idea that maybe things were timed, like the dungeon changed every twenty four hours or more.
If this was the case, then we would have to split up and have people attempting to enter and exit until the dungeon changed while the other half kept investigating. And the only one powerful enough to lead a second team was Iena.
The situation was not very favorable. We could only hope that things would work out and that we would unlock the mystery of this dungeon and how it works. "Let's go back in," I said. We only waited a few minutes, but I was being impatient. I couldn't wait hours to test this out. I already delayed long enough to make sure we wouldn't die right away. Now that we could make our way through the dungeon, I did not want to wait any longer. I may have seemed calm this entire time, but in truth, I was very worried. Worried to the point that my stomach felt sick, but I had to keep it together for those around me. If I began panicking, what would they do? I had to keep myself stable.
We went back into the dungeon, and sadly the pile we made was standing tall as we left it. This meant that we needed to exit completely and then enter again. I stared at the large pile of wood, unsure of what to do. I already had a clue in this dungeon as it was. Should I leave and test my theory or not?
"Everyone but myself will exit the dungeon and try for a new one." I should just have Iena do this on her own, but I can not guarantee that I myself will be able to protect everyone on my own without her help. She was much more powerful than I and could easily wipe out a group of monsters on her own. This meant she was the best fit to protect the others.
"Sorry, but I can not follow that order."
