The new area has the same height and width as the original core room, except instead of gray brick, it is now formed of solid rock. Hilda recognizes the material of the walls that cost the laborers so much to mine and break through. She enters with heavy, cautious steps, on the lookout for any traps, be they tripwires or pressure plates. A bitter smile unconsciously forms on her lips, for Hilda now knows she was right to distrust Arrax's crazy invention.
The place is brighter than conventional dungeons. The torches on the walls, although helpful, inspire little confidence because each one contains its fire within a human skull. Hilda approaches the torches and tries to recognize her subordinates' features in the polished skulls. She frowns upon noticing malformations in the skeletons, as if they belonged to people with wider foreheads and jaws than normal. She decides to ignore the torches, assuming they are some trick of the Dungeon Core, and analyzes the chamber once more.
Not counting the entrance, there are three tunnels leading off in unknown directions. The left one goes toward a place from where a deep scent of herbs and dampness wafts; the path at the back in the center leads into a mysterious darkness from which the constant sounds of heavy pendulums can be heard; and from the right one, a strange vapor emerges.
The warrior was ready to take the path straight ahead, but a voice calls out from behind her.
"Hilda." Lynel enters, and the captain turns to look at him. The man approaches until he is standing next to the woman, scanning their surroundings with a conflicted expression. "So it's true, the core was up to its old tricks... Was Claus's helmet really wrong?"
For Hilda, that question doesn't need an answer; it's obvious the core was waiting for them to lower their guard to act and expand.
"Did you see any soldiers on the way here?" the woman asks, her eyes fixed on the center tunnel. Lynel clarifies that he didn't see any, and had he, he would have brought them along for support.
"Do you think the core killed them in secret? That would be impossible! We would have noticed during the troop count."
"We have been divided and tired these past few days, worried about new attacks from the underground, focusing more on the future than on what is right in front of us. Even our entertainment is limited to training and preparing for combat. Tell me, Lynel, how much have you slept since the invasion?"
"Maybe about seven hours... It's hard for me to sleep when I know everyone is working hard to help the kingdom. Even His Majesty is losing sleep. How much have you slept, Captain?"
"None."
"None?! I find that hard to believe. You always look so composed."
"Just like you, Captain Lynel, I find it hard to sleep when I know the job is only half done... Or when I feel a threat growing right under my nose. Not that this trait of mine is a badge of honor... Captain Claus sleeps like a baby, and he is still the strongest among us, even if deep down that annoys Axel."
"I wish those two would arrive soon, we'd clear this dungeon before lunchtime." Lynel narrows his eyes and evaluates the paths. "The center one seems to be the main path."
Hilda nods, agreeing with the theory.
"Secondary paths usually hold treasures and useful things, clues to solve a puzzle, keys, even healing items," Lynel informs her, recalling an adventure manual he read many years ago. "It makes me wonder if what some say is true, that dungeons are trials imposed by the gods."
"There is nothing sacred about this, Captain. They simply like to play with us," Hilda asserts in a tone that leaves no room for debate. "Would you agree to take the right path while I handle the left one?"
"Are you sure about splitting our forces, Captain?"
"A swift, multi-pronged approach from several flanks. It will give the core less room to think and maneuver, I believe."
"Well... If you say so... You have more experience with this than I do," Lynel concedes, preferring to fight in tournaments or wars rather than in claustrophobic hallways full of traps and puzzles. Before he could ask Hilda for advice on how to proceed, the woman was already walking away toward the tunnel permeated by the scent of plants.
Hilda moves forward with a determined expression, fully aware that what she told Lynel is nonsense. When dealing with an uncharted and unexplored dungeon, going in a large group and with extreme caution is recommended. But the truth is, Hilda wants to destroy the core with her own two hands.
She clenches her fist and stops at the tunnel's curve. For a moment, the echo of her footsteps makes her feel like a novice adventurer again, triggering dark memories... But Hilda quickly steels herself and recovers her composure, resuming her determined stride.
The tunnel doesn't slope downwards, a detail that lets her know she is still on the first floor. This gives her confidence; the first floors of newly born dungeons are usually simple for any experienced warrior. But of course, this is no conventional dungeon, but rather the creation of a mage with overly high aspirations. There could be surprises.
The fresh, heavy, and slightly sweet aroma grows more intense the further she goes.
"[Breathing Style: Pure Breath]," she whispers words of power that help regulate her breathing. She learned that technique after suffering terrible pain from noxious gases and airborne poisons. It costs Ki to maintain the breathing style, but it is a preferable cost to risking inhaling a dangerous or lethal substance.
The tunnel widens, and two torches at the far end indicate the entrance to a new area. Hilda crosses the stone threshold.
The cavernous area has a low ceiling and a compact size; it can be crossed completely in 15 paces. Moss, vines, grass, and all kinds of weeds grow on the floor and walls, and hang from the ceiling—greenery hydrated by a ceaseless dripping and a pool of fresh water in the center of the room. Oval elements, with skin somewhere between red and yellow, which Hilda is seeing for the first time, hang from branches poking out of fissures in the walls.
Hilda takes a stride and delivers a slash, cutting one of those strange ovals in half, thinking they are the eggs of some monster. Yellow pulp and juice splatter and stain her sword. The warrior brings the blade closer to her face and inspects it, looking for any corrosive property. She also checks the sliced oval, now lying in the grass, without any tiny corpse escaping from its center. Hilda changes her theory: it's not an egg, but something else, probably something bad.
"BY ALL THE GODS! YOU...! I CANNOT BELIEVE THIS!"
Lynel's scream startles her. She runs back to the central chamber, finding Marnie lying on the floor, panting. Hilda ignores the disciple and invades the third tunnel, rushing through the vapor to try and save the captain from the terrible fate prepared by the Dungeon Core.