We made it through to the next floor with little difficulty. Although one thing of note is that on that floor there were more than one of them. We chose to maneuver around them instead of fighting. They seemed far too deadly for us to confidently take them down. It wasn't worth the risk, but now it seems that I've found myself with another problem. One I didn't put much thought into until now. Fatigue and exhaustion. I'm feeling tired, I've lost track of how long I've been here and I don't know how much time passed when I lost consciousness during the healing. That probably played a part as well as carrying a body on my back. I'd assume that spells don't simply draw from nothing and I've used a few spells since I've woken up using rend took a lot out of me. We need to find a spot to rest.
"We should find someplace to rest."
"Are you feeling okay?"
"Just a little tired."
"Yeah, I don't blame you after what happened before, but where could we rest in a place like this. Is there anywhere safe here?"
"Well, there are some floors that don't have any creatures, only thing is we don't know when those appear."
"Well this floor could be one too, right?"
"That's right it could be, let's hope we're lucky."
We walk through the floor, not stopping to check any other rooms. It didn't take long for us to run into one of those things. Figured, i'm not sure if I can make it to the next floor that's safe… maybe… I could make this one safe.
"Hey, you know that healing spell right."
"healing spell?"
"Wait, you-..."
Of course, why would everyone get the same spells?
"Nevermind, I suppose you got something different. What did you get for your first spell."
"It's like a concealment ability, It uses quite a bit of energy though, I used it to sneak around some of them before we met. I'm always really tired afterwards."
"Huh, that's interesting. Anyways I was thinking hypothetically we could make this floor safe too… we just need to kill everything on this floor and we'll have a place to rest right."
He's silent for a moment, he looks shocked at my proposal
"Are you sure you don't want help?"
"Not this time."
I start closing the distance little by little, making sure to stay out of its line of sigh. Maybe if i can get behind it i can kill quickly. Should I… try to make use of that ability? I look down at my knife, remembering the conditions. The more pain I endure the stronger I get huh. Lets try something light. I take the knife in my right hand and pull my arm back. I grit my teeth as the blade pierces my left arm. I sliced downward while pulling the knife out. The feeling of my flesh separating gave me chills, but it was over relatively fast. Time to see how this works. The creature is moving its head around, I wait until it's not looking in my direction to get closer. I was holding my breath, it made it feel like everything else was nonexistent. I move quickly, I grab the creatures skull and yank it back exposing its throat, I heard its neck crack. Before the creature could even do anything the knife was in its throat. I slashed across slowly, the blood covering over the knife and my hand. I let go of its head and it drops to the ground. I inhale deeply then exhale feeling glad that it was over quickly
"Are you alright"
"Yeah, I'm fine."
"What was that? You moved so fast… and that thing, its neck is broken."
"It's something I got from here. The more pain im in the stronger I get"
He looks down at my arm and grabs it
"that's sounds pretty useful, well let's get this fixed… are you ready"
"Yeah"
"O' Lord
In exchange for pain
Grant me health."
My arm stitches itself back together. He looks at me surprised that with how I handled the pain of the regeneration spell
"You're pretty good at dealing with pain."
"Yeah, it's nothing. Let's get going."
We continue looking through the floor seeing if anything else is here but we haven't seen anything yet. Most of this floor has been checked. We found a few interesting rooms, like one filled that had library-like shelves of books but the few that we checked were old and withered away. As well as a room that looked like a noble would sleep in. We walk through the last pathway we haven't tried. It leads to a surprisingly spacious room. Both of us looked around amazed by the structure. I've asked these questions so many times in my head but what exactly is this place, there's even grass in here but it seems different. it's not dead, it's not fake either, it's clearly alive but it doesn't feel like there's any life with this grass just like how it was on the surface, and more of those herbs are growing here too. I picked some of them and put them in my bag.
"What are those for?"
"You can use these to make certain kinds of medicine if you mix them. You should grab some too."
He follows my lead and picks the rest of the herbs. After continuing down this pathway we find a dead end…
"So was there only one of those things here."
"Seems like it."
We go back to that fancy room to have a rest. It's odd, unlike the rest of this place which looks old and deteriorated. This room looks as if it's been maintained pretty well. I put my bag down and lay on the bed. I noticed something. This room feels oddly safe, I can still feel the old ones' presence but nowhere near to what it usually is.
"Do you get a feeling that you're being crushed by the old ones' presence, like you wronged them in some way and you're about to be judged for it."
"Thats… a really good way to put it. It didn't seem right saying that I was just afraid of being here. Afraid doesn't seem like the right word."
"Its more than that aint it."
"Is it bad that I'm glad that I'm not the only one that feels that?"
"No, I feel the same"
It's something I'd never wish on anyone, but it feels good to know that i'm not alone in this suffering.
"I never asked, what's your name?"
"Aiden, what about you?"
"I… don't go by a name any longer. I'm not deserving of that."
He nodded his head to me in response without asking questions. I half expected him to push more but he didn't… that action be it small, made my respect for him grow
"How about I give you a nickname then."
He thinks for a bit then speaks.
"You don't go by one hm, so how about None."
Oddly enough I kind of like how it sounds.
"Sure we can go with that."
"You know I just realized something. If we checked this whole floor, where's the stairway?"
I turn towards him, realizing also that we never did find one. Always something huh.
"Let's just try to rest for now. I think we deserve it eh?"
"Yeah okay."
I pull some food from my bag and pass it to him. He takes it and takes a bite.
"Not bad."
"Yeah it aint."
"I got something to make it better though."
He reaches in his backpack and pulls out a bottle of alcohol. Ah, the liquid of the gods. How long has it been since I've had a drink? Even a few days feels like a lifetime. He opens the bottle and chugs it before passing it to me. I do the same. It doesn't take long before we're both drunken messes that can barely speak correctly.
For some reason in my drunken state his face looks pretty fun.
"Hahahaha youuuu kno yur a preeeetty cool dud. It's sad yr face is so fuked "
"Wha ar yu talkin bout"
"Look at yrrr face."
"Shudap"
"its so werd juss lik yur eyes nd yur ears HAHAHAHA"
"FUCK YOU"
I can't remember the last time I laughed, it's ironic considering the situation I'm in. We finished the whole bottle, we spent most of our time eating and engaging in stupid conversations, but i enjoyed it. I don't remember the last time I've had that thought either. While we're both lying down he turns to me and asks a question.
"If you don't mind me asking, who are you trying to bring back?"
I remained silent for a moment. Then I spoke
"My wife, she passed years ago a year ago. She… she was my everything."
"I'm sorry… I couldn't imagine losing my wife."
"It's hell, it truly is… the day she died, my life stopped. Everything stopped."
I open my mouth to say more words, yet I'm unable to force them out.
"We should get some sleep."
"Yeah okay"
I put one arm over my eyes after closing them. The darkness I see feels somewhat pleasant. For the longest time. I haven't been able to accurately describe how I feel. agony, misery, despair, sorrow, all words used to describe extreme suffering.
Yet why do all of those feel inadequate to describe this pain…
I no longer go by a name, nor am I actually able to even hear my name when it's called. It's been like this since she's been gone… I'm not worthy of a real name. A name is proof of your existence, what would a human be without a name. Who was it that was born? Who was it that died? Without a name, without anyone to call your name, do you even exist? I failed my wife. The only person that truly matters to me. A name is something I'm not worthy of…
I stare at the darkness behind my eyes as my heart begins to feel heavy. Trapped in darkness with nothing left… If my voice were color itself… could I paint these words that've been lodged down my throat for so long.
I can't…
She was my color, I have no voice to speak…
As tiredness begins to take over him, he has one final thought before drifting off to sleep.
That's probably why it wasn't too hard to get used to this place. The presence of the old ones is reminiscent of losing her…