We both managed to get some sleep. Enough for both of us to feel well rested, we don't stay there much longer. Before we leave we check the room to see if there was anything that we missed, but to no avail. This place seems like the most likely to have some sort of hidden entrance or something like that, but it seems like there's nothing here. While we can it would probably be best to use some of those herbs to make some consumable medicine. I take the book out of my backpack along with the herbs. Aiden walks over to me and sits beside me.
"So we're finally gonna be using these?"
"Yeah, better safe then sorry eh?"
"Right, so what do each do?"
We look for the herbs that we have in the book and find out that the darker grey herbs can be mixed with water and green herbs to make healing potions. The amount used doesn't have to be exact and increasing the quantity of the herbs makes the potion more potent. We grind up the herbs into three piles using objects we found in this room. Two with roughly 20% each and the other is stronger using the remaining 60%. Then we mix it with water and put it into clear vials we found in some drawers. The color changes to a cloudy green color. The stronger one has a darker tint to it.
Aiden turns to me
"That wasn't too complicated, how do we know it works"
"I guess we'll find out when we use them. Alright let's go"
We leave the only "safe" place that we know of in this dungeon and move forward throughout the floor. As soon as I step foot out the door I can feel the presence of the old ones once again in full effect. I wonder what made that room… protected in a sense. I look back at that room as our distance from it slowly increases. As much as I want to think that there might be a fair amount of more places like that, I have to acknowledge the possibility that there isn't… The thing about that healing incantation is that I probably couldn't use it without the incantation, if something happens to my throat or voice it wouldn't be good at all, not only that but it's not all powerful, if I lost my arm completely there'd be no restoring it. I need to be more careful… We end up at one of the dead ends and begin checking the walls for some kind of hidden entrance. Nothing.
"Seems like there's nothing here, another dead end. Do you wanna check another pathway None?"
"No. I think I know a place that might have something."
I lead the way forward, heading back to the library. There has to be something about that room, it wouldn't be there for no reason right. We enter the room and look around.
"Ah this room, good thinking."
We begin looking around the room, moving books off the shelves. I almost laugh at how ridiculous this is. Moving books off shelves looking for a secret entrance like we're kids. While the bodies of monsters lie scattered around this floor. After throwing books off several shelves I noticed something. There's a hole in the bookshelf, a hole completely black. Assuming there were a wall behind the bookshelf it would at least have some coloration.
"Help me move this."
We move the bookshelf and sure enough a staircase leading downward.
"Nice job.
"Thanks, you ready to go?"
"Yeah let's go."
We descend down the stairs. No words were exchanged during the walk down, both of us were each focused on what was awaiting us. When we stepped out into the floor… I realized at once that nothing probably could've prepared us for this…
The entire room… was upside down.
What we stepped out on was the ceiling. Looking up showed us the floor. The entire scene left an uncanny feeling. There's only a single door in front of us, which is upside down as well. I take the first step and Aiden followed behind me. I push open the door so we can make our way through this floor. We've been walking for a bit now, looking up at the floor I've noticed that other than this obscurity everything else looks normal. There's doors down there, leading to rooms just like any other floor. When i look forward again I see another door, this time from where we were looking it was upright, so if we were normal it would be upside down. We go through the door, and everything is normal again. Is this entire room upside down too? What the fuck is this. I stand there in awe for a moment before Aiden taps me on my shoulder.
"Let's just keep moving."
"Right."
As we continue through the floor we go through more rooms. We occasionally step foot ones that let us see what we're really looking at again. The more we explore this place the more questions I have. While we haven't encountered any monsters yet, just being here on this floor specifically is unsettling. There's nothing much to this floor other than what's already seen. There's no rooms either. All of them seem to be on the floor. I wonder if there's a way to revert the gravity or something maybe... Before I finish that thought I see something that causes even more of a reaction than stepping foot onto this floor. The dead body of one of those things lying on the ground. Well… this is something.
"That isn't too good is it."
"Shit, what do you think killed it, was it a monster… or was it human."
"Not the best either way, if its a monster it's definitely stronger than this. If it's human let's hope they're on our side."
After observing the body we continue moving, it didn't take long to find the next staircase. As soon as we reach the door I notice something in an instant. It was cracked slightly open. I'm not sure how long we slept for, but whatever is ahead could be gone pretty far, or we could be right behind it. I guess we'll find out eventually. I open the door, and we climb the stairs to the next floor. I feel a bit of uneasiness in my stomach. I knew what it was in an instant. Humans fear the unknown. It's a primal fear which is why so many people are naturally afraid of the dark. This floor alone showed us… anything is possible in this place. When we reach the top, it could be anything from a normal room to hell itself. I find myself unconsciously smiling… probably from nervousness, there's no way I could calm this feeling either. Shit… We reach the top of the staircase and walk out onto the floor…
"Better than what we came from ain't it."
"Sure is."
I breathe a sigh of relief… looks like we lucked out. A normal floor. We start walking… it couldn't have been longer than two minutes… a cold shiver runs down my spine. In the corner of my eye… I notice something along the shadows… I know that it saw us, but maybe it knows that I saw it too… whatever it was, it retreats into the darkness.