Chương 68: 1-67 Through the dark

As Josef called out Pretzel once more, she immediately wrapped around him, shivering.

"It's okay. Whatever you saw wasn't real." He patted her on the head, trying to push as much reassurance at her through the link as he could. Which admittedly wasn't much, considering how aware he was of the danger they were in, but it was the thought that counted. Whatever she saw had truly terrified his poor noodle, but despite a mental invitation to share her experience, she just clamped down and refused. However, she also declined safely resting inside him.

No matter how bad she felt, she still wouldn't leave him to fight on his own. With shaky courage she slithered down and readied herself for whatever they were going to find in the dark. Speaking of which, it appeared as if his light reached just a tiny bit further after freeing his familiar. Maybe the strength of this suppression decreased when he freed someone from their cocoon? If the mana drained from trapped victims bolstered the effect, then such a result would make sense.

Now he only had to figure out how to find the rest of his party. He could hardly just traipse around in the dark until he found someone by sheer luck. Well, they were going to need some of that anyway, because the best strategy he could come up with still relied on a lot of searching. Only he wouldn't do it alone and use his magic to help. Pretzel naturally wasn't too happy about splitting up to cover more ground, but in spite of the fear leaking through her link, she agreed without hesitation.

Josef knew he had to spoil her after they got through this. Not that she would demand it on her own, but he would make sure to reward her courage either way. Of course, Dusty also deserved a reward for all of his contributions, but right now his bunny might just be the scariest thing out in the dark. The boss just didn't know that yet. As their paths temporarily separated, each of them began searching their surroundings in their own way. Pretzel flicked about her tongue, searching for scents, while Dusty…

did whatever he did when nobody was looking. Did that rabbit even need light? At least he didn't immediately point out the closest cocoon, so something about that suffocating darkness was holding even him back. Sending out streams of mana in an arc in front of himself, Josef began his own search, keeping the link to his familiars in mind at all times. This way, they could communicate the location of anyone they found and keep track of each other..

It wasn't the most sophisticated of plans, but for something made up on the spot, he was happy enough with it. Making wide sweeps with his mana, he picked up plenty of ambient mana, and even some from the fleshy surroundings, as he encountered plants of growths and protrusions on his path. Unfortunately, these masses behaved much more similar to what the original illusion had shown him, as there was very little to be gained from them.

Maybe only the parts responsible for feeding were maintaining an active flow of mana, while the rest of this stuff was in some kind of hibernation? It was an interesting ability, and he wondered if he could make use of something like that with his own body. Even if he could, he currently struggled to see an immediate use for that, outside of defending against the very techniques he was using himself.

All the excess energy he syphoned almost casually on the side went towards his familiars, with Dusty receiving the lion's share. Pretzel didn't have much use for it at the moment, but it was always possible that the bunny could cook up something weird with it. And Josef liked that particular brand of weird. Finally, he came across another cocoon-like wrapping, after one of his streams had suddenly flared with a large spike of mana.

Thanks to the trail of extra energy, he could easily find it in the dark, while also updating his familiars on the progress. There was no need for him to even guess which of his companions was trapped inside that one, considering the decaying mass that was currently worming its way through the fleshy bindings. Apparently, Bezzo didn't want to sit around and wait for someone to save him like a damsel, and had already begun his own escape.

Whatever the illusion had shown him must have failed to keep the reptile down, much to Josef's surprise. Sure, he had the link to his familiars as a source of disturbance to question what he had seen, but without his mental resistance grade giving him an inclination on what had been happening, he might not have figured it out himself. Adding his own mana streams into the mix, he helped his friend rid himself of the overly attached meat and ultimately pulled him free after enough of it became undone.

"Thanks." Bezzo murmured, sounding shaken but otherwise fine from the experience. He was handling it better than Pretzel, at least on the surface. Maybe overcoming it himself instead of being bailed out had somewhat diminished the terror of what he had seen? As if the dungeon hadn't- Then the lizard suddenly jerked back and fixed Josef with a measuring gaze. What was that suddenly about? Several awkward seconds passed between them before it dawned on him.

Right, who wouldn't have been a little paranoid after breaking out of an illusion with their own effort? His own appearance might have been another trick put in place to misdirect him. You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

"Ah, right… I figured things out thanks to Dusty and the illusions having trouble with the link to my familiars. Also, I got that mental resistance skill that suddenly leveled like crazy." He tried, but quickly realized that none of this exactly proved that he was the real deal. His familiars weren't even around to back him up on it!

"We split up to widen our search area, though, so they aren't-" However, no further justification was required as Bezzo simply nodded.

"Got it, let's go find my brother before he causes any trouble. I don't want to imagine what this place could do to him."

"Wait, just like that? Not that I want that, but shouldn't you question me more?" That drew a dry chuckle from the lizard.

"Nobody else could casually flaunt some rare and obscure skill leveling multiple times at once. And you don't even sound proud of it. That's very much a Josef thing." Was he really that odd for treating some numbers going up as just that? Apparently, living in a world where those game-like mechanics were central to everyone's life made people much more sensitive about it. Shrugging it off, he invited Bezzo to come along with him to continue their search.

If they split up now, there wouldn't be any guarantee they could find each other again unless they somehow managed to do away with this unnatural darkness. For a moment, his friend looked as if he was about to argue, obviously wanting to rush ahead in hopes of finding his brother more quickly. Before either of them could argue logistics, however, something tugged at the back of Josef's mind.

"Dusty has found someone," his explanation was brisk but sufficient. Together they set off, the reptile following the human through the slightly more illuminated darkness. His theory that it grew weaker as there were fewer victims to feed on had just grown much more likely to be true. With another one of his friends lined up for rescue, they might just make a proper dent in it.

Rushing along, the streams of mana in front of him had become less about searching and more about avoiding obstacles, as the terrain didn't exactly lend itself to moving around quickly. Not only were there bulbous protrusions all over the place, but the ground itself had an almost bubbly texture with enough yield to mess with his every step. The idea was both gross and silly, but he couldn't help but liken the ground to a gargantuan tongue that was merely taking its time to taste them.

There was no way the dungeon could house a creature that massive, right? Josef had to wonder just how much ground the bunny must have cleared since they split up, because reaching him took quite a bit of time. They even had to clear a massive gap in the ground, which revealed nothing but infinite blackness to his struggling light. If Bezzo hadn't pulled him back, a feat achieved thanks to his amazing reaction time, then he might have made an excursion down to a whole new area.

Or broken his spine, though that would have only counted as a temporary setback thanks to his magic. After having given appropriate thanks and pushing on for at least another minute of weird night-time parkour, they finally arrived at the bunny's location.

"Let me go, you fucking piece of shit! I'll fertilize the trees with your remains! Your ancestors were half-bred dragon fuckers!" That and more welcomed them as they drew close, the sounds of a certain elf's cussing reaching further than their light could.

"You know, some would take that last one as a compliment." Bezzo quipped with little humor as the dark parted to show them Linda. The revelation of having been overheard was enough of a shock to flash her face into a shade of crimson, leaving her stammering even as more flesh grew around her waist, upwards. Apparently, she had managed to free herself partially from the entrapment and was hacking wildly at the remaining flesh with her greatsword.

Was it courage or anger that had her swing a massive blade right towards her own body like that? If the meaty bindings had just pulled back on their own, she might have grievously injured herself. And how had she even freed her upper body in the first place? The answer came from a snarling black animal that was just on the other side of the trapped elf, tearing at the stuff with a ferocity that matched Linda's.

That was none other than Dusty, as his link revealed to him, though he wouldn't have needed that help to place his familiar's new appearance. Grown to the size of a large dog, his rabbit looked like an alligator's maw with stubby legs attached to it. Gone were the piercing red eyes, as the front of his body instead sported massive nostrils which were constantly flaring as the not-rabbit sniffed. But even changed like this, there were still similarities that gave Dusty's origin away.

Like the clearly rabbit-like paws at the end of his feet, and the mangy black fur dotting his warped body. Also, there was that cute yet out-of-place pair of rabbit ears placed right over those nostrils, looking like two furry horns. Seeing where Josef's eyes went, Linda clearly saw her chance at changing the topic.

"Can you imagine waking up to this manner of creature? My distress is your fault for allowing that to happen!" She explained her outburst by shifting the blame through an immense feat of gymnastics.

"How did you get out of the illusion anyway?" he asked her, moving his mana to help break her out, though it was his scaly friend who answered.

"Clearly she raged her way out of it," Bezzo explained, getting an angry glare from the elf even as he helped by adding his poison to the mix. There honestly was no reason for that, as she was already well on her way of breaking free, but maybe he just wanted to deliver his next line up close.

"Classes like hers come in two shapes. One is too dumb to notice the manipulation, while the other is too angry to fall for it."

"Don't you dare call me stupid, lizard breath," she grunted, finally freeing herself with one last push. Taking a step back, respecting the danger of the angry elf, the reptile continued.

"Case in point, she clearly snapped out of it by using a rage-related skill." Linda supported this truth, huffing angrily, before her entire demeanor suddenly flipped, taking on a fearful expression.

"Oh, no. Where is Aifreed?" Looking around frantically, she paced around in the circle of light around Josef, which had now grown to several meters in diameter.

"Have you seen him? Is he safe?"

"Please calm down. We are still searching for him and Zippa," he tried to placate her. It helped little with the woman's fear, though he soon gained a way to direct her erratic emotions.

"Pretzel found someone. Let's go. Dusty, please get back to searching. We're still one short." The sight of his transformed rabbit plopping down on his hind legs and giving a salute with his ears was quite comical, though the situation didn't allow him to linger on it. Or on those notifications at the border of his consciousness. What he hadn't told Linda was that the one they were heading towards definitely wasn't her loyal knight, because what his snake found was clearly Zippa's doing.

And she was urgently pleading for his help. Even the otherwise suppressive atmosphere in this place couldn't completely mask it, as they drew nearer to his familiar's location. It was the acrid stench of something burning.