Chapter 48: The Tree in the Dungeon (I)
The northern passage descended in a spiral.
Nathan ran with the lamp in his left hand, his right hand free to fire if something appeared.
And the smell.
The smell changed approximately a hundred meters into the descent.
Before, it had been moisture. Moss. Old stone. Now it was something different. Something heavier. A specific odor Nathan had only sensed once in his life—in the empty vial he’d carried since the first day in his inner pocket, the one he’d arrived in Greywall with, without silver, and with few remaining food scraps he’d managed to survive on. An odor his mind, without permission, identified in an instant.
Ancient corruption.
*This is where the demon died.*
*Or where its residue concentrates.*
*I’m descending toward the dungeon’s heart of corruption.*
Soul Sense confirmed that Liaraen’s presence was moving ahead. Not very fast. The agile creatures weren’t carrying her at maximum speed. They were carrying her in a controlled manner. As if they knew the goal was to arrive, not to flee.
*They’re guiding me.*
*This entire pursuit is exactly what they want me to do.*
Nathan processed it and kept running.
*It doesn’t matter. If the destination they’re guiding me to is where Liaraen is, that’s the destination I’m going to.*
He ran for fifteen minutes.
The passage ended.
---
And the chamber that opened at the passage’s end made Nathan stop involuntarily.
It was enormous.
Not like the previous chambers. This one was, specifically, a natural cavern the dungeon had incorporated into its structure. The ceiling rose thirty or forty meters high, with stalactites hanging in irregular formations the lamp’s light barely reached at the edges. The floor was uneven, with different levels connected by natural stone ramps.
And in the exact center of the cavern, on a circular rise approximately five meters high, grew a tree.
Nathan lowered the lamp to waist height.
He didn’t need it.
The tree illuminated the entire cavern.
It was small. No more than three meters tall. Thin trunk with silvery bark. Leaves of pure white that moved slightly though there was no wind in the cavern. And in the center of the canopy, hanging from a branch, a single fruit.
Round. The size of an adult man’s fist. Of a color Nathan couldn’t name. Neither gold nor white nor green. Something in between. With an inner light that made the entire tree glow in soft tones.
Nathan felt the cavern’s air.
Around the tree was a radius of approximately five meters where the air was different. Cleaner. Lighter. There was no corruption there. The corruption surrounded the cavern, coiled on the walls, clung to the stalactites, but didn’t cross the tree’s radius.
*Active divinity.*
*The tree has a protection field.*
*That’s why the creatures can’t approach.*
He looked toward the foot of the circular rise.
They were there.
Twelve creatures.
Eight agile ones like those that had captured Liaraen. Four large ones with stingers, like the ones Nathan had killed in the upper chamber. And a thirteenth creature, larger than all the others, standing at the front of the group.
It was the leader.
Nathan understood immediately.
It stood nearly three meters tall. Thick body, covered in thicker bone plates than its companions’. A scorpion stinger curving from its back to almost touch the floor behind it, the size of a full human arm. Dense musculature suggesting simultaneous strength and speed. And black eyes with a specific, intelligent attention on a level the other creatures didn’t have.
At the foot of the rise, held by two agile ones, was Liaraen.
Conscious.
Unharmed.
Her mouth covered by a hand and her arms held behind her back, but with no visible wounds.
Her eyes found Nathan’s immediately.
*Nothing happened while I was waiting for you. I’m fine. Now let’s resolve this.*
Nathan entered the cavern.
The leader saw him.
And smiled.
The creature’s mouth curved upward at the corners, showing irregular teeth in a gesture recognizable even on a corrupted snout. And then, in a low, raspy voice, in broken Common that its anatomy hadn’t been designed to speak:
"Hunter."
Nathan stopped ten meters from the group.
"You speak the common tongue," Nathan said clearly.
"We learned. Many hunters. Many years." The leader tilted its head slightly. "Came here. Taught. Before dying."
*The Table adventurers. And those who came before. They taught the language to these creatures before being killed.*
"What do you want?" Nathan asked.
The leader pointed at the tree with a claw.
"Fruit."
"And why don’t you take it yourself?"
"Can’t." The leader opened its hands, showing its palms. "Corruption. Tree rejects corruption. Me, corrupted. All, corrupted. Fruit, protected."
"And you want me to take it."
"Yes."
"In exchange for what?"
The leader pointed at Liaraen.
"Elf. In exchange."
Nathan looked at Liaraen.
Liaraen looked back.
Her expression remained carefully neutral. But her eyes communicated what Nathan already knew. She didn’t trust the deal. Neither did he. Neither of them was naive. The question wasn’t whether the leader would follow through. The question was what the real angle of the betrayal was.
*They have two stingers. Two opportunities for poison. They can attack Liaraen at any moment after I have the fruit.*
*But also, if I refuse now, they kill her. And I don’t have the mana to kill thirteen of them at once.*
*Seventy-five mana.*
*Regeneration: five per minute.*
*I’ve been running for fifteen minutes since the last fight. Seventy-five plus seventy-five. One hundred fifty.*
*Still not enough for thirteen creatures of this rank.*
*I have to play the game.*
*And look for the moment.*
Nathan looked up at the tree.
"Fine," he said. "I take the fruit. You release Liaraen. When she’s at my side, I hand over the fruit."
The leader looked at him for a second.
"No," it said. "Fruit first. Elf after."
"The elf is hostage until the end."
"Fruit first."
Nathan processed.
*If I take the fruit first, I have no way to guarantee they release her.*
*If I insist on the opposite order, they refuse and we wait.*
*And while we wait, my mana regenerates.*
*Five per minute.*
*But if we wait too long, the leader loses patience.*
*Good. Compromise.*
"I take the fruit," Nathan said. "You bring Liaraen halfway between us. Release her there. I leave the fruit on the ground. We cross. Neither of us touches the other in the process."
The leader thought about it.
"Acceptable."
*Good.*
*Now go up. Take the fruit. And keep your eyes open.*
Nathan walked toward the circular rise.
---
He climbed the natural stone ramp leading to the tree’s base.
With each step, the air changed. The corruption grew lighter. When he crossed the edge of the five-meter radius, he felt a specific sensation of cleanliness. As if something inside his body had been tensing from exposure to the corruption without him noticing, and now could finally relax.
He approached the tree.
The fruit hung at face height.
Nathan looked at it for a moment.
*This is what the kingdom’s dungeons call S-Rank loot. This is what adventurers spend decades searching for. This is what kings collect.*
*And I have it in front of me at twenty-two years old.*
*With my whole life ahead to sell it and live comfortably.*
*Except I’m going to hand it over to a corrupted humanoid mole to save an aristocratic elf who only calls me by my first name when she thinks no one’s listening.*
*Fate has a strange sense of humor.*
He raised his hand.
The fruit released from the branch easily.
Nathan held it. It weighed less than its size suggested. The surface was warm, slightly. Like something alive.
He descended the ramp.
---
At the foot of the rise, the leader had ordered the two agile ones holding Liaraen to bring her forward.
They advanced with her to the halfway point between Nathan and the group. Approximately five meters from the tree. Five meters from the group. Nathan was at the edge of the protected radius. The fruit in his right hand.
The agile ones released Liaraen.
She stepped forward.
Nathan placed the fruit on the ground between them.
And they began to walk.
Liaraen toward Nathan. Nathan toward Liaraen. Nathan crossed Liaraen. Their eyes met for half a second. Neither said anything. Nathan walked two more steps to allow Liaraen to reach the safe position behind him.
He turned to look at the group.
The two agile creatures approached the fruit.
Everything was going exactly as agreed.
Which was exactly the moment it stopped going as agreed.
