Chapter 24: The Explorer Cat
"I don’t like this."
"We’ve been here thirty seconds."
"Exactly. That’s thirty seconds inside a dungeon. The chances of dying increase every second."
Aurelion burst out laughing.
"I like you, Kael."
"That worries me."
The huge stone door had closed behind them several minutes ago.
Now the group was advancing through the first hallways of the Whispering Roots Dungeon.
The walls were covered with gigantic roots.
Some were as thick as trees.
Others looked like veins running through the entire structure.
A faint green light illuminated the place.
Enough to see.
Not enough to feel comfortable.
"This definitely looks like a place where murders happen," commented Kael.
"It’s a dungeon," replied Seraphina.
"Exactly my point."
Darius walked ahead of the group.
As always.
With a proud expression.
Trying to prove he was still one of the Big Ten just because Kael had refused to be.
"Stay alert.
We don’t know what dangers might appear."
"I know one," said Kael.
"What?"
"You."
"..."
Aurelion almost choked from laughing.
Even some students had to turn their heads to hide their smiles.
Darius gritted his teeth.
"When we get out of here, we’re having another fight."
"Get in line."
"What line?"
"The line of people who want to hit me."
Seraphina nodded.
"It’s a long line."
Kael looked at her in surprise.
"Why do you know that!?"
"I’ve observed."
"That still doesn’t answer anything."
They continued advancing.
Over the next few minutes, nothing happened.
And that began to make everyone nervous.
Because dungeons were never this quiet.
Never.
Then it happened.
CLICK.
Everyone froze.
"Did you hear that?" asked a student.
"Yes."
"It was a trap."
BOOOOOOM.
Huge stone spears fell from the ceiling.
"DUCK!"
The group scattered.
The spears pierced the floor.
Several got stuck between the students.
Luckily, no one was hurt.
Kael sighed and smiled while brushing off his clothes.
"Good.
First assassination attempt survived.
Great start."
"Are you always like this?" asked Aurelion.
"Only when I’m alive."
"Understandable."
They kept going.
And ten meters later, they triggered another trap.
And then another.
And then another.
"Who designed this place?"
"A psychopath."
"I’m pretty sure of that."
They spent almost an hour exploring.
And the situation began to get worse.
Because the paths kept splitting.
Right.
Left.
Three tunnels.
Five tunnels.
Stairs.
Hidden passages.
Roots blocking the way.
Everything seemed designed to get lost.
And it worked.
Very well.
"The teacher said to follow the marks."
"The marks disappeared twenty minutes ago."
"So we’re lost."
"Correct."
"Great."
Kael looked around.
"Where’s the cat?"
Silence.
Everyone turned.
And indeed.
He wasn’t there.
"..."
"..."
"..."
"We lost the nuclear weapon."
Seraphina blinked with concern.
"We lost him."
"Yes."
"That’s bad."
"Yes."
"Very bad."
"Yes."
Aurelion raised a hand.
"Question."
"When did we last see him?"
Everyone thought for a few seconds.
"..."
"..."
"..."
"I have no idea."
"Fantastic."
Kael grabbed his face.
"How did we lose such a fat cat?"
"He moves surprisingly fast when he wants to," said Seraphina.
"That’s terrifying."
Darius snorted.
"Forget him.
He’s just a cat."
Everyone looked at him.
Aurelion was the first to speak.
"Do you want to be the one to go look for him?"
"..."
"No."
"Wise decision."
Then it happened.
"Meow."
Everyone turned.
In the distance.
In another tunnel.
Barely visible.
The Little Fat King walked calmly.
As if he owned the dungeon.
"There he is!"
"FAT KING!!"
The cat looked at them.
Yawned.
And kept walking.
"I think he ignored us."
"He definitely ignored us."
"I feel offended."
Kael started following him.
"Let’s go.
Before he disappears again."
Seraphina walked behind him immediately.
Without asking.
Without warning.
She just did.
Aurelion smiled.
"This is going to be interesting."
And he went after her.
Darius watched for a few seconds.
"I’m not following a cat."
The cat turned a corner.
Disappeared.
Darius sighed.
"...Wait up."
And he ended up following them.
For several minutes, they walked through increasingly strange tunnels.
And further and further away from the rest of the students.
"Are we sure this is a good idea?"
Kael replied.
"No."
"Perfect."
Aurelion laughed.
"But the cat seems to know where he’s going."
"That’s even more worrying."
They turned another corner.
And found a huge room.
Filled with small creatures.
Resembling giant rodents.
In the center were piles of strange fruits.
Mushrooms.
Seeds.
And accumulated food.
Kael looked at them in amazement.
"What are they?"
"Underground gatherers," explained Seraphina.
"They’re not aggressive.
As long as you don’t steal their food."
Everyone looked at the cat.
The cat was eating.
Silence.
"..."
"..."
"..."
"Something bad is going to happen."
The creatures took a few seconds to notice.
Then they saw the culprit.
And began to scream furiously.
"Meow."
The Fat King grabbed another fruit.
And walked off.
As if nothing.
The creatures exploded with rage.
But instead of chasing him...
They saw another group of monsters entering from the opposite side.
And automatically assumed that they were the culprits.
Five seconds later.
A war broke out.
"..."
"..."
"..."
Kael watched the all-out battle.
"Did we just start a civil war?"
"Yes."
"Was that intentional?"
Aurelion looked at the cat.
"I don’t think even he knows."
They kept moving.
And the absurd situations kept piling up.
At one point.
The cat stepped on a pressure plate.
CLICK.
"Oh no."
A rain of arrows shot out.
But hit another trap.
Which triggered a third.
Which destroyed the first.
Silence.
Darius looked incredulous.
"Did he just disarm a trap using another trap?"
Kael sighed.
"Yes."
"That shouldn’t work."
"And yet it did."
"I hate this reality."
Kael looked at the cat.
"Yeah... Tell me about it. I’m the cat’s owner."
Further ahead.
The cat jumped onto a root.
The root broke.
Part of the wall collapsed.
And behind it appeared a hidden corridor.
"..."
"..."
"..."
"He found a secret passage."
"I don’t think that was intentional."
"That makes it worse."
Seraphina watched, fascinated.
Literally fascinated.
"He’s incredible."
"He’s an accident on legs."
"That’s also incredible."
Kael couldn’t argue with that.
Finally, they reached a huge circular chamber.
Larger than any they had seen before.
In the center was some kind of elevated platform.
And on top of it...
An ancient altar.
Covered in roots.
Runes.
And strange symbols.
Everyone fell silent.
Something didn’t fit.
The atmosphere was too heavy.
Too still.
Too... alive.
"I don’t like this."
"Agreed."
"Very much."
The Fat King advanced.
Jumped onto the altar.
And lay down on top of it.
As if it were his personal bed.
"Of course."
"Naturally."
"Why not?"
Then it happened.
A gigantic root moved.
Slowly.
Everyone froze.
Then another.
And another.
Until they understood something horrible.
They weren’t roots.
They were limbs.
Something enormous was sleeping beneath the altar.
Something that had been there for a very long time.
And had just moved.
Seraphina watched for a few seconds.
Her normally indifferent expression became slightly serious.
Very slightly.
Enough to worry Kael.
"That..."
"What?"
"Doesn’t seem like student-level."
Silence.
The ground shook.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
And from the depths of the chamber...
Something slowly opened its eyes
