[Chapter 52. Fast Progress]
Vanessa clutched the dagger, her knuckles white against the corroded fang hilt. The cold metal biting into her palm. Thirty minutes had passed since Searanox vanished into the darkness, each minute stretching into an eternity in the suffocating silence. The portal behind them offered only a dim blue glow, barely illuminating the webs that draped the tunnel walls like funeral shrouds. Their sticky strands glistening with an unnatural sheen that seemed to pulse in the dim light.
Sarah and Carmen huddled on the blanket he'd left them, the rough wool scratching against their thin clothes. While Lana continued to sob, the sound echoing in the suffocating silence. Each gasp and whimper a fresh torment to Vanessa's frayed nerves. The air thick with the scent of decay and something vaguely sweet, a combination that made Vanessa's stomach turn with each shallow breath. She couldn't stand it.
"Shut her up." Vanessa's voice was a low growl, the threat implicit in every syllable. Her eyes narrowed to slits as she stared at Lana's trembling form.
Carmen glanced up from where she'd been staring into the darkness. Her mind working overtime, analyzing every detail of their situation. From the texture of the blanket to the frequency of Lana's sobs. "She's in shock. Logic won't help." Her tone was flat, devoid of emotion. As if she were commenting on the weather rather than a woman's unraveling sanity, her calm a stark contrast to the terror that radiated from the others.
Sarah paused mid-chew, the tasteless food Searanox had provided suddenly turning to ash in her mouth, the dry crumbly texture seeming to coat her throat. "She's just a kid," she murmured, a rare flicker of concern crossing her features. Her usual bravado gone, replaced by a raw desperate need for reassurance.
Vanessa's eyes narrowed, her grip on the dagger tightening. The blade catching the portal's dim light with a menacing glint. "You're all kids in this… this." She spat the word, her voice dripping with contempt. "Kid or not, her crying will attract something. And when it does, she's the first thing I'm feeding it." The threat hung in the air, a cold hard promise that made the others flinch.
Before Carmen could respond, before Lana could stifle another sob. The world dissolved.
A cacophony of translucent windows, erupted in each of their visions. Their sudden appearance as disorienting as a physical blow. They hovered in their vision, their text sharp and unforgiving. Overlapping one another in a dizzying information-dense cascade that made their heads spin, their eyes struggling to focus on the swirling blue and purple text that seemed to pulse with a life of its own.
The notifications crashed into Lana's tear-streaked vision, a relentless storm of blue and purple text that swirled and danced before her eyes. Her sobs caught in her throat, replaced by a choked gasp as the cascade of information overwhelmed her senses. The wave of notifications hit them all like a physical force, a torrent of raw data rewriting their very beings. Lana felt it a strange tingling warmth spreading through her limbs, a sudden lightness in her bones. A clarity in her thoughts that had been absent moments before. She blinked, the tears on her cheeks feeling alien. The sorrow that had consumed her now a distant echo as the newfound energy coursed through her veins, pushing back the paralyzing fear that had held her captive.
Sarah flinched back from the glowing text, her hands flying up as if to ward off a physical blow. Her painted nails scraping against the rough wool of the blanket. Her usual sultry pout was gone, replaced by a wide-eyed slack-jawed expression of pure unadulterated shock. The sheer volume of numbers meant nothing to her, but the words Level Up repeated over and over. Hammered against her consciousness like a frantic drumbeat. She could feel it too—a strange, tingling warmth spreading through her limbs, a subtle strengthening of the muscles she'd always flaunted but never truly relied on. A laugh, high and hysterical escaped her lips. The sound sharp and unnatural in the tunnel's oppressive silence.
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"What… what is this?" she whispered, her voice trembling. A fragile mask cracking under the strain of this impossible reality.
Vanessa stood straighter, the dagger in her hand forgotten as she read through the notifications. The dim light of the portal reflecting in her intense green eyes. The shock was there, but it was quickly buried beneath a wave of fierce analytical thought. She absorbed the information. Her mind already racing, processing the implications, the possibilities. The numbers. The stats. The levels. They weren't just random digits; they were power, potential, a way forward in this nightmare world that had stripped them of everything they once knew.
Carmen alone remained outwardly calm, her expression unreadable as she watched the cascade of light. Her dark eyes scanning the text. She saw the notifications not as a miracle or a curse, but as data. She cross-referenced the information with what little she knew of the System from their brief discussions, her mind forming connections that the others missed. She saw the logic—and, most importantly remembered the instruction.
"He said to leave when we got them." Carmen said, her voice cutting through the stunned silence. The words sharp and precise in the oppressive darkness.
Vanessa's head snapped toward her, her green eyes narrowing with suspicion and a flicker of disbelief. "What?"
"The notification." Carmen said, her tone flat devoid of emotion. "It means the dungeon is clear. He said we walk out." She gestured toward the swirling portal behind them with a small, precise movement of her head. "Now."
The word hung in the air, a simple command in a world of chaos. Its finality resonating in the suffocating silence. Vanessa's composure wavered for a moment, the crushing reality of their situation pressing in on her. To leave the relative safety of the tunnel, to step back into the dark unknown forest with only a dagger for protection. Was a terrifying prospect that sent a chill down her spine despite the warmth still spreading through her body. But staying here, in this web-infested tomb where monsters had lurked just moments before, was even worse. With a sharp decisive nod that was as much for herself as for the others, she turned toward the portal.
Lana looked up, her tears finally ceasing as she processed Carmen's words. The simple directive cutting through the lingering fog of her fear. She pushed herself to her feet, her movements still hesitant but no longer driven by blind panic. The newfound strength in her limbs was a small, fragile anchor in the sea of terror that had threatened to drown her. She followed Vanessa, her gaze fixed on the swirling vortex of the portal. Its blue and purple depths a promise of escape from the web-covered walls.
Sarah was still staring at her hands, flexing her fingers as if seeing them for the first time. Marveling at the strange, taut strength that seemed to hum beneath her skin. A strange giddy energy coursed through her. A reckless abandon that was both thrilling and terrifying, like standing on the edge of a cliff and feeling the urge to jump. She saw the others moving toward the portal, their forms distorted by its swirling energy and a wild desperate laugh escaped her lips. A sharp high sound that was immediately swallowed by the oppressive silence of the tunnel.
"Fuck it." she muttered, the words tasting like freedom and defiance as she scrambled to her feet. Her movements clumsy with newfound power, and joined them.
In the small clearing where the portal stood there was only silence, a heavy expectant stillness broken only by the soft rustle of leaves in the night breeze. The air was cool and carried the scent of damp earth and pine, a stark contrast to the musty decay of the dungeon they had just left.
It rippled softly as someone stepped out of it, the surface of the portal shimmering like disturbed water. Distorting the starlight for a brief moment before returning to its hypnotic, swirling dance of the now deep blue and purple.
Searanox emerged from the swirling portal into the cool night air, taking a deep breath of the fresh atmosphere that was a welcome relief after the suffocating closeness of the tunnels. His gaze scanned the surroundings, his eyes accustomed to the dim light piercing the darkness with practiced ease. The four women were nowhere to be seen. The clearing was empty, save for the distorted reality of the portal behind him and the silent trees that seemed to watch from the shadows. Their branches like skeletal fingers reaching for the star-dusted sky.
A few seconds later. Four young women stumbled out of the portal, disoriented and blinking in the sudden open space. The last of them tripped and fell flat onto her face, the impact sending a small cloud of dust into the air. The sound of her fall a sharp crackle in the quiet night.
Vanessa's expression was a mask of fury, her green eyes flashing with a cold fire that was almost visible in the dim light. "You left us there! In that… that webbed hell!" Her voice was a low, dangerous hiss. Each word laced with a venom that was more potent than any spider's.
Tears carved clean paths through the grime on Lana's face, her silver eyes wide with a mixture of lingering fear and relief. Her body trembling slightly as she clutched her arms around herself. Carmen simply stood with her arms crossed, her dark eyes watching him. Analyzing. Her mind already processing the situation, her expression a blank slate that gave nothing away. Sarah was the one who had fallen, and she pushed herself up onto her elbows. Looking up at him with wide pleading eyes, her usual sultry confidence replaced by a raw desperate vulnerability that made her seem much younger than she was.
"Yes, I left you in the most secure spot of the dungeon." Searanox said, his gaze settling briefly on Sarah. Noting the dirt smudged on her cheek and the way her lip trembled. "But don't worry. That won't happen again."
