Chapter 12

  The dungeon yawned before them—a cavern mouth framed by twisted trees and moss-covered stone, as if the forest itself had tried to hide it away. The air inside was cooler, touched by dampness and the faint, acrid sting of wild mana. Ren took a steadying breath as Garon stepped forward, shield raised, his stance solid and confident.

  Tallen nocked an arrow beside him, eyes sharp beneath his hood. The young forager moved with a fluid sort of alertness, quiet but focused. Kaela brought up the rear, twin daggers flashing briefly as she checked them. She gave Ren a wink before vanishing into the shadows cast by the cave’s interior.

  “Stay behind me, Chef,” Garon grunted. “You don’t have to be a hero. Just don’t get eaten.”

  “I’ll try my best,” Ren muttered, adjusting the strap of his satchel.

  The first corridor opened into a narrow, mossy chamber. Glowmoss lit the walls with a ghostly blue-green light, casting shifting shadows that played tricks on Ren’s eyes. They moved slowly, cautiously—each step measured. Tallen scanned every dark crevice. Kaela disappeared entirely from sight, only the occasional shimmer of motion betraying her position.

  Their first fight came quick.

  A clicking noise echoed from up ahead, followed by the low chittering of something skittering across stone. Then, two hulking centipede-like creatures burst from a side tunnel, each the length of a grown man. Their carapaces gleamed a sickly green, and mana practically steamed off their segmented bodies.

  “Burrowers!” Garon barked, raising his shield as one lunged.

  The clash was fast and brutal. Garon tanked the hit, metal screeching against chitin as the monster slammed into him. Tallen rolled to one knee and fired—his arrow striking just beneath the creature’s jaw, cracking the carapace but not quite piercing.

  Kaela darted from the shadows, her blade slicing clean across the exposed gap. The creature shrieked and collapsed, writhing before stilling.

  The second burrower reared toward Ren, who scrambled backward with a startled curse. Before he could fall, Tallen fired again, drawing its attention. Kaela used the distraction to leap from behind and drive her daggers in deep—this time into the base of the skull.

  When it was over, Ren was panting, palms slick with sweat.

  “You good?” Kaela asked, flicking blood from her blade.

  “Yeah. Just... watching my life flash before my eyes.”

  They pressed deeper. Ren stayed near the rear, keeping low and observing. In between fights, he kept an eye out for anything edible. Most of the herbs and mushrooms he spotted weren’t familiar—not even to his [Flavor Sense]. Either they had too much ambient mana or were too wild for proper analysis.

  Still, some basics stood out. He plucked a patch of low-growing stalks with bulbous blue heads—they smelled faintly like cardamom mixed with ozone. He couldn’t tell if it was dangerous or not, but it hummed faintly with Water-aspected mana. Worth studying later.

  Between chambers, Tallen quietly pointed out patches of luminescent moss or odd-looking roots he’d come across on earlier trips. It wasn’t a full lesson, but Ren appreciated every little comment. Kaela, ever the quiet one, occasionally handed him a strange fruit or nut with a shrug and a smirk, as if to say “try it and see.”

  Another fight broke out deeper in—a pair of horned wolfs known as shadowhounds according to Kaela. They moved silently and hit like a truck. Garon barely held the front line as Tallen’s arrows pinned one beast down. Kaela whirled beneath the second, cutting tendon and flank, while Ren took cover behind a stone outcropping, watching with a strange mix of fear and awe.

  He didn’t belong in a fight like this. Not yet. But he was learning and he was trying his best to throw in a [Mana Pulse] or two whenever he could while trying to make sure his reservers stayed relatively full.

  As they paused to rest and patch up minor injuries, Ren pulled out his satchel and reviewed his finds—leaves tinged with Fire mana, a root that glowed gently with Earth energy, and a cluster of thorned berries that pulsed faintly with both as well as the Water-aspected stalks from earlier.

  If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  He didn’t know what they were yet but he needed more.

  “Let’s keep going.”

  __________

  They pressed deeper into the dungeon. The stone corridors grew darker and narrower, the damp air thick with the scent of moss and something more metallic—blood, maybe. Shadows clung to the walls, broken only by the faint glow of Ren’s makeshift mana lantern and the occasional shimmer from Kaela’s enchanted dagger.

  They hadn’t seen a monster for nearly ten minutes, and that was what worried Ren the most.

  “Quiet,” Kaela muttered, crouched near the next bend. “I hear something.”

  Ren’s nerves were shot. He wasn’t used to this—this lurking silence that sat in your bones like cold fat. He rubbed his fingers together, focusing for a moment. He had mana. He could do this. He wasn’t useless.

  Mana Pulse.

  A dull thrum of energy ran down his arm and surged outward. A basic shockwave of force—not particularly powerful, but useful at close range or to disrupt footing. He sent it out into the corridor ahead like a ripple in water.

  It struck something.

  The noise was immediate. A chittering scream echoed off the walls as three hunched, long-limbed figures burst from the shadows—gnarled, half-hairless things with jutting claws and glowing blue veins bulging from their arms.

  “Contact!” Tallen shouted, loosing an arrow.

  Garon stepped forward, shield raised just in time to catch the first impact. The thing slammed into him with a grunt and a screech, its claws scraping along the metal like nails on bone. Kaela moved in a blur, slipping past it to stab the second in the thigh.

  The third creature went for Ren.

  He panicked and fired another Mana Pulse, catching it in the side. It staggered but kept coming. Before it could leap, an arrow thudded into its throat, and it collapsed.

  But the first creature had Garon on the back foot. It struck low—jagged claws hooking beneath his shield. There was a wet crunch, followed by Garon’s howl.

  His shield dropped. Blood sprayed.

  “Garon!” Tallen bellowed, charging in with a shortsword.

  Ren barely had time to see it—two fingers on Garon’s right hand, gone. Shredded. His gauntlet hung in bloody tatters.

  Kaela finished off the last monster with a clean stab to the base of its skull, then spun toward them, eyes wide. “We’re done. Out. Now!”

  Ren moved to help, but Garon swatted his hand away with his good arm.

  “Don’t. Touch me.”

  Tallen supported Garon as they limped back the way they came, Kaela keeping rear watch, her lips pressed tight. Ren trailed behind, breathing ragged, his eyes darting to the pouch at his belt. He’d picked maybe five herbs during the descent— all of them unfamiliar.

  The cost wasn’t worth it.

  The forest outside the dungeon never looked more welcoming. As soon as they passed the threshold, they collapsed into makeshift rest positions. Tallen dug out a potion and tried to dress the wound. The bleeding slowed, but not enough.

  Ren opened his mouth to say something—anything.

  “You just had to go deeper.” Garon’s voice was low, hoarse. “We had a good run. We should’ve turned back.”

  “I didn’t know—” Ren started.

  “Yeah,” Garon spat, bitter. “You didn’t. And now I’ve got two fingers less and a career that’s probably done.”

  Kaela looked away. Tallen stayed quiet, focusing on the bandages.

  Ren felt the words catch in his throat.

  This was supposed to be about food. About flavor. About exploration.

  But people got hurt. Because of him.

  And for the first time since coming to this world, he wondered if he’d made a mistake stepping into this dungeon at all.

  _________

  The fire crackled low and uneven, a thin plume of smoke rising into the night sky. Ren sat just beyond the circle of light, his hands working through the dull rhythm of preparing a weak stew with whatever safe ingredients they’d brought with them. His fingers moved without thought—scraping, chopping, stirring—while his mind spun in circles.

  He hadn’t said much since they made camp. None of them had, really.

  Garon had taken the far corner, wrapped in a rough blanket with his back turned to everyone. The bleeding had stopped, but the damage was done. Two fingers gone. On his sword hand. Ren knew what that meant even if no one had said it out loud yet.

  Kaela and Tallen stood a little ways off, voices hushed. Ren didn’t mean to listen. But in the still forest air, their words carried.

  “I’m just saying,” Tallen muttered. “We all agreed to the job. We didn’t have to go deeper, but Garon went along with it.”

  “He wouldn’t have, not if Ren hadn’t pushed,” Kaela replied sharply. “He was cautious. Always has been. But he’s not one to back down in front of someone he thinks needs protecting.”

  “He was trying to help,” Tallen said, quieter now. “It’s not like Ren meant for this to happen.”

  A pause. The fire popped.

  Kaela exhaled through her nose. “That doesn’t matter. Intent doesn’t stop claws from tearing your hand open.”

  Ren’s grip on the spoon tightened.

  He didn’t mean for any of this. He’d just… wanted to try. To explore. The dungeon had held promise. Ingredients no one else dared to touch. Wild flavors. Unmapped magic.

  But maybe he’d bitten off more than he could chew.

  “Still,” Tallen continued, “you saw what he did back there. He’s not useless. That Mana Pulse probably saved you when that thing lunged.”

  Kaela didn’t reply right away.

  “I’m not saying we kick him out,” she said at last. “Just… don’t go thinking he’s ready for this life yet. He’s not. And after what happened to Garon? He might never be.”

  Ren quietly lowered the spoon and turned back to the pot, his stomach sinking. The scent of simmering vegetables didn’t make him hungry. Not anymore.

  He didn’t blame them. Not really. They were right.

  He wasn’t ready.

  Not yet.

  But he would be.