“I would recommend leaving, and getting some food and water into your body,” Geon’s voice cut through his tumultuous thoughts.
“That fight was especially gory, and I know humans can be squeamish when it comes to gore.”
Roy nodded, forcing himself shakily to his feet. His entire body was covered in a mixture of sand, blood, and crab guts, and he had to force down the urge to hurl again. He’d never thought he would be squeamish around blood. It would seriously put a damper on his plans of revenge if he reacted this way every time he saw it.
Geon was thankfully silent as Roy crawled through the portal and back into the now dark forest. He heard Ferry moving around nearby but ignored her in favor of stripping out of his blood-drenched robe, tearing a strip of cloth to wind around his still bleeding arm. He noticed that his White-Belt, oddly enough, was still shining and pristine, without so much as a stain on it. He figured it must have something to do with the fact that it wasn’t a solid substance, rather a manifestation of his level of advancement, given a physical form by his Essence.
Once he’d stripped down to his undergarments, he realized that he had no way to wash his bloody clothes. Why hadn’t he thought to wash them in the ocean when he’d been inside the Dungeon? Sighing to himself, Roy lay down on the ground, forgoing any supper. He felt thoroughly miserable, though he couldn’t fathom as to why.
“What seems to be the matter? You’re no longer covered in blood… well, you’ve gotten rid of most of it anyway. Why do you seem so melancholy?”
Roy sighed again, not really sure how to answer.
“I don’t know. I didn’t feel this bad the last time I killed something, though admittedly, this is the first time I’ve killed a living being.”
“Ah, I understand. What you’re feeling is guilt. I can’t say I’ve ever felt it myself, but humans can be quite fragile when it comes to such things. Don’t worry, though, your kind always gets over it quickly enough. Get some sleep. You’ll feel better about it in the morning.”
And with that, the Dungeon core went silent, leaving Roy alone with his thoughts.
Roy groaned as he forced his eyes open as sunlight filtered in through the trees above. He hadn’t slept well, spending the majority of the time tossing and turning on the hard ground. Despite Geon’s assurance, he didn’t feel any better than he had the night before. After examining how he felt, he could conclude that it was indeed guilt that was the root of the issue. That, in turn, worried him even more.
How was he supposed to plot revenge on his clan, if he couldn’t kill a Beast without getting all worked up over it? That made him angry. He was angry with himself for being so weak-willed. None of the Shah clan would have felt remorse at killing those Beasts. They would have been proud as any Martial Artist should be.
He subsequently spent the entire day moping around and feeling bad for himself. Nothing Geon said, could get him to move from his spot. He didn’t eat or drink, allowing himself to sink deeper and deeper into depression. Every time he did so, he would berate himself, hating how weak he was, and that in turn would make him spiral deeper into self-loathing. This continued on for the rest of the day, and when nightfall came, he sank into an exhausted and uneasy sleep.
Roy cracked his eyes open as he felt something soft bumping against his face. Blinking a few times, Ferry’s twitching pink nose came into focus.
“Ferry? What’s wrong?” he asked sleepily, pushing himself up off the ground.
Ferry nudged him again, forcing him to get up and take a good look around. There wasn’t anything he could see, and after opening his senses, he still couldn’t feel anything. His shoulders slumped then.
The thought of an incoming threat had momentarily taken his mind off the crushing guilt that had permeated his every waking moment since killing those Beasts. Now that it had proved to be a false alarm, it returned in full force. Ferry’s head nudged him again, and Roy felt a rough, wet tongue slide over the side of his face.
“Would you look at that?” Geon piped up as she licked him again. “She’s trying to make you feel better. I have never seen her do that before, either. Her behavior seems to be changing each day. How interesting.”
Roy’s eyes widened a bit as Ferry continued licking him. It didn’t feel particularly nice. Ferry’s tongue was wet, and her breath wasn’t exactly minty fresh, but he felt his heart lighten all the same.
“Thanks,” he whispered, placing a hand on the ferret’s head. “I needed that.”
Ferry nudged him once again, before pulling back and walking over to curl up beneath a nearby tree. His heart felt a good deal lighter now, knowing that someone, even if it was just a Beast, cared enough to try and comfort him.
Despite Geon being part of him, the Dungeon core’s words over the previous day had been more along the lines of, ‘get over it already, we’re running out of time,’ rather than the comfort he needed. While he didn’t exactly feel good about what he’d done, he now felt good enough to force himself to his feet.
In his journey through the Martial Arts, as well as his goals of revenge, many would have to die. And not just mindless Beasts, either. He would be forced to kill living, breathing, and intelligent human beings. If he couldn’t get over the deaths of a couple of crabs that had been trying to kill him, then he would never succeed. He may as well give up now and wait for death.
Roy’s mood firmed and he forced himself to his feet. Feeling a new sense of strength, he hadn’t realized he’d been lacking: resolve.
“Finally ready to stop moping around and give that Dungeon another try?” Geon asked.
Roy’s fists tightened at his sides when the Dungeon core spoke and he felt his resolve firm into certainty.
“Yes. I’m ready.”
14
Roy crawled through the Dungeon portal once again, dragging his stinking clothes behind him. They had gotten considerably worse over the last day. So much so, that he had to breathe through his mouth to avoid gagging from the stench. Straightening from the crawl, Roy headed down the sandy beach for the water crashing against the surf.
The corpses of the two crabs were gone, as was to be expected in a Dungeon, and Roy was glad of that. Seeing them wouldn’t have helped right now. He saw that instead, there were now two glowing cores lying in the sand where they had once been. To Roy’s senses, they gave off the feeling he got from standing on the beach, only a hundred times stronger.
They glowed a bright blue as Water Essence swam around inside. Dropping to his knees near the cores, Roy hefted them in his hand. They were heavier than they looked and weren’t round as he’d been expecting. Instead, they were ridged and made of a glass-like substance with the Essence trapped within.
For a Water cultivator, these would be the equivalent of about two week’s worth of cycling and refining. To him, it was only worth what he could sell it for. Heading down to the water, Roy was quick to plunge in, taking his filthy clothes with him.
He left both of the cores up on the shoreline, not seeing any point in bringing them with him. He scrubbed his body as best he could, and scoured his clothes with sand. He managed to get most of the blood out, but what he’d really needed to get rid of was the smell. As he was washing his outer robe, his foot snagged something warm and slimy making him start in alarm.
However, after an initial panic, he discovered it was a strand of some sort of weed. It glowed with Water Essence to his senses as well, and while not on the level of the cores he’d picked up, it would definitely help with cultivation.
“Hey Geon, is this worth selling?” he asked as he headed back to the shoreline.