They still weighed the same as they had before, though Roy knew that was an illusion. One of the constructs would contain about five-thousand pounds worth of gravel. He sometimes wished that they weren’t so efficient, this way he could come out here more than once a month. Roy looked around the peaceful clearing one last time, letting out a long sigh. Then he took up his walking stick and began plodding back to the village, albeit at a much slower pace than he had on the way there.
4
Roy was forced to pick up his pace as the forest began growing dark around him. He’d wanted to take his time, but if he didn’t make it back within the next thirty minutes or so, it would be too dark to see. Not to mention that all the wild Beasts would be coming out to hunt. As the forest grew ever darker around him, he pushed himself to move faster, already imagining all sorts of Beast pouncing at him from the surrounding gloom.
Had he been a Martial Artist, this wouldn’t be a problem, as they were able to sense the Essence of most living things. Beasts wouldn’t be able to sneak up on them. He, however, was blind as a bat.
When he saw the fork in the path up ahead, he began to let out a relieved sigh. That was until he saw who was waiting there for him.
“Well, took you long enough to get here, freak,” Koya called out.
Roy felt his heart beginning to race when he saw him there, noting that he wasn’t alone either. He was flanked by his friends, the two who had helped Koya with his plan yesterday. If he remembered correctly, they were twins named Izu and Kozu. Not very imaginative of their parents, but then again, what did he know.
What had him nervous was the fact that they’d been waiting here for him. And whatever reason that was, it wouldn’t be good.
“I must apologize for inconveniencing you,” Roy said, dipping his head in a bow. “I did not know you would be waiting here for me.”
Koya shrugged, his sneer not diminishing.
“It doesn’t matter. Better if it’s dark out.”
Roy felt a distinct sense of danger when he said that, and it was only heightened when the twins moved to flank him.
“Can you tell me what this is all about?” He asked, feeling his heart rate picking up even more.
Koya laughed, sauntering up to him and folding his arms across his chest.
“Yes, actually. You see, you’ve been an embarrassment to the clan for long enough. No one has the guts to do what needs to be done, so I guess I’ll be the one doing the dirty work.”
Roy’s arms were seized by the twins, and he was hoisted bodily off the ground.
“Wait! You can’t kill me!” Roy shouted, now suddenly wishing to live very much. “There is no honor in killing an unarmed cripple. You would not be praised, but shamed!”
If anything, Koya’s grin grew even wider.
“Who said that we would be the ones to kill you?”
Roy opened his mouth to protest once again, but Koya, seemingly having enough of his complaining, shoved a rough cloth into his mouth. Then turned his back on him and began heading back into the woods. Roy struggled and kicked the twin’s grips, but he may as well have been a baby trying to fight a tiger. Both of them were Yellow-Belts, and their strength was far more than he could ever hope to muster.
As they walked, Roy started to become surer of where they were taking him, and his dread grew into full-blown panic. Of all the ways to die, this would have to be one of the worst. His fears were confirmed a moment later as they rounded a bend in the path, and a stone archway came into view. The archway was lit up by swirling multicolored lights that danced across its surface: the entrance to a Dungeon.
No one was entirely sure how they were made, or where the dungeons even were. They weren’t on Buryoku, though many theorized that each Dungeon was a self-contained pocket world. And though Roy had always wanted to visit the Dungeon, he suddenly found that he no longer cared to.
No one spoke as they approached the swirling portal and Koya poked his head inside. After a moment, he pulled it back out and motioned the twins forward. They marched straight ahead, walking a still struggling Roy through the portal.
A strange, tingling sensation flowed over Roy’s spine as they entered, and he felt as though a looming presence was suddenly watching over him. They emerged on the other side into a dimly lit cavern. Massive stalactites hung from the ceiling nearly thirty feet above their heads with small droplets of water constantly raining down to splash onto the ground below. The effect was a constant echoing sound bouncing off the walls and ceiling.
Koya entered a moment later, looking around the cave for a few moments before gesturing to a side tunnel.
“Let’s be quick. The Beasts down that tunnel likely haven’t respawned yet. If we move quickly, we won’t have to fight at all.”
Roy continued struggling as he was marched into the oppressive tunnel. He tried to look around for landmarks, so he might somehow escape, but after only a few seconds, the tunnel became too dark for him to see. Koya and the twins wouldn’t have that problem, as enhanced senses were something that every White-Belt had. He, however, could not see a thing.
Roy was forcibly marched along for what felt like hours, but in reality, was likely no more than twenty minutes. The longer he walked, the more his sense of dread grew. He knew why he was here. He was here to die. There was no other reason that Koya and the others were dragging him all the way down here, and he had a pretty good feeling how they would to it too.
They would leave him once they reached the deepest part of the Dungeon and the Beasts would tear him to pieces. In the morning, someone might discover his remains. The clan wouldn’t care and just assume that he’d wandered in here on his own and gotten killed for it. If they lost anything, it would be someone to ridicule and torture.
Finally, his eyes picked out a faint light that was growing brighter by the minute. He wasn’t sure where the light was coming from, but when they emerged from the tunnel, he could see that it was coming from the moon. The cavern was relatively small, only about forty feet in diameter, but if he looked straight up, he could see an opening nearly two-hundred feet above his head.
He briefly wondered whose moon that could be. After all, if this was a pocket world, wouldn’t this be a different moon? He was snapped from his contemplations when the twins released him, shoving him roughly to the center of the room. They hadn’t bothered tying his hands, so Roy was able to pull the cloth from his mouth. He licked his lips a few times to work up some moisture before speaking.
“You can’t do this. You can’t just leave me here!” he rasped, watching the impassive faces of the twins.
“Oh, we can and will,” Koya said, entering the small chamber a moment later. “You don’t deserve the generosity our clan lavishes upon you. You’re a drain on our resources, and with the dry season coming, we need to conserve what we have more than ever.”
What Koya said was a load of horse dung, and they all knew it. As Water Essence cultivators, they were never short on water, even in the dry season. Koya just hated him, for reasons he couldn’t understand. He’d never thought it would come to this, though.
Roy could see the end of his life looming before him, so he decided that for once, he wouldn’t hold back what he had to say. There was also the chance that what he’d read today about martial combat may give him a slim chance at walking out of here alive. He straightened his back, doing his best to stand tall, despite his deformity.
“Don’t pretend this is about the clan, Shah Koya,” Roy said, injecting as much venom as he could into those words. “You’re a coward who enjoys preying on those weaker than yourself, and since you’re afraid to challenge White-Belts, you’ve decided to single me out. You’re a dishonorable wretch who can’t fight to save his life. If anything, you are weaker than I am. At least I can stand here, alone, facing those stronger than myself, but you can’t even face a cripple without three to one odds.”