Arthur walked, stumbling upon the goblin corpses, his eyes fixated upon Edrik.
Edrik stood surrounded by goblin corpses, looking like a dead man, his face pale as a ghost.
He didn't seem to notice Arthur and the party—or maybe he couldn't.
Arthur reached Edrik and caught both his shoulders, his face looking like it could burst into tears any second.
"Edrik... Edrik, answer me... Edrik... You said you won't..." His voice broke as he spoke.
Vesta tried going to them, but Alden stopped her.
Cecily tried going towards him, but her feet didn't move. She stared at Edrik's body, which had many cuts and was bleeding in places.
Mayank found himself in a black realm covered in oblivion. He could hear faint sounds, but couldn't interpret them.
He looked around and saw something at a distance. He walked and saw a man standing, looking down in the other direction.
He was a lot bigger than Mayank, around ten feet tall, his hands covered in blood, yet he stood without any movement.
Mayank stared at him for some minutes, then moved a little closer.
He looked at the man's feet, where he was looking, and found a child covered in blood, lying down.
His feet became stone; he just stared.
After some moments, the man slowly turned his head and looked at Mayank without any expression, yet tears flowed like a river from his eyes.
"Kill... me," the man moved his lips as the words hardly left his mouth.
"Ed...rik," Mayank mumbled.
Wham!
Arthur punched Mayank in the face with shaking hands.
"Wake up... wake up," he stammered. "Please... I don't want to do it... wake up."
The voices became louder as the darkness slowly started to crumble.
Edrik and the child disappeared as light filled the place, and his body again began to change into Edrik's.
Slowly, the world appeared in front of Mayank—blurred, but visible.
Arthur tried punching him again, but this time he caught it.
Seeing this, Arthur's dreadful expression disappeared. He frowned and stared at him for some seconds.
"Edrik? Are you really..."
"What?" Mayank questioned as he looked around himself, then at the others, unable to understand what had happened.
The injuries in his legs made it hard for him to stand.
Arthur sighed, then proceeded to give a hand to Mayank. "Here."
Mayank didn't want to get help, yet he couldn't deny it and put his hand on Arthur's shoulder.
Arthur and Mayank walked through the goblin corpses towards the other three.
Seeing them, Alden relaxed the hand that had stopped Vesta.
Just as Arthur and Mayank reached them, Vesta ran and slapped Mayank in the face.
"Do you know how worried we were? Do you understand?" she shouted at him.
"Vesta—" Arthur tried saying in a low tone.
But Vesta didn't listen. "Do you know how worried Arthur was? We thought you were again..."
"Sorry..." Mayank mumbled, looking down.
"Sorry? What do you think—" she raised her tone but was stopped by Alden.
Alden put a hand on her shoulder and said in a calm demeanor, "That's enough, Vesta."
He looked at Mayank and said, as a slight grin appeared on his face, "You have grown, Edrik."
"Let me heal you," Cecily said as she brought her hands in front of Mayank's arm.
A faint green light appeared, but it turned into a shockwave that pushed Cecily back and made her hit the ground hard.
"Ughh... Why isn't it working?" Cecily groaned as she put one hand on the injured one.
Vesta lunged to Cecily, helping her stand. "Are you okay?"
"Why is my healing not working..." Cecily mumbled under her breath.
"Let's go back to the camp for now," Arthur ordered.
"Yes, that would be the best decision for now," Alden said as he walked to Vesta and Cecily.
Mayank didn't say anything as he kept moving his gaze around.
Arthur looked at Mayank's pale face and said, "Edrik... let's go. We can treat your injuries properly once we reach the camp."
Mayank looked at Arthur, then moved his hand from his shoulder and walked a few steps back.
"No... It would be too late till then... We have to go inside now."
Everyone's gaze shifted towards Mayank as he continued.
"Those people might be dead if we take more time... We have to save them." His body trembled as he spoke.
Arthur looked at him in disbelief. He moved his hand towards Mayank's shoulder.
"Edrik, this—"
Suddenly, a strong energy came out of the dungeon like wind, making everyone stop any movement.
"Arthur... please," Mayank pleaded.
Everyone wanted to deny it, but they couldn't after seeing Edrik's determination.
"Fine, but let's treat your injuries first," Alden sighed as he moved his hand through a small pouch on his belt and brought out some bandages.
---
A cold breeze blew inside the dungeon as the party entered.
Alden and Arthur walked in the front, followed by Vesta and Cecily, while Mayank followed at the back.
The dungeon was like a cave, dark yet strangely illuminated at places by faint blue glowing rocks embedded in the walls.
The wind blowing through the dungeon made a strange sound as it collided with the walls.
"Isn't the dungeon strangely empty?" Cecily said, moving her head as she scanned the area.
"We have only seen blood stains till now," Vesta added, gripping her staff.
"Just because we haven't seen any goblins doesn't mean there won't be any. Don't let your guard down like last time," Alden said as he scanned the dungeon.
"It feels like they were taken somewhere..." Arthur mumbled in a cold tone.
Everyone talked, but Mayank just walked behind, unable to take his eyes off the status window that had appeared in front of him.
[Status Window]
[Unique Ability: Dual Instinct]
Human — 10%
Orc — 90%
His body walked behind everyone, yet his mind was lost in what he had experienced and what he was seeing.
'Was it because of this skill? What was that empty space... It felt like that time...'
"And who was that dead child..." he mumbled, looking at his feet.
But just as the words left his mouth, everyone stopped and looked at him as if they had heard something ominous.
"Edrik... did you say something?" Arthur looked back and stammered, avoiding eye contact with Mayank.
"No, I was just talking to myself," Mayank said in a calm tone.
"Let's keep moving," Alden sighed as he tapped Arthur's back.
Arthur turned back, gripping his sword too tightly. "Yes."
They walked for some time before reaching a point where the path split in two.
"What should we do now? Should we divide into two groups?" Vesta asked, looking at the diverging paths.
"No, we can't divide into groups. We don't know anything about this dungeon," Arthur said, looking at everyone.
As Mayank tried looking at the dark paths, he felt a strange chill run down his spine.
After a few seconds, a roar came from both paths.
"Both paths are wrong," he mumbled as his feet trembled and he put his hand on the wall for support.
To be continued....