Chapter 6: Dust's Resolution

Lilith’s expression was grim as she glanced at me and said, “…Dust, I think we’re in a dungeon.”

I frowned as a feeling of imminent danger welled up within me. I unsheathed my sword and said, “A dungeon? How’d you know that this place is a—“ I paused in surprise, we entered the area beyond the passage and what I saw shocked me.

It was basically an underground ecosystem.

The floor was covered in grass and dirt. Trees that rose up to a dozen meters jutted out from the ground. Above us was an artificial sun that gave off a brilliant light. If one looked closely at the roof that rose up to eighty meters, one would see that the sun hovered under the roof that was made of what looked like smooth stone.

I looked at Lilith and found that her eyes also widened upon seeing this place. She slowly began to walk forwards and touched the bark of the closest tree to confirm something. Something was seriously off about this place.

If Lilith was correct, and this was really a dungeon, then why is it so quiet?

“Hey, Lilith, doesn’t this place feel weird?” I said worriedly, bending over and plucking some grass from the ground below. The grass looked normal upon first glance, but upon closer inspection, it had small red veins around the center. The bright red veins continued to lose color after the grass was plucked and eventually turned into a deep, black color.

I frowned at the grass in my hands and proceeded to toss it aside.

Walking up to Lilith, I saw that she was as perplexed about this place as I was. We shared a glance as she motioned for us to move on.

Our pace wasn’t fast, we walked into the forest with caution and vigilance, looking out for anything that was out of place. The tree trunk were thick, with the smallest being around half a meter. A shiver suddenly ran up my spine, it felt like something was watching me. I looked back and saw nothing. My eyes slowly moved to the ceiling and I immediately lost all color in my face.

Lilith saw me look up with a terrified expression and did the same, her face paling at what she saw.

Above us was a massive praying mantis. It’s height reached two meters and the claws on its front appendages gleamed with an evil glint. It stared back at us, mandibles moving excitedly as it hopped off, landing with a slight thump.

Lilith readied her sword and paid extra close attention to its razor sharp claws. I took out my sword, not confident in being able to survive a fight against that thing alone.

My expression darkened even more as four dog-sized spiders emerged from the treetops, crawling towards us at a steady pace. Lilith considered the odds for a moment before she glanced at the spiders with a slightly fearful glance and said, “…Dust, you’re taking care of the spiders.”

“Y-Yeah, sure.” I stuttered slightly, the spiders were now at ground level and I was even more terrified by their size. It was, in simple terms, really, really creepy.

Lilith became a blur once again and attacked the mantis, sparks flying everywhere as their blades clashed. Sadly, I couldn’t watch them leisurely as I had my own issues to take care of.

One of the spiders jumped at me while the other two started to circle me, the last stayed where it was for some reason, but I didn’t have time to dwell!

As the first spider jumped, I stepped to the side and narrowly evaded its jump. As it passed me, I swung my sword vertically and gave it a large cut on its abdomen, making it reel back in pain. Suddenly, I lurched forwards as one of the spiders hopped on my back, its claws digging into my skin and sending waves of pain into my mind.

Before it could sink its fangs into me, I fell back and landed on the ground, crushing it beneath me as it gave a pained shriek. Its insides were splattered all over me and the ground. I felt disgust as I rolled to the side as a second spider stabbed its claws into the place I was at before, grunting in pain at the feeling of my back’s wounds scraping against the ground.

My roll finished and I swung my sword horizontally, cutting off three of the second spider’s legs, effectively stopping it from fighting properly. I hurriedly got back up and ran at the spider that lost its legs, hoping to finish it off as it was squirming around in pain.

Before I could do so, a tugging feeling was felt on my legs as I tripped and fell down. Looking back, I could see that the spider that chose not to attack had shot a web at me, binding my legs together and making me trip.

I screamed in bitter frustration as I cut apart the web, running at the spider that shot it. As I got to it, the spider jumped back and evaded. The spider I cut deeply a while ago used the last of its strength to run up to me and jumped, attaching itself to my leg.

Its fangs sunk into me and I let out a pained scream. My leg felt like it was plunged into liquid magma, I fell down again and wildly swung my sword at it, finally finishing it off.

The spider that jumped back to avoid me just seconds ago was now rapidly running towards me, hoping to finish me off.

I gave a furious shout and stood up, throwing the surprisingly light corpse of its friend at it. Dodging to the side, the spider’s body connected with my shoe, sending it hurtling back for a meter.

Jumping after it, I raised my sword and stabbed it in the abdomen, my vision blurring as my body started to numb.

‘These fucking spiders are venomous!!’ I recalled how I was bit in the leg, I inwardly cursed at this dungeon and leaned my shoulder against a tree nearby breathing heavily. I looked at Lilith and saw her finish off the mantis by cutting off one of its bladed arms and plunging her sword into its head, making a complicated expression appear on my face.

She looked around and saw me, I had multiple wounds on me and blood steadily flowed out of my back and leg. Her face displayed worry as she ran towards me, checking on my condition.

I gave her a weak smile as my knees buckled, I lurched forward and fell down on my knees, using my arms to support my body that suddenly felt like it weighed hundreds of kilograms. My breathing was ragged and sweat rolled down my forehead as I was attacked by an intense pain.

The numbness in my leg had now spread to my lower torso and threatened to wreak havoc within my body.

Lilith grabbed my chin and forced a vial of colorless liquid to my lips. As I drank, I noted that it tasted like a horrible mix between puke and spider intestines, I know this because both have been in my mouth, the latter being tasted only very recently.

Satisfied with the amount I drank, Lilith turned me over and laid me on the ground, the pain from before slowly subsiding after a few minutes.

I looked at Lilith and felt embarrassment about how weak I was, “…Sorry,” I said, covering my face with my forearm as I laid on the ground.

My chest felt hollow and my stomach churned in self-disgust. Four spiders. I couldn’t even kill four spiders without sustaining so many injuries. If I was alone, I’d have been killed long ago.

The small amount of confidence I managed to build up over the years completely shattered. The gap between me and Lilith that I had in my mind widened further, making my face twist in sorrow upon thinking about all the things I needed to do.

All these things… required strength.

The strength that I lacked.

‘I’m sorry mother, your son is still… still…’ I grit my teeth and clenched my fists, moisture gathering in the corner of my eyes. Lilith stared at me as I laid there, an blank expression on her face.

“…You’re weak,” Lilith who stood in front of me said quietly, “And you lack strength.”

Her voice drilled into my mind, the tears I tried to hold back rolled down the sides of my face. My nails dug into my palm as I clenched my fist, drawing a small amount of blood.

Lilith’s face began to twist in anger as she said, “…So what are you doing…” she walked up to me and pulled her hand back, “…lying down there and crying like an idiot!?!?”

She pulled the arm covering my face away and grabbed my collar, slapping me in the face. The sound of the impact rang out and I felt a sharp pain on my cheek.

I glared at her and shouted, “...What do you want me to do, huh!? I’m weak! I’ve always been like this! I’m not like strong like you! Tell me! What do you suggest I fucking do!?”

She returned my glare and pulled her hand back again, “…Get stronger!!” She screamed as her palm connected with my face, sending me hurtling back.

Lilith’s face showed fury for the first time since I met her, “You think I started out this strong!? You think that you’re the only one who’s experienced powerlessness!? Wake up! Who said that living a life like this was going to be easy!?”

As she spoke about powerlessness, her voice was laced with sorrow, and her eyes also began to moisten, “Stop being such and idiot and become stronger!!”

My eyes widened as I looked at her, “I—“

*BOOM!*

A boom rocked the area as a massive roar reverberated out from the depths of the forest. The ground shook and monsters of varying types and sizes suddenly emerged from the forest, running away in fear and paying the both of us no attention.

Trees collapsed and fell down, shaking the earth and making dust particles rise up from the ground. Lilith wiped the moisture from the corners of her eyes and drew her sword, preparing for the worst.

Finally, a tree within our area collapsed and fell towards us. Lilith dashed to me and grabbed the back of my shirt, throwing me to the side as she jumped to the left, dodging the tree that came crashing down.

The dust in the air slowly cleared and what emerged was a massive, three and a half meter tall bear from the forest that towered over everything else that moved.

I groaned and got back on my feet after rolling to a halt, that throw of hers was done without holding back.

Looking up, I stared at the bear, it’s fur was red and there were black patterns that littered its body. I should have felt fear, but the anger I felt for myself refused to disappear, suppressing the oppression I felt from this massive thing’s aura.

Immediately, I saw Lilith dash at the bear with a speed faster that I had seen her go before. Her sword began to glow a bright blue as she approached the bear that raised its front paw to strike.

The bear’s paw blurred as it headed towards Lilith, making the air around it back away and dance violently. In reply to this, she raised her arm and a long spear of ice emerged from her palm, shooting towards the massive paw.

My eyes widened in surprise upon seeing this, ‘Don’t tell me…’

*BANG!*

‘..She’s a mage!?’

The spear collided with the bear’s paw, exploding and sending shards of ice everywhere, interrupting my thoughts. The bear’s paw now had a small wound, showing just how tough its body was.

Lilith didn’t stop there though, as soon as the spear exploded, she was already upon the bear, her sword flashing and leaving a shallow wound on the bear’s side. The bear furiously roared and swiveled its head, biting at the place Lilith used to be.

Ice covered Lilith’s blade as she dodged and extended its range by a half a meter. She swung her sword at the air and multiple ice crystals shot toward the bear at a terrifying speed, leaving more wounds on the side of its face.

Finally, the bear decided it had enough and roared once again, the fur on its body that was originally red changed color. The black patterns on its body expanded in a way that reminded me of dripping ink.

Within moments, the bear’s fur was now entirely black. It slammed a paw into the ground and a visible black shockwave emanated out, rocking the surrounding area. The shockwave continued until the air where Lilith barely managed to erect a barrier of ice before it hit her.

The shield she created around her in the shape of half a dome cracked and shattered, but still did its job and negated most of the shockwave’s force, only sending Lilith flying back and landing on the ground where she stomped her foot, hurtling towards the bear once again.

It continued like this as I slowly began to climb a tree, Lilith’s magic lit up the area and wounded the enraged bear that continued to send out devastating attacks that destroyed the landscape.

The force of their attacks was so strong I felt it even from here, almost falling off the nine meter tall tree on multiple occasions. As I climbed I looked at Lilith and the things she said entered my thoughts.

I was weak, but I still had hope.

Like me, she was weak, but that was only in the beginning. She crawled her way up there, to her current adventurer’s rank, and crawled her way up to being able to hold out against that bear that seemed like it could topple an entire party of rank F adventurers with ease.

I looked at both of them as I reached the top of the tree. Lilith was beginning to show signs of exhaustion as her magic began to deplete and the bear had numerous shallow wounds all over its body that continuously bled buckets after buckets of blood.

The bear’s vitality seemed infinite as it was still sending out attacks that only continued to get stronger. I gathered power and stored them in my legs as Lilith swung her sword upwards, sending a meter thick pillar of ice at the bear’s chin.

The bear’s head began to rise from the impact and I saw my chance.

I jumped.

The bear’s face was facing the sky—facing me. The sword I held in my hands gleamed sharply as time seemed to slow down. Using the force of my fall, I drove my sword deep into its eye. My sword continued to go in until even after half of my arm had gone inside with it, entering the bear’s head.

The bear roared in agony and madly shook its head, sending me hurtling towards the ground at an unbelievable speed.

I landed and slid roughly across the dirt, rocks scraping against my arms and rolling to a halt. I looked at Lilith and saw her gather a massive amount of mana around her sword, making the sword turn completely white and making it emanate large amounts of cold vapor.

Standing up, I clutched my ribs that felt like they were cracked and made a promise within my head as I grimaced, ‘I’ll become stronger… and when I catch up to you…’

I looked up at Lilith who held her sword with both hands, ‘I’ll show you just how far I’ve come!!’

*BOOM!*

As I looked resolutely in Lilith’s direction, she swung her sword downwards, her sword cutting through the bear’s face like butter and exploding, flashing in a brilliant white light that outshined even the artificial sun above.

My closed eyes that were blinded, slowly opened, and I was met with a world of snow.

I walked forward.

Snow gently fell down from the sky above and blanketed the ground in white.

I arrived in front of Lilith’s unconscious figure, her beautiful black hair contrasting against the snow on her back.

Smiling slightly, I picked her up and ignored the sharp pain that came from my lower ribs.

The snow continued to fall and landed on her cheek.

Like this, I walked away from the world of snow she created, towards the end of the forest, towards…

The beginning of my rise to power.

Chapter End.

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Author’s Note:

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