14 Chapter 14: Hunger (2/2)

Food was a necessity, no matter how disgusting it was. He continued to eat the burnt meat for a few minutes, cleaning his mouth with fire-water every now and then. He preferred the burning sensation over the taste.

This strange form of self-torture lasted until his stomach finally stopped growling. Wilhelm felt as though his soul escaped from his body as he fell on to his back, gazing at the moonlight infiltrating into the dungeon.

He sighed. ”Ah, why am I so unfathomably unlucky…?” a whisper escaped from his lips as he slowly crawled to his feet. His mouth was still agonizing over the residue taste and his stomach was miraculously rumbling even more than before.

Another sigh escaped from his mouth as he began to dig a few holes for the three grottenburgs'. His regret for choosing the undertaker class reached an all-time high as sweat trickled down his body. Not only was he compelled to bury the remains, but he was forced to smell them as he dug as well.

This continued for a couple of hours. The moonlight drifted away and was replaced by the morning glow. Wilhelms figure that had finally finished digging the three holes was faintly illuminated. Perspiration flowed down his body as he finished burying the three corpses, rubbing his head with his forearm once he was done.

He admired the sight of his three perfect burials with both of his hands placed on his hips, a small smile creeping onto his lips.

[Grottenburg infant successfully buried, 150 experience has been acquired]

[Grottenburg infant successfully buried, 150 experience has been acquired]

[Grottenburg infant successfully buried, 150 experience has been acquired]

[3 burial points acquired]

[1350/2000 exp]

Wilhelm nodded his head in content whilst narcissistically admiring his reflection within the water. His appearance was becoming more and more streamlined, like a royal European in the past. He possessed sharper eyes, a pointy chin, swordlike eyebrows, and an aquiline nose.

The only issues were his beard and still slightly aged skin, which could only be solved with time. Wilhelm was too lazy to shave at the moment, as no one he wanted to impress was present. As for his aged skin, it could only be solved by upgrading his vitality

As he thought to here, a rumbling could be heard from the cave behind him. It was ominously similar to the shaking that he heard earlier today, thus, he quickly dived into the lake and hid himself. The quaking grew louder and more frequent as time passed until it abruptly stopped.

Wilhelm couldn't perceive anything from below the water, but he didn't dare rise to the top just yet. Unlike a dungeon, the entire area felt more surreal than that. Like it was a living organism, many different creatures, sources, and other things were present. It was completely different from the dungeons that existed in videogames.

Another minute passed and Wilhelm couldn't hold his breath any longer, as such, he slowly swam to the top. He barely breached the surface of the water with his mouth and inhaled a small gasp of breath.

At the corner of his eye, he could see an entirely different life-form from what he had seen thus far. It was a group of minotaur-esque monsters, their muscles were dense and their tusks were easily two feet long. Large stone weapons were strapped onto their backs and they were busy guzzling water, not at all worried about the human in the water.

Some guts and blood could be seen on a few of the minotaurs. It was green of color and Wilhelm presumed it to be the remains from a few arrogant grottenburgs'. Fortunately, he and the group of minotaurs shared a similar trait, hatred for grotesque monsters, he thought smugly.

However, the more pressing matter was why the minotaurs drank the water so greedily. Their thirst was surely already quenched, yet they remained to drink the water. Perhaps, there was something to be gained? Or was it a coincidence?

A handful of questions were immediately asked by Wilhelm as he once again descended into the lake, an attempt not to be spotted. He once again remained in the depths of the water until the minotaurs finally departed from the lake.

Right as they left, he swam up to the surface and gasped for breath. A stream of curses escaped from his mouth as he redried himself on the ground. His body was once again dripping with water, a common occurrence as of late.

”I need to gain some more strength if I want to leave this dungeon anytime soon…” a self deprecating smile formed on Wilhelms face. It was going to be a rough ride if he wanted to get out of here alive.