315 Falling for the Mimics (1/2)
”Quallace, shut up!”
Looking to Bikkem, Quallace questioned, ”Why? I'm pissed off that we're back to the beginning of the floor. Aren't the teleportation circles supposed to take us to the next floor?!”
”There are a couple of possibilities that could explain what just happened. First, we might be on the next floor and it's eerily similar, though I doubt that. Second, and the most likely, there's more than one teleportation circle here and it's a different circle that will take us to the next floor,” explained Bikkem.
”But why would a dungeon be like this? No other dungeon--”
”According to history, there was no other artificial dungeon created so extravagantly as this one. Also, this dungeon has always been rumored to be perplexing and misleading since Ancient Kartonia. Even some ancient heroes struggled to navigate this place if the legend is correct,” Vixus stated, boasting his knowledge of the Leisure Guild. ”If anything, I had a feeling that it was too easy. Now I know that it was. There must be another path that we overlooked or possibly a passage into the mountain.”
”But… I guess you're right. Sorry for overreacting,” Quallace sighed.
”It's fine, just don't let anything affect your judgment. On this floor it's fine, but there's no telling what may happen on the later floors that are more dangerous. Keep a level head, Quallace,” persuaded Bikkem. ”Even Kims isn't as frazzled as you. Keep it together.”
”Right, then let's look for this other path.”
The councilmen spent a few hours searching and testing a few different paths, most leading to dead ends or a circle connected to the beginning of the floor. It was on the fourth path that they found the circle leading to the fifth floor, finally relieving Quallace of plenty of pent up stress.
”This… Is this a maze?”
”It seems to be. It's well lit but there's no way for us to look at other paths,” Bikkem chatted with Vixus. ”It seems that this level will take us some time to figure out.”
”But what if we run into Tralon's party?” asked Quallace.
Bikkem nodded, ”Then we act and go for the kill. Even if Argyle and his son-in-law survive, we must kill Tralon. Otherwise, we've wasted our efforts coming here.”
”Then I hope we're lucky enough to run into them inside the labyrinth,” joked Kims.
”You mean unlucky enough,” replied Vixus. ”The walls are too narrow to have a proper group battle here, making our greater numbers a disadvantage if they have a good formation.”
”But we don't have superior numbers,” stated Bikkem. ”Don't forget the fox and the boy will be fighting together, so it will be harder on them.”
”I agree. It's likely that we won't run into them so soon. But after this floor, we'll make sure to stay closer so that we won't be left behind and can make a move when appropriate.” Bikkem nodded to the others, getting their approval to move forward.
They wandered for some time, reaching a few dead ends and being forced to retrace their steps. Eventually, they found the first treasure trove.
”What is… So many treasures?!” Quallace shouted with joy.
”Calm down, Quallace. There's no telling why they left this behind,” reasoned Bikkem. ”Wouldn't Argyle be adamant to take this with him?”
”But what if they've agreed that he can't take any treasures?” stated Quallace. ”There's a chance that he's already been paid handsomely for his help.”
With a shake of his head, Bikkem replied, ”Just be careful, that's all I'm saying.”
”Oh, I'm being careful…” Quallace carefully searched for the item that best caught his eye. ”See, I'm only going to take a single item out of all these. Okay?”
”That's fine, I guess,” sighed Bikkem.
Smiling and giddy, Quallace grabbed a gem-encrusted staff with a twinkle in his eye. But that smile vanished when the large gem at the top of the staff blinked.
”What the--”
Before he could do anything, Quallace felt teeth sink into his wrist, teeth that appeared to be made of the gems from the staff in his hand.
No longer hesitating, Quallace became battle-minded and blasted the staff with a raging ball of flame, forcing it too let go of his hand. ”It's a mimic, kill it!”
Hearing his favorite word, Kims took action and launched a wave of sword energy at the mimic posing as a sorcerer's staff.
”Careful, Kims! Don't hit or touch any other item!”
Vixus tried to warn Kims, but it was too late. The sword attack hit the staff head-on, but the remnants of the sword energy glanced a few other mimics around them.