Chương 61: Prisoner of the Castle

The narrow, spiralling staircase makes me ditch the bloody axe for the mace on my hip. It's uncertain if I'll make it to an area wide enough to swing it within the corridors. It takes a couple of minutes to get to the top of the stairs, which adds up to quite a few stories. At the top, there is yet another hallway. Stepping down it, I enter the only door on the left. Inside, there's a grand dining hall.

One seat at the end is incredibly embellished, with all of the others following a long table that leads across the room. That's proof enough that I'm dealing with a king. Walking through, I admire the giant red banners hanging from massive pillars surrounding the table. Colossal paintings adorn the wall, over a dozen feet wide and half as tall. They depict various things, like the castle itself, hobgoblins in armor, as well as what seems to be a female hobgoblin lying on its side.

I avert my gaze at the last one, retching under my helmet. I hope I never have to see that in person. At the back of the room, I enter another door and explore the kitchen. Spices, vegetables, and meats hit my nose like a truck. The difference in era shocks me. The dining hall looked straight out of medieval Europe, but the kitchen looks strikingly similar to a high-pressure, high-dining establishment on Earth. Stainless steel pans hang from hooks above the grills that clearly run on some type of gas.

High-quality thermometers are lined up against the wall, ready for use. What the heck!? A blender sits upside down on a drying rack near the sink. They have electricity here!? It takes effort to force myself away from the interesting gadgets and continue. I open a door at the back of the room, which opens so easily, like it's made of air. When it opens, a guardsman is on the other side, pushing it open with another guard behind it. We stare at each other for a moment before they both look down.

I do the same and see blood splattered against my legs. Powered by the command, I pull the mace off my belt and swing it into the first guard's face without hesitation. Its head collapses inward with a crackle of bones. The second guard pulls its shortsword out with alarm on its face, but I'm already moving. My mace collects its second kill. Gah, that scared me. The rattle of boots makes me look up to see two more guards turning around the bend at the end of the hallway.

My legs burst me into a sprint without a word. They both stop their conversation and look at me. Their eyes pass behind me, widening. With stern expressions, they pull out their weapons and brace for impact. I curve around the stab of the first guard and strike down on its helmet with a clunk. My waist jerks back as the body falls, and an axe comes swinging through. I push forward once the swing passes and swing the mace full force at the side of its head.

The wooden haft explodes apart as the mace head follows through into the second guard. Scoffing, I toss the headless stick of wood that used to be a mace to the side and equip the shortsword of the first guard. Two stabs guarantee that they won't be waking up. Chime Chime Before I can organize my thoughts, a trio of guards walks casually around the bend of the hallway to my left. Dammit! I burst into another sprint. The same reaction follows, and I slip around their attacks to land a stab into each of their heads.

Slightly winded, I wipe off as much blood as possible and keep moving. Several doorways pass by, with nothing but empty storage rooms among them. I travel down a hallway, turn left, and move down another. A second staircase leads to more hallways and more turns that lead into more hallways.

"Crap." I have no idea where I am or where I'm going. The next door actually leads to something interesting. Rows of weapon racks fill a room the size of a medium apartment. Axes, spears, shields, and swords of all sizes are organized by size and shape. Four guards look up from reading, cleaning, and other menial tasks. They only look at my head for a split second before their eyes flick down. I do the same and see the blood covering my chestplate and leggings once again.

"Dammit," I sigh. This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. Being unprepared and far weaker than me, it only takes half a minute to take them out. I try to wipe out some of the blood, but it's hard to get rid of everything noticeable without water. My gaze sweeps around the room, examining all the tools and weapons. My weapon is switched out for the best-looking sword I could see, but the quality of the weapons is starting to feel far too low.

With slight surprise, I pick up and take a look at what seems to be a cannonball. It's smaller than a bowling ball, but it weighs enough for even my enhanced strength to feel it. Huh, I don't remember seeing any cannons on the wall when I entered Then again, they may be hidden. Shrugging, I hold it in my left arm with the sword in my right. If nothing else, it'll be great to use as a throwing weapon. After taking a peek out of the room and seeing no enemies, I turn to the opposite direction I arrived in.

I turn through three more hallways before I reach another staircase and continue upwards. Why are there so few rooms? These hobgoblins probably spend half the day just walking to where they want to go. Sunlight peeks through an opening in the wall at waist height at the top of the steps. Sprinting to it, I see the grace of the cavern in a way I've never experienced. Gentle shafts of light fall from the colossal openings in the ceiling, laying themselves on the various encampments leading to where I started.

Their number becomes crystal clear when looking from this height. The lake near home base glitters like stars on a night sky from this distance. My eye widens at the sight. How high up am I? Thirty stories? forty? Bending over the edge, I see the guards moving on the ground. As expected, they move like ants on an anthill that just got kicked. Looks like they've finally found out what I've done. One more ounce of appreciation goes out over the cavern before urgency drags me back into motion.

Sprint, turn, sprint, turn. At this point, I'm avoiding regular doors and just looking for more staircases. If I'm right, the final objective will lie at the top of this castle. Barrelling around the next turn, there is only one door at the end of the short corridor. I push the door open and see a single guard to my left, sitting at a wooden desk. It looks at me with annoyance until it peers down at my armor, eyes widening. I waste no time vaulting over the desk to put it down with a swift stab to the eye.

Ripping the bloody blade out, my gaze passes through the rest of the room. The rest of the room is a long and tall hallway lined with cell doors identical to the ones I saw at the beginning of the dungeon. Wait, arent prisons like this usually under the castle? Why are these above? Sadly, there's nothing inside the cells when I rush over. Dang, I was hoping there might be some free chests or something.

With nothing else of interest in the room, my legs carry me to the larger staircase at the end of the long hallway that clearly hints at something important. Dang it! Why couldn't the system just put a big tunnel that said 'Boss fight' on it instead of this pointlessly big castle? I admit, it's beautiful. But climbing tens of flights of stairs was not what I wanted. It's not all bad, though. Due to High Human's Musculature, all the stamina drain so far has gone straight into powering up my muscles.

In fact, I think they feel even better than when I left this morning. My arm flexes, and the muscle inside constricts in on itself and grips tightly against my bones. My lips curl up, and I stretch my neck to kiss my bicep. Immediately, I shiver and shake my head. Cartoons have impacted me too much. Shame digs deep as I shake my body and move further up the stairs. God, I really need to-"---" My legs freeze mid-step, and I swivel around. I stick my head out and listen. … … … Did I mishear?

That sounded exactly like a person. A few more seconds pass before I turn back and hesitantly continue walking. Phew, I think kissing myself had more effects on my psyche than I thought. I bet if I-"--" Instantly, I turn around and quickly step back down the stairs. Nope, nope, definitely heard something that time. My feet move as fast as they can without tripping over themselves, which is surprisingly quick when the command is helping. When the ground flattens out into the prison, I hear it again.

"Where's my meal!?" The voice comes from a cell on the left, pulling me toward it. clink clink Peeking past the edge of the cell, there's a man. A real, presumably human man. He lies on a cot in the corner with his feet toward the door. He wears a patchwork cloth trenchcoat with clothes under it made of the same material. His hair is splayed out, frazzled, and oily. Must be in his thirties or forties. A simple, dented cup taps against the stone brick wall lazily in intervals. clink clink"Dinnneeerrr…"

He says, slurring his words. Identify Living Being [Piercing Infiltrator (Ranway Staggard) lv. 42] [Highest stat: Perception] [Lowest stat: Vitality] The level shocks me before I remember that classes and species show up differently. My level as a tamer has only just reached twenty-eight. His level places him firmly above me, which could mean he's a threat. Really? Perception as his highest stat? Dumbfounded, I stare at the man waving his cup around like a drunken pirate while completely undefended. Wait a second.

My translate skill never activated. clink clink That must mean he speaks English. Or whatever Brax speaks, I can't remember what it's called. The question is, is he from Earth, or from where Brax comes from? Brax mentioned that his teleporter's destination was a person and not a place, so I'm betting the latter. But even his teleporter sent him to where I started, at the beginning of the tutorial area. How the hell did he get here, in the final area of the third section of the dungeon?

clink clink"Hungryyyyyyyy," he says in a slur. I stroke my thickening beard as I observe the pitiful sight.

"Uh, hello?" The man sits up deceptively fast and looks at me in alarm. Seconds pass as we look at each other in silence. His shock disappears bit by bit, and he scoots back into the bed, leaning against the wall. His expression slowly relaxes into disinterest and annoyance.

"Fucker, you sure took your time, huh?" he says, twirling the cup around his finger. I blink, taken aback by his words.

"Excuse me, what?"

"How long has it been, induction boy? Fifteen cycles? No, eighteen?"

"Induction boy?" I ask.

"I know your universe just got integrated. The system told me all about it." He says, effortlessly catching the cup when it spins out of his hand. What? The system told him about it? Did the system put him here?

"Really? Why would the system tell you that? Better yet, who are you and why are you here?"