Chapter 34: Roadblock

Since the time it would reach a target was fixed, the idea behind sprinting was simple: the faster one ran, the closer the point of confluence would be to one’s destination. In their case, that destination was the quadrant that always sat opposite the Bone Desert.

The aptly named Bright Forest.

While each level was randomly generated each time the dungeon opened, there were a few consistencies, such as the Bone Desert being connected to the Glass Desert and the River of Blood flowing into the Dark Forest — the river being purified into the River of Moonlight as it traveled through the Convergence Zone.

But...

’Why is Dita so fast?!’

Even the Night Elf’s night buff wasn’t enough to bridge that gap, showing there was no way she was Level 1... ’Right?’

Or maybe it suggested she held a Resonance.

’I’d kind of assumed when we met that she was a first-timer...’

But her current physical abilities suggested otherwise.

Or perhaps it wasn’t that she was stronger and faster, but that he was weaker and slower.

After all, he was a Tier 9 F-Class monster. And that was the sort of beast even a regular untrained civilian could beat.

’Wait, now that I think about it...’

’I’m incredibly strong given my tier!’

Maybe it was due to his class or strange Trait, but...

He was even able to defeat a mob of others supposedly on the same level as him. Sure, his intelligence and reactive planning, with a hefty dash of luck, had done most of the heavy lifting, but he was able to deal some pretty critical blows when he had to.

As that realization flashed through his mind, another thought immediately followed:

’I have so much potential, man!’

Still, his current capabilities were undoubtedly... lacking.

Thankfully, Dita had slowed down after witnessing her party member’s pitiful attempt to keep up.

Her eyes carried the weight of her dismay, but before he could receive any snarky comment, he said:

"My bag... it’s heavy."

Running by his side, with one eye kept on the Stalker for any surprise spears, she said:

"Then I’ll carry it."

Saying ’screw it’ to the code of chivalry, he started to slip the straps off his shoulders. Then, he remembered the book inside and what was written in it — along with the ’ghost girl’ and her cryptic warning.

"Sure— wait, nope!"

Dita’s eye twitched.

"What’s in there?"

When Peace failed to respond, a weird, sour look grew on her face before quickly morphing into disgust as she added:

"Just keep it."

She increased her pace slightly, moving just ahead of Peace.

’Did she just shake her head? What does she think I have in here?!’

***

An hour of brisk running passed, then an hour of jogging, then another hour of easy jogging that finally slowed into a walk.

Opting for a short break, the two began wolfing down Peace’s rations while dodging the spears whenever they came.

During their run, he’d learned how much time the dungeon had left until they were spat out — the last possible method of escaping the Stalker. They had about 29 hours remaining.

Meaning she’d been targeted almost the moment the bastard spawned.

’So... escaping into a quadrant is really the only option.’

As for why they’d taken this break after three hours...

It wasn’t merely to catch their breath, but because a new roadblock had appeared.

Since they’d been in the middle of the Skeletal Plains, where fairly few monsters spawned, their journey had been oddly peaceful. Whenever they encountered a patrol, they could simply veer around it or wait for the monsters to pass.

But now, they’d wandered into a spawning zone for the Blood Wardens.

Just like the larger regions of each quadrant, spawning zones shifted locations each time the dungeon opened. However, unlike those regions, which had recognizable landmarks marking their boundaries, spawning zones had no obvious terrain separating them from their surroundings. The only reliable way to identify one was by observing which monsters populated the area.

Even then, their locations weren’t completely random. Most spawning zones tended to form around certain landmarks or sections of a quadrant, and their sizes varied as well.

As one could infer from the name, the Blood Warden spawning zone was almost always somewhere along the River of Blood.

’It’s quite far out this time.’

And it also appeared to be particularly large, as Blood Wardens and their thralls spanned as far as Peace’s eye could see.

Peace bit his tongue as he looked left and right.

’Curse my shitty luck!’

He had to duck another spear as he shoved the canteens back into his bag. As he watched the spear streak over his head and off into the distance, his eyes widened.

Peace hissed:

"I’ve got the perfect plan!"

"What? To use the Stalker’s spears to kill something? That’s quite the tried-and-true method."

Peace’s mouth hung wide open as the happy look on his face slowly faded.

Sighing, Dita shook her head and stood, then added:

"Your teacher, whoever they were, must have been quite the shitty Diver if they didn’t teach you something so vital."

Peace’s expression melted away into something flat. From his crouched position, his red eyes locked onto her brown ones.

"Hey, watch your mouth."

Dita paused for a moment, then seemed to understand the hint as she looked away. Her tone grew a little bitter as she replied:

"Ah, sorry... noted."

Peace stomped his foot into the ground and stood.

"No worries."

Those words held within them a truth and a lie.

Words that would have fooled the Eye of Truth, but never his sister.

He turned toward the reason their advance had now come to a complete stop.

A Blood Warden stood directly in their path, one that had grown quite the fleet of thralls. Circumventing it would waste too much time.

Since Dita had to move as little as possible, it would be up to Peace alone to get rid of the nuisance.

Well, Peace and one unlikely, unwilling accomplice.