(Morcster Chef) Deeper into the crypt - Ch. 89 (Patreon)

“What in the four planes of hell was that?” Belmont cursed. “What kind of fishman hides on the ceiling?”

“One that apparently didn’t get the memo,” Arek said, adjusting his grip on the cleaver. Aside from the faint ripples traveling across the surface of the lake, the room was still. “I think I can guess where his friends went, though.”

The four of them cautiously made their way along the edge of the room. They didn’t take their eyes off the pool for an instant.

“Are they just not going to attack?” Ming asked when they reached the entrance at the far left side of the room.

“Maybe we should try to trick them out of the water again,” Malissa said, but they all shot her a withering glare, killing the idea before it could finish escaping her mouth.

“Absolutely not. Why even bother attacking them?” Arek asked. “If they want to hide, let them. We can just choose one of these doors and move on to the next room.”

“They could attack us from behind,” Belmont said, frowning. “We would have to keep someone watching the doorway behind us at all times.”

“It sounds safer than dealing with them underwater,” Ming said, nodding slightly. “Once the fishmen are on land, I don’t think we’ll have any problem taking ‘em out.”

Belmont tilted his head. Then, to the surprise of the party, he nodded.

“You might be right. Fighting them underwater is the last thing we want to do,” Belmont said. “We might actually be better off pushing ahead. But that just leaves the question…which door do we take?”

“Does it matter?” Malissa asked. “Let’s just start with the left one. I don’t think there’s any way to tell the difference between the damn things.”

She had a point. All the exits looked practically identical. It would be borderline impossible to differentiate between the arches.

“There’s no point leaving something behind to mark which door we chose,” Belmont said. “The fishmen will probably just move it. We should just take every left turn until we reach a dead end, then backtrack until the previous choice and take the second most left turn. That should eventually let us get through the entire dungeon.”

“Works for me,” Ming said. Arek and Malissa nodded as well.

The party was already standing beside the leftmost cave, so they stepped inside it and left the cave with the strange ceiling fishman behind. They did their best to creep silently, avoiding the loose pebbles and stray bones that crunched underneath their footsteps.

“So, when are you going to make food again?” Ming whispered loudly.

Belmont’s eyebrows did their best to form into one as the man’s lips turned to a thin line, but he just let out a sigh and shook his head.

“The only food we’ve found so far is the fishmen,” Arek said. “Unless any of you have changed your mind about eating them, it’s going to be jerky until we get out of here. Noodles need other fresh ingredients.”

“Maybe we can make something after we beat the boss and get back to Riverfall,” Malissa suggested.

“I’d be happy with that,” Arek said. “I’ve got enough jerky and cheese to last us a little less than a week. I’ve also got water, as long as nobody minds stealing from some plants.”

“That is acceptable,” Belmont said, raising his eyes to the ceiling for an instant before completely giving up on sneaking and straightening to his full height. “What do you mean by stealing from plants?”

“I’ve got a water storage in my portable garden, which I actually need to check on at some point soon. Regardless, there’s a lot of water in there. There should be enough to make it for a week.”

“Then we’ll be fine,” Belmont said. “This dungeon shouldn’t take us longer than a few days if it goes similarly to our last attempt.”

They resumed their trek forward, pushing deeper into the dungeon. The rooms that followed proved to be no harder than the first one they’d passed through. There were no more massive fishmen, and the Happy Sunflowers religiously avoided any large bodies of water.

After clearing three more areas, the group set up camp in a smaller room with only two entrances. Arek quickly checked up on his garden and was pleased to see that his plants had all returned to their normal appearance. The water tank was still solidly in the green, so he gathered enough water for the group and then returned to the dungeon.

The group dined on a plain meal of jerky and cheese before piling any soft items they had into makeshift beds. Without any way to see outside, it was impossible to tell what time it was when they slept, but several hours had passed since entering the dungeon. They went to sleep, trading off watch throughout their rest.

Their rest passed uneventfully. Arek was the first to awake, with Belmont and Ming following shortly afterwards. Malissa had taken the last watch, and her bag had already been packed. They spent several minutes gathering their belongings before setting off once again.

Over the course of the next several days, the Happy Sunflowers fell into a routine. They swept through several rooms, cleaning out any fishmen foolish enough to remain on dry ground, and then moved onwards to the next area.

Several times, the fishmen that hid within the water attempted to ambush the party once they’d left. However, Arek held them off until the Happy Sunflowers cleaned up the room they were currently on. They then grouped up and took care of any remaining enemies.

Their pace gradually increased as the dungeon ran out of surprises to throw at them, although the group refrained from approaching bodies of water. They had to backtrack more times than Arek had fingers when they hit dead ends or massive lakes that blocked off their passage.

On the dawn of the fifth day, Malissa signaled for them to stop. They stood before a tunnel similar in shape to the others they had passed through, but it was about twice the size. A faint breeze swept past them and into the hallway, almost as if it were getting sucked in.