Page 94 of I Ran Away to Evil #3
Burrowing, Biting, and Paw Bashing
Julian
They took a moment to catch their breath after they made it through the portal.
“You were cutting it a little close there, weren’t you?” Tully slapped Jeffry on the shoulder, hard.
“I made it, and that’s what counts.” The half elf stood straighter and placed a hand on his sword. Julian drew his own blade.
They were standing in a dark, cold cavern.
Stalagmites rose from the floor haphazardly.
The walls were stone, with white ice that crept up to about Julian’s knee height at the base.
A few feet forward, the cavern exited into two tunnels.
Icy wind blew from the one on the right, and everyone re-equipped their winter wear.
“I say we go left.” Tully said, motioning in that direction.
“Well, I say we go right,” Visha snapped, an edge in her voice.
It was unlike the elf, who usually maintained a stricter level of indifference. Tully stopped and stared at Visha, then hesitatingly said, “Uh, alright?”
“I like walking with the wind,” Pram reasoned. The selkie smiled, missing the tension.
“We’ll have John scout both and make an informed decision after,” Julian stated.
The rogue vanished as instructed. A short while later, John’s chat arrived.
[There are no monsters to either side. Or signs of battle. Should I go further?]
Julian usually restricted how far any one person should scout, as there could still be monsters further along. There was also the chance that the other party had cleared things ahead of them without leaving a trace … or they’d already left the dungeon.
“We’ll start on the right,” Julian announced, reaching a decision. “And follow the wind.”
“Did we want to rest first?” Jeffry broached. “Let half the party get a full recovery?”
Due to the unknown adventurers already here, there was a driving sense of urgency that made Julian want to push forward … but he wasn’t in this alone. “Okay. I’ll stand guard while everyone rests.”
He might as well, since he wasn’t going to get much sleep as it was.
There was a shuffle as sleeping bags came out.
They hesitated between sleeping on the platform, which was warmer, or the frozen cavern floor.
But there was a chance, however slim, that another group might portal in and land right on top of them while they were sleeping.
They chose the cavern floor.
Julian sat down on the edge of the platform while everyone else slept. Waiting.
And thinking.
At the three-hour mark, he pulled out parchment to write a letter to his sister. Sometimes, writing to her helped everything make sense—and it was a habit he’d developed long ago.
He ate some of his rations after that. His storage ring couldn’t keep things in stasis like Gerda’s, so he went with cheese and smoked boar, and sourdough with butter and bimbleberry jam.
He was used to trail rations while out on expedition, and he had to shake his head at the sheer wonder of eating hot meals in a dungeon.
His eyes drifted away from the tunnels and down to the bridge troll, still asleep.
He pulled out more parchment and set to writing a new letter.
Julian felt a presence approaching through a tunnel at hour seven. It was coming from the left passage.
Instead of waking anyone, he set up a [Barrier] and walked over to meet whatever was coming down the tunnel.
It was a star vole, an underground-dwelling rodent monster known for the star-shaped white fur around its eyes.
Sitting hunched over a bit, the star vole was as tall as Julian’s shoulder.
It was known for burrowing, biting, and paw bashing.
Julian activated [Charge], barreling toward the beast. The star vole, noticing his approach, tried to lash out with its long front claws, each the size of a pocket dagger.
The sword sliced into one of the claws as the star vole hissed, but dungeon madness pushed it forward through the pain.
Julian ducked and struck again. Even if it could’ve landed a hit past his Valarian Royal Shield, it wasn’t too much of a threat on its own.
[You have defeated a Star Vole (Level 26) . +13 EXP]
If monsters were suddenly appearing now … that meant the previous party had cleared them out roughly eight hours ago and it was respawn time. Unfortunately, everyone had been pushing through on potions to get here, and Julian didn’t want to disturb them early.
He could hold off a few monsters for an hour.