Chapter 5: Hollow Root

Chapter 5: Chapter 5: Hollow Root

The next morning started off somewhat rough. There were more arguments between the two women and almost everyone else in the neighborhood where they had been staying for the time being.

It seemed that by sunrise the news had managed to filter its way around the small neighborhood where the two young women had grown up.

The abandoned young lord of the mansion was leaving the city. And he was taking his two servants with him.

To a dungeon. A real dungeon. The Hollow Root.

Standing near the front door of the mansion, ignoring everything else, Allan pulled tight a leather strap around his back.

The sword at his waist was a short, chipped thing that looked almost stupid. It was, but no one cares. It had been the best of the bunch of weapons that Lira had purchased for him that morning.

"Are you certain about this, young master?"

Allan turned around to find an old woman standing at the gate. She was holding a basket of vegetables and looked familiar. She was probably a lot more familiar with Lira and Seris than she was with him.

"I’m certain," Allan replied. "Very certain. So don’t worry, mis—"

"Then you shouldn’t take those two girls."

Allan stared at her for a second.

Here i thought she was worried about me. Someone who was once their lord.

Sighing at this latest piece of advice from yet another source, Allan revealed that this was the sixth such warning he had received, including from a baker, a merchant, and two elderly adventurers.

It was even the man who fixed the front door of their house who came by to Lira this morning to tell her that the Hollow Root was a terrible place for inexperienced adventurers like themselves.

Apparently everyone knew the dungeon. Nobody conquered it. Nobody became rich from it. And several people had died trying.

He knew. Of course he knew.

"Don’t go there, young Master. Your family may have fallen, but that’s no reason for you to throw away a roof over your head. Right? Marry one of the girls and live happily as you are."

Both Lira and Seris blushed all of a sudden, unable to look each other in the eye, meanwhile Allan grunted.

Lady, these two are destined final bosses. You wouldn’t know. You were not the seventh god. I was.

So fuck off with you.

He thought, but...

Allan smiled, a very warm smile, as he said, "Thank you."

The woman looked surprised. "oh...You’re not angry?"

"Why would I be?"

"Because I’m telling you not to go. I thought you would pompous up and yell at me."

Allan realized again she was poking at him, knowing he had a short temper.

"Thank you," Allan said again. He looked down the road. "But I’m still going. Only the brave can change the world, miss."

The woman sighed and began to walk away. "Young people..." she muttered to herself.

As they got ready, Allan was already tired.

"How many more are there to worry about?"

"Three," Lira answered.

"Three?"

"Three people who want to stop us."

Allan rubbed his forehead. "Wonderful. It’s because you both are too popular with the community. You know that, right?"

Seris approached from behind them. "Actually, four."

Allan stared at her. "Who?"

"The man at the end of the street..."

"You know what, I don’t need to hear about it, and I know you both are giggling behind there, so Let’s just focus."

Allan turned around. A middle-aged man wandering in the opposite direction immediately averted his gaze. When Allan tried to get the man’s attention by waving, he pretended not to have seen him.

Allan laughed. "Apparently I’m popular."

"You aren’t," Seris said.

"Thank you, Seris. Another truth bomb I needed in my life." He replied with a fake smile.

"You’re welcome." She replied with a genuine smile instead.

Allan looked down at the sword in his hand. It was cheap. It was very cheap. The blade wasn’t balanced properly, for one.

The grip was too loose for another. The edge was already dulling. Allan tested its balance by swinging it in short arcs. The sword felt too light. He tested it again. The balance was indeed all wrong.

His fingers curled around the hilt of the sword automatically. His muscle memory from gaming all those years kicked in.

His wrist twisted. His shoulder relaxed. For a moment his body felt familiar holding a cheap sword.

For a moment it didn’t feel cheap. It felt familiar.

Ten years of holding swords. Ten years of fighting monsters. Ten fucking years of learning all the different animations and how to use them to fight in the best way possible. It was all just a habit now. He didn’t even have to think about it.

Swing!

A short slash. A step. A reverse cut.

He stopped.

Lira stared but Seris stared harder.

"What’s up?" Allan asked. "You usually stare at me like that when you see me shower."

"Master...that wasn’t normal, you know." Seris said.

Allan looked at the sword. "Just muscle memory. You both already know I trained when I was young."

No, they didn’t know.

"You’ve used that sword before, yes, but the way you swung..."

"I’ve used thousands of swords."

"Hmmmm." Lira mumbled as the man before them was acting way differently than before.

Just in time for the exchange to be cut short by a voice from within the walls of the mansion:

"Master?"

Seris appeared in the doorway. "There is someone asking to see you."

"Now? I really hope it’s not one of your admirers stopping us again."

"Umm...no, it’s somebody else. She says she knows you."

Allan frowned. "Knows me? Who is she? I ain’t popular like you both."

"She refuses to give her name for some reason, saying she would only meet you."

Lira approached the doorway. "It seems she’s waiting outside, Master. She is wearing glasses and looks somewhat... richy rich."

Allan nodded right away. "Let her in."

A few moments later, a young woman entered the room. She looked worn and had on very decorative clothes. Her hair, which was a mess, was now combed properly, and her hands, which were dirty with soot and colored powders of all sorts, now looked clean and pale.

Allan recognized her immediately. "...Bela."

The woman froze. "You...you remember me."

"Of course. You are the genius alchemist, right?"

Bela stepped forward right away, then began to bow deeply. "Thank you," she said.

Allan blinked. "Huh...for what?"

"Thank you. For the silver." She looked up at Allan and straightened up, looking proud. "I thought you were some nobleman trying to amuse himself with a desperate woman...but"

Lira’s expression hardened slightly. "I apologize for my mast—"

"I actually hate nobles." She cut her off.

That’s a strong statement.

"They...they just buy people, put them in chains and throw them away when they see no use to them."

Seris went quiet and so was lira.

Bela looked around the mansion. "Then I discovered the truth. You’re not what I thought," she continued, eyeing the cracked walls of the ruined mansion. "The cheap clothes you wear and the servants that seem to be living in poverty almost as much as you are."

Allan sighed. "Th...thanks, I guess..."

Bela forced a smile. "I mean it as a compliment."

"Umm, yeah, somehow that makes it worse, you know."

Bela pulled out a small glass bottle with a faintly glowing red liquid in it. "Take this as an apology then," she said to Seris, putting it on the table in front of her.

"Is that...?"

"Yes...a healing potion, rare grade." She said. "I heard you were going to a dungeon...so."

Allan’s eyes narrowed. "Who told you?"

"People talk around here, and they talk a lot when it comes to you, it seems. The lecherous broken lord who holds two beautiful servants." She pulled out a small glass bottle and poured the faintly glowing red liquid into a small cup. "This is a major healing potion. It would sell for nearly one gold coin in the capital...if my estimations are correct."

Seris picked it up carefully. Her eyes widened. "Major healing potion?"

Lira nearly dropped it. "One gold?"

Allan stared at Bela. "Why would you give me something worth one whole gold?"

"Because that one silver coin changed my life. I spent three years believing I was useless. I couldn’t complete a single formula. Now...after you came and gave that one silver, now...I can."

Silence.

Allan picked it up. "Thank you...Bela."

Damn, the system was right. The return would come pouring out. And here it is.

Bela nodded. "And Lord Allan?"

"Yes?"

"Whatever you’re planning, please be safe. Dungeons are called man’s glory, yes, but also called a man’s grave," she said seriously, and then left.

Lira stared at the door. "Master."

"Hm?"

"She really gave us a gold-coin potion. Was that the girl you invested with your so called skill?"

"You noticed."

Seris looked at him. "You invested one silver and the return was...?"

"One hundred silver and a potion worth one gold."

Allan smiled. "Investment, ladies, investment. You both shouldn’t underestimate your master’s skill now."

Both Seris and Lira looked at each other, surprised. Here they were thinking their master was going crazy and said yes to anything he said, but...

"Yes Master, we won’t doubt you anymore."

An hour later Seris came back from the Adventurer’s Guild, bearing three identification cards of about the same size.

Allan picked his up.

Name: Allan

Rank: F

Class: Investment (Dumb class)

Huh, was the dumb statement necessary?

He looked at the other two.

Lira: F Rank

Seris: F Rank

"F rank."

Lira sighed. "Everyone has to start somewhere."

Allan slipped the card into his coat. "Exactly."

He looked towards the door. The Hollow Root waited for him beyond the city. A vast, half-abandoned underground complex of dark corridors, empty chambers, and secret rooms, left to rot for centuries. Forgotten, ignored, until now.

For centuries the treasures of the Hollow Root had been locked away from players of Yggdrasil who had never understood their value.

Allan smiled. "Let’s go."

***

The Hollow Root was exactly as Allan remembered. It was terrible.

As Allan recalled, there were never any guards or merchants selling supplies to adventurers. Nobody ever waited outside the entrance to a forgotten dungeon such as this.

Lira stared at the entrance to the forgotten dungeon. "This is it?"

"This is it."

Seris looked around. "It’s really quiet here. Nobody really comes here? It’s a dungeon, in the end. People should be here, even if some."

"Okay, now let’s not get cold feet."

Allan stepped forward and the three of them entered.

As soon as they stepped inside, the temperature of the air plummeted. Lira grasped her small dented weapon tightly. Seris unsheathed her own blade, while Allan loosely grasped his cheap sword with one hand.

"Stay close, girls."

The girls nodded.

They walked deeper. A few minutes passed. Nothing.

Then...rustle.

Allan stopped. "Lira."

"Yes?"

"Behind me."

It started to move in the dark and then others followed. Small green bodies started to emerge from the passage. There were five of them to start with, but then eight more appeared right after.

Lira’s grip tightened, unable to see much in the dark. "How many?"

"Eight," Allan replied. His vision matching the dark.

Seris lowered her stance. "Master, stay behind us."

Allan smiled. "Huh...no."

Before either woman could respond, he disappeared.

One step. Slash. The first Goblin fell to the ground.

Seris and Lira followed closely behind him, and in quick succession, another Goblin fell and then another to the cheap sword at his feet.

Slash.

Thud.

Another Goblin charged. He stepped aside. Cut. Another. Cut. Another.

The last Goblin stumbled backward. Allan followed it until the creature was in front of him, his breathing heavy.

Goblins are the weakest there is.

Maybe it understood it and lashed out at him with a crude-looking scimitar or something like that.

The sword in Allan’s hand seemed to move of its own accord and sliced through the Goblin’s attacks.

Silence. The Goblin collapsed.

A series of system notifications appeared.

[Goblin defeated.]

[Experience gained.]

[Experience gained.]

[Experience gained.]

Allan stood still, his breathing calm and composed. The sword in his hand was trembling slightly, but not with fear. He felt excitement.

His body remembered this feeling. He hadn’t realized how much he would miss this feeling. The rush that hooked him on the first day of the game.

Behind him neither Lira nor Seris spoke.

Allan turned. "What?"

Lira stared at him. "Master."

"Yes?"

"We are serious. When did you learn to fight like that? It’s really not normal, you know."

Seris nodded. "That wasn’t the fighting style of a Level 1."

Allan looked at his sword. Then at them. A smile appeared. "I...was once a god."

Lira blinked. Seris stared at him.

"You’re joking?"

"Obviously," Allan replied.

"That sounded serious."

"It was supposed to."

Lira sighed. "I don’t know when you’re joking anymore, Master, and...your joke isn’t even funny."

"Hahahaha...funny for me. Lol," Allan said as he laughed.

Then, CRACK.

"Aaa!!"

Lira, who had been busying herself scanning the floors immediately above, let out a shocked cry as she realized that the noise was not coming from above, but from right above their heads.

Allan looked up. Nothing.

Seris slowly raised her weapon. "Did you hear—"

Thud!

Something dropped from the ceiling.

Allan barely turned to see a massive green arm slam into his chest.

DOOM!

Allan’s body slid off in a sideways direction and he thudded into the stone wall hard enough to have knocked the air from his lungs. As he sat down on his knee, a shock of pain shot through his sides and a trickle of blood began to run from the corner of his mouth.

Lira froze. Seris froze.

A creature stepped out from the shadows. It was bigger than a Goblin. It had massive swollen muscles under its green skin. A crude axe dangled from its hand and dragged along the ground.

Allan’s eyes widened.

A Hobgoblin...here?

A Hobgoblin was never on the first floor, let alone in this part of Yggdrasil and so early in the game.

But that didn’t matter. The creature raised its axe.

Lira couldn’t move and Seris couldn’t breathe.

Allan slowly got to his feet, clutching his poor sword. The pain in his ribs was agonizing and his vision began to blur.

And for the first time since arriving in Yggdrasil, Allan understood something.

Knowing the game wasn’t the same as controlling it. The pain. Everything was real.

"HAAAAAA!" The Hobgoblin roared and charged.

[Danger detected.]

[Target level exceeds user’s current level.]

But Allan grinned.

"Finally," Allan said, through the blood on his lips.

The sword rose. "Something worth the seventh God."