Kopii woke up at dawn so as not to be late to the Tower of Babel; his heart pounded with excitement.
«Well, where are they? Could this be a joke?» – flashed through his head as he walked alone through the streets.
The square by the tower buzzed with life and energy, as always. Kopii scanned the crowd in search of Canoe, and the longer he waited, the stronger the suspicion crept in that this was a cruel joke played on him. But he decided to wait a little longer.
Just as he was about to leave, his brows furrowed in disappointment, Kopii noticed familiar faces. Canoe and someone else, probably from his party, were moving in his direction. As they approached, Kopii was able to get a better look at the new companion. He was a young man with jet-black eyes and long hair tied in a ponytail. He wore a long burgundy coat, a black shirt, brown cargo trousers, and dark boots. A thin strap with a sword was slung over his shoulder, making him look rather imposing.
— Hey there, kid. — Canoe said, embracing Kopii with a barely noticeable gesture. — This is my companion, Gedo.
— Nice to meet you. My name is Gedo Raishu, — he introduced himself, his voice full of confidence. — You needn't introduce yourself; Canoe told me about you.
— Nice to meet you too. — Kopii answered, extending his hand to him, but in response he was met with indifference. Yet just as he was about to withdraw his hand, Gedo extended his hand in return for the handshake.
«His hands are rough.» – Kopii thought, feeling the rough texture of Gedo's hand.
He immediately understood that Gedo was rather arrogant; he realized it from his gaze, which clearly told him that he was above him. And the fact that he did not immediately return the handshake also gave Kopii a lot of information.
— Let's go, let's not waste time. — Said Canoe, cutting through the currents of awkwardness.
— Alright, let's go. — Kopii agreed, feeling that a new chapter awaited him ahead.
They began descending into the dungeon, and Kopii felt excitement overflowing his consciousness.
— And to which floor are we descending? — Kopii asked, trying to hide his trepidation.
Canoe said nothing; he simply turned around and showed ten fingers.
– The tenth? – He was surprised, looking at Canoe with disbelief.
– Yes.
And when he heard the confirmation, he could not believe it. He knew that the tenth floor was very dangerous, for there monsters appeared that could kill with a single blow. And for three people, all of whom were only level one. It sounded very dangerous.
But he said nothing on the matter, though a plan of escape had already begun to form in his head.
On the seventh floor, Kopii saw a new monster for the first time – killer ants. There were six of them, and they looked horrifying. Four legs, two arms, a hard carapace, and powerful mandibles. They used pheromones to attract their kin, and Kopii recalled the information from the guild library: "Newbie Killers."
He did not need to wonder why they had been given such a name; the name spoke for itself.
Along the way, Kopii assessed the skills of Canoe and Gedo – they were stronger than him, and that became an encouraging factor, and at the same time not. He still remembered Naaza's words.
He walked behind their backs and shot from his bow, feeling his confidence grow with every shot.
Kopii's arrows flew precisely at their targets, piercing the chitinous armor of the ants, while the blades of Canoe and Gedo flashed in the semi-darkness of the dungeon, easily slicing the ants to pieces. The battle was short but tense, and every strike was etched into his consciousness.
When the last ant collapsed to the ground, Canoe wiped the sweat from his forehead and turned to Kopii.
— Not bad, Kopii. Your arrows are very helpful. — He nodded approvingly.
Kopii nodded back at him.
Gedo merely snorted contemptuously, saying nothing. Kopii remained silent, watching him. The feeling of arrogance did not leave Gedo's gaze, and it irritated him.
Kopii understood that he would not have managed this task alone. He quickly picked up the magic stones that had fallen from the slain ants. They moved on, downwards, and along the way they encountered various monsters: frogs, War Shadows, and others.
Finally, they reached the tenth floor, but they had barely stepped further when the sound of monsters being born rang out. Three orcs grew out of the darkness, like treacherous shadows themselves. The darkness of the tenth floor was thickening.
— Orcs… — Kopii whispered, gripping his bow tighter. And at that very second, when he saw them, he doubted.
«Will my arrows be able to wound them?»
Before them, three massive figures rose up. Green-skinned, with tusks protruding from twisted mouths, they were already moving into battle.
— You stay in the back. — Gedo threw out, without dignifying Kopii with a glance, as if he were not worth his attention. His long sword gleamed in the darkness, like the grin of a predator.
Canoe moved forward first, his blade cutting through the air with the hiss of a snake. The first orc collapsed, not even having time to groan. Gedo followed him; his strikes were precise, brutal — as if he was not fighting, but simply erasing enemies from the face of the dungeon.
Kopii did not stand idle. Drawing the bow to its maximum, he shot without hesitation, aiming for the head.
The arrow pierced its eye.
AARGHH
The orc cried out in pain, covering its eye with its hand. In Kopii, its cry only grew his confidence.
But the third, the largest one, charged straight at him. Kopii stepped back, realizing he had become the target. The orc was enormous; its muscles rolled beneath its rough hide. Kopii leaped aside, dodging a strike from its fist, which crashed into the stone wall with a crack. Shards rained down. This made him shudder; had he not dodged, he would have been reduced to pulp.
He understood something else as well: arrows were his only salvation. He quickly placed an arrow on the string, aimed, and released. The arrow struck the orc in the shoulder, but seemed to cause it no particular harm. Yet the orc only grew more ferocious.
Suddenly, a whirlwind of steel flared between Kopii and the orc. It was Gedo, having finished off his opponents, coming to help. His sword, like lightning, flashed in the semi-darkness, cutting through the air. The orc roared, tried to strike Gedo, but he dodged and delivered a crushing blow to its neck. The monster collapsed, letting out a death rattle.
Gedo looked at Kopii contemptuously and whispered. – Trash.
Kopii pretended not to have heard. Canoe also looked down on him, but quickly hid it, as if embarrassed by his comrade.
— That's it, time to head up. — Canoe said, picking up speed.
The ascent was exhausting; on every floor, Canoe and Gedo worked in unison, like a well-oiled mechanism, chopping and crushing everything in their path. Kopii tried not to fall behind; his arrows found the weak spots of the enemies, which lifted his spirits, but the tension still remained.
Kopii walked behind them and reflected.
«Why do they need me? I have less experience… As backup?»
However hard Kopii searched for a reason why they needed him, he felt that they needed him for something, that they wanted to use him. But how? His thoughts gave him no peace, and he began to doubt his decision.
With such thoughts, they ascended higher and higher and at last found themselves at the Tower of Babel. Exiting it, they headed to the guild to exchange the magic stones. Kopii had already mentally calculated how much valis he would receive, but he was paid half of what he had expected. This greatly disappointed him, but he did not argue. Kopii thanked both of them, simply out of politeness, even if his heart was heavy.
On the way home, Kopii reflected, the edge of his thoughts returning to the events in the dungeon.
He would go with them to the dungeon for now, but if they continued to behave the same way and give him such a percentage of the earnings, he would have no choice but to leave them.
Entering the "Blue Pharmacy," he chatted a little with Naaza and Miach, trying to stifle the negative feelings, and then went up to the second floor to his room. Undressing, Kopii lay down on his bed, but sleep would not come. He decided to take a night walk to distract himself from thoughts about his partners.
Stepping outside, Kopii breathed in the fresh night air. The city was falling asleep, giving way to silence and the soft light of the moon. He walked along the quiet streets, deciding not to think about today, but simply to relax. Wandering through the alleys, Kopii inadvertently found himself near a small park. Sitting down on a bench, he fixed his gaze on the starry sky, which burned with millions of distant sparks that seemed to mock his reflections of the day.
Suddenly, the sound of footsteps tore through the silence. A silhouette emerged from the darkness, and Kopii tensed, ready for any turn of events. But the stranger simply walked past, paying him no attention. Only a light gust of wind carried to Kopii a fragment of a melody that the man was humming under his breath.
But he did not notice how the man turned around and stared at Kopii's back.
– You must...
The stranger whispered, but his words drifted into the air, unheard by anyone.