How To Survive A Calamity

Chapter 136 Dark Castle [3]

"Yeah, i should probably try to find those kids quickly."

It still wasn't assured if all four of them were alive and well. Especially that Don bastard.

I also wondered if they were separated like i was. Getting split up in unfamiliar territory like this one, especially when we have absolutely no knowledge about what is happening, is more than dangerous.

'And there's still the slim and possible chance they aren't even here.'

In the first place, where even was 'here'?

If Nicodemus could forcefully drag me into such a place, then why couldn't he also possibly drag others into different other places.

In the end, the bracelets only tracked the groups total cumulative number of kills and points.

There was no gps like monitoring feature or whatever, and i wasn't sure if there was a distance range or something.

Although i still believe they're all here with me in Dark Castle, but i was just being open minded.

I suddenly remembered a part of a saying i had heard from somewhere at some point before.

Always trust your gut and be open minded. The instincts of an Awakened are their true weapons.

An Awakened's intuition was more powerful than ine would think.

And in this case, my intuition was all over the place.

My gut was telling me they were here. But i was aslo broadly embracing the chances that they weren't.

Regardless.

"None of that matters for now."

I first of all had to take care of myself.

[Be careful. With what just happened now and the unfamiliar strange structure of Dark Castle, if others could also have been pulled in here like you have, then it is also likely that humans aren't the only ones.]

-Vrrrm -Vrrmm

The bracelet vibrated again and i watched the number of points rise again with amusement.

"Well... The kids seem to he doing much better without me for now."

And this also went to further confirm Meta's latest statement.

It seems like humans weren't the only ones pulled into Dark Castle. I loooked down at the corpse below me.

I did think the Sand Walker suddenly appeared from nowhere all of a sudden, and maybe...it really might have.

Could the Sand Walker had just been transported into Dark Castle and at the very moment too, it decided to attack me?

That would explain why one moment i couldn't sense absolutely nothing next to me, but then the very next i nearly had my face skinned off by the monster.

That seemed plausible.

"Okay, unfamiliar territory with no idea what is happening, and monsters. Got it." I nodded.

Anything else i should know?

A dry and twisted grin curved on my lips.

"Well, i wasn't expecting everything in this exercise to go alright right since the beginning." I said quietly as i placed my hand against my chest.

Underneath my uniform, something buoyant and lively bulged and wiggled from underneath. Soon, a familiar round silver blob of slime crawled out from underneath and into my arms.

-Jiggle.

I stared at my hateful Slime familiar and companion with a twisted grin.

"Hey, buddy. Looks like me and you are finally going to have some good old time together, just like the good old days. Hehe."

-Jiggle.

"Huh? What do you mean my smile's sinister? Ah, forget it. This isn't the time nor place for this."

From the beginning, i had brought in Hamlet into the dungeon along with me. I somehow managed to sneak him through everything, and keep him in secret over the last three days.

In the end, this was the extent of my preparations, Hamlet.

It was often easy to forget because of its otherwise unassuming appearance, but Hamlet was a powerful monster, one of an evolved race.

The dame diabolical monster that had guy mr on our first meeting, and decapitated me just ad easily on our second.

Hamlet was more secret weapon.

But that wasn't all.

I glanced down at Hamlet, then slowly placed a hand against the left side of my chest, feeling something very very faint from 'inside'.

Well, in any case...

The dungeon was a dangerous place where anything could happen, there was no way i wouldn't come prepared after experiencing Laplace's inheritance dungeon before.

Although i was initially trying to rank up but failed, Hamlet was my next and only contingency.

...Or was it?

So what if i couldn't breakthrough before the Dungeon exercise? Was that bad?

Sure, maybe it made things a bit, or a lot more disadvantageous for me.

Then all I'd just have to do was rank up inside the dungeon.

-Jiggle

The silver slime Hamlet moved up my hands and perched against my left shoulder. Then i channeled a thread of Ether into my storage device and summoned my spear.

Then i threw my head back hysterically and sighed very loudly.

"Ahh, Meta. What a dilemma this has turned out to be! A dungeon inside a dungeon? One where we could die and we've all been separated, crawling endlessly with monsters and horror. My teammates are also in trouble, but i have to survive, right? I have to first ensure my chances before rushing to their aide, right?"

[...]

"Th-this is..." I stumbled backwards, gripping my face with my free arm hysterically.

"I have to first survive. For their sake...i have to become stronger."

My shoulders trembled as dark excitement— i mean sorrow vrewed inside of me.

"For their sake..."

I smiled under my palm.

"I have to rank up."

Just then, i heard Meta sneer.

[Dumbfuck. You just want to grind.]

I scoffed.

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"Of course, isn't that obvious. In the first place i came into this dungeon as my greatest chance to break my bottleneck. But since I've always had those kids, Don and the others around me consistently, i haven't been able to farm experience points well." I shrugged,

Indeed, i had already killed a few monsters over the last three days, but it wasn't enough. All this time spent in Terra Sanguis, and still nothing to show for it.

Perhaps Dark Castle was as well a blessing in disguise, as it was a troublesome dilemma.

If i could use this small opportunity i had away from the watchful eyes of the others to raise my rank, then why would i miss it?

It sounded like having my priorities mixed up, maybe.

But in the first place, my priority had always been breaking through to Eta rank. Not this exercise, or the points awarded for it.

In addition, if i could breakthrough here, i would become stronger and that would raise my chances of survival.

And then maybe i could do something about the whole Dark Castle and Exercise.

Thinking like so, i nodded resolutely and planted my spear against the ground next to my foot.

"Yes, I've decided."

The sooner i could get stronger, the sooner i could help the others and get out of here.

"Let's rank up this time."