Lost Fantasy-Life After Reincarnation (Arc 1)

Chapter 12

Loganel continued walking on the empty streets, closing his eyes as if he was trying to hear something. He then focused his mind, and began imagining what everything could've been like in this huge underground city. It was as if he could hear the creaking of the wheels of wagons, the footsteps of the pedestrians, and the marching of the disciplined city guards. It was as if the city was like that. He smiled as the city unraveled before him, but when he opened his eyes, it was all gone. 

It as if it was a midsummer dream that was never supposed to be lasting. As if it was a magician's revenge story on a lone island, initiated by a tempest, and ended with a feast. This, was an illusion all along, this feeling of dread he felt. It was the dead city's gloomy attitude. It was his disbelief that such a strong and powerful city had now become the homes of lowly Kobolds.

"We have four Sygl Flowers now. We need one more."

 Azura's words brought Loganel back into reality and away from his kingdom of imagination. The image of the bustling city scene faded into nothing, and his mind was then reclaimed by the task at hand.

After searching the entire second floor for the last Sygl flower for a whole hour, they came up empty handed. Tired from this searching, they decided to take refuge in an abandoned house beside the stairways that led down to the third floor.

"What do we do?" Loganel asked sitting on the floor and leaning back on the wall of the second floor of the two story house they used as a temporary resting spot.

"Let's keep looking," Juliana suggested, "there must be more here."

"I hope," Loganel sighed, "or else we'll just have wasted a whole day of our lives."

Azura shook her head and pushed off of the wall gently and began walking over to the stairs leading down and out of the house. "Let's go now."

Once outside and on the second floor of the underground city, they continued looking around. However, it was still to no avail. They just can't find the last Sygl Flower that they need.

"Should we head down to the third floor and see if we can find anything?" Loganel asked, looking at the stairway that led to the third floor below them.

"I wouldn't suggest it," Azura shook her head. "The layout of the floor is extremely complicated down there and there's also something more dangerous down there."

"Like what?" Juliana asked, clutching to her wooden staff tightly.

"Something that is called the 'Cleaver'," Azura explained, "a Kobold that's extremely strong and powerful that it has taken the lives of many others before us."

"Does that 'Cleaver' usually appear on the third floor?" Loganel asked.

Azura shook her head. "It rarely does. Usually, it appears on the lower floors, but there's still a chance for it to appear."

Loganel nodded his head as he analyzed the current situation. He doesn't want to head down to the third floor due to how big of a risk it is. Going down there would basically be a death sentence since they could only barely get by on the second floor by avoiding the larger patrol groups. If they were to head down, there would surely be more Kobolds, and that would mean disaster.

"I say we go to the first floor and see if we can find any there," Loganel suggested. "It's more safe that way."

"I agree," Azura nodded her head.

As they made their way through the maze-like streets of the ancient city,  Loganel was alert. He carefully scanned every single corner for possible enemies and he also looked out for possible Sygl Flowers. Finally, after a while, they could see the stairway that lead up to the second floor just down the wide, and empty street.