Remnant of Malachus

Chapter 2

I woke up that morning feeling as refreshed as ever.

I quickly wash myself. Soup bars and many hygienic accessories lay on top of a wooden sink. Most of them belonged to Miss Mary, this building only has one bathroom, so we are forced to share it, but that is no problem, I don't usually have to wait, most of the time I wake up later than Miss Mary. She normally wakes up very early, to prepare some stuff and get ready for the customers. I've worked at many jobs in the past, cooking, construction, errand boy, newspaper delivery, you name it, but a cafe is a new experience for me so I don't really know about the specifics of the job. For the past two weeks that I've been working here, I've only been serving food, help clean the floor, do the dishes, and occasionally, brew tea. Miss Mary mostly does the brewing and the aesthetic part.

What do I mean by that? Well, for the past two weeks I've been working here, I've concluded that Miss Mary is incredibly popular around here. Many people have come here to order a single cup of coffee, and stay for hours, occasionally sending glances at Miss Mary, and starting small talks every time they get the chance.

Chatters immediately fill my ears, it's early in the morning, around 7 am, which means it's rush hour here in the cafe. I walk down the wooden stair and enter behind the counter.

"Nero! Serve this to table eight!" She quickly orders me, Miss Mary was holding a tray of empty glasses and cups, walking hastily to the sink behind the counter, I see a mound of dishes, she adds 3 more to the mountain, looks like it's time for work.

"got it." I took the kettle that was placed on the counter and some cups from the shelf, pouring it for the customer as soon as I get there.

"enjoy!" I quickly walk back to the counter to return the tray, getting a larger one to collect the used plate and cups. Returning them and getting more orders, serving the orders, cleaning the tables, collecting used plates, serving more orders...

~

The atmosphere has become more relaxed, the rush morning hour is over, the market outside is still as busy as ever though, sounds of negotiation and children laughter can be heard. The room was soaked in the beautiful sunlight, 2 hours have passed, I'm currently cleaning the dishes, Miss Mary is lazily resting her head on the wooden countertop. Everybody has left, only me and Miss Mary are left in this wide room.

The cafe has an unusual amount of plants in it, the cafe that was lit by the sunlight passing through two huge windows that are in the front of the shop was filled with plants hanging and in pots. One on each table, 2 hanging above the counter area, and one on the counter itself. This gives off a really relaxing feel, how nice.

"Nero, can I ask you something?"

"mn-hm." The grime won't go off this plate no matter how hard I try to wash it.

"Why are you hunting so late at night?"

"because I need money."

"Why do you need money?"

"to help someone"

"Oh..., who?"

"my mother." Ah, the grime got off, that was the last plate. Well done Nero. I started drying the plate and putting them back up on the shelf.

"..." Miss Mary has been quiet for a while.

"Where is she? You-Your mother I mean."

"at the lab." It's not like I'm trying to hide it, but asking more will make me feel uncomfortable Miss.

"... How much do you have to pay each month?..."

"around 24,000 coins, I'm waiting for my salary from you." 

For the past two weeks, I've earned about 3,000 coins from hunting, but at this rate, I wouldn't have enough to pay for my mother's treatment. In two data it will be the start of a new month, I already spent all my savings last month, so I might have to ask the lab to excuse me this once and pay them back later.

"What happened?"

Nope, not answering that, that's private matters.

"... I see..." She lets out a depressing sigh.

WIth that our conversation ends.

~

It's about 6 pm, no one is around anymore, outside is turning dark and we prepare to close the shop.

"Nero, you can go ahead! I can clean the shop myself!" She shouted from behind the counter, it seems like she knows that I'll be hunting today.

I walk out the door and head north along with the stone pavement. I start heading to the dungeon.

After a few boring hours of walking, I've arrived at the Southern Entry once again. Here comes the part where I hate the most.

I walk up to the reception table. The same elven receptionist is there everytime, reading his newspaper.

"Name?" Oh, he noticed me this time.

"nero." A quick reply. 

"Tag." He orders me. 

"k."

I pull out a necklace with a bronze tag on it. This is the called the hunter's tag. They are like identification cards and indicate your rank, Bronze, Silver, Gold, Diamond, and Royal, you get promoted by achievements, and your stats. Royal hunters are at the peak of Malakai, they must be appointed by the king themselves, there are only a selected few that can become Royal hunters.

I quietly walk past the reception table and head to the dark stairway that leads down.

"Good luck idiot." The elven receptionist shouts from behind.

This is why I hate you, you didn't have to say it but you said it anyways, I was able to hold my anger in, I don't want to pick unnecessary fights.

I head down the stairs and enter a rocky tunnel lit by torches, and enter the dungeon.

~

I thrust my sword forward and stab a goblin's chest, I quickly pull it out, the goblin drops to the ground. Three, that's the third goblin I've encountered on the first floor so far. The spacious room was lit up by several mana crystals which gives off a light blue glow. It's been about half an hour since I entered the dungeon, I kneeled and cut off the ear and put it in my pouch. My hands were all bloodied now, I don't really mind though, I could wash it later.

The pathway to the second floor isn't that far away from where I am now, I get up and start heading towards a tunnel. It was completely dark, completely absent from the mana crystal's glow, it quite cramped. After a few minutes of blinded navigation, I see the exit. It was lit up by a soft, dim light.

As I exited out of the tunnel, I stood on a stone platform about 3 to 4 meters wide under the moonlight, the tunnel leads me outside. I stood in front of vast emptiness, the crater of Malakai. This is what the outside of the dungeon looks like, there is a giant crater in the middle of Malakai, said to be created by Anethus, the founder himself. The crater stretches across the horizon, to seemed bottomless, absolutely pitch-black, I could hear screams of monsters echoing throughout the crater.

I stop gazing at the view and go back to hunting.

~

Slash. Blood flew up into the air. 

It's been about an hour and a half, I've been traversing through the third floor for a while now, there was really no big difference between floor 2 and 3, a cave-like area that is lit up by several pure, snow-white, mana crystals that plunged up from the ground. The area is quite wide, around 10-15 meters wide. I didn't really find anything on the second floor, and before I knew it, I had entered the third floor without noticing.

I walked past a cluster of mana crystals, suddenly a goblin jumped out from a small crevice of the cluster. I reacted quickly and slide backward, the goblin lands on the ground, completely missing its attack. There were screeches behind me. I took a glance back, 2 more goblins were running to me. I charge forward at them leaving the first one to come after me, I want to focus on the one from behind first. The two goblins still came charging at me without hesitation, the one on the left has a small stone knife, the other is unarmed. I'll take care of the armed one first.

I lower my aim to be the same height as the goblin's chest and thrust my sword forward. My sword entered the goblin's chest, I feel my thrust slowing down as it penetrates the goblin. I quickly pull out my sword and swing to my right at the other goblin. It grazes the goblin's chest, but it's not deep enough to be fatal, my s***h launched it into the air. I should finish this goblin first before engaging with the one behind me, it caught up by now and is close enough to make me uncomfortable, but finish this goblin is a priority. 

I prepare myself for a dash and push myself forward, plunging my sword into the goblin's chest. I look behind to gauge the location of the first goblin as I lower my sword down, the goblin's corpse slid down and fell to the ground. The first goblin was not too far away, about 2-3 meters behind, it finally caught up and thrust itself upward launching an attack. I won't be able to move that fast! I tried to swing my sword at it, turning myself around in the process but it was too close, I couldn't swing fast enough and it's too close for me to hit it with my longsword. It scratched my right hand and grabbed it. Hanging on to my arm, the goblin pulls itself up and bites it. I could feel its teeth sink through my clothes and skin, God that hurts. 

I grunt out in pain as I react to the sharp pain I feel, I quickly grab the goblin's neck with my other arm, holding it up in the air, I thrust my sword into its chest.  I let myself drop to the ground, sword still in hand, let's rest a little. My white, long-sleeved shirt that was the undergarment of my cafe uniform is now a little bloodied. The pain only worsens on my right arm, I bit my sleeve and rip it out, revealing a bite mark that was left behind. I use the ripped sleeve to tie up the wound and in my attempt of doing first aid and trying to stop the bleeding. The piece of clothing is wrapped around the part of my arm that was bitten, knotted together with a shoelace knot, looks like it did its job and slowed down the bleeding. It looks messy and untidy, I've always been terrible at knotting and tieing things up.

I guess I should continue a bit further for today. I got up from the ground and quickly cut out all the ears, putting them in my pouch which is starting to get full. I continue walking deeper into the dungeon.

~

...

After a while of walking later, I stopped and stood still as my heart rate began beating faster.

What is this? Large bloodstains splatters across the ground, making a huge circle, bloodied weapons lay on the ground, it's like someone took a corpse and paint the ground with it. The vile smell fills the air as I took a step closer.

...

I don't want to find out who or what did this. I think it's time for me to leave. I turn around and start heading back to the same I came from.

Hunters die all the time, even though hunting has become a very successful business and is viewed as something noble, the dungeon is no kind place. Monsters, even on the earlier floors can kill people.

I continue walking, slowly increasing my pace, step by step my heart began to raise a bit, the one thing I don't want to happen is me dying. Dying is not very ideal, I still have many things to do after all.

I continue walking and end up at the cluster of crystals where I was attacked by goblins before. Loud footsteps can be heard, my heart dropped at that moment.

Thud, thud, thud.

Heavy and forceful, each thump of the footstep echoes through the cavern, I instinctively hid behind the giant cluster of crystals.

The heavy thumping came closer and closer until I could hear it right in front of me. I took a peek out of the top of the cluster, there in front of me, stood a giant goblin about 2 meters tall, it was muscular and sturdy, its stomach was large, but it looked didn't look soft and bouncy, standing next to it was a bunch of goblins. That thing in front of me is a hobgoblin, a fully-grown goblin. Goblins are one of the few monsters that adapted uniquely after hunters started hunting them, most monsters would consume more mana to grow stronger, but goblins have adapted differently. They reproduce really quickly, only taking 7 to 8 days to mature and become fertile. Hobgoblins are quite rare, since, most goblins die before they become hobgoblin. They are incredibly strong and is considered the Apex of floor 1-4, apexes are monsters that are at the top of the food chain, sometimes they can be much more powerful than the normal monsters in each floor. The large pool of blood is most probably the aftermath of a battle with the hobgoblin.

Seeing what this thing is capable of, I would like to fight it, especially alone. Isn't this great?