《Constellations: The Legend of the Voyager》


 1- Noirre Island

    The sound of a generic rooster crow echoed through Jordan''s open window, forcing him out of dream and his eyes to flutter open. Sun rays shone through his window blinds, which moved with the wind that found its way through. The boy sat up, rubbing his eyes, reaching for his phone that had a sort of dimly glowing small red gem connected to its back.


    8:42 AM


    The boy rubbed his eyes once more, before sweat drops suddenly formed all over his face, "Ah shit, I''m late. He''s gonna fucking kill me..."


    He hopped out of bed with a grunt, stretching for a while before throwing on a clean white shirt and baggy dark green pants with multiple pockets. He peered into his bedroom mirror for a bit before grinning and flexing his well build muscles, nodding to himself, almost looking satisfied. The boy took his phone with him while trying to brush out his messy pink hair, putting it in his pocket as he rushed to the bathroom, feeling like his bladder was about to burst at any given moment. Once he was through his relieving himself, brushing his teeth and putting some deodorant on, he rushed down the house''s creaky old wooden steps which felt as though they would give in if they weren''t fixed up any time soon.


    The entire house was empty, but the small TV in the kitchen was playing the local news station channel that the boy''s uncle enjoyed watching. As he walked into the kitchen, he noticed a covered plate with a note next to it. He lifted the cover which revealed some cold eggs and beans, and a piece of now stale toast on the side. As he went over to the microwave that had a small blue glowing gem connected to the top of it, he read the note while carrying his plate of breakfast that his Uncle had most likely made for him.


    Get to the shop by nine or I''ll kick your ass. Also wash your dishes once you''re done.


    The boy''s eyes almost popped out of his head as he re-checked his phone to see that the time was only eight minutes to nine. He quickly turned off the microwave before scarfing down his food, almost choking on some beans, tears forming in his eyes before he washed it all down with a glass of orange juice.


    As he was rushing, the TV seemed to be discussing news regarding Voyager''s. The screen displayed three young looking adults. A boy with long silver hair that touched his shoulders was one of them, a calm expression on his face, his emerald eyes glinting due to what seemed to be the flashing of camera''s. A girl with long black hair was standing next to him with rather sharp looking, but soulless dark purple eyes. Another girl stood there with short dark blue hair, showing off her sharp teeth with a confident smirk pasted across her face. All three seemed to be wearing similar metal armour and red capes, but each carried different weapons.


    "In recent news, three rookie Voyager''s have signed with the Red blade guild. Many look forward to their accolades and are now calling them the future of Voyagin--"


    The boy switched the TV off with a sort of pained expression on his face. He quickly shook his head before remembering the task at hand, wagging his hands around to dry them of the water he was using to wash his dishes. After putting on his socks and work boots, he bolted out of the house which was right outside of the town''s packed and cobblestone streets. Many people seemed to be at work with their businesses, and many were walking around doing their daily shopping.


    The town was most definitely a cosy one since the locals seemed to be extremely familiar with each other, but were also very friendly with travellers. In the centre of the town was an old looking, but working fountain that had four main different paths directed from it. The first path led north towards the rich part of the island where the mayor and other financially stable individuals lived. The second path led west towards the forest where different creatures lived, the path turning from cobblestone into dirt the further you went into the forest. The third path led east towards the shopping area of the town and where some residents of the town resided. The fourth and final path led south towards the fields where farmers took care of their land, crops and cattle. However, beyond the farm lands was the island''s main port, which travellers and fishermen used to go on and off the island.


    The boy dashed north of the fountain towards a large smoking building, which for some odd reason today had more than the regular amount of customers.


    "OI JORDAN! DIDN''T I SAY TO BE HERE BY NINE!?" His uncle yelled while forging a great sword.


    Jordan sighed and pulled out his phone in response, "It''s still two minutes to nine you old fart!!"


    "Ugh, never mind that! We have a shit ton of traveller customer''s today. So I need you to sell all those weapons over there." His uncle turned to the weapons near the counter, all organised into their respective types of weapons. Jordan''s mouth drooped open, impressed at the sight of the weapons his Uncle had forged throughout the week.


    Jordan got behind the counter and threw on his work apron before tending to the line of customers in front of him. He got to work quickly, selling items such as shields, swords, great hammers, gauntlets, and all types of weapons to aspiring Voyager''s. Of course, he had been trained by his uncle to put on his best work face at times like this, serving customers with a wide and welcoming smile. Eventually, as the line was beginning to finally shorten down, a group of four girls, all wearing traveller like clothing walked up to the counter. They seemed to be snickering and whispering to each other, much to Jordan''s dismay as he scowled a little before quickly smiling once more, his eyebrow twitching.


    "Excuse me. Would you all like to purchase some equipment?" He asked, a little intrigued as to what they could possibly be discussing right in front of him.


    The girls all suddenly pushed one of them forward who seemed to have short brown hair, one side of her hair completely covering one of her eyes. She instantly seemed to go red in the face while she fidgeted with her fingers, tears forming in her visible eye. The girls behind snickered and pushed her closer.


    "E-excuse me b-but...would you like...t-to go out with m-me?" The girl said, finally speaking up in a quiet and flustered tone. Jordan inhaled before smiling at the girl kindly, his serving face back on.


    "Hell no."


    The girl, her friends and the rest of the people in the line felt their jaws drop to the ground. Jordan kept smiling for a moment before a heavy fist collided with the top of his head, his face flying forward into the counter, his uncle''s angered voice echoing throughout the street.


    "THAT''S NOT HOW YOU TALK TO CUSTOMERS YOU LITTLE SHIT!"


    Jordan looked up at his uncle, scowling with teary eyes, "THOSE GIRLS WERE TAKING THE PISS OUT OF ME! YOU SHOULDA SEEN IT YOU BLIND OLD BAT!"


    His uncle struck his nephew''s head once more, his face colliding with the counter once more, "THAT DOESN''T MATTER! GET BACK TO WORK!"


    The girl seemed to be in tears as her friend''s comforted her, the group glaring at Jordan, their gazes piercing through him. As this was all occurring, three figures seemed to be approaching from the direction of the manor house''s.


    A female but also mature sounding voice spoke up, "Now now girl''s, no need to waste your time with that failure."


    Eventually, the three figures were visible. An old looking lady wearing a fancy purple dress, and dark purple hat stood with her crocodile skin handbag. Her horrid looking makeup did not seem to do her withering face any justice whatsoever, making both Jordan and his Uncle cringe at the sight of her. On her left and right were her towering twin son''s, both wearing similar basic clothing that a noble would wear. However, it was obvious that both were rather muscular under their clothing. One had his curly black hair covering his eyes, so his expression was not completely visible, whilst the other had dyed his hair blond and spiked it up to look more appealing.


    "My son''s are much more worth your time. Compared to that failed Voyager who''ll never match to his friend or father."


    Jordan scowled at the old lady who was looking his way with a rather sinister and mocking grin. The girls who were in the line quickly crowded the two boy''s, asking them tons of questions as both boys were eventually dragged away by the girls towards the inner town, seemingly to enjoy their company.


    "To what do we owe the pleasure Miss Lionheart?" Jordan''s uncle said, stepping away from his work for a moment, wiping his soot covered hands down with a cloth.This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    Miss Lionheart walked forwards with her money loving smirk on her face, heading towards the counter which Jordan was standing at, poking at his head repeatedly once she was right in front of him, "Just going on a stroll with my sons, dear Abe. It pains me to have to see you still have to deal with this little trouble maker."


    Jordan kissed his teeth as a shadow suddenly loomed over the counter, a person now standing next to Miss Lionheart. He looked up to see the son with dark hair covering his eyes, his expression still practically unreadable. However, Jordan was a little confused at the sight of him. Hadn''t this boy just left with his brother and those group of girls?


    He seemed to tilt his head to face Jordan, before turning towards his mom, "Mother. This is the boy who has brought you such pain?"


    Miss Lionheart instantly put a hand to her head and leaned on the counter of the blacksmith stall, as though she was in extreme pain and mental torture, "Yes Michael! He''s the one who tried to follow after your older sibling and drag them down to failure with him!"


    "Oi, old bag. What in the hell are you talking about? You know we were close fri-"


    Before Jordan could finish his case, a hand grabbed the top of his head, squeezing it tightly, seemingly attempting to crush his skull. Michael had incredible forearm strength, his muscles and veins bulging as he tried to lift Jordan up. However, to Michael''s surprise, Jordan grabbed his arm squeezing it tightly to prevent Michael from lifting him up into the air. Any regular person would have had their head crushed by the force of a body built from magical item usage, however Jordan wasn''t regular. He had been training his body since he was a kid with Michael''s older sister, a much more ferocious and powerful individual.


    "You think your magic gem modified body matches up to the real thing?"


    Jordan completely overpowered Michael, moving his hand away and striking his chest with an open palm, sending the emotionless boy back. However, now, Michael had a sort of impressed smile on his face, rubbing his chest and wrist which had been hurt by Jordan''s pure physical force.


    "You filthy brat!" Miss Lionheart screamed out after witnessing this exchange, swinging her bag towards Jordan. The attack was quickly stopped by Abe.


    "Old man. I didn''t tell you to step in..." Jordan began before seeing his Uncle calmly turn to him.


    "Go for a walk Jordan. I''ll talk with them for now."


    Jordan quickly realised his Uncle''s intentions. After throwing off his work apron and hopping over the counter, Jordan ran towards the centre of the village, taking the path leading towards the forest to go and do something else whilst his Uncle talked with the Lionheart''s.


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    "345...346..."


    Jordan let out a long sigh before dropping down from the rather tough and thick branch he was using to do pull-ups. He sat and chugged from his flask of water, wiping the sweat from his face and chiselled body. Jordan peered around him before gazing up at the sky which was now dark but littered with stars and the crescent moon. He look towards the path beyond the trees and bushes blocking his path, the sound of voices and excitement echoing from the bustling town. No one had followed him so he came to the conclusion that he had not been followed. Jordan sat back once more, looking up at the sky again, thoughts of his childhood friend and child of Miss Lionheart began to fill his empty mind.


    "How are you doing? What are you doing? Are you eating enough? Do you enjoy being a Voyager?"


    All these questions bounced around his skull as the cold air began to slowly settle in on his body. Jordan shivered a little, throwing on his white shirt once more before standing, deciding to head on home and make a stop by his favourite sandwich place. He picked up his now empty water flask and pushed his way through the greenery, heading towards the pathway that lead back to the town fountain.


    Suddenly, a huge gust of wind came howling from behind Jordan, knocking him down to the ground. He scrambled forward so he could turn and face what had hit him. All he could see however was the trees and bushes around him moving with the winds that came from deep within the pitch black forest. The wind did not stop howling, almost sounding like an injured and weakened beast. It was beyond disturbing, and sent shivers down Jordan''s spine. He wondered whether or not a storm had hit the island from the coast at the end of the forest, but as the thought came, it was quickly ignored by the coming event.


    The ground beneath the island began to shake vigorously, cracks forming on the dirt beneath Jordan as rubble, rocks and dirt was shot up into the air, forcing him to scramble for his own safety. The town on the other hand, was in chaos as buildings were crumbling down, stalls were being destroyed by rubble, and the ground was being split apart. Eventually, the powerful tremors subsided, calm washing over the island, however the destruction was horrific.


    Jordan found himself clinging for dear life on a tree which was extremely close to falling and crashing down on of the more deeper cracks formed into the island. The tree slowly began to lose its grip to the surface, leaning closer to falling down the humongous gap in the earth. Jordan began to climb quickly, jumping from the tree to the side of the crack, lifting himself up to safety. He turned and watched as the tree fell deep into the dark abyss below.


    Jordan panted and fell on his back, forcing himself to try and calm down his breathing but it was nearly impossible due to that brief exchange with death, "Holy shit...holy shit...fuck...is gramps okay?"


    He quickly sat up, looking around for a way to get back home without falling down this gigantic hole in the ground, eventually coming to the conclusion that there was just no way to get across.


    "Fuck...if only I had a Constellation...UGH!", Jordan shook his head, slapping himself in the face, telling himself not to think so pathetically.


    He took one last peek over the edge of the deep crack in the ground before sighing out once more, mentally preparing himself to try and jump over. Once he was about to go for his leap, a loud high pitched scream echoed from deep within the forest, shaking Jordan a little, stopping him from following through with his plan. Instead he turned around, slightly intrigued, and walked towards the sounds of what seemed to be metal hitting a hard object, coupled with the sound of screaming.


    Out of nowhere, a short figure wearing a tattered black cloak while carrying a cloaked long looking object came flying from a bush, slamming into Jordan''s stomach, knocking him to the ground and the air straight out of him. Struggling for breath he''d reach for the figure in anger, throwing their hood off.


    Much to Jordan''s surprise, what he was witnessing was not the young child he was expecting, but a teary eyed frightened looking baby Penguin. It continued to clutch the long item in it''s arms tightly before pointing its flipper towards the bush it came flying out of. Three scaly looking lizard men immerged from the direction the Penguin was pointing, their tongues drooping out of their mouths, drool dripping animalistically as they all held spiky wooden bats. All three however, seemed to be wearing rather casual and adventurous clothing, which piqued Jordan''s interest to some degree.


    His attention was quickly grabbed as the Penguin began speaking while sniffling uncontrollably, "Sir, you''ve got to help me! They''re trying to kill me!"


    Jordan stood up, confused, very shaken up at the events that had occurred throughout the day, and unsure about the current situation. Maybe the Penguin was a flesh eating monster that grew to a hundred feet and these lizards were doing the town a favour? Or maybe the little Penguin was a thief and that thing it was holding was what the Lizardmen were truly after?


    Regardless of that, Jordan took a bet and dashed at one of the creature''s, jumping into the air before slamming both of his feet into its chest. It was sent sprawling into a bush, it''s grip on the weapon weakening as it was dropped to the ground.


    Before the other''s could react, Jordan quickly picked up the spiky bat of the Lizardman he had just struck, and swung it at the second one which was now making an attempt to attack him. The spikes of the bat collided with the second Lizardman''s face, blood spilling everywhere as it was either killed or completely knocked unconscious. The third and final Lizardman was face with the choice of certain defeat or escape.


    It wisely chose to turn tail and run, but as Jordan sighed with relief, thinking that the job was done, the Penguin spoke up, "CHASE AFTER HIM, HE''LL CALL HIS FRIENDS!"


    Jordan kissed his teeth and grabbed the Penguin by the back of it''s cloak, dashing in the direction the Lizardman went running. After a few minutes of chasing after the creature, Jordan thought he could see a clearing as the amount of trees and bushes began to die down. However, he quickly stopped himself before falling over what seemed to be a cliffside, dirt and rock falling from where his foot stopped. Jordan''s eyes widened at the sight that befell his eyes.


    A crater had been formed deep in the island''s forest, with an ancient ruined city in the middle that the Lizardman was sliding down the edge''s of the crater towards. It was as though the ground around had been dug for countless years to discover this. The city seemed as though it was glowing with a mix of purple, pink and light blue aura, making it look absolutely mythical. Jordan quickly came to the conclusion that this must have been what caused the tremors across the island, but at the same time he remembered the details of this phenomenon from fairy tales he''d read when he was younger.


    Surfacing Dungeons.

 2- The Surfaced Dungeon (1)

    Dungeons have existed across the world for thousands of years, providing Adventurer''s and Voyager''s with the perfect opportunity to get stronger, gain power, and achieve vast amounts of wealth. However, with a high reward, must also come a high risk. Dungeons contain powerful beasts, traps, and highly dangerous environments, forcing those who dare to enter them to go through many trials and tribulations before reaching their goal at the end of the Dungeon. Even now, it is rare to find someone who has escaped from a Dungeon and succeeded unscathed...


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    With the little Penguin now safely wrapped onto Jordan''s shoulder, the two now made their way down to the dimly illuminated ruins in the centre. Of course, Jordan had his assumptions of what this could be, considering all the signs that had been laid before him, consisting of a small talking penguin and walking Lizards. The basic description of dungeons vaguely crossed Jordan''s mind, but the shear fact that something as rare as a surfacing dungeon, dungeons which would surface from deep in the ground after laying dormant for thousands of years, would appear on this bland and tedious island surprised Jordan a little.


    Jordan began before he was quickly cut off, "Hey Penguin--"


    "My name isn''t Penguin!" The little thing piped up, "It''s Cookie, and I''m a male if you were wondering!"


    Jordan stayed silent for a moment, his face not visible at all to Cookie as he stifled a laugh after hearing his name and high pitched voice again, "Right, Cookie. Could you tell me exactly what''s going on?"


    "Easy! I was...They were...I was going to...I got this thing and then...Uuuuh..."


    Jordan kept walking towards the destroyed and withered buildings, until eventually they were deep into the ruins, the same mythical energy they had seen from atop the edge''s of the crater surrounding them, "So what you''re telling me is, you have absolutely no clue?"


    "Pretty much...haha." Cookie said quietly, laughing a little to himself.


    It seemed as though Cookie wasn''t going to be of any help here, and besides his own intriguing feelings towards this place, Jordan could not help but worry for his Uncle back at the town. Regardless, he pushed the thought away, unable to imagine his fierce and strong Uncle hurt or damaged in any way. However, Jordan did wonder if their home or blacksmith shop survived the severe tremors that came from this surfacing dungeon.


    As the two continued forwards, Jordan kept inspecting the different structures covered in dirt and moss. The buildings looking withered away, as though their former glory had vanished with the passing of time.


    "How old is this place?" Jordan asked, wondering if Cookie came with the dungeon.


    "I''m not sure. Definitely thousands of years old for sure."


    "Hmph. Hey Cookie?"


    "Yes?"


    "Why can you talk?"


    There was a long and stretched silence between the two before Jordan spoke once more, stopping in his tracks, "I''m going to need you to answer me Cookie."


    "W-what do you mean?" Cookie stuttered, slightly worried for his safety at Jordan''s sudden change in tone.


    Jordan dropped Cookie from his back, crouching down and glaring at the trembling little Penguin, "Please tell me you aren''t a flesh eating monster."


    Cookie lunged forward, slapping Jordan across the face with his flippers repeatedly, "IM NOT A FRIGGIN FLESH EATIN'' MONSTER! I JUST APPEARED HERE WITH THOSE THINGS CHASING AFTER ME!"


    Jordan had to fight for his life before grabbing and pushing Cookie away, "OKAY! OKAY! I''M SORRY!"


    Cookie sighed disappointedly, somewhat expecting Jordan to have done something more drastic than ask a ridiculous question before hopping out of Jordan''s grasp, storming forwards and deeper into the ruins, "Follow me. I came crawling up from a hole somewhere around here. I''ll tell you that I only have memory from when someone gave me this covered thing, to when those Lizard monsters chased me away. Nothing other than that."


    Jordan decided to follow, concluding that asking any more questions was not going to benefit him. Mostly because he genuinely had faith that Cookie was telling him the truth. Suddenly, Cookie''s waddling came to a halt, Jordan stopping in his tracks as well. The Penguin seemed to be looking directly towards a rather large hole in the middle of the ruins.


    "Th-that''s where I came crawling from." Cookie said, pointing his flipper directly towards the hole.


    Jordan instantly assumed that it must be the entrance to the dungeon below these ruins, making his way past Cookie and towards the edge of the hole, taking a look down to see how deep it was. Instead, his eyes were met with pitch black darkness, the depth of this hole completely unidentifiable.


    "Hey Cookie. Do you remember how deep it was?" Jordan asked, turning to look back at Cookie who seemed a little unsure about how close he should get to the hole.


    Cookie fidgeted a little, "No, I''m sorry. I was just running without looking back!"


    Jordan sighed, a smile of disbelief creeping onto his face, "Then how the hell d''you crawl your way up from this hole...Fuck it I''m jumping in!"


    Before Cookie could reach his flipper forward and yell out in protest, Jordan had already sat on the edge of the hole and launched himself down, the air rushing past his body and face as he tried to grip to the wall, the skin on his hands peeling. Realising this was an unfathomably long drop, Jordan panicked and lunged his feet up to the wall opposite him, using both his legs and upper body to slow down his descent. His hands were now bloodied and peeled, but the feeling and rush of adrenaline he had just felt


    Eventually, his descent slowed down and he peered down. To his surprise, he could see the ground at the end of the hole due to a dim flickering light illuminating what seemed to be stone floor. He let his grip go as he fell for a short moment before landing safely on his feet, crawling away from the hole just in case Cookie came flying down himself. Jordan sat down, looking at his hands and arms which were bloodied and peeled from his attempt to slow down his descent. He reached back and could tell his entire shirt from behind was torn from how he had to lean his back on the wall as well while falling for extra support in slowing down the drop.The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    "Fuck...it hurts." He winced a little in pain, until he could hear an echoed scream coming from within the hole, "Ah shit COOKIE!"


    Jordan scrambled towards the end of the hole once more, looking up only to see Cookie''s backside heading straight for his face. The collision was soft but also carried a lot of force, sending both of them sprawling onto the ground as Cookie bounced off of Jordan''s face, serving him a safer landing than the solid ground.


    "UWAAAAAH! JORDAAAAN! THANK YOUUU!", cried Cookie as he crawled over to Jordan, holding onto his trouser leg.


    Jordan stared up at the ceiling for a moment with a blank expression, cursing his decisions throughout the day before sitting up and rubbing his face, "Don''t mention it."


    The two began to make their way down the only path way granted by this stone room. Jordan reached for the torch that had been placed onto the wall and was illuminating the room they had fell in, so that navigation through the dungeon would be much more clear and simple. Eventually, the long stone hallway came to an end as they were greeted by a massive open grassy field with rivers running through, surrounded by four humongous stone walls. Both Jordan and Cookie seemed to be standing in a hole for one of the walls that had a staircase leading down to the grassy layer below. Cookie looked up, able to see exactly where the towering walls came to an end, his eyes sparkling with wonder. Jordan was the exact same but more due to the fact he was comparing his surroundings to a level in video games he''d play on his Gem64.


    While they looked up, they witnessed two moons, one silver like the one people on Earth were familiar to, and the other a dim red, the sky littered with millions of stars. It felt as though Jordan had just been dragged into a completely different dimension simply due to just entering the dungeon. This was all just extremely unknown and spectacular to him, to the point where he had to calm his breathing and excitement. He was finally experiencing one of the things he had always dreamt of.


    "Psst, Jordan."


    The pink haired daydreamer was quickly brought back to reality as Cookie tugged at his trouser leg, pointing his flipper towards the centre of the grassy fields. Jordan turned towards where Cookie was pointing, seeing a band of Lizardmen around a campfire. Another Lizardman seemed to be running towards them, stumbling around a bit as though he was in a panic.


    "So that must be the one that got away." Jordan said.


    Cookie hurriedly began to drag Jordan down the stone staircase leading towards the grassy field, "If they catch us up here, we''re finished!"


    Once they had reached the grassy field, Cookie shoved the both of them into a nearby bush. Jordan peeked out of the top and saw both the Lizardman he had chased and two of his friends charging towards the staircase, eventually completely passing by both Cookie and him, and making their way up the stone staircase towards the dungeon entrance.


    "Phew...That leaves two at the campfire. You can handle them right Jordan?" Cookie asked, turning to Jordan with wide sparkling eyes.


    Jordan felt a wave of intrusive thoughts, begging him to just hand Cookie over to the Lizardmen as their dinner but he shook his head, "Yeah."


    The two snuck out of their hiding spots in the bush, sneaking around the small hilltop with extra care and entering a bush close to the campfire spot the Lizardmen had set up. The two creatures seemed to be conversing about something and laughing in what sounded like complete babble or gibberish to Jordan.


    "Hey Cookie let''s just attack. Cookie?"


    Jordan turned to see Cookie''s eyes wide and his jaw completely dropped as though he was in complete shock, "Th-they said...they''re gonna find me...a-and eat meee!"


    Cookie burst into tears, crying uncontrollably as Jordan grabbed him, covering his mouth to stop him from alerting the two Lizardmen. Eventually, Cookie stopped struggling and looked up at Jordan.


    "I''m sorry..."


    Jordan sighed and smiled, "Its okay. You want to get this started then?"


    Cookie smiled brightly back up at Jordan, "Yeah I''m re--"


    The Penguin felt his entire body go flying through the air as he soared for a moment, landing face first front of both talking Lizardmen. They both looked at Cookie and back at each other with vicious, sinister grins, standing and reaching for the wooden spiked bats. Cookie could not believe it, Jordan had pretty much just given him up in the worst situation possible. The little Penguin covered his teary eyes with his trembling flippers, certain of his death until a huge thud was heard. Cookie peeked from one of his eyes seeing Jordan had killed the Lizardman that had its back turned to the bush with one swift and unexpected strike using the spiked bat he had stolen earlier in the forest.


    Before the Penguin could even say anything, Jordan grabbed him out of the way of an attack from the second and final Lizardman that seemed extremely wary and cautious now of Jordan''s presence. It quickly dashed forwards, swinging down at Jordan, who swiftly dodged out of the way. Jordan in response swung directly at the Lizardman, who also dodged backwards with relative ease.


    "This isn''t going to be as easy as the other''s. You advanced or something?"


    The Lizardman tilted its head and laughed maniacally. Before Jordan could attack again, Cookie called out to him, pulling back the covers of the long item he had been carrying.


    "Please Jordan! Use this instead!"


    Jordan turned his head and saw a sheathed sword land at his feet. He quickly dropped the spiky bat he had been carrying and looked at the sword for a split second before he was forced to dodge another attack from the Lizardman. This time however, whilst dodging, Jordan swung his foot at the back of the Lizardman''s knee, knocking him off his balance, ultimately providing Jordan the time to inspect the weapon Cookie had just thrown to him. He quickly unsheathed it in anticipation of how the weapon would look like. It seemed to be a silver sword, one with a non-glowing orange gem connected to its platinum sparkling hilt.


    The Lizardman turned to Jordan once more, still confident in his own capabilities as it lunged into the air, doing a forward roll a few times to gain some velocity before yelling out in gibberish.


    Cookie piped up, "HE--HE SAYS SPECIAL SPINNING BATON!"


    "Huh? I don''t give a shit." Jordan jumped up, going to use this sword for the first time.


    Right as he was going to swing his blade horizontally at the spinning Lizard, the gem connected to the hilt began to glow bright orange, coating the entire blade in a sort of bright energy. Jordan swung the blade as hard as he could, wind blasting everywhere as the two clashed with each other, sparks of orange flying everywhere as the Lizardman''s weapon along with his body was split directly in half.


    Cookie sat back in awe as Jordan landed, looking at the illuminated orange gem, the whirring sound emanating from it came to an end, dimming along with the orange energy surrounding the blade and gem. The Penguin felt tears rush to his eyes as he scrambled over to Jordan, diving into his arms.


    "DON''T PULL THAT KIND OF STUNT AGAIN! I''LL SERIOUSLY KILL YOU!"


    Jordan laughed and held off Cookie''s flipper slaps while sheathing his blade, connecting it to his belt, "Hahaha! I''m sorry...I''m really sorry I did that okay? Next time you can use me as bait."


    Cookie clung tightly to Jordan, already feeling incredibly attached as the pink haired boy stood up, allowing Cookie to be carried in his arms for now. Right as Jordan was going to comfort the crying baby Penguin, he felt the ground beneath him disappear. The two began to fall once more, Cookie''s voice echoing out in despair of having to fall once more, and Jordan''s thoughts drifting off to how comfy his bed would feel right about now.


    Jordan couldn''t imagine having to protect himself here like before due to the presence of Cookie. So instead, he wrapped his arms tightly around Cookie, turning himself into a ball, bracing himself for impact. However this time, the two landed in a small but shallow enough pool of water to provide some level of cushioning for Jordan. As he let go of Cookie, Jordan panted and let out a long sigh of relief having expected his life to come to an end. After getting over his scars aching from falling down the first hole and the thought of dying just now, he heard Cookie speak up.


    "This must be the second layer of the Dungeon. I remember the Lizard folk only speaking of three layers at the campfire, so only one more after this Jordan! Fame and fortune awaits."


    Jordan smiled a little to himself, sighing before following after the baby penguin, who seemed to have changed his tune rather quickly from the crying, sprawling mess from earlier. The tunnel they were now in was once again dimly lit by one torch which Jordan took with him, but was also filled with a shallow amount of water reaching up to Cookie''s waist and Jordan''s boots. Neither of the two could imagine what waited for them at the end of this murky dripping stone passage, but were extremely anticipating the reward at the end.


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    "Sigh...I''m tired of this body."

 3- The Surfaced Dungeon (2)

    The pathway was significantly longer and more mysterious compared to the one leading to the first layer of the dungeon. However, eventually both Jordan and Cookie could see light up ahead, signalling that this layer most likely displayed a more bright and daytime like environment. Once they reached the end of the passage, there was once again a long stone staircase leading downwards towards the ground of this layer, but from where the duo stood they could see nothing but the top of trees that continued on for a long while. The distance between the stone walls encasing this layer seemed to be a lot larger compared to the more compact first layer.


    "Woah...Its just pure jungle out here." Cookie said, raising a flipper over his eyes, trying to see further without the sun covering his face.


    Jordan looked up to see a clear blue sky, and the sun''s heat battering down. It seemed as though dungeons were truly spectacular since each level was like a completely different dimension compared to the last.


    Suddenly, something caught Cookie''s eye as he kept scanning the top of the trees from their vantage point. Smoke seemed to be rising directly north from where they were, and the smell of cooking meat on the air wafted up Cookie''s nose.


    "I can see some smoke, and I can smell something cooking on the air. Maybe that''s where your enemies are for this layer?"


    Jordan nodded, following Cookie down the stone steps, the two touching down on the soil of this jungle layer, traversing forward into the trees and bushes ahead. They walked ahead with a goal in mind at the very least to reach whoever was making that smoke rise, and what was cooking. Jordan unsheathed his blade, cutting away at any huge leaves that blocked their path, while Cookie seemed to lead the way at times, his nose proving to be a very useful guide in this environment. On the other hand, in terms of physical wellbeing, Jordan''s shirt was still torn from the back, but his scratches and torn skin had fully healed. He assumed it was a light reward from the magical dungeon for clearing the first stage. In Cookie''s case, he was still rather shaken up from being used as bait before, but also felt extremely dizzy from the heat, his body not built to survive in these types of climates.


    Jordan noticed and stopped Cookie, "You okay? I can carry you on my shoulder instead. You don''t weigh much after all."


    "Thank you so much!" Cookie exclaimed, nodding quickly at the offer presented to him.


    Jordan lifted the Penguin up onto his shoulders, keeping him there as it gave him orders on which exact paths to take in this jungle. The boy looked up to the sky after what felt like hours, the sun still glaring down at him and his little compatriot. He yearned for the feeling of water on his tongue, or even something sweet like cake. Jordan''s mind began to drift off towards the slice of cake his Uncle had left in the fridge two nights prior, its velvety texture making him wonder if he should have even come here at all.


    His fantasies were quickly stripped from him as Cookie whispered both extremely quietly and urgently, "Get down. We''re here!"


    Jordan duck, letting Cookie hop off his shoulder so the two could hide in the overgrown bushes surrounding this small open part of the jungle. What laid before them seemed to be four humanoid figures, dancing around what seemed to be another figure roasting on an open fire. Jordan''s eyes widened, his jaw dropping in shock as he realised what exactly was occurring here. Four rather large white chimpanzee''s, all wearing armour and carrying mace''s were dancing around what seemed to be the corpse of a small dark Monkey being spit roasted.


    "So Ape''s are eating other Ape''s here..." Cookie whispered, jittering a little at the sight.


    Jordan grumbled to himself at the sight of the Chimpanzee''s. It was said in books that Jordan read in his earlier days of school that Chimps were physically stronger than human''s and much more brutal. The idea of facing off against four of them was frightening to say the least, but he had already come all this way. Turning back now without reaching the end of this Dungeon was out of the question.


    Cookie on the other hand felt deep in his core that these Chimpanzee''s were much more brutal and animalistic than even the Lizardmen on the layer above. He shivered a bit, rubbing his flipper''s together due to the uneasy emotions clouding his mind, as he turned to Jordan, he was stunned to see his pink-haired companion was nowhere to be seen. Cookie quickly whipped his head back towards the Chimp''s from his position in the bushes and saw Jordan standing there, unsheathing his blade.


    The edge of his sword gleamed under the sun which glittered across the entire Jungle. The heat continuously beating down on Jordan as his tightened his grip on the blade, his entire body sweating as he panted a little from fatigue. All four Chimps instantaneously stopped their dance around the fire, facing Jordan due to his sudden appearance. They grinned and cackled sinisterly amongst each other, all reaching for their hand axe''s, slamming the back of their weapon''s against their own armour as a way to intimidate Jordan. However, much to their dismay, the boy didn''t budge, extremely driven on completing this Dungeon that was beginning to irritate him to some degree.


    One of the Chimp''s instantly lunged at Jordan, swinging it''s hand axe horizontally. Jordan dodged under the attack, bringing his hand to the ground as he whipped his body around, slamming the back of his foot onto the side of the Chimp''s lower leg. It was knocked of off it''s balance slightly, glaring down at Jordan, it''s eyes suddenly widening to see his supposed dinner had disappeared. The boy had slipped under the Chimp''s leg''s, his goal being to both force it to spread it''s stance, allowing him to go under it''s leg''s, and to knock it off balance. It looked around for a moment, turning around at the wrong moment as it''s face was split in half by an overhead slash from Jordan''s blade.


    In the overgrown bushes nearby, Cookie had his flippers over his mouth, stunned by the display of strength shown by Jordan.


    "I used to fight animals like you all the time in the forest at home." The silhouette of an individual flickered in Jordan''s mind before he turned his attention back to the other three Chimp''s in front of him, "Give me your best. This is a great training ground for me!"


    The other Chimpanzee''s looked infuriated, all tightening their grips, slamming their weapon''s against each other''s armour and crying out as though they were charging into war. They all dashed at Jordan, a murderous and savage look gleaming in each of their eyes. Their attacks were relentless as Jordan was forced on the defensive, constantly bobbing and weaving attacks that rained on him from the right, left, above, and even below him. He suddenly parried an overhead slash from one of the Chimp''s hand axe''s, but was kicked from behind by the other, sending him rolling and tumbling into a tree. His back slammed into the bark, his injuries from before reopening regardless of the healing prize granted by the first layer of the dungeon.Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.


    "F-fuck...I don''t wanna die." Jordan stuttered, trembling up as his grip only tightened more around his weapon, the trio of Chimp''s walking slowly towards him to allow the factor of fear to set in. After all, prey always tasted better if they gave themselves up.


    The air slowly began to grow even hotter in the vicinity as a ball of flames came flying from beyond some bushes, slamming one of the approaching Chimpanzee''s in the face, the creature falling to the ground, writhing around in pain as the other two along with Jordan cocked their heads to the direction the attack came from. Cookie stepped out with tears in his, aiming his flippers forwards, an orange glow surrounding his arms.


    "I''ll support yo-you Jordan! Do your best!" Cookie screams.


    The penguin''s cries motivated Jordan to dash forward with his blade, impaling the inflamed Chimp on the ground directly in it''s neck. One of the last two was running towards Cookie, who was yelling and continuously launching fireballs from his glowing flippers at the Chimp chasing him. It was a surprise to Jordan that Cookie could use magic in some form, considering it was widely stated that only human''s or humanoid''s could properly control the output of their magic.


    "So it''s just me and you. Alone, you filthy Chimp''s aren''t anything special." Jordan grinned, pulling his blade out of the charred Chimp''s neck, walking towards the one standing before him.


    The Chimp facing Jordan lunged at him, flailing it''s hand axe around frantically. Jordan on the other hand dodged with ease, the thought of Cookie being caught and eaten alive lingering in his mind. He himself knew that finishing this fight quickly and helping Cookie out was the most important thing. The Chimp swung it''s hand axe from Jordan''s left forcing him to parry the attack. The Chimp''s arm''s flew back from the strength behind the parry, leaving itself wide open. Jordan took the opportunity to slash at the Chimp''s head, slicing it in half horizontally, it''s body flopping onto the ground lifeless. This allowed for Jordan to now clearly see Cookie''s struggling body being lifted up by the final Chimpanzee, a sinister grin on it''s face as it leaned in to take a ferocious bite out of Cookie''s face.


    Jordan, without time to think, was forced to throw his weapon from afar to alert the bloodthirsty Chimp of his presence, incapable of reaching Cookie in time from where he stood. The blade soared through the air, eventually piercing the final Chimpanzee directly in the temple, pinning it''s head to the tree to it''s right.


    Cookie screamed in pure fear and terror as he fell to the ground from the limp animal''s grasp, instantly waddling over to Jordan and hiding behind his leg.


    "A-are they all gone!?" Stuttered the small frightened penguin.


    Jordan sighed and walked over to where his sword was stuck, yanking it out of the lifeless Chimp''s head, blood staining its edge''s. He wiped the blood on the corpse''s fur, sheathing his blade once more before taking a seat. Cookie waddled over, nervously looking at Jordan''s injuries.


    "Cookie. You can use magic?" Jordan started, rubbing his arm slightly.


    "Yeah! I''ve always known magic from what my body''s telling me. I don''t remember much from before you found me being chased, but I do have a lot of knowledge."


    Jordan raised an eyebrow as he stood, realising his wounds and fatigue from this layer were fading due to the layer possibly being cleared, "What does that mean?"


    "I don''t know...I don''t have memories of my experiences but I have a lot of knowledge on specific topics."


    Jordan looked at Cookie for a moment, realising the struggling expression on the penguin''s face before sighing, "It''s fine. I was just healed up, so this layer must be over."


    Suddenly, the ground around them began to shake, tremors forcing the trees, bushes and everything to shake furiously. Jordan quickly picked up Cookie to make sure he didn''t go falling to his death through any cracks. The floor where the spit roasting monkey slowly began to move to the side as though it was a door leading to an underground passage. The tremors came to an end and Cookie pointed towards the opening part of the ground which was shaped in a perfect square, blending perfectly into the ground.


    "Look. It seems the Dungeon was designed to open this passage once we cleared out the Chimp''s."


    Jordan slowly walked over, gulping nervously, worried that he''d have to jump down a dark hole once more. He had a feeling the landing wouldn''t be so kind to him or Cookie this time around. However, once he opened his eyes and peered over properly, he saw stone steps and stone walls lit with torches leading downwards. He internally cheered, and heard Cookie sigh with relief. The penguin must have been thinking the exact same thing as him.


    The duo looked at each other and nodded nervously, making their way down this passage, the flames lit along with wall''s flickering with each step Jordan took. Cookie stayed on the boy''s shoulder, clinging and peering around every now and then. Once they reached the bottom, the unlit flames around the dark stone room they were in began to light up one at a time in a linear fashion. All around them there were skulls, bones, tattered clothing, destroyed armour and weapons of previous individual''s who had either been defeated, or consumed by the beast which lay dormant in this layer.


    The final torches in this room lit up as a large white gorilla with glowing orange eyes, hopped down from its humongous throne made of sticks, moss, dirt and stone. The Gorilla itself looked to be around ten feet tall, towering above the duo. It reached for its weapon, the armour it was wearing rattling with each of it''s movements. The weapon it had picked up seemed to be a rather well crafted stone bat covered in dirt and a pile of dried blood from previous battles. It banged the weapon on the ground repeatedly before roaring at both Cookie and Jordan.


    Jordan unsheathed his blade, turning to Cookie, "You reckon this is the boss of the Dungeon?"


    "Seems so. H-He must be the boss of those Chimpanzee''s we fought up there. Judging by all the corpse''s here...It might even be the boss of this entire Dungeon!" Cookie said, cowering slightly while clinging to Jordan''s back, looking over his shoulder.


    "Alright. Well I can''t go home unless I conquer this filthy Ape. Smells like shit and death down here too, so I''ll be relying on you for support Cookie!"


    Cookie nodded frantically, his heart beating fast as his flippers began to glow with a mythical orange glow, tiny flames appearing. He knew facing such a beast was terrifying, but Jordan was relying on him, and he couldn''t let the man who saved him multiple times down.


    Jordan dashed forward, jumping into the air using his developed muscle strength to slash at the Gorilla''s hand which held it''s weapon. It however, was not going to stand there and allow this to happen. The white furred Gorilla lifted his arm up quickly, moving his arm away from Jordan''s attack before going to slam the stone bat down on both of his assailant''s. With a roar, he felt as though he had already defeated them both with this incoming blow, when suddenly, a ball of fire came streaming out from behind Jordan. He had not anticipated that there would be a magic user amongst the duo, his attack stopping as he tripped on his own feet, falling onto the throne behind him with full force, the entire seat crashing and breaking apart. He writhed and wriggled in pain as one side of his face had been charred and burned to a crisp by the


    "Beautiful work Cookie!" Jordan yelled, sighing relief that the attack aimed at him was stopped.


    Cookie smiled and giggled bashfully at Jordan''s compliment before aiming his flipper''s once more, the dust around the fallen and burned Gorilla clearing up.


    .


    .


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    "Oh? New challengers who were able to topple this tub of lard? I''m interested..."