The Mishaps Of Kusuo Saiki And Various Other Less Important Characters

Dungeons and Dragons pt. 2

"Guys, it's really hard to see in here."

How are you alive..

Nendou wiggled around inside the gelatinous cube, which was no longer moving. He didn't seem to be affected by it in any way.

"He's not taking any damage? What's that?" Aren was perplexed. 

"Must have been that mushroom."

"That's bull."

[It was the mushroom.]

"No way, I don't even remember him picking up the mushroom."

[It was the mushroom. Move on. You can either leave him in the cube to die forever or try to save him, but you'll take damage.]

Die forever?

[YES.]

Look, Nendou dropped his javelin. 

Saiki scooted toward Nendou's weapon and used his mouth to pick it up, struggling for a good while (whacking Aren in the head a few times on accident) but eventually cutting Aren's ropes off with the end. Aren stood and approached the motionless cube.

Hey, untie me first.

"I've gotta help Nendou, what happens if he starts taking damage?"

IT WON'T TAKE THAT LONG, UNTIE ME.

Aren obeyed, once again approaching the cube when he finished untying Saiki.

"Do you have any spells that can protect me from this thing?"

Um. I can do Spare the Dying. 

"You're a necromancer now? When did that happen?"

Don't question me.

Putting his hammer down, Aren reached out toward the cube. He plunged his arm into it and immediately felt his skin burning and stinging, quickly pulling it back. 

"Hey, you were supposed to pull me out." Nendou frowned at him through the jelly.

"I'm trying, nimrod." Aren recklessly reached into the cube with both arms, pulling Nendou out with a loud squish. "Holy crap."

[You have zero hit points left.]

"WHAT?"

[You just reached into a gelatinous cube twice, taking 10 damage each time. You only had 15 hit points to begin with.]

"Oh." Aren collapsed and died on the spot.

I'm pretty sure that's not how death works.

[It is now.]

Aren came back to life and fell to the ground, gasping and holding his burning arms, writhing in pain. He had sacrificed himself for Nendou, what a hero.

That's more like it.

He was just barely holding onto his life. The light in his eyes dwindled. Aren used the last bit of his energy to look up at Saiki, who stood over him, preparing to perform a spell.

I am?

[Yes, you're not just gonna let Aren die, right?!]

"I untied you.. Saiki, please, you're my last hope.."

Saiki rolled his eyes and placed a hand on one of Aren's arms, restoring his health with Spare the Dying. Aren rose and sat upright, feeling much more alive than he did two seconds ago.

"Well now that you're alive, let's get out of here," Nendou said.

The group only had one direction to go in, since the gelatinous cube blocked the other path. However, unbeknownst to them, they were only leading themselves deeper into the dungeon. The pungent aroma of rotting flesh filled their noses. 

Each of them plodded along inside the cold, dark dungeon. Their feet, already tender from their long walk in the forest, ached with each step on the stone floor. The occasional rat scurried across their path. It soon became clear that they were getting absolutely nowhere.

"There's only three of us, right?"

Yes, Nendou.

"Oh, then why do I hear four sets of footsteps?"

This remark made the party freeze in their tracks. Everyone stopped, but one pair of footsteps moved a split second after the rest of them, stopping soon after. They looked around them, but to no avail. Darkness consumed every nook and cranny of the dungeon. 

"Guys, duck," Aren whispered.

"There probably aren't any ducks in this place," Nendou said, laughing at him once again.

"No, you idiot, get down!"

Saiki pulled Nendou down by his arm, and they both crouched while Aren stayed standing. He heaved up his hammer and swung it around a couple times, feeling it just barely brush up against something and hearing a pained groan, then an unidentified object falling to the ground with a clacking noise.

"Was that one of you guys?"

No. I suggest you duck, too.

Aren ducked just as something clanged against the stone wall. Saiki was able to just barely catch a glimpse of it - a splintered and dented short sword, which had been thrown. The creature moaned and started charging toward them. Well, not charging, more like really fast limping.

Zombie. It must have gotten its hands on a weapon.

"Well, you know there's never just one..." Aren said.

They did the only thing their instincts told them to do - run. The group had no clue as to where they were going.

"Hey, I see a light!"

"Nendou, don't tell me you're dying! I knew that gelatinous cube must have hurt you somehow!-"

"No, stupid, look ahead. Maybe it's an exit."

They ran and ran towards the light with the zombie right on their heels. Aren decided to look back to see if the zombie had at least fallen back.

"HOW DID ONE ZOMBIE TURN INTO FIFTEEN?!"

You said there's never just one!

"I did say that."

"Uh, guys, the light is actually fire. And it's a dead end," Nendou pointed out. "Whoopsie."

"Nendou, if you don't get us out of this I'm roasting your head over that fire."

"Relax, Aren, this'll be a piece of cake-" Nendou said just as he was yanked back by a zombie. "HEY."

"He was dead weight anyways," Aren shrugged and kept running.

That's so cruel. I agree but it's cruel.

SUDDENLY, SAIKI WAS TACKLED BY A ZOMBIE AND THROWN TO THE GROUND. THE ZOMBIE RAISED HIS SPLINTERED SWORD, PREPARED TO ATTACK-

"Shun, shut up! I'm trying to study." Sora was standing in the doorway, seething with frustration. "You and your friends are so loud."

"SHUN, IT'S TIME FOR DINNER, COME EAT AND BRING YOUR FRIENDS. PAUSE YOUR NERD GAME," Kaidou's mom yelled from the other room.

"And just as Saiki was about to be killed.. we'll continue this later. COMING, MOM."