The Fall of Babel

There is no feat worth telling

It was not usual to bear this thought for so long without considering what is best for me, but among many other things, such as handing over the keys to my soul to death in exchange for not suffering what others have already experienced when passing through the same path, it puts me in a situation that is not enviable for anyone. I had decided to enter since I arrived at the Dungeon City with the eagerness of a dreamer who had left his homeland behind, to go and help someone. Even with the warnings and without the permission of the local authority, I sneaked in there to see and feel the experience of what the Dungeon is like without first noticing the priority of my arrival. Or that was just a part of what I could use to justify myself in case they catch me once I get out of this hell and the Tower; Babel, which acts as an entrance and exit between Orario and the world with the nest of monsters that they commonly call: The Dungeon.

"If only you knew how complicated all this is, Illia... How complicated this place is, woman, what more could I say than that this is not as you described it..."

Unprotected by the Falna, or without the grace of a god in the bowels of this underworld I find myself. I often ask myself in my heart, in the depths of my already troubled heart, if I really cared about the consequences if I failed to find what brought me here in the first place; that is, the reason for all this reckless and unconscious sacrifice for a supposed help to my disadvantage.

"How will I get back once I have it in my hands?" I debated. "... It's one thing to get in, and another to get out. Considering the anecdotes of adventurers when they talk about returning to Babel, they always mention that it's very common to have more encounters with the beasts when they return from their expeditions in the Dungeon than when they go there to do what they do; it's something I must take into account."

But once inside I had to focus only on observing and evading, since the important thing was to arrive at the right place at the right time so that all this would be worth it despite the incessant fear of knowing if I would return.

"There is no better adventure for an explorer" without a license to back him up "than to go into caves that are often said to be full of creatures that attack you just by looking at you, right? But..."

"Why isn't it like this in my case? Where are the beasts you warn me not to face, eh, Illia?"

I've only been walking down for a few hours, the air is still cool, more than you can tell from a place that can't be much different from a very large mine, but it doesn't feel like being inside one at all. The feeling of suffocation from the little air and the heat and the idea that everything is going to collapse at any moment is absent... Very strange. The Dungeon is its own environment that stands on its own from what little I know, despite how isolated it is from the surface, I think it's an important opinion that the groups and Families who enter here have come to disregard when they boast of their exploits out loud to the public, or to anyone who will listen. When I reach deeper levels where not even a newly baptized by the blessing of the gods should be snooping, I wake up knowing that I must walk with the same moderation as a fox because at any moment something could put an end to my existence. "According to what she told me, and if I remember correctly she said: 'the monsters that are born from the Dungeon appear where the sight rarely sees its attention.' "I mean..." There were strange rumors about creatures that emerged from unusual places other than the walls and slopes, which is where that event is usually seen; or so those who regularly venture into the Dungeon mention in their drunken meetings when they are outside the Guild.

"There are footprints... and they are deep in the mud," I said, leaning down on my knees, studying the place where the marks line up in front of me. "Hooves perhaps?"

I focus my attention on the ground I'm stepping on and what's behind my back. I alternate between the two points with my accelerated pulse, with my instincts more than alert... And then!