Peering around, looking as far as I could see—which was not very far—heavy clouds of gray fog obstructed all directions. From the vague outlines of the tree canopies down to the calm surface of the swampy green waters, the thick vapors covered and shrouded everything in between.

  Hmmm… I thought as I glided through the moist air—almost ninety percent certain I was safely leading Aeron the correct way to the second-floor entrance.

  Or so I thought.

  Taking a hard glance left and right, I began to doubt myself.

  Is this the right way? It should be right… Right? Yes, of course! No way I would be lost.

  But how many years has it been since I entered this mid-tier Dungeon? Long enough for me to doubt whether I was heading in the right direction.

  But is it this way? No. I’m certain this was the correct route.

  …I think…

  The darn fog made everything look the same. It was hard to tell exactly. Ugh! But I was not going to say anything to Aeron.

  “Ah! Here we are!” I quietly exclaimed in relief, seeing the first marker that indicated I was heading towards the correct path.

  Something gigantic, dark, and solid began to unveil itself in the fog as we approached.

  Countless petrified trees stood in a compacted line, piercing through the stagnant water. Dense, with their calcified branches intertwining amongst themselves, the trees clustered tightly together like crowded blades of fossilized grass. They formed a seemingly impenetrable barricade that extended and disappeared into the fog.

  Racing through the air toward the leftmost edge of the first floor, I halted pommel first, allowing the length of my blade to swing in an arc as I slashed down at the cladded overgrowth. My blade’s pointy tip clipped the petrified bark, clanking as if I hit bare rock before cutting through. The wall composing the leftmost edge of the Dungeon did not budge.

  However, subtlety, bits of charcoal-colored rock began to re-grow out of the chip I made in the wall. It was like blood oozing from a wound and clotting together to seal the cut.

  “This is it!” I rejoiced but ensured to not test the Dungeon’s wall or patience again. Continuous attacks on the Dungeon itself could alarm the beast, and then it would send all the monsters into a suicidal, killing frenzy. Beaming, I proudly turned to see Aeron’s reaction. “Now we just have to continue along until we reach the first of the two monster breeding areas on this left side.”

  The man who I expected to revere my accomplishment did not even look in my direction. He was preoccupied, groaning as he smacked a bug sucking blood from his neck. Splattering the finger-size insect, Aeron made a disgusted face before swiping the squashed insect off his skin. Bending over, Aeron shook his hand in the water to cleanse away the stuck bits. While doing so, he looked at the wall I mentioned.

  Face almost blank except for a slight frown, Aeron did not look at all impressed. In fact, he appeared rather annoyed. Standing up tall with lines crimping his forehead, Aeron waded through the water and cautiously tapped the top of his staff against the wall of petrified trees.

  “Hope you are right, Sword. I hate this floor and all of the annoying bloodsuckers here. The sooner we leave the better. We now reached the far side of the first floor. Where to next?”

  Again, he called me ‘Sword.’ Argh. How detestable. But whatever.

  “To the frogs, Brother of Gael, but not deep enough to reach their tadpoles. The two breeding grounds on this side of the floor are for the amphibians. The first breeding ground is designated to the various species of frogs and newts, and the one afterward is for the giant toads. We should have no trouble with most frogs and newts as they are fairly easy to avoid or to deal with. All except the more aggressive poisonous frogs. But it’s the giant toads, however, that we need to be wary of.”

  “Noted,” Aeron replied, impatience evident through his frowning face and glaring eyes that darted at his mortal foes. Aeron restlessly waved his staff around, swatting away the buzzing bugs flying around his head.

  I acknowledged the short response with a nod by waving my pommel slightly up and down. I let Aeron continue striking the bugs with misses as I entered further into the fog.

  Using the wall as a guide, I floated forward as Aeron quickly followed. He made sloshing sounds from wading through the water. The guy was knee-high in the swamp, using his staff to stab in front of him with each step. Holding his staff to keep balance, Aeron yanked one leg up from the mud and moved it forward, continuing one after the other. Stringy moss and debris collected and clung to the soaked parts of his robe, and occasionally Aeron used the bottom of his staff to knock off the accumulation of unwelcomed attachments.

  Unfortunately for Aeron, he was not great like me and could not float above the muddy mess. Organics like Aeron had it hard in this type of terrain. Both the swamp and bugs wanted to eat him whole.

  As we continued deeper, the fog began to lift slightly. More willows and other trees could be seen blanketing the entire area around us. I knew we were close to the first breeding ground as a symphony of mating calls ribbited loudly from a short distance.

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  “Ah, sweet love,” I said, hearing the happy sounds of frogs intermingling. “Unfortunate. I’ll never understand the appeal of wooing each other between you strange Organics.”

  Turning around to Aeron, I stopped to issue my next commands. Aeron gave me an odd look, likely from my previous comment.

  “What?” I asked. I was speaking the truth. Reproduction and the complicated steps to do so were not a part of a sword's worries. All I needed to do was impale my foe, and I was done.

  “Nothing,” Aeron responded, shaking his head and changing the topic. “Why did you stop?”

  “Ah. Right. You see, a few strides from here, and we’ll be at the edge of the breeding grounds for the different varieties of frogs.” Glancing Aeron up and down, I added, “As you don’t appear to be invulnerable to poison, I will keep slightly ahead to scout for any trouble. As long as we keep to the sides, we shouldn’t see any snakes or other creatures besides frogs.”

  At the mention of snakes, Aeron’s eyes twitched and more lines pushed down on his forehead as he frowned deeply. Guess the guy did not like snakes.

  “That is fine. Keep to the frogs. I would rather deal with a swarm of them croakers instead of snakes larger than me. Especially in this environment.”

  I bobbed my pommel in understanding but then shook in disagreement. The snakes in these waters did indeed move and swim fast. Aeron would likely be overwhelmed if there were three snakes hunting him. However, a certain type of frog in this dungeon was also just as deadly.

  Although the frogs were mostly prey for the snakes and other carnivorous creatures, the poisonous varieties were avoided by all. Especially the one that spat corroding poisons. If touched, they melted flesh and sizzled through bones. Of course, I was invulnerable. But Aeron was not. He might be able to dodge a few but not a platoon shooting from multiple angles.

  Technically, the breeding areas where the non-poisonous frogs congregated were safe. But the poisonous frogs composed the majority of the population and wandered all over. They were the real danger.

  “Alright,” I said, leading ahead of Aeron. “Make sure to keep up. I’ll go slow, but I’m going to scout further ahead.”

  “I will be fine. If anything, simply backtrack. The fog is thinning. I will keep to the wall. So I should be easy to find.”

  With a nod, I went ahead.

  Let’s see… I split my focus and kept half behind at Aeron and the other peering ahead. Actually, I did not have to look to know where to avoid because rambunctious mating calls blared up ahead and slightly to the right.

  Note to self: Stay away from the frog orgy.

  So I steered left and stayed along the wall as it veered and meandered away from the croaking sounds. Aeron shrunk into the distance as I soared higher toward the canopy.

  Looking down, the first sets of Dungeon frogs came into sight. Size-wise, the smaller and skinnier adolescents were probably the width of both Aeron’s boots and when sitting, reached just below Aeron’s knees. The larger adults would likely reach midway up his thighs. Physical attacks would not be fatal if properly blocked, but bad bruising would definitely occur. However, the ones I saw were not the frogs I was searching for.

  I passed above the plain green and gray frogs that sat on the exposed roots of the trees right above the water. They snatched bugs with quick snaps of their tongues before enjoying a munching mouthful of crunchy insects.

  Just as I flew past four more trees, as I suspected, a bright, red-skinned frog with a fat blue underbelly stuck sideways to a large boulder sticking out of the water. The poisonous amphibian sat there in the open like a sore thumb due to its larger adult size and distinct coloring. Occasionally sticking its tongue to catch bugs, the poisonous frog sat unperturbed, unworried of predators.

  This area was the outskirts of the non-poisonous frog’s breeding zone, but already, the poisonous ones wandered their way in.

  I noticed Aeron keeping his eyes on me as his figure slowly approached. Thinking, I made a quick decision. I flew even higher, nearly touching the branches and leaves of the canopy as I closed in above the poisonous frog’s head. I turned vertically. My sharp tip pointed straight down like a guillotine as I inched closer and right above where the fat frog adhered itself to the boulder.

  Swish!

  I plunged straight through the air.

  Zing!

  Cutting through the fog vapors, the moist winds slid up my spine as I increased velocity and raced downwards.

  Within a couple of frog ribbits, the bones of a skull snapped and crunched as I stabbed the frog through the back of its head. I skewered through soft flesh before piercing through the face of the frog. It slid up the length of my blade and stuck to my guard. The force of impact ripped the frog and its sticky feet from the side of the rock. Instead of allowing myself and the frog’s body to plunge into the swamp below, I swoop back into the air like a seasoned bird of prey, nearly bending like a ‘u.’

  The frog didn’t know what hit it before its legs twitched and spasmed while dangling in the air. It gurgled green blood, oozing down my blade before eternal silence. Its brethren continued ribbitting around us, unaware. I assassinated my first kill without drawing any attention.

  I flew back through the tree canopies with my skewered trophy to Aeron, who crouched low and kept a distance as he avoided the nearby frogs. Aeron flinched, jerking backward into the wall as I descended, frog legs dangling in front of his face.

  “Sheesh!” Aeron quietly hissed. “First you suddenly disappear, and now you abruptly reappear with a Red Croaker!? I thought my face was going to melt off.”

  “Luckily for you, Brother of Gael, the frog is dead. Now, I know how much you fleshy ones love a good looting. Since I killed it, you will do the harvesting.”

  Aeron eyed the frog and then back at me. Those calculating yellow eyes were up to something.

  “Alright, since it is going to take a bit of time to butcher the Croaker and remove the poison sacs, go ahead and keep hunting more. The more the better.”

  “Huh?” I said, titling in the air. “Why? Wouldn’t that mean you have more to harvest and take longer? What about the Salamanders?”

  “Yes, we will be hunting the Molten Salamanders too. So work hard, Sword. I am confident with my butchering skills. I have a real skill,” Aeron said, drawing out a dagger with a shimmering edge from his robe. Stabbing his staff into the muddy waters, he ordered, “Now go and hurry. Kill the frogs close by first. Then only bring me the poisonous ones afterward. Let us get to work.”

  Work. Ugh. Another odd job.

  “Fine. You want efficiency right?” I said with a mischievous tone. Did Aeron forget who I was? What I could do? Hehehe. “Prepare yourself, Brother of Gael. You asked for it.”