《The Abyssal Garden》 Chapter 1: The Huntress Content warning: Blood. On a colossal tree branch, crouched among giant leaves, a woman silently waited for her prey to arrive. As big as these leaves were¡ªthey were larger than her, in fact¡ªthe gaps among them still threatened to reveal her position. To compensate for this, she covered her armor in leaves and vines, and masked her scent with pungent herbs. She had even been careful about camouflaging her silver-furred ears, which stood tall out of the holes in her helmet, occasionally flicking in various directions to pick up sounds. Her left ear was missing its tip and a piece along its outer edge¡ªold wounds. She held a spear in her right hand, hand-carved from bone, and a vital tool she carried at all times when outside of her home, along with a bone sword sheathed on her waist. She held the end of a rope in her left hand, ready to activate the trap once her prey was in position. Her fingers were clawed as well¡ªher last resort weapon. As she patiently waited, her silver eyes drifted again toward the carefully prepared trap. She¡¯d had to use a little of her food for this purpose, but this was important, and she didn¡¯t need much anyway. The huntress felt it would work out this time¡ªTyche had bellowed today. The sun had risen by now, its light filtering through the trees as a breeze rustled the leaves. The morning song of the birds was nearing its end, a welcome relief to the huntress¡¯ hearing. A particularly resonant bird had perched itself on a nearby branch today. Eventually, she heard it¡ªthe sound of her prey scrabbling up the tree. Soon after, her nose caught a whiff of its peculiar sharp scent. Her eyes narrowed and her grip around the rope tightened. Her fluffy silver tail twitched slightly in anticipation, but her control over it was too practiced to allow anything more than that. A large lemur crept its way up the tree¡¯s behemothic trunk, keeping an eye out for the wolven huntress. The creature¡¯s eyes and ears darted around cautiously, and upon deeming it safe, it stepped out into the open. The lemur, much larger than a bear, darted for a fruit hanging from a specific branch. The huntress smiled¡ªshe had scented this branch¡¯s fruit to seem more appetizing to the creature. The creature plucked the fruit and immediately took a large hungry bite, then several more, and the fruit was soon devoured. It then ate a second, and had started on its third when it began retching, and the huntress knew it was time. She gave the rope a sharp tug, and the carefully disguised packets she¡¯d placed along the branch all burst open, blasting the lemur with a pungent, but otherwise harmless, odor. It screeched and moved to attack. She flung an air bullet at its face, stunning it while she leapt to her feet with her spear at the ready. It prepared a spell to fire rocks at her, but upon recognizing its attacker, it fled. The stones it¡¯d been levitating clattered to the ground. ¡°For the last time, stay away from this tree, you brat!¡± she yelled. The lemur always got sick after eating this tree¡¯s poisonous fruit. It will finally learn this time, right? The huntress stretched, giving a relieved groan after having been crouched for so long. She then began leaping from giant tree to giant tree as she made her way back to her cliffside home with plans to make a smoothie. But then she heard something unfathomable¡ªa scream. A human scream. That¡¯s impossible¡­! She rushed toward the sound, wreathing her body in wind to fly. The wind pulled all the plant material off her, revealing a brutal, black set of armor. The pieces had jagged, misshapen edges, and every part of it was covered in scratches, gouges, and spell damage. A battle was happening nearby, so she leapt from the tree, observing as she descended. A group of five armored people were defending themselves against the very lemur she¡¯d just driven off. If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°My EE¡¯s not working!¡± ¡°Mine isn¡¯t-¡± a woman¡¯s response was interrupted as she dodged, ¡°-either!¡± ¡°We need a physical-based strategy!¡± ¡°He¡¯s is bleeding out!¡± Everyone¡¯s armor was heavily scraped up, beaten, and covered in blood stains¡ªfar more than what could¡¯ve occurred in this fight alone, and one member of the group was lying on the ground with a massive dent in his chest. The four who could still move were struggling to fend off the lemur while defending their dying teammate, and gradually failing. The lemur, still furious from its encounter with the huntress, was firing magically-enhanced rocks at the group, faster and stronger than bullets. It occasionally fired off flashes of light as well, somewhat blinding the people. Two people in the group were taking cover behind a giant tree root with their dying teammate. One of them had a gun and was taking the occasional shot. The one wearing gold, knight-like armor was alternating between trying to help the person on the ground and touching something on his wrist while a drone hovered around him. The remaining two were facing the lemur more directly, one with a sword in each hand, and the other with a hammer. I¡¯m not the last person alive! The huntress landed on the ground several long seconds later, dropping a great torrent of water on the lemur at the same time. It whipped around and screeched angrily at her again. The two longtime acquaintances stared at each other. ¡°Piss off,¡± she told it, her hand crackling threateningly with lightning. It slowly backed away, then darted into the bushes, but not before giving another furious hiss. Once the creature was gone, the person with two swords rushed to their downed teammates side and said, ¡°Greater heal.¡± Nothing happened, so she tried again, ¡°Greater heal! ¡­Minor heal, come on!¡± The whole group gave wary stares to the huntress when she started walking over. They¡¯re all so short! What are children doing here?! Ignoring their gazes, she knelt down and held a hand over the injured person. Dark red blood was leaking profusely from his chest, and smelled much more strongly of iron than she expected. A green light emanated from her hand, rapidly pushing out the large rock embedded in it, closing the wound, and regenerating missing flesh, which was gray with a rough, rocky texture. ¡°How did she do that without chanting¡­?¡± someone behind her muttered. The now-healed man coughed a bit and tried to sit up. ¡°Stay down,¡± the huntress told him, gently pushing him back to the ground. ¡°Your wounds are fully healed, but you¡¯ve still got sharp bits of your armor digging into your flesh. Just hold on for a minute.¡± She carefully pulled and bent all the offending pieces of armor outward. ¡°You should probably wear something less flimsy,¡± she commented. ¡°Flimsy!?¡± He retorted. Yep, he¡¯s completely fine now. Satisfied with her work, the huntress stood up and could finally get a good look at the group. They all had different types of armor, and the one in gold seemed to be presenting himself as the leader. But most importantly, none of them were actually human. The gold-armored one had furry ears sticking out of his helmet and what looked to be a lion tail, the one she healed had skin that looked like stone, another had a scaly, feathered tail, one had a mushroom cap of sorts atop her head, and the last one had antennae and wings. Did they used to be human, too? They aren¡¯t wolves like myself, though¡­ From the drone and the gun, she could tell they were technologically advanced, at least. The insect woman with dual swords grabbed another drone off the ground and stored it in her pack. The drone still flying around looked much more robust, and even had gold accents. Technology¡­! So the modern world still exists, then! And I¡¯m not the last person alive! Centering her thoughts, Lauren spoke, ¡°Now, tell me. Where are your parents? This is not a place for children to be playing around in.¡± ¡°You think we¡¯re children¡­?¡± The mushroom woman with the hammer asked. ¡°Though, you are quite tall¡­¡± ¡°You¡¯re too small to be adults. Unless people have gotten shorter in the past couple decades.¡± The one with the lion tail removed his helmet, revealing a blonde man with a well-maintained beard. In his hand was a longsword, which he seemed to be itching to use. The one she had healed was standing next to him, looking tense. ¡°I¡¯m an adult, as you can see. This is neither the time nor the place to play games.¡± He put his helmet back on. ¡°Help us get somewhere safe until our EEs are working again. And then you will explain why you¡¯re here without permission.¡± She blinked, not expecting them to be adults, and having no idea what an EE was. Ahh, that¡¯s right. I had that sudden growth spurt a long time ago. The huntress gave a slow nod. ¡°Follow me.¡± She leapt into the treetops once again, and the group was several seconds behind. Passing the fruit tree, she saw the brat there yet again, reaching for more poisonous fruit. ¡°Oh, come on, you little jerk! I have to deal with you three times in one day? Really?¡± She conjured and shot another large torrent of water at the lemur, and threw her spear at it for good measure. She used her magical connection with the spear to control its flight, making sure it would only threaten the creature, not actually kill it. It immediately scurried away, and the huntress summed her spear back into her hand, shaking her head in annoyance. The insect woman was stunned. ¡°How did you do that?!¡± ¡°The thing with the spear?¡± the huntress asked. Getting a nod in return, she replied, ¡°I just¡­ control it?¡± After a shocked silence, the lion man asked, ¡°Why didn¡¯t you kill it? You clearly have the power to do so.¡± ¡°Because I don¡¯t need or want to.¡± He scoffed. ¡°What¡¯s the point of an Explorer who refuses to kill?¡± She stopped and looked at him with sheer confusion. ¡°Even when it¡¯s not necessary¡­?¡± The man returned her baffled stare with a stern one. ¡°It¡¯s necessary to make sure people are safe.¡± She returned his stare. ¡°I strongly disagree.¡± The conversation died, so they continued on. They arrived at a cliff, and the huntress pushed aside some vines, revealing a path upward. ¡°Are those stairs¡­?¡± the mushroom woman asked. The huntress looked back at her. ¡°What else would they be?¡± She shook her head. ¡°I mean, who takes the time to build stairs in a Dungeon? They won¡¯t last long.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure what you mean.¡± The lion man interrupted. ¡°Why have you not reported your presence here to the Explorer¡¯s Association?¡± ¡°I have no idea what that is,¡± she honestly replied. ¡°Don¡¯t lie. You¡¯re on camera, after all,¡± he pointed at his drone. The huntress sighed and removed her helmet, revealing a face with several scars. Her eyes and wild mane of hair were silver like the fur on her ears and tail. The insect woman gave her an odd look. ¡°On January twenty-third, two thousand twenty-four, this place opened up beneath my apartment. I¡¯ve been here ever since. I have no idea what the Explorer¡¯s Association or an EE is. Since you called this place a Dungeon, I¡¯m guessing you mean like from video games a long time ago, and that the Association is like an Adventurer¡¯s Guild or something.¡± The lion man narrowed his eyes at her, and she narrowed hers back. The significant height difference between them made him look a lot less intimidating. He huffed. ¡°I still don¡¯t believe you, but it¡¯s still safer to go with you. Just know that any lies you tell will be exposed, and you will face legal action for trespassing on a Floor not yet open to the public.¡± ¡°Right¡­¡± Sounds like bureaucracy¡¯s still a pain in the ass. Chapter 2: Alive Content warning: None. If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. Chapter 3: Free Bee Content warning: Mention of killing animals. The rest of the evening was tense. Heather and Marama understood Lauren¡¯s reaction and stayed in the house, while the rest angrily sat outside. Marama didn¡¯t talk much, but browsed Lauren¡¯s bookshelf. The books were entirely handmade, and had to be handled delicately so they wouldn¡¯t fall apart. They were full of notes, drawings, and journals, all written in both English and Korean on lumpy paper. Heather, meanwhile, when she wasn¡¯t laughing at something on her phone, was much more conversational. She eventually stowed her phone and gave her a serious look. ¡°I met your family, you know.¡± ¡°Really?! When? How were they?¡± Lauren demanded, spilling her tea. ¡°It was around twenty years ago, so it¡¯s been a while. They were among the first to become Explorers, and helped train others¡ªmyself among them. They were looking for you.¡± ¡°They were looking for me¡­¡± she breathed. ¡°How are they now?¡± ¡°Fine, I think? We still talk occasionally, but we¡¯re more acquaintances than friends.¡± ¡°I see¡­ Thank you for telling me.¡± She grabbed the tea with a spell and put it back in the cup. Lauren paced as the hours passed. As night began to fall, she cooked food to keep herself busy. Her stove was made of stone and used crystals to control the heat, and all her dishes were made of stone as well. The food was mostly an assortment of sauteed fruits and vegetables from her garden. Heather and Marama joined her for dinner around a small table in the house, while the others resolutely remained outside, eating protein bars. A small light on Marama¡¯s Band flickered, and the others¡¯ soon did the same. It was time. Knowing she probably wouldn¡¯t be returning for a while, Lauren donned her armor as well, and joined the group with her spear in hand. Her heart pounded as Heather pressed something on her Band, the bee girl¡¯s hand seemingly moving in slow motion. The very moment Lauren felt the spell activating, she tweaked the settings on her ward¡ªjust in case. Her vision distorted for a split second, then the scenery snapped from her garden to a gray, fluorescent-lit interior. They were in a large, concrete and steel room, with several metal pads set up, Explorer teams stepped onto them and teleported away, and other teams arrived on them¡ªsome of them hauling carcasses. Everyone here had also transformed in some way. The stench of blood and sweat stung her nostrils. The sound boomed her ears. Hundreds of people clanked around in armor and the fluorescent lights hummed overhead, and all of it echoed off the solid walls of the room. Somewhere, a recently-arrived Explorer team was crying, calling out someone¡¯s name as they were ushered away by a staff member trying to console them for their loss. Lauren, feeling somewhat sick, grimaced and tightened her grip around her spear as she forced her way forward with the Abyssal Seekers, with Heather lagging behind as she sent a message. People stepped aside for Adam and waved at him, which he cheerily returned. He had removed his helmet for this, though no one else had. At the room¡¯s exit were two large metal doors, currently open and being guarded from inside the room. ¡°Oh, Adam, you¡¯re back!¡± a guard excitedly said. ¡°How did it go? Your armor looks pretty busted up. Is the tall one someone you rescued on your way to the bottom?¡± ¡°We made progress, but you¡¯ll have to wait for the video release,¡± he said, and strode past them. They walked through the lobby where there were yet even more Explorers, mostly lined up to trade their collected items¡ªand kills¡ªin. All of the employees were non-humans as well. They moved through the crowd and entered a meeting room, where everyone else set aside their helmets and weapons. A staff member, an opossum man, joined them soon after, carrying several bottles of water. Adam stated, ¡°We need to finish this meeting as quickly as possible. Tell the others it¡¯s urgent.¡± While they waited, Lauren asked, ¡°Does teleporting always feel gross like this?¡± Heather looked at her. ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°I just feel kinda sick somehow.¡± ¡°Teleporting doesn¡¯t do that, though?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve never heard of there being any symptoms,¡± Marama added. Lauren got a lazy shrug from James, and no response at all from Adam or Mack. Only a couple minutes later, two people in suits arrived. One of them said to Adam, ¡°It¡¯s good to see you again, and I see you returned with an extra. We¡¯ll get to that see, but let¡¯s first hear your report.¡± Just as the lion man opened his mouth to begin, the opossum man from earlier entered. ¡°Um, the Wolf Pack showed up, and are looking for someone.¡±Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. ¡°Damn it,¡± Adam muttered. Heather smiled at Lauren. ¡°That¡¯s them.¡± Lauren bolted out of her seat and through the doorway, startling the one who¡¯d brought her the news. She found the four most important people in the world to her gathered at a reception desk and demanding to see Lauren while the Explorers in the lobby gave them a wide berth. They all had wolf ears and tails like she did¡ªthough of different colors¡ªand were wearing dirty, but well-cared for armor. With their helmets off, she noticed that they didn¡¯t seem to have aged much. The last time she¡¯d seen them had been around Christmas a month before falling into a Dungeon. She recalled that her older sister had just started dating someone and her younger sister was looking forward to an elective she¡¯d be taking in her next semester of high school. Her mom had been doing volunteer work and her aunt was dating someone. Her aunt was on the phone, getting a lawyer to come here. She gave a wobbly grin when she spotted Lauren. Before she knew it, Lauren was wrapped up in a big, tear-soaked hug. Eventually, the opossum man coughed to get their attention. He flinched upon seeing all five of the notorious Park family staring at him, their eyes red. ¡°U-Uh¡­ Lauren has to finish the meeting,¡± he said. Three bureaucrats were waiting irritatedly near the doorway. Lauren huffed, quickly healed the redness from everyone¡¯s eyes¡ªsurprising everyone who witnessed it¡ªand trudged back to the meeting room with a scowl on her face with her family close behind her. A bureaucrat woman held her hand up. ¡°Only relevant people are permitted in this meeting.¡± She stared at her. ¡°All of us go in, or none of us do.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not how this works,¡± she stared back, not intimidated by Lauren¡¯s height. ¡°Great, thanks!¡± Lauren smiled and stepped past her, the other Parks close behind. The woman protested, but a hand was placed on her shoulder by one of the other bureaucrats, who simply shook his head. Unfortunately, the room was too small to accommodate everyone, so only her mom and older sister¡ªMaeve and Emma¡ªcame in with her. Her mom¡¯s hair and fur color was gray, while Emma¡¯s was black. As they sat down, Lauren glanced at the wall where her spear was leaning. Good, it¡¯s untouched. Adam began his mission report, and Lauren forced herself to focus on it, though her mom and older sister on either side of her made that difficult. His drone was synced with a computer, and the footage began a little over a week ago. It began with the team exploring a vast, mountainous landscape covered in snow, a task they had already been at for months. After several days of trudging through deep snow, fighting and killing animals¡ªmountain goats, mostly¡ªand occasionally using a vibration spell on the ground. They eventually detected a cave-like structure, and after investigating, found that it had a tunnel with a hole at the end. Through it, they looked down on the jungle from high above. They set up a portable telepad, which took several hours to activate, and then a large, metal device came through¡ªa signal booster for their phones. They then used wind spells to descend to the bottom, where the animals were significantly stronger than they were expecting, and they nearly died. The camera of Adam¡¯s drone was damaged by the lemur, when he later showed lots of Lauren¡¯s house for information gathering, it turned out to be mostly useless. ¡°The way out of the Dungeon was a tiny little hole in the ceiling¡­?¡± Lauren said. ¡°I spent so long searching!¡± While her family comforted her, Adam cursed his bad luck. One of the bureaucrats coughed to get everyone¡¯s attention. ¡°Let¡¯s address another issue right now. Heather, bringing the Wolf Pack here was an intentional obstruction of the mission. You will be demoted to another team, and your debt will be extended by six hundred thousand dollars.¡± Heather tensed, but nodded. ¡°Wait a moment,¡± Maeve, Lauren¡¯s mom, interrupted. ¡°We¡¯ll pay off her debt.¡± ¡°You can afford that?!¡± Lauren asked. Emma whispered, ¡°We make a ton of money from selling Dungeon materials from the lower Floors, and we have a lot saved up right now. We end up doing things like this pretty often.¡± ¡°Thank you so much,¡± Heather said. She turned to Marama. ¡°I¡¯ll help you get out of this horrible team, too, once I can.¡± ¡°Are they forced to be there by debt or something?¡± Lauren asked. ¡°Yes,¡± Emma said. ¡°It¡¯s incredibly difficult to not end up in debt these days, and pretty much the only feasible way of paying it off is Explorer work for the government.¡± ¡°That¡¯s awful¡­ Let¡¯s help out Marama, too, then.¡± The mushroom woman was startled by the suggestion, but not against it. One of the bureaucrats interrupted, ¡°That can wait. Right now we need to-¡± ¡°No,¡± Maeve interrupted back, ¡°We¡¯ll get this sorted out right now. I know you have the clearance for this sort of thing.¡± Lauren added, ¡°And I won¡¯t reveal anything I know about the Dungeon or how I¡¯m able to do this.¡± She created an orb of light above her finger. ¡°My family will be the only ones I explain anything to or assist in any way from this point onward.¡± The bureaucrat woman gripped her tablet hard enough to make it creak and distort the colors on the screen. ¡°Parks are always like this¡­¡± she hissed. Lauren and her mom smiled pleasantly while awaiting confirmation. ¡°We will discuss the details of this later¡­¡± Lauren and her family were halfway out the door when the bureaucrat threatened, ¡°You will not receive an Explorer¡¯s License and will not be able to reenter the Abyss Dungeon if you leave now.¡± Maeve suddenly smiled and waved at someone in the lobby. A bald, human man in a suit walked up to them. ¡°Hi, I¡¯m Sean, your family¡¯s lawyer. You must be the missing fifth member of my most troublesome clients.¡± ¡°Soon to be causing even more trouble, I hope!¡± Lauren replied. He laughed jovially, and squeezed himself into the room after Lauren stepped out. The bureaucrats were even more displeased to see Sean than the Wolf Pack. With him there, Heather¡¯s debt was addressed after some arguing over specific details, but Marama¡¯s was stuck because of an international legal technicality. They also got Lauren¡¯s legal status changed from deceased. Lauren stretched as the meeting ended and she could finally just be with her family again, and away from annoying people. ¡°What do we do now?¡± ¡°We go home,¡± Maeve said. They were about to leave, but were stopped by Heather. ¡°Thank you again for all the help today,¡± the bee girl said. ¡°You saved my life.¡± ¡°Of course,¡± Lauren replied. ¡°Can I¡­ get a hug?¡± She blushed, and her antennae twitched. ¡°Y-Yeah.¡± Lauren enjoyed hugging the cute little bee, while her family watched in amusement.