Level 3 smelled like sulfur and old fire.
Erin pressed deeper into the Thermal Vent Zone, one hand over his nose and mouth, the other clutching his knife. The air was hot—uncomfortably hot—and growing hotter with every step. Sweat dripped down his face. His lungs burned with each breath.
The tunnels here were different. Not carved, but melted. Walls smooth and glassy in places, rough and crystalline in others. Steam hissed from cracks in the stone. Somewhere ahead, something glowed—not moss, but actual light, orange and pulsing.
[Cave Salt detected nearby.]
[Warning: Thermal Vent Zone. Fire Salamanders active in this region. Proceed with caution.]
Erin read the notifications. Swallowed. Kept moving.
Tessa needed Cave Salt. He needed her lessons. And the hobgoblin’s words still echoed in his skull, driving him forward, reminding him that time was running faster than he understood.
She waits. We wait.
Not today. Not while he still had choices.
The tunnel opened into a chamber that stole his breath for an entirely different reason.
The thermal vent was beautiful.
A pool of liquid stone glowed at the chamber’s center, orange and gold and impossibly bright. Steam rose in constant clouds, catching the light and turning the space into something dreamlike. Crystals lined the walls—salt crystals, Erin realized, pure white and glittering.
Cave Salt.
Curled around the pool, basking in the heat like a cat in sunlight, was the largest lizard Erin had ever seen.
Fire Salamander.
Eight feet from nose to tail. Scales the color of embers, glowing faintly with internal heat. Eyes half-closed, content, dangerous. Steam curled from its nostrils with every breath.
Erin froze.
The salamander didn’t move. Didn’t open its eyes. Didn’t acknowledge him.
Move slowly. Don’t startle it. Don’t—
His foot shifted. A pebble skittered across stone.
The salamander’s eyes opened.
Gold. Deep gold, like the dungeon core fragment, like the corruption in Tessa’s hands. They fixed on Erin with an intensity that made his blood run cold.
Then the salamander tilted its head.
Curious. Not hostile. Just... curious.
Erin raised his hands—empty, harmless. “I’m not here to fight.”
The salamander blinked. Its tail twitched.
Erin took a step toward the salt crystals. It watched. Another step. Watched. Another—
A low rumble. Not aggressive. Almost like… interest.
Erin reached the wall, pulled out his knife, and carefully chipped the salt crystals, one eye on the salamander the whole time.
[Cave Salt: +5 chunks]
He worked faster. Heat rose, sweat pouring down his face, but the salt was everywhere—thick veins running through the rock, crystals the size of his fist, pure and perfect.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
[Cave Salt: +8 chunks]
[Cave Salt: +5 chunks]
[Cave Salt: +5 chunks]
Twenty-three chunks in total. More than enough for Tessa. More than enough for weeks of cooking.
Erin turned to leave.
The salamander had moved.
It now stood between him and the exit. Not aggressive—still just watching, head tilted, eyes curious. Blocking his path without seeming to realize it.
Erin’s hand tightened on his knife.
“Okay. Okay. I’m going to walk toward you. Very slowly. And you’re going to let me pass. Right?”
The salamander blinked.
One step. Two. Three. The salamander’s head followed, eyes tracking his movement, body still. Heat radiated—not hostile heat, just the heat of something born in fire.
Four steps. Five. Almost past it—almost to the tunnel—almost—
A sound. Soft. Questioning.
Erin stopped. Turned. Met those golden eyes.
The salamander tilted its head again. Made the sound again. And then—impossibly—nodded. Once. Deliberate.
Like it recognized him. Like it remembered.
[Fire Salamander: Affection +1]
Erin stared. At the salamander. At the notification. Again.
Then the salamander yawned—a massive, jaw-cracking yawn that revealed teeth designed to crush things larger than Erin—curled around the thermal vent, and closed its eyes. Back to basking.
Like nothing had happened.
Like it had simply… let him pass.
Erin made it back to Level 2 before his mind caught up with his body.
He found a safe corner, sat down, pulled out Mara’s journal. Flipped pages until he found what he needed.
Fire Salamanders are ancient, tied to the dungeon’s deepest heat. Unlike goblins and hobgoblins, they are not corrupted—not directly. They existed before the Sovereign. They will exist after. They remember things that other creatures forget.
If a salamander shows curiosity, show respect. They choose their allies carefully. They never forget a kindness—or a slight.
Erin read it three times.
They remember.
The salamander had looked at him like it knew him. Like it had been waiting. Like—
You carry her. I smell her in your blood.
The hobgoblin’s words. The salamander’s recognition. The dungeon itself, watching, waiting, remembering.
Erin closed the journal, pressed his back against the cool stone, and tried to breathe.
Two percent corrupted. One meal cooked. Gastronomic Path barely understood.
And the dungeon already knew his name.
[Thermal Vent Zone: Discovered +50 XP]
[Iron Stomach: 54% → 60% (from exertion and discovery)]
[Quest Progress: Cave Salt — 23/?? (completed)]
He should feel triumphant. He had everything Tessa asked for. More than enough.
Instead, he felt like a mouse realizing the cat was watching—and the cat was smiling.
The journey back to Thornwall was quiet.
Level 1 passed on autopilot. No patrols. No ambushes. No hobgoblins stepping from shadows with cryptic warnings.
Almost like it was giving him space. Letting him leave.
Almost like it wants me to come back.
Night air greeted him as he emerged. Moons high. Had he really been down there that long? His body screamed for rest, for food, for normal.
But Tessa was waiting. Questions would follow. Lessons. Choices.
The Rusty Ladle was quiet. Barmaid nodded him toward the back. Erin knocked three times. Entered.
Tessa looked up from her books. Eyebrow raised at his bulging satchel.
“You found Cave Salt.”
“I found a lot of things.” Erin dropped the satchel on her table. Crystals spilled, glittering like treasure. “Twenty-three chunks. Plus Dunemoss. Plus one liver—I still need another for your lesson.”
Tessa stared at the salt. Then at him. Then back at the salt.
“Twenty-three chunks from the Thermal Vent Zone.”
“Yes.”
“Where the fire salamanders live.”
“Yes.”
“And you’re still alive.”
Erin met her eyes. “One of them let me pass. It… looked at me. Nodded. Like it knew me.”
Tessa went still.
“Describe it.”
He did. Golden eyes. Tilted head. Curious sound. The deliberate nod. Notification he still didn’t understand.
She was quiet for a long moment. Then laughed—a genuine, warm, almost surprised laugh.
“You have no idea what you just did, do you?”
“I have absolutely no idea.”
“The salamanders don’t nod at people, boy. They don’t show affection. They’ve been in this dungeon longer than the Sovereign. They remember things that died before humans walked these lands.” She shook her head. “You just made a friend. An ancient, fire-breathing, extremely patient friend.”
[Fire Salamander Affection: +1 confirmed]
[Unknown effect: ???]
Erin stared at the notification. At Tessa. At the salt glittering on her table.
“I don’t understand any of this.”
“No one does at first,” she said. Pushing the salt aside, leaning forward. “But here’s what I know: the dungeon doesn’t give gifts. It makes investments. That salamander saw something in you. Something worth remembering.”
She sat back.
“The question is: what was it?”
Erin didn’t answer. Walking through Thornwall’s empty streets to his cold room, he couldn’t stop thinking about those golden eyes.
Watching. Remembering. Waiting.
[Location Discovered: Thermal Vent Zone]
[Iron Stomach: 60% to next realm]
[Cave Salt: 23 chunks acquired]
[Dunemoss: 3 portions acquired]
[Goblin Liver: 1/2 for quest]
[Fire Salamander Affection: +1 (effect unknown)]
[Quest Progress: Tessa’s First Lesson — Goblin Liver (1/2), Dunemoss (3/1), Cave Salt (23/??)]
[End of Chapter 6]
