I'm a Treasure Box in the Final Boss Floor

Ever asked yourself where the treasure boxes in games come from? (Chapter π is a standalone story, but it's also set during Chapter 3 in the timeline.)

Chapter π: The Ones

The adventurer’s life is plagued with danger. You can’t be a hero if you’re afraid of getting hurt. That’s why it became their catchphrase. “It’s just a scratch.” No matter how deep their wounds are, they’ll say things like that.

Adventurers from around the world explore the dungeons to find Treasures. Once again, a group of adventurers descended the floors of Terminia. A dungeon that was never fully explored.

“How many floors did we descend?” Said Feblana. The group’s healer. A young woman with a decorated staff. Her bag was almost bigger than her, yet she moved elegantly as if the bag had no weight.

“I can’t keep track anymore… We moved upstairs and downstairs countless times. Do you know, Marcus?“ A gruff man said. Janus of the Great Sword. His smile betrayed the hint of complaint in his voice.

“We’re at the 98th floor.“ Marcus, the soft-spoken man replied. “We moved down 110 times and went up 12 times. We fought monster groups over 40 times but avoided twice as many fights.”

“You’re too smart, Marcus.” The shield wielder at the front, Aprisus, said without turning back. “But you need to focus. Hold your blade better.” Prompting Marcus to do as he told.

“You’re both cool. Aren’t they?” Feblana turned to the girl beside her.

“Sorry…” Mayiess, the Fire user, looked a bit anxious and absent-minded. “What you were saying?“

“Focus! Febly, Mayie!” Aprisus said. “I know you’re tired. We can’t turn back, you know? We can’t rest here either. I’m sure you can feel the monsters nearby.”

““““Yes.””””

“If we found one of the Treasure Boxes, we can rest there.“ Marcus reminded the others.

For some reason, Terminia treasure boxes were placed in safe areas. Monsters don’t get close to them. As such, finding one also meant finding a place to rest. At least for half a day before monsters notice them.

“Problem is, we don’t know if there are any left.” Said Mayiess. “We’re getting close to the depths, and we didn’t find any in the past few floors.”

“I’ll help, Mayie.” Feblana consoled her friend. Mayiess was the strongest of the team in terms of pure firepower. Then again, she was the youngest, and psychologically the weakest. Mayiess needed sleep. The blackness around her eyes made it clear to everyone. Feblana even thought. ‘She’ll hold us back if we had to fight now.’

Marcus looked at the girls behind him. If it comes to that, he’ll protect them. Janus was thinking the same.

‘Even if it cost me my life.’ They thought.

The team got desperate, but they had to move forward.

“Kehkehkehkeh.”

“Kekkkehkeehkkeh.”

The team’s fears turned out true. A group of skeletons came to fight them.

“Why?!!” Feblana screamed as threw healing spells and items. Why they’re wearing the Heroes' Armors?!”

“Don’t think! Fight!!” Janus, who understood what was happening was afraid of the girls knowing.

The skeletons they were fighting were the remains of the Golden Age. A party of heroes who went missing 5 years ago. Everyone but Mayiess knew them personally.

“This is gonna suck!” Marcus sped through the skeletons as held back tears. Knowing he was crushing the bones of an old friend. “Graaaagh!“ As he managed to win, a tear-drop followed his final blade thrust.

Aprisus fought two of them at once. He couldn’t bear looking at the mindless bones who were his former rivals, but he managed to defeat them. ”They’re weak, but fighting them is mystifying!”

“Righ! Arrrghhh!” Janus who defeated the final one in front of him and looked back. He saw the last skeleton leaping at the girls with a sword.

“AaaAaa…!” Mayiess let a faint scream as she saw Janus jumping in front of her. Protecting her, but taking the damage.

“Janus!” Feblana went to heal him.

“Are you all alright?” Aprisus confirmed the team.

“It’s just a scratch.” Janus held his bloodied shoulder in pain as Feblana healed. “Mayiess, stop crying, I’m okay.” The blood on his hand betrayed the expression on his face.

“But… but…” the youngest girl couldn’t finish. ‘You protected me.’

“Yeah, Janus can survive this.” Marcus helped Mayiess up. His eyes red with tears.

“Ah, finally… We finished them off!” Aprisus declared, but his face shook and he leaped back. He saw something. “Huh?“

“What? Another enemy?” It wouldn’t be strange, but they weren’t ready for it. Feblana shook in her place at the thought.

“There’s something under the debris.“ Aprisus went to a dark corner of the dungeon. He almost swore he heard someone talking, but there wasn’t enough space for a human under there. “…A treasure chest?”

Mayiess face brightened as she heard that. She looked up and saw Aprisus removing the rocks from the dark corner. “Janus, look! A safe area!” Her voice weakened by her crying earlier.

“What did you get?” Feblana finished healing Janus and went quickly to see what Aprisus found.

“A simple healing herb.” He said, half pouting. “Do you think it’ll be useful against the boss?”

“Nah… Leave it there.” Marcus quickly shot the idea down. He and Feblana looked at each other. She already had enough of those in her huge bag.

“No, give it to me.” Janus took the herb from Aprisus. Scratching his shoulder to make sure it was fully healed. “Let’s take it just in case.”

“Hey, Mayiess…“ Marcus smiled as he looked at the girl and then at everyone. “How about we take a rest here? I have a feeling the Boss of Terminia is close.”

“Yes!”

“I agree.”

“Let’s rest.”

“I feel the same.”

The group of adventurers prepared for rest. Knowing that an area with a Treasure Box in it would be safe for a while for them. Rules can’t change overnight, can they?

Feblana smiled as she let go of the weighty bag on her, and put it beside the Treasure Box. Smiling as they looked like friends taking a rest with the team. She chuckled at giving her bag and the treasure box feelings in her mind.

If only she knew, how the Box felt that day…

Fin.

Chapters List:

Author Notes

This was my favorite chapter to write so far. I loved writing about the adventurer's side for once.

It works as a standalone story, so I decided to give it the symbol π instead of a number. My goal was to add depth to Chapter 3 & the upcoming Chapter 4 by showing the world from other characters' perspectives.

I themed the characters' names over the first 5 months of the year. You might've noticed I re-used the name Mayiess from "A Fascinating Legacy" because it fit the theme. This is a different character, though.

What do you think?

What's your opinion about this Chapter cover image? I inverted the colors to further differentiate this chapter from the rest of the story. As if ditching the First-person narration wasn't enough.

I didn't decide on a narrator for this chapter, but I guess it'll be the same as The Prologue. An entity similar Tabletop RPGs game master. If you're unfamiliar with those, this is what a dramatic campaign will sound like. I hope you'll be there for the next chapter. As for now, I'll meet you again in another story.

Thanks for Reading
Salam (Peace)

^{* This story is also on Read.cash.}
^{* The cover of this series is created by me using iBisPaint & Canva.}
^{* EDIT (May 2023): Fixed the number of floors in the dungeon.}