Chapter 1456 – Morrelia and the Legion

“I hate the fifth,” Morrelia groaned.

“So you’ve said,” Joshen noted, “several times.”

“Did you do officer training here, tribune?” she asked, peering at the surroundings with open dislike.

She’d hoped never to come back here after the hellish officer course. Somewhere down here, perhaps thousands of kilometres away, the facility she’d stayed in was still there, a new batch of trainees being put through their paces, suffering just as she had suffered.

“I did,” he replied. “I was part of the training group before you, I believe.”

She turned to look at him. As usual, Joshen had taken some pains with his appearance, his golden hair and armour gleaming even here. How on Pangera he managed to find the time to bother with it was a mystery to her. Morrelia was busy from the moment she woke up to the moment she went to sleep. Only when on duty in the tunnel did she have time to think. When the monsters weren’t charging, there really wasn’t much to do except stand about and be ready for when they did.

“How do you feel about this stratum?” she asked.

“I hate it,” Joshen replied, his tone flat. “Does anyone like it? There aren’t any redeeming qualities to this place.”

“And now you’re here again in the company of a million monster ants. How do you feel about that?”

“Bad.”

“That’s it?”

“I think it communicates the necessary information.”

“It’s a bit lacking in detail.”

“What do you want me to say?” her fellow tribune sighed.

The two of them stood side by side in the centre of the line, disciplined ranks of Legionaries lined up on either side. Before them, the slimy, mucus-filled haze of the fifth stratum stretched out across the entire width of the tunnel. For now, nothing stirred. The Colony had already crushed most of the monsters in the area, and they only had to deal with the newly spawned creatures.

They were in the fifth… but…

Morrelia looked around them at the comforting bubble of blue that enveloped them all.

“I never thought it would be so boring here,” Morrelia complained.

They were safe from the toxic atmosphere, and there weren’t many monsters to fight. This was supposed to be the most inhospitable and dreadful place in the entire Dungeon! What was with this peaceful environment?!

“You’d rather it was more exciting?” Joshen asked, raising a brow.

“No,” she replied definitively, “I’m just having trouble reconciling the image in my mind with my experience. I don’t feel any sense of danger. I almost wish something would happen to restore my sense of normality.”

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Joshen turned away from the tunnel before them to look back down the line. The Legion had completed work on their fortified camp the previous day, which had pleased the troops. Mages had to do the bulk of the work, but even the foot soldiers were required to put their backs into preparing the ground.

Then he frowned, appearing to notice something unexpected.

“How about that? Does that relieve you of your boredom?”

Morrelia couldn’t imagine something behind them that would relieve her boredom. At least… nothing good came to mind. She could think of several things she most definitely didn’t want to see.

Almost afraid to look, Morrelia turned her head, then snapped back to attention a moment later.

“I need to leave my post for a moment.”

Joshen frowned at her.