bookpower Chapter 41 – Darkness Takes Hold.
Chapter 41 – Darkness Takes Hold.
Chapter 41 – Darkness Takes Hold.
“Can we hurry up? This place is giving me the creeps”
Eugene muttered while looking around nervously.
“Haven’t you gotten used to it, Eugene? You know we’ll have to come back here for other errands eventually. The Master likes fresh materials,”
Alanna replied while Eugene didn't seem too thrilled at the prospect of delving into the dark, monster-infested dungeon again.
“Yeah, yeah, but I just don’t like it. Let’s get this thing back to the Master and be done with it. We’d already be out if you hadn’t brought that thing along. Why do I still have to carry it?”
“Hey, don’t call Anty a thing!”
Alanna shot back, angry at Eugene's complaint about the strange white ant they had discovered. The ant was currently deep asleep, but carrying a monster made Eugene shiver with fear. He worried that once it awoke, it might attack him.
“Then you carry it! What if it has some poisonous skill that the cage can’t defend against, and my arms melt?”
Eugene retorted as the fear he was feeling was real and he wished to be out of this situation
“That’s not what a Gleaming Ant does... but I guess it could know a spell like that...”
Alanna grinned, watching for her friend's reaction.
Eugene flinched at the thought of the spell, but once he realized Alanna was toying with his emotions, he responded with annoyance.
“Very funny. Just get us out of here before I regret agreeing to this.”
He grumbled, adjusting his grip on the ant's cage and quickening his pace. They were nearing the stairs leading to the second level, and once there, it wouldn’t be long until they reached the exit. Despite the labyrinthine structure of the dungeon's tunnels, with a map in hand, it was easy to navigate through them with relative ease. However, as they were approaching the last larger chamber before the stairs, some noise resounded from behind them.
“There is something there...”
One of the adventurers called out, and they all quickly formed into a defensive formation. They appeared bored and tired, not expecting anything troublesome. The creature that emerged didn’t seem overly dangerous as it was just a piece of living armor. At first glance, it seemed unremarkable, but one of the adventurers noticed something odd.
“Hey, doesn’t that thing look strange? Why doesn’t it have any holes or corroded areas...?”
The keen-eyed archer, accustomed to assessing details even in poorly lit chambers, observed some peculiarities. The monster resembled the living armors they encountered before, but it didn’t belong on this floor. In dungeons, monsters were typically limited to specific floors, and this version of the living armor should only appear around the fifth floor, not on the second.
“So what? Isn’t it just a Bronze Armor? It’s still an F-rank monster, leave it to me, I need some practice with these things.”
As one of the adventurers called out and began to approach the unexpected monster, their leader remained silent but vigilant, studying the new creature intently. He couldn't shake the feeling that something unusual was happening in the dungeon. Rumors of strange living armor spawns had circulated before, leading him to consider the possibility that this encounter was another instance of such an anomaly. Dungeons were known to occasionally shift, making this theory plausible.
The monster was acting strangely at first as it looked not at the man that was approaching it but Eugene instead. It had no eyes to speak of but could still turn its helmeted head, which gave the young man another scare. This was quite unusual as dungeon monsters were known for attacking the person that was closest to them.
There existed a concept known as a hidden hostility rating, which could be heightened by various means. The simplest way to increase this animosity of monsters was to provoke them by attacking or making loud noises. Then certain classes possessed skills that amplified this hidden rating, and they were known as tanks. These tanks had provoking abilities that diverted enemy attention, allowing other party members to focus on offense rather than defense.
In this instance, the monster should have immediately charged at the approaching man due to his proximity. However, its reaction seemed strangely delayed and indicated a deviation from the expected behavior. It was acting more as an independent monster than one seen in a dungeon, and also one that had a functioning brain, not something usually found in living armors.
“Watch out, it’s acting strange.”
“Don’t worry, I won’t lose to a living armor!”
The man called out to the adventurer leader, armed with a shield and mace, the standard equipment for dealing with hollowed-out monster armor. The weight of the mace made it effective for staggering monsters, while denting their armor would gradually impede their movements. Finally, the monster took off, running in the man’s direction as it attacked.
In hopes of separating them, Rusty devised a strategy to divert the attention of the other adventurers. The other monsters saw him as an enemy and he knew well how all of them operated. Once they started chasing a target, they would not relent and also call their friends for aid. In no time he had a large swarm of his old allies chasing after him.
Then, Rusty quickly retreated into one of the other many tunnels which the layout he was aware of. It didn’t take him long to reach the area before the stairs leading to the first floor. He anticipated that his enemies would attempt to flee and just as he predicted, they came. His bronze spear was thrown to injure the lone adventurer and now he just needed to take care of this man and Gleam would be saved.
With the lone adventurer injured and the others preoccupied with holding off the monster horde, Rusty saw an opportunity to rescue Gleam. His metallic frame moved swiftly as he closed the distance between him and the two individuals holding the cage containing Gleam. However, the injured man wasn’t down yet and he quickly put himself between the two people Rusty was charging at.
“Stay back, monster.”
As The two humans, Eugene and Alanna instantly panicked but the adventurer set up a solid defense. Rusty attempted to rush the two but had to deal with the adventurer first. His emotions were running wild and he could barely control his rage, his sword connected with the man’s shield to generate quite the loud tone.
“Ugh...”
The man buckled under the pressure of the hit, forced to take a knee. The injury was enough to allow Rusty to press forward, closing the distance between himself and the two individuals. His aim was not to fight here; he just wanted to take the cage that Gleam was in and then make a run for it. Unfortunately, the two people there didn’t know that, and the shorter of the two retaliated by throwing a strange vial in his direction.
“Get back!”
It was a sloppy throw and wasn’t backed by any skill. Rusty wasn’t aware of what he was dealing with so he pressed on without stopping. The thing didn’t even seem to be aimed at his body and it would just collide with the ground before him. However, once it did connect with it, an explosion ensued, sending a shockwave of force outward. Rusty was thrown back, his metallic frame clanging against the tunnel's walls.
Being a creature of metal, Rusty didn’t suffer any backlash from getting his body shaken around. There were no ears or brains to be rattled around. The injuries he suffered had been absorbed by his bronze body, and he was back on his feet in a matter of seconds. Gleam was right there, and he would not let her get kidnapped by these strange people.
“Alanna, you missed...”
“I can see that, you don’t need to remind me...”
“Well, throw another one?”
“I ... I only brought one with me...”
He noticed the duo scrambling to their feet, their faces wrought with panic. He couldn’t let them escape with Gleam, not after everything he had been through to find her. Rusty charged forward, running straight at the two with the intention to cut them down if they dared to get in his way.
“Hey, this is a bad time to joke about, do something... That thing is going to kill us both!”
The man called Eugene was panicking the most as the two found themselves with no place to run. Rusty approached and the adventurer who had been injured would not be able to push through the pain. Everything pointed towards his victory, however right as he was about to close in on the two that were holding Gleam hostage, he appeared.
“Leader!”
It was the party leader; he had arrived at the scene and positioned himself between the two as their sole protector. Rusty did not stop and instead increased his pace. His sword slammed down forward, accompanied by his Power Slash skill. However, his opponent blocked his strike with their own sword, causing sparks to fly.
“This thing...”
The man’s tone indicated that he was surprised by the sheer power that the bronze armor could exert. Rusty was obviously not a regular bronze variant but a unique Twilight evolution. His might eclipsed any bronze armor that came before him, and his opponent found himself in a deadlock. None of them was budging an inch as it seemed that they were equals.
‘Get out of my way!’
Rusty pushed forward with all his strength, his mind focused solely on reaching Gleam and freeing her from captivity. However, the adventurer leader proved to be a formidable opponent, matching Rusty blow for blow. With each exchange, Rusty felt a growing sense of frustration. His friend was right there but he couldn’t get to her and with each passing second he wasted, would be one that his enemies gained. His frustration reached an apex and suddenly the aura around his being shifted.
“Wait, what is that?”
Alanna called out while pointing forward, and the adventurer leader could see it too. There was a change in his opponent, a dark substance started seeping forth from his body. It looked like a fog made of darkness and it exploded in all directions. Upon coming in contact with the man Rusty was fighting, it started causing his veins to blacken and his eyes to bleed pitch-black blood...