The portal is ready for you, young man. An older lady shared. She gave an inviting smile and gestured to the centre of the chamber, where a mirror-like portal shone brightly. I said my hurried goodbyes to Eri, who wouldnt be joining on this delve and followed the elder to the portal.
I wondered for a mont why an older person like this lady would join Dalius. Judging from her hunched back and grey, tattered hair, it didnt seem like she a good fit for this wild group of rebels.
Im not as spry as I used to be, Ill admit. She suddenly said, breaking the silence.
I jumped. Had I said that out loud? No, I was sure I hadnt!
I can tell what youre thinking from your facial expressions, boy. You should keep a straighter face. That being said, shouldnt your little girlfriend be joining us? This portal wont stay open forever, you know. And dont forget to bring a torch. The dungeon is pitch black on the inside.
Ah, right. Well, Eri wont be coming with . Shes delving into an undead dungeon, since itll be better for our overall experience gain if we split up. I explained, trying to do as she asked by maintaining a neutral expression. I wisely stayed silent about my vision in the dark, not willing to share too many of my cards with strangers.
She scrutinised for a mont, an inquisitive eye staring back at as she looked back.
Is that a good idea? Ive faced these Garbador myself, at one point. They might as well be giant cockroaches! Good for exp, to be sure, but such a pain to take down. I dont think youll even kill a single one by yourself, you know? she said teasingly.
I could tell that she was only half-joking.
Dont worry about that. I have so thods to deal with them one at a ti.
By this point, we had arrived at the portal.
One at a ti? You better hope they dont surround you, then. She continued with a wry smile. Co on, off you go! Just call Dalius na when youve left the dungeon. Our teleporter will open up a portal for you afterward.
She lifted her cane and slamd it into my back full force. I almost lost my footing and stumbled through the portal. By the ti I turned around, hoping to give her a piece of my mind, the mirror-like surface had already disappeared into thin air.
Left to my own devices, I took a look at my surroundings. A large nondescript cave lood in front of , carved into the side of a rocky cliff. Behind , a truly beautiful expanse stretched up until the horizon.
Where am I? I couldnt help but mutter, staring at the azure sea that touched the coast. The sound of waves hitting the beach was contrasted by the rustling leaves of the few trees that dotted the edge of the sand.
I inspected my left and right a little more closely, but found no sign of civilisation. I couldnt imagine why, though, because the slightly warm breeze would have made this the perfect place to live for many. Wasnt this cave a quarry, too? Where did all of the people go? It made no sense
At least I wasnt being harassed by strangers. The quarry was completely empty. Apart from the obviously man-made cubic holes that had been dug into the cliff, there werent any houses or temporary accommodations. Whatever had been quarried here all those years ago had long since been transported to its destination, as well. The presence of such a deep cave in this quarry raised so questions, though. Maybe they had found a valuable vein of ore at one point? Why create a mine in the middle of a quarry, though?
Unfortunately, I didnt have much ti to admire the scenery. If I stalled for too long, Eri would catch up to and, inevitably, surpass my level. Currently, I was still ahead because of the war in the between lands that had netted a large amount of experience. The goal this ti was to reach level 100 in one go. Either I achieved that benchmark, or the dungeon ran out of monsters. Whichever happened first would be the deciding factor.
With a sigh, I gave the view one final glance before giving up on it and stalking into the cave.
Wooden beams stopped the tunnel from collapsing. Sothing about them was odd, though. The wooden beams were spotless. Brand new, even. Was this entire tunnel made by the dungeon, rather than the people?!
It had to have been, I quickly realised, because the tunnels were far too large for humans.
The ceiling of the tunnel was at least ten ters high and the cave itself was twice as wide. On top of that, these distances were only increasing as I went deeper and deeper.
As I walked further and further, the light that filtered in from the outside started to dim, eventually disappearing altogether, even though I had been walking in a straight line the entire ti.
The cave started to shake ever so slightly, announcing the impending arrival of my first target.
A smile crept onto my face.
Finally. Took you long enough
The shaking intensified a bit as the monster got closer. Soon enough, I started to hear the rumbling. In the distance, a dark-blue blur was fast approaching. It took up the entire tunnel, which had grown even larger than before, filling up the space.
Once it got close enough, I realised that the garbador was rolling! Had it noticed yet?
I decided to test its awareness by hiding to the side of the tunnel. Because of the creatures size, there was enough space to crouch under the rolling ball as it rushed past, I thought.
Sure enough, the monster didnt seem to be aiming for , necessarily. Just as the giant ball was about to roll over harmlessly, I drew my sword and held it up like a spike. I squeezed against the wall right as it passed by, but cringed when my sword bounced off of the creatures armor, the blade cracking in the process. I winced, not having expected my long-ti weapon to ever break.
The resulting clang had alerted it of my presence, though, so that was that. I was now stuck fighting this thing, until either I or it died.
As soon as it noticed , the giant ball started to slow down, grinding to a halt a few dozen ters past . Then, it spun around its own axis and opened up, revealing two hind legs and two sharp claws as well as one tiny head.
An igneous armadillo! I exclaid, rembering one the monsters Cerion had tried to ram down my throat during monster lessons a few months ago. Well, these monsters werent the sa ones, obviously. For one, they were far larger than the kind Cerion had tried to teach about. For another, these were blue rather than the red I rembered. A variant, then. A stronger, bigger variant.
The armadillo made a show of slling the air, sniffing loudly a few tis. Could it not see ?
After a particularly loud sniff, the armadillo turned to , staring dead in the eyes. Its beady black orbs held my gaze for a few monts, before the beast reared back and released a furious roar that shook the earth beneath .
I had expected this reaction, though, and had taken the opportunity to rush towards the armadillos underbelly, where my sword finally found purchase. Unfortunately, even its underbelly was tough. I tried to leave a deep cut, but the leather-like skin hardly parted at all. To make matters worse, my sword finally gave up under the stress. Two-thirds of the blade broke off where it had previously cracked, leaving with a small dagger.
Only a single, tiny red drop of blood seeped out of the wound I had left but that was enough. I had activated [Curse mark] the mont I felt my sword pierce the skin and the corrosive sigil had instantly taken hold.
Mouldy green lines spread from the wound, digging and growing underneath the skin of the creature. It screeched in pain and rolled itself back into a ball, before catapulting itself at . Stubbornly, I tried to block its charge with my onyx chains, but was sorely disappointed when the monster crushed them underfoot. Or underball, in this case. Not even [Crawling road], the poetic upgraded form of my aura could keep a strong enough hold on the chains to keep them in place.
On top of that, the chains broke apart as they strained to wrap around the creature. The attempt was futile, as it didnt even slow down.
Out of options, I blasted myself to the right with aura step, hoping to dodged the incoming ball of destruction. I was just in ti to dodge a dead-on hit, but was still dealt a glancing blow. The armadillo crashed into the tunnel wall with a resounding rumble, catapulting to the side with its imnse bulk and montum.
I flew into the other wall, denting the tough rock as I hit it. My bones broke as the dungeon-reinforced stone refused to give under the pressure, leaving dropped to the floor in a crumpled heap. Though I could feel my body nd, there wasnt much room to move, let alone escape
I needed an opportunity to get away. Before I could think about a strategy, the armadillo opened up again to take a sniff. It leaned down to my previous position, trying to find my corpse. Once it realised that I wasnt there, it turned around. It must have slled the blood seeping out of my wounds.
Slowly, with deliberate steps, the creature lumbered over to . Confident in its victory, it ignored the dull pulse of the curse nestled above its stomach.
I waited.
Once it was within a few ters of , it snorted and reared up, lifting a single elongated claw to the roof of the tunnel. The claws dug into the stone, making noise as the stone parted. Then, right as the claw was about to co down, I apparated in front of the creatures stomach. With my broken sword in hand, I held onto its tough skin and stabbed into the small wound I had left previously.
The way my curse mark worked, that would intensify the curse substantially. The creature screeched in pain, but I gave it no ti to recover and pulled the sword back out. Then, I stabbed it back in.
Enraged, the armadillo hunched itself back into a ball and prepared to roll. Only this ti, I hadnt let go. Stuck inside of the ball, I beca squished under the monsters roiling muscles, which clamped down on as hard as they could.
Unfortunately for opponent, I had just enough room to repeatedly slide my sword back into its wound, increasing the curses power with each attack. Soon enough, the presence of my curse beca so powerful even my mana sense could feel it.
Stuck in this battle of attrition, the monster and I competed over who could survive the longest. The armadillo rolled around at insane speeds, lurching from side to side and crashed into whatever it could. More of my bones broke and I was sure a few of my organs had been pierced by so ribs by now. Even my skull felt like it was cracking but I held on. I kept going. In and out, in and out
After a certain amount of ti, I dont rember how long, the monster started to slow down. Its hold weakened, and its roars quietened. At so point, it stopped moving.
Ding! Combat finished. Congratulations on reaching [Hollow essence Knight] level 78!
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