Chương 52: Escape (1)

Rowan's fit of ecstasy was put to an end as he began to cough up the last dregs of water left in his chest. Then, with a breath, he looked around. The underground stream he stood beside was one of a half dozen that flowed from the broodmother's chamber. One of a half dozen that he hadn't been able to find when he'd been searching for water.

Sure, he hadn't been actively looking for them, focusing more on the main river, but it still surprised him that in all of his time wandering around the area, he hadn't encountered a single one. Although, after a few seconds of thought, he supposed it made sense. There may have been six streams, but there were hundreds, maybe even thousands of tunnels in the area, so many that it had taken him multiple days just to get from one side of the chamber to the other without passing through it.

Even more, the stream before him made little sound compared to the river and the waterfall. This, combined with the insulation of the stone walls, meant that it was nearly impossible to hear it. Shaking his head, Rowan refocused. He had to get out of here. He considered taking some time to cut out the flesh that had been poisoned by the three-headed hound's claws, but not only would it take too long, but he thought it might have already gotten too deep for him to get rid of.

The only way he knew back to the caves was back through the broodmother's chamber. And the only way for him to feasibly survive that was if all of the creatures there were distracted and fighting one another. He didn't know how long it'd been since he'd blacked out and whether or not the battle had concluded, but not knowing just increased his sense of urgency. Taking a deep breath, he set off at a light jog, following the small stream back to its origin. As he moved, he checked out his stats.

Name: Rowan Crowe Race: Human Class: Chained Lord (Inheritance) Level: 13 Stats: Strength: 19 Dexterity: 12 Toughness: 30 Vitality: 19 Mana: 19 Free Points: 1 Active Skills(2/10): Chain Manipulation lvl 13 Mana Manipulation lvl 20 Passive Skills(0/10): Quests: Defeat the Guardian of the Forest or Defeat the Leviathan (Layer Quest) Defeat 40 Enemies (Complete) Defeat 10 Enemies Above Your Level Reach Level 20 System Credits: 135 Before he looked through anything else, Rowan focused on one thing: his free point.

He'd promised himself that he would alternate between mana and dexterity unless the circumstances were truly dire, but now, he thought they were. Even as he moved, the wound on his side burned as the poison ate away at his flesh. He needed more vitality. Both toughness and vitality would help combat the poison, but he thought that the latter would be more effective, since, if the stat worked the way he thought, it would help him actually fight the necrotic effects rather than just resisting them.

Putting the point into vitality, he picked up the pace, ignoring the pain. He could've placed the point into dexterity to ever so slightly speed up his movements, but he didn't think that would be a wise decision; the rot was already too deep into his body for him to just cut it out, so speeding up his pace wouldn't do anything to help with it. Admittedly, it would let him get to his destination a few seconds earlier, but he highly doubted that would make any difference.

As he continued running, Rowan continued thinking about random things, over-explaining his own decisions to himself to keep distracted from the pain in his side. After a while, he remembered to look through the rest of his status. His stats were coming along nicely, with toughness at thirty and vitality at twenty. If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it. Dexterity was seriously lagging behind, but he could deal with that later.

Actually, did he even need the stat? If he just kept increasing his strength, couldn't the sheer power behind his steps give him a similar speed boost? Resolving to think about it later, Rowan looked at his skills. [Chain Manipulation] was coming along nicely, but that wasn't what caught his eye. After all, [Mana Manipulation] had reached level 20. He didn't know if that actually meant anything, but it was a satisfying milestone. Then, from ahead, he began to hear the faintest sounds of battle.

He let out a sigh of relief and pushed himself even harder, slowing down only once he'd reached the end of the stream and tunnel. Then, he looked into the cavern. As he'd hoped, the battle was still raging, but the bloodspawn were obviously losing. They'd been pushed back past the broodmother's massive carcass, with the ants claiming nearly three-quarters of the cavern.

Speaking of the broodmother, its corpse wasn't even visible anymore; it was covered in so many ants that not a speck of red poked out from underneath. Looking back towards where the battle was raging, Rowan cursed. The creatures were a little too close for comfort, but at least the tunnel he needed to get to was still on the same side of the lines as he was. If he'd had to fight his way to the ants' side of the battlefield to escape… he shook his head. There was no way he could do that, not like this.

His mana was barely a quarter full, and even if he was at his best, he doubted he would make it. The bloodspawn holding the line had also lost all semblance of order. Before, they had had the brutes at the front, with a few of the stronger bloodspawn at their sides to protect them. Now, though, it was utter chaos. Rowan didn't know if it was because the broodmother had died or just because they'd taken so many losses, but he didn't really care, either.

As he watched the battle for a few more seconds, he saw a lone bloodspawn run out of one of the tunnels, joining its brethren in their struggle. It seemed that a few of the creatures that had been farther out were still trickling in, though it wouldn't make much of a difference. Taking a deep breath, Rowan stepped out from the tunnel he was in, making a beeline for his target. It was the tunnel that the hunting parties entered and exited from, this one quite a bit larger than the one he had just been in.

If he could make it there, all he would have to do was sprint up the tunnel until he found the spot where he'd saved Cynthia and everyone else. Then, the surface wouldn't be far. He moved as fast and as silently as he could, and with all of the bloodspawn busy with the insect army, none noticed him. But, as he was two-thirds of the way there, he got an ominous sensation, almost as if something were watching him. Whipping around, Rowan scanned the battlefield until he found it.

There, standing a bit away from the front line, was the three-headed hound. It stared him down for a few more seconds before letting out a roar. Then, it charged." Fuck!" He cursed, stumbling away and breaking into a full sprint towards the tunnel. It was already injured, but it was still fast. What was even up with the damn beast? Was it the broodmother's pet or something? Rowan's eyes widened. He might have actually figured it out.

The broodmother he'd killed had only produced hounds, which meant that it had probably given birth to the one chasing him. Since there was only a single beast like it, he assumed that it was a special, mutated variant. It'd even been sitting as one of the broodmother's guards when he'd first seen it. Of course, he was sure that it wasn't truly a pet, but that was the closest word to what he suspected it was—or had been—to the now dead blob of flesh.

As he ran, Rowan funneled mana into one of his chains, extending it and balling it up as fast as he possibly could. Then, with a savage smile, he whipped around, swinging the weapon at where he thought the hound would be. His prediction wasn't perfect, but it was close enough that with a few tweaks with [Chain Manipulation], it found its mark. The flail crashed into the three-headed hound's side, slamming it into the wall.

It was a bit disappointing that the beast hadn't died from the blow, but Rowan hadn't expected that. Pulling his chains back to him, he prepared himself, facing it once more. The hound may have survived the blow, but as it wobbled to its feet, it was clear it had taken significant damage. It may have been high-level, but the creature still focused on speed, meaning that its durability was lacking. As he waited for the beast to recover, he began compressing mana within him.

He didn't bother using the technique he'd developed by watching the being within his chains; not only did he not have enough mental strength to dedicate to the complicated method, but he also didn't need the time bombs. After all, he didn't intend for the fight to go on long enough for them to even explode. The hound let out three roars at once before running at him again. It moved more slowly than before, but it still strafed back and forth, making it nearly impossible for him to get a good hit with the flail.

So Rowan undid the ball at the end of the chain and retracted it halfway back. Then, he extended a few of his other chains, ready to use them to defend himself if he needed to. As he formed a blade of mana in his hand, the three-headed hound continued running in a zigzag pattern until, suddenly, it shot forward, moving far faster than before. Cursing, Rowan fell back, his chains moving to protect him. It seemed he'd underestimated the creature's intelligence.

It had exaggerated how much the strike had reduced its speed, and once it got close, it unleashed its full power. Trying to take advantage of his surprise, the beast leaped at him, claws flashing. But Rowan wasn't so easily taken down. His chains came together, blocking the creature's attack. As its claws and paw struck the chains, they sank right through, the barrier offering minimal resistance.

Then, once the hound's entire leg was in his chains, he took control of them with [Chain Manipulation], squeezing its limb. The bloodspawn let out a roar and struggled as his chains jerked it to the side, but it was to no avail. Smiling slightly, Rowan shook his head. Perhaps he hadn't underestimated its intelligence. After all, it had just fallen for the same trick again, allowing him to trap it.

Having one of its limbs bound did wonders for keeping it from getting away, but it wasn't so great for keeping it at bay. Seemingly realizing this, the beast growled and rushed at him. But he was ready. As the creature came near, Rowan pulled his chains to the side, causing the hound to stumble. Then, before it could recover, he slammed his chain-wrapped fist into one of its chins, lifting its entire body a few inches into the air. Then, as it was still airborne, he slammed his foot directly into its chest.