Chương 12: Hellbats Meet Firebreath

Ch. 12: Hellbats Meet Firebreath One hellbat wasn't a huge deal. Even I could kill it as an NPC. They were about as big as fruit bats and if you avoided their side swipe, you would be fine. Those who didn't avoid the sideswipe… they were less fine. The claw on the other end of their wings was as sharp as a blades. They could rip through the skin of even a bravo champion if they weren't being weary in a cave biome. Then there was the other issue. One hellbat wasn't a huge deal, true. But there was never just one.

They hunted in large swaths and often patrolled the tunnels, swooping in like a wall of flying swords that came down at you in little to no light. Survivors described it in reports over and over again as a tidal wave that tore your skin, leaving you with large lacerations. The best defense was buffs and area of effect spells. My firebreath bounced off their faces. They had fox-like heads with large black holes for eyes. They all chittered with each other.

The cave ceiling might as well have been carpeted by at the little furry patches that hung from the rock. They began dropping one by one. Little divebombers that had found a prey to eliminate. One by one, two by two, the cauldron of bats made their way toward me. They shrieked, their sonar bounced off me and back to them, telling them exactly where to go. The fuzzy guys swooped down. One of the frontrunners bumped into my head. I took my toothpick and stabbed at it.

I felt nothing but air, but the next time I felt a bat hit me in the back, I turned around and stabbed down. Fast. I killed the bat instantly, the tip of the toothpick driving into its hairy back so hard that its torso separated from its wings. I still could not see a thing. I dove back into the water. I let the torrent take me as I held my breath. Every time I would come up for air, the shrieking for different bats would ring in my ears, and I would be slapped in the face by a bat falling down.

As I pulled my head up again, I finally saw some light. A large blue grid that the river ended on. It was a blue grid that all champs recognized. It was the level's edge. Aka, a dead end.

Lee's eyes opened, and she was haunted by Wesley's punchable face.

"Good, you're up," He said.

"Wha? What happened?"

"The core got us. Wrapped its tendrils around us and pulled us in.

"How-""That's not important. Look, somewhere along the way, I dropped my weapon. We need to think of a way to get out of this." Lee's disorientation was leaving her. She tried to move but when she looked down, she was tied up.

"The… dungeon core tied us up?"

"That's the thing. It's not just a monster. The-" His head turned, his attention stolen. The sound of footsteps clattered on the floor.

"Quiet!" Wesley closed his eyes and pretended to be asleep, even adding snoring for an increased effect. Large plodding footsteps approached Lee saw torch light beam through the gaps of four barrels covering the exit. She closed one eye as well. Lee couldn't help but keep one eye open. Meaty gray fingers as thick as kielbasa wrapped the barrel rims and moved it. She closed her eyes fully. The beast grunted something in his native language before putting the barrel back.

Lee waited until the heavy footsteps sound faded. She opened her eyes but Wesley was still pretending to sleep.

"Wesley," She whispered, "What happened? How'd I get here?" Wesley opened his eyes and asked, "Is it safe? That thing. It was saddled on top the core. The thing with the tendrils dragged us further into the cave and he tied us up."

"What!? What's the core then?! I never got a good look at it." Wesley shook his head.

"I didn't get a good look either. But I got a good look at him. Ugly thing. What do you think it is? Don't tell me its a demon." Wesley shivered as he lived through the vision of the monster again. Then he stared at Lee, waiting for her answer.

"You don't know? You said you saw it."

"Y-yeah. But it was dark still. I couldn't tell if it was a demon or… a troll.. Or what." She sighed and said, "It's probably an ogre. They're not as smart as humans, luckily." She glanced around the the room she was in. With what light poured in, she noticed they were surrounded by crates, barrels, trinkets, and even some weapons.

"Some kind of… some kind of trader."

"What do you think it wants with us!?" He asked. This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. She scoffed, "Well, if he wanted to eat us we'd wake up in a cauldron. Guy probably wanted our magic weapons. All of us champions have one. Probably just knows he can get more if he captures one of us. Or… two. Huh." Lee stopped to ponder. It didn't really make sense to take two hostages.

"Why do you think he would want both of us?"

"I… I don't know. I don't think it's worth thinking what a dumb ogre would do." She had a chronic pain in her head, but as the pain began to dull, her memory started to return. There was Wesley, screaming. There was darkness. Then she woke up. But why was she captured? All she remembered was Wesley getting pulled. Her eyes widened as an image entered her head. Her looking down and seeing Wesley's hand grab her arm.

"You… You pulled me."

"I had to," he muttered.

"You!" She hissed at him. Her memory returned to her. He pulled her in, she almost fell off the ledge but the tendril of the monster grabbed her foot. She slammed against the wall of the cliff hard. Her head smacking the cliff. Wesley had explicitly put her in more danger and the core's tendril actually kept her alive.

"I panicked" he pleaded, "I just grabbed the thing in front of me." Even though she was bound, she jerked toward him. A scream escaped his lips and she shushed him. Lee lifted her foot and kicked Wesley, but it was too late. They both turned when the scraping sound of the barrels moving revealed the monster's face staring straight at them. He had a gray head with strands of hair crooked. His eyes were beady and too far apart.

His teeth attempted to escape from the confines of his mouth and smile made you feel unclean. When he spoke, his voice was like the croak of a smoking frog.

"Wakey wakey, puny humans."

Understanding that this was all a cosmic game made a little more sense of the strangeness of the world. Like the edges of the dungeon. The glowing blue grid known by champs as the 'level's edge.' When the tarpits appear, they only have a limited area from Tartarus. If you were to try to make a run for it, you would quickly encounter the level's edge. The blue grid let inorganic material pass through freely. So, rivers, rocks, the wind, all could come and go as they pleased.

But animals, plant life, and sapients were stuck inside the tar pit when it traveled to our world. At least until the portal closed. My body slammed against the level's edge. I felt and heard a slight vibrational sound as I pressed against the wall but other than that, I was fine. I lifted my foot and stepped on the water's surface, pulling the rest of me up. I opened the system screen and fingered through the rolodex of tabs before I got to ' abilities.' The hellbats dive bombed me.

While distracted by the screen, I jumped to the left, to the right. I dropped and dodged. The grid of the leve's edge buzzed with every hellbat that slammed into it. Those that did hit it flapped their wings to gain some momentum and try again. Finally I saw the same three choices again. Cloud Form Blessings Firebreath I knew which one was right for this job. I clicked on it. I felt the swell of what felt like bile once again and released. Fire erupted from my throat like the turbine of a jet engine.

The propulsion forced my mouth to stay open as the fire consumed the bats. I scanned my head from right to left to capture as much area as possible. The fire enveloped the bats. Many perished as soon as it did. Many more flew like possessed fireballs around the cave. The smell of burning hair entered my nostrils, and the warmth provided a much needed break from the cold of the cave. One by one and two by two, the bats went down.

I knew they were dying because each death was followed by a ding and words and that appeared in front of me, counting the bats as they dropped. Ding! You killed (14) Level 5. Great job! Ding! You killed (16) Level 5. Great job! Ding! You killed (22) Level 5. Great job! Ding! You killed… And on and on and on until it had finished counting. I had killed 30 level 5 hellbats. Good job, me. My eyes went to the mana bar. 15% mana remains Damn. I thought to myself, I let myself use it for a lot longer than before.

I still don't have a lot of mana, I should be more precious. Who knows If I'm going to need it for the core? I noticed that even though the last of the bats' fire was quelling, the room was still lit. There were oil-slicked torches that I'd inadvertanly lit around the room I was in. It not only showed that there were other tunnels with torches, but even a staircase and a door. Torches. I thought, There are sapients here. Or at least there were. I began to move up the steps but I stopped to look at my handiwork.

30 bats. That would be… a lot of money. As a champion, you could just show your screen and share the stats. As an NPC, I'd need a witness as well as the 30 wings to bring back. I didn't want to do the math in my head of how much I missed out on. But also, I did not have time for that. So.. I had to walk away from whatever money I'd be making. It was much more important, that I find Lee. I traveled up the staircase, jumping over the steps that were still on fire from my breath.

I got to the second floor and there was a heavy door and a map right next to it. When I tried to push or pull, it was clear there was a bar keeping the door closed. I studied the map. I understood what the words under the map said, even though they were in a language I could not identify. I saw that I was on the lower floor, and that the room simply titled 'Mole.' was directly through this door and up another floor. I stared at the heavy wooden door, knocking on it.

"Solid wood." Was the core a sapient? Was the core a demon!? I thought as I pulled my fist back, and placed my weight on my backfoot. I should have asked Spiros more questions about this world. About my powers. About how to most effectively use them. No matter how hard it might be to hide a tiny deer dragon, I would need that murderous god with me on the next raid. But until then … I jetted my fist into the wooden door. My punch went through the other side.

The bar cracked in half and the wood splintered into the next room. The room was a barracks of some kind, filled to the brim with goblin soldiers hanging around. As they noticed the intrusion, they all braced their spears. I'll use everything I have to clear the dungeon.