Chương 3: The Dungeon Core

Ch. 3: The Dungeon Core I tugged at the platform of clouds that bound my hands. Every time I pulled with my left arm, a shock of pain ran through the piercing in my shoulder. My body was screaming at me, 'Don't do that.' The swarms were landing, charging their horns, and attacking the champs. Franz was handling his own, surging power through his axe and slicing the beetles. But the rest of the champs were struggling. Spiros' hand stayed lifted as he was pushing me.

But as some of the bigger Trident beetles shot lightning at him, he lifted his other hand and generated a cloud to absorb the blasts. As Spiros conjured more protective clouds, as I was sent farther and farther away, his iron grip on my platform began to give way. I turned around, and the portal to the outside was coming up fast. I lifted my good arm. There was give, but barely. I pushed against my trapped knees and ignored the pain as I freed my arm.

As I approached the portal, I could spy a tree limb sticking out right above me. I held my arm up, knowing this would be painful. Like a snare, as soon as my palm felt the limbs, my fingers closed in.

"Ahh!" I cried in pain as I was pulled from both directions. I thought I heard something snap. It was to my relief when I realized it was something from inside my body, and the branch I grabbed still held. As the bough bent, the platform pulled, and my body stretched, I could see what was coming. While people were distracted with the beetles, they did not notice the trees splitting a little farther down, as a great brown Grizzlox trampled the forest around it.

Once I felt my convoy finally release my body, I dropped from the tree branch and collapsed on the ground. I groaned, but slowly got up. We were already overwhelmed with the trident beetles, the most that were supposed to be in this level were demon deer and maybe some dire wolves. Adding a grizzlox would kill all the champions. Further along, Franz was trying to keep things together.

"Everybody! Backs to each other!" Franz said as he stuck his weapon out.

"We've got to make our way back to the entrance."

"The entrance?" Spiros said.

"Oh, bloody hell. If you're all going to be such mortals about this… allow me." He jumped up, his feet landing on two clouds. A scarf of blue clouds formed around his neck. He jettisoned toward the beetles. His speed ripped through one instantly. He lifted his hand and shot a ball of concentrated flame at another. He leapt again, his feet bouncing off the air like he was skipping on rocks in a river. He took out a blade. Its pommel was jade.

Its handle looked like a deer's antlers, and the hand-guard was in the shape of a fluffy cloud. But that blade was sharp. He slit through the beetle's armor. Playing whack-a-mole with each of them, and quickly turning the tide on the battle. I hobbled toward the battlefield. Beetles still surrounded Nelo. She held up her shield, blocking the electric attacks. Her shield was an opaline oval, her god's signet on the top; a unicorn with its mane enveloping the rest of the shield. At its center, a six-inch pike.

As the shield absorbed the electricity, it shot the energy back through the pike. Despite her resilience, she was becoming surrounded and unable to block the strikes from all angles. This is a stupid Bravo, and I'm already out for the count. My legs moved faster than my mind. One of the higher-level beetles began a charge in his horn. It was going to launch a lightning attack on Nelo's back. I placed myself in between them before that could happen. The voltage shocked my normal, unenhanced human body.

Every one of my cells was on fire.

"Drake!" Nelo screamed.

"How much more time?" I muttered. Nelo turned around, leapt, and stabbed the beetle's head with the spike in her shield.

"Until what!?"

"Until your Greater Healing." Her pupils darted to the corner of her vision, "Four minutes."

"I can make it that long," I said, dropping to the ground. While Spiros jutted through the beetles, Franz held his own. He killed the beetles one by one, at a much slower pace than his patron. Nobody, in the heat of the battle, noticed the steps that vibrated through the ground. Except me, whose cheek was firmly planted on the earth.

"Grizzlox," I said as I attempted, and failed, to push myself up.

"I don't think we should even try to find it!" said Nelo.

"We should just focus on getting out of here alive! Here, let me give you something to ease the pain." She placed her hand on me. It didn't erase the injuries, but it let my brain ignore them. I got up, feeling less fatigued.

"No. I'm saying… the Grizzlox is here." I pointed. A hill of brown fur poked up above the tree tops. Likely on all fours. It's unintelligible growling punctuated the harsh cacophony of the buzzing and screaming.

"Hey! Hey! The Grizzlox! The Grizzlox is almost here!" I screamed.

"We have to get out of here!" I limped forward to catch up with Franz. The kirin champion sliced another beetle.

"Franz! Franz! You have to see we're already outmatched."

"He's right, Franz," said Nelo, walking ahead of me.

"This is way over our paygrade." The mandibles of the beetle wrapped around Franz's axe. Franz covered his axe in a jolt of fire, causing the beetle to step back. He surveyed the battlefield. He spotted the Grizzlox behind the trees.

"I… agree." The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. Spiros turned around, mid-air, his feet still resting on clouds. The clouds dispersed, and he dropped to the ground.

"Everybody!" I yelled. Franz joined in.

"Let's clear out! We have to retreat!" The people were battered, torn up, and happy to hear they could go home.

"Now just hold on, a minute!" Spiros said as he floated down to Franz.

"I don't think—" Before I could finish, Spiros conjured a bubble around him and Franz. Sound could not escape or penetrate the bubble. The grizzlox had breached. It was standing there. Like someone had drawn a bear from a nightmare they'd had as a child. It lumbered above, head even with the tip of the trees. It was propping itself up on its hind hooves, stomping the ground. Its two pairs of clawed arms were poised to attack. The grizzlox glowed, like all dungeon cores did.

The key to closing the tar pit was through stabbing the heart. It took a wobbly step forward and grunted. It had been moving slowly, taking forever to get beyond those trees. Then I saw the thing below. Its belly was distended, dragging along the ground. Had it just had lunch? It didn't matter. Our new mission was to evacuate.

"Does anybody have a returnstone?!" I yelled.

"If you're so lucky, you'll stay back and fight while the others can run back to the mouth!" The bubble Spiros had created dispersed. Franz gave a blank stare.

"Come on, buddy. Let's wrap it up," I told him.

"We stay and fight."

"What!?" Nelo and I both said it at once.

"We stay and fight!" Franz said it to everyone, "Spiros will take care of the rest of the beetles."

"Wonderful," Spiros said. Franz stuck his axe up and told the rest of the crew.

"Everyone, get your weapons up. It's going to be a rough fight."

"What are you doing?" I whispered to Franz. He ignored me, so I grabbed his collar and pulled but he shook me off. He faced forward, his head shaky. Without looking at me, he said, "You've got no idea what's coming." I looked up. The grizzlox roared so loud, it felt like the air was on fire. Then, it slumped over and vomited onto the ground. Instead of its lunch, however, was a platoon of goatmen with spears.

"S-ssapients." Nelo said, "This cave is… level Charlie at least." Spiros was in the air, demolishing the rest of the beetles. There were only a few left. But now we had bigger problems. The goatmen were each six feet tall. They were wearing loincloths, each with tall spears. One by one, they plopped out of the Grizzlox's mouth. Each expulsion liberated the monster's cramped belly. The last one to pop out stood at nine-feet tall. He had four horns. The inner two curling together in the shape of a heart.

His wretched smile matched his haunting yellow eyes. His torso was weighty and humanesque compared to his goat lower half. His face was too human. We weren't just dealing with grizzlox, and we weren't just dealing with sapients. That would be bad enough. We were now dealing with a demon as well. The goatmen shrieked at us as they attacked. The first line of them ran, leapt, and bounced off the trees to gain air and momentum.

Franz held his axe up to block the spear, but the strength of the goatman knocked the axe out of Franz's hand.

"Two minutes," Nelo said as she raised her shield en guard, "Two minutes until I get my healing back!" It did not matter. Two goatmen stabbed at her with their spears. Nelo's piked shield was better for nonphysical strikes. She could not redirect their energy and as they took turns batting her. Combined with our low level and the element of surprise, the goat men quickly closed the distance and had begun battle. While I was still speed-boosted, I was badly damaged.

The runt of the pack, a goatman that was shorter than Nelo approached me with his stumpy spear.

"This is humiliating," I whispered under my breath. I picked my dagger up off the floor and held it out. I was barely standing.

"The things I do for $800." He leapt at me. I jumped back. He chuckled. He toyed with me again. I grabbed his spear, but he easily tore it from my grip. I took a step back and tripped on something. I fell backward. The goatman saw his opportunity. With delighted bleating, he jumped on me and brought his spear down on me. I rolled out of the way, and the spear plunged into the earth. The goat had fallen for my ploy. It had underestimated me. That was my superpower on the battlefield.

I thrust upward, and my Double Dagger pierced through the maw of the goatman into his brain. It was lights out. His body dropped. I did it. I thought, and I only barely got stabbed. I looked down at my side. There was a gash seeping blood where the spear had nicked me. That's not even the hardest time I've been stabbed today. I watched as the champs battled the battalion of goatmen, at the center was Spiros and the demon… they were talking.

They were having a discussion on the battlefield while all the rest of us fought. I was so confused. Just then, I heard a scream. I turned and saw one of my teammates, a rogue by the name of Ken, fall to the ground. Dead from the goatman. One of them started dragging Ken's body as the other two joined their comrades, picking on another fighter. I took a step back, bumping into Franz.

"Give the order," I demanded, "You know it's treason if they leave without the team lead's command. Tell them to leave." His eyes were wide as he stared at me. His pupils were darting back and forth as he debated something. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a blue crystal with a faint glow inside of it. A returnstone. Was he going to give it to me? I didn't think I could leave without…

"I'm so sorry. He made me. He made me. I can't stick around, though. I'm so glad you came on this trip. I'll look after your sister, okay? I'm sorry, Drake. I'm sorry."

"What!? What are you talking about? Why are you-" Franz crushed the returnstone in his hand. He became a beam of light, and his essence traveled out of the forest, abandoning us. I heard a pitchy laugh behind me. Then a familiar voice. I turned. Nelo was battered, bleeding, and a goatman had a knife to Nelo's throat. Her hand was extended to me, glowing.

"Drake," Penelope muttered, "My hour is up. I don't have enough mana for Greater Healing… but it'll help." The goatman was pulling at Nelo's hair. He was still laughing.

"She look at you." The goatman croaked.

"Whole time. You what get her killed." She continued to hold her hand out to me.

"I can heal you. Please, Drake. Even just a little."

"Go on. I kill you, no health. Full health. You're next." I limped toward the Nelo and the goatman. He did not slice her yet. It seemed that he was being sincere. He thought so little of me, that being at full health made no difference. If anything, it would help him toy with me more. I also had a suspicion that he wanted me to watch him kill Nelo. That was part of the fun. More than anything, I hated the idea of the bully winning. I hated that goatman for what he was doing.

If he was interested in torture, if it pleased them to no end that I be dreading the woman's death, then I would not give the goatman the satisfaction. I walked forward, grabbed Nelo's wrist, and plunged the dagger into Nelo's chest myself.