Chương 39: Corrupted One

Just as he opened the lid, the chest jumped at him. Sharp teeth appeared inside it, clamping down. Its teeth scraped harmlessly against the barrier before it fell to the ground. Frost. The chest froze just as it prepared to lunge again. He stared at it, trying to figure out what had happened. Was the chest a creature? Why did something like that even exist? It felt wrong. Maybe it was a creation of the dungeon. Nothing else made sense.

Or some kind of shapeshifter, using the chest as an easy way to hunt adventurers. That made sense. It was genius, even. Too bad it encountered him. Clay was already standing.

"Mimic?" That confirmed his thoughts.

"Yeah."

"Can you go over what happened with the spiders? There's no way I would pass out. I've been in situations far more dangerous than that and nothing like that has ever happened," Clay said, his gaze on the ground.

"With spiders?"

"Umm… no."

"There you go. You're scared of them."

"No… that's not—" Adolin pointed toward the entrance to the next room, where the soldiers were standing, already finished with the battle.

"We found them!" Clay exclaimed and rushed through the entrance, still avoiding his gaze. As he stepped into the swamp, his leg sank into the murky water, then the other. Thick sludge clung to him, dragging at his steps. The place stank of rotten eggs and damp earth. He hated everything about it. He should have kept the barrier up. Why had he even removed it? It was already too late. He was already covered in swamp filth. As they got closer, the soldiers turned, weapons raised.

"Clay?" William said. Then the weapons lowered.

"Sir William," Clay said. Adolin glanced at each man. William was there, along with one of the scouts he had entered the dungeon with. The third was missing. The other two were soldiers who had entered with them. Everyone had probably been split into pairs upon entering the dungeon.

"Clay," William said, nodding at Adolin.

"Did the dungeon split you?"

"Yeah, we were with Lord Edrin and Revel. Where are the others?" Adolin saw the tension leave Clay's shoulders.

"Doran was split from us when we entered. He's somewhere alone," he said, shaking his head.

"We haven't found the others yet, but we're close. Everyone should meet here, or in the next room." Before Clay could ask, William continued.

"We met them," he said, pointing toward the pair that wasn't with his group, "a few hours ago. Now you've come from a different direction. We searched it and found only three entrances leading to other rooms. The one we came from, theirs, and yours."

"So we should meet up with the rest in the next room?"

"I guess. Or the room after."

"What about the entrance that leads deeper into the dungeon?" He pointed to the side.

"That's the only direction we haven't scouted."

"Let's go then, the others might be in danger," Clay said, already moving. Adolin followed behind them. He was glad they were moving. They could find the others, leave the dungeon, so he could take a break and deal with the annoyances. If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

"It's at least A-tier," one of the soldiers said.

"Maybe even S. We haven't seen the deeper rooms yet."

"If it's S, we're not conquering the dungeon. Not without high-tier adventurers or more men."

"Reinforcements from the capital should arrive in a day or two," Sir William said.

"Yeah, but we can't wait for them. Not until we have everyone in one place," Clay said. Murmurs of agreement came from the men around him. They walked through the swamp, the water now over his knees, heading toward where the entrance should be. The men talked around him, and he listened. He was learning more about dungeons, but it was hard to tell what was normal and what wasn't. Most of the talk was about the corrupted dungeon they were in, but they didn't offer any examples of what it was like in a normal one.

William asked Clay how they did in the rooms they came from. Clay lied through his teeth about the spider room, glancing at him the whole time. He ignored it. It felt wrong to expose him. Yeah. A few minutes later, the entrance stood before them. This time, the dungeon didn't try to hide it. Just an opening in the illusion, breaking the endless swamp.

"It reeks of corruption," William said. He noticed it too, but he was too busy staring at the chest beside it. No one else paid it any attention. Or they were pretending not to. He wasn't sure. Then again, they were probably more worried about their comrades and lord. Clay and William stopped in front of the entrance.

"It's… it's a corrupted one," Clay said.

"That's a bad sign," William said, frowning. Adolin stepped closer, curious, but the men crowded the entrance, blocking his view. He stopped behind them, peeking through any gap he could find. He still couldn't get a good look.

"Is it a boss room?" one of the men asked.

"I think so," William said.

"I don't think this one is too strong. Probably just a soldier. What worries me is the rooms after this." Clay nodded.

"If we come upon a Commander, it's over. Worse if we find a General. From what Rel told me, they're at Diamond-tier. Or higher." William exhaled.

"One room at a time. No need to panic yet." He pointed toward the chest.

"Get the reward before we enter." One of the men stepped forward. Adolin took a few steps back and watched. The man opened the chest. Gold. His eyes widened as he watched the man nod, close the chest, and store it in his inventory. The dungeon really wasn't fair. And it seemed his leveling had come to a stop. It wasn't fair. He wanted to clear a few more rooms before meeting the others. He frowned and returned to the entrance. There was an empty spot, and he took it. He glanced inside the entrance.

It was a dark arena, made for fights to the death between warriors, with enough seats to hold hundreds of thousands. But it was only an illusion. Still, this one held far more seats than most. There had been many like it in his old world, used for the gods' pleasure. In the center stood a humanoid with four arms. Its body was dark, with green veins running across it. It was too far so he couldn't see more than that. It was strong; he could feel that much. But nothing special. Most of the men with him could slay it.

Maybe not Clay. But he was still a kid. He had time to grow, especially if he trained him a bit more.

"What's the plan?" Clay said. William drew his sword.

"Kill this one. Then we move from there." Steel rasped as the others drew their blades. They entered the room, and Adolin followed. He felt like he would face stronger enemies in the next rooms. From what they said about the corrupted ones, whatever that meant. The being opened its eyes, smiled, and vanished. Clang! To his right, William had blocked the two swords that the being was slashing at him with. It was much faster than expected, and far stronger than it first appeared. It was concealing its strength.

With its empty hands, it drew the daggers from its hips and thrust at William. He knocked the blades away and barely avoided the strike. The corrupted one vanished again, reappearing where it had stood in the center of the arena.

"Fuschol," it said. He really needed to learn more about this world. The corrupted one was an intelligent life form, capable of using skills. It even talked. Everyone was in a defensive stance. It was probably much stronger than they expected, and they were caught off guard. He was, too. Sir William was shouting commands, but he didn't hear them. He was focused on the corrupted one. It looked human, except for the flat nose and the lack of body hair. It was as tall as William, just under two meters by his estimate.

He could take it out, but if there were stronger beings like this one, he would have trouble, or he might even lose against them. The being looked at him, that same creepy smile, and vanished again. Fuck. The moment it vanished, Adolin cast Blink. The corrupted one appeared where he had been, its blades already swinging, while he reappeared a few meters away. He wasn't sure he could beat it while faking the chants. It was too fast, and it was targeting him. William intercepted it, their swords colliding.

The others joined in. Killing intent filled the room, but it didn't affect him. Clay stood by the entrance for a few moments before moving. He wasn't sure how much help the boy would be. The killing intent slowed him, and some of the men. William was the only one not affected. The corrupted one ducked under a blade, parrying another with a dagger. It swung with the other, but one of the men blocked it. Then it vanished again, reappearing by the entrance to the next room.

It laughed, said something in that strange language, and fled through the entrance. The world was far more dangerous than he had expected. Especially the north. And the corruption there.