Chapter 94- Almiraj Matriarch_An Endling's Decision (Temporary Hiatus-ish situation for heavy edits of early chapters. Back with new chapters 2024)

An ear-rending shriek filled the air, assaulting Alan's senses with with all the ferocity of a hundred steam whistles being set off in tandem. All at once, the few Almiraj that remained mobile perked up their ears. As if given a silent order, they turned in unison, tucked tail and fled into the tall grass. Their sudden disappearance prompted a Quest completion notice to appear.

Remarkable! You have completed the first objective of your (Optional Dungeon Quest)! New objective gained!

✓1/2- Cull the Velvet Almiraj hoard and draw out the Almiraj Matriarch. Completion Reward: Varies depending on number of Almiraj culled, and mettle demonstrated in the face of adversity. (Velvet Almiraj culled: 63)

2/2- Vanquish the Almiraj Matriarch. Completion Reward: Varies depending on number of Almiraj culled, and mettle demonstrated in the face of adversity.

Gasping for breath, Alan deactivated [Left Eye of Echidna] before it had a chance to make his headache any worse and took a moment to survey the area. It was a mess. The shadow hands had really done a number on any Almiraj unlucky enough to fall into their grasp. Broken bodies were strewn from one end of the small clearing to the other. Alan was hard pressed to locate a single blade of grass that wasn't flecked with blood.

The remains closest to the field had been slammed into the floor so many times that they more closely resembled pudding that had been shoved through a wood chipper than they did anything that had only just minutes before been alive and trying to stab him with their faces. The stench of blood and bowels was so heavy on the air that it was becoming difficult to keep from gagging.

Alan really wished the Dungeon would just hurry up and do it's fucking job. “Start eating these damned things already…” Had this been the first floor, all of this shit would've been gone by now.

Without saying a word, Su'ong set about performing the grim task of finishing off the mortally wounded rabbits. Of which, Alan grimaced as he realized, he had left behind more than he was proud to admit. Those few that managed to get to their feet were allowed to flee. They hopped away as fast as their stumpy little legs would allow, forced to tread upon their own dead kin as they sought out easier prey somewhere as far away as the Safe Zone boundaries would permit them to travel.

He stepped back to avoid a small stream of blood that was seeping from a gaping wound on the left side of the beast at his feet. Alan looked at his hand and realized that [Light Weapon Mastery] had swiftly guided him through process of shoving his fist under the Almiraj's ribcage and tearing out what he assumed was the thing's lung. The moment he laid eyes on it, something new and totally unexpected happened.

Would you like to Loot this Lvl 6 Velvet Almiraj? Yes/No

The fuck is this? Alan wondered, mentally selecting Yes and tossing what he decided to call a lung aside. The questionable lump of meat, as well as the body it was not so surgically removed from dissolved into a cloud of purple mist. The air stank so bad already that Alan wouldn't have noticed the difference, but he could have sworn he heard someone shit themselves as the cloud dispersed.

Remarkable! You have received x4 Medium quality Velvet Almiraj pelts.

You have received x3 Low quality Velvet Almiraj horns.

You have received x3 Velvet Almiraj eyes.

You have received x2 Velvet Almiraj meat.

You have received x1 (Iron) Lotus Coin.

I… Huh?.. Unless this thing was hiding a bunch of extra parts up its ass, I think my looting might've glitched…

A pile of clean and perfectly usable goods sat where just a moment before was nothing more than a dead rabbit. Alan didn't understand how a single rabbit contained so many parts, but was excited at the prospect of the neatly folded pelts, meat already pre-packaged in a thick tan paper, and especially the horns. The (Iron) Lotus Coin was the icing on top of the proverbial cake, and the small jars containing eyeballs… He wasn't so sure about those.

The area was ripe with remains to loot, and had the ground not begun to shake underfoot, that's exactly what he would've done. As it were, by the time he touched his loot pile and dismissed it to inventory, the patch of weeds he stood upon exploded.

An alarming pang of immediate peril rang through Alan's mind as a needle-tipped blue horn the size of his leg erupted from directly between his legs and ripped through his Class Armor. Had he been in his human form, he likely would've been castrated on the spot. He tried to pivot out of the way, but the once solid earth was now little more than a powdery cloud hovering above a deep pit.

Flailing his arms, Alan accomplished his goal of not being impaled outright, but winced as he felt the horn rip through the scales that covered his taint and dig into the sensitive flesh hidden beneath. Off balance, Alan was unable to stop himself from falling to the side and cracking his head on a newly-exposed stone.

Something big as fuck shot past, shoving Alan to the side as the world around him flashed white. Although it only took him the span of a single breath to regain his composure, by the time he thought to react, he was already tumbling down a steep dirt embankment. Digging his claws into the loose soil helped to slow his descent, but it wasn't enough to stop him from sliding headfirst all the way to the bottom. Through the choking plume of dirt that clogged the air around him, Alan could make out a dirt-walled subterranean chamber.

Pearly white roots burrowed through the walls and dangled from what remained of the ceiling. A warren of tunnels lead off in all directions. Most had fallen to ruin in the collapse, some looked to have been destroyed long before that, but there was at least one entrance that had survived.

Su'ong's overexcited voice fell silent, the sound of Teyr shrieking pulled Alan's head out of his ass. Focusing on the rim of the crater, Alan replied that he was on his way and tried to activate {Mirage Step} but it refused to do what he wanted. He was quick to understand that the distance to the top from where he stood was too great to cover at once. Only after scrambling halfway back up the wall was he able to get within the Techniques fifteen foot range and {Mirage Step} the final distance to the surface.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

Alan reappeared crouching on the rim of the crater and found himself face-to-ass with what, aside from the Cyclops he'd faced as a child, was unquestionably the most obese monster he'd ever laid eyes on. It was also the shiniest. Golden fur that looked like strands of sunlight covered the intensely bowed out and flabby hindquarters of what was just a bigger, fatter, far more lustrous version of the other rabbit-like creatures.

It stood nearly three feet tall at the girthy back hips, and was as wide to match. Due to its awkward, bowlegged stance, four equidistant rows of fleshy, sagging udders could be seen from between its legs. Hanging so low that there was no option but to be dragged across the floor, leaving them scabbed and swollen from constant abuse.

The beast's spine was shaped like a ski-slope. Angled downward at a sharp tilt along its elongated torso before reaching the blubber-covered shoulder blades that nearly hid the shortened front legs and making a sharp upwards curve towards the back of its skull.

Alan shook his head and activated [Appraise].

Level 10 Velvet Almiraj Matriarch Hp: 450/450 (Highest Stat: 27 Willpower)

The provided description helped to ease his worries, also going a long way towards clearing away an unbidden, and equally pointless mental image of a tiny man in a ski suit riding a snowboard. He was cutting sharp corners between the rolls of fat lining the rabbits back, building up insane amounts of speed until finally snaking out of the last turn, launching up its skull, and sticking a sick board slide across the length of its ice-like horn.

That same horn which, Alan realized with concern as it lit up with an inner glow, was pointed right at Suong. Alan saw her brace for impact behind the tower shield as an orb of buzzing white energy, like hyper-condensed light, gathered at the tip and began to expand, crackling with audible snaps.

“No you don't,” Alan said lightly, a Mana-Steel spike materializing in his hand. Arms cocked back, Alan used the last of his Core's energy to execute one last {Mirage Step}. Reappearing once more, only now standing in the blind spot behind the Matriarchs shoulder, Alan took aim at the spot where horn and face met and swung the rod with every ounce of his strength. Metal and bone collided in an arm-rattling impact.

CRACK!!

The Matriarch never even saw it coming. So focused on finishing the adversary before it, the single-minded and likely pissed off rabbit had failed to notice the enemy to its left.

Alan's sudden attack disrupted the strange ability it was trying to charge up, but unfortunately the horn was far sturdier than had been expected. Subjected to a blow it was by no means prepared for, Alan heard a sickening crunch as the crest of the obese rabbit's skull caved in several inches. Eye sockets collapsed. Blood gushed as shards of splintered bone ruined both eyes.

The stunned rabbit's skull slamming into the ground was followed up by a panicked and pain-filled squeal. Honestly, Alan was surprised it was still alive. Although the horn remained unbroken, the foundation upon which it sat was beyond compromised. Starting from the point of impact, a spiderweb pattern of fractures were quickly spreading upwards along its length.

Sighting an opening, Su'ong summoned her Class Spear, held it flat and lunged forward. Blinded to the incoming attack, the Matriarch attempted to shrug Alan off so it could stand, but he bashed it in the head again. The enraged beast refused to cease struggling so he slammed his foot down on the back of its head. Blinded, enraged, and likely suffering from one Hell of a headache, the Matriarch's flailing only grew more animated. It bucked like a wild bronco, twisting and thrashing, leaving Alan with little choice but to dismiss the makeshift club, grab hold of the horn that threatened to poke his face and ride it out long enough for his partner to seal the deal.

The spear arrived in a blur of motion, landing a flurry of at least four penetrating strikes, each one struck so fast that even Alan's heightened Perception struggled to distinguish the individual impacts. Su'ong lifted her spear overhead and stabbed downward, throwing her full weight behind the attack, driving the tip of her silver spear into the crack between the Matriarch's eyes and out of the base of its throat.

Alan's Kill Log flashed one last time as she jerked the weapon from side to side. It was immediately followed by the awaited Quest completion notification. Su'ong withdrew her spear and took a step back. “Well done,” she said, plucking her canteen from inventory and taking a deep swig. For a moment she seemed to get lost, staring blankly into space. Alan was starting to wonder if he should say something when her eyes widened in alarm.

“Umm… Alan?“ Su'ong said, giving him a puzzled look, suddenly sounding nervous. “You should probably check your notifications…”

When she finished, her eyes were downcast, locked on her feet. That, in turn, was more than enough to make Alan wary. After watching her fearlessly charge into a meat grinder not ten minutes before, he wasn't excited to face whatever was causing her such visible distress.

Having dismissed so many kill notices in the midst of killing rabbits, Alan was forced to sift through far more information than he would've preferred.

(x26) Remarkable! You have defeated a Lvl 6 Almiraj! Your Exp percentage has been set to 50%.

+27 Exp gained.

+702 Total Exp gained!