Since things looked much dicier than initially expected, the members of Team 0 regrouped to think. Ezekiel raised the possibility of going back up and informing the AA that they had found human remains and that they suspected this dungeon might be more dangerous than initially expected.
According to the rulebook they had been taught, it was what they were supposed to do. But they might not be taken seriously with little evidence beyond half a leg, which probably belonged to a homeless man.
“Miss Walker wouldn’t dismiss us though. She knows us and knows we aren’t ones to flake off a mission simply because we got spooked!” The boy kept arguing, though it sounded weak even to his ears, given his grimace.
James shook his head. “I don’t think we can justify abandoning the dive just because of this. Rather, I think this means we have to keep going to find exactly what is going on here.”
No one liked it, but eventually they all agreed. If they found any evidence of a monster beyond H-rank, they would immediately leave and report to the AA, but if it was something within their range, they had a duty to fight it.
A potential cause of the gory mess they had found didn’t take long to reveal itself. Five minutes after they had resumed the dive, James felt something big moving in the waters. It was large enough that it would have worried him even had it been a common animal, but the mana in the dungeon should have mutated an ordinary crocodile into something truly dangerous.
He immediately alerted the others, and they took up position, waiting to see if it would surface. Like the ambush predator it was, it hid until the last minute. It emerged just as it looked like it was passing them by, its mouth wide open and ready to clamp down on Daniel, who was serving as the vanguard.
The creature, though not entirely out of the water, was enormous. At least ten feet of it were visible, while its lower body and tail remained hidden.
The strength with which it clamped down was enough that James sincerely doubted any of them would have survived it, but it was slow enough that, while on high alert, Daniel was able to avoid it.
Immediately, they all started attacking it. A fireball, smaller than usual but emitting enough heat that no one could have doubted its power, smashed into its snout, sending it reeling in pain.
James launched a devastating kick to the side of its head while it was still in the air, forcing his skill to concentrate only on the foot. The blow sent the crocodile skidding over the concrete path, finally revealing its full size.
Close to twenty feet, the monster had wickedly sharp scales all over its spine. Its teeth were as long as two of James’ fingers, and its eyes, glowing yellow even in the dim light, held nothing but death.
That was, until a knife buried itself into one of them, making it twist and coil around itself in pain as it tried to dislodge it.
Suddenly, the creature slowed down, looking like a great weight had been added to its frame. Knowing that this was the effect of Ezekiel’s skill, they all continued their assault.
Another scorching hot fireball found its target, this time entering the crocodile’s open mouth and burning its insides. The last blow was dealt by James, who jump-kicked it in the head, sending the still buried knife directly into its brain, killing it immediately.
A moment of silence passed as all the Awakeners regained their breath. The fight hadn’t been particularly long, but the speed and lethality with which the monster moved had spooked them.
“Well, I guess we found a possible culprit.” Ezekiel tried to joke, earning some weak chuckles. Even as he said it, the boy’s eyes were affixed on the crocodile’s corpse, and James could understand why.
It was, by far, the biggest creature any of them had ever fought. Its sheer size and strength would have been enough to kill any of them immediately, unlike even the rat Boss.
Yeah, that one could use skills and technically is stronger, what with the versatility and crowd control abilities it had. But one on one, this monster would win anytime if it was allowed close enough.
It was a different kind of fight when you knew that every mistake might lead to your death. Their suits were made of strong enough materials to withstand the crocodile’s bite, this much they all knew, but their heads were still uncovered, and if it managed to clamp down on one of their limbs and spin, James didn’t like his chances to get out unscathed.
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“Now we have to hope these things don’t operate in groups, or we’re fucked.” Lauren might have been correct, unfortunately. As long as they worked together, they could easily overcome the limitations imposed upon them by this specific dungeon, but if they were forced to fight more than one, things could get tricky.
“Did anyone get a level?” James asked, hopeful that a last-minute power up might make their chances better. He hadn’t, but he was very close to it. The little crocs hadn’t given him much, but the big one had filled almost half his needed experience.
“I did.” Ezekiel and Maria raised their hands simultaneously, high-fiving in celebration.
While the two assigned their free points, James and the others kept watch, knowing how delicate a moment it was.
When they were finally done groaning in discomfort, they resumed their track, though not before pushing the crocodile’s carcass to the side of the path. “We don’t want to have to run back quickly and find this thing slowing us down.” Daniel had said, and they had all agreed.
The atmosphere of the sewer tunnel was dark and damp, their every step echoing despite their best effort, except for Lauren, whose Rogue Talent gave her the skills necessary to go unnoticed. In such an environment, they could not hope to mask their arrival, but since James could sense presences in the area thanks to Thakinetic Awareness, they also knew early if something was coming, nullifying the disadvantage.
Another swarm of little crocs, though this time closer to four feet in size rather than the earlier three, found them shortly after the two mages were done with their stat points. Their tactics of charging ahead and trying to bite anything close enough turned out to be more effective when the monsters were stronger and faster.
They seemingly had no compunction to stop when their siblings were killed, instead redoubling their ferocity. James was thus forced to come to Ezekiel’s rescue, as the boy risked being encircled.
The last of the little monsters was dealt with by Daniel, who had taken a surprising amount of gusto at smashing them against the wall when they clamped on his shield. “These little buggers are persistent, I’l give them that.”
James wasn’t listening, however, because he had finally reached level 10. As far as milestones went, it wasn’t a celebrated one. Level 50 was much more important being the cutoff for rank-G, with level 100 being the most critical, signifying the gateway to the second Awakening.
Still, it represented something to him. It gave him a nice, round number that showed his increased power. To James, that was enough to be happy “Hey guys, I just leveled up. Cover me while I assign my points?”
“Me too. Just give me a moment and I’ll be done” Lauren joined in, sitting down next to James since they had been told that increasing their stats while not standing was safer, as muscle twitches could cause them to fall.
Status!
One quick look revealed that not only had he leveled up, but he also had finally increased Thakinetic Empowerment’s level! James quickly assigned the points, a smile stretching his lips.
STATUS WINDOW
Name
James Summers
Age
19
Awakening
1st
Talent
Thakinesis
Title
Level
10
MP
41/50
STR
10
VIT
8
AGI
8
SENSE
9
MIND
8
STAT POINTS
0
SKILLS LEVEL DESCRIPTION Thakinetic Empowerment 3 (Active): Utilize your Willpower to temporarily raise STR - VIT - AGI. Thakinetic Awareness 2 (Active/Passive): Expand your SENSE to feel other’s wills. Thakinetic Resistance 2 (Active/Passive): Empower your MIND to defend yourself against foreign influences.
With his points assigned to STR and AGI, bringing them to ten and eight respectively, James was overtaken by the usual headache mixed with muscular twitches, though they didn’t last long.
Before he could stand up, Thakinetic Awareness blared with danger, and he only had time to scream “Incoming!” That a massive form breached the water, effortlessly bridging the gap between the edge of the platform and the sewer proper.
His warning came soon enough that Daniel could bring his shield to bear to protect Maria, who had been standing next to him.
The massive crocodile clamped down on it, ripping it off the Tank’s hands and throwing it away.
By that time, though, they had all moved into position, and when it turned to face them, ready to lunge again, it was greeted by a fiery present. The skill was strong enough to scorch its hard scales, making the creature screech in pain. It wasn’t enough to deter it, however, and it lunged again.
James punched it with all his strength, the urgency of the moment focusing his Willpower on the task, aided by his skill level increase. Thus, he was able to blow it away, sending the large creature skidding on the cement platform.
Lauren was immediately on top of it, having managed to go unnoticed until the last moment, and once again aimed for its weak point. By a stroke of luck, the crocodile tilted its head away at the last moment, taking a gash that didn’t even manage to make it bleed.
Another fireball splashed against it, giving the Rogue time to get some distance.
Again, they repeated the same tactic, with Ezekiel slowing the monster down. James dodged a lunge, also thanks to Daniel faking a charge, and managed to send the crocodile belly up with a retaliatory kick. With its relatively unprotected side exposed, Lauren made short work of it, her sharp knives opening its belly, making its internal organs spill out.
James directed one last punch from below at its head, the blow crushing its throat and ending the already fading creature’s life.
“Ugh, I think I found where the rest of the body is.” Maria was pointing directly at where the monster’s stomach was, full to the brim with powerful gastric acid and a half-melted head.
It took some strength not to retch at the sight. The skin was gone, and only bits of muscle and hair remained attached to the bone. The skull, however, was unmistakably that of a human male, and it took little imagination to realize the leg they found belonged to it.
“Well, mystery solved, I guess. The other one was innocent.” James commented, using his knife to fully open the stomach, careful not to get splashed with the acid. Though his suit was D-rank and should easily stand up to it, he didn’t want to get into the habit of not caring for it. Considering his luck, it would give up on him at the worst moment.
“Gah, do you have to do it now?” Ezekiel asked, voice muffled by the hands he was keeping over his mouth.
“The acid will keep melting it. Already, it’ll be difficult to find out who it was. It might be too late if we leave it for another few hours.” He explained, not particularly enjoying the task either.
At least, the encounter managed to get Daniel over the line for his own level up, so he took a moment to assign the new points while the others kept watch.
We’re gonna need it if we want to make it out of here in one piece.