The temperature got significantly cooler inside the dilapidated facility. It smelled salty and musty, even a tiny bit fishy, though oddly enough not metallic.
Leon walked along the short but tilted hallway that went left after retrieving his torch and item. He pushed himself off the wall as he moved to the other end. He paused and readied his sword when he spotted something in front of him….
It didn't move.
Leon got closer and closer, bringing his torch in front of him to find… a large rock, or stone. Whatever it was, it was blocking the hall, but it had a hole on it side.
"What?"
Whoever it was, they hadn't bored all the way through the blockage. The hole was wide enough to allow entry into the right of the obstruction. The entry was a drop to the floor below.
Leon looked down at the base to find that the blockage had punched through the metal. He crouched down, setting his sword down and felt the metal at the edge. The burs still felt sharp and he could feel bits of something stuck to it.
He picked up his weapon and inspected the object.
It was dark and had weird layers to it, and it held pick marks. Leon reasoned that whoever bore the hole didn't want to cut more than they had to. He couldn't tell if it was to save time, effort, or to preserve the dilapidated facility's structural integrity, which was dubious to begin with.
He looked at the hole that led to the floor below to find that it did have water. He could tell because the light of his torch was reflected back. He looked at the ceiling to find that the metal had been bent up, completely blocking access to the next room on the same level.
Leon thought for a bit.
"...an underwater mountain?" Leon wondered to himself as he tried to make sense of everything.
Leon figured that maybe there was something sharp in the ocean that skewered the facility. Whatever the facility hit, it punched through it, the result opened and closed different area of the facility. The hallway would normally lead through a welcoming area in the game filled with mysterious old relics such as vending machines and more mechanical guards (like the ones that were supposed to be outside), and corpses with the all important security card. But the obstruction completely blocked it off. Instead, there was a manmade entry to the floor below. Not entirely bad news but….
"But that also increases the likelihood of everything being submerged in water…that said…."
People had clearly been here.
Leon had been hoping that maybe the wrecked and sunken airships had somehow gotten lost in the fog and hit coral or something. But the evidence spoke for itself. Someone purposely chipped away at the obstruction to be able to access the floor below.
More warning bells were going off in his head. It added to his already anxious nerves. He didn't know what, but he was missing something. Leon gritted his teeth and forced the thought away from his mind. He needed to focus on the "here and now."
He took out a tin from his backpack. It was an old, thin metallic container with the remains of his confit. Leon had kept the fat that had been used to preserve the meat, for when he needed to improvise a torch or start a fire (his basic magic skills "worked," but were still crap). There wasn't much fat left.
Leon took a deep breath and did what he had to do. He took a remaining piece of cotton cloth he'd been using, rubbed the entirety of the remaining fat in between the layers. When he was done, he ignited the fabric from multiple points with his mediocre magic, getting a small fireball going.
He took the lid off the container and stabbed holes in it with his bayonet. As many as he could. Next, he took out one of the flare bullets and pulled it apart. The act nearly teared him up for wasting such an expensive object. He probably shouldn't have been doing it under low lighting, or at all, but he didn't know what he was going into. He'd just have to be careful with his two remaining magic bullets.
He had carefully cut open the business end of the bullet and pulled out it's content, a cylindrical grey paper-wrapped item that Leon assumed was the magic aspect of the flare bullet. He couldn't tell if it was an actual magic object or just some magnesium and lime mixture toted as magic. In the game, all it did was blind enemies, and allies if you are reckless, and the description was the definition of vague and basic. Leon stuffed the shell, closed it as best he could and stuffed it away for when he could tinker with it later. It still cost a lot and he vowed to get his money's worth.
"Here goes," Leon said to himself. He performed the next actions as fast as he could.
He placed the flare on the inside of the lid, then slammed the lid on top of the container with the small fireball still inside! He tried to twist it closed, but he could already hear something happening. He cursed and tossed it down to the floor below! Thankfully the lid held.
Beams of light pierced the darkness!
Even covered and filtered through holes, the light of the flare was still blindly bright. It was also loud too, like a firework or something. It lit up the floor below and elicited the reactions he didn't hope for.
Ssssrrrrrtututututut!
A horrible cacophony of those weird cries sounded off, cutting through the flares own burning sound. It started with one, then more joined in.
Leon grit his teeth. More monsters. But it wasn't all bad.
He was mistaken earlier. It wasn't a straight drop. Whatever had pierced the structure could also be used as a slide, Leon could even see that the sides had handholds and footholds carved in. Whoever dug the hole thought of a way to climb back up. And the water itself didn't seem deep either, maybe up to the ankles. Monster didn't approach the light either.
Leon could be wrong, but he counted four monster cries. They could just be stationary barnacles….
He kicked his bag. It slid down and splashed into the water.
Ssssrrrrrtututututut!
The cacophony of sounds never died down, but nothing had attacked either the flare-in-can or his bag. The flare was starting to die down, he had a choice to make. His mind told him he had choices, but his heart told him there was only one. He took a deep breath and swallowed his fears. Whatever was down there, he doubted he wanted to fight it with the light from a single torch.
Torch in one hand, sword in the other, and slid down feet first. He kept his balance and stayed on his feet as he slid down.
His feet splashed into the water before beating the the metallic floor! Thankfully the water didn't reach his ankles, but his boots weren't the best quality. He could already feels his feet becoming moist. And before him were barnacles.
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Monster Barnacles. Six in total. The encircled him, the bag and the dying flare in a can. Three on the ceiling, three on the floor.
Leon grinned. Helpless stationary targets, those were his niche, not to mention, the entire facility didn't seem slanted at all. It must've just been the entrance. This might end up being easier than he thought.
"Lucky!" Leon couldn't help but gloat.
Ssssrrrrrtututututut!
And then suddenly all six released their fleshy appendages and attacked in Leon's general direction!
"Oh fuck!" he had underestimated the reach of said appendages! The barnacles were 2-3 meters away from him, but their appendages were capable of easily reaching Leon. The fleshy appendages were like pink worms or snakes with barbed and pointed tips.
Leon swung his sword and torch wildly in defense! Sadly, he misjudged their attack.
The appendages didn't aim directly at him. The appendages were swung in wide arcs, a sweeping motion. They kept going left and right the appendages made contact with either his sword or torch. Once their individual appendages made contact, they bent backwards then stabbed forward.
They were probing! Leon realized as he was forced to dodge in a small space.
He managed to burn one appendage and sever another in efforts to defend himself. He didn't come out unscathed, his clothes and flesh gouged and lacerated. .
Still, the appendage he severed was the one on the furthest right. If he pushed his advantage he could escape the encirclement!
Before he could press his advantage, the barnacle let out a very loud death cry that froze him stiff.
SHRIIIIIIIII!
The death cry was very loud and echoed in the metallic room. It then exploded into purple mist with bright pixels. The rest of the barnacles immediately started attacking in the general direction of the recently defeated barnacle. Once more, they use wide probing attacks.
Leon only looked on in shock. The three Monster Barnacles at the entrance didn't react like that!
By the time Leon recovered, the barnacles had stopped aggressively probing the area their brethren used to occupy, and instead began to probe around them.
They know I'm still here, Leon rationalized. He could stay still, but an appendage would soon find him. Worse yet, the flare was now dim, practically gone. Then Leon got an idea, he was right next to his bag.
He silently dug his right foot underneath his soaked bag. He bit his bottom lip, and hoped he was right.
He took a deep breath and felt for his mana. It didn't come easy for him. He was amateurish at best, and what spells he could cast sapped his strength like no other.
But they were useful if in a pinch.
"Enhanced Strength!" he shouted as he casted the spell on himself. He could feel his mana get sapped, the fatigue building up despite such a low level spell. It was a minor buff at it's core, one that wouldn't last more than a few seconds with his current ability! But it was enough. A circle of magic formed on his person, augmenting his strength! He kicked up, launching the heavy bag in the direction of the barnacles!
The barnacles reacted to his voice! They directed their appendages in the direction of his shout! But they made contact with his bag first!
Leon nearly fell on his butt, but he was able to find his balance quickly. He had precious seconds left and he needed to make it count! The scene before him were five appendages savaging his bag, repeatedly stabbing into it!
He pressed his brief advantage and slashed vertically with all his augmented might!
"HAAA!"
He was able to sever three appendages in one swing! The other two had pulled back to stab again and changed trajectory when he let out his cry. One clipped him in the left shoulder, the other brushed by his head.
He kept moving, passing the encirclement when the three barnacles let out a very loud death cries and exploding into purple mist and pixels.
If pattern holds then next should be….
He turned his body and slashed down, cutting another appendage that had tried a probe-attack. The barnacle let out a death cry as Leon grinned.
"One more to-GAAAAAAAAAAH!" He screamed in pain!
Ssssrrrrrtututututut!
Somehow, the last appendage had wrapped around Leon's sword arm, the barbed tip pricking his clothes and skin.
"What?" Leon was confused, it should've been a probing attack! It shouldn't have known where he was let alone ensnare his harm like that!
Leon looked up, the last monster barnacle was on the ceiling. And this one? This monster barnacle has an eye!
"Enhan-gahh!" He tried to cast his magic again, but the monster was breaking his concentration!
Leon howled in pain. It felt like the fleshy appendage was trying to break his arm in half! Leon grit his teeth and jabbed his torch into the monster's flesh!
The barnacle let out a shrill in pain! But it didn't let him go! It held on to him tighter!
"Urrrg!"
The pain was enough to make him drop his sword. Leon pressed the torch into the appendage even harder, but the monster wasn't letting go. He looked at the monster, locking his eyes with the monster's single purple orb. Leon could swear that there was a glint of satisfaction in its eye.
The appendage began to retract, dragging him closer and closer to the monster barnacle's body. As he was slowly pulled in, he got a good look at the rest of the monster, he could see other, much shorter and not as fleshy, appendages fold out of it's shell. What for? He sure as hell didn't want to know. But he was running out of options, the damn thing wasn't letting go! It knew it had him and was soldering on through the pain! Even burning it's flesh barely did anything, and he doubted he'd be able to break the shell with his torch when a bullet couldn't…. But it did have an eye.
"Fuck you!" Leon shouted!
He stepped forward and stabbed his torch into the barnacle's eye! The barnacle shrieked in pain!
SHRIIIIIIII!
And then finally it exploded into purple mist and pixels.
Leon fell to his knees. He nearly dropped his torch. His right arm was in pain, but he could still move it. He quickly got to his feet and swung his torch around.
He moved around frantically, his feet splashing water around him.
But he was alone.
He kept huffing. His heart was on full throttle. He could feel the beat on the veins of his neck and temple. But he was safe. For now.
Carefully, he bent down to pick up the sword. He winced at the pain but he managed to grab it. He looked around and found a door, one that had clearly been forced open. His torch did a poor job of showing him what lied beyond the door, and the flare had died.
But nothing was coming at him. He neither saw nor heard anything.
"Fuck," Leon cursed. He nearly dropped the sword again and almost collapsed with it when the adrenaline began wore off. He stabbed the floor and used his sword as a cane, uncaring if it damaged the tip or edge. His legs and arms were shaky, but he stayed standing up, he stayed alert.
With what light the torch provided, Leon scanned the room. He ignored the grain sized monster cores on the floor. The cores were entirely purple-pure impurity. The cores weren't even worth salvaging.
"Focus...the place has modern design, so the switch should be by the door," he muttered as he looked by the door. He found a square panel.
He approached it carefully, keeping an eye on the door. He didn't know what he was expecting, but a part of him thought something would rush out from the darkness.
He got closer until he was right by the door.
He swallowed a lump in his throat. With the butt of his torch he pressed the panel, feeling and hearing a click as he did so.
CLICK
Nothing happened.
CLICK
CLICK
CLICK
Nothing at all.
Leon's heart sank.
If the facility was out of power, he'd have to rely on cheap, very limited, shitty torches for light. The prospect in itself was terrifying, but there was an even scarier implication. It could simply be that power wasn't needed if there was nothing there to even guard… he quickly tried to banish the thought with little success.
He racked his brain for a solution. He never had this issue in the game. It was always day time when he found the ruins and got Luxion. This was some sort of futuristic place, couldn't it have backup generators or….
"Wait…futuristic so maybe….Lights!" he said loudly.
Nothing.
"Power on?"
Nothing.
Then another idea occurred to him. In the game, the security card he got from the remains of the staff were blurred out, but the vague outline of the name looked like it could've been something from a western country in the before. It certainly looked like roman alphabet….
He didn't know he had to click the switch with his torch again, but he figured there was no harm in doing it anyway. He pressed his torch against it and held it there.
CLICK
"Turn power on?" he said aloud in what he hoped could pass for heavily accented English. It's been a lifetime since he practiced any language from the before.
It was silent…then there was a hum that ran through the facility.
He Jumped in fright when the bright lights suddenly turned on!
The lights came from rectangular panels in the ceilings. The light fixtures were obviously not in the best shape. Some were covered in small barnacles, mold, and some other gunk, others were broken entirely. But the functional few were bright as day and lit up the room. A glance at the hallways showed it also lit up the rest of the facility.
"Oh thank gawd," Leon praised in relief. He would not have known what words to even try to use for any other language. For a second he felt like an idiot for not even trying verbal commands in the beginning.
Ssssrrrrrtututututut!
Familiar monster cries echoed faintly through the halls.
"...gawd damn it."
Of course, there were more monsters.