Lanek did not like the implications of the gaunts not being a part of the System. As long as he got experience from them, that was fine. However, the idea that the System that presumably manages and controls this world and possibly more would not know anything about the gaunts was a little terrifying.
Steeling himself, Lanek stepped toward the gaunt while preparing his chain whip, he could see Sanguineus in his mind, baring his teeth at the creature. It wasn’t ideal that he didn’t know the thing’s level, but it was still a “lesser” gaunt and it was roughly the size of the one he had already killed. He liked his chances.
Just as Lanek launched his whip forward to strike at the creature’s back, it turned and avoided the blow. It growled menacingly and rushed forward. Lanek was caught off guard by its speed, having never fought a gaunt in a straightforward fight. Luckily for him, the beast’s strikes were not as rapid as its charging speed.
He ducked under a swipe from one overly long arm and threw himself to the side to avoid a follow-up strike. Lanek breathed out in relief. He could handle this, he just had to avoid getting too cocky as he had with the crypt stalker.
Lanek shifted his grip on the chain whip to reduce its length before lashing out at the gaunt’s leg. The gaunt backpedaled out of reach, forcing Lanek to adjust his grip once more. In his mind, Lanek could feel Sanguineus teaching him, showing him the proper way to grip the weapon and attack. He could also feel Sanguineus’ frustration as he was unable to put the teachings into use perfectly.
Not wanting to give up his momentum against the backpedaling gaunt, Lanek lashed out again and again. It didn’t take long for the gaunt to become overwhelmed by the many angles of attack, receiving a gash across its left arm, numerous cuts along its thighs, and a long slash from its shoulder to its waist. Each of these strikes brought a trickle of HP into Lanek’s wounded body.
Lanek kept the creature off guard, but was starting to get worried. It wasn’t going down, none of his blows seemed to be deep enough to kill the thing. Almost as if coming to this conclusion at the same time, the gaunt abruptly changed tactics. Disregarding defense, the monster charged straight at Lanek, attempting to bowl him over.
Remembering his experience with the crypt stalker, Lanek was prepared for the creature attempting to force him into a close quarters brawl. Skipping the normal sweeping strikes he had been using, Lanek thrust his arm straight out and launched the whip in a straight stab as Sanguineus had to save his life against the ash goblin.
He had been planning on aiming for the gaunt’s eyes or throat, but Sanguineus had different plans. A brief image flashed in Lanek’s mind showing him striking the gaunt in the stomach. Not having time to consider if the blood wolf didn’t trust him to hit a smaller target, the chain whip dug into the creature’s gut, sinking in up to the cross-guard.
A look of malicious glee spread across the gaunt’s face and Lanek felt his blood run cold. The stomach was not a kill shot on the creature and there wasn’t any time to recover. The gaunt suddenly stopped mid-charge, erupting in a shriek of absolute agony.
Confused, Lanek looked to the creature’s stomach in search of an answer to the odd change in behavior. The wound was pulsing around the blade as lines of black spread out from the wound and across the creatures entire torso. At the same time, Lanek felt vitality rushing into him and his wounds rapidly closing. It was an altogether unpleasant and unnatural experience to feel a process that takes days or weeks complete in mere seconds.
Within his mind, he felt Sanguineus howl in triumph. Understanding came to Lanek in that moment. The blood wolf had wanted the blade to target a soft spot on the creature’s body, a soft spot that would allow the blade to enter fully. To allow Sanguineus to exsanguinate the creature more quickly.
The gaunt continued to screech in agony, forcing Kazuma to rush in and crush its throat with his jaws to silence it. I really need a belt or something that lets me recover another weapon quickly, the kanabo is worthless in my pack.
You have defeated Lesser Gaunt (lvl 8).
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Congratulations, you have leveled up.
Soulbinder lvl 6 → lvl 7
In the silence that followed the gaunt’s death, Lanek eyed the desiccated corpse waiting for it to dissipate and provide him with loot. Minutes passed, but nothing happened. Not wanting to be caught off guard, Lanek released Sanguineus from the whip. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Kazuma to warn him of danger, but another set of eyes and ears wouldn’t hurt.
The extra eyes proved to be a boon as Kazuma hissed and stared down the street to the south, alerting Lanek to a group of ash goblins running toward them. Before Lanek could decide what to do, Sanguineus growled and barked behind him just as a familiar gaunt shriek echoed through the streets.
To his surprise, the ash goblins paused in their rush at him when they heard the shriek, looking past Lanek. Not liking the odds of fighting a goblin party and a gaunt, Lanek backed away toward a building very slowly. Maybe if he got inside, he could even the odds a bit.
When he reached the doorway, Lanek was able to see the gaunt finally come into view. It was bigger than the one he had slain, but [Identify] still classified it as a lesser gaunt. To his surprise, the gaunt completely ignored him, charging toward the goblins. Lanek expected the goblins to run or at least look afraid. Instead, he saw looks of fury and hate contort the ash goblins’ faces before all five of them charged at the gaunt.
Content to stay out of the way, Lanek considered slipping away. However, after watching the battle for a few moments, he decided to stay. This wasn’t going to be a rout for either side, meaning that he could pick up the pieces in the aftermath. It was simply too good of an opportunity to pass up.
While the gaunt fought well, the ash goblins threw themselves at it recklessly. None of the skill he had seen from the goblins earlier was present in this battle. It seemed that the goblins did not care how much damage they took or how many of them fell as long as the gaunt died.
Lanek watched the gaunt fall at the feet of the last two ash goblins and nodded at his companions. Before the goblins had time to recover from the battle, they found themselves thrown to the ground and torn apart by the mist cat and blood wolf.
“I guess the System doesn’t tell me when you guys get a kill. Seems like the System doesn’t bother providing experience gained messages. Not that I mind, that would be annoying as hell.” Lanek mused aloud.
Turning his attention to the bodies, he noticed that the ash goblins had already disappeared while both gaunt corpses were still in place. Why are the goblins gone but the gaunts are still here? And why did they attack each other? Do different species of monsters not get along even in a dungeon?
Okay, from what I remember from the stories back home, maybe the dungeon is reabsorbing the goblins to make more? If that’s the case, can it not absorb the gaunts because they aren’t part of the System? Wait, doesn’t that mean that the gaunts aren’t part of the dungeon?
Lanek’s mind boggled at the implications. The dungeon creatures’ aggression toward the gaunts, the memories of the first wielder of Sanguineus being overwhelmed by gaunts, and the System telling him that the gaunts weren’t part of the system painted a disturbing picture.
What if the gaunts weren’t from this world? It was a bit of a leap with the little information he had, but the theory felt right to Lanek. He would need to do some more research and he didn’t know what it meant if the theory was true, but at least it felt like he was making progress in learning about his surroundings.
“All right, that’s enough for today. Let’s not push our luck too far.” Lanek called to his companions as he picked up a few more coins from the bodies and another health potion. Sanguineus barked at him, bringing his attention to another shiny on the ground where he had slain his goblin. Lanek picked up the small crystal shard that was no larger than his thumbnail and used [Identify].
Ash Goblin Core Cores are made of pure mana and are utilized by dungeons in their creations. These cores are highly sought after as they can be utilized to enchant items, as alchemical ingredients, and can aid in evolution or cultivation. The process by which mana can be forced to take a physical form has never been duplicated, which has created a massive industry around dungeon diving to meet the demand for these cores.
“Dammit all, you can’t keep throwing new shit at me! Now I’ve got to figure out how to use cores and how to go about cultivation!” Lanek all but shouted in disgust.