Monster Subjugation
At around 1 PM, I arrived at the 2nd floor entrance to the library. Like usual, the President along with the rest of his party were there waiting for me.
“Did you wait long?” I give a nonchalant greeting like always.
“You smell like sulfur again.” The president ignored my greetings and once again complained at me while he wrinkled his nose in disgust. “Where do you even find sulfur in this goddamn place?”
I merely shrugged at his reaction. It was the usual sort of complaint he uttered ever since I began my experiments. At this point, rather than genuine annoyance, the Prez’s words had merely become routine. With light footsteps, I proceeded to march forward, down into a particular hallway. Shortly after, the others followed in step.
“Where are we going today?” I asked, shooting a sidelong glance towards the group behind me. Since this was technically their training, they had the right to decide.
“Hmmm….” The president placed a hand towards his chin as he thought for a while. “I was thinking of heading towards the literature department today.”
“The literature department?” My footsteps stopped as I recalled my hazy memories. “If I’m not mistaken, then that’s where the Dwarflings took up base, isn’t it? Are you sure about that? Aren’t they a bit too high leveled? At least for you guys, that is.”
Dwarflings were one of the monsters that lived within the main building.
They took up home somewhere near the back of the building, where most of the Cultural club rooms were situated. As for the monsters themselves, they were as short as a goblin but as stout as a tree trunk. They were somewhere around level 20, and were one of the strongest monsters out of the six that lived in the Main building.
What made them a real annoyance to fight though, was their particular fighting technique.
“No, it should be fine.” The president replied back. “We recently leveled up when we went grinding this morning, and besides, the equipment you gave us helps to close the gap between levels… Also, I recently learned a new skill, so I’d like to test it out.”
He muttered a spew or reasons as he looked over at me with that same complacent smile of his. The others behind him all nodded their heads vigorously.
Hearing the words “New skill” my ears instantly perked up. “What type of skill did you learn?”
After some slight hesitation, the President responded.
“... Body Maneuvering”.
[Body Maneuvering] was a skill that increases a person’s movements during combat. In short, it was a passive evasion skill. It's a skill that’s usually learned in the midst of combat. Dodging, weaving, parrying attacks, all forms of extreme body movement contribute to the acquisition of this skill. I know this because I learned the same skill some time about a week ago.
“Body Maneuvering is it… that skill suits you Prez. It matches your fighting style.”
“Haha, tell me about it. Alongside [Sword Mastery], with [Body Maneuvering], I should be a whole lot stronger than I was before.” He answered somewhat jovially while scratching the tip of his nose.
“Well, if that’s the case, then let’s go. It’ll be good experience for you guys.”
““Yes! ””
Like this, we continued the light hearted conversation as we headed further into the school building.
****
The Main building was the largest out of the three buildings that made up the whole of the school. It was approximately 2.5 times as large as the East Building, and housed most of the major athletic facilities of the school.
For reference’s sake, the Library and the Cafeteria were situated near the front of the school, close to where the teacher’s lounge was located. My base was located towards the eastern front of the building, close to where the East building connects with the main building. Satou’s space was generally towards the back, on the west half of the building.
There was enough distance between all three locations where it wouldn’t be odd to not run into each other. This was partly the reason why none of us has seen Satou or his party recently.
As for the facilities themselves, there were a few notable ones within the building. The 3 indoor gymnasiums, the School indoor swimming pool, the amphitheater, and the wing that housed most of the cultural clubrooms.
Naturally, spread about within these facilities, as well as within other locations in the building, were monsters. We already confirmed that there were at least six species of monsters that took up root, and that the weakest of these were the Wisps, gas like entities with a core that floated freely in the air.
As for the Wisps themselves, for us, they were a generally weak monster with no other means of attack except a gas type neurotoxin that slowly weakened a person. An easy enough counter for this was to cover your mouth and nose with a piece of cloth or fabric. While Wisps were weak from a human perspective, to monsters, they were a dangerous existence. Due to their indirect attack and ability to spread about an almost untraceable gas, a single Wisp could possibly incapacitate a whole pack of monsters.
To slowly die while not knowing the cause of your own demise… that was the ability of the monster known as the Whisp. This was also the reason why the Wisps, although in the bottom of the totem pole, were generally untouched by the other monsters.
A convenient aspect of the Wisp is that it's a rather complacent monster. While it will continue to produce gas, it's possible to take and move its main core, although the core will have a tendency to float aimlessly about. It was a monster with little to no intelligence and was also a perfect tool for monster subjugation.
By leaving a Wisp core in a well hidden place, then its gases can slowly lower the targeted monster’s ability without directly confronting it. The scary aspect of this is that they generally won’t notice the effects of the gas until its too late. By then, they’ll be too groggy and diminutive to be much of a threat. Basically, there combat potential will be lowered by more than half. In worse case scenarios, they’ll pass out without knowing anything.
Of course, despite their convenience, we tend to not use them in combat. The primary reason for this was training. Always fighting an opponent whose power is halved will have a negative effect on a person’s growth. In addition, apparently, the more intense a battle, the more likely the stat will rise during combat.
I say apparently because I’ve never witnessed this phenomenon first hand, but I’m not dull enough to understand what this means. Fighting, or rather, more strenuous situations will increase stat growth. I played with this idea once, when I decided to hunt monsters while equipped only with a simple goblin dagger and unidentified clothing.
The result was that my stats did not grow, although in return, due to all the desperate dodging and exaggerated motions I performed, I managed to acquire [Body Maneuver].
As for the other monsters within the dungeon, they included the surviving Minotaurs who migrated to the main building, Horseheads, Amphibious humanoid frog monsters, a bird type monster, and finally, the Dwarflings.
Usually, the President and his group grinds using these Bird type monsters. Due to the nature of the monster, it's easy to increase their agility stat while fighting. It’s to the extent where they even gained a stat called [Evasion]. Naturally, I was jealous, but that’s besides the point.
For our express goals for the day, we headed towards the Literature clubrooms, where the Dwarflings resided.
Getting there was a simple task. We merely walked through Whisp infested halls while keeping our faces covered. No other monsters attacked us, and the Wisps themselves weren’t aggressive. Like I’ve said before, they are convenient.
Eventually, we reached the Cultural Department located on the third floor of the main building. The Literature Clubroom was a little ways down the hall, but we didn’t need to go that far. The halls were already infested with Dwarflings.
Short humanoid monsters with dark obsidian skin and a face that rivaled the ugliness of a goblin. In addition to that, they wore a tattered loincloth while on their backs were quill like hairs. The annoying aspect of these creatures is that after their hp passes a certain threshold, they’ll immediately begin curling up into a ball, much like an armadillo. While this was annoying in itself, the dangerous part came when they started rolling towards you.
While glancing at the monsters with a scrutinizing gaze, I called out to the President in a quiet whisper.
“... So, did these thing increase in number since last time you were here?”
After counting a bit, the President shook his head. “No… it’s still the same as always.”
“I see….”
I asked this every time, before we engaged in any combat. This was all in order to confirm whether additional monsters were continuing to spawn or not. From what I’ve gathered, the conditions for monster spawning were not all identical to the goblins. For example, take the Dwarflings. Although their Elite Monster was still alive, they already stopped spawning. In contrast to this, the Bird type monsters, whose Elite had died quite a while ago, still increased in numbers. At this point, second to the Whisp (whose Elite was the most elusive of them all), they were the most numerous within the dungeon.
Well, from my perspective, this was a natural thing. If the monsters really did come from a world known as Alterworl, then it would be safe to presume that the monsters there aren’t infinite. They aren’t just created from simple nothingness. They will naturally eventually run out. I reckon that the Bird type monsters too, despite their numbers, will eventually stop spawning as well.
Throughout these two weeks, I’ve discovered that the only monsters that still continually spawned were the Wisps and the Birds.
After confirming the Dwarflings position, we immediately engaged.
First up, to draw aggro, the blonde twins who used slingshots attacked a couple of monster from a distance. I also assisted using a third slingshot I made personally for myself. The twins’ aim was impressive, mostly since they acquired [Accuracy] sometime last week, but it's not like I lagged behind or anything. My [Dexterity] stat was abnormally high after all, plus the slingshot I created has an [Accuracy] boost.
This was also how I managed to acquire the long coveted [Accuracy] stat. Much like what I did for the [Defense] stat, I simply added a few unallocated points into accuracy while I had the slingshot equipped. This was how the me who could not naturally gain stats acquired new stats. At this point, I’m actively trying to create armor or weapons with unique stats like [Evasion].
Once the monsters drew closer, I quickly put away my slingshot and left the rear guard to the twins. I moved to the front in order to join the other three. This time around, I decided not to use one of my personally crafted weapons, but instead, the black sword I stole from that one guy.
About ten days ago, I acquired the [Dagger Mastery] skill, and around the same time the President acquired his [Sword Mastery] skill, I also acquired [Blunt Weapon Mastery]. This time, I aimed for [Sword Mastery].
So, since I wanted to gain the [Sword Mastery] skill, despite my inexperience, I decided to use the sword.
When the monsters rushed, the President was the first to move. He stepped forward slightly, his body nimble and experienced from all the added effects of stat growth and leveling. With forward slash, he quickly severed a thick arm and engaged one of the Dwarflings.
The other two vanguards quickly participated, engaging in combat with some of the nearby Dwarflings. I also fought, but it was to the extent where I did not actively kill any of the monsters. At this point in time, due to how high my level was, leveling up through these mob monsters became somewhat difficult. Plus, there were now a limited supply of monsters, so pointlessly killing them was somewhat bad.
Rather than me taking useless experience, it was better to leave it for the ones who could actually benefit from it, both actual experience and combat experience wise.
“Emiko, to the right! Kathy, Virgil, support Kikkawa sensei!”
Like a real leader, the President began issuing out commands without any hesitation. His friends all acted in turn, following his instructions with faithful determination. It was impressive enough that it wouldn’t be a surprise if the President gained a Leadership skill or something.
Well, despite their organization…
BAM!
I blocked and deflected a Dwarfling who had been rolling forward towards the brown haired girl. Using the base of my sword, I forced the ball of quills back to the point where it tumbled into a few of the monsters standing behind him.
“Oi,” I called out to the profusely sweating girl. “Watch your sides. Don’t just blindly listen to the Prez’s instructions, you have to also pay attention to your surroundings.”
Emio, I think her name was, nodded nervously towards me, as her grip on her crafted boken increased.
“Y-yes!”
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Like that, we continued engaging the horde of monsters that seemingly continued to stream further into the hall. Luckily, there was no risk of getting overrun like with the Tusk Boars. The dwarflings were slow creatures to begin with, so they can’t properly chase. Meaning, it's only dangerous when a person gets surrounded. In addition, they couldn’t simply just overrun their opponent through sheer numbers either. This was since grouping up together in this narrow hallway will have detrimental effects for them. The exposed quills on their body hurt both friend or foe alike.
As we fought, I wondered whether or not it was time to let the President and his group fight alongside Hina and the others. Obviously, some group combat experience between them would be necessary, but up until now, I kept them separated. Of course, it's not like I didn’t bring up the matter to the others. When I asked the President about teaming up with Hina, he unexpectedly declined. Hina also did the same when I asked her. Well, they both have personal issues which I don’t really want to meddle in, but as the leader, I have the ultimate say in things
The issue now is just dependent on my own judgement. I thought about this matter as I lightly parried an incoming Dwarfling.
-Well, it’ll work out in the future, I guess…
The battle lasted for about 2 hours. We (or rather, they) killed about 30 Dwarflings, and each of them managed to rise in level a few times. We would have continued, but we they were running out of stamina.
For now, we went back to the library to rest.
This was the point where we separated for the day. Although we weren’t partying up anymore for the day, it's not like we stopped monster hunting. For me, I was about to team up with the girls, and as for the Prez and his group, they’d immediately head out to train after they recovered enough stamina.
Since our goal is to get stronger, naturally we had to put in the effort.
After assuring the President that I’d bring in some fresh boar meat tomorrow, I left the library and headed back in the direction of the east building.
Next up was training with the girls.
*****
Approximately 1 hour later, I was back at the cultural department wing. This time around, with me were the familiar faces of Hina, Cielle, and Cher.
Since I had already been here today, there was no need to do any sort of scouting. The moment we stepped into the Cultural Department wing, was when the battle began.
“Hina, your magic.” I lightly spoke while I brandished a familiar black sword towards an incoming Dwarfling.
Using the base of the sword rather than the edge, I hit the Dwarfling square in the torso, much like how a golfer swings at a ball. The blow lifted the monster up into the air, and sent him soaring towards my left, incidentally, where Cher stood.
She saw the incoming monster, and with practiced efficiency, she lowered her knees, while raising the shield up in the trajectory of the flying monster. The instant the two connected, Cher’s body moved. Her knees straightened, and the angle of her circular shield slightly shifted. The barrelling Dwarfling was redirected like a rubber ball and sent flying towards the front of her, where two Dwarflings currently stalked.
When the three of them collided, a chorus of pain filled shrieks filled the room, but was left ultimately ignored. Rather, utilizing the opening provided, everyone attacked.
Cher stepped forward, and using the tip of her Edge Shield, stabbed out at the closest sprawled Dwarfling.
Hina, who was currently training her Water magic, sent a hydrokinetic blast of pressurized water directly into the Dwarfling’s exposed eye.
As for Cielle, she simply flooded the remaining Dwarfling with a torrent of [Dark Gemini].
Like this, three Dwarflings instantly lost there lives in the span of less than 5 seconds.
We continued as if nothing significant happened, and faced off against the incoming horde. Magic, shrieks, and the clang of metal filled the narrow hallway as we progressed.
We inched ourselves deeper into the Cultural Department hallway, directly moving in a linear line towards the Literature Clubroom located in the back of the room. In our wake, a slew of dead corpses remained.
I planned on skinning a few of these Dwarflings later, to see if I can make some sort of weapon out of their course and quill like hairs. Although I had such intentions, I pushed the thought aside for now. Getting distracted in battle wasn’t any good.
Subjectively speaking, our team work, when compared with the Prez and his group, was undeniably much more coordinated. We exchanged fewer words, but made even fewer mistakes. Our synchronized combat sense, honed and tempered through life risking battles, truly shined in the face of our enemies.
Hina with her rear guard support. She fired of water spells while occasionally giving Defensive and Offensive buff to the frontliner, Cher. Cher in comparison, was faithfully guarding the front. Her heavy shield blocked the incoming monsters, while her smaller, Edge Shield parried, deflected, and retaliated. Since she was the closest, she usually received more kills, but that worked out fine considering she was still the lowest level amongst the four of us.
Cielle’s role was naturally the support. She healed both Cher and I with timed efficiency, and occasionally, she would use her [Dark Gemini]. Her attacks which came unexpectedly from time to time created numerous openings for the vanguards to attack. In addition, she made a habit of creating a thin layer of of [Dark Gemini] that floated freely in front of her and her sister. This acted as a countermeasure on the off chance that any monster manages to break through our defense.
After we managed to kill approximately 40 Dwarflings, earning the girls a few levels, that was when it appeared.
A figure that was about twice as tall and twice as wide as the ordinary Dwarflings. It had a menacing scowl on its quill covered face, while the hairs on its back stood up, acting as a deterrent for unexpected attacks. Its arms were also covered in quill like hairs and could act as a weapon, given the opportunity.
This was the Elite monster amongst the Dwarflings. A creature known simply as [Dwarfling Menace].
It’s level was 37. Since the Dwarflings already stopped spawning a while ago, there was no particular downside to killing this one. In fact, against a strong enemy like this, it only made my blood boil.
Naturally, all Elite monsters will die at my hand.
This was a pre-established rule that the four of us made together. While I was quite appreciative of this rule, I wasn’t the one who made it up. The girls were. They knew about my condition or rather, my inability to increase my stats outside of leveling up, so as if to placate this, they told me to monopolize the Elite monsters. The pitying expression on their faces made it hard for me to refuse.
Killing an Elite Monster gave free unallocated points, so this was one of the ways for me to offset my natural disadvantage. Right now, the sudden appearance of this Elite monster was a good chance for me to get stronger.
Although I said that though, it wasn’t like I engaged in combat first. In order to further train the others, I would take up a supporting role in this battle. I’d only be tasked with emergency situations and with dealing the final blow. I did not move, but Cher did.
She rushed to the frontlines just as the monster brought down a quill filled fist. The impact between forearm and shield made Cher’s knees buckle from the strain, but she managed to keep her ground. The unfortunate thing though, was that a few of the quills were dislodged from the blow, and pierced Cher’s exposed legs.
She grimaced in pain while slowly backing away. Cher couldn’t receive any healing from Cielle at the current moment due to the unlodged quills.
As Cher kneeled down to pluck out the quilles on her legs, Hina and Cielle kept the monster occupied. A barrage of [Dark Gemini] and pressurized water struck out at the Elite, causing it to shriek out in pain.
Lately, the two of them had been experimenting with synchronized attacks, so their timing and precision had greatly improved.
While the Elite was being bombarded with constant magic, it finally snapped. It got angry, and in its fit of rage, began grabbing out at its subordinates. Reaching out to the escaping dwarflings, it ignored the pain on its palms when its giant hands encircled around their backs, and with a crazy amount of strength, began lobbing the monsters towards us.
Luckily, Cher had already recovered by this point, and rushed forward to intercept the incoming dwarflings. After activating her own skill, [Magic Reinforcement], she deflected and blocked most of the flying monsters, while Hina and Cielle moved to left to stand directly behind her.
The instant the barrage of indiscriminate flying monsters stopped, that was when the girls’ counterattack began.
Cher’s body instantly rocketed forward as she leapt towards the Elite. Besides her, a torrent of dark matter streamed past her left, while a blast of pressurized water whizzed past her right.
The two separate streams converged into one amalgamation directly in front of Cher.
This was a technique that Cielle and Hina had develop. A sort of fusion magic. By forcibly mixing both water from Hina’s magic, and Cielle’s [Dark Gemini] it was possible to create a stronger magic. While [Dark Gemini]’s potency would dilute from the added water, in return it gave both girls control over a single magic.
As a result, the duo was able to simultaneously infuse twice as much mana into the same attack, causing the magic to have twice as much force and speed as any of their previous attacks.
This amalgamation of magic came rushing towards the Elite. A tsunami of dark liquid impacted the monster on every exposed piece of flesh and hair. The creature’s vocal chords immediately went into overdrive.
A moment later, Cher’s moving body, finally met its target. With the heavy shield raised in front of her, she kicked off the ground once more, as she plunged into the monster’s exposed stomach.
“[Shield Bash]!”
A particularly new skill that Cher recently learned. Her shield faintly glowed with traces of mana as she hit the monster square in its fast protected stomach.
The impact alone sent the monster flying back by a couple of feet, while also applying the status effect, [stun] on it. For three seconds the monster would be unable to retaliate.
Not one to waste, the trio immediately jumped on their prey with the ferocity of starving cheetahs.
Cher, with her constant stabbing, Hina and her water magic, and finally, Cielle with [Dark Gemini]. By the time three seconds was up, the Elite monster was down to a sliver of its health.
After that, it was as simple as me going in for the killing blow.
I dashed forward, shortening our distance in the blink of an eye, before I thrusted out with my sword. My aim was directly towards its exposed chest, and not a moment sooner, my blade sunk directly into the monster’s chest cavity, instantly killing it.
Achievement: You have slain an elite monster.
The elite monster: [Dwarfling Menace] was a species leader. For defeating a species leader, Dwarfling will no longer spawn within the dungeon.
Reward(s):
+2000 exp
+25 unallocated points
I glanced briefly at the blue window panel before I dismissed it.
I looked down to inspect what the drops. Disappointingly, the Dwarfling Menace only dropped two vials of green liquid - Stamina Potions.
With a dejected sigh, I bent down to pick up the two vials. After putting them away, I reached into my backpack before producing a thick, knotted rope.
I tied one end of the rope onto the leg of the Dwarfling Menace Corpse.
“I need to bring back the corpse for dissection later. Also, I might be able to craft something out of its quills, so can you three protect my back while I drag the thing back?” I called out to the girls, who were currently engaged with the remaining Dwarflings.
While their leader died, there were still about 150 of those things lying around, so it wasn’t safe to just stick around.
“Leave it to me, Hide!”
“Nnn…”
“Got it…”
The trio answered me almost simultaneously as the braced themselves for more combat.
Like that, after 4+ hours of fighting, we left the Cultural Department.
Today’s session of training with the girls ended with good results, and the sun had began sinking. It was about 7 pm, but my day had not ended yet.
After training the others, it's important to spend time with myself. From now onward, it was my time to hunt.
*****
Author's Note: Thank you for reading. If you liked this chapter, or like this story in general, please rate or review. I appreciate it.