Han looked over at Jade, seeing drops of water falling on top of her suit. As they made their way through the first level, many sections seemed to just leak water all over the place. Being underground, he wondered if the water was moisture build up or coming from the ground above them. Fortunately, the suit protected them from the dripping water and kept them warm.
"We're getting closer to where the doorway to the next level is," Jade told him. "Make sure that you're improving how efficiently you're attacking the creatures. Don't get focused on there only being these rodent creatures."
Even though Han had killed many of the creatures, he still tried to make sure not to become overconfident. As Jade said, there are a variety of monsters. Just because he's only seen one type doesn't mean that he won't see others on this floor.
In the background, there was a waterwheel being used to power some type of hidden mechanism. The channels of water he would occasionally see made him think that this was the reason for the dripping and damp sections. Sounds from the waterwheel and other items on this level help to disrupt his hearing ability, even with Julia's assistance.
Carefully making his way down the wider hallway, he tried to keep his eyes out for any movement. With the help of his suit, seeing creatures isn't that difficult. Numerous times, Han was able to notice a monster before it saw him.
It seemed like as he went deeper into this level, the more those rodents congregated. A part of him wondered if those things calling out for help would be such a negative thing, but he would continue to remind himself that killing them wasn't the critical goal but instead making sure to use his abilities appropriately was.
Just ahead of him, a group of monsters appeared coming around the corner. "Shit!" Han yelled out to himself and quickly tried to hide behind one of the barrels.
Staying out of sight, he didn't move for a couple of moments to make sure that he wasn't discovered. There were no sounds of footsteps rushing towards, so he sighed in relief. Turning to look past the barrels, he observed a group of rodents. In addition, there was a larger rodent that was wearing a cloth that covered all of its body aside from a portion of its snout.
"Good job, Han," Jade's words filled his ears. "You're seeing your first mage. They tend to come in various sizes and abilities, this one being larger than the typical ones."
"I'm going to guess I need to watch out for it when I attack?" Han asked.
"Seems like something you'll need to take into account," Jade said mysteriously. "It'll be a good learning experience for you."
Considering the new factor with the mage, Han didn't think it was advantageous for him to ask Julia for help. The mage would be unlikely to show off his abilities until after Han attacked the group. Using the usual strategy wouldn't work, so he'll need to improvise.
Looking down at the ground, he spotted a large rock in a puddle. Picking it up, he lightly tossed it in the air to get a sense of the weight. Making sure not to make too large a movement with the toss, he threw it to the left side of the group.
Hitting the wall of the hallway, it made a loud clattering noise and had the group of enemies turn to look for the source of the sound. Knowing he didn't have much time, he ran from behind the barrel. The splashing of his footsteps caused some of them to look towards him.
"Damn it, I didn't think they would spot me so quickly," He cursed to himself. Putting slightly more power to his legs, he propelled himself towards the closest one that was looking at him. With his free hand, he grabbed the thing's snout and then with his sword beheaded a different one that was looking at him. Still clamping hard on the one rodent, he quickly killed another one.
Taking a quick look, he estimated that there were still more than ten remaining. Even with his speed, the noise was enough to make all of them look at him. Letting go of the rodent's snout, he grabbed its neck and threw it at the mage.
Lifting up the cane it was using; the mage was able to activate some type of barrier and caused the monster thrown at it to bounce off. He heard the crunching of bones as the rat creature rebounded off the shield. "At least that's one less I have to think about," he muttered.
Seeing the mage beginning to aim at him, he quickly killed one that was in his way and aimed for the side wall. Quickly looking at the mage, he kicked off of the wall in time to avoid a hellish fireball directed at him. Fire splashed all around him, just as he dodged the attack and the fireball hit the wall.
What made things annoying was how the remaining monsters began to spread out so that he couldn't kill them quickly. Swinging his blade, he impaled one of them and then swung his weapon at another creature. The rodent's body dislodged itself from his blade and flying across the hallway, raining a trail of blood, before toppling a different rodent.
"Watch out for another fireball," Julia exclaimed.
Seeing the attack and not having enough time, he held the sword in front of him and tried to keep his whole body blocked. Feeling the massive and searing impact, Han felt his feet sliding against the slippery ground. Water splashed on either side of him, as he hit large puddles.
"I wasn't expecting the monsters on this level to have this much of an impact. If I didn't have the strength I currently have, I would have been blown away or killed." Han thought to himself.
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Brushing aside the remainder of the blast with his weapon, he ran back towards the mage. "He just fired off an attack. Let me see if he can attack consecutively or if there's a limit to how quickly he can fire them off." Ignoring the other monsters, Han raced towards the mage. Swinging his weapon horizontally, Han aimed to cut the creature in half but before his weapon could reach the beast the sword bounced off the barrier created.
Predicting the existence of the barrier, Han made sure that his attack wouldn't leave him off-balance. Making sure to keep his feet spread apart, he ended up sliding back instead of being pushed back. "I think the barrier wouldn't stand up to multiple attacks, but just in case I'm going to increase my strength again and see if I can cut through it in the next attack." He grimaced as he kicked away a rodent rushing towards him.
Quickly swinging his blade and killing another rodent, he launched himself at the mage and swung his blade diagonally. When his weapon was going to touch the barrier again, there was a flash of light and a concussive noise.
All around him, the monsters were thrown back with debris flung into the air. After the cloud of dust cleared, the scene in front of Han was of the mage cut into two. Looking around, Han saw that the remaining rodents were knocked out. Before they regained consciousness, he went through and drove his sword through their heads.
Behind him was a clapping sound, turning to look there was Jade walking towards him. "Congratulations, Han. I was surprised at how you were able to defeat that mage."
"I didn't expect breaking through the shield would have such an effect. I thought it would be closer to breaking glass, not cutting through a material that was under pressure." Brushing off the dirt that got onto his suit, casually looked over at the remains of the mage.
"I didn't think that would happen either," Jade commented.
Hearing her words, Han looked at Jade and asked, "What do you mean? Don't you have to break through the barrier?"
Jade shook her helmet. "The amount of force needed is beyond what we have, which is why it gets harder for us to reach lower floors. As you get deeper, more enemies have mages with them and creatures that generate a barrier themselves. We handled these types of enemies by waiting until the skill has entered its cooldown." Her voice then changed as she said, "This is why it's pretty impressive how you were able to deal with the mage in such a manner. I would have thought you would kill off the mob characters first, before timing your attack for when the barrier spell was cooling down."
"I was just trying out something and considering the weight of my weapon, I figured that it would work out somehow," he tried to justify his actions.
Jade nodded her head at his words before saying, "The appearance of a mage means that we're getting close to the next level."
He didn't trust himself at the moment, so he just followed after her as she led the way. "I didn't realize that they weren't strong enough to use the method I just did. Showing off that level of ability may have made her suspicious." Han sighed.
"She may also think that you're more capable than she originally thought," Julia tried to cheer him up.
"Thanks, Julia. That could be it, but let's try and be more careful in the future." Han said appreciating the cheerful mentality from Julia.
As they continued to map out the first level, Han continued to run into more rodents and mages. Considering Jade had already seen him take out a mage on his own in a brute force manner, Han didn't try to hide his ability. He figured that trying to hide it would only make him look more suspicious, and hoped that Jade would just see him as someone who had some talent.
Upon discovering another batch of monsters, Han leaped into the air and dove towards the remaining rat creature. After the rodent's head spun off and blood showered out from its neck, Han slid along the floor. It was fun getting used to skating on the damp floor, making him feel cooler as if he was some kind of hero character.
Though he didn't travel more than a couple of feet, he noticed another hallway. Considering the number of corridors this place had, making it feel like a giant maze, what surprised him was the lizard creature that was also wearing armor and holding a sword. He saw the lizard monster was also not expecting to see him, with the way it paused.
A second went by before Han took his sword and charged the lizard soldier. Impaling the monster, he saw that there were three most behind it who also were startled when he appeared and attacked their comrade.
Though these lizard creatures froze for a moment, they quickly regained their senses and yelled out at him.
"I see you found the lizard soldiers," Jade said into his ear through the communication system.
Han grunted an affirmative noise as he grabbed the hand of one of the monsters to stop the sword from coming down towards him. With his sword arm, he cut into a different monster, though his sword didn't cut this one completely. The armor stopped his attack midway through as the weapon entered the creature's shoulder. Kicking the lizard off of his sword, Han sliced off the arm of the beast that he was holding onto.
Having its forearm cut off, the lizard hissed in pain and used its other hand to block any more its blood from leaking out. Just looking at its face, Han could tell that the lizard was angry at him. "Sorry about that," Han said.
Quickly removing the lizard's hand from the sword, he spun it at one of the lizards near the rear. Then looking at the monster that was graspings its bleeding arm, he said, "You won't have to worry about that anymore."
-----
In front of them, there was a wide doorway with stairs leading downwards. Han was pretty impressed with how dismal the appearance was. Compared to the stairway to reach the first level, this appeared to give the exact impression of heading into a world oozing with evil intentions.
"We've made it to the entrance towards the second level. You did a good job making your way through. I'm glad that I didn't need to step in and assist you." Jade said.
Han groaned, "You know, there were a few times I would have appreciated your help."
Slapping him on his back, Jade said, "If I had to help you out, we would have had to stop here instead of proceeding to the next level.
This is where I will likely be stepping in to assist you, and I may even need to rely on you."
"Wait... Do you mean what I think you're saying?" He asked her.
Jade's helmet came off and on her face was a grim appearance. "Han, I'm not going to sugar coat it for you. Some of the monsters on this level should be handled by a team of players. And yes, we're fast approaching the difficulty of those creatures out there. If we're unlucky, there may even be a handful that are at the same level."
Han removed his own helmet. "Now I'm starting to see why you stayed back on this level. If I couldn't even handle the monsters on my own, then there's zero chance of me surviving down there." His expression was solemn as the weight of her words sunk in.
"Please, keep that in mind while you're down there. Though this may be a game, we're talking about the fate of everyone living inside the underground facility being at stake. For some reason, those things haven't attacked us but if they do decide..." Jade grimaced. "We won't survive, Han. Your mom, sister, and friends will all be either killed or turned into those things."
"I understand. Hopefully, I'll be able to reach your expectations and be able to handle the responsibility." Han said.
Jade lay a hand on his shoulder, smiling at him. "I'm glad you have the determination. We'll try this level a few times to see whether we'll need to invite more people." Jade said. She then grinned, "Who knows, I may have improved and will be able to beat the next level with your help."
Having his helmet back on, Han began walking down the steps into the lower levels. He was impressed at Jade and how she dedicated herself to the task at hand, even knowing that she could end up failing once again. It must be a daunting task to fight against monsters knowing the true enemy could be surpassing you.
Occasionally, a jet of steam blew out from the ceiling and floor.
"Creator, I'm noticing a slight increase in the temperature," Julia informed him.
"How's the suit handling it?" Han asked.
There was a pause before Julia answered, "The heat is minimally impacting the suit. Removal of the helmet could cause the user to notice the difference."
As he walked further down the stairs, he soon reached the bottom. Unlike the previous floor that seemed to be damp and dark, this floor had torches all around. With how the surrounding was lit up, allowing him to see everything clearly even without the suit's ability, it gave a different impression. There wasn't a full area in front of the stairway for him to enter, but instead, it was another hallway that turned left. Looking down the hallway, he was startled to see bodies hanging.
Moving towards the bodies, he saw that their skin had been completely flayed off so that their muscles were exposed. He didn't know how long these bodies were hanging from the walls, but there was still blood dripping onto the floor and down the wall. Seeing such a large pool of blood underneath the body was beyond his expectations.
"Han, you can't allow yourself to get distracted by such things. With how things are set up in this area, the lower floors will likely have more horrific sights." Jade tried to tell him.
In front of him, the body began twitching and struggling against its restraints. "Hero, you have come to save this poor soul! Please release me and I'll give you all the gold you need! Quickly, you must free me and let me out of this place!"
Han turned to look at Jade.
She merely shrugged her shoulders, saying, "This has never happened before. Usually, we just pass by the bodies and not stay around them for a long time. This may be some type of event, though I don't think we should listen to him."
Even though they were talking through their communication system, the man began yelling, "Release me! I must fulfill his will and bring more to them, so that this place may be cleansed. Only through blood may this world be able to be free. Only through them may this world know peace."
"What are you talking about," Han said to the raving man.
"They will rise! There shall be a flood over this world and be consumed by their will! You and your whore will know his embrace!" He began cackling madly.
Unsure what to think about his words, Han asked, "I guess this is something new?"
"No. I didn't think that thing would be on this floor, but I guess today's our unlucky day. Just make sure you put up a good fight." Jade said to him.