“Kill them!” Cedric shouted, all thoughts of taming the Shieldbearer fleeing his mind. Without waiting to see if the Clinger heard him, he spun and sprinted down the way he came. The two Shieldbearers screeched, grating painfully on his ears. The sound almost hid the heavy thudding of their feet on the stone floor as they followed him.

A spray of blood erupted from behind him, coating the walls and narrowly missing his back. Cedric yelped, heart in his throat as he burst into the entrance hall. He skidded, nearly colliding with the trapped plinth before running along the wall toward the right spiral staircase leading up to the balcony. The torches sputtered at his passage, accentuating the unearthly screech that echoed behind him.

The two monsters burst into the room, possessing no apparent respect for room boundaries. The Clinger’s work, however, was evident in the trail of blood leaking behind the rear Shieldbearer. The spider itself was nowhere to be seen, but that was expected if it was following the strategy from before. Unfortunately, said strategy pissed off the creatures something fierce and kind of required that Cedric be safe and out of sight.

Before he could berate his minion, the crystal on his hand flashed, and shot a spectral tendril at an empty spot to the side. It must have hit the Clinger, but invisible as it was, Cedric had no way of knowing how badly the magic had incapacitated it.

The two Shieldbearers were gaining on him, however, and he needed his damn pet to switch strategies right now or they would both die.

“Attack them!” Cedric screamed as he raced up the staircase. The gray spider suddenly appeared behind the rear Shieldbearer and unleashed a series of lightning fast slashes that had the larger beast staggering from the damage. Gore dripped from the wounds, solidifying into grasping tendrils that wrapped around and interfered with the monster’s movements. Both monsters turned on the closer threat and unloaded a dual spray of blood from behind their shields.

Clinger leaped back, but with two wide blood attacks and without invisibility it was hopelessly caught and blasted against the far wall. The corrosive blood chewed into his minion’s carapace, releasing a thick, pungent smoke as both Shieldbearers clenched their claws and Sanguine Field activated, further increasing the damage.

The Clinger staggered to it’s pitted feet, injured but not dead yet. A quick command from Cedric had it retreating to safety, but that only seemed to reorient the two Shieldbearers on him. They turned and followed up the staircase, trailing blood that sizzled against the stone floor.

He needed to distract them. There was no other way to win outnumbered as he was. Cedric ran to the other side of the balcony, and sprinted down the stairs three at a time. He reached the bottom and turned to see the two monsters fast on his heels.

“Attack them from behind when they are distracted!” Cedric yelled, jogging backwards as the two monsters approached. The first belched another stream of blood, narrowly missing Cedric as he tumbled to the side. The second monster shot more blood at him before he could recover. On the floor and gasping, he was helpless to dodge. The blood slammed into him, and he screamed as it burned his skin.

To his surprise, his health barely dropped from the direct hit, and it looked like Sanguine Field was on cooldown since last time the pair had used it.

They must have low ability power, the thought popped into Cedric’s mind as he backpedaled. Despite the low damage, the ability had still pushed him below half health. If they had low ability power, it was likely their attack damage was high so he had to avoid melee combat at all costs.

With that thought, he staggered to his feet and ran back. He heard-more-than-saw the Clinger unleash once again on the monsters, but didn’t have time to check if they had caught his small minion. Reaching the far wall he risked a glance back, and saw the pair rushing him, trailing more blood from long incisions struggling to close.

“Come on!” Cedric yelled past his heaving lungs. The pair got close, hefting their shields and slowing marginally, but that only allowed the Clinger to slash again at their calves while they were distracted. Cedric screamed, stepping closer and kicking ineffectual at the air between them. The act was a bluff, without any hope of damaging or even reaching the pair, but it served to bring their focus back on him. With a victorious scuttle, the Clinger retreated back to a safe distance

That really seemed to infuriate the pair, and they abandoned their careful approach. They sprinted directly for him, letting their shields slump. Cedric didn’t even think of retaliating, turning quickly and sprinted back around the room. He raced up the spiral staircase, except this time, the floor was covered in blood from earlier.

A flash of crimson light washed over the blood, and suddenly a terrible burning radiated up Cedric’s legs. He flinched at the unexpected pain, slipping on the slick blood and landing shin first on the sharp stair. He choked back a strangled yell as what felt like a lightning bolt shot up his shin. He caught himself on his hands, but that only served to cover his hands in the corrosive, burning blood.

“Help me!” Cedric cried, deathly aware of his impending doom fast approaching. The Clinger leaped, landing on the back of the rear Arterial Shieldbearer. It’s claws dug deep into its back, and it extracted two to slice the long eye stalk clean off. The creature shrieked, raising both its shields and arms to try and remove its attacker. The Clinger only skittered in, digging deep into the open thoracic cavity and playing blender with its 5 razor sharp legs.

Cedric crab walked up the stairs, watching in panic as the second Shieldbearer turned on its partner and unleashed a torrent of blood right down its gullet. Both Arterial Shieldbearer and Stone Shelled Clinger shuddered as corrosive blood seared smoking welts into their flesh.

The Clinger recovered first, somehow. It flexed its legs, ripping itself deeper into its foe, and sinking one blade into the creature’s heart. A bone chilling shriek erupted from the wounded Shieldbearer as a literal geyser of blood ejected the Clinger from its body. The humanoid beast collapsed, motionless and melting into a pool of blood.

The Clinger landed with a crack, tumbling down several stairs before settling in a heap at the bottom. It’s leg trembled, attempting to rise. Before it could. The second Shieldbearer leaped on top of it and shattered its carapace with a mighty blow.

You have lost a companion.

The system message flashed red in Cedric’s mind as he hobbled to his feet. The Shieldbearer turned, meeting his two eyes with its single bloodshot stalk. For a moment, the pair simply stared at each other. Cedric in disbelief that his minion had died. He hadn’t registered that such an option was possible, but the little Clinger was a fragile assassin type, and he had asked it to frontline for him. It shouldn’t have come as a surprise then that the little one had died. And yet, it did.

The moment passed, but before either party could reengage, the blue crystal on Cedric’s palm flashed. The blood drained from Cedric’s face as he grasped his wrist as if he could somehow stop what was coming. A ghostly thread of mist rose from the sapphire, followed by another, and another after that. They hung in the air for a fraction of a second before lunging at the Arterial Shieldbearer with a hiss.

“No, no, no, no,” Cedric said as he stared at the creature writhe under the effects. Before him the status of the beast flashed. More and more stats pumped into it. Far higher than it had any right to grow. Far higher than he had any possibility of ever overcoming.

Arterial Shieldbearer

Stats Invested: 260

Talents Invested: 240

Health[7]: 3186

Regeneration[6]: 111.4/hr

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Attack Damage[5]: 57

Lethality[4]: 13%

Ability Power[5]: 141

Ability Haste[4]: 17%

Riposte

6s

Next attack that lands on your shields deals 50% less damage.

Sanguine Field

39s

Cover an area in blood. Nearby blood slows and deals 30% ability power per second for 20 seconds

Exsanguinate

14s

Unleash a burst of blood, dealing 100% ability power.

Eldrath

-passive-

You become talented in health and regeneration

Cedric slumped. 3000 health. It had 3000 health. What kind of unbalanced bullshit was that. Even without armor, it would take him several hundred hits to whittle it down with his measly 8 damage per attack. The system messed up. This thing was...completely unbeatable. He had to run.

Cedric rushed at the Arterial Shieldbearer while it was still disoriented. He kicked it hard on its shields which caused the larger creature to tumble backwards, falling down the stairs in a tangle of blood red limbs.

Cedric instantly ran back up the stairs and approached the starless portal. He could leave now. He should leave now. Escape this dungeon, and the unbeatable demon that his hand crystal had summoned for absolutely no reason. The portal stared at him enticingly, as if begging him to jump out and face the hordes of rodent-snakes hungry for his flesh on the other side.

He glanced back, his eyes landing on the broken, blood-stained form of the Stone Shelled Clinger. He shouldn’t have tried to use the assassin monster as a frontline, but he hadn’t really had much of a choice. Still...it was such a damn waste that it had died.

He turned back to the portal, considering. Leaving now almost certainly spelled doom, and even if he could figure out some way to survive in the forest there was a chance that the dungeon would reset if he left. Plenty of dungeons in stories functioned that way, and this world was shaping out to be similar enough to follow that norm.

But staying...

Cedric watched as the monstrous Shieldbearer rose and shook its shoulders. It’s grotesque eye blinked futilely, as if trying to clear spots from its vision. Bloody, half healed scars criss crossed its back from when the Clinger had grazed it.

Wait, Cedric blinked.

Despite the massive increase in health, it’s wounds hadn’t healed. It was like its max health had increased, but not its current health. It didn’t matter why stats worked like this. All that mattered was that this quirk of the system meant that this was going to be his best chance to defeating and hopefully taming the creature.

But he still had a problem of damage. To tame it he would need to be at point blank range after he had whittled its health down some more. Simply bashing it wasn’t good enough. He needed something...else.

Cedric glanced around the room, then with a grin, sprinted down the opposite stairway to the entrance floor. There was a chance. It involved a great deal of luck, but it should be possible.

The Arterial Shieldbearer was fully recovered by now, and was cautiously stalking after him. It didn’t seem to register that its stats had ballooned far above Cedric’s ability to handle. All the better for him. It gave him more time to get into position.

He needed the monster’s Exsanguinate ability to be on cooldown for his plan, so reluctantly, Cedric allowed the creature to approach. He strafed at the very edge of its range, egging it on until it finally relented and unleashed its burst of blood.

The telegraphed ability was slow enough that Cedric managed to hop out of range. Then he started counting in his head.

14 seconds.

He raced to the plinth, squashing the seed of hesitation as his foot traveled over one of the six barely visible dimples in the ground. He pushed his weight on the plinth and felt a soft click shudder up his hand. His grin widened, then he suppressed it in case the monster could read expressions.

10 seconds.

He turned, careful to maintain pressure on the trap. The Arterial Shieldbearer approached. Its steps cautious and shields raised. Cedric quailed, trying to make himself as small as possible. He absolutely couldn’t let its Exsanguinate come off cooldown. With 141 ability power the ability would one-shot him.

6 seconds.

The Arterial Shieldbearer hesitated, as if somehow sensing Cedric’s bluff.

4 seconds.

He had to retreat. Any longer and he wouldn’t have enough time to get out of range of the next Exsan—

The Arterial Shieldbearer lunged, its claws glinting red in the torchlight. His nerves stretched to the breaking point, he lost control. With a cry, he ducked, covering his face in a desperate attempt to hide from the terror.

A mechanical whir sounded, followed by an unearthly screech. Gallons of hot blood cascaded over Cedric’s crouched form. He gasped barely registering what happened before a red claw swiped at him. It ripped into his pectoral, waking him from his stupor and fear by dumping another gallon of adrenaline directly into his bloodstream.

Somewhere in the back of his mind, Cedric noticed the system notification regarding his health, but in the moment he ignored. Like a geriatric old man, he threw himself between the monsters legs and rolled to his feet. The monster screeched again. A vicious barbed spear impaling it from crotch to collarbone. Its massive heart palpitated unevenly as it struggled to function around the cold iron piercing it.

Out of breath, scared, and massively injured. Cedric placed his crystalline palm on the creatures struggling heart and triggered Tame.

----------------------------------------

Hours had passed since the fight had concluded. The entrance hall was soaked in blood. Not a single walkable surface wasn’t covered in the stuff, so both Cedric and his new companion were sat in the second chamber where at least it didn’t smell like the inside of a morgue.

Cedric twitched awake, having fallen asleep unintentionally. His stomach growled vehemently and a pulsing headache throbbed between his temples. He needed sustenance and soon.

At least his health had healed slightly during his nap, though it would take another full day and night for it to reach full. It seemed silly that his health had only been full once since he’d arrived in the world, and ever since absorbing the crystal he had been on the constant mend.

The Shieldbearer was also still injured. Even with nearly 10 times the health regeneration, it would actually take it longer to full heal. At least the thing was docile now. With it successfully tamed, the massively increased stats were a huge relief.

Despite desperately needing time to full heal, Cedric didn’t have that luxury. He shook away the last vestiges of grogginess and stiffly rose to his feet. With a few curt commands, he had the Shieldbearer search the room.

It pushed open the coffins, holding its shields in preparation. On the third coffin, an explosion of green smoke erupted in the monster’s face. A golden ripple washed over its shields as Riposte activated, and it barely staggered in the face of the trap’s full force. Cedric frowned grimly, keeping his distance as he commanded the monster to bring him the contents of the coffin.

Absorbed Augment: Thorn Veil: While augmented skill is active, deal 10 magic damage to attackers

Eldrathian Crypts (2/3)

The augmented gemstone melted into his sapphire, and he clenched his fist around it. With a thought he triggered Tame to see if there was another monster he could tame.

No target selected...attempting to tame nearest creature

No nearby creatures. Taming failed.

Cedric bit his lip as he stared at the notification. On the far side of the room a closed door led deeper into the dungeon. The chances that there wasn’t a single other monster down there was hard to believe. The completionist in him wanted to keep going until he collected the last augment, but...his real power came from collecting more monsters. The quality and allocation of augments were out of his control and spending resources on collecting them in his current state was foolish at best.

Decision made, Cedric turned his back on the closed door, and exited the dungeon through the starless portal. He gasped as dappled sunlight blinded him for a second. Beside him, the Arterial Shieldbearer hissed darkly, its bloodshot eye staring fearfully at the cloudless blue sky.

None of the rodent-snake things were around, and many of the water pools had drained considerably. So time didn’t stop while he was in the dungeon. Made sense, he supposed. A quick glance to the canopy however revealed several of the small monsters traversing the trees. He would have to deal with them soon.

Cedric triggered Tame again.

No target selected...attempting to tame nearest creature

Taming Hartebeast Behemoth...Failed, reduce distance to begin taming.

Cedric tutted, he was stuck with the behemoth. With the number of flashes his crystal had sent to the monster, it was going to be very strong. Far too strong to defeat as he was with only a single monster on his side.

That meant he needed more dungeons that he could enter to grow his party.

But first...food.