Chapter 87
“The Dungeon.”
“Run!” Kalysto shouted to the other heroes as the only guard who could help them drew his sword in his trembling hands and stood right in the middle of the two giant earthworms guarding the path to the stone corridor that led to the exit of the cave.
But Kalysto needed them to leave so she could use her magic freely. And as she tried to think of a solution, Sandra’s annoying screams pierced her ears, echoing in the spacious section of the cave, they were in.
“What the hell are those things? Please, someone tell me I’m hallucinating," Rita muttered.
“We’re going to die! Somebody save us!” Sandra started shouting again.
But Kalysto had no time to scold them or to think of a plan as the third earthworm blocking the other exit pounced on her. She barely had time to dive aside to avoid the sudden attack.
They are much faster than I thought. She noticed with surprise. But what struck her most was the ease with which they manipulated the ground. Although the earth felt a little soft under his feet, that wasn’t enough to explain the ease with which at times these monsters would come out and re-punch the ground as if it were just sand in the desert or splitting it at others as if it were made of dry clay.
Can they even use earth magic? She wondered as she launched a couple of arrows at the worm’s long tail, but her arrows bounced off its tough skin.
Inspection! She thought.
[Earthworm.
Level: 25
HP: 24990/25000
MP: 70/100]
Yeah, it’s definitely using magic. As soon as Kalysto confirmed her suspicions, another one of the earthworms lunged at her.
Kalysto ran to the side, evading the frontal attack and jumped against a nearby mana rock to gain momentum as the second worm’s body slammed into the spot she had been before. Quickly, she put her bow away and just before landing on top of the huge creature’s back, taking advantage of the fact that the others couldn’t see her from that height, she whispered:
“Water-blades! Ice-blades! Ice daggers!” The monster roared in pain as it shook its body violently, making her fall to the ground when she tried to re-bury the ice daggers against its hard skin as soon as she landed on top of it.
But before falling, Kalysto caught a glimpse of a beautiful crystal embedded in the back of the second worm.
You’ll definitely be mine. She, she got excited.
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Inspection! she thought. And a pair of windows opened to her left.
[Earthworm (Elite)
Level: 20
HP: 20690/21000
MP: 50/100]
As soon as Kalysto saw that they both had the same level, an idea came to her mind and before the second worm finished burying itself in the ground, she took out her bow again and shot a couple of arrows.
And this time, unlike the previous one, her arrows penetrated the worm’s skin.
“Everyone stay behind me!” shouted the soldier as he attacked the worm that was still blocking the exit while the soldier dodged his blows with difficulty as he tried to land a couple of blows with his sword.
Then, while he had the worm’s full attention, the soldier ran to the left, and the worm followed him, clearing the path to the exit as the soldier dodged its bite, only to be hit by a heavy blow from its long tail, sending him crashing into the hard stone wall and knocking all the air out of his lungs.
To Kalysto’s annoyance, the other heroes, instead of taking advantage of the fact that the exit had been cleared, stood frozen, watching the newly fallen soldier.
“Run while the way is clear!” she shouted at them. “Or are you waiting for an invitation and die in the meantime?”
That seemed to make them react.
“But we can’t leave you here!” Eric refused while the other two heroines ran towards the exit without hesitation, leaving them all behind.
Kalysto was about to yell at him about the stupidity of his statement when Sandra’s scream interrupted them.
“My... my legs! I can’t move them!” The seventeen-year-old screamed at the same time as the first earthworm Kalysto had ever faced sprouted from the ground and, as if guided by the teenager’s screams, headed straight for Sandra with its gaping mouth open and its sharp teeth ready to rip her in two.
“Aahhhhh!” the young girl screamed, unable to move. Her eyes opened wide as all color disappeared from her face and her hands began to tremble as she remained kneeling on the ground.
Kalysto instead pulled out one of the precious mana stones she had been collecting and hurled it with all her might at the worm’s head, deflecting its trajectory. Then she ran towards Sandra, and although she wanted to shake her for being foolish enough to expose herself like that as soon as she reached her she touched the back of her neck and whispered:
“Sleep well! Sleep well!” Immediately, the young woman’s body relaxed, her eyes closed and her body fell as if she had fainted against the ground. Immediately, Kalysto grabbed her by her clothes and pulled her towards the thin stone passage, away from danger.
Sandra’s body hit the hard rock and bounced several times, gaining small cuts on her arms, legs, and face. But at least she was still alive.
At that moment, Sandra opened her eyes and began to moan from the pain.
“Run, now!” Kalysto shouted at them as she ran towards the stunned monster and pulled out two of the daggers with penetration stats she had looted from the goblins. And leapt at the stunned creature, burying them in what she assumed was the back of its head.
“What happened?” She heard Sandra ask as Eric rushed to her aid and Kalysto pulled a sword from her inventory and buried it in the worm, which shook hard and buried itself back in the earth.
“I think you fainted,” the young man answered her as he helped her up and they advanced as fast as they could towards the forest that was waiting for them outside the cave.
And while the others escaped, Kalysto took the opportunity to retrieve the mana stone she had thrown earlier as the soldier got up with difficulty and tried to attack half of the body of the other worm that just came out of the ground, only to be attacked by surprise from behind by the third one.
“Move aside!” Kalysto shouted at him as she shot a couple of arrows into the worm’s open mouth just before it tried to swallow him whole.
But despite Kalysto’s warning, it was too late, and although the soldier jumped to the side, the monster bit off one of his legs, swallowing it in one bite.
The soldier’s moans of pain rippled through the cave as the other two worms emerged from their hiding places and pounced on Kalysto. Meanwhile, behind her, a small, silent lump of earth approached her, like a shark about to pounce on its unsuspecting prey.