The first crawler he found was a normal one. It rolled toward Nero, the unnerving clattering of the hardened limbs on the stone echoing down the tunnels. The monster seemed to go for Nero's legs and he swept the sword in front of him in a skyward swing, moving his dominant leg forward. To his surprise, he not only severed all limbs coming from two sides but also cut a deep gash in the monster's body. Not enough to kill, however. The monster retaliated grabbing Nero's [Elf Boots]. The monster wanted to cut through the shoe but Nero brought the sword down, severing the limbs attached to his boot. Without as many legs to roll around, the crawler wobbled uncertainly. Nero finished him with a well-placed stab.
He removed the limbs latched to his boots carefully, as the shoe didn't have a self-repair enchantment like his sword and armor. The damage was done, though. Three horizontal cuts pierced the leather of the boots. it still worked and that had to be enough, Nero thought. He picked the crystal, with one hundred and sixty Essence and moved onward. He hunted twelve crawlers, all of them between levels four and six. It seemed that the mutant ones, as he found himself calling them, would only happen with the level seven ones.
Nero wandered through the crawler tunnel, looking carefully for clues pointing to any direction. Any change. But the walls were smooth and the floor level. The tall roof was barely visible in the dim light that had no origin and barely cast shadows. That was when he found two crawlers at the same time.
They didn't seem to be mutants but they were different as was normal for the monster. They rolled toward Nero at the same time and he shifted his shield from a bucker to a targe. While the plates were still sliding to form a second disk of metal around the one already out, the monsters reached him. One went for the ankle, the other for the head. Nero moved sideways to dodge the one below and swung his sword in a mighty arc to catch the high one still in the air. His sawing blade took the latter straight-on, showering limbs all around and reaching the core.
Then the monster did something Nero didn't expect. He grabbed the sides of the blade and pulled, moving along with the blade and canceling the momentum. But it meant it was as good as pinned. Nero ran toward the wall, sparing a glance to see the other rolling crawler slowing down to change directions. It seemed heavy now that Nero thought about it. He reached the wall and drove the sword as if he wanted to cut the stone. The monster resisted with the rear legs, intact and in bigger number but slipped on the clockwork sword, allowing Nero to drive the sword halfway into its body.
The ape-kin turned around too late to avoid the attack of the ground monster. It didn't have room to pick up momentum but the monster attacked the same boot as before. Nero was further distracted when the device lit up, allowing the monster to slice a chunk off of his calf. Nero lost his balance and fell down on his knee, the now finished targe providing little support. All Nero could do was a backhand swing that bruised some legs of the monster but did little damage.
While the heavier monster turned around, he drank a [Healing Potion] and got back on his feet. With a thought, he popped out the spikes on his targe. Nero locked eyes with the crawler, not that he knew here the critter's eyes were and taunted it. The monster rolled away a bit and then stopped, moving backward and accelerating to barrel on his leg again. Nero lowered his stance, hiding the sword behind the shield and keeping the targe low. The monster came and crashed into the shield, grabbing the edges and trying to move past it. Nero stabbed down like a scorpion's sting, pushing the sword and shaking the blade to catch the biggest amount of limbs possible.
The monster's grip on the shield was weak and it fell back on its intact legs. The crawler tried to move away to gain momentum but flopped once it reached the side with limbs cut. Nero approached carefully and slashed in chopping motions, tearing more limbs and finally reaching the core.
The two monsters dissolved and Nero checked his device, to see what was happening.
> Compatible Anima detected. Energy absorbed above the threshold. Processing upgrade. Weighing Attribute strain.
>
> For defeating a (error division by zero) foe six times your level, you gained +1 Perception
Perception. Was it because he was straining to study the tunnels? Probably. What Nero discovered was amazing, if confirmed. It meant he could exercise some control over his Attribute growth.
Picking up the crystals and one [Canteen] card dropped by the crawlers, Nero checked the tunnels with his improved perception but found nothing of note. Without wasting more time, he moved in search of prey. A dozen one-on-one encounters with crawlers later, Nero was tired and hungry. Fighting crawlers was tiresome physically and mentally because he had to keep alert and strain to strike. The differences between crawlers meant each fight was different. He couldn't fall into the cadence and mind-numbing rhythm of the rat slaughter. But he had to stop and rest. Nero leaned against the tunnel wall and summoned some food and drank the rest of the water he had. As each [Canteen] summoned held two liters, he could use one per day, but meals had to be at least two.
He felt his eyelids heavy but he couldn't sleep there. With that mantra, he stood up, tossed the now empty canteen aside, and with a shrug, relived himself right there. The Dungeon would clean that up later.
Nero tried to return to the serpent sands but found himself lost. The crawler tunnels were uniform and featureless. He wondered. Each environment was tailored to give the monster an advantage. Not having anything to snag the limbs on was a blessing to the chaotic creepy crawlers. But he had no way of orienting himself. He sat and fought back to keep from falling asleep. He found the only way was to keep his body moving.
Nero fought five crawlers before he decided to sort them by levels. He would move down a tunnel and check the levels of the monsters. If they were increasing, he'd backtrack and go the other way. He tapped his device where the silver card was slotted. At least he could bail out at any moment. His life wasn't in danger unless he fell unconscious.
As he moved down a particularly long stretch of tunnel killing level five Crawlers, he heard a voice for the first time. It was a whiny, slightly childish voice but full of malice.
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"What do we have here, yes yes? An Adventurer, going solo, killing our pets, stuffing his bags, yes yes?"
The silver lining was that any drowsiness Nero was feeling disappeared. And that was that. There was no other good thing from hearing that voice.
"Who is there? Show yourself!" He demanded.
The voice cackled. "Oh, no, noes! Not yet, no no. Come to our den, and we'll play, yes yes!"
There was only one intelligent thing in the Dungeon besides him, Nero thought. The goblin. It meant he was near or already at the boss area. He heard it was a room but he wasn't sure.
"I'm here in my room, all alone for a decade, yes yes! So boring, no no! All I can do is make more and more and more monsters, yes yes!"
He was getting goosebumps. He was in no condition to fight the Goblin. Not yet. He needed at least a lot more Agility and Dexterity to compensate. Maybe more Vigor to resist damage. But it also meant he was close to his goal, and he could always exit and deal with the consequences.
"Where are you?" He asked while summoning the monster bag, a messenger bag he slung over his shoulder. It was time to fight the boss.
"Just walk forward. You'll find me, yes yes!"
Nero decided to take on the challenge. He came here to kill the goblin and drink ale, and he had no [Ale] card. He moved down the tunnel, dispatching a level six crawler before he found the boss room. A room with dozens of tunnels leading into it, well-lit and curved like a bowl. And in the middle of it, the goblin. A set of knives and daggers strapped to him, and viciously wicked. Nero found the goblin repulsive.
All he had to do was to engage a level seven [Rogue]. Nero did some math. If that goblin was a white-grade, he'd have Seventeen Attributes. Green, Forty-six. Yellow, Eighty. He had forty-three. He stepped into the room and the goblin vanished from sight. [Stealth], one of four Skills. Now the goblin would use [Poisoned Blade] along with [Backstab] for maximum damage. He saw both cards. But as Nero prepared to search for the goblin, all of the tunnels shut as massive sheets of stone fell down on every single tunnel.
Distracted, Nero flinched from the noise and the only clue he had was the red haze coming from above. he ducked sideways and brought his sword to intercept. It caught on something and sparks flew. As he twisted his head to see, the sword caught on the edge of the goblins' dagger and ate halfway through.
"Oh, we lost a dagger, no no. Too bad we have many, too bad for you, yes yes!"
The goblins seemed to value his daggers much. He discarded the broken weapon and drew another. Five to go, Nero counted. He charged at the now visible goblin but he tossed something down and smoke hid everything. [Smoke Screen], its second ability.
Nero swung the sword wildly, trying to back out of the smoke. That's when the goblin [Backstab] struck true, under Nero's shoulder blade. Left side, for goodness sake. The arm went numb. Nero screamed in pain and all he could do was to hold onto his sword. he fell down and slid down the bowl to the center. The terrain always favors the monster but at least he was out of the smoke. He felt the pain spread and quickly quaffed both types of potion he had. The wound alleviated enough to move the arm but the [Healing Potion] didn't heal everything.
Regaining his footing, Nero saw a streak of blood where he slid. Ignoring the distraction, he tried to see the red haze and when he finally picked up something, he swung. Another clash, another shower of sparks. The goblin appeared out of nowhere and jumped back, tossing the half-destroyed dagger at Nero. A sheet of his targe extended suddenly, draining some energy and blocking the dagger. The weapon didn't reach the ground in one piece as the rending ability of the clockwork sword destroyed it.
"No, no no! Not another dagger, no no! It is hard to find these in the corpses, yes yes!"
The goblin drew another dagger before vanishing. Nero was mentally tallying the resources of the goblin. He vanished twice and used each other Skill once. He knew all of them had cost. Nero tried to climb the bowl but the stone was too smooth. If he tried to do that, he'd have to focus and then he'd get another dagger to the back. He felt an air current at his back but something jerked his attention. He was about to turn around but suddenly slashed in front. The sword drew blood and the dark green fluid flew in a spray away from Nero. Some of it fell on the goblin's eyes and Nero seized this moment of distraction to swing down again. The goblin heard the noise and tried to parry but Nero was too much to the side and severed the goblin's forearm.
Nero kicked the goblin away and seized the dagger, stowing it in his belt. Three weapons down, three to go. The goblin lost his dominant hand. Nero picked up the hand and shoved it in the monster bag. Back on his feet, the goblin moved away and vanished again. Seven resource points used. Or more, if his Skills had to be triggered when attacking. Backstab was like that, so maybe eight.
Nero scanned around for the telltale sign of a monster in the area but found nothing. It seemed that with the goblin in [Stealth], he could only see the haze when he was really close. Too close to his skin. But he found something else. Nero saw a trail of blood droplets. Seeking the ends of the trail, he found where the next droplet fell.
"Oh, noes, he has how to find us, no no! Stealth is no good, no no!" The goblin appeared and then did something Nero thought was impossible. He used a fifth Skill. "[Dash n' Slash]!" The boss closed the distance in a moment and stabbed Nero's stomach before he could react. "[Poisoned Blade]", he whispered in his cruel voice.
Nero brought his sword sideways and clipped the goblin's shoulder. The sword shredded the deltoids, causing the goblin's left arm to go limp. But he was unable to move, the pain in his stomach flaring.
"It is dying, yes yes!" The goblin cheered.
Nero took his last [Healing Potion], cursing himself for not summoning more before the boss fight. His mind was filled with molasses, surely. But he found he couldn't uncork the potion. So he bit the bottle and crushed it in his mouth, spitting the glass after he drank the liquid with a few shards. His stomach healed enough but the poison remained.
Nero shouted. He charged and brought his sword down but the goblin was faster. Too faster. And Nero noticed it used [Smoke Bomb] again to get away with [Stealth]. Nine resources. This goblin was either a genius, had a gimped build, or was yellow-grade.
Coughing, Nero left the smoke cloud, searching for the blood dripping. He had very little time before the poison claimed his consciousness and he was too numbed to try and summon a card. He found the goblin, moving away from him, waiting for the poison to do the hard work. Nero sheathed his weapon and fumbled with his bandolier. He drew the consumables deck but it fell down, spreading cards everywhere. He knelt and picked a potion. Slotting it, he summoned and drank. then he fumbled around, trying to find an [Antidote]. Before he could find one, he took a knee to his chin. He fell on his back.
The goblin straddled Nero and tried to bite him. The way his legs were, it pinned Nero's sword. With his right hand, Nero held the goblin from biting him. He looked at his left hand and a plan formed. The plates started to shift ever so slowly. The goblin was kneeing his stomach wound but the plates of the brigandine spread the impact. His vision was hazy. Nero fought to hold back the boss, to remain conscious.
He was losing. He thought of activating the [Egress] card. He couldn't. He had to kill this green shitbag and drag his screaming corpse back to the surface. He was seeing black spots when the sound of gears and shifting plates ceased. He put all his focus on his left hand.
Then he punched the goblin's cheek as hard as he could with the spiked buckler.
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> Nero [0/0]
>
> Strength: +7 (+10 with clockwork blade, +8 when blocking)
> Vigor +4
> Endurance +5
> Agility +8
> Dexterity +4 (+5 inside a Dungeon)
>
> Reason +4
> Willpower +2
> Perception +4 (+6 inside a Dungeon)
> Charisma +2
>
> Equipment: [Rending Clockwork Blade of Regrowth +1], [Self-Cleaning Brigandine of Regrowth], [Dungeon Goggles], [Elven Boots], [Hot Muffler], [Dungeon Clock], [Spiked Clockwork Shield of Regrowth +1]