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World: MSS - Loading...
"Speech"
"Thoughts"
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“Left!” L’teya cried out.
I pivoted on my right foot and took a large step towards the left, slashing with my new jagged sword. If I wasn’t mistaken the weapon probably had a [Bleed] property. It was evident in the way that I slashed the Pyogyun which had been preparing itself to leap into the air. I dispatched it quickly, slashing it across the eyes and then stabbing it through the mouth and into the throat. The corpse continued to leak blood even after the creature had long stopped moving.
The feeling of disgust, fear and guilt had long since disappeared. Since we started delving deeper into the dungeon, more and more beast type monsters had been running towards us. No more patterns of monsters coming at us in nice little groups of three. Dozens of them came running at us, some of them barking with maddening yelps like the Pyogyun. Others under the cover of darkness like the Keuikegen (毛羽毛現), another grade 9 monster.
Through all this, I had realized two things.
One. That there would be no more waves.
Two. The nature of the dungeon had changed.
Normally we should be going through a puzzle section right about now, instead all the doors were wide open and monsters poured through in an endless swarm.
Luckily, absorbing the Gacha Cat’s Core has done wonders for me. My body’s movements were sharper and I could see in the darkness much better than before. It wasn’t advanced enough for me to call it [Darkvision], which only unlocked when my [Sight] stat got high enough. But it allowed me to warn of the Keuikegen which tended to come crawling from our blind spots. With L’teya’s [Tremor Sense] and my newly found sight, we were able to stem the tide of monsters before they could overwhelm us.
I had to admit, I wasn’t fond of the Gacha Cat’s Core. My original goal upon finding out that I had been born into a human body was to become a knight, and that goal still hadn’t changed. Knights were users of [Aura], a racial trait unique to humans that allowed them to coat any weapon in the mystical energy. Then after becoming a Knight, I'd have to specialize further. No time to ponder upon that now when I didn't even have the faintest idea how to activate it.
Aura’s main selling point was that any damage it inflicted counted as True Damage. Furthermore, it ignored 90% of my opponent’s defense ratings.
Yeah, all the opinion of the forums was that it was OP.
“Yeah, it was lucky that I got born as a human.”
Well, it’s wasn't like the other races didn’t have their own racial traits. For example the dwarves could-
“Pay attention Slaveborn! Above!”
I was forcibly broken out of my thoughts by L’teya's warning which came a split second before a Keuikegen leapt on top of me. It had thick curly black fur with a navy sheen when in the torchlight. No muzzle of snout protruded from this furball of a monster, the only thing visible through its thick mess of tangled fur were two yellow orbs which served as its eyes.
We had learned early on that L’teyas axes were of no use against the creatures. The fur was simply too dense for her blades to swing through in one blow, a natural counter to slashing. It fell upon me to stab the creatures to death, or Clover to try and pierce them with arrows. It was hard work, avoiding the creature's ability and staying on the move while keeping it from overwhelming us.
｢Keuikegen has used [Disease: Weakness] ｣
The Keuikegen in midair began to shake and I saw brown clouds beginning to roll off the creature.
Acting quickly, I side-stepped and kicked off of a pillar, leaping above the creature which was still in the air. I stabbed downward with three quick thrusts, hoping that one of them would be enough to either kill or incapacitate the creature. I landed on my feet and looked back to see the creature falling lifelessly to the floor.
“Whoa.” Clover muttered.
“Lock Slaveborn… your movements.” L’teya’s expression mirrored Clovers. “You’re getting stronger! The Core must be working!”
Of course, it was a grade-8 Core after all. The stat boost would be substantial.
To be honest though, I was surprised by my movements too. My body had acted before I could mentally prepare myself. The moment I thought about trying it, I was already in the air. If I remembered correctly, the Beckoning Cat gave a significant boost to [Reflex] and [Proprioception]. I was amazed at the difference a single Core could make, even if its active ability was largely useless.
“Maybe Arrosh will let me swing a sword now.” Thinking of the old blind orc, I wondered how long we’ve been here. It had to be nightfall by now. It felt like weeks though.
L’teya waded into another pair of Pyogyuns, leaving large cuts on their sides which bubbled with poison. The poisoned monsters acted in a frenzy, losing what little reason they had left and behaving erratically. We could leave them to die, but it was much quicker for me to put them out of their misery while they were starting to slow. Clover stayed behind us, providing support fire.
With L'teya and I serving as the frontline and having received a considerable power-up in the last few hours, Clover could afford t0 take it easy. Her headache had been growing worse and most of the arrow were on the ground rather than in the flesh of monsters. L’teya kept glancing at the beastwoman, worried at her condition. It took awhile but eventually we reached a point where there were no more monsters. Quickly, L'teya found a spot near the pillars where we could keep a lookout and take a breather.
“Let’s rest.” Clover practically begged, her breathing strained.
I was drenched in sweat too and took a seat on a nearby collapsed section of a wall, trusting L’teya to warn us of any danger. I still performed my part, keeping an eye on the shadowy corners where even the torches couldn't illuminate.
"It still looks the same here." I muttered, realizing that the design of the dungeon hadn't changed much despite the ground we covered.
L'teya shrugged. "Monsters are the same too. I'm starting to itch for a challenge."
The elf-barbarian was a little upset that she had been knocked around by the Lucky Beckoning Cat without the chance to get revenge on it. On the flip side, I think I gained a bit more respect as a warrior in the last few hours. I had told her the details about my duel with the Beckoning Cat and she nodded enthusiastically. Now she wanted a story of her own to tell, even at risk to her life.
Barbarians.
Clover held a hand to her head. “Ow!”
“What is wrong, Clover?” L’teya looked worried. “Something is ailing you.”
“It’s nothing. It just feels like, agh!” She cut off mid-sentence and let out a hiss of pain. “It feels like someone is pounding into my brain with a sledge hammer.”
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I remembered the words that the statue had spoken to me.
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[ I have waited many years for one of my children. I sense one of them above. ]
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Something was happening to Clover outside of our control and at least a part of the fault lay with me. At the very least, I had brought us here specifically because this was a beast-themed dungeon that had a lower difficulty for a party with beastman members. But how was I supposed to know that a freaking goddess would interfere?
“Clover.” I struggled on how to say this. “Below, where I fought the Lucky Beckoning Cat. There was a name inscribed there. I believe this dungeon was originally a temple dedicated to that name.”
“What was the name?” Clover winced as she asked, every word costing her effort.
“Oung.”
“...Oung?” Clover muttered.
Her reaction was worrying. “Yeah, Oung.”
“She’s a goddess of the beastmen.” Clover answered. “That’s about all I know about her. As you know, my family wasn’t particularly religious. Honestly it’s more folktale than a religion in my country.”
I nodded. For all purposes, Clover’s family sounded like they had been relatively wealthy. Coming from a household where my parents had been in charge of a multi-million dollar empire, I too understand the lack of emphasis on religion in her household. Yet, I couldn’t get the presence nor the voice out of my head. I doubted it was a dungeon gimmick. Somewhere deep in my heart, I knew that the voice had been real as the sword in my hand. If there truly was a divine being interested in Clover...
“Hmm… it feels like if we play our cards right, we might get something more out of this dungeon than I expected.” The wheels in my head began to turn.
Originally, my goal had been to outfit the three of us with Cores, preferably grade-8 or 9. Best case scenario, we could leave this place with two Cores each. Worst case scenario? The usual, death. But with Oung’s interference the best case scenario could change to more than just a Core...
“It’s worrying that there are no more Waves, indicating that the nature of this dungeon has changed. Could it be that Clover is in the middle of converting to a priestess?!”
Adventurers in MSS could be separated into two large archetypes.
People who absorb Cores for their abilities and develop their innate skills.
Then those who cannot absorb normal cores, but rely on Mana Circles or Spirit, I.E Religion. These could be separated largely into Mages and Priests. There were further specializations but generally, they fell within the two archetypes.
If we could get a priest in our party… That opened up a hell of a lot more options.
“Can’t we just escape after we finish this dungeon then?” Puca, our overseer, was dead.
I was sure that we could get rid of the manacles around our necks somehow, somewhere. Maybe Clover converting to a priestess could be the answer to our problems.
"But how would we cross the desert." One after another, more problems popped back up. Like I said initially, in the middle of this desert there was no point in running away. Monsters would kill us long before we could reach civilization.
“There’s a door here.” L’teya had been searching around the area and found something of interest.
It was a gargantuan double door, made of blue marble just like the rest of the temple. There was no handle that I could see, not that any living being could reach it even if it was there. I held L’teya off from pushing it open and looked around for any clues. I found what I was looking for in the form of a small stone tablet inscribed into the door itself. Strangely enough, the tablet was at our eye level not whatever giant creature the door was made for.
The tablet was inscribed in the same language as the entrance. Clover came over to translate, but to her surprise she could read it fluently this time.
“That’s weird…” Clover frowned.
“I think that you’re becoming a Priestess.” There was no other way to say this. When Clover shot me a look of suspicion, it was L’teya who came to my rescue.
“That makes sense.” L’teya said, supporting her chin with one hand. “Back home, whenever the witch doctor had to pass on his knowledge, the young ones would always complain of headaches. I congratulate you, on your ascension.”
Clover had been about to shoot something back snarky at me, I could tell from her expression. But the beastwoman held her tongue at L’teya’s serious demeanor. Barbarians were a superstitious lot by nature and reputation; I was sure that Clover was trying not to hurt the barbarian’s feelings.
“It doesn’t make sense.” Clover finally settled on what to say. “I never believed in the old tales, and stories of Oung are a fairy tale. It's for kids.”
“Pfft.”
I couldn’t help but laugh, but quickly stifled it upon seeing Clover’s expression. From my perspective, a beastman who lived in a world with mana, flying dragons and mages writing off a goddess as a fairy tale just didn't make sense. It just showed how the people of this world approached things different than I did. I decided to respect her decision and wiped the remnants of the smile from my face.
But L'teya thought different. "The gods are real, Clover." She said sternly.
Clover and L’teya quickly began to argue about the existence of gods.
“Those witch doctors are just using mana, there is no spiritual force at work there L’teya. They’re just mages that belong to a barbarian tribe, instead of a magical tower.”
“You say that because there are no beastmen barbarian tribes.” L’teya had a good point. There were no beastman barbarian tribes.
“Yes, but there has been countless studies done on-”
“It doesn't matter.” I ended the argument. “We’ll know if we leave this dungeon and nothing happens. What should focus on is entering through this door. This is obviously our next task. But before that, you never told us what the tablet says.”
For a full grown adult, Clover got upset pretty easily. She huffed her cheeks but answered me all the same.
“It says this.” She read from the tablet, her fingers tracing over it. “Enter those who would prove themselves worthy. The Last Trial awaits.”
“So a protection type of mission.” I could see what we would have to do unfolding. “L’teya, let’s take a health potion each.”
“We have no injuries.” She stated.
I shrugged. “Just to be sure.”
We each chugged a health potion each, down to only three bottles left in the dimension rings. Then before we went in, we took stock of the dimension rings once more trying to see if there was anything useful. We couldn’t find anything that was worth our interest. Most of it was coin or ill-fitting equipment, which would be useless until we were able to escape this dungeon and find somewhere to sell it.
“On three.”
Grr-t Grr-t Grr-t
L’teya and I heaved one of the massive stone doors open.
It opened up into a large room, similar to the shrine I had seen downstairs except on a grander scale. There was a statue of Oung, that almost touched the ceiling. If the statue was alive, it would have been a perfect fit for the door. Feeling very small, I was the first one to step foot into the shrine to get a closer look. The statue had a long strand of beads wrapped around one wrist, and that same hand was holding a well sculpted-stick. On the other hand, there was a round bell-shaped object with a semi-circle slit.
“Rosary Beads, a bell and a cup?”
The same items lay strewn at the statue’s feet. The beads were made of dark, damaged wood. Many of the orbs that made up the rosary were chipped or had disintegrated into dust over the years. There was a bell-shaped instrument next to it, which had a wooden stick about my palm’s length; obviously designed to hit the bell. Finally, a rusted cup stood next to them.
Inside the cup was a clear, silvery liquid.
“The room did change.” Back in the real world, this room had nothing but the boss inside. Now it was this hidden event.
“Clover.” I found a similar tablet with beastman writing.
“Drink of my Water, my Dear Child of Sun and Wind, Slay the Enemy.” She translated for me, then made a face. “I’m not drinking that.”
[ Drink. ]
The voice that I heard before was back. There was no rhyme, rhythm or warning to the presence that filled the temple. It wasn’t here, then it was. This time, the fear began from my feet and spread to my fingers. My body shook involuntarily.
I dared to look at the statue.
The stone statue’s head was facing down and looking straight at Clover. Its eyes had been just plain round stone surfaces, but now they were distinctly alive. White sclera with black pupils that changed before my very eyes. In one second it was the cruel gaze of an eagle looking at its prey, then next the flat eyes of a snake. Then again, it changed to vertical slits, reminiscent of a feline. The rest of its body remained stone however.
Clover’s eyes rolled in to the back of her head and she stumbled towards the cup like a puppet.
I knew that barbarians had a superstitious nature to them but I had underestimated just how much. L’teya fell to her knees and bowed before the statue, trembling. I heard her mutter prayers under her breath. I tried to take a step towards the statue.
[ Stop. ]
The full weight of Oung’s attention fell on me and I fell to the floor. It wasn’ a physical force, but something more. It felt like my mind was being crushed in a trash compactor and all I could do was try to try to imagine I had meta-physical arms, pushing back against it.
“MMMMMMGGGHHHH” I screamed from my throat between clenched teeth. It seemed Oung’s version of ‘stop’ meant I couldn't move a single inch of my body, including my mouth.
I watched helplessly as Clover took the cup in two hands and kneeled in front of Oung’s statue.
The statue’s mouth opened, the stone grating against each other. It smiled down at Clover. The teeth were serrated and sharp, much too sinister for me to believe this was the same benevolent Oung who gave life to the beastmen race. The statue’s mouth moved once more, and giving presence to its word in the real world. Before it had been speaking directly into our heads, now its voice filled the air.
God, it hurt.
I can’t remember what the Goddess said and to be frank, I don’t want to remember it. All I saw was that Clover’s body lurched and her back arched at an impossible angle. She was having a seizure. Streams of what I could only imagine was mana flowed out like a fog from the statue’s open mouth, and began to enter Clover’s body through her mouth and eyes. It was like I had front-row seats to an exorcism except that instead of popcorn, I felt blood pouring down my earlobes and nose.
Clover’s body fell limply to the cold marble once the ritual was done.
Finally it was over.
Oung didn’t use her real Voice again, but spoke into our heads.
[ Child of Blood and Mana. Child of Leaf and Star. A Boon on my Priestess’ behalf. ]
Shhhhhhhhhhhh
Crackle Crack Crack Crack
The sound of the running water was followed by space being ripped open.
When I managed to look up the statue was back to its normal position, the stone eyes without life once more. Oung had left us.
“L-Lock… behind… you…” Clover was awake, thankfully. But she was in worse shape than L’teya and I were, whom were still groggy but recovering rapidly. The beastwoman pointed behind us, her finger shaking.
Two portals.
One swirling with black mana, the other with green and brown.
Two monsters began to emerge.
I could tell immediately these weren't your everyday friendly neighborhood monsters.
These were Boss-class monsters.
[ May it serve you well. ]
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