After tidying up my gear, I noticed that Katashi was once again examining the stone shards left from the rockjaws. He even pulled out a small hammer, no bigger than a palm, from his belt pouch and started to tap the fragments with it.
"Are you that interested in the principle behind these stone monsters' pseudo-life?" I asked in not the most pleased tone, stepping closer.
"Huh?" The Japanese looked up at me slightly surprisedly, then explained his actions, "No. I'm looking for loot."
"Not the time for that," I grimaced, shaking my head. "It's not customary here in Ain, for one. Here, you're supposed to do a full sweep first and only then collect the loot. And two, I agree with the locals on this. Until the dungeon is cleared, patrols or roaming monsters, for instance, could wander into this cave and attack while you're distracted searching for loot. And there's a saying that first you finish the job…"
With barely perceptible regret, Katashi put his hammer back into the pouch and, standing up, managed a smile, awkwardly nodding towards the cave exit.
The next corridor turned out to be much shorter than the first, but it was twisted in such a way that if the Japanese had fallen just ten steps behind me, I would have lost sight of him. Here, we encountered the familiar stone spiders, with the only difference being that in this place, they didn't shy away from hiding on the walls, trying to snag passersby with their long limbs. However, thanks to the blacksmith's unique application of the Metal Rune, as well as my "flashlight," we were able to detect such ambushes well in advance. And without the element of surprise, these monsters no longer posed a great danger, as they attacked one at a time. Perhaps for Ilakris's party, the stone spiders were a serious threat, but Katashi and I cracked them open like overripe nuts.
Indeed, there was no real difficulty in it. The Japanese warned me in advance about the ambush spot. I provoked the monster's attack, then jumped aside and finished off the creature myself, or left the job to the blacksmith. Fortunately, a single application of the Des Rune reliably destroyed the monster's central "body."
A few times, before attacking, the spiders tried to throw pieces of Grey Moss at me, hoping I wouldn't dodge and would lose consciousness from contact with this dark force spawn. And if the first time such a tactic nearly led them to success, then later on, because the magical moss was very light and flew much slower than, say, stones, being ready for such tricks, I easily avoided the attacks. Moreso, in the light of my "flashlight," this type of magical moss stood out sharply against other vegetation, warning me of the attack even before Katashi's cautionary shout.
All the while we walked, I never forgot to keep a close eye on the Japanese. And what I saw genuinely pleased me. Of course, I was aware that he approached any task he undertook seriously and knew how to handle his weapon, but it's one thing to rely on knowledge obtained from the "memories of the future" and quite another to observe for yourself how the blacksmith acts. He fought just as he worked, that is, precisely, measuredly, fully understanding all movements and calculating the next steps. Meanwhile, his combat style was fundamentally different from mine. He preferred a defense-oriented approach, first allowing the opponent to reveal all their tricks and then finishing the duel with one precise strike at a vulnerable point. My tactics were the complete opposite: I didn't wait for an enemy's mistake, but instead, I provoked them, throwing my opponent off balance. Despite differences in combat styles, I caught myself thinking that Katashi and I could make an excellent fighting duo. It was a bit of a shame that as a master blacksmith, the Japanese would bring more benefits. Otherwise, it would have been tempting to persuade him to join me and start conquering the Inverted Towers together. A partner who wouldn't lag behind me in the speed of ranking up, plus having five Talent Stars in Runes, would have been very useful. However, dreaming about such things was also impractical because the Japanese himself found more interest in tinkering with his ironworks than in uncovering the secrets of Ain's past. And to such an offer, he would certainly have responded with refusal, no matter the enticing Achievements, knowledge, and rewards I might have promised.
With that thought, I dodged another attack from a stone spider and with a thrust of my spear-crowbar pushed the falling stone body toward Katashi. I watched as the Japanese delivered a precise and flawless strike, finishing off the creature, and, shaking my head, tried to dispel such ideas.
The second cave turned out to be almost three times larger than the first, and in it, in addition to the two types of monsters we were already familiar with, we were met by three granite trolls. Each of these creatures stood three and a half meters tall and looked like petrified, oversized gorillas. Faces, a parody of the living, bore excessively coarse, grotesque features. Mouths, devoid of any hint of lips, housed sharp, gleaming obsidian teeth. Fists were like hefty concrete blocks, and legs resembled concrete piles.
"Between five to six tons each," Katashi confidently estimated the weight of the monsters as soon as we had a look at them. "No armor would withstand their hit."
"A properly enchanted cuirass, forged by skilled hands, with reinforcement from runes and spells, would withstand even that," I replied and immediately realized I had said too much, as at this stage I simply could not possess such knowledge.
"You exaggerate," the Japanese dismissed those words. "I repeat, only tank armor could possibly stop such fists... The frontal armor."
"In the biography of Evelan, it is said that his armor withstood the strike of a true dragon's claws, and those creatures were supposedly much bigger, the size of a locomotive, and, of course, far stronger than these trolls."
"Fairy tales. Myths," Katashi shrugged, clearly showing his disinterest in arguing with an amateur.
Hiding a smile, I did not try to convince him of my correctness. Less than a year would pass before he himself would be forging cuirasses capable of withstanding not only the hits of wootz-ranked stone trolls but also far more powerful monsters. However, it had to be admitted that in terms of sheer brute strength, these granite trolls were on the same level as creatures of the Diamond Coil. Had I been hit by their fist, my journey would have definitely ended there.
Our subdued, quiet conversation awakened the "sleeping" monsters. Trolls stirred into motion, stone chips falling from their sloped, massive shoulders, smooth like polished marble.
When such a creature stands up in front of you, no matter how experienced you are, you can't help but feel fear. It's like standing on railroad tracks and watching a train barrel towards you, gaining speed with every second. And no matter how strong you are, how much time you've spent in the gym, or what kind of sports master you are - be it in boxing, wrestling, or even sumo - the train doesn't care; it will mow you down and smear you across the tracks without even slowing down.
Ilakris's party consisted of six fighters. In such a situation, they acted as follows: they chose one of the trolls as the primary target, and while the two most agile fighters distracted both these giants and the numerous rockjaws, the main strike force of four attacked the selected target. For Katashi and me, for obvious reasons, such a tactic was not available.
When three giants charged towards us, gaining more and more speed with each step, I managed to glance at the Japanese. The lad stood pale as a sheet, and the edge of his shield trembled, conveying his tension. He was definitely scared. Very much. His hands clenched around the haft of his war hammer so tightly that they shook, yet he didn't draw his weapon, as if afraid to drop it. But even facing such fear, the blacksmith didn't take even a half step back. His legs, despite a slight shake in the knees, stood firm.
"The left pair is mine," I shouted briefly and sharply, leaping forward.
Staying in place and waiting for a multi-ton stone bulk to crash into you, especially without knowing the habits and favorite maneuvers of trolls, seemed not the best idea. So, as soon as the monsters crossed the middle of the cave, I charged at them with a deep, throaty roar. On the side of these creatures were strength, mass, and incredible sturdiness of body, but I had my own trump cards, such as much better mobility. Also, sheer inertia in this battle was entirely on my side. My movement was aimed to split the monsters, and I succeeded. Two trolls changed their direction and rushed towards me. Only the third, as it ran to the cave entrance, continued on, apparently having initially chosen the Japanese as its target and not intending to change it on the fly.
My first idea was to run so that the two trolls aiming for me would collide with each other. But I realized in time that such a trick was too risky. Instead of dashing between the multi-ton giants at maximum acceleration, risking becoming a piece of bloodied meat smeared on the rocks in case of failure, at the last moment, I went into a lower slide, slipping between the legs of one of the monsters. The creature, of course, tried to reach me with its long limbs, but it failed, as I was too fast for it. Passing under the monster's bulk, I struck hard with my spear-crowbar under the troll's knee. But the only thing I achieved with this was a bright fan of sparks when steel met granite. The troll appeared unfazed by the strike, not even breaking stride. My hands, however, received such a recoil that it even made my teeth rattle.
Having missed me, the monsters tried to turn around or stop, but because they had already gained considerable speed, they failed, and two multi-ton stone bulks crashed into the cave wall with a deafening noise.
"One, two..." I immediately began counting, assessing how long it would take for the monsters to recover from such a truly titanic collision.
To my deepest disappointment, already at the count of two, both trolls were turning towards me, shaking off the stone chips that had fallen on them from the ceiling - the scene somewhat resembled dogs caught in a sudden rain. And right then, as if on an inaudible command, the entire cave filled with the crackling hum of "awakening" rockjaws. Noting that Katashi, like me, had successfully dodged his troll, I had to temporarily forget about the Japanese, as no less than a dozen rockjaws had set their sights on me.
Following the principle that if something works, you shouldn't break it, I tried to take the center of the cave, as I did last time. But I was met with an ambush by two stone spiders. One gave itself away by throwing Grey Moss at me, and the other immediately jumped towards me, apparently hoping to attack as soon as the dark magic of the moss took effect. Had this spider duo waited longer, until all the rockjaws awoke and attacked in a swarm, they might have caught me off guard. But because they started too early, when I still had some relative freedom of movement, I dealt with them quite quickly. Two moves, and both spiders fell apart... Just in time to allow me to perform a backflip with a twist, thereby dodging a new attack from the trolls.
Landing on my feet, I barely managed to fend off a rockjaw flying straight at my chest with my spear-crowbar. My thrust, enhanced by Bull's Strength, hit right in the gaping maw, and the creature, so small compared to the trolls, split into two unequal parts. However, due to the force of the strike and the awkward angle of attack, I lost my weapon, which I had to let go of to avoid breaking my right wrist.
And again, for the umpteenth time, my gymnast training saved me, proving much more effective in this dungeon than the combat skills ingrained with blood and sweat. I jumped, spun, and twisted in such a way that, from the outside, I probably resembled a break-dancer rather than a fighter battling for his life.
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Everything went almost the same as in the first cave, with the only difference being that every half a minute, in addition to a crowd of rockjaws, I was being charged at by two multi-ton granite bodies. I was incredibly lucky that these trolls seemed to have no brains in their stone heads at all. Instead of mindlessly charging at me like enraged bulls, they could have spread their huge arms and slowly, methodically encircled me. That would have been the end of me, either by the trolls' hands or, deprived of the freedom to maneuver, I would have become easy prey for the rockjaws. But fortunately, even such a simple and effective tactic was beyond the grasp of their granite heads.
However, unlike the first cave, the situation was clearly a deadlock this time. Katashi, who was distracting one troll and a trio of rockjaws, couldn't help me. And I myself, trying not to get under the trolls' feet, was simply lacking time to deal with the boulders jumping at me from all sides. Yes, thanks to endurance, the Japanese and I could maintain such a frantic pace of dodging and jumping much longer than ordinary tunnelers, but still, it was only a delay. If nothing changed, eventually we would tire and start making mistakes. And when you're up against granite trolls, the first mistake would instantly be your last.
For about three minutes, I dodged, trying to catch the rhythm and calculate the flight trajectories of the rockjaws, but this time I failed. The trolls were to blame. Periodically, the rockjaws collided with their granite bodies, which completely changed not only their trajectories but also their speed, burying all my attempts at calculation. The situation was exacerbated by the fact that the position in the center of the cave, which I had taken, had one significant drawback. Namely, the trolls didn't manage to accelerate to such speeds that they couldn't stop in time and crash into the wall. Missing me, they had enough time to brake. No, they still hit the walls, but these collisions at significantly reduced speed didn't stun them for even a second. That is, if I wanted to implement the initial plan of fighting the granite trolls, I needed to take a position near the very wall. Then, having missed, the trolls wouldn't have been able to stop in time and would have hit the wall with full force, giving me about a second to use the Rune of Destruction. The trouble was, I couldn't do that, as the closer I was to the walls, the more dangerous the rockjaws became.
Five minutes into the fight, I realized that if I didn't take a risk, I would either get clobbered with a stone on the back of my head or get smashed into a bloody pulp. And Katashi, apparently, was already starting to wear out. During that time, the Japanese had managed to dispose of one of the three attacking rockjaws, but that was the end of his success. On my part, I had only knocked out three creatures, including the one because of which I lost my spear again today.
I didn't like taking risks, but the experience of my past life, as well as the practice of sports performances at the highest level, suggested that sometimes there was no victory without risk. Besides, I was somewhat comforted by the thought that if my risk failed and I died, Katashi certainly wouldn't have been able to clear the Garnet dungeon alone. This meant that now the Shard's luck should have been on my side.
As soon as this thought came to mind, without wasting time and not letting the voice of reason persuade me that the Shard's luck was something too precarious to stake my life on, I took a step forward. A step towards the rushing, speeding multi-ton monsters.
A leap.
I soared up, letting the swing of a mighty paw pass very close by, and with my palms, I pushed off the stone fist of the nearest troll.
A spin.
Twisting in the air - as I used to do while jumping off the parallel bars - I landed on the shoulder of the stone creature with my feet. A heavy paw immediately swept towards me, ready to turn me into a thin schnitzel with one slap, but I was already sliding down the granite back. My right hand turned and touched the massive stone nape.
"Des!"
Landing on the floor, I immediately rolled to avoid the attack of the nearest rockjaw. The braking and sharp turn on the spot made three more annoying creatures miss. A sharp, utterly disappointed exhale escaped my lips. I did everything right, one could say perfectly. And even hit the target with the Rune of Destruction as intended. But even the might of the Runes didn't destroy this stone monster. All I achieved with that attack was tearing off the ear of one of the trolls, that's all. Even a fleeting and superficial analysis showed: to kill a troll in this way, I needed to hit the same spot at least ten times. And then… maybe… he might deign to die… maybe, or maybe not…
My main bet on the might of the Des Rune, which previously proved itself in destroying stones as the ideal weapon, this time did not pay off. The granite trolls turned out to be much tougher than I had expected. No matter how brainless these monsters were, I wouldn't repeat that trick ten times in a row. Simply, the sole could slip on the stones, or the hand could drift off… The slightest mistake, any accident – and it would all be over. I was ready to take a risk once, but not ten times in a row.
A wave of viscous despair, caused by the fact that I didn't know what to do next and couldn't even imagine a further strategy, overwhelmed me, slowing my movements. I simply had no backup plan. I bet on the Rune of Destruction without thinking through a backup strategy and lost. All that was left for me was the fleeting hope for that fabulous luck of the Shard.
But even that hope, having flared up as a bright spark and giving me strength, almost immediately disintegrated into nothingness. I noticed how Katashi made not quite the right decision, stepped in the wrong direction, and while he was dodging another charge from the troll, he got hit in the shoulder by a rockjaw, albeit a glancing blow. The stone teeth clacked so loudly that even I heard it, and the Japanese nearly lost his left arm. To my surprise, his chainmail saved him from irreparable damage. Numerous fragments of chain links and small forged plates apparently got between the creature's teeth and prevented the jaws from clenching immediately, giving the Japanese a moment to jerk his shoulder away. Nevertheless, in an instant, Katashi lost the ability to move his left arm and, consequently, his shield. Yes, that fortunate rockjaw was immediately killed by the Rune of Destruction, but judging from how the blacksmith's face turned pale, it was clear to me that he wouldn't last long with a broken shoulder.
Apparently, the luck of Shards had its limits, after all. And we, having embarked on this expedition, seemed to have crossed those very limits. In the Last Cycle, Morpheus perished in a very similar way. According to his words, he had calculated everything accurately, thought everything through, and was so confident in himself that he entered a Diamond Rank dungeon alone. He went in and never returned. Vanished without a trace. And yet, he, whom I considered the smartest among earthlings, was fully confident in both himself and his calculations. Just like I was at the moment when I touched the Symbol of the Garnet Grotto Gate.
Realizing that another minute, at most two, and the wounded Katashi would be cornered and crushed, and I could do nothing to help him, and would die shortly after the blacksmith, I fell into a strange state. My mind was empty, but my body acted clearly and accurately, continuing to dodge both the attacking rockjaws and the charging trolls. It was an unusual sensation, in its own way the opposite of the Dance, which instead worked through complete immersion and dedication to the fight. This was akin to a complete emotionless emptiness. I was as if watching myself from the outside. More precisely, not myself as a person, but my body, which, left to its own devices, continued to survive as best as it could and knew how.
Katashi's painful scream, as he dodged another charge from the troll and heavily hit a rock with his broken shoulder, flipped a switch in me, instantly bringing my consciousness back where it belonged, in my foolish head.
My teeth clenched so tightly that my jaw nearly seized up. If I was going to die, I was going down swinging! Besides, a beautiful and honorable death in battle was far better than being trampled by multi-ton granite monsters.
At that moment, my consciousness changed so much that it seemed to me as if I saw the smile of Death itself. A responding smile twisted my lips, and I began to move.
Slipping past the stone bodies of the attacking trolls, I dived forward gracefully, and my hand landed on my spear-crowbar that I had lost at the beginning of the fight. Dodging another rockjaw over my head, I immediately spun around, taking a combat stance.
A frenzied swarm of buzzing rockjaws, noticing that I had finally stopped jumping around like mad, instantly rushed towards me. And behind them, with a thunderous stampede, ran a pair of granite giants, and their stomps made my feet resound noticeably.
My body relaxed, my shoulders dropped, and a melody audible only to me played in my head.
"Dance!"
How pleasant it is when death does not scare you, and it doesn't matter at all whether you will live or die. As soon as I let myself go, stopped holding back, such trifles no longer mattered. I was completely absorbed by the beauty of the battle.
I faced both trolls, not retreating, but on the contrary, charging towards them. At the last moment, just before the collision, very theatrically, yet harmoniously and beautifully, like in a tango, I spun around, letting the bodies of the two multi-ton dance partners pass by, without forgetting to treat the trolls to the most powerful blows of my heavy spear to their backs. Yes, my thrusts hardly damaged the creatures, leaving only deep furrows on their bodies, but the attack itself was so beautiful that it was enough for me at that moment.
Besides, unlike granite trolls, rockjaws were much more vulnerable, and with a properly delivered blow, they could be split even with such a primitive weapon as the spear I held in my hands. As if performing for an invisible audience, I bowed, dodging three jumping boulders in the process, and as I straightened up, the crude tip of my spear flew into the maw of the nearest rockjaw. A new bow with a step to the side, and another small, compared to the trolls, monster was split in half, this time not by the spear, but by my palm with the Rune of Destruction.
My dance was full of inspiration and incredible lightness; it was as if I'd grown wings. There was no need to calculate the trajectories of the rockjaws; I simply felt the entire space around me as a unified whole. And there was no need for estimations and calculations; I just knew where each monster would be at any given moment.
Every movement was perfect in its own way. Each evasion, in turn, inevitably transformed into a precise and calculated strike. A thrust that unfailingly ended the "life" of one of the rockjaws.
Not even a minute passed before the air in the cave no longer vibrated, torn by the roar of jumping boulders. Those rockjaws were simply no more. Just like the trio of spiders that tried to reach me in the Dance. The remnants of these dumb creatures were scattered throughout the cave, some even blown into the corridor.
I might have been disappointed by how quickly the enemies were dwindling, but I still had THREE targets left! And the fact that these targets were granite trolls only pleased me now. Because this meant they wouldn't die as quickly as the rockjaws and spiders, and the Dance would continue! With laughter and a smile, I threw myself at these monsters. Their clumsiness and stupidity allowed me to lead the dance as I wished. Yes, any mistake, a wrong move, a random pebble underfoot – all of this could instantly end my life... But isn't that the main thrill of battle?!
Cornered, Katashi was already preparing to die when the troll attacking him, struck lower on the back with the Rune of Destruction, was forced to turn towards me, forgetting about his practically defenseless victim for a moment.
The weighty spear flew in my hands as if it were a light stick. I felt like the greatest of toreadors, whose partners in the performance were not bulls but three granite trolls. And it was marvelous!
The fact that at the moment of displaying this greatest mastery and perfection of dance, I also had an audience... Someone who watched everything that happened with eyes wide open, temporarily even forgetting about his broken shoulder, added a special zest to my dance, pushing me far beyond what ordinary people call risk. But what is life if not movement? Even if this movement comes with deadly risk?
I repelled another troll attack with laughter, feeling as if I was about to burst with joy. I had just figured out how to solve the questers' rune Word puzzle. I did it casually, inadvertently, yet now I knew exactly which Runes composed the Word of Life.
My laughter grew stronger when the stones making up one of the granite giants' bodies finally couldn't withstand the endless and precise attacks, as well as more than thirty touches of the Rune of Destruction. They failed to hold up and crumbled, leaving behind nothing but a large pile of cracked granite where the troll once stood.
The battle went on for so long that I didn't even feel displeased when there was one less opponent. The internal music and rhythm consumed me completely, and, perhaps for the first time, I surrendered to this feeling fully and without any reservations...
I got too carried away and completely let myself go, forgetting that there was someone in the cave whose life it would have been good to preserve. At that moment, such a trifle didn't concern me. I became the Dance, the Embodiment of Beautiful Death. With the only exception being that instead of a scythe, I held a crowbar in my hands, but this only added spice, which meant I would be the only one walking out of this cave alive. And I was not upset by this fact at all.
On the contrary. It pleased me...
The Spear Talent Stars flared up with mithril on my Core, for a time filled to the brim, all Five!
I locked eyes with Katashi, and he immediately understood everything.
My smile only confirmed his fears.
The one not destined to ascend the Stairway of Divino in this Cycle tried to stand and flee.
Naive.
I became the Embodiment of HER Beauty.
I didn't need a mirror to know that my pupils had changed, and the Nergal Rune, the Rune of death, burned in them.
I was HER Dancer.
And in this god-forsaken dungeon, all would come to know the beauty of HER dance. They would learn how beautiful Death can be.