Materials littered every placement yet the air in the cave was stopped from being present in smaller areas, a meagre horde of creatures being ready to meet the Warden. They came in a larger wave, perhaps having sensed his power before he went in. Coming all at once was certainly not common behaviour for [Dungeon-Creatures], the standard being to stay in their area until intruders came close. Though… the man did suppose that the Dungeon itself was smaller than initially believed. The curved path down made it harder to see far and the rocks lying everywhere made the terrain unwieldy.
However, the rocks did have the positive of being great ranged weapons. Stocus could throw one at a greater speed when one of the monsters who attacked from afar began to make their presence known. The attacks themselves weren’t able to hit him yet the variant with the ability to spit acid had hit the [Scribe] once on accident.
“Are you sure that you will be able to fulfil your duties in your current condition?” the Warden asked the larger soldier. The wound had already been treated, an [Minor Health-Potion] expanded to make sure no infection occurred. Not that the damage had been repaired fully, scar tissue forming instead of new skin. It would take a proper healer to remove the danger entirely. While a standard [Health-Potion] could also have worked, they were too expensive for such a wound. However, if the man requested it, the Warden wouldn’t be too hesitant to allow it.
“I will fulfil it without issue, sir,” the soldier before anything else said, his voice clear with determination. The training had certainly helped those men become steadfast in their duties, though the Warden saw the negatives in them not caring for their health. He supposed there were drawbacks to all actions.
One of the craftier ants tried to jump in from the side, yet the power of [Oppressive Aura] was too much for the creature. Before it was able to even try and close its mandibles around the Warden’s right leg, liquids seeped from the head as the body had pressured itself. The ant couldn’t have been more than level two.
“The main danger of the standard variant is their ability to attack in masses,” Stocus stated, flipping the creature over with the tip of his sword to look at its stomach. “When faced with only one, the preferred method of killing is to go for the eyes or stomach. Larger groups should be taken care of with skills that attack areas rather than specific points.”
Another ping was heard as an ant ten meters away fired a white piece of… something at Stocus. It responded quite loudly as it hit his chest plate, the man noticing it even did a slight amount of damage. It was healed within moments yet the thought of it hitting bare skin was quite serious. Another thrown stone took care of that one, its head splitting open as it was hit right between the eyes.
“Current standard variant varies in size and level. Expect a lower danger level from them alone,” the Warden stated, giving the dead close by another look. It had slowly started to disintegrate into nothing. The Core was either close by or had strong instincts about energy conservation. “Variants other than the standard are to be treated with caution. Currently found variants have shown the ability to shoot acid semi-accurate from a distance of ten meters and another have shown the ability to shoot what seems to be fragments of its exoskeleton. The latter can likely puncture skin if hit directly. Hard leather and above is recommended when venturing in. Mages using cloth are to be warned of the higher danger.”
“Are there any weak-points different from the standard variants?”
“The variant using exoskeleton fragments has no different weak points worth noting. The acidic variant likely has a weak point on its acid pouches. The current location is unknown, however. Note down a need to study the corpses at a later date,” the Warden answered quickly as he looked above. The distance to the ceiling was getting greater the further they went inside. He mentally prepared for a surprise attack from above as they continued
The waves of monsters never went above ten. The Warden had initially thought it peculiar, wondering if it was some limit that the Core had imposed upon itself or if the Dungeon was unable to create more than that at one specific moment. There was hope for the latter since it would allow for more strict control upon it. If the number of opponents was finite at one point, they could safely begin operations soon enough.
But if they messed up and initialized a [Dungeon-Rampage]... the paperwork would be the death of the Warden. So much would be lost in such a predicament. He remembered the news of one in the south having such an event occur due to miners getting too close to the Core. The number of weeks spent trying to quell the horde had been something.
If given the chance, one needed to destroy the Core quickly, not giving it time to start up the process of creating creatures around the people. If there was no intention of destroying it, however, one needed to take as much distance from the thing as possible to make sure it didn’t feel threatened. If there was one thing the Warden knew could threaten him, it was the chance of being overwhelmed. [Oppressive Aura] only required energy when it needed to affect an Entity. If a hundred needed to be taken care of every minute… it wouldn’t end well.
“A wall?” the [Scribe] questioned to the Warden’s right, the man saying something without being prompted. Not that Stocus admonished him for it, as the Warden himself was quite curious about the observation.
Not too far ahead, just as stated before, a flat wall stood. No tunnels were seen to either side of it, leading the man to initially believe they had found the end of the Dungeon. That line of thought didn’t hold for too long, of course. The energy of a Core hadn’t yet been felt and there had been no sign of the so-called powerful monster.
Having already studied the ceiling for possible traps, the Warden was quick to note the open hole at the top of the wall. With how smooth the thing was when compared to the cave walls around it, there was no need to think much about how the next minute or so would turn out.
“The Dungeon employs the use of fake walls to hide entrances into the deeper parts of the cave,” the Warden stated, running a hand against it. There were no obvious holds or parts that could be pressed, leading the man to believe it was never meant to be opened by an intruder.
“Would it require the use of a pickaxe or bombs to open?” the [Scribe] asked. It was certainly a valid question. If it was so and there were more materials on the other side, the Warden did see the potential of making it a standard routine to open up the fake wall. Before that idea became practical, however, there was first the need to test out the need for it.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
Once again, the Warden clenched his fist as he punched the fake wall. The first didn’t shatter anything but fractures were seen on impact. The second one made a sizable hole, with enough fractures on the sides that the fake wall could be pulled apart by anybody with a standard strength set.
“Those with a strength above twenty-five should have no larger difficulty in opening it,” the Warden estimated. “With a pickaxe, fifteen should be enough.”
A moment was spent allowing the man to write down the details as the Warden made a big enough hole to walk through comfortably. Nothing was jumping out at him from it at the current moment, so there was no real need to be quick about the process. Still… his sight did allow one thing to be seen.
There was most certainly an ant in there. It stood on the other end of the room, clearly able to see him just as well. Another second was spent looking at the room itself. It was more circular, allowing for no clear blind corners. A plant of some kind was growing just about everywhere on the floor as well. With the smaller needles on it, the Warden expected them to be harmful at some level.
“Avoid contact with the plants on the floor as much as possible. And note down that we need a sample in the future,” were the orders given out as they entered the room. Any plant-life needed samples by decree from the kingdom. They had no desire to let a disease spread again, after all. The last one had killed one too many.
The ant in the far corner did not approach instantly, though the movements of its head were making it obvious that it was watching the Warden with a keen eye. It was being… surprisingly smart. No instant attacks were seen or felt. If anything, the creature seemed extremely docile.
That was the worst of them all. The Warden spared another glance around the room to make sure none of the plants was starting to grow. The ant could have been a distraction to lure them into a false sense of security, as had been done before. Yet, nothing seemed to be preparing its attacks at them. Nothing at all.
It was just quiet. And those eyes the ant had were too sharp. Thinking back on it, the Warden began to speculate if this was the so-called monster that the now-likely-dead [Druid] had seen. If so, it was noted as being able to talk or at least communicate at some level.
“Can you understand what I’m saying?” the Warden asked out into the air, speaking evenly and loudly.
“I can hear you quite-” the [Scribe] said but stopped once another voice began to be heard.
“You are intruders,” the ant said, using a feminine voice. Or… no, it didn’t. The Warden saw no movements of its body. It hadn’t used any muscles that were in its physical shell. Instead, it was using-
Mana-based tendrils sprouted from the creature’s back in that instant, flesh-tearing as it opened up for the large mass to come out freely. The Warden thought the tendrils to flesh themselves until the mass sent out rivalled the size of the ant itself. And it didn’t stop growing.
“Get outside the room this very moment,” the Warden ordered the [Scribe], pulling out his sword as he began to study the movement patterns of the tendrils. They were wider than his arms, faster than he could move his eyes, and could very likely pierce stone as easily as the information reported had said. As the flutter of steps could be heard from behind, Stocus prepared himself for a fight he might have needed to take a bit more seriously than normal.
“Intruders must die,” the ant said again. The Warden noted the voice sounding like a human woman in her fifties as the movements started up again.
The first attack came from the left, the tendril intending to pierce his head before anything else. A swipe of his sword, and the cut of end that followed, was enough for a temporary retreat. Yet the tendril growing back to its original side in only a few seconds made him wary. It could regenerate them.
Two more tendrils came one from the right and one from behind. The Warden cut the one from the top and powered up [Oppressive Aura] to make the one behind wither before it reached him. The ant didn’t regenerate that one, though another burst from its flesh.
A rock was picked up before another attack came and was thrown hard at the creature. A tendril blocked it before it could reach its head. Good reflexes but an obvious weak point was shown off.
The moment the Warden took a step to approach the ant, the tendrils began to attack in earnestly. They came from all sides, taking just as many swings to retreat. Those that weren’t hit by the sword withered by the aura around his skin. The energy was used for it, however, the tendrils bore enough power to bring up costs to a high amount.
“Die,” the ant ordered, more tendrils jutting out from its skin as the Warden continued to destroy them. The entire back was riddled with holes at that point. No blood or liquid was leaking out, however. Not entirely alive, perhaps?
For the first time in many years, [Danger Sense] triggered. The man jumped to the right as a tendril loaded with [Black Mana] at its tip hit the place where his spine had been only a moment ago. That could have put him out of commission for a month.
The Warden grew more serious at that. [Accelerated Movement], [Iron Skin], and [Sense of the Six] were activated without regard for the wasted [Stamina]. The tendrils that seemed so quick moved at a snail’s pace. Each took barely a cut before they were turned to nothing, the Warden destroying each with no remorse. Getting close to the Ant, the man took a moment to study the body, knowing the ant wouldn’t be able to react before it would have already lost its head. Slicing the neck, he noted the yellow liquid on it. Very much alive. The man had thought it undead, the grey skin on the outside making it seem like it. Yet what had been seen made it obvious such was not the case.
The body fell to the floor with a thud, no attempts at healing were made. It seemed that while tendrils could be remade, coming back from the dead was not something the creature could do.
“But it’ll come back next week,” the Warden muttered to himself as time began to return to its normal speed. His back had a small ache from the overuse but nothing else had been hurt. The [Scribe] outside was made to return to the Warden’s sight at that point before getting the orders to sketch the creature as best as he could. The soldiers needed to know to avoid it on sight.
The plants on the ground were quite debilitating. After waiting around for a minute for the sketch to be fleshed out, the Warden noticed the pull of energy from his feet. It wasn’t one of his skills, however, those having already taken their due. It was… the moss?
“Crush any moss you are currently in contact with,” the Warden advised, stomping on the ones near him. “They have a [Siphon] skill or something similar.”
There truly were more to the room than the man had noticed at first. And, when having thought more about it, it became obvious that he had forgotten about the key detail while fighting the ant. A certain Core had yet to be spotted.
In newer Dungeons, they usually lay on the ground somewhere in the last room with no protection around them. Yet as the Warden tried and failed to see anything on the ground, he grew suspicious. Either the Core had hidden, which was peculiar at its current age, or it was too common colour to be distinguished from normal pebbles. The first was annoying but workable. The latter was life-threatening. It would require that one simple idiot accidentally steps on it before the Core would go into a rampage. Letting that happen…
Walking around the room, Stocus did his best at drawing out his Mana. He did not use much of it externally and therefore never been granted the skills attached to it. Instead, he was forced to do his best in picking up a more powerful signature and hoping he could spot it close by without accidentally angering it. Among all his soldiers, he was the one most likely to survive screwing it up. And there was little chance he would allow nobody but the best to do it.
It took another two minutes of walking around before the Warden was able to find the Core. It wasn’t on the ground as expected previously but in a very small hole just to the left of the entrance. It would only take about five long steps before one was to be able to see it, though knowing where it was, to begin with, was a rather high requirement. The hole was very well hidden, small bumps around it making it invisible unless one was looking directly down. And even then, it would be hard to tell if a weapon could easily get down into the hole, the sides rugged and changing the further one went down. It would require quite an amount of preparation to get to the Core.
And maybe that was for the best. After making sure the sketch of the ant was done, they ventured out of the Dungeon again. No monsters attacked them while they exited the place.