The creature let out a vicious hiss as its eyes, located on the sides of its head, moved a few times in all directions, checking for possible threats. Locating all of us, it readied itself to battle. In the meantime, six knights who were designed as the rearguard separated into two groups, made of a shieldbearer, a duelist, and, respectively, mage and archer. Two groups moved to the opposite sides of the monster, hoping to attack from both flanks at once. As for the scavengers, the two young knights tried to join the battle, but the other two scavengers - ot, merely cadets - still remained shocked and able to move.

And me? I remained still, slightly further away, with sword and shield ready, yet not willing to move just yet. There was no “heat of the combat” for me as my mind was perfectly calm. I decided not to fight just yet in order to see what the monster was capable of AND in order to surprise it. Attacking from the back as it would be busy with the other two squads would bring the best effect. And so, instead of joining the group, I took a few steps back hiding in the shadow of one of the stalagmites, walking from one mineral column to another, trying to reposition myself and stand in the monster's blind spot. I believed I did pretty well hiding my presence despite my rather shiny equipment - nights I had spent with Ghost started showing fruit.

Knights waited a few more moments before starting their attack in perfect unison, warriors ran it with duelists following behind the tanks with raised shields - four knights from both sides, ready to attack. But, the monster didn’t just idly wait to get slaughtered. Instead, it twisted its entire body rotating in place, hitting knights on its left with a thin yet sturdy, whip-like tail as it readied its maw and claws to attack those on its right. The tail wasn’t enough to wound two experienced knights, but it was enough to shake the balance of the tank, making him take a few steps back as he covered himself with the shield, making him stumble and fall on the duelist behind him.

And those who were attacked by the huge clawed arms? They were in a much worse situation. The tank did raise his tower shield, digging his legs in the ground trying to stop the beast’s charge, but the difference in sizes and pure, raw, strength was obvious - this creature was only slightly smaller from its cousin which had left the dungeon and attacked us before we managed to set up a camp - the one labeled as a giant.

The massive body was pressing against a barrier of wood and metal, which was slowly letting out cracking noises. The man lived only thanks to the intervention of his comrades - the duelist ran from behind him and forced his long, thin blade into the now raised torso of the creature - under one of its limbs, at the same time the archer from the other side of the room sent three arrows in quick succession, not even bothering to aim carefully, only showering the beast in a rain of projectiles, hoping that the pain would distract the creature - and it did! Beast, now in pain, jumped off the shield and rammed the side of its body onto the duelist, making him trip and fall. From yet another end of the room, the mage was chanting his incantation.

The other scavengers seemed to snap out of their dulled stupor, raised their small crossbows, and kneeled on the ground, trying to deliver precise, aimed shots. And I, by now, managed to nearly full circle the beast.

Bleeding and in pain, the monster jumped back a little, letting out a roar of anger, then, something unexpected happened - it ‘bristled’ its scales on the side of its body, making them stand out like 20 or so centimeters long spikes, it curled its legs back, twisting itself like an armadillo… and started rolling back into the cave, but only to speed up, before making a circle and trying to run over the other pair of fighters.

At the very last moment, the duo jumped to the side, letting the beast run past them ramming into a few stalactites, which it broke effortlessly, only there its mad charge was stopped as it “unrolled” itself, gazing around the surrounding area. Noticing that nothing was turned into a bloody pulp, it only roared. Clearly even more enraged. The four men, wielding bows and crossbows, kept sending projectile after projectile towards it, forcing another small stream of blood to run down from its body, as warriors kept on serving as a distraction.

It pounced at the warriors on the left, starting a small trade of blows - its claws would scratch the surface of the shield, ripping small pieces of wood and metal, as the rest of the team would try surrounding it, trying to deliver more weak wounds with a set of quick strikes - which they did.

The mage finished his incantation and sent a lance of ice that hit the monster’s side. Unfortunately, it didn’t dig into the skin, but slid across the side of its body, plowing through the outer layer of its body, ripping off a few scales and leaving a long, bloody scar across it, but dealing no real damage, only fueling its anger further.

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And so, the reptile, seeing its actions not bringing the desired outcome, decided to change its targets, twisting its body and seemingly targeting the other pair of knights. Once again it started running towards the knights on the right, but I noticed that the way it moved was different from before. When it attacked the other group just moments ago - it ran with its legs spread wide, forcing its body in zig-zag like movements, this way, it was generating greater momentum and could knock people off its path. Yet, now it was running with its legs close, directly under its body, making steps awkwardly short and shaking its whole body balance. Why did it do that?

The answer was simple, it wanted to once again curl its limbs and start rolling. But, from this distance, it wouldn’t manage to generate the tempo that could threaten the warriors - that meant it would turn in another direction choosing a different target. The mage and experienced archers had their positions secured, which meant that the only easy target for it was the group of shooting scavengers.

Now, it was time for me to leave the shadows. I started running, but not directly at it, rather to the place I thought it would be once it would start rolling. I ran at full speed, abusing my endurance of the undead.

And just as I thought, the monster did suddenly change its direction, turning into a scale-spiked rolling wheel of certain death, as it targeted the two kneeling men. It managed to travel only three of four meters when I pounced at it from the side. Raising my blade I thrust with the whole weight of my body, forcing my blade into scale-less wounds left by the mage’s spells. My sword dug in the monster's body for half of its total length, digging my feet in the ground, I tried to keep the sword in my grasp as the reptile kept on rolling carried by the generated impact, impaling itself further and further.

The wound which I inflicted was severe enough to make it lose its balance, ‘unroll’, and collapse into the dirt a few meters further away. A huge stream of blood was pouring off its body, ensuring me in the belief that I must have pierced through some vital organs. But, it was still not dead just yet - the danger did not cease, quite the opposite! Knowing its death was surely approaching, in the monster's eyes flames of infinite malice sparkled. It gazed at me as if I was its life-long nemesis, before storming one more time.

Wounded, and having lost most of its mobility, it was running straight at me, not being able to perform any more complicated maneuver. This scene was like deja vu, this mad charge of a wounded reptile on a single knight with sword and shield.

Boldly, I started walking in its direction, accepting the challenge, waited till the right moment… and put my right leg to the right, as if I wanted to get on the other side of the monster, faking the step, only to twist my body into a half pirouette, raising my shield and blocking monster’s fangs, carried by each other’s impacts we “passed” each other - most of its head was already behind me - but not the eyes. Carried by momentum, I forced my blade into the beast's eyes, bypassing the skull and piercing its brain, and as I was finishing the pirouette continuing my march forward, I heard the beast’s body collapsing.

I killed it the same way Captain Godric killed the giant just yesterday. Normally, I would feel proud for being able to perfectly mimic the moves of a much more experienced fighter in the situation of real combat… but now, I felt nothing. As if I was reading a fact from the history book. On this day of this year, a nameless knight killed a beast in the dungeon…

… nothing of much importance.

* “...Where were you for the entire fight?” one of the rear guards asked me, yet I couldn’t hear anger nor disappointment in his tone, only frustration.

* “Watching and learning, readying myself to deliver a strike when it could change the tide of battle. If I had joined you from the start, I would only get in your way.”

He opened and closed his mouth a couple of times, but eventually only nodded.

* “I… I know. It’s just... I… knew Joseph. It was me who helped him get the job of scavenger during this ride, I told him it would be easy money… I… I think I was just looking for someone to blame. And you didn’t deserve it.” he bowed his head in apology.

… I knew I should feel bad. I knew I should sympathize with him. I knew that it would be the right thing to do but…

* “I know what it is to lose someone…” I said in a quiet tone, putting my hand on his shoulder “... I know that I should tell you that you need to honor his death and weep over him… But…” I strengthened my grip on his shoulder “... We are in a dungeon. Let your sorrow turn into anger and then let your anger fuel your motivation. There are more monsters like these here, and we need to kill all of them, so no one else ends up like Joseph.”

… what I said was fully dictated by a rational mind. All my words appeared nearly ‘scripted’ in my head, deprived of any support I wanted to provide him. I knew that once my emotions would return to me, I would feel like a cheater and manipulator - dirty to the bone. But right now? I cared only for the essence hovering in the room. After a few moments I thought would be adequate to “rest” after the battle, I approached the beast’s corpse harvesting its body and feasting on its fleeing life forces.

You have gathered [Chamanide] essence [132] [771/1250] → [903/1250]

Skill proficiency increased Skills:

[Sword Usage - Journeyman level 4 ➝ 5]

[Shield Usage - Journeyman level 2 ➝ 3]

[Bow Usage - Apprentice level 1]

[Nature Magic - Novice level 1]

[Mana Sense - Low - Passive]

[Life Sense - Low - Passive]

[Combat Maneuver/Team tactic - Novice level 6 ➝ 7]

[Heavy Armor Usage - Novice level 10]

[Hand-to-hand Combat - Novice level 4]

[Stealth - Novice level 10] ➝ [Stealth - Apprentice level 1]

[Mind Magic Resistance - Low level 9]

[Dark Arts - Curse Words - Novice Level 4]

[Dark Arts - Necromancy - Novice Level 3]

[Tracking - Novice Level 2]