As they moved through the tunnel, Shaun became more stressed by the second, there was no way this wasn’t a trap, if Alan truly had only wanted his help he would have just asked and provided him more information on what he was going to walk into, instead he didn’t even know if there was an actual monster that they were supposed to fight or if the plan was for the rest of the team to just kill him and say a monster did it.
He had asked Phil and the team questions, How long until he got to the monster? A few hours. What was it? They didn’t know. What level was it? Still didn’t know. Was there more than one monster they would have to fight? They would take care of it.
Shaun quit asking questions after that, they weren’t going to tell him anything so instead he just scouted ahead making sure he was in stealth and using his detection skill to keep an eye out behind him, wanting to have notice if they decided to try and attack from behind.
Hours passed and when the tunnel split he was informed of which one to go down, when they came to a specific intersection that had three different ways they could go rather than the usual two they finally informed him that they were close now and to keep an eye out.
The number of monsters they had encountered had gone up dramatically over the hours, at first it would only be six or so an hour now it was closer to twenty. That had made moving slow towards the end, with the Mole Rats they were encountering now all level 8 and they had found some level 9’s among them. It was great for Shaun’s levels but it also made him evaluate the situation more.
He had never seen so many monsters so close together, not to mention at such a high level, if they were supposed to fight something that no one had been able to defeat what level was it going to even be at? They were able to take care of the level 9’s with a bit of work so he couldn’t imagine this supposed monster being level 10, it had to be higher.
After moving through the last tunnel for about 30 minutes the walls started to get close together, shrinking in on him, he kept going but at a slightly slower pace. 10 minutes later he was walking hunched over and if he spread out his arms to either side he could touch both walls. It had also gotten dark, no trace of the rocks through the walls that gave off light but with his enhanced perception he could still make out his surroundings with them being so close.
Eventually after a turn in the tunnel he saw light up ahead from an exit, he crept forward slowly, very cautious that he was in unexplored territory, not knowing what may be up ahead. When he got to the end of the tunnel what lay before him was terrifying, even to Shaun.
There had to be about 50 Mole Rats in the room in front of him, all of them levels 7 to 9, that though he could have dealt with, what really terrified him though was the Mole Rat in the middle. It was bigger than the other Mole Rats, easily three times the size, it wasn’t currently moving, but he knew if that thing stood up the entire room would shake from the vibrations made from its steps.
*Alpha Mole Rat – Level 15*
There was no way they could defeat that thing, not with 50 other Mole rats around that they would also have to fight to even get to it. Shaun turned around and started to make his way back to the others. He found them waiting at a point where the tunnel was wider, they just stood in silence not making any move to follow. What the hell?
“I found it.” He informed them, he went on to explain what was in that room, in as much detail as possible, but they didn’t look shocked at all by the news, they knew. “We can’t fight that thing and all the other monsters in there just us, we would die before we even got the chance to make a dent in the Alpha’s health.”
Phil just looked at the others, gave them a nod and they all drew their weapons. “We know. We aren’t going to fight the Alpha, you are.”
Shit! Damn it! Low life scum! Shaun had two options, neither of them was going to end well. First, he attacked the team, it was four against one and they had blocked off the tunnel so he couldn’t just run past. If he turned around and went into stealth and then came back he still wouldn’t be able to get the jump on them, they would just follow to a point where the tunnel got smaller and he would effectively be cornered and they could kill him easily. Fighting them head on would end up with him dead, they were just better prepared for this situation than he was.
Or the other option, go in and fight alone against the Alpha. He would still die, probably, no definitely, but at least it would be against a monster and not by the people in front of him, he didn’t want to give them the satisfaction of seeing him run either.
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
“And before you think about attacking us or running, you haven’t seen Sophie’s level 10 mage skill have you? Sophie, if you would do us the honour?” Phil said
“It would be my pleasure.” And with a wave of her wand a wall of glowing light appeared between him and the others, he could still see through it, but when he went up to touch it, it was as solid as the wall of the tunnel. “And don’t worry about me running out of mana, I have enough potions to keep me going for a long while.”
Shaun had already made his decision so really all this did was rule out the choice which he had already chosen not to take. He was curious about one thing though. “Why? Why do all of this? What have I done that has offended Alan so much?” Shaun asked.
“Jason was his brother.” Phil answered.
Who the hell was Jason? Shaun racked his mind to figure out the answer to that question, until it finally hit him. “Jason, as in the guy that tried to kill me? The warrior if I remember correctly?” He figured it out eventually, Jason was the leader of the scouting group who had tried to kill him a week or two ago. His time in Ruin was always limited he realised, they were just waiting for the perfect time to end him, but when he started getting stronger they couldn’t risk waiting any longer.
“Jason, had his issues, we all knew that, but he wouldn’t have tried to kill you without a reason, if he even tried to kill you at all.”
Shaun didn’t even bother arguing, there was just no point. Instead, he just turned around and walked towards the room with the Alpha with a shake of his head. He kept track of them following him, far enough away that they could have Sophie put up a shield but close enough that they could still make out where he was and that he was still moving towards his death.
Shaun had a little time to form a plan of attack, however whatever he did he couldn’t find a perfect solution to his problem. If he tried to pick off them Mole Rats one by one then the Alpha would be alerted to an attack and be prepared to face him head on, not to mention he doubted he would be able to kill more than a few of them before he was discovered and when there was 50 of them in that room there was just no way that would make a difference.
No, he would have to go to the Alpha first, do everything he could to weaken it as quickly as possible before any of the other Mole Rats joined in. It was suicidal yes, but his best bet. Assuming he could sneak up on it, where would he aim his first hit? His short sword was nowhere near long enough to do any real damage to it body, annoy it yes, kill it? No. From all of his fights he had only ever found two weak spots where he could end a fight before it really began, the head and neck.
The good news was that the Alpha was lying on the ground so he could attack with his short sword if he chose too but he also had the option to first throw a dagger or two and hope that he could do some damage that way first, before putting his body on the line in close combat. The Mole rats were not very fast but those claws would do a lot of damage to the point that if he took one hit from them he would be dead, or close enough to it that he wouldn’t be able to get away or defend, so in other words, dead.
Too soon had he reached the exit of the tunnel and he was again looking over the room packed full of monsters, he turned around to check behind him and saw Sophie standing in the front blocking the way, she smiled at him, a cruel smile, like she couldn’t wait to watch his death. Rather than dwell on it he just shrugged at her and dropped into stealth and moved into the room.
He moved slowly, so very slowly, to make his way around the cavern he was in so he could get to where the Alpha was facing. Multiple times he thought the other Mole Rats had seen him which caused him to stop but it was a false alarm and he kept moving. There was only one other exit to the cavern but it was as small as the one he had entered and had Mole Rats moving in and out of it. If he tried to just exit that way he wouldn’t be able to do so without killing at least a few of the monsters and drawing the attention of the rest. He would end up stuck, wedged between monsters on both sides and would be a sure way to die, and a horrible one.
Once he was in position he was about 15 metres away from the Alpha’s head, now that he could see it up close he could feel the nerves settle in, it head was huge, and its teeth, two sticking out of the top of its mouth and two on the bottom, they looked like they could split him in half with one bite. Not to mention the claws, they were each as long as his sword and ended in wickedly sharp tips.
He knew if he stood here much longer, delaying the inevitable, that the others would get bored and do something to move this along, either shoot an arrow or even launch a Mana Bolt in here, either way it would cause mayhem and he would never be able to get his first attack off at the unsuspecting Alpha.
Shaun gave himself one moment longer to check that he had everything he needed on hand. Dagger in one hand and Sword in the other? Check. He had two more daggers on his waist, one that he took out of his inventory from earlier? Check. He had two health potions and a stamina potion in his pouch? Check. Okay he was ready to go.
*********************************
“What is taking him so long!” Sophie said back to the others. “I want to see him get what he deserves!”
“Be patient Sophie,” Phil replied, standing right behind her with his head over her shoulder so he could see into the cavern, “If he ends up doing enough damage to the Alpha we might have a shot to kill it after he is dead. Let him do what he wants, his death is inevitable.”
“And if he manages to kill it?” She asked.
“Then we kill him ourselves.” Was Phil’s only reply.