Chapter 14: One down, seven more to go! (reupload)
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Quick notice: I fixed some errors and if you find any more in the future please inform me. Helps me to improve as a writer!
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*Future potential character/boss/allay*
Steven Ramsbottom is a 35-year-old WeakMagic-Alchemist who enjoys working on creating, combining and Upgrading "puppets". He is creative and Stubborn, but can also be very untrustworthy towards majority of people.
His parents kicked him out when he was small therefore he was raised on the streets and never knew the warmth of the house and the family. He had to eat what he could find, sometimes it could hardly be called food, and suffered from the hot sun and cold nights. Later on, he was caught by some drunk bandits and sold into slavery where then he was traded to one of the baron families.
He defines himself as straight and even had a few dates. However, due to the events in his past, his personality became quite masochistic, scaring most away.
Physically, Steven is in pretty good shape even though he barely was able to eat. He is of average height with pale skin, many scars and black hair and blue eyes.
He never trusted his partners so he didn't have anybody he could rely on excluding a few individuals.
His first 'home', which was that hell hole, was a noble house's basement. this was quite different from your standard one, after all, they reminded him more of a cell, in those cells he found a boy who became his best friend and a cellmate. With similar stories, where both were left to rot and suffer while others enjoy their life and freedom, they quickly got along. Steven eventually learned that boy's name which was Liam. At Least that's what he remembers.
One day There was a riot in the house, one of the sons was trying to kill his father and take his place. taking the chance they escaped but went on separate roads and never met again.
After many years of hiding, he came out and started to work in the underground world. Mainly selling drugs, while creating potions for reach to earn money. At first, he disliked the idea and detested his rich 'customers', but beggars can't be chosen and he needed money. At that time he found joy and relaxation in creating puppets. he was known as Dokubachi - which translates as Poisonous bee, his nickname was given to him after many barons used his poison to assassinate their competitors.
In one of his experiments, he found a destroyed dungeon core and tried to combine it with one of his puppets. However, everything went chaos when that said puppet came back to life and attacked him but instead of killing him, it merged with him creating a monster.
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As soon as members finished listening to their captain and gave him their respectful answer, they quickly took single-file formation, with the heavily armoured man at the front followed by Drake, captain, archer, mage, navigator, scout and a midget. Their group kept working forward slowly to make sure they didn't miss any gap where a dangerous creature might be hiding. Until one of the members started shouting at their tank.
"Just hurry up, I don't want to spend all day in this hellhole!"
"Watch your tongue dwarf!" shouted somebody from the front of the group
"Quit you two, it will be foolish if we made too much noise in the dungeon which might have a few more 'dangers' trials ahead of us"
"C'mon cap, this dungeon is too weak to even be considered a challenge!"
"No it's not, Captain, don't listen to these fools, this dungeon is far more dangerous than it seems."
"Mind expanding on that"
"We saw lots of monsters at the entrance. This might mean that a dungeon wave started and a possible dungeon break might happen, usually, unique monsters are spawned at this time, some can even be a high C rank!"
"So what it's not like they have a team and good communication skills, even if we were to assume that there was a C rank monster it doesn't mean that other monsters are the same rank or know how to use teamwork."
"The first time you said something smart, well done Drake, I'm impressed, really am."
*Long inhale or exhale noise*
"So you finally opened up to me!"
"Already regretting complimenting him?"
"Yes… I am."
"Do you think we will be able to find a rare creature or material in these tunnels?"
"Depends."
The chatter would have continued for an unknown amount of time if they weren't interrupted by somebody's scream.
"HALT!"
"What is it!"
"Something is in front, Yet I can't determine which creature it is though." said the tank in front of the group
"pff, probably an imp."
"No… it has crystals on its back… Wait is that a fu***** PAFOOT, woohoo we're gonna be rich baby."
After hearing the dwarfs' joyful scream, all of them showed different emotions, some showed grid, some were thanking lady luck for their fortunate encounter, and others stayed calm even though inside they were jumping with joy…
Unfortunately…
lady luck wasn't blessing them,
That lady was crying with tears, made of blood…
While misfortune was maniacally laughing,
to the point where others were scared to even say her name,
A golden orb was smiling, at this seen in front of it,
Grabbing a few drinks and popcorn for an upcoming battle,
An insect was slowly charging its belly cannon,
While slowly rotating not to alert its prey,
Two imps were hiding inside the tunnel's thin walls,
Preparing to leap and smash their skulls,
While a pafoot was simply sitting in the middle of the tunnel,
Quietly humming an interesting melody
The melody which they all could hear,
The melody which was never heard before
And that said melody,
Will be the last thing humans will hear,
Because soon…
This dungeon…
Will become…
Their grave…
*10 minutes before humans entered the tunnel*
"So… how exactly are you planning to lure them to the right spot?"
"Before I chose my race, I was given a brief description of It. If I were to summarize it, I'm an incredibly rare variant of a golem. I'm kinda made of rocks and crystals, yet I still have some flesh. Those crystals are a rare material which humans use for crafting and decoration. So, let's assume you were playing a game, and you saw a particularly weak monster with an extremely rare drop which will help you progress further into the game, would you ignore it or would you try killing it."
"Killing it, how is this meant to help us in this situation?"
"..."
"Edgar?" asked a confused creature
"..."
"Stop staring at me!"
"..."
"Stop it! Answer my question already!!!"
"Riku, what are you?"
"I am me!!"
"Ok…what am I?"
"You are you"
'Is he trolling me?'
"...."
"What are we Riku?"
"Living beings?"
Unsurprisingly another uncomfortable silence filled the room while two creatures began yet another staring competition. It lasted just over a minute before one of them broke the silence.
"And you complain that I waste time by asking to take a short break."
'for fu** sake'
"Let's try that again, what are we Riku?"
"Individuals"
"..."
'yeah no, I give up.'
"Forget about it… Imps get in your position, and Riku don't shoot just yet, I'm adding some adjustments to our plan."
"also have a small prayer to your god or goddess."
"Why?"
'Preposterous. How… just how. How does otakus' imagination work? One day they come up with things any sane writer won't be able to imagine, yet the very next day, they will turn their brains off and won't even think about writing a prayer to gods in their fanfics?!!! Deep breath Edgar, just breath.
'in… and out, in… and out, in… and out.'
*Inhale * *Exhale* *Inhale * *Exhale* *Inhale * *Exhale*
' They lose a golden opportunity to get free blessings or temporal buffs!'
*grumpy noises*
"In our past world, it was believed that praying to gods can bless you, even though it was never proven that it helped or that gods existed at that time, however, now we know that they do. So by praying we might get a temporal blessing, which might boost our stats or give us some sort of advantage over our opponents."
"Seriously! Thhh-is is genius. Edgar, I love you!"
*silence*
"Are you gay or what?"
"NO, I didn't mean it in that way!" screamed embarrassed creatures throw their mental link, while the two imps were dumbfounded by the mysterious vocabulary they used in their dialogue.
"Hey Margan do you know what 'Gay' means?"
"No, let's, ask, Edgar, but, I, think, some, food, name."
"I guess"
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*Back to present*
Humans' were having a staring competition with a small crystal creature, none dared to move, humans were too scared to frighten it and Edgar was trying his hardest to use his F grade acting skills to not give him away, time kept ticking and more and more sweat was appearing on human faces and their heart was beating faster, but not from fear or panic, it was from their excitement. All of them could only dream about having mountains of gold, but now they had the chance, that very chance was right in front of them.
More time passed yet none moved, it would have taken another couple of minutes, yet one of the human front liners' patience ran out and he bolted forward in an attempt to tackle this creature down.
"Drake what are you doing!"
"You're going to frighten it!"
"Too late, just follow him!"
The moment Edgar saw Drake move he rolled up and started to retreat toward the tunnel.
"He's getting away!"
"IT'S all YOUR fault Drake u ****ing idiot!!"
"Shut it, let's just chase it, scout, we need you to catch up to it."
"On it!"
"IF it can get away and there's no other option… kill it!"
"Got it cap!"
The moment the scout shouted a reply to her captain, she suddenly bolted forward, with speed unimaginable for such a small body. Turn after turn, corridor after corridor, she drew closer to Edgar. While she was trying to catch up to him, Edgar was giving info and comments to his companions through their mental link.
"They started chasing me, but so far I can only sense one on my tail!"
"So that was your plan! To act as bait!"
"Exactly!"
"A few more turns and I'm in the correct spot, when you see them all in the correct area blast the tall guy with a shield! If you are unsure if you hit him, aim at the ceiling, the blast should still reach them!"
"On it!"
The moment Riku said that he saw his ally in the tunnel going full speed to the already drugged-out hall, before jumping into a tiny hall in the wall. The moment he reached he purposely acted like he got stuck to allow his pursuer to see where he went.
"Shit!"
Shouted the scout before diving forward in the attempt to grub Edgar by his back leg. However, she was too late and Edgar quickly pushed himself into the tunnel he made. He then kept going forward till he reached a turn and then looped around to be behind the approaching group. The moment he got there he activated his camouflage and tried to hide his presence as much as he could.
"Dazy were you able to catch it!"
In response to her Captain's question, she only shook her head and pointed at the hall
"Shit!"
"Also please call me scout, we are not on good terms, yet."
"Sure."
"Soo… how are we going to get it out of the hall."
"Give me a torch!"
"What do you mean captain?"
"I will use a torch to ignite the smoke powder I bought to lure it out, it can either stay in there and suffocate or come out to us."
"But what if it stays in there?"
"Then Drake will dig it out."
"WHAT!!!"
"Stop screaming and it was you who triggered it, we could have asked our archer to use a poisoned Arrow to weaken it."
"Fair enough."
As soon as their captain got the torch, he added the smoke powder to it and ignited it with a spark from his hand. Afterwards, he showed it into the hall before blocking the entrance with his cape.
Not long after the smoke started to build up and after about a minute they started to hear coughing.
In reality, Edgar was never in danger from the start and could have left but he stayed and faked coughing to keep them there.
"Come on, just come out already." whispered their captain
"Cap, don't you find this tunnel strange?"
"Elaborate."
"Well, the floor and the ceiling look like it's about to break."
"Huh."
The moment he 'huhed' they saw a red ball flying towards the ceiling above their heads and before any of them could jump away or use any sort of defence, it exploded blasting a strong wave of compressed hit and fire towards them with different size rocks and crystals falling on their heads. As soon as the explosion occurred Edgar dived out of the hall and started to roll back where he came from to reach a specially prepared tunnel while making sure to check that the previously built tarp is still at the exit.
"Ahh!'
"My head!"
"Why does this creature have so much intellect? IT should just be a mindless beast acting on instincts!"
"Calm down, tank, put your shield up and prioritise protecting our potential backline attack, archers try to lock the caster of that fireball and supporter use some badges on our navigator. Drake do not! I repeat do not! go after that creature but be wary of it, most likely it's abnormal!"
"Nah I'll go kill that slimy bastard!"
Screamed Drake before bolting after Edgar, Captain was well aware of what an abnormal creature but his team never met one before.
"Darke get your ass back here! Fu** change of plan archer gets that mussel head back here. The rest of you need to start moving out of the cave."
"Yes captain"
The first thing Edgar noted about the group is the unknown language they were speaking, then he had a look at the person who spoke the most while giving some sort of orders.
"By the look of it, out of this team only 2 people are experienced, the big guy who's chasing me is strong… yeah that's all I can say about him. Riku what is the rest of the team doing"
"They are organising themselves and it looks like they are planning to retreat. Also, is it the best description you can give of the 'Big Guy'?"
"He is big but empty-headed, rushed after me abandoning his team, on top of that he has no patience. Has a mace and some light armour."
After transmitting his message to his allies Edgar turned the corner and was going to go into the tunnel before stopping and deciding to use the crack in the wall behind one of the tunnel turns to silently ambush his pursuer.
"Imps when you hear the footsteps be prepared, I'll bite him in the leg tendon to immobilise and force him to attack me, when that happens one of you aim at his liver and the other one at his temple"
"Edga, whot, lver, nd, temple"
"yeah what are these things"
"Oh boy… Ahhh… just aim at the head, I'll tell you later"
*stomp**stomp*stomp*
"here he comes!"
heavy steps quickly came to a halt when someone screamed at him.
"Drake, get back!"
"No, I'm going to kill that thing!"
"It's the captain's order!"
"..."
"Fine!"
With heavy steps, Drake went back to the group, while occasionally glancing back to make sure no monsters were following them. Edgar was now sweating bullets. He wanted to get ready for one as quickly as possible to increase their chances of survival.
"Let's get back to Riku and wait."
"Why? not. fight."
"Our chances of winning in a head-on combat are pretty low, it's an unnecessary risk and I'd rather avoid such risk at all cost."
"Ok."
While the small monster party was chatting, the human group regrouped and were heading to the exit of the cave.
"Why are we leaving? We could have easily killed those creatures."
"Are you questioning my decisions?"
"So what if I am? With such an attitude you shouldn't even be a captain."
After hearing Drake's outburst the captain of the group stopped and dropped his backpack. With a loud exhale he turned around and drew his longsword from its scabbard and pointed it at Drake.
" Let's make it easier for both of us and our group's sake, pick up your mace."
"Finally!"
Without a second thought, drake took his mace and readied himself to charge at his captain, while the captain went into Longtail guard and patiently waited for Drake's charge. It didn't take long before Drake's options run out, with heavy steps he bolted forward and when he was about a meter away he swung from his shoulder aiming at the captain's neck. In return, the captain swung up then down effectively redirecting Drake's swing downwards. He then grabbed one of Drake's arms to prevent further attempts of using his mace and kicked him at the back of his knee. Not a second later Drake was on the ground with Captain's sword pointed at his neck.
"We are going to retreat and report our findings to the guild… Any complaints Drake."
"No.."
"Good we are going to… quick In the first formation!"
The moment those words left his mouth a lizard jumped at him forcing him to defend himself. It bit into the sword and using its front pair of legs tried to overpower Captain. Without hesitation, the Captain drew the dagger and stabbed the lizard's neck before pushing it to the side serving the arteria. The lizard's strength left its body and it started to fall yet before it even reached the floor, the captain pulled out the longsword, while repositioning himself behind the tank.
"Drake on me, help our tank and kill any creature which gets around him. Archer kill any fly insects and try to save your arrows, Priest buff our tank, use heal only when I tell you, navigator look at our back, mage do your thing but save mana if you can and supporter throw me a spear and a short sword and catch this. "
Said the captain while throwing his longsword at their supporter. The horde of monsters quickly clashed with the tanks' shield.
"How many monsters are there? Archer"
"Hard to tell but at least 40 if not more!"
"Focus on what is in front of you rather than what we can't see. Supporter stop standing still and use your bow."
"Ahh yes"
Whenever the horde crashed into the tank's shield, he would get pushed back a bit, but with Drakes's help, the assault would be stopped.
"Push!"
With the captain's cry, tank used his skill to bush the monster back. Then he stabbed forward piercing one of the insects, while Drake slammed his mace at the head of the lizard and Captain pierced Goblin's neck. The archer behind them with supporters' help, shot an insect on the ceiling and another goblin. Slowly but surely they were getting ground.
"Careful!"
Shouted the mage before casting an earth spell.
"Earth shrapnel!"
The moment he pronounced the spell's name numerous rocks merged to form an icicle-shaped projectile before it shot toward the goblin. It flew passed the tank and pierced the first creature before exploding into small bites and kept travelling forward hitting numerous monsters.
"Good, mage stop casting and try to restore your mana, I know you can cast 5 more spells but I'd rather if you don't waste mana. Now back into formation"
After 5 minutes of non-stop combat the number of monsters rushing in withered down and the human group started to make their way to the exit. Until the crystal mantis blocked their way.
"Aim at its legs!"
Ordered the captain but before their tank could do anything he suddenly felt his feet going down.
*Shater**crunch*
"Ahhh!"
"What's going on!"
"His leg!"
*Couple minutes prior*
"Good, the monsters are here."
"Great, now we can attack them, let's go, lads."
"Hold your horses!"
"Why!"
"We can play this much better than blindly rushing at them!"
"Imps, help me dig the tunnel, let's go under them and get rid of their tank. It's much better if they get tired out by the majority of monsters."
"Riku when you see their back, launch another projectile at them and afterwards hide. After we dill with humans we'll split the cores and finish off any monsters which are still alive."
"Got it"
"Let's move"
*back to present*
"AHH, my leg! MY leg, something biting it"
"Buff his defence, support give him pain killers, drake take the front, tank keep steal as much as you can I'll try to kill it, archer cover us and mage be ready to use your strongest spell"
"Can't he just heal him!"
Asked Drake while smashing another goblin
"No, whatever is got him is still biting him, healing won't work it will just make it worth"
"Ohh God just hUrry up!"
Captain aimed his spear and using his skill pierced straight down hoping to kill whatever was holding their tank, the soil was penetrated and he felt like he hit something but instead of piercing flesh, he felt like he was hitting a rock, no, something much harder.
" Shit It's that Paffot isn't !!"
"Ohh god captain please just hurry up!!"
"I'm trying"
With every stab, the grip on the tank's leg was getting loose and when he thought that the tank would finally free himself, another creature grabbed and pulled the tank down. The pain quickly spread throughout his leg as something sharp stabbed at his adductor longus femoris muscle.
*****
For simplicity here's what it is: The adductor longus is a large, fan-shaped muscle located in the medial aspect of the thigh and it starts next to male/female genitalia.
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"Agghh, Aghhh"
"Shit, this isn't working"
"Captain, I need some help with this mantis!"
"I'm nearly out of arrows, supporter chuck me some more!"
"On it"
While this was happening the captain was thinking of a plan to get his team out of this situation, he was considering all options yet tank agonising screams weren't helping.
"Navigator, we need a way out!"
"On it, give me a minute, Wait what, ARGHH!"
"Another one"
Edgar didn't sit still and left the tank alone while telling imps to follow him, he knew that the tank was no longer a threat, for now, and he should kill the main headache, the navigator! If he didn't focus on him they would have found a cave opening with thin walls, which the big guy's strength, he could have broken through, letting them escape. Therefore he decided to target the navigator. Steel the compass so they'll get lost in the mist. The navigator's fate was far from good because unlike the tank Edgar wasn't planning to just wound him. No, he was dragging him under the soil with all the strength he had and before any of the team members could help him more than half of his body was already under.
" Iskander, Izbor shank him as many times as you can!"
"On it"
Near instantly, the two imps using sharpened crystals started to stab Navigator into his stomach and his back. His screams filled the hallway But soon his strength left his body and Edgar yanked his body underground.
"We got to help him!"
"No, supporter help the tank, priests heal him, archer and mage go help, Drake. I'll take his shield, we are leaving.
"So we are abandoning him!!"
"That's precisely right!"
"You heartless monster!"
Screamed the archer before firing an arrow at her Captain, which he easily dodged, before she could fire another one the mage hit her with his stuff, effectively knocking her out.
"Thanks."
"No problem, Captain"
"Pick her up and let's get going!"
"Don't you dare touch her, you smelly dwarf!"
"Seriously, you found the best time to complain, don't you think"
"You should be captain they said it's going to be easy and rewarding they said... Argg, I'm retiring after this!"
"Same here!"
"Let's get going!"
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Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone