"Can I still keep the sword?" Elend asks with a twinge of amusement, but he does still want to keep it.
"Oh!" Tower scratches his head, it seems like it’s a habit of his. "Of course, you saved my life. Call it a gift."
"Thanks," Elend sighed, relieved. "But that was strange. Ron is the one who killed it." Yet, somehow Tower got awakened. What bothers him the most is, he did not level up. Even though the Lizardos are three levels above him.
He still could recall the way the Lizardo's eyes dimmed out as the arrow stuck it.
They look at Ron, who stares into space. He blinked in disbelief. "Uh, I've also been awakened," He said. "There's my name and a bunch of stuff. What in the hell is dexterity?"
Both Tower and Ron would want to test their skill and read over their status. That's what he did.
"Let's take a break," Elend decided.
________
Elend relaxed on the smooth red chair, warmth coiled his body as he sighed comfortably. Being in a party has such a huge drawback for Elend's liking. Yet, he is not sure if he could take the Lizardos alone.
Staring at the amber light above, Elend felt exhaustion ripple through him. Uncertainty followed briefly. A brief thought of just waiting for the government's Knight started to dance inside his mind.
He grunted, wondering why such an idea should be questioned. It's the obvious thing to do, is it? He can leave Dyland and the others to the Empire Knight, right?
"What are you going to do now?" Ron called. He stretched his body, just finish loosing arrow after arrow upon the broken throne beside him.
"I-" Elend scratched his nonexistent beard. "What are you guys going to do?" He turned the question, asking loud enough for Tower, who had been testing his shield bash skill on innocent row of chairs.
The snapping sound of chair destruction stopped. Tower looked at both of them, panting.
"Not sure!" He called out. "We are just here for awakening. Give up, and then suddenly manage to awaken." He chuckles.
"Now that you mention it," Ron peered at Elend. "What are you here for, Elend?"
"I'm just here to see what it's like, to be a Hunter."
"That makes you dive into the red gate?" He probed.
"Well.. I might be taunted a little," he grumbled. He definitely got taunted by Oscar. Being a Hunter is a dead dream to him, but suddenly it is in front of his eyes. And with that push, he is here.
"What the hell are you talking about?" Muttered Ron.
"Nothing important," Elend huffed as he heaved himself up. "I have some friend who went in also. One during the Blue Portal, the other three during the Red Portal." He decided " All of them hadn't awakened. I need to find them".
"The blue one I get. But what with the others? Jumping to Red Portal when they hadn't awakened," Tower said as he wiped his sweat.
"I am not one to talk," Elend noted more to himself, like a reminder that what he did was quite stupid, a silent promise not to do it again. "Those three must have some stuff going on. I barely knew them."
"Well..." Ron mused. "It's not like it's guaranteed to be safe if we stay here. The monster spawned when you left. We might as well find other people."
____________________________
Striding across the hallway, they walked slowly, eyes scanning over every single turn.
Ron and Tower led him to where the entrance portal had been. They peek over a door leading to a large room. Three cashiers are behind a desk with glasses between the customer line. Brown fancy carpet sprawled covering almost the entire floor. It was stricken with the colour of blood.
"No one here" Elend mutter. He entered, the body of Lizardos sprawled all over. Their blood mixing with the dead human, weapons drenched with blood. This is a scene straight out of a horror movie... Elend was sure that if a movie director saw this horror, they would be too squeamish to show bodies in a movie.
His stomach churned at the sight of death. A bile of puke rising in his throat, he forcibly gulped it down. Breath gasped as the stench of rot assaulted him.
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"I-" Elend started. He remembered how they lost people right in this place. Don’t make it worse for them. "I will check the bodies, just in case." Just in case Dyland is one of them.
Ron nodded gruffly. Eyes downcast, his body quivered with inescapable grief. His spirit of being awakened just earlier has gone, his body stilled as an empty shell.
Tower stepped in with him. "We should do the same," He said as he looked at Ron. His previous excitement has also died.
"Yeah," Ron whispered weakly.
Elend's heart lurches as he sees a brown haired man with a bulky, muscular body. Gulping, he turns the body over. Lifeless blue eyes greet him. He exhaled deeply. It's not him.
Ten minutes of trying to find Dyland and the others is the most grueling thing he has experienced. Not even fighting a monster this gruesome. Every corpse he turns is a reminder of why he finds being a Hunter is foolish.. Elend inwardly shook his head at that. He finds being a Hunter foolish because it’s a dream he thought he would never achieve. A completely selfish reason, he kept. But this, this is the real reason why most people thought so.
A gleam of steel caught his eye. The sword shimmers differently from the others; he picks it up from the carpet. Unsure which body used to own it.
He decided to might as well keep it. Picking up a dagger from a dead body, he made his way toward Ron and Tower.
"My friend is not here," Elend said. He removed their sword and dagger. "Here, take it back. I found a replacement"
Elend paused as he noticed the atmosphere got heavier the closer he got. Ron and Tower stood over a body, two men lay sprawled. Their bodies are a horror of themselves. One has multiple gaping holes across the stomach. The other on their brain, with his mouth gaping open.
"These guys are?"
"Yes.. Our friend. Four of us come here together." Ron clutches his bow tightly. "It happened so fast." He knelt, closing their eyes. “Oh, Ronald, Kevin..”
Tower stride to Elend and take his sword back. Grasping his shoulder, "I'm glad your friend is not here". He said as he held a shaky breath. Elend, notice this is just a gesture for him to stop thinking about his death, friend.
"Yes" Elend muttered. Giving them space to grieve.
Scanning the room for anything useful, all his focus is on the carnage. He reached down and removed a steel breastplate from a corpse. It awkwardly snugs in over his clothes.
His eyes catch some kind of square display on the table. Blood blocks the view of whatever is inside. Wiping it with a spit, he found himself very pleased.
"It's a map?" Tower asked as he peered over.
"Yes, it shows the exterior more, though." He examined it. "We're in 15-level building, this floor is the tenth. All of the floor except the lobby and the top five floors is a cinema. The top floor consists of a garden. Outside, there are four other similar buildings to this one forming a rectangular formation, in the middle is some kind of attraction festival."
"Festival.." Tower muttered. "Do you think that where the dungeon boss is?"
"Could be," Elend said. "But what is important is to destroy the dungeon core. It's not always guaranteed that the boss is the dungeon core." He had heard that an inanimate object like a tree could serve as a dungeon core.
"The map did not show anything beyond the five building," Tower said. He hummed as he was lost in thought.
"Should we go to the top floor?" Ron asked in a trembling voice. His back shaken, still grieving over their fallen friend. "I want to make sense of our surroundings. The top floor will be an open area, right?"
"Yes, I would like that. We might be lucky and find a window," Elend said. He wanted to find Dyland and the other rather than waiting for reinforcement. A thought to search for the dungeon core crosses his mind. If he manages to destroy the dungeon core, this world will be destroyed, monsters will cease to exist.
He shot the idea down. They needed to locate the portal first.
There's a popular theory, says that once the dungeon core gets control over the portal, it is the moment a Dungeon turns into a Red Dungeon. But the fact that the Portal disappears should be unheard of. Just what is happening here?
I will just leave that to the reinforcement. Elend thoughts.
Making sense of the situation takes precedence, along with finding his friend. Well, and leveling up. He snuck the last one in.
"Let's go," Elend said. Making his way out of this place, Elend threw one look back at the carnage. Tower and Ron did the same.
Anxiety gnawed at him. Do they even have a chance to survive?
"I have a proposition," Elend said. Doubt still dances around him. "I want to open the door toward the theater we crossed"
"Of course," Ron said, his eyes still red. "We will help you find your friend Elend."
"It's not just that," Elend explained. "I want to fight, but not together. Possibly, I want to fight alone, to get more Level Up.”
"Is it really necessary?" Tower protested. "I get the Level Up. But that still sounds like unnecessary danger."
"I will count on you guys to jump in when I'm in danger. We need everything we can get, but we should aim to get a higher level as much as possible."
"Let's do it," Ron said. His hand on a door knob, probably leading to another theater.
Elend realised he just assumed every one of these theaters would have a Lizardos just waiting for them, it might be more monsters in there. This might be unnecessary danger. Yet, still, one he wanted to take.
Tower looks like he is still wanting to protest. But he surrendered with a deep sigh. "All right, I will prepare to jump in."
"And I will aim with my skill the whole time," Ron said. He kicked open the door. It thumped loudly, bouncing off the wall.
The inside is what he expected. A movie played, and the protagonist got killed out of nowhere.
A monster, face covered with a clown mask. Lips too huge for the mask to cover, tongue slithered around his neck, shaping like a snake tongue. It wore a circus hat along with two short swords.
(Circus Blader lvl 7)
Elend winced as hesitation gripped him. It looks to humans, except for the lips and tongue, also four level above him.
He drew his new sword, steel darkened as he stepped forward.
The Circus Blader wastes no time, it lunges forward. Two swords drawn, arching through the air toward him.
Elend staggered backward. Sword awkwardly batting the Flurry of swings. Searing pain gnawed his cheek. He counterattacks.
With an inhumane display of acrobatics. The Circus Blader jumps backward into its two hands, then launches itself into the air.
It tilted its head, standing above a cinema chair. Tounge flickered toward Elend, blade casually spun around its hands. Blonde ponytail swung around in excitement as its hat fell.
This one might look more human, but certainly more monstrous.
Hp: 120/140
Out of the corner of his eyes, he caught a flicker of blue. Ron is charging his arrow with a skill.
"Stay down! I got this," Elend shouted. His ear barely registered their protest, he did not want to hear it. The rush of adrenaline clawed around him.
The monster tongue leers beneath its clown mask. The chair snapped, in a blur of flash, a sword bolt in front of him.
He parried the flash of strike, knocking his sword up. Fear clenched as he made out a flicker of a grin beneath that mask. With a heavy foot stomp, the monster lunges with its other sword.
Pain scorch deep into his left shoulder. His vision blurred with red.
Hp : 70/140
"Agh!" Elend screamed. He whirled his leg across the monster's legs. It lost its balance, crashing down with the sword stuck in Elend's shoulder.
Hp : 50/140
Hp : 46/140
Hp : 42/140
(Heavy Strike) Blue hue coiled around Elend's sword. He plunged it down with one hand. Blue shimmer of energy lanced through the monster's stomach. The body gorge through the floor.
(You Slain Circus Blader Lvl 7!)
(Level Up!)
(Level Up!)
(Level Up!)
(New Skill: Inspection)
Elend Mireaux lvl 6
HP: 200/200 (3/min)
Mp: 18/18. (2/min)
Strength : 26
Intelligence : 14
Dexterity : 19
Skill :
(Active)
- Heavy Strike (2) Lvl 4
- Flurry jab (3) Lvl 2
(Passive)
- Inspection
Class : ?
The mask slipped, and Elend's heart lurched.
He ground his teeth together. Grim reality bearing on him, deep as heavy snow.
As his vision cleared, he saw a face that was unmistakably Jack's, the Empire Knight.
"Elend!" Ron called. A flurry of footsteps ran through him.
The haze of black dots around his vision had gone. With a rugged breath, he scanned his shoulder. It healed. The wound is sealed; it looks like a red laser has scorched it.
"I'm fine," Elend muttered. His eyes fell on Jack's lifeless body. The enemy can turn even an Empire knight into their minion.
A disquiet fear pulsed inside his veins, blinding his mind with the impossibility of survival.
"I'm fine," He said again, fully doubting it.
Chapter 4: A Hunter Dilemma