Arthur_Inverse

  Mik winced as he turned onto his stomach, trying to push himself up to a sitting position.

  Once he did, he immediately opened his status, pcing the free point into VIT. After doing so, he suddenly felt himself rex as if the wounds on his body had lessened and healed.

  Mik looked at his arms, the bite marks from the foxes had turned to pinkish scars along with the slight burn marks from the chains.

  He looked at his left hand expecting to see more burns from the st use of his spell but instead saw just slightly reddened skin under the chains. His resistance had held up, but with his increase in level his spell’s power would also increase worrying him.

  Without more stat points I won’t be able to keep up this way of fighting. I’ll need to acquire a resistance or magic manipution skill to offset having to hold the chains. He sighed internally.

  Mik shakily got to his feet, holding his knees to steady himself as he looked at the aftermath of the fight. The deer was half burnt to a crisp, anything on the monster that could be usable for material was now destroyed. However the antlers could still be salvaged and were exactly what Mik needed.

  He tried his best to remove them from the head of the monster, but ughed wearily to himself as he made no progress whatsoever. Instead going to the broken pieces on the ground and trying to unlodge the ones in the stone.

  Finally getting a few usable pieces he turned back and looked at the deer, trying to mentally prepare for what he was about to do.

  With the creeping feeling of more monsters being on the way he had no time to steel his conscious. And he quickly dropped to his knees next to the deer, thrusting one of its own antlers into its stomach.

  He tore and repeatedly stabbed into the monster, opening up a cavity in its abdomen. Eventually he let go of a held breath and sucked in a puff of air before pushing his hand into the monster, rummaging around for his prize.

  After a few seconds he found it, a solid gssy pale crystal fragment covered in blood. A G-Grade Crystal fragment and his first step towards his goal of getting rich.

  A pool of excitement and joy welled up inside him. This fragment was solid proof he had made progress.

  He quickly stashed it into a pants pocket pcing the antlers in the other.

  Looking at the bloodied corpse an idea popped into his head. Mik began dragging the corpse closer to the archway, untangling the chains from its head and then tying it with his other chain.

  The chains length doubled and Mik lifted the monster to pce the chains just underneath it, burning it just enough to not be seen as he led the rest to the shade of the archway.

  And now he waited.

  A few minutes passed and Mik wasn’t upset about it, the longer it took for his pn to work, the longer he had to rest and recuperate.

  But after a few more minutes of waiting he saw what he was ying a trap for. Well, sort of.

  I didn’t know squirrels were attracted to blood… He thought grimacing to himself. Maybe it's just the monster ones. I’m going to hope it's only the monster ones.

  Closing in on the deer carcass with their noses in the air were two Bandit Squirrels. Each one holding two small sharp objects in their hands as they scurried closer.

  Mik held his breath, hooping that the smell of blood from the open deer carcass was enough to mask his own smell.

  And it turned out to be true as the Bandit Squirrels did not notice him, going immediately to the corpse.

  At first the pair was wary but it hardly mattered. Mik focused on activating his spell and pced the palm of his hands against the metal of the chains once the monsters were close enough. This time his spell had grown in power again, the small yellow sparks turning into a deeper yellow jumping the chains with more veracity than before.

  And in the blink of an eye, the sparks reached the deer jumping straight to the Bandit Squirrels, killing them instantly.

  [You have killed 2x Bandit Squirrels Level 1] [Experience Earned]

  Mik fist pumped, checking his hands for burns and happy to see he was still only left with slightly reddish marks from the chains. He gave it another few moments to check the surroundings for any lingering monsters before rushing out, pulling the broken antlers from his pants pocket.

  After some rather unpleasant and traumatizing skinning and gutting. Mik was two G-Grade shards richer.

  He pulled the one from the deer he had in his pocket.

  “If I remember right, they should… Ah!”

  The shards snapped to one another once they got close enough, fitting together like a puzzle and then merging together to form a slightly rger shard.

  Mik grinned and then sighed, “Three down, ninety-seven to go.”

  The shards needed to be gathered to form a full crystal, one hundred total shards to be exact. One full crystal of the higher rank was also worth ten of the previous.

  Mik pocketed the shard, feeling his pocket bulge just slightly more making him smile again.

  He quickly pulled the monsters close together again, running back to his cover in the shade.

  Within the next hour Mik had killed three more squirrels, one deer, and two foxes. Granting him another level, reaching level four.

  However Mik was growing suspicious.

  I saw packs in the tens when I had to run earlier. Where did they go? I read that they normally come in pairs on the lower floors or even by themselves. Something must be going on, or did they run into someone-

  “Help!! Someone help me!”

  Mik was unable to finish his thought, hearing someone shout in the distance for help distracting him.

  But Mik stopped himself from running to the voice right away.

  I’m on the brink of exhaustion myself. And I’ve had to resort to ying a trap to both level up and recover. If I leave this spot I’m only going to-

  “Help! I’m begging, Gods please send someone! Help!”

  Mik groaned, yanking the chains from the bodies of the dead monsters, trudging his way toward the pleading voice.

  As he got closer he could hear the scuffle grow in volume. There had to be a rge pack of something by the sounds alone.

  He finally made his way over the sand dune, the scene slowly coming into view as his mouth widened.

  Mik saw a lone girl backed against a boulder, a miniature fming four legged beast on one side. A small bear standing on its hind legs with crystal like blue shards all over its body on the other.

  And in front of them were piles of monster bodies with more closing in on them.

  There has to be at least fifty monsters. What the hell is going on? Mik wondered in shock.

  “Help! Someone help me!” the girl shouted again.

  Mik turned back around ready to run in the other direction.

  “I can’t help her… There’s too many and I only have my one skill. I can’t die here!” he mumbled through his teeth, his hands shaking just thinking about the massive group of monsters.

  “Help! Please!”

  Mik shook his head, “I’m not a hero! I have to live to help the orphanage and…” he looked over his shoulder again, feeling his body stiffen at the sight, the feeling of fear creeping up his back once more.

  Another scream rang in his ears, “Help!!! Someone! Anyone!!”

  Mik cursed, running down the dune, skidding and tumbling as he did.

  “What the hell are you doing Mik! Ahhh!!!” he shouted at himself, focusing on his spell.

  After his level up his Static Shock spell had improved again. The small snaps of electricity became more potent. The tendrils of the lightning reaching farther off the chains in his hands.

  Mik grunted, throwing one at the crowd of monsters in front of him. The moment the chains made contact the pack of monsters cried out in pain.

  [You have killed 5x Bck Deer Level 1] [Experience earned]

  [You have killed 2x Laurel Foxes Level 1] [Experience earned]

  “Are you just going to keep crying for help or are you going to fight, dy?!” Mik shouted over the crowd of monsters, whipping his other hand and catching several more monsters on the side of the head.

  [You have killed 2x Bck Deer Level 1] [Experience earned]

  [You have killed Bandit Squirrel Level 2] Experience earned]

  “What?! I’ve never!” the girl shouted from out of view, “BB! Panda! We are going on the offensive!”

  Mik could hear the sounds of fighting grow louder from across the sea of monsters, but that did nothing to still his shaking legs. He was frightened and exhausted, but he had committed to it and there was no going back now.

  He rushed to the chains he had thrown earlier, focusing on his spell to activate it again. Feeling his mana be drained as the spell activated he grabbed and ripped the chains from the monster corpses.

  The small charge of lightning from his empty hand cascaded over the chains as well as refreshed the one in his other hand.

  My best bet is to fight to her and regroup. Those beasts around her look like summons I’ve read about and they seem tough enough. I hope I don’t regret this!

  Mik used all the strength he had to push forward toward the sound of fighting. It was the first time he had used his spell in succession to this degree and he was already feeling the drain on his body activating his spell for the third time.

  His hands and then chains lit up again as he did, running forward into the sea of monsters. With one arm he swung, the chains colliding with a group of monsters, and then again with the other. His Static Shock connected not only to the ones touched by the chains, but the electricity jumped to the closest next targets in range.

  [You have killed 4x Bandit Squirrels Level 1] [Experience earned]

  [You have killed 2x Laurel Foxes Level 2] [Experienced earned]

  [You have reached Lightning Mage Level 5] [+1 FP, +1 SP, +2 MAG]

  Reaching a higher level was nothing new to Mik now, but this time he had repeatedly used his spell, feeling the drain from each use more significantly. This level up had felt different. He immediately felt his body well up with vigor and felt more refreshed.

  Mik could tell his mana reserves at the very least had replenished some, if not all the way.

  This time he opened his status in the brief moment, pcing the free point into STAM. Then he focused, activating his Static Shock again. The spell charged his chains once more, the lightning taking on a more erratic and potent crackle.

  He could hear the fighting from the girl get closer with each step and moved to make a final push here. Swinging his chains he hit the back of several Bck Deer and Bandit Squirrels blocking his path, killing the group of them in one blow and more gruesome charing than he had seen since using the spell.

  The monsters smoldered and bckened falling to their sides as the notifications poured in.

  [You have killed 6x Bandit Squirrels Level 1] [Experience earned]

  [You have killed 4x Bck Deer Level 1, 2x Bck Deer Level 2] [Experience earned]

  He activated his spell again, ready to swing down on the next group until he saw a fming miniature cow. Or bull? Or… buffalo? Its head lowered ready to meet whatever was charging at it.

  “BB stop!” a female voice yelled, “Are you the one who came to help me?”

  Mik finally got to see just who it was he was coming to the rescue of. A girl who looked no older than him, her skin a shade of dark bluish purple. She had longer ears pointing straight up with red eyes and a sharp face. Her hair was long and bck, pulled into a ponytail.

  And then Mik finally noticed her equipment. It was expensive. It had been scuffed and damaged now, but he distinctly remembered it from the room where the teleportation crystal was.

  She gave him a look that said, ‘If you are done, expnations can wait.’

  Mik refocused, “Name’s Mik, your little friends able to hold up?”

  The girl gave Mik a screw faced scowl, “BB and Panda are the reason I’m still here!”

  “Then let’s hope they can still keep it up,” Mik said, moving in between the two beasts, “Can you have them block for me? I can use some electricity to chip away at the group of monsters but I don’t know when I’ll run out of mana.”

  “You don’t know?!” the girl said, fbbergasted.

  Mik shrugged, “I’m learning as I go.”

  The girl gave an exaggerated sigh and nodded, “They can hold up. Can you?”

  “I’ve been managing. Keep our backs against the boulder so they can only come from the front and pray we have enough mana to survive.”

  The girl looked disgruntled slightly at being ordered but didn’t compin, taking a defensive stance with the swords in each of her hands Mik was just now noticing.

  How did I miss those…? He thought.

  The fight however resumed despite Mik’s idle thoughts. Even more monsters joined the group almost as if refreshing their numbers. Their only saving grace, the fact that only so many could reach them at any point.

  Mik stepped out in front of BB and Panda for only a moment to whip his chains in an arch, the electricity quickly jumping from them to the surrounding monsters. More than a handful screamed in agony, sizzling to a crisp before falling to the ground.

  BB and Panda defended the sides, the cow-like fire beast using the fming horns on its head to impale and push back anything that got close. Panda swiping with razor sharp crystal cws, tearing monsters into pieces.

  Through their combined teamwork they began tearing away at the sea of monsters.

  The sea of monsters was finally thinning. Mik continuously used his spell, swinging his chains in an arc whenever he stepped out from behind BB and Panda. Each swing frying a number of monsters.

  [You have killed 4x Laurel Foxes Level 1] [Experience earned]

  [You have killed 2x Bck Deer Level 1] [Experience earned]

  [You have killed 2x Bandit Squirrels Level 2] [Experience earned]

  [You have reached Lightning Mage Level 6] [+1 FP, +1 SP, +2 MAG]

  The fighting was becoming arduous. Mik didn’t even have time to add his free points to any stat to help the fight.

  And looking over his shoulder he could see sweat beginning to pour off the girl. She wasn’t fighting herself, so there must be a drain on her mana to maintain the two beasts next to him.

  Mik didn’t want to rush finishing off the remaining monsters and risk making a mistake. The monsters were in the low double digits now. Victory just on the horizon. But the dungeon once again showed its cruelty.

  The girl pointed and shouted, “Roaming boss!”

  He followed her hand spotting the monster standing on a dune just barely visible in the whirling heat.

  It looked like a Bandit Squirrel but only rger and two distinctly reflective objects in each hand, a hat on its head.

  Mik ignored the chill that suddenly ran down his back. He had long overcome the feeling of wanting to run away, but he wouldn’t be stupid and die here. He had no idea what the roaming boss was capable of, or what level it was.

  The girl seemed to have more knowledge of the floor than he did to be able to identify the monster, or had a skill to do so.

  “Do you know what level it is?” he asked, swiping at the st of the monsters.

  “It is level 10, that is all I know,” she answered completely out of breath.

  Mik felt the blood from his face drain, but tried to keep his head on straight.

  “We have to run. Even after leveling up I can feel I’m low on mana. And you look like you’re about to colpse. Can we make it to the exit from here?”

  She shook her head, “I do not think so. With the amount of monsters we just saw gather, I can only assume there will be packs of them just as rge on the way,” she said with a grimace, “I know of a cave not far from here that is used as a halfway mark to the second floor. We can make it there.”

  Mik nodded but kept his eye on the monster.

  “It’s not moving in on us.”

  “Perhaps it is waiting?”

  “Waiting for what?”

  “I do not wish to find out. Let us go, hurry.”

  Mik looked at the mountain of dead monsters, or piles of money more accurately they were leaving behind and felt his heart ache. But looking back at the monster on the far dune, he knew better than to risk gathering the shards.

  He turned and followed the girl’s lead, checking his status as they went. It had been some time since he st saw it.

  Mikhail

  Moniker: None

  Race: Human

  Level: 6

  Css: Lightning Mage

  G - STR: 1

  G - VIT: 2

  G - DEX: 1

  G - MAG: 13

  G - STAM: 2

  G - RES: 2

  Free Points: 2

  Skill Points: 5

  Titles

  None

  Skills

  Static Shock G- Rank 1

  Mik wanted to increase his damage, however he was able to kill multiple monsters on this level already with his current stats. What he wanted to focus on for now was survivability. What he needed was more stamina to keep fighting and better resistance for when they would inevitably have to fight the roaming boss monster they had just come across.

  He pced a point into STAM and RES respectively using up the rest of his free points.

  “Hey, what did you say your name was?” he asked, finished with his status.

  “I did not give it,” she said, not turning to face him.

  “Bit rude to not give your name after I just saved your life, don't you think?”

  There was a brief pause before she answered.

  “My name is Sofia, Sofia Westeria.”

  Mik tripped over himself, nearly face pnting but caught himself.

  “Y-You’re from Westeria?!” he excimed, “What the hell are you doing alone?”

  Sofia stopped, Mik smming into her nearly toppling them both.

  He stepped back a few steps rubbing his nose, “What was that about?”

  “I-I was not alone… They left me.”

  Mik suddenly remembered the group he had seen approach the person calling to carry others to level 25 in the room with the entrance crystal.

  So that was her… He thought.

  “They left you?”

  Sofia’s head dropped slightly to look at the ground, “I am not supposed to be out here. I just received my divination a few days ago and one of my aides told me that there were people willing to help us level up in the dungeon for a price.”

  Mik felt a slight sting of jealousy, “So you just thought you would pay your way to getting to your first css upgrade?”

  Sofia’s head whipped around a look of annoyance and disbelief on it.

  “Not that it is any of your business! But I did not have a choice!”

  Mik scoffed, “How could you not have a choice? Someone is forcing you to take that silver spoon of yours and wave it around?”

  Her mouth hung open, “Am I supposed to apologize for having been born a noble? Should I be thankful my brothers are trying to kill me for the sake of succession?! Should I get down on my knees and beg for forgiveness for having my closest friends, in that god forsaken castle betray me, leaving me here with an asshole like you!?” she snapped, BB and Panda growling at either side of Mik, “I thought you were a decent human being for saving me. The least you could do is judge me as a person too, and not just another noble! Would you have even known I was one if I had not said it?”

  Mik motioned to his clothes, bloodied and tattered, not a spec of clean linen remaining. Then motioned to her armor, albeit slightly scuffed and used now, the metal shone still while protecting her from head to toe.

  But still Mik did feel a pang of regret for taking his jealousy out on her.

  “Sorry. I didn’t mean it like that. You got your own problems too huh…”

  Sofia turned away, wiping at her face out of view, “It does not matter now. We are stuck with each other until we leave. Let us just hope there are other Climbers at the halfway point.”

  She started walking again, BB and Panda joining her. Mik sighed and followed after them.

  “So, what css are you?” Mik asked, trying to start up a different conversation.

  “Why would I tell you?”

  “It’s just the two of us like you said and can’t say I’m not interested to know. You have two animal companions with you, that’s pretty rare. Not to mention knowing will help us when we have to fight again. Here, I’m a Lightning Mage.”

  “Elemental Summoner,” Sofia answered after a brief pause.

  “With two elemental affiliations?! That’s crazy!”

  “I was very fortunate on my divination day,” she said, her nose slightly angling up, “And what about you? To be able to kill that many monsters in a single blow, your Lightning Mage css must be somewhat extraordinary?”

  Mik shrugged, “You don’t know? Didn’t you do any research before you came to the dungeon?”

  Sofia turned around and scowled at him, cmping up and going silent.

  Mik’s face turned confused. Had he said something wrong? He was only asking a simple question, it was almost a death sentence to enter the dungeon without learning everything you could beforehand.

  “Did I say something wrong?”

  “Can you not just answer my question without questioning my intelligence?”

  Mik gave a surprised look, “I didn’t mean to do that. I was just surprised that someone who should have as much access to information didn’t know.”

  “Well I did not. Are you happy?” she stopped again, pointing a finger at his chest, “Despite what you think, I did not have endless access to information. I was left in a room to study only what was deemed necessary. Gods! Why did my first day out of that castle have to be with such a brutish moron! Ughhhh!”

  Sofia threw her arms up storming away.

  My Gods, I can not say one correct word when I’m with this girl. Maybe I should just stop talking…

  Mik sighed, shaking his head as he followed her.

  Thankfully Mik kept his mouth shut along the way and they were surprisingly not attacked by monsters. They had not seen any other Climbers on their way as well making their hope of finding more Climbers and getting to the exit that much more dismal.

  “We are here,” Sofia finally announced, motioning to a rge rock face, a small hole in the side.

  They were still at a distance, however Mik could see why this was used as the halfway marker. The rock formation was rge enough to be seen in all directions from a well enough distance away.

  The closer they got the more Mik was sure no one had come this way in some time. There were no footprints near the entrance, no campfires, no remains of anyone being her for at least a few weeks. Which made it all the more curious if this was really used as a halfway marker.

  Sofia led them both inside where they found no one.

  Her shoulders slumped in front of Mik, “There is no one here…”

  Mik suddenly realized that Sofia was also expecting at least someone else to be here that could help them. And now the rug was pulled out from both their feet.

  “Look, we can stay here for a little and recover. Maybe someone will show up. First let's make sure we are really alone, I’ll check the rest of the cave,” Mik offered.

  Sofia nodded, gently sitting down, her elemental summons doing the same on either side of her.

  Mik began walking to the deeper part of the cave, one thought in his head.

  This is going to be a long day isn’t it…