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Chapter 42: Deeper

“Focus on cutting the tentacles off,” Arwin ordered, ducking out of the way as the Landsquid sent two tentacles snapping out to try and grab Arwin while he was off guard. The monster was fast, but its attacks were fairly predictable.

Rodrick didn’t even waste breath on a reply. As the next tentacles shot out, he brought his blade down and carved one of them apart right at the half-way mark. Blue blood splattered across the warrior’s chest and he ducked back to avoid getting hit by the monster’s follow-up attack.

The beast still had ten tentacles left, and Arwin didn’t know how deep the pool of water beneath the Land Squid was. With its gelationus body, he suspected it could probably fit itself into small spaces, but he wasn’t about to bet that the watery pit didn’t connect to a much larger area beneath.

If it did, the fastest way to get killed would be to let the Landsquid grab him and drag him into the dark waters below. For the time being, the best thing he could do was to keep the monster’s attention and let Rodrick work.

Arwin dismissed his armor and hammer to let himself move faster. He ducked and dodged away from attacks, letting each one pass by him harmlessly. Compared to much of the training he’d gone through in his past life, this creature was nothing. It was a monster that fought by ambushing its prey and using the element of surprise, not through long, extended combat.

Another tentacle squelched to the ground, thrashing about even though it was no longer connected to its controlling body, and the Landsquid screamed in pain. It lurched forward in a last ditch effort to try and grab Rodrick – and that was when Arwin struck.

His hammer materialized in his hands as he took advantage of the monster’s temporary distraction and he brought the weapon down clean on the side of the Landsquid’s head, using [Scourge] to empower the blow.

The Landsquid’s squishy body gave way, and there was a loud crunch as the hammer hit something solid deep within it. It was lifted into the air and sent splattering across the ground until it hit the wall.

Not defeated, the squid lurched forward and twisted across the ground, making to retreat back into the pool that it had come from. Rodrick ran to cut the monster’s path off, but Reya was faster.

She took a step forward and thrust her hand out. Faint blue light erupted at her palm, swirling through the air and forming a dull pillar above the Landsquid. The monster slowed, struggling against an invisible force.

It only lasted for an instant, but that instant was enough for Rodrick to close the space between himself and the squid and drive his sword forward, plunging it straight into the wounded monster’s skull.

The Landsquid lurched once, then the tension vanished from its body and it collapsed in a wet pile at Rodrick’s feet. He ripped his sword free, flicking purplish-blue goo from the blade, and sheathed at his side.

Arwin didn’t get any energy from killing the monster, but that was hardly a surprise. He didn’t get stronger from killing things – he got stronger from forging them. And, unfortunately, there wasn’t much he could do with the gelatinous monster’s corpse other than hope that Lillia fed it to people she didn’t like.

“That was awesome!” Reya exclaimed, running up to the monster’s body. “Did you see that? I helped!”

“That was actually pretty damn useful,” Rodrick said with an approving smile. “What did you do? It felt like you slowed it.”

“Yeah. The first ability I chose was [Imprison]. It lets me reduce the physical attributes of any monster by a small percentage. It’s stronger the closer in Tier I am to my target, so I can’t do too much with it yet, but I think it still helped. I got some energy for aiding in the kill.”

“It was definitely useful,” Arwin said. “I’m really curious to see what else your class will be capable of. Any debuff abilities are really valuable, so I think we can safely say you definitely went with the right choice.”

Rodrick nodded in agreement and let out a whistle. “Yeah. You’re going to be in real high demand, kid.”

“I am?” Reya asked. “Why?”

“Debuffs are one of the best ways to fight strong monsters,” Anna explained, walking up to stand beside Reya. “There’s only so hard you can hit things, especially ones with really powerful defenses. But, if you can chip away at those defenses, you can make really nasty fights much easier. Not many classes provide access to strong debuffs.”

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“I never thought about it that way. I just thought it sounded useful,” Reya said with a sheepish grin, rubbing the back of her neck. “I guess I made the right choice.”

“And you all left the squid mostly intact as well,” Lillia said, kneeling beside the dead monster and prodding it with a finger. “Thanks. I bet I could do a bunch of stuff with this thing, but it’s just struck me it’s probably going to go bad pretty quickly, isn’t it?”

“Most likely,” Arwin said. “You should invest in an icebox when you can.”

Lillia pursed her lips and groaned. “Just one of the many things I need to get my hands on. I’m pretty sure the list gets longer with every day.”

She picked up one of the severed tentacles and held it out before herself, ignoring the sickening squishing noises the limb made. It looked like an odd cross between flesh and Jell-o, and from the strong fishy smell filling the room, Arwin suspected it tasted like brine.

Please don’t try to turn that into sushi.

“Does anyone want to carry this?” Lillia asked hopefully.

Everyone suddenly found the walls fascinating. Lillia snorted and rolled the tentacle up as best she could before tucking it under an arm, completely staining her clothes. “Fine. I’ll carry it myself. True genius requires experimentation.”

“Does true genius also smell like fish?” Reya asked. “Because you’re going to.”

They all chuckled, and Arwin summoned his armor back as he walked a lap around the room, checking to see if there were any other monsters lurking in wait. He kept his distance from the pool of water, not wanting to find out the hard way that there was another squid.

“For our first fight of the dungeon, that wasn’t half bad,” Rodrick said.

“I’ll say,” Anna agreed. “We didn’t even get hit.”

“It was only an Apprentice Tier. I thought this was a Journeyman dungeon,” Reya said with a frown. “How come it was so weak?”

“Trust me, that wouldn’t have been weak if we hadn’t outnumbered it five to one,” Arwin said, still scanning the walls. “And Journeyman dungeon means it’s appropriate for Journeyman tier adventurers, not that everything within it is a Journeyman. The weakest monsters are always toward the entrance of the dungeon, and it’ll only get harder the deeper we go.”

“Oh, so that’s why we can’t clear out the whole thing yet?” Reya guessed.

“Exactly,” Arwin said. “We’ll probably be able to go a few rooms deep at the most, but that should be more than enough for our purposes. I want you to make sure you don’t land any killing blows on any monsters yet, by the way.”

Reya blinked in confusion. “Really? Why? Wouldn’t that get me energy faster so I could get stronger?”

“It would, but that would cripple you in the future,” Arwin said. He paused as some lines in the wall caught his eye. “Power lies in Titles and Achievements, not through jumping through the Tiers as quickly as you can. Trust me on this.”

“Okay,” Reya said with a mock salute. “Whatever you say, boss.”

“Arwin.”

“Right.” Reya didn’t sound particularly mollified, but Arwin didn’t press the issue.

He let his hand run along a crack in the stone, searching for a loose brick. It didn’t take long before he found it. There was a soft click and a portion of the wall ground back, swinging out to reveal another room.

“That was fast,” Anna said, her eyebrows crawling up her forehead. “How’d you know there was a secret door? I would have suspected something in the pool.”

“There might very well be something there,” Arwin allowed. “But I didn’t feel like going for a swim, and once you’ve seen a few dungeons, you start to keep an eye out for crap like this. Most of them were originally forts or other structures that got warped by the Mesh. Who doesn’t like a secret passage?”

“I only like secret passages when I find the stupid things,” Rodrick said as he walked over to stand beside Arwin. “We going in there?”

Arwin turned back to the pool and stuck his hammer out, extending until it was several feet beneath the water. He grimaced, then pulled it free and backed away from the water once more.

“Yeah. We’ve got a deep pool over here, but nothing popped out when I tested it. I don’t think the monsters should be that clever this far out, so we should be good to go deeper. Make sure to take things slowly, though.”

“Will do,” Rodrick promised. The two of them stepped into the next room. As soon as their feet fell beyond the doorway, dozens of little orange motes of energy identical to the ones that had lit up the stairs erupted all around the room, bathing it in soft light.

This room was even mossier than the first had been, and the vine growth was thick enough that it almost resembled roots running along the floor. Water dripped from the ceiling, pattering to the floor gently.

Sitting in the center of the room, still unaware of their presence, was a hunched green humanoid creature. It was hunched over the body of a dead Landsquid, ripping large portions of the fleshy body away and shoveling them into its fanged mouth.

[Swamp Orc – Journeyman 1]

A rusty cleaver hung at the monster’s side, still covered with goop from the Landsquid and dried blood from other victims. Rodrick gagged as the orc shoved a whole tentacle down its throat, barely even pausing to swallow. It wiped its mouth with the back of a clawed hand, then ripped another piece of the dead monster away.

“That’s one ugly bugger,” Rodrick muttered, just loud enough for Arwin to hear.

“Orcs are good fighters, but they’re not particularly clever. They’re more of a threat when they’re in groups,” Arwin said, tightening his grip on his hammer. The orc hadn’t noticed them yet, but it would soon – and, unfortunately, they didn’t have any ranged attacks that could take advantage of its distraction. “Just remember they’re a lot stronger than humans are on average, and it’s also got the tier advantage. Try to dodge attacks more than block them.”

“Right with you. Do you want to take the lead, considering…” Rodrick gestured vaguely to the armor covering Arwin’s body.

“Yeah. Wait until it’s distracted by me, then see if you can cripple it. Don’t go for a killing blow too early. It’ll make you over-extend and you could end up getting hit. It’s safer to just take this nice and steady. Reya, can you Imprison it when it looks like Rodrick is about to strike?”

“Yeah. I’ll do my best,” Reya whispered.

Arwin crept forward and the others followed him. It had been a long time since Arwin had fought an orc, but he got the feeling this one wouldn’t go down nearly as easily as their previous opponent had.