Chapter 88: Deaf

Chapter 88: Deaf

Jin and the other unfortunate thieves were left in a pile in the first room of the dungeon for something to come along and snack on. The first few rooms of the dungeon were so inconsequential that Arwin’s group barely even stopped on their way through them. Several more goblins, a strange blob of jelly that got splattered to paste by Verdant Blaze before it could even try attacking, all fell before them.

Even the orc, which had once been a significant threat, barely even managed to put up a fight. Reya froze the monster in place as it noticed their arrival into its room and Rodrick dispatched it a second later, delivering an empowered blow to the monster’s throat.

None of the monsters had been carrying anything that Arwin could use to work with and Lillia wasn’t keen on cooking with humanoid flesh after finding out that nobody was willing to eat it.

Even though they’d yet to get anything worthwhile, the progress from their first few dungeon runs was stark. They’d barely spent any energy getting this deep. Rodrick had mentioned about trying to go all the way to the end when they’d entered. At the time, Arwin hadn’t thought it even worth worrying about.

But now, as they continued on, Arwin was starting to wonder if that was actually as far-reaching as he’d initially thought. He hadn’t so much as had to use a single ability or scrap of energy so far.

He pushed those thoughts to the back of his head and forced himself to follow his own advice. Worrying about what would happen in the future was just going to put the present at risk. The end of the dungeon would come if it came.

“Everyone ready?” Arwin asked, stopping at the end of the hallway that led out of the third room and at the entrance to the fourth. Two flickering orbs of purple torchlight guarded the door before him.

“Big bugger,” Rodrick said. He spun his sword at his side. “I’m ready to let you do all the work and then take the kill for myself.”

Arwin rolled his eyes. “You don’t have to sound so excited about it.”

“I like free stuff,” Rodrick said. “I’ve got your back, though.”

Reya held her hands before her, ready to call on her powers at a moment’s notice. Lillia stood beside her. Shadows coiled at her feet in anticipation. Arwin didn’t bother asking if they were ready. He didn’t need to.

He pushed the door open. The dungeon had changed the room once again – but not as much as some others. Translucent green crystals jutted out of the walls and protruded from the ceiling, sharpened to jagged points.

A hunched creature sat in the corner of the room. The back of its spine pressed against taut grey skin. It was vaguely humanoid and its clawed hands were full of gems that had been ripped up from the ground around it. Cracks and grinding crunches came from the monster’s mouth as its jaws worked.

It turned as Arwin stepped into the room, revealing sunken grey eyes and large floppy ears. A flat nose flared on its face as it sniffed the air and rose to its feet, staggering, and let out a high-pitched growl. Gems fell from its mouth and tinkled against the floor.

[Chiropire Screecher – Journeyman 5]

Even though Arwin had never seen this particular monster, it only took one look at its large ears and its name to determine exactly what it was the monster did. The Chiropire drew in a deep breath and it stomach ballooned.

Arwin dashed forward, dismissing Verdant Blaze so he could close the distance sooner. He wasn’t fast enough. The Chiropire’s ears folded in on themselves and a deafening screech ripped through the room.

His eardrums burst. Arwin staggered and lost his balance mid-step. He managed to catch himself before he fell to the ground by planting his feet and skidding to a stop, but the world swirled and danced around him unsteadily.

The only thing he could hear was a deafening echo of silence. Warm blood dripped down the sides of his face. Twisting and dancing in his vision, the Chiropire turned toward Arwin and bared a mouth full of large, heavy molars. Two fangs snapped out of its top lip and it darted toward him.

“We’re both fine,” Lillia said. “I would have tried to attack with my shadows, but I was worried I’d hit you in the process. I didn’t want to make things worse.”

“It’s fine. It turned out okay.” Arwin wiped the blood away from his face before summoning his helm back, inert. The aura seemed to disappear whenever he sent it back to wherever it was that [Arsenal] kept his equipment. “Anyone get anything good?”

“I went up a Tier and got an Achievement that got consumed at the same time to upgrade one of my skill choices,” Reya said absently as her eyes flitted through the air before her. “I’m Apprentice 2 now, and I got an upgraded skill called Shackle Break. It lets me shatter any magic that is negatively affecting myself or an ally, but it’s got the typical drawback of having more trouble breaking moves from people at higher Tiers.”

“An ability that removes oppression? Those are normally just for healers or self-buffs,” Anna said, blinking in surprise. “That’s quite the odd class you got there.”

“It falls in the realm of battlefield supports,” Rodrick said before Arwin could answer. “That’s my suspicion, at least. Probably an aggressive one. That’s why Reya got it from a combination of sparing the first lizard and trying to kill herself on the Wyrm. Mix of anti-combat and suppression techniques that aid your allies.”

That’s pretty close to what I was going to say. I thought Rodrick didn’t know that much about this kind of thing. He seemed like a bit of a goofy, well-meaning idiot when we first met. That doesn’t really match up with the intelligence he’s shown in recent days.

Something tells me Rodrick and Anna left the Adventurer’s Guild for more reasons than what they said.

“It sounds like a good choice,” Arwin said. He studied the body of the monster at his feet. There wasn’t much use he was going to get out of it, but the crystals were another story. He headed around the room, collecting them. Lillia procured a large tarp bag for him to store his findings in, then slung it over her shoulder.

“Do we go deeper?” Anna asked.

“I’d say so,” Arwin said, studying himself for a second. The Chiropire hadn’t damaged his armor and, while he’d lost some blood, he still had a lot of magical energy to work with. If it hadn’t been for the monster’s screech, it probably wouldn’t have landed a blow on him at all.

And besides – the crystals weren’t enough. They were a decent reward and he could work with them, but he wanted more if he could get away with it. Returning to the surface now felt too early.

“Just be careful. We’re definitely over halfway into the dungeon by now,” Lillia warned. “The things from here on out will be strong.”

“Good,” Rodrick said. “We need the experience fighting. I think I’m probably not too far from reaching the next level in my Tier as well. Maybe one or two more fights like that. Hopefully I can get another Achievement on the way.”

Nobody else voiced any concerns, so Arwin nodded and gestured to a thin hall leading into the dark sandwiched between large growths of jutting crystals. “Let’s go deeper, then. Keep your eyes and ears peeled. I don’t know what we’ve got ahead of us but considering that’s the second time we’ve seen crystals in this dungeon, it’s likely we’re going to see more rooms like this one.”

“Dungeons stop changing the deeper you get in them?” Reya asked.

“Generally, yes,” Arwin said. “It’s easy to modify the outer layers, but from what I understand, the deeper you get, the more set in stone dungeons become. They’re not exactly living creatures, but they’re not inanimate either. It’s easier to cut your fingernails than it is to swap out an organ.”

“Makes sense,” Reya said. “So that means the monsters down here are going to be ones that probably like crystals?”

“Most likely,” Arwin said as he squeezed through the gap between the crystals and started into the hallway, the others following behind him. “And, with any luck, they’ll also be made out of something that I can forge with.”