Chapter Fifteen: The Mines of Gamor

Chapter Fifteen: The Mines of Gamor

“Sekh!” I shouted, keeping a safe distance from the foe in front of me as it tightly gripped its spear and shield.

[Lesser Goblin Spearman – Lv. 1]

Its gross green skin seemed to have cancerous boils. “RRRAAAHHHHHH!!!” Sekh screamed, thrusting her spear forward, but it was blocked by the only remaining goblin. It was surrounded by four corpses after we had launched a surprise attack against them. I didn’t want to use Reina’s gun because it was going to be my last resort, but I had a hunch. You see, people and monsters in this world really did not like the sound of gunfire. It was loud and attracted a ton of attention, but it worked well to sow confusion amongst our foes.

None of them knew what was happening when I fired my initial salvo of bullets, taking down three foes with three precise shots to the head. Like a bolt of fierce fire, Sekh took full advantage of this opportunity and raced forward with a grin. Her first attack was lethal, finishing one of the two I had spared with a thrust through the back of the head. Then as she was facing the last one alive, she purposely had her spear blocked so she could grab the goblin’s shield and scorch it with [Black Fire], which then spread to the goblin at lightning speed. It burned to death—an agonizing scream erupted from its mouth until it no longer made a sound. Cooked flesh wafted up from the charcoaled corpse, but I smelled something delicious.

New Title: [Goblin Slayer (I)]

With the fight over, Sekh cut into the corpses to obtain their cores, stopping when she remembered I had [Auto-Loot]. I looked around this torch-lit room inside a dungeon.

The Mines of Gamor was true to its name. After entering through the entrance that looked like a regular mine opening, we immediately ended up in something that looked grimmer than I expected. The lanterns and torches lining the walls did little to illuminate the surrounding areas. Even the large lobby was dark when not accounting for my night vision. It was all but required to carry personal torches so you could see more than a few feet in front of you. Admittedly, it didn’t seem like the layout was that complex. There were side rooms and hidden corridors, but everything connected to the main path that stretched from the lobby to the ramp leading further below. An aged dwarf in the lobby said the mines had two floors, so it was conquerable in a few hours at most.

When I entered the dungeon, my map morphed into a 3-D model of the layout to better keep track of my position and location. Unfortunately, most of it was blacked out because I hadn’t filled it out. It traced my steps, though, making it hard to get lost.

Sekh and I were in a side room near the beginning. The number of people we saw out front and inside the lobby suggested we were going to be around others, but I had a deterrent. People in this world really didn’t like the sound of gunfire. The same went for the monsters, but like I had just proved, we could use that to our advantage.

But I had to be conservative with Reina’s gun. Three shots were enough to make me woozy, and four would almost certainly put me on my ass. Granted, assimilating refilled my mana in addition to biomass, so if I had enough targets in front of me, I could, technically, shoot for hours without any repercussions. But I couldn't count on that. Especially when inside a public dungeon. Sure, my map showed me everyone's locations at all times, but 90% of it was blacked out at the moment. And what about teleportation?

Like the horny fairy said, it was better to be safe than sorry, especially when I was at the bottom of the totem of power.

“Tilde, go keep watch.”

“Got it, Master! Remember, don’t leave anything left on your plate. You have to eat it all,” replied the fairy. She flew from my backpack over to the doorway and hovered in place like a sentry drone. With the coast clear, I assimilated the corpses with my boar head hand after removing a glove, not stopping until they were nothing more than a bloody patch on the ground. Bones, fat, sinew, guts... I devoured it all.

“Gulag!!! Gue Gue Gue!!!!” chanted the ones in the back. It seemed they knew this was a dungeon meant for beginners and foolishly thought they had a chance against me.

[Deadeye], grant me accuracy...

With a focused mind and determined spirit, I materialized Scorpion’s Bite and channeled [Piercing Thrust] after growing tusks from the corner of my mouth. In my other hand, I held my spear. Surprisingly, it didn’t hurt at all. I just needed the transfiguration energy flowing through me to access the unmastered skills. I aimed and pulled my trigger, destroying the goblin from any raping it had in its future. The shot didn’t kill it, but it sure sent a message.

Dematerializing the gun, I used [Piercing Thrust] through my spear and threw it, finishing off the one I had wounded.

You’ve mastered [Piercing Thrust]!

Sekh danced a ballet of death, sending the remaining goblins to the afterlife by alternating between [Black Fire] infused punches and deadly thrusts. Most of it was due to her overwhelming power, even considering she was a level 1 Dark Lord against level 2 goblins, but again, fear was instilled into their bodies by my gunshot. They hadn’t yet recovered from the intense ringing in their ears.

“Can’t believe they died with their hands on their cocks.” I spat on their corpses while retrieving my spear. “Tilde, get on standby.”

“Goblins are disgusting creatures,” Sekh said, picking up a shield for herself. She gathered a second one for me to use after I devoured the nasty pests. I groaned when my arm shrunk, turned green, and started to smell. I shook away the transfiguration and slipped the glove back on.

Reina’s arms are much preferable...

“They knew [Spear] and [Shield], but mine didn’t increase in level. Why?” I asked Tilde when she flew back over.

“If you could gain Lv. 10 in a skill by assimilating a being with the skill ten times, chimera would rule the world with an iron fist.”

“I guess that’s understandable. But let’s say I assimilate like 700 goblins. Would it increase then?”

"Yep! I mean, you have [Timeless Existence], so there isn’t any reason why you couldn’t assimilate those with [Spear] and [Shield] until they’re maxed out. Just know that training is faster than that, and using SP is even faster because you get the results instantly. Oh, you’re also really close to leveling up. A few more kills will do it for you. Too bad you won’t get any SP. Being a 0-Star must majorly suck,” Tilde said as we retraced our steps and emerged into the room with the dead goblin. It wasn’t alone, and there was a volatile Catfolk with a dagger. I recalled he was with that green-haired Dogfolk, earlier. Did they split up? He gave the corpse a postmortem execution, going so far as to curse the dead while stabbing into its stomach, splashing gore and guts everywhere.