26: Cave Dweller Prime
The creature stood tall at around 6 feet high, its head round and bald with two horns spiraling off the side. Its yellow, gold-like skin was marred with various scars and cuts that seemed like something a worn-out war veteran would have, proving its might over the years.
While its legs were small with many curling toes, its wide arms and bulging chest made an incredible impact on Aidan’s eyes as it roared and aimed after them, reaching out to them with its wide hands that could wrap their entire bodies in one grip.
Aidan slammed his hand to the ground, conjuring a stone wall that surrounded the party and stopped the incoming strike. But it could barely hold before it was blasted apart, the dust cloud burning his eyes as the gorilla-like monster screeched in anger for being unable to hit them.
It roared, banged on the ground, and thumped its chest like a mad animal, swinging its head around in fury.
Cave Dweller Prime, Level 22.
“Oh fuck that!”
Aidan cursed. That was the first time he had seen a creature over level 20.
Wasn’t the dungeon supposed to have a recommendation level between 5 to 10? This was just bullshit if this kind of thing just appeared out of nowhere.
“W-What is that thing!?” Haley shouted in alarm. “Why’s it here? That thing’s way too high level to be here!”
It looked like Aidan wasn’t the only one complaining about the recommendation lying to them. Haley stood up with shaking knees, her sword trembling in her hands as she backed away from the rampaging monster in front of them. As usual, Van stood in front of her, his eyes wide and frantic with his buckler, which looked absolutely tiny compared to the thing’s massive hands, the only thing protecting him and his sister.
“Stay back! I-I’ll keep it busy!”
Even Aidan knew Van was just spewing hot air, but he realized then that this was how a party normally is. With Haley barely having any experience, only Aidan and Van could actually do anything to it. But there was no way that Van would have enough resistance to even handle just one of the creature’s attacks without Aidan assisting him.
Still, he tried his best. Aidan commanded the stone around them to comply, summoning constructs that jutted out and surrounding the giant creature with their restraints. However, unlike the other creatures, the Prime Dweller roared and crushed the stone apart with ease, swinging its arms around and breaking them like they were just mere glass.
The creature roared and pounded on the ground, then used the momentum to launch itself forward, pouncing straight onto Van. He ducked to the side, primed and ready to get the hell out of the way before the ground caved underneath the dweller, creating spider-web cracks that spread throughout the ground.
Haley didn’t just stand there, and instead actually swung her sword, activating her enchantment. A magic arc flew out from her side and stung the dweller in its arm. It only scratched the skin, blood trickling down from the fresh wound. That instantly took its attention as the Prime Dweller turned its rampant attention to the young girl, her eyes opening wide as it roared and chased after her.
“Run! Run!” Van screamed, rushing right at the dweller himself.
Aidan, however, took action instead. He commanded the stone beside Haley to rush out, pushing her out of the way before the dweller could reach her. She fell and slid across the ground, probably a little dizzy from the rough impact of the stone hitting her, but Aidan made sure to make the part of the stone that hit her soft like clay to lessen the impact. Plus, with her iron armor, she should be fine, if just a little dizzy from the sudden flinging of her body.
The Prime Dweller screamed out in rage at missing its target, then turned towards the one that kept getting in its way–Aidan himself.
All at once, Aidan’s own mind raced and his heart could’ve dropped from his chest. He was in such a panic that his mind blanked out for a moment once he saw the giant creature aiming right for him.
Thankfully he had enough self-awareness that his body moved on instinct, the wind pressure from the giant beast whipping past him almost leaving him twisted and out of shape as he was tossed to the side, landing near the wall with a thunk that could’ve broken bones.
He wasn’t sure why, but he had a bad feeling that the monster was using some sort of magic that was covering its entire body. That alone would be dangerous to get close to, so he shouted at everyone to do the same.
“Don’t get close to that thing!”
“You think we want to?!”
Van argued back (and rightfully so) as the Prime Dweller kept charging around like a crazed bull on drugs. It roared, picking up the broken stone debris left from its destruction and chucking them at the siblings. Haley was fast enough to get away, but Van had no choice but to use his buckler to barely block before getting grazed by the giant thrown rock, pushing him backwards enough to land several feet away.
Aidan slammed his hand on the ground, his mind racing to find out what to do. Simple stone constructs weren’t enough, and he didn’t know what else to use to entrap that creature. So instead, he willed the stone to become spears that jutted out and pierced the flesh of the dweller.
But to his shock, the stone just teetered around the arms and chest, becoming twisted themselves and breaking apart right before reaching the monster. Aidan finally realized it after actually seeing the process for himself.
Is it… using some kind of gravity magic?
Just to check, Aidan summoned small projectiles from the ground and launched them towards the creature. As he predicted, rather than the creature just tossing them to the side, before they could reach a certain radius, the stone projectiles just twisted around the creature, becoming destroyed in the process as they crumbled apart.
The closer we get to it, the stronger the gravity becomes. Enough to break you. It’s strong enough to handle its own gravity field that’s surrounding it.
It was the worst type of match up for Aidan. He only focused on attacking from range, using his self-made constructs and weapons to deal finishing blows. But the Prime Dweller specializes in close-range combat, and could easily deal against physical ranged attacks.
The only way they could actually damage the creature was using physical attacks or straight up magic like Haley’s sword could. But there was no way that they could deal enough damage before the Prime Dweller could reach them and rip them apart.
They were in a losing battle, Aidan knew it. So he devised a plan.
“Van! Distract it as long as you can! Haley! Get the hell away and come to me! We’re gonna get out of here!”
He hoped Van trusted him enough to follow his orders, because if Van kept going this way, there was going to be a casualty that they could never get back from. Thankfully Van listened as he rushed in, his buckler on hand but keeping his distance. Haley, for her part, put down her sword and ran like hell towards Aidan.
The Prime Dweller kept rampaging, throwing its own projectiles at Van and Haley. It kept destroying the hall, breaking through walls and creating new pathways and closing off the old ones. Stone and debris were everywhere, and Aidan swore that it was possible that they could be making a cave-in. Aidan knelt to the ground, and truly focused inward.
He knew in an instant that using Rend would actually kill him rather than doing any form of damage to the Dweller. It focuses on twisting the very fabric of a being itself, and the creature was too high level to even try it on, its will too strong to handle.
But what he can do is alter the environment around him, and he had the perfect ability to use it. Thanks to Magic Boost, he could increase the potency of his spells and use up more mana. While commanding the stone wouldn’t really make them stronger, his other spell Infuse could.
The thing was, he never tried infusing magic into anything else other than weapons. Would he have to think up an effect to give them the power it needed? But considering the situation, he was prepared to try a little experimentation if it meant hurting the dweller long enough to get away from it.
He flared Multicast throughout his body, using Infuse on the stone around him as Craft took effect. The walls and the stone around him wobbled as though it became alive, wriggling despite their solid structure almost like waves passing through.
Vibrations. They were the vibrations Aidan was forcefully oscillating and reverberating throughout the field. Magic Boost made it so that it could actually physically affect the solid outer structure straight from within.
Van flew through the air, blood pouring out from the cut done to his head. It came from the multiple sharp edges of the rocks thrown by the dweller. He landed on the ground, far enough away from the dweller and, while Aidan hated to say this, thankfully close enough to their party.
“Van!”
“Don’t move!” Aidan shouted to Haley, his teeth gritting as he felt something dripping from his nose. He saw blood trickling down to the floor as his mind ached from the constant pouring of his mana through using Multicast.
Ability Upgraded! Magic Boost (Copper) became Magic Boost (Bronze)!
He felt the stone becoming stronger, enhanced in a way that was different from a simple enchantment. They were sturdier, and they actually felt harder to alter with Craft. However, his Craft spell was at a high enough rank to alter them at his will, getting Aidan to act.
A sea of molded stone flowed out from the walls like water, covering the entire hallway with its grainy substance and drowning everything within the spacious pathway. The Prime Dweller was swept up in it all, roaring out and trying to swim through the stony current.
It struggled, its gravity magic pushing away the stone-made current that was trying to overpower it, but the tsunami of earth kept piling on, covering the entire hallway and pushing the Prime Dweller way past the party’s current vision.
The lights that made up the hallway vanished, leaving the entire party in darkness as the entire hallway was completely covered in stone that quickly solidified, becoming a new type of construction that looked seemingly natural yet not. The sounds of rampant destruction faded away, only leaving behind that dawning emptiness that seemed to swallow everything whole.
Unfortunately, Aidan didn’t know whether it was naturally dark or his vision was becoming blurry, eventually falling over and hitting his head on the stone pavement below. He entered into a dreamless comatose state that completely knocked him out.
…..
When he regained consciousness, Aidan panicked and immediately searched his surroundings with Sense Vibrations. Once he recognized that he and two others were the only ones around, he slowly let out a breath so deep it felt like it came from his gut.
“He’s awake!” He heard Haley’s excited voice piercing his hearing, making him flinch, given that everything around him had been dead silent.
There was a single light source, another torch that either Van or Haley lit up and left at a corner, brightening up the small room that they found themselves in. Another wave of panic hit him and forced him to do another vibration check around his vicinity.
“Hey, you okay?” Van said, catching his attention.
“How did you find this place?” Aidan asked, ignoring his question. “Did you check for any monsters around?”
“Yeah, I did, don’t worry,” Van said, patting his chest. “I have experience in clearing an area out, and we found a place where we can hide ourselves for a bit. We found a room with nothing inside and moved some of the boulders left behind to hide us.”
“Shit…” Aidan muttered. “How long was I out?”
“Just a few minutes,” Van digressed. “Seriously, how are you? Can you still hold up?”
“Yeah, yeah,” Aidan nodded. “Sorry, I’m just a bit woozy…”
“You must have used a lot of mana,” Haley said, her hand resting on Aidan’s back and giving it a rub. It soothed his nerves a little, making Aidan relax some more. “You looked really pale, and you were bleeding from your nose and eyes.”
“Shit, my eyes too?” Aidan cursed. “Damn, I must have been closer to zero than I thought…”
He looked up at his status screen, and saw that he was indeed closer to zero than ever. Even though it was just a mere 7, it was 7points away from zero. It was slowly regenerating, but he could practically feel every lost point jabbing into his mind and brain.
Haley offered up a waterskin, making Aidan grateful and thanking her before taking a sip. It cooled his throat and cleared his head a little, leaving him time to breath and calm down.
“I also sensed that there weren't any monsters around. You picked a good place. So, no sign of that bastard Prime Dweller, right?”
“Not a single one,” Van answered. “Whatever you did separated us for good. I know it took a lot out of you, and I’m thankful for that. Seriously, that’s some strong magic you used… I can’t help it, what exactly did you do?”
“Van…” Haley warned, her eyes piercing in this dim lighting. “Not now.”
“Nah, it’s fine,” Aidan said. He wasn’t sure, but his current state left him pretty vulnerable. Seeing the two take care of him and keeping an eye out while he was totally unconscious made him realize that they could at least know a little truth about his powers. “It’s complicated, but have you ever heard of Harmony?”
The two looked at him questioningly, clearly showing no signs of knowing.
“Well, it’s… kinda like seeing into the secrets of the world. I can control something called vibrations that everything has, including living beings. I can sense those vibrations from other beings, even from far away, and I can use magic that alters those vibrations to my benefit. It’s part of my talent.”
“Vibrations…” Van muttered. “That’s incredible… though I still don’t get it. That means you can control everything?”
“To an extent,” Aidan said. “It looks like I only control earth, but it’s only because it’s the closest physical thing I can touch. I also used Magic Boost from my Mage class while using my talent to boost the… vibrations of the stone, I think. That’s what drained most of my mana pool.”
“I-Is it okay to say that?” Haley said, making herself comfortable as she positioned her sitting posture. “Won’t Nina get mad for you revealing that?”
Aidan scoffed. “She doesn’t decide when I show off my powers or not. I may be under her contract, but that doesn’t mean anything to me.”
“What do you mean by that?” Van asked. “You mean you figured out a way to get around her contract?”
“Well… yes, in a way,” Aidan said. “But I can’t do the same for Haley. If Nina finds out about it, I don’t wanna know what might happen after.”
“I see…” Van lowered his head. “Still, I can’t believe it. It sounds like you really got yourself a powerful talent.”
“Yeah, mine’s only good for finding rare things,” Haley commented with a small smile. “Not exactly useful when you’re surviving in a dungeon… and, sorry for not being of use here to you guys.”
“Why are you apologizing?” Aidan asked. “You’re lucky you’re alive with how you are. Just be glad for that.”
“Yeah, but… Van’s hurt, and you got knocked out. All I did was run away.”
“Oh, shit, right. Van, how are you?” Aidan realized, turning over to Van. He only just noticed how bad off Van was from the way he was sitting.
He was hanging off to the side, and his leg was bent in a way that looked uncomfortable. There was still blood coating his armor, and his head seemed recently bandaged with gauze that was tinted red.
“It’s okay,” Van said. “I’ll survive… but I might need some time to recover my health pool.”
Aidan wondered what to do. Then he snapped his fingers as he opened up his spatial storage bag. When he opened it up, he sensed the bag somewhat expanding, and his mind picked up on what kind of items were inside despite not seeing any physically. It was a weird sensation, but he figured that was the reason why these things were so costly as one could see how many items were inside through the enchantment alone.
He pushed his hand into the bag, and pulled out a small vial that was the size of his index finger with a stopper at the top, red liquid swishing about inside.
“Here, drink this. It’s supposed to be a potion,” Aidan handed, with Van taking it for himself.
“A-Are you sure? These things are expensive–”
“Better to take it now than never use it. What’s the point of having it around then?”
Seeing the logic, Van nodded his head in thanks and pulled the stopper from the vial. He chucked the potion down his throat and drank it full, shaking his head as his face scrunched up. It looked like the potion was pretty bitter from his expression.
Aidan sensed something then, his soul, which had been crying out in pain, gradually restored through his senses and felt a little fuller than before. His eyes widened at the miraculous recovery, something that Aidan guessed would’ve taken hours to do so.
“Wow, that’s some potent stuff,” Aidan said.
“Yeah, I’m feeling better already… how about you? Do you need anything?”
“I don’t have any potions that recover mana, but I got a meditation skill that lets me regenerate faster. Let’s stay here for a bit and let me get topped off. I can also use it to search my surroundings, so I’ll be gone for a bit.”
“What do you mean?” Haley asked.
“Oh, I can kinda turn into a ghost and it lets me fly around the place while I’m in meditation,” Aidan said with a quirky smile, making both the siblings widen their eyes at him. “It’s pretty fun stuff.”
“Yeah… I can see why you’re so powerful now,” Van said, shaking his head. “Just be careful. I know now how valuable you are, and I need you to get me and my sister out safely.”
“I got no intentions of leaving anybody,” Aidan said, then waved off. “Alright, make yourselves comfortable. I’m off to dreamland.”
He said with a joking manner, but he could feel the tension still lingering in their souls. Once Aidan came back with some news, he could brighten up their moods with what he could see around them.
Hopefully that fucker Prime Dweller is nowhere in sight. He almost shivered at the thought of meeting it again before he closed his eyes and entered Soul Meditation.