A Dungeon’s Survival

Cameron

Archie, Vie, and Pee were dead. I felt momentary despair at that realization. My preparations had failed them yet again, and things were beginning to seem hopeless. Then, that sorrow turned to anger and determination that bubbled up from within me. For them, no matter how bad the situation was, I had to get through it.

I had tried to crush my enemies with brute force and failed, but they had taken a lot of damage in the process. I only needed to press that advantage a little further, and I could even the playing fields enough to open up a world of new options. To that end, I quickly used the DP that had been going towards sustaining my dearest friends to level up my Bloodthorn Vines. I dumped its three unassigned stat points into endurance, coldly issued a command, and made my move.

Adraugon, I don't care what it takes. Kill that mage.

“I no…” the miniature dragon trailed off before changing his answer, “Fine. I hunt that prey. You, keep up.”

Was that a mixture of surprise and grudging respect I felt from him? I had no idea as to the cause of that unusual set of emotions, but I didn't have time to parse his reaction. I had more pressing concerns to tend to.

First, I needed a distraction. The Plated Gator that had just arrived outside of the room could serve that purpose. Even if it wasn't one of the stronger variety like the ones Vie and Pee had fought against, it was enough to cause a momentary distraction among the battered delvers. I ordered it to charge in and capitalized on that distraction.

There was still one intact vine left besides the one in the large beastkin's grasp. I used it to strike out at the the woman who had killed Vie and Pee. The group's leader was nearer to death than her, but there was little I could do with the two hulking men standing over him. Instead, I was going to capitalize on the damage the girls had done to her and the venom they had injected the woman with. I was determined to bring at least half of the group down, but as long as the mage fell, I felt confident in my own survival. That was what was most important, so I moved to keep her busy.

I saw the gnome turn to deal with the vine I was commanding as it whipped past overhead. He raised his staff, about to cast a spell, but before he could, Adraugon was on top of him. In the end, rounded stats or not, a mage was still a mage, and the fierce reptile's claws were sharp.

A moment later, my vine came down on the woman and was promptly cut through. Even as her ally dropped dead a short distance away, her attention fell on nothing other than bringing down her enemy. She did that with cruel efficiency. Despite my best effort to put pressure on her, I found the vine to be helpless to stop her. Keeping my attention there was not doing any good, so I pulled for the System's screens instead.

I had most of my notifications turned off, so my observation that the gnome was dead was purely speculation. I had to bring up Adraugon's status and check his experience to confirm it. As soon as the numbers came into view, I wished I had had my Summoned Hero title active.

Four levels is what the tiny dragon had gained in that one go. It was enough to push me most of the way to the next level myself. I would have been even closer to that threshold with the bonus the title gave, but I was stuck using a different one. Having Limitless equipped took priority. The five percent bonus to my monsters' stats that it provided might not have been much, but there was no way I was going to go without it in such a crucial moment.

Experience aside, the real reward from my enemy's death was that it left my opponents unable to detect mana. That was what I had been waiting for. My Shade Lurker would be key to the plan that had begun to form in my mind, and it was now free to move around in secret. I gave it a command, and it shot off toward the arena. Then, I instructed the Bloodthorn Vines to start rampaging with its two fully functioning limbs.

Its attacks wouldn't be as accurate nor its efforts as reliable without me guiding it every step of the way, but it would have to be enough. I had something I needed to do, and it would take every bit of my focus that I could spare to make sure it was done right. I would keep an eye on things here, but something else took priority.

* * *

Loid

Every last part of my body was in excruciating pain. The sensation was nothing new to me, but that didn't make it any easier to cope. Despite that, I wouldn't have given up the pain, even if I could have. It kept me grounded and aware of my condition. Just one look at Arina was enough to see the downsides of a complete numbness to it. As powerful as the Berserker class she had gained was, I was of the belief that its downsides weren't worth the ups, but at least, she was alive. Barnes wasn't so lucky.

I gritted my teeth as I caught a glimpse of him falling out of the corner of my eye. He had ended up on his own, a failing on our part, and he had paid the ultimate price for it. In our line of work, it wasn't entirely unexpected, but that only lessened the sting so much. We had come too far to turn back. The most we could do was make sure his sacrifice wasn't in vain.

At last, I regained my balance. The monster had hit hard, and I was certain that it had left me with broken bones and maybe even a fractured skull. The Dungeon had proved even more dangerous than I had feared. However, the battle was almost won. A single glace around was enough to tell me that much.

Bern had the new monster handled. In spite of its intimidating appearance, the large creature seemed to be nothing more than fodder before him as he tossed it around. All of the monsters in the room we were in had been stronger than it. That part of the fight didn't warrant my attention.

Arina also seemed to be handling herself well enough for the time being. It was a well-known fact that it was best to give people with her class space in a fight. It was dangerous to get in a rampaging Berserker's way, so all I would be doing by getting myself involved was making our situation worse. That left one scrap for me to intervene in.

As I moved, I wasn't as steady on my feet as usual, but I still acted with precision. Daren had the tendril that had attacked me in his grip, but he wasn't free to dispatch it. It seemed that task would fall on me.

I raised my blades as I moved, and with a handful of swipes, they tore through the creature. Slash after slash, I ripped through it until nothing but shreds remained. I waited until it fell limp. Then, I took in the scene once more.

Behind me, the giant reptile that had suddenly arrived was overturned, Bern atop it with the creature's heart ripped out and held above his head in triumph. A ways away, Arina was chopping an unmoving, fake stalagmite into paste. For the moment, the fighting had come to a stop.

“Hey, Arina,” I called out between coughs, “take the antivenom! I don't know if that snake got you, but in your state, I doubt you do either!”

I didn't stop and lower my guard, even as I gave the order. There had been no notification. The rock monster was still alive, and I hadn't seen where the lizard scurried off to. Things may have gone quiet, but there was no doubt in my mind that we were still in battle. I was not going to get caught off guard.

“Everyone,” I called, “start hitting the stalagmites. We don't know how many more are fake. Also–”

I caught a glimpse of green from Daren's lanternlight. The lizard was back and creeping up from behind. I pretended not to notice it. Then, when it sped up and lunged, I activated two abilities: Dash and Precise Strike.

The monster pulled the same trick it did the first time I had clashed with it. As I moved to counter it, it changed direction with a burst of speed that greatly surpassed my own, but I wasn't relying on stats anymore. Dash gave me the speed I needed to react to its movements, and Precise Strike did just that for me. My blade entered its body, nearly severing it in two. Cleaved asunder, it was something that could have only been a fatal blow, yet there I was still being swept off my feet in a gust of wind.

The gale didn't move me far like whatever the creature had done to Daren at the start of the fight, but it did bring me back to the ground. As I crashed and rolled, I saw my comrades move toward me. Daren was closest, and there was shock on the bear beastkin's face as he raised his hands in a fighting stance. I followed his gaze and saw it.

One of the limp tendrils that laid motionless on the group snapped into action. Apparently, whatever the creature it was connected to was, it wasn't as immobilized in that part of its body as I had thought. That incorrect assumption had been a fatal mistake.

“Damn.”

* * *

Cameron

Twelve points in endurance.

I dumped all of the stats my monster had gained from killing the man into its defense. The monster was practically dead, but I would take every second it could continue to buy me. To that end, I made another choice.

[Upgrade: Gluttonous Vines II

Effect: The monster's vines drain blood another +20% faster.]

Then, I made another.

[Experience to next level: 182,029 / 144,000

Level up?

Yes / No]

[Please select a perk.]

I did not waste my time reading through the perks. Instead, I dismissed the option and began dumping as many of my newly gained Dungeon Points into modifying the Shade Lurker as I could. I also gave the order for the Bloodthorn Vines to thrash about with their damaged limbs as much as they could with their last sliver of life. Even with their newly acquired stats, that wasn't going to be long.

The creature had survived so far due to its main body being tucked out of sight, but at long last, it failed to put on enough pressure to keep the enemies away from its flower that had, up until this point, remained safely tucked away on the other side of the tree. The woman, with a roar of outrage at her leader's death, rushed through the storm of whaling, tattered vines without a care for the damage they were doing to her. Then, as she reached it, she brought a brutal and swift end to my defender.

It didn't take her long to notice the cavity underneath its remains that led under the tree after that. She wasted no time in ripping my monster's remains from the ground and revealing my hiding place below. There, no longer hidden to her, laid a sizable glowing crystal. The woman ground her teeth as she glared at it. Then, she raised her blade.

As it plunged downward, she let out a guttural cry that echoed throughout the cave so loudly it probably could have been heard from anywhere within. Her blade collided, and all that remained was a shower of crystalline fragments.