Heavy Metal

"What's going to happen to us…"

"What if those people return?"

"I want to go home…"

Rusty looked at the various people before him, beginning to wonder if helping them had been a mistake, especially given the Priest's erratic behavior. After he had restored her health and provided her with mana potions, she went to work. But instead of healing the strongest fighters, she focused on the youngest and most frail among them. In Rusty's battle-ready mind, this didn't make sense as they needed more capable soldiers on their side and not more liabilities.

Fortunately, the strongest among them appeared to be the warrior Rusty had just healed. Despite his earlier weakened state, the warrior regained his strength faster than Rusty expected. The shackles that had bound him seemed to have unusual properties - once they were removed, his health began to recover on its own, and his wounds closed with superhuman speed, even without further potions. This made Rusty wonder if he should keep those chains for himself.

The only issue was that the chains were made from an unknown metal that his system wouldn't allow him to use directly. He could carry them in his stash tab, though that space was limited. Fortunately, the large spatial satchel he had found in the underground chamber was spacious enough to hold them. When the warrior tore the chains from the wall in a fit of rage, Rusty saw the potential for a hidden weapon, one he might wield in the future. Thus, while the others were helping everyone else, he stuffed one of the chains into the satchel.

"Mr. Albert, you have my gratitude, but how are we going to leave this place? Do you know a way out?"

Layla, his acquaintance from the adventurers' guild, finally spoke up, her voice barely a whisper.

"There's a mechanism that opens a stairway up, but I'm not sure how to activate it - or how many enemies we're facing,"

He replied, struggling to keep his composure. The people here were an unpredictable variable, one that could turn against him at any moment. If things got too chaotic, he was prepared to shift into his more slender form and make a quick escape.

"I think we have two options, either we try to activate the mechanism and wait for it to form the stairs, or we–"

Before he could finish, the large man he had healed with his potion cut in. In his hands a rock that he promptly crushed and threw the dust to the side.

"Or we destroy their base and kill them all! Those bastards dared to deceive me; I'll slaughter every last one of them!"

The man's voice echoed through the chamber, his anger intensifying, much to Rusty's dismay. The last thing they needed was this much noise. Although going deeper into the underground cult lair might be beneficial, he was wary of the figure the cultists called the High Priest. Escaping using the existing mechanism seemed a safer option, but it would likely alert their enemies to their location.

"Please, calm yourself - they'll hear us! We have no idea how many there are. Let me tend to the wounded first."

The lady priest called to the burly man, her voice barely a whisper. The warrior spun around, his eyes narrowing as if her plea had struck a nerve. His face twisted in fury, but he took a slow breath, struggling to rein in his anger. His gaze flicked to the mangled bodies scattered around, and eventually, he just nodded. He turned and began to move out of the cell, pausing at the door to look back.

"If anyone comes, you'll hear it. Make it quick."

It seemed he intended to act as the lookout. He headed to the end of the corridor, but Rusty waved him down just before he could go on his way.

"What do you want?"

The man barked at him in an annoyed tone but Rusty didn't react.

"There are some weapons there. Better than going empty-handed."

Rusty replied, gesturing toward a darkened room filled with bodies. Before moving over to help, he'd placed some of his own weaponry there along with the daggers he took from the two cultists. They were probably inferior to what these people were used to, but still better than bare fists.

The man nodded, moving toward the room. For a moment, he looked taken aback by the sheer number of corpses but quickly set about collecting a weapon. With an iron axe slung over his shoulder, he resumed his post at the corridor's end, ready to keep watch. Rusty returned to the other holding cell, where an unexpected scene was unfolding.

" (⊙ _ ⊙ ) "

"Gleam?"

Rusty murmured, noticing his ant friend intently watching the elven lady as she channeled her healing spells. Gleam's antennae twitched with curiosity as she observed the priestess's energy manipulation. Rusty could tell she was doing something specific - trying to imitate the woman's movements and magic. Gleam hadn't often had the chance to witness different types of magic up close, and, to Rusty's surprise, there seemed to be more than just curiosity in her gaze.

"Oh, the young lady must have been busy while we were gone."

Aburdon remarked, noticing before anyone else that Gleam was subtly mimicking the mana patterns of the spell, shaping them according to her own understanding. At first, Rusty wasn't sure what to make of it, but then he saw a new spell appear in Gleam's status window, one they could potentially use: