Path of the Slayer B1 C20. Hungry Moles

A lone mole worker sniffed and scratched around for something tasty to eat. It was in one of the old tunnels that had been long explored for years.

Still, the lone mole worker returned to this place because it once ate a tasty monkey creature that tried to use a pointy metal thing that was too long for the tunnels. That was the first time the lone worker had the delight of eating a human.

Ever since then, all it wanted was to eat more of those tasty creatures.

This was the reason the mole worker, a Rank 1, was by itself instead of staying with the others, who were busy digging new tunnels or resting. There was always a chance another stupid human would show up and make itself an easy meal for the lone mole worker.

Or maybe it would find a way to another Realm that had plenty of easy-to-eat humans. It had never experienced such a thing, but it knew it was possible on an instinctual level.

Sniff-sniff.

Sniff-sniff.

Sniff!

Oh!

What was that?

There was a tantalizing smell that made the lone mole worker’s mouth watered. It knew that smell. It was the smell of a human!

With an excited squeal that would surely put the fear of death into the prey and make the prey even tastier, the lone mole worker turned down an adjacent passage. It scurried quickly to get to the feast before the others realized.

With this meal, it might finally Rank Up and evolve into a greater form.

A sound like nothing the lone mole worker had ever heard filled the tunnel with its boisterous noise. Stunned, the lone mole worker slowed down and stopped making its excited squeals.

For the second time, the boisterous noise, like a roaring beast, sounded out again. The roar hurt the lone mole worker’s ears as the noise bounced off the walls repeatedly. Then it sounded out a third time, becoming far fiercer and louder while making a guttural growl that refused to die down.

At that point, the lone mole worker was reversing course from the direction of the loud roars and the guttural growls. Before it could turn away, it noticed footsteps vibrating through the floor, which could only belong to a human.

But that same human had something horrid and monstrous on his arm that vibrated so much the mole worker’s natural seismic sense was scrambled.

Scared, it tried to run.

The human broke out into a sudden sprint straight at the mole.

The mole worker raised up to show off its buck teeth and front claws. No human had survived these fearsome weapons before, so surely the mole worker would come out victorious yet again.

Such thoughts faded under an ocean of pain as the human quickly thrust its roaring evil hand deep into the mole worker’s belly. The evil hand revealed its cruel teeth, scrambling the mole worker’s innards like digging a wide tunnel where organs should remain unharmed.

The mole died in horror and pain while wishing it had stayed with the others.

***

“Hm, that barely gave much.” I swung my half ripper hand free of the churned-up intestines of my first monster in a new Realm.

[You’ve slain a Rank 1 mole worker!]

My Path Energy remained at 12%, and Hellion was already getting nippy. It was safe to say we were reaching a point where Rank 1 monsters wouldn’t suffice for our hunger unless we chewed through a lot of them.

That didn’t sound efficient to me, and that wouldn’t be truly appetizing to Hellion – he wasn’t himself when he was hungry. Or maybe he was more of himself when he was hungry.

With no time to adventure carefully, I jogged onward, leaving the eviscerated corpse of a mole worker that was the size of a donkey behind me. I didn’t know where I was going, so I relied on my instincts to choose where to go.

The tunnels were dark except for the few glowing mushrooms that were the lone light fixtures that adventurers would have to rely on if they’d brought no light of their own. They didn’t shed that much light, however, leaving much of the tunnels veiled in darkness.

With Hellion growling madly at my side, I couldn’t really rely on my hearing. I pushed my vision with as much Path Energy as I could get away with without it dipping too sharply.

The tunnel twisted as I jogged forward. There were dipping formations in the ceiling and rising trip hazards I had to maneuver past.

Sometimes a hole leading straight downward would appear in my route, and I would quickly lunge over it without breaking my stride.

Nothing came out to attack me just yet, and my Path Energy dropped as a result to keep Hellion active – going down to 11%. Then after some time, it fell to 10%. Then later on, my Path Energy hit 9%.

At that point, I was feeling stressed out. It was too late to go back and meditate. I had to complete the Challenge Realm to regain access to a Portal leading back to my Passage Realm.

I didn’t trust stopping to meditate where I was, either. That was pretty much asking for a monster mole to attack me while my guard was completely down.

When I entered a somewhat spacious chamber lit with blue mushrooms that revealed multiple pathways, I could already feel my 9% Path Energy drawing closer to hitting 8%. I was sweating bullets. Looking left and right, I chose the leftmost tunnel and rushed in its direction.

There was no time to mark anything. I just had to go.

The ground shifted strangely under my step. I stumbled as a short pit formed from under me, leading me down into a shallow drop that left me okay.

The fall stopped me in my place, though, as more shifting soil and rock sounded from around me. Then there were several monstrous moles springing an attack at me from each direction. Their buckteeth and front claws reached for my torso and head.

Yes!

They were springing an ambush!

I had to admit that was some good luck as I dropped the cursed javelins and tucked myself down into the shallow hole they made for me. The moles crashed into each other with their gang-style pounce, but that wasn’t much of a deterrent as they scrambled and gnashed their teeth down upon me.

Their natural weapons scraped against my helmet and pauldrons, finding some difficulty against the Fallen Slayer Set. 

I punched up with little autosaw energy blades appearing between my knuckles. The punch knocked back one monster mole while spilling its blood and Vitality for Hellion to feast on.

I did the same to the second monster mole. With the third, I opened my half ripper hand and sunk the claws deep into its throat.

The creature gagged, and Hellion ripped through the neck flesh with mini bursts of autosaw energy.

Of course, we avoided outright annihilation. If we killed the monsters too early, the Vitality would wink away with the death. It behooved us to prolong the fight.

I pulled back my half ripper hand, closed it into a fist, and punched the mole with the bleeding neck wound. I quickly turned as one of the other moles rushed me and placed a straight punch into its snout that stopped it in its tracks. I turned again and punched the third mole with my half ripper fist.

For the next minute, I repeated the action of turning and punching, landing walloping blows on each monster. Each strike fed Hellion their Vitality while breaking the monsters’ will and their bodies.

To avoid crushing their skulls, I aimed below their heads and pummeled them, breaking ribs, snapping limbs, and giving them no mercy until they couldn’t endure any longer. By that point, I finally granted them the right to die.

[You’ve slain a Rank 1 mole worker!]

[You’ve slain a Rank 1 mole worker!]

[You’ve slain a Rank 1 mole worker!]

My Path Energy was back to 10%.

“This might take a while,” I said, shaking my head.

Well, it was too late to turn back now.

I grabbed up my quiver of javelins and continued my jog. Thankfully, more moles appeared, but only when I fell into their pit traps.

Some pits were shallow. Some pits were deep. But as long as I fell into them, the moles would spring their ambushes and attack en masse. 

I replied by punching each of them with my half ripper fist until they broke. The mole workers died slow and agonizing deaths, and my Path Energy grew steadily. As more mole workers ambushed me, the rate of recovery grew further.

I had a decent groove going.

[You’ve slain a Rank 1 mole worker!]

[You’ve slain a Rank 1 mole worker!]

[You’ve slain a Rank 1 mole worker!]

…

[You’ve slain (6) Rank 1 mole worker(s)!]

…

[You’ve slain (13) Rank 1 mole worker(s)!]

…

[You’ve slain (22) Rank 1 mole worker(s)!]

…

[You’ve slain (36) Rank 1 mole worker(s)!]

…

[You’ve slain (50) Rank 1 mole worker(s)!]

***

My Path Energy reached 60%, and the latest chamber I was in had pummeled mole corpses covering the entire floor like a blood-soaked carpet. By this point, I had the quiver strapped over my torso, with the bag holding my cursed javelins next to my Fallen Slayer Greatsword on my back.

Leaving both of my hands bare, I’d devolved into hand-to-hand fighting for about a straight hour. I used my right hand for most of my strikes. My left served whenever I held a mole down and beat the Vitality out of it.

Hellion remained a good sport by absorbing Vitality through crushing punches instead of the usual ripping and tearing with energy autosaws. That helped me regain Path Energy faster.

Despite the grind of effort it took to get here, it was safe to say this was truly the most optimal route I could come up with before facing the gold adventurers. Now if only the Rank 2 monsters would finally show themselves so I could–

Sudden shifting earth sounded from the right.

I turned and saw a bulge in the mound of moles close to me before the bodies suddenly erupted in a splatter of viscera and gore. A rapidly chomping set of teeth that were big enough to chew through a complete human lunged at me.

For once, I sacrificed Path Energy to supercharge a dodge that got me the hell out of the way.

I flew across the space and landed feet first on the chamber wall, the stone breaking under the soles of my boots. Before I even touched the ground, the massive mole swiveled around and lunged at me with its rapidly chomping teeth.

Its speed and size were extraordinary, but once I got my feet under me, my next response was simple.

I zigged to my left before zagging to my right, avoiding the chomping teeth and tackling the massive mole in the side. Mole corpses splattered under my boots from the force of my tackle.

A deep squawk reverberated from the creature in my grasp as it bucked and rolled to get me off. I remained attached, a fistful of fur in my left hand, my right clawing around to find a spot between the ribs – there.

Squeezing my half ripper fist, a crimson energy autosaw extended from between the knuckles. The two-foot-long instrument of carnage plunged between the monster’s ribcage and immediately tore the creature’s side open.

An onrush of enriching Vitality, far greater than before, poured into Hellion, which turned into Path Energy for me. Smiling under the shade of my helmet, I held tight to the wild Rank 2 monster as it crashed about and tried to throw me off more fervently than before.

It ran me into the wall, shattering the common material, crushing me. I lost Path Energy, but what I gained back was far better.

I kept forcing Hellion and the energy autosaw deeper into the wound, tearing apart the innards inside, and the Vitality remained rich until it cut off suddenly.

The Rank 2 monster lost its defiant spark, shuddering and stopping, its life flowing more freely, with no force to protect it. It wasn’t often that a monster could outlive the loss of its Vitality, but when it happened, the creature became even more vulnerable and easier to kill.

With a few yanks and swings, I tore the monster apart and killed it.

[You’ve slain a Rank 2 mole warrior!]

Path Energy: 69%.

“We need more of those warriors,” I said.

Hellion growled in agreement, the half ripper grunting and belching fumes from its vents like a wild, mechanical beast. The cursed artifice could be annoying at times, but when Hellion worked in my favor, well, it was exciting to have him.

We carried on and faced more mole worker ambushes in between mole warrior attacks.

It took me after my third mole warrior to understand that the workers and the warriors had to attack separately or the warriors could mistakenly slaughter their own workers.

They also didn’t favor attacking me in the tunnels. Most battlegrounds were in the chambers mainly. I figured they wanted more space to gang up on me without obstructions.

That was my thought process until two mole warriors attacked me at once while I was moving through a tunnel. Surrounded by rapidly chomping teeth on both sides, I did the only thing I could do.

Path Magic activated: Tyrannosaurus Roar.

I went down from 100% to 65%, which pissed me off. I made sure I got back as much as I could out of both mole warriors, taking me up to 85%.

There was some good news.

My roar traveled pretty far down the tunnels and chambers, affecting all the moles. I found dozens upon dozens of moles frozen in the next chambers while they were in the middle of setting their ambush.

When warriors arrived, they moved slowly and timidly. I pressed the aggression by tackling them and letting Hellion have his way.

Eventually, I reached a chamber that was bigger and brighter than all the others. It was the size of a large atrium, and sitting upon a throne shaped out of dirt was a vaguely humanoid monster with a mole’s head.

On its head was a crown made of mushrooms and gems. In its clawed hand was a crystal scepter. When the creature stood from its dirt throne, it was nine feet tall and pudgy around the middle.

“Have you come to feed me your body, human,” said the Portal Boss.

I tilted my head slightly. “Sure. Come and take a bite out of me. It might be your last.”

The System interjected with a large blue and white message near the ceiling of the cavernous chamber.

[You’ve entered a fight with the Mole Lord Portal Boss! Do your best to win this challenge!]

The Portal Boss took one step forward, and I took a cursed javelin out of the quiver I’d dropped to the ground beside me. With a press of my whim, I activated my Path Magnetism magic, dropping from 100% to 65%.

My crackling Path Energy became more subdued. A humming metallic energy surrounded me as an outer layer.

The Portal Boss aimed its scepter at me. Before it could unleash its attack, I threw my first javelin with my left hand, my fingertips pulsing with a magnetic push.