Sponsored Apocalypse, ch 31

The blast didn't make me pass out, but it came close.  I’d been expecting a stronger explosion but nothing like this.  Even with the vast majority of the blast being confined inside the tunnel, it felt like all my bones had been stretched apart.  It felt like my brain rallied around in my head.  This close to such a large explosion, I suspected I had my superhuman toughness to think for my insides not being jelly.

I could vaguely see some system prompts pass across my vision, even with my eyes closed.

[You have been stunned]

[<Built Different> has activated. You are no longer stunned.]

I briefly and bizarrely felt irritated that the system prompts were randomly inconsistent in their font, size, or structure.  It was weird what I could think about sometimes in an unfamiliar state of consciousness.

With a low groan, I managed to push myself up. Even though my bell had been rung pretty badly, [Built Different] was helping me get back up to snuff really fast. With my mind actually moving again, the first thing I thought about was the sentries that I'd seen earlier!

I sprang up, half-ready for an imminent monster attack…but it turned out that it hadn't been necessary. All the sentries had been bowled over and were stunned, much like I'd been before even though they were farther away, but no matter how tough their natural monster bodies were, they didn’t have [Built Different].  I relaxed slightly since nothing was actively trying to kill me, and began taking slow steps.

Debris were still raining down from the explosion earlier, with huge clods of earth and broken pieces of concrete mostly dumping kinetic energy on the tree limbs above me.

A rock hit me in the shoulder and I winced.  The distruction was really impressive.  I studied the tunnel that I’d just bombed and grimly smiled. There was no sign of the actual concrete mouth of the tunnel anymore.  Quite a bit of the tunnel inside the earth had also crumpled and collapsed.

At least for right now, none of the kobolds inside would be getting out. …if any were even still alive.

A bang I could feel in my feel from underground challenged that hopeful thought.  Some are definitely still alive, I thought grimly.  Time to get to work.

I ran forward to the first sentry, swinging with all my strength at the things head, heavy pan in my hand.  The improvised club caved in the kobold skull.  Then with my other hand, the one equipped with Iron bracelet of the Weeping Island, I used my antique bayonet to skewer the second kobold right through the neck. The creature’s hand went to its ruined throat. I pulled the blade out and kicked it in the back of the head, full strength.

The kobold didn't get a chance to react further and pitched forward, face planting a big chunk of concrete from the explosion.

I ran to the last kobold, stationed farther away from the tunnel.  It has already reached its feet before I got there.  This one also seemed to have slightly better gear than the others had.  As I closed, it made a clumsy but powerful stab at me.

After a quick dodge, I used [Toxic breath of Hellas Portentis]  and [Better Days Auto Whisk] the blow it out.  The monster immediately fell back, gagging, but still somehow managed to parry the blow I threw with my pan.  I didn’t close, I used [Private Malone's Last Stand] to lengthen my bayonet, stabbing the aquatic kobold right through the stomach. The creature made a pained, choking cry, but couldn't manage much volume.

Wounded, it was still up and still dangerous, though.

I didn’t follow, just jerked my bayonet back out of my enemy.  Then I summoned a newly regenerated Lindstrom family hammer into my hand and quickly cast [Pulverizing Pebbles] onto it. With my other hand, I feinted like I was going to dash in and attack with the pan again.  The kobold tried to bring it spear to up parry and counter attack at the same time, but I danced to one side and then through my enchanted hammer

[Pulverizing Pebbles] hadn't reached its full power. When the hammer managed to travel far enough for the skill to kick in, it was still a powerful enough blow that the kobold was badly staggered, though.

I ran forward, taking the opportunity to grab the creature’s spear and kicked out with my enhanced strength.  The kobold hissed and fell back onto the ground.

And just like that, I was suddenly in possession of a spear that was slightly too small for me. I ran forward, reversing my grip on the weapon and planted it down into the kobolds chest.  The force of the blow passed right through its armor, deep into its sternum. The kobold thrashed once, twice, then sagged back.

I rolled my shoulder, observing my handiwork.  That had been…a lot harder than killing goblins.  When I got a level up notification, I made a crooked smile.

Now I was level 35.  I dismissed the notification and collected my weapons.  There were a number of weapons lying around now, and they weren’t high quality, but would work.  But I decided against taking any.  Ultimately, the utility of the weapons I had made them better than anything mundane hear, even the ones that would be better in their base form–like spears.

I shook my head to get the last few cobwebs out and hurried over to the collapsed tunnel.  As I approached, I actually darted into the trees, just in case something came up behind me.  I crouched down, listening for a couple minutes, but nothing happened.  No monsters spilled out of the ruined drain, either.

Still, the explosion had been loud enough that I was definitely on a timer.  The blast had actually even ruptured my eardrums.  I felt blood under my ears, but [Built Different] must have fixed the damage so fast I didn’t even get a notification.  That was actually kind of neat, not least of which because getting some smit in my ears would be gross and difficult.

I went to the top of the hill, which would be over where the tunnel was and knelt down to put my ear to the ground. My eyebrows raised.  I could hear furious activity inside–no more chanting, though.

Now I could feel an itch in my shoulder blades. I just knew in my bones that I needed to move fast if I was going to do anything or else I was going to be up to my ears in other monsters very quickly.

My mind raced.  I really wanted to kill the remaining kobolds here that I'd already taken a crack at.  Chances were they weren't going to like me very much after this. And I didn't know if they had any kind of tracking or magical Miles-finding abilities or something like that. This was a new world.  didn't want to leave any living enemies behind–that just seemed like a bad idea.

I studied the ground torn in front of me and with a thoughtful expression. Then I took the shovel off of my pack. After activating [Passionate Earth Mover], I began to make the dirt fly.

The hole grew larger and I could even see the concrete at the bottom.  I kept digging to expose more of it but suddenly even as my shovel descended I heard a large thump from inside.  The sound was accompanied by a significant shockwave.  So not only were there monsters inside, they were actively trying to escape.  This was bad.

I thought about what to do.  My original plan had been to open the hole large enough that I could throw my [Angry Arrows] enchanted hammer inside.  As plans went it probably wasn't the greatest.

But now, it wasn’t even a possibility.  A hole large enough for my hammer to fall through would definitely be noticed by the monster and I didn't want to think about what might happen after that.  Sometimes I could be a little slow on the uptake so it was at this moment I actually considered how I had no idea how many of the creatures were inside the tunnel nor even how powerful they were.  Everything that I was doing had been an evolution of an original plan that basically boiled down to, “Throw the explodey thing in the hole with the scary monsters to make them go away.”

If it wasn't for the very real possibility that I might end up being followed by these things, the smartest course of action at this point would probably be to just run away. I couldn't quite bring myself to do it, though.  No risk, no reward.

I pulled up my stat sheet and did a quick inventory of all my skills and abilities.  Not for the first time, I wondered how in the hell I was ever going to use an ability that makes bright light…at least in any kind of meaningful way.

That wasn’t my only questionably effective skill, but for now I still had the ability to carry more items. Maybe not super comfortably, but I didn't want to get rid of tools and unless I needed to.

I wished that I had some smaller, conventional explosives. But even that, or even a pipe bomb probably wouldn't be great.  They’d still require a large enough hole in the concrete to get me in trouble.

From the thumping below, it sounded like the monsters knew I was above them.  The banging and impacts sounding…exploratory, like they weren't sure exactly where I was.  I could kind of get the impression that the monsters were smarter than I had originally given them credit for. If they burst through the concrete in most places it would likely just cause a huge cave in, maybe even making their situation worse.

With that in mind, they were trying to escape and get to me at the same time.  They must have heard me digging.  This made me nervous for lots of reasons, not least of which I was not at all confident that I would face any of the more powerful individuals one on one, much less all of them at once.

[Weeping Island’s Resolve] had been incredibly effective–to such an extent, I wondered how it would influence some of my other abilities. But now was not the time for experimentation. It had occurred to me that without [Built Difference] I would probably be dead yet again.  The blast from the explosion likely would have knocked me out or at least put me out of commission long enough for the elite sentry I’d just killed to punch my ticket.

For right now, I wasn’t planning to use [Weeping Island’s Resolve].

Instead, I got a crazy idea for how to use one of my newest abilities.  What if

instead of a hole large enough to drop a bomb in, I just…made a few cracks? Then I used use  [Toxic breath of Hellas Portentist] and...

I got to digging again. Now I concentrated on making the hole as narrow as possible. That way if the kobolds broke through from below, they would still hopefully get a cave in that would prevent them from escaping.  I wasn’t sure how effective this would be.  Probably not much. It was still worth a shot.

After a patch of concrete was clear, I looked for some flaws.  This far back from the entrance, covered by dirt for years and years, I luckily found some.  Then I very carefully use my bayonet to push into cracks in the concrete and gently wiggle them wider.  The concrete here was very different from what I’d seen of the mouth.  That portion must have been crafted off site.  This part of the tunnel was much rougher looking.

I needed to be quiet with my efforts because I didn't want the monster to know where I was,  In fact, I had to imagine that some of them were listening to the ground the same way I just had a few minutes ago.

The bayonet wasn’t doing a very good job.  Even though the concrete at this location looked sketchy, it was still concrete.  So I switched to my hammer.  Noise was going to be a problem.  To counter that, whenever I heard some monsters making loud banging or other commotion, I would labor at the cracks I'd found in the concrete.

Luckily, there was a weakened area and the section of concrete I was working on seemed thin between the reinforcing rebar.  Some of the rebar had started to rust, too.  Finally even though it was really small, I could tell I'd opened a hole.  I’d made it through.  There was a faint green glow coming from the breech.

Trying to be as quiet as possible, I used [Toxic breath of Hellas Portentis].  Then I activated [Better Days Auto Whisk],  but I adjusted the output power down low, just enough to help the gas to the tiny crack in the concrete without dispersing. I didn't want a…gale force wind blowing through the tunnel.  If so, the lesser water kobolds would obviously know where I was.  Where I was situated at the bottom of a narrow metal hole that was a few feet down at least.  While the night wasn’t bright, I still wasn’t letting in any extra light.  With the light inside from the trapped monsters it likely didn’t matter, but it didn’t hurt to be careful.

It didn't take long to hear a change in the volume noise below.  The hole in the concrete made it even more clear.  All noises slowed down, suddenly, all stopped at once. I couldn’t even hear any kind of communication or language other than low hissing.  Then there were keening cries, some of anger, some of pain, all mixed with fear. They must have figured out that I'm poisoning them, I thought.

After that something happened that I hadn't even considered was possible. I heard a stampeded of footsteps away from me, deeper into the tunnel. “Shit,” I groaned.  “That’s right.”  The monsters had been building a base of some kind. Maybe they had doors in there.  Even distance would make my poison less effective so what the creatures had just done had absolutely thrown a wrench in my efforts.

My optimism for my half assed plan immediately vanished.

The biggest problem was that my breath weapon just didn't have enough power or reach. If the monsters had stayed directly underneath me, I was confident that I probably could have poisoned many of them. I still wasn't sure how fast my breath weapon would work on the physiology of the aquatic creatures.  Judging by the sentry I’d poisoned, it would kill.  And I was willing to keep pouring poison in until something nasty happened. But now…

I kept breathing poison into the hole below. The flow stopped when I had to inhale, but my incredible Endurance definitely helped with that.  Luckily, my toxic breath seems to be heavier than the surrounding air and it settled into the hole, then through the cracks in the concrete below without a problem.  In fact, it worked so well I eventually stopped using [Better Days Auto Whisk].

But there just wasn’t enough poison.  The tunnel below was large, and the monsters had run away.

I hit a nearby pile of dirt in frustration, worrying about how much longer I could stay here.  Time was not on my side.  I ran a hand through my hair in frustration…and got a crazy idea.

All the monsters below really seemed to be gone.  When I put my hand on the ground, and then my ear I could hear lots of activity but from far deeper in the tunnel. It was very possible the lesser water kobolds were trying to erect some sort of barrier between where I was and where they were, or maybe escape this trap by opening a tunnel to the surface from deeper inside.

After all, they'd only been working on this place so far for a day.

The monsters not being below me anymore meant I had a little bit more freedom to act. I made up my mind.  Using [Angry Arrows] I charged up my hammer, enchanting the effect as powerfully as I could as I climbed out of the hole that I’d dug.  Then when I was far enough away, I gently lobbed the magic bomb underhand into the hole, onto the patch of concrete I'd weakened. As soon as the tool had left my hand, I dropped to the ground.

Even though modest compared to the blast that had sealed the kobold’s lair, the explosion was potent.

I fist pumped when I saw the results.  It worked out exactly as I had intended.  The little crack that I’d started in the concrete was now a hole. In fact, it was a pretty big hole, at least the size of my head. Exposed rebar could been on one side.

Now I needed to act fast before the kobolds came back to investigate.  If they got the chance, they’d definitely be able to escape.  I had no illusions about that.

Without a moment to spare, I prepared to start exhaling toxic fumes again. But this time I used the second activation of [Weeping Island’s Resolve].

I hadn't been sure exactly what to expect but I was still shocked by the absolute cloud of thick green smoke left my mouth.  As I activated [Better Days Auto Whisk]  I rushed forward to the hole and directed all of it downward.  But on the way, I ran through some of the fog.

Immediately, system notifications that I was poisoned crossed my vision.  Just as quickly, notifications that [Built Different] had kicked in and basically saved my life did as well.  Even the microsecond that I experienced of my enhanced poison ability was far worse than anything I’d experienced back in the Challenge Portal.  Excruciating pain had started on multiple levels, not just the physical.

[Built Different] had definitely just proved its value again.

Holy crap, I thought.  My scalp had gone numb.  [Toxic breath of Hellas Portentis] hadn't affected me before. It was different on massive magical steroids.

Standing over the hole, directing my toxic cloud downwards was a little bit like standing over a toilet with a chemical warfare hangover.  It was taxing, too.  I wasn't sure how long I could keep this up.  Even though I tried to breathe in as little as possible, the effects of micro doses of the poison made my head grow fuzzy before [Built Different] nullified it. There was so much of the poison smoke that I had to turn up the effect of [Better Days Auto Whisk] up, forcing the fog down the hole and away from me.

I was so focused on what I was doing that I didn’t keep track of time and wasn't sure how long

I was able to keep it up.  But as I kept pouring out poison, I was growing more and more tired, like my vitality was being drained.  I could feel my life itself actually being burned away, which was an uncomfortable, terrifying sensation.  Eventually I had to stop.  If I went any further, I felt like my life might be in danger.  With a snap, I closed my jaws and turned off the skill, but I kept using [Better Days Auto Whisk] at full blast through the hole.  I continued sending wind into the tunnel, hopefully stirring up all that gas and making it spread.  This continued for at least a few more minutes until something changed. I got a level up notification.

The notification was encouraging.  Then my eyebrows raised when I almost immediately got another level up notification.  Then another.  Then another.

I kept pouring wind into the hole to the bitter end right up until I could actually hear other monsters coming in the distance, their steps heavy and greedy. Some of them growled at each other, competitors for scraps.  Luckily they were coming from the river from the direction of town.

At that point, I stopped what I was doing, stowed my gear and ran away.  I moved quickly, but to prevent or discourage pursuit, I also breathed out toxic fumes as I ran.  Now that [Toxic breath of Hellas Portentis] wasn’t being bolstered by [Weeping Island’s Resolve], it didn’t actually poison me anymore.  Even though the effect was weaker on its own, I had to imagine that any monster with an acute nose wouldn't really enjoy trying to follow me.

I ran into the night, receiving more level up notifications.  They kept popping up.  It was absolutely bonkers.

When I felt like I’d gotten far enough away, I took a break near a woodshed behind an abandoned house.  At this point I was reasonably certain I didn’t have any monsters in pursuit.

Even with my superhuman Endurance, I was feeling tired and winded.  It was a good time to take a break.

My head snapped up as I got yet another system notification, but this one was different.  It made me stop in my tracks.

[Congratulations!  You have been awarded a choice of classes. Please choose wisely.]

“Oh hell yeah! Finally!” I whispered.