[Shrubley, the Monster Adventurer] Chapter 122 - Dungeonley 2, the Dungeoning II

Shrubley sprinted down the first corridor that he saw, eager to be out of the room. Creatures were beginning to slither into the room, pushing past the blockages of ice.

He was not afraid, but a good adventurer always knows when to retreat.

The goal wasn’t to get bogged down in endless fighting. A Dungeon could always create more monsters than an adventurer could handle. It was a classic mistake many novice adventurers made.

Not only was the lure of Experience great, but that of loot as well. It was often too late when the party realized they were on their last potion and the enemies were still coming by the dozen.

The goal was to defeat the Dungeon. Normally that meant finding the heart of the Dungeon and facing its guardian or protector. Sometimes that was a spell, a puzzle of some sort, or an actual monster.

For this Dungeon, however, Shrubley’s aims were quite different. He didn’t want to defeat whatever power was protecting this place.

He wanted to destroy the Dungeon.

It was a foul, wrong place that should not exist.

The walls changed several times as they sprinted from one corridor to the other. The baying of hideous creatures followed on their heels.

Unable to keep up, Konko began to flag behind until the Countess picked her up like a sack of laundry under one arm and carried her forward.

Before she could feel singled out for humiliation, the Countess did the same thing to Cal as she came up behind him.

Only Shrubley–with Smudge on his head–stayed on his own two feet.

That was until the first gate slammed down.

Shrubley ran headlong into the gate, and before he could recover his wits, a trap sprang from the side of the corridor, pushing him into a newly opened hallway.

By the time Miranda reached the same spot, the gate opened and the wall where Shrubley vanished into was sealed shut. She thought about blasting it apart, but then realized it wasn’t worth the effort.

Clearly, the Dungeon had plans for people getting this deep within, and no doubt trying to separate the party was a key part of those plans.

Blue Fantasy essence swirled out from Sose’s paw, splattering like paint onto Konko’s clothing. The mana shimmered faintly, forming a protective barrier that would guard against direct harm.

The same sort of protection was not extended to the rest of the party. Konko was only brought inside so that she would not be left alone to potential dangers.

Miranda moved into the next room, unsurprised when the door behind her vanished. Holding Konko, Cal, and Slyrox made her feel as if she was some noblewoman’s handmaiden carrying her Lady’s precious baggage.

But she didn’t dare drop them.

Wooden paneling lined with massive casks of brew filled the space. They could hear voices just above them, and a lively tune that suggested they were beneath an inn full of dancing and drinking.

Sose looked around in confusion. An inn was one of his favorite places to cause mischief.

“Don’t be fooled,” Miranda told him. “There are no people up there. It’s a trap.”

She ran right past the stairs leading up and burst through the wooden door just as the walls slammed shut in front of her nose. A section of wall opened to her right and Miranda jumped down it instead of waiting to get pushed.

They slid and skidded down the slanted hallway. Several beams of wood ejected from the sides of the hall, bashing into the Countess. She used her own body to protect her charges, letting the hardened lengths of wood break against her Steel skin.

The four party members continued to slide and skid without end.

“You have to let us go,” Konko said, understanding what was going on. “The Dungeon wants to split us up into three groups. It won’t stop until we are.”

“I’m not letting you get yourselves killed!” Miranda shouted back at her as another beam of wood broke itself to flinders against her proud chin. With the blood mist fueling her, she hardly felt the pain, but even with that and her Steel Rank, there was an extent to how much her body could take.

“You must release two of us,” Konko told her. “It’s the only way.”

Miranda did the math and didn’t like any of their odds. Slyrox was unconscious and there was no telling when she would get up again. Konko would effectively be dead weight. It was a tossup.

If Slyrox were awake, it would be an easy choice…

“Take care of her!” Miranda told Cal, untying Slyrox and shoving the koblin into the skeletal mage’s arms.

He managed to choke out a reply just as the passage split down the middle, separating the two groups into different shafts.

Konko stared in surprise at the Countess. She had figured she would be left with Cal.

“Don’t look so shocked, girl!” she told her. “I vowed to train them, not you. Whatever is in the next room is going to regret messing with my family.”

***

Shrubley and Smudge tumbled onto a rickety bridge overlooking a large square room with several raised platforms separated by carved stone channels of murky, rushing water. Shadowy shapes darted beneath the surface, too indistinct to pick out much detail as to what sort of creatures they were.

Shrubley inched forward, searching for where the waters led. Deeper in, it spilled into misty darkness. The bridge seemed to lead to nowhere though, so the only option was down.

“Best not to go down that way, I think,” Shrubley said.

“Me first,” Smudge offered.

Shrubley didn’t like it, but he nodded and motioned for Smudge to go ahead if he wished. Smudge was not a pet or a child for him to coddle, no matter how much he secretly wanted to. Smudge was his friend, and he deserved to be able to stand on his own if he wanted.

Sword out, with his shiny new shield, [Adrastos], at the ready, Shrubley was prepared for just about anything.

Smudge rolled off the bridge and plopped onto one of the square platforms.

For several long seconds, nothing happened. Then the waters began to churn and froth. Several slimy tentacles reared out of the wild waters and lashed out at Smudge.

“Pyuu!” Rather than dodge out of the way, he stood his ground, much to Shrubley’s dismay. The slime tapped Stone essence, enhancing his physical defenses dramatically with [Harden].

However, Smudge was only a Mundane Ranker. The monsters that were born out of this cursed place were stronger than that, and fearsome enough that they gave Shrubley trouble.

Shrubley yelled out and jumped down. He dashed forward, sweeping his blade through one of the tentacles, severing it into two flopping pieces that dissolved into a murky foam.

The remaining tentacles crashed against Smudge, rebounding off his rocky form, sending the slime dizzyingly tumbling back and forth.

Even Smudge could see that Stone essence wasn’t working. It was too much damage to directly absorb. He switched to Air essence. Using [Inflate], he swelled into a big pink balloon.

The next tentacle to attack Smudge batted him across the room, but it hardly did any damage to the squishy and inflated thing. More tentacles reached out of the water after the tantalizing prize while Smudge cried out and struggled for more height.

The tentacles disappeared into the waters, and then emerged at different positions, attacking from another angle. All with the hopes of reaching the delicious pink balloon.

Shrubley flared his Bronze aura for all he was worth, not bothering to step up its strength gradually. He could see the golden opportunity before him, and he wasn’t about to let it pass him by.

With all the tentacles focused on Smudge, Shrubley was free to attack with impunity. But he had to be fast. His glowbug familiar wheeled overhead, glowing with a Nature essence spell.

Using every last ounce of his Bronze aura to power his movements, Shrubley slashed through tentacle after tentacle, converting the thick limbs into dirty froth on the stones. Sometime during the flurry of attacks, his familiar cast the Green magic [Emerald Weapon] upon his blade, empowering his strikes even further with Nature essence.

As he attacked, Shrubley noticed a tiny orb the size of a grapefruit sliding up and down the tentacles. Always darting out of the way before Shrubley reached it.

His rampant attack on the tentacles didn’t seem to have any effect. No matter how many he sliced and returned to foam, more and more reappeared moments later.

“Pyuu-hee-hee!” Smudge cried from somewhere near the bridge over their heads, floating with Air essence.

The tentacles lashed onto it just as Shrubley severed another.

As the tentacles pulled at the bridge, ripping its supports out of the wall, they lifted its body out of the murky depths and Shrubley could see the red orb within a gelatinous mass at the center of the countless tentacles.

So that’s it!

Switching tactics before the monster caught on, Shrubley attacked certain tentacles, forcing the red orb he thought might be the thing’s eye into different tentacles.

It was trying to get to Smudge, while avoiding Shrubley’s erratic strikes. But Shrubley was attacking in order now, forcing the eye into the tentacles he wanted, while seemingly wasting his time and energy.

Too late, the monster realized what Shrubley was doing.

It had been forced farther and farther away from its central mass by Shrubley’s attacks. Each tentacle severed made it move a little more until it was now unable to return beneath the waters in time to avoid Shrubley’s next attack.

It was a good thing Shrubley had not resorted to using some of his new shield’s imprints, which were largely designed to draw an enemy’s attention from allies. Smudge had done an excellent job of distracting his foe.

Slicing through the tentacle, Shrubley watched as the thing refused to return to foam. Instead, the central mass in the water frothed and dissolved into the water.

What was left was a pathetic little translucent and filthy creature that only vaguely resembled a living thing. Its red orb glowed threatening. Shrubley had just enough time to engage the 2nd inner ring of [Adrastos].

Imprint (Bronze): Engage 2nd inner ring magitek plating to absorb incoming damage and switch the shield’s alignment, raising physical or magical resistance to that damage type.

The shield hummed as he sent a thread of mana into it just as a bar of red-hot light slammed into Shrubley’s raised shield. As [Adrastos] took the brunt of the impact, a red haze of light surrounded the shield as it took on the same properties of the attack and repelled it further.

While Shrubley was holding the monster’s attention, Smudge found his opening. He flapped his little flipper-like arms until he was over the creature and let go of his Air essence.

Embracing Stone essence fully, Smudge fell from the sky and crushed the red orb within the small slimy creature’s body with a heavy, resounding THUD. It cracked, but even a fall from that height was not enough. Smudge was simply not strong enough.

Shrubley, no longer on the defensive, rushed forward and speared the orb with his sword. He expected it to shatter, but it instead dulled and drained of life and mana.

Once Shrubley pulled his sword out, the orb remained inert, though with a deep reddish hue that reminded him of clay. The oval craggy hole made from his blade made the red orb look a little too much like an angry red eye.

Unfortunately, the Shard seemed to agree with Shrubley’s imagination and named it as such.

[Red Eye Orb]

(Item)

(Bronze Rank) (★★★ Rare)

The creature who once resided in this orb comes from a land swallowed in deepest darkness. Seeking light, they are ever eager to consume that which possesses life. These invaders are a sign of worse to come.

Imprint: Use to traverse to a realm of darkness, invading until such time as your light runs out, or your enemies are vanquished.

Shrubley shook his leafy head. “I do not like what this item suggests about these creatures.”

“There will be more?” Smudge asked. He didn’t sound concerned, just seeking comprehension.

“Maybe.” As much as he didn’t want to, Shrubley put it into his inventory, hoping it wouldn’t corrupt the grass and air within. “Let’s go find our friends.”