Ch 30 - Dungeon Crawl

"Adventurers, are you sure you do not need our assistance?" Thurk asked one last time as they moved through the tunnels, four to five meters wide and even more high the tunnels were expertly dug out with torches of white light places throughout lighting their way.

Kyle shook his head "We'll be fine, it is your lives you should worry about. You only get one unlike us."

Laughing out loudly Thurk glanced back at the whole party as they turned a corner "Well then we're almost there, two more corners and we'll be inside the dungeon's territory supposedly."

"Yo Sly my VCD isn't working either right now, I think Death fucked us both" Kyle stated as he waved the device back and forth trying to get it to connect.

Thurk eyed the device with wonder "What is that for?"

"It's what we use to communicate with the others back at Frosthold" Kyle responded while putting the device back into his inventory.

"Ah I may know why it isn't working then, Elder Helen is disrupting all communication magic within the city. Nothing leaves or enters without her permission" Thurk explained.

"That won't be a problem and here will do Thurk, we'll continue on our own" Sly told him as their formation approached another corner. Soren, Kyle and Karnage took the front of their formation with Thurk, Sly and Reyna behind them being the middle, Skill and Silv lined the back.

Thurk sighed, anxious to see this whole mess done with "Thank for what you are doing adventurers, I will await you at the revival point with your items." Knowing there was a high chance of them dying they left their items with the city guard for safe keeping.

As Thurk walked back through the tunnel the whole party prepared themselves, chanting their magic before-hand. Kyle took a step away from the others "Presence of power, presence of strength. Demonic Presence" as the dark aura engulfed the whole party he raised his arms up to shoulder length "Destroy my enemies through sheer force, penetrate their armour and devour their scales or hide. Slime cannon" a smaller version of the previous cannon grew out over his right arm.

Waving the cannon around he found it wasn't as heavy as it looked, leaving his left arm free ("More compact, less power but at least I won't be immobile.") staring at his empty left hand he decided to give his previous idea another try. Raising it up in front of himself and straightening it he let the crimson demonic slime cover it fully ("I cannot make a decent blade, hammer or axe aren't my style so I might as well go all the way.").

"Scatter flurries of death upon my enemies" the slime formed a total of twelve barrels around his arm. All twelve being one tenth the thickness of the cannon and less than half the length but still grew further out from it covering down from the elbow completely "Slime scattershot".

Through utter madness and haphazard testing the skill [Slime Scattershot] was created!

The new weapon being a circle of crimson red barrels growing out of a large bulge of scaled demonic slime, all effected by [Condensed Slime] increasing it's physical resistance.

"Woah we're gonna have to start calling you the guild armoury" Silv joked as he and everyone else watched with curiosity.

Kyle smirked "Wait until I figure out how to make explosive shells, remember I've only had three elements to work with so far."

"Yo would you get Dark or Undead slime if you ate a skeleton's core?" Soren asked as he focused his mana into his battle axe, the weapon glowing brighter every second.

"Huh" Kyle hummed in thought as he stared down the tunnel "Do they even have cores?"

"Let's find out, everyone take positions" Sly ordered while stretching his arms "Since I can't fight you'll be hearing me talk a lot and trust me if I did not see mistakes before I sure damn will now with how bored I am."

"I still don't understand why Kyll is on the front when he is ranged" Skill asked as he readied three arrows.

"I'm a ranged tank bro, if you saw my passives you'd do the same" Kyle replied with a chuckle "Plus I need the experience, I'm the lowest level here and if I don't get hits in I'll get assist experience which is shit."

"Battle coms, approaching turn" Sly ordered as they approached a corner turn.

Kyle looked down the tunnel as he turned the corner "You thinking it took over this tunnel too Sly?"

Sly studied the tunnel "No reason it wouldn't have, perfect for ambushing runners or just boxing us in. Let's clear it out as planned, Soren?".

"Aye aye" Soren stepped forward while grinning "Don't blame me if the roof collapses" he joked. Closing his eyes he raised his battle axe with a two-handed grip in front of himself "Primal fury empower me! Rage of the Ancients!" raising it higher he then smashed down it's butt into the ground "Earthquake!".

Large cracks formed at the point of impact and quickly spread forward and up the walls then ceiling, the cracks spread throughout the whole tunnel as debris fell down from the ceiling and some things were lifted up from the quaking ground.

"Hah! Looks like you were right!" Kyle chuckled as he watched the skeletons drop from the ceiling and pull themselves out of the ground that pressured them upwards. "Now it's my turn" Raising both arms up "I am technically the mage in this party as well, Skill, Silv save your ammo." He unleashed everything he had.

The skeletons tried to rush towards them as the barrage of frozen slime cracked their bones, their swords, clubs and axes not enough to parry the shots. Some skeletons wielded wooden shields allowing them to block most of the incoming attacks but when Kyle noticed them he'd aim his cannon lower and at them then fire, forcing them to crawl through removal of their legs.

Kyle laughed maniacally as he spam fired his [Slime Scattershot] while taking tactical shots with the [Slime Cannon], even as the Skeletons approached he kept firing non-stop dealing as much damage as he could before they reached him. As the Skeletons got closer he inspected some of them.

Undead Skeleton Warrior [Level 68]

Undead Skeleton Soldier [Level 74]

Undead Skeleton Barbarian [Level 56]

"Soren! Karnage! Cover his mad ass! Reyna buff them!" Sly barked out orders as Karnage and Soren dealt with the Skeletons that got too close, weakened by the barrage they were easily killed. Within mere minutes the tunnel was full of fallen Undead, bones and random weaponry lay scattered across the ground along with the rubble.

Sly studied the tunnel "Kyll how's your mana?"

Kyle took paced breaths as he ignored his notifications, leaving them to stack up so he could read them at the end. "I'm out of mana but I can [Core Overload] and use the excess slime in my guns for ammo?" He offered after seeing his mana bar close to being empty, not having enough mana to fire another shot but enough to not enter mana exhaustion.

"No regen your mana pool, keep that as a last resort. We're not forcing through, this is a sustained assault." Sly ordered while inspecting the dead Skeletons for any survivors, dead or undead they all looked the same but [Inspect] didn't lie. "Karnage, Soren status?"

Soren shrugged "Regenerating, almost full hp. 3/4ths mana and fully stacked rage."

Karnage checked her bars while spinning a sword around impatiently in one hand "Full hp and mana, stamina regening from 2/5ths."

Sly hummed in thought "Soren earth quake one more time".

"Okay then" Nodding in acknowledgement Soren raised his battle axe once more and chanted the same chant before crashing the butt down into the already cracked ground. The tunnel rumbled yet again as more debris fell from the ceiling including a couple more skeletons, these having pitch black bones and dual wielding curved blades.

Kyle whistled as he inspected them.

Necrotic Undead Skeleton Duellist [Level 86]

The skeletons struggled momentarily as the rumbling shook the ground beneath them and pummelled them with debris.

"Silv, Skill take shots" Sly ordered as he stepped out of their way and pulled Reyna back with him "Open formation" Soren, Kyle and Karnage also stepped out of their way.

Skill raised his bow "Empower my dexterity! Sure Sight!" his eyes began to glow a bright green " One shot one kill! Heartseeker!" letting go of the arrow it suddenly began to rapidly spin as bright green fire burst out engulfing it as it flew.

Silv took aim with his rifle "Show me their weakness! Planned shot!" his eyes changed as a blue cross reticule appeared on both, he closed one and looked into the scope with the other "Be my falling star! Comet shot!" he pulled the trigger and a bang echoed throughout the tunnel. The fired red projectile shattered mid-flight into more, all three kept their trajectory.

The closest Skeleton looked up just in time to see the spinning flaming green arrow, it crashed through it's abdomen destroying almost half it's torso and losing the skeleton it's left arm. The further one raised it's swords to block Silv's bullet but only blocked one part as the other two dug straight into its head, the skull cracked and shattered as the remains toppled over to the ground.

Although heavily injured both Skeletons remained standing, the rumbling ended and they charged forward. Skill managed to fire another arrow but missed as the skeleton ducked under it, with surprising agility both skeletons fell upon Soren.

Parrying both swords of the headless Skeleton Soren cringed as the other attacked his side, a shot fired by Silv hit the sword before the Skeleton slashed making it flinch back. Karnage followed up by engaging the second Skeleton, no swords clashed as both entered a dance of sharp evasion, stabs and combo attacks.

"Skill, Silv lay off!" Sly ordered not wanting them to hit their melee fighters "Reyna set up heal over time!"

"O-Okay!" she replied while raising both her hands up towards the fight, having lost her mace and shield to the Yetis she was currently un-armed "Bestow your purity upon us! Healing well!" an ethereal blue liquid shot out from her arms and rushed through Soren then Karnage giving them a light blue glow.

Soren pushed with all his might but the Skeleton's strength far surpassed what the it's bony body should have had, he grinned madly as neither of them moved an inch. "Fuck it! Course through my veins! Rage burst!" his armour emitted a layer of steam as the heat surrounding him tripled, his rage bar drained completely. Little by little he pushed the skeleton back as it's swords grew hotter from contact with the battle axe, it's bones began to crack from the pressure.

Laughing manically "Rage surge!" Soren suddenly pushed the Skeleton back with so much force he flew right after it, the Skeleton crashed into the tunnel's wall and Soren's battleaxe followed it right into it's chest. The Skeleton fell to the ground lifeless after Soren pulled his battleaxe out, the bones crumbling after the impact.

Karnage led the headless Skeleton around as she expertly evaded it's slashes and lunges, following up with her own after each evade she found it's bones too strong to cut. Grimacing with annoyance she stepped back as it slashed downwards with it's left and followed up with a lunge using it's right, evading to the left she broke it's combo denying it another slash. Instead the Skeleton pulled back it's arms and lunged forward with both scimitars, Karnage ducked under the attack and rolled to her right.

Soren brought down his large battleaxe on the headless Skeleton's arms, both breaking easily under the power of his attack. The skeleton flayed it's shattered arms aggressively as Soren kept it at arm's length with his axe "Yo look at it trying to fight back" he laughed loudly.

"Keep it still, perfect specimen right here!" Kyle exclaimed as he walked over to the headless and armless skeleton.

Sly sighed as he got closer to watch "What do you even need it for anyway?"

"If I want to learn golemancy I need to learn soul binding and to do that I need a monster core which I have and a soul, this skeleton's soul will have to fit that category." Kyle explained, grabbing onto the skeleton's shoulders he stood behind it. Opening his inventory he took out the wyvern's core and focused on his mana pool, slowly he poured his mana into the skeleton as it shook and fought back to escape.

"Well? Is it working?" Skill asked impatiently.

"Not sure…I don't see or feel anything…" Kyle replied with a frown.

Karnage crouched down and picked up the mostly intact skeleton hand "Maybe it's just animated not undead?" the hand suddenly began to freak out "OR NOT" she followed up loudly dropping the hand right after. The skeletal hand lifted itself by the fingers and crawled away, an arrow from Skill nailed it to the ground.

"No survivors" Skill mused with a smirk while lowering his bow.

Kyle grimaced as he continued to pour mana into the skeleton "What am I missing…"

"What you doing specifically right now?" Sly asked while gazing at the flailing skeleton.

"Pouring mana into it, why?" Kyle replied without looking away.

"Try controlling the mana you already poured in then, what's the point of shoving your hand inside a box if you're not going to look around for the item you're looking for?" Sly explained with a chuckle followed up by snickering from Silv and Skill.

"That analogy has something else going for it" Silv added through held back laughter.

Kyle continued to focus as he did what Sly suggested, keeping control of mana away from his body took more of a toll on his mana pool but he was rewarded for the effort. His eyes suddenly twitched as pitch black veins began to grow out from where his right hand held onto the skeleton, the veins began to pulsate with dark energy as they spread further up his arm.

"What are those!?" Karnage gasped with horror as the veins reached his elbow.

"I'm fine!" Kyle shouted while ignoring the agonizing pain going through his arm "I-I'm…fine…". His vision began to blur "So this…is dread…" he said weakly, the dark mana impacting his health heavily.

Sly sighed "Bro if you can't take it then let go, we'll find a weaker mon-"

"No!" Kyle shouted out his reply, his expression turning ugly as he glared down at his arm "Unlike th-the others…we don't have the luxury of time…I wo-won't be left…behind…" his arm trembled as the black veins reached his shoulder.

Sly grabbed hold of the skeleton's other shoulder "Then stop wasting time, give it your damn all".

Kyle smirked weakly "Aye aye" he replied with determination. ("I feel it…tearing up my arm from the inside…not just from my sense of touch but as if I can feel its very existence…Dread…it has nothing to do with darkness…nothing to do with shadow…it is the corruption of life…it thrives from death! So I'll weaken it's source!") Kyle's agonized expression flipped as a grin found its way through the pain "I'll devour the dread! Core Overload! Draconic Ooze!".

The earthly brown slime engulfed his arm before spreading all over the skeleton, Sly and Soren backed off from it as the slime stopped it from moving. Kyle watched through the slime as the black veins continued to pulse and spread. Focusing on the slime he thought of when he accidentally swallowed the slime core, when he ate the demon's hide, he focused on the feeling of absorbing them.

"Something's happening!" Silv pointed out as he stepped closer to watch.

The skeleton's bones began to crack and dissolve inside the slime, the black bones crumbling to be absorbed by it. Focusing all his mana on his arm Kyle now put all his senses into the black energy that flowed through his arm, he thought of locating it and pushing it out. With heavy breaths Kyle pushed through the agonizing pain and throbbing as light blue energy flowed through the black veins, the blackness being filtered out.

"I feel it" he suddenly stated, the pain completely gone "My mana…It's different from controlling it…I actually…feel it!" with a stupid smile Kyle forced his mana into the skeleton. Blue veins of throbbing energy filled the draconic slime before covering the remainder of the skeleton's crumbling body, not just latching on but digging into the bone. "Found you" he muttered out with a grin, his blue veins began forming a sphere where the skeleton's abdomen was.

Lowering his arm down to the skeleton's back he momentarily pulled it back as claws grew over his finger nails, his hand lunged forward and through the crumbled bone then grasped the blue sphere tightly. As the draconic slime dissipated Kyle pulled out his hand while still holding the blue sphere of ethereal mana "I got it…it's trying to force it's way out but…I got it, a soul".

Everyone stared at the blue sphere of bright mana as the skeleton crumbled to dust "It's in there? Now what?" Soren asked not taking his eyes off it for a second.

Kyle held the sphere up with his right hand, the wyvern core still lying in his left "I guess I bind them now…somehow…" his eyes widened along many others in the party "Wait…is it possible?"

"I mean…with everything so far…" Karnage stated with a shrug.

"But an already existing skill…a system skill nonetheless!" Sly exclaimed with a chuckle.

"Well no point thinking it over!" Soren hurried them up impatiently.

"Well, here goes. Soul Bind!" Kyle shouted the skill as a chant and pushed the wyvern core into the sphere of mana containing the soul. The following explosion sent them all crashing into the wall, all except for Skill who was unlucky enough to be sent tumbling back down the tunnel.

Groaning in pain Kyle pushed himself out of the small crater he made in the wall "Is…everyone alright?" groans of acknowledgement came from everyone as they did the same. Looking down the tunnel Kyle saw Skill still laying on the ground "Skill? You okay?"

Skill raised an arm up and gave a thumbs up "Yeap…give…give me a sec…actually…Reyna, can you fix broken bones?"

Reyna walked over to him as she popped her neck "Coming…"

"What the hell happened anyway?" Sly asked as he brushed his shoulder "Did it fail?"

"It…succeeded…" Kyle replied as he read through the notifications so far ignoring the kill notices.

Level up! (x13)

Level 40 attribute points received (+10)

Level 45 attribute points received (+10)

No more attribute points shall be given for this class, acquire a sub-class to gain more or reach level 125 to master your main class and continue gaining from it

Dread energy flows through your body devouring it;

Dread resistance decreased

Perception + 10%

Stamina rapidly dropping

Class-unique active skill [{Absorb}] unlocked!

You have fought off the invading soul!

Passive skill [Mana Detection] unlocked!

You have acquired a [Dreadful Soul]!

Passive skill [Soul Detection] unlocked!

Unique active skill [{Cold Soul}] unlocked!

Through sheer ingenuity or luck, hidden uses for skill [Soul Bind] have been unlocked!

Using the skill [Soul Bind] you have created a [Dreadful Draconic Core(Infused)]!

Kyle blinked once after reading through them all, he continued to stare at them with a blank expression "My head's spinning".