4 Chapter 2: Absorption of the Wicked.
"With the screeching fowl and the wail of the mighty emerged, terror flailed and whipped onto the ears of the wretched people-- Which what it should have become of. Take arms with you my friend, the farmer over the hills keened hast glory; "For thy victory wouldn't be their fate, courage our wit's end will be our victory and not thine beholder's cusp of wine." Said the fate of the people, as it is the last mouthful of his cry, he skewed an iron balled cock of might and danced with the death. Fought up with arms and chivalry. Revolved his legends of a wryful scrubber courage throughout humanity with aspiration."
- The second paragraph of Page 4, Chapter of Adam, Tale of Grimayus.
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WOOSH- BAM.
Alcatraz swiftly landed onto the face of Dungeon Dwarf Crawler with the soles of his greaves after making his jumping entrance- scourging it out of its life through baptizing the floor with its brain and blood. Amongst the gore of the fallen monster, there are shards of sparkling red crystal that told of its core being shattered. The once prideful monster whose head is a terrifying eagle died with a single strike, its felons were stunned from the sight of their fellow monster dying from one landing strike.
There, he has heard a call from the heavens inside his mind. It sounded mechanical, a deep voice of inorganic voiced male.
"Status taken: +10 Strength, +3 Defense, +4 Agility, +0 Magic, +1 Mana, +2 Health and Abilities taken: Lesser Rapid Regeneration."
A bad roll. Alcatraz cursed inside his mind upon hearing the quality of his absorption. His absorption will only take a portion of the monster's power so therefore, the power he will receive is based on luck or fate. I should check what changes happened to my status.
>>Alcatraz
Level: 1 Experience: 1/10
Race: -- Age: --
Status:
Health Points: 2,000 / 2,000 (+2 Health) Mana Points: 400 / 400 (+1 Mana)
Strength: 10 (+10) Agility: 2 (+4)
Defense: 10 (+3) Magic: 10
Abilities:
>Infinite Prison: Gluttony of Hellbent Prisoner (Rank SSS+)[Passive]
- Grants the beholder, the ability to imprison Humanoid beings once defeated and gain their power and appearance once imprisoned. Monsters require their cores to be struck down to gain a portion of their power, though the status absorption will decrease for every same type of monster the beholder slay but will increase the chances of gaining its body. Additions are not added straight to the status.
>Infinite Prison: Envy of the Fallen Champion (Rank SSS+)[Active][1w CD][0 MP cost]
- Boosts all Status parameters, including HP and MP by 100% for One breath(s). Has a cooldown of one week.
>Lesser Health Regeneration (Rank F)[Passive]
- Grants the beholder, an ability to rapidly restore 1.5% of the lost HP with two seconds interval, at the span of 50 breaths the moment HP reaches below 20%. Additionally; restores 2-50 HP every minute.
A new ability. Might be useful when I actually need it... Alcatraz gave himself a nod upon seeing the changes and immediately grounded himself into a better footing, away from the decimated corpse of the monster and before long. The monsters made their move.
"PAT, PAT, PAT." Alcatraz raised his hands up into a guard upon hearing a rapid pattering to the left. A fellow dweller approached Alcatraz and pounced into him while its club raised up in the air- performing a flying strike aimed at Alcatraz's ironclad arms. With a roll displaced in the mid-air, it generated a strong momentum and-
BAM!!!
Alcatraz met the club head-on and took three steps back from the strike, the monster who caused such damage was blown away from the impact and landed on its two feet. Alcatraz was pained from the injury and nearly staggered upon the strike. It came from a level 3 monster after all and Alcatraz was only at the beginning level of one. Their status is worlds apart from each other.
Not only that but he felt his star skin cracking, he took a quick glance and saw a white cobweb was forming within. It pains, but not to an extent that he would flinch from the blow. The crack is slowly gaining intensity over time. Alcatraz hoped that HP regeneration would kick in before it grows into an alarming size.
He took the shattered dagger off his waist immediately and posed into a stance. He had underestimated the power of these vile creatures a little bit too much by using bare hands. He stared onto the creatures whose eyes are glaring down and giving him an annoying shriek every heart's beat in the distance. It seemed to look like the monsters are afraid of Alcatraz.
But...
PING- A rock suddenly erupted from one of the hands of the Dwarf Crawlers! Alcatraz did not least expect the slingshot hidden within their veil and took the shot in his shoulder. Fortunately for him, it only bounced off, leaving a small dent on his right shoulder.
Alcatraz was pissed off.
To think these disgusting creatures would throw a rock at him.
... That's seriously inconceivable! Alcatraz gripped his dagger even further and prepared himself.
Alcatraz, with his eyes locked on the target- he immediately pounced onto the group of Dwarf Crawlers with all of his strength that blew away the other two monsters and swept his dagger. Slashing the unfortunate Dwarf Crawler in front of him and releasing a volume of dark blood into his white scowl, though it still managed to get off and fire another shot from his slingshot which created another dent onto his body.
Alcatraz was really pissed off at this moment, he didn't freeze from the anger as he immediately initiated a flurry of strikes into the slingshotter and broke its crystal located deep inside its head. The words of heaven repeated into his mind.
"Status taken: +15 Strength, +5 Defense, +14 Agility, +0 Magic, +3 Mana, +5 Health and Abilities upgraded: Lesser Rapid Regeneration."
Alcatraz didn't pay much attention to it as he turned his sights into the other one whose figure is rapidly closing in the distance between Alcatraz and the monster, it raised up its club and prepared to perform another leaping strike.
That move may be powerful, but it wouldn't work twice in the same opponent. Alcatraz thought before he made his move. He rolled forward, avoiding the leaping strike of the Dwarf Crawler and borrowed the slingshot of the fallen monster. He loaded the slingshot with his shattered dagger and flung it to the confused Dwarf Crawler.
WOOOSH- PICH-...
"GUUUUUAAAARRRRRR!!!"
The shattered dagger didn't have any penetrative power though it managed to dug an inch deep into the lion body of the Dwarf Crawler. It flinched into the ground and groaned in pain as it tried to pull the dagger out of its body, its remaining fellow friend responded immediately to its cry and tried helping it but.
... The other friend stopped, it slowly turned its bird head away from its suffering felon the moment it sensed something strange behind it. Its fish eyes suddenly shook from the figure on its back.
There was a person, the person they were up against to. Alcatraz. He made his way towards the suffering Dwarf Crawler as quickly as possible to have it meet its end before he engages into battle with the other one. But he didn't expect that these monsters would care for their comrades. Instead of rushing into for the kill, he walked and made his way to the back of the other monster... For extra intimidation, he thought.
"GUAAAAR!! GURUUU!! GUAAAR!"
The Dwarf Crawler did not respond quickly to the threat and had its head grabbed immediately by Alcatraz. It cried as loud as possible while struggling for freedom before Alcatraz tightened his grip, he gained enough strength to crush these lowly peon's skull from the two Dwarf Crawlers he has slain earlier.
CRACK.
The poor Dwarf Crawler's skull was crushed mercilessly, dark blood spurted violently out of its beak and nostrils and some traces of flesh followed up, making Alcatraz's once clean body into a messy blood-soaked entourage. Alcatraz crushed it even further to break the crystal and gain a portion of its status.
With the inorganic voice echoed inside his head. Alcatraz threw the body of the tortured Dwarf Crawler and laid his eyes to the still suffering Dwarf Crawler before he approached it. The Dwarf Crawler tried its best to slither away from Alcatraz, it kept on releasing pained cries to the other end of the hall- where Alcatraz came from- seemingly asking for help to the other Dwarf Crawlers in the vicinity.
But too bad for the Dwarf Crawler. Alcatraz didn't see any other Dwarf Crawlers back there. Alcatraz lowered himself to the slithering Dwarf Crawler and impulsively grabbed its beak ere he pulled the dagger out of its body. Dark blood gushed forth and into the rusty greaves of Alcatraz. It released a painful cry, though thoroughly muffled by the hands of this star-clad person. Alcatraz let it suffer for a while before he stabbed the dagger into the head of the Dwarf Crawler and broke its crystal.
"Status taken: +12 Strength, +4 Defense, +6 Agility, +0 Magic, +1 Mana, +1 Health and Abilities upgraded: Lesser Rapid Regeneration."
He finally eradicated the monsters off. Turning his eyes onto the hanging four women, he was astounded to see them widely awake and witnessed the whole fight with their own eyes. He didn't expect them to be awake since he saw their eyes shut tightly earlier before he engaged into battle with the monsters.
The women were beautiful. From left to right, the furthermost right woman was eye-catching with large racks and rump. Her features are swollen as if frightened for the worst, her emerald eyes gleaming with squandering faith. She has short black hair to characterize her features. Beside her is a blonde, noble-like woman with expressions oblivious of hope of the future. Her sky blue eyes are devoid of life. Her body has visible scars on her and blood dripped out of her breasts, seemingly pecked by these Dwarf Crawlers. Laid on her wrist was a rolled up pocket watch with a hanging picture of her and a kid.
The other two looked like twins with different hair-styles. The same hair color of Platinum white and deep blue eyes. Their bodies differed as the leftmost twin had a bigger waist and shorter body while the other one has smaller rump and taller, quite muscular frame. Her eyes are different than others as she is obviously clinging onto hope- and that seems to be.
"D... Dace Miuara Kurlai Matann..! Origai. Dace!" The taller twin bellowed with tears flowing out. "Origai, Dace. Miuara Plashae nig kan Narieta!"
"Shihstrel! Kaun Deish macius als Eish Der!" Her twin bellowed, trying to stop the other twin from her actions. But she was immediately refuted by her twin sister.
"Paldromo, Aklish Shihstrel. Ach Deish Dace Miua ih awct this Quartiea!"
"Shishtrel-"
"Paldromo!"
Hmm? This is Ariettana Dialect.
Ariettana Dialect that is popular amongst the Eastern People. Alcatraz suddenly remembered the language that the woman spoke. If she speaks an Ariettana Dialect. Does that mean I was transferred to the East of the Continent?
And, since they could still speak. They still have some uses on them, since I am still unaware of my current disposition. I think I'll spare their lives until I gained two or three knowledge out of them.
The black papers taught him various languages earlier, so he knows how to speak in Ariettana Dialect and gave him a moral lesson of how important information was to one's life. He rummaged through his mind and tried to translate her words, and also to communicate with them.
"Savior. Save us! Please, the savior! Please, the savior. Save us. From the monsters!"
"Sister! That person is faceless it is very dangerous!"
"Silence, dear sister. This person is the savior. We put trust in him or we die!"
"Sister-!"
"Silence!"
Alcatraz translated their words and apparently... He wasn't good at translating though. And even it wasn't that good, that was enough to learn of their bellow. He shrugged the translation off and gave the taller twin a glare.
He crooked his 'throat' and tried to speak in Ariettana Dialect.
"No feel. Fear." Alcatraz muttered a lie to remove their uneasiness, after all. Trying to converse with terrified peons are much harder than trying to get the character out of a stranger. He approached the ladies while clenching onto the shattered dagger. "I will not kill. You. If one of you. Answer the question. My question."
The ladies revealed an expression of shock and fright upon the sight of faceless humanoid speaking in broken Ariettana dialect and his voice terrorized their logic. Apparently, they did not expect the faceless humanoid to speak and only took their chances of attaining life. Alcatraz noticed this but did not heed any attention to it.
"H... He can speak, Ariaukita! He could speak!" The shorter twin called onto her sister, her tone carried a cheerful glee after stuttering. She seemed to be also clinging on the hope that her twin sister is apparently adhering upon.
"Please help us, thy savior!"
"They are a lot more than four, hurry. Save us!"
The ladies begged him to save them from their predicament, almost not paying attention to their fright earlier.
"Answer. The question, my question. First." Alcatraz replied.
"Questyoun, you... You mean question?" The lady who was called out by her twin sister 'Ariaukita' spoke and paused for a while as she eyed the scenery behind Alcatraz. "I will answer any question you have, just, please... Save us before the other Dwarf Crawlers come! Amongst them is a Boss-class!"
Other Dwarf Crawlers and... A boss-class? Alcatraz thought and took a glance behind him. There were no traces of monsters other than the dilapidated corpses that laid around and was about to refute the woman's words when his mind suddenly flashed a terrifying thought.
If a lowly Dwarf Crawler could inflict such damage to my arm. Then, what would the Boss-class variant of these Dwarf Crawlers deliver..?
These are Humans. One of the powerful race in the whole world, if they are taken down by a four of these Dwarf Crawlers, doesn't that mean, they are much weaker than what I anticipated? No. That's not it... The number of beds in this nest doesn't account to four, it deems to five dozen! What is more, there are innumerable amounts of spawn eggs behind the hanging female Humans!
Obviously, this is a Dwarf Crawler's wigwams! Alcatraz shook from the thought and promptly freed the damsels. He only did this because he wanted to ask them a question before he kills them for status gain. The group did have a problem upon the release, the blonde did not want to get up at first since she had given up on living but the black haired woman slapped her out of it. After for a while, they prepared immediately.
The beautiful matrons quickly took their torn clothes on and followed Alcatraz back to the junction where they felt the ground shook.
Alcatraz felt the excitement rising up from within the depths of his heart and stood in place, leaving the madames to advance on their own. Obviously, something's telling him to go for the source of the tremble. It took him a great deal of effort to stop him from rushing to the source.
Every two breathes, or... A step from a large being... The ground shook.
Obviously, something was coming this way, from the Northern Hall.
The silhouette of a massive being entered their sights from the Northern Hall. Alcatraz could've jumped into that being as it looked tasty and will fetch a lot of status gain, but at the moment... Information comes first. He must gain knowledge of the current floor they are in and the exit of the dungeon.
Alcatraz kept the surging emotions within and joined the group and tucked their tails behind their back. They made way to the opposite direction of the Dwarf Crawler's nest, totally avoiding the large entity's sight.
Alcatraz remained behind to witness the marvel of the beast. Before long, the beast entered his sights and revealed its identity before Alcatraz.
Liveariu Sentinel
Level: 95, Rank S+ Behemoth-type Monster. Boss-class.
Intelligence: S Vitality: Armored, SS Rank
Fighting Capabilities: SS- Magic Capabilities: SS-
The Sentinel was large and made out of similar rocks that the dungeon is built of. Like a moving fortress. It was large enough to fit through the tight hallways of the Dungeon and had enough height to touch the ceiling.
The scariest part of the Sentinel is that it has Dungeon Veins grasping almost of its body. Making it seem impossible to slay. More than that, on the fore of its head, is holding some sort of long sword with a gap between, or a crossbow without wings.
Seems like a magic weapon or some sort.
How one would defeat such a monster!? Alcatraz questioned himself since Dungeon Veins make materials that it clutches upon near unbreakable with the help of surrounding mana. That monster seems to be impossible to kill... Though that didn't stop him from gaining a thought.
But, that what makes it fun.
I want to kill it. I want to slay it.
I want to take its power!
... Even if our levels are worlds apart, I want to take it!!!
I don't care if it is a boss-class monster or not. I want to take its power!
Alcatraz felt an upsurging ambition within him, he felt he wanted to attain the power of this marvel. The power of this Behemoth-class Monster he is seeing right now.
He nearly ran towards the being when he felt something gripped onto his left wrist.
"What are you doing!?" One of the madame, it was the other twin. She bellowed Alcatraz out of his trance and took his hand with both of her delicate hands, urging him to hurry up. "If we don't hurry up, the Dwarf Crawlers will catch up... And that monster might notice us. That freak is far from your level to kill, or even the Guild master's!"
"What, you mean?" Alcatraz replied the moment the damsel stopped speaking. "Elaborate..?"
"This might be your first time encountering it since you have no idea what kind of monstrosity that thing is. And... I don't know whether you are a Demon or one of the half-people that live away from this Dungeon... But since you are the one who saved us, I'll tell you what!"
"That monster, it is the overlord of this dungeon. It has known many titles and slain many Heroes of the Adventurer's Guild throughout its life."
"That monster is immortal. It cannot be killed unless one is to destroy the Dungeon Core in the deepest floor to weaken its armor..! And such thing isn't a thing for the moment as the Adventurer's guild haven't yet reached the sixth floor of this Dungeon!"
