Chasing the Dusk (1/4)

By bringing down my arm hard on the shoulder of an unsuspecting Zombie, I literally hammered the wretched thing to the ground. Its clavicle shattered on impact and it collapsed violently without producing much more than a suffocating gurgle. Eve dashed ahead after I gave her the "all clear", hiding behind the next available corner and surveying the area. Adam peeked from around my thigh looking all serious and lost in calculating thoughts. I nudged him forward with a light shove and the young Vorsàni reluctantly moved towards his female partner. I followed them only after Eve gave the signal that the coast was clear. My large frame was much harder to hide than theirs and this area of the city was a desolated square leading to a huge tower. Not much cover to hide behind of and if the enemy spotted us we'd be exposed from every direction.

Thankfully, we were either good at this ninja business or our enemy was very distracted. I hoped dearly for the first possibility but I rarely ever got what I wanted. Closing in on the target, the great structure loomed over us like a great ocean wave made entirely out of black jagged stone. It was as if the building would wash over us at any moment, drowning us in a hail of collapsing rubble. I shuttered at the thought and turned my gaze to its top, the very reason we came in the first place. The tower's final floor was almost touching the roof of this giant subterranean cavern, in which the city was located. Functioning essentially as a staircase of sorts. "Adam.. are you sure this is the only way to the surface? If we're are wrong, the Ghoul might just pull a fast on us..". The Vorsàni shook its head negatively before answering. "Its not the only way my Lady but it's surely the fastest! My survey of the area showed that the Undead have dug many tunnels along the cavern walls, any one of those could lead to the surface.. but that.." he said while pointing at the tower, "..that is how he'll get to the surface fast.". I turned towards the roof again and nodded. "Then that's how we'll do it as well.." I exclaimed before urging my followers towards the tower's entrance.

We tiptoed are way up the spire, slaying enemies as silently as possible. Eve had proven to be a natural in combat and was growing more proficient with every encounter. My sweet Adam on the other hand called out patterns in the zombies' layouts on each floor and helped in stealthily taking them down before the rest noticed. They each gained a level as soon as we reached halfway to the top. They were disappointed however to see that although their HP, Mana and Skills, kept increasing, they did not receive any new Attribute points to allocate. Apparently, my small Vorsàni had already hit a ceiling for their species and wouldn't grow that much stronger unless they evolved into something more. It became clear to us that individuals without Hero, Dungeon or God Cores couldn't just keep "growing" with every level up. Monster Cores were potent but required evolution for them to keep scaling in power. I guess that's why normal people, like the Dune Raiders, didn't manage to beat me even though they were more experienced. They didn't receive stat increases with each level up!

That is not to say of course that my Vorsàni were not strong. Eve would take on 4-5 zombies at a time by herself. She would activate "Scrapper" and start flipping over their heads, while slicing chunks off of them with her claws. I looked at my scimitar disappointed just before our ascent. I had been training in swordsmanship for almost a month and yet had received no system skill to enhance my combat ability. Yet the small female Vorsàni excelled at this even though having just arrived in this world. To award her efforts I decided to gift her my first looted weapon and placed the scimitar in her hands. Eve was elated and I took joy in just watching her smile and beam with pride. With her enhanced strength, welding the blade was now much easier for her and after taking down more than 5 undead on a single floor, by backstabbing them through the throat, she received yet another combat oriented Skill as well as the Beginner Swordsmanship Skill!

I hid my jealousy behind my pride for my creation. It would appear that despite my emphasis on body strengthening, my talents lay elsewhere. It was difficult to bypass my race's natural affinity for seduction and Social based builds. Even my training with magic was progressing slowly and although my Evolution had given me that extra oomph I was expecting it would, it didn't seem the System was very keen on letting me progress more as a warrior.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Race: Superior Dungeon Core Lv.10

Avatar: Arsàni, Fire-Breather (Hermaphrodite)

Age: 29

HP: 224/260

MP: 68/131

LvL.11: 21%

Aether: 193

Gold: 31

Physical - 14 (+2) (Well Beyond Peak Condition)

Mental - 4 (+1) (Average)

Social - 6 (+1) (Above Average)

Magic - 11 (+2) (Beyond Peak Condition)

Skills

1) Monster Summoning (Rank 2)

2) Dungeon Manipulation (Rank 2)

3) Aether Cultivation (Rank 4)

4) Bound (Rank 2) (+1)

Passive Skills

1) Fire Resistance (Rank 3) (+1)

2) Natural Allure (Rank 2) (+1)

3) Minor Regeneration (Rank 4)

4) Fire Manipulation Magic (Rank 5) (+2)

Spells

1) Finger Gun (3 Mana/13 Dmg, Average)

2) Flame Arrow (15 Mana/50 Dmg, Average)

3) Fire-Breath (8 Mana/15 Dmg, Average, 20ft Fan)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

My evolution had made my overall growth spike but I still didn't receive any combat abilities as I had hoped. Fire-Breath had proven useful for "crowd control" and my augmented Fire Manipulation Magic bumped up the damage output while reducing the Mana cost. I brought this concern of mine to Adam, after the small Vorsàni had just finished sneak attacking a Võrska Zombie. The small male grabbed the Undead from behind, shutting its mouth so it couldn't bark for reinforcements. He threw it successfully to the ground before clawing at its neck, severing its windpipe in two. Adam told me that more intelligent creatures would have increased chances of picking up new skill and abilities. In Eve's case she was simply talented in the Martial arts but he could pick up many skills such as medicine and alchemy because of his high Mental stat. It was true that I had neglected my Mental stat in favor of Physical and Magic. I would probably need to amend that if I was planning on becoming skilled and clever enough to mess with the world order.

Adam discovered a hidden door, leading away from a roaming cluster of 12 Võrska. Thankfully the clever Vorsàni managed to open it in time and we poured into the corridor that opened before us. The black stone pathway led to a storage room of sorts, filled with mouldy crates, racks and chests. A Zombie suddenly pounced from above, jumping off a small tower of crates. I batted it away with a backhand so strong that I felt its bones shatter upon impact. I started rubbing my wrist after that as I ended up hurting myself as well. My strength had grown beyond of what a normal human was capable of so I needed to practice more on how to wield it. My Vorsàni scurried about the room, inspecting every nook and cranny for anything valuable. Most of the equipment and goods that were stored here once were long gone but we managed to salvage some very useful items. Mainly, a suit of leather armor with reinforced paddings, which was luckily my size. The torso piece was a tight fit, pressing my large breasts up against me but would work for now. At least my long shaft wasn't dangling freely anymore, now tucked snugly in the side of my leather pants.

We also found some children's clothing and my Vorsàni were finally able to put some clothes on themselves. Simple shirts with two buttons at the collar, brown trousers and a pair of slippers that just didn't fit because of their climbing claws. I laughed at Adam's disappointment at not being able to fit the shoe on his foot and stroked his hair back lovingly, turning his frown into a smile. Eve was able to find a dagger, which she begrudgingly gave to Adam after a little push from me. Unlike her, Adam's natural weapons weren't as effective as hers and she was now armed in addition to that. The dagger itself was quite unique and spoke volumes for the civilisation that built this city. It had a beautifully carved white marble handle that transitioned into an onyx blade of absolute black. This city was surrounded by veins of precious metals, especially Onyx, iron, tin and copper. I was beginning to formulate a plan of how to proceed with introducing myself to the world. But for that I needed to advance in Tier and produce more rooms for my Dungeon. Which meant.. I needed to get out of here and squash that Ghoul.

The door leading outside the secret storage room started glowing red with heat and I imagine that is what attracted the Undead. Wood splintered and exploded outwards when I breathed fire, sending a torrent of flame down the corridor, roasting any and all zombies in my way. The smell of burning, rotten flesh would have made me vomit if I hadn't already spent 4 days down here. The next zombie to try and attack me received a kick to the torso strong enough to send it crashing into the corridor's roof a meters ahead. Once the path was open, my Vorsàni ran ahead to intercept the incoming enemies. Eve moved like a parkouring feline, slashing at them with her scimitar while Adam slipped behind any distracted enemy and struck at their vital points with his dagger, crippling them for his partner to pick off just a moment later.

We were getting close.. Only a few more levels higher and we would be upon my abductor. The Vorsàni had been worked ragged and I wasn't fairing much better. For two days we had been battling through the ancient city, trying to pinpoint the location of our enemy and slaying his goons that seemed to have no end. Was he always able to produce this many? As we ran up the stairs leading to the next floor I couldn't help but wonder if everything was ok back at my Dungeon. My Core was surely fine since I was still here, but the Girls? My summons? Was everyone ok? I shook my head in an attempt to rid myself of these distracting thoughts. The best I could do for my allies was to trust in them and return home as quickly as possible.

The tower's next level seemed to be a massive circular room, emptied of any amenities and instead filled with heaps and mounds of vile secretions. Excrement and unthinkable gooey substances were strung about the walls like disgusting spiderwebs. My Vorsàni and I moved cautiously into the room knowing that we were not alone. Whatever was hiding under the filth was too massive to hide its presence effectively and the mere thought put me on edge. "Whatever this thing is we keep our distance! No rash thinking and definitely no rushing in blades swinging!" I whispered, slightly looking at Eve without even trying too. The female Vorsàni huffed and averted her gaze, clearly not enjoying my judgemental look right now. "Just keep.. keep.." I mumbled as a 15ft monstrosity lifted its mass from behind a mountain of filth. The creature looked like a bloated corpse that had somehow devolved its lower half into a centipede-like body. Its torso was inflated with puss and cancerous formations, becoming like a balloon of gray decaying flesh. Its hands were tiny and malnourished making them useless, while it moved on pseudopods made of its own rotting flesh.