12 The Bat Cavern

My foot made contact against a hard ground. I stepped out from the bright City Zero to a cavern-like Dungeon. My eyes scanned the area. My surroundings looked similar to the spider Dungeon that I'd gone to the other day. However, there weren't many magic stones in the walls like before, making this cave much darker in comparison to the other one.

The Monsters in this Dungeon are bats. They'll be fast, but I know where they'll attack from. I've fought bat Monsters before, and now, with my upgraded Speed, I shouldn't have too much of a problem fighting them.

Though, it would be troublesome if I get attacked by multiple bats at once. If something like that happens, I may just have to use Leg Strengthening and run away.

Knowing that it would be dark in this Dungeon, I'd prepared something for the situation. I reached into my backpack and grabbed a safety helmet with a light attached to its front. After putting it on, I began to walk forward with my sword held in front of me.

For the bats, I decided to do a similar thing that I did with the rabbits. I'd use the bowl, water, and soap that I brought to clean some of the bats' fur before eating it. The thing about this Dungeon, though, is that I won't be able to stay in the same spot like I did with the last one.

Bat Monsters in Blue Dungeons shouldn't be able to deal that much damage at once. They rely on their flight and speed as well as the dark areas that they reside in. If it were before, then I would have trouble with these bat Monsters, but now, my Speed has risen significantly, so I should be able to keep track of them even in the darkness since I have my helmet.

The cavern was silent except for the slight sound of dripping water that echoed through the tunnel. It wasn't long before I encountered the first Monster.

A bat about the size of my torso appeared from the darkness. Letting out a screech. It glided down from the ceiling. The bat's red eyes gleamed from the light of my helmet as it neared me, baring its fangs that were the length of my fingers.

It was quick, but it wasn't able to catch me by surprise. With my sword I was able to block the bat's fangs. With my blade trapped in the bat's teeth, I twisted my body and pulled my blade, ripping through the bat's mouth.

Blood sprayed through the air. The bat let out a screech as it fell to the ground.

If I hadn't gone to the previous Dungeon and increased my Stats, then this type of thing would be impossible for me to do. By facing this Blue Dungeon, I'd be able to adapt to the changes in my Stats as well as increase my strength.

With a blank expression, I finished the bat off by grabbing its neck tightly and strangling it to death. Yes, it was brutal, but I wanted to keep its organs and bones mostly undamaged so that I could sell it for a better price. Then, before dismantling the corpse, I plucked off one of its hairs and put it in a plastic bag for later.

Then, I moved on. I didn't dismantle it because it would take a while to do so. I decided to dismantle the corpses of Monsters I killed on the way back instead of while I was on my way to the Boss Monster. Yes, I was planning on fighting the Boss Monster. The Dungeon Managers were probably expecting me to just fight Monsters near the entrance since my official rank was E.

As I walked, I would quickly kill any bat monsters that appeared. Not more than two or three would attack me at a time. When it was one or two, I didn't have any trouble, but when groups of three started appearing, that's when I had to focus more.

"Screee!" a bat screeched, darting towards me with its fangs bared, two other bats flying behind it.

Reacting quickly, I thrust my sword out to meet the bat, impaling its body starting at the mouth like a kebab. Blood sprayed from its mouth, landing on my face, but I only stared down the other bats without even blinking.

The other two bats let out their own screeches before flying towards me. They were fast, but I stayed composed. Using the bat corpse stuck to my sword, I shielded myself, parrying the attacks of the Monsters. Then, I reeled back my sword, tensed my arms muscles, and swung my sword like a baseball bat, flinging the bat corpse from my sword towards the bats in the air.

It seems that they weren't expecting me to do that.

The corpse directly hit one of the bats, bringing it to the ground while the other froze in astonishment.

While the Monster paused, I was running towards it with my sword held in front of me. With a jump followed by an upward swing of my sword, I slashed apart one of the bat's wings. Then, after it fell to the ground screeching, I stomped hard on its neck, breaking it.

After that, I turned to the last bat which was still trapped underneath the corpse. I walked towards it. Holding my sword in a reverse grip, I raised it into the air before plunging it through the corpse and into the living bat Monster's body. Blood dripped from its mouth as it let out horrified screeches. Eventually, the screeches stopped with the eyes of the bat going blank.

Softening my grip on my sword, I let out a deep sigh.

If anyone that wasn't a Hunter or a Mercenary saw me killing these Monsters, they may think that my methods were too brutal. It is a fact that many people, even if they were Awakened, may not ever enter a Dungeon in their entire life.

Even if someone was Awakened, that didn't mean that they had to be a Hunter, Mercenary, or Hero. They could work normal jobs, even using the Skills they had to help them.

Anyway, the point is that contrary to what people think, Monsters are a lot harder to kill than people. That may seem obvious, but when it came to Monsters, it was always best to make sure the job was done. Who knows, maybe a Monster has a Skill that allows them to act like they're dead or something?

Most people who aren't Awakened wouldn't have a chance against most Monsters. Even if it was an E-Rank Monster, an average person wouldn't be able to fight against it. There were two reasons for that. Firstly, average people lacked experience. Secondly, they lacked the abilities for it.

When I first started out, I had massive trouble just defending against regular Green Dungeon Monsters, which are usually E-Rank and sometimes low D-Rank. But now, I had no problem against mid D-Rank Monsters and I was even able to win against the Boss Monster which was around C-Rank!

After wiping the blood from my face and sword, I continued deeper into the cavern.

I had about four hours in this Dungeon, but I wanted to get this over with quickly. I wanted to quickly get out of here to sell the Monster parts and magic stones that I had as well as eat a part of the Boss Monster.

I also have to make dinner for Marie… I better hurry up. She'll be mad at me if I'm late.