Knock. Knock. Who is it? (III)

Dairen was the first to head towards the door, opening it with a harsh yank it almost broke the door off whatever hinges it had left. He peeked out towards the side and found nothing in view.

"Help!" The female's voice was louder than before as it screamed out in desperation. "Someone! Ack-!" Silenced followed after as both Dairen and Snow heard bones and flesh-tearing into pieces.

They knew it was too late.

Taking careful steps, they leaned against the wall as Snow lifted her dagger to see for any possible enemy. What she saw, she frowned heavily. They were small fae-like creatures with long twisted horns and black oily skin. Their claws were sharp and dirty, almost as if it had stuck its hand in black paint and ran it right after into a pile of dog crap. Snow couldn't help but assume it was filled with nasty bacteria. Its thin, gangly tail swooped back and forth as if it had Tourette. Large jaws with small crooked teeth sticking out of its lips had a hint of a wicked smile. Even its lopsided eyes made it look even uglier before.

"An Imp?" Snow was wondering why a demon was doing here.

"An Imp?" Dairen whispered, repeating after her like a bird.

"Yea, the lower tiers. It's not strong, but there are many." She replied. She could see from her dagger-like a mirror that there were three tearing up the Sleeper that was dead on the floor.

"Even Sleepers are pulled in on this." Snow shook her head, feeling bad for the Sleepers who died without knowing why. It was often that such things happened, and most of them were coined in the missing category to cover up the mess that the magical creatures had committed. She had a feeling that this would be on the News as a terrorist attack to cover the death toll.

"Behind the Imps is the stairway. We'll go down from there."

Dairen shook his head, understanding what was going to happen in the next second. "I'll cover you." He pulled out the bow from his back as he knocked it in place.

"You sure you don't want a gun?" Snow glanced at him.

"Yea, I'm better at this than a gun. I have not learned how to use a gun correctly, so I don't want to accidentally shoot you in the back."

"I'm a bit impressed you would think in such a way. Also, a regular bullet can't get past their thick skin anyways without magic embedded in the body. So when you shoot, don't forget to mix magic with your arrows." She instructed as she pulled out her sword and stashed away her dagger.

"I'm going to assume yours is imbued with magic?"

"Yes, but I can't use it here. The loud sound is going to attract more Imps."

Snow was relieved at Dairen's reasoning, mostly because she knew that there were people who took weapons that they couldn't handle. In most cases, they would harm themselves.

With a nod, she directed him to follow.

Snow rushed forward, her sword trailing behind her.

The three imps that were present looked up from their feast as the first one was shot perfectly with an arrow in the forehead. It exploded like a bomb, not even a second later.

Snow swung her deadly sword, slicing the second in half. The third realized what was going on and tried to run away but was stopped short with its arm cut off into neat little pieces. With another step forward, her sword sang as it sliced off its head, leaving behind a pretty package of death.

"You're quite skilled."

"Been learning how to use the sword for a long time, but these days I have been getting a bit lazy and got pretty rusty." She flicked her sword as blood slid off from the blade. She put it away with a quick flick, and she squatted down to look at the mess in front of her.

Her face turned a bit green, gulping it down. She reached down, fishing out from the end of the base of the Imps skull as a glistening deep purple crystal the size of a penny appeared in her bloody hand.

"What is that?" Dairen asked, peering over her shoulder.

"All the demons have these crystals that they are born with. Some of the monsters do too, but these..." She held the crystal up in the air for him to have a better look. "Only can be found in a place with a condensed magical energy field."

Putting the crystal away, she took the other two, which she disgustingly took out with regret as she felt the squish.

She got up as they headed towards the stairs.

"What do you think happened here?"

"I think I have an idea of what's going on, but I hope it's not true."

They rush downstairs. Snow stopped momentarily when she saw an open balcony. Walking over, she leaned out.

"I was right." She groaned, wishing it wasn't true.

Dairen walked over next to her. "What's right- what in the world? Where are we?"

"In a dungeon."

Snow couldn't believe her eyes. How? It shouldn't even be possible for a dungeon to suddenly appear on top of her home. There were no signs...wait, she did feel lately there was some dark energy lurking around her house, but that shouldn't be enough. Right?

What welcomed them were purple skies that cast a shadow over the block of the neighborhood; it was as if they were spirited away to a whole different dimension that shouldn't even exist in reality. Off in the distance, Snow could see the open rolling plains, which made her wonder what floor was she on.

"Dungeon? Like actually a game dungeon?"

"I wouldn't say game dungeon, but you could think of it like that."

"Is there some kind of treasure here?" Dairen asked excitedly.

"I-" Snow thought over for a moment, wondering why he would ask if there were treasures in a dungeon.

"Rare materials, legendary items people just leave behind or stuff like that?"

"Yes."

"There are rare materials in the dungeon for sure, but legendary items? I don't know. That sounds so fantastical."

"Still, it's something."

A hint of greed flickered in his eyes.

"Don't get too caught up in it. Dungeons are dangerous and rare occurrences. The last known occurrence of one ever coming into existence was three hundred years ago."

"Still, it sounds like a perfect opportunity to get rich."

Snow shook her head. She wanted to shake him for thinking such dangerous thoughts. "Either way, we need to get out of here and report this to the higher-ups. Also…..I need to move."

The thought of moving home made her want to punch the wall. It wasn't often that she moved, but the process to move out from the dungeon to a safe location was costly, now that they were in a dungeon she would expect it to be even more. Maybe she should hunt in the dungeon to compensate for the massive loss for the moving expenses. She knew she might have too with her saving about to be depleted.

As they headed downstairs, she was glad that she didn't run into whatever monsters that tore a new hole in her door. She stopped. The lobby was packed with ten imps. They were screeching and jumping around as if they were all doing some kind of pow wow. At the rate they were dancing, Snow had a feeling that they were trying to summon a powerful being.

Out of the blue, one of the Imps that had a feathered accessory hanging off its ear turned around towards one of the closest Imp and slashed it across the neck furiously. Snow gaped at the atrocious behavior between its kind and felt dread creep up in her very heart.

Black blood squirted everywhere as the other Imps started to dance in glee as they gobbled up the blood as if they were baptized. Snow felt a rise in magical power, every one of them manically scream in excitement as if they were all on drugs.

Their muscles bulked up, and their eyes became wild and high. It was as if every one of them were on steroids.

"What is going on?" Dairen whispered, flabbergasted in what he was seeing.

"Evolution." Snow whispered back, her hand gripped tightly on her sword. "And it's just started too." She couldn't help but swear at her unfavorable circumstances, at the rate things were going, the

Imps were going to change. "We gotta kill them now."

Snow bolted forward like lightning, using magic to speed up. Her sword savagely slashed the nearest one, decapitating the head in one blow as she slid towards the next.

Dairen fumbled for his arrows before he shot. His aim was off as it hit one of the Imps arm, blowing it off as it screamed in pain. The Imp did a half hop and a dramatic flop onto its knees, which brought a slight smirk on Dairen's lips as he licked it. He shot another, destroying it squarely in the chest.

Dairen shot a few more, taking out three more in a powerful blast. One ran up to him, which he ducked and rolled out of harm's way as the Imp tried to tear him apart. He slid out a dagger, stabbing it into its right foot, pinning it in place. He quickly shot an arrow from the ground, taking out its eye.

The Imp tried to run away from Dairen as it screamed from pain, its foot stuck unable to do much but struggle in place. Dairen didn't stop. He knew that one wrong move could crush his bones, and he didn't want to be under the Imp's arms being smashed to smithereens.

Another arrow followed after, this time magic was viciously put into the arrow itself, causing a deadly impact on the Imp. Black void like energy gobbled up the Imp and sucked it into a black hole, leaving behind a pool of blood and bits of bones.

Snow moved like water as she took care of four more, much quicker than Dairen, who struggled before she was purely stopped by one of the Imp's pure strength alone. The Imp towered over her. It angrily smashed down upon her head in the hopes to squash her like a bug. Her first impact, between his strength and her sword, made her arm numb, barely even cutting through the skin.

She knew then that the Imp had poured a vast amount of magical energy to reinforce its skin. She stepped backward, disengaging herself. It spat and hissed angrily at Snow as it swung it's arm at her completely missing her head.

It was wiggling as if worm's were covering every inch of its body. A roar echoed, its muscles become tight and bulky.

With a swing of its arm, Snow felt the end of her nose barely touch; she felt the pure force of power from the Imp's swing. Her tattooed around her eyes glowed and changed. Silver liquid appeared and covered her face as it shaped itself into a motorcycle like a helmet with a dragon face design. Two elegant dragon-like horns appeared over her head, giving her a fierce look. Gold serpentine eyes blinked back with power.

The Silver liquid traveled down towards her body, giving her a light scale-like pattern. She was even forming a tail behind her. Sharp metallic claws appeared on her fingers, giving her an extra weapon to use.

With a deep grunt, the Imp wavered as it saw the appearance change of Snow as it gave off a small dragon-sized feel compacted in a human body. Still, it didn't back down and instead carefully watched Snow, thinking of what to do next.

Snow, on the other hand, rushed in, ducking under the swing as she slit the tendons of one of its feet. It's leg gave out, but in the process, the Imp's arm swung and caught her in the chest.

A painful hit threw her back as she tumbled on the ground. Rattled, she felt a bit bruised, but luckily she didn't tickle a broken bone. Her armor was still strong enough to withstand its punch, allowing her to get back up. She regretted not buying the higher quality dragon armor when she thought of the armor she had on now.

Another two Imps prowled around her like a wild hyena, cackling.

Dairen couldn't reach Snow. He was busy with the third, which was trying to catch him.

Snow stood in place, watching the two.

Her senses tingle from behind. She felt a murderous intent aim for her shoulder. With a quick dodge, she swung her blade in an arch as it lodges itself on the Imp behind her.

A scream followed after as the Imp grabbed ahold of her blade from entering deeply into its shoulder. Snow let go, she ducked under as her clawed hand snaked towards its throat. Viciously, she grabbed and pulled, leaving behind a chunk of its neck gone. Black blood spurted out from its throat. The Imp stumbled, holding its throat as if it was going to close.

Snow didn't let the Imp go, she swung her leg, kicking it squarely in the chest. It fumbled backward, falling onto the ground with a loud thump. It struggled to breathe but died in its pool of blood.

The large Imp, who she was fighting before, took its chance as it lunged from behind, grabbing her into a bear hug.

Alarmed, she struggled. The pressure from the hug was harsh; she could feel her muscles and bones crying out in pain.

"Snow!" Dairen saw her in trouble; he was still having trouble with the last Imp as it was a lot more cunning than its other brethren.

Snow knew that the longer she stayed in the steroid-like Imp's embrace, her armor wouldn't last. It wasn't like she had the best quality armor, but it was enough to last for a bit longer before it lost its durability. The only downside to her armor was that it had more magic base protections than physical protection.

Her tail whipped around the Imp's neck, tightening its hold as she attempted to pry it off her body. The armor groaned and yelled at her from the sheer force between the Imp's hug and pulling them apart. The struggle for dominance began between the two. Sweat started to pour down her face as she imbued more magic into her armor, giving it more juice to power. The influx of energy drained her, making her tired.

"Get off me!" She yelled, giving a massive burst of energy. They pulled apart. Her tail dragged its head to the ground in a vicious slam, giving her time to raise to her feet and stomp into its head. A sickening crunch could be heard, making her stomach turn.

With a satisfied smile, she felt relieved that the fight between the two was over. She wasn't so happy that she struggled between the two Imps as she realized her level of power was still lacking. Plus, they were demons, making this fight a lot harder.

Dairen fought with everything he got, barely having time to even think about anything else.

The Imp didn't give him any leeway as it saw that its other brethren were killed off so quickly between the two. It turned and ran.

"Oh no you don't." Dairen hissed, he wasn't going to let it run away. He summoned up magical energy into his bow; this time, he shot an arrow into its back. Black void like energy gobbled the Imp up, leaving nothing behind.

Dairen huffed as he was out of breath. "I feel so old." He chuckled; he felt his bones creaking in pain.

"That was a bit difficult." Snow laughed, watching him move around like an old grandpa as he rubbed his back.

"You try rolling on the dirt a few times and tell me if it doesn't hurt or not."

"Already been there and done that. I got hugged, you know." Snow shook her head at his response.

She wanted to rest and go back to her room, but she knew that wasn't possible anytime soon.

"Well, I guess getting hugged from behind and getting your life sucked out of you might one-up me."

Snow smiled at his odd remark, giving her a break of mind that she didn't realize how pretty bent out she was. Even though her body was physically bruised up here and there, it was still able to keep going without much of a problem.

"Let's just get out of here." Snow replied. She was glad that Dairen was here with her.

"I agree. I don't want to meet another one of those Imp packs." Dairen said with a furrowed brow, thinking over what had happened. "Do they normally congregate like that?"

"Not that I know of if my creature lore is up to date, which it seems I have been quite off."

"Maybe it's a once in a while thing?"

"Possibly, but I'll for sure update this information to the database whenever I get the chance to get back to the Dragon Express."

"Let's hope we don't pass another."

"That would be ideal, but this is a dungeon." She knew such wishful thinking was naive, mostly because of the amount of information she read about the dungeons. There was danger everywhere, and being laid back equates to an easy death, and she didn't want to die. "I wouldn't be surprised if there is more."

"A man can hope."

"Yes, you can."

They headed towards the double glass door. Snow momentarily stopped, looking out into the distance of the lobby, what welcomed were the wilderness. Her hands gripped the side handle. Even her knuckles are turning slightly red from the pressure she was giving from holding too tight. Snow knew that the moment she stepped out, the danger would increase by a hundred folds, and she wasn't sure that she would want to step out to tackle the unknown.

There were too many variables in the dungeon that she didn't know, especially because she read about the horrors of the dungeon that kept popping up in her mind.

"You ready?" Dairen broke the silence.

"No."

"Do you need me to give you a minute?"

"No, but let's go before I change my mind."

Dairen nodded, agreeing.

Snow knew that she would change her decision if she stayed any longer. She needed to leave now.

Breathing in deeply, she straightened her back. Her eyes glistened over, becoming sharp. Taking a step, she left out the door. There was no turning back.