Chapter 87 – The Skaven Under-Empire

“Huh.” John wondered as he lowered his arm, “I expected something to happen.” He was still in the same forest as before. Yes, he was inside an Illusion Barrier, but there were neither enemies nor any other anomalies. At least, he didn’t see one.

“Master, I feel obligated to inform you about…” Aclysia spoke up behind him.

John turned to her and saw it. It was a sloped catacomb entrance with an opened iron gate, all old grey stone and menacing. “Thanks, Aclysia.”

“…The giant entrance behind you,” Aclysia finished her sentence anyway, like usual. “I am happy to be of use.” She said with a bow. He gestured for her to take the lead and they stepped down into the catacombs.

The air inside the complex was cold and dank. Moss and small mushrooms covered the ancient-looking stone and the withered wood respectively. Everything was illuminated by lines of crystal, pulsing in an infrequent beat. They were set into the walls and sturdy. No matter how much Rave tried to pull one out, they didn’t budge. The Gaia-made dungeon was near impossible to mess with.

Dirt crunched softly under their feet, as the trio turned the first corner. They came face to face with their first group of enemies. Around a metre tall and furry, the group of rat-people walked on their back feet while their frontal claws had changed to something resembling a four-fingered hand. They wore rough brown cloaks and stared at the intruders of their realm with hatred.

Society? Gaia even simulated those? If things continued in this fashion he would eventually ask himself if it was ethical to create these Dungeons only to close them afterwards. Either that or all of this was just flavour text.

The Skaven ran at them and John decided he could ask questions later. Part of the dirt on the ground pulled together into the form of a little girl, his earth elemental answering the call as reliably as ever. Rave stumbled over Gnome. “Watch where ya put her!” she complained as she saved herself by turning the fall into a somersault. It artfully transitioned into a hammering descent of her heel on one of the Skaven’s heads. The rat man was slammed into the ground by the impact and then ended by the force of the ripple that followed each of Rave’s kicks.

“Sorry!” John apologized as he became aware of a severe limitation down here. The passages were only wide enough for two people to stand next to each other and there was no open room in sight. Rave was fine fighting against the much weaker opponent on her own but the Skaven had the theoretical advantage as they could field more of their clawed hands at the front lines than they could.

Aclysia especially, seemed to have problems. The Sword of Glory was simply too long to be effectively swung in this situation and she didn’t seem to realize that. It seemed like her ability to analyse situations was still pretty minimal, just another reason to raise her Intellect to 25.

‘Gnome, cover our rear. Aclysia, give me the sword and just punch them to death with Dragonscale fists instead.’ John sent out his commands over the mental connection he had with them. The new combat formation was quickly taken. Aclysia did little more than cover Rave’s flank, as the Lightbearer butchered the Lower Skaven with quick attacks. Bursts of sunlight from her hands and disrupting ripples from her kicks made easy work of the enemies.

One of the Skaven turned around and tried to run but John used Possession on his cloak and used it to entangle him before using Mana Ray at the immobilized target. Aclysia crushed the last Skaven’s head with devastating punches.

John scanned the loot while thanking whatever power was listening that they had gotten their first combat experience in this environment against such easy enemies. Tripping over Gnome could have been a fatal mistake for Rave against foes that were smart and fast enough to take advantage. Similarly, in a real fight Aclysia would have hardly had time to just give him the Sword of Glory in the heat of battle. Tossing it would have been the next best choice.

He noticed a window popping up once he picked up the meagre bit of Loot.

That was really nice. If Gaia stayed course he would gain a third possible possession at level 100. Made John wonder if 100 was the maximum level. From what it currently looked like, Artificial Spirit, a.k.a. Aclysia, would reach that goal first. However, he still had no idea what levels in that actually did. He should use Enchant on Aclysia soon and find out. On her creation, there had been mention that it would do something.

They continued their march through the first floor without much resistance. The enemies of the Floor were of the fourth Tier and therefore ranged from level 21 to 25. Only the higher levels gave individual Experience even worth a thought. Thankfully, the Skaven were numerous. The drop chances seemed to be really bad, but they gave little Experience in big quantities.

They went through passage after passage of the underground complex and finally came across a room. The walls were the same blank stone as the rest of the dungeon and the only thing inside there was a chest. “This stinks.” Rave said. “Yep.” John agreed. Big rooms with treasure inside usually had a trap or boss of some kind in dungeon-based games. Either this was a lucky find or enemies would spawn once they either set foot into the room or opened the chest.

As it stood though, they were way over levelled for this Dungeon so testing the waters was not as dangerous as it seemed. Especially as they had the perfect bait. “Aclysia, I want you to go into the room and look for enemies. If there aren’t any, open the chest. If enemies spawn, try to get back here.”

“Understood, Master.” Aclysia went after John returned the sword to her. The room was big enough to justify using it.

Aclysia set foot into the room. Nothing happened. She slowly crossed over to the two metre long wooden chest with the rusty metal bindings. Still nothing happened. She opened the curved lid. Suddenly: Rats. Not Skaven but the Big Rats they had fought in the Tier 3 Dungeon fell from the ceiling and jumped at Aclysia. Something roared in the passage behind John and Rave.

The Gamer whirled around to see an unholy mixture of rat and wolf sprinting towards them. Its black fur was patchy and wildly unkempt, the whiskers pulled back as the yellow, sick teeth in its mouth stuck out like broken shards of bone.

John was happy to see that thing for a simple reason: It would give him a Level Up. “Jane, you help Aclysia. Gnome and I will take care of this!” John instructed and already sent Gnome mana to erect an obstacle for the Rat-Wolf. “Got it!” Rave exclaimed and jumped into the fray behind him.

There was not much earth around to be moved, but the thin wall he created still slowed down the Rat-Wolf long enough to allow John to finish the charge time of Mana Ray. The attack hit the creature in the head, searing a large part of the left side of its skull.

Now partially blind, the Rat-Wolf growled in anger and pain. Training its one good eye on him, the monster resumed its charge. John had hoped for it to at the very least slow down enough for a second Mana Ray to go off but the creature wouldn’t let him. It snapped at his arm and John lowered his hand quickly to get away from the fearsome teeth. The Mana Ray shot uselessly into the floor.

The Rat-Wolf attempted to set after him. It jumped, then got stuck and pulled back by the small girl it had either overlooked or ignored. In either case, it was yanked back by the hindleg.

John started to charge up a third Mana Ray as the Rat-Wolf snapped its teeth just out of reach of his hand again and again, unaware of the danger it was in. ‘Just what NPC logic do these things operate under? Does it want to eat me or does it just go full attack mode when it sees a ‘player’?’ John wondered.

Mana Ray triggered at an opportune moment, lancing the open maw of the monster. Destructive arcane energy seared the monster’s insides, from teeth to the gullet. John was about to prepare a fourth attack when the Rat-Wolf collapsed, the internal injuries taking their toll. Like all Instant Dungeon enemies, it turned into dust, then into nothing.

Perfect, he had been running low on mana and the level immediately set him back to full. He turned around to see Rave and Aclysia easily taking care of the remaining enemies. The Big Rats had been absolutely no challenge in their own dungeon. The new environment didn’t change that. Soon, it was all cleared and John could walk forwards.

“Am I getting more toned or am I just imagining things?” John asked, poking his biceps. He had immediately put the new Stat Points into Endurance. The lack of answer caused him to look up, as he approached the rest of his party. Rave and Aclysia were staring into the chest with wide eyes. Stepping between them, he joined them in staring.

Inside the chest laid a woman. Her skin was of slightly brownish tone, like a tanned Latina, and her long, wild hair of such fiery orange that it glowed like magma in the dim light of the catacombs. As a matter of fact, John was pretty sure that it actually glowed. The hair framed an attractive, mildly aged face, thirty-something by John’s visual estimation. Her remaining features made it clear that the woman wasn’t a human.

The woman’s curves were partly covered in obsidian scales, running up her sides and arms, and extending as curved spikes that grew out of her shoulders. Her big breasts were only half-covered, hiding her nipples but revealing the cleavage as well as a huge ember coloured stone that glowed above the valley of the tanned mounds. The scales also covered the sides of her face up to the base of her long and pointy elf-like ears. Three horns grew from her head, two long ones curving back at the back (although one had broken off) and a smaller, pointier one on the middle of her forehead.

Her eyebrows, unnaturally long (to the point where they extended past her skin and just continued on) quivered. A displeased sound rumbled in her throat. Her eyelids shifted. A moment later she opened them and pressed her intensely red lips together disapprovingly. They were luscious, sultry things regardless.

Incandescent eyes stared up at them. Pools of lava that were reddish-orange at the edge, turning white-gold at the centre. They beheld the trio with annoyance and contemplation, like an animal choosing what to do next. Reddish orange magma began to glow between the scales covering her and heat began to radiate from her.

It was too late to run now.

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