At the peak of the rocky hill, within a massive cave, a figure rose up amid a pool of blood. It was a humanoid creature spanning a Dobin in height, i.e. the height of a full-grown man. It had a huge spiralled horn growing out of its forehead and another horn, one-tenth its size a little above the forehead.
The figure had the face of a human, its skin covered by tough hide, followed by a layer of fur that spanned throughout its body. It had a small tail on its back, looking as if it would harden with the slightest insertion of energy. It had hooves in place of its feet while it had retained a pair of humanoid hands. The presence of a glowing red marble with traces of orange ingrained at the centre of its chest spread a suffocating aura around it.
Runes flashed along the walls and formless threads of energy wrapped around the neck, limbs, and chest of the figure, drilling into the marble on its chest. The figure roared and struggled to free itself when its eyes lost the feeling of brutal insanity and regained a sense of clarity. The figure stopped resisting and felt the strength coursing through its body.
"So, the ceremony was a success. Now, I have become the Boss of this dungeon." The figure murmured in a hoarse voice when a faint mental fluctuation spread from it as the centre. The fluctuation spread through the rocky hills, making the ears of all the surrounding Spear-Tailed Goats perk up in response.
A foreign command drilled its way into their minds, affecting their usual behaviour and manifesting a desire for human flesh. To satisfy this craving, the mental command pointed them towards a certain direction along the rocky hill that led towards the Rat Head situated at one edge of the meadow.
Followed by raising bleats and thumping hooves, the Spear-Tailed Goats rushed towards the meadow, creating a stampede. The figure in the cave smiled in satisfaction upon seeing the response.
"My control over them lasts for a single Chant. The more I get used to this body and the greater my influence spreads in this dungeon, the greater my control will be over them." The figure laughed and sat in silence, pondering the course of action to free himself from the restraints.
"I thank the morbid Reincarnator for bestowing me with a new vessel."
…
"There's a core!" Sarah exclaimed with joy as she dug out a red gem from the body of a Spear-Tailed Goat. Her hands were stained with blood and viscera of the Spear-Tailed Goat as she had used a sharp rock to dissect its body.
"I have got some Energy Berries for us." Pinta walked over with the shoulder bag that was half-filled with Energy Berries.
Sarah took a look at the shrubs and noticed many berries that hadn't been plucked yet. On noticing her gaze, Pinta removed the shoulder bag and placed it on the ground. She then walked towards the shrub and randomly plucked out a berry.
"These are generally known as Commotion Berries. They grow alongside Energy Berries but don't have even an ounce of energy within them. Ingesting them will lead to dizziness, loose-motion, light-headedness, etc. but none of them have any lethal effects. They are part of a safety mechanism employed by the shrubs to ward off creatures that come to consume the Energy Berries."
"I see." Sarah nodded with appreciation as she hadn't learned such knowledge until now. All her father and Stephen were good at was in the field of fighting, acting, and voyaging across the Hipsink River. So, it made sense that Sarah hadn't learned of this fact.
"Done!" Cailey's shout interrupted their discussion when they saw the girl carefully lifting a huge rock. Before her were two rocks placed adjacent to each other to act as support. The elongated spiral horn of the Spear-Tailed Goat that spanned 2 Dobin was placed above it. A small rock with its sharp end facing the spiral horn was placed above it and tied with the help of a fibre that was made from the roots of a nearby shrub.
On seeing her struggle, Sarah and Pinta volunteered for help in lifting the rock. Cailey motioned for Pinta to hold the free end of the spiral horn while the weight of the Spear-Tailed Goat's body was sufficient to hold the other. Sarah stood on one side of the spiral horn while Cailey stood on the other, a huge rock in the centre, lifted by their joint efforts.
With a coordinated timing, the two girls removed their grip and hurriedly took a couple of steps back. With a loud sound, the spiral horn was severed into two. Of the 2 Dobin length, more than a Dobin was severed out. The remaining part was still attached to the skull of the Spear-Tailed Goat. It was useless without the sharp tip and was left alone for now.
Cailey took out an Energy Berry from the shoulder bag and swallowed it. She immediately spotted a large flat rock with a grainy texture and began to rub the severed end of the horn above it. The friction between the two surfaces quickly removed the splinters of the broken end as Cailey continued her action.
After some time had passed, the figure of Cailey was drenched in sweat as she finally inspected the severed end of the spiral horn. All the cracked parts and the splinters had been removed out, leaving behind a rough but even finish. Until now, she had refused the help of Sarah and Pinta and was focused on her task. On seeing her gusto, the two girls didn't want to disturb her.
Pinta searched for more energy berries from her surroundings and even began to pick out the leaves from some shrubs. She inspected them, murmured some words and put them in her hip bag. She then turned around and requested a couple more hip bags from Sarah.
Sarah began to patrol their surroundings while plucking the leaves that were used to make a bag. On seeing her two teammates busy within their own world, Sarah felt like a monkey that had chanced upon magic. After asking about their intentions and receiving a curt response, Sarah left them to their devices.
She hid behind the trunks of the trees and quickly swapped from one trunk to the other, cautiously forming a perimeter around the area. After she had confirmed the safety of their surroundings, she increased the radius of her patrol, all the while maintaining a staunch silence.
She spotted two Spear-Tailed Goats crouched before a small brook. Sarah slowed down her breathing pattern to match the movements of the flowing wind and walked in the direction of a headwind that approached her from the two Spear-Tailed Goats. She took great pains to walk between one tree and the other, measuring her steps to avoid stepping on dry fallen leaves.
Before long, Sarah stood behind a tree trunk that was just 3 Dobin away from the two goats. She crouched on all fours and roiled her energy into the tattoo on her chest. Even after she had completely infused one unit of energy into the tattoo, nothing happened. Sarah focused her mind on the tattoo and controlled it not activate the skill 'Divine Might' in it. After fully charging it, she noticed the 'Capacitor' replenishing the energy in her body.
'I am ready.' The moment this thought flashed through her mind, Sarah activated her 'Divine might' skill and focused its effect on her legs. She kicked at the ground and used the rebound to close the distance between her and the two goats. The energy she had expended into the 'Diving Might' skill was fully consumed by the time she had reached in close proximity to one of the Spear-Tailed Goat.
Sarah roused the recovered energy into the tattoo and invoked the skill once again, this time channelling it into her right hand. By the time the goat managed to react, Sarah had sent a punch into its stomach, recoiling it to the ground. It was so painful that the goat failed to stand up and could only bleat from its place.
After her attack failed to kill the monster, Sarah quickly retreated as she saw energy condensing into the spiral horn of the other Spear-Tailed Goat. Using the trees as a cover, Sarah let the Spear-Tailed Goat on a wild cat and mouse chase; using her tiny, nimble frame to dart between the obstacles, she prevented the Spear-Tailed Goat from raising its speed and from using its specialised attack.
The energy in her body was replenished by the 'Capacitor' as Sarah sent it to the tattoo, charging another 'Divine Might' skill. After completely charging it up, she waited until her body was brimming with energy. The eyes of Sarah locked with the Spear-Tailed Goat that lay on the ground due to the injury to its stomach as she charged towards it, planning to deal the final blow.
The chasing Spear-Tailed Goat guessed her actions and sprinted towards its brethren, using its ability while aimed at its brethren. It wanted to kill the foe the moment it neared its brethren since its foe could only hit in close quarters.
The lips of Sarah curled up; just an instant before she neared the injured Spear-Tailed Goat, she focused her 'Divine Might' skill on her legs and performed a jump. A long spiralled horn pierced into the air at the place she had stood an instant before as the Spear-Tailed Goat strained its legs to come to a stop. It didn't want to maim its injured brethren with its attack. The increased weight on its head further imbalanced its body so its speed of reorientation had been reduced to a minimum.
Performing an arc through the air, Sarah neared the face of the Spear-Tailed Goat whose eyes widened with fear but couldn't move as fast as its senses due to the elongated horn that wore its head down.
Divine Might!
Sarah focused the force generated by her skill on her right hand and sent it striking the head of the Spear-Tailed Goat. The force broke its already strained neck and instantly killed it. Sarah fell on the ground and rolled a couple of times to transfer the momentum she had built up. She stood up and heaved deep breaths to control her adrenaline in fear of doing something stupid.
She first inspected the Spear-Tailed Goat before her to confirm that it was dead before walking towards the injured Spear-Tailed Goat that raised shrill Bleats in fear. After her energy was replenished once again, Sarah sent a punch to its head and killed it. She used the water flowing in the brook to wash her hands before retreating towards the girls.
She popped 5 Energy Berries into her mouth on her way back to secretly recover her energy. It was to avoid alerting the other two of the full extent of her abilities. She mentally praised the 'Capacitor' skill numerous times until she reached their location. As a level 1 warrior, she had continuously activated her skill five times in succession without rest, a feat that could never be reciprocated by any other warrior.