Fritz was right. Newt was sensing the incoming worms that had dug deeper into the was now having a hard time crawling themselves out.
"Newt, take this." Fritz gave the Karambit to the other. "The Blemish Dagger's durability will soon reach its breaking point. About five or more slashes." Newt took it.
Seconds after that, all five monsters came out of the ground. Mud was all over their body which made them look grosser than before.
"You should have thought of the consequences before doing such a reckless thing! Thank God, those bastards didn't come where you are."
From head to the tail end, the worm was completely upon the muddy surface. Fritz did a really good job pulling them out with his MP-consuming plan.
"This fight will all be BLOODY," Newt was speaking in an intimidating tone, "MUDDY and DIRTY."
Before dashing through the damped ground, Newt cast a quick glance at Fritz. That glance reassured Newt that Fritz will be okay even without his help looking out for him.
"Don't worry. I have recovered about a quarter of my MP."
"Then I'll be going first."
Fritz stood up. His eyes fixed on Newt's back. The latter was running towards the monsters, with the karambit and dagger in both hands.
[Activating Skill: Skill Generator!]
[Aero Steps]
[MP Consumption: 10 per use]
[Create a small flat square path made of air to avoid getting stuck on the damped ground. This skill can be used multiple times. However, upon casting another square, the earlier path will be dispersed.]
"Newt," Fritz spoke through his mind. That was their way of concealing their plan. "I'll help you get the first kill."
Without even looking back, Newt continued. Fritz cast the skill towards the other kid. Newt almost lost his footing because he was suddenly lifted a bit from the ground. He was standing in thin air.
"Oh, you are amusing as always!"
From there, Newt launched like a torpedo towards the worms. The monsters weren't expecting that he would go from slow to whoosh!
Pointing the tip of the dagger to one worm's body, it pierced. It screeched as the pain from the karambit made a run through its whole body. Fritz created about four more paths to step with before finally killing the first worm.
"It broke!" Just like what Fritz had told him after slashing it a few times, which killed one worm. The dagger finally reached its breaking point. "Oh well, I still have this." Newt was talking about the Karambit.
Enrage was the worms were upon witnessing their own kind was killed in front of them, all four attacked at once.
"Skill Activation: Aero Steps"
Fritz backed him up, creating a path for him to escape the impending danger. He might just get ripped apart if Fritz would do nothing. Newt ascended as high as possible, away from the worms' reach.
"I helped you kill that one worm. So, we can assume that that's a tie, right?" What matters to both of them was their competition against each other. Who gets more kills wins and, who gets less lose. There's also a prize after that. They would talk about it later after competing against each other.
"Yeah, yeah..." Newt replied dryly. Fritz created more air paths for him to descend back to the ground. He can't stay in the air forever because Fritz would be using the skill and, if he uses it, the placed skill earlier will disintegrate and, Newt would fall to the impatiently waiting worms.
Standing side by side, the two bumped each other's fists with a grin reaching their ears. Both began running, making a zigzag line through the muddy path. Their shoes were dirtied, more than what it had been before.
"Can't you lift us at the same time?" Newt asked.
Fritz shook his head, "I can only create one air step at a time." He will soon be testing his newly acquired weapon, True Warrior's Spear.
"Then, do this. You create one for yourself. Then you'll jump, after that, you create one for me, and I'll jump. Next, you create one for yourself again. Vice versa."
"No way! I'll be drained even before landing a hit."
"Tsk."
"Don't click your tongue on me!"
"You should do something about that MP of yours."
Fritz didn't reply. Instead, he activated his skill. He was lifted off the muddy path and, after that, he had no hard time moving towards the worms.
"That's cheating! It's like you made the ground muddy in purpose to slow me down while you just step in the air freely!"
"It's my skill, after all."
[Enemies ahead had activated their skill: Hotblood]
[It's a defensive-type skill. The worms' blood will turn hot and hard until they reach the point where it is called necrosis. Their color will turn violet, and their flesh will harden.]
'Hee... that's good, but that's nothing compared to my tripled damage.'
Fritz was the first one to reach the worms. Their skin color changed into violet, and their flesh looks like it was about to explode. It seems like a layer of flesh has been made to withstand a strong attack. He was clutching from below the spear, pulled it in to put pressure in it as he thrust it forward.
Fritz watched the sharp pointy tip of the spear easily went pierced the hardened skin of the worms. He pushed the weapon forward until it completely pierced the other end of the skin.
"Screeeeechhhh!"
Fritz pulled the spear aggressively took a step back to deal with the killing strike. He slashed down. He only stopped when he hit the ground. All the blood that has been used as armor gushed out of its body. His eyes shifted to the other three that were still alive. Newt, on the other hand, forced himself out of the muddy path by jumping.
"Let me in on the fun too!"
Newt grabbed onto the worm's body. Its body was mixed of a bit slimy and rough. He didn't slide all the way down. Using the karambit, Newt began his own hunt. He didn't copy what Fritz did. Instead, he was slashing and stabbing the worm in a gruesome manner. He didn't mind if he gets drenched, not because of the water. But because of the blood dripping out of his body. He screamed on top of his lungs as he took his second kill.
"That's what you call crazy," Fritz muttered under his breath. He locked his eyes on the remaining two. He won't let Newt steal his prey or, he'll lose the bet. As I'm always saying, that's all that matters to the two of them. He created a path towards the sky. He made it look like it was the stairway to heaven and, he was magnificently climbing it. Then suddenly, he canceled the skill and, he plunged down. As seconds passed and as his altitude decreased, the speed of him going down increased rapidly.
"Look at him. He's doing some flashy things. Tch!"
One of the worms opened its mouth as wide as it could get. It waited for him to go straight down its body fluids, waiting deep inside the worms.
"I ain't your food, but... this!"
With all his might, Fritz threw the spear aimed at the open-wide mouth of the worm. It flew faster than the reaction of the monster. Like a thunder that came from the sky and struck down to the ground, the spear swiftly pierced the insides of the invertebrate. He controlled the air even before he hit the ground.
"There's only one left. If I'm the one who can kill that, I'll win. Hehe,
hehehehe." Fritz's laugh was filled with different evil intentions.
"I won't let you beat me to it."
Rah! The last one remaining shivered. All of its kind has been killed. And the worm knows that its turn has come. Still, it whipped its tail-end directed to both of the kids. It was reckless and, it backfired. Newt and Fritz attacked at the same time. The invertebrate couldn't defend itself from both attackers. It surrendered to the pain and accepted its demise.
"Phew!" Newt wiped off the blood from his face. The other looked at him with a grin on. A grin He let out a deep sigh and admitted his defeat.
"Alright!"
Fritz surrendered himself to the condensed air. He needs to replenish his MP first before proceeding down to the 3rd level. There's been something going on in his mind. He's assuming that there was something wrong in this dungeon. He's guessing that there's more to learn and see inside the dungeon. Things that will surprise them and will shock them down to their core.
"Well, well, why don't we talk about my reward?"
"I know you're going to push the matter..." Newt sighed, giving up himself to the other.
"We'll talk about your punishment as we go to the boss' room. Prepare yourself. I might order you to do something extreme!"
~