The group suddenly was surrounded by several Scratchers on both sides. Three on the side where the massacre had just occurred, while on Vain's side, the Scratchers counted to four.
The chaotic screaming hallway suddenly became a quiet graveyard. Only the scratching was heard. The group of Scratchers seemed even scarier than the single Scratchers that they had run into before. A group of human-shaped creatures without eyes and long arms and nails that looked closer to claws. Their fingers twitched making the claws that were almost dragging on the ground, scratch the floor. Their slow methodical movements become even more apparent in groups.
Vain's group knew that nearby there was only one door that opened up to another place, but they also knew that the door led to level 3. Vain also knew that both he and Athena were complete newbies when it came to shooting a gun, making their weapons basically useless. The Scratchers would also crowd and attack whoever ended up shooting their weapons first, after all a gun isn't quiet in the slightest.
The group has two options once again; open the door and have a chance that the Scratchers would attack the one who opens the door, or they could shoot at the Scratchers and kill maybe two before getting for sure killed. The answer this time is more obvious, the only problem is the question of what the other group that was stuck in this predicament would do.
Vain looked at the remaining four members of the group to see what they would do. There were two leaning against the wall, obvious that they had been knocked unconscious by the Clump that was here before. Only two were still standing, but only one was looking very hopeless at the fact that they had just been attacked in that way. The other appeared to already know what to do, so he was walking quietly to every door testing if they were open.
Vain knew that at least one person knows more than at least they do. He walked to the only door that could open as far as he knew and opened it. Luckily the door hinges weren't rusted like other doors that they had tried before. Behind the door was a long winding hallway like level 2, but unlike level 2 it had no pipes along the wall, instead, it had some wires more commonly seen.
The other man also noticed that Vain knew a way out of the situation and calmly brought the desperate member over very quietly. Looking into the door the calm man's face broke into a deep frown. Still, he saw Vain looking at him in hope because Vain wasn't completely sure if the level would be better than the Scratchers that were surrounding them.
The man nodded and held out his hand. This was what someone needs to do when they move through levels in groups. If people don't hold on to each other, they tend to be separated, and when moving through dangerous levels, bigger groups are usually needed.
Vain nodded and grabbed Athena's hand, and Athena grabbed Helen's hand. After everyone held each other, Vain grabbed the man's hand.
Then they walked through. The new group left the unconscious members alone. The chance of dying would be too high dragging a body and making too much room.
**
Stepping through the door, the new group found themselves in a new place that appeared to be an endless hallway. The door that they had just walked through had randomly disappeared.
Vain asked the man immediately, "How much experience do you have? What weapons do you both have to work with?"
The man simply smiled and spoke softly but proudly, "I was born here by a breeder of the U.E.C.! If you are too new to understand what that means, it means that I am highly trained, the only reason I was on such a low level was simply to gain experience and knowledge of the creatures. The group I was with I had just joined the other day so I could understand the composition of other groups."
Vain was surprised since this was the first time he had ever met someone who was born here, but what surprised him more was that he had met someone who had come from an organization that has the practice of breeding humans to get more members. Vain saw how proud he was saying he was from the U.E.C. which meant he was supposedly highly trained.
Still, Vain had no options to choose his team members now, so he could only smile and speak to him as if he wasn't bothered that the man came from a breeder. "My name is Vain. This is Athena. Over there is Helen, but she isn't really part of our group, so I can't say much of her skill."
The man smiled and introduced himself, "My name is Xavier. If you don't say much about her skill why not allow her to become a breeder for my organization? It is a great job that allows the woman to live a fantastic life. The only pain is giving birth to new members. O' also this man next to me said his name was... Henry? Yeah, Henry."
The man who was standing next to Xavier woke up from his horror, and spoke, "Yeah my name is Henry. Let us work together to get out. I just need a few more moments to get used to the fact that I lost everyone I cared about."
Vain kind of expected him to be more like Helen who didn't know her way around so he focused more on what Xavier had said. "Xavier. A person should get the choice on what they want to do. Neither I nor you should ever have a say in if a woman would become part of your organization."
Xavier smiled and nodded, but suddenly got serious as a screech was heard coming from the distance. "Let's not worry much about it. Focus on the hordes we will have to face. Luckily there are no extreme speed-related entities here like those annoying Scratchers."
The screeching got closer, louder, and split into several voices. Vain frowned and pulled his bow at the ready, "Yeah let's focus on our morals when we can survive this calamity of a level. Electric station. Survival difficulty: class 4."
When the entities could be seen from the darkness, everyone shot everything they could shoot. Xavier used his gun, while Henery saved his bullets because he shot using his bow.
The entities consisted of; five Hounds, six Wretches, two Skin Stealers, and three Crawlers in the back. This hallway was just wide enough for two Hounds to fit side by side in their charge.
The Crawler was a creature that was covered in white fuzz and looked like a human without legs. It used its' claws to move around, and they had a loud shrieking sound. Although it might not be as scary as things like clumps, but the way they are created are truly the scariest part.
Crawlers are made by humans getting infected by the crawler fungus. It is most common to get infected when someone accidentally drinks some water that is affected by the fungus. The other way that can make someone become a Crawler is by getting too close when killing the crawler, since if someone breaths in the fuzz on their body it will infect the person.
The group was able to kill the large group, while Xavier had used his first four shots in focusing on the Crawlers since he wasn't an idiot and knew he couldn't get close to such creatures. The others focused on shooting the other entities, blocking the way with the corpses of the hounds, the group was able to slow the other entities enough that this time they were able to kill everything just before they could all reach them.
What really helped the group to kill them all so quickly was most definitely Xavier's excellent marksmanship. His gun made sure that they didn't have to leave many arrows because they were too close to Crawlers.
After a quick regroup, the group ate and drank and got ready to leave, but there was a reason why this level is considered to be so dangerous. Smiling faces appeared to be spreading darkness covering the corpses.
Vain threw a flashlight, picked up Helen, and ran as fast as he could in the opposite direction.