4 months later.
I looked in front of me where the room to the dungeon's boss lay shut.
"Foo… alright. This is the last room. Then, I can finally be free from this damn dungeon… and move on to the next!"
'How long do I have left, Iris?'
[By my estimates, if you can kill the boss in less than 30 minutes, you can make it in time. Otherwise, the entire floor will collapse, and you'll be buried alive.]
'Hmm.'
Taking another deep breath, I gripped my trusty Mithril sword tightly.
[Item: Mithril Longsword
Rarity: Rare
Description: A sharp and sturdy enchanted longsword forged by an unknown blacksmith and used by an unknown adventurer before getting swallowed by the dungeon. Found as a loot item in a dungeon.
Effects: Conducts magic easily.
Durability: 3675/4500]
The
I got it from the second dungeon that I visited after 'that' day. And it had pulled me through the past few months of constant dungeoneering and quests. I was quite attached to it now.
The floor shook a little, reminding me once again that I was on a timer.
Finally prepared, I pushed the door made up of dark grey stone and dark gray silver-like metal, getting a view of the inside.
What welcomed me was a room resembling a giant cellar in a medieval castle, matching the theme of this particular dungeon.
In Criotopia, there were basically two categories of dungeons: Ordinary dungeons and themed Dungeons. Ordinary dungeons were your generic cave-like dungeons and were commonly found around the world. Themed dungeons were, as the name suggested, dungeons with a particular theme.
The dungeon I was currently clearing was called: The Old castle's cellar. A themed dungeon found in an abandoned area on the outskirts of the Empire.
As for why I was so far away from home and even civilization itself—since this particular dungeon happened to be in the middle of nowhere as far as the country's map was concerned— well…
'Alright. I need to kill the boss in less than 20 minutes realistically if I want to make it to the hidden room in time and ensure I get the loot I'm here for. It's a shame, not all dungeon mechanics from the game work as it is since it would have been much easier otherwise. I knew a bug to beat this particular boss in under 30 seconds.
Then again, I guess the same fact has been a boon for me quite a few times now.'
[Your fight with the Terra arachnid would have led to your eventual death if that one bug with the queen regenerating her health while her eggs were not crushed properly still existed.]
'Ugh. She was so creepy. But, totally. Thank God(literally) for fixing all the bugs in the game… But I can't help but wish he left at least one bug. Like the infinite money glitch in that tutorial dungeon(in this world, just a basic dungeon), or unlimited stamina bug or something. Hmm, that would be pretty OP.'
[… That's what cheating losers say. Also no bugs. Bugs and glitches are a bane of developers.]
'Alright, alright. I was just kidding anyway. Time to focus on the room now. Can't forget I'm on a timer right now.'
The dungeon shook again in agreement.
Anyway, I was clearing this dungeon— for the exp obviously, but— mainly for a specific loot item. I was looking for, among other loot, a special ring called the Ring of Loyalty.
One of the few items I needed before the main goal of my "adventure." To attain an OP item… which had about a 70% chance of killing me if I touched it without any of the items I was collecting.
Looking around the room, it wasn't hard to find the boss. He was quite literally hanging on the crucible-like structure, right in the center of the long rectangular room.
A humanoid-looking full-plate magical armor, metallic grey and black in color. He stared down at my general vicinity, hanging about 2 meters above the ground on the crucible. His hands and legs were dangling, but still. Just like the rest of him. And he was held there by a large spike coming out of the crucible-like structure and protruding from his back and coming out of his chest.
Simple observation made him look like he was dead and rotting. But he wasn't fooling me by acting dead.
I cast
magic on myself, then a'God, I love being able to fight as a Magic swordsman. Siri, play some badass metal music for the boss fight.'
[Fuck off.]
Snorting at her friendly(?) reply, I spoke to the "dead" armored knight.
"Hey, hollow knight! It's me, remember? (Probably not) I'm the guy who beat you in the record time of 20 seconds once upon a time. But, well, that was in a different setting. Let's see how much time I take in real life, yeah? Oh, and by the way, thanks for setting up those traps and sending those advanced skeleton knights my way. I got to level up my
My casual, cheerful-sounding and somewhat provocative words didn't budge him at all, at least not physically. I wasn't really trying to taunt him either. I was just babbling for fun. Something I had started doing a lot on my lonesome.
"Aww, you're acting shy. Don't be, buddy. I may be here to kill you and strip you of your armor, which happens to be your actual body, and the hidden loot you're protecting, but I do care about you. I promise!"
It was true. Kind of. I did once care a little about his sad backstory and the man he once used to be: A loyal knight who gave his everything(body and soul) for his kinda pathetic king.
But not the 'him' that existed now, who was basically a semi-sentient monster in the form of living armor with the façade of a human he once was.
"I know you were crucified here by your king who performed some shitty curse on you, so you'll protect his treasure forever. Man, don't you hate people who use curses and shit? They should all just go to hell, amirite? … Anyway. Well, you see, I'm pretty sure a dungeon core ate you later on long after you were locked here— and this whole place too, turning it into a themed dungeon as we dungeon dwellers call it.
Trust me, pal. Your life… it was all a lie. Not that it matters now. Your shitty king and everyone you knew is long dead. You should move to the afterlife too. As a kind and morally-upright man, I'll you."
[*snorts*]
'Too much bullshit?'
[Too much indeed.]
'M'kay.'
I strolled towards the center, approaching my foe. My walk was seemingly casual, just like my words, but in reality, my senses were honed right now. I was no longer the novice I had started as, after what I experienced in the last couple of months. Especially in the first 3 dungeons where I almost died, multiple times.
"If I were you, I would let me kill you without fighting, pal. Aren't we both humans? Well, you used to be human. But I feel like somewhere in that cool-looking empty armor, your human 'will'—Bleh— is still there… "
'Or so one of the lore sites said anyway if I remember correctly.'
The hollow knight's body finally shook, and darkness started to cover him like snakes. He was finally showing that aware of my presence and that he was alive. And also, he was listening to my provocative words.
Behind the menacing hollow knight lay another metallic door, a much fancier one than the one I entered from, leading to where I needed to go.
'Alright. 20 minutes. Start the timer, Iris.'
[Kay.]
When I was within 10 meters of him, he finally moved.
The armor previously dangling like an empty husk shook menacingly, black snake-like tendrils almost completely wrapping its body. His eyes glowed green from behind his helmet's eye cover, giving him an eerie, but also cool-looking appearance.
Then, he pulled himself out of the spikes, his metallic armor grinding against the stone spike in the process. His armor, where a gaping hole was initially visible, quickly mended back to its pristine state as if it were brand new. Finally, he fell and landed on the ground with a metallic thud and clank, dust rising from the solid impact and the floor cracking a little.
Just from that, it gave the appearance that the empty living armor weighed quite a bit. Even though that was not actually true. It was magic that gave it an excess weight. His standing form stood tall at over 2 meters.
Even though I had fought multiple monsters in a row before, I only had to fight him. But he was stronger than those multiple monsters put together.
Truly a boss monster.
I, however, couldn't help but whistle at the show in front of me.
"Man, that's still cool to watch. Especially when it's happening for real in front of me. If only there were sound effects too. It would be just perfect."
Contrary to my casual remark, I was already in a fight or flight state, adrenaline pumping through my veins, making my heart beat faster. But rather than having impulsive or negative effects, my mind was clear and alert, and my vision was more dynamic than normal. I had high awareness of my closed surroundings. Things like the gate closing behind me on its own, the fire on wall lamps flickering and roaring around the side walls, and the stuffy, hot air going in and out of my lungs. I was aware of it all.
I also had his
[Name: Ardict Sxhnezeir
Age: 340
Gender: Male
Race: Superior Living Armor[Hollow Knight]
---
Tier: 7 -> 8(Foundation grade: None)
---
Obedience/Reputation: /0/-100[Locked]
---
Remark: Loathes you for your remarks, Wants to kill the intruder, Determined to protect his king's treasures.
---
Status: Enraged, Entranced, Mental Reduction, Darkness Reinforced Body…]
'Foundation Tier 7. Boosted to 8. This might be closer than I would like.'
But it was good. Stronger foes meant more EXP. I could get stronger, faster. That's all I cared about right now. Other than the loot, of course.
My thoughts and words didn't match yet again.
"Hey, man. What's with the worst reputation with all of you dungeon monsters? It's like I'm the worst person to have ever lived in your eye, just because I come here to loot your treasures. Don't be stingy. All of you dungeon monsters have been like this, which I'm pretty sure the dungeon is making you feel that way about me."
On the outside, I was still acting casual, maybe acting a little too casual and friendly with the unresponsive boss monster that was ignoring all my attempts at chit-chatting.
Ignoring his ignoring of me, I continued.
"But, you know… I'm still kinda hurt that you too see me that way. But, whatever. Let's be civil and solve our different the good old fashion way, yeah? By dueling, I mean!"
My body tensed, feeling the intense killing intent the superior living armor, Hollow Knight, was directed towards me. But it didn't demotivate me. Quite the opposite.
'Monarch's Indifference.'
The next instant, my lightning-clad blade was already approaching the Hollow Knight's neck guard, ready to cleave his helmet off of his empty armor body.
But it wasn't going to be as easy. It never was with such enemies.
"Intruder… You are loathsome… I will kill you…!"
They all had to be tougher and stronger than me. It was all an uphill ride. Always.
The knight brought his blackened blade from the sheath hanging on his hips in a swift motion and blocked my attack. Black tendrils, lashing out from his body and blade tried to attack me and leech on my blade, but the lightning sparks emanating from the sword and which also covered my forearms without hurting me countered them with ease, shocking and flaming them to cinders.
I had been getting very good at utilizing this particular element, even outside of the basic spells.
In the next few seconds, we exchanged a few sharp strikes.
That being said, I wasn't a simple one-trick pony.
I created a magic circle for
Still, the high-tiered Hollow Knight defended against it easily but got shoved back a few meters from the impact.
Immediately, I shot the ready spell right at his metallic body.
But the armor hadn't quite lost his balance, so he managed to dodge the giant blazing ball of fire barely, jumping to his right.
That, however, didn't prevent him from the entire damage of the spell. Some of the blazing fire still caught his outer layer of black tendrils, burning him in the process.
I smirked internally.
'Good. He did do it exactly like in the game. All according to my plans so far.'
While internally monologuing, I was already sprinting toward the left side of the room, then making a curve and reaching the crucible where he once stood, in mere seconds. And with a single touch, I shoved the entire thing inside my Inventory.
'Will come in handy later.'
But that was only part of the plan.
Instead of stopping there, I kept running forward, approaching the door behind the crucible that the hollow knight was guarding.
The knight, after recovering from my magical attack noticed it and immediately rushed at me, clear fury in his lit 'eyes.' His raw speed easily matched—maybe even surpassed— mine, even though I was under the effect of
andIn mere seconds, he was already past his initial resting place where the crucible once stood, approaching me rapidly with his sword ready to cleave my head.
"Grrr… Intruder… How dare you?!"
If he could talk properly, he would've probably said something along the lines of:
"Get away from my great king's private treasury, you heathen!"
But he couldn't talk that well, so only basic words and growls came out.
Luckily, I was able to reach my objective first before he reached me.
Quickly reaching the door, I turned back, finding the oncoming knight; And aiming towards the floor on my right side, I shouted.
"Nebula!"
***
A/N: Really sorry for the cliff!!! X(