[Undead Knight (Lv. 5) — Devoured.]
[DEF +1]
[Added to Compendium!]
'… DEF +1?' Zane was confused. 'Am I not supposed to obtain its 'ability', after using Devour on it?'
He was certain the [Devour] cast had worked. Otherwise, that notification wouldn't have appeared. So then… why did he gain a stat increase rather than an ability?
Quickly, he checked his status screen. Sure enough, his DEF stat had went up by 1 from what he last remembered. Although he couldn't physically feel a noticeable difference since one stat point didn't amount to much, the System did not lie—at least, it never has thus far. Zane had reason to believe what he saw on the screen.
'What's going on…'
Narrowing his eyes, he tried to think of why this was happening. Could it be because common, basic enemies like this didn't possess any particular special abilities? That would make sense, but that raises another question—if these basic enemies granted stat increases instead of abilities, then couldn't Zane just continue farming them until his stats reached ungodly levels?
Determined to find out, he set off in search of more… test subjects.
*****
His answer came to him after a few more kills.
Using the same strategy, he farmed the rest of the Undead Knights gathered in the area. One by one, Zane led them to the same large room, and put them out of their misery by manipulating the pre-existing flames from the first kill. From his experience overhearing other Hunters talk, these basic enemies were also the most stupid, and possessed more of an 'instinct' than intelligence. This made them easy to bait and slaughter.
By the time Zane's killing spree was over, his new stats looked like this:
[Status]
[Zane Silverdale]
Race - Vampire | Sex - Male | Age - 25
Titles | [???, ???, Bearer of the Vampire Devouring Body]
Level 7 | [No Class] | EXP: 420/700
Specialization: Omnipotence
Physique: Vampire Devouring Body
[STR: 9] [DEF: 4] [AGI: 7] [INT: 7] [DEX: 6]
Skills: [Devour I] [Regeneration I] [Fire Manipulation IV]
Mysteriously, while Zane's [Fire Manipulation] skill continued tiering up—he could now manipulate flames of any size without any limitations, regardless of whether it's fire he made himself or pre-existing flames—his [Devour] skill did not do the same.
He did, however, reach Level 7, gaining 7 SP to spend. This time, he chose to use it on STR and AGI respectively, as he was beginning to learn how to control his fire attacks. The more it ranked up, the more accurate it was as well, making the skill easier to control.
As for the answer to his previous question, it was unfortunately a resounding 'no'. No matter how many Undead Knights he slayed beyond the first or how many more burnt leather strips he ingested, the 'Devoured' notification did not appear before him, and neither did the 'Added to Compendium' message that came after it. It would seem that enemies that gave stat gains could only be claimed once. Otherwise, it would be far too convenient—but still, it was worth a try.
Now that he'd cleared all the monsters in this area, however, he would need to venture deeper into the Dungeon if he wanted to make any more progress. Monsters didn't respawn themselves, and Zane still had no idea where an exit could be—with the exception of the one the party had came in from, which was most likely still locked behind the large metal gate in the cage.
Unfortunately, Dungeons of the catacombs archetype generally only had one exit—also the entrance—but there are always exceptions, and Zane had to try.
There was just one problem: he didn't have a map.
Generally speaking, it was Association requirement to have a Cartographer in every Hunt—people whose sole job was to use their Specialization to draw maps and keep a record places the party's been to and places they haven't.
Their ability allows them to visualize a literal map of the entire Dungeon in their heads as soon as they enter, but the best Cartographers can transcribe said map onto paper for all the other members of the party to have as well. Either way, having a map inside a Dungeon was crucial, since most were large and quite labyrinth-like—easy to get lost in, so to speak.
This was also the main reason why Solo Hunters were so rare. No matter how strong one individual was, without a map to guide them, they were vulnerable. In a Dungeon, danger lurked at every corner. One needed to always be on their guard—and if somebody didn't even know what kind of terrain to expect, how could they anticipate an enemy attack?
Luckily for Zane, he knew exactly how to obtain a map. He was no Cartographer himself, but… all he had to do was become one, no?
After all, his Specialization was—'Omnipotence'.
*****
Carefully, Zane made his way back towards the golden cage where the slaughter had began from. His goal in this mission was simple—get in, drink blood, and get out. He was too weak to fight any of those cannibalistic monsters and expect to come out alive, so he made it very clear to himself that this was an infiltration and escape mission, not a fighting one.
Perhaps Zane could take on one if it came at him alone, but he'd like to avoid the possibility of waking up all the rest if possible. Therefore, he kept his footsteps light and soft, as silent as the catacombs itself. As he got closer and closer to his destination, however, he began to feel a dreadful, spine-chilling aura crawl up his back, thick and looming.
It was cold. Ghastly. Hollow.
Very soon, he arrived at the golden cage. Now that the illusion had fallen, he could see the place for what it really was—a large room that served as the entrance point to the lower depths of the catacombs from the staircase. There was no illumination inside, so all Zane could see was an ominous, pitch-black darkness.
Without a doubt, the source of the 'aura' he was feeling came from here. This was the origin point. It was strange, however. He'd assumed there would be multiple zombies in here, but this aura felt like it was only being emitted from a single entity.
'Hm…' Zane thought, narrowing his eyes.
Slowly, he looked down at the floor. There, two mutilated bodies lay, lifeless and bloodied. Their limbs were torn in unnatural positions, chunks of their flesh completely gone. Without a doubt, they'd been fed on—unlucky members of the party.
Thankfully, their faces weren't worn-down that bad. Zane recognized one of them to be the person—or rather, body—he was searching for: Daniel Philips, Cartographer of the party. If Zane was the Porter of Porters, then this guy was the Mapper of Mappers. Commonly referred to as 'Little Dan' due to his short height and nerdy glasses, Daniel was a beloved member of the Hunter community here in City X. In fact, Zane had always had a decent relationship with him.
"…"
Gently, he bent down, careful not to make a single sound. Then, using his sharp marble piece, Zane slowly scraped off some dried blood from Little Dan's skin, as there was no liquid variant due to how much time had passed since the poor man's death.
Just at that moment, however, Little Dan's eyes suddenly shot open, and he turned like a well-oiled robot towards Zane.
"F… Food…"
"…?!"
Croaking out that single world, the short man suddenly tackled Zane and pinned him down, taking him by surprise.
"Ngh!"
He'd thought Little Dan was dead. But with these zombies, one could never be too sure.
Grunting, Zane reacted quickly, kneeing the zombie straight in the groin before using that momentary distraction to push him off to the side. Zombies didn't feel pain, but they still felt impact—and if Zane was attacking its lower half, it will be distracted momentarily. It was a move he'd learned back when he still did martial arts—who knew it would come in handy in a situation like this?
Little Dan let out a hollow scream of displeasure, before charging at Zane once more. The scene reminded Zane of Leo—something he did not want to remember. And so, as the zombie prepared to jump at him again, he readied his finger and prepared his spark.
[Fire Manipulation].
Instantly, a bolt of powerful concentrated flames shot out of his fingertips, and struck Little Dan straight in the forehead. Since Zane's skill was tier IV now, the fire was quite powerful and spread quickly. As he rolled out of the way, the zombie's body caught on fire completely, and all of its skin burned away soon after.
[Hunter Daniel Philips (Lv. 32) — Defeated!]
[+320 EXP (Reduced EXP gains due to Player kill)]
[Player Level Up!]
[Lv. 7 -> 8]
[+8 SP]
"… Hah."
Letting out a slight pant of relief, Zane slowly backed away from the burning body. '8 more SP… regardless of the means… I'll take it. Now I just have to go back, ingest the blood, and...'
But then, he heard a hum, interrupting his thoughts.
A deep, violent hum, coming from the midnight darkness of the basement.
It was not a melodic tune. It was not a musical passage.
It… was a warning. A deep, threatening warning.
"Tch…!"
Whatever was in there, its slumber had been disturbed by the ruckus from just now. Zane, realizing he couldn't afford to challenge the entity inside just yet, quickly retrieved his bloodstained marble piece and ran.
No footsteps came after him—but he knew.
This was not going to be the last time he encountered the creature that hid in there. But when round two came, he would be ready.
Call it instinct, but Zane had a dire feeling that there would only be one way out of this place—and it was being guarded by this very monster that lay beyond the darkness.