Charles stared at the quest screen and sighed, "… Just who made this?"
"Well, Q has always had an inclination for the dramatic," Henrietta took a brief look at the quest screen and chuckled, "She- ahem, it, loves going to the extra mile for the games."
"You sounded like you know her personally there, Henrietta," Charles said in amusement. "Anyway, we are going in. Are you guys ready?"
"Ready as ever,"
"Let's go."
Charles touched the door in front of him, and it slowly swung open. A glowing barrier was covering the entrance like a thin film, obscuring everything inside. The moment his fingers brushed at the barrier, a notification appeared in front of the three.
[Start the quest?]
[Yes/No]
Everyone chose the former option, and with that, they were whisked into the castle with a flash of light.
--
The moment they appeared inside, the first thing they noticed was the awful smell. Bones could be seen strewn all around the place, some with traces of rotting meat, and others picked clean by something that looked animalistic. At least, that was the conclusion Charles could come to when he saw the cracks and chunks bitten off from the bones.
Nora shuddered at the sight. She seemed to dread the place.
That was to be expected, considering she once escaped death from this place.
From the looks of the place, it seemed like the kobolds have taken the castle from its previous inhabitants. At least, that was the reasonable conclusion if the broken remains of vases, clawed-off wall carvings, and destroyed banners hung by the halls to the left and right paths were anything to go by.
In the middle of the room, grand stairs leading to the second floor could be seen. Yet, a thin layer of barrier seemed to block it from access. Charles decided to approach, followed by Dylan, and touched the barrier.
[You do not have the key needed to proceed to the second floor]
"You need to find the leader of this floor," Nora answered while gripping her wand. "It holds the key, but this place is crawling with kobolds, and-"
Raa! Raa! Raa!
Growl! Growl!
Her explanation was cut as a horde of kobolds started to spill from both left and right paths, each carrying some manner of random weapons and shields made of debris. It looked like a mangy cross of a tiny human and a dog with green skin and dirty black fur. If he didn't know better, they would have looked like a pitiful attempt of a child trying to draw living creatures for the first time.
[Kobold Grunt]
[Rank: C]
[Intelligence: Low]
[Details: The lowest rank of the castle's inhabitants. They do most of the menial work, and they are the least intelligent, as they knew just enough to understand simple orders.]
[Taming Chance: 30% - Communication, though tricky, is possible. It could understand your commands]
"… Yeah, we have to get through them," Nora said. "This is not even their biggest horde. We still need to find the leader of this floor."
"I get it; we just have to slaughter them all, right?" Dylan pulled out his greatsword, its reddish metal casting a glow into the dark interior of the castle. "Well, we don't exactly have all day, then!"
With that, he dashed forward and swung his blade in a wide arc, sweeping the front lines of the kobolds all too easily. Nora opened her mouth, as if she was about to explain, yet she decided to close her mouth again and concentrate, conjuring storms of ice spears and flaming knives to pierce the incoming kobolds that managed to escape Dylan's blade.
Charles and Henrietta took care of the kobolds on the second path. She was in her partial beast form, her hands turning into claws full of blinking eyes as she slashed and mauled the incoming creatures.
He quickly casted the boost skills at Henrietta's direction, causing her to glow in red, green, and blue colors.
[Low-Class Offense Boost activated]
[Low-Class Agility Boost activated]
[Low-Class Endurance Boost activated]
[Your beast's strength, agility, and endurance increased by 10% each!]
[Beast Energy: 120/150]
With 100 energy left, he decided to try the most intriguing skill he obtained on his disposal.
[Beast Integration has been activated!]
An aura of power surrounded him, turning into something like a monochromatic veil over his entire body. Power flowed through him as the aura followed his movements, a mixture of ever-changing black and white depending on where he looked. If he was able to look at himself from afar, he would see illusions of blinking eyes floating around the aura on his body.
[Beast Integration - Blessing of the Beast of Duality]
[Strength: 48 (28+20)]
[Endurance: 13 (23-10)]
[Agility: 32 (22+10)]
[Beast Energy: 20/150]
[Time remaining: 3 minutes]
"Hah, this feels really good," Charles exclaimed while clenching his fist, then punching the kobolds trying to approach him. They were immediately sent flying, pushing the wave of creatures before finally they were embedded into a wall.
For a moment, the other two were stunned.
"Hey, you two, deal with this first, talk later!" Henrietta shouted.
They immediately snapped back to the sea of creatures and continued their assault until the crowds finally thinned and sputtered into nothing.
--
[Beast Integration has ended!]
[Cooldown: 6 hours]
[You have been hit by extreme fatigue! One random stat will be reduced.]
[Strength: 28]
[Endurance: 23]
[Agility: 12 (22-10)]
They decided to take a break in a random room, one that looked like a storage room. Inside, there were mostly random knickknacks covered in cobwebs, most likely from the humans who had previously inhabited the castle.
"That was practically endless," Dylan rubbed the back of his head as he leaned onto the wall. "Was this how it is before, Nora?"
"Unfortunately, yeah, I got a bit stronger, but they're still pretty troublesome," Nora answered.
Meanwhile, Charles was leaning onto one of the heavier boxes, fighting the urge to close his eyes and sleep after the use of [Beast Integration]. It was more exhausting than he expected.
Out of curiosity, he decided to check out the details of the integration result.
[Beast Integration - Blessing of the Beast of Duality]
[Rank: Unknown]
[Everything in the world has two sides. In the boundary where the two sides collide, the Beast of Duality lurks, in a constant state of teetering between two options. Those blessed by the beast receive a fraction of similar power, a chance to obtain a random number of stat reduction or increase depending on luck and the Beast Tamer's skills]
"As for you, Charles, are you doing okay?" Nora asked, concern evident in her voice.
"I'll be fine, but this can't continue," Charles said, taking a peek outside. More kobolds had already begun filling the halls. "This will be an endless endeavor if we just fight them."
"There is no other way, they are all hostile, and they can't be reasoned," Nora argued. "I have to save my friends, too."
"That is understandable, but we also-"
"No, Dylan, more allies might be good. Tell me, Nora, we just have to defeat the ruler and get the key to the second floor, right?"