The man like figure moved his tilted head to look at me, fully revealing its horrifying features.
Sickly white hairless skin that stuck tightly to its bones, as its human like skeletal frame was outlined.
The things torso had multiple dried splotches of blood as its hands hung low as if they were too heavy for it to lift.
Lastly the face, it had a wide-open jaw, its lower jaw so disjointed it reached its torso, revealing its mouth and multiple rows of human like teeth as the thin layer of skin stretched and tore at some parts.
The eyes that looked at me weren't eyes at all but simply empty wet holes as a liquid poured out of them like tears.
My grip on the arrow began to tremble as I noticed that there was not just one such horrifying creature.
There were dozens and creaking noises that came from their bones as they looked towards me.
Then their disfigured mouth twisted, forming what looked like a smile.
I released the arrow as it punched straight through the head of one of them and impaled itself into another, splattering blood on the sickly white skin of those surrounding them.
The two kept smiling as they fell to the ground.
The others didn't care, and they crushed the corpses as they began running towards me at unexpectedly high speeds.
I began releasing arrow after arrow with no care for accuracy as it was bound to hit one of them.
I killed several but there were too many, they kept coming after me, arms outstretched and smiling wide.
Dread took hold as I began to run, I knew this was a cave of nightmares, but no nightmare had ever been this bad.
Looking back, I saw them falling over each other as their 'eyes' focused on me, and they kept trying to grab me.
I outran them, especially with them stumbling over each other I thought I could escape the tunnel and get out.
"AAAAAAHH-"
I heard an extremely high-pitched shriek as my ears began ringing and I felt blood streaming from them.
The fear I felt intensified as I heard the cries and wailing of several voices overlapping in my head upon hearing the shriek.
My vision became hazy as I began to lose balance, I desperately pushed myself further by grabbing onto the cave walls.
I fell a few times, but I kept going, as the clothing on my legs began to tear off due to the pointed rocky floor but I made it out of the tunnel as I began to regain my hearing and balance.
*TAP*
I stopped running as I looked in shock to notice that the path I had taken before was blocked off by even more shriekers.
My breathing began to grow heavier as the shrieker in front of me looked at me and smiled while I could sense the ones behind me getting closer and closer.
A chill went up my spine as I thought it was over, but suddenly I noticed a small opening to the left.
I shot the one in front of me to prevent him from shrieking as I dashed towards the opening with all my might.
I felt shriekers fill the cavern behind me as they rushed to catch me, and my hearing became numb as they released a wail again.
I didn't care as I jumped towards the opening, attempting to get away from them.
*THUP*
Despair filled my mind as I felt the disgusting sensation of wet and rubbery flesh make contact with my skin as a shrieker tightly grabbed my leg.
Its smile grew wider, portraying an expression of ecstasy as other shriekers began to rush towards me as well.
I swung with my dagger taking the arm off the shrieker but it had delayed me enough as several took hold of my legs and even torso as I was pulled back.
The sensation of rubbery flesh began to appear all over my body as I hopeless slashed at the hand of the shriekers as their hollow eye sockets and mangled smiles filled my vision.
Once I was close enough the shrieker pulled my leg towards its wide-open maw.
'No!' I swung my dagger to cut its arm off, but it jumped forward as its jaw shut.
Blood flew as skin was now in the shut maws of the beast and a bite mark appeared on my leg.
I had pulled my leg back slightly at the end, but it managed to take a chunk off my lower leg.
Pain flashed through my mind along with fear and despair but finally it gave way to anger.
I planted my foot on the ground causing more blood to come pouring out as pain flashed through my brain, but I didn't care.
I pushed forward with all my strength resisting their pull, in response they exerted more force.
I angled my body as I grabbed my dagger and stopped resisting their pull.
My body spun wildly as I released a slash creating a thick black line in its path.
Blood flew along with the hands and decapitated heads of some shriekers.
All the ones closest to me were dead and the corpses slowed down the ones behind.
The spin had put a lot of stress on my pivot foot, and I could feel it weakening but I shot towards the small opening, barely managing to squeeze in and exit the other side.
I felt a shriekers hand brush past my back as I moved and the opening was too small for them as I heard them clawing and smacking the wall, trying to break it down.
"Hah.." I heard my heavy breathing as I tried to cope with the pain in my left leg.
I began moving, I didn't know exactly how many were there but with dark mana I could tell it was no small amount, the wall wouldn't hold.
I was basically limping as I felt blood pour out with every step as I felt searing pain.
However, the narrow tunnel opened up revealing a large cavern with only one thing of note.
A human sized opening with a high density of dark mana coming from it, surrounded by stalactites and stalagmites that made it look like the fangs of a wolf.
The location of the combat manual I had been looking for.