A purple line traced the path of the arrow as it punched through several monsters in the path.
*SQUELCH*
Finally, it burrowed itself into the head of a shrieker before exploding, scattering brain matter and skull fragments everywhere causing the others near it to get damaged.
A technique in which I sacrificed the arrow to deal damage over a wider area, appropriately named exploding shot.
The surrounding monsters looked at the corpses in confusion, to them the arrow had come out of nowhere.
I moved around as I shot the barrage of arrows, my gaze focusing on groups where I could shoot to deal the most damage possible.
Purple lines shot at clustered groups as the surroundings were dyed red and a sea of blood, bone and viscera filled the cavern.
The human like shapes of the shriekers caused the sight to be even more gruesome as I barely kept my focus on the targets.
The monsters began to panic as shrieks reverberated through the cave causing me to lose hearing and balance once again.
However, I had done it, they were scattering in different directions and there was a thin path to the outside cavern.
Their previous ecstasy gone, replaced by fear and anger as they began to swing at thin air.
I put my bow away, I had wasted enough arrows, it was time to utilize the new dagger art.
A burst of wind mana appeared beneath my feet as I charged at the thin opening, trying to escape.
However, the beasts were getting desperate and clawed at the gust of wind intercepting my path with their elongated arms.
I let out a sharp breath and readied the dagger and pictured a curving line going through the arm and neck of two shriekers in the way.
*SPLURT*
I traced the line with my dagger creating an afterimage as the severed arms of the shriekers fell to the ground as they cried out in pain.
'Mutilate.'
The only technique I could use from my dagger art as of now proved to be useful as I cleared out any 'obstacles' with ease.
The ledge came closer and closer as I ran, cleanly cutting any that were in the way, but the monsters were intelligent, they had realized my path and created a circle before the exit to prevent my escape.
The gleam of the dagger alerted them of my presence as all of them greedily stretched their arms towards me.
Their greed for my power would be their last mistake, as just when I was about to be in range of them, I dropped to the ground in a slide, slicing upwards.
Blood fell on my face as the creatures lost their limbs but before they could retaliate, I jumped, stomping down on the head of one of them staggering it.
Using its skull as a footstool I propelled myself further in the air and switched to my bow and arrow and released one last exploding shot midair at the gathering crowd.
I couldn't look at the result as I rotated my body, throwing my bow over the ledge as I barely caught the edge.
The shrapnel metal coming from the arrow cut my skin as well but with the shrieks of pain, I knew that the damage I had done was far greater.
I pulled myself up and looked behind to see a sea of red, the monsters were now few in number and released cries of fear as they turned to run in different directions.
I picked up my bow and began to leave, there was no point in wasting more arrows on a defeated enemy.
I walked back, no longer fearing the gaze of any monster in the dark, the faces in my peripheral vision were no longer of ecstasy but that of fear and pain.
I hoped the hallucinations would end soon as I walked back to the entrance.
I walked past spiders that failed to notice me, picking up chunks of ore without fear.
Soon I exited the cave, as the dark mana grew thin, and light flooded my eyes.
My vision grew hazy, and I felt fatigue overtake my body as my pace got slower.
I disabled the dark mana coating and as the adrenaline wore off, I could smell the metallic scent of blood on my clothes.
'I did it.'
****Terrance (Guard) POV*****
I stared out lazily into the checkpoint, nobody ever really came here so most of the times I could laze around with no worries but not today.
"Are you still worried about him?" Wilma asked.
She seemed far more worried than me, which I had come to expect after years of working with her.
"He's been in there for almost 2 hours now." She said with concern.
That was a normal amount of time for a zone, she was being too anxious, but I was getting anxious as well.
'...Blood.'
I could smell the extremely metallic scent of shrieker blood reach my nose as I turned to the cave opening with caution.
"Oh, thank god." Wilma said.
He wasn't dead but he wasn't doing great either, he had some blood on him, and he seemed very tired as he walked haggardly towards the checkpoint.
As he got closer, I saw that his face didn't portray much but his eyes seemed distant and unfocused.
I felt bad for him, he'd clearly seen one of those horrifying things if not more with the blood he had on him.
He took the items he deposited back and gave me a rather heavy bag of ore which I handed to Wilma for processing.
"So? How'd it go?" I asked him hoping it would help with the traumatic experience.
Instead of answering he took a map of the caves and wordlessly highlighted an area close to the entrance.
"I found something here." He said evenly.
I looked up at him with pity but eventually asked.
"Did you kill a shrieker there?"
"A few." He replied.
I released a sigh as I told him.
"I'll check it out, and you'll be paid later for every dead shrieker alright?"
Those things were pests, and we'd pay anyone willing to kill them.
He simply nodded and left after collecting a large sum of money from Wilma for the ore he'd gotten.
'Strange kid.' I thought to myself as I watched him walk away.
However, as he was walking away from the gate, we saw another young awakened approach, probably only a few years older than the previous one.
I was a bit surprised but checked his ID anyway, realizing he was an academy student, I said in a respectful tone.
"We apologize Mr.Rollins, it's going to take a few minutes before you can enter."