Pov Kylo Stromcrest:
*Click!
"AAAAAAAA, MY FOOT, MY FUCKING FOOT!!!",
(...)
(At least I know the location of the traps hasn't changed at all).
"Welcome to floor 4!", was my heartfelt thought for that asshole who didn't take the subcommander's lecture seriously.
(And who else to show us the pain of falling into it than Frederick?)
(A tooth trap...a classic).
A trap designed to shatter a limb of its prey; it's quite famous, even shown in cartoons.
"AAAAAAA, AAAAAAA."
"Calm down, calm down," Elara said urgently as she watched Frederick's increasingly bleeding leg.
(Although, in real life, it's not pretty).
Fortunately, we were given some potions, so it's just a matter of freeing his leg from that spot and applying some potion to his wounds.
*Steps
*Steps
(?)
While I was watching Elara trying to free Frederick from the trap, I could hear some footsteps approaching in our direction, as if they were attracted by Frederick's dog cries, plus....
(That feeling).
"Elara, you, Gareth and Adelina help Frederick; Akane, Kylo and I will defend them," at that moment, Luna stepped forward and took command.
"Understood, we'll back them up right away," Elara said gratefully as she applied more force on the trap, something that of course wasn't very nice.
"AAAA, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"
"Calm down, almost there, almost there," and with that last view, I prepared to face the approaching visitor.
What appeared was a creature a bit larger than conventional goblins; moreover, its classic green color was changed to a red color, giving us a hint of its power.
His clothing was a bit different, as this guy had a kind of shirt made of skin, who knows what, and a longer loincloth. Also, instead of a pocketknife, he was carrying some sort of poorly made short sword.
A hobgoblin.
(Phew, I wonder what kind of infection I'll get if he cuts me with that thing).
Behind him, a few also appeared.
(One, two, three... Six?)
This time, as soon as the enemies spotted us, they didn't advance immediately, as if they were sizing us up.
"Grrrrrrrrrrrrr... Mumble... Snick..."
"Snarl... Groooorrrrrrr... Grumble... Chitter..."
"Chitter! Chatter... Grunt!"
At this point, seeing Frederick's helpless state behind us and Elara trying to help him, they became more euphoric.
"Chitter! Chatter.... Grunt!"
"Chitter! Grumble... Mumble!"
(I guess they think they have the upper hand).
"Get ready Kylo, Akane, you'll keep them from getting close to Elara along with Adelina," Luna said seriously, noticing his intentions.
"Agreed."
"Understood."
And so we approached our enemies.
---
The instant we approached them, a brave hobgoblin approached cautiously, though I noticed something interesting.
The fellow was looking at Luna with lust, something that even his loincloth failed to hide.
(Hey, buddy, you're looking at the devil, you know that?)
I didn't try to stop his approach as I kept a close eye on his cronies.
Luna wasn't perturbed either; she watched her with her typical expressionless gaze.
Just when the guy was less than 10 feet away....
"GRRRAA," the hobgoblin immediately approached her and attacked.
However, his target was not her torso like the previous goblins, but this time he aimed for her legs.
No need to guess his intentions.
*Clank!
At that moment, Luna perfectly blocked the attack with her sword, deflecting it and leaving the attacker completely unprotected.
She took advantage of that opportunity.
*Inverted slash
*Shhhhhhhhrhrrrrrrr!
Her strike went straight for the enemy's jugular.
(Wow, that was a completely well-executed parry).
In Aerial Chronicles, there was also the parry mechanic, in which you could block an attack from your opponent and, in turn, return it with a critical rate of over 60%, depending on your skill.
(It was the veterans' favorite method of humiliating the rookies).
Even I resorted to that method often, as they seemed to kill themselves
"GRAAAAAAAA"
"GROOOOAARR"
At that point, the hobgoblins lost patience at the sight of their fallen friend and quickly approached.
I also took the opportunity to approach Luna's position and prepared to wait in a defensive stance.
"GRAAAAAAAARRRR"
A hobgoblin approached me, as it looked like I was going to defend Luna with my approach.
(Come on, attack, buddy).
At that moment, the hobgoblin quickly raised his "sword" to the height of his head and brought it down with force and fury.
A downward thrust.
*Clank!
Immediately, I met it with my sword and forcefully deflected it.
"GRAAAA", the hobgoblin didn't expect me to have more strength than him, and that cost him the break in his stance, something I immediately took advantage of.
*Inverted slash
*Shlak!
Although my attack wasn't as perfect as Luna's, as I hit his collarbone.
(I was a little slower).
That proves that my skill is inferior to Luna's.
(Well, it's understandable, after all, this is not my Spectre's body, but Kylo Stromcrest's).
"GROOOOAARR!"
(Oh, another one).
*Clank!
*Slash...
(!!!)
At the moment I was about to kill my enemy, I felt something very close to me, something dangerous.
(... Nothing)
But as I looked around, I saw nothing, so I quickly continued with my enemy, who was already about to regain his stance.
*Inverted slash.
*Slash!
This time, my blow was a little lower, opening his chest.
From that moment on, my perfectionist spirit was activated, and I turned to my next enemy.
*Clank!
*Precise lunge.
"UGHHHHHHhhhhhh..."
This time, my parry went straight for his heart.
(Good, I'm getting better).
And just after thinking about that....
[ Active Regeneration Supercells ]
[ Imperishable Activated: Physical Resistance +1 (hidden), Pain Resistance +1]
(Huh, why are these two activated?).
Since I came to the dungeon, I haven't been in the situation where these two activate.
"Kylo, your hand," Luna, who had just gutted the last hobgoblin, pointed out the part I unconsciously ignored.
Immediately, I looked at my hand, which?
Was bleeding, although not much, it was curious that I didn't notice it until now.
(I see, the hidden effect of Imperishable.)
Imperishable also mitigates pain while you're in combat, so this wound, which could easily have distracted me in the middle of a duel, only felt like a slight sting.
Of course, it only works on wounds that aren't too severe.
(When did I get it? I didn't notice it at all).
I was concentrating on the enemy, so there's no way I could have been hit.
(Maybe... I accidentally cut myself?)
That was the only logical conclusion I could come to.
And for the first time in this world, I felt truly ashamed of how low I had fallen.
(God, how embarrassing...)
"Kylo, do you need a position?" finishing with the last enemy, Luna approached me and spoke to me.
"No, no need, look, it's already healed," I said that because my trait had already taken care of closing the wound.
"..."
When I said that, she looked down, something that puzzled me and which I also did out of curiosity.
(Oh...)
The surrounding ground had abundant drops of blood, small at first glance, but if you follow the trail, you can see that it reaches all the way to my current position.
"..."
"..."
"Don't go too far away from me," she said with a slightly... scolding tone.
As I closely examined where the trail begins, I noticed that it started from the place where I felt the false danger signal.
(Maybe I got distracted here and cut myself from the scare).
That idea sounded plausible, although it's curious that the Demon King Corps' senses have false positives.
(There's no way there could be invisible enemies... at least in this dungeon).
That's why I didn't even consider it as a feasible possibility.
"AAAAAAA, WAIT!!! WAIT!!!", those were the dog cries let out by a certain person.
Oddly enough, they still hadn't removed Frederick's trap; I guess it's because it's too painful and Elara and Gareth are too afraid to damage his leg any further.
I went a little closer to check his situation and saw the state of his foot.
(It's completely broken...)
As for why his bracelet hasn't gotten him out of the dungeon, that's because you must have a very powerful concussion for it to activate, or fall completely out of combat as is being unconscious.
(The pain from that thing isn't strong enough to send him to sleep).
*Steps
*Steps
At that moment, we felt footsteps approaching.
"Get ready," Luna said.
And so we didn't have to look for our enemy, as the dog cries Frederick was making echoed throughout the dungeon, attracting our enemies.
--
In an inconspicuous place...
A creature watched the situation carefully, analyzing the attack patterns of its prey.
Its red eyes looked uneasily at two children in particular, considering which one to attack first.
One was its target, a girl with blonde hair who was helping to free one of her companions. Her scent was similar to those who raised him and taught him to see him as prey.
The second child was a dark-haired boy who, for some reason, irritated the creature considerably to the point where he could hardly stand it.
So irritated was he that he seriously considered attacking this one first, so he marked him as a possible target.
--
"Careful, careful," I asked Adelina and Luna, their help to free Frederick from there, as I was starting to get fed up.
"Now!"
*Clink
"You! You..."
It was entertaining to watch him go quiet when Luna flashed him a scowl.
(At least his dog-like cries served a purpose...).
Indeed, all the enemies were attracted by Frederick, which allowed us to eliminate them all almost in the initial area of the fourth floor.
"Be careful, there might be more traps," Elara warned when we finally started moving forward.
(That's pretty obvious).
We walked slowly, taking in the surroundings, but everything was completely empty, except for a few traps.
"Look, there are the stairs."
After walking for a few minutes, we spotted the stairs at the bottom of a spacious area.
(I guess this is where the enemies spawn).
I relaxed a bit and hung back. Curiously, Luna was just to my left as the others hurried towards the stairs.
(I don't think it's necessary for her to...)
(¡¡¡!!!)
My thoughts were interrupted by a terrible sense of danger. My Demon King senses detected a threat of imminent life or death.
"What's wrong, Kylo, what's wrong with you?" asked Luna, who was standing next to me, noticing my change of attitude.
Unfortunately, I didn't have time to answer.
(Where?!)
The feeling was so strong that I quickly unsheathed my sword, preparing to block my "enemy's" attack.
(From the right?!)
A black sword rushed towards me from the right, pushing me hard.
*Clank!
"Ughhh!" Fortunately, I was able to parry the attack in time, though the blow was so powerful that it shocked me a little.
*Clank!
*Clank!
*Clank!
"Wow, who is this?!!!" I was so shaken that I let my thoughts out loud as I desperately blocked.
*Clank!
(He's FUCKING strong!!!!)
*Clank!
[ Imperishable Activated: Physical Strength +1 (hidden), Concussion Resistance +1, Physical Strength + 1...]
My enemy was very strong, so much so that my hands were starting to go numb.
*Clannnnk!
(Holy crap, he broke my guard!).
Fortunately, I had a strong partner right next to me.
*CLANK!
Luna helped me block that "deadly" attack.
*Clank
*Clank
After a brief exchange between the two, the enemy decided to change his strategy, but not before....
*Ninja kick
"Oomph!",
The enemy unrealistically approached me while I was trying to recover and hit me squarely in the stomach.
*Thud!!!
It was a blow that sent me flying a few feet before I landed on the ground.
"Look out!!!"
"Huddle up!!!"
At that moment, all my teammates ahead came to help us.
[ Active Regeneration Supercells ]
[ Imperishable Activated: Concussion resistance +1, Concussion resistance +1, Physical trauma resistance + 1...]
(Son of a... WHO ARE YOU?)
Trying to get up from the ground, I could see the enemy's appearance before he activated his camouflage.
"A Splinter!?" Seeing the identity of the attacker, I was completely baffled.
The Splinters, an affectionate nickname the players gave to the monster whose real name is Shadow Ninja Rat.
This is due to his appearance of a humanoid rat that uses assassin tactics, as well as being very skilled in melee combat.
Its main characteristic is its shadowy camouflage, which gives it great lethality.
(WHAT IS IT DOING HERE????)
It was a bit surprising to see one of these in the TUTORIAL Dungeon, as these enemies do not appear in any known dungeon.
They are the result of experiments by a certain organization... and their strength is comparable to that of a 2-star knight.