Zayzal held up a hand, signaling for a halt. His eyes, now well-adapted to the dark, surveyed the scene with cautious calculation.
"We need a plan," he whispered, voice barely above a breath, yet carrying through the stifling silence to reach his companions' ears.
Anders and Sera nodded, eyes fixed on the kneeling trolls and the looming statue.
Zayzal grabbed both of their hands and quietly led them back up the staircase. They needed to find a better place where they could talk.
Meanwhile, in his mind, he was trying to come up with a plan to overcome this situation. They might be coordinated enough to take on 3, maybe 4 trolls max, but not any more than that.
He glanced at the black orb glowing within Anders' body and thought about making him stronger as well, but while that would definitely help, it wasn't enough.
'There's no guarantee that he'd even get stronger, either.' Zayzal thought, thinking back to Sera's barrier talent.
Red orbs seemed to represent physical talents. Gold had something to do with mana. Cyan was related to the mind.
Black was unknown.
His eyes glowed a feint silver color as he stared at Anders, following the various pathways within his body. However, despite the increased mana density and mastery over his talent, they were faint at best.
They went all across his body, from his head down to his toes, reaching every muscle, bone, nerve, and even some organs. The pathways also seemed to move, and Zayzal swore he could see illusory versions of Anders swinging his polearm around while channeling mana into those specific points in his body.
'It almost seems less like an immediate power-up and more like strength gained through strict and precise training. I guess black talents have something to do with weapon mastery? Maybe?' Zayzal surmised and immediately threw the idea of Anders getting stronger right out the window.
Even if he did, Anders wouldn't be much more useful than he was now. He wasn't like Sera, who already had insane control over her body before mana changed her.
'It seems we'll have to figure something else out.' Zayzal concluded with a slight frown.
After walking far enough away, back in the darkness, Anders couldn't help but say with a shaky voice, "S-Should we return? Grab a few more people and come back? I-I don't think we can fight all of them…"
"Tsk." Sera clicked her tongue at his cowardice, but her thoughts weren't too different. She didn't believe they'd be able to handle all of those trolls by themselves. However, she didn't like the idea of relying on other unknown people.
"We could…" Zayzal said, "...But we'd have to give up some of the loot."
That caught their attention, especially Anders'.
"We'd also need to practice our teamwork a bit, as well as choose suitable people to join us. However, I have a feeling that adding more people will just give the trolls more targets to kill. Unless they were ready to kill or were trained, they wouldn't be of much use." Zayzal continued, and the others found themselves agreeing with him.
If they brought more people who didn't know how to fight or weren't prepared to kill, not only were they a liability, but they'd be nothing more than meat shields. That went against the whole point of diving into this dungeon!
Anders' voice trembled as he cast his gaze downward, uncertainty flickering within his eyes. "Then… what's our move here? Retreat and arm ourselves further, perhaps?" He hesitated before adding with a glimmer of tentative hope, "With a gun, I might be able to take down a few with headshots before they even notice us."
Zayzal nodded, "That's a possibility."
"What about finding a different route? In the last dungeon, there were multiple entry points. Maybe there's a secret tunnel or mechanism that'll make things easier." Sera chimed in.
Zayzal's eyes lit up, the silver hue returning as he smiled at Sera. "Good idea! We'll try that first, and if that doesn't work, we'll go with yours, Anders."
"No problem. We're already here, so we might as well." Anders agreed immediately.
Zayzal extended his shoulders towards his companions, his gaze serious and focused. "Hold tight," he murmured, the whisper threaded with an undercurrent of anticipation.
As their hands found purchase on his sturdy frame, a flicker of concentration crossed his features, and the energy in his body seemed to ripple, drawn towards his eyes. Lightly pulsating, the mana imbued his vision with heightened clarity, sharpening the shadows and brightening the hidden corners as he activated his [Pathfinder] talent.
It was a bit weird to consciously control this new energy within him. It sort of felt like he gained another muscle that had a neutral but inherent link to the outside world. But with his [Adaptability], it quickly became 'a part of him' and he could control it without much issue.
'It worked!' He exclaimed inwardly.
As mana poured into his eyes, the world around him became black and white, like looking through night vision goggles.
Everything within his field of view was pitch black. He turned his head and saw a gold and red orb next to one another, then a few feet away, a glowing black orb along with the pathways required to reach the next stage in strength.
'Those must be Sera and Anders.'
Turning, he looked around as much as possible until a faint silver line caught his eye. He followed it with his gaze and noticed it seemed to be leading him somewhere.
Without hesitation, he followed it with Sera and Anders in tow.
The three of them slowly walked back up the stairs for a few minutes until the silver line took a right turn into the wall.
"Ugh!" Zayzal grunted as he bumped his head against the stone on accident, not realizing it was so close.
After regaining his senses, his eyes were glued onto the silver line. He traced it with his fingers until his hand was placed firmly on the wall.
'A secret room?' Amused as a child-like excitement welled up inside him.
He gave the wall a nice, strong push and surprisingly felt it budge!
"Help me push this open!" He said, forcing the other two to stand in front of the wall.
"Is there really-"
"Yes! Now push!"
The two of them quickly placed their hands on the wall and pushed with all their might!
With a united effort, the trio leaned into the solid barrier before them, muscles tensing and fibers straining under the exertion. The wall groaned, faintly at first, against the rough floor before the three gained a bit of momentum and pushed it open, wide enough for a human to pass through.
A narrow hidden passage revealed itself, enshrouded in a darkness even more profound than the dungeon they had just traversed.
However, they were immediately pushed back a little from a release of pressure, causing them to enter a battle-ready state, but a few seconds later, they relaxed. Sera and Anders were in a constant state of fight-or-flight, given they couldn't see.
"Well, let's find out what this secret passageway holds." Zayzal chuckled, dispelling the tense atmosphere. The two nodded and grabbed hold of his shoulder again.
Zayzal, maintaining his lead, entered first. He stopped channeling his mana since he was beginning to run out, causing his sight to return to normal.
The passage was smaller, the ceiling lower, and the walls closer, making the atmosphere even more oppressive, yet it was devoid of the tangible threat they had sensed in the main tunnel.
The air within was thick, damp, and rich with the smell of untouched earth with an undercurrent of metal.
Traversing through the passage with caution, every step they took seemed to put them on edge as they had no idea what might be ahead. As they advanced further, the passage gradually widened, eventually opening into a small, enclosed chamber.
The room was circular, the walls carved with ornate details from a different era, and blue lights seeping through the cracks, allowing them to see once again. Zayzal wasn't exactly a history buff, but he recognized some of those patterns as being similar to items at least a few millennia ago.
'Weird…' He thought and made a mental note of this scene.
Their eyes soon adjusted to the newfound light, and something immediately caught their attention: a pedestal positioned at the end of the room.
However, the chamber was far from empty; it seemed that they had inadvertently stumbled upon the residence of a bunch of small, scurrying creatures.
Zayzal took a step forward with his shield raised. As soon as his foot hit the floor, a sharp click echoed.
'Fuck!'
Instantly, he yanked Anders and Sera back, dodging a spray of darts while the rest hit his shield.
Simultaneously, the room burst into chaotic activity as dozens of eyes gleamed menacingly in the dark: rats, large and aggressive, possibly mutated by the magic-infused atmosphere of the dungeon. With a menacing squeal, they surged forward like a hungry horde.
"Prepare yourselves!" Zayzal warned, gripping his shield and spear tightly and bracing for the onslaught.
With a swift, collective motion, the trio lunged into the fray, weapons slicing through the air.
Sera's axe swung down with ferocious precision, splitting a rat cleanly in two, its halves tumbling away in different directions.
Meanwhile, Anders' spear pierced through their furry bodies, but he wasn't nearly as skilled as Sera. Thus, he would occasionally miss their small, agile rodent bodies, allowing a few rats to chew on their shoes and legs as they attempted to climb up their bodies.
Luckily, Zayzal noticed this and quickly eliminated them before they became a problem.
"Stay close!" Zayzal commanded.
Sera grunted, acknowledging him, her axe rising and falling rhythmically, creating a deadly arc of steel that no rat could penetrate. Anders, with a swift turn and thrust, skewered two approaching rats on his spear, flinging them away with a flick of his wrist.
The chamber soon filled with the pungent scent of blood and the echoing cries of the dying rats. The trio moved as one, with Zayzal adjusting to his companion's differing battle styles to keep the synergy high.
It was in situations like these when he was extremely grateful for the [Adaptability] talent.
In minutes, the floor was littered with the small, lifeless bodies of the rodents, their blood seeping into the ancient stones, darkening them with wet, crimson stains.
With the immediate threat neutralized, their gaze collectively shifted to the pedestal, its presence dominating the room, mysterious and promising.
On it sat a large, portable ballista, ornate in design but worn with age, accompanied by about a dozen metallic bolts, but only one of them seemed to be in good condition as the others were either chipped or rusted.
Without a word, Zayzal approached and snatched it.
"We can use this," Zayzal murmured, eyes never leaving the ballista.
Sera and Anders approached, but there was slight confusion in their eyes.
What could a single ballista do?
Even though it looked powerful, at most, it could take out a single target.
Zayzal turned around and, as if sensing their thoughts, smiled at them.
"I have a plan."