After a much needed rest, Nico returned to traversing through the abandoned subway, placing his sword on his shoulders as he walked and scanned the area. So far, he hadn't encountered any monsters, but he was starting to come across more and more water puddles.
He thought nothing of it, assuming that the rain probably managed to seep through the cracks on the ceiling, causing water to drip to the ground and make said puddles. Paying it no mind, he encountered more mutated sewer rats. This time, fighting them more efficiently and with less risky tactics.
The more rats he encountered, the weaker they seemed to be. Or rather, the stronger he seemed to have become.
The difference wasn't too significant, but it was visible, and that was enough for Nico. With a newfound strategy of killing the sewer rats, Nico found it easier and easier to kill them and gain more points.
As he grew stronger, he ended up provoking each sewer rat to use its spitting venom, which he would swiftly evade before killing the monster. That way, he wouldn't only gain strength and dexterity points, but also mana points. It was a perfect balance, but all good things eventually com ofe to an end.
The third day approached and the mutant sewer rates were becoming easier to deal with, their numbers decreasing vastly in exchange. By the fourth day, Nico was walking through a foot length of water, where he no longer found any more sewer rats.
It was also becoming eerily quiet, causing Nico's body to slightly tense up. As he continued walking, he came across various golden threads hanging on the ceiling. The deeper he ventured into the subway, the more golden threads he came across, each thread larger than the last.
After an additional day of traversing, Nico's AutoSiphers relayed a message and his status screen displayed the text for him to read.
{ You have arrived at the gryphons nest }
Nico swallowed his saliva in nervousness. 'Why did it have to be gryphons?' he asked himself, his hands already trembling before stepping into the incomplete nest.
Gryphons are quadrupedal beasts with the hind legs and body of a lion, talons on the front legs, large wings of various colours on their backs and the head of an eagle.
They are formidable sky beasts that usually build their nests above the surface, particularly in warm climatic areas. But, Nico had stumbled upon an incomplete nest beneath the surface.
'Are they hiding from the rain? Besides that, how did magical beasts from the North get all the way down here?' he pondered, already clenching his sword tightly. 'I can worry about that later... All I have to do is to kill them, right?'
Nico took a deep breath and made his way inside the nest, the scenery morphing from a dilapidated subway to a brightly coloured home built with nothing but countless threads of golden strands, that also seemed to cast some light.
Nico carefully traversed through the somewhat bumpy area, scanning the environment, trying to detect the slightest of movements. After an entire hour of being cautious, Nico grew impatient and started being more direct.
That was a mistake.
Right above him, unbeknownst to the foolish player, was a senate of gryphons, their numbers roughly adding up to 9, possibly 11. And, they had been following Nico but showed no signs of wanting to attack.
Their home was invaded and they needed to be careful of who had decided to do so. Someone who can confidently step into a nest of gryphons was clearly powerful. Or, atleast that was what they assumed.
Eventually, Nico came across something that just made him lose his confidence. He quickly covered his nose and squinted at the rotting corpses before him. Upon closer inspection, they looked like humans, elves and maybe even dwarves.
'I wasn't the first person to get here... Which means...!' Nico's eyes widened as he realised the situation he was in.
He quickly turned his body, his sword cutting through the air as he blocked an incoming attack from a diving gryphon. The beast cawed and dug its talons directly towards Nico, who parried the attack and moved backwards.
The gryphon landed a few feet away and scowled at Nico, who did the same. Then, Nico slowly looked at the ceiling and noticed that there were more gryphons, patiently watching him. But, they were far larger compared to the one that attack him.
It had a smaller beak, slightly shorter wings and a shorter tail. 'So, it's in its early teens...' Nico commented. 'It's probably undergoing initiation. Once gryphons reach a specific age, they're required to go on their first hunt in order to be considered adults.'
'They tear off their prey's stomachs and consume their small intestines, leaving the rest of the body to rot. And, by the number of corpses, it seems that this specific senate bred a ton of little monsters,' he added.
The young gryphon cawed once more and charge in for Nico, flying straight towards him. Nico dashed for the gryphon as well, but moved to the right and slashed the monster's wing, causing to to fall to its feet and screech in pain.
Red blood seeped from the wound, angering the young gryphon. Running on all fours, the young gryphon closed in on Nico, forcing him to parry and deflect any attacks from the gryphon's talons.
After a long struggle, Nico released a loud, desperate cry and slashed the gryphon's leg clean off. Then, while it tried to maintain balance on all three legs, Nico slashed it's hind leg, causing it to fall.
He then kicked it on its neck, making it squeak slightly, and then plunged his foot straight onto the gryphon's throat, ending it before it could caw once again. Nico took deep breaths and looked at the ceiling, realising that he had fucked up.
The adult gryphons–who were originally supposed to inspect the young gryphon before allowing it to become a part of the senate–raised their wings and torpedoed towards Nico.
"Shit!" With limited time to evade, Nico randomly ran in zig zags, hoping that none of the talons or sharply pointed beaks wouldn't hit him. Luckily, he lived. But, the gryphons would quickly change that.
Unlike the 6 foot young gryphon that Nico killed, these adults were 9 feet, with much sharper talons, curved beaks, much darker fur, larger wings and more tact. Nico knew this wouldn't be an easy fight. But, running was literally the last thing he could do.
He clenched his steel blade with both hands and took an attack stance, prompting the monsters to get ready to pounce. Nico was clearly outmatched and chances of him winning were slim to none.
And yet, he couldn't help but smirk, albeit feeling a bit nervous. One by one, the gryphons took off, each of them starting to hover in a circle above Nico, like vultures waiting for the predators to finish off their prey so that they could have a turn to eat.
Nico followed their movements, but slowly grew more and more confused since they flew in separate directions. Suddenly, a gryphon flew with incredible speed towards Nico.
He quickly raised his sword and guarded his torso, barely blocking the attack. He was pushed back and his feet scraped the ground, but he was still standing, which was all that mattered.
As the gryphon was about to take off, Nico closed the distance between himself and the monster, his blade slicing through the air, inches away from piercing its head.
But, Nico was sent flying instead, hitting his back on the wall made of golden threads.
{ HP: 150/200 }
He quickly got to his feet, shook off the lingering pain on his back and took another stance, this time, holding onto the defensive. Over and over, the gryphons repeated the attack, pushing Nico back and, if they were lucky, scraping him and drawing blood from whatever part of his body he couldn't block in time.
'I don't think I can do this...!' he told himself as he blocked another attack, but was still sent flying, his sword falling out of his hands when he landed on the ground. He grunted and tried getting up, only for all the gryphons circling around him to dive straight for him.
His eyes widened in horror and he could've sworn he saw his life flash before his eyes. Memories of a life he had hated living suddenly felt important to him.
He remembered his mother's warm touch, his father's kind eyes, his brother's humour and his sister's bubbly personality. In that moment, he only wished to see them one last time.
He had cursed them before, telling himself that they never understood him. But now, he wanted nothing more than to be with his family.
Nico wanted to go back home.
But, that seemed impossible as the gryphons dug their talons straight into his body, opening multiple holes and snuffing out his life. His bright red eyes turned maroon, signifying his apparent death.
{ It's too early for you to die...
Get up. }