Chapter 13: Call For Aid
The party of three ventured deeper. The torches that lined the walls now bore human-shaped skulls mounted atop them.
"Can you tell us about your preferred method of fighting?" Leonard initiated a conversation, both to gain a better understanding of his new teammate’s abilities and to get a feel for him as a person.
"Because of the short range of my daggers, I’m most deadly when striking from behind." Martin answered honestly. "My agility and endurance are both fairly high, allowing me to flank quickly and maintain a greater level of exertion over longer periods of time, but my strength is lacking as a result."
Leonard nodded, not finding anything amiss. "What about skills?"
"Utterly unimpressive." Martin chuckled. "Since I haven’t undergone ascension by reaching Level 10 and gaining a class, the only skill I possess is Dash. It increases my speed for a brief moment, nothing major."
All things considered, Martin seemed like exactly what the party needed.
Currently, Leonard was an all-rounder, balanced in every aspect. Winston was their heavy hitter, but his role as a tank severely limited his mobility. With Martin’s build heavily skewed toward swiftness, they finally met the minimum requirements to be considered a proper party.
However, Leonard’s skepticism never truly allowed him to be at ease.
’Although I’m still unsure about Martin, it would be foolish not to take advantage of his presence. Keeping an eye on him should be enough for now. The plan is to quickly slay a few monsters, gather enough remains to cover the rent, and get out.’
The air in the passage slowly grew damp, the atmosphere thickening under the eerie feeling the torches provoked.
Stopping in their tracks, the party observed an enemy unaware of their presence.
A skeleton warrior that, unlike the ones they had faced before, appeared far more imposing.
Standing over two meters tall, it was clad in a proper metal chest plate and helmet. Its thicker-than-normal bones carried a greatsword in one hand and a giant shield in the other.
Each step the creature took was heavy yet measured, exuding an aura of superiority over the quiet surroundings.
"This is a big one..." Winston gulped audibly. The fate of a tank was to face such monstrosities head-on without hesitation.
"We’ve got this." Leonard offered a few reassuring words.
Once they were certain that the skeleton was alone, they charged.
Poised at the front, Winston let out a fearsome roar. Using the full weight of his body, he struck with his hammer.
The skeleton reacted instantly. Raising its giant shield, it intercepted the hammer blow mid-swing and thrust its sword forward.
Blocking the attack, Winston felt the full extent of the monster’s strength. Despite preparing himself ahead of time and correctly bracing his core, he was still pushed backward!
"Such power! Be careful, it must be at least Level 7!" He yelled, informing his teammates.
"No holding back." Leonard unleashed a Lightning Strike from the left. With the skill upgraded to Level 2, his strength was now amplified by 210%.
The skeleton remained unbothered, moving with a swiftness such a colossal creature should not possess. It tilted its sword and met the axe head-on.
The impact was brief but brutal. The lightning and the force of the strike were completely negated, and Leonard was flung back!
His eyes narrowed. Never before had his Rare Skill been rendered obsolete!
The dungeon’s name, Haunted Catacombs, described the feeling perfectly. If Leonard had taken too much pride in his Primordial Bloodline and ventured alone in the depths, he would have without a doubt met his end in mere minutes.
’I owe her once again...’ He realized. Without Miranda’s advice and her insistence to find at least one reliable teammate, he would have never lived long enough to arrive at this revelation.
The knight, distracted by the two men, failed to notice Martin creeping up behind it.
Rather than targeting the head protected by a helmet, he slashed low, reducing the creature’s joints to dust.
With one of its legs non-operational, the skeleton toppled sideways, forced to use its shield to keep itself from collapsing entirely.
"You are mine!" Winston declared, his hammer falling with lethal force.
The skeleton lifted its greatsword, the blade’s tip barely managing to halt the hammer’s momentum.
However, the maneuver left it exposed.
Repositioning behind it, Martin firmly grabbed the creature’s helmet and pulled upward with all his might, exposing the head underneath.
Leonard didn’t linger. Maintaining eye contact with the skeleton, he brought its misery to an end.
[You have defeated a Level 7 Skeleton Apprentice Knight]
[You have gained 40 Experience]
The system announcement rang in the party’s heads. 40 experience points were granted to Leonard for getting the kill, and half that to Winston and Martin for providing assistance.
"A—Apprentice knight?!" Winston shuddered at the mere thought. "I don’t want to face a real knight in combat, not now nor ever!"
Leonard was inclined to agree. If this were considered a mere apprentice knight, then a fully fledged Skeleton Knight was bound to be a foe so deadly that their party would be wiped out without even a chance to retaliate.
"You exceeded my expectations." Martin admitted. "Are you really only Level 2? Possessing a Rare Skill while carrying a Common Bloodline is incredibly unlikely."
"Then I got lucky." Leonard shrugged.
"Is that so..." Martin’s eyes narrowed briefly, but he didn’t press the matter.
With the threat eliminated, the question of loot distribution arose. Since everybody had contributed to the extermination, the spoils had to be split among them.
Fortunately, Winston was easy to satisfy. Although the monster had been taller than him, his bulky build meant the chestplate fit him just right. He also put on the helmet.
A tank like him always welcomed extra protection, and the others weren’t against the idea either, since it directly boosted the overall prowess of their party.
That left the monster’s weapons and the golden necklace it had carried around its neck.
"It’s yours." Martin stated, leaving the jewelry behind.
"You sure?" Leonard inspected the treasure. "The thing could fetch quite a lot of credits."
Martin nodded. "I came here mainly to gain experience. Carrying jewelry would only slow me down."
Leonard didn’t argue. The loot brought him one step closer to his goal.
Suddenly, a desperate scream of a woman echoed across the catacombs.
"HELP!"
Instantly, the party heightened their senses to the limit.
"Awakeners are requesting help... should we aid them?" Winston asked with uncertainty.
"It could be dangerous, but if we leave them be, whatever they’re facing could find us next." Leonard assessed the situation.
"How about we creep closer and gauge the danger?" Martin suggested. "If it’s a problem we can handle, we could offer aid and earn a reward. If the threat is too high risk, we can always back away."
’If it’s just a struggling party, we can join forces. Any monster capable of making a person scream that loudly is surely worth a good amount of experience and loot...’ Leonard analyzed.
"Alright, we go, but remain extra vigilant. Risking our lives for strangers would be impractical. If we can’t handle the threat, we’ll report it to those qualified to deal with such a crisis." He decided.
Making haste, the party headed toward the source of the commotion.
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