Even after waiting for 10 minutes, they didn’t exit out of the rubble. Honestly, a part of me expected them to pour out of the cracks and reform again. Thankfully, such a thing didn’t happen.
“Do you think we got them or are they just trapped under the rubble?”
I asked Elandris who was observing the rubble with furrowed eyebrows. They were very thin, a characteristic of elves, maybe?
“I am not sure. They are nothing like the things I tracked before.”
I poked the rocks with the sword I manifested. When in doubt, poke it with a stick.
“Faelin called you both Esteemed Scout and Honored Ranger. Are they nicknames, ranks?”
Him talking about tracking made me curious about it. I wonder how old he was. He said he was an adult but what did it mean by elf years? Elandris glanced at me, a thoughtful expression on his face.
“We live way longer than humans and even though we are half spirit, sometimes living can become heavy on oneself. With everything getting done, every task being accomplished and every day being the same one can lose their glamour. To prevent that we have several deeds one can acquire to gain titles. While they bring honor and respect, the true value of them is striving for something new. If you have a goal you never lose your glamour. I acquired the Honored Ranger nickname after winning in a festival held once a hundred years. I acquired the Esteemed Scout nickname after capturing the Bird of Thousand Ears alive.”
I looked far into the distance. A part of me was excited to learn a new thing. The other part was currently feeling like it just touched the food waste on the sink. Their tradition reminded me of myself. Wasn’t what I was doing the same?
“I see.”
Elandris looked at my face. I wasn’t sure if he was able to discern the emotions on my face but I quickly turned my emotions off.
“You must have your own nicknames yourself. Humans don’t use them as we do but I heard that strong people gain a lot of nicknames.”
He expressed curiosity about me for the first time.
“I guess I did have some.”
I let out a nostalgic sigh and kicked a small rock. I guess it is time to go. I turned around.
“You don’t have them anymore?”
I absentmindedly turned back to Elandris.
“Hm?”
“You talked in past tense. We only lose our titles if we fall from Mother’s grace.”
I paused for a moment, I was pretty sure some things were getting lost in the translation. The nicknames seemed very important to elves and were gained by accomplishing difficult tasks. They were more like titles than nicknames actually. At least that was what I understood.
“I have nobody to call me those names anymore. We also don’t see them as important as you guys so nothing important was lost.”
I admitted a hint of melancholy in my tone which was surprising to me. Never figured out I would get sentimental about some shitty nicknames created as propaganda.
"Nicknames often carry the weight of one''s journey, the highs and lows, victories and losses. They are markers of our paths, shaping who we are. Just because there is no one left to call you doesn’t mean they are gone.”
I looked in front of me without continuing the conversation. Seeing me obviously not happy with where the conversation went, Elandris didn’t talk about the topic longer. Instead, we got ready to move. However, a distant rumbling echoed through the fractured landscape. The rubble we had created earlier began to shift, and the ground trembled slightly. The creatures trapped beneath the debris were stirring. I cursed under my breath. I knew that it wouldn’t be enough!
"I think they are trying to get out," Elandris observed, his bow ready in his hands.
I summoned my hammer, preparing for any potential threat. G?kb?rü growled beside me.
"Let''s be cautious. We don''t know what to expect."
The rocks shifted further, and suddenly, the creatures emerged from the debris, their slimy forms oozing out. However, they seemed disoriented and sluggish, giving us a chance to observe their behavior. They tried to reform back to their previous form, however they kept collapsing before they could succeed.
"They don''t seem fully functional after being buried. Perhaps it disrupts their coordination."
Elandris speculated.
“But they are also not dead. G?kb?rü, try to freeze them. Let’s see if their resistance went down in this form.”
G?kb?rü, understanding my command, emitted a chilling aura as he approached the struggling creatures. The air around him froze, creating an icy atmosphere that enveloped the oily entities. With a mighty breath, G?kb?rü unleashed a powerful burst of frost, targeting the creatures attempting to reform.
The effect was immediate. The freezing cold seemed to hinder their attempts at regeneration. The creatures, unable to coordinate properly and weakened by the cold, struggled to reform and maintain their original shapes. It was a promising discovery, suggesting that their resilience was indeed compromised when subjected to certain conditions.
As the creatures writhed in the cold, I took the opportunity to strike. Swinging my hammer, I shattered their partially formed bodies, preventing them from fully recovering. Elandris, too, took advantage of their weakened state, firing precise arrows to disrupt their attempts at regeneration. Despite them not moving anymore, I didn’t get a notification about collecting their soul. Were they still alive? Or did they not have a soul?
“So immense blunt force trauma coupled with extreme cold does the trick. How is your mana, G?kb?rü?”
“Woof.”
He let out a sad growl, implying that it took a lot of him. Would we be able to use the same strategy against the boss who will probably have more resistance? I guess we can’t know without trying first.
“Good work. Let’s move, rest, and find the boss.”
I said as I picked up G?kb?rü and put him on my shoulder. He licked my face. We proceeded through the fractured landscape, navigating the desolate fourth floor with caution. Despite the ups and downs, the floor looked the same everywhere. Boring. If you corrupt a place you should at least make it look cool. I will have some words with that Nidhogg when I see it. After a while, we found a suitable spot to rest and strategize. I gently placed G?kb?rü on the ground, and he wagged his tail appreciatively. Elandris took a seat on a nearby rock, his keen eyes scanning the surroundings for any signs of danger.
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After a brief rest, we continued our journey, eyes set on the looming challenge that awaited us—the boss of the fourth floor. The fractured landscape seemed to shift and morph with an otherworldly presence, and the air hummed with the anticipation of the trials ahead. The presence I was feeling was different than mana and divine power. A part of me asked what made things like divine power and demonic power different from mana. Every living being had mana so were they some kind of sidegrades? Upgrades? Just like the Earth this world was filled with mysteries.
I snapped myself out of my thoughts as I noticed both Elandris’s and G?kb?rü’s ears perk up. I first thought it was because we arrived at where we first met those creatures. Even my Megalithic Ward of the Water, now turned back to its original size stood there. However, one a more careful look I noticed a thin, grey jelatine-like thing covering the shield. Some kind of leftover from the creatures? My thoughts quickly changed as a single red light which resembled an eye moved through that stuff. As if it was pouring out of an invisible hole, that petrol-like liquid spread more and more.
The red light moved with an eerie, pulsating rhythm, casting an unsettling glow in the gelatinous residue left behind by the creatures. Elandris and I exchanged a wary glance, our senses heightened as we prepared for whatever might emerge. As the red-eye traversed the gelatinous substance, it began to take shape. Slowly, a form materialized—a grotesque figure with multiple appendages and a central mass that seemed to pulse with otherworldly energy. While the previous creatures looked similar to lizardmen at a superficial level, this one was amorphous. G?kb?rü growled lowly, his instincts sensing the abnormality of the entity before us. I tightened my grip on my hammer, ready for a confrontation.
"What in the Mother''s name is that?"
Elandris muttered, his bowstring taut. Rather than giving him an empty response, I loaded my hammer with mana and threw it to the creature before it could take some kind of solid shape. To my shock, it raised the Megalithic Ward of the Water to block it. My attack bounced off it.
“What the fuck? It has intelligence?”
It may not seem like much but the fact that it used a tool was big. The previous ones didn’t show this kind of intelligence. We easily led them to a trap before. Its size also surpassed all creatures I have seen in this dungeon.
"Let''s target its appendages. Elandris, focus on precision shots. G?kb?rü, freeze the separated parts. We need to disrupt its coordination."
I instructed, keeping a wary eye on the creature. It shifted its appearance in the blink of an eye, forming and sending around 10 appendages to us. We spread to dodge. Elandris skillfully aimed for its appendages with precise arrow shots. The creature responded with surprising agility, using the Megalithic Ward of the Water to deflect some of the arrows while absorbing others into its gelatinous form.
“Grey goo.”
I whispered to myself, remembering the theoretical apocalypse scenario that involved self-replicating nanobots consuming all matter. While this creature had different origins and behavior, the reference lingered in my mind.
I ran circles around the creature’s immense size, all while dodging its attacks and observing it.
1- While its mass is impressive, it can’t create more. Every time it moves and shifts its form it has to retract from another part of its body.
2- Its durability is much, much higher than its brethren.
3- It can absorb things and shoot them out. I just parried one of Elandris’s arrows it shot at me.
I took a deep breath as an arrow bounced off my left gauntlet. I tried to hammer one of its appendages but it was like striking to water.
4- Its body isn’t as solid or thick as the previous ones.
“Okay, fuck you. I am getting my sword.”
I summoned my Sacred Sword of Selection. As I gripped it tightly, I felt its chains warp across my right arm. Whatever it was because it felt annoyed with my constant dodging or because it felt the danger, Grey Goo stopped focusing on Elandris and formed a single, massive arm and brought it down upon me. The massive thing blocked all the light and cast a shadow on me. If it hit me I was sure I would be squashed to death. A part of me wanted to melt into that shadow or Shadow Walk out of the danger but…
“Only a loser would think like that!”
Channeling most of the mana I had into my sword, I grabbed it with my two hands. My purple mana, amplified by my sword overflowed from it.
“Auuu!”
(War Beast’s Howl fills you with power. You gained Hyper Armor for 10 seconds. Your Strength and Agility increases by 10. Your weapons will carry small amounts of Aliera’s divine power.)
(You are fighting together with your partner. Your stats increases by 10 percent.)
(Monstrous Strength is activated. Strength is increased by 30 for 150 seconds.)
Empowered by the divine blessings and the surge of mana, I stood my ground beneath the colossal arm of the Grey Goo. The Hyper Armor granted by the War Beast''s Howl, combined with the additional boosts to Strength and Agility, gave me the resilience needed to face this formidable opponent. Muscles in my body felt like they were about to tear both my skin and armor. The energy I carried in me escaped outside, causing the ground beneath me to crack.
“Grhhhh!”
I let out a roar and released all of my power with Mana Erupt to Grey Goo’s arm which was about to crush me. A massive explosion filled the fourth floor.