Awake, What the Hell Is That?

- ORIS, 9th DUNGEON -

Darrel and his party walked through the ninth dungeon's Ingress and saw that the chamber expanded inwardly as they moved forward, the chamber's expanse was lit by glowing light yellow mushrooms that covered the lower walls of the cavernous chamber.

As they moved deeper they could feel the air around them begin to grow cold and their breaths could be seen in the dimly lit underground, the party moved in a simple triangular formation that they had reluctantly adopted from Darrel.

This was after bearly clearing the sixth dungeon. At the time the party had been scattered by mobs of cave goblins which had drawn them in by using crafty guerilla tactics.

'Fortunately, for the party, the goblins had been severely weaker than them, even in the sixth dungeon.'

Even though their formation was simple and crafted hastily, it had several appealing advantages.

First was allowing Greyan to freely dominate enemies at the front without worrying about watching his back or hitting his allies accidentally.

Luca and Orimik came behind Greyan close enough to keep any mobs from attacking his blind side, but not too close that they would risk getting plowed by his wide attacks. They also played the role of shooting down enemies from afar, before they could swarm Greyan or Darrel who stood at the rear end.

Darrel kept watch on the party's back as they trudged through enemies, he would occasionally finish off any mobs that managed to survive Greyan, Luca, and Orimik's onslaught while keeping the formation tight by reminding them all to stay close to each other.

The formation had barely lasted on their first attempt, but after constant bickering, the group had managed to pull it off in the later chambers of the seventh dungeon.

"The air is kinda cold down here ain't it?" Darrel asked while rubbing his palms.

"You smell that?" Orimik queried.

"Aye, the stench of death," Greyan inhaled the odor-filled air. "I know it well."

He then plucked the hefty great-ax which he had acquired in a previous dungeon and then exhaled as he readied himself for battle.

"The weapon suits you," Luca remarked with mellow praise.

"Aye, quite."

In one of our previous dungeons, Greyan had lost his long sword after he flung it to stab a fleeing Morrorm. The Morrorm was a giant worm that appeared like an overgrown larva filled with organs that produced corrosive juices which it used to melt its prey.

Unfortunately, before he could retake his long sword from the creature's head, the Morrorm had burst and spilled its acidic entrails on Greyan's long sword which melted the whole thing.

The salty Greyan had been forced to return to the stash, which had been restocked with much more acceptable gear, thanks to the combined efforts of their dungeon clearing team of course.

"There is a beautiful cruelty to great arms..."

Greyan uttered while peering intimately at his weapon, one would think he was examining his large ax, but Darrel could tell he had lost himself in memories of blood and gore.

"Something is moving!" Luca interrupted, he was crouching with his ear to the ground. "Not something, but some things."

"How many? Gimme a number!"

"I don't know... eight, eleven, fifteen!"

"Tch. It doesn't matter." Greyan snorted. "Form up behind me!"

Everyone quickly retreated back into formation and awaited the incoming assault, Darrel drew his short blade from its sheath and stared at the darkness.

Grrrrrrr... Uuuuh! Grrrrr... Uuuuuu!**

At first, Darrel wanted to replay the sounds he had just heard, it sounded like the low growling noise that a bloated man's snoring would produce. Without a moment to fully analyze the sound, loud wheezing noises resounded after the growling.

The group froze in place as they wondered if they had all heard the same noises, but before any of them could speak their curiosity was sated when the rest of the creatures making those sounds resounded in tandem.

"What is that sound?" Darrel asked cautiously.

The growling noises that were combined with wheezing continued and the party could hear the creatures slowly drawing closer to them.

"Undead."

Greyan grumbled.

When the first creature came into view, Darrel was suddenly shrouded in fear. This fear, however, reminded him of the time they had encountered the Greater Web-Crawler. For this was the type of fear that paralyzed a mortal, this type of ability was an advantageous boon to anyone that used it in battle.

"[Leo Mortis!!]"

Greyan bellowed and emitted a bright yellow aura, and like a heavy weight being lifted off of Darrel's shoulders, he could feel the effects of the paralyzing fear flee from his limbs. Darrel exhaled in relief as he gazed upon the first undead with a steadier gaze.

"Cut off the heads or they will rip you apart!" Greyan roared.

"Well, that's dead on." Luca snarked whilst raising his sword.

As Darrel stared at the undead creatures he suddenly felt an urge to rush out at them, he wondered if this was because of Greyan's [Leo Mortis]. This was the first time Greyan's ability could do this, Darrel could tell since this was one of the few abilities that Greyan consistently used and he had been there in all instances of its usage.

Darrel's probing gaze shifted to Greyan and for a moment he noticed familiar words line up in his eyesight.

'Greyan - Oris Prisoner, Level 15 - Warrior, Weapon - Great-Ax, Armor - Steel Ashet Mail.'

Darrel felt the information trickle into his mind, and this was not the first time it had occurred to him. Darrel realized he could somehow read the basic data of some individuals, however, it had been so random that he assumed it was a common prevalence.

"Darrel, Watch..."

When his gaze returned to the undead, Darrel felt like time had stopped for him as the hand of the undead slowly came to a pause in midair. Darrel raised his blade with a rising arc aimed at the undead's unprotected neck.

"... Out!"

When Luca completed his statement, the party noticed that in that instance Darrel had managed to evade the undead's grasp and made his way to the side of the creature.

"What the-"

Stunned by Darrel's sudden feat, Greyan's jaw was left wide open.

"How did he-"

Even Orimik was at a loss for words, but Luca smirked and then began to laugh hysterically as the shallow blue color faded from his pupils and was replaced by a darker crimson color. Darrel noticed Luca's change, but he gripped his blade tighter as another undead lunged at him.

Darrel felt his blade dig into the undead's rotting flesh, as the thin blade's surface clipped through the creature's thin bones.

"The Spell-less wizard..." Greyan muttered. "He's breaking formation!"

Greyan grumbled, his worry fell on deaf ears as Luca slipped past the two and joined Darrel in the battle.

Luca had ditched his bow and rushed into the wave of undead creatures with a sword in one hand and dagger in the other. The two fought side by side as limbs and heads of the undead flew around the chamber. Greyan and Orimik cautiously drew closer and finished off any of the undead that showed signs of un-death.

"Ha ha! This is incredible, I didn't think I could fight like this!"

Darrel called out to Luca as they pushed hard against the undead, Dark-Luca smirked again as he relished each kill.

"With more battles, you will be able to reach new heights."

Dark-Luca seemingly demonstrated these "new heights" as he began to dash about like a shadow and maneuvered the undead creatures before vanishing from sight. Seeing this Darrel pushed even deeper within the chamber leaving Greyan and Orimik behind in pursuit of more undead to slay.