Day Thirteen #7

The creature laying beneath the feet of Inis was one that was difficult to identify what exactly its name of species was.

It seemed to be a type of creature that would appear in the world's history of fantasy based novels and games before the dungeons descended upon earth.

They had met the characteristics and appearance of a certain type of creature seen in one game while the noise it often made was used to give it its name.

There were varying names for it but the most well known trait was the 'mur' and gurgling noises it made.

Some called them Murfolk while others called them Murgles along with a wider variety of variations depending on what made it easier to remember them.

In order to not confuse them with Merfolk, it was easier to call them Murgles so the name stuck better for those that frequently encountered and hunted them inside the dungeons or in the outside world from those that were released from the overflowing dungeons.

It was the same for other creatures that came from the dungeons.

Many creatures shared the same name as other creatures since they seemed to have a type of race that was the same as another but they had a differing appearance.

Such examples were like orcs or trolls.

An example would be the type of orc that was a larger and stronger version of a goblin which was bigger than humans while there was another orc that had the appearance of a humanoid pig or boar with a large rounded body and excellent stamina.

Another example would be the type of troll that was lanky with tusks coming from their mouths which possessed excellent regenerative abilities while there existed other types of trolls too which were the smaller sized trolls and the giant sized mountain trolls.

The murgles were creatures that lived in clean or dirty rivers and lakes.

They had various abilities that they displayed that differed at times based on the type of murgle they were.

Some had traits of toads and frogs while others resembled a fish more so they sometimes carried along some abilities that let them seem as if they were a part of a different species or tribe.

The best way to explain their abilities as a whole was that they possessed a variation of abilities related to the amphibian physiology.

They could breathe on land and underwater while possessing other abilities like being able to produce bubbles or water jets from their mouths with the water they kept in their bodies.

They were excellent swimmers but could run quite quickly on land despite their smaller sizes which meant that their agility was one of the physical traits it excelled in.

While there were a lot of them that possessed the ability to use water to their advantage, there were other types that possessed poisonous toxins that they could excrete from the pours on their skin or spit up.

Inis did not feel any kind of threat from it despite it possessing such capabilities but it was still in her best interests to finish it quickly.

Her experience with dealing with them was still fresh in her mind and they were not the type of creatures to be underestimated.

The main problem came afterwards which made them much more bothersome to deal with.

Inis did not stand still when she saw the dead body lying in front of her feet, she quickly lowered her body and removed a piece of cloth tied around her waist.

She started to quickly wipe her blade removing any small traces of the creature left on it from her killing blow then lowered the cloth down onto the body of the wound of the creature.

The blood soaked into the cloth and some of the slimy substances on its skin were wiped up too.

Inis was very careful to not let any get on herself before carrying the cloth away with her as she ran away from that location.

It did not take too long for there to be some more movements coming from the water and more Murgle emerged from within.

One turned to two, two turned to four, four turned to ten then more kept appearing in a large amount.

They saw the dead body of one of their own kind and became enraged.

It was like they were sent into a violent frenzy as they held their different shaped weapons that looked similar to what the other Murgle possessed.

They did not look around their surroundings for anyone nearby and raised their heads up as if they were sniffing the air before running towards the direction where Inis ran towards.

The main characteristic Inis was wary of was something every dungeon hunter had to experience at least once from them.

It was that they had small scent glands in their bodies that produced a foul smelling odour.

Others would just ignore it as the natural scent of them but it was in fact a pheromone that had been the bane of so many dungeon hunters.

The scent of the foul smelling pheromone had a large effect on their own kind of species and let them identify them but it played a much bigger effect.

Once the scent gets onto something else and is detected by another of its kind, the Murgles would enter a violent frenzy and would chase down their target relentlessly.

It was like the Murgles went crazy and only focussed on bringing down whatever carried the scent.

Killing one Murgle usually ended up with being chased down by one or more of them which were driven by the pheromones to kill those that had carried the scent.

Usually an inexperienced dungeon hunter would make the mistake of killing one without realising they had been marked with the scent then were swarmed by a large amount of Murgles that had entered a frenzied state.

They may have been smaller in size but when they were larger in numbers and were in such a state, they were even more difficult to deal with especially if a person was entering the dungeon alone or with smaller numbers.

It was easy to get surrounded and swarmed by them if they did not take enough precautions beforehand or paid enough attention during and after the battles against them.

Killing more of the Murgles would only help to increase the scent further so it would create even more of an attraction for the Murgles so it was very dangerous.

It was the reason why Inis was careful enough to avoid a prolonged battle with it and had cleaned her blade after the battle.

The Murgles still ended up chasing after the direction where Inis ran off to and that that due to the cloth she had used to soak up its blood and scent before carrying it away with her.

Further away from where it all had taken place, Inis ran with all she had carrying the cloth carefully to not let the scent be passed on to her.

She came across a much larger form that was slightly bigger than a human in the shape of a serpent.

Instead of avoiding it, Inis kept running directly towards it without halting her movements in the slightest.

The large serpent turned its body towards her as it noticed her presence due to her not bothering to conceal herself. "Hss!"