novel
| ← Ch.004 | Ch.006 → |
The priest and mage watched me approach from far away, fortunately they were not yet aware that I was a skeleton because the only light down here was emitted by the moss on the walls. It was very hard for them to see well, so I only appeared as a human surrounded by shadows.
Gwyn quickly hid in my skull and shouted at the approaching adventurers.
"Don't come near me! I'm unable to be close to people."
It was funny to hear Gwin try to pass her voice off as mine. Having her voice echo through my skull was also a weird feeling, it was a situation that could only be found in some strange movie.
"I'm sorry, I didn't know..."
They shivered and stopped advancing.
"Please save our friends!"
"I'm sorry I wasn't able to help you earlier, but you should return to where you came from, this place is not safe."
Gwyn's tiny voice escaped from my skull but the adventurers didn't seem to have any intentions of going back.
"We don't know how to get back, the door we came through has been locked and we can't get through."
That must have been the scraping sound I heard while the fight just started, but it was good to get a confirmation.
"I don't know of any way out so take care of yourselves."
Gwyn struggled to squeeze out those last words and I quickly headed off to the small hole. The longer we stayed talking the more suspicious they would get which might lead to a troublesome situation. It was afterall quite difficult for such a small being to imitate a human's speech. Although she couldn't keep it up for long, I was glad to have Gwyn talk in my stead because otherwise, I could only run away immediately which would be even more awkward.
Shortly after a few messages appeared in front of me.
[Acquired?Title: Savior Lv1?]
[Acquired?Title: Coldhearted Lv1?]
'Huh? Was that supposed to be a compliment, is it agreeing with my actions?'
The implication of the titles was somewhat disturbing but I chose to focus on the problem at hand.
I was now back in the tomb, rummaging through the Tyrant's pile of spoils. I searched for many clothes so that the next time I meet people I can better hide my identity as a skeleton. The tyrant loved shiny things the most so all the clothes he had collected had some jewels in them. I wore an ancient but good quality robe, gloves and shoes all enchanted with durability spells to stand the test of time. With all that "bling" I looked more like a hip-hop warrior than ever before. I wasn't interested in covering my face with some rags so I used a full helmet to cover my skull.
"Chompy, you look so fat! How am I even supposed to get in?"
Having so much clothes and armour was too constraining and made my movements quite stiff. Gwyn was also complaining that she had no way to access the inside of my skull if I wore the helmet, but it wasn't a big problem. If Gwyn really needs to go in, I can simply take it off. I kept listening to her grumbling, insisting she be let inside. The problem was whether I'd be able to hunt those tomb rats with such stiff movements.
After separating from the two humans I decided to further explore the Catacombs.
Maybe I would get lucky and find an exit somewhere. If I hadn't found the Tomb Tyrant's treasure cave I wouldn't have found the path to this floor so the possibility existed that there were other hidden paths.
'Aha!'
Eventually I discovered another new path, half hidden behind a large rock. Surprisingly, it was located nearby the pit I had originally fallen down through.
'I had been trying to find an exit so badly but it was in front of me the whole time!'
"Chompy! I can smell some water in this cave!"
I would have never known because having no nose, I had no sense of smell but luckily Gwyn was with me. I was feeling hopeful because if you are trapped underground following running water is usually a good way out.
Boom! Boom!
It was the sound of an incredibly large beast reverberating along the cave floor.
"Chompy! What's that sound? I'm scared!"
Gwyn struggled to push up my helmet before sneaking in and hiding inside my skull. But really what's the difference, it's not like being in there guarantees her safety.
Looking around I realised that the walls of the narrow path were glossy and smooth, almost as if the rock had been melted.
'How hot must the fire be to melt walls?'
Thud! Thud! Thud!
The trembling was getting louder as the beast was approaching.
'Damn! I need to get out of here!"
Running at top speed I went back the same way I came.
"Hey... where are you going? Are you going to help them find a way out?"
Gwyn had come out, flying besides me trying to figure out my intentions.
Gwyn looked at me beaming, proud of my selflessness but I shook my head.
"Oh oh oh then what are you doing?"
I grabbed Gwyn and stuffed her back into my skull.
"Umm... excuse me but do you have something to eat?" the priest asked as I got closer.
It seems like he had been following me the whole time, fortunately I had thrown Gwyn inside just in time and tapped my skull to remind her of her duty. I had heard his footsteps getting close so I reacted quickly, Gwyn was upset that I threw her in without any warning, but when she heard his voice she calmed down and understood.
"Hmmm...nope I have no food."
Gwyn was definitely useful in these kinds of situations.
"We really have no food at all, could you give us just a little bit?"
I crossed my fingers in the shape of an X, helping Gwyn and the humans understand that I didn't have any food.
"Sorry but there really isn't any, I said before that you shouldn't have come to this place.
"Sorry I have to ask because Ian is is dying of thirst, do you have any water?"
I again showed the X sign with my fingers.
"Sorry I don't have any water either."
"How is that...? How could can you survive without water?
He was visibly angry, most likely having misunderstood that I had food and water but was unwilling to share.
"I don't know" Gwyn's simple reply left him perplexed as I kept waking away, anxious to distance myself from the newly explored cave.
Kuwoong! Kuwong! Kuwoong!
Looking across the hall I could see an immense four legged monster which seemed to be the boss of the area.
'Is that a dragon?'
With such long legs it must be nearly 10 meters tall if it were to stand up. If I face him head on I'll definitely die.
Push
'What?!'
The priest had approached from behind me and pushed me down. I had been too focused on the dragon and hadn't been aware of my surroundings, it was my mistake.
"Ha! You wanted to eat alone and live well! Also when we were in danger with the gargoyles you didn't exactly rush in to help. You can consider this as our revenge. Ha ha ha! We will soon die of thirst but you will join us!" He cried as he ran away.
I rolled over and saw his back running away, I had risked my life to save them from the gargoyles and yet this is how I was repaid.
I realized I was on death's door, my body was frozen in fear, simply watching the dragon approach as I stayed sitting down.
It had a gigantic grayish-brown body, its countless scales were hard like turtle shells in hexagonal shape. It's height from its toes to the top of its head was approximately 3 meters (TL 7+ meter legs?) and it had the long nostril face of a crocodile but with bigger and more menacing teeth protruding. It also had a short neck, much like an alligator.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
It quickly closed the 6 meter gap we had and uses its large nostrils to smell me.
Sniff! Sniff!
"Uhh! Smelly!"
Gwyn who was hiding in my skull was suffering greatly from the stench but luckily I couldn't smell anything.
'Is this how I'm going to die?'
I was completely immobile, so it wasn't clear if It knew I was alive simply by smelling me.
'I hope it thinks I'm dead... Oh dear. '
Crunch! Crunch!
It chomped down at my thighs, seperating my upper body and immediately swallowed me without chewing.
'I am so nauseous!'
I went straight to its stomach, tossing and turning until I couldn't differentiate up from down and uncertain how long I had been inside.
Luckily when I finally recovered my bearings, I checked my status window and my stats hadn't dropped. I was in its stomach, but I hadn't been digested yet.
Tssshh! Tssshh!
When what remained of my robe touched the gastric acids, a sizzling sound was heard. His stomach was quite large and there were more pieces of meat inside than I expected. Despite having lost both my legs, I was able to walk around on my thigh stumps, albeit very awkwardly.
'Damn humans...I'll never forget my mistake today. A skeleton isn't supposed to help people. '
"Chompy... I'm sorry, I didn't expect him to be such a bad human."
When I had overheard them talking when they first walked into the dungeon, I knew the priest couldn't be a good person, but I never imagined that he would repay my kindness with evil. I will definitely have to get my revenge if I ever get out of here.
'Can I use magic inside its stomach?'
I was curious to see how vulnerable its inside's were, Its scales were definitely incredibly hard but would it be the same case for its squishy interior?
"Fireball!"
[Fireball Lv1? 2]
The area where the fireball impacted was charred black, it was was probably cooked medium-well.
Roar!
The dragon cried in pain, it definitely was more sensitive on its insides. It rolled over in pain which meant I was sent flying every which way inside the stomach.
This is my last resort! Taking full advantage of my quick magic chanting I let loose continuous fireballs until my MP dropped to 0.
"Fireball!"
"Fireball!"
[Fireball Lv2? 3]
"Fireball!"
"Fireball!"
"Fireball!"
"Fireball!"
[Fireball Lv3? 4]
"Go Chompy! Show him who's boss!"
Just as my MP was running low, I finally broke through and was poured outside along with all the other stuff in its stomach.
I had also wrapped Gwyn up in my robe because I had noticed it was somewhat resistant to the acid.
Tsssshh!
It was the sound of my robe resisting the stomach acids as I felt fresh air for the first time in awhile. I quickly pulled off my robe and rolled outside avoiding as much acidic fluids as possible.
[You have learned Acid resistance Lv1]
Bleuugh!
The dragon vomited terribly before collapsing to the ground, clearly devoid of any strength. Although it was still alive, it was in critical condition because it had a burnt hole in its stomach.
After carefully confirming that the half-dead dragon was on its last legs, I took the time to look around. We appeared to be in its nest judging by the hundreds of large broken bones as well as three large eggs. Although two of these roughly 50 centimeter wide eggs were already broken, one did appear intact.
I made my way towards the last egg, If the dragon somehow recovered its strength I planned on using it as a hostage to escape safely.
Wiggle! Wiggle!
Out of nowhere three one meter thick larvae like creatures dug their way out from the ground.
"It's a worm!"
Gwyn was great at pointing out the obvious.
Roar!
The fallen dragon tried to scare them off with a show of force but it couldn't keep up the facade for long. Although the worms were intimidated at first, when they realised how weak it currently was they didn't hesitate to approach and began feasting on its body.
The dragon tried some last ditch efforts but soon lay down in defeat, allowing the worms and their incredibly sharp teeth to gorge themselves until they swelled to double their original size.
"Eewww disgusting, they're known as the underground cleaners. As far as I know they don't attack living creatures, but I've never seen such big worms."
Gwyn was informing me from within my skull.
'Hey Gwyn don't you realize that we almost melted inside that guy's stomach?'
I was grumbling in my mind, but Gwyn seemed to have completely forgotten about our previous life and death situation, and had quickly returned to her chatty ways.
"The worms are going to eat his soft parts, Look! Look! Does a dragon's tough meat even taste good?"
I never expected that these worms could eat so much. It didn't even occur to me to run away and I just stood there motionless, watching the scene of a dragon's body being systematically dismantled and gobbled up until only a small pile of bones and flesh remained.
[+10224 experience points]
[Level increased 18? 20]
[Level has reached Max]
[Evolution is now possible]
[You have learned Status Check Lv1]
[You have learned Sage's Wisdom Lv1]
[Acquired?Title: Dragon Slayer Lv1?]
A slew of messages appeared before my eyes.
'Oh did it count as my kill? Sweet!'
After finishing their feast the worms immediately disappeared underground, not bothering with me in the least. I faced Gwyn and pointed to my missing legs.
"You want to find where the your legs are? Alright! I'll fly ahead and look for you."
I crawled on the floor using my arms, I definitely have to find and reattach my legs before going through with my evolution. I didn't know if I would still have my ability to reconnected my limbs after evolving so it's better to be safe than sorry.
"Found them! Come here! This way!"
Gwyn guided me for the next 30 minutes as I struggled to crawl along the floor, back towards my legs and the passage leading back to the Catacombs.
I gnashed my teeth.
'I will get my revenge!'
| ← Ch. 004 | Ch. 006 → |