“It’s over?” Lisa asked, taking the question out of everyone’s mind.
“Seems like it,” Melvine replied, still not getting up. She, like the others, was waiting for the Hunter to move first.
Lev debated initiating mental communication, but decided against it. Similar to the stag, the Hunter seemed to be facing its own inner demons. By now, Lev was reasonably certain that whatever curse sapient beings had to face, it was related to Chaos.
For the same reasons, he also made up his mind not to reveal anything to his friends. Spreading that information was just asking for ruin. He would much rather take on that burden alone.
A tremor went through his being at the thought of the creature facing the boss. Despite the massive distance, he knew that the monster had looked towards him. It hadn’t managed to influence him in any way, nor could its attacks reach him from that far, but it had seen him.
He dismissed his armor and ran a hand through his hair.
Why am I so scared?
It didn’t make enough sense for the fear to be rational. Sure, the trauma was strong, deep enough to make him lose sight of everything around him, yet that didn’t fully explain it.
Did it leave a mark on me? Is there something like a blemish on my soul, causing me to be afraid of a single glance?
Diana wouldn’t have missed something like that. She had nursed him back to health after the initial encounter, and any lasting scars would be detected immediately.
Then…
A few potential answers appeared in his mind. He banished them not long after, very much not interested in getting lost in a depressing spiral. Existential dread could wait; they had a dungeon to escape.
The Hunter finally got up after a few silent minutes, feeling a presence approaching. Lev also felt it once they were outside the hideout, noting how the exit portal was massive, made for a certain being that seemed to be on its last legs.
Blood monsters were known to possess incredible levels of regeneration and physical strength. The stag, however, looked like it had a single foot in the grave. There were more wounds on its body than intact skin, and every single one was covered in a sickly dark substance that refused to budge.
Before anyone could say or do anything, the boss simply walked into the portal, leaving its prison behind for good.
“Blessed Lev,” the Hunter sent to him, waiting.
It didn’t take a genius to realize that the being was waiting for him to leave first. Lev didn’t know what he had done to deserve such respect, but he wasn’t going to keep the Hunter waiting.
His bubble was pushed into the portal first, though for a brief moment, he hesitated. The dungeon was littered with corpses, as well as extremely strong cores. Tantalizing, but only until the rational mind took over.
He hadn’t just been targeted by different instances, but also by another creature of Chaos. No, he would much rather leave as soon as possible, lest the exit portal also snap shut as it had for the Veiled Walker.
If the stag could accomplish that, why couldn’t Chaos?
With renewed urgency, he strode out of the dungeon and beheld a wall of bloodied fur. Turns out, the stag had passed out almost immediately after exiting, so he created a small barrier road for others that swiveled around its massive bulk.
Fortunately, the large cave they were in was just barely wide enough to allow even the stag to move through, though that didn’t seem to be likely. It was completely dead to the world, to the point that Lev wouldn’t be surprised if he had a chance to launch a clean hit if he wanted to.
Of course, the stag’s willpower would eviscerate him immediately after, but that was besides the point.
The Hunter came out of the portal second, followed by all the humans. Lev’s bubble, which he had felt facing resistance and was now touching the ceiling, shrank considerably. It was almost empty beyond his pile of pillars and the disk, letting him curve it around the stag and bring it forward.
“Who could’ve known that I would appreciate feeling claustrophobic for once?” Isabella sent, staring at the stone walls with relief.
“Or being surrounded by two non-humans,” Elias mused, looking at the Hunter who seemed to be feeling a great mix of emotions.
Everyone quietened, watching as the being touched the stone. It parted so easily, accepting an almost negligible pulse of mana from the Hunter that traveled far and wide.
A small tremor ran through its frame, realizing that it was actually outside the dungeon. No longer did the wave of mana face an insurmountable wall that was the dungeon’s boundary. No, it simply kept going until dissipation.
Lev observed it with a large smile, more than a little proud of helping the being escape. Without the humans, it either would’ve taken far longer for the Hunter to escape, during which it could’ve lost its life, or it would’ve been outright impossible.
But here they were, watching the extremely strong being taste freedom for the first time since awakening sapience.
Once it reigned in its emotions, which took nearly half an hour, the Hunter turned to Lev and company and bowed deeply, settling for visible appreciation instead of words. It had been rendered speechless.
“Oh, come on now,” Lev flew up towards the hunter and put a hand on its shoulder. “We barely even did anything except stay alive and attract monsters to my location.”
“I did not dare imagine…. To think that I am no longer trapped inside that hell, and am free to roam the world with eyes that actually see. Is it just an illusion? Will I wake up in those narrow caves once again as punishment for dreaming of this?”
Well, shit. Exalted beings aren’t past deep mental scars, are they?
“How about we put these doubts to rest?” Lev suggested, getting the Hunter’s undivided attention. “Let’s move to the surface. There is so much to see that even delusions cannot show you.”
Some hesitation was visible on the Hunter’s face before it fully straightened. “Yes, let us claim what we have earned.”
That’s more like it.
One large issue stopped them, however. It was the unconscious stag, one that was still a giant question mark. If it decided to attack them immediately after waking up, that would be an embarrassing way to die.
On the other hand, all of them owed the boss a great debt. Without it, they would’ve never gotten past the creature of Chaos, nor would they have been able to stop more portals from forming.
“Do you want to freeze a path and drag the stag forward on it?” Melvine suggested.
Lev chortled. “No, nothing so barbaric. I have an idea.”
Ten minutes of preparation later, a large hole had been dug under the stag. Right below it was a massive cart, sporting eight wheels and enchanted to the brims. Three second-threshold cores powered all of the formations, and Lev was reasonably certain that it would support the stag’s weight.
The stag itself was still passed out on a stone platform. Instead of disturbing its rest, the Hunter had simply hollowed out the ground underneath it and kept the boss afloat with the help of a few giant pillars.
Slowly, those pillars shrank, lowering the boss. Once again, the Hunter didn’t disturb it directly and deposited the stone platform on the cart, unwilling to disintegrate it and wake up the stag.
“Okay, the cart is showing no signs of strain,” Lev said, much to everyone’s relief. “Can you form a slope for me to get the boss out of the hole?”
The Hunter obliged, and a ramp formed for the cart. With a deep breath, Lev powered all the kinetic runes on the cart and hoped for the best.
It moved slowly, and with the help of the Hunter’s stone manipulation, they slowly carried the being out without it bumping into the slope itself. Given how massive it was, that was a big concern, though it didn’t come to pass, as the ground simply vanished whenever it was about to hit its head.
After a few long seconds of intense struggle, the cart finally emerged from the hole and straightened on the cave floor.
“How does a stag get this big, anyway?” Aryan asked once they started moving towards the cave exit.
“I reckon three evolutions probably had something to say about that,” Lev remarked, quite curious.
“The species of a being matters a lot, young rogue,” the Hunter chimed in. “While I have not seen more than one, no doubt there are many different kinds of stags. Some may remain the same size and only grow slightly with every evolution, something I assume is seen in humans. Others can grow exponentially, born with the capacity to not just accept but also benefit greatly from such changes.”
The discussion continued while they trudged towards the exit. For all their relief and slow digestion of their newfound freedom and escape, there was a Night Hunter on the loose, one they were on the lookout for.
“Can humans even grow in size through evolution?” Elias asked, thoughtfully. “Like, obtaining general skills and treasures that can support a change, and then truly wishing for an increase in size should make it possible, no?”
“The System doesn’t discriminate when giving out rewards,” the hunter voiced. “If you spare no effort, it will come true in some way, though the results may not always be what you wished for. There is only so much one can obtain beyond one’s racial limitations.”
Ahead, the cave narrowed too much for the stag to pass through. The Hunter noticed as well, and with a wave of a hand, the stone compressed as the passage widened.
“Then, what about becoming smaller and more compact?” Lev continued.
“If my instincts are to be believed, Blessed Lev, that is what already happens to your kind. More power is packed in much less than what is necessary, which lets you keep the same appearance. Even then, most creatures grow slightly to accommodate the vast increase in power despite not wanting to.”
Well… that’s true. Most Exalted I’ve seen are above average in stature.
That line of questioning continued for a while longer as everyone expertly avoided the dungeon. Too little time had passed inside, except it had still felt like an eternity. They had danced around third-threshold monsters, most of which would’ve torn them to shreds if not for the Hunter and the stag.
“So many cores…” Lev unconsciously murmured, shaking his head.
“Oh, that reminds me,” Aryan spoke out loud, looking at Zack. The brawler held out his right hand and summoned a spherical object.
It was a core, and it was thrumming with power.
Lev watched with his mouth ajar as Zack tossed it to Aryan, who then tossed it to him.
[
Dreamforger Butterfly Core - Epic
Possesses Extraordinary Mana Capacity and Mana Conductivity. Highly useful in crafting.
Shows properties of Light.
]
… Properties of Light. Not minor or lesser, but normal properties of light. Holy fucking shit.
Before anything, he looked at everyone else. They didn’t pay it any mind at all, as if refusing to acknowledge that the core’s value could be divided.
With a snort, he stored it in his ring, mind buzzing with ideas.
Light. Actual properties of light, the even rarer equivalent of shadow. The core is quite literally worth its weight in platinum.
Hell, he didn’t even know what he could buy for it. Some extremely high-quality converters to eventually power up Arcane Supremacy? A compendium of runes for his armor and constructs? Perhaps fund an actual guild for selling his creations and partake in missions that were usually left up to the nobles?
Lev knew for a fact that the Duke and the Marquis were often at odds over resources and claims, usually resorting to tournaments and duels to settle them. Maybe he could eventually make a name for himself as a third-party while getting access to secret locations and resources that normally would be beyond him?
Places like mythril mines, extremely rare and guarded as they were, could also be the most terrifying of battlefields. Granted, he had absolutely no desire to venture so deep underground after just barely escaping the dungeon, but it was the prime example of what regular combatants never got to deal with.
The monsters there were far stronger than average, after all.
“How did you even get your hands on this?” Lev asked through the communication item to include everyone in the conversation.
“The butterfly corpse fell right next to me. Your disk had passed through its chest at a point that the core literally just rolled out, and I didn’t want to leave it there.”
“So you just picked it up and handed it to Zack?”
“Yep.”
“Hah, I would’ve grabbed it too if I saw it. The core is weirdly unassuming.”
“Mhm, that was partly why I was so entranced by its existence. From such a mighty creature, a core wouldn’t be so mundane as not to emit much power. That only lasted until I picked it up, and suddenly it was like a roaring bonfire packed into that sphere.”