by Aaron Oster
It seemed his hypothesis had been correct. These guards were indeed weaker and of a different Race. Hopefully, this meant they would be easier to take out. He wanted a surprise attack, so he pulled back from the wall and snuck back to Hopps.
He wasn’t sure if the guards would continue straight or turn the corner. Either way, they would be ready. Placing a finger to his lips to signify that Hopps should remain silent, Arthur drew his Centipede’s Carver and crouched by the wall. Hopps stood next to him; his muscles tensed as he prepared to attack.
“…really getting tired of wandering these freaking hallways.”
The first guard’s words finally became decipherable. And, of course, he was whining. Arthur had rarely come across a grunt in a game that was happy with their station in life. Perhaps they were just programmed that way, or perhaps they were so annoying to the others that they were given guard duty, in an attempt to get rid of them.
After all, guards like these were fodder and were always the first to die.
“Tell me about it. If I have to look at one more torch or piece of stone while those sleazy Ocelots get to have fun with those village bumpkins, I’ll kill someone!”
“Yeah, and who do you think you’re gonna kill?” the other retorted.
They passed right by Arthur and Hopps without so much as glancing down the hallway, too wrapped up in their pointless bickering.
The two of them shared a look. It seemed that the scouts were indeed here and still alive by the looks of it. Arthur wondered if any of these guards could give him any information. They were whiny enough to be weak-willed, and if they managed to scare one of them enough, he might be willing to talk.
They waited for the guards to pass, then Arthur motioned them forward. He pointed to the louder complainer, the one on the right, then drew his finger across his throat. Hopps nodded in response, and the two of them silently rushed forward.
“All I’m saying is that if I were the one in charge, I’d…Ack!”
The guard was cut off mid-sentence as Arthur’s dagger plunged into his neck, right above the base of his spine. He’d been hoping for a crippling blow, but the damage was even greater than even he could have imagined.
-141 Damage, sneak (Crippling)
The guard collapsed to the ground, his spinal coulomb severed, leaving him unable to move.
“What the…!” the other guard began, half turning only to catch a Water Bomb to the face, sending him staggering back.
Arthur was on top of him within a second, bearing him to the ground and slashing his dagger across his throat, sending up a spray of blood and staining his fur.
-66 Damage, slashing (Critical)
The guard gurgled, scrabbling for the weapon at his belt, but Arthur’s dagger came down into his eye next. Shockingly enough, this still didn’t kill him. But when he tore the dagger free, the Jaguarundi guard gave out a final pained screech and expired.
Jaguarundi Guard dies! +460 XP
Ability Available!
Due to your repeated actions, a new ability has become available to you.
Frog-Sassinate
Arthur dismissed the notification with a snort of suppressed laughter. He’d been hoping to get an assassination skill, but after receiving relatively normal-named ones up until now, the ridiculous name came as a bit of a surprise. He resolved to look it over when he finished with his interrogation.
He rose off the guard. Then, assisted by Hopps, he flipped the other one onto his back. The guard let out a whimper as he was rolled over, his eyes flicking fearfully between the two of them. Arthur had gotten some of the dead guard’s blood on his face, which, along with his red and white pattered skin, must have given him a truly frightful appearance.
“What…What do you want?” the guard whimpered.
His HP was sitting at around 10%, and he had an icon that looked like a humanoid figure with a crack running through it.
“All we want is information, mate,” Hopps said, landing heavily on his chest and thrusting his face right into the cat’s. “Tell us what we want, and I’ll let you go. Don’t, and I’ll let my friend here turn you into a shish kabob, just like your buddy over there.”
The guard’s eyes widened even further as they flicked to Arthur. He had the good grace to give the guard a crazed smile, licking his lips for effect and brandishing his dagger.
“I’ll tell you anything you want!” the guard said. “Please, just keep him away from me!”
“Alright, then…” Hopps pretended to think, rubbing his chin with one of his forelimbs. “We heard someone mention some captured villagers. Care to elaborate on that?”
“The villagers?” the guard asked, his brows furrowing. “What do you want with those losers?”
Hopps slapped the cat across his furry face. It didn’t do any damage, but it rocked the cat’s head to the side.
“Tell me what I want to know, you limey wanker!” Hopps yelled, grabbing both sides of the guard’s face and bringing it closer to his.
“They’re on the other side of the floor! Next to Claudia’s room!” he answered in a panic.
“How many of them are there?” Hopps asked, not letting up.
“Just three left alive, last I checked,” the guard whimpered.
“And how do we get to the other side of the floor? Who’s guarding them, and who is Claudia!?”
Hopps continued yelling right in the guard’s face, making Arthur feel just a little bad for the poor bastard.
“Those damned Ocelots are guarding them, and Claudia is the Boss,” the guard answered, giving them instructions to the other side of the Dungeon as well.
They asked a few more questions about the strength of the guards and their positions throughout the Dungeon. Finally satisfied with the information, Hopps looked to Arthur.
“That all we needed to know, mate?”
“Yup,” Arthur replied.
The guard’s information would be invaluable in navigating the Dungeon and avoiding danger. They hadn’t found out much about Claudia, other than that she was a Clouded Leopard who was very powerful, but they would be finding out about her soon enough.
“So, you’ll let me go now?” the guard asked hopefully.
“Yup, I will be letting you go,” Hopps said, leaping off his chest.
The guard’s look of relief was replaced by one of horror a second later as Arthur’s dagger plunged into his chest.
“I said I’d let you go,” Hopps replied to the guard’s betrayed look. “Never said anything about my friend, though.”
Arthur ripped the dagger free, and the guard died, giving them each another 460 XP. Killing the defenseless guard gave Arthur a sick feeling in his stomach but he knew it was necessary. They couldn’t leave him here alive to potentially warn others. Even if he was effectively crippled, he could still get healed with Health potions.
It was unwise to leave an enemy alive to come back, looking for revenge.
They took a few moments to check the corpses. They both carried heavy cudgels, which were useless to the two of them, but they did have a few copper and silver coins which Arthur added to his coin pouch. Aside from that, they only had their leather armor, which they found they were unable to take.
Arthur rose from the second corpse with a sigh, wiping his bloodied hand on a scrap of cloth he’d torn from their clothes. All this killing was a lot less fun than it had been when this was just a game. However, he knew that he’d resolved himself to do whatever it took to find his little brother, no matter how many people, animals, or ani-humans he had to kill along the way.
“You alright, mate?”
Arthur was snapped from his thoughts to see Hopps looking at him worriedly.
“Yeah, I’m alright, pal. Let’s get going. People are waiting for us.”
Hopps nodded, and the two of them took off down the corridor.
13
Arthur pulled up the description of the new ability he’d unlocked as they ran, making sure to keep one of
his eyes on the corridor stretching before them.
Frog-Sassinate
The silent froggy killer, that’s who you are!
Ability Level: 1
Cost: 100 Stamina
Cooldown: 3 Minutes
Damage: Weapon Damage X4 (Can stack with other abilities/skills)
Effect: Sneak attacks deal massive critical damage
Arthur didn’t need to think twice about accepting an ability like this, especially since the damage would stack with other skills, like his Critical Strike. In theory, he could one-shot powerful enemies if he managed to land an attack with this ability. It was very costly and had a long cooldown, but it would be worth it if he could avoid a long and potentially deadly fight.
He closed his status, focusing on the fight ahead. From what the guard had told them, they would be facing at least two guards who were at a higher level than them, perhaps even more. They had entertained the question of whether they should spend more time in the Dungeon leveling up, or head straight for where the prisoners were.
They had less than six hours left, and according to the directions given, it would take around two hours to reach the other side, even at their current pace.
Was it worth the risk?
Arthur decided that they could make that call once they were closer to the end of the floor. But, despite knowing the way and the guard patrol routes, they still ran into several on the way, delaying them quite a bit.
They were forced to take several detours, getting lost twice along the way. By the time they reached the area where the prisoners were kept, they had less than an hour left to rescue them.
Arthur groaned quietly, rubbing at a bruised shoulder which had yet to heal completely – their last fight had ended not ten minutes ago. But due to their time crunch, they couldn’t afford to wait and rest.
They now stood at an intersection, where the hallway split off in two. One would lead to the room where the prisoners were, and the other would lead to the Boss room. They knew that the longer they spent in here, the bigger the chance they’d be discovered, and Arthur knew that if they sent more than a couple of guards at a time, they’d have no chance of escape.
He still couldn’t fully wrap his head around how non-mob monsters were running the Dungeon. He asked Hopps to explain as they headed down the hallway to the prison area.
“Some Races can use Dungeons as fortresses, bunkers, for resources and so on, so long they’re of the same Race. It’s only possible if a deal has been struck with a Dungeon’s final Boss, as they’re the ones tasked with guarding the Dungeon’s Core.
“It’s mutually beneficial, as the Dungeon will have protection from intelligent beings, while the others will have the security of staying hunkered down in the Dungeon.”
Arthur nodded, noting that the corridor was growing brighter up ahead, and he immediately began growing wearier.
They would now be facing the tricky part. There was nowhere to take cover on the entire floor, which was why the two of them had to fight so many times. And though Arthur hadn’t quite reached level 10 yet, Hopps had. He had nearly doubled in size at that last level up and was now around two and a half feet long.
His back reached past his knees, though that wasn’t saying much, seeing as he was only around four feet tall. Hopps could cover much greater distances with each leap and had gotten another ability, Swamp Gas, a poison-based AOE attack. He wondered if he’d be able to ride on Hopps at some point but didn’t bring it up in case he offended his friend.
As the light grew brighter, Arthur slowed, pulling the dagger from his belt. The corridor was now brightly lit by the light spilling from the open doorway at the end. He could hear voices floating out of the entrance as he approached, and more disturbingly, cries of distress.
He wanted to slow and approach the doorway carefully, but as soon as the cries of pain came floating down the corridor, Hopps shot past him, barreling straight into the room. Cursing, Arthur charged after his suicidal friend, hoping against hope that there was only one guard in the room.
His hopes were squashed as he entered, taking in the massive room in an instant. Half of the room was barred off by massive iron bars stretching from floor to ceiling. One side of the room contained a bloodstained table with leather straps, and the walls were lined with all sorts of wicked-looking instruments.
The two guards from earlier were standing near the far side. A limp, bloody, and barely recognizable body was lying on the ground between them. The figure was clearly dead, but it seemed that the guards had been dismembering the body in front of the only prisoner still alive in that room- a strange-looking ant-girl locked behind bars.
Arthur would have taken more time to examine her, but seeing as Hopps was already unleashing a Water Bomb on the stunned guards, he had no time to do so.
Dashing forward, Arthur used his Spring, rocketing forward and landing a powerful double kick on the rightmost Ocelot, bearing him to the ground.
“Hopps! Take the other one!” Arthur yelled, slashing at the guard’s neck in an attempt to end the fight quickly.
But these weren’t at all like the guards from earlier. The Ocelot bucked, twisting his body and turning the attack into a glancing one. Arthur was thrown clear but still managed to retain his footing due to his high Agility.
He was dimly aware of Hopps taking on the other guard, but he couldn’t spare even a glance as the ani-human cat regained his feet, drawing the heavy looking mace from his belt with a snarl. Arthur noted that the guard looked less like a mix of human and cat and more like a humanoid cat.
With a half yell, half growl, the Ocelot ran right at him, swinging down hard with his mace. Arthur dodged to one side, but the mace glowed red and swerved mid-swing, slamming into him and sending him staggering back.
-28 Damage, Heat Seeker
Arthur hissed in pain and tried to ignore the feeling of cracked ribs and dashed toward the guard again, slashing with his dagger. The guard was just a hair too slow, and Arthur landed his attack in the seam on the back of his knee, shaving off another 15 HP. Unfortunately, it didn’t go deep enough to be a crippling blow.
He tried then for a follow-up but was forced to use Spring to retreat as the guard’s mace glowed red once more. It whistled through the air where he’d been standing just a second previously.
His eyes flicked to the side and he noticed that Hopps had trapped the other guard in mud and was blowing a cloud of poisonous gas into his face. Hopps had managed to inflict more damage, so Arthur broke off from his opponent and dashed at another guard.
There was a cry of rage from behind him, and Arthur knew he only had a few seconds, at best, before he caught up. Leaping into the air, Arthur landed on the other guard and began frantically stabbing at the seams between his chest and neck armor. It was much harder to fight against well-protected opponents, and he only managed to inflict a measly 27 points of damage before he was forced to disengage.
“You little bastard! I’ll rip you to pieces!” the guard roared.
His body suddenly glowed red, and he seemed to blur, appearing inside his guard and slamming a metal-covered fist into his sternum. Arthur wheezed, doubling over as his HP dipped again, this time by over 40 points.
“Watch out, mate! They’ve both chosen Classes, so they’ll have some Class abilities!” Hopps called out, just a bit too late.
The Ocelot drew back his fist, and Arthur staggered away, seeing double. He heard the sound of something large and heavy whistling through the air and threw himself to the side, tucking into a clumsy roll. He stumbled as he tried to regain his feet and felt a heavy boot slam into his back, sending him sprawling.
“Weakling!” the Ocelot yelled as he scrabbled desperately to get some distance from the brute. “You thought you could just come in here and attack us?!”
Arthur finally got his feet back under him, finding his back to the bars. His vision was hazy, and the cat approaching was swimming in and out of focus. His HP was in the red.
Up until now, Arthur hadn’t faced someone like this in the Animal Kingdom. No matter what he tried, he knew he wouldn’t be able to win, not alone. Even with Hopps helping him, it wouldn’t be a sure thing. The Ocelot just had too much HP, too much armor, and worst of all, intelligence.
Arthur’s eyes flicked to the HP bar over the guard’s head, noting it was still well over 70%, while he was down to 19.
“Any last words, runt?” the Ocelot asked with a sneer, pulling his mace back for another strike, the weapon outlined in red.
“Yeah,” Arthur said, spitting a wad of blood into the Feline’s face.
He leaped forward then, even as the cat swung, then used Spring and somersaulted over his head. The mace slammed into the bars, sending an echoing clang through the room. Arthur landed on his feet behind the guard and slashed at the backs of his knees once more, doing paltry damage.
The guard began turning, but Arthur was already backing up, reaching into his bag and removing a Health potion. He just managed to get it down as the guard completed his turn, lashing out with the glowing mace.
Just as before, when he tried to dodge, the mace followed him, catching him with another blow that sent him staggering. His breathing was ragged as pain wracked his body. He couldn’t win. There was just no way. He couldn’t run, either.
The guard advanced, his face set in a snarl as he twirled the mace between his fingers. He didn’t ask Arthur if he had any last words this time, merely swinging his mace back, the red glow changing to a deep crimson as he did so.
Arthur’s back was up against a wall. There was nowhere for him to go and no one to save him. He could hear Hopps battling the other guard off to his left and knew he wouldn’t make it in time. He felt a resigned grin stretch his lips as he raised his dagger, preparing to hurl it at the guard in a last-ditch effort to try and buy Hopps some time to escape.