Chapter 18: The first battle at the dungeon gates

Chapter 18: The first battle at the dungeon gates Inside, a strange breeze hit Elliot as he emerged. The air was thick and damp. On the other side loomed a cave, its walls covered with moss and slick, brown rocks. It stretched high—at least 4 to 5 meters high. 'Too tall for a standard goblin and spider... I'm afraid the boss is pretty massive as well.' He hadn't received much information about the dungeon before arriving here, but the Dungeon Pass had offered him just what he needed to know. For example, there were two types of beasts in this dungeon: goblins and spiders. There were about 100 to 130 beasts in total, and their boss seemed to be something special—a fusion creature, part goblin, part spider. Supposedly, it was a chimera mage. He didn't know what it looked like, and honestly, he didn't care. He would deal with it when the time eventually came. So, as soon as he confirmed that he had indeed entered correctly and everything was in order, Elliot drew his knife. 'It's getting pretty worn... Too bad, it looks like I'll need to invest in a better weapon soon.' He sighed and then started going deeper into the dungeon. Suddenly, he heard a sound—of low but heavy footsteps, accompanied by a strange screeching noise that echoed through the air alongside the footsteps. *Thump* *Thump* *Screech* The timing of the sounds seemed synced, but both weren't coming from the same direction. 'The sound of the thudding of footsteps is coming from below... those must be the goblins. The screeches are above, definitely spiders.' With that in mind, Elliot summoned his rat and hid it in a nearby crevice, setting it up for a surprise attack. Then, he waited, silent and patiently. The two sounds soon grew lower... then stopped. A total of 10 beasts emerged into his view—four spiders and six goblins. The spiders clung to the ceiling, hanging upside down like horrifying chandeliers. The goblins below carried heavy swords that seemed impossible for creatures of their stature to wield. As soon as they arrived, they let out a strange, soft, guttural cry from their throats—and without any hesitation, the goblins charged forward, their blades raised as they attacked ferociously from below. Elliot surged forward, closing the distance to the first two goblins. His knife struck with precision, and he managed to stop the attack of both goblins; however, sheer force of the impact caused his feet to sink slightly into the ground. 'Strong.' Elliot took a quick step back to regain balance, then used the momentum to deflect the attacks of both the goblins at once, leaving them exposed. Seizing the opening, Elliot drove his knife into the side of one of the two goblins and pushed hard. "KYAAA!" It screamed in pain, but Elliot remained unfazed and followed through with a decisive blow to the goblin's head, sending the creature crashing into the nearby walls with a bone-crunching force. At the same time and with the same speed, he ducked under to avoid the goblin companion's swiping and lunged at him, ramming into its stomach. The goblin crashed against a rock with a dull thud and struck its head. It barely had the time to register the pain before a flurry of brutal strikes to its head ended its life. [You have killed a Goblin. Attribute Energy received...] [You have killed a Goblin...] The two system messages flickered past his vision but remained focused. Just then, his instincts screamed at him as if sensing danger from above. "Now, attack!" he shouted. He had been waiting for this exact moment—the spiders were on the move. That was the cue for his summoned rat. Small, nimble and incredibly light, it scurried up the cave walls in a blur of motion. Although the rat was quite stupid, it knew that if anyone tried to attack its master, it had to kill them. It climbed the wall in an instant and pounced, knocking three of the four spiders down in the process, crashing them to the ground; these were the ones that were about to ambush Elliot. The fourth spider threw a strange white web at it, wanting to trap the rat, but by doing so, it neglected the other side of the fight. While the body of the spider was still on the ceiling, it soon experienced what the first goblin had undergone. Its body suddenly shivered from the strange coldness that seemed to have pierced its body, followed by an overwhelming weakness. Then, it lost its grip and fell—straight into Elliot's view. Its glassy eyes stared fixedly onto the man below, with one arm outstretched. It couldn't even see what pierced its body after it came within range of Elliot's attack, and before it could know more, the human launched several successive brutal strikes, smashing its body against the opposite wall. [You've killed a Spider. Attribute Energy received...] With three beasts down, Elliot was able to move quickly over the other spiders. He knew these were the real threat—not just because of their web attacks but also because of their venom. Although they hadn't had the time to use it yet, Elliot knew that if he allowed them to, he would be in trouble. So he quickly summoned his rat inside him and then immediately summoned it over the spiders. The rat understood its master's intentions and dove onto one of them, attacking with feral intensity once it began. "Oh? I can summon and re-summon it wherever I want?" Elliot's eyes lit up at the discovery. He couldn't express just how convenient he found it. He hadn't been sure if it would work while he tried; he just thought it might work, so he gave it a try—it was more of a hunch than a plan. Although he was pleased, he did not let himself be distracted and lost sight of his objective. Just then, his knife fell to the ground again, but he quickly snatched it up and ended up stabbing a meter-long spider through its eyes. It twitched for a few moments before it fell limp. [You have killed a Spider...] Just as the 4th system announcement reached him, a new one emerged. [You have killed a Spider. Enough Attribute Energy accumulated to gain 1 Stat Point.] [You have received a Stat Point: Strength] 'So soon? I got 1 point just after killing 5...' he thought, his eyes gleaming with wild joy. Ahead, five other beasts stood between him and his next reward. No... not beasts. They were his next point. A sinister grin formed on his face as a cold aura began to seep into the already grim battlefield. His hands were soon drenched in the blue and green blood of the spiders and goblins. Heads flew, limbs were crushed, and through it all, his rat fought on—outnumbered, outmatched, yet clearly reveling in the challenge. Perhaps it shared Elliot's twisted sense of satisfaction in killing beasts that had been once stronger than him. Elliot ended up smiling after receiving the second stat point. Then, he glanced deeper into the depths of the cave. "Hehe... Come to me, my beloved points. You will be far more useful while being with me than rotting inside these beasts."