Level-Up Apocalypse: Surviving With The Assimilation System

Chapter 11: What Lurks In The Dungeon

"This place is giving me the creeps," Damian remarked, stepping closer to a golden statue to inspect it, unnerved by the expression of the depicted woman who seemed to scream in silent anguish.

It seemed to be a museum of sorts for the particular displays; an inhuman sort, as Finn had his own guess as to the origin of the statuesque figures.

"These are probably real people," Finn presumed, staring at one of the statues. "If I had to guess."

"Wait, seriously?" Damian said, backing up.

"Yeah. Though I imagine it's far too late to help them now," Finn admitted.

"Shit...So, there were still survivors in the city when the Second Impact came, then..." Damian reluctantly realized, shaking his head.

Finn placed a hand on the warrior's shoulder, "There might still be someone in here, man. We need to at least check, right?"

"Right," Damian agreed, clenching his fist as he looked at the statues of the unfortunate souls.

The question remained on how those that entered the Tower had wound up in such a state, or rather, what had been capable of committing such an act. Of course, caution was the most important part of it all; Finn led the way with silent steps, traversing the long corridor of encased people.

"--Stop," Finn instructed, putting his arm out.

At the end of the room, he heard footsteps that were without any pattern, without rhythm, coming from where multiple passageways connected.

Damian listened, not taking another step as he readied his axe, only listening in as well. Both men remained still, watching as whatever it was that made such sounds approached from the corridor.

It sounded like metal dragging against the tiles, scraping with a sluggish pace.

"That's a..." Damian began to say, squinting as if having trouble deciphering it with his own eyes.

The creature was a goblin, or at least, partially remained so; the green-skinned fiend's skin had been mostly overcome with scales and crystalline growth like that of a fungus. Its scales that coated the majority of its body were partly gold and silver, with one of its arms left larger than the other, ending in a gilded sword for a hand.

"What is that? It's a goblin, isn't it? But, it's..." Damian said.

"It's been transfigured," Finn answered, having trouble understanding it fully himself.

The goblin slobbered, seeming only partially lucid as it groaned in pain, dragging its oversized sword hand across the ground with a limp. It seemed to be in an agonized existence, with its beady eyes not looking towards the men, but its body moving towards them.

'Its like it's a drone...like its body is a host for something else, making it attack anything that enters this domain,' Finn observed in thought.

As it approached, the initial move was taken by the assassin as he set his sights on the transfigured goblin–

["Blink Slash"] [2:59]

In an instant, he closed the distance while going for a quick finish by striking its throat, however–CLANG. He found his dagger bouncing right off of its neck, rejected by its jeweled scales.

'What?--It's too hard,' Finn realized.

As he now stood right in front of it, he found the groaning goblin hoisting up its massive sword arm, bringing it down towards him.

["Phantom Retreat"] [0:09]

The quickly-released skill brought Finn a couple meters back, becoming an ethereal shade for a split-second as he moved away from the range of the fiend's counterattack. As the sword limb crashed into the tiles, it created a surprisingly powerful impact, cracking the ground despite the usual frailness of a goblin.

"Damian!" Finn shouted to his partner.

"Yup! On it!" The salt-and-pepper haired man yelled in response, already charging towards the creature with his axe ready.

As Damian came within range to swing his weapon at the goblin, the fiend responded at the same time as the man's axe clashed with its sword-hand.

"Woah–this thing is strong!" Damian struggled, finding himself instead pushed back as his boots slid against the tiles.

A growl came from the transfigured goblin as the intense clash seem to trigger its physiology to alter; its muscles swelled and bulged unnaturally, becoming more visibly agitated and rabid.

Finn kept his distance, running to the right so he could isolate his sight on the goblin, making sure his companion was out of the way as he pointed his palm towards the now enraged goblin–

'Let's try this,' he planned.

["Crimson Shot"] [Mana: -150] [300/450]

The power plundered from the Blood Kobold manifested through a blood-red energy forming in front of his hand, condensing into a projectile that shot straight at the singular fiend. It crashed against the right shoulder of the goblin, causing its scales to crack and bleed as the fiend winced.

'That worked–shit, I can't use that one much though,' he thought, feeling his mana drain from the one use of the ability.

It was enough to stagger the sturdy goblin, however, as the warrior closed in.

Damian swung his axe from the side, infusing it with a monstrous burst of speed and power:

["Cleaving Arc"] [1:59]

Through both the crystalline arm and midsection of the groaning fiend, Damian cut through in a single swing.

"Got it! Hah...!" Damian claimed with a sharp exhale, catching his breath.

["Jeweled Goblin defeated."] ["Anarch Coin x20 obtained."]

[Experience points: +500] [1250/12500]

There was nothing obtained from his Assimilation System, though he wasn't surprised. It seemed to only claim abilities from what he slayed directly.

"Good job. Didn't think a goblin would ever be that big of a pain in the ass," Finn remarked, looking at what was left of the bisected fiend.

"Amen to that," Damian agreed.

After an encounter like that, both moved with a higher degree of care and caution deeper into the dungeon. The corridors within the ivory dungeon possessed an odd structure, as though carved by a giant drill with a spiral carve through the walls.

"Man, should've brought some water," Damian breathed out.

"You're fine. I doubt an early dungeon like this will take that long," Finn assured him.

It led into an expanded chamber; transparent cubes were suspended from the ceiling with encased creatures on display.

The dungeon felt like a twisted museum; beasts were kept dormant in the cubes, turned to inorganic material.

"Creepy," Damian remarked, looking up at the abnormal sight.

"Try not to focus on it too much. Stuff like this will only make you overthink things," Finn advised his partner.

"Hard not to. I mean, look at that," Damian pointed out to one such display just above them.

The cube appeared to be a crystallized skeleton of a dragon, coated in sapphire growth.

"It is creepy, I'll give you that," Finn agreed at the sight of the encased beast.

Just as the young man opted to move forward, the way deeper into the twisted museum was blocked by another entity.

"Damian, something is–"

As Finn called out to his companion, he was immediately interrupted as something bolted towards him. It was only due to his own passive ability that he managed to react to it in time, moving his head every so slightly to the right just in time–

["Enhanced Reflexes"]

Even still, the incoming projectile slid against his cheek; a blade of some sort, leaving a cut as it passed by.

'Shit–a throwing knife?' He thought, touching his cheek as blood trickled down.

Damian ran over, "Hey! What was that?! Are you good?!"

"I'm fine," Finn assured him, looking towards the shadow-crept hall ahead.

While he expected another attack perhaps to come, he instead heard footsteps move away from the room they were in, moving deeper into the dungeon.

"It ran off. Think that was another one of those goblins?" Damian asked, readying his axe.

"I don't know. I have a feeling it's not a monster at all, though," Finn answered.

Before attempting to chase whatever lurked in the area, he turned back, finding the projectile that was originally aimed for his head. What he found stuck in the ivory wall was a pitch-black, sleek blade; a throwing knife.

"That was what was thrown at you?" Damian asked.

Finn nodded his head, "That's not something used by a goblin. I don't think there's any monster that does. Only other people."

"You're saying...?" Damian lingered his question.

"Yeah," Finn confirmed. "Somebody tried to kill me. Another survivor."

The very idea of that seemed to conflict with the soft-hearted warrior, who rubbed his own face as if trying to help himself think. Of course, more than anything else, Damian hoped to find and help other survivors, but the concept of one out to kill others put a wedge in that.

"Shit," Damian mumbled.

"It could've been an accident," Finn said, looking at other possibilities. "Maybe they thought I was a monster, and after realizing I wasn't, they ran off. I'd be shocked to see someone else at this point, too."

"Yeah. That could be it. Let's go after them–try and ask them, at least," Damian suggested.

"We were going that way anyway, so sure," Finn agreed, though looking at the man. "Just keep in mind what the higher possibility is. If this person is malicious, then–"

"I know," Damian said, not wanting to hear what would've come next. "I know."