***Lekta the Loyal***

After Lekta had been blessed with new power by Chief Velgo, he sped through the Dungeon towards his destination.

First, he passed the five underground floors where most of his tribesmen had their Zones. The labyrinth-like passages would be a challenge to any invader, and on level B4 was a quarter specially designated for their sacred beasts.

Second, he ran through the first five floors above ground, including the second floor, where five of the kobolds were assigned to guard the Cat Farm. Lekta wondered if he would be rewarded with the honor to taste one of those creatures after he completed his mission. . .

Lastly, Lekta ascended the stairs to the floors that were outside of any Zones linked to their kin. As their numbers still were low and their boss had only recently taken over the Dungeon, not everything was under their control. Each kobold stepping so far was taking up an Unbound Slot, and with him going as well, only one was left. It didn't matter, though, as he would complete what he must and get rid of the unwanted presence that had slain their brothers.

After becoming a true Elite, Lekta's sense of smell could tell him way more than before. He detected the scent of his adversary even before stepping on the twentieth floor. Back in his tribe's old home—the Silent Oak Forest—he had hunted animals that stank very similarly. And, even if vaguely, he smelled the blood of his brothers.

"I'll hunt you down, you wicked primate," Lekta whispered as he tightened his grip on the shortsword in his right hand and prepared the stone buckler in his left.

After a minute, he cautiously entered the twenty-eight floor. He instantly noticed the almost disintegrated corpse of his brethren.

"Lekta!" someone exclaimed from a corner of the lobby.

The Elite kobold found one of his tribesmen resting almost leisurely.

"You are Lerg, right?" Each kobold knew all of his brothers by name. Perhaps it wasn't surprising that the one called the Cautious had been the only survivor.

The seemingly relieved Lerg started to blabber in panic without a single pause, "Y-you need to be on your guard, brother! T-they have killed them all! The terrifying furless monkey uses harmless-looking trinkets to strike from afar before you know it! It's fast and can hide its presence like a ghost! I'm a-almost sure that it's a Player! B-b-but the one you should really be wary of is its vile companion! You wouldn't believe me, but it's a cat! Yes, just like the ones we prepared for the farm! A-a-and. . .you'll think I'm crazy, but it talked to me! In our own language! I-it has strange mind-controlling powers. It was as if I couldn't resist its will at all! N-now that I think about it, you shouldn't fight them! P-please, I beg you, just take me with you back to the base! I-I don't know what they plan to do with me, but I'm sure it's worse than just a temporary death! We should repo—"

"Shut up, you foolish coward!" As he listened to the kobold's story, Lekta's frown became deeper and deeper until he couldn't hold back the harsh words. "Did you go insane after losing your team? In the first place, you are probably the only one in our tribe who's afraid of death. Our murdered brothers will come back to life in less than a week. And what, do you really believe that there could be a Player here? The Players from our homeworld aren't allowed to enter the Dungeons for at least three months, and all sentients from this planet are in the Tutorial or Safe Zone. Didn’t you listen to Chief Velgo's explanation?"

Lekta had an urge to kill The Cautious, whose second name was a synonym for courageless.

"And you even acknowledge being scared of a freaking cat?" The Elite monster spat on the floor in disgust. "Afraid of a snack?"

Lerg lowered his head in shame. If it was someone else who had reprimanded him, he wouldn't think much about it, but the one called Loyal was one of the few kobolds he sincerely respected.

Disappointed by the behavior of his tribesman, Lekta decided to follow the track of the enemy. The trail of its scent was extremely fresh.

"T-they are somewhere on this floor," Lerg murmured when Lekta started to walk towards the corridor.

"I know," the Elite coldly replied without turning his head back.

Even with his enhanced senses, Lekta still couldn't pinpoint the exact location of the enemy, but he knew the direction it took. He entered the long hallway with multiple doors at both sides and sniffed the air.

"It should be in one of the rooms in the middle of the hallway," the kobold concluded.

Lekta infused both his body and buckler with Earth Concept to strengthen them. If what Lerg had said about the foe was true, it would rely on sudden attacks from a distance. The kobold wondered how this opponent would deal with his superior defense.

Lekta sneaked slowly through the hallway, trying not to make any unnecessary sounds. Of course, he doubted that the enemy was unaware of him due to the loud conversation he had with Lerg, but giving away his current position for no reason would be a stupid move.

The Elite carefully opened one of the doors in the middle of the passage and peeked inside. A simple room welcomed him with a bed, a chair, and a table. Most of the items were completely unfamiliar to him and were obviously made by this world's sentients. It was evident that their level of civilization was far beyond the Silent Moon Alliance, but this fact no longer mattered. After the Dimensional Fusion, they would need to rebuild their civilization while adapting to the new rules.

He took a step inside the room and sniffed the air, ascertaining that the foe had never been here. He repeated the whole process with two more rooms with the same result.

As soon as Lekta opened the door to the next room, he noticed a change. The place practically stank of the monkey's sweat, especially the bed at the far end of the room, on which something or someone seemed to be hidden under the blankets.

The kobold paused for a moment, suspicious that it could be a trap. He instantly stepped back to the hallway and cautiously looked around but couldn't detect any movement. Suddenly, he heard a rustling from the blankets on the bed, which made him rush to the room without thinking.

Lekta made Earth Concept Surge through his whole body, reinforcing his Endurance and making his skin and fur far studier than usual. The effect also made his stone sword even denser without affecting its sharpness. On the contrary, the weapon only got deadlier. With this, the enemy shouldn't survive.

Lekta leaped through the room and slashed at his target. The sword easily cut both the blankets and whatever hid underneath them, but there were no splashes of blood as he had expected. Instead, what revealed itself was a simple construction made from a full bag, two stone axes, and a prolonged metallic rod that made the blankets stand like a tent. The movement that had fooled him was the rod losing its balance.

Before Lekta could realize his mistake, a powerful impact hit his head. One, then another, a total of two dozen attacks struck head in a matter of seconds, each accompanied by a loud bang from the room's entrance.

Perhaps if Lekta hadn't activated the Surge, it would have been the end for him. Thankfully, he had never lowered his guard, not even for a moment. Nonetheless, even with the Earth Element guarding him, it wasn't different from being repeatedly punched in the head—it hurt like hell and made him disoriented for some time.

Still far from a complete recovery, Lekta turned his head to face his adversary. Unfortunately for him, his opponent wasn't a warrior. It was a ghost, and it was already gone from his sight.

***Lex Lurker***

Oh crap, what the hell is his head made of? I thought as I rushed through the hallway.

I hadn't had much time to make a proper plan, so making a distraction out of the bag, the axes, and the shotgun had been the best idea I could think of. I myself had hidden a few rooms away, hoping that the stench of my sweat would be enough to lure the guy in.

My strategy had worked well enough to distract the kobold, who was a really nice-looking bipedal husky. But I hadn't expected that he would use some sort of ability that made his greyish fur gain a brown luster. Maybe it had been the reason why my full-out surprise attack with twenty perfect headshots had only taken out two-thirds of his Essence Field.

Now I entered the room leading to the stairs, thinking of what to do next. I had already reloaded one of the Colts with my last ten rounds. Hopefully, they would be enough if the kobold caught up.

The doggie who was still resting in the corner of the lobby looked at me in fear. He almost opened his mouth to shout but shut it as soon as I pointed the gun in his direction. This fellow was good at getting hints.

I think we can even become friends! I thought as I entered the stairway that led downwards.

"T-the demon is here, Lekta!" I could hear a shout from behind.

Why did you betray me, buddy, we were so close. . . Did we spend not enough time together for him to develop Stockholm syndrome? Wait, what was his name again? Ciesta never asked. Oh, well. So the Elite is named Lekta?

With those half-serious thoughts, I continued my way down the stairs.

Shit, I should have asked Encycloesta if there's an exit from the Dungeon on the first floor.

Instead of facing someone who could take twenty headshots and survive, I'd rather risk it and go outside.

The world is a big place, I thought, so there should be some safe locations not too far from here. Hopefully, the wolves, the dragons, and the fat uggo have already found somewhere else to play around.

Each of the floors was connected by a flight of stairs, but you needed to enter the lobby on each story to proceed to the next one. So it was a lot of doors to pass through, but up until the twentieth floor, the doggie with claymore had already made a bunch of shortcuts.

After passing the location of my first battle in the Dungeon, I entered territory that I hadn't been in before. That didn't change anything, though, as I had seen a map of the building.

"So you plan to leave the place and go outside?" A familiar voice asked from an empty spot.

I nodded as I jumped down ten steps at once. With my high Balance, I could land and continue my descent seamlessly.

"Too bad, but the Elite pup won’t give you enough time," the invisible cat said, "it should catch up to you in about thirty seconds."

I frowned as I breathed heavily. One of the drawbacks of having a way higher Nerve than Body was that my stamina couldn't keep up with the energy expenditure brought by an Olympic athlete's level of speed. I wasn't far from being exhausted, as evident from my Status.

Essence Field: 50/50

Health: 94%

Physical Fatigue: 81%

Mental Fatigue: 16%

Status Effects: Malnutrition, ???

I had a solution, though. I hadn't listened to Ciesta when she had told me to use my Free Attributes. And it meant. . .

I could already hear the heavy steps of my pursuer from above.

Thirty seconds? I thought without stopping my movement. It should be enough for my preparations.

I gave a glance at the most recent notifications.

You've successfully ambushed a higher Level Elite while staying hidden!

Ambush reaches lvl 4.

Ambush reaches lvl 5. Your Fate is increased by 2.

Stalking reaches lvl 4.

Stalking reaches lvl 5. Your Nerve is increased by 2.

Both Ambush and Stalking had gained a whole two levels, gifting me another four stats. Evidently, Elites helped to raise one's Skills rather fast.

When I entered the tenth floor, I found myself in the reception hall of the non-intensive care unit. It was a spacious lobby with rows of couches, armchairs, and tables. Paintings of animals and flowers decorated the beige walls, and the reception desk was made of an expensive-looking wood.

I hid behind one of the couches, waiting for my pursuer and trying to catch my breath. I had at most ten seconds left, so I opened my Attributes screen in a hurry and distributed the FAP.

Body: 8 (-1)

Nerve: 32 (-1)

Mind: 13

Spirit: 22

Fate: 22

Free Attribute Points: 1

My whole body trembled, and the world slowed down to a standstill—my tiredness was all but gone. While trying to adjust to my new senses, I touched the Gear with my left hand and opened the Storage.

Through a small dimensional portal, I retrieved my newest weapon—a scimitar provided by the System. Its seven-inches-long hilt was made of a rubber-like black substance that was pleasant to the touch, and its bronze-colored curved blade had a dim metallic luster.

Synthetic Scimitar (Common, Bronze)—A mass-produced weapon provided by Genesis System. It is customized according to your preferences. It is synthesized from the Essence and artificial matter, and so has no special functions while still being considered an Artifact.

Effect: This weapon deals 15% more slash-type damage.

Durability: 40/40

EM (Essence Mass): 2

I gave the Equip command and instantly felt the connection between me and the scimitar. In spite of its lackluster description, it appeared to be way superior to the stone weapons used by the kobolds, which weren't even recognized by the System.

I had increased the basic length of the Slash-type weapon from thirty to forty inches, which increased the price proportionally to thirty LEC, leaving me Coinless. It was worth it, though—the difference in length should give me an edge in battle. No matter how small it was, any advantage could decide life or death.

Just when I got used to my accelerated perception, the Elite entered the hall. As soon as he made a step inside, his fur glowed in brown color, his strange defensive ability activated. Seeing this, I instantly lowered my head, hiding it from his sight.

You'd think that right now was the only chance I had to take him by surprise, but I hoped to find a moment when he wasn't protected by the glow. I was betting on how great his sense of hearing and olfaction was—would he guess that I had stayed on this floor, or would he continue his pursuit down the stairs? Would my Stalking prevail over his dog senses?

I strained my ears to hear his further actions. Lekta didn't make me wait for long, as the sound of his footsteps disappeared in the direction of the stairway that led downwards, and then I heard the click of a closed door.

I peeked from behind the couch, making sure that he was really gone. Now was my chance to catch him off guard. I stood up and decided to wait for five or ten more seconds so that he could descend lower and leave more distance between us when I entered the stairway.

Just when I was about to start moving, the door was burst open, and my opponent rushed into the room. Surprisingly, I was tricked by a dog! It made us even.

Almost by instinct, I instantly fired the Colt aiming at his head. The kobold had the brown luster protecting him, but shooting now could still be considered an ambush as he hadn't noticed me immediately.

The first five bullets hit the Husky head perfectly, and one of them even managed to injure his left eye. The rest of the bullets did no damage, though, as the Elite raised his buckler just in time to block each of them.

I was out of ammo, but my enemy still had about ten percent of his EF and had locked my position. With the round shield protecting his front, he dashed to me like an unstoppable train.

"Wooooooooof!" Lekta barked a sort of a battle cry before colliding with the furniture that separated me from him. I jumped to avoid it hitting me as the couch crashed into the wall.

Resisting the momentum of his dash, the Elite spun rapidly in an attempt to strike me with his sword while I was midair. I held the scimitar in my left hand while the attack came from my right, so I wouldn't have the chance to block it in time. Instead, I avoided the hit by tilting my body sideways and then landed awkwardly a few feet behind him.

I threw the now empty Colt at my foe's face, and he was foolish enough to block it with his buckler, losing sight of me for a moment. With the scimitar now in my main hand—which was still stronger even if the increased Nerve more or less made me ambidextrous—I attempted a counter-attack.

I slashed the blade at his unprotected left leg. What was supposed to leave a deep cut just bounced back from the reinforced fur, but the bronze Fieldbar above his head still decreased by about five percent. I almost lost the grip on my weapon, as the speed of the attack and the following rebound were beyond the extent of my pitiful Strength. On the bright side, just one strike more, and he would have no invisible barrier to save his ass.

Alas, my opponent shouldn't have been underestimated, not even for a moment. . .