Chapter 27 The Stalker

After nothing jumped out at her, Elysia crept toward the cave once more, spear at the ready, lightning writhing under the surface. She stepped into the cave, scanning the dark cavern for any hints of movement, but found none. With a frown, she did a full lap around the cavern, only to have her frown deepen. Why is it so dark? It isn’t much deeper than the cave I found Jake in, but from the entrance, it looked like it was massive.

Elysia shrugged her shoulders and turned to leave only for her neck hairs to stand up. On instinct, she dove to the ground just as something snapped closed where her head used to be. Her eyes shot upward, glimpsing movement before it vanished, leaving no trace.

Before it could come back, Elysia sprang to her feet and dashed for the exit. At the edge of the cave, wind rushed toward her back, causing her to dive to the right. This time her eyes caught an insect shaped monster with a beak the size of her head vanishing into the shadows. Like a frog, she sprang forward, flinging herself into the light outside the cave.

Still on guard, Elysia shot to her feet, aiming her spear at the cave as she backed away. When nothing came out, she relaxed her grip before turning back the way she came, finding herself at the edge of the dungeon. She stepped under the shade of one of the many redwoods as she walked away only to dodge at the last second yet again, narrowly missing losing a chunk of her leg. Her spear lashed out at the retreating insect, but it vanished before she could hit it.

With glowing amethyst eyes and a scowl, she backed into the sunlight while surveying her surroundings, but like in the cave, the creature left no trace. She growled in annoyance as her hands trembled in fear. Careful to remain in the light, Elysia retreated from the clearing, only to run into a problem. While the clearing had an abundance of light, the denser sections surrounding it only let in few rays, allowing for visibility but not much else. Still, she trudged down the trail, but as soon as she stepped into a dark section, the air changed, signaling another attack.

Instead of dodging, she took off into a sprint, scraping her clothing on the narrow path in her haste. Before the insect could strike her again, she dove into the clearing with the Beta team, only to realize her mistake.

While the clearing had plenty of light, many large tree limbs hung overhead, leaving over half the clearing in the shade, including where the remains of each soldier resided. Realization dawned, causing her trembling to intensify. Her gaze gravitated toward the nearest body on its own, finding large chunks missing from its torso and amputated legs limbs. Each body had a similar fate, leaving their cause of death clear.

Terrified to stay any longer, she turned toward the trail to her camp while standing in a light section. To her dismay, a long shadow blocked her way. Left with no choice, she dashed forward, clearing the area just as a menacing snapping sounded behind her. Without looking back, she dove through the next shadow, this time making it through without an attack. However, she stopped dead, staring into the dark twenty-meter stretch of trail.

Her gaze switched between the light on the right side of the clearing back to the dark trail in indecision. She turned back toward the now four-way intersection on the opposite side of the clearing, causing a vicious smile to bloom.

Elysia crouched and sprung forward, shooting over the shadow, doing the same for the next one before zigzagging around the rest to reach the opposite side. She stopped at the intersection, which was fortunately lit, then turned to the left, veering off the trail to stay in the light. Near the centipede corpse, she stepped into a shadow on purpose, feeling the familiar attack coming before continuing on. As she neared the stink bug’s territory, she slowed to a walk, weaving around shadows and twigs.

Upon reaching the stink bugs, her smile widened, seeing expanses of shade. She pulled the collar of the shirt over her face, taking a deep breath before sprinting forward, stopping in the middle of the clearing near the bodies. The attack from both sides came instantly, a plume of yellow gas and a whoosh of movement from the shadows. At the last second, she dove away just barely avoiding both, landing in a beam of light just outside the range of the gas cloud.

She turned to watch, crossing her fingers that her idea worked. For the first time, a bear sized dark brown bug with long spindly legs and a razor sharp beak the size of her head became visible. It clicked its beak menacingly at the stink bugs clinging to the surrounding trees before vanishing into the shadows. A moment later, two nearby stink bugs split in half by its powerful beak. To retaliate, the stink bugs released another dose of yellow gas, this time much more potent than the last. Elysia stumbled back from the stench alone, eyes bloodshot, but after retreating to another beam of light a meter back, she held her ground.

The assassin bug flinched back before delving into the shadows once more, this time much slower. Another stink bug perished, cleaved in half by a beak, dropping their colony to six. The stink bugs finally lifted off their trees, flying over the center of the clearing before releasing their payload right over their solo opponent. Weakened by the previous attacks, the assassin bug failed to dive into a shadow before the thick yellow gas reached it. It collapsed to the ground, twitching for a moment before struggling up onto its spindly legs. The assassin bug swayed for a moment before delving into the shadows. A blink later, it appeared in the air near a stink bug clamping its beak down on its prey, but before it could vanish, the light shifted, cutting off its escape routes. Lacking wings, it plummeted to the ground with a grotesque splat.

Elysia sprung into action, throwing five knives at the remaining stink bugs missing all five, but the arching electricity stunned them as the knives flew past. With a smile, she trotted out into the clearing as the yellow cloud dissipated, stabbing the fallen stink bugs with her spear to finish them before turning her attention to the assassin bug.

-90 Charge.

Killed Level 29 Stink bug x5.

During the slaughter, the Assassin bug regained its bearings, lifting but favoring its left side as two of its right legs were bent at odd angles. It tried to delve for a shadow, but Elysia dashed in front of it as she thrusted her spear toward its head. A shift of its body brought its beak in line with the spear, biting down. Before Elysia could pull the spear away, the beak snapped off the spear tip and a dozen centimeters of the shaft.

Elysia’s eyes flashed as she flung the shaft to the side, bringing her hands up to will her lightning forward. A crackling stream of violet lightning shot out of her outstretched hands right at the assassin bug’s beak, still holding the spear tip.

-100 Charge.

11 Charge.

She collapsed to her knees as a wave of weakness assaulted her. A moment later, a smile bloomed as the smoking assassin bug collapsed once more, this time with a ding and notification appearing in her vision.

Killed Level 40 King Assassin Bug

Level up! Level 31 Channeler.

Level up! Level 32 Channeler.

Recharged, Elysia climbed to her feet and surveyed her surroundings. She approached the two bodies, averting her eyes from their expressions as she dug for their dog tags, committing them to memory to report later if she found the rest of the squad.

The stench wore on her pushing her forward, but just past the stink bug clearing, she ran into the wall, prompting her to turn back, confused. On her way back to her camp, her thoughts wandered. I think I explored the entire dungeon. Did I beat it? The assassin bug would definitely qualify as a boss, though the stink bugs come at a close second. Why are there more monsters outside the dungeon? My escorts killed at least a hundred creatures on the way to the dungeon, yet I’ve faced less than half that. Unless this isn’t the end of the dungeon. There are still 2 soldiers missing and they did say there could be a second floor, but where?

A few minutes later, she returned to the camp, plopping on the log, fetching the compass to confirm her guess. After a quick job outside, she spun in a circle, finding her camp to the south. The stink bugs were to the west, Jake’s cave to the east, and the assassin bug’s lair to the north. Did I miss something in the assassin bug’s lair? The exit to my first dungeon was in the boss room if my assumption of it being the boss is even true. I didn’t see any crystals though.

Just in case, Elysia retreated into the camp stuffing everything back in her backpack, including her now dented canteen, then rolled up her sleeping and tent. After cinching the backpack to her torso, she ventured out once more, machete in hand, in case something jumped out at her.

Nothing attacked on her journey to the assassin bug’s lair, but just in case, she unstrapped the backpack, setting it just outside the cave before venturing inside. Unlike last time, the cave had a lit-up ceiling like her previous camp, revealing a tunnel sloping downward. Afraid it may be one way, she re-strapped her backpack before walking down the tunnel with cautious but heavy steps.

The tunnel spiraled downward for several minutes until reaching another camp area with logs by a firepit. However, unlike the previous camp, a small pond took up the east section of the cavern, with water trickling down the wall to feed it.

After unstrapping the backpack, setting it next to a log, she trotted to the pond canteen in hand. Just before dipping it in, she paused. Should I purify it? I ate that crab leg pretty much raw and was fine, so maybe my body is immune to unpurified water. Just in case I probably should check the backpack. Dad always said never drink natural water straight from the source.

Despite already having checked the backpack, she dug through it again, finding a palm sized plastic box at the bottom of the second largest pocket. Upon flipping it open, she found it full of little white tablets, which she assumed were water purification tablets, since if they were for medical purposes, they would be in the medkit.

While crossing her fingers, she filled her canteen with the crystal-clear water flowing from the wall before dropping a tablet in. The tablet fizzed as it dissolved into the water. Thirst got the better of her after a few seconds of watching the waterfall, prompting her to chug the canteen. She refrained from wiping her dropping mouth with her nasty sleeve, instead opting to top off the half empty canteen before dropping another tablet into it. Hopefully, I didn’t just give myself something. It would suck if tainted water did me in after all I’ve survived.

She clipped her canteen to her belt as she returned to her backpack, then set up her tent. After popping up her tent and rolling out her sleeping bag, she unsheathed the machete and turned her attention to a familiar exit.

The moment she peeked her head through, a vine shot toward her face. She dropped to her stomach, coming face to face with glazed over eyes. A scream ripped from her throat as she leaped upright and retreated into her camp.