Part Six – Catalyst

“GRAAAAA!!!”

The Minotaur Soldier collapsed to one knee before I decapitated it. This Dungeon had been completely disappointing. All of the monsters were only E-Rank and the Boss was only D-Rank.

::Death of Dungeon Boss confirmed. Individual has completed E-Rank Dungeon. Generating rewards……Complete.

Dungeon Completion Time

3 Hours 13 Minutes::

Alicia and Cameron didn’t want to do a Dungeon run. So they were scavenging for supplies elsewhere. That left me to do this one by myself. Since It was on the smaller side, I was fully capable of running it alone. But I was a bit lonely. I’d grown used to having the others around while we were fighting.

The Minotaurs dissolved into light, transforming into my reward.

Skill Catalyst

Rank: Special

Description: A unique item that can induce a mutation or evolution in a Normal Skill. Since the effects are random, the resulting skill may be weaker than the original.

This is… I don’t know what I should do with this. It’s pretty much just a gamble and I don’t like gambling. What if one of my Skills turn into something weird? It could affect my combat ability.

“Well, I should get out of here. They’re probably about ready and Alicia will get pissy if they’re left waiting too long.”

The walk back through the empty Dungeon was boring. So boring in fact, that I began to contemplate using the Catalyst. No, I should save it. I only have two normal skills right now. Or three if you count Analyze. I don’t want one of them to become garbage.

Yep, I must resist temptation. If I use every sketchy item I find, I don’t know what kind of crap I might trigger. Using something that I don’t know what it’ll do could screw up my chances of getting stronger.

Ahh, who am I kidding? I’m clearly going to use it. I just can’t stop my curiosity.

Using the Catalyst was simple. I just had to eat it, which was odd. What would something like that do to my body? And did I care?

*Ulp*

It was no different from swallowing a slightly large pill. And once it hit my stomach, an intense heat spread throughout my body. The tingling was extremely strong, especially in my chest. It felt like something was wriggling around inside me.

::Normal Skill: Sword Aura has Mutated. Acquired Normal Skill: Dual Sword Aura Rank F. Individual has acquired Title: Mutationist.::

And stuff happened. As always, the System can’t tell me this in an easier to understand way. But it seems like my Skill got stronger, but what’s with that Title?

Mutationist – A Title awarded to those who have had a Skill Mutate. Increases the odds of a Skill mutating in a beneficial direction.

Huh? This could actually help me out. If another Skill undergoes a Mutation, this’ll help keep it from becoming something I don’t want. And Dual Sword Aura seems similar to Sword Aura. It just focuses on multiple weapons, rather than a single sword.

Before, by cloaking both swords in Aura, there was a drop in the Skill's performance. Now it works the same even with both swords. Excellent.

I finally left the Dungeon. That was the worst part, because I had to backtrack to get out. There weren’t even any monsters to fight, as the ones I hadn’t killed all de-spawned when I killed the Boss. Thus leaving me with very little to do.

“You’re finally done! We’ve been waiting for hours!” Alicia was in a wonderful mood.

“Lass. Calm yourself. We knew it would take some time for him to return. That he’s gotten back so soon is beneficial to us.”

“Fine. But did you find anything good inside?”

“Not really. Mostly a bunch of generic drops and a few weapons. The only thing that’s useful is something called a Skill Catalyst. I already used it and it caused my Aura Skill to become something stronger.”

“That’s not fair! You always get all the good stuff. I’m still using a normal bow. Why can’t I find something stronger?”

“Maybe bows are rare? It is pretty strange that we haven’t found any kind of System-made bows. It’s odd. Almost suspicious.”

Looking back, the kinds of equipment that appeared was geared towards whoever caused it to drop. When it was just me, there was a greater chance of one-handed weapons appearing. But after Cameron joined, I’d seen several types of two-handed weapons, as well as bulkier armor. But I’ve never seen a bow.

“Well whatever. We can figure it out later, but since we got paid, we should head back to civilization. Though I’d like to head north this time.”

“Oh? Why’s that?”

“If we go back to where we were, there’s a better chance of getting caught up in something. We might get recognized or draw attention for leaving and returning.”

“Aight. But what next? Do we look for another job, or do we try to find other allies? If things had gone even a little wrong there, one of us could’ve died. Having more people would give us a better chance of winning in hard fights like that.”

“I’m not exactly enthusiastic about that, but yeah. We should try to recruit at least one more person. Preferably a healer. I’ve only got one Treant's Fruit left.”

[Chris’s POV]

It seems like paperwork will never end. No matter how much I finish, there’s always more the next day. That’s what’s causing my constant sleep deprivation. I need some more civil officials, people who can process this without making me stay up for hours on end. If you add in my personal problems on top of my work, I never get to sleep.

“Director, again? Don’t you ever learn not to overwork yourself?”

“I’m afraid that’s not possible. There’s just too much for me to do. Every day brings more work.”

“it’s happening everywhere. The monster's attacks are becoming larger. Did our request for reinforcements get through?”

“I’m afraid not. Director Forzerenth has been hoarding most of the new recruits. That leaves little for the other defensive lines, so getting more personnel looks unlikely.”

“Crap. Forzerenth is the Director in charge of Africa's defensive line, correct?”

“Yes. Since that one spans across several countries, with little in the way of natural barriers, he claims he needs the most volunteers.” Chris sighed to himself, sick of playing politics.

It wasn’t like he didn’t have experience with this kind of maneuvering. He’d originally been the owner of a shipping company. It’s headquarters was located in London, so after the disaster occurred, he’d tried to do anything he could to help. He’d used a part of his fortune to aid the refugees. He’d even helped to fund the beginning of the Committee, which earned him a spot as one of its Directors.

He knew the horror that a monster attack could inflict and wanted to prevent more tragedies. Even if it stressed him and cost him sleep.

“Are you feeling alright Director? You look even worse than usual.”

“If that’s your way of trying to make me feel better, than you’re terrible at it. Haaa. It’s nothing. Nothing that you should worry about. It’s more of a personal problem.”

“Okay. Just know that I’ll listen if there’s anything you want to get off your chest.”

[???’s POV]

“Well that’s not good.”

“What happened here? It’s like every thing was ripped apart. I haven’t seen monsters killed like this, not even by explosives.”

“We need to report this. If no one knows, something catastrophic will happen.”

“Why should we? We’re here to find anything of value left behind. If we report this, we’ll have to explain what we were doing.”

The plaza before the two men was covered in blood and the scattered bodies of monsters. It looked like a tornado of blades had swept through, cutting everything to shreds. You wouldn’t even be able to identify the beasts from what was left.

The two split up, moving around to check the abandoned houses. Compelled by greed, they never noticed their own demise approaching

“Hey? What’s that over there?”

One of them had noticed a figure nearby. Thinking it might be another human, he slowly approached.

“Are you alright? Do you know what happened here?”

In response to the man’s question, the figure stood and turned its head. Or at least, what passed for its head.

“Wha!?”

It had no facial features. No eyes, nose or even hair. All it had was a gaping hole where a human’s mouth would be. Drool trickled out of its maw, the hole lined with sharp fangs. It lunged for the man, bringing down one of its clawed hands. It slashed through his flimsy armor, cutting deep into his chest. As he fell with a scream, more mouths burst open on the monster’s body, each lined with the same fangs.

“W-what the hell!? What are you!?”

The other man had heard his companions scream and come to investigate. But that was a mistake.

“N-n-noooooo! Stay away!”

It charged at him, fully intent on feeding. The second man never stood a chance. He was poorly armed and didn’t even have proper armor or a gun. There was no way he could protect himself.

“Gaaaack!”

As claws ripped through his throat, his last thought was that he should have run.

*Chew chew chew chew chew chew chew chew*

With both of its prey slain, the figure had brought the two together and started to feast. It stripped them down to the bone, even consuming the inorganic parts of their armor. After it finished its meal, it moved on, looking for new prey.

It would be a few more weeks before the world learned of the threat idly lurking below the surface.