Part Two

That stench…it isn’t normal. It doesn’t even smell foul, just wrong, like a wound left to fester for far too long. With no other options, I’d been forced to go into the building I’d started on. Things had been fine at first. The inside was lit up in the same way as most Dungeons I’d seen, though as stated before, there was a strange scent in the air. It was highly unpleasant, and reminded me of the infirmary in Fort Aries. Despite the NPCs’ best efforts, the place always had a slightly unpleasant odor to it.

Perhaps there’s Undead in here? That would fit with the whole City of Nightmares theme. Hm, no, maybe not. The scent isn’t strong enough for that. Then what’s causing it?

I continued pondering the mysterious scent as I went deeper in the building. I wasn’t able to puzzle it out on my own, but it didn’t matter. The source soon revealed itself.

After climbing down three flights of steps, and wandering through several empty corridors, I eventually came upon it. A strange figure standing right in the middle of the hallway, stock still, except for the occasional twitch. Honestly, I mistook it for a Zombie at first. Its body was just as putrid as one of theirs were, but just like the scent filling the building, something was off about it. So I Analyzed it, just to be sure.

Festering Hunter

Rank: D

Description: Like all other ‘Festering’ Fiend-Type monsters, Festering Hunters are breeding grounds for bacteria and other pathogens. Even a single cut could lead to a fatal infection. However, particular care should be taken to avoid being bit by them, as their saliva contains a unique poison that suppresses the victim's immune system, leaving them completely vulnerable to infection.

What. The. FUCK!? Wh-why is this a thing!? This is WAY WORSE than a simple Zombie. Who decided to set this to hard mode!?

Clicking my tongue in frustration, I quickly changed my approach. Given the fact that a single cut from it could kill or incapacitate me, I had to efficiently and effectively kill this thing. There was only one real way to do that. I had to sneak up on it.

Unlike Alicia, I’d never actually learned to use Stealth on my own, leaving me reliant on the Cloak of Shadows to use the Skill. Unfortunately, that was a waste of mana since using a Skill provided by equipment was several times more inefficient than using it yourself, though it did remove the possibility of errors occurring. Perhaps I needed to think about learning Stealth at some point?

Deciding to hold off on thinking about that, I crept closer to the Hunter, blade poised to stab through the back of its head. The stench was nearly unbearable this close to it, forcing me to hold my breath as I thrust my sword through it.

“Kyaaaghh…”

The Hunter let out a gurgling cry as it felt its brain be pierced. It tried to turn around to claw at me, but it rapidly lost strength in its body, and was soon dead.

Well, that was easy. They’re probably not that much stronger than a Goblin, though the disease thing worries me. There’s probably a lot of them in this building, so I’ll have to be careful as I go. One or two would be manageable, but stopping a pack of them from hurting me at all would be…difficult. Things should be fine so long as I go slow.

Right?

***

Wrong.

“GRROOOOAAAAAGGGGHHH!!!”

“””Kyyaaaaaaaggguhh!!!”””

“Grr, fuck off you stupid shit stains!”

Things had gone pretty well at first. I’d stalked through the halls, ambushing any Hunters I came across. Despite their name, the creatures were practically blind and could only detect me through sound. I’d actually worried that they might be able to smell me at first, but I’d soon figured out that their own stench covered up all other scents. So as long as I stayed quiet, they never saw me coming.

Unfortunately, good things don’t last forever. The further I went into the building, the more Hunters there were, until I began to see them standing together in groups. That was fine. I could handle two or three of them at once, no problem. Even the fact that they were moving around in larger groups just a few floors later wasn’t a problem. A single Combustion Bomb turned them into smoldering corpses.

The problems began on the tenth floor. Or twentieth, I guess. We were counting backwards. Regardless, when I stepped off the stairway onto the new floor, I was greeted with wide open arms and a glorious smile. Not.

Festering Scourge

Rank: C

Description: Large, powerful monsters often used as heavy infantry by Fiends. While they possess the same properties as other ‘Festering’ monsters, Scourges take it to the next level by projectile vomiting their unique poisonous salvia, made even more dangerous by a slight acidicness.

Basically, it was time for a Boss fight. The second the massive monster aggro'd me, it began vomiting this strange goo everywhere. I know Analyze said it was spit, but it looked more like ectoplasm or alien goo. It was thick, and extremely sticky.

“”“Keeyyyyyaaahhhh!!!”””

And of course, we couldn’t leave the Hunters out of it. The Scourge's roars attracted their attention, causing a whole pack to come running into the chamber. The only upside was that they were so stupid that they kept getting in each other's way. Several Hunters were hit full-on by globs of acid, causing them to melt into puddles of flesh. Either they were just highly vulnerable to acid, or the System needs to relearn what ‘slight' means.

With most of the Hunters now dead, I could focus on the Scourge. Though it possessed a vaguely humanoid form, it was so grossly obese that its rolls of fat had rolls of fat. I’d estimate it weighing somewhere around five hundred pounds, give-or-take. And unfortunately, all that fat acted like natural armor, making it difficult to cut through it. Even [Rot] had a hard time penetrating it.

Eventually, I settled on shaving off chunks of its fat so I could use [Rot] to damage its insides, which only half-worked. I should’ve realized that monsters that look like Undead probably have similar qualities. Damaging its internal organs did nothing to slow it down. I only managed to kill it after I cut off a leg, leaving it unable to protect its head any longer.

Note to self: Fiend-Type monsters don’t always act like living creatures, though their brains are vulnerable. Actually, are these things technically alive? Hm, probably, though they seem to lack the vulnerability of other living beings.

Given that such strange creatures were the first thing I encountered in here, I figured the whole Dungeon would probably be populated with them. Getting an early read on how tough they were would only help me down the road.

…What exactly is a Fiend anyway? Analyze mentioned them several times now, though I still don’t know what they are. Finnél’s transformed state was probably one, but I still don’t know why he transformed. He ate some of those odd pills, and just went crazy before transforming. They’re clearly at fault here, but what are they….?

No, this isn’t the time to be worries about this. I need to focus on the Dungeon, not potential threats for the future. Even if I did figure it out here, no on else would know if I died. Besides, I’m just distracting myself from the truth. I am completely and absolutely fucked.

This fight would probably serve as a good indicator of how difficult this Dungeon would be. I hadn’t expected a C-Rank to show up so quickly, even though it had died just as fast. And while the fight had felt pretty one-sided, I’d estimate that the Scourge possessed power roughly equal to the Orc General I'd fought in the Siege Dungeon. Maybe a little less.

Monsters of that level weren’t common. In fact, I thought I could count the number of enemies I’d fought that rivaled the General on both hands. But considering that one had appeared so soon, I figured that meant it wasn’t particularly strong, at least by this Dungeon's hierarchy.

That thing wasn’t even a Mid-Boss. Just what's waiting for me at the top of that tower?

***

I continued exploring the Dungeon after a short rest. The tenth floor seemed to be the beginning of an annoying difficulty spike, because new monsters appeared on every floor after that. While Hunters and Scourges were still there, they were now accompanied by Festering Trackers, dog-like monsters with the same putrid flesh as the other two, and Festering Feeders, large slime-like monsters that the other three ate in order to increase the output of their disease ridden saliva. They honestly looked like giant balls of thickened sewer water.

And then, because I’d already determined that this Dungeon hated me and wanted to see me suffer, they went and added UNDEAD on the fifteenth floor. Ordinary E-Rank Zombies and D-Rank Bloated Zombies began cropping up between the packs of Festering monsters. And then five floors later, they began appearing together. I’d seen it coming, but it was an enormous pain in the ass all the same. Both types of enemy looked extremely similar to one another, making it difficult to determine which monsters I needed to avoid entirely.

I needed up having to treat every monster like it was a Festering Hunter or Scourge. Doing that just drained my mana and stamina faster, but it was far better than contracting a fatal infection.

I’ve decided, this place is hell. I actually haven’t gone into a Dungeon. I’m in hell now. Yep, that makes so much more sense than this place.

Honestly, the smell was the worst part. Either kind would be bad enough by itself, but when you combined them, it became something truly awful. By the time I neared the ground floor, I was so nose blind that I’d likely never smell anything again. Which was a damn shame since I liked the smell of lilac.

Huh, I wonder if mom's lilac bushes are still there? I didn’t think to look before I entered the house. Hm, maybe I should cut myself a few snippets to take with me? Nah, where would I plant them?

Thankfully, I’d finally found the exit from this blasted building. Hopefully the outside would be just as shitty as the inside.

***

“Hmmm, I suppose he performed adequately. If he had struggled with monsters on this level, he’d never survive the ordeals to come.”

Unbeknownst to Michael, someone was observing his every move. The way he fought, the things he said while fighting, even how he approached the fights were all being scrutinized with a fine-tooth comb.

“Most would balk after seeing how large the city is, or be discouraged upon discovering the Scourge, but he’s held out against despair. For now.”

Since this space was under the watcher's control, it could quite literally chose to eliminate Michael if he ever displeased it, unknowingly or not. However, it was unlikely that would happen. The watcher had spent far too long without any new Vassals. While they did have one, she was extremely temperamental, and unlikely to ever actually do anything they asked.

So even though they hadn’t seen anything impressive yet, they would continue to watch. After all, the mortal would soon arrive at the first ordeal. Whether or not they’d catch their interest would hinge on that moment.

Though, it should be mentioned that “soon” was a relative term for an immortal.