The Human From a Dungeon 23 (Patreon)

Chapter 23

Yulk Alta

Adventurer Level: 7

Orc - Nulevan

We've been on the road for four days, and the trip has been mostly uneventful. Nash and Thunra were pummeling some semblance of a fighting style into Nick, and we're making great time on our way to the capital. The only thing we've run into so far is other travelers, and because of this our spirits are high.

Well, except for Nick's. I grinned at the boy as he collapsed into his seat, fresh from sparring with Thunra. My grin was met with a stoic, yet weary, expression. His training had been difficult, but I'd only had to help heal him once. Ten does an amazing job at keeping Nick functional.

My grin faded as the AI came to mind. I recalled the metal box that fell out of the dungeon creature's splattered brains. There's little doubt that it contained a being like Ten, and Ten had also seemed to know to look for it. Although, that could be attributed to amazing reaction time.

If the crazed human in the dungeon had an AI in its head, who was controlling the body? Perhaps the AI was like Ten before it woke up, and the human simply lost his mind due to the tragic nature of his situation. He had to have been down there for a very long time, so that could have cost him his sanity as well. Being alone in the dark for years, perhaps even decades. It was no wonder he turned feral.

I supposed it is also possible that the AI had gone insane along with the human. If something can think, it can likely also feel, and anything that can feel can go mad. This begets the question, which went insane first? Did the humans insanity cause the AI to go feral or did the AI's insanity cause the human to lose it?

"Are we there yet?" Nick asked, jarring me from my thoughts.

"Nope. Soon, though," Imlor answered. "If all goes well we'll be at the outskirts of the capital around dusk. We'll make camp there, and be at your destination by noon tomorrow."

"Why haven't we run into anything killable yet?"

I laughed and said, "We got lucky. Imlor has taken us on an adventurer's route, which would normally be a more dangerous option. I suspect that the reason for our luck is all the other travelers we've seen so far. Since they are also adventurers, they would've fought any monsters they came across."

"I was sure we were gonna be able to fight somethin' when we went through the swamp," Nick muttered. "Now we're back in the forest, though."

"Feeling a bit aggressive, are we?" I asked condescendingly.

"Not going to lie to you, Yulk. Yes I am. Very. Nash and Thunra are leagues above me when it comes to experience. I'm rarely able to even land a hit," he ranted. "It's not good for my confidence, you know."

"Well, the High Chief will have a quest waiting for us. Maybe it will involve fighting monsters."

"I hope so."

"It's not so bad," Imlor interjected. "You got some new skills, right?"

"Yeah," Nick sighed. "Two skills in four days."

"You say that like you were expecting more," I said. "A new skill every two days is quite a feat, even with trainers like Thunra and Nash."

"Really?"

"Yes. Most people unlock skills as they go, and usually in combat with tough monsters. Training a new skill outside of combat can take weeks. That's one of the reasons I opted to go into magic instead of melee," I grinned again.

Nick laughed, "It's not like you had much of a choice, though. Right?"

"Sure I did. I could have been a warrior like Nash, and it would have been just as hard for me as it was for him. But since I was blessed with a better than average magic core I was able to dedicate my time to magic instead. Since it's extremely difficult to train both martial and magical prowess simultaneously, everyone was very understanding when I chose magic and didn't bother to learn to swing an axe."

"So what you're saying is that I've got it lucky?" he laughed again. "How come it doesn't feel like it?"

"It's pretty common to be lucky and also completely oblivious to it," I answered.

Nick fell into silent contemplation as everyone else finished loading into the carts. As we continued our journey, I wondered about Nick's propensity for advancement in regards to his skills. It seems to go a bit beyond him simply being a natural at combat. Could it be something related to his species, perhaps? Maybe humans are simply a jack-of-all-trades kind of race.

On the other hand, the creature from the dungeon didn't use any magic. It could be that it was unable to due to its mental state. Some monsters stop using magic when they frenzy. And if a sorcerer is sufficiently stressed, their spells are effected as well. It's entirely possible that at one point it could use magic, so perhaps we should simply be thankful that it couldn't at the time.

Come to think of it, Nick described his magic channels as being straight. I didn't put much thought into it at the time, wrote it off as an odd quirk of an unfamiliar species, but after seeing the metal box fall out of that other human's head I can't help but wonder... Are they artificial?

Nick had said that the world he comes from doesn't have magic, but could that be due to the fact that humans simply can't naturally use magic? Why would someone go through the effort of making sure humans could use magic? What materials would one even use to create an artificial magic core and channels? No, that's not even the biggest problem with this line of thought. How would one possibly create the magic that fills the core, and in such quantities to power through a misconceived visualization trigger?

Nick's wind spear had been very powerful for a beginner, and I had been under the impression that it was due to his knowledge of the concept of wind. After hearing him explain how he thought wind worked to Matri... Well it can't be denied that he had inadvertently put a massive amount of magical force into the spell. Like a beast that doesn't know its own strength trying to use a fragile piece of equipment.

"Thrilling," I muttered to myself.

Several pairs of eyes turned to look at me simultaneously. I waved a hand in a nonchalant way to indicate I was speaking to myself.

"Don't worry, he gets like that sometimes," Nash said in my defense.

The eyes went about their business and left me to sum up my thoughts. Nick has a massive amount of potentially artificial core magic, and I have no way of determining if that magic is natural or not without hurting the boy. Damn it all, we should have performed an autopsy on the feral one. It had simply not occurred to me at the time. I was more concerned with the fact that we survived the encounter.

"Which skills did you learn, anyway," Imlor asked Nick, bringing me back to reality.

"Preternatural Evasion and Knife Hand," Nick answered.

"Knife hand?" I asked.

"Yeah, it makes my hand hard when I do this," he held up his outstretched hand with all his fingers pressed tightly together. "And that makes my karate chops do a lot of damage. It can also intimidate weaker enemies if I point it at them."

"Heh, sounds... handy," I grinned.

Everyone had been listening in and were punished for their nosiness by my wordplay. I met the groans with a chuckle.

"Right. So puns aside, what does preternatural evasion do?" Imlor asked.

"It let's him automatically dodge attacks that can be dodged," Thunra answered. "Both skills are very useful for weaponless brawling."

I looked at Nash and gave him a slightly smug smirk, then turned back to Nick.

"So, you didn't learn any sword skills?" I asked with a malicious grin.

"No, he fucking didn't," Nash growled. "And if you're trying to imply that it's my fault, I'll kick your ass right off this cart."

"Oh no, I would never dream of blaming Nick's swordsmanship instructor for his lack of sword skills," I said with measured sarcasm.

"My skin is tougher than your words," Nash replied while crossing his arms. "You won't rile me up."

"Any further than he already has?" Matri asked innocently.

"Oh, so now it's a group effort, is it?" Nash shouted.

Our laughter rang out through the trees and almost masked the sound of wood crunching. Everyone except for Imlor stopped laughing and immediately turned towards the sound.

"Stop the cart," I said.

"Dibs!" Nick shouted as he leapt from the cart.

"The hell does dibs mean?" Nash asked as he jumped after Nick.

I waited for the cart to come to a halt before climbing off. Nick and Nash were joined by Thunra, whom I hadn't even seen move. They were already about 50 yards ahead of me. Nick reached for his belt and then, remembering he doesn't have a sword, slowed to allow the other two to catch up.

Before they could, though, two thick trees turned to splinters as a massive red and yellow beast crashed through them. It took a second to gain its bearings, and then roared a challenge at us, exposing rows of fangs and a tongue with a stinger on the tip. Its four eyes focused on Nick, and it stepped forward.

"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT THING?" Nick shouted.

Nash glanced at me, unsure of what we were looking at. Fair, considering we hadn't seen one before. The coloration was confusing, not designed to supply camouflage in a forest at all. But that's because it isn't designed to be camouflaged, nor is it supposed to be in a forest. Its domed skull covered in metallic spikes told me exactly what it was.

"It's a Nahalim!" Thunra shouted. "Get back!"

A Nahalim, a creature created in a twisted time of disastrous war. Designed specifically to breach barricades and destroy defenders, while drawing attention away from other attackers. The three claws on each limb were capable of cracking through stone like the sharpest of picks, and to add to its lethality its creators had made it venomous. A terrible creature, and most unfortunate that we find one so close to the capital. We have to kill it.

"Raeps Dniw Tsac!" Nick shouted, ignoring the sage advice that the brawler had given him.

Wind slashed around us as his spell launched toward the Nahalim. It was a very powerful attempt, and I covered my eyes to protect them from the dust it kicked up. Despite the foolishness of the action, I found myself with a sense of pride for my pupil. Once the wind died down, though, Nick was on the ground with a very nasty looking gash in his chest. Joni rushed past me to his aid. Knowing that Joni would keep Nick alive, I focused on the Nahalim.

It wasn't undamaged, but its injury could be considered a minor flesh wound for one of its ilk. Its metallic skull glimmered in the sun, and two of the spikes had been shorn clean off. Ochre colored blood oozed from the flesh still clinging desperately to the remaining spikes. No, wind spear wouldn't work against such a foe. There's a specific class of spell one must cast to destroy a Nahalim, and it has to be a powerful one.

The monster shook its head and stepped toward Nick and Joni, clearly angry at the injury it sustained. Nash and Thunra stepped in, slashing and punching respectively. The creature's attention turned, and it immediately began fighting them.

I dropped my staff and raised both hands, feeling the arcane energies swell within my head. I focused on the glimmer of the Nahalim's exposed skull, and decided which spell to use. Nash and Thunra were in the way, though, dodging tooth, tongue, and claw.

"GET OUT OF THE WAY!" I shouted.

The two veteran fighters glanced at me for a millisecond before making a run for it. The Nahalim looked at the two of them, unsure of which one to pursue. The hair on my arms stood on end as I began my visualization. Electrical energy, unbelievably powerful, moving at the speed of light toward the exposed metal.

"Tlob Srolmi Tsac!"

My eyes felt as if they were on fire, my chest felt as if it had been kicked by a hnarse, and my arms burned as the lightning bolt traveled from me to the Nahalim. The strike was instant, and giant monster collapsed to the ground. I grinned in satisfaction as my legs gave out and I fell to my knees. I gasped through the pain, letting it roll through me and keeping myself calm as it did so. It's just a little pain, no need to panic.

"Yulk!" Nash shouted as he ran up to me. "Are you hurt?"

"Yes, but it's fine," I waved him off. "Imlor's Bolt is a hell of a spell, brother. How's Nick?"

"He seems alright," Thunra answered as he approached. "Not even bleedin' anymore. Joni looks like he's seen a ghost, though. You sure you're okay?"

"Yes," I said, grabbing my staff and rising to my feet. "It's pain, not an injury. It's just one of the costs of the spell."

"Huh?" they asked in unison.

"Most spells just cost magic to cast, but certain spells cost a little something extra. A sort of curse to remind one to use the spell sparingly," I explained. "Never mind that, let's check on Nick."

They eyed me warily as we walked over to Joni and Nick. Thunra was right, Joni looked terrified. His pale face looked up at us and he pointed to Nick.

"It-it spoke," he whispered.

"What's that? Speak up," Thunra held a hand to his ear.

"He said, 'it spoke'. By it, I'm assuming he means Ten," I said.

"The robot in Nick's head?"

"The very same."

"Oh. Cool," Thunra grinned.

Joni looked at us, his shock turning to incredulity and finally to anger.

"You knew? You knew the AI could use Nick to talk?" he demanded.

"Oh come on, Joni. Give 'em the benefit of the doubt," Thunra interjected. "The AI used Nick's body to fight before, why wouldn't it be able to use his mouth to talk? Common sense."

"Actually, Thunra, we did know," Nash said sheepishly. "Ten talked to us after the fight with the altered human."

"Oh... how come you didn't say nothin'?"

"We didn't quite get the chance, if you'll recall," I said with a grin. "And after that interaction, we thought it best to keep it between us. Joni, step aside please. I need to ask Ten something before Nick wakes up."

Joni looked offended, but moved so that I could kneel down. He muttered a curse under his breath and crossed his arms.

"Ten, can you hear me?" I asked.

"Yes," Nick's voice said.

"How is Nick doing?"

"He's stable, Joni's healing was very helpful. He'll be waking up soon."

"Good," I nodded. "Now then, why didn't you take control of his body like you did in the dungeon?"

I caught three surprised expressions in my peripheral vision.

"I tried," Ten said in a whining tone that surprised me. "He stopped me! I didn't even know he could do that!"

"How?" I asked.

"I do not know. He shouldn't have been able to. If that attack had been a little bit stronger or a millimeter to the left we'd have died!"

"Did you try to take control before he cast wind spear or after?" Nash asked.

"Before. It took half a second to fully detail the beast once I had a clear view of it, and I determined that Nick would not have been able to defeat it. I attempted to gain control, but was unable to. He simply didn't go under," Ten explained. "That's the second time I've experienced panic. Not enjoyable."

"Don't mean to be mean, buddy, but it's his body," Thunra interjected. "Can't expect him to be willin' to just hand it over at the drop of a hat."

"We could have died," Ten said softly. "He's waking up now. Goodbye."

We stared in uncomfortable silence at Nick's unconscious form. He looked peaceful, like a sleeping child. An illusion that was quickly shattered when he began coughing roughly and sat up.

"Wh-what happened?" he asked.

"You nearly died, dumbass," Nash immediately answered. "Next time an over-twenty tells you to get back you'd better fucking listen."

"Hey!" Matri shouted from behind us. "How's Nick?"

"He's fine," Thunra called out as Matri and Yhisith ran over.

"We checked the perimeter," Yhisith said. "Looks like we're clear..."

They looked at the corpse of the Nahalim, flames flickering where its eyes used to be. A lot more of its metallic endoskeleton was showing now. I couldn't help but be a little proud.

"Let's get back on the road," I said.