Heavy Metal: Chapter 61 – Unbound. (Patreon)

The Core of the dungeon pulsated erratically, its glowing essence dimming and brightening as if mirroring the beating of a frantic heart. Rusty took a firm step forward, the sound of metal echoing as he moved his frame. He took slow, deliberate steps towards the Heart, each one bringing him closer to the conclusion of his journey.

“N…O…ooo…”

“B…aaa….ccc…k.”

His creator was out of options, all the monsters that it threw at him were used to reawaken the boss who he defeated. The mana around this chamber had started to dim and the voice inside his head was now unable to stop his momentum. Rusty was sure that he could not be halted anymore and now it was time for him to gain his freedom finally.

As Rusty approached the Dungeon Heart, he could feel the tendrils of mana writhing around him, weak but persistent in their attempts to reestablish control. However, they were unable to stop his advance. The core had been trained of power, and the dungeon had lost most of its power. There were possibly some leftover monsters above him, but if the boss couldn’t defeat him, neither would they.

“You’re still talking? Do you not realize what I want?”

Rusty attempted to communicate with the Dungeon Heart, but it started to give off incomprehensible noises. Its ability to communicate wasn’t the same as his, and it didn’t seem to understand his plea. He just wanted to be set free from the tethers binding him to this place. If he was set free, he would simply walk away and leave this being in peace. However, the Dungeon Heart was making things more difficult, which meant he would need to sever the connection in a different way.

The dungeon core was still on top of a large pillar in the middle of the chamber. There were no stairs leading up, and the pillar was about ten meters tall. Rusty thought about climbing up but then realized this was a chance to scare the heart into letting him go. From his inventory, he retrieved a large iron hammer, much thicker and bigger than the war pick he had used in the previous fight.

This iron hammer was an imposing weapon but a bit unruly and heavy. It’s weight was immense and unusable without using the heavier body frame. One side was flat while the other had a sharp nail-like ending. Rusty hefted it with both his hands and approached the pill. Soon the Dungeon Heart’s frantic pulsations increased, almost as if it sensed what was coming.

“Just cut the connection, or I will have to destroy you and this entire place, do you want that to happen?”

The tendrils of mana lashed out in desperation, trying to restrain him, but they were too weak to hold him back. Rusty shook them off and then swung the hammer with all his might. The impact shook the chamber, sending cracks spiderwebbing up the pillar. The Dungeon Heart shuddered, its glow flickering wildly.

“Last chance!”

Rusty continued to warn this strange being while whaling on the large rock pillar. His hammer was strong and heavy but even it was having trouble with this structure. After around ten hits it the shaft started bending and he needed to use up some iron to restore it. Luckily, after a few initial cracks had formed he was able to plunge the spike in to create a large hole.

Chunks of stone broke away from the pillar, clattering to the ground. The Heart’s voice turned to panicked whispers, pleading and threatening in equal measure. Rusty ignored it, focusing on his task. He struck again and again, each blow bringing him closer to his goal. Finally, with a resounding crash, the pillar crumbled, sending the Dungeon Heart tumbling down.

Rusty watched the crystal representing the dungeon core fall down in his direction. The mana threads were sticking out of it but they could not be used by this strange construct. This thing that had forced him to live his life in one way, was not powerless before the creature it brought to life. He caught it with both his hands, the core’s pulsating light dimmed as he held it. The tendrils of mana flailed weakly, trying to reestablish their grip over him but to no avail.

“Is this still not enough? Do you want me to crush you like this?”

The Dungeon Heart was quite big, almost as wide as his own torso and close to the same length. It was a strange pulsating crystal formation that when squeezed started screeching even louder. He could see cracks forming on its surface making him realize that this thing would have probably shattered if it collided with the hard ground here.

‘Is this not enough? Do I really need to destroy this thing to be free?’

There was only one way out of here, and even though a hole had been created above him, there was no way to reach that high. He had some rope in his inventory, but there was nothing to attach it to. Once this thing was destroyed, the whole structure would come tumbling down, and he certainly wouldn't be able to run through all ten floors back to the surface in such a short amount of time.

‘What if I put it into my inventory or just take it up to the first floor and then destroy it?’

An idea moved into his shiny iron head. Perhaps if he carried this thing all the way up and then destroyed it right at the exit, he would be free. This was a great plan, but he quickly realized it would be impossible. As soon as he started moving toward the edge of the chamber, his heart began to quiver in panic. It seemed that the heart was connected to this place through mana threads, and removing it too far might destroy it as well.

Rusty pondered his next move, realizing the limitations of his options. The Dungeon Heart's connection to the dungeon was too strong to sever completely without destroying it. Carrying it out of the dungeon would likely result in its collapse, a risk he couldn’t afford to take. Yet, he couldn’t remain tethered to this place forever. He needed another solution, something that would allow him to break free without causing a catastrophic collapse.

In the stillness of the cavern, a thought struck him, and he channeled his elemental skill into both hands. There was one thing he hadn't tried yet: letting the heart react directly with his elemental energies. First, with his right hand, he produced a faint light. Seeing no change, he conjured darkness with his left. He knew that mixing these energies would produce a chaotic reaction, but he was out of options. To his surprise, a reaction transpired.

“A…RGggu…OOOOoo….g….EEEEE…Rrrrr….””

The heart cried out in a strange tone and then suddenly went silent. Rusty felt the pulsating core in his hands begin to change as he channeled both light and darkness into it. The Dungeon Heart's once frantic and dissonant energy seemed to stabilize, its light dimming to a steady, even glow. The mana threads that had been writhing around his body slackened, their grip weakening as if releasing their hold on him. For a moment, silence filled the cavern, broken only by the appearance of a system message.

The ‘Unbound’ title has been acquired.

Rusty wanted to cry out in joy and almost let the pulsating heart fall down to the ground. After gently placing it down, he brought up his status window to confirm his new title and what it truly meant. 

Unbound [ Title ]

A title gained by a monster who has managed to sever its ties to the dungeon heart, achieving autonomy and independence. When active, this title grants a tremendous increase in resistance against any mind-controlling skills and spells. 

“OH! I am truly free!”

He looked at his old creator, the dungeon core, which was now fully silent and calm. It was as if it no longer identified him as an enemy, though he wasn't sure how this was achieved. Rusty glanced back at the title’s description, feeling a wave of relief wash over him. He was finally free, unshackled from the constraints of this dungeon, and could leave. However, he couldn't take any chances. Before advancing from this place, he activated his skill to summon the demon and the hero.

“Hoh, both of us at once? I see you’re feeling adventurous, my dear Rusty!”

“Could you not speak like that? It sounds off.”

“What do you mean? Aren’t you perhaps the one with a dirty mind?”

The two orbs, one black and one white, appeared next to him. Alexander, the betrayed hero, hovered above his right shoulder pauldron, while Aburdon, the fallen demon king, kept to the left one. Both of them started to bicker, as he expected. His mana reserves had grown, as had the Call Guide skill. With every level, the percentage of mana used was decreasing, and he just needed to keep the skill active to level it up further.

“That was quite the ingenious solution there, Rusty. How did you know that using both light and darkness would overload the dungeon heart mana preceptors and in turn reset its mind?”

Aburdon turned to him to praise him for his quick thinking but Rusty wasn’t sure what he was talking about.

“Ah… uh… I read it in one of the books in the library…”

“Oh, which one?”

Aburdon inquired while Rusty quickly changed the topic of their conversation. Now that he was free of the heart, he needed to leave this dungeon. To his knowledge, there was just one exit which was guarded by many adventurers. To go around this obstruction he needed to use his newly attained possessions skill.

“We don’t have much time, I have summoned both of you to help me make a plan! You said I should use the possession skill on someone, but on who?”

“Hmm… well, I’m not sure, why don’t you ask the hero there? He is the one that was an adventurer.”

Alexander pondered for a while and then responded.

“It would be better to use an identity of someone that isn’t known to the adventurers… if you use a current adventurer, you might be quickly discovered but I’m not sure

“What about one of those four outside, what if I possess one of them?”

“I’m not sure if that’s a good idea, at your current skill level it will probably be hard to control a body of that level.

Aburdon chimed in, informing the two about the downsides of the new skill that Rusty had learned.

“What do you mean by that, a body of that level?”

While he was inside the Soul Forge he focused mostly on training himself and crafting. He wasn’t the smartest tool in the shed and didn’t have much experience to create a long-lasting plan. He thought that he could just take any meat of an adventurer and somehow control it.

“You’ll only be able to control lesser beings and low-level adventurers. Even then, you’ll probably have to beat them half to death for the skill to take hold. But, I’m not sure about the extent of your skill, perhaps you should try possessing a corpse first and see how it feels?”

Before Rusty could reply, Alexander also started talking from his right shoulder.

“It’s probably better to avoid those four, I’m sure you’d be asked many questions once you’re outside, you’d be discovered.”

Rusty tried to nod but the bulkier armor kept him from moving his neck.

“I see… but where would I find the corpse of an adventurer… ah, there was one at that location.”

His mind was filled with ways of rescuing his friend Gleam and he remembered a certain location. He still had an older adventurer card that he took with him and before moving. After taking it out he presented it to Alexander to see if he would agree with his idea.

“How about this person, could I use this identity?”

“That card could be enough, this person’s features are quite average… and the class can also use heavy armor, it could work…”

“Let me see!”

Aburdon cried out from the side as he felt left out of the conversation. The card depicted an average-looking man, whose stature would probably fit into the armor that he had made. The adventurer card was found on a body that a spider had captured and hadn’t eaten yet. If his memory didn’t fail him, then this body was in a mummified state and somewhat pale. He didn’t get a good look at the face but perhaps it would be enough to let him escape.

“Can’t we find someone more handsome? I don’t want our Rusty to look this average…”

“What does it matter how he looks?”

“It does matter!”

A plan seemed to have been made and Rusty had already made the decision to visit that area once more. Before leaving he also noticed a strange phenomenon of not losing as much mana as he was supposed to. He had used a lot of his skills during combat and even summoned these two but he had not yet drained himself past the halfpoint. He realised that his magic points were being restored at a much faster pace than usual and this dungeon core chamber probably had something to do with it.

“This pillar, it has some mana on it…”

Classification: Mana filled stone

Type:  Mineral

Description: A stone filled with some mana

“The pillar must have absorbed the ambient mana from the Dungeon Heart. The effect will probably dissipate with time but it will help you regenerate your mana faster if you hold it.”

Alexander offered some insight as Rusty investigated the destroyed rocks. He quickly decided to pick out a few pieces and place them into his storage space. These fragments could potentially be useful in the future, either for crafting or for aiding him in combat. An item that increased his mana regeneration could prove invaluable for future battles and explorations.

“This should be enough, I’ll call you two later.”

“I hope so, it’s so boring in that soul forge and you’ll probably need us to guide once you’re outside, better to level up that skill, Rusty.”

“I agree, you will need me to get through the adventurer guild.”

Rusty selected his default loadout to change back into his normal form. He knew that the two were right as he had no idea what was waiting for him in the world above. The dungeon was what he knew and probably getting this skill up so that he could have the two out at his disposal would be crucial. He could already feel the weight of the task ahead settling in, but for now, he had to focus on executing the next step of his plan.

Once his two guides were gone he turned his attention back to the dungeon. The way forward was still dangerous and he was being pursued by four adventurers. With some luck, Rusty would be able to avoid detection. However, if they stood in his way, then he would not hold back and go through them.