Chapter 379 - Attrition (Patreon)

Zeke ducked beneath a flapping book before aiming a horizontal swing at an ambulatory couch. His hammer took the thing in the armrest, sending it skidding sideways a few feet. The moment its momentum was spent, Silik crashed into it, furiously stabbing it with his spear. He let out a hissing roar as the intensity of his light-based enhancement flared. Every attack ripped into the cushions, leaving scorched leather and tendrils of smoke behind.

But the animated couch was nearly level sixty, and it wasn’t going to fall easily. Zeke couldn’t afford more than a glance at his companion before he was once again assaulted by a flock of flying books. One latched onto his shoulder, its teeth digging into the colossal flesh with an unholy screech of twisting metal. After sweeping his hammer through the swarming flock of monsters, he reached over with his free hand and grabbed hold of the biting book.

It hissed as he tore it free, taking quite a bit of his metallic flesh with it. Zeke didn’t hesitate to slam it against the floor, then stomp on it with enough force to split the spine. It broke apart, finally going still.

He couldn’t afford to revel in his minor victory, though. Instead, Zeke was forced to spin around and once again sweep his hammer through the reengaging flock. He managed to hit a couple, which sent them spinning out of control, but they were agile and durable enough to quickly recover. When they did, they swooped back in to harass him.

Still, he had an opportunity to look across the library to see Jasper and Eta battling against a herd of animated tables. The two were holding their own, but neither had the strength to damage the high-level monsters. Given enough time, they could whittle the things down, but not while trying to defend against a dozen at a time.

Silik continued to battle against the couch, his abilities creating a strobe-light type of effect that would have sent some people into epileptic seizures. To Zeke’s surprise, the big kobold had managed to rip a hole in the leather cushion, and his abilities threatened to set the stuffing aflame.

By comparison, he’d made no real progress against his own set of enemies. Neither had Jasper or Eta, likely because none of them – aside from Silik – were playing to their strengths.

Zeke aimed to change that.

Using the last bits of mana at his disposal, he used [Weight of Two Worlds]. The flock of books shuddered, but they had sufficient control over their own flight that they didn’t immediately plunge to the floor. Instead, they were merely slowed. Thankfully, it was just enough of a detriment to give Zeke and edge in speed, which he used to great effect as he attacked.

His hammer turned into a blur as he utilized short, quick, and controlled strikes to swat the little monsters from the air. In only a few seconds, the floor was littered with the injured creatures. They were far from dead – if the things were even alive to begin with – but his efforts had damaged them enough that, with [Weight of Two Worlds] hampering them, they were incapable of resuming their flight.

Using the same tactic as before, he increased his weight as much as he could, and brought his metallic feet down on the wounded monsters. They still put up quite a fight, latching onto his feet and trying to bite through the natural armor of [Triune Colossus], but their efforts were largely useless. And over the next thirty seconds, Zeke made quick work of the flock.

However, his minor victory hadn’t come without cost. His reserves had been spent, so he couldn’t bring any more of his skills to bear. Fortunately, he was still a twelve-foot-tall behemoth with enough strength to put a superhero to shame. On top of that, he still had Will to spare.

The expression of his path was strange. Powerful, certainly. But unlike when it was associated with the Path of Force or Runecrafting, he could only bring it to bear in relatively short bursts. Using it drained him in a way he couldn’t really describe, and according to Eveline, it was because his body wasn’t capable of handling such a potent path. As he progressed, it would get easier, but she’d posited that he would be incapable of using it freely until he reached the peak.

And maybe not even until he ascended to the Ethereal Realm.

Zeke was skeptical, though. Her predictions always tended toward the conservative – at least as far as he could tell. And he fully expected to exceed her expectations.

In any case, Zeke didn’t have time to give it much thought. Instead, he dashed forward, raising his hammer in an overhand strike that utilized his momentous weight and every point of strength he could harness. It hit the backrest of the couch, filling the air with the sound of shattering wood and an ear-splitting howl that should not have come from a piece of animated furniture.

Of course, animated furniture was not really a common sight, in and of itself, so perhaps the screech was perfectly normal for an abnormal situation.

The couch collapsed, its legs splaying across the floor. But it still wasn’t dead. Zeke and Silik solved that little issue via a generous application of force, and soon enough, the thing had been ripped to pieces. And what pieces remained smoked with barely contained heat.

Zeke exchanged a nod with Silik, and the pair tore off across the library on a collision course with the herd of tables. The things never saw them coming.

“I don’t think they have eyes,” Eveline said, finally making her presence known. Usually, she took every battle as a perfect opportunity to make what she thought were snarky comments, yet she’d been curiously silent ever since they’d entered the library.

Zeke pushed that from his mind as he swept his hammer forward, destroying one of the tables’ legs. The moment he’d finished his attack, three of the tables wheeled on him and launched themselves in his direction. It only took a few seconds for him to get overwhelmed by bludgeoning table legs. Each one carried with it enough force to knock down a castle wall, but Zeke bore the bombardment with stoic determination as his friends attempted to deal with the rest of the animated tables.

Zeke quickly realized the futility of the strategy.

Even with him taking on three of the tables himself, the rest of his companions were incapable of dealing with the remainder of the herd. They could hold their own, but even with them going all-out, they couldn’t make any headway.

They needed Zeke to tip the balance.

So, he embraced his Will without weaving it into either of his destructive techniques. Instead, he only wanted to enhance his attacks with the power of arcane destruction. Green energy so dark that it was almost black enveloped his entire body, but it congregated most densely around the head of his hammer.

He swung the weapon in a simple attack, and when it landed, the table that was his target simply exploded. Splinters went flying with enough velocity to embed in the walls and bookshelves. He swung again, and with similar results as he unsurprisingly destroyed the next table.

Once he’d engaged his Will, his fight with the monsters had ended, and it was replaced by a battle with himself as well as the barely constrained power of his path. With every passing second, the power ate through his Will in a quest to destroy the body which was his vessel. By the passage of the fourth second, Zeke had already destroyed the third table arrayed against him, but by that point, the power of arcane destruction had already destroyed the Will trying to control it.

And it had begun to ravage his body.

He released it before it could do too much damage, but even that brief moment had left him more damaged than the previous fights combined. He stumbled, but through sheer stubbornness, Zeke pushed forward and fell upon the remaining tables with as much fury as he could muster.

The fight turned quickly, and soon, the four companions managed to destroy the final monster, leaving the library silent but for the sound of heavy breathing.

After a few long moments, Jasper broke the silence, “That was…unpleasant.”

Zeke shook his head and sank to the floor as his body finally gave out. Using his Will was always an exercise in risk versus reward. It was powerful, but it usually left him in desperate need of recovery. That was why he tried not to use it more than necessary. Ironically, that strategy meant that when he did employ that power, his body and mind were less prepared to endure the onslaught of powerful energy.

Leaning back, [Triune Colossus] finally petered out, and Zeke felt his body transition back to his normal form. The others took his cue, and by the time his transformation had completed, they were all sitting on the floor as well.

And rightly so.

The previous few hours had been an exercise in horror as they went from one macabre room after another. First, they’d fought against the butler and his living pieces of art, then, they’d battled a series of hairy humanoids that, according to Zeke’s inspection skill, were mutated versions of house pets. After that, they went through a room that was, oddly enough, filled with water. How that water was contained within the room, Zeke had no idea, but the group had been hard pressed to find their way to the exit.

Following that, things had kind of blurred together. There didn’t seem to be much of a theme to the dungeon, save that it was clearly dedicated to bringing every imaginable horror to life. And some that only the most troubled minds could conjure.

Gradually, the constant battle had worn the group down until they’d entered the library where they’d just fought the animated furniture and books.

“I dislike this place,” Silik said, for once breaking his silence. He spoke so rarely that it shocked Zeke to hear his voice.

“Me too,” Zeke said. He could only hope that Pudge was having an easier time. Even though they’d been separated, Zeke could still feel that his soul bound companion was alive and mostly unhurt. There’d been a few close calls – he could feel that much, at least – but Pudge was still going strong. Hopefully, Sasha was with him.

The foursome of companions remained where they were for a couple of hours. They hadn’t had much of a chance to rest. Every time they’d managed to conquer a room, circumstances had conspired to force them to move on before they had a chance to collect themselves. So, the sudden cessation of battle gave them a desperately needed opportunity to rest.

Once Zeke had recovered enough to sit up, he summoned some rations from his spatial storage and passed it around. He didn’t dare use too much; after all, the tower’s population was significant, and he suspected that they would need to tap into his food stores if they wanted to avoid starvation. One day, they might be able to farm their own food, but he didn’t think they’d reached that point yet.

So, considering that the last thing he wanted was to leave the dungeon and summon the tower only to find a bunch of starving kobolds, he decided to limit his own consumption. The others had done so as well.

Still, even the small meal was enough to buoy his spirits.

“Do we think we’re close to the end of the dungeon?” he asked.

“There’s no telling,” Eta said. “This could keep going for days. One of my elders once told me about an ancestor who spent years conquering a dungeon.”

“We don’t have years,” Zeke said, thinking of all the people depending on him. He didn’t like being in charge, and he liked having to think about how his decisions affected an entire population of people even less. But he wouldn’t shirk his responsibilities, especially considering that doing so would end with quite a few deaths he didn’t want on his conscience.

“The end is likely near,” said Jasper. “This is a comparatively low-level dungeon, I am certain.”

“How do you know that?”

“The fact that we still live is the best indicator,” the dark elf stated. “If this were a high-level dungeon, we would never have survived so long.”

“That’s true,” Eveline said, finally offering her opinion.

“You okay?” Zeke asked inwardly.

“I am,” was her only response. Then, she went silent, shutting herself off from communication. Zeke could break through the walls she’d raised, but he had no reason to do so. If she wanted privacy, then he would give it to her – even if she probably wouldn’t do the same for him if the situations were reversed. He couldn’t control her actions, but he could govern his own. And he chose to take the high road rather than going tit-for-tat in a battle of rudeness.

“I hope you’re right,” he said aloud. “I don’t know how much more of this we can take.”

“I can keep going,” Silik said.

“I know. We all can. But I worry about escalation. I’m no expert on dungeons, but they’re supposed to get more and more difficult the further we progress. And given how tough the road’s been so far, that doesn’t bode well.”

“We still might find an exit,” suggested Eta.

“If we haven’t yet, then we’re not going to,” Zeke countered.

Jasper agreed, “It seems that this is a single-level dungeon. Rare, but not unheard of. Freedom will only come when we have completed the entire dungeon.”

None of them could disagree, and so, they fell into an uneasy silence. Over the next few hours, they rested. However, the downtime was uneasy, partially because they knew how quickly the situation could turn. More importantly, they could all infer that things would get much worse before they escaped.

They’d already been through so much. They’d seen some horrific things. And the idea that things could go downhill from there was a troubling one indeed.

Finally, Zeke pushed himself to his feet and said, “This dungeon isn’t going to complete itself. May as well get it over with.”

The others had no objection, save that, despite the period of rest, they were all still exhausted. That didn’t seem likely to change anytime soon, so there was little reason not to continue on.

With that in mind, Zeke strode to the other end of the library where another door awaited. As he’d been forced to do on a dozen previous occasions, he reared back and kicked the door in. When the dust settled and he got a good look at the room’s contents, he was taken aback.

Inside were four beautiful women in elaborate dresses. They sat around a simple table, each holding a delicate teacup.

“What the…”

“Oh, you’ve finally made it!” one exclaimed, clapping her hands together excitedly. “Join us! We’ve saved you a spot!”

“Uh…”

At that moment, Zeke heard something rustling behind him. He glanced back into the library, and he was horrified to see that the animated books and furniture had begun to drag themselves back together.

He had no idea what the theme of the next room was, but he had no interest in fighting another battle against the animated furniture. So, after shouting for the others to follow, he rushed into the room.

The moment he stepped inside, the slam of a door echoed in his ears. He wheeled around to see that the door had reappeared, separating him from his friends.

“Well, shit,” he muttered to himself as he glanced back toward the women. Each one wore a predatory gaze characterized by a wide, inhuman smile.