Chapter 109 - Dungeon Exploration (Patreon)

<---Chapter 108 - Interrogation  | Table of Contents | Chapter 110 - Discovery --->

As soon as Kyle got back to Dekar's original hideout, the entire plan previously discussed kicked into action. Over the next three days, they worked together to port all of their supplies and equipment over to the abandoned hideout, slowly refurbishing it over time. The arctech engine room was fortified, Kyle ordering the creation of tiered defenses should the original entrance tunnel fail to hold the rock spiders at bay. Even though the rock spiders were supposedly part of the 'Trial' his system suggested, it was not beyond the realm of possibility for a swarm to attempt breaching the hideout.

While he had been working on organizing the forces, Sasha and Feldon had managed to utilize one of the old tunnels to great effect, establishing a proper link with Ocra. With the connection completed, Kyle could now requisition additional tools and personnel over. A dozen more trained Ghosts were sent over, helping to bolster the force even more alongside regular rations and arctech machinery to enable Kyle to perform basic modifications. Antidotes, potions, gas masks, and armor were also brought over, giving them some much-needed equipment for him to explore the dungeon later, one that he inherently expected to be dangerous. If I had an exosuit I would use it.

Throughout this entire process, Lisa took charge of helping and training the new slaves into useful assets. Unsurprisingly, many of them did not want to join the frontlines and be a rebel, but were open to the idea of contributing in the backlines. Feldon and Lisa worked together to instruct them properly, acting as resupply crews and mules to pick up smuggled goods and scout other old tunnels to serve as backup connections. They were put to use in expanding and excavating the old hideouts as well as improving the living and storage space.

"For now, we know that he intends to invite delegates from other countries around the continent. I suspect it's a ploy aimed at preventing Count Leon from attacking too early." Minister Dekar explained his understanding of the situation. "With so many foreign diplomats in the city, it would be devastating to both Count Leon and the Yual Dominion's reputation if they were to strike first or even perform any military action."

"Current information suggests that Count Leon is attending the exhibition as well..." Kyle found this sudden exhibition unnatural compared to the previous progress expected. It was apparent from all of his dealings with the black market and Count Leon that a war was imminent. "Perhaps Harrison is intending to delay the inevitable, hoping to buy more time for preparation." He muttered to himself, trying to nail the motives of all parties involved.

There was no question that the military exercise would be the best time for Count Leon to launch a first strike and catch Versia off-guard in a blitz. If Kyle was in the same position, he would have launched an attack as soon as his troops were organized without hesitation. The fact that Count Leon was waiting this long spoke of a different plan. Or maybe he recognizes the potential of Harrison's technology to be far stronger than expected, or Harrison has leverage.

Yona was still working on writing out the military-industrial complex, an effort that would not be done so soon. With only three weeks left till the exhibition, Kyle needed clear information on Harrison's whereabouts, as well as a surefire method to infiltrate and perform proper espionage. He didn't like being left in the dark, and he was already beginning to prepare for a potential all-out conflict should he be unable to gleam anything about Harrison's plan.

In order to have an all-out conflict, they needed to recruit more willing rebels and manpower to sustain any efforts to destabilize Harrison. Kyle knew that the people enslaved in Nest sweatshops on the first layer and the second layer were prime sources of bodies, but attacking them would raise the heat much higher and potentially cause a brutal crackdown. The Ghosts under Kyle were certainly not in a position to be able to handle such an event, not without thorough planning.

Kyle focused his efforts now on exploring the dungeon, a critical escape route that would be necessary should Nest breach the third layer. He rubbed his temples as he inspected the equipment that the Ghosts now had, checking its quality to ensure that the exploration would be successful. Already, it was clear that the antique rifles had to be replaced by freshly smuggled Seven Snakes repeater rifles that could penetrate the rock spiders' armor. However, he was looking for a more concrete upgrade to the firepower - rock spiders might not be the only heavily armored creatures lurking in the depths.

The main limiting factor was the arcia reservoir in each of his Ghosts. Even the commando under Dekar's command, who had utilized Kyle's repeater rifle, was suffering from arcia exhaustion, unable to fire all four canisters in one go without collapsing. It went without saying that recently converted refugees and slaves would not have the same competency and reservoir size compared to well-trained Seven Snakes associates who had spent time in an arcia training cave.

A solution was to obtain fuel packs, but smuggling such devices was both clunky and dangerous as well - any bust would mean a huge loss. Instead, Kyle had a hunch that the poor quality arcia crystal he had plucked from the remains of a rock spider could potentially alleviate the consumption strains on a user if embedded correctly on the repeater. It should act exactly like a battery, the question is how?

Thankfully, Kyle was already well-read on the engravings used in a fuel pack, though he also got a hold of an old fuel pack they found lying about in the hideout as a reference. The engravings here show an extraction method in order to filter arcia energy out of arcite ore... it should be simple enough.

Taking small steps at a time, Kyle set up a simple workbench in a small room: a smuggled arcia etcher with a few scrap metal plates that could serve as a prototyping board. He practiced his movements by drawing with a pencil on paper first a few times before using the etcher to engrave onto the scrap metal plate bit by bit, leaving a tiny notch for the poor-quality arcia crystal to be placed inside.

The result was slightly disappointing, but not unexpected. Energy could only be compressed so much, and while Kyle would have preferred to have an energy source equivalent to an arcia fuel pack, it was enough to fire the Seven Snakes repeater rifle for two canisters worth. That's about two hundred pellets if we're going at full burst and without using internal arcia energy. 20 MP was not much to Kyle, but it was significant to untrained soldiers. While it might limit their future training potential with the crystal serving as a clutch of sorts, the timelines were far too tight to worry about that - he needed firepower right now.

Taking his own repeater rifle and modifying it over the next few hours, he soon managed to embed the poor arcia crystal into a nice little slot that could be capped by a metal cover, preventing it from falling out during combat movements. Considering this is the Aspis MK1... perhaps it is a MK2.

Kyle noted the ability to overcharge the shots, fulfilling his need to achieve firepower that could break through stronger armored creatures should they appear. With the modification done, Kyle began to modify other smuggled Seven Snakes repeaters, making sure they all had a slot for the crystals. To make the process faster, he filtered through the rescued slaves, finding a few who had competent hands and assigning them etching roles, where they followed a guiding example to the letter.

Soon, over a day, Kyle had five MK2 repeaters ready to go, along with adequate amounts of pellets necessary to sustain a prolonged conflict thanks to Feldon's smuggling. Kyle arranged for his squad to delve deeper into the dungeon, bringing along Sasha and three of Dekar's commando men towards the barricade entrance once again, this time with supplies enough to last a week. "Feldon, you're in charge here. I brought you from Culdao Peaks for a reason - don't let me down. Work with Lisa to get everything in order." Kyle informed Feldon while the squad geared up, handing control of the hideout over to him.

"You can count on me boss, I won't let you down!" Feldon gave a wonky salute, causing Kyle to sigh and enter the cramped, collapsed tunnel once again. Kyle never told Feldon that the only reason why he was chosen for this operation was because he was the most expendable in the Seven Snakes, having no assigned role of importance, unlike Damian, Keith, and Niko. Better to let him believe he is important - easier that way.

As they reached the base of the tunnel, they were met with a dead-end, filled with rubble caused by Kyle's destruction of the tunnel's support. "Wait, we should have gotten some others to come here and dig it out. It's going to take us ages!" One of the commandos complained.

"Sasha, cut away the rubble, but don't collapse the support," Kyle spoke as if it was possible, the commandos sharing glances of confusion.

[Understood.] Sasha stepped up to the pile of rubble, slinging the MK2 repeater behind her back and unsheathing her runic falchion. <Shue, Yul, Uryag, Nemoon> She spoke once again with her eyes closed, her tone demure and silky smooth, the engravings that glittered with Dzi Flower Sand lighting up along the length with a furious brilliance, the blade shuddering violently in a rapid vibration. Her eyes flew open, her movements slashing the pile four times, the vibrating blade shredding apart the rubble. Each step saw Sasha carve a path out, her movements precise to ensure the rest of the tunnel did not collapse, as if she were a surgeon.

The three commandos could hardly believe their eyes, though their training kept them firm and steady, MK2 repeaters aimed towards the end of the tunnel. The moment Sasha broke out back into the large rectangular corridor, the three commandos filtered out quickly, checking the surroundings. Instead of seeing a pile of decaying rock spider corpses, the corridor was clean, only stains of black icky goo on the wall remaining as a sign of their battle days before. Kyle cautiously paced his steps, checking every detail until Sasha called for his attention. [Sir, take a look at this.]

Kyle saw Sasha squatted over a trail of black icky goo, interspersed by what seemed to be webbed footprints left. "So the rock spider isn't the only thing we have to worry about..." Kyle motioned for the rest of the squad to come over, seeing if anyone recognized it.

"Looks like a salamander's tracks. There's quite a number of them roaming the catacombs, though I don't think I've ever seen one that big before..." A commando pointed out, trying to get a sense of scale. "It would be about the size of a tree trunk to match such a footprint."

"And it most likely ate what remained of the rock spiders," Kyle concluded, standing back up. "Check your gear - the moment we see such a predator, we retreat this way. Set up the arctech lanterns."

The squad got to work, attaching and hooking arctech lanterns up that lit up the corridor as they went, providing a brightly illuminated path back if they needed to beat a hasty retreat. Surprisingly, even as they walked forward for what seemed to be ten minutes, there were no signs of any rock spider swarms nor humongous salamanders either, the place eerily silent save for the small trickling of water that seeped through a few cracks, plopping onto the bioluminescent algae that were ubiquitous throughout the area. It was only until Kyle unknowingly stepped across the line that a system message popped up for him.

What? Kyle rubbed his eyes a little, wondering what the hell he was reading. The trial gave me enough EXP to level up, even though I left the area for a few days. And this is the first time I've seen the dungeon's name. It was also his first encounter with a recommended level. As far as he knew, his level had never really mattered, and it still didn't. However, the system message had now given him two hints.

First, the recommended level implied that there would be challenges, trials and creatures that a level 40 would find appropriate - a bad sign for Kyle's current level. Secondly, the name 'Noxious Depths of Tenar' implied a theme of poison, something he was not entirely prepared for. In an instant he held up his hand, clenching his fist tight and prompting the squad to come to a halt. "Everyone, gas masks on, now."

The squad didn't argue, especially the commandos who were now utterly convinced of Kyle's superiority in combat. Dekar's warning of no one ever escaping the fourth layer had been broken by their previous success, but the three commandos knew it was only because of Kyle that they got out alive. Sasha too clamped a gas mask on her face, her breath intermittently fogging up the visor as they continued onwards.

As they continued down the corridor, still setting up arctech lanterns at intermediate intervals, a strange mist was coalescing on the floor, clearly heavier than air but not pushing towards them. Kyle didn't move any further the moment they spotted it, instead taking a single pellet from a canister and rolling it across the floor towards the mist, a tactic learned well in his time during the Galactic Era.

Instead of the pellet disintegrating as expected, the mist didn't seem to do anything to the pellet, seemingly inert. The squad rolled a few more pellets forward, using their arctech lanterns to try to spot any cracks above that could result in an ambush of sorts. Once they were satisfied, they moved ahead slowly, each step measured and cautious, Kyle keeping a keen eye out for any artificial traps. Good thing I brought the gas masks and antidotes.

It took another ten minutes before they were now ankle deep in the mist, the tension amidst the squad still as high as ever as they continuously checked every nook and cranny for possible angles of attack. Weariness began to seep into their bones, their minds unable to keep up for much longer at this rate, the situation nerve-racking. "Stay within a meter of me." Kyle ordered, counting on his skill to negate any possible attacks.

Moving as a tight unit, it wasn't long until they finally saw the end of the corridor, the sound of dropping sludge prominent above their own breaths in the gas masks. Smaller tiny insects and lizards scampered away from their armoured boots as they stepped towards the end, Sasha and the commandos faces dumbfounded from what they saw.

The corridor had led to a vast cavern in which none of them could even see the end of, filled to the brim with pillars upon pillars of refuse, sludge, sewage, and whatever waste Tenar had accumulated over hundreds of years, spiraling upwards to the ceiling while viscous excretion seeped in through the ceiling, pouring newer waste down. Even through the gas mask, they could smell the strong stench of decay that was prevalent everywhere. Rivers of dirty, murky water filled with shit snaked through the floral and fauna that had sprouted up around the trash pillars, feeding off the rotting matter that seemed to never end and emitting ambient light enough to give the entire chamber a ghastly purple glow.

It wasn't Kyle's first time seeing a trash planet, but this was still something to take in. The pillars of refuse did not seem to be just made out of waste - something was inside eating away at the waste from within, periodically releasing noxious fumes that were the result of some foul chemical reaction. "Make sure there are no gaps in your armor and clothing," Kyle warned once more, forcing the squad to check their equipment again before moving forward.

Each step had a sickening squish to it, revealing countless tiny little critters and insects that escaped out of the squashed mud, scurrying away to safety while red moths swooped down, picking off their latest prey and returning to high up on the pillars, the air filled with a dizzying array of lifeforms that formed an ecosystem of the trash dumped from Tenar. One of the commandos resisted the urge to puke as he stepped closer to the pillar, noticing a decaying human body that had clearly drowned in the catacombs, its flesh consumed from within by maggots while a lizard nearby waited with bated breath, its glossy eyes blinking slowly.

As they moved forward, Kyle took out an empty potion vial, using the tips of his custom prototype exosuit arm to gingerly scoop a sample of the water, hoping the System would be able to recognize it and maybe give some information.

That was pretty useless. Kyle sighed, but Sasha suddenly spoke into his brain. [Sir, another footprint.] Sasha motioned silently to an equally large salamander footprint hidden beneath the murky water. That raised the alertness of the squad immediately, and their repeaters were ready to shred anything that attacked them.

Kyle led the squad ahead, carefully trekking and keeping his movements quiet, avoiding splashing the murky water too much in case it attracted the wrong kind of attention. As they moved deeper into the chamber, following the snaking river of sludge that winded through the chamber, the exit tunnel was already out of sight, only the sights of never-ending waterfalls plunging from above into the chamber.

From the corner of his vision, Kyle spotted an object drop - a human corpse that fell along with the sludge, smacking against the pillar of refuse and tumbling along its bioluminescent edge before sliding down to the floor, soaking in the mud. Unfortunately for them, they were not the only ones who noticed this, a familiar skittering sound echoing over the splashes of mud. The squad quickly crouched and hid behind any large fungi or trash pile they could find, peeking out to observe a dozen rock spiders moving over in a group, scampering over the human body. Their worm-like mouths extended out of their central sphere body, the teeth gnashing and tearing apart at the dead human, ripping its tendons and muscles apart while the other spiders fought with each other over parts of the entrails that were dragged further and further.

The commotion began to attract more rock spiders as well as up to three more groups, some of them scampering from unknown locations to congregate while the squad kept as quiet as possible, hiding their figures from view. The first dozen began to snarl and snap at the other groups of rock spiders approaching, clearly territorial over the dropped meat. Interestingly, even as a rock spider crawled over where Kyle was hiding, it didn't seem to notice him, having no eyes to see. Kyle wasn't about to get in the middle of more than four dozen spiders contesting over food. Using his hand sign, he stuck it out ever so slightly, indicating for them to retreat back to the exit tunnel.

However, as soon as one of the commandos prepared to turn around to leave, his face came dangerously close to a rock spider, part of another fifth group that had approached from behind. In a moment of instinct, the commando fired his MK2 repeater at the rock spider, pulling the trigger hard. Five pellets burst out, nailing the rock spider right in its worm-like mouth and tearing the flesh inside out, causing it to let out a bloodcurdling shriek as it died.

Kyle knew the jig was up, and the rest of the rock spiders were now turning to face the direction of the commando who had just shot the pellets out. Before they could move, Kyle and Sasha popped out of their cover, unleashing a hailstorm of their bullets and nailing six rock spiders in a row.

A different path? Kyle hurriedly aimed the repeater once more, firing on the encroaching rock spiders who began to fan out, some leaping onto the pillars of refuse and using it to flank the squad from above. Each member of the squad began to fire, with Sasha swapping to her runic falchion, chopping away at any approaching rock spiders.

"Sir, we can't stay here - the fight will bring more! We have to move back!" One of the commandos roared over the din of pellet fire.

"No, we move forward!" Kyle urged, charging forward while swiveling the repeater rapidly, treating the rock spiders like target practice as he expertly double-tapped the trigger, resulting in a faster fire rate overall. The commandos were flabbergasted to see Kyle push ahead instead of retreating, but it was clear that the path behind them was slowly getting clogged up with more rock spiders who were attracted by the loud gunfire. With no time to argue, the squad moved as one, with Kyle and Sasha bringing up the rear and leaping about, slicing off the legs and the mouths of rock spiders.

With a battle cry, Sasha slammed the falchion into a nearby pillar, the pillar losing its precarious balance and beginning to teeter, falling down in a large collapse that sent a wave of mist and noxious fumes blanketing the squad and the rock spiders alike. While the crash pinned down a few rock spiders, the rest were unfazed, simply clambering over the collapsed pillar and lunging at Sasha.

As they raced through the chamber chased by swarms of rock spiders whose numbers seemed to multiply, Kyle kept his eyes peeled, his mind holding a 3D orientation of where the next exit should be. It was risky, and Kyle would have chosen to retreat if it had not been for the Trial's message. If I can exit the chamber through a different route, I may get another 5000 EXP, which would give me another level. He knew he needed every drop of EXP he could muster if he wanted to be confident enough to clear the dungeon, which he assumed would have Galactic Era tech.

Yet, the current chamber filled with trash didn't seem to possess any apparent technology. Kyle was starting to doubt that there would be anything of value here, but he focused on the goal of escaping first. However, something began to change in the rock spiders' behavior, and not every one of them chased the squad. Instead, some began to suck up the sludge in the rivers of murky water, seemingly chewing on them before clambering up a pillar. Kyle looked at one as its worm-like mouth suddenly extended like a cannon barrel aimed right at him, the rock spider suddenly ejecting a projectile made of sludge at medium speeds toward him.

While he easily dodged it, the sludge projectile slammed into the muddy ground, a sizzling sound disintegrating and breaking down whatever pieces of trash were around into black icky goo. Are they shooting stomach acid at us?! "Dodge the sludge!" Kyle cried out as he grabbed another commando nearby, tugging him out of the way as another sludge projectile whizzed past where the commando had just been standing.

Despite their best efforts to run, the chamber seemed to have no end. Kyle was sure that he had been running in a straight line, but it felt as if the chamber was in a never-ending loop. The commandos were also getting exhausted, still having to lug the supply of rations in their bags. With no end in sight, Kyle began to look for a different way out, finally spotting a path that sloped downwards into a natural cave entwined with fungi and algae across its surface, the opening only big enough for a man to squeeze through one at a time. "Here, get in here!"

The commandos didn't question the order, hurriedly tossing an arctech lantern in through the opening, with the first squeezing through. Kyle and Sasha stood their ground, firing with abandon at the incoming rock spiders while expertly dodging the sludge projectiles that shot their way.

If I killed five hundred of them, then that would be perfect. Kyle grinned, relishing in the battle as he weaved through the horde of rock spiders, using his Tattoo Knife and exosuit arm to annihilate most of the approaching rock spiders. On the other side, Sasha was carving away relentlessly, her armor and gas mask already coated entirely in the black icky goo.

With each kill, Kyle and Sasha nimbly plucked and pocketed any arcia crystals they could find in the dead rock spiders, a wall of bodies beginning to pile up around the openings. Soon, the three commandos had managed to enter the cave. "Sir, we're done!"

"Sasha, go first!" Kyle ordered as he continued to slice and jab with the knife, the exosuit arm punching and cracking a rock spider's armor. Sasha nodded, sprinting towards the opening while deftly dodging projectiles, her nimble body sliding into the gap without a hitch. Kyle soon followed suit, running into the opening and squeezing through the gap quickly while enraged rock spiders jabbed and tried to tear apart the opening with their spiky rock legs.

Kyle huffed and panted, catching his breath while the others slumped onto the floor, taking a break. The arctech lantern showed that they had entered a smaller corridor of sorts in a similar design to the one that they had been traversing at the start, the same mist also wafting in along with streams of murky water that slopped down. As the rock spiders beyond the gap struggled to get in, the squad took a break, resting on the dryer parts of the floor and drinking water while Sasha jabbed any rock spider who got too close.

Soon enough, the dead rock spider bodies were completely covering the gap, preventing any new rock spiders from getting through. Kyle too leaned against the wall, sipping on a water flask and a stamina potion vial, recovering his strength. In the brief respite, Kyle walked ahead of the squad with his own arctech lantern, exploring the little corridor that they had found themselves in.

Unlike the algae covered mess of the larger corridor, the walls here were far more clean. As Kyle continued walking further, the light of his arctech lantern revealed the walls to slowly form a gradient, changing from green hard stone to metal over its length. At the very end of the corridor, he could see a weird metallic door, one that felt somewhat familiar. "Sasha, protect the squad," Kyle ordered, while he continued exploring forward alone.

As he neared the door, his vision was suddenly flooded by a recognizable system message.

The metallic door at the end of the corridor slid open, but it failed halfway, electricity sparking at the hinges as its gears creaked, trying to overcome what sounded like centuries of rust. Kyle noticed that the door's metal parts were also corroded, reduced to a recognizable amalgamation of bacteria and sludge, characteristic of a metal nano-plague much like the one he had seen in the Oracle Chambers. Finally, another Galactic Era ruin.

He used his custom exosuit arm, grabbing the edge of the door and forcing it apart bit by bit, gritting his teeth as the door slowly but surely moved until the mechanism restricting the door's movement finally snapped, allowing the door to slide open fully. No lights were turned on as Kyle entered, the entire place in complete disrepair. Broken electrical panels and wires consumed by the nano-plague were left dangling and scattered, and the tiles of the room cracked as well.

Unlike the Oracle Chambers, there were no bodies to be found - no signs of a fight were found. Looks like it was an automated post. Kyle walked up to a nearby monitor mounted on the wall, tapping it to see if it activated. It did not light up at all, and there was no power throughout the entire room. Kyle explored a bit more, traversing the room to see that there was a heavily bolted door, like a vault of sorts, tightly locked into the wall, with a damaged keypad next to it. As he got closer, he inspected the damage, noticing it wasn't too terrible. He carefully used his hands to connect two frayed wires together, the keypad's monitor lighting up only for a brief flicker before dying out.

He scanned the bolted vault door, noticing that there was a mechanical key slot in the door, a backup in case of the failure of the electronics. Kyle tested the strength of the door a little, using his exosuit arm to try and pry the door open, but to no avail.

Penchant for Violence! Kyle tried once more, pulling as hard as he could, but the vault door barely budged, unmovable. There might be a sign somewhere else that could give me a clue. Or the key could be somewhere around here.

As he looked around, he spotted something strange. Weirdly enough, at the end of the room was an interesting sight - three partitions that separated the end of the room into four sections. Kyle approached cautiously, his arctech lantern still scanning the dilapidated room while he noticed a small little infographic plastered onto the wall, half of it eaten away by insects. Dangerous Personnel... huh... Kyle couldn't make out the rest of the words, but as he inspected the partitions, their purpose became immediately clear, the edges of the partition featuring twenty laser emitters aimed towards either side of the wall. It's a laser prison cell.

He didn't see any bodies of prisoners left behind, whoever was trapped here having clearly escaped. Kyle walked up to a control panel, tapping it and checking the gap behind it to see that the wiring was still intact, though it had no power to maintain its original function, the power cell within depleted. As he turned around, a glint of metal from the corner of his eyes alerted him to a rectangular high-tech battery lying on the floor inside one of the laser prison cells.

Confirming that the prison cell would not suddenly activate, Kyle walked up carefully, picking up the ancient battery with the exosuit arm in case it exploded. Old Galactic-Era batteries had a tendency to do that, the side effect of cramming so much energy into a small form factor.

Good enough. Kyle took the battery back to the main control panel at the front of the room, plugging in the battery and booting up the system. No A.I. like the Oracle appeared, but the scrolling diagnostic texts showed that the battery was barely enough to run the room at its minimum functionality.

The laser emitters on the partition immediately turned on, forming a crisscrossing net across that threatened to burn every single atom that attempted to escape. Seems like power is being focused on the prison's features. If I can either redirect it or find more power sources... Kyle scoured the room, finally finding another battery pack, though it was also in another laser cell. He tapped the control panel, disabling the laser protection, before walking into the cell.

However, as soon as he stepped across the threshold, he suddenly felt his body become sluggish, slowing down tremendously as if his muscles had been replaced with lead, his legs nearly impossible to move. His heart pumped faster, his lungs struggling to inhale.

What?! Kyle's heart skipped a bit as he felt himself grow short of breath, as if every bonus and stat increase that he had accumulated in his lifetime was now unable to be bear, the burden on his body far too great. He clenched his teeth as he pushed forward step by step, his legs like logs as he picked up the battery before retreating beyond the laser cell, collapsing onto his knees hard.

Power surged back into Kyle's veins, his eyes blinking rapidly as he took short, sharp, rapid breaths, trying to recover his senses. This... this is a prison cell for System users! Kyle quickly leaped to his feet, checking the control panel and its systems check. Communication is totally destroyed; this entire room is cut off from the rest of the world. That's good. Judging from the state of the door, Kyle assumed that he was the first one to open this area.

Still, the room was a dead-end, offering no other exits save for the heavily bolted vault door that Kyle clearly could not open at all. He still had a trial to clear, and his squad was still waiting for him. He unplugged the battery from the main control panel, pocketing it along with the other battery he had retrieved. Closing the door behind him with the strength of his exosuit arm, he returned to the squad. The three commandos were still resting, having recovered enough strength through the potions to try another push, while Sasha stared at Kyle with a curious gaze. [Sir, did you find anything?]

"Nothing much." Kyle brushed it off, unwilling to reveal too much. If he told anyone else that there was a prison cell that could restrict the better part of his abilities, it would no doubt come back to bite him in the ass in the future. Better to keep it to myself. "Are we ready to move?"

[We'll have to widen the opening a little first.] Sasha didn't pry any further, readying her runic falchion to slide through the pile of rock spider corpses again. The three commandos got their repeaters ready, crouching and preparing to lay waste to anything that breached the gap. Kyle himself prepared as well.

Sasha used the same enhancement method, slicing through the gap and widening it greatly. As the diced-up parts of rock spiders began to tumble through the open hole, enraged rock spiders began to pour in, earning a barrage of withering fire that melted through their armor, the force of the pellets pushing them back. Kyle and Sasha took up the front, using their strength to force their way out and carve a path back to the surface.

The moment they peeked their heads out, Kyle was taken aback by the sheer number of rock spiders that were clamoring to get at them, nearly more than two hundred of them. The commandos could also see the sheer numbers that they faced, their faces balking. "This is insanity - how are we going to make it out?"

Without warning, a sudden burst of trash, mud, and fungi was sent flying in all directions, a large jaw lunging out from within the base of the pillars of refuse and swallowing more than a dozen rock spiders in one giant gulp. A humongous shadow swept across Kyle and Sasha as the new creature clambered out of its hiding spot deep in the ground, rising to its full height and towering over the squad, making even the calm Kyle start to sweat a little. Wasn't it supposed to be just a tree trunk?

<---Chapter 108 - Interrogation  | Table of Contents | Chapter 110 - Discovery --->