Cyberserk

Chapter 13 - Dungeon Lair

Dan ran behind Tom and couldn't deny himself the pleasure of screaming at the storm of emotions that overflowed him. Zombies and skeletons grabbed the player and tried to stop him. Dan wasted no strength in resisting, he preferred to dodge. But clashing with the dead was a rare case. Tom ran ahead like a powerful icebreaker that splits a thin layer of ice on the surface of the water. Zombies and skeletons were thrown aside by the phantom's blows. Tom navigated very quickly and tried not to waste his strength. The crowd of dead only from a distance looked like a terrible dense cluster of monsters. There was enough space between the dead to quickly run past the monsters.

Suddenly Dan realized that Tom had changed his running direction. The player understood that they would soon be approaching the dangerous entrance to the Dungeon.

The clone's back was making it hard to see what was ahead. Dan noticed that the rocks were near and the skeletons warriors could be seen.

The partners jumped out onto the narrow lane that separated the crowd of level 1 dead and the guards of the entrance to the Dungeon.

Dan immediately noticed a spot on the rocks where the entrance to the Underworld swirled and shimmered with shades of silver light. The game helped to make a precise choice.

An inscription appeared before Dan's eyes.

[Attention, the location of the Lair has been discovered. Type of location: Dungeon.

Warning. The entrance to the location is available to players of levels 3-5. Do you want to enter Lair? Yes/No.

Attention! You can leave the location until you have destroyed all monsters!]

"Yeeeeee!" Tom shouted as he squeezed between the two skeletons who were trying to block the way for the cheeky coward. But the player was no i***t and was unwilling to accept an unfair fight.

The cunning Dan Raven jumped into the black and silver foil of the portal to the Dungeon.

The transference happened instantly.

Dan didn't have time to understand or look around in the gloom of the new place. A phantom body hit him in the back and knocked the player to the ground.

"Oh, master. I beg your pardon, my master. You are not hurt? It was my fault. My grandiose fault," the clone whispered and helped Dan up from the ground.

Raven immediately heard the insolent bastard taunting him. But a strange thought swirled in the player's mind about the conditions of exit from this undoubtedly dangerous place.

"Stop playing the obliging Sancho Panza. I haven't fully understood the important moment," Dan whispered. "We can leave the location before all the monsters are destroyed. Does that mean we can leave at any time?"

"Yes. You got that right," Tom confirmed in a quiet voice. "Some games have a rule that you can't leave the Dungeon until you've killed all the monsters that are in the dungeon."

"Exactly! I never liked that rule. Even if you've already killed the dungeon boss but you have to walk around like a fool looking for the last monster," chuckled Tom. Suddenly he felt a strange feeling.

Sniff. Sniff. Sniff.

Dan sniffed at the air of the dungeon.

"What a strange smell," the player whispered. He didn't want to speak loudly in this place. Who knows what monsters might hear a careless player?

"The usual smell of mushrooms," Tom said. "Look at the walls of the dungeon. Besides the glowing moss, I see strange mushrooms."

"Don't tell me you know the properties of those mushrooms! You are a knowledge man crowned by the System itself," giggled Raven.

"I don't know what those mushrooms are. Anyway, they're useless to us until we have the talents of an Herbal Gatherer or an Apothecary. The Alchemist is an interesting profession, too."

"We will study the profession of blacksmith," Dan reminded him.

"Then we will remain ignorant of the delights of those mysterious mushrooms and the rest of the mysterious herbs and plants of this world," whispered Tom. "Quiet! I can hear the enemy."

The tunnel of the dungeon was quite large. A few paces were wide and high enough to walk without bending over.

Dan thought they needed torches. A torch is a fire. Everyone is afraid of fire. A torch can be thrown in the muzzle of a dangerous monster!

The dungeon was gloomy. Light poured in soft streams from the tunnel walls. Dan noticed the shining growths of moss. Strange, smelly mushrooms grew between the curves of the moss. The mushrooms were not glowing.

Store! Dan remembered the Miscellaneous section of the player's store. A strange sound was heard more and more ahead. A rustling and loud clattering noise. And something else unknown crackled and clicked in the darkness of the tunnel.

Shk, Shk, Crackle, Crackle, sh sh, Crackle.

Tom stood slightly ducked with his katana and tanto dagger in hand. The clone was ready for a surprise attack by an unknown enemy.

Dan cursed the creators of such an uncomfortable store. The merchandise in the Miscellaneous section was arranged without any order or meaning. They weren't even sorted by name or alphabetically!

Dan was looking for a torch or other light source. He had looked into this section once at the beginning of the day and immediately realized that it was the dream of a hobo with a lot of experience. The things were of all sorts. But the list of merchandise began with 17 samples of sewing needles! Then came the plate samples!

Now Dan was cursing the makers of the game who made a mockery of the customers. Nasty aliens or unknown earthly villains didn't put a Search by product name option in for the customers' convenience!

Torch! Dan saw the torch. He did not examine the property of this simple-looking torch. He quickly moved 1 torch to the right window of the store to make a purchase.

172 experience points! Ugh! Filthy robbers! Is your torch made of precious wood?

Dan quickly bought the torch and picked it up with his left hand. He mentally activated the Fire Arrow skill!

Dan Raven was a smart and cunning fellow. He had no intention of using magic in battle. But in his moments of rest, he checked how all the spells worked. This is magic! This is an experience with a miracle!

The most amazing feature of this game was that a warrior with a sword in his right hand could launch a magical attack along the blade of his sword!

Now Dan pointed his hand at the end of the torch. A flicker of fire flashed in the air and struck the torch. The torch flashed brightly.

Dan heard his partner breathe out the air and the Thing rush away from the presence of the adventurers.

Now Raven noticed that the dungeon was clear. There were no footprints on the stone floor of the dungeon, no decayed corpses or other horrible filth either.

"Spider," Tom whispered. The clone didn't move. "It was a big, scary spider. It was bigger than a car. You'll be scared for sure. Give me the torch. I'll throw the torch on the ground toward the spider. It seemed to me that the spider doesn't like bright light."

"Is the spider very big and scary?" Tom handed the torch to his partner.

"It's dark gray and furry. The spider has big fangs. Its fangs snapped in the dark. The bastard is barely visible against the stone walls," Tom told him.

"Let's not be hasty, brother. I'll get some more torches. Fire will help us," Dan proposed and began to make more purchases. He bought five torches and put two in his inventory. Two of the torches he handed to his partner.

Dan lit a new torch and they slowly moved through the tunnel. Nasty sounds of rustling and crackling clicks came steadily from the darkness ahead.

Suddenly Tom tossed his torch forward and laughed loudly.

"Gotcha beast! Now you're finished!" Tom calmed down and explained the news to Dan. "Spider. Can bite and poison. For some reason, these underground spiders often run away when in danger. They eat human meat."

"All monsters eat human meat. Zombies like brains," Dan said quietly. "I like the fact that nobody attacks from behind."

"How can you be sure of that?"

"Because I'm smart and considerate. I remember the conditions of the dungeon," Dan was happy to show his smartness. "Monsters have a limit in this dungeon. They don't respawn! Otherwise, it would be an endless journey in search of new monsters."

"I think it's the other way around," the clone objected. "That's why you don't have to pay attention to the number of monsters you've killed and can safely exit when you reach the end of the dungeon. Monsters are revived, but it doesn't matter."

Dan Raven felt that the phantom's reasoning made far more sense and logic than his conclusions. The player felt uncomfortable in this underground maze. The map showed only a small part that the partners had gone through.

They came to a torch that lay on the ground. The clone bent down and picked up the torch. Then he threw it forward again and rushed after the burning torch himself.

At that moment Dan saw a spider! It was an incredible-sized monster. It was big and creepy. Its two front paws had white claws that tried to pierce the phantom's armor.

Above Tom's body towered the nasty monster's head. Tom saw that the damned creature had many eyes and several creepy fangs in its muzzle! The spider was trying to pierce the samurai's armor with its front paws and restrict the warrior's movement. Suddenly the creature tried to bite Tom.

Clack! Boom!

The fangs struck the samurai's helmet!

At that moment, Dan leaped from his seat and rushed to the aid of his friend. He threw the torch next to the spider and began thrashing his sword at the vile creature's legs. Scarlet flames flashed in Dan's eyes and it was as if the entire underworld changed colors. Every color in the dungeon took on a scarlet shade.

The spider squealed loudly in pain. It deflected its body upward and spat a clump of the white web directly into the phantom's head. Then the spider tried to escape. This thing knew how to crawl back quickly!

Dan overtook the clone and caught up with the spider in one leap. Just three swift blows not only severed the creature's paw but also finished off the spider! Dan realized they had won when he saw a new message from the system in the small chat window on the side. This time he paid attention to the news.

[You killed the Underground Spider. Reward: 150 experience points]