The cavern was silent, save for the drip... drip... drip of water and the fading crackle of Emily's fireball. Zack stood there, his entire body shaking from the adrenaline. His "flashbang" trick had worked, but it had been a desperate, reckless gamble.
Emily was still holding onto his arm, her knuckles white. She finally let go, only to poke him hard in the chest. "Don't. Ever. Do that again." Her voice was sharp, but her eyes were filled with a frantic relief.
"Kid... that was stupid," Ben boomed, his voice echoing. He lowered his massive shield, which was now peppered with fresh dents from the Slinger's rocks. He stared at Zack, his expression unreadable. Then, a huge, booming laugh burst out of him. "It was also brilliant! A flashbang! You used a Healer spell as a flashbang! I've been a D-Rank Tank for five years, and I have never seen that."
Maya, who was cleaning her blades on a dead Kobold, just nodded. A new, thin smile of respect was on her face. "Smart, Healer. And you can move. For a klutz."
Zack just shrugged, his kind mask of an 'Aw-shucks' Healer firmly in place. "I... I get clumsy when I'm scared. I just... I saw them all up there and I thought the light might... bother them?"
"It 'bothered' them, alright," Ben chuckled. "You did good, Zack. You saved my shield, and you saved us a lot of trouble. That was a D-Rank (Intermediate) move, right there."
This praise, this genuine, warm respect from these kind D-Rank Hunters, made Zack's stomach twist with guilt. He wasn't a clever E-Rank. He was a monster with stats higher than theirs, lying to their faces. He had known his 39.0 Spirit-powered [Minor Soothe] would be a powerful flash. He had known his 43.7 Agility would let him "clumsily" dodge their attacks. It was all a cold, ruthless calculation.
"Alright," Emily said, taking a deep breath and regaining her composure as the party leader. "That's enough excitement. This looks like the halfway point to the next landing. We've officially cleared 2/6th of this mine. Let's rest here. For real this time. Ten minutes. Drink water, eat a bar. We're going deeper."
Zack sat down, his back against a cold, mossy wall, his legs feeling like jelly. He had survived. And he'd earned a new cube.
He obediently pulled out a water bottle and a protein bar, his hands still performing his "shaky" act. He kept his head down, his eyes half-closed, as if he were catching his breath and calming his nerves.
But inside, his mind was cold and clear.
'System,' he thought. 'Open storage.'
His mental screen opened.
[Dimensional Storage]
1x Blue Cube (Defense) (1.0)
4x Mid-Grade Healing Potions
20 Shop Points
The new Defense cube, from the D-Rank (Intermediate) Slinger he'd killed with Emily's fireball, was sitting there, glowing.
'Absorb it.'
The cube in his mental inventory vanished. A quiet, steady warmth spread, not through his muscles this time, but over his skin. It was a strange, dense feeling, as if his skin had become a thin layer of leather. His 39.1 Defense, his lowest stat, finally ticked over the 40-point barrier.
He felt more solid. More real. The phantom aches from his exhaustion and the ricocheting rock faded just a little. His new stats were:
Strength: 41.2Agility: 43.7Stamina: 40.7Spirit: 39.0Defense: 40.1
His lowest stat was now Spirit. But even at 39.0, it was powerful enough to create a flashbang that could blind D-Rank (Intermediate) monsters. He was, in every sense, a complete powerhouse.
"Break's over!" Emily called out, her voice sharp. "From here, the tunnels get nasty. The "Earth-Wardens" are said to be in this next section. They're D-Rank (Intermediate) Shamans. They don't use fire, they use the ground. So, watch your feet. Maya, you're on point. Ben, right behind her. Zack, you're in the middle. I'll take the rear."
The formation changed again. Now, Zack was in the "safest" position, with the team's Tank in front of him and their Warrior/Mage leader behind him. It was the "Healer's Pouch."
He hated it. He felt like a child. But it was the perfect cover.
They moved into the next tunnel. This one was different. The air was no longer damp; it was dry, dusty, and smelled of ozone and hot rock. The green moss on the walls was gone, replaced by veins of a dull, orange, glowing crystal that pulsed with a faint, warm light.
They were going deeper.
They walked for another hour. The journey was tense. Twice, Maya held up a hand, and the team froze. She would vanish into the shadows, and a moment later, they would hear a single, choked-off yip before she reappeared, wiping her daggers. She was taking out lone sentries before they could alert a pack.
She was incredible. Her Agility was clearly D-Rank (Intermediate), and her skills were flawless. Zack knew that, while his base stats were high, he had no skill like that. He was just a brutal, overpowered brawler. He had a lot to learn.
They had now been in the dungeon for almost six hours. This marked the 3/6th point of their journey. They were halfway.
"Big room up ahead," Maya's voice hissed. She was pressed flat against the tunnel wall, peering around a corner. "I see a pack. At least... twenty. And... yep. I see a big one. It's got a staff. An Earth-Warden."
"This is it," Emily said, her voice low. "This is our first real test. Ben, you're up. This one's all you. Draw them to the chokepoint. We'll fight them here, in the tunnel."
Ben nodded, a grim smile on his face. He stepped forward, his tower shield raised. He stood in the mouth of the tunnel like a plug of solid steel.
"Alright, you dog-faced rats!" he bellowed, his voice a thunderclap. He slammed his shield on the ground.
"[Taunting Slam]!"
The red pulse of his skill shot into the large cavern.
The answer was a dozen furious barks.
"They're coming!" Ben yelled, planting his feet. "Get ready!"
A wave of twenty Kobold Miners (D-Rank Beginner) charged into the tunnel, their pickaxes raised. They were a wave of fur and steel.
They crashed against Ben's shield. CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
"Fire! Now!" Ben roared.
Emily stepped up, aimed her [Firestorm] over Ben's shoulder, and bathed the entire pack in fire.
The screams were awful.
But this time, it didn't stop them.
From the back of the pack, a new, deeper bark was heard.
"GROK-TAK-SHEK!"
A tall, eight-foot Kobold, this one wearing robes made of stone plates and holding a staff of petrified wood, stomped the ground.
It was the Kobold Earth-Warden (D-Rank Intermediate).
The fire on the burning Kobolds... went out. A thin layer of rock and dust had covered them, smothering the flames.
"It put the fire out!" Emily yelled in shock.
"Get ready!" Ben warned.
The Earth-Warden stomped its staff again.
"[Stone Spikes]!" it barked.
The ground under Ben erupted.
SHHH-KRAK!
Three sharp, spear-like spikes of rock shot up from the floor. Ben, with a roar of pure instinct, managed to half-jump, half-twist, avoiding two of them.
The third one, however, was too fast.
It slammed into his right leg, punching straight through the steel greave of his D-Rank armor.
"GAAAAAAH!"
Ben roared in pure agony, a sound Zack had never heard from the giant. The Tank stumbled, his shield-wall wavering. Blood poured from the wound, a dark, pulsing stream.
"BEN!" Emily screamed.
The wave of Kobolds, seeing their opening, charged again, this time at the gap Ben had left.
"Maya, intercept!"
Maya vanished, a blur of motion, her daggers flashing, trying to hold the line. But there were too many.
"ZACK! HEAL HIM! NOW!" Emily screamed at Zack. She had to hold the line with Maya, her sword now drawn and flashing, buying him time.
Zack's blood ran cold. He saw the wound. It was bad. The spike had gone clean through the armor and deep into Ben's calf muscle. The man was bleeding out.
He saw Maya and Emily fighting desperately, outnumbered.
He saw Ben, the giant, kind Tank, fall to one knee, his face pale with pain.
This was his moment.
He ran to Ben, his mind racing.
My [Minor Soothe] can fix that. It's strong enough. But if I use it... they'll see. They'll see a green light heal a fatal wound in three seconds. They'll know I'm not an E-Rank.
He had to choose. His cover, or Ben's life.
No... I can have both.
He ripped his backpack open and fumbled inside, his hands "shaking."
"C'mon, c'mon..." he acted, his voice full of panic.
He pulled out one of the four Mid-Grade Healing Potions he had bought from the System Shop. It was a swirling, red liquid in a glass vial.
"Ben! Here!" he yelled, "It's all I've got! Drink it!"
He uncorked it and shoved it into Ben's hand.
Ben, gritting his teeth, took the potion and drank it in one gulp.
"Agh... Thanks, kid..." he panted.
The potion, which healed 50%, went to work. But it wasn't enough for a wound this bad.
"It's not... it's not stopping..." Ben gasped, looking at the blood still pouring from his leg.
"Let me see!" Zack said, his voice high with "panic."
He dropped to his knees, right in front of the wound. "I... I have to put pressure on it!"
He put both of his hands directly on the horrifying, bloody, spike-hole in Ben's leg.
Ben roared in pain from the pressure.
And under his hands, hidden by the blood and his own body, Zack's left hand glowed with a brilliant, pulsing, emerald green.
[MINOR SOOTHE]!
He poured his 39.0 Spirit into the heal, holding it there, his "Healer" hand working its real magic.
The 50% from the potion, combined with the 100% from his system-powered skill, hit Ben at the same time.
Ben's eyes went wide. The pain... didn't just fade. It vanished.
He looked down. Under Zack's hands, he could feel his muscle and tissue knitting back together at an impossible speed. The flow of blood stopped.
"Kid..." Ben breathed, his voice full of pure shock. "What... what kind of potion...?"
"It's just a mid-grade!" Zack lied, his face pale and covered in sweat (this was real; the mental focus of his act was exhausting). "I... I think it's working!"
While this was happening, Emily and Maya were in deep trouble. The Earth-Warden had stomped its staff again, creating a thick Stone Wall in front of itself, blocking Emily's fire. Maya was a blur, but she couldn't get through the wall.
"I can't hit it!" Emily yelled, her sword deflecting a pickaxe.
Zack saw his chance. Everyone was distracted. Ben was staring at his own leg. Emily and Maya were fighting for their lives.
Zack looked at the Earth-Warden. He looked at the shadow it was casting on the wall behind it.
He was kneeling on the ground. No one was looking at him.
He aimed his God-Eater hand, not at the monster, but at its shadow.
'System,' he thought. 'Let's try this.'
[Shadow Spike]!
A small, dark spike, no bigger than a knife, shot out of the shadow and plunged, silent and unseen, into the back of the Earth-Warden's knee.
"GYAAAAK!"
The monster shrieked, a high-pitched sound of pure surprise and pain. Its concentration broke. Its leg buckled.
And the Stone Wall in front of it crumbled to dust.
Emily, who had been about to dodge, saw the opening. She didn't question it.
"MAYA, NOW!"
"[Firestorm]!"
Emily unleashed her fire, and Maya vanished, appearing on the monster's other side.
Trapped, its leg broken, the D-Rank (Intermediate) Shaman was killed in a perfect crossfire.
The moment it died, the remaining Miners all stopped, shrieked in fear, and ran back into the darkness.
The tunnel was silent.
Ben, his leg now completely healed, just stared at Zack. "Kid... I'm... I'm alive. You saved my life."
"It... it was the potion," Zack stammered, his kind mask firmly in place. "I'm just... I'm glad it worked."
Maya walked over. She looked at Ben's leg, which was now just a torn piece of armor over unbroken skin. Then she looked at the dead Earth-Warden. Then she looked at Zack.
Her eyes were sharp. Suspicious.
"That monster... it just fell," she said, her voice quiet. "Lucky break for us."
"Very lucky," Zack agreed, his heart hammering. She's watching me.
"Good work, team," Emily panted, walking over. She put her hand on Zack's head and ruffled his hair, her relief making her giddy. "You did it, Zack! You saved him! A real Healer!"
Zack just nodded, letting out a shaky, acted breath.
"That," Ben said, standing up on his healed leg, "was the 4/6th marker. I recognize that cavern. The main nest... the Brood Mother... is just through that tunnel."
The team rested, the mood now heavy. They had survived, but they were deep in enemy territory.
Zack, while "resting," secretly checked his storage.
The Earth-Warden had been a D-Rank (Intermediate) Shaman. It had dropped a new, single cube.
Dungeon-Loot Protocol: Blue Cube (Stamina) x1 has been sent to Dimensional Storage.
He smiled. Another 1.0 point. This dungeon was worth the risk.
Reader's Note: Zack's Stats
Rank: E (Advanced) / (System Rank: E (Advanced))
Class: Healer / God-Eater (Mythical)
Strength: 41.2
Agility: 43.7
Stamina: 40.7
Spirit: 39.0
Defense: 40.1
(+1.0 from Chapter 14 cube)
(Storage: 1x Blue Cube (Stamina) (1.0). 3x Mid-Grade Healing Potions. 45 Shop Points.)
(Note: Shop points increased from party EXP.)