Chapter 17: Surrounded by darkness, a creature sleeps.
An humongous head rested on top of a coiled, serpentine body in a picturesque manner.
It's frame, majestic yet terrific, could be confused with that of an ancient statue given the stillness of its being, with the only sign of life provided by the subtle wiggle of an elongated, doubled tipped tongue that would occasionally travel out of its seemingly closed mouth.
Easy was the life of this creature.
It eats.
It sleeps.
And the cycle repeats.
At least, that was supposed to be the case.
Sometimes there were fools who came to its doors, as if seeking a grand prize which its death would provide.
Some died.
Some survived.
Many killed it…
Oh, so many killed it.
Again, again, and again.
How many times did it die?, the creature lost track of that long ago.
Sleeping and eating, there weren't greater pleasures for the creature. Yet, the bitter flavor of constant, painful death impeded its joy.
Will it ever find peace?
Will they ever stop hurting it?
Will it ever know greater pleasure than just two?
"" Mmh?""
From within the darkness, a pair of golden, drowsy reptilian eyes looked around.
"" What is this feeling?""
A few miles away from its vicinity, it captured three presences.
"" Humans.""
The creature hissed in primal anger at the mere thought of having to deal with these pests again.
But then, something strange happened.
The invisible shackles that prevented it from leaving its room-
No, its Prison, ceased holding it down.
....
As the trio walked away from the oasis, on their way to find the boss room, which wasn't in a fixed place as it would reset its location every time the dungeon was cleared, Adam commanded his stat window to appear before him.
[Status]
Name: Adam Zenith
Age: 21
Level: 39
Race: Human
Karma: error!
[Stats]
HP: 3,625/3,625 (Health Points)
EP: 7,300/7,300 (Energy Points)
Strength: 65
Dexterity: 55
Stamina: 55
Intelligence: 81
Luck: Error
Free Stats: 0
After going on a killing spree against the scorpions, which he had already made into shadow soldiers and sent them away for hunting, Adam's level raised by one, after being stagnant for a few days.
' So higher-ranked dungeons were the answer all along. Once I reach level 45 or so, I should start hunting in A-rank dungeons then.'
As they kept walking, Adam, as well as Rumi and Zoro, felt a sudden bloodlust falling heavily on them.
Out of habit, Adam touched the other two's shoulders and teleported 10 meters away.
*BOOM!*
Immediately after, a big serpentine head came out of the spot where they were standing a few seconds ago.
The abomination of a monster stood at nearly 15 meters in height. Its black scales resembled a draconic being out of a fairy tale.
Golden-slitted eyes looked down at the group quizzically, along with an elongated tongue that moved around playfully.
""Humans""
A voice that came out of nowhere, traveled throughout the dungeon, alerting the group of hunters as they took a fighting stance.
Rumi and Adam were not expecting something like this to unfold.
They had barely killed any monsters and now in front of them stood the final boss.
It was common sense that the hunters would look for the boss, not the other way around.
Zoro took a single katana out of his waistband, readying to confront the boss by himself.
" You two, step back, I don't know why the boss is out of their room but that matters little. An A-ranked monster is not something you two can handle."
Rumi wore a frown but did not comply, Zoro was kind of the leader of their party, and it's not as if what he was saying was a lie.
At least for Rumi that is.
" Hey, Zoro."
"Mmh?"
Zoro side glanced at his teacher's only son, indicating he was listening to him.
"Let me try fighting the boss."
"It's too dangerous for yo-"
Before the swordman could complete his statement, Adam cut him off.
" Is it?"
"..."
It took a second for Zoro to understand the meaning behind of Adam's words.
Summoning hordes of monsters.
Pyrokinesis.
Martial arts are on par with an ultimate master.
Teletransportation... Oh, he could teleport too, that was new for Zoro.
' Damnit, he might be able to actually pull it off.'
Taking a final look at the giant snake he had exterminated so many times in the past, Zoro took a big sigh before nodding his head.
" Wait! If Adam is going, so am I!"
" Rumi, stay."
The seriousness behind Adam's words took Rumi off guard. He would always play along with her antics, so this was a new phase of him she had never seen.
"But-"
"No buts, this is not something the current you can handle. If I fight alongside you you'll get in my way."
Rumi looked down, her nails carving against her palms as she squeezed her fists.
She didn't like her fiancé's words, yet she knew the true behind them.
She was competitive, yes, but an instance like this was out of her league.
In her heart, she knew Adam far surpassed her.
Only with his martial arts Adam demonstrated to be above anyone in rank B, something that she could easily perceive given her martial bringing.
So if they fought together against the boss, what would happen if something went wrong?
The answer was obvious.
Adam would do anything to prioritize her safety, even if that got him seriously injured, or even killed.
The fact that she knew these things, yet she was focusing more on competing to make it a point that she was not weak, spoke volumes of her selfishness.
And she hated herself for that.
As she was about to delve deeper in frustration, a warm sensation invaded her head. Looking up, she saw Adam smiling at her, which naturally calmed her turbulent emotions.
" I will make it up to you. Please stay behind brother Zoro while I fight."
Rumi nodded with a sad smile, while Zoro wore a confused smile with hints of an embarrassed blush.
' Rose is my only mother figure so I'll let it pass.'
His thoughts contradicted his facial expressions , but no one seemed to care.
Rumi turned around to take cover behind the green haired swordsman when,
" And one more thing Rumi."
She halted her movements, Adam's words capturing her fleeing attention.
" Never think of yourself as weak again. You weren't, are, or will ever be a weak person. You are the strongest I know, after all."
And those words meant the world to her.
Adam was obviously not referring to her physical strength, the meaning behind his statement was deeper than that.
She trained the hardest.
She wanted to continuously improve herself the most.
She never gave up on her ideals.
With those qualities, in a world where awakeners were a thing, it was a matter of time before she could reach her goals.
" Adam."
" I know, love, I know."
Since spoken gratitude was unneeded, the two soulmates returned to their tasks.
" You look stupidly big…"
Now standing in front of the snake-
No, scratch that, whatever this was was not a snake .
A snake couldn't fathom the majestic beast that stood before him.
Calling it a Snake God would be more appropriate.
Monsters at this stage of evolution ( A-Rank), were fully sentient. They could communicate with humans easily and their intelligence was on par if not superior.
But don't be fooled.
Pay attention to the keyword: " Evolution".
Mindless A-Rank monsters did exist.
And although they shared the same rank as any other A-Rank, their prowess was anything but equal.
This was the main difference between Bosses and random mobs.
An A-Rank beast from an A-Rank dungeon couldn't compare to a boss from a B-Rank dungeon.
For this reason, the rank of a boss was commonly referred to as higher.
The god like being in from of him, was no A-Rank mob, but an A+ Rank behemoth.
"" And you are pathetically small.""
Adam raised an eyebrow at the boss's counter, not expecting that response.
" Well, my lover would say otherwise, but that's not important right now."
The giant snake looked confused at Adam's attempt of a joke, but paid little to no attention to it after a second passed.
'Yeah, gotta try harder next time.'
"" Are you going to attack me or what? I came to find you first to save you the time.""
" Are you that impatient to die?"
That comment from Adam seemed to have brought some painful memories to the creature, but the latter remained calmed on the outside.
"" After dying countless times, in the most gruesome ways at that, I would lie if I said I wasn't impatient to finish this quick.""
Adam's smile, was soon replaced by a confused frown.
' What?'
Yet his confusion was soon replaced by alertness, since before he knew it, he was sent flying several meters away by a thunderous hit he never even saw coming.
*BOOOOOOOM!*
"" So, be a good boy and die.""
....
Hey.
Long story short, I suck at keeping up with my schedule.
Now my pc is fuc-, broken, my pc is broken, so it's even harder for me to comfortably write.
I hate typing on a screen. I literally prefer to send voice messages instead of chatting so you can imagine.
Anyways, I'm late and here's the chap.
Like always, feel free to make suggestions as I'm always open to constructive criticism.
Hope you have a great day.
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