BXBX NOVEL Chapter 107 107 - A Strange Curse
"Fortress!" Sprouting rocky spikes from his hands, Kane punched a hole through the last kobold's body.
Drawing his fist back, he let the monster slide off his fist before undoing the earthly porcupine-like spikes sprouting out of his body.
"Kane, you're too reckless!" Rushing over to him, Diana punched him hard at the back of his skull. However, thick as a rock, he felt nothing from the blow, and the only one hurt from the blow was Diana herself. "You're such a dunce…"
Caressing her fist for a moment, she watched as Lucy the healer of the group began healing the bruises on Kane's body. Shooting her a sharp gaze, Lucy let out a tired sigh, tired of dealing with the two quarreling all the time.
"Thanks, Lucy," Kane's appreciation was met with scorn from the healer.
"We all know you can't die easily, but that doesn't mean you get to be reckless!" Shouting the complaint, Lucy turned around to join Arthur surveying their path forward into the dungeon.
Picking himself up, Kane felt scrutinized even though he was just trying to complete the quest as soon as possible. Turning to Diana, there too he was met with an annoyed look, making him wonder what the cause of such unrest in the group was.
"Look, I just wanna find those missing slaves and report back to the duke soon," on the mere mention of the Larian Duke, each one of them clicked their tongues in frustration.
Being their leader, he had a good grasp on why they all rebutted at the mention of the duke, and yet with the quest offered to them directly by the ruler of their land, there was no other choice for them, but to gracefully accept it.
"We shouldn't linger in the open for long," pulling his mask down to escape the heat, Arthur looked at Kane to order their march forward. "The monsters in this place have gotten a lot stronger since someone allegedly culled the minotaur horde, and if we stand here like chicks, we're bound to run into danger."
'He's right, but going forward with such low morale can end in disaster as well.' Being the only one who has given his all in the quest so far, he could easily feel the rest of the party being dragged down by their thoughts about the state of their beloved duchy.
"Listen up!" Putting up a stern mask, Kane slowly moved forward to lead the charge. "I know you're all worried about the decrepit state of our homeland, but that doesn't mean you can let your mind wander off while we're fighting. Will you take responsibility if any of us die because you couldn't pay attention to the enemy?"
To Kane's question, nobody had an answer. Even though they were all worried about the direction their homeland was heading into, their job as its citizens was to accept the duke as their master and help him reach whatever goal he wishes to reach. And that's exactly why they felt reluctant to be complacent in leading their homeland on the path of doom.
When no answers were voiced, Kane marched forward urging the rest to follow him deeper into the dungeon. Waves of monsters kept throwing themselves at Kane's blade, and with help from Arthur and Diana, he sent them all off to the reaper. Once done with a section of the dungeon, they moved further and further in, clearing out all the hoards and making sure to get enough rest before plunging themselves into battle again.
"I'm getting tired, did we bring any potions?" Feeling exhausted from healing the group all the time, Lucy could feel her eyes growing heavy and her mind slipping toward slumber.
"Dammit I forgot to restock on potions," standing guard by the branching paths, Arthur checked his pockets in case he had any left. "And there's none in my pocket either, sorry."
Being the ninja spy in the group, he was supposed to be the guide as well as the items handler, and since he had forgotten about the potions none of the rest had any on them either.
"Should we turn back and come back la-" A loud shriek coming from the passages forward, deterred Kane from finishing up his sentence.
Guarding the branching paths forward, Arthur tried to figure out exactly where the noise came from, but the echoes through the cave-like passages made it impossible to discern where the noise came from.
"What the hell was that?" Her hands crossed over her racing heart, Lucy stared in horror at the passages.
"It sounded like a minotaur, but…"
"Fiercer," finishing Diana's sentence, Kane tried to quickly figure out a plan.
Reverberating through the ground they stood on, each step of the monster instilled a deeper sense of fear in their hearts. Afraid of whatever was approaching them, they all turned to Kane for his command.
"Kane?" Watching him contemplating his thoughts, Diana called out to him.
However, still lost trying to figure out a plan of escape he didn't notice that everyone was counting on him to get them all out safely.
"Diana set up a magic circle to teleport us out to the sigil we made outside the dungeon. Lucy, and Arthur, you both help me slow down this thing before it can get here," drawing his great sword, he moved in front with Lucy and Arthur standing behind him.
There as the sounds of the footsteps kept approaching, the thumping of his heart kept on increasing. Despite the front of bravery, he was just as scared as the rest of the party, but being their leader he couldn't afford to lower their morale further by showing his true emotions reflected on his face.
"Diana, judging from those steps, it's probably a big monster, we need you to be quick, okay?" Turning to look at her, he saw her already trying to conjure the magic circle for teleportation. "Lucy, I know you're tired but can you buff me and Arthur with defensive magic?"
At first, Lucy's eyes kept gazing in the direction of the steps, but gulping down her angst, she nodded her head and began casting some basic defensive buffs on the only two physical fighters they had.
Once again, steeling his heart, Kane activated fortress to cover his body in sharp outward pointed rocks. With his body strengthened by the buff and layered with a coat of hard rocks, he felt a bit more confident in facing the approaching monster. However, as the shadow of the colossal beast with its giant horns tearing through the ceiling came into view, he knew that trying to stand their ground had been a stupid move.
Hearing the hurried breaths of anxiety from his companions on witnessing the giant, Kane gave them a brief smile before turning back to the monster.
"Stand back, I'll handle this guy," he said, letting out a nervous chuckle.
"Kane, that'd be fucking suicide, we just need to buy enough time!" Grabbing Kane's prickly arm, Arthur grunted.
"Don't be stupid again!" Lucy complained as well.
Too busy with the incantation, Diana couldn't spare a breath to yell out how much of an idiotic move Kane was thinking about making, and yet giving him a stern gaze she still tried to convey it to him.
"We all know what that is…" Pointing his blade at the giant red-skin minotaur finally coming into clear view, he tried to explain his reasoning. "There's no way we're gonna defeat a minotaur king when we're all so tired, and the only one who can take him on without dying is…well unfortunately me."
Smiling at the crew from over his shoulder, he had them too stumped to respond. They all knew his words to be true, and with the teleportation magic nowhere near done, risking their lives against the Minotaur king was an extremely stupid move.
"You bastard," frustrated, Arthur took a step away from the oncoming battle.
"I'll still heal you!" Moving to the back as well, Lucy kept her eyes fixed on Kane.
Ready to face the kind, Kane took a deep breath to strengthen his resolve, and with a wide grin on his face like always he began to charge the monster before it got too close to Diana.
'Immortality is a strange curse, ahaha…' He thought, swinging his blade at the minotaur king.