“What’s going to happen to us…”
“What if those people return?”
Rusty looked at the various people before him, beginning to wonder if helping them had been a mistake, especially given the Priest’s erratic behavior. After he had restored her health and provided her with mana potions, she went to work. But instead of healing the strongest fighters, she focused on the youngest and most frail among them. In Rusty’s battle-ready mind, this didn’t make sense as they needed more capable soldiers on their side and not more liabilities.
Fortunately, the strongest among them appeared to be the warrior Rusty had just healed. Despite his earlier weakened state, the warrior regained his strength faster than Rusty expected. The shackles that had bound him seemed to have unusual properties - once they were removed, his health began to recover on its own, and his wounds closed with superhuman speed, even without further potions. This made Rusty wonder if he should keep those chains for himself.
The only issue was that the chains were made from an unknown metal that his system wouldn’t allow him to use directly. He could carry them in his stash tab, though that space was limited. Fortunately, the large spatial satchel he had found in the underground chamber was spacious enough to hold them. When the warrior tore the chains from the wall in a fit of rage, Rusty saw the potential for a hidden weapon, one he might wield in the future. Thus, while the others were helping everyone else, he stuffed one of the chains into the satchel.
“Mr. Albert, you have my gratitude, but how are we going to leave this place? Do you know a way out?”
Layla, his acquaintance from the adventurers' guild, finally spoke up, her voice barely a whisper.
“There’s a mechanism that opens a stairway up, but I’m not sure how to activate it - or how many enemies we’re facing,”
He replied, struggling to keep his composure. The people here were an unpredictable variable, one that could turn against him at any moment. If things got too chaotic, he was prepared to shift into his more slender form and make a quick escape.
“I think we have two options, either we try to activate the mechanism and wait for it to form the stairs, or we–”
Before he could finish, the large man he had healed with his potion cut in. In his hands a rock that he promptly crushed and threw the dust to the side.
“Or we destroy their base and kill them all! Those bastards dared to deceive me; I’ll slaughter every last one of them!”
The man's voice echoed through the chamber, his anger intensifying, much to Rusty’s dismay. The last thing they needed was this much noise. Although going deeper into the underground cult lair might be beneficial, he was wary of the figure the cultists called the High Priest. Escaping using the existing mechanism seemed a safer option, but it would likely alert their enemies to their location.
"Please, calm yourself - they’ll hear us! We have no idea how many there are. Let me tend to the wounded first."
The lady priest called to the burly man, her voice barely a whisper. The warrior spun around, his eyes narrowing as if her plea had struck a nerve. His face twisted in fury, but he took a slow breath, struggling to rein in his anger. His gaze flicked to the mangled bodies scattered around, and eventually, he just nodded. He turned and began to move out of the cell, pausing at the door to look back.
“If anyone comes, you’ll hear it. Make it quick.”
It seemed he intended to act as the lookout. He headed to the end of the corridor, but Rusty waved him down just before he could go on his way.
The man barked at him in an annoyed tone but Rusty didn’t react.
“There are some weapons there. Better than going empty-handed.”
Rusty replied, gesturing toward a darkened room filled with bodies. Before moving over to help, he’d placed some of his own weaponry there along with the daggers he took from the two cultists. They were probably inferior to what these people were used to, but still better than bare fists.
The man nodded, moving toward the room. For a moment, he looked taken aback by the sheer number of corpses but quickly set about collecting a weapon. With an iron axe slung over his shoulder, he resumed his post at the corridor’s end, ready to keep watch. Rusty returned to the other holding cell, where an unexpected scene was unfolding.
Rusty murmured, noticing his ant friend intently watching the elven lady as she channeled her healing spells. Gleam's antennae twitched with curiosity as she observed the priestess’s energy manipulation. Rusty could tell she was doing something specific - trying to imitate the woman’s movements and magic. Gleam hadn’t often had the chance to witness different types of magic up close, and, to Rusty’s surprise, there seemed to be more than just curiosity in her gaze.
“Oh, the young lady must have been busy while we were gone.”
Aburdon remarked, noticing before anyone else that Gleam was subtly mimicking the mana patterns of the spell, shaping them according to her own understanding. At first, Rusty wasn’t sure what to make of it, but then he saw a new spell appear in Gleam’s status window, one they could potentially use:
A variant of the lesser cure spell, attuned to the light element.
‘That spell will be more potent than regular healing spells.’
Aburdon added, being the first to comment as he too noticed the new spell in Gleam’s status screen. Rusty hadn’t asked, but his demonic guide was quick to explain why this particular spell would be more powerful than standard healing magic.
‘Normally priests use their healing spells by channeling divine energies from their deity but Gleam here learned a more pure form of it - without relying on a divine being... Since it’s attuned to her natural light element, it will heal quicker and potentially have better effects on higher undead.’
Rusty took in the information, and it made some sense to him. He’d seen priests use divine healing spells in the dungeon before, but his own light-elemental skills seemed different - more efficient, using less mana and taking less time, yet with a stronger impact against undead monsters. It seemed that light was a more advanced form of healing. With Gleam’s new spell, it might be wise to focus on undead creatures for quicker leveling, since she could likely use this cure as an offensive spell as well.
‘Once we are finished here, you must let me teach our little lady some fundamentals!’
‘Sure but first why don’t we put her skill up to a test?’
Rusty marveled at Gleam's progress as the little creature was developing abilities faster than he’d thought possible. Without a second thought, he decided to put Gleam’s newfound skill to the test. He approached Layla, whose strength was returning but who still winced with each movement.
“Alright, Gleam, try using your spell on her.”
Rusty whispered, patting his ant companion lightly on the head. Gleam’s antennae glowed softly, and she cast a faint, warm light over Layla. A soothing aura surrounded her, gently knitting her remaining wounds together and revitalizing her instantly. Her face went from pale and drawn to a more natural, healthy flush.
"This light… is that tamed creature doing this?”
Layla was surprised by the instant healing that allowed her to pick herself up from the ground. Rusty had decided to let Gleam test the spell on someone he could somewhat trust, and it was a success. However, there was a small problem: as soon as the spell finished, Gleam’s body slumped, her insect legs trembling as her breaths came faster. She settled back onto Rusty's shoulder, looking more exhausted than before.
“That was impressive, Gleam, but let’s save your strength. No more healing for now.”
"Their name is Gleam? That’s a cute name - thank you, Gleam.”
Layla added, with a warm smile and her hand trembling as if she wished to give the silvery insect a pat on the head.
Gleam’s expression brightened, clearly pleased to be praised by two people at once. Rusty made sure to speak loudly enough for everyone nearby to hear, wanting to make it clear that this ant was a friend, not a foe. Now that they’d seen her heal a person, they would likely assume she was merely a tamed creature.
“We need to start moving…”
Layla nodded, moving beside Rusty as they made their way out. He filled her in on the weapons he had stashed, and after picking out one of the cultist's daggers and an iron bow, she looked ready to do some damage. While the elven healer stayed back to tend to the injured, Rusty and Layla moved toward the spot where their lookout was supposed to be stationed. Instead of keeping watch, however, the man had ventured in deeper and was now studying the stair mechanism. The door could be opened with the keys Rusty had taken from the fallen cultists, but there was one issue.
“I remember this… it was really loud. If we activate it, it’ll definitely give away our position,”
Layla whispered, recalling her initial descent. Rusty nodded, knowing she was right. Activating the mechanism would likely draw unwanted attention, alerting enemies to their escape route. If they triggered it, they’d need to prepare for a fight - and one that could come from both sides.
“What are you two mumbling about? Spit it out.”
Growled the large man, clearly annoyed as he saw Rusty approach.
“It’s about the way out. If we use this, we’ll need to hold out for a while before the steps assemble. There are cultists above us who will try to block us as we ascend. And once we activate it–”
The man raised a hand, cutting him off mid-sentence. He seemed unimpressed, possibly because he saw himself as the strongest among them and didn’t care much for elaborate plans.
“Ah, I get it. Those bastards are busy praying to their shitty god and will come running the moment we activate this thing… Great! I’ve got a plan, then. Come with me, you two.”
He declared with a smirk, cracking his knuckles as he turned back toward the corridor where all the people were. Soon they were back to hatching a plan and it seemed that Rusty would be getting the short end of the stick.
“Listen up here you lot! Move your arses if you want to live. Anyone that can stand come with me. We need to move some things!”
Despite his gruff demeanor, the man turned out to be a surprisingly effective leader. His voice wasn’t especially loud now, but it held a calm confidence that eased some of the tension in the group. Before long, people were moving with purpose, gathering whatever they could find - rocks, logs, and even the bodies of fallen cultists and stacking them in front of all entrances to the central hub area, creating makeshift barricades to slow down the approaching cultists. Fınd the newest release on 𝙣𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙡•𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚•𝙣𝙚𝙩
The plan was straightforward: Rusty, Layla, and the man would hold this position, preventing the cultists from breaking through, while the healer and those well enough to move ascended the exit route. Once everyone else had made it through, Rusty and the others would fall back. It was a simple strategy, though Rusty had hoped to join the first group heading up. But their temporary leader, perhaps recognizing Rusty’s combat abilities, had decided he’d be more useful guarding the area.
As they were finishing fortifying the room, suddenly some voices and steps echoed from the distance. Someone was approaching from one of the corridors and they didn’t seem to be friendly. It was one of the coultists, holding a torch and moving towards their direction. He came to a stop before an entrance that was blocked by a pile of random furniture.
“What is the meaning of this! What’s going on… ARGhhh…”
Before he could continue speaking an arrow flew through the air and connected with his forehead. It was shot by Layla and instantly the cultist slumped to the floor, his torch clattering to the ground and casting eerie shadows across the room. Layla lowered her bow, giving Rusty a quick nod, while the large man smirked approvingly at her deadly accuracy. The flickering torchlight illuminated the barricade of broken furniture and piled rubble, casting long shadows on the stone walls that seemed to twist and dance like spirits of the dead.
“There are more of them coming, this is it, get ready!”
Even before Rusty could activate his life detection skill, the warrior shouted.
His voice was sharp, signaling the healer to activate the stairs that led up behind them. The entire place began to rumble as she inserted one of the cultist's keys into a socket in the wall, while another person pulled a lever on the opposite side of the chamber - a lock impossible to open without at least two people.
Shouts erupted from the other side as the cultists spotted their fallen comrades' bodies and rushed forward, realizing something had gone horribly wrong. Rusty quickly notched an arrow and took aim, his focus narrowing as he fired through one of the gaps in the barricade. The arrow flew true, striking one of the approaching cultists. Beside him, Layla did the same, her iron bow releasing an arrow with deadly precision. The battle had begun.
The cultists charged, their footsteps a relentless drumbeat echoing through the corridors. Their voices echoed from the distance and melded together as they charged. There was a sort of fanatical unity in their approach as they continued to run at them and never stopped even after losing multiple members to arrows.
he warrior stood at the center of their defensive line, waiting for the first cultist to breach the barricade. Gripping an iron axe with both hands, his expression was a mix of anticipation and rage. While Rusty and Layla held back the main corridor, two side entrances remained vulnerable, and enemies were already pushing through in an attempt to break in.
Time was of the essence, and the stairs were slowly unfolding behind them. Many were still injured, barely able to walk, and the situation was growing dire. Rusty began to wonder if perhaps Aburdon had been right - that he should have taken a more covert approach rather than the plan that was now unfolding before them.
‘How do the humans say it?... Ah yes… shit! … ’