Ash ushered me slightly further into the cave, stopping when it began to open up into a large cavern. For the first time since stepping into the dungeon, I could actually see what I was doing, aided by some glowing fungi growing on the walls.
The cave was an eerie kind of silent, the only disruption coming from us invaders. It lent to the feeling of being prey moments before being attacked by a hidden predator. I shivered and tightened my grip on the sword in my hands.
"Ash, I don't think this is a good idea," I said hesitantly, looking around for the man as I did so.
I spotted him a few paces away, standing off to the side with Victor. I moved to join them, but he held out a hand for me to stay where I was.
"You'll be fine. If it looks like you're in danger, we'll come save you."
Yeah, that's not very reassuring.
"Victor will also give you a couple buffs, since you'll be fighting by yourself," Ash continued.
Did he mean buffs like how they work in video games? Like a boost in speed or strength?
As it turned out, that was exactly what he meant. I watched as Victor pulled up a blue transparent screen, similar to the status window, and pressed a couple things on it. As soon as he did so, another screen popped up in front of me with the words Attack Buff [A] and Shield Buff [A] with a ten minute timer already counting down.
"You do more damage while taking less," Victor explained before I could ask. He muttered something after that which I couldn't quite catch, his face twisted in annoyance. Ash shot him a helpless look and nudged the man with his elbow.
I was curious, of course, but I was soon distracted by the sound of little squeaks. I stilled to better listen and followed the sound upwards, all the way to the high ceiling. There, among a bunch of hanging stalactites, were tiny glowing eyes by the hundreds, looking like the night sky full of red, blinking stars.
My breath caught and I couldn't look away. I vaguely heard, "he finally noticed," but didn't register the words. Crap, crap, crap! There were so many. It had finally settled in that I was expected to fight these monsters and terror quickly took the wheel, driving away any hope of somehow fudging my way through.
A sharp whistle, human, pierced through the stillness, echoing in the cave. I could only watch as the disturbed monsters shrieked, dropping down with spread wings. They came down in a swarm of red eyes and gnashing fangs aimed straight at me.
They rushed over my head, close enough that their wings slapped at my head. I yelped and swung the sword upwards like a baseball bat, closing my eyes instinctively. A couple of them dropped, sliced through by the sword.
I pried open my eyes and stumbled backwards when I saw the upper half of a bat sitting on my shoe. A zombie bat, to be precise. Like the wolves from before, this monster had the same form as a regular bat, except for being in the late stages of decay.
The body was sizzling, melting away from the eyes. I covered my nose as the smell invaded and tore my gaze away. I had only taken out three of them with my lucky strike. There were still a bunch more currently swinging around for another attack.
I braced myself, hoisting up the sword in a way that screamed I had no idea what I was doing. The beating of wings was getting closer by the second. I forcefully slowed my breaths, not having time for a panic attack.
The bats descended on me seconds later, biting at anything they could get at. I flailed wildly, trying to fling them off of me while simultaneously swiping at the cloud with the sword.
Tears tracked down my face, dripping onto open wounds and tracking blood. Adrenaline fueled as I was, I couldn't yet feel the pain. Instead, I watched as my body was torn apart by the tiny vampires.
For as many as I felled, another bat would take its place. They were relentless, wiggling their way in to take their share of my flesh. My hands became so numb I didn't notice when I let go of the sword, continuing to fight back with my bare hands.
I was forced onto the ground by the weight climbing all over me. I was full on sobbing now, tearing bats off along with chunks of my own skin. How much longer until they killed me? A couple minutes? Less?
Mentally resigned, I kept beating on the disgustingly soft bodies. The decomposing bodies would cave in with the use of some strength, but I was tiring and it became harder. My swatting got weaker, merely pushing them away for a split second before they were back on me.
The squeaking grew louder then, frantic and angry. In between the pulsing horde of bats, I caught glimpses of flashing silver and gold. Blood dripped into my eyes, making me almost blind, and I thought briefly that I was hallucinating in my final moments.
Except, I wasn't. As the seconds ticked, the screeching of the bats began to die down and quiet. The weight on the bodies pinning me down lightened as well. My lips contorted into as much of a smile as I could manage. Ash had finally stepped in.
Hope renewed, I started tearing bats off again with a fresh burst of strength. Another and another and another, ripping them away like a machine. The grin on my face got wider when at last I got a glimpse of Ash, slicing through the little demons as easily as butter.
He reached me within a few seconds, as expected of a SS class hunter. In just a few swipes, he killed the remainder of the bats still attached to my body, helping me pull them off after doing so.
I laid out on the ground, out of breath and surrounded by the carnage of the monsters and my body. Ash didn't give me the moment, though, and pulled me up harshly by the arm.
I winced from the pain that was just beginning to set in, catching the first look of my condition. I was quite the mess. Every inch of me was raw, bloody meat. Even my prosthetic foot didn't make it through unscathed, having been whittled down to a shapeless lump by the sharp fangs on those bastards.
Ash got up in my face and I blinked, trying to focus my vision. "What the hell was that? Why didn't you use your skills?" He was mad, I could tell.
My head lolled to the side and I just stared at him. Did he seriously just ask that? Forget the fact that I didn't know how to use my skills, it's not like they would've made a difference. I was only a C class and he expected me to fight by myself. It was rigged from the start. No way I was coming out of that alive.
My silence frustrated Ash and he plowed a hand through his dark hair unconsciously before he pulled it back and noticed the blood smeared on it. He sighed and deflated, losing his anger.
"Victor placed a target on you, so the others will be here soon. Milo will heal you and then we'll clear the rest of the dungeon and get out of here," Ash said softly, looking over my destroyed body.
I tried to nod, but wasn't quite able to and only ended up aggravating my injuries. The pain was getting kind of distracting and if Ash said anything else, I didn't hear it. The pain had transformed from throbbing to every nerve being on fire. If I had any tears left, I would be crying.
Staying still helped nothing. The more I tried, the more my body would twitch and pull on my wounds. Difficult as it was, I compelled myself to think of something else. My mind drifted to my life before getting sucked into this world, and I bitterly lamented the peaceful life I had lost.
Was this going to be a common occurrence? Getting picked on by my guildmates who don't like me and having to fight monsters I stood no chance against?
That's so not fair! Where's my cheat code, huh? I got nothing to help me live a life in this world and am expected to just figure it out. What did I do to become so unlucky? I thought I'd lived fairly virtuously.
And now I lay in a pool of my own blood, hoping Angel Boy arrives to save me for the nth time before I die tragically from a rabid bat attack.
What a cruel world I'd been dropped into.