Virtual Space, Dungeon.
The horde surged forward.
A wave of chittering Skarnlings flooded the chamber, claws scraping against stone, eyes vacant and hungry. The sound was a nightmare chorus of clacking limbs and shrill screeches.
"Run!" Amir barked, grabbing Jayden by the collar and hauling him back.
Jayden yelped as Amir practically flung him into the tunnel. He stumbled but recovered, skidding into motion.
"We need to get to the bottleneck!" Amir shouted behind him. "The narrow corridor—do you remember where?"
Jayden glanced back. His eyes widened at the swarm gaining on Amir. "I think I do!" he yelled, voice tight with adrenaline.
Jayden accelerated, dashing ahead with ease, his body flowing through the uneven terrain like water over stone. His agility was too high for either Amir or the Skarnlings to catch.
Amir, meanwhile, was being hunted.
The swarm funneled after him, the creatures jostling each other to reach the prey that lagged just barely out of reach. The faster Skarnlings bounded ahead of their kin, snapping at his heels, their claws skimming the backs of his boots.
He grunted, breath burning in his throat. He was too slow.
His hand flicked open the interface in mid-run.
[Ashfall - Rank 0, Level 4 Warrior
Strength: 19 / Agility: 15 / Constitution: 25 / Vitality: 21 / Spirit: 20
Unassigned Stat Points: 10]
Without hesitation, he selected his agility stat and dumped five points into it, bringing it up to 20.
A raw force pulsed through his legs, strengthening them
He exploded forward, a burst of acceleration leaving clawed limbs swiping at empty air. The sound of pursuit dulled slightly behind him as he gained ground, each stride longer and more precise
Jayden was peeking through a jagged slit in the tunnel wall when Amir caught up, ducking through the same crack with barely a second to spare.
They'd reached it—the chokepoint. The narrowest stretch of tunnel, just wide enough for one person to fight at a time.
Amir wasted no time. He dropped into position at the mouth of the passage, bracing his shield across the narrow opening. The slab of iron and wood was a good fit—exactly what they needed.
Thud.
The first Skarnling slammed into the shield. Amir grunted, adjusting his footing. Another impact followed. Then another. He held firm, gritting his teeth, and jabbed forward with his spear through the gap. The tip met soft flesh, sinking through with a wet crunch.
A shriek echoed from the other side.
Jayden stood behind him, weapons ready. Whenever a Skarnling managed to wriggle through the tight gaps, Jayden darted in and silenced it with a precise strike to the joint or throat.
"Nice bottleneck," Amir panted, stabbing again. "Wasn't the one I was talking about, though."
Jayden smirked, blades flashing. "If it works, it works."
The struggle continued.
Each blow that landed against Amir's shield sent a brutal jolt up his arm.
The force numbed his fingers. His forearm throbbed, and his grip on the spear slipped for just a moment—just long enough for a Skarnling to wedge a claw through the crack.
He snarled and shifted his spear to the side, pinning the creature against the stone wall before Jayden stabbed into its exposed face. Black ichor spattered his arm. Another screech—dozens, even—rose from the swarm outside, growing more frantic by the second.
Even with his stats, the strain was mounting fast. He wasn't just tanking hits—he was soaking them, and the toll was catching up.
His HP ticked down with every impact. 172… 159… 143…
The constant shudder of blows made it impossible to rest. His arm shook. His shield arm screamed. Every muscle in his body felt like it was tearing.
He gritted his teeth, forcing himself to keep the barrier in place. Jayden cleaned up anything that got through, but even he was starting to tire—his attacks were still fast, but less precise now.
Every miss meant more pressure on Amir.
A particularly savage blow slammed into the shield, forcing Amir to drop to a knee. His health bar dipped again.
His heart pounded in his ears. The next few hits might break his arm entirely.
He clenched his jaw, holding in a grunt of pain, and brought up his interface again.
It wasn't the time to be indecisive.
[Unassigned Stat Points: 5 → 0]
Amir shoved them all into Strength with a mental command.
[Ashfall - Rank 0, Level 4 Warrior
HP: 134 / 210
Stamina: 186 / 250
Strength: 24 / Agility: 20 / Constitution: 25 / Vitality: 21 / Spirit: 20]
A sudden thrum of raw power surged through his body.
His arms swelled with renewed force, and his footing dug deeper into the stone. The next Skarnling collided with his shield—but this time, it didn't rattle him.
He roared and shoved forward, slamming the frontmost Skarnling into the tunnel wall with enough force to crack its exoskeleton. The beast shrieked and dropped limp.
Jayden blinked. "You good?!"
"No," Amir growled back, "But I'm alive."
The pair kept fighting.
Minutes passed in a brutal haze.
The cavern floor was now a mess of shattered carapaces, twitching limbs, and black ichor. It slicked the stone under their boots, made footing dangerous, and turned every movement into a gamble.
Amir's shield looked like it had gone through a war—and it had. The edges were cracked, the surface bent and gouged where mandibles had scraped and struck. Even with his newfound strength, every collision sent fresh jolts of agony through his arm.
He didn't know how long Feral had been active. The temporary boost to his stats was barely in his awareness now, drowned by the pain and blood loss. It hadn't made him feel invincible—just capable of lasting longer before breaking.
And he was definitely breaking.
His HP continued its slow bleed. Every block, every shove, every thrust of the spear only slowed the inevitable. He could feel the bone in his forearm grinding with each hit, even as his reinforced muscles helped bear the brunt.
Still, he fought.
He switched to stabbing low, aiming for exposed joints, legs, or underbellies—anything that could slow their momentum, lessen the force of their hits.
Even then, some slipped past.
One smaller Skarnling darted under his reach.
Jayden reacted instantly, slashing. His blade met the insect mid-lunge, carving through its crooked antennae and severing its head in a clean arc.
He stumbled back with a hiss. Blood trickled down his thigh where one of the Skarnling's limbs had raked him before it died. He pressed a hand against it, wincing.
"How much longer?" he gasped.
Amir didn't answer right away. He flicked his interface open with a grunt.
[Quest Update: 12 → 26 / 32 Skarnlings killed.]
Almost there.
He glanced back into the tunnel. The impacts against his shield were coming less frequently now—shorter bursts, fewer bodies behind each push.
"They're thinning," he muttered. "We're close."
Jayden tightened his grip on his weapon, chest rising and falling in short, shallow breaths. "Then let's just wait it out, yeah? We have the advantage here."
Amir shook his head.
"If we just sit here, they might fall back and regroup. Their leader's already tough as it is; I don't want distractions while we fight."
Jayden grimaced, but nodded. "Then let's end it."
They pushed out from the bottleneck, stepping over mounds of broken Skarnlings. The stench of ichor burned Amir's nose, and every step squelched wetly beneath their boots.
The last five were waiting further down the tunnel, guarding the approach like sentries. They hissed and clicked as the two humans approached, but this time, there was no swarm at their backs.
Amir took the lead. His shield, though cracked and warped, rose again. Jayden flanked him silently, face tight in pain but eyes sharp.
They fell upon the Skarnlings like executioners.
The first was run through before it could leap. The second met the edge of Jayden's blade mid-charge. A third scuttled up the wall—but Amir pivoted and pinned it to the stone with a spear thrust.
The final two tried to break away.
They didn't get far.
Jayden threw a dagger as a distraction—the Skarnling jumped. It was dead before it hit the ground, a second dagger between its eyes.
The last tried to retreat—too late. Amir slammed it to the ground with his shield and drove his spear through its back.
Silence fell.
The air still buzzed with tension, but no more clicking came from the tunnel.
For the first time in minutes, no claws scraped stone. It was just the sound of breathing and blood dripping onto rock.
[Quest Update: 26 → 31 / 32 Skarnlings killed.]
[Your party has killed nineteen Level 8 Skarnlings. EXP gained.]
[Level Up: You have reached Level 5.]
[Level Up: You have reached Level 6.]
[+2 to all base stats, +4 unassigned stat points.]
Amir's experience bar was already halfway to Level 7.
He lowered his shield, panting. His whole body throbbed. His arm was numb from the repeated abuse, and his fingers barely responded.
But he—they—survived.
A glance at his interface confirmed it—his HP hovered just above critical, and Feral had faded as soon as combat ended. Now, every bruise, every fracture, screamed at once.
Across from him, Jayden leaned against the tunnel wall, one hand on his thigh wound. "I thought that would never end…"
"Just be glad the boss didn't follow," Amir muttered, voice low. It was dark, but it was the truth.
Jayden gave a dry, humorless chuckle, then slid to the floor with a wince. "You think we've got time to rest?"
Amir sat across from him, letting the cold tunnel floor cool his burning legs. "We have time. The big one didn't look like it was in a rush."
They sat in silence for a few moments, letting the exhaustion settle. The air was quiet, but heavy—like something was waiting beyond the dark.
Jayden sighed and wiped the back of his neck. "You think we're ready?"
"No." Amir stood, adjusted the straps on his dented shield, and rolled out his shoulders with a wince. "But ready or not, we're going."