Rise of the Living Forge-Chapter 431: More opportunities

The huge metal arrow screamed through the air, leaving behind a stream of shimmering crystal shards in its wake like the tail of a meteor. The Prism’s Reach had launched it with such force that it was more of a blur than a discernable object.

And, even as the boss monster in the center of the room unfurled its wings and finally took notice of the death carving through the space before it, the weapon had arrived at its mark. It shifted course ever so slightly, moving from what would have been a solid shoulder shot to land straight into the monster’s heart.

And, with a roar, the arrow tore clean through its target. It struck the ground of the cave behind the leathery creature and sent an explosion of stone into the air. Crystal erupted from the large hole in the center of the monster’s chest, racing to dig into its body even before blood could start to flow.

The boss staggered, trying to rise to its full height. It struck Arwin that the creature was roughly humanoid. It was like a cross between a large man and a bat — with a leaning toward the latter half.

A rasping mouth full of jagged teeth and two baleful black eyes turned to meet Arwin’s gaze. The large monster took a staggering step toward him, barely even aware of the enormous wound it had been dealt.

Then any intelligence that may have lingered behind its eyes snuffed out. The monster pitched forward and crashed to the ground with a thud. Crystal cracked, then shattered. It crumbled away into piles of dust as the flow of magic within its victim stemmed.

Arwin lowered the Prism’s Vengance. A flicker of surprise passed through him. He’d known how strong the bow was, especially when he had time to really charge up a shot and his target wasn’t moving.

But that hadn’t been a fight. It had been a slaughter.

Golden light trailed through the air before him as words bloomed to form sentences.

Achievement: [Pathetic] has been earned.

[Pathetic] – Awarded for striking down a boss monster with a single blow… and being disappointed instead of proud. I’m going to get offended if you keep doing this. Effects: One skill in your next Skill Selection has been upgraded. This achievement will be consumed upon choosing your next skill.

“Holy fuck,” Thane whispered.

“Language,” Anna said.

“I’m not that young,” Thane muttered, unable to pull his eyes away from the corpse of the boss lying in the center of the room. “I’m allowed to curse.”

Anna scrunched her nose. “Not until someone teaches you how to properly swing a sword. It’s a prerequisite.”

“It is?” Thane’s eyes widened. “Nobody ever told me that. I didn’t realize there were rules for cursing.”

The corner of Anna’s mouth twitched in amusement, but her expression went serious again before Thane could notice it. “There are. Many of them, actually. I’d just hold off on it until you get some practice in.”

“I’ll take note of that,” Thane said. He glanced back to the room, then swallowed. “Holy shit.”

“Better,” Anna said.

Arwin glanced down at the Prism’s Reach. A warm rumble rolled through his mind. The weapon was purring.

You and Caldera alike are both cats, aren’t you?

He banished the bow with a thought, then called the Prism’s Vengance back to his hands. The large arrow materialized in his grip. Gore and blood splattered to the ground where it had been moments before, having been left behind by [Arsenal].

Arwin banished the arrow as well, then re-summoned Caldera. There had been other monsters in the room. He wasn’t about to try and use the huge bow against a horde of enemies.

“Get ready,” Arwin said. “We’re moving forward. The boss is down, but that doesn’t mean we’re out of the woods. The real threat here is the things lurking in the shadows.”

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

Olive nodded. The two of them edged forward, their guards up and senses peeled for any signs of attack. Anna and Thane followed a few feet after them. fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cøm

But nothing impeded their advance through the room. The monsters lurking in the shadows made no moves forward, even as they all reached the body of the fallen boss at the room’s center. Arwin knew they were still there. He could see their eyes glinting in the dark and hear their bodies shifting.

What is this?

“Odd,” Olive whispered. “They’re just… watching us.”

Arwin hopped across the platforms and over to the fallen boss monster. He hooked a foot under its crumpled. He hadn’t even gotten a chance to pay attention to its Tier or name. The creature had died too quickly for him to get a look. He kicked the corpse up into the air, then grabbed it with his free hand and slung it over his shoulder and made his way back to the others.

There was no need to waste potentially good materials, after all.

“Are they waiting for something?” Olive asked, keeping her sword at the ready. “I don’t like being in the center of the room like this. We should keep moving… unless we’re calling it here?”

“I’m far from done,” Arwin said with a shake of his head. “Give me a second to check something.”

He activated [Dragon’s Greed]. Power burned through his chest as invisible strands of energy snapped into being. One of them pulled straight into the corpse currently slung over his shoulder. Another went off to the side of the room into the shadows, while the majority of the others directed him into the exit of the room and deeper into the dungeon.

Arwin released the magic before it could waste too much energy. He wasn’t about to let himself start getting lax. This was an Expert tier dungeon, and they were far from done with it. Every scrap of magical power was going to be important…

But he wasn’t planning leaving much at all for the Blacktongue family. They’d made their bed, and he was going to make sure they laid in it.

“There’s something over there,” Arwin said, pointing to the darkness where he’d felt the pull of [Dragon’s Greed]. “Let’s make our way to the other side of the room. I’ll then come back and grab it before we leave.”

The others nodded and moved to follow his instructions. Arwin kept his muscles tensed to explode into action if any of the monsters tried to attack, but they never did. Not one of them tried to emerge from the darkness.

What’s going on? Are they intelligent enough to be setting a trap? We’re in a pretty highly ranked dungeon… but what kind of trap could they even be going for?

Arwin’s thoughts accompanied him until he and the others had reached the end of the room. He set the corpse of the boss monster down just outside the exit, then banished Caldera and turned back to where the magical item sat in the darkness.

“This is really weird,” Olive said. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen monsters hold back like this. Is it some trait of an Expert rank dungeon? Maybe they’re all defending the thing you’re looking at?”

“I don’t know,” Arwin admitted. “Monsters definitely tend to be more intelligent in higher ranked dungeons, but this is odd. I’ve never seen an entire room just straight up avoid attacking. Be ready for them to make a move.”

“Do you want me to back you up if they attack?”

Arwin shook his head. “No. Just protect Anna and Thane. I’ll be fine.”

He started back into the room, moving cautiously but at a brisk pace. Every second he spent was one that made it more likely to get attacked. Even if these weren’t powerful monsters, an entire horde of Adept tier enemies was absolutely nothing to scoff at.

But as Arwin approached the darkness where [Dragon’s Greed] had indicated an item sat, the monsters in the area pulled back. They did absolutely nothing to stop him as he reached out, barely even able to see, and felt his hand land on a stone box about the size of a large plate.

Arwin lifted the entire box. Then he backed up. The monsters watched him from the darkness. They remained exactly where they were even as he made his way back to join the others, the box tucked under an arm.

“This is weird,” Olive muttered as Arwin rejoined the group. He didn’t even bother glancing at the contents of the box. He just wordlessly handed it to Anna, who stuffed it into her pouch.

She’s right. I don’t get the sense the monsters are intelligent in the way that Lillia or Madiv are. It isn’t that they cared about the boss we killed. This is more like…

“I think,” Thane said, his voice barely more than a whisper, “they were scared. I’ve never heard of monsters getting so scared of a fight that they didn’t take it, though. Is that normal?”

“No,” Olive replied. “No, it isn’t.”

Arwin grunted. He slung the body of the boss monster back over his shoulder, keeping it in place with one hand as he summoned Caldera back with his other. Magic from his prototype armor still warmed his skin.

He hadn’t even meant for it to feed into the Prism’s Reach. The bow had drunk from it on its own, and to devastating results beyond what even he could have expected… and he hadn’t even properly activated the armor yet.

It still had to be tested.

Fortunately, something told Arwin that the final boss of the dungeon would be far from as simple to defeat as the one they’d just handled.

“Come on,” Arwin said. He jerked his chin toward the pathway leading deeper into the dungeon. “Let’s keep moving. And stay light on your toes. We’ve got a class to get and another boss to take out before we’re done for the night.”

And after a showing like that… I’m eager to see just how much this armor is capable of when I really let loose.