90 Rabid Hounds from the Netherworld (1/2)

Snowflake was the last one to walk on the first step of the descending staircase. They were headed to the third floor of the Dungeon. As he climbed down the stairs, he realized how staler the air was getting. The lower they got, the more the walls were covered with spooky putrid plants in yellowish rotten colors. My poor fur... , the cat thought grumpily.

The entire floor reeked of death. The smell enveloped everything, piercing their nostrils and making their body shake with nausea. Lulu retched heavily, but she resisted the gag response. Lumia and Snowflake didn't seem bothered by the smell or the eldritch scenery. They walked casually, turning their heads left and right from time to time in an attempt to spot out in advance any other potential trap like the Formation they fell into on the second floor.

On the contrary, Frankenstein looked euphoric rather than worried; he kept inspecting the vegetation and collecting samples that he put meticulously inside his Interspace Ring.

”The deadly air around here might have tampered with the flora properties. If we imbued our clothes with them, we could even gain extra Bonus with an affinity…” Frankenstein was truly excited. He began speculating about all the benefit they could get from those plants. Everyone though, Helial included, stared at him in disgust. Despite his enthusiasm going unappreciated, however, he was still perfectly at ease and went on hypothesizing and whispering to himself without bothering to contain his excitement. His marbles was definitely gone for good.

An uncanny feeling slid by Helial's arm. ”Stay put.”

Skill Activated:

Perception

The boy sensed a number of Mana piles draw near at breakneck speed from several directions. Luckily, the floor was wide enough for them to run and hide away, but they first needed to find somewhere to hide and run to. The approaching monsters were swifter than those they had fought against before. They also had a different shape. They looked shorter, longer and… four-legged? Could they be some sort of animal?

Helial calculated the distance between him and them. The monsters were a kilometer away from their group.

”Get into formation. Triangle. Frankenstein, you'll have Lulu and Lumia as your support. I will stand behind you with Snowflake. We'll be the triangle corners. Now, be careful. Our targets look quick. Judging by their Mana's density, they're in the First Phase Intermediate stage. This means they're stronger than those we met before. Watch out.”

Fortunately, now that they were in the First Phase they had the chance of reviving during the 24 hours following their death, if their body wasn't completely destroyed. Not like Helial felt like dying. But still, this chance kind of reassured him. It was a special treatment reserved to First Phase practitioners. Despite natural deaths, they could go back to life if someone cast a healing spell on them, or injected a great amount of Mana into their body.

In a dark beam, Curse of the Demon flashed into existence in Helial's hand. Helial took a fighting stance.

Skill Activated:

Body of the Qilin

Strings of fog rouse up all around them, intensifying the spookiness of the already eerie scenery. From time to time, a gust of wet wind hit them as they looked about themselves in alarm. The scenery was indeed spectral. None of them could help having chills running down their spines.

If someone talked, he or she would express out loud what everyone else was thinking; they needed to get out of there as soon as possible. The deadly air was making them feel quite uncomfortable. Their mental health was one slip away from being shattered. Goblins and Humans weren't meant to live underground like moles. The deeper they ventured, the more feeble the light. The only light source left was a misty glow emitted by the plants and the ceiling. The floor was scattered with torches; some were shining, but mostly they were off. As he passed by, Helial had turned them on with Flame of the Qilin. The white flame though helped very little in keeping them relaxed. Quite the contrary. They looked even more alarmed.

Little beads of sweat covered their foreheads. Keeping a Guard stance without any clue on what move to expect from an unknown enemy was no doubt quite a challenging strain for their young minds.

Helial heard footsteps echo out. He closed his eyes. He thought it could be Zombies. But Zombies walked slowly and a sound of broken bones followed their movements. This sounded a lot different. What he was hearing was more like the sound of nails on rock, and that pace was faster than that of an Undead. It must be animals. Helial was pretty sure about this, but he couldn't guess any farther.

All of a sudden, a bunch of deformed creatures popped their head out of the dark tunnels surrounding the cave. One after another, dozens of humongous beings appeared from the holes, their fangs uncovered. Their putrefying jaws were foaming. Dogs!

Skill Activated:

Perception

Rabid Hounds from the Netherworld