Adrenaline Junkie [Book 2 Complete]

"That should be the last one," Archie mumbled as he placed the last Emberlash Eudromaeosaur Beastcore into his spatial storage. Looking into his spatial storage Archie sighed, I gotta dump some of this stuff when I go back to my base.

Activating Forgesmith's Flame, Archie covered himself in the greenish-red flames, letting it burn off all the blood, flesh, and bone atop his armor. Ignoring the scent of burnt meat, Archie made his way towards the moss-covered stronghold ruins.

As he neared the ruins, the scent of burnt meat left, informing him to deactivate Forgesmith's Flame.

Walking around the ruined cobblestone walls, Archie found a large enough crevasse to fit him. Shimming through the crevasse, Archie managed to squeeze himself through and pop out onto the other side.

Stepping onto the long grass on the other side, Archie took in his surroundings. What he previously thought to be a stronghold was actually a large space of ruins. The sixty-meter-high moss-covered walls didn't protect a stronghold; rather, they seemed to protect the dome-shaped buildings.

This is curious, Archie thought as he walked towards one of the dome-shaped buildings and slowly walked around it. On the front of the building, there were cobblestone steps and a stone door with a rectangular slit on the bottom.

On the opposite side of the building, Archie found a medium-sized circular slit on the top of the back wall.

Just as Archie was about to walk past the building, A crunch from under his foot caught his attention. Taking a step back, Archie leaned down and picked up what caused the noise. A shard of glass. The hell?

Making his way around, Archie walked up the ruined cobblestone steps and pushed against the stone door. Finding only minor resistance, Archie pushed it aside, ignoring the screech it made when it scratched the dust-coated cobblestone flooring beneath it. He scrunched up his nose after taking a whiff of the inside of the building. Rancid.

Looking around the inside of the building, Archie confirmed that it was the same dimensions as the office cubicle he used to work in, 5.9m2. There was some sort of stone bucket in the corner of the room, filled with moss and a singular thin green stem.

In the opposite corner of the room, there was a rectangular 'U' shaped rock. What's that? Some sort of door stopper? Archie questioned.

In the middle of the room was a pile of rubble. Kneeling down, Archie brushed aside the rubble to find a worn-out looking leather notebook. Carefully opening it, Archie gently flipped through the pages. As he looked through the pages, the grimmer his expression became.

While he didn't understand the words that were written, he gained the context clues he needed from the small scribbles on the side of the pages.

The people that used to live behind these walls were some sort of humanoid-like creature with Argali horns on their heads. They were constantly on their knees, bound in chains, and locked in their dome homes where they were only brought out when snowfall came. They were being dragged out by similarly looking humanoids but with lyre-shaped horns atop their heads. During that time, something happened to them, something not good, Archie frowned. The next couple of pages after that were scribbled messily, repeating the same word over and over again.

Archie flipped to the next page but found nothing but worn-out empty pages. Whoever had been writing and drawing stopped.

Putting the book down, Archie let out a sigh. He had a good enough hunch about what happened here. This was some sort of medieval torture-prison. And these buildings were their prison cages.

People lived in these dome shaped cells, not allowed to leave and chained up where during the winter something would happen to them on repeat. Something not good at all, it couldn't have been if what he saw was right.

He didn't know if these people were criminals or innocent people being taken advantage of. But what he did know was that this was wrong, if these people did something so wrong for them to be locked away and tortured, just kill them. Why prolong their suffering? Just kill them and be done with it, why waste time making them suffer?

If they were innocents, then… I don't know, I never understood why people hurt innocents. They did nothing to you, so why take out your anger on them? Archie frowned, placing the book gently atop the pile of rubble before leaving the cage.

Taking another look at the inside of the cage, Archie also noticed the lack of bones of whoever lived there.

Heading towards the cage next to the one he visited, he opened the door to see a similar sight. And just like the previous one, there was a lack of bones.

They probably died in that building sometime during the winter where they were being tortured, Archie concluded. Looking around, he followed the path the scribbles portrayed to get to the building.

The path itself was made of small pebbles, barely visible from the tufts of elongated grass that grew over them. Archie made his way down the path, walking past at least thirty more rows of the prison cage 'houses' before he found himself in front of the building from the book.

The building was a large triangular structure, crafted from polished stone and crystals. Unlike the rest of the buildings and the wall, it showed no signs of ruin or wear from the passage of time. The only noticeable feature was the five large gashes that tore through it, their edges scorched with gold.

What the hell could have caused this? Archie wondered, staring at the golden gashes that tore through the building. Did one of their prisoners escape and do this? Or did someone else do this?

Archie tried to use Material Insight and Identify on the golden gashes but found nothing, only a question mark. Leaving him with even more questions.

Walking through the building, Archie found a plain hallway line with many doorways. Most had caved in, except for three—the only ones still intact, each standing far apart from the others.

Opening the closest one to the entrance Archie scrunched his nose once more, the smell of decay and rot filled the room. As he walked into the dark room, he saw large cages lining up the walls filled with bones and horns, old leather whips, and various other bloodstained tools scattered across the room. This was the torture room drawn in the book.

Getting closer to the cages, he took notice of the various marks that ripped through and bore holes into the walls of the room. Peering inside the cages Archie confirmed that they were indeed bones, whole and broken ones. But he also noticed something else, the horns weren't just the Argali ones, no there were lyre-shaped ones as well.

What? Were both of them being tortured? Archie questioned, looking through the other cages and finding both types of horns mixed with the bones. Were they both prisoners? What the hell happened here? Why are the cages big?

What am I missing here? Archie wondered as he left the torture room and entered the hallway. Both the Argali and lyre horn people were being tortured in the same place by someone else. Because I find it hard to believe that the people being tortured and killed didn't take their race's bones and let them be mixed with their oppressors'. Or maybe they didn't care and I'm just confusing things.

Archie opened the second door and entered it. Looking around, he found various shelves filled with mold and rot-covered food, thin sheets, and various broken stationary. Seeing nothing else, Archie closed the second door and headed towards the last one.

Opening the door, Archie saw a room filled with wilted flowers atop a marble shrine adorned with large bones and skulls. What stood out was that the bones and skulls were dinosaur ones.

What? The dinosaurs were involved in this? Archie looked around in shock, mind-boggled by their sudden insertion into the story he'd been piecing together in his mind. He thought they appeared here by the creator of the dungeon… this became a lot more interesting.

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

Taking a closer look at the walls, he noticed faint images etched into the tiles, though most were obscured by time and wear. His eyes scanned the length of the corridor, searching for a single image that remained intact—but no matter where he looked, every carving was smudged beyond recognition.

He knew they were depicting something, but he couldn't see it. As he focused on one the others became clear and looking back only made them smudge again. Something was happening to keep the smudges moving around and preventing him from looking at the images.

But for the life of him, he couldn't tell what it was. He couldn't even sense a tuft of mana around it. Activating Gaze of the Forgefather didn't reveal anything either, signifying runes were absent in what was happening.

He was completely at a loss with what he was looking at.

Archie let out a sigh of defeat as he left the marble dinosaur mural, surrounded by moving smudges, and left the triangular-shaped building. Despite spending hours inside, he hadn't been able to figure out how to remove the moving smudges.

Looking around, Archie made his way down the pebble path and came across his next foes.

[Earthshaker Scolosaurus Lv 89]

It stood on four thick, pillar-like legs covered in tough-looking, dark green bone plates. Its body was low and wide, spanning at least four meters. Similar bone plates, slightly tougher than those on its legs covered its back and underside. The small, triangular head was also shielded by bone plates, perfectly complementing its tank-like build. At the end of its long, plated tail was a massive club fashioned from the same dark green bone plates.

Archie saw the three of them around a large statue of a T-Rex with wings. However, they stood a good fifty meters away from it. The statue stood four meters high, with a scowl on its face and sharp fangs the size of daggers. It glowered at everything around it, and just being near it brought a shiver down Archie's back.

Shaking himself, Archie got rid of the jitters that came to him before boosting himself for the fight. Activating Adrenaline Rush at 30% and Thornscourge Expansion, before surging nature mana into the vines wrapped around his fists.

Vines shot out from Archie's fists, snaking toward the Scolosaurus. They slid beneath its low frame and coiled tightly around its front and back legs on the left side, wrapping them securely. Planting his feet firmly into the ground, Archie channeled a flood of stamina through his body and a surge of nature mana into the vines, reinforcing its tensile strength.

With a sharp yank, the Scolosaurus' knees buckled from the sudden force, its left legs collapsing under its massive weight and sinking into the dirt as it was dragged toward him. Releasing a confused bellow as it attempted to turn its short neck to find its unknown assailant.

Archie gritted his teeth and gave another forceful tug, the reinforced vines straining from the Scolosaurus' weight as it flipped onto its back with a heavy thud. The creature let out a bellowing roar of confusion, its plated tail thrashing the ground, producing a meter-sized crater with each slam, as it struggled against the binding vines.

Dismissing his extended vines, Archie activated Savage Charge atop the Scolosaurus' exposed stomach.

Archie slammed into the Scolosaurus's exposed stomach with such force that it writhed in pain, tearing the soft scales on its belly. Activating Relentless Flurry, he unleashed a barrage of thorn covered blows, shredding the vulnerable hide with ease. Channeling a surge of nature mana into his vines, they erupted from his fists, burrowing deeper into the Scolosaurus's tough, corded muscles with every blow. The relentless assault ravaged its innards, and the thrashing of its club-like tail grew weaker with each blow.

With gritted teeth, Archie ripped out his vines along with the innards of the Scolosaurus.

Jumping off the Scolosaurus's corpse, Archie sprinted toward the remaining two Scolosaurusi, who had turned toward their bellowing packmate. Mid-sprint, he noticed the creatures begin to shake, but not out of fear. Rather, the bone plates across their backs quickly elongated and loosened from their previous tight formation.

A chill ran down his spine as a scene reminiscent of a porcupine readying its spikes flashed through his mind. Realizing what was about to happen, Archie dug his heels into the ground and braced himself, covering his vitals as best as he could.

Flooding his body with mana and stamina, he pushed Adrenaline Rush to 40% and activated Material Carapace. Sentinel Platiniteshell armor spread across his body, reinforcing his defenses and forming thick, arched shields over the bracers on his wrists. Using these makeshift shields, Archie protected his head and upper body from the incoming barrage of bone plates.

The plates shot toward him with the force of a thousand boars. The loud thunderous bangs resounded throughout the dungeon as Archie, tanked the barrage of bone plates. Though they deflected off his armor, the sheer impact pushed him backward, forcing his heels to dig deeper into the ground.

With each strike against his body, Archie felt his bones shake, some fracture and others crack but were quickly flooded with vital energy. But with every strike, the rush of adrenaline coursing through him widened the grin on his face.

With every bone plate fired from the Scolosaurusi, another immediately regenerated before launching toward Archie in rapid succession. The attack seemingly relied entirely on stamina rather than mana, as the plates shattered after slightly denting Archie's armor. And each dent was quickly repaired by a flood of mana coursing through the carapace.

Archie's body shook as he took a step forward from the barrage of plates pushing him back. Every step forward he took, he took three steps back. He flooded more mana and stamina into Adrenaline Rush, forcing it to go beyond 40%, making him take a longer step. After all, if he went three steps back then he just needed to take an even larger step forward. Simple, sound logic in Archie's opinion.

Archie pushed against the barrage of bone plates, digging his feet deeper into the ground, his body burning up from the heat generated by the plates hitting his armor. Releasing a roar of joy and excitement, Archie unintentionally activated Taunt. Halting the barrage of bone plates fired at him.

With the only resistance holding him back gone, Archie accidentally sent himself launching towards the now-stunned Scolosaurusi.

Mid-flight, Archie deactivated Material Carapace, vanishing the Sentinel Platiniteshell reinforced armor atop his armor and the shields from his bracers. Allowing his fists to easily sink into its now scaleless hide and release a flurry of blows, activating Relentless Flurry. Leeching Strikes of Fury activating with every blow, regenerating his vital energy.

The Scolosaurus roared in pain, breaking it out of its stunned state and thrashing its club-shaped tail wildly, smacking its packmate across the face and knocking its face to the side. Its bone helmet around its skull shattered.

The thorns wrapped around Archie's fists, and ripped through its scaleless hide with ease, tearing through its corded muscles, and cracking through its bones. Wrapping his fingers around a loose rib, Archie ripped one of its ribs out. Pivoting on his heel, he stabbed it into its eye, before punching it for good measure as it sunk deeply into its skull.

Kicking off the ground backwards and pivoting towards the last Scolosaurus, Archie activated Savage Charge, appearing in front of its unprotected face. Archie pulled back his fists before shoving them through its eyes and into its eye sockets.

Sending a surge of nature mana into the vines around his fists, the thorn-covered vines exploded in its skull, cracking and snaking through any openings, however, if there were none, then it would make some.

Ripping his arms out, Archie deactivated his skill, halting the red-hued steam around his body and vanishing the translucent thorn-covered vines around his limbs. Archie took short, but quick breaths staring at the dead Scolosaurus as it bled onto the grass below from its eye sockets with a wide smile under his blood-covered mask.

A quick glance at his surroundings with Vital Sight revealed nothing around him, except for one thing. The winged T-Rex statue to his far left.

This is probably the boss, Archie mused as he sat down and activated Nature's Meditation, wanting to be in top condition to fight the Primalsaur.

Surprisingly, Archie exited Nature's Meditation faster than usual. What normally should have taken a good three hours of meditating, only took an hour and forty-five minutes. Drawing upon the ambient energy within the Lost Valley dungeon was far more efficient compared to when he was outside the dungeon. Probably from the concentrated amount of nature mana around me, Archie mulled as he released a small tuft of nature mana from his hand and watched as it lingered for a longer period before vanishing.

Looking at his notifications, he smiled at his new level up.

*[Earthshaker Scolosaurus Lv 89] has been slain – XP has been given. 1157 Tutorial Points given*
***
*[Earthshaker Scolosaurus Lv 89] has been slain – XP has been given. 1157 Tutorial Points given*

*Your Class has reached Lv 71 – Points allocated, +4 Free Points*

Getting off the ground, Archie made his way towards the large winged T-Rex statue, ignoring the tingling across his back. The closer he got to the statue, the stronger the jitters he felt go down his back, but as the strength of the jitters grew, so did his adrenaline.

Smiling, Archie touched one of the winged T-Rex's talons on its left foot before everything went black.

As suddenly as everything vanished, it returned. But instead of finding himself in a different place, Archie found himself staring at a large red, slitted eye that covered his vision entirely. This was not the Primalsaur.

Suddenly Archie's body exploded in pain, blood starting to leak from every orifice on his body as he stared into the eye. Archie felt his mind strain as he stared into the eye, but as suddenly as his body flooded with pain, so did his adrenaline.

His mind which felt so close to shattering, halted. Time around him slowed down, as adrenaline flooded his entire being, rewinding the damage on his mind and soul.

Time resumed.

Archie heaved, barely able to stand on his shaking knees, still staring into the enormous red, slitted eye staring at him.

A loud reverberating chuckle boomed through Archie's head. Making Archie grit his teeth from the loud noise.

"Amusing," the voice boomed, with a tone of unrestrained joy. "To think an E-Grade human would be able to withstand my presence. How amusing!"

If the bone plates resounded like thunder whenever they struck him, then each word the being uttered were akin to nukes.

"I shall be watching you from now on," the being's voice boomed, with unveiled interest. Archie's wavering vision slowly started to dim and the last words he heard before being surrounded in darkness was, "Bralmir got himself a good seed."