Heavy Metal

"GAHhhh!"

"Ha! Did you see that? Straight in that stupid eye!"

A monster howled as an arrow struck its bulbous eye. Behind the cover of a boulder, a small party of three huddled together. Their weapons and armor were worn and battered, but their weapons seemed to be in good condition.

"Be quiet. It's going to notice us, Rika!"

"Oh, sorry, Tally. I got too excited…"

Rika blushed with embarrassment as Tally scolded her. But the two didn't have time to argue. The Lesser Mermlock they were hunting had already spotted them. With a shriek, it yanked the arrow from its swollen eye. Water spewed from its gaping, toothy mouth as it stumbled forward in a drunken charge, its one remaining eye twitching wildly.

"It's coming!"

Tally squeaked, nearly tripping over her own foot as she drew a sharp-looking dagger.

"Don't worry. I'll draw its attention. Just hit it from the side."

"O-okay. Oliver, be careful."

Oliver, the third member of the group, leapt from behind the boulder. He held a spear in one hand and a small shield in the other. Slamming the shield with his iron weapon, he created a loud sound, drawing the monster toward him. His two companions ran in opposite directions, attempting to encircle the beast.

Slick, scaled limbs slapped wet stone as it let out another throaty hiss, frothing water and blood from its ruined eye socket. The remaining eye locked on Oliver, and the beast surged forward.

"C-come on then!"

Oliver shouted, trying to sound braver than he felt. His knees trembled for a moment, but he held his ground and braced for impact. The monster slammed into him, and he gritted his teeth. His body was pushed back, his spear wobbled, and his knees shook again, but he refused to give in. He took the hit as planned, drawing the monster's focus while the rest of his party prepared to strike.

"Now!"

He shouted just as Tally rushed in from the side, dagger raised high. Her heart pounded in her ears as she darted toward the monster's exposed flank. The cavern floor was uneven and slick with moss. Her foot struck a loose stone.

"Aah!"

She stumbled, not quite falling, but her angle was thrown off. The dagger glanced off the creature's tough hide, leaving only a shallow cut that failed to draw blood. The Mermlock hissed in pain anyway, its head snapping toward her.

"Tally!"

Oliver reacted instantly. He lunged with his spear, driving the tip deep into the monster's midsection. The iron shaft bent under the force of the blow. The monster shrieked and slammed into him with its shoulder, sending him crashing into the wall.

It was not looking good for the young adventurer. The monster loomed above him and lunged, trying to clamp its massive jaws down on his head. Just as it moved in for the kill, another arrow whizzed in from the side and struck its remaining eye.

"Now, stab it!"

Rika shouted as she struggled to notch another arrow to her bow. Tally lunged forward and stabbed at the monster's back while it tried to devour her friend. Oliver finally regained his grip on his spear. With both hands, he thrust it forward just as the monster opened its mouth to scream in pain. His weapon was not the sharpest, but it was enough. The spear drove through the monster's throat and delivered the finishing blow.

The Lesser Mermlock let out a final gurgling screech before collapsing in a wet heap at their feet, its body twitching once, then going still. Silence fell over the cavern, broken only by the rapid breathing of the young adventurers.

"We… we did it, we beat an E rank monster…"

Oliver gasped, lowering his weapon as blood and water pooled around his boots.

"That was so gross."

Rika muttered, slinging her bow over her shoulder.

"But yeah, we're one step closer now."

Tally didn't say anything right away. She stared at the monster's corpse, her hand still tightly clutching her trembling dagger. Then, slowly, a small smile crept onto her face.

"We actually beat it…"

"Yeah."

Oliver nodded, still catching his breath. All three of them looked up at their status messages. Their levels had all increased, bringing them much closer to reaching the threshold of F rank and stepping into E rank. The fact that they had managed to defeat an E-minus rank monster was proof that they had earned that progress.

"Let's take it apart quickly before anything else shows up."

Rika whispered as she stepped closer and gave Tally a pat on the back. The group nodded in agreement, and the two girls pulled out smaller knives designed specifically for field harvesting. They knew monsters were not the only threat. Other adventurers could be just as dangerous, so it was best to work fast.

"I'll handle the gills. That's where the glands are. You go for the claws."

Rika said. They got to work, except for Oliver, who stood watch with his spear ready. Minutes passed. Oliver's eyes narrowed as a strange flicker of light came from behind him.

"Uh… guys?"

He turned to Tally and Rika, who were frozen with their mouths slightly open. A faint shimmer pulsed beneath the creature's ribcage. Tally reached in with a trembling hand and peeled back a layer of mucus-soaked skin. Her eyes widened further.

"Is that a water crystal? But are water crystals supposed to be this shiny?"

She asked, glancing at the others, who then leaned in to get a better look.

"That's not a normal crystal. It's a rainbow water crystal."

Rika said as she grasped it and pulled it free. It rested neatly in the center of her palm and sparkled brightly in the dim cavern. They all swallowed hard. They knew exactly what it was, a rare and valuable variant worth a fortune. The chances of finding a water crystal were already low, but this was something far rarer. It was a drop that appeared only once in every five hundred water crystals, usually obtained from water monsters at the D or C rank level.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"Quick, hide it."

Oliver shouted as Rika's hands trembled. Tally pulled out a small pouch and placed the crystal inside. All three let out a long sigh of relief as they looked around. The cavern appeared empty. No one seemed to be nearby, or at least that was what they assumed.

"S-should we head back?"

Tally asked, glancing around. The drop could bring them a large amount of money in a short time, but it could also put their lives at risk if other adventurers found out that a lowly F-rank party had something this valuable.

"I don't know. We haven't been here long. What if the other adventurers start to suspect something?"

The air around them had gone still, too still. Even the damp dripping water from the cavern ceiling seemed to fade into obscurity. The only sound they could hear was the pounding in their chests.

"We should move…"

Rika spoke, and the others nodded without arguing. They packed quickly, stuffing harvested parts into their bags without bothering to clean their hands. Even when Tally smeared some of the monster's blood on her clothes, she didn't pause. Oliver urged them to hurry as he kept watch, his head shifting from side to side, scanning the chamber to make sure no one was watching.

Eventually, they moved on, and silence returned to the cavern. Then, from the distance, a few shadows began to approach. Their outlines flickered in the faint glow of the nearby mana-enriched moss. At first, they seemed to be passing through, but they came to a sudden stop. Their eyes locked onto the half-dismantled corpse left behind.

*****

*Clang. Crunch. Hisssssss.*

The Engulfing Mines lived up to their name. Rusty swung his mace in a low arc, smashing it into the strange armored worm that had burst from a pile of collapsed rubble. It screeched and curled inward like a caterpillar as its shell cracked under the force of the blow. It wasn't alone. Three more of the same creatures writhed on the ground nearby, stunned but not dead.

"These things are hard… Gleam, burn them all!"

"( •̀ ᴗ •́ )و"

Gleam didn't need to be told twice. With a crackle of mana and an eager chirp, she opened her mouth and released a burst of flames. Her body clung to the ceiling above while Rusty jumped back to create some space. The fire rolled over the monster below like a living wave, and soon they were being cooked.

The experience points he was gaining had increased, but they still weren't impressive. Now that he was a D-rank monster, he needed thousands of points to level up. Unless he could trap hundreds of these things in one place and burn them all at once, it made more sense to hunt something that was actually D-rank.

"Rocky Tunnelers are quite the annoying monster type. They wait inside the walls and jump out once someone gets close."

Alexander said as Rusty moved toward the large worm-like creatures. Their rocky exteriors mimicked the surrounding terrain, with shells made of stone. While they weren't especially large, they were extremely difficult to kill with standard physical attacks. Rusty had to switch to a mace, and even then, he struggled to inflict much damage. If it weren't for Gleam and her fire, defeating them would have been far more difficult.

"Good going, Gleam."

"( •̀ ᴗ •́ )و"

"Ha, that's the spirit. Although I'm not sure we could handle a thousand of them at once. Maybe if I enchanted this mace with one of those impact enchantments."

Rusty looked at the weapon. It was a simple mace forged from enchanted steel, but it carried no spell. He had searched through many options in the stores, and it was becoming clear that relying solely on his body, as he had in the past, was no longer viable. He needed to begin upgrading his equipment, and adding various enchantments seemed like the best way to make his life easier. The monsters in this area were not especially affected by his light and darkness skills, which had slowed his progress significantly. Even so, he was not in a bad mood. Although the creatures had become harder to kill, they offered valuable rewards.

Desynthesis had proven useful, and many of the large worms dropped materials that could be sold for a good price. Their tough outer shells, which looked like stone, could be repurposed for armor and shields. They also contained small clumps of mana crystals.

"I wonder if I could craft something with this."

Rusty had already processed two of the worms, but he paused as he examined the third. Its natural armor was extremely tough and reminded him of gear worn by other adventurers in the region. He was not familiar with how craftsmen processed monster parts, and for now, he could only recreate items made from metal.

"Want to make new armor from these?"

Asked Alexander, his light shining from Rusty's right eye socket.

"Uh… no, that would feel wrong."

Rusty could not quite explain it, but the idea of incorporating dead monster carcasses into his body unsettled him. He was a being made of metal, and he intended to stay that way. As far as he knew, adamantium was the hardest metal in this world, and he planned to rebuild his body using it one day.

"Let go in further, I can feel it, there are some stronger foes up ahead!"

They had spent over an hour wandering through the tunnels. Although they had no map, Aburdon was keeping track of their path. It was becoming clear that this part of the dungeon was growing more dangerous now that fewer adventurers were around. With no one left to watch, he could finally shed his disguise and move freely as the living armor he had always been.

"Hm… wait, isn't that what I was looking for?"

He stepped into a clearing where a larger chamber stretched out before him. It was far wider than the previous tunnels, with a vaulted ceiling supported by crooked stone columns. A low mist hovered above the floor, swirling gently with each breath of air. The walls glowed faintly with embedded ores and veins of dimly pulsing mana, casting a soft light across the space.

He focused on the ores first, drawn to the possibility that they were magically enhanced iron, ideal for producing enchanted steel. But the chamber wasn't empty. Something else was there. At the center, half-buried in the ground, stood a broken mining machine, or what was left of one. Its gears were rusted beyond repair, and one of its mechanical arms twitched sporadically, as if caught in a malfunction.

"What is that..."

It looked like discarded equipment, but its true nature was unmistakable. This was a monster. He had heard of constructs created by mages and craftsmen, known as golems. Those were supposed to resemble bulky humanoids made of stone or metal. Some people even mistook his own larger form for that of a golem. This creature, however, lacked a clear humanoid shape, and his only option now was to try identifying it with his skill.

"Its body is similar to mine?"

Rusty read through the description and realized he needed to find the monster's core. The creature was currently half-buried in the ground, with various pickaxes fused together to form its left limb and something resembling a drill attached to the left side. Everything was held together by a strange black mass that looked like some kind of glue. Its head was made up of strange gears that shifted and clicked as they moved, forming a distorted face.

"Its core is probably where most of the mana is gathered!"

He had a great idea. Before trying to engage, he would use his mana senses to pinpoint the core. Then he just needed to get Gleam to cast an attack spell from a safe distance to destroy it, or he could use an arrow or a spear himself. However, as soon as he activated his mana senses and focused, something rattled. The monster's strange head jolted in his direction, and a mechanical noise echoed through the chamber as it spotted him almost instantly…