Salvos (A Monster Evolution LitRPG)

47.2. New and Familiar

Now entering [Dungeon: Silkfall’s Crevice].

I hopped off the ladder and landed on solid ground, followed right after by the three adventurers I had just met. The Human man, Zack, was the last one to come down. He walked right past me, ignoring me and murmuring under his breath.

“This is so stupid. Why do we have to go in now at this hour? We already spent four hours down here this afternoon...”

I cocked my head. Why would you even go back up? I thought, not understanding his complaints. I initially was under the impression that none of the adventurers above had ventured into the Dungeon yet, but apparently they all had gone in at least once. It was just that they went in very quickly and went out.

“Don’t mind him. He’s just grumpy because he didn’t get enough sleep last night.”

A female voice spoke out. I turned and saw the [Archer] standing there, her bow already out. She smiled at me, proffering a hand.

“Helen. Sorry we didn’t get to properly introduce ourselves.”

I smiled back.

“It’s fine. I’m Salvos.”

“Salvos? Hm, I could’ve sworn I’ve heard that name before. Oh well, that jerk [Mage] over there is Zack. And our team leader here is Jaakko, as I’m sure you’ve already surmised.”

“Greetings.”

Jaakko nodded my way. Meanwhile, Zack was off in the distance, flipping through the pages of a book and mumbling to himself. Helen sighed.

“Anyway, I hope we didn’t come off as too imposing earlier. Jaakko is usually very reserved and cool headed— which is why he’s our leader— but he worries about others a little too much.”

“So… you three are Gold Ranks?”

I looked over at them curiously. Then I focused on the large green man.

“And you're a Cyclops.”

“Indeed.”

“This is the first time I’ve seen a Cyclops. In fact, I only heard about your kind a week ago.”

Jaakko wrinkled a brow.

“My kind may not be as common as you Humans, especially here in the eastern part of the continent where Humans are plentiful. But we do travel around. I am surprised to hear that you’ve never even heard of us until recently.”

I nodded eagerly. I peered at him, leaning closer.

“I have a lot of questions. I know nothing about Cyclops’ at all!”

“Are we going in or what?”

Zack called back to us, standing at the sole tunnel leading further down the Dungeon; Helen sighed and shook her head.

“Yes, we are. Come on, let’s walk and talk so he doesn’t get agitated any further.”

The four of us started making our way through Silkfall’s Crevice— the dim hallway illuminated by the torch Jaakko was carrying. I had offered to create a fire, but they told me to save my mana.

“So, do you guys need to eat? Do you need to sleep? Do you have Classes as well or something else?”

I began listing off the questions in my head as we walked through the familiar Dungeon; I had been here before, and I was expecting to see a fork in the tunnel soon.

“That is… a lot of questions all at once. But unfortunately, I only have a simple answer to all of them: yes.”

“Yes?”

I cocked my head.

“Indeed. Us Cyclops’ are no different from you Humans. I apologize that I cannot give you a more interesting response.”

“Aw… it’s fine. I was just curious.”

If he had a Subspecies instead of a Class, I wanted to press him more to learn about how exactly it actually worked; being around Humans for so long, I learned that there was quite a detailed understanding on how Classes and their advancements functioned.

I had other questions for him. However, before I could ask them, Zack— who had been walking ahead— halted. He raised a hand and backed up.

“Wait— look! Our barricade’s been breached.”

I glanced over at what he was pointing at— down the hallway, there was a split just as I had expected. One of the tunnels led further down the Dungeon, while the other was a straight line to the Lair of Giant Spiders. Built in front of the tunnel leading to the Lair were wood and stone, now smashed and broken into pieces. Helen cursed.

“Damn. Think the Centinels did it?”

“It must have been. Giant Spiders are very territorial. They wouldn’t just break a barrier for their Lair without a reason. Either some Centinels forced a group of them to flee, or the Centinels themselves destroyed it.”

I inspected the damage done to the wood and stone now lying on the ground; it hadn’t been smashed past— or rather, it hadn’t just been smashed through. It was cut up then it was burrowed through.

“The Centinels definitely did this.”

I spoke up simply. The [Mage] turned back and frowned.

“And how would you know that?”

“Because Centinels have a hundred sharp legs while Giant Spiders have blunt, thick legs. It doesn’t matter that they didn’t destroy it though. It’s been opened and now they’re coming.”

I pointed into the tunnel as dozens of red eyes appeared in the darkness. The quick sounds of skittering filled the moist air as suddenly, a swarm of Giant Spiders came rushing down at us. Helen, Jaakko, and Zack immediately backed up and raised their weapons.

The Cyclops quickly spat out orders.

“Helen, use your Explosive Bolts before they get close! Zack, form a partial barrier to funnel them through. I will focus on the stronger ones that reach us.”

“Got it!”

Helen grabbed three arrows and nocked it onto her bow immediately. Zack raised his book and aimed a finger at the earth just ahead as the first Giant Spider reached us..

“Fuck! I knew we shouldn’t have come here—”

I rushed the monster as my entire body lit up, blazing with an intense blue flame that raged around me.

Defeated [Drop Spider - Lvl. 43]!

Experience is awarded for defeating an enemy!

I got up and off the first dead Giant Spider as the three adventurers stared. I looked down at the dissipating flames and grinned.

“So, that’s what [Charge of Embers] does, huh? Not bad. Kind of like if [Double Step] was combined with [Fire Strike].”

The dozens of Giant Spiders stopped for only a second as their watched their companion died, before they resumed their descent upon us.

“One more Skill Slot. Now which of my other Skills should I try out on you?”