Chapter 27: Clearing a moster den made easy.

She paused outside the hidden entrance to the building, staring at the vine choked stone rolled in place. It looked like the entrance to an old tomb, strangled by vines as thick as ropes. The glass of the windows on the lower floor had long been shattered. The gaping spaces had been occupied by creeping branches of trees.

Her hand tightened around the candle whose flame would make her invisible for a short time. She put it in her front pocket, steadying it as much as she could, and slashed vines away. They fell apart easily, and she squeezed inside through the partially open entrance.

Zyra knew better than to leave the entrance open. She pushed the stone in place, blocking that escape route. The air was damp, thick with mold. It was bright inside, light provided by the crystal tusks lined in the right spots. A sure sign that one of the Shardhorns was intelligent.

Others were piled in corners like garbage. They were worth a handsome sum. She couldn’t believe they were just laying around here! If hunters knew, they would have found the den and cleared it out ages ago.

Broken furniture lay scattered, vines crawling across walls like vines. Then she heard it: the crystalline clink of antlers.

Shardhorns on the move.

Five emerged from the shadows, antlers glowing faintly. Zyra smirked. Invisible, she had the advantage. Without hesitation, she darted forward, slashing the nearest one. Her knife sank deep, blood spraying across the wall, across vines.

The four still standing panicked, charging blindly. Zyra moved like a phantom, cutting, stabbing, weaving between them. She stabbed their chests, taking the cores before rushing to the next floor. The battle grew bloody. Shardhorns ran in every direction. Others stabbed at the air, only to stab each other, shattering their antlers.

Zyra fought with ruthless precision, her invisibility making her untouchable. She laughed once, darkly. "Easy pickings."

The building had five floors in total, and she checked every one of them, making it to the very last floor. But as she was about to take the last steps up, her candle gave out. It was sooner than she anticipated. She still had another Shardhorn to kill. Her heart clenched. "No, not now..."

The candle did not listen to her plea, she as visible again.

And from the top of the stairs, a larger shape appeared. Antlers twice the size, glowing brighter, jagged like blades. A mid-level Shardhorn, the boss of this dungeon.

Their eyes met for a moment. It lowered its head, eyes burning, and charged.

Zyra raised her knife, breath ragged. The fight would have to be fought the normal way, with no candle.

It thundered forward, hooves smashing through old branches on the ground. She dove aside, throwing her knife out. The antlers hit her in the ribs. She didn’t stop to think of the aching, Zyra scrambled up, knife ready. Her heartbeat elevated as she turned around.

The Shardhorn was already eyeing her again, preparing for its next charge.

"Alright," she growled, "let’s dance."

From the beast domain, she summoned her green serpent. The little snake came ready to fight, hissing, coiling around her arm. Zyra smirked. "Glad you are here; I could use your poison."

The deer charged again, Zyra sprayed V-mist, the musk choking the air. Everything could be used as a weapon, and she figured the same could be done with the spray. The beast hesitated, snorting, confused.

The green snake struck, darting forward to bite its flank. The Shardhorn roared, stumbling down the steps, its antlers smashing into a railing.

Zyra lunged, slashing across its chest. Blood sprayed across her face. The poison in the beast caused weakness in its limbs. it staggered, but its antlers swung wildly, smashing vines and walls. She fumbled for the healing liquid, gulped a small bit, and took a deep breath.

Strength surged back. She pressed forward, snake striking again, distracting the beast. She slashed at its legs, cutting tendons. The Shardhorn collapsed.

Panting, Zyra crouched over her trophy. As a whole, the Shardhorn would have been worth more than the rest she had left downstairs, but its meat was now poisoned, so that was a waste. She stabbed into its chest, retrieving a mid-grade green energy stone.

[Ding!]

"No, no, no...at least wait for me to..."

Like mist, the stone vanished from her hands.

[Congratulations host for clearing out a low-level dungeon.

Reward: 50 resonance points. 10 unassigned points. One unidentified monster egg. A package of beast food. A vial of healing liquid.]

She looked at her status panel, searching for a change in her bond level with the snake, after all, they had just fought a battle together.

[Host Status Panel]

Zyra Scorpion.

Half-life Beast: Green Horn Serpent.

Resonance Points: 55

Unassigned Points: 10

Health: 100%

Strength: 4

Agility: 3

Speed: 3

Command Aura: None.

Beast Bond: Initial Stage.

Beasts: 2

Skills: Stab.]

"How much debt do I still have?"

[170 resonance points. Should I deduct from your current ones?]

Her face stiffened. The debt had not changed at all; it was still the same as before. What kind of fleecing operation was this system running?

[You borrowed another candle.]

The reminder made her twist her mouth. It was a bitter pill to swallow, but ultimately, the truth. "Take thirty resonance points. Leave the rest for me. And no more snatching my energy stones. I need to survive."

Her eyes fell on the green snake. It was trying to devour the large Shardhorn whole. The deer was three times its size, but that didn’t stop it from trying. "What a gluttonous little thing you are," she muttered.

The snake paused, fixing her with an angry, almost human glare. Its eyes narrowed, tongue flicking in defiance, before it resumed its impossible task.

Zyra chuckled despite herself. "Fine, fine. But don’t choke."

She reached for a leg, wielding her blade like a butcher. The snake whipped its head around, hissing sharply, fangs bared as if to warn her off. Zyra froze, then raised her hands in mock surrender. "Alright, I get it. Possessive too, are you? I was just trying to help."

The deer was too big to be swallowed whole, and it still had those antlers. The sight of the snake attempting an impossible bite was so absurd that she could not help laughing loudly. "I suppose I should give you a name. You like to hiss and bite. You can glare, which is abnormal for an ordinary snake. I think the name Spice suits you. What do you think?"