NOVGO.NET Chapter 45: The White Sands
Chapter 45: The White Sands
White crust crackled beneath Fin’s combat boots as the three hunters advanced across the barren salt flats.
A harsh sulfuric wind blew from the coastal shallows, carrying stinging mineral dust across the bleached ground.
Two miles north of District Four, the outer revetments stood abandoned by the evacuated corporate vanguards.
’The upper guilds fled overseas, leaving these salt flats wide open for wandering abominations,’ he thought.
"Target is four hundred paces ahead behind that mineral ridge," Maya reported, tracking red vectors on her digital slate.
"Give me the mass profile and primary attack vectors," Ruby commanded, resting her spear against her kite shield.
"Sixteen tons of calcified armor plates powered by an unstable core," Maya answered with crisp precision.
"Its forward charge reaches forty miles per hour, but lateral agility is severely limited by weight," she added.
"That means I anchor the frontal charge while Fin takes the blind flank," Ruby said, checking her gauntlets.
"I will sever the rear joint seams once Ruby halts its forward momentum," Fin said, checking his hatchet edge.
"Standard corporate manuals recommend an eight-man squad with three barrier casters for this beast," Maya noted with a smirk.
"Corporate manuals are written by people who bill thirty thousand credits for basic overtime hours," he replied.
"Those corporate officers spend half their raid time adjusting their silk capes for spectator drones," Ruby added with sarcasm.
"Let them waste their credits while we clear this sector on our own schedule," Fin answered with a shrug.
A low rumbling tremor vibrated through the salt crust as a hulking creature crested the white ridge.
The Salt-Crust Behemoth resembled a four-legged tortoise plated in jagged white mineral crystals and glowing red veins.
Sulfuric vapor hissed from twin exhaust vents along its armored spine, melting the surrounding salt into bubbling grey sludge.
The beast locked its four red optical clusters onto the hunters, letting out a rasping bellow across the flats.
"The creature is initiating its charge right now!" Maya warned, leaping backward onto a higher shelf to maintain visual telemetry.
The Behemoth lunged forward, its thick limbs churning the crust into blinding clouds of chalky white dust.
Ruby planted her feet wide, driving the reinforced rim of her kite shield firmly into the mineral ground.
Gold aura flared along her gauntlets, locking her kinetic anchor as the charging abomination collided with her guard.
A sharp metallic crack rang out as sixteen tons of charging monster crashed into Ruby’s firm defense.
Shockwaves rippled across the salt crust, but Ruby held her ground without yielding a single inch of territory.
"Blind flank is open!" Ruby shouted through gritted teeth, holding the monster’s thrashing snout against her shield.
Fin surged around the left flank, his boots leaving faint impressions in the hard mineral crust.
His internal sensory gauge suddenly flared with an urgent golden pulse, scrambling his standard threat detection interface.
[ Threat Sense calibration triggered ]
[ Analyzing abnormal mana resonance... ]
[ Synthetic modulation detected within creature core ]
[ Skill evolution: Threat Sense → detect artificial mana wavelengths ]
’This monster was not born inside a natural gate rift,’ he realized with sharp analytical clarity.
’Its mana frequency matches the synthetic signature from the morgue dispatch slip,’ he calculated while closing the distance.
The beast swung its spiked tail sideways, attempting to crush the approaching hunter with a sweeping horizontal blow.
Maya’s throwing dagger flashed through the air, striking an unshielded optical cluster with pinpoint accuracy.
The monster flinched from the sudden pain, hesitating for half a second as its tail stroke drifted high.
[ Active skill: Overclock (rank D) engaged ]
[ Stamina burned: 40 ]
[ Agility: 78 → 234 (duration: 12 seconds) ]
Fin blurred into blinding acceleration, ducking beneath the tail swipe with millimeter-precise clearance.
He vaulted onto the monster’s left hind leg, driving the rear armor-piercing spike of his hatchet into the knee.
The hardened spike tore through the calcified mineral shell, exposing thick bundles of synthetic mana cables underneath.
He retrieved his hatchet from the joint, returning it to storage.
Fin drew his twin combat daggers, slashing both blades through the glowing blue conduits with ruthless speed.
The severed cables sparked violently, spraying blue fluid across the white salt as the beast’s rear leg collapsed.
Fin launched himself upward, landing firmly upon the creature’s broad back between the steaming sulfuric exhaust vents.
He stored one dagger and drew the hatchet, driving it down with sixty-two points of strength.
The blade split the creature’s armored collar, exposing the pulsating crimson mana core lodged beneath its spine.
He drove his remaining dagger through the opened core, extinguishing its internal fire.
The Salt-Crust Behemoth shuddered violently before collapsing onto the white ground in a cloud of fine dust.
[ Target neutralized: named salt-crust behemoth (rank D+) ]
[ EXP awarded: +37,500 EXP ]
[ EXP: 220,700 / 2,500,000 ]
[ Progress: rank D (8.82% to rank C wall) ]
Fin stepped down from the fallen beast, exhaling a steady breath as his twelve-second Overclock burst expired smoothly.
He knelt beside the smoking chest cavity, placing his right palm directly against the cracked mana core.
Dark purple light flared across his forearm as the System’s absorption mechanism took hold of the carcass.
The large beast shriveled rapidly, its mineral armor turning into brittle grey ash that scattered in the wind.
[ Absorbing residual monster essence... ]
[ Trait acquired: Earth-Reinforcement (passive) ]
[ Effect: physical defense increased by +20%, structural bone density increased by +25% ]
[ Physical assimilation complete ]
Dense warmth settled through Fin’s skeletal frame, anchoring his joints with newfound structural solidity and weight.
Maya climbed down from the salt ridge, her grey eyes wide as she stared at the empty patch of ground.
"You do not just hunt dungeon monsters," Maya said, her voice dropping to a low whisper.
"You eat them down to the bone marrow," she added, stepping closer with intense curiosity.
"I like this squad more every single minute," Maya declared, tapping her digital stylus against her lip.
"Monster salvage belongs to our private strike cell, corporal," Ruby said, lowering her spear with a warning glare.
"Seniority is a trench rule, so do not go making up new names for our strike cell," Ruby added firmly.
"I am merely evaluating the biological efficiency of our commanding officer," Maya answered with an innocent smile.
"Keep your evaluations focused on enemy spatial rifts instead of my dinner habits," Fin said, wiping his daggers.
"A commander who cleans up his own kills saves twenty percent on third-party sanitation contracts," Maya pointed out.
"Every scrap of meat and bone in this city has a price if you know how to use it," he answered.
Maya looked down at her digital slate, where a faint green vector line flickered across the geographic map.
"The synthetic mana wavelength we just detected does not originate from the ocean," Maya reported, zooming in.
She traced the thin energy line trailing ten kilometers inland across the rocky coastal hills.
"The artificial kitchen that cooked this monster sits directly beneath the decommissioned coastal oil refinery," Maya stated.
"That facility was closed three years ago by municipal decree," Ruby observed, looking at the map.
"Closed on public paper means open for black-market bio-weapons under corporate funding," Maya explained with a cynical sneer.
Fin put his hatchet and dagger away, his eyes narrowing at the distant refinery towers.
"Then we just found where Genesis is manufacturing their next batch of abominations," Fin said calmly.
"Let us pack our gear and prepare a night raid before they deploy more beasts," Ruby suggested.
"We will move after dark when the refinery perimeter patrols change their shifts," Fin decided.
The coastal wind whipped across the white flats, carrying the bitter scent of sulfur into the fading afternoon light.