Chapter 131: 131. Creatures of the Star

The creatures’ class was enough to frighten anyone. As far as the world was concerned, the star was the antithesis of the Seven Moons. Said to be weaker than any of them, the star was way stronger than anything else in existence and with the malice to crush anything it was given the opportunity to. Supposedly all evil things in the world—namely chainlings and the like—were creations of the Crippled Star and like it, had the sole goal of hurting and destroying as much as they could.

When Dallion saw the soul suckers flying towards him, he thought that they would merge together and try to squish the party like bugs. Instead, they did the exact opposite, bursting into a wave of miniature bugs that leapt forward like fleas.

What the heck?! Dallion thought. Target markers appeared on the swarm as the rest of the party tried to slow the flow with ranged attacks. While bolts and other projectiles could easily hit and kill several of the insects, it did little to slow the overall attack. Everyone’s instinct was to pull back or even run away directly. The only thing that held them back was Vend’s order and the fear that if they didn’t follow it, something worse could happen.

“Hold steady!” one of the fighters in the group said, calling a crossbow. Barely aiming, he squeezed the trigger, launching a multitude of bolts at the soul suckers. A blast followed shortly after. For a moment it seemed as if the weapon had done its job, raising a whitish cloud of dust over the entire area of impact. Moments later, though, black insects poured through the layer of white heading on towards the group.

Defense markers appeared everywhere, all of them providing only partial protection. In his mind Dallion could see his awakened self be devoured by the termite-mosquitos. In a fraction of a second, his instincts took over, grabbing his armadil shield. Dallion’s initial goal was to use its special skill to cover his head like a helmet. Something very different happened. Sensing the situation, the shield elements stretched in all directions, creating a large circular barrier in front of him, and that wasn’t all! Once the insects—and everything else in front—was blocked from view, the shield segments continue to grow, capturing Dallion in a ball-like cocoon.

“Shield, did you do this?” Dallion asked, his left arm stretched forward. Technically, the shield remained strapped to him, but in truth it was he who was held prisoner by it.

The sounds of thousand little legs scurrying all over the surface quickly told Dallion that staying here wasn’t the worst choice. The occasional scream and swearing that came from outside only confirmed that suspicion.

“Thanks,” Dallion whispered in relief.

While slightly uncomfortable, the shield had probably saved his life, or at the very least a large chunk of health. The sound of fighting outside continued, then intensified, until a sudden thud shook the ground.

“Think it’s safe?” Dallion asked. In the means of an answer a crack emerged behind him, slowly growing as the shield returned to its normal state.

Guess so, Dallion thought.

The battlefield was in much better shape that was to be expected with the exception of the layer of sticky black goo on the ground. It felt as if Dallion was walking in ink.

“Nice shield,” Vend said.

The rest of the team were alive, although they had suffered moderate amounts of damage. Bel had lost close to half her health, and a few others were even worse.

“That’s why we don’t react,” Vend said loudly. “Creatures are not only territorial, their entire purpose is to protect the item. That doesn’t always mean to prevent you from moving forward. Get a few minutes’ rest and clean up. We go on after that.”

As the group did just that, Vend and Spike moved a short distance away. It was obvious they were discussing something, but the way they were whispering prevented anyone from hearing exactly what was said.

“Good reaction,” Falkner said to Dallion as he approached. “And nice shield. Where did you buy it from?”

“You don’t want to know,” Dallion said beneath his breath. The less he told anyone about the shield, the better.

“It’s a good one.” The boy didn’t get the hint. “Must have cost a lot. Ability armor is pricey. Gets the job done, though.”

“Yep. That it does.” Dallion glanced at Vend, then moved closer to Bel. To no one’s surprise, Falkner did so as well. “Think they are talking about the creatures?”

“Probably.” Bel was suspicious about it as well. “They did warn us about the level. This one and next.”

“And level eleven,” Dallion added. “I don’t get why they don’t clear the levels completely. Would be much easier in the long run.”

“Manpower,” Falkner said. “This is a small guild. They don’t have hundreds of people taking part in an exploration. Most of the time it’s probably three groups in total.”

“Can’t be that few,” Bel said. “Even with just three people per level gate that makes over thirty.”

Dallion didn’t say a thing, but he had just thought of a very easy way around it. Also, it made a lot of sense. The guild didn’t have to leave members to guard the levels, they could simply use echoes. Of everyone Dallion had met so far, there was no telling how many of them were people. After all, echoes had the same thoughts and behavior as the original did. In that case, why not skills as well? The reason why so many people had been gathered and sent to do the search was because the echoes wouldn’t stand a chance against a creature that was moderately strong. That also explained why they were losing people on the eighth level. The casualties were of echoes, but echoes which were necessary for the exploration to go on. Having lost a whole team of people seriously threatened everything that the guild had achieved in regards to this item, and that was probably expensive.

“The guild’s using echoes,” Dallion said after a few seconds of silence. “That’s why they’ve sent us. However, they are worried there might be other echoes here as well.”

“Other echoes?” Falkner asked.

“The Crippled Star,” Dallion whispered. As he did, the expressions on Bel and Falkner’s faces instantly changed. This wasn't something they wished to discuss, almost as if they had a limiting echo. Thanks to his music skill, Dallion could see that wasn’t the case—the reason they didn’t want to discuss it further was because they were scared. Even so, Dallion felt he had to. “The soul suckers were made by it, which could mean there’s something else as well. Or maybe someone.”

“Don’t even joke about that,” Bel hissed. “No one would chain themselves to that monstrosity. Especially not in this guild.”

Dallion suspected that was what every guild said, although in this case he was inclined to agree. There were enough people who were both skilled and honest to let that happen. However, it didn’t have to have happened now. Back during Dallion’s battle in Dherma village, Aspion had shared that he had remained imprisoned for decades. Could the guild scouts have stumbled upon something similar upon entering the twelfth level?

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“They don’t have to be from the guild,” Dallion whispered, then went back to setting up his gear. The sudden attack had caused a lot of the fighters to summon several of the items he was carrying and how he had to take them back again.

After a few more minutes, the team was on its way again. The vigilance level was high, and thankfully, there were no other enemy sightings.

As they walked, Dallion noticed that they were directed at one of the ceiling columns at the far end of the area. Upon reaching it, Vend made the sign for everyone to stop.

“Give me the moss.” He approached.

Dallion did as he was asked, handing the pouch over.

“Smoke from the moss opens the gate to the next level,” Vend explained. “Black jade honey also works, but that’s getting difficult to find the more creatures on the level we kill.” He placed the contents of the moss on the ground and then summoned a lantern.

Smoke came out of the moss as it was placed in the lantern, changing the color of the light to a deep blue. The instant the smoke touched the column, the entire structure cracked open, revealing the spiral to the lower level.

“Why aren’t there any guards here?” Dallion asked.

“Too dangerous,” Vend replied. “You’ll see when you get to the next level. Once we make it through there, it’s safe walking to eleven. For that we’ll be making a slight change. I and Dallion will be taking the lead. Everyone else, follow us in the usual order. Packrats at the back.”

I’ve been promoted to lead packrat, Dallion thought. As much as it was to lead the party, Dallion didn’t see any benefits other than bragging rights. It had been made very clear that he wouldn’t be doing any fighting, and even now Vend hadn’t suggested otherwise.

“Ready?” the party leader asked.

Dallion nodded.

The descent had hardly begun when Nox started showing signs of terror once more. This time the reaction was much stronger, pushing the cat completely into a corner of Dallion’s awakening room.

What’s wrong? Dallion wondered. As much as he wanted to ask his familiar, he didn’t dare with Vend being so close by.

“When we get down there, I want you to use music,” Vend whispered as they were making their way down. “Just to tell me what you see.”

“Me?” Dallion played coy. “I thought that was strictly forbidden.”

“The seventh level is one of the mystery floors. The guild doesn’t know exactly what’s there, nor whether it’ll attack. You’ll see when we get there, but there’s a reason we can’t clear that floor. Think of this as training. I want to see what you’re able to do on your own.”

“It’s the star, isn’t it?” Dallion went straight for the question he wanted to ask.

“No, but that’s not important. Sphere items sometimes have certain safeguards in them. Consider them a lock to prevent certain things from happening.”

“You’re being vague.”

“And you’re not even supposed to be here. The only party missions you were supposed to see were sanitation and exploration. Everything else was supposed to wait until you successfully passed your selection trial. It was either luck or misfortune, but here we are, and I want to take the chance to prepare you a bit of things to come. You think I don’t know what your plans are?”

Dallion didn’t answer.

“At this stage of development there’s only one plan. Gather some good gear, save enough money to enter an awakening shrine, then break through the second level cap. We’ve all been there, we’ve all done it. The issue is that you’re going too fast.”

A faint red light became noticeable, coming from below.

“The floor we’re entering is called the feeding grounds. We suspect there will be another like it at level fifteen or sixteen… if we ever get that far.”

“Why is it called that?” Dallion asked, despite his internal reluctance.

“Because the only way to open the next gate is to catch a creature of a specific type and take it to the gate. It doesn’t matter that the guardian has been defeated. This is the only way.”

That’s why you can’t kill them off, Dallion thought. Clever. The item guaranteed that this level would be full of living creatures, which in turn caused anyone pushing on to be extra careful. Two questions remained unanswered, though. The guild was no closer to learning what had caused the people’s disappearance, although Dallion could tell that they suspected the Crippled Star. Discovering the missing guild members was the top priority, along with finding a way to prevent such occurrences from happening in the future. From Dallion’s perspective, though, there was a far more relevant question: how had creatures belonging to the crippled star managed to get it.

“I’ll do what is expected,” Dallion said. “But I’ll want some answers.”

“Find the missing people and you’ll have them. Remember, this is as important to me as it is to you. The only difference is that I know what I’m doing and for the moment you don’t.”

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