Majorian, the man in charge, the man who would be emperor, and our team leader, led with a hesitant gate. The shadows whispered promises of pain, power, and pleasure as the door to the stairwell shut behind us. As the gears turned, pulling the doors shut, I flinched. Suddenly this didn’t feel like a good idea, and now it was too late to turn back. With all the power, I couldn’t move Samson. If Majorian moved with care, I should be terrified, but instead, I clutched Nirvana and felt peace. My eyes shut, and once again, I was alone.

 

A solid tap from Obelisk forced me out of my calm, and I quickly slid into my place in the group. Swarm glanced at me before nodding. They weren’t cautious for fun, but I didn’t think the nightmares here could threaten them like they could me. We eased up on the first flight, and I felt something drip on my shoulder.

 

I shot up and moved out of the way while Majorian and Obelisk guarded the front and our rear. Thousands of wings flapped, ready to blast out of Swarm as I waited for a reaction. But instead, I touched my shoulder, and it was dry. “What was that?”

 

“Something fell on me, and I’ve heard of people dying because they looked instead of attacked. But my shoulder is dry.”

 

Obelisk snorted. “You’re green as freshly cut grass, and it shows here more than ever.” Obelisk turned to the others. “He’s been marked, and now a beast can find him anywhere. If he had signaled us silently, we might have been able to kill it.”

 

Samson crossed his arms. “We aren’t leaving any of them alive, so it’s a none issue. Next time try to clue us in, there are some things we can’t protect you from, but this isn’t one of them. So stay calm and hold your position.”

 

I was marked by a nightmare for death. This cabin had gone from being a safe haven to the last place I wanted to be. All the nightmares had to do was wait until the others were good and focused on a fight, then it could move in. Compared to the others, I was nothing.

 

Except, they kept me in their formation, and I could earn my keep. Even without the hours of training, I learned from this place and adapted quickly. If I played my cards right and survived here, I would become stronger. Who knows, I might even get another job and increase the level of my first one? I couldn’t wait to see what the ascension skill tree could do.

 

I holstered my weapon and slapped my face. The pain helped me refocus on what I needed to do. Samson nodded and turned back to his role.

 

A growl from the shadows nearly made me fire again. The only answer to stimuli was lead. Whether it’s a sound or something dropping on me, the correct thing to do was fire bullets at it. The worst thing I could do was slow myself down to look at what was making the noise. But as we moved, I noticed that the others refused to give the growling specter attention. That or they couldn’t sense it.

 

The thought of this group being unable to sense something was ludicrous. Surrounding me were some of the most talented adventurers I’ve ever heard about. A-rank dungeons were supposed to be impossible without hundreds of members, careful planning, and good fortune. But this team that barely scraped by the minimal entry limit was each worth a dozen powerful adventurers. 

 

So, they thought they didn’t have some way to sense the growling creature hiding in the shadows was insane. Acting again would show Samson I hadn’t learned a thing, and they could be ignoring the presence.

 

The growing grew louder as we ascended the stairs and the growls turned into something else. I heard the ravings of a madman in a language I’d never heard before. Ravens croaked as we passed the railings as if they were standing on them. The growling grew louder while the madman screamed as I heard flesh rip and tear. Majorian stopped as blood poured down the steps and over our feet.

 

The mad ravings suddenly started making sense as more blood poured down the steps. As qi charged the blood at our feet, I pointed my gun towards the presence. No identifying bar appeared, and I couldn’t say if the target was in front of me or elsewhere projecting itself. The crows croaked in a cacophony of blistering sound, almost with the madman’s screaming, raving chant. They were like the drumline keeping the madman’s chant in a practical rhythm.

 

Nirvana fired up the stairs, and brain matter covered the floor. I heard a body hit the floor, but it didn’t appear. The blood was charged at our feet, but the mad chant had stopped, and only the croaking continued. I moved and fired, silencing a bird before the others shrieked and flew towards me. I could feel them as my qi flared, and I moved, firing upward to kill the crows. As more bullets flew, my kill count grew.

 

Whatever the crows were, they weren't powerful, but I heard a growl. Behind us, a wolf growled and moved forward, pounding its paws down, but the wood never creaked. Two shots from Nirvana didn’t slow it down.

 

Samson moved and punched down at the unseen beast. Parts of the stairs broke off and shattered, and the wolf flailed backward. Where it thumped, I opened fire until my clip ran empty. I felt that the creature was dead but didn’t get a level.

 

Obelisk grunted. “You coddle the boy too much. He might have killed the creature in a few more shots.”

 

“Could you sense it?” Swarm asked.

 

“No, insight is a rare stat with few uses outside the eldritch. Unfortunately, our last party member had it, and he died to a tentacle woman. He loved her so much he couldn’t stand to let her go hungry and fed her his mind.” Obelisk took on a sour expression. “We lost a fine fellow connoisseur of the arts that day.”

 

“Obelisk, I can enjoy an execution with my lunch as much as the next Imperial. But that man was a freak. Did the eldritch mind flayer even take control of him?” Majorian said.

 

Obelisk turned his head away. “He believed she would spare his mind true consumption and merge it with hers. Together they would live forever in one body. In the end, she thought he planned to betray her and take over her body. Instead, what he thought would be a true union turned into utter obliteration. I could eat my lunch at that show.”

 

Majorian opened his mouth and closed it. “I didn’t think this needed to be said, but stop killing our fifth member. I don’t care how easy it is for you to make a tragedy of their lives. Stop doing it in dungeons.” 

 

“She had no reason to believe me. Trojan had been faithful to her and even brought her out of the dungeon and purchased citizenship for her. Dear Xyz didn’t believe me until he made that offer. She anguished after it was done, and after seeing her kill a comrade, I had no choice but to avenge him. Their poor orphan child is now without a father or a mother.” 

 

“You were supposed to wait before becoming a dark lord,” Swarm said.

 

“I didn’t lift a finger and merely delivered their child to a dealer in exotic slaves for the arena. Once she is strong, I’ll have a letter delivered to her detailing my crimes and wait.” Obelisk said.

 

My knuckles were white from holding Nirvana’s grip. Obelisk was a monster and needed to be put down. Unfortunately, his obsession with tragedy would only get more people killed.

 

Obelisk looked me up and down. “Don’t worry, you are a fruit that has yet to ripen. I can wait until you’re sure of yourself at the edge of your first triumph. That is when your fall will be the sweetest. Or you could always challenge me to a duel, but I wouldn’t recommend it.” 

 

My hand moved, pointing Nirvana up the stairs, and Obelisk straightened up. Something big was coming, and the stairs shook with their approach. “Feed your insanity somewhere else,” I said.

 

From the shadows, a single mighty trunk appeared on a face with three pairs of glowing red eyes. Its steps shook the stairs, and a shadowy aura surrounded the beast.

 

“Your insight is already better than our last number five. So perhaps I’ll put off the conclusion to your tale until we reach a later act of this dungeon.”

 

Immortal Nightmare Fear of Berserk Beast lvl540

 

I fired and replaced my clip, but the shadowy aura of the beast swallowed up every round. Even though I was stronger, its defenses were too much. Not even when I concentrated could I get my bullets through. My aura manifested faster, with more frequency and waves, but my lack of training was obvious to the party. It turned its gaze to me and trumpeted with its trunk before charging, swinging its tusks, trusting in its aura and thick hide to win the day.

 

My body moved on its own, and I took a step back before Obelisk caught me. “Don’t get out of place, or jokes aside, you really will have a tragic end.” A thud behind me nearly made me whirl around. “Keeping in position is sometimes more important than being able to do the damage.”

 

Flesh shot out overhead as blood blasted out from the elephant nightmare’s trunk. The severed appendage reached out to reconnect with the whole. Swarm tossed her head up and vomited worms into the bloody mix, and as the parts connected, the beast was infested. Majorian vanished and slashed ribbons out of the nightmare elephant's body before Obelisk raised his hand.

 

The beast froze mid-step, and I could feel its aura weakening. Even as its body healed from the damage, it was infested with parasites. Samson waved his hand, slicing through the elephant’s aura and cutting into its flesh. Again, I raised Nirvana and fired. This time the bullets penetrated, and the parasites began multiplying.

 

Majorian stood atop the monster’s head and pointed his blade down. Then, with a single strike, he finished off the beast.

 

Level Up

Red lvl132

 

SR

Nightmare Berserker Ring rank1 lvl1: A ring crafted from an elephant's ivory filled with rage. Level Bonus: +5% PATK/MATK. +1% INS

2 Piece Set Bonus +20% INS

 

Nightmare monsters rush in swinging scythes, swords, and firing bows. I fired, reloaded, and fired as Samson punched forward. Twisters of qi blasted through the floor as assassins leaped from the rafters. Obelisk raised his hand and clenched his fist, turning the frail nightmares into bloody paste. I continued to fire, taking down one nightmare after another as we slowly marched deeper into the floor. Above wrapped in a cocoon was a massive pulsating sac.

 

Samson raised his hand and gathered a ball of blue qi. I could sense his aura manifest and condense into a dense ball. Then, wasps blasted out of Swarm, attacking all the nearby nightmares.

 

It was a mistake. I saw it without seeing it. With every kill, a small amount of darkness left the bodies of the nightmare soldiers and entered the cocoon. With every kill, its power increased, and the creature within it grew. I emptied a clip at the pulsating cocoon, but its aura shielded it from the bullets.

 

Lightning erupted around Samson as the blue qi ball condensed even further. Finally, its size shrank to the size of a marble before it fired. The qi ball expanded rapidly, blasting lighting all around its surface, blasting apart every nightmare monster in its way.

 

Majorian thrust his blade forward, opening a hole in the cocoon’s barrier. If the qi ball hit, the cocoon would be ended before the monster inside could fully form.

 

I watched the energy from numerous nightmare soldiers flow into the cocoon even as the qi ball flew. Then, time slowed to a crawl until the ball hit.

 

“Too late,” Samson said.

 

He smirked as the cocoon’s aura barrier fell away. The blast moved into the cocoon and exploded. Blue light filled my vision as lightning blasted out, destroying any nearby nightmare soldiers. As the cabin shook and the blast died down, I felt a powerful source of qi.

 

A creature stepped forward covered in chitinous purple armor; it was eyeless with a long protruding head. Its shoulders were packed with muscles, and its arms were extended. Shadowy qi erupted from its body, and nine tentacles rose from its back. It had second pair of arms with mouths on its hands. They opened, and silvery liquid poured out, forming a crude mace and sword.

 

Immortal Nightmare Fear Of The Alien lvl600

 

Its throat bulged before it vomited eggs on the ground. From the bottom of the eggs, tentacles stretched out, searching.