Max was in shock. Or at least, he definitely hadn't been expecting this. Whatever had done this was ruthless and cruel, and the ants hadn't stood a chance. There wasn't even any sign of what they had fought, only ant bodies remained.
Max probably would have thrown up at the bloodshed if he had seen this days ago, before he had killed to survive. As it was, a small amount of bile still filled his mouth, and he spit out the horrid taste. He began walking into the hive, and still saw ant bodies left and right, all broken and destroyed in some manner.
This was, excessive. The young man wasn't sure what could have done this, unless it was the hydra itself. But still, by the look of these ants…
They looked strong. Not just strong, but overwhelmingly powerful. Even dead, their bodies were those of seasoned warriors, and Max could tell just by looking at them that they'd have been able to kill him in an instant.
He didn't want to find out what had killed them. Because that would mean that whatever killed them, would be coming for him next. Maybe they had ventured too far down into the dungeon? It was horrifying to think of, but maybe the monsters had awoken, and followed them all the way back to the hive? Through floors and levels of the dungeon, even?
It was a sick thought, but what if this was the work of the boss monster at the bottom of the dungeon. Would it have to power to simply kill them all this gruesomely from a distance? Maybe it created a series of monsters just to take out the ants.
What had they done to warrant such total devastation?
Max didn't have all the answers to his questions, and honestly, he'd rather not know for now. It might be knowledge that got the ants killed, rather than them going through the dungeon itself. What kind of knowledge was so dangerous that monsters needed to wipe out all of these ants just to protect it?
Max stopped moving when he heard sounds coming from ahead of him. He couldn't see that well in the gloom, so he hid behind inside an offshooting tunnel. Whatever it was didn't seem to see him. But he saw it all right. It was a hulking beast on two legs, it's heavy arms swinging low to the ground. It had giant spikes on its back, and one large glowing eye in the center of its head. Rows of sharp teeth, reminding him of a shark, hung from the creatures open jaw as it salivated.
Clearly this thing was one of the many monsters that had fought the ants. Max didn't want to tussle with it, as it reminded him of one of the shark monsters from the Bloodborne DLC. Not something that he wanted to deal with. He hid until he was certain that the monster was gone, and continued to make his way through the tunnel system.
He had no way of knowing just how big the ants' colony had been until he had already been walking for two hours. In that time, he had fought off giant spiders like you wouldn't believe it, an ogre like thing with two heads, a long snake like monster with tentacles coming from its mouth, and even a creature that looked like a mini werewolf.
He was doing fine until he came across a large domed room, clearly meant to house the queen of the hive.
He knew instinctively what was going on here the moment that he stepped into the room. Hoards of jewels and gold coins littered the ground and piled up in the center of the room.
Red eyes glowed, their piercing gaze cutting through the darkness. Orange flames flickered, and the fire was reflected among the countless gems and gold.
Dragon.
Max's legs almost gave out below him, but he forced himself to keep looking. The beast looked just like those in the minds of humans on his planet, with deep red scales that glittered with gemstones sticking to them, providing even more natural armor than otherwise. A yellow underbelly remained against the floor, clearly this was the most exposed part of the beast.
Four giant horns rose from the dragon's head, spiraling like ram's horns and framing the beast's head. It's nostrils breathed a sulphuric air, and Max could see fumes entering into the tunnel air.
On second glance, however, this dragon was small. Sure, it was big, but only as big as a bedroom in a house. It wasn't nearly the size that he had first imagined seeing a dragon. Which meant that this thing was probably young, a dragonling.
Either way, Max was dead. He didn't have the physical ability to take on a dragonling, and especially not one that could breathe fire. And the beast had noticed him.
It didn't even give him a moment's notice before it lunged for him, and it bit at his left arm, and might have torn it off if it weren't for the rapier that plunged its way into the beast's eye. The beast let out a roar of pain as it's left eye was blinded, and jumped back a distance, and eyed him with it's remaining eye.
Max had to admit. That was a lucky strike that he had gotten, and in the knick of time too. But he needed to watch the beast to see what it would do. Those wicked claws looked like they could tear him to shreds with just one swing. The beast inhaled, and Max quickly dove behind a large pile of treasure before a jet of flames coiled about the pile, barely touching him.
This was a real fight for his life. Never before had Max felt so utterly useless. When he had fought the Gargoyle, that had been an easy fight once he knew that his rapier could pierce stone. When he had run for his life upon first entering the dungeon, he had relief in the form of the brain monster fighting the Idex. When he had fought the Leonir, he hadn't taken so much as a scratch.
This thing was a dragon, and it was gunning to kill him with all the power that it held. His only hope here was if he got lucky. Or maybe?
He stepped out and looked at the dragonling, and spoke.
"Oh mighty dragon. I plead forgiveness for disturbing you in your nest." The dragon interrupted him with a roar, and lunged for him once more, but he saw this attack coming and deftly moved to the side, as a matador might a bull.
"As I was saying, I had no wish to fight with you. But if you continue this aggression, I swear that I will cut your heart out myself and bring you to hell with me."
Max's body glowed for a second, before the glow faded. That was it, right? [Diplomatic Approach] He offered peace, and then retribution if the dragon continued to fight him.
The red lizard wasn't interested, and it swiped at him once again. This time, he raised his arm and caught the beast's claw on his rapier, and swatted it away with a strength that he didn't know that he had. The dragon was surprised by the parry too, apparently, but Max held no hesitation as he swung his blade and lopped off the dragon's hand.
His weapon glowed orange, the same glimmer that he had when making the diplomatic offer. Maybe he had gained some sort of buff from the creature refusing his offer? Regardless, the beast shrieked in pain, before breathing fire at Max once more.
He managed to roll underneath the flames, barely getting burnt by them. Luckily, his cloak seemed to take the brunt of the attack. He was now underneath the belly of the dragon, and thrust his blade upwards into the unprotected underside.
His blade drove true, and a large hole now adorned the beast's chest. Max took it a step further, however, and dragged his rapier through the dragon's belly, leaving a large gash, before he unsheathed the rapier from the dragon's stomach.
The dragon roared, and Max was deaf for a moment. This was getting easier as time went on. He was no longer totally afraid of the beast, and felt as though he had a chance of winning.
The dragon jumped back a bit, before attempting to bite at him again. It once more bit into his left shoulder, as Max wasn't able to fully dodge out of the way of it's attack, but his leather armor stopped the brunt of the damage. He cried out in pain, and stabbed the dragon once more in the dead eye.
The creature cried out again, and released him. He'd need to take care of that other eye if he wanted to take the beast down. At least then it would be less likely to get a bite off on him.
The creature breathed in again, and Max had enough time to slide under it's back legs before it blasted the spot that he had just been in. He had a crazy idea, but it might just save him from further harm. He climbed up the tail of the dragon, almost slipping for a moment, before he was on the creature's back.
He saw the wings that the creature was using to clear large spaces, and took aim for a second, before piercing straight through the beast's spine in between the wings. If his eyes didn't deceive him, there were a bundle of nerves here that connected the wings to the rest of the body and allowed it to move about. He jabbed at the nerves with his rapier twice and then hopped off the beast before it could fling him off, tumbling to the ground and landing on his feet.
The dragon was writhing in pain, but it was clearly still standing. It looked at him with pure hatred, and gave a half assed lunge for his right hand this time, knowing that without his rapier he was useless. He sidestepped and thrust his rapier into the beast's other eye, tearing it out with a sickening splatter of blood.
The red dragonling roared at the open air, and then took a large breath of air. Max's eyes widened, and he quickly took cover as the dragon blasted the entire area with flames. The fire didn't let up for a good thirty seconds, and once it was over, Max took a look at the dragon.
It was blinded, that much was clear. It was bleeding from its chest, and one of its wings hung limply at its side. It's right claw was severed, and Max marvelled at the power of his rapier. If this was the effect that he was going to get from just one basic ability plus his rapier's natural ability to cleave through solid objects, then Max was definitely going to keep it. No use trading in what worked, you know?
But the battle was almost over. He now had the advantage; the dragon wasn't looking for him, and clearly thought that it had roasted him with its last attack. And so Max walked up to the beast, who was licking its wounds, and shoved his rapier straight into the exposed forehead of the dragon, stabbing it in the brain.
The creature let out a howl of pain, before collapsing to the ground, and Max did the same. Holy shit. He had killed a dragon.
His wounds were massive. His left arm hung limply from getting bitten twice, and he had burn marks on his legs and right arm. His face was unhurt, luckily, but he felt the pain crash all over him at once.
He needed the fountain water. He quickly summoned the camelbak from his bag of holding and poured it all over his wounds, not caring how much he used. And the water did it's job, healing him, knitting together the bite marks on his left shoulder, undoing the two degree burns that adorned his legs and right arm.
But Max was still exhausted. He needed to take a few moments to rest. If that battle had lasted another minute, then surely the dragon would have killed him. The only reason that he was still alive was because he had blinded the beast at the last minute, allowing him to hide from its devastating fire attack.
His eyes grew heavy. He needed sleep. He'd been travelling for the whole day, and had just fought his hardest battle yet. Surely he could rest for just a moment…
[Conditions Met: Warrior → Swashbuckler Class!]
[Class Consolidation: Warrior removed]
[Swashbuckler Class Obtained!]
[Swashbuckler Level 4!]
[Skill - Monstrous Auto Parry Obtained!]
[Skill Change: Sword Proficiency → Rapier Training]
[Conditions Met: Survivor → Monster Hunter Class!]
[Class Consolidation: Survivor removed]
[Monster Hunter Class Obtained!]
[Monster Hunter Level 2!]
[Skill - Monster Appraisal Obtained!]
[Skill - Hunter's Blade Obtained!]