Izuku's every footstep felt like agony.
He blew past the [Priest] at the front desk, mumbling an apology to her as he and Sir Ratsudon exited the clinic, making a beeline for the Dungeon's entrance. He almost toppled over due to the distraction, his every thought needing to be rock solid to endure the pain he was under, but he managed to lean against the door frame, and hold himself up.
As he got out of the building, his feet made contact with the soil, however, something strange happened.
He could feel something, underneath his boots. [Earth] mana, waves of it, seemed to pulse from beneath him, and after a moment of shock, as his leg pain seemed to fade slightly, he focused. With the mana fending off the worst of the pain, he pushed forward even faster, reaching the Dungeon in record time, his enhanced stats making his movements leagues quicker.
Tectonic Surge
The [Earth] is unyielding, and so shall you be.
Your [Endurance] is tripled for five minutes, and your [Strength] is doubled.
20 Mana per use
It was one of the rewards he had gotten for hitting Level 20, and the only reason he was still standing; his enhanced [Endurance] keeping him from falling over, and the [Strength] buff pushing him faster than he'd ever gone before if you didn't count [Heroic Surge].
There was a token effort by the guards in front of the dungeon to stop him, but he had already made contact with the door and accepted the system prompt before they could get to him.
His vision pulsed for a second before the sight of the dark, cave-like rooms of the first floor appeared before him. The mana that he had felt in his legs was, even more, concentrated here, but he pushed down the spark of excitement that sent through him, instead focusing on ploughing forward through the dungeon.
He was already over-levelled for the first and second floors, and having doubled [Strength] and [Endurance] meant that the rat swarm he had struggled to beat at first was a cakewalk as he quite literally just ran through them, killing most of the rats.
The puzzle room was the first bottleneck, forcing him to slow down slightly, but he was through it without hassle. He couldn't even remember fighting the [Duke of Rats], his entry into the second floor being incredibly quick.
The only part of it he truly remembered was that it had been the point where he had needed to recast [Tectonic Surge] on himself, costing another 20 mana, but giving him another 5 minutes of enhancement.
Mana: 50/90
The hobgoblin room, which had caused him so much trouble before… the grunts were dead before the Hobgoblin could catch him, including the archer on his shoulder, and after a short tussle, with the Hobgoblin trying its best to fend him off, it died as well.
[Mei's Wish] Activated!
He scooped up the small amount of [Enhanced Steel] dropped by Steelbringer's innate effect and kept moving. As he metaphorically kicked down the door to the [Great Mole]'s boss room and heard the rumbling of the boss spawning, he saw the introduction message, slightly different from the last time he was here.
You have entered the [Den of the Great Mole]
Objectives:
Defeat the [Great Mole]: 5 Silver
Optional: Destroy all 3 [Rat Nests]
Boss Chamber Effect: All [Rodents] are aware of your location at all times.
[The earth is listening, adventurer. Speak and you will be heard.]
He felt his hand clench around the handle of Steelbringer, and for the first time since he left Melissa, Mei, and Rumi, he spoke. "WHY?! Why me?! Why help me all this time, why steal from everyone, just to keep me alive!? What did I do to deserve this? Why do I get to live, but good, strong people like Sir Shield have to be on death's door?!"
His throat felt raw as he screamed in the middle of the empty room.
"DUNGEON! I need your help! I don't know what exactly you want from me, or why you're focused on me specifically!"
He dropped into a combat stance as the [Great Mole] pulled itself fully out of the ground, recasting [Tectonic Surge] again so that he wouldn't get distracted and have it drop in the middle of the fight.
Mana: 30/90
"I need a [Greater Restoration Potion]. If there is anything you can do to make that happen, please do. Make it the boss drop if you need me to earn it. Spawn it in the warp room if I don't, whatever you need to do… just, please. After that, I will do whatever it is you need me to do, whatever it is that you're helping me out so much for, without complaint or compromise."
He felt the corners of his eyes prick with tears as the [Great Mole] screeched. "Please, give me the ability to save Sir… no. Melissa's dad, David Shield. Please, give me the ability to save even just this one person!"
With that, he pushed, slamming into the [Great Mole] like a cannonball. There was no time to focus on being merciful like he had in the last fight. The [Great Mole] needed to go down. He needed to get a [Greater Restoration Potion] as quickly as possible.
Because he knew exactly what kind of effect [?] had on someone, and it was his fault that David Shield was going through it at the moment.
"Anything I can do to make it happen… hmm."
One could see the Dungeon of Mustafu, UA Dungeon, as a rather merciless thing. It created monsters, traps, hallways, and bosses, all with the intent of killing those who entered it in search of its treasure.
And yes, it was all of those things… and more, in ways that were too arcane and mystically complicated for most mortals to comprehend, let alone defend against… not that it would ever kill them in a way they couldn't understand.
It was almost a prideful thing for it to see adventurers in its dungeon grow stronger and more skilled. Not only did it prove that it was excellent at its job, creating challenging floors and monsters, but it also meant that it got to actually use some of the less… restrained versions of its creatures.
So yes, one could call UA Dungeon a merciless, horrible thing… but while they would be mostly correct, they were also very wrong. To see its adventurers dead, to never again know the thrill of having someone delve into its depths like a spark of light against the waves of its endless, ever-respawning darkness, destined to either fizzle out or blaze in such glorious ways… well, it would never wish for that to happen.
So when it heard the whispers, felt the glancing touch, saw the faint traces, and tasted the hidden flavour of the world through the Mana, it knew it had to do something, something that it had only ever done once before.
And luckily, the perfect candidate had strolled in all on his lonesome mere months ago. A few pokes, a few prods, and some slight tampering with the drop rates had been all it had ever done for the candidate, and it could do for them, but now… now they asked for specifics.
He asked for it to push the boundaries of the rules hardwired into its existence. He asked for a miracle. It didn't even know if it was possible. It didn't know if it would work, even if it tried. But the mere idea of trying filled it with glee.
How exciting!
[The earth has listened, Adventurer. You have been heard.]
Potion Recovery
The [Great Mole] accidentally ate a [Greater Restoration Potion] with its breakfast. Retrieve it from the monster's stomach before it is dissolved.
Warning: [Great Mole] has much higher HP due to the potion's magic]
Rewards: ? XP
Izuku felt the quest slot of his [Heroic] trait get filled, as if something that shouldn't be able to, was forcing a Quest on him, the words and terms of the Quest being branded into his brain as he impacted into the [Great Mole], making it feel as if his soul had eaten just a couple of bites too many for dinner.
Steelbringer's entire blade sunk into its chest before he twisted slightly and yanked it out, causing the [Great Mole] to scream as Izuku kicked off its chest, flying away and landing nearby before darting in again.
87 Damage Given!
He had barely given the [Great Mole] a chance to scream before he was slicing through one of its legs at the knee, toppling it over. It hit the ground with a thud, shaking the entire room so much that Izuku saw a couple of side tunnels collapse.
62 Damage Given!
[Great Mole] is under the effect of [Bleeding 2] for the next [90] seconds
[Great Mole] is under the effect of [Crippled 2]
[Great Mole] can no longer walk.
Izuku let out a deep breath as he skidded to a stop, flicking Steelbringer to get some of the [Great Mole]'s blood off of it, keeping his eyes on it the entire time. He was about to dart in again when a spike of pain shot through his legs, causing him to stumble slightly.
Luckily the [Great Mole] was preoccupied with its own injuries, and couldn't use the opportunity to attack him, which gave him time to centre himself, throwing a quick [Identify+] its way to check how he was doing.
The Great Mole
[True name unknown]
Floor 2 Boss, UA Dungeon
Commander of all living [Rodent]s in the depths of the [UA Dungeon]
HP: 351/600 | Mana: N/A | Stamina: 150/150
He barely held back a sigh of exhaustion as he saw that. He'd just slammed it with two massive hits, ones that would only be reachable with a critical hit before the Double Incursion, and it was still two-thirds alive.
After banging the pommel of Steelbringer into his shaking legs to try to get them to calm down, he checked his timer for [Tectonic Surge], nodding to himself. Since he had re-done it right before starting, he had just over 4 minutes remaining before the last time he could do it before running out of mana.
9 Minutes. He had to fight, and defeat, the [Great Mole], collect the [Greater Restoration Potion] from its stomach, escape from the dungeon, and get back to the clinic within that time… Or David Shield would die.
Izuku felt his entire being recoil at the idea. Stomping one foot forward, he got into a battle stance again, preparing to strike. "I won't let that happen! I won't let him die because of me!"
The [Great Mole] had barely even begun to get up when Izuku fell on it again, Steelbringer flashing as he stabbed the sword deep into its right clavicle. It shrieked in pain and wildly swiped at him, but he was already moving before it was.
54 Damage Given!
Tearing it upwards freed it, and almost removed one of the [Great Mole]'s arms completely, as his enhanced [Strength] caused his sword to tear through the Boss' mana-made body.
69 Damage Given!
Seeing the opportunity, he halted his upward swing and threw his arm downwards again, this time actually taking off the [Great Mole]'s arm. He followed it up by stabbing his sword into its neck. He was about to mentally celebrate another good hit when the [Great Mole]'s remaining paw slammed into Izuku, sending him flying back down towards the ground, where he bounced off the soft dirt, rolling to a stop a few meters from his impact area… without Steelbringer.
45 Damage Taken!
Critical Hit!
124 Damage Given!
[Great Mole] is under the effect of [Bleeding 6] for the next 60 seconds
[Great Mole] is under the effect of [Dismembered 1]
[Great Mole] no longer has a right arm
While he lay there for a moment, giving himself just an instant to rest, he did some quick mental maths, to avoid wasting any more Mana on another [Identify+]. He figured that after his last attack, the [Great Mole] should have around 200 HP remaining. That critical hit where he took its arm off… had been very helpful.
Rolling over, he saw the [Great Mole] writhing in pain as it clutched the empty, bleeding stump of a shoulder he had left it with. A sense of deja vu and guilt cut through his desperate focus. 'I know I said that there was no time for mercy, but…'
He pulled out his [Ratbone Dagger] and used [Earth Strider] to jump back up to where Steelbringer was stabbed into the [Great Mole]'s chest. Repeating his stab from earlier, he used the [Ratbone Dagger] to hold himself in place while he pried Steelbringer out.
53 Damage Given!
With Steelbringer freed, he dropped back to the ground to avoid getting hit again by the [Great Mole]'s wild thrashing, and quickly checked to make sure the sword wasn't damaged. Luckily, it was both made of hardy material and imbued with an innate skill. True magic items don't bend easily, let alone break.
Checking his timer for [Tectonic Surge] left him with only a minute and a half of the current cast's duration. Taking a few deep breaths, Izuku readied Steelbringer. 'I'm running out of time… It's time to end this.'
Izuku crouched, his legs screaming bloody murder at him as he did so, but he held firm. [Tectonic Surge] held him up, and enhanced him. After he had settled, he used [Earth Strider] to shoot forward, his sword ready, the movement ability creating [Earth Spikes] in his wake, the spires of stone shooting after him as if trying to catch him.
He cancelled [Earth Strider] early to drop to the dirt floor, ducking under the [Great Mole]'s swipe with its remaining arm. As it missed him, the [Earth Spike]s that had been following him stabbed deep into the creature's forearm, pinning it to its chest and immobilising the Monster.
38 Damage Given!
Izuku skidded across the ground behind it as it screamed in pain again. He stabbed Steelbriner and his [Ratbone Dagger] into the ground to slow his momentum, coming to a stop right before he hit a wall, and then activated [Earth Strider] again, this time aiming for the nape of the [Great Mole]s neck.
The effect his stacked buffs had on him was surprisingly strong, making it so that he could barely see himself moving when he really pushed. Reacting on pure instinct as he just appeared in front of the [Great Mole]'s neck, he swung Steelbringer as hard as he could … and roared.
"[Triple Strike!]"
Two shimmering copies of the sword appeared above and below it, following along its trajectory as Izuku swung right for the [Great Mole]'s neck to finally end the boss fight…
And then he was past it, flying through the air. Steelbringer had cleaved straight through the [Great Mole]'s neck with so much ease that it had thrown off his estimates. His sudden jump in power had made him slightly clumsier, it seemed.
He would have to put some work in to fix that.
Izuku was headed straight for the nearby wall, at very high speeds. Briefly entertaining the thought of using [Quicksand] to soften the blow, he decided against it, needing the mana for one more [Tectonic Surge].
Landing shoulder first against the wall, a cough escaped him as he slammed into the wall, the air in his lungs escaping him.
13 Damage Taken!
He groaned as a dull throb shot through his body as the packed dirt greeted him at high speed, before he tumbled to the ground, landing on his feet, but collapsing anyway as his legs gave out on him.
"GET UP, IZUKU! YOU'RE NOT DONE!" He was screaming, now, and he hadn't realised he had started to. Screaming at himself, screaming at the dungeon, at the system, at anyone or anything who could hear him, but he didn't care. His legs were barely responding to him, but he needed to keep going.
David Shield wasn't safe yet, so he. was. not. done.
Critical Hit!
176 Damage Given!
Floor 2 Dungeon Boss, the [Great Mole] has been slain!
XP gained from Dungeon Boss: 400 XP
[Complete your Quest, quickly.]
No matter how intrigued the back of his was at the fact that the Dungeon seemed to be speaking to him, he would have to ignore the cryptic message that flashed beneath the kill notification for the moment, as he had bigger fish to fry.
He darted forward, Steelbringer flashing as he cut open its stomach, its mana-made body quickly starting to get reabsorbed back into the Dungeon. Izuku reached through the false viscera, and grabbed out the shiny, red-liquid-filled bottle, stashing it in his bag, before mentally slamming his fist on [Tectonic Surge], having only 2 seconds left before he recast it.
Mana: 8/90
Congratulations!
Quest Completed: Potion Recovery
Reward: 300 XP | 0 gold/silver/copper
Special Rewards: [Greater Restoration Potion]
This was it. He was drained practically dry of his Mana… but he had gotten it. Tears of joy and pain streamed down Izuku's face as he made sure the bottle was secure. He shook his arms and legs out, rolling his shoulders as he looked over to where the exit door was appearing.
He may be completely out of Mana, but his Stamina…
Stamina: 134/145
He had plenty of that to spare.
Blinking through the remainder of the Boss Chamber with repeated use of [Earth Strider] was simple, and before he knew it, he was in the Floor 2 Warp Chamber, through the portal, and appearing back outside the Dungeon's entrance.
"Holy, shit, wait, Izuku? What the fuck happe-"
"NO TIME!"
He felt bad as he blasted past Kurimuzon, who had looked genuinely worried for him. Gods above, he must look horrible right now, to elicit such a reaction. But it was fine. He could rest in less than five minutes.
All he needed to do was get the [Greater Restoration Potion] to David Shield, and everything would be okay. David would be okay, which would make Melissa okay, which would make Mei okay, which would make Otto ok…
It was fine if he wasn't ok, since all of this was his fault, but… That didn't make his legs hurt any less as he used [Earth Strider] to blitz through the streets of Mustafu, back towards the clinic.
He felt a pang of guilt when he saw that Sir Ratsudon was sitting in the waiting room of the clinic; with him moving as fast as he was, he probably left Sir Ratsudon behind in the puzzle room. And since his summon had no way to actually complete the puzzle without him… It seemed like Sir Ratsudon had given up on catching up to him when he entered the Duke of Rat's chamber.
Izuku completely ignored the [Priest] at the counter as she created Vine Wall again, tearing right through it. The corridors of the clinic flashed past him, and he felt guilty for making such a ruckus as he blasted through them, but this was important.
As he rounded a corner, he spotted the room that David Shield was sleeping in. He was already moving too quickly to slow down, so as he got closer and closer, he braced for impact. The door to David Shield's room slammed open with a thud, but the hinges luckily held strong, stopping the door from crashing to the ground.
His sudden entrance sparked gasps from Melissa and Mei, as well as a small grunt of shock from Rumi. He had slightly underestimated how easily the door would open, so his balance was off, and he almost tripped over.
Luckily for him, Instead of falling over completely, Melissa and Mei appeared in front of him and caught him as his legs finally gave out on him, the both of them holding him upright, and in the aura of safety their arms gave him, Izuku felt himself instinctively deactivating [Tectonic Surge].
Melissa was breathing heavily as she lifted her part of his weight, his armour and weapons likely making him quite hefty to someone who probably didn't get [Strength] increases with her level-ups. "Izuku? Gods… are you ok? Izuku?!"
A sigh of exhaustion escaped him, and he felt his body flop like jelly beneath him, even his arms dropping, Steelbringer clattering to the ground. "I… I did it. M-my pack, please, g-get my p-pack…"
He noticed the conflicting worry and sheer joy in her eyes at the mention of his success, and when she spoke, her voice had that husky, almost crying quality to it. "Mei, could you?"
Mei just nodded quickly at Melissa's request, and as she let go of Izuku, Rumi took over Mei's share of his weight, and to be honest probably Melissa's share as well, with one of her arms, looking down at Izuku with something he would almost call pity if the tears in his eyes let him see clear enough to know for sure.
"Hoo boy… Keigo was fucking right. You [Heroic] bastards are a pain in the fucking ass."
She then glanced over to where Mei was pulling out the [Greater Restoration Potion], right on time for the [Priest] girl as well as a [Cleric] to arrive in the room, ready to yell at Izuku, only to freeze at the sight of the potion.
Rumi just gave him a tap on the head, too hard to be called a pat, but gentler than he ever expected from her. "But I can't argue with the results, I guess. You must plan to just keep impressing me, don't you, Izuku? Take a rest now, mate. You've fucking earned it."
Izuku just nodded blankly as the sounds in the room faded out, from Melissa's frantically talking with the [Cleric], to Mei's tapping feet as she handed the potion over, and finally, as his eyes closed, his vision going black, there was silence.
And he fell into a much-needed sleep, his body and soul exhausted to the core.