Chương 96: Punting Worms

Crystalline formations jut from every surface of the cavern, catching the glow of the luminescent moss and scattering it through the underground expanse in fractured ribbons of color. Thousands of tiny reflections dance across the walls and ceiling, transforming ordinary stone into something almost dreamlike. Bioluminescent insects drift through the air in slow currents, their lights mingling with the reflections until it becomes impossible to tell where one source ends and another begins.

The tunnel stretches onward into the distance, wide enough to comfortably fit several houses side by side, yet somehow still feeling cramped beneath the unimaginable weight of the stone resting above it. Water drips somewhere in the darkness. The sound echoes through the cavern. And is almost immediately interrupted by the sharp crunch of stone on stone as another worm corpse crashes onto the cave floor in several neatly separated pieces. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ You have slain Stonemaw (Level 68 | Tier 2).

A slight experience bonus has been awarded for slaying a monster 6 levels above you. Your race has leveled up to level 63 Your class has leveled up to level 63 ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Another level. Very nice. I am approaching the next skill selection at a rather satisfying pace. Landing lightly atop a crystal formation, I glance down at the dissected corpse actively leaking green fluid and several unidentifiable internal components across the stone.

This marks the fourth worm I have killed in the ten minutes since Avelyn and I reached the bottom of the shaft. The fourth mana core joins its companions inside my storage. A productive morning. I hop down from the crystal as the golden glow of Blessing fades from my body and rejoin Avelyn near the entrance. She purifies me out of habit, and we both settle onto a nearby rock, fully expecting to be interrupted by another worm within the next few minutes. I immediately open my status window and distribute my points.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Stats Vitality: 630 [+105] Strength: 780 [+130] Dexterity: 1787 [+298] Perception: 1262 [+210] Charisma: 132 [+22] Free Points: 0 ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Stat growth confirmed, I do the only sensible thing one can do after violently punting a massive stone worm into the air and reducing it to several smaller worms by ricocheting around the cavern like an unusually murderous rabbit. I pull out a plate of berries and place it between Avelyn and myself. Refueling time.

A particularly juicy strawberry is secured before Avelyn can even look in its direction. Unfortunately, my berry reserves are beginning to run low. A deeply concerning development. One that requires immediate attention at some point in the near future. As I enjoy my prize, Avelyn reaches for the blueberries and shakes her head slightly.

"I still can't believe you actually kicked it into the air." My tail flicks smugly.

"I had informed you that it was possible." The worms are admittedly quite large. A dozen meters long at minimum, heavily armored, and significantly denser than any creature of that size has any right to be. However, my Strength is rather high. Avelyn's Blessing and Hallowed Ground make it even higher. My gravity manipulation is deeply unfair. And my vines are capable of sacrificing themselves in exchange for imparting truly unreasonable amounts of force. The resulting physics are best described as optional.

A several-thousand-pound stone worm sailing gracelessly through the air while the comparatively tiny fox responsible for launching it bounces around the cavern walls like a bouncy ball fired from an artillery battery. A comparison that has taken on an entirely new meaning recently. With Avelyn constantly healing the minor damage caused by my own movement, I can utilize my full Dexterity with little more than temporary complaints from my joints and the occasional protest from my ankles. The result is simple.

Within a space this confined—relative to my Dexterity investment, the cavern is actually enormous by Earth's standards—nothing can escape. Every wall is a foothold. Every crystal formation is a platform. Every stalagmite is an opportunity. The floor, ceiling, and walls cease being terrain and instead become suggestions. Much to their own detriment. Crystal and stone alike shatter the instant I push off of them too hard.

In fact, a majority of the surrounding cavern now bears the evidence of my passing, the stone pockmarked by footprints, impacts, and shallow craters. Tragic. A vine slips from my thigh, a silvery dahlia blooming to life at its tip before snaking upward into the shaft behind us. The least I can do is give Sylrae a light at the end of the tunnel. Avelyn and I spend the next several minutes chatting casually while occasionally interrupting the conversation to turn stray worms into avant-garde sushi.

Eventually, twenty-four minutes after we began our descent, the distant sound of wingbeats reaches my ears. Thank the stars. The worm total has climbed to seven. My ears twitch. I tilt my head slightly. Sylrae's wingbeats sound... strained. Her breathing is noticeably heavier than normal as well. I focus a little harder on the sounds drifting down the shaft while deliberately pretending not to notice Avelyn stealing an elderberry from my side of the plate. A few moments later, understanding dawns. Ah.

Too much breathing. I see. Several seconds pass before Avelyn's ears twitch as well. They perk immediately afterwards, and she mirrors my head tilt almost perfectly. She listens. Processes. Then arrives at the same conclusion. Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. Naturally, we wait. About a minute later, Marek finally touches down at the bottom of the shaft. He is holding his tower shield sideways like an oversized serving platter, with both Rin and Zeke seated atop it.

Sylrae releases her grip on his armor and immediately drifts towards a nearby rock, collapsing onto it dramatically. Sweat beads across her forehead as she sprawls out, breathing heavily after what was apparently a truly miserable commute. She remains there for roughly three seconds. Then she blinks.

"Why is this rock warm?" I pop a blueberry into my mouth.

"Because that isn't a rock." There is a brief pause while she processes the statement. Then she launches herself back into the air with a startled beat of her wings. Fair. I wouldn't want to lounge atop the recently disassembled corpse of a subterranean ambush predator either. Sylrae immediately redirects herself towards our own rock instead. A reasonable decision. It is a good rock.

I pull out a grilled corn skewer—one of the street foods she seemed particularly fond of previously—alongside an uncommon stamina potion. She accepts the food immediately. The potion receives a look.

"You shouldn't waste those." I tilt my head.

"They are stamina potions."

"Exactly." She points at it.

"Those are expensive. Like, really expensive. A successful dungeon run usually doesn't even produce ten total, and alchemists will overcharge the hell out of you." Hm. I nod thoughtfully. I did not, in fact, know that. Still, I possess plenty, and compared to my own stamina pool, an uncommon potion is approximately equivalent to aggressively splashing water onto a forest fire. More importantly—"I feel that it is a required sacrifice." Four heads tilt simultaneously. Concerning.

Perhaps head tilting is simply a universal Beastkin response. Sylrae narrows her eyes.

"... Why?" I point towards a section of wall roughly one hundred meters away.

"That." The cavern explodes. Stone shrapnel erupts outward as another worm tears free from the wall and launches itself towards us with all the speed and grace of a particularly motivated turtle. At least from my perspective. Rin and Sylrae likely share that assessment. They specialize in the best stats as well. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Stonemaw (Level 68 | Tier 2) Species: Beast Aspect: Stone A massive subterranean ambush predator capable of burrowing through solid rock.

It detects prey through vibrations in stone and launches devastating surprise attacks. Its enormous maw is lined with countless serrated teeth capable of grinding both flesh and stone into powder. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ I am uncertain whether "surprise attacks" is the appropriate term. This particular specimen emerged from the wall at a distance where I could comfortably hold a conversation about it before it arrived. The rest of the party inspects it as well. Expressions shift. Hallowed Ground activates.

Bulwark flares to life. I do not permit events to progress far enough for either to matter. Team combat can wait until Sylrae recovers and everyone is properly organized. Astral Veilstep activates. The world folds. One moment I am standing beside the group. The next, my feet land atop a crystal formation as kaleidoscopic light scatters through the cavern. Golden radiance wraps around me as Blessing takes hold. I push off. The crystal beneath my feet detonates into fragments with a deafening crack. My tail flicks.

Vines manifest along my thighs, anchoring briefly to the cavern floor and bleeding away momentum as I close the distance. I land beside the worm. Vines coil around me. I crouch. Gravity loosens its hold on the creature. Then I kick. My boot connects cleanly with its armored side. The worm leaves. Not metaphorically. Physically. Several tons of subterranean predator are launched into the air. My bones protest. My muscles scream. I am reasonably confident something cracked. It works anyway. I launch after it.

Astra Nocturne flashes into existence as I carve away a section of its body mid-flight. My boots strike the ceiling. I push off again. Another piece falls away. A vine catches a stalactite and redirects me sideways to avoid one particularly ambitious flail of the worm's body. I land. Launch. Cut. Repeat. Several seconds later, the kill notification arrives. Silence returns to the cavern. Sylrae slowly lowers her grilled corn. Then immediately downs the stamina potion.

Marek lowers his shield, Rin resheathes his blades, and I make my way back towards the group. Avelyn quickly heals and purifies me, the dull ache caused by subjecting my body to entirely unreasonable amounts of g-force fading almost instantly beneath her magic. Marek watches the process for a moment before speaking.

"Gods above, every time I see you fight, I am reminded just how ridiculous your stats are." He pauses, clearly trying to quantify exactly how ridiculous.

"If you don't mind me asking, how high are they? Because your Dexterity is higher than Rin's, your Perception is clearly close to Sylrae's, and your Strength is apparently absurd as well." I consider the question for several seconds before deciding to answer honestly. If I am planning on traveling with this group to Ironvale, then it would be useful for them to know my actual capabilities.... Not that I intend to explain Star Aspect or Pride.

That seems like excessive information to share with a group of people I met two days ago.

"Vitality, six hundred thirty. Strength, seven hundred eighty. Dexterity, one thousand seven hundred eighty-seven. Perception, one thousand two hundred sixty-two. And Charisma, one hundred thirty-two." Silence follows. The group's expressions gradually become more vacant with each number. Sylrae is the first to recover.

"... What the fuck?" My tail swishes smugly. A reasonable reaction. Rin narrows his eyes.

"You said 'and Charisma.' What about your magical stats?" My tail stops mid-swish. Ah. Shit. I forgot magical stats existed. The entire group's gaze immediately snaps toward my tail.... I should have declined to answer. The realization spreads across their faces in real time. Shock follows shortly afterwards. Avelyn is the first to find her voice.

"Lyn..." She hesitates.

"You're... manaless?" I blink. Manaless. So this is apparently an established phenomenon. Convenient. I study everyone's expressions carefully, paying particular attention to their posture and Beastkin features. There is no disgust. No fear. No sign of social stigma. If anything, they look... sympathetic. Almost saddened. Interesting. Which means I have no reason to lie.

"Correct." Silence follows. Not the dramatic kind. The processing kind. Everyone simply stares at me as their brains attempt to reconcile several apparently contradictory facts. Eventually, Zeke finds his voice.

"That's... not possible." I tilt my head.

"I assure you that it is."

"That isn't what I mean." He gestures vaguely in my direction, as though the motion alone will somehow explain his confusion.

"Your entire fighting style is built around dumping absurd amounts of mana into movement skills every few seconds."

"Ah." I nod. A reasonable observation.

"I don't use mana." The silence somehow becomes deeper. Sylrae pinches the bridge of her nose.

"Honestly, with that Dexterity stat, I can believe it. The real question is why your stats are so ridiculously high. Even if you don't have magical stats to invest in, those numbers are completely insane." I put a finger to my cheek.

"Well, I underwent Aspect Alignment during my tutorial. At Tier One." The entire group recoils as though I have physically struck them. Interesting.

"I have also consumed several high-tier creatures." Technically true. The dragon was responsible for most of it, but that particular detail feels unnecessary. Some secrets deserve to remain secrets. The group recoils again.

"I also possess a title." Sylrae nearly chokes on her corn. Marek's lips twitch. The man is fighting for his life. As expected, my existence continues to function as a series of increasingly aggressive reality checks to everyone I interact with. Marek eventually manages to recover.

"Manaless individuals are usually weak." A pause.

"They typically have difficulty leveling. Difficulty advancing. Difficulty using skills. Difficulty doing..." He gestures toward the recently disassembled worm.

"... all of that." I consider his words. Then glance toward the remains of the Stonemaw. Then back at him.

"Skill issue." Rin immediately bursts out laughing. Zeke somehow manages to look offended on behalf of an entire demographic. Avelyn covers her mouth to stop a giggle. It accomplishes absolutely nothing. Marek closes his eyes. The expression radiating from his face suggests he is reconsidering every assumption he has ever made about the world. The conversation stalls for a few moments while everyone regains control of themselves. Eventually, Avelyn speaks up.

"Wait." Her ears perk.

"If you're manaless, then how do your skills work?" A very reasonable question. One that I have absolutely no intention of answering.

"I possess alternative methods." Every single member of the party narrows their eyes. Sylrae points directly at me.

"That isn't an answer."

"It is."

"No. That's what people say when they don't want to give an answer." I consider this carefully. Fair.

"Then it appears to have worked perfectly." Sylrae stares at me in profound offense. My tail swishes smugly. The rest of the group spends several seconds looking at me as though concentrated peer pressure might somehow force additional information out of my skull. Unfortunately for them, I am immune to such tactics. Eventually, they give up. The conversation devolves shortly afterwards as Sylrae finishes recovering.

Unfortunately, it devolves in a direction involving everyone repeatedly attempting to guess how my abilities function. Some theories are absurd. Others are merely concerning. One is mildly insulting. I make a mental note to become significantly more mysterious in the future. After roughly fifteen more minutes—and several additional worms experiencing highly unfortunate encounters with Astra Nocturne—Sylrae finally recovers.

She rises from the rock and stretches her wings, feathers spreading wide as she works the stiffness from them. A few loose white feathers drift free, spiraling lazily toward the cavern floor. I resist the urge to collect them. I am uncertain whether requesting a Wingkin's feathers for decorative purposes is considered polite, strange, or grounds for immediate social exile. A question for later. Everyone rises shortly afterwards, stretching, adjusting armor straps, or checking equipment one final time.

Marek hefts his tower shield onto his arm before turning toward the group. When he speaks, the casual atmosphere immediately fades, his voice settling into the firm, commanding tone that made it obvious why he ended up leading the party.

"Alright. Mana is accumulating faster than expected, which means we need to clear this dungeon quickly. This will be our last rest stop unless absolutely necessary." The group straightens slightly. Even Rin stops fiddling with his weapons. Marek lets the statement settle before continuing.

"I didn't research this far into the dungeon through the Archive, so we're moving blind from here on out. Be careful. We have no idea what types of monsters might be waiting deeper inside." Several ears twitch. Mine included. A few tails still. Then Marek looks directly at me.

"Little miss." I straighten slightly.

"I would appreciate it if you continued playing support so everyone can gain experience. However..." He pauses.

"If you determine that a fight is taking too long, or costing too many resources—" Another pause.

"Then you can stop holding back." Silence settles over the cavern. The others glance toward me. Avelyn. Sylrae. Rin. Zeke. Even Marek himself. Waiting. My smile shifts. Just slightly. The carefully maintained elegance doesn't disappear. It simply becomes sharper. A little too eager. A little too wild. My tail swishes once behind me. Slowly. Anticipation curls pleasantly through my chest.

"Understood."