Ludwig moved ahead, back on track following the chains with his eyes.
He needed to act fast, as he realized that the chain that had sprung out earlier must have caught its target and is now withdrawing as it began to pull back. If he were to lose the only trail he had, he would probably not find the source of what’s going on and be lost in this dungeon.
Finally, the corridor opened into a large, dimly lit chamber. The room was a stark contrast to the narrow passages before it, with vaulted ceilings and walls lined with faded tapestries depicting abstract, nightmarish scenes. At the far end, a massive, iron-bound door loomed ominously, faintly glowing with arcane energy.
Scattered around the room were eight figures. all Djinns, their glowing eyes betraying their otherworldly nature despite their humanoid forms. Some sat at a crude wooden table, gambling with worn dice and laughing raucously. Others leaned lazily against the walls or nursed drinks from grimy mugs.
“Eight people…” Ludwig said, he knew they didn’t have much of a chance in fighting them if they were all to come at them at the same time, then he’ll probably get a fast meeting with Necros tonight.
his mind racing as he assessed the situation. His eyes flicked to the door, where the chains disappeared through small gaps at the edges. He clenched his fists. That door was the key to this whole mess, but there was no way to approach it without drawing attention.
“Should we go back and call for backup?” she asked.
Ludwig thought for a second, he didn’t have the power to overtake eight of these Djinns and he knew it, especially with how enclosed this area was. The moment he steps in, he’ll be exposed and they’ll surround him and Alva. And from what he saw from her, she was completely useless. Though he wanted to know what’s behind the door where the chains were coming from, it wasn’t worth the risk. So far, they can still withdraw.
He was about to reply when the chains were retreating had finally brought its victims with it, several dozen people were wrapped up in the chain and were dragged across it, their souls screaming in agonized hoarseness that only Ludwig could hear.
“Let’s head back…” Ludwig said. Though he couldn’t help any of the souls here, he didn’t find it in him to risk his life for any of them as of now. Though unfortunate as it may be for Kassandra. He was no hero. This was as far as he could personally go.
“INTRUDER!”
The voice shook Ludwig’s heart though he had no heart.
And almost instinctively, without missing a beat, his mind already spun into action alongside his body.
Alva was left stupefied as she saw Ludwig sprint forward while everyone who was sitting was still trying to understand the situation.
Ludwig’s scimitar had already lobbed the first Djinn’s head.
[Critical!]
[You have slain a Djinn in one hit!]
Obtained 2x Weak Soul.
His scimitar immediately flew with Undead Strength at the second Djinn who was still confused about the situation as he has yet to realize that the hot liquid that sprayed over him was his drinking companion’s blood. The scimitar sliced right into his eyes, followed by a powerful kick to the chest that threw him back.
The closest Djinn tried his best to pull out his scimitar only for ludwig’s own weapon to find his heart first, dropping him in one hit.
[Critical!]
[You have Slain a Lesser Djinn in one hit!]
Obtained 2x Weak Soul.
Ludwig tried his best to eliminate another, but in those three seconds, the rest of the guards had already drawn their weapons. The element of surprise was over.
Two were eliminated and one was incapacitated. But that still left Ludwig fighting against five others.
Ludwig knew from the start that he was no trained powerful swordsman of some renowned family, nor did he truly learn the way of the sword. All his training with Joana was nothing but basic training. He knew he couldn’t take on several people at once, especially with how lacking he was in terms of skill and fighting experience. Everything in this situation was against him, but he knew one thing for sure. What if you can’t out-skill them, overpower them.
‘Use four weak souls,’ Ludwig muttered under his breath.
[You have obtained 400 souls]
That was a pretty huge sum of souls.
[Your Soul Level has increased to 11]
“Increase dexterity by ten,” Ludwig rapidly added the points he obtained. Ten in dexterity for a total of 30. Allowing him to use the Scimitar to its full potential, the rest he dumped between strength and wisdom equally. Costing him a total of 400 souls exactly.
The closest of the Djinns rushed Ludwig, who easily dodged as the increase in dexterity allowed him a better scope of movement. A dexterous body has better reflexes and this showed with just an increase of ten points.
“Who the fuck is this?” one of the djinns said.
“Grab him!” another ordered and two of the Djinns jumped at Ludwig trying to pressure him in a two-against-one.
Just as Ludwig took a step back to gain some distance, the farthest of the two djinns that tried to assault him stopped as he coughed out blood, spitting a massive amount of it as he noticed the sharp yet overly thick rapier piercing right through his chest.
The sword ripped out with force and revealed Alva who flicked the blood on her weapon to the ground.
“He has company”, another said, and immediately the whole group of Djinn joined the battle.
Ludwig felt a bit of relief as he didn’t have to fight by himself, thankfully Alva wasn’t completely useless and could fight.
Unlike Ludwig however, she was far more agile in taking down her opponents. A stark difference between the forceful approach Ludwig took where he used all his might behind every single swing of his weapon against the Djinn that tried to ambush him right now. Alva easily parried the enemy’s scimitar and countered with a perfect repost.
The scimitar that was aiming at splitting her in half form head to toe was easily parried as she smacked it with the side of her rapier, causing the Djinn’s entire form to falter as his body followed after the modified trajectory of the sword, while at the same time she parried she would simply use the sharp side of her rapier to slice right through the Djinn’s neck.
Ludwig, on the other hand, used nothing but pure brute strength, with his strength increasing to sixty-one points, he had enough power behind every swing of his weapon to cause even the beefy-looking Djinn’s arms to wobble.
Two Djinns tried to surround Ludwig as they noticed that although he had brutish strength, he had no technique and was simply just swinging his weapon everywhere.
The closest Djinn rushed in, causing Ludwig to swing his weapon to push him away, he was baiting Ludwig as he stopped a mere step before the sword completely missed, the second Djinn immediately followed and went for a stab at Ludwig’s chest.
Ludwig realized that he was about to be impaled and forcefully twisted his body, making sure that the scimitar avoided his ‘internal organs’ and sliced right through the side of his ribs.
[-60 hp]
He didn’t wince or show any reaction as the scimitar cut right through him, but since the assailant was close enough and extended long enough, Ludwig used his other free hand to grab at the Djinn’s sword-wielding arm.
With his current strength, he was easily able to pull the Djinn forward making it stumble, and with his other hand that was extended earlier he simply switched his grip on the sword to an overhand grip and stabbed down at the back of the Djinn that just stumbled.
The power behind his stab was strong enough that it shattered his weapon as it pierced right through the Djinn and broke when it came in contact with the cobblestone.
[You obtained x2 Weak Souls]
Ludwig pulled the sword that was in the now-dead Djinn’s other hand and used it as his new weapon.
Looking at Alva, she was doing far better than he expected. As two djinns had already fallen to her feet, and the last one she was fighting had one arm missing.
“What the fuck is going on?” a loud voice echoed from the closed door.
Almost instantly, Ludwig and Alva realized that even more reinforcement was going to arrive if they didn’t handle this situation faster.
Ludwig muttered; [Galvanize].
This caught everyone in the room by surprise. Especially the Djinns that were focused on Ludwig who seemed the less skilled of the two.
“He’s a caster?!” One of the Djinns said in terror.
immediately Ludwig’s body began radiating a powerful aura as all of his basic stats began increasing.
[For 30 seconds, all your physical stats have increased by 20%]
“Let’s get this over with!”