Overwhelming Firepower

The group froze, their eyes locked on the giant monster. Its sheer scale, the unnatural combination of stone, ore, and flesh.

The way it seemed to merge with the cavern itself made those who had seen it for the first time made their minds struggle to comprehend what kind of being this was.

Lucen and the others had already seen large monsters, like the Frost Titan and the young fire dragon, but nothing comparable to this.

Even though it was smaller than a true adult dragon, its size was still imposing, which was expected of something considered to be a failed dragon.

Seeing such a huge monster, the first instinct Lucen had as a gamer was to throw all of his iron spheres and make them explode to initiate a boss battle.

But of course, he held himself back from doing that. It was painfully obvious that this was something at the level of a secret boss.

With his current level, party members, and equipment, the only thing waiting for them if they fought this monster was death.

The cavern remained unnervingly still. Dust hung in the air like frozen smoke, disturbed only by the faint tremors of the Khaldruun’s breathing.

Every drop of moisture clung to the walls, every shard of stone seemed sharper, and the scent of mineral and damp stone was almost suffocating. Shadows pooled unnaturally, exaggerating every ridge of the cavern floor.

The Khaldruun’s massive coils lay wrapped around the orichalium vein like a sleeping calamity, its slow, grinding breaths causing faint tremors to ripple through the stone beneath their feet.

With each exhale, the glowing threads of ore pulsed once, dimly, like a heartbeat echoing in the dark.

No one spoke a single word as all of them kept their eyes on the massive snake-like creature below them.

Even Sir Thalos, who rarely hesitated before danger, remained motionless, his eyes never leaving the creature’s head. Bram was also holding his breath as he did not dare make a single move.

Durik, who knew about the khaldruun, was momentarily stunned. This was a being that could decimate an entire dwarven clan.

Although weaker than dragons and less intelligent, the khaldruun was still a foe that needed armies to kill. He had once seen rune masters and dwarven warriors fight this thing, and just to kill it, they sacrificed a lot.

On the other hand, Robert too was momentarily afflicted with fear, but it went by fast as his curiosity overrode that fear.

Then there was Lucen, who had Dragonkiller’s Resolve, grit, and the blessing Unyielding. Due to these traits and blessing he was not affected by the terror the Khaldruun was emitting.

Lucen was the first to move. Not forward, just a single step to the side, slow and deliberate. The soft crunch of gravel beneath his boot sounded deafening in the still cavern.

There was no reaction aside from his companions, who were now looking at him, then back to the monster.

The Khaldruun’s massive chest rose and fell once more, its breath dragging across stone like a landslide slowed to a crawl. Lucen let out a sigh as he then looked at his companions.

Bram’s muscles were coiled tight, veins standing out along his arms as if his body was preparing to brace against something invisible.

Sir Thalos stood perfectly still, but Lucen could see it in his eyes, the subtle narrowing, the way his weight had shifted ever so slightly. He was ready to move, but only if forced.

Durik’s jaw was clenched hard enough that Lucen could hear his teeth grind faintly.

Robert, on the other hand, still had that manic smile on his face, but at the same time, it would seem that his body was unconsciously trembling.

’Yeah, this guy has some sort of passive field that emits something like terror or some debuff regarding fear. Similar to dragons in games that have the passive Frightful Presence or Dragon’s fear, or something similar. I guess even a failed dragon would have a few similar skills.’

Lucen thought to himself, as he felt rather thankful for the passive fear resistance given by a few of his traits.

’I guess the reason why this thing didn’t show up in the game, aside from the mining town not being accessible, this thing should have been asleep throughout the entire game scenario.’

Lucen unconsciously nodded his head, agreeing with himself. He then quickly shook his head.

’What the f*ck am I even thinking right now?! There’s no time for such thoughts. We need to get out of here first.’

Lucen slowly approached the person nearest to him, which was Bram. He moved as quietly as possible, and when he was near enough, he tapped Bram’s shoulder.

The sudden stimulation almost made Bram jump, but he was able to hold himself back from doing so as he looked at Lucen.

Seeing that he caught his attention, Lucen gestured with his hands to fall back. Bram nodded his head as he slowly backed away from the hole.

Lucen did the same thing with the others; the only problem was Robert, who did not want to leave and continued to observe the khaldruun. Sir Thalos needed to knock out Robert again so that they could safely leave.

As the group was about to leave, the Khaldruun seemed to have exhaled. The sound was deeper this time and longer.

The glowing veins of orichalium flared faintly, responding to the disturbance, before slowly dimming again.

Lucen, who had everybody ready, did not waste any time and signalled everyone to quickly leave.

The group moved silently away from the hole Durik made. Even though they had distanced themselves, the breath from the Khaldruun could still be felt.

The farther they got, the quicker their movements became. At some point, the fear that gripped them had disappeared.

Still, even without the fear, the group continued to move silently away. It took an hour or two for them to finally arrive back at Durik’s house/forge.

The second they had escaped the mines, the group couldn’t help but breathe heavily as Bram and Durik fell to the floor. Even Sir Thalos, who placed the unconscious Robert down, sat in a nearby chair breathing in relief.

It was just Lucen who was not too affected by the presence of the Khaldruun. ”I guess we now know why there are only a few monsters in the area. It’s not just because the people here are strong; there’s an actual behemoth of a monster hidden in the mountains.”

For a while, no one replied to Lucen. The forge was filled only with the sound of heavy breathing and the soft crackle of dying embers.

Sweat clung to skin and armor alike, and even the thick stone walls of Durik’s home felt too thin in Lucen’s mind.

Durik sat with his back against the wall, hammer resting across his knees. His head was lowered, beard brushing against his chest as he stared at the floor.

”... That truly was a Khaldruun...” He finally muttered.

”To think one was nesting so close to the surface... Near a town.” He let out a slow breath. ”If that thing ever wakes fully, this place won’t exist long enough for people to run.”

”We need to inform the Iron Duke to either kill that thing or to relocate the people of this town to a different place.” Sir Thalos commented.

”No need to hurry for that, lad,” Durik replied to Thalos. ”If I remember correctly, this town has existed for a long time now, and the Khaldruun hasn’t done anything. Well, those things aren’t that aggressive, and they only eat meat if they are truly hungry; their main source of food is ores.”

Durik then shrugged his shoulders. ”As long as no one directly provokes it, that thing will stay in that area sleeping and eating without doing much. Based on the direction the humans in this town are mining, they won’t come near it, even by accident.”

”... Even so, we should still report this to the lord. What do you think, young lord?” Thalos suddenly asked Lucen.

”Yeah, we’d better report this to Father, but I think it would be best to simply observe the situation first. If we try to fight that thing, the entire mountain might get destroyed. Seeing as the people in this town rely on the mines here for their livelihood. They might not like it if we try to relocate them.”

”Yeah, giving them a choice of possibly dying to a behemoth of a monster, which is unsure to happen, or die from hunger by making them give up their way of life, the choice is obvious.” Bram, who had finally relaxed his body, shared his opinion.

No one argued with Bram. The truth of his words settled heavily in the room, heavier than the forge smoke that clung to the rafters.

For a mining town, the mountain was not just stone and ore; it was life itself. Take that away, and everything else followed.

Durik pushed himself up slowly, joints creaking as much as the old forge beneath them. He rested one hand against the anvil, steadying himself.

”The lad’s right,” he said.

”... So anyway, what do you plan to do now, Durik?” Lucen changed the subject and asked.

”What do I plan to do now?” Durik looked at Lucen for a second while scratching his beard. Durik then showed a smile on his bearded face. ”It’s already evening, and we’re done with work, of course, what comes next is to have a drink.”