B2 Chapter 206: Infiltration, pt. 6
byKaius reacted instantly to Porkchop’s warning of movement coming their way.
He spun, holding a finger to his lips as he grabbed Ianmus by the shoulder. Jumping at his sudden movement, the mage froze. Shaking the man to get his attention, Kaius took off with a low, loping, jog—waving at his companions to follow.
There’d been a room a little ways back, one large enough that they could hide within.
Every step felt like someone banging on his nerves like a mallet, every muffled footfall causing his blood to throb audibly in his ears.
Soon, he heard the approaching monster. Heavy plodding footfalls, a wide gait with feet that slapped loudly on the rough stone. Too large, too heavy to be a boggart.
A bugbear, on patrol.
Thankfully the tunnel had a slow gentle curve to the left, they had a while yet before the bugbear would be in sight of them.
Reaching the thin opening in the stone, Kaius dived in. Ianmus stumbled in next, Kaius pulled him through, pushing him towards a corner of the room that was out of view of the hall.
Porkchop was last. Thanks to his large stone claws, he had to shift his weight onto the back of his feet in order to keep their points from clattering on the stone. An awkward position—plenty quiet, but it slowed him down.
Urging his brother to take his place in front of Ianmus, Kaius pressed himself close to the wall, blade in hand as he kept watch for the approaching bugbear.
Step by step it drew closer. Every single one making his heart only pound louder in their chest. Thank the gods it was only one—they had a good chance of taking it out silently.
If they could take it by surprise.
The muffled sound of its approach grew clearer. It must have rounded the bend, the sound no longer morphed by bouncing off the cave walls.
Moments later he got his first glimpse. A long and distended shadow—backlit from a brazier. It was close, the nearest light source was only twenty long-strides away.
A glow lit the exterior hall as the bugbear stepped into the shadowy stretch that held their hiding spot—illumination from a torch, it had to be.
Then he saw it. Tall enough that its head would touch his chin, wrapped in inscribed hides and bulging with muscle.
It looked…bored as it trudged its way along, not even bothering to sweep its gaze across the many excavations that lined the walls. Just a routine patrol, or something similar.
Kaius suppressed a sigh of relief.
He would have loved to analyse the monster, but he was wary. Lower races were strange things—with some half-equivalent to classes that empowered them. For all he knew, their shaman could have been teaching its elites how to Mask, and he wasn’t going to risk immediate discovery if he didn’t have to—even if it was unlikely.
Eyes drilling into the back of its skull, Kaius adjusted his grip on his sword. Well textured and tacky, his handle-wrap had still become slick with the pooling sweat of his nerves.
Three more steps.
That’s all the time he gave it. As soon as it had its back towards them, he stepped out into the hall.
Slipping into an aggressive high-guard, he took one steady step after steady step—closing the gap as the bugbear continued—oblivious to the approaching cloak of death.
Finally, he could bear the tension no longer, the monster close enough he could have reached out and touched it.
Twisting through his hips and rolling his shoulders through the motion, Kaius brought his blade down in a blurring streak of grey.
A soft snick filled the air, the honed edge of his blade backed by enough empowered strength to crush straight through the back of the bugbear’s skull—carrying through to cleave it half in twain with a wet crunch.
**Ding! level 64 Bugbear – Crude Warrior slain – Experience Gained! Bonus Experience for slaying a foe of Significant Strength!**
Death throes took over, the monster stiffening for an eyeblink before it fell limp. The burning torch in its hand slipped free, falling to the ground with a gut-wrenching clatter that was nearly enough for Kaius to scrunch his eyes shut.
Moving quickly, he ripped his blade free, rushing forward just in time to catch the collapsing body in his arms.
It was a stout thing—short it may have been, but it was in no way light. Packed with dense muscle, it felt like it had the mass of a man twice its size. Thankfully, with two-eighty-eight strength, he was over five times as strong as he was at baseline, and that had been improved considerably between the metamorphosis of his beast-blood and the effects of his bond with Porkchop.
Kaius moved quickly, hauling the body back to their hiding spot, as Ianmus rushed out to grab the torch.
He dumped the corps unceremoniously in the corner, Ianmus leaving its doused lightsource on top of it.
A slow breath was enough to clear much of the nervous tension he had felt at the risk of discovery—giving his heart a moment to slow.
It had gone flawlessly, proof that they could do this with enough time and care. At least, that is what he hoped.
“Let’s move.”
Kaius led the way back into the hall, their slow assault of the warren continuing.
….
A flickering light was up ahead, revealed as they pushed around a slow bend in the main passage. Coming from a side room this time, rather than the infrequent flames that kept the tunnel just barely darker than a moonlit night.
Kaius raised a hand, calling for them to slow their pace.
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He looked to Porkchop, who was already perking his ears in the direction of the room. A moment later his brother nodded.
“Boggarts, or maybe bugbears. Not making much noise though—they could be asleep. Or just sitting quietly, hard to tell.”
He nodded. At least he could be grateful that they weren’t active. Still, he would need to check it out to be sure—he was the only one who had a Skill that would aid in going undetected.
He waved them back, retreating to the last empty room they had passed. Once his teammates had sequestered themselves safely in the darkness of the stone enclosure, he pushed on—falling into a low and easy crouch with his blade held at the ready.
His spells were ready and waiting—while he didn’t want to spend any so early, he was prepared to use them if he had to. He might, if the room was full of alert bugbears.
Creeping step by creeping step, he drew close to the revealing light of the crude doorway. His breaths were shallow, cutoff quickly to minimise any noise he might make. The strides seemed to dissolve with the agonising pace of the final winter’s snow—his senses receiving the full attention of himself and his Glass Mind.
He stopped at the precipice, heart pounding so loud that he swore it could rouse the sleeping dead. Staying hidden, he stayed in the pooling shadows—demarcated by a razor-like line of light that swept across the floor.
Ready to burst in at the slightest hint of being discovered, he surveyed the room.
The tension released, his shoulders slumping as he saw what it contained.
Boggarts, and sleeping.




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