Chapter 10 – Dungeon Menace.

‘It does work! Was this what the orange color meant?’

Rusty delved deeper into his newly discovered ability to use bronze ingots from his stash tab. He also had ingots of copper and tin, which he could combine to form the bronze necessary for repairing his body. Only after combining the two metals could he use them, as copper and tin didn’t integrate into his body independently.

The process was intriguing, albeit costing SP, a resource crucial for many of his best skills. SP management posed a challenge; it took hours for the bar to recharge, and leveling up alone couldn’t increase the number. The only potential way to increase this resource was through evolving, and perhaps that was the sole method available.

‘Now what should I do? What do you think?’

After shifting his attention away from the stash tab, he posed the question to a drooling monster. It was one of the undead, just standing in the crypt where he had dealt with the adventurers. The others behaved strangely for a moment; after the battle concluded, they stopped moving, and eventually, the graves they emerged from began to open. Slowly, some crawled back in, while others, like this one, stayed behind, becoming Rusty’s conversational partners.

‘You don’t have anything to say Mr. Zombie? No one ever answers besides those two light balls, I wonder what they are up to.’

Some time had elapsed since his visit to the soul forge, and Rusty began to miss the creatures capable of conversing with him. This particular monster just stood there, with some sort of liquid oozing from its upper orifice. He gave it a few pokes, but the creature eventually departed when one of the graves opened up for it.

‘Not even going to say goodbye? How rude! Fine, I’ll get stronger without your help!’

After shaking his metallic fist in anger, Rusty picked up the large axe that had remained. Fortunately, it didn’t vanish like the rest of the adventurer armor that the zombies brutalized. One other piece of equipment that he had managed to wrestle away from his monstrous friends was a sword sheath. After strapping it to his body he would not have to constantly hold his corroded blade with his hands anymore.

It appeared that as long as he didn’t leave equipment on the ground for too long, the dungeon would not be able to absorb it. Perhaps it possessed a skill akin to his material absorption, which made sense as he often witnessed some of the holes within this place mending themselves.

‘The voice hasn’t been telling me much since I got to this level, I wonder why.’

Upon descending to the second floor, he noticed something peculiar. The voice didn’t instruct him to patrol anything; it was as if he was somewhat free from its grasp. While it still prevented him from attacking other monsters deliberately, if he accidentally struck them, the voice did not intervene. Despite his attempts after the last battle, he found himself unable to perform an attack even from a distance.

‘Should I stay here, or try another location…’

Rusty had emerged victorious, and his strategy appeared to be yielding results. However, for some reason, he felt an inclination not to linger here. The adventurers seemed to be cooperative beings, forming groups and coming to each other’s aid. Though uncertain, he couldn’t shake the feeling that someone stronger might arrive to investigate the fate of the defeated group.

‘One of them mentioned something, a guild? I think this guild thing isn’t anything good but… I won’t let it stop me either!’

Perhaps he needed to exercise caution, but this wasn’t the only spot where he could defeat enemies. Equipped with his quiver and poisonous leeches, he had alternative means to overcome other foes. These were not his only resources. Upon reaching the second level, he extensively explored the area and found other interesting things that could aid him. Thus, armed with the means to defeat the foes that he had previously feared, it was time for him to begin the hunt.

He only had access to the first and second floor, but the latter was about twice the size of the one he was initially summoned to. While navigating through it, he encountered several interesting chambers, such as the zombie-filled one. It became evident that this floor contained more concentrated danger zones with fewer monsters traveling between them. There were other places that he could hunt the adventurers and there was no reason to just wait for another party to arrive at the crypt location.

‘It must be my lucky day!’

After arriving at the next location, Rusty had to wait for a few minutes until his next target arrived. The place resembled a wide corridor with seemingly nothing interesting. However, upon inspecting the ground, he noticed strange square tiles with various symbols on them. When adventurers entered, they moved in a peculiar pattern over those square tiles, hopping between them.

‘This one will be more difficult… but I can do it!’

Rusty psyched himself up while preparing his new scheme. This room held a certain secret that could be used to defeat the four people passing through it. Once they were around the middle of the long corridor, he decided to make himself known.

“Hey, what is that thing doing there? That’s not supposed to happen.”

The place was well-lit, and he was waiting at the other end where the party was heading. His metallic body was easily visible, but that didn’t matter as he only needed to place himself on a specific tile for his plan to work. As he stepped on it, a clicking sound resonated, and a large slab descended, blocking both the entrance and the exit. In response the adventurers started shouting, clearly confused by what was happening.

“The monster set off the trap? Did the guild give us faulty information?”

“T-the sides!”

“Shit, get ready! The trap has been triggered!”

One of the individuals pointed to various rocks sliding to the sides, revealing more monsters. A combination of zombies, skeletons, and corroded armor pieces that resembled the old variant to which Rusty used to belong slowly emerged from small pockets within the walls. They quickly turned to face the small group of adventurers. The monsters outnumbered the adventurers four to one, but this wasn’t an immediate death sentence. Rusty was well aware of the strength these adventurers could possess, and without bringing the poisonous worms with him, this plan would likely fail.

“There is something wrong with that living armor… what is it doing?”

As in the previous battle, Rusty employed the exact same tactic of introducing poison into this chamber. With both the entrance and exit now closed off, the poisonous mist produced by the little creatures spread rapidly. He fired off a few arrows into the distance to ensure that it covered the entire area, and just like before, the adventurers had no answer to this tactic. They began to cough, and in their weakened state, they became perfect targets for the monster onslaught.

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

With not many arrows remaining in his quiver, but enough to produce the poisonous cloud, the rest of the battle would need to be fought at close range. Rusty had strapped his original sword to his body, but for this occasion, he wielded the sturdier iron axe he had taken from the other party. Charging at the group overwhelmed by the twenty or so monsters, he aimed to join the fray.

“T-the cleansing potions…”

Some of them tried to drink some type of blue-colored liquid but were unable to as they were rushed by the monsters from all directions. Their skin started turning purple and veins bulged out which gave Rusty all the information that he needed to know. Soon he swung down his axe at one of the people but to his surprise, he could not use it too well.

‘Something feels off…’

The weapon was clearly superior to his one-handed sword, but Rusty found swinging it to be jarring. Even when he landed a few hits, they weren’t too precise and lacked power. He managed to use his power slash skill with it, but something wasn’t quite right; it was as if his current body was not suited for handling this weapon. It felt similar to the time when he was still only a Damaged Corroded Bronze Armor, and he had an inkling as to why this was the case. Soon, he decided to just throw the axe at one of the adventurers and pulled out his sword from the sheath.

“Arghh…”

“N-no stay away…”

“I… I can’t die here…”

With the combined powers of the dungeon monsters and the poison the group of four eventually succumbed to the ambush. They thought valiantly and even managed to defeat ten of the undead monsters but the more they struggled, the more the poison spread within their bodies. Even after drinking potions, without being able to leave this trapped corridor it was pointless. Soon the whole corridor was covered in silence and Rusty was rewarded with another level up.

Name:	Rusty
Classification:	Corroded Twilight Bronze Armor [ F + ] L4
Type: Continue Reading You are reading a free preview (50%). Log in to unlock the full chapter and join comments. Log In to UnlockCreate Account Related chapter tags #heavymetal[amonsterevolutionlitrpg]chapter10#heavymetal[amonsterevolutionlitrpg]chapter11#heavymetal[amonsterevolutionlitrpg]chapter12#heavymetal[amonsterevolutionlitrpg]latestchapter#heavymetal[amonsterevolutionlitrpg]readonline 0 chapter views Related Novels The Calamitous Bob (stubbed) The Signal Between Suns The Path of Ascension Apocalypse Slayer [OP MC, LitRPG, Progression] 0 Comments You must be logged in to comment. Bookmark Quote TTS Link Play Pause Stop Skip Scroll Settings Note DMCATermsPrivacyContact 0 online