Chapter 17 – Looking For Copper.

‘Woah, I gained a level!… But I better keep on running!’

Rusty said to himself while trying to put more power into his metallic legs. The ground underneath was quite uneven and his body was not suited for such a fast pace. His metallic legs clanked against the rocky ground as he sprinted through the twisting tunnels of the cave system. The echoes of his footsteps were mixed with the angry hisses and clicking sounds of the pursuing ants.

‘They are really angry, well I don’t blame them, I did kill quite a lot of them this time around…’

As he navigated the passages, Rusty continued to glance at the glowing light insects on the walls. These creatures just like the monsters here needed water to survive and would remain close to their source. The main watering hole in this dungeon attracted a lot of glow bugs and this was where he was heading.

However, the large ant monsters didn’t relent and kept on pursuing through the series of tunnels he had memorized. It seemed that these tunnels were not the same as the dungeon that he came from. Each mark that he left behind remained and allowed him to maneuver back to his lair. There was one problem, just as he could place markings on those walls to create lasting holes, so could the ants.

He quickly made a discovery about these pesky creatures that slowed down his exploration attempts. These strange ants liked to tunnel through the rocks and left smaller passages through which he couldn’t fit through. They all connected to larger corridors like the one he was running through and allowed his enemies to come from various directions.

It was the same now, during his sprint one of the little buggers jumped at him from above. It came through one of the many openings in the walls that were hard to make out and sometimes blended together with the scenery. The ant lunged itself onto Rusty and landed on his helmet which it promptly started chewing on.

‘Get off me!’

He wanted to shout but failed to have the vocal cords to do so. The monster trashed around and tented his marvelous visage slightly before he could wrestle it down. Soon after the monster found itself without a head after he activated his power slash skill. His sword started glowing red and increased in speed to deliver a devastating blow to the monster.

‘Huh? Eight not Ten? Was this one different from the others or something?’

Rusty found himself perplexed as he noticed a decrease in the amount of experience points he received. All the little ant monsters were giving him ten experience points each but now for some reason, he was receiving less. On his way out he confirmed this number change by dispatching a few more of the troublesome insects.

There was little time to dwell on this issue as Rusty had to navigate through another obstacle first. Eventually Rusty managed to outmaneuver his pursuers and finally arrived at the glowing oasis where the other monsters gathered. The gentle sounds of flowing water were interrupted by his clacking and the screeching insects behind him.

A whole battalion of drones swiftly surged through the cave opening and entered the watering hole area. This was all according to Rusty’s well-thought-out plan and the moment he arrived here, there was nothing to worry about anymore. As the Myrm Ants displayed their aggression, the other monsters within the cave began to react. Even in the dim confines of the cave, certain rules governed these creatures, and engaging in combat within this space was one such rule they couldn’t breach.

‘Oh, they are fighting! I need to use this chance to get away.’

The acidic slug creatures spat at the approaching ants while one of the large beetles used its mandibles to fend off the invaders. They took the outburst as an unprovoked attack that went against the unwritten rules here. Rusty took advantage of the chaos and slipped away from the battleground. He moved silently, avoiding the attention of the battling monsters, and made his way back to his own lair where he was certain to find peace.

Finally, he reached the entrance of his newly claimed lair which he now named ‘Rusty’s Twilight Cave’. Thanks to his memories he was able to produce true letters and decided to scribble over the entrance to mark that it was his. To make things more serious, he also included words like ‘Do not enter’ and skull symbols. If adventurers found this place they would think twice before entering.

‘That could have gone better but I did it, I leveled up again now I’m one step closer to evolving but not quite there either…’

There was one big problem and it was visible on his status screen, his health points were going down. His only weapon which was a slightly corroded blade kept breaking and he needed to restore it with the help of his old bronze resources. Living beings could restore themselves by just sleeping but he was different, his health pool would not regenerate by itself, he needed to find a metal deposit and he needed to do it quickly.

‘At least I don’t suffer any negative effects from low HP.’

Though unable to regenerate like humans, Rusty enjoyed certain perks of his unique physique. One of them was that he didn’t really feel pain nor would he slow down with holes in his armor. As long as his joints functioned, he could persist in continuous movement without experiencing fatigue or succumbing to statuses like bleeding.

‘I’m level six now, in four I should be able to advance to a new form again and restore my body then, but will it be able to hold out for that long?’

He had a sinking suspicion that such a feat would be somewhat difficult. The monsters he faced had an inclination to swarm and attack from all directions due to the holes in the tunnels. He was receiving small dents and gashes while fighting, this would probably lead to his demise as a more crucial part of his armoring gave out. Losing a leg or an arm would likely make further leveling impossible.