Biter

Behemoth Mutation

“A phenomenon known to come from the accumulation of mana within a dungeon, a behemoth, is a monster significantly larger than a normal mindless creature within the undersurface's clutches. Generally known as TPKs or Total Party Killers, Behemoths have been seen several times within the dungeon, mainly within the cavern's dark zones between mid-floors.

A monster may enlarge up to a thousand-fold, but the major issues that form in the birth of a behemoth come from the fact that they signify a fundamental change within the dungeon, albeit a major or minor one, only the dungeon will know for a fact, those within will find out after it changes.

Gods rest their souls.”

- A catalogue of Mutations. Excerpt by “Unknown”

Sliding underneath the beast, Sebas slices his dagger against the loose underskin of the giant boss monster, only to be stomped on by a giant foot.

“Sebas!” Adam yelled out, “What is Rabbit’s Hatred???”

“Oh. shit.” Sebas thought to himself, the already red monster turned a bloodier shade of rose red, claws appearing within the creature’s once fuzzy tree-trunk legs.

THUD.

Sebas had been launched into the wall of the stone brick rotunda by a paw the size of his head, blood streaming down his face as his body was scrapped against the floor from a flick of the giant rodent.

“I just said to not die!” Karri yelled from across the battlefield, her bow lighting up with a golden light and losing an arrow into the massive varmint.

Adam yelled to Karri while holding his blade above his shoulder, “I’ll take care of the taunting, go make sure he didn’t die please!”

Sebas couldn’t hear what was said next since the next thing he felt beyond blackening vision was a rapid pain that caused a guttural screech from inside, apparently, Karri had managed to heal him, but not without taking damage herself.

“How long has it been?” Sebas asked between bated breaths.

“I don’t know; a few minutes, go back out there, I can’t stand right. There's something up with its legs.”

Karri was hurt, not nearly as bad as she could be, but not enough for Sebas to care. Adam was playing a dance or game. Taking a hit-and-run approach toward the giant tri-horned rabbit. The beastly thing had giant fangs instead of goofy buck teeth lunging toward Adam, a flash of three light-bearing strikes. Sebas dashed forward towards the duel of man and monster, quiet footsteps launched him forward to the flank of the beast.

Adam’s strikes continued to fend off massive bites that the monster wished to sink into his body, but the goliath would always be stopped by a [Triple Slash]. Sebas’ blade sunk into a flying leg that launched towards him. Fortunately, he was able to dodge the giant cannon shot in the form of a leg and leap onto the beast from the side.

“Adam, you know what a pincer attack is?” Sebas asked while holding onto the beast’s fur with a single hand.

Adam looked over at Sebas with a confused expression but nodded despite his exhaustion.

“Back off and charge towards its right, I’ll go with your move.”

Adam sighed and shook his head, sweat launching off of his hair, while Sebas leaped off of the monster, which turned towards him, Eye on the side of its head staring him down, with a small piercing in the form of an arrow.

“Gross”

Sebas took about five strides away from the monster, stretching his shoulders with a roll of his arms, waiting for Adam’s signal. The small second of hesitation and downtime from the massive monster let him see that his blade had little to no blood on it, meaning he hadn’t landed a single stab through the mess of fur on the creature.

“I DIDN’T DECIDE ON A CODEWORD,” Adam yelled from the opposite side of the creature, which caused a small smile from Sebas. The pair lept forward to the monster in front of them, while the giant monster sat still as if waiting for a chance to strike.

“WATCH OUT FOR IT LEGS” Karri yelled to the pair, which took its attention from the pair of boys, looking at the girl who managed to pierce its eye with an arrow. The small distraction was the opportunity Sebas took to charge his skill into his dagger, leaping forward and slinging the dagger into the massive right leg of the rabbit with a purple slash.

Adam who was about to be launched like Sebas had previously managed to prevent major damage with the flat side of his broadsword, while the massive creature wailed in pain due to the sudden gush of gore from its opposite hindleg. A single stab of the sword caused a synonymous screech from the massive hare.

Karri yelled at the pair, “GET OUT OF THERE” as a bright yellow light began to glow from the horns of the beast.

Adam wasn’t as fast as Sebas had been, getting launched from the beast’s leg into the brickwork. While Sebas lept atop the creature’s back. The monster began to charge its arm-length horns towards Adam, planning to end him.

Fear struck Sebas as he watched the creature launch towards his companion, and in a spur-of-the-moment decision, he grabbed what he could from the back of its neck and pulled towards the right, causing an explosive crash into the space right next to Adam.

Sebas, who had been launched off and slammed into the wall as well sat upright and held himself up with his arms staring at the bricks between blurred and floating vision. A scream came as the beast’s underside which was now facing toward Adam had been pelted with arrows, the soft flesh made for a perfect target for Karri to send a golden glowing arrow.

The stonework rumbled as the monster’s horn, wedged to immobility, caused cracks that sent spiraling fractures throughout the wall. Karri got Adam up from his stupor and fled away from the unavoidable collapse that began to scream from the building.

Sebas righted himself as a rubble piece fell in front of him, shaking away his shock. The massive hare was bearing down on him as it had righted itself as well. A massive horn weakly prodded Sebas as hot breath came from the now blood-soaked frontal lobe of the beast.

Sebas, tired, simply lobbed his fist toward the massive monster, sending its head reeling to the side, only for the horns to swipe across his body and send him back against the wall. Placing his arms against the massive keratin spike he squeezed the blood-slick pike and pushed against the brickwork with his feet.

His scrawny arms began to glow a bright red, but not with light, as his pale body began to beat in sync with his heartbeat. A violent strain began between him and the horn that crushed his ribs. Sebas pushed off with his foot, along with another to take a step against the ground to join him. Holding onto the horn and watching the rabbit stare him down with its good eye, giant glinting teeth made attempts on him, and Sebas punched the giant black orb, causing a deep bellowing groan to let go of him. Sebas returned the kind gesture that no longer squished him against the wall with another fist to the side of the monster.

He was unaware that he was running on fumes, simply letting his body run its way through the monster, launching more and more fists toward the giant face that looked down at him.

Punching devolved into clawing, clawing devolved into swiping, swiping devolved into slapping. The varmint launched him behind it with a horn. A giant monster stared him down. Three giant spears were directed in his way as if they were going to launch through him.

His heart sank and he struggled from the upside-down slump he was laid in, realizing the giant spears coming for him were soon to meet their mark.

A third golden arrow slammed into the great beast, its head now adorned with a new spear as the fletched pike began to bleed out more blood than the rest of its wounds. The hare looked over at Karri and Adam, where another arrow was being loaded, the notch sitting in the bowstring. The beast refrained from the pair of healthy adventurers, lowering its head towards the monster that could rival its strength barehanded, it could simply deal with it later.

The rush of a monster planning to kill, its sights set on Sebas. The bounding monster launched its dulled horns towards him. An arm was held up by the sweating man in protest. Holding it up was the most familiar way he could think of to deal with the horned rabbits, just let the monster pierce you and stab it.

He reached toward his waist, his dagger nowhere to be found causing a grimace to show on his face. He simply held his arm there, as if it would stop it.

A flash of light blasted his arm off, destroying the limb down to the shoulder, causing a grave roar from Sebas. He held his feet in place and lunged with his right hand while his party screamed in the distance.

A flash of red peered from his lips as his arm slammed into the monster’s neck, ripping a small puncture from his now broken hand and slamming into the massive body. His teeth followed the action and he latched onto the fur of the creature near the pathetic injury he caused, his glowing teeth seemed to rip the small layer of skin along with a chunk his teeth pulled out.

Another arrow launched into the beast as its front paw attempted to remove Sebas. He simply swallowed what flesh was in his mouth, and much to the beast's displeasure he bit down again, rupturing a massive blood vessel that practically drowned him.

[ ]

Sebas was ripped from the beast’s neck by Adam, and a large broadsword was shoved within, Adam ran away from the shrieking and bellowing monster, which began to seize on the ground as blood sprayed from its wound, with Sebas. Adam began to squeeze down on the nub left over that was once Sebas’ left arm, getting a weak sucker punch that nearly knocked Adam over while Sebas screamed at him.

The massive monster bled out on the floor, the broad blade stuck in its neck, while Sebas sat on the floor, the pair of adventurers that accompanied him were respectfully bandaging and praising him.

Karri, who was bandaging him simply said nothing, while his now red shirt was on the floor. A massive amount of gauze wrapped around his torso and shoulder, where his hand had been utterly destroyed.

“I can’t believe you just boxed an alpha tri-horned rabbit twice the size of a bear,” Adam was gushing while the memories of the fight replayed in his head.

Karri responded to Adam when Sebas wouldn't, “I think it was reckless and stupid.”

“We didn’t know it would be a behemoth! It’s not his fault he protected us!” Adam exclaimed the first time he actively disagreed with Karri that Sebas could note.

The only word Sebas said, in a horrible gravelly tone was “water”.

“I think Sebas should get the pelt,” Adam said to Karri while a pouch of water was pulled out from his storage magic.

“As long as I get one of the horns, I don’t care,” Karri began, “It doesn’t matter to me since I still have both my arms.”

Sebas looked up at her with a neutral expression, perhaps he had tried to make a face to express his displeasure, but blood loss and exhaustion simply made him pale and bleary.

“Too soon?” She asked inquisitively.

[Update has completed]

[Please consume a Catalyst]

Sebas recoiled from the message, sending his neck back in confusion, “What the fuck is a catalyst?”

“What kind? Alchemical? Medical? Magical?” Karri asked, instead of looking down on his outburst.

“Consumable?” Sebas stated while confused.

“That's odd, I take it you are over your curse?”

He nodded while Adam smiled “That's great! Now we can be adventurer buddies again, you won't have to go to the guild every day to check your status!”

“You mean god window?” Karri corrected.

“Yeah, same thing.”

Sebas simply performed his usual antisocial method and prodded mentally for question answers.

“Catalyst?”

[Please consume a Catalyst]

[Acceptable Catalysts are Magic Cores, Refined Hearts, and Purified Monster Blood]

“Monster Core? You want me to eat something that valuable?” Sebas mumbled to himself.

“They look like they’re yummy from what I have seen” Adam began, Continuing on a tangent about how they look like some sort of candy ball.

“Is your God Window telling you to Consume a monster core?” Karri confirmed.

“I think so…”

“That's weird, we should investigate that further before you properly do anything… very in character.”

“Fuck you, Karri, even I wouldn’t eat a monster byproduct.”

“You eat dirt every day from what I can see, it wouldn’t be too atypical.”

“Screw you.”

Adam interrupted their bickering, “Hey guys why is there a ladder up there?”

The pair looked up at a rope ladder that weakly held up from where the rubble of the ceiling fell through by the large monster.

“I have no idea,” Sebas said.

“The dungeons are a mystery,” Karri added.

“Go investigate Adam, I'm going to just, take a breather,” Sebas said while holding his shoulder.

A leg-up was given by Adam as Karri was launched onto the rope ladder, where a massive chest fell from the rooftop, followed by Karri.

Sebas lit up from his pained expression, his valuable insight brought forward by the gilded skull-shaped lock on the chest.

Sebas ripped out a set of lockpicks and began fiddling around before Karri yelled for him to stop.

“What! Keep your fuckin voice down.”

“Didn’t you already learn your lesson from this once before? You have reminders all over your body!” Karri screamed at Sebas, pointing at his electrical current scars.

“Yeah but… mmn”

“Yeah, what? I'm right?” she poked him back from the giant chest and called Adam forward.

With a small flourish, Adam placed a finger on the Chest, and Sebas’ heart pittered out as the greed brought forth by his trait left swiftly leaving him melancholy.

“If you're energetic enough to go to work with one hand, you can get ready to go, i am not carrying you down those stairs” Karri pointed to the spiral staircase Sebas failed to notice.

Sebas stood up with a slight assist from Adam, his lack of a pair of arms making it a bit difficult to stand upright from his weakness.

The group made their way away from the once blood-soaked and now clean room, small blue smoke trails leaving the brickwork clean of bile and gore.

Down the stairwell, the group descended into a giant chamber where a massive set of iron doors opened automatically. Children can be seen within the walls of a circular town underground, trees speckle the world around them, and massive buildings rise to the ceiling of the dirt undersurface.

An Adventurer Guild worker stands across from the group, A human with brown hair clad in the standard officer cloak and dress pants smiles at the ragged group, the buzz-cut human sends a fist to their chest as they speak. “Congratulations adventurers, the Adventurers Society would like to reward you for your feats, please come with me.”