Leave The Monster Alone

"Failed dragon, Oractus?" Mark could not help but question the other two. This was a massive bit of information to come by and one he would never likely hear again. Instantly, he was glad that he had accompanied them. 

Every divine beast had something written about them except the dragon. Its existence was only in the data mines and in rumours. There were many monasteries that were 'categorized' as 'dragons' but none were of the divine category.

Every one of those monsters was exceedingly powerful but those were exclusive events of the future. 

This was a hidden dungeon most likely, one that was not even on the original map so it was a special situation.

"It's one of us. Kind of. How do I explain it to a human now? Vodi, a little help please" the snake looked a little uncomfortable and lost for words. Personally, Mark was just surprised he was willing to tell him at all.

He was an enemy after all.

"No" the female seemed more in touch with the situation, not willing to tell him. The snake thankfully did not seem to get the message that this was not a topic he should talk about. 

"We, as divine beasts, are not born as such. Actually, every animal has the capacity to evolve into a divine beast once we meet the criterion and that includes humans too. But we are not stable once we form. We need divine cores to stabilise ourselves because if we fail then we transform into an abomination" Mark started to get the story from there.

Because of Kuro, he knew how big of a deal the divine core was. The other was a ticking time bomb in the time he was not stabilised at all.

"Since there are only 12 such cores, there is a constant struggle. The upper beings do not concern themselves since there is no competition there but we heard a rumour that there are only 3 of them currently alive. Apparently, they lost the core of their own dragon. Talk about a tragedy and -mhah" at this point the female had decided that enough information had been parted already.

"You will get us in trouble" her whisper was audible to Mark who pretended he did not see or hear anything. 

That had been a big blow of information, more than he could have ever imagined in any case. All this was not recorded in the system archive since it was not related to the main team and never explained.

This made him realise how big of an information gap they actually had. But could this information actually be used at all? He was not sure if there was anything to take advantage of.

"There is already a divine dragon present right now, one Oractus failed to defeat and thus he was bound here. In his current state, he cannot die, he can only be vanquished for a little time" the female finished the conversation for the other.

For Mark, this seemed like a valid excuse for a recurring boss in the game. Since this dungeon could be done, again and again, he supposed the lore would also reflect it. Real thought was put behind everything here and he could appreciate it.

But only if this was not their reality but really a video game.

"Anyway, be careful once you step inside. Even if Oractus is no divine beast, he is still close to being one. His minions are the most annoying creature you would come across. Those mindless zombies creep me out" the snake actually pretended to shudder before he stepped inside.

Mark hesitated before following but he had to in the end. He could not stay outside too long or he'll be left behind. Besides, there was a 4 person quota to trigger that fight too.

And inside was misty, not unlike the last time. 

What was unlike last time was the sound he could hear. The light buzzing sound reached his ear and it tingled. It felt as if a lot of moths and bees were right by his ear and he could see only smoke.

Kuro was walking right in front of him but he could not even see her. It was only him and the smoke now with that annoying noise.

The smoke shited just a little and it was the difference in the smell that alerted him to this change. It was a constant change in his direction which could only mean that something was coming his way. 

Before it could reach him, he took a blind shot as a warning. 

The sound echoed which meant that this place had a reflective and high ceiling. This place was likely a cave but he could not actually confirm it. He shot a few more shots to confuse any predator or monster that might be lingering around.

Every time he shot, the buzzing seemed to become even fainter. The monsters were following the shots and not him which gave him an idea.

He shot in a constant direction till he hit the wall. It was rough to his touch and almost slippery, the surface not allowing him to make any grip.

The plan was to climb the wall-like surface to get to high ground but his grip shifted again and again.

Not to mention, the wall did not feel linear at all. It seemed to be tapering and changing texture the further up he reached. It was not a natural phenomenon and his mind screamed at him to get away from this wall.

But he had made significant progress in his climb to give up now anyway and he continues.

During his climb, he felt a slight moment in the wall which was likely his imagination. After all, he was constantly moving and his brain was more focused on not allowing him to fall than to categorize if the wall was moving or not.

But then it happened again, that subtle moment and this time it was much more obvious to his mind that the wall was actually moving.

Mark had to do everything in his power to keep holding onto the wall or he would go flying to never be seen again. It was a painful process where sharp rocks and other things dug into him.

His saving grace was the fact that none of them was deep enough to cause any major harm. Mark gritted his teeth and climbed just a little higher when the shaking diminished.

He had to get to the high ground and he had to do it faster before he was killed off.

Mark finally found himself somewhat above the smoke. His eyes stung from the gases but he could finally see what he had wanted to see - the place.

It was a cave, a huge and hollow one. The smoke down blow had small pockets of disturbance, most likely the zombies the others had to deal with. The wall he was on was weird too, it felt like tree bark and it looked like it too.

And then it started moving and thrashing again. This high, Mark knew he was more than dead if he got dropped but he also needed a way to get the smoke out of here.

They all were fighting bling as long as the smoke was there. The only exit he could see was blocked by huge rocks. The only one who had any chance of unblocking it was Vodi but he had to find her first.

He carefully climbed down and made his way toward where the female likely would be. He had a 1/3 chance of being right. The smoke was an excellent hindrance to the zombies too, diminishing their already low IQ to zero. 

Unlike his companions, Mark avoided these creatures and made his way toward the first disturbance.

It was not Vodi but the snake who was swiftly dispatching the small monsters. Mark wanted to attract his attention but he did not want to attract those monsters as well.

In the end, he fired a shot and watched as these small zombies followed the new sound. Once they left, he finally came out.

"I hate those pests" the snake muttered, his dislike clear in his voice and Mark would agree in other circumstances. Right now he did not have enough time or mind for such things.

"Get Vodi to break the blockage on the entry. The smoke would drain out faster and we could finally see" the snake gave him a searching look, his aura still a little ruffled. The question 'you think I cannot do it myself' lingered clearly in those eyes.

However, he soon discovered what he wanted to and left to find his companion while Mark still did his best to avoid the small zombies.

Then he waited for the fog to clear up while still distracting the zombies. His patience paid off finally when the small 'hiss' sound started spreading.

The fog was finally beginning to thin and the clarity in everyone's vision was returning. Mark spotted Kuro only a little further away while the other pair was near the exit. 

The zombies seemed to follow the smoke, their instincts making them leave as well. Finally, they could progress in this fight.