novelraw Chapter 45: First Chamber Completed
Chapter 45: First Chamber Completed
I stared at the display, my heart hammering against my ribs.
[Difficulty Selection - Dungeon Mode Protocol]
The options were laid out in front of me, each one more tempting than the last.
[Easy: Standard combat assistance. The machine will engage enemies autonomously but will not exceed 50% of its operational capacity. Recommended for novices.]
[Normal: Aggressive combat assistance. The machine will utilize up to 75% of its operational capacity and will actively prioritize high-threat targets.]
[Hard: Full combat assistance. The machine will operate at 100% capacity. Autonomous tactical decision-making enabled.]
[Extreme: Overdrive. The machine will exceed safe operational limits. Combat effectiveness increased by 300%. Duration: 15 minutes. Warning: Significant risk of permanent damage to the unit.]
My finger hovered over the options.
Easy was tempting. Safe. But if this was an A-Rank dungeon, and I was stuck here with a broken sword and no real combat experience, would 50% of a training machine’s capacity even be enough?
Hard was the obvious choice for an A-Rank dungeon. But would that really be enough to carry me through something that would normally require a team of skilled adventurers?
And Extreme...
300% power for fifteen minutes sounded like exactly the kind of insane overkill I might need to survive. But permanent damage to the machine? That thing cost more than I wanted to think about. And if it broke, I’d be alone in here with whatever was waiting deeper in this vault.
"Hard it is."
The machine’s eyes flared to life at once, gears clicking and steam hissing as it adjusted to the selected mode. Its stance shifted, steady and deadly, like it had been built for nothing but killing.
Just from the way it stood, I could tell it could kill me in the blink of an eye. Even with my superior strength, that thing was absolutely lethal.
Good thing it was on my side.
[Following Mode - Waiting For Combatants]
"Guess all that’s left now is to get close to that sword, huh?"
I started toward it, my body tense and nerves on edge. It didn’t help that I didn’t have a sword with me. If anything got past the machine, I’d have to rely more on my fists than any weapon to stay alive.
Hopefully, I’d be able to loot something from whatever the machine killed and use it as a weapon.
Ding!
The moment I stepped within a certain distance of the sword, a sharp jingle rang through the dungeon. The wall directly behind it slid open at once, revealing a narrow hallway. Beyond it, I could already see the threats waiting.
[C-Class Beast: Dire Wolf Alpha] x 5
"Wolves, huh?"
I glanced behind me and found the machine already there, following exactly as the panel had said.
"Let’s get going, then..."
The hallway stretched before us, narrow enough that only two people could walk comfortably. The walls were the same dark stone as the entrance chamber, but here the runes were broken and incomplete, like something had tried to claw through them.
"Most likely the wolves did this..."
The machine moved ahead of me, its footsteps silent despite its size. I stayed close behind, my broken sword held in a white-knuckled grip, useless as it was.
The first wolf appeared without warning.
One moment the hallway was empty. The next, a massive shape lunged from the shadows, jaws wide enough to crush my skull, fur black as ink and eyes burning like embers.
It was hiding the entire time!
I didn’t even have time to react.
The machine did, however.
Its arm shot out, metal fingers closing around the wolf’s throat mid-leap. There was a sickening crunch, and the beast went limp, its body crumpling to the stone floor like a discarded rag.
[C-Class Beast Defeated: Dire Wolf Alpha]
[4 Remaining]
I stared at the corpse, my heart pounding. The machine hadn’t even used a weapon. It had just... caught it. Squeezed.
"Okay," I breathed. "Okay. That’s fine."
The machine turned its head slightly, as if checking on me, then continued forward.
The next two wolves came together, one low and one high, coordinated in a way that told me they’d done this before. The machine stepped into their attack, its movements almost lazy. A backhand caught the first wolf in the ribs, sending it crashing into the wall with a wet, crunching sound. The second wolf never reached me. The machine’s other hand closed around its skull and drove it into the floor.
[2 Remaining]
I was starting to feel like a spectator.
The last two wolves held back, lurking at the far end of the hallway. I could see them now, larger than the others, their muscles coiled and their eyes fixed on the machine. They weren’t stupid. They’d watched their pack die in seconds, and they were trying to figure out a way around the metal monster standing between them and me.
One of them darted forward, feinting left, then right, trying to draw the machine’s attention. The other circled around, claws scraping against the stone, aiming for the gap between the machine and the wall.
Smart.
But not smart enough.
The machine pivoted, its leg sweeping out in an arc that caught the circling wolf in the ribs, sending it tumbling end over end. At the same time, its other hand shot out, grabbing the feinting wolf by the scruff of the neck and slamming it into the ground.
Two more crunches.
[All C-Class Beasts Defeated]
[Proceed to Next Chamber]
"Didn’t even use its sword..."
I let out a disbelieving laugh.
"Yeah... definitely a good thing I didn’t start with that difficulty when I was training."
I stepped over the corpse of the last wolf, trying not to look too closely at the way its ribs had caved inward. The hallway continued beyond, sloping downward now, the air growing colder with each step.
The runes on the walls flickered, some of them sputtering out entirely, plunging sections of the corridor into near-total darkness. I kept close to the machine, using its faint blue light for eyes as a guide.
"You wouldn’t happen to have a light function, would you?"
No response. Of course not.
The hallway opened into a larger chamber, this one circular like the entrance but twice as wide. The ceiling soared overhead, lost in shadows, and the walls were lined with alcoves.
In each alcove, a statue.
Humanoid figures, from the same dark stone as the walls, their faces frozen in expressions of terror and agony. Some were reaching out, hands clawing at the air. Others were curled in on themselves, knees drawn to their chests.
And in the center of the chamber, another pedestal.
But this one didn’t have a sword.
It was a key this time.
[A-Rank Dungeon: The Forgotten Vault]
[Chamber 2/7]
Seven chambers, huh?
"One step at a time..."
I started toward the key, but the machine’s arm shot out, blocking my path. Its head turned slowly, scanning the alcoves, the statues, the ceiling.
Then I heard it.
Stone grinding against stone.
One of the statues moved.
Its head turned first, cracking sounds echoing through the chamber as centuries of stillness broke apart. Then its arms lowered, its legs straightened, and it stepped out of the alcove, chunks of debris falling from its shoulders.
[Dungeon Construct: Stone Sentinel (C-Class)]