22 Overflow
[Spirit has reached the 75-point mark. Spirit has touched Iron grade.]
The exhaustion Warden always felt washed up somewhat as he put his mind to the rest of the beasts. A couple of the wolves were already escaping, finding their pack leader's demise. Thankfully, none of them were going where Xiv hid.
Warden leapt from his spot and reached for one of the escaping wolves. Unaware of his advances, it couldn't muster any line of defence against his attack. The blade claimed its life, still emitting smoky dark tendrils, sucking in the blood and essence of the slayed creature.
[+0.2 Strength.]
He rested [Void Shroud] as there was no reason to keep the high energy burning ability against the minions. His speed dropped by a considerate level, and so did the defence, but the remaining wolves couldn't even put a claw mark on him until he claimed all their lives.
[Copper grade energy harvested.]
[+0.2 Strength.]
[+0.1 Strength.]
[+0.2 Strength.]
[+0.1 Strength.]
[+0.1 Strength.]
After making sure none of the wolves stood their ground, Warden finally called the boy. "Xiv, you can come out now."
Giving him time to recover from what he witnessed, Warden began collecting loot from the cursed creature. The core was something valuable, but what interested Warden more was the heart, which seemed to drive away his exhaustion for some time after ingestion.
He peeled the fur of only the pack leader and left the rest as it was.
"Xiv, you don't need to collect all the hearts," Warden urged the boy. "The overflow might spawn more wolves soon. It's better you go back to the village by then."
"Warden, you mean?"
"Don't worry, I'll see you safe first."
The boy sighed in relief audibly. "What is happening with the dungeon?"
"The dungeon is unstable," Warden said, proving his guess. "It will continue to spawn creatures out of it until it reaches a stability point."
Or unless someone enters the dungeon and clears it.
"Come on, boy. We have no time."
They sprinted their way back. Xiv was, of course, breathless halfway through. Thankfully, he had many of the hearts to drive away his exhaustion. Although eating the hearts of tainted creatures frequently might cause side effects to low-ranked rankers, Warden didn't stop him.
Xiv was getting closer to copper rank. The minor hiccup might just be a stepping stone for his advancement.
They reached the relatively safe barracks of the village within an hour. Hopefully, the dungeon hadn't spawned more creatures in the meantime. Getting them in one place was very convenient for Warden, being a one-man warrior for the village.
"Warden, you're not coming?" Xiv asked.
He shook his head. "The best course of action currently will be to dispose of all the creatures that spawned outside," he said. "When that is done, I'll enter the dungeon."
"You alone?" Xiv sucked in a deep breath.
"That seems to be the plan." Warden shrugged. "With no one with me, I won't be worried about other's safety. I can only fight freely then."
"But it's a dungeon," Xiv said aloud. "Adventurers don't enter the dungeon alone."
Warden tilted his head. "Good thing I'm not an adventurer then, ye?"
Actually, Warden didn't have a clue what he was other than a warrior.
Regardless, it became pretty clear to Xiv that he couldn't stop the nomadic warrior from entering the dungeon.
"Don't worry, I'm barely getting a hold of my powers," Warden said, handing over the loot to the boy. "This isn't even the full scope of my power."
"Keep the heart," Xiv said, only taking the fur. "And we don't know what to do about the beast cores. Liam mentioned a Cursed beast core is more valuable than a small village like ours, you shouldn't give away stuff like that."
Warden raised an eyebrow. "You have a point, though you're wrong about its values."
Xiv gave an inquisitive gaze, but Warden didn't elaborate.
It is for you to understand the price of lives on your own, Xiv, Warden thought. His eyes lingered on Xiv's spear, but he dismissed the thought of asking for it. For one, the body of the spear was made of wood. It wouldn't last infusion of his void energy. Taking the spear would only be disarming the boy, not arming himself.
Warden figured he got himself covered with two legendary artifacts and a sword that grew with each kill.
He dashed back towards the wilderness, The wind rising, howling, slapping his face. Warden still hadn't had time to shave his beard. He guessed he'd say goodbye to it after he took care of the dungeon.
Within a quarter of an hour, Warden crossed half of the path. He was in no mood to stop until he got there, but he had to stop, as howls of dozens of wolves blared into his ears from ahead.
Although not in his best condition, Warden braced himself for the fight. There was no humongous pack leader leading this time, nor was there anyone he needed to care about.
He was alone in an expanse of the woods with the wolves.
Warden was free to do anything.
