Run In

The tunnel we entered after the room with the chasm was much larger than the tunnels we went through earlier. There were also clear signs of wooden carts or wagons being led through here by the uniform wheel tracks. If I had to guess the first part of the dungeon was where the metal veins were, and they brought it back this way to use to make weapons.

We were still paying close attention to our surroundings but so far there had been no traps. We were quietly talking amongst ourselves as we walked when we came to an opening.

Inside the new room there were boxes and tables spread around the room. It looked like storage room, but more importantly were the four goblins in the room sorting through various boxes.

Without waiting for them to discover us Lily charged directly towards them while Jenna and I circled them. Tina was the first one to attack since she started casting a fireball the moment we entered the room. 

The fireball flew over Lily's shoulders and landed squarely in one of the goblin's chest. Their attention was drawn to Lily who was running at them, allowing me to dart past the boxes around the room and finally appearing to their side.

I threw my dagger at the neck of a distracted goblin. The dagger found it's mark and the goblin quickly reeled back while grasping at it's neck.

An arrow hit another goblin, followed by another arrow to it's head, causing the goblin to collapse.

Lily reached the last two standing. The one that was hit with a fireball and the only unharmed goblin that swung a sword at Lily's approaching figure. She jumped back, avoiding the swing, and dashed forward again. Spinning her body and letting a roundhouse kick loose.

With a sickening crack the kick landed on the side of the goblin, which tried to block with it's arm, and it's arm snapped into a grotesque angle.

Using that opportunity I rushed forward and summoned a spear of blood from the goblin with two arrows in it's head. With a quick throw I finished off the goblin with my dagger in it's neck, and Tina finished off the goblin she hit.

With that the fight was wrapped up we all gathered ourselves and looked around the room. We found an E-Rank mana crystal and a skill book. It was the E-Rank skill, [Flame Arrow], and Tina bought it from us. She bought it for $10,000 which was mind blowing to me. We were gonna split it between the four of us.

While I was about to celebrate the large boon of money we just made when I heard a footstep from behind us. I spun my head around and saw a small goblin trying to sneak away from the entrance of the room we were in.

We shared a moment where we both locked eyes and simply stared at each other in stunned silence.

However that silence was broken when Lily walked up to me and roughly slapped my back.

"Haha nice hustle ou-"

That was when Lily turned her head and saw the goblin I was staring at. As if a silent gun was fired and everything blew up all at once.

The goblin sprinted away screaming, while Lily turned to alert the party and I sprinted forward to chase down the screaming goblin.

Running forward I saw the goblin nearing the exit to the tunnels that led back to the large hillside village from before. I used [Dash] several times and with a dive I managed to grasp the legs of the goblin.

I quickly mounted the goblin and after a short scramble I was fully atop the goblin. I shoved it's head into the dirt and tried to cover it's mouth. However it continued to let out short screams and shouts that began to echo loudly. I looked down the hill and watched the large group of goblins from before began to file into the cavern we were win.

Fear began welling up inside of me as I saw the goblins slowly turn their heads towards me. I finally reached behind my back and pulled my dagger from my waist band, driving it into the throat of the goblin beneath me.

It was in an effort to try and prevent the goblins from discovering us. However when the leading goblin raised it hand and pointed directly at me I knew it was a pipe dream to think I could maintain stealth. Standing straight up I looked down at the group of goblins for a moment before turning around and quietly making my way back to the party.

Meeting them in the tunnel I explained the situation simply.

"That legion of goblins is coming here... Now?"

Jenna's voice carried a clear tone of anxiety but that was when Lily chimed in with a crazed roar.

"LET'S FUCK THEM UP!"

Tina high fived Lily and then Ethan got a rough punch in the shoulder from Lily. Jenna looked at the trio in shock but eventually let out a exasperate sigh.

"What's the plan Desmond?"

"Nothing grand. We will fight them here in the tunnel, reducing the amount of enemies we have to fight at a time and we just have to attack in front of us."

Once we were on the same page we found a good bend in the tunnel where archers wouldn't be able to shoot arrows in.

After a few minutes the goblins finally approached.

From there began a grueling slaughter.

An hour passed. The once rugged cave walls were now covered in blood and the distinct signs of charred earth. The bodies of goblins were strewn all around, and further down the tunnel where the crates were located, bodies led all the way to that opening from before.

Boxes were destroyed and body parts were thrown all around the room. Jenna was casting emergency healing magic on Lily and Ethan. Lily's defense had eventually gotten worn down when her mana began to reach rock bottom.

She had some moderately deep sword and spear wounds. Jenna was simply closing the wounds so that she could get emergency treatment later on. Ethan had also suffered similar wounds because when Lily's mana ran out he stepped forward to reduce the pressure on her.

I had also suffered a good amount of wounds but I had [Regeneration] to help reduce the wounds. It was mostly shallow slashes and bruises from the fight.

While we were dead tired the dungeon was probably completely exhausted of enemies, so we would probably end up leaving after we looted, so we were resting now. I was stretching out my legs when Tina came back with a handful of things.

She had a tired smile on her face as she set the items on a table and dragged said table over to us. She then showed us the items one by one.

"I found a few items you guys might want. This one is a pair of gloves that Lily might want."

She handed a pair of gloves over to Lily that increased her punching power. Next was a ring that made someone faster which Jenna ended up snagging. A belt that increased the wearer's strength for Ethan, and finally a dagger for me.

The dagger I got was [Magic] grade, but thankfully the party let me have it for free. I felt bad but they said they weren't only here to make money. The strength of your allies was directly helpful to you. Especially when we looked at the fight we just finished.

I thanked them and looked happily at the dagger in my hand.

[Dagger of Return][Magic]

[Dagger can be summoned back to it's owner.]

I held the lightweight dagger. It was designed as a throwing knife purely, so it wasn't practical in close combat, but that made it perfect for throwing. It came with a small holder that I could attach to my waistband or a belt. Putting the knife away I looked back at the state everyone was in.

Lily's wounds were no longer fatal but it would definitely limit her movement. With our frontline's mobility restricted, and her not being able to draw aggro reliably, it wasn't safe for us in the back.

Coming to that conclusion that it wasn't safe, I decided to call it a day.

"Let's end it here. Anymore might lead to an accident and its just our first day together."

Everyone agreed so we back tracked to the entrance. After leaving the dungeon we were immediately assaulted by the loud sound of society again.

There was a moment of disconnect as we were suddenly thrown into a giant pack of people talking. We were still on edge from the hour of fighting with our lives on the line so the sudden shift in realities was jarring.

I could see my party was struggling to adapt, so I reach my hand out and took Jenna's hand in mine. She flinched slightly but when she realized it was my hand she relaxed. She turned and grabbed Lily's hand. After everyone was holding hands I led us through the crown and we finally got away from the dungeon entrance.

We were exhausted and we quietly boarded the bus to the center of the city. I walked all the way to the back of the bus and sat down with a thud.

"Phew! That was a long day."

Lily said as she sat down next to me. The rest of the group sat around me as well and we all just laid our heads back. Everyone agreed with Lily but were too tired to say anything.

After selling the mana crystals we deposited our money into our bank accounts and were just heading back to the street to split up. We split up and headed our own ways.

After splitting up with the others I bought a low grade heal from someone offering heals at a discounted price. Since I was already out I decided to get something to eat. I headed to a new noodle place.

Along the way I was walking and just taking in the bustle of the city when I heard a bunch of voices from an alley.

Doubling back slightly I glanced into the alley. There I saw a guy pinning a girl against a wall. I didn't assume anything so I quietly listened for a moment.

"Get off me Mikey!"

"It's your fucking fault Lindsey! Tell me the truth about earlier, you didn't eat alone. Who the fuck was that guy?!"

They wrestled around for a moment but it didn't get too serious so I didn't move.

"FINE!"

With hair in her face she glared up at the man as a smirk slowly grew on her face.

"He's the guy I have been cheating on you with. Is that what you wanted to hear so badly?"

*SLAP*

I watched in silence as the woman clutched her cheek with gritted teeth.

"I-I'm sorry Lindsey I didn't me-"

In a sickening twist the woman's arm pierced through the man's chest and burst out the other side.

I was shocked, but since I had seen Lily doing similar things to goblins perhaps I was a bit acclimated to the gore, covering my mouth with my hand to prevent any noise from escaping. The woman then threw the body of the gasping man onto the ground and I immediately noticed something strange.

'She has three arms?'

The woman had another arm growing out of her back. She stood over the dying man and talked down to him in a condescending tone.

"If you had just minded your own business, Lindsey wouldn't feel so scared that she felt she needed to make a contract with me, but here we are. Thanks to you I got complete control of this poor girl, so I'll let you die peacefully in this alley. Toodle-loo Mikey~"

The woman walked away down the other end of the alley and disappeared into the river of people. I quickly ran up to the man and tried ripping off his shirt to stuff into the wound in his chest.

However I soon noticed that it was pointless.

"Y-You're bleeding too much... I'm sorry I-I can't save you."

The man however didn't show any signs of anger towards me, instead he looked at me with a look of worry and pity.

"That thing... It's not Lindsey. It's some monster... You have to tell someone about it."

He then coughed with a pained expression. I looked at him with a complicated look. Noticing my gaze he smiled and asked me.

"What are you thinking?"

Hesitant I stayed quiet for a moment before finally resolving myself to at least ask the question I wanted to ask.

"You're dying..."

"Haha... I know that much."

Biting my lip I explained my talent.

With an understanding look the man looked at the sky for a moment before replying.

"Go ahead... It won't be any use to me when I'm dead.. Can you tell me your name?"

I thought about not telling him for a moment but I didn't think that was right. He was willing to let me take his talent, and all he asked was to know my name. It wasn't like I was the one to kill him. So I relented.

"My name is Desmond Caine... Do you want me to do it now?"

With a nod the man titled his head back and looked at the night sky with unfocused eyes.

I summoned the parasite from my body and allowed it to enter the man's body. He had lost so much blood that he must have gone numb since he didn't react at all to the parasite entering his neck.

With eyes filled with pity I watched the light leave the man's eyes as either the blood loss or the parasite ended his life.

The small parasitic worm came out of his neck a few moments later and burrowed back into my arm. I closed the man's eyes and stood up over the motionless corpse. I wanted to call the police right away, but I knew it wouldn't do me any good to be found at the crime scene.

I pulled my hood up and left the alley.

A few blocks down the road I walked into a phone booth and called the police to let them know about the body. They tried to ask for my information but I quickly hung up.

Then I slipped into a train station and blended into the crowd. I took off my hoodie and shoved it into a bathroom trashcan. I then made my way back to my apartment.

While I laid in bed I read the messages from my system.

[Talent: Trajectory Calculation (F-Rank) has been gained.]

It seemed like a useless skill but when I held my knife in my hand I could see the perfect trajectory to throw a knife. Focusing on a fly buzzing around my room I threw my Dagger of Return along the trajectory the talent told me to, and I watch in awe as the dagger pinned the fly to the wall.

"Return."

I said aloud, and the dagger returned to my hand. I smiled as I knew how incredible this talent actually was. With my skills and talents accumulating I felt like everything was starting to fall in place.

I eventually managed to fall asleep.

****

A plume of smoke blew out and a man stood over a dead body in an alleyway. There was a large hole in the chest.

"What did the report say the person on the phone said?"

A police officer walked over and flipped through a notebook.

"Uhh, anonymous caller said that they stumbled across this body but they didn't give any personal information. Also the call wasn't from any of the nearby phone booths, but one several blocks away."

After a puff of smoke Henry Giles looked at the officer with an annoyed look.

"That's not weird at all. This is just outside of the slums, it's not weird for no one to say anything or that the caller doesn't want to be identified."

"Y-Yeah I guess you're right... However there is one weird thing about the call. The operator said that the guy started spouting off about some creature taking over the killer's body."

Henry raised his eye brow as he heard this. He squatted down and inspected the corpse on the ground for a moment before his eyes caught something.

A small hole in the side of the man's neck. Spreading his mana out he was able to scan the corpse, specifically the head where he found something wrong. However without saying anything he stood up and walked over to the cop.

"Close the case in the local police database. We will take it over from here."

With a surprised look the officer was about to say something in object but Henry had already entered a car driving away.

Inside that car Henry was talking to his partner who was driving the car, Sanders.

"Sanders you remember that kid from the other week? The one who saved that girl from the bus bombing criminal."

Silently she nodded and Henry continued.

"Get his information. We need to pay him a visit."

****

*knock knock knock*

Groggily I opened my eyes and rubbed the gunk out of the corners of my eyes. The pounding on the door continued so I made my way to the door and opened it.

There in my hallway was a tall man and a shorter woman who both were holding up badges.

Recognizing the emblem of the Honor Corps I slowly recognized the two people.

"Ah, Mr. Giles and Ms. Sanders... Is there something I could help you with?"

A puff of smoke entered my face and Mr. Giles replied.

"Some guy was found dead in an alley. Hole in his chest, but I noticed something weird about his corpse."

Realizing that he had figured out I was there I didn't bother hiding anything. I stepped back and held the door open.

"Come on in."

They nodded and came to sit on my couch. Giles did at least, but Sanders looked at my couch before deciding to stay standing.

I pulled up a metal chair and sat across from Giles.

"Well, you must know I didn't kill him otherwise I feel like this conversation wouldn't be going without a knife pressed to my throat."

Laughing Giles took a puff of smoke before blowing it out.

"Yeah, you're definitely not strong enough to punch a hole through someone's chest, it's not exactly the calculated fighting you showed last time... So, what happened?"

Sighing I explained what happened. Except I left out the reason why I used my parasite. Instead I told them I used my parasite to end his life faster, saying that he asked me to end his suffering quickly.

Thankfully they didn't ask much about it and focused more on the woman, Lindsey.

After the story they nodded and started to leave. I walked them to the door way when Giles turned around suddenly.

"One more thing before we leave... If you have another incident like this, you can just call me directly on that number I gave you last time. However if you're guilty of breaking the law we won't be overlooking that."

I nodded. I didn't expect them to do anything like covering up any crimes I committed in the first place. Also I hoped I didn't end up running into another one of these body possessing monsters.

After they left I closed the door and checked the time.

"They really came to wake me up at 5 AM? These guys have no lives. Who works at 5 AM..."

Grumbling I tried to go back to bed but that was when I began hearing the sound of people waking up to get ready for their morning.

As I was laying down some water began to drip from the ceiling and landed on my face. Sitting up I looked at the ceiling in annoyance.

Not only were various parts of my apartment leaking water from the ceilings but I could clearly hear all of my neighbors talking.

I didn't care as much about the squalid conditions of my apartment, but what really bothered me was that I couldn't find peace at home.

I started to seriously think about moving.

Sighing I opened up my phone and began scrolling for apartments. Now that I had money I needed to start making changes to my lifestyle.