The underground passageway was filled with stale air, the smell of wet beasts and blood but before they entered Trisha specifically asked Walter to hide his summons before entering the passageway, Walter looked at her for a bit with a frown before doing as she suggested the rogue was somewhat pale and breathing heavily in...
Fear?
But Walter decided to hold his tongue before they get into another bickering session, her next actions, however, made him wonder what did she fear so much as Trisha went as far as to stick close to him to the point that he was starting to get uncomfortable from the drastic change this obnoxious rogue had shown him with his quill shot ready to leave a few extra holes in any possible enemy.
Along the way, they found some corpses of rogues with their heads gone as well as one being roasted on a stick, the culprit of this were some kind of big-headed beasts with large horns on their heads that was shaped like a horseshoe with wide snouts filled with fangs, they had large muscular frames, large human-like hands, a long tail covered in bristles, and finally hooves for feet.
The creature according to Trisha was a 'misshapen' before telling him what she knew.
These malformed demons gain their strength and resilience from the natural element of lightning. While slow of foot, these beasts deliver a palpable hit when engaged at close range and can absorb a fair amount of damage. Tainted are perhaps an even greater threat when wounded, however, as this is when they retreat and direct orbs of lightning at their enemies.
Alrighty got to keep his distance from them of he'll end up like the guy from 'home alone' at least from what he understood.
They stayed out of sight after Trisha confirmed that none of the rogues were who they were looking for.
It was rather fucked up that she ignored the bodies of her sisters, but when one thought about it it was understandable because the leader of these beasts, the one now feeding on a leg that was ripped from the roasting corpse of the rogue spinning slowly above the fire had its back which was covered in spikes had the tips covered by the skulls of the dead while using the other harder bones as armor, no, as trophies from those that it killed or eaten possibly as the humerus bone that it was munching on was stabbed onto the spikes on its chest like the rest of it a collection on its body.
Trisha was having some difficulty controlling herself but managed to calm down as she and her temporary leader felt the difference between this monster and the other named beasts that they fought against in the past, mind you not the ones that Walter had fought against but others!
Walter shivered a bit before collecting himself retracting his gaze from the beast that released a heavy aura of dominance, as Trisha who was practically hugging his back in fear whispered these words that made him really want to avoid this monster if possible!
"That is Amal the headhunter, a misshapen that chased the sisterhood for a few weeks, before settling in this place, I am guessing because it was the best place to hunt any rogues that wanted to reclaim the monastery."
Walter gulped before asking her this while trying to ignore how close her body was to him as they were trying to avoid any and all detection from the occupants.
"How strong is this guy?"
From how close she was to him, he felt the fear-filled shivers as her next words were laced with it too.
"Enough to nearly kill Captain Kashya when we first tried to escape and that was a few months ago, so during that wait, it's probably double or more in strength now!"
Walter immediately regretted asking as he grit his teeth trying to force back the urge to run, he really wanted to go home, when Walter first arrived the thought of gaining magic was an excitable thought but the reality was something that decided to swipe away any childish ideas that he had in the past.
As while he was no longer constricted by the rules of society, this experience allowed him to completely understand since there was no society to restrict him then the hellish nature of this world will do that instead!
Trisha's rose-like bodily smell, the hot breath of her tickling the back of his neck was very...stimulating, but her cowering figure made him forget about having such thoughts right now, he wasn't even in the mood to tease her as Amal was sniffing the air loudly, while Walter carried the woman on his back slowly sneaking away.
At least he wasn't going to leave without giving some 'presents', Walter summoned the three goat men while hoping that they'd maim the monster that was giving him so much dread.
While they did that he brought Trisha via piggyback along to escape the place as Walter tried his absolute best not to focus on the two melons on his back The rogue was too scared right now to care but at least she was still capable of pointing the way since she remembered where the exit was so vividly.
*ROOOOOAAAAAAAARRRRRRR!!!!!*
the roar of the beast made his skin crawl before something came flying then landed near him!
It was Tarka, her chest had caved in from a hit before the sound of thunder followed and flashes of light brightened the underground cavern!
the sound of a 'BBBBBAAAAAAAAAAAH, AH, AH, AAHH, AAH, AH-' quickly followed letting Walter know that one of his summons personally experienced the electrifying ability of the Misshapen...!
the wisp of the fallen summon returned to him before another situation was bound to follow because the little orb of light let Amal understand that someone sent it to attack him, someone, who happens to be nearby!
A howl reverberated throughout the passageway causing the place to shake heavily as now all of the monsters were alert and looking for Walter's group, but what The man was more worried about was the third goat man!
where was it?
Was it still alive and fighting?
or was it captured?
But the sound of metal striking something could be heard from the traveling echoes before the passageway had another powerful shake happen again!
large rocks fell from the ceiling and Walter was having a bad feeling as the longer they stayed on this level the more it intensified only when he was able to finally bypass the annoying group of monsters and see the path which leads to the next level did all of his hairs stand on end!
An illusion of the feeling of a cold blade pointed at his neck filled his mind while Trisha was now shaking on his back, but he was unable to resist turning to see the cause.
Amal the headhunter Had found them!