Ethan walked through the cave. He held the dagger in front of him, his guard raised to reduce the chance of any surprise attack from working. The walls were covered with cobwebs, with skeletons hanging from them. They varied in structure—some human, some canine. This unnerved him. This was unlike any dungeon he had ever been in. No monsters could be found except that spider monster he had killed.
He kept walking forward. At some point, the cave walls had changed from brick to becoming bricks. He was surprised at this change but didn't pay it any mind. But soon, he began to worry as the corridor he was walking along had completely changed from rocks to bricks. They were yellow in color, cracks embedded in them. Spiderwebs still covered them, though they were now much less frequent. The stones providing light had also changed; they became fewer and fewer, being replaced by torches, and as he walked by, they all became lit. Creepy, he thought.
A shuffling sound was heard in front of him. He jumped back, bringing the dagger in front of him in a cross-guard stance. Then, slowly, a creature appeared. It had a humanoid stance. It had sloughed skin, brown in color, falling off from its frame. It lumbered forward lazily, groaning. It had no clothes except a brown cloth that covered its private part.
Its eyes locked onto Ethan instantly, switching from brown to a golden yellow as its frame became upright. Ethan instantly recognized the creature. A ghoul? No, a lesser ghoul. If it's here, then I'm in a crypt. Ethan became confused. Crypts were a rare variation of dungeons; they were much more dangerous, as they were usually used to protect a sort of legacy of some kind. But he had never seen a level F crypt. They were usually at grade A and above.
The ghoul lumbered forward, giving Ethan no time to contemplate its existence here. It lunged at Ethan, who effortlessly dodged. Ghouls were extremely strong—stronger than normal corrupted—and were much more durable, but they were also one of the slowest creatures, not to mention lesser ghouls.
He smiled. This should be easy, though my dagger won't be as useful, since ghouls were undead and can't be affected by poison, he thought. He readied himself for a fight. The creature then began to run at Ethan, its arms outspread, ready to tear into him.
Ethan ducked underneath the creature's hands. The ghoul grabbed onto nothing. Ethan switched up, raising his dagger high in the air and stabbing the ghoul's back three times in quick succession.
<-15, -15, -15> the system rang.
A bar appeared on the creature's head, green color draining a little bit. It's the HP bar, Ethan thought. He frowned, seeing the little amount of damage he dealt, as the bar barely moved. But he didn't let that stop him. He rushed once more, dodging the ghoul's swings. He stabbed the creature's stomach, turning his dagger clockwise, then pushed the creature down.
<-40>
The bar now entered the yellow zone. Ethan smiled—he was finally doing damage. But he couldn't get cocky; one good swing from the ghoul was all it took for him to be put out of commission.
The ghoul howled as it stood back up, its eyes changing from gold to a deep red color. Ethan's eyes widened. Ghouls shouldn't be able to do that, he thought. What had just happened was that the ghoul had gone berserk. Berserk was a state monsters could enter after taking lethal damage. It increased their strength and speed dramatically but reduced their health in response.
The bar on top of the ghoul turned red, but its body swelled in size, its strength increasing. It crouched, then launched explosively at Ethan, who narrowly dodged as a fist flew by the side of his face, fracturing the wall behind him.
The ghoul let out a groan before unlodging its fist, then turned to Ethan, who began sweating. If he was hit with that, he was 100% going to die. The ghoul launched itself into the air, aiming to crush Ethan with its weight. Ethan rolled to the side, dodging the mighty stomp that followed.
A dust storm appeared from the ground the ghoul had just landed on. It had stirred up the dust in the area with its massive attack. Ethan used this to his advantage, as its vision was now hindered, so it couldn't see Ethan's location.
Ethan approached from behind, stabbing its back and impaling it. With a groan, the creature turned, grabbing onto Ethan and launching him into a nearby wall. But as it was about to follow up, its HP bar dropped to zero. Its eyes dimmed as it crumpled into dust.
Ethan coughed up blood. Fuck is wrong with this dungeon? he thought. Undead weren't supposed to go berserk, he thought.
He stood up, approaching the place it had died.
No level up, he thought.