Heavy Metal

Chapter 9 - 08 – Going Down.

'Maybe those guys… but there are so many of them…'

'I should probably wait for a chance to present itself like last time!'

'...'

'Why do they always wander around in large groups?'

'... How am I going to get stronger in an environment like this!'

Rusty continued to talk to himself with an annoyed tone while hiding behind a large pillar. His ability to resist the voice had increased, and he could now even look at the adventurers without being pushed into a frenzy, as long as he distanced himself. Since leaving the Soul Forge, there was no one to talk to, so Rusty developed an even bigger habit of talking to himself.

After evolving from a damaged, rusted-over suit of armor to a slightly less rusted-over armor, he was

With the adventurers gone and the area appearing clear, Rusty cautiously approached the remains of the fallen monsters. His metallic fingers sifted through the debris, as if searching for something specific. Luck was on his side as he spotted a damaged weapon, likely belonging to one of the adventurers. A broken spear was embedded in the remains of a zombie, its metallic tip deeply lodged in the flesh. Unlike the other monsters turned to dust, it seemed the adventurers deemed it unnecessary to remove this broken piece of weaponry or it was a remnant of another battle.

Compatible materials found, would you like to refine this weapon into base materials?

Before arriving here, he had managed to decipher the Material Absorption skill on the upper level. It was a straightforward process; he just needed to find something containing metal, and the skill would activate. Parts of monsters, like other living armor, also worked, but only after they were slain by adventurers. This presented a challenge in refining their parts, as the monster remains would eventually vanish without leaving anything that he could gather.

Material 1

Bronze 10%

Material 2 [Unavailable]

Iron 5%

One limiting factor existed for this skill - there were certain material types he couldn't refine from weapons. He was restricted to only absorbing bronze, copper, and tin. Once he selected the desired material, the process would commence. The broken piece of weaponry would start to glow and vanish before his metallic eyes. Though uncertain about the specifics, a graphical representation of this process appeared in his status window.

The section was labeled the 'Stash Tab,' and it was subdivided into many smaller squares. Currently, most of these squares were empty, except for three containing drawings of ingots. One represented the copper he had absorbed, the second one tin, and the last one bronze. Once he gathered one hundred percent of any given metal, it would transform into an ingot and be recorded here. Though currently unable to do anything with them, he anticipated that when he returned to the soul forge, something would be triggered. It also used SP as its main resource without having a long cooldown period as the skill absorption skill.

At a slow pace, he continued to harvest any bronze and copper he could find. The strange slabs of rocks that were sticking out of the ground he identified as tombstones. It seemed that this place was some type of burial ground and the zombies that had been defeated started to slowly emerge back within the ground. It was as if they were moving traps that would spring out the moment someone approached from below.

You have gained +1 experience points.

While navigating the area, he stumbled upon a new discovery. In one corner of this place, there was a nesting ground for strange worm-like creatures. Upon seeing them, he decided to experiment and gained a point of experience after stepping on one. The encounter didn't end there; shortly after squashing the bug, a peculiar purple mist shot up from its compressed body.

You resisted the poison.

'Hm, poison?'

Being a being of living metal, Rusty lacked internal organs that could be affected by the poisonous mist. He grasped the concept that poison could have adverse effects on living beings, but it held no threat for him. After a brief moment of contemplation, he picked up one of the worms from the ground. It wriggled around, attempting to bite into his metallic body. After gripping it firmly, he gained another experience point and triggered the release of the poisonous mist.

'Those people did stay away from this side of the chamber, were they afraid of these things?'

His mind brimmed with new ideas on how to leverage these small creatures to his advantage. Soon, the rattling of bones caught his attention, signaling the reformation of a skeletal scout alongside the zombies. When he examined the quiver with arrows it held, along with the bow, a brilliant plan for his next hunt began to take shape. Perhaps, in the near future, he could accumulate substantial amounts of experience. However, before that, he needed to thoroughly explore the entire second floor to uncover any additional surprises that might aid his quest for strength.