The first ogre charged through the gap like a shot from a cannon. Sam was already moving, letting momentum do the work as the monster impaled itself on his spear. The impact sent tremors down his arm, and he had to consciously tap [Kinetic Discipline] to keep from losing his balance.

  He barely registered the Ding as the corpse flew by him, his attention already affixed to the next ogre racing through the entrance. His one saving grace was that they hadn't stopped to put on armour. Most wore simple hide jerkins, coupled with leather straps and bits of fur. Only those who'd been on guard duty were better equipped.

  Something about Sam entering the cave had driven them into a frenzy—or, not a frenzy–a panic.

  He took a moment to focus on the face of the next ogre who surged into the cave. She didn't look angry. If anything, she looked scared. Her eyes went wide as she took in the carvings on the walls, and her distraction allowed him to score a deep slash across her hip, sending her tumbling to the ground. He summoned a large rock from his inventory and kicked it at the next group of ogres who came sprinting through the opening. They weren't expecting the boulder’s sudden appearance and went down in a tangle of limbs.

  Sam had begun making it a habit of picking up any suitably large rocks, stumps, and tree branches he could find. Too often, they'd found themselves cornered by multiple enemies, and he figured it was useful to have a pool of resources to build fortifications or clutter up the battlefield.

  The group's collapse allowed him to dispatch one of them and wound the others, all while keeping the tribe on the other side of the bottleneck. More debris fell around him as he built up multiple piles just inside the entrance.

  He kept checking his HUD, watching with grim determination as his [Soul Link] counter increased. There didn't seem to be a restriction on the number he could afflict at once, and as far as he could tell, there was no time limit. The only thing he hadn’t yet been able to test was effective distance, but at the moment, it wasn't his most pressing concern.

  Dodge, weave, strike, retreat. He fell into a flow as more ogres threw themselves into the fray. A few had tried posting up by the entrance and shooting him, but the constant press behind them made them wildly inaccurate. Those few arrows that did come close were easily redirected by his armour.

  Throughout the combat, he could make out the distant sounds of scraping rock. Fortunately, none of the ogres seemed to have noticed Siel, but it was only a matter of time before they saw her at the back of the cave.

  There was a slight lull, and Sam took a moment to thoroughly maim the ogres who were lying strewn throughout the cavern. Despite his initial trepidation about killing sapient monsters, it was now strange to leave them alive. Many would bleed out in a few minutes, but it cost him nothing to keep the [Soul Link] active.

  Their screams rang in his ears, cursing him in a guttural language that [Child of Babel] wouldn't translate. A few of them got out words that he could understand, but it was mostly babble.

  The momentary pause concluded with the largest ogre he’d seen yet stepping into the cave. The creature stood over eight feet tall, with muscles that wouldn't have looked out of place at a power-lifting competition. He held a massive bone axe in one hand, and in the other, a flail ending in what appeared to be metal-plated human skulls.

  Unlike the other ogres, he looked more angry than scared. The sight of his tribe lying wounded on the ground sent him into a rage, and he bellowed as he charged.

  The heads of the flail arced in twisting loops, and Sam was knocked backwards as they slammed into his shield and helm. His head rang from the impact, vision flashing as he felt the bones in his arm creak.

  Holy shit, it's strong. In receiving a single blow, he knew he was outclassed. The creature exhibited not a shred of finesse, but each movement was brutal in its directness. Every step felt like the crashing of a great tree, and each strike landed with the force of a wrecking ball.

  An Iron Tier Warrior would have been turned to pulp in moments.

  Sam’s strategy quickly changed to evasion, as he managed to score a tiny nick on the ogre’s arm. There were fewer than 20 ogres in the cave, not enough to truly make a dent. He hadn’t planned on using [Helheim’s Grasp] this early, but he didn’t see much of an alternative.

  He was in the process of sprinting towards the nearest downed ogre when his [Arcane Eyes] flashed. He dove to the side on pure reflex, just barely dodging the bone spear that had been hurled from the cave opening.

  An old, wiry female ogre stood hunched at the entrance, her form mostly obscured by a set of baggy robes. Only her lean arms, which were corded with muscle, were visible. Those muscles rippled as she pulled a splinter of bone from a pouch at her waist and drew it out like an archer pulling a string. Its tip glowed a sickly purple, and Sam knew he’d be in trouble if he let it connect.

  He waited until the last possible second before dropping flat, and felt the spear whistle overhead as it clattered against the stone at the end of the cavern.

  “Watch out with those!” Siel cried telepathically.

  Sam didn’t dare steal a glance back over his shoulder, instead locking in on the monster who was once again pulling out a long shard of bone.

  [Hill Ogre Boneweaver - Bronze - Rare - Acolyte of Orcus]

  One of the principal magic wielders of the Hill Ogre Tribes, these shamans use shards of bone to perform powerful offensive and healing magics.

  The [Boneweaver] let out a harsh shout, and the [Elite] reluctantly pulled back, still twirling its flail. It stood protectively in front of the old woman, who was busy imbuing the bone with a pulsing red aura.

  Sam recognized the colour from the spells the hunters had attempted to cast the previous night. It had proved ineffective against [Decay], but this glow was far, far, more powerful.

  His stomach dropped as the shaman plunged the bone shard into the [Elite]’s chest. Sam’s HUD flashed, and he groaned in dismay as the monster’s [Soul Link] status disappeared. Clearly, the [Boneweaver] had a way of dispelling negative status effects.

  It instantaneously became Sam’s number one priority to kill.

  He rose into a crouch, and his hand bumped against a simple stone knife one of the ogres had dropped. It was a crude weapon, but the tip was sharp. Sam stored it with a thought and rose straight into a headlong charge. The [Elite] blinked in surprise, but ran forward to meet him, eyes fixed on the telltale whisps of green smoke rising from the tip of the spear.

  Sam used the weapon’s threat to his advantage as he launched it straight at the ogre's chest from twenty feet out. The spear flew like a bolt of obsidian lightning, but Sam was quicker still, using his momentum to spin, summoning the knife and launching it at the [Boneweaver].

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  His roar of triumph died in his throat as he watched the [Elite]’s hand snap outwards and intercept the knife. The jagged stone punctured straight through the palm, but didn’t continue. The spear was more successful, punching through the armour directly below the collarbone.

  One of the hidden bonuses to [Helheim’s Grasp] was that it indicated whether the Active Skill could be used. That was only possible during the execution of a lethal strike. Sam watched in dismay as the icon on his HUD remained resolutely greyed out…which meant the blow wasn’t fatal.

  The [Elite] howled as it attempted to pull the spear from its body, but it wasn’t having much success with the knife stuck in its hand.

  “Alright, fuck this,” Sam muttered under his breath, summoning his hammer. A few more ogres had trickled into the cave during the combat and were beginning to advance now that their leader was injured. He toggled his [Avalanche Greaves] and activated [Indomitable Descent].

  The grey walls of the cave dissolved into a blur as he rocketed forward and brought his hammer to bear on the injured [Elite]. The hammer’s warspike ripped into its chest with a metallic slap. Sam’s momentum carried him through the blow, except that the hammer got caught between the monster’s impossibly tough ribs.

  Unable to stop himself, he continued his reckless advance, nearly losing his balance as he tumbled straight into the [Boneweaver]. Only the increased durability from [Indominable Descent] prevented him from being turned to paste as he slammed the old woman into the stone wall of the cave.

  Despite her title, her own bones proved surprisingly frail. A series of wet cracks sounded in his ear, and he had to take a second to rub brain matter out of his eyes. Unfortunately, the damage wasn’t completely one-sided, as pain from his arm and shoulder came flooding in.

  Ogres who had been standing just outside the cave rushed forward when they saw the shaman had been killed, and Sam was forced back into the ring of enemies who were already inside.

  Sam noticed there were fewer than there should have been and saw a group making a beeline for Siel, who stood at the back of the cavern.

  “Watch out!” Sam yelled as he took a slash across the back.

  A trumpeting roar sounded from the back of the cave as Molly leapt forward and tackled one of the approaching monsters. The call caused the rest to turn, and their looks of panic dissolved into rampant, unadulterated terror.

  “No! You cannot open!” The [Elite] had fallen to their knees, face pale, though whether from fear or blood loss, Sam couldn’t rightly say.

  “I have it!” Siel cried at the same instant. A bow appeared in her hand, and she began launching arrows into the remaining ogres.

  Sam blocked a swing from a club with his shield, redirecting the strike into another ogre who’d ventured too close. Both enemies stumbled awkwardly, and Sam took advantage of the chaos to slip between them and retrieve his spear and hammer.

  The [Elite] looked up at him, and its face was almost…pleading.

  “Do not,” it grunted, each word a struggle.

  “What? Are we just supposed to stay in here and die?” He resummoned his spear, setting the tip against the ogre’s sternum. “What’s in there? A tomb? Is that where you bury your dead? Don’t worry, you’ll be joining them now.”

  He slammed the spear straight through the ogre’s chest and activated [Helheim’s Grasp].

  The room exploded.

  In an instant, what had been bare stone walls were painted a gory shade of red. Nearly twenty ogres died in under a second, and those that remained were impaled with shards of bone and armour.

  Sam’s armour did a fair job of protecting him from the worst of it, but he still took a dozen minor injuries.

  Okay, maybe I overdid it, he groaned, pulling a piece of bone out of his cheek.

  He turned and began limping towards the back of the room when a new voice broke through the din, rising into a bestial roar. The cry vaguely reminded Sam of a lion, only about twenty times as loud. The scream burst both his eardrums, and he felt the force in his chest like a punch. Blood ran from his nose, and he stumbled, unable to keep his balance.

  Behind him, a new set of footsteps sounded, and they somehow managed to dwarf those of the [Elite]. He reluctantly glanced over his shoulder, heart sinking as the creature materialized through the haze of blood.

  It resembled the other ogres, only bigger, meaner, and more animalistic. It wore only a loincloth and had to crouch to make it through the opening.

  You gotta be fuckin’ kidding me, Sam moaned as he redoubled his speed, making for the gap in the rock Siel had widened. It clearly showed a passage beyond, only this one looked far less natural.

  Siel and Molly were already inside, and he stumbled through the opening just as the new ogre screamed again and began a headlong charge towards them.

  “Bring it down!” Sam yelled once he was far enough back, as he watched an intricate network of vines retract, causing the roof overhead to tremble.

  Siel screamed something, grabbing Sam by his wounded shoulder and dragging him down the new passage.

  The tunnel collapsed just as the beast-ogre reached it, and it was a lesson in an unstoppable force meeting an immovable object. There was a loud crash, but in the end, the ogre prevailed, managing to wedge its bloated body off the floor, taking the entire weight of the tunnel on its back.

  The smaller ogres didn’t hesitate: they charged in after it, scurrying underneath like oversized rats.

  “Run!” Sam yelled, unable to even swing a weapon in such a confined space.

  Siel had smartly summoned a torch and took point as they burrowed farther into the cliff. Around them, the walls took on a strange, rounded quality that Sam had never seen before. Cobwebs grew more numerous, and he was soon covered from head to toe.

  The ogres continued to cry out as they barrelled down the path, though Sam did his best to ignore them as his eardrums healed. It wasn’t long before they came to a fork in the path, and Siel came screeching to a halt, Molly getting wedged in behind her.

  “Which way?” she cried.

  “I don’t kn–” Sam started to yell when suddenly, he received a sharp pull from his gut. The feeling was reminiscent of quest navigation, but he didn’t have any open ones that could account for it.

  “Left!” He corrected himself, staying the course.

  Before long, carved stone began poking out through the raw granite. Empty sconces lined the walls, and it became clear they were approaching some sort of ancient ruin.

  Behind them, the ogres had worked themselves into a frenzy, to the point Sam imagined he could feel their panting on the back of his neck.

  In front of them, the tunnel opened up, their torch illuminating a set of fifty-foot-high stone doors. They stood slightly ajar, and one of them was cracked. Sam thought he could make out the image of a woman carved into the stone, but it was too dark to be sure.

  They raced forward as Sam used [Arcane Eyes] to check for traps. The place appeared deserted, yet the second they stepped through the gate, the voices behind them vanished. Sam turned and looked back to see a group of ten ogres standing stock-still in the dark. Whatever the door was, the monsters were deathly afraid of it.

  His question was answered a moment later when a soft Ding chimed on his tafla.

  [Dungeon Discovered: Shrine of the Tenth Muse (Corrupted)]

  ??????????

  Sam’s eyes fixed on the number of skulls beneath the title. He hadn’t been aware that was possible on the first ring. His concentration was broken when a sound drifted down from inside the shrine. Siel clearly heard it as well, because she turned, raising her torch.

  The open flame accidentally brushed a section of the cobweb, and the thick strand caught. Before long, hundreds of feet of cobweb were burning, illuminating a massive, ruined hall.

  The webs burned for a long minute before sputtering out as quickly as they’d begun. Silence gripped the hall like a vice, and Sam found himself holding his breath. When a sound finally came, it was so quiet he thought he’d imagined it. The pounding of his heart almost obscured it, but he knew it was real when he heard it again…and again.

  The sound of skittering limbs started as a faint staccato, then rose into a ravenous wave. Hundreds, thousands of limbs skittered and clacked against the stone, creating a pounding rhythm of death.

  The ogres gave each other one final look before taking off at a dead sprint in the other direction.

  Sam considered joining them when the doors started to move on their own, the ancient stone grinding as it slammed shut in a flurry of dust.

  Once again, leaving him locked in the dark.