Limits Chapter 174

I walked through the tunnel for a bit longer, until I arrived at a larger opening . In front of me, another two tunnel entrances appeared . 'Let's test the smell of each tunnel' I thought and entered the tunnel on the left . I took a deep breath, and searched for anything that would give me clues as to where it might lead .

I could smell the usual dampness but there was something else . 'This is where the sour and suffocating smell is stronger . It's not to the point where I couldn't continue but I better check out the other tunnel as well' I thought and exited the tunnel .

I then entered the tunnel on the right . I again, took a deep breath and analysed the smells . 'Hmmm… The sour smell is not as present here but the smell of Corpse Dogs, is much more clear at the same time' I thought . I stood in front of a choice . I could follow the road towards the Corpse Dogs, which would probably result in fights later on, or I could follow that sour smell and try to find out, what it was that caused it .

I gave it some more thoughts and decided to follow the tunnel on the left . 'I can always return here as long as I'm undetected . I might not be able to explore that part of the Den, if I follow the tunnel on the right . Fighting with Corpse Dogs would alert the whole Den . Infiltrating this place later will be much harder' I thought and went inside the tunnel on the left .

I walked inside that tunnel for a while and the sour smell got stronger, the further I went . 'Just what exactly is causing that smell?' I thought and restricted my sense of smell . I was already in a tunnel and could only go forwards . There was no point in me smelling that sour stuff . A while later, I saw something glowing in the distance, the sour smell was very strong in that place . Even though, I restricted my sense of smell to the lowest I could, I could still feel that obnoxious smell .

I took out some cloths from my bag and wrapped them around my nose and neck . 'This will at least block some of it' I thought and continued moving forward . Soon, I found out, what that glowing thing was . Those were some sort of yellow rocks, that glowed slightly . I decided to investigate . I approached one of the rocks and stabbed an arrow into it . The rock crumbled into dust the moment my arrow touched it .

'This is weird, I didn't use a lot of strength…' I thought but soon, a strong smell of obnoxious sourness invaded my nostrils . "Pfuuu . . That damned thing smells very badly" I said to myself . I didn't know what it was, it could be poison but I didn't feel any effects whatsoever . I decided to scoop the dust up and take it . I returned to the crossroads, where two tunnels stood in front of me .

'This thing smells badly, I wonder what it's for?' I thought and took out the vial with the powdered something . The books that Nick gave to me, never described stuff like this, so I was completely lost . 'Let's do some experiments . I will try to mix it with water, that tunnel was pretty much moisture free, so maybe water will do something to it' I thought and took out a water container from my bag .

I placed some of that yellow dust on the ground and added water on top . That thing started to bubble immediately and what happened next, stunned me to extreme . 'This thing burned through the earth . Just how corrosive is this thing?' I thought . I placed some more of that yellow powder on a rock this time and didn't add water . After a while, nothing happened .

'So, I have to add water for it to work, otherwise it will just sit there' I thought . I added water and the same thing happened again . The mixture burned into the rock, leaving what looked like scorched, pit like holes . 'This could be a good poison, the only downside is that, it needs to… Wait! What if… This could work!' I thought .

I came up with an idea of making special containers for my arrows . Each container would house the yellow stuff as well as water . Upon contact with the target, it would break and create poison damage . 'Creating a container that shatters and houses those two things separately, will not be easy but this thing is great!' . I was excited about the prospects this substance could bring me .

'What about fire then? Water gives me poison, earth and air is neutral, they do nothing to this yellow powder . What about fire then?' I thought . I sprinkled some of the yellow stuff on the ground and lit one torch . It was risky, but as far as I could see and feel, there were no Corpse Dogs around . I touched the yellow dust with my torch and "PUFF!", the yellow dust caught fire immediately and burned so well, that it left a scorch mark on the ground .

"This thing is amazing!" I exclaimed . 'I have to get loads of that stuff . Not only can it act as a corrosive poison, when mixed with water, it can potentially explode, when in contact with fire!' I thought and returned to the tunnel, that contained those yellow rocks .

I filled up all the empty containers with the yellow dust . I collected about 10 kilograms of that stuff and although I didn't clear out the cave, I came up with another idea . 'If those damned Corpse Dogs are too much, I can just blow them up! With the amount of yellow stuff that is around here, I could destroy the whole Den in one go!' I thought .

Ultimately, I left that idea as a last resort . I wanted to check out the Den myself and find out what is the real strength of the Corpse Dogs inside . I left the tunnel with those yellow rocks and followed the tunnel on the right . The sour smell was no longer as obvious as it was before, it was getting thinner . The smell of Corpse Dogs, was getting stronger on the other hand .

After a while of walking, I could hear some noises . I inhaled deeply, in search of the smells . The smell of Corpse Dogs was really strong here and the noises were coming towards me as well . I took out my daggers and prepared . 'Those dogs must've figured out that I'm here . I already knew that confrontation would be likely . Let's see what you got then' I thought and waited .

Not even a minute later, I could finally see the Corpse Dogs arriving . There were loads of them . I couldn't even count how many due to darkness but judging by the sounds alone, at least 200 of them were running towards me . I didn't back away 'The tunnel is too narrow for many of them to fight me at once . I have the advantage of space, but the darkness is my disadvantage' I thought and started moving .

I met the Corpse Dogs halfway and started stabbing . I also released my aura, just to keep them in check . "Swoosh!" "Swoosh!" "Swoosh!" "Swoosh!" "Swoosh!" . I utilised the Pressuring Dagger skill to the fullest . Each attack killed one Corpse Dog . The dogs were dying left and right, while I started moving backwards . The amount of dead dogs would make things difficult for me as well . Besides, there wasn't much space and the Corpse Dogs were mindlessly rushing forwards, without a care for their own .

I killed and back away . The amount didn't seem to dissipate, even though I killed at least 30 of them . I was forced back to the previous forkroad, and entered the marked tunnel for the exit . The Corpse Dogs were following relentlessly and there were some bad news as well . I could hear some noises from behind me . 'This is bad, they are not as stupid as I thought, or at least the leader isn't . They surrounded me now, I have to get away from this group quickly!' I though and sped towards the exit, even though I couldn't see much .

Chapter end