Talent Awakening! Every Legendary Summon Grants Me Assassin Attributes-Chapter 19: Intelligent Monsters pulling intelligent stunts

Chapter 19: Intelligent Monsters pulling intelligent stunts

Oliver traversed the massive expanse of the Cavern. The ancient tunnels stretched wide and far, so vast it almost felt like this was another realm entirely.

But in reality, this was simply the deeper levels of the Pyramid-like Ruins.

It seemed almost infinite, just as Oliver recalled it to be.

And just as it was wide... it was dangerous.

Throughout Oliver’s movements through the unexplored Ruins, he remained alert, searching with both his own eyes and the eyes of his Crow, which he had sent ahead of him to scout.

His first priority was finding the other two... With how far they had been misplaced, they could either be dead or going through the worst aspects of their lives.

Oliver could only imagine what had interfered with the Teleportation Stone.

Knowing this place, it was nothing short of heinous.

CLACK!

Something slammed into Oliver with brutal force, sending him staggering back as a devastating cracking sound echoed through the cavern walls.

A grunt escaped his lips, thick layers of blood misting into the air before him.

"Fuck!" he groaned, pain shooting violently through his body. His eyes snapped downward and—

An arrow?

How in hell had an arrow struck him?

Oliver wasted no time, instinctively activating his Stealth skill and shifting his position as quickly as he could.

Luckily, he had done so in time, as another crude arrow struck the ground where he had originally stood... If he had not entered Stealth when he did, surely that would have been the end of him.

"Hummmmmph!" Oliver groaned as he appeared behind a large spiral structure that concealed most of his body, providing protection from further arrows and hopefully hiding him from his attackers.

He waited.

A moment passed... then a few seconds more, each one heavy with the crushing weight of possibly being spotted.

But after waiting without any further arrows coming his way, Oliver was sure he had escaped the enemy’s view...

At least—

For now.

Oliver summoned his dagger into his grasp. He clenched his jaw, pressing the blade against the shaft of the arrow until—

Snap!

"Guuurrrh!"

Pain surged violently through his arm, raw and searing. Still, Oliver persevered, doing his best to suppress the agonizing sensation, gritting his teeth and swallowing every urge he had to scream.

It was a vile, nauseating feeling.

While he did this, he simultaneously ordered the Dark Crow to take a much closer look at the cavern’s surroundings.

And just as he thought...

His attackers had kept themselves well hidden.

The barbaric group of hybrid humanoids clustered themselves against large rocks and spirals, their bodies draped in woolen clothing that mimicked the dull, earthen colors of their environment.

[Race: Orcs]

[Threat: D Rank]

[Group Threat: C Rank]

They were incredibly hard to see, even for the Dark Crow, whose sharp eyesight far surpassed that of a normal crow. Oliver pressed himself closer to the wall at the realization.

They were intelligent beings... and surely possessed some method, skill, or charm that allowed them to blend seamlessly into their surroundings.

Almost like the Stealth skill...

Still, this was an issue.

’In my first life, I was on Bentley’s side of the fall. The others that wound up here never made it out... I can see why...’ Oliver pondered. Since things were different now, his knowledge of the ruins would be less of an asset.

"What a pain," Oliver whispered to himself, carefully counting the number of Orcs hiding in wait to ambush him.

There were about eight of them...

At least, those were the ones he could see—not accounting for others that hid themselves well enough to remain completely unspotted.

Intelligent monsters... a C-rank group composed of D-rank individuals... and capable of concealing their presence this well...

This was not looking good for Oliver.

He grunted deeply, exasperation lacing his breath. "What dull luck."

---

Deep within the caverns, in a section well hidden between two slanted boulders that leaned against each other and the wall, forming a small makeshift cave—

There was a dim, flickering light.

A light that did not come from the naturally illuminated cavern, but from something artificial.

It was a blue rune, shimmering faintly within a makeshift lantern. The rusted frame was suspended in the air by a thin rope tied to a jagged edge of the boulder, allowing it to sway gently. Each movement released a soft creak, causing the shadows around the area to stretch, twist, and dance unnaturally under its eerie glow.

Hera’s weak eyes slowly pried themselves open, blinking repeatedly as they struggled to adjustbfrom the suffocating darkness of the soul-devouring shadow... to the cold, dim cavern.

Her gaze met the light source first, the lantern emitting its unstable, almost irritating hum.

At first, she simply stared, her memories slowly piecing themselves together.

Then—

She sat up quickly.

Snap!

"Ahhhhhh—mhhhhm!"

Pain exploded through her entire body as she attempted to stand. The scream that burst from her throat was cut short—

Subdued.

She groaned, her vision snapping to the man who had covered her mouth with a scarred excuse of an arm... One that exuded a foul stench so thick it threatened to choke her.

When last he had taken a shower was definitely questionable.

The man was skinny, almost unnaturally so. Long golden-colored hair fell messily over his shoulders, his malnourished frame appearing to shrink within his oversized clothing.

He looked like a monster himself.

Especially with those sunken eyes fixated on her.

"Sorry, this is a bit inadequate, but I was trying to reset your leg when you woke," he said in a surprisingly refined tone, one that completely contradicted his appearance.

From how he sounded, he could very well be from a well-off family.

So what was someone like him doing in a cursed place such as this?

Hera was curious.

But first...

She checked the condition of her leg.

And it was not pretty.

It was in a horrific state, some parts of the injury tightly wrapped in bandages, while other exposed sections revealed twisted flesh and bone in disturbing angles, fragments of white jutting through torn skin.

She forced herself not to scream.

No... 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

She held herself back from something worse.

From losing her mind entirely at the sight.

"Don’t worry, the Temple heals injuries faster than normal," the man said, a strange excitement lighting up his face—perhaps too much excitement. "But you hurt yourself really bad, aye?"

He was... goofy.

And from the way he acted, Hera became increasingly curious about who this strange, quirky individual truly was.

She opened her mouth to speak—

"Mhhh... Mhhmmm..."

The man quickly realized he was still covering her mouth. He pulled his hand away and smiled awkwardly.

"Sorry, what were you trying to say?"

Hera was filled with questions, each one burning intensely within her chest, begging to be asked.

She opened her mouth again—

Paused.

Hesitated for the briefest moment.

Then finally spoke.

"Where is Crow?"