The Chimeric Ascension of Lyudmila Springfield

Chapter Fifteen: The Mines of Gamor

“Sekh!” I shouted, keeping a safe distance from the foe in front of me as it tightly gripped its spear and shield. 

[Lesser Goblin Spearman – Lv. 1] 

Its gross green skin seemed to have cancerous boils. “RRRAAAHHHHHH!!!” Sekh screamed, thrusting her spear forward, but it was blocked by the only remaining goblin. It was surrounded by four corpses after we had launched a surprise attack against them. I didn’t want to use Reina’s gun because it was going to be my last resort, but I had a hunch. You see, people and monsters in this world really did not like the sound of gunfire. It was loud and attracted a ton of attention, but it worked well to sow confusion amongst our foes.  

None of them knew what was happening when I fired my initial salvo of bullets, taking down three foes with three precise shots to the head. Like a bolt of fierce fire, Sekh took full advantage of this opportunity and raced forward with a grin. Her first attack was lethal, finishing one of the two I had spared with a thrust through the back of the head. Then as she was facing the last one alive, she purposely had her spear blocked so she could grab the goblin’s shield and scorch it with [Black Fire], which then spread to the goblin at lightning speed. It burned to death—an agonizing scream erupted from its mouth until it no longer made a sound. Cooked flesh wafted up from the charcoaled corpse, but I smelled something delicious.  

New Title: [Goblin Slayer (I)] 

With the fight over, Sekh cut into the corpses to obtain their cores, stopping when she remembered I had [Auto-Loot].  I looked around this torch-lit room inside a dungeon.  

The Mines of Gamor was true to its name. After entering through the entrance that looked like a regular mine opening, we immediately ended up in something that looked grimmer than I expected. The lanterns and torches lining the walls did little to illuminate the surrounding areas. Even the large lobby was dark when not accounting for my night vision. It was all but required to carry personal torches so you could see more than a few feet in front of you. Admittedly, it didn’t seem like the layout was that complex. There were side rooms and hidden corridors, but everything connected to the main path that stretched from the lobby to the ramp leading further below. An aged dwarf in the lobby said the mines had two floors, so it was conquerable in a few hours at most.  

When I entered the dungeon, my map morphed into a 3-D model of the layout to better keep track of my position and location. Unfortunately, most of it was blacked out because I hadn’t filled it out. It traced my steps, though, making it hard to get lost.   

Sekh and I were in a side room near the beginning. The number of people we saw out front and inside the lobby suggested we were going to be around others, but I had a deterrent. People in this world really didn’t like the sound of gunfire. The same went for the monsters, but like I had just proved, we could use that to our advantage.  

But I had to be conservative with Reina’s gun. Three shots were enough to make me woozy, and four would almost certainly put me on my ass. Granted, assimilating refilled my mana in addition to biomass, so if I had enough targets in front of me, I could, technically, shoot for hours without any repercussions. But I couldn't count on that. Especially when inside a public dungeon. Sure, my map showed me everyone's locations at all times, but 90% of it was blacked out at the moment. And what about teleportation?

Like the horny fairy said, it was better to be safe than sorry, especially when I was at the bottom of the totem of power.  

“Tilde, go keep watch.” 

“Got it, Master! Remember, don’t leave anything left on your plate. You have to eat it all,” replied the fairy. She flew from my backpack over to the doorway and hovered in place like a sentry drone. With the coast clear, I assimilated the corpses with my boar head hand after removing a glove, not stopping until they were nothing more than a bloody patch on the ground. Bones, fat, sinew, guts… I devoured it all.  

Mmm… It tastes like chicken… 

You’ve assimilated Lesser Goblin Spearman! 

New Skill: [Shield] 

New Skill: [Spear] 

My new additions were weapon skills, not active skills, meaning I didn’t have to master them to use them since they were always on. In theory, I was a slightly stronger, more experienced fighter than someone without [Spear] or [Shield], but if I were to fight someone, victory would not be certain. More than likely? Yes, but not assured. I took out my spear from my storage and twirled it around my hand after putting my glove back on. The movements and motions came easier to me than before, and it felt like I had a bit of instinctual knowledge of how to more effectively stab something with it. Since I had the skill associated with the weapon type, it only made sense to fight with it. If I came across another shield, I was going to take it for myself 

“Sorry, Master. If I had known they had that skill, I’d have killed it differently,” Sekh said, looking slightly downcast. I just rubbed her head and said it was fine. She equipped [Goblin Slayer (I)] because it was almost certain we would fight more of those green bastards.  As we walked back to Tilde, who waved at us, Sekh’s tail wagged adorably from side to side. 

“Stop using that fucking gun!” shouted a Dogfolk with green hair. She stared daggers at me as she walked down the dungeon’s primary path with her party. We just ignored her, her teary eyes, and her folded ears as we entered the room across from us. The dungeon became somewhat more complicated as progression was made. That was where most of the others went because the monsters there were more varied, like a Lesser Scatter Bat, Lesser Araneae, and more diverse goblins. The chests were more likely to spawn the deeper you went. 

Ah, that was another thing. When I had the dungeon mapped out, I could search from anywhere and anytime to see if the chests were available for plundering. It was honestly quite amazing that there wasn’t a range limit to searching. Even hours away, I could still open my map, scroll over to Ria, turn on satellite mode, find that shop with the gun, and observe. In real-time, I could basically spy on them, listen to their conversation, and track them with a waypoint. However, if they stepped in a place I have not been, the waypoint would vanish until they appeared in an indexed area. 

“Ignore them, Master. Her nunchucks are clumsy and prone to breaking. A gun is a much more sophisticated weapon. You can’t pop a cap in someone’s ass with a nunchuck, that’s for sure,” Tilde chirped, shooting the Dogfolk a bird after threatening to whoop her ass. 

This new room was empty, save for a dead goblin in the middle. A cracked spear was stabbed through his head, probably the result of someone with a grudge. Sekh said most people became adventurers out of a desire to obtain fame, power, or fortune, but they often died young because of overconfidence. Some chose to embark on a crusade against monsters, the most common one being the goblin.  

They were an invasive species, and villages always put in an extermination request when a nest was discovered. These situations often ended with the overzealous fools becoming hosts for the goblins and their parasitic seed. Yes, goblins reproduced by forcing their seed inside a male or female, and the parasitic offspring grows until it bursts out them, killing their host in the process.  

If that happened to someone’s mother, her son, more than likely, would feel that it was his cause to rid the world of all goblins. A noble goal, you could say, since they were vile creatures.  

We had walked down a small corridor nearby and into a third room right as a group of spearmen spawned into existence. Magical energy welled up, creating their bodies from mana before my very eyes. Their bulging eyes and gross, sickly skin became solid. Spears and shields materialized, appearing to be gifts from the dungeon. Upon seeing Sekh and me, the little bastards pulled their loincloths to the side and exposed their reddened, inflamed cocks. One even dropped his shield and stroked himself, a thick tongue hanging out the side of his mouth as he ran towards me with a crazed, lustful expression. 

“Gulag!!! Gue Gue Gue!!!!” chanted the ones in the back. It seemed they knew this was a dungeon meant for beginners and foolishly thought they had a chance against me. 

[Deadeye], grant me accuracy... 

With a focused mind and determined spirit, I materialized Scorpion’s Bite and channeled [Piercing Thrust] after growing tusks from the corner of my mouth. In my other hand, I held my spear. Surprisingly, it didn’t hurt at all. I just needed the transfiguration energy flowing through me to access the unmastered skills. I aimed and pulled my trigger, destroying the goblin from any raping it had in its future. The shot didn’t kill it, but it sure sent a message.  

Dematerializing the gun, I used [Piercing Thrust] through my spear and threw it, finishing off the one I had wounded. 

You’ve mastered [Piercing Thrust]! 

Sekh danced a ballet of death, sending the remaining goblins to the afterlife by alternating between [Black Fire] infused punches and deadly thrusts. Most of it was due to her overwhelming power, even considering she was a level 1 Dark Lord against level 2 goblins, but again, fear was instilled into their bodies by my gunshot.  They hadn’t yet recovered from the intense ringing in their ears. 

“Can’t believe they died with their hands on their cocks.” I spat on their corpses while retrieving my spear. “Tilde, get on standby.” 

“Goblins are disgusting creatures,” Sekh said, picking up a shield for herself. She gathered a second one for me to use after I devoured the nasty pests. I groaned when my arm shrunk, turned green, and started to smell. I shook away the transfiguration and slipped the glove back on. 

Reina’s arms are much preferable… 

 “They knew [Spear] and [Shield], but mine didn’t increase in level. Why?” I asked Tilde when she flew back over. 

“If you could gain Lv. 10 in a skill by assimilating a being with the skill ten times, chimera would rule the world with an iron fist.” 

“I guess that’s understandable. But let’s say I assimilate like 700 goblins. Would it increase then?” 

"Yep! I mean, you have [Timeless Existence], so there isn’t any reason why you couldn’t assimilate those with [Spear] and [Shield] until they’re maxed out. Just know that training is faster than that, and using SP is even faster because you get the results instantly. Oh, you’re also really close to leveling up. A few more kills will do it for you. Too bad you won’t get any SP. Being a 0-Star must majorly suck,” Tilde said as we retraced our steps and emerged into the room with the dead goblin. It wasn’t alone, and there was a volatile Catfolk with a dagger. I recalled he was with that green-haired Dogfolk, earlier. Did they split up? He gave the corpse a postmortem execution, going so far as to curse the dead while stabbing into its stomach, splashing gore and guts everywhere.