久久大陆

"Please…no bugs…"

Sol whispered to himself as he clutched his spear close to his body like a lifeline, walking slowly throughout the third floor as he gulped.

It was a completely vacant floor, but that made it all the more daunting to search through as to him, any semblance of noise meant something would be there that wasn't meant to be there.

As he took another step into the lightless corridor, the sound of the floorboards creaking beneath his own step made him jump out.

"Gah–!"

He let out a sigh to himself after realizing it was his own step, holding his hand over his heart as he regained his lost breath.

…I'm not made for this kind of stuff. Even if I try my best…at the end of the day, I'm a coward. You can't change who you are naturally…He told himself.

Though he moved slowly, he inspected the floor to the best of his ability, peeking into each room as he moved with utmost caution.

Every step he took, he wanted to take three back, sweating and gulping down his worries as he held his spear close to his body.

Luckily, there wasn't anything to find on the floor–by some miracle that he felt thankful for. There wasn't even a single one of the hellish centipedes squirming around, prompting him to let out a sigh of relief once he reached the end of the floor.

"...What a relief…"

I wonder if Jeong-Hui found anything on his floor? He thought.

As he began to go back down the halls to wait at the stairwell for Jeong-Hui, a presence emerged from behind him in a violent, aggressive manner.

"Wha–?!" He screamed out, turning back.

A gathering of black sludge seeped through the boarded-off window, coalescing from the crevices of the floor and the ceiling and forming into a large, multimeter long millipede with many, wriggling legs.

No, no, no, no, no! You have to be kidding me–! There was nothing here just a moment ago! What kind of cruel deception is this?! He thought.

Though he realized wishing it wasn't so just simply wasn't enough as the sludge-formed insectoid began to rapidly slither towards him, slithering across the floor, walls, and ceiling in a spiral movement towards him.

"Gyaah–!" He yelled out, breaking off in a sprint in the opposite direction.

There was no part of him that wanted to fight the monstrous, grimy millipede as it hissed out towards him, repeatedly clamping its mandibles together in a hungering fashion.

I'll find Jeong-Hui, or Yeong-Un…Yeah, I'll get one of them to handle this–! He thought.

However, even he opened his own eyes to that flawed thought process; some part within him found something deeply wrong with that mindset.

No…that's not right. Right now, it's just me. Jeong-Hui is fighting his own battle, and so is Yeong-Un. They trusted me…they trusted me to be able to handle this on my own. What kind of friend am I if I betray their trust each and every time? Can I even be called a "comrade" of theirs if I'm the one that needs saving each time? He questioned.

Stomping his foot down against his better judgment, he turned around and faced the incoming insectoid while his entire body shivered in fear, yet he forced himself to stand tall with quivering eyes and a spear held with trembling fingers.

"...Cast: Cloudy Coil!" He invoked.

Through his invocation, his silver spear became enveloped in a layer of buzzing electricity as he held it towards the millipede, which reared its grotesque, humanoid face at him while its horn-like mandibles salivated.

I'll stand tall…and win! He resolved.

Just as it lunged towards him from above his head, he shut his eyes out of fear and rolled forward, avoiding its strike as the hardened head of the millipede slammed into the spot which he previously stood.

…Crap! That would've gone right through me if it hit! He thought.

As he stood back up, he found the body of the insectoid open for an attack as he roared out–through fear and whatever resolve to fight he wielded–before thrusting his electric-engulfed weapon towards its body.

Crack.

He managed to stab through its tough exoskeleton, though it stopped the head of his spear from digging into the main body of the many-legged entity.

Attempting to pull his spear back, it barely budged despite him tugging on the pole.

"What the…? It's stuck…!"

Fear drove over him once again as he glanced behind him to see the top-half of the millipede's body beginning to turn back towards him after having slammed into the ground.

Come on…! Get out! He yearned.

As the human-faced insect lunged towards him from behind, he yelled out, "Shock it!"

Focusing on the spell that enchanted his spear, he invoked the full-throttle of its electricity, causing the volts to surge throughout the millipede's body in a bubbling heat. The focused, surging heat from within caused the insect's exoskeleton armor to protrude and exude steam throughout its lengthy form as it hissed out.

After it writhed around and slammed its tail-end, thrashing about, his spearhead finally came loose as he fell onto his rear.

"Gh…! Gyah–!"

Before he could have any time to process anything, the angered, giant millipede slithered towards him as he scrambled to his feet.

A smack from the tailend of the millipede slammed against his gut, knocking him against the wall and causing him to cough out saliva.

The single attack caused him to lose one-third of his health, feeling his organs be heavily compromised by the sheer strength of that insect's body.

Before it could attack again, he got up while holding his stomach that burned with a heat that replaced the pain.

Again, it came to him: the main art of the "Lancer" class–an imperfect style that only refined itself in moments of trouble.

"Through The Wind: Sonic Blitz."

Just internalizing the true name of the skill was enough to invoke it as the entirety of his mind and body agreed in unison to use it, prompting his next step to break the sound barrier as he propelled forward.

Even with the sudden burst of speed, he managed to naturally pivot off of it and stop himself, turning around and facing his insectoid enemy with newly created space.

"Woah…" He let out in surprise after releasing the powerful skill.

For some reason, using that skill gave him a burst of confidence as the adrenaline that pumped through his veins flourished with optimal strength.