Level-Up Apocalypse: Surviving With The Assimilation System

The corridor was rather wide and spacious, with the ceiling lifted high by fractured pillars. It was all rather vast in scale, unnaturally so.

He kept on, entering a room of many pillars as the floating wisp guided them with its light. A stone seat just ahead made him pause, looking at its size, seeming many times too large for a normal person.

"What kind of chair even is this? Reckon it's made for a buffalo," Jasper remarked, tapping his knuckles lightly against the old seat.

"Do you think all of this…might not be made for humans?" Finn questioned.

"What do you mean?" Nova nervously asked.

Finn waved his hand, guiding the wisp to bring its light across the walls, revealing antique pots that were larger than grown man, and crossed swords on a mantle that spanned the length of pillars.

The light revealed the unnatural scale of the archaic temple, bringing Charlotte to agree, "It's all giant–who was this temple for?"

"We'll probably be finding out soon," Finn said, continuing on.

Moving into the next room, a dining hall was discovered, though with tables tall enough it made him feel like a toddler all over again. A massive chandelier had long since crashed down atop the stone table, bringing fragments of glass scattered across the ground.

"It's awfully quiet, isn't it? Might not be anybody here anymore, mate," Jasper theorized.

Nova followed closely behind the knight, constantly looking around nervously as she practically clung to the back of his hoodie, "Nobody here…right. Yeah, that sounds true, right?"

"I wouldn't count on it. Stay focused–the longer it's quiet, the faster everything will get thrown into chaos," Finn warned, walking beneath the towering dining table.

It was some amount of walking, from the dining hall through a vast corridor, though it eventually led deeper through downward steps that culminated in a vast, open room.

"What kind of room even is this?" Charlotte questioned as she stepped into it.

"It isn't normal, I'll tell you that," Jasper remarked.

The chamber was built into a circular shape with the ground being a carved plate of steel. It could hardly be made out, though across the room that spanned at least one-hundred meters, there was a door at the other end.

Finn looked up, finding that chains were anchored in the walls, crossing and interconnecting upward like a spider's web. Through squinting, he looked up at the high ceiling of the chamber, trying to see past the mess of chains in the darkness–something moved.

For a moment, he questioned what he saw, though trusted his eyes as he called his daggers into his hands.

"Finn?--" Charlotte questioned.

"There's something here," Finn warned.

That's all it took for them all to ready their weapons just as the stale air in the cylinder chamber of chains trembled. The old walls, encrusted with moss and grime, rumbled as the chains began to rattle.

Only through the light of the wisp was anything seen as a massive silhouette crashed down from above, landing between the unwelcome guests and the door across. Finn raised his arms as a torrent of dust was kicked up from the arrival of the unknown entity.

"Ah! I'll stay back here, so…protect me!" Nova said, readying her microphone as she stayed behind everybody else.

"It's okay–calm down," Charlotte assured the bard.

Jasper moved his shield out of the way as the dust settled, "--We've got a big one incoming, mates."

"Yeah, no kidding," Finn said, focusing on what was ahead.

Through the primordial dust that billowed, the shadow of the figure that had landed could be seen rising to his feet with a harrowing height. The sound of chains dragging across the ground echoed as the silhouette stood.

Four meters in height, a humanoid figure blocked their path; of charcoal skin and shaggy, dark hair with chains around his arms, the peculiar giant had a single eye that was stitched shut.

["Sleuth Status"]

[...Assessing information about [???]...]

[BOSS Identified: "The Exiled Cyclops"]

[Level: 41]

"Give us something, Nova!" Finn shouted before attempting to confront the muscle-bound giant.

The silver-haired girl quickly nodded, "Right–Let your heart thump-a-dump-dump for me, baby!" Nova's voice was crystal clear even through her panic.

["Kiss of Haste"]

As the enchantment rushed through each of their bodies, Finn led the way forward with a sprint. The spellblade and knight followed close behind him, while the chain-bearing cyclops had yet to move.

Just as the shaggy-haired giant began to move his arm, Finn immediately tossed his dagger straight towards the figure–

["Blade Warp"] [Mana: -100] [2800/3000]

He warped right by its shoulder, using the momentum to lead into a spinning kick aimed for the left side of its neck.

["Orcish Boost"] [4:59]

The muscles in his body swelled with power momentarily as he swiftly turned his hips, slamming his shin right against the cyclop's neck.

"Ngh?!--" Finn inced.

It failed to even budge the figure, more so feeling as though he just slammed his shin into a steel pole as he flipped himself back. As he landed on his feet, he glanced down for only a split-second at his now throbbing leg.

"Finn!" Charlotte shouted.

"Watch out, mate!" Jasper yelled.

Shooting his gaze up, his heart skipped a beat as his entire vision was engulfed by the sight of the charcoal-skinned cyclops. Who once appeared sluggish had crossed the distance between them in a mere moment, without a sound nor tremor through the ground.

As the giant's fist came shooting towards his head, he flipped himself back, feeling the wind from the punch brushing against his body. As he landed on his hands, for a brief moment, he witnessed the cyclop's leg sweeping right towards his face.

"--!"

He pushed off his hands, flipping around as the massive shin passed right beneath him. As he landed on his feet, he witnessed the knight and spellblade arrive; Charlotte leapt up, swinging her fire-infused blade at its neck, while Jasper slashed at its ankle.

Before either edge could connect, the slim cyclops flipped back with perplexing agility. In that single, swift motion, it rotated around completely twice before landing.

"Huh–?" Charlotte reacted, finding her attack missing completely.

"Shit!--" Jasper reacted, spinning around.

As both turned, the cyclops was leaping towards them, spinning itself around into a massive kick. It moved as though it were less than a third its size, like an acrobatic dancer. Finn set his sights on the giant's leg in that split-second as it neared both his comrades–

["Blink Slash"] [2:59]

As he brought himself between the others and the incoming shin, he slashed against it with all of his strength. Though the edges of his dagger met the leg directly, a cut was made no deeper than the skin.

"Hrrk!--" Finn strained.

None of it stopped him from having to be thrown back as the cyclops finished the leaping kick, though he managed to lessen its momentum with his strike. He was flung back, flipping himself around as he landed on his feet, having to slide for a moment.

"Finn! Are you alright?!" Charlotte asked, looking back.

He nodded, having to catch his breath quickly, "Yeah–stay focused! This guy isn't some sloppy giant–he's skilled and agile!"

There was no time to speak as they all had to move away with the hasty pursuit of the cyclops once again. The stitch-eyed figure used the hanging chains on its arms like whips, thrashing the massive ropes of steel wildly.

Finn evaded carefully, moving himself side-to-side and flipping around as he felt each length of metal cause the air to crack. While he moved, he could see Jasper remaining behind his shield, being pushed back with each impact of the chains.

While Charlotte was evading the whips, it seemed as though she was on the brink of being struck, losing ground against the rapid onslaught.

'It's good with those chains–shit, I have to stop it now before it lands a hit,' he decided.

["Deadly Clairvoyance"] [0:29]

Though it strained both his brain and eyes, he leaned on the brief foresight as he sprinted forward into the wildly thrashing chains. He ducked his head as one passed right over, jumping to the side as another crashed right by his body, cutting right into the steel as his feet.

Keeping his eyes on the giant that used the chains like a conductor organizing an orchestra, he found his opening as the chains were parted from his position for no more than a millisecond.

["Blade Warp"] [Mana: -100] [2700/3000]

He caught his blade, having slipped it past the legs of the cyclops as he appeared right behind the figure.

"—Exploit the wounded soul, strike and strike harder!" The voice of the bard echoed through the dim chamber.

["Kiss of Critical Power"]

The empowering aura clung itself to his body in that moment, bringing him to praise the girl in his mind at the perfectly timed usage of the skill, 'Attagirl, Nova.'

[Critical Strike: +200%]

Just as he silently leapt up, bringing himself to the perfect height to dive his blades into the skull of the Exiled Cyclops, the sounds of rattling chains stopped as it suddenly spun around with quickness.

'What? Did it sense me?--' Finn thought.