Chapter 4 — Depths and Blood
Orario. Dungeon. 27th floor.
Silence.
Darkness.
The smell of dampness and blood.
The Hulk was the last in the squad.
Ahead are Ais Wallenstein, Finn, Gareth, Riveria and six more experienced adventurers. Everyone is a veteran. Legends.
And he's... new. But taller than everyone else. With obsidian-colored skin. And his eyes were filled with rage.
"Are you okay, big guy?" Ais turned around, looking at him curiously. "You've never been to the Dungeon, have you?"
The Hulk nodded.
— There were monsters under the Colosseum. I've been killing. But this is... different. It's alive here. He's breathing.
Riveria grinned from behind.
"He's right. The Dungeon is not just a cave. It's... an organism. And he'll remember you, Hulk. If you become a threat, he will send something that will destroy you.
"Let him try,— the Hulk replied calmly, clutching a huge axe forged specifically for his hands.
⸻
On the 28th floor, the group was ambushed.
Six killer clams, huge monsters with venomous tentacles, burst out of the walls at once.
They instantly injured two adventurers. One fell. The second one screamed in pain as the poison began to corrode his armor.
—Retreat! Finn shouted. —Riveria, the barrier! Gareth, cover the flank!
Ais rushed into battle, her sword flashing like lightning. She fought with the grace of dancing. But there were a lot of monsters.
The Hulk, standing at the back, was watching…
And I could feel it rising inside me.
rage.
Not fear. Don't panic. Not rabies.
And a quiet, heavy force, like a wave, rising from his chest like a flame.
—No,— he muttered. "Don't touch them.
He lunged forward.
The monsters noticed him and attacked with a roar.
The first one was crushed by a fist. The second one flew into the ceiling from a swing of his axe. The tentacles hit his arms, trying to inject poison, but…
His body wouldn't budge.
Antimagic.
The power of rage.
One monster entwined him entirely. He tried to crush it. Squeeze. Strangle him.
— RRRRAAAAAAHHHH!!!
There was a roar that shook the tunnel.
The clam exploded like a leather bag filled with blood.
The Hulk stood in the middle of the bloody circle. He was breathing heavily. There were wounds on his body, but he did not fall.
Ais looked at him... with respect.
Finn stepped forward.
"You're not just a force. You're... at war.
"I was a weapon,— the Hulk replied softly. — Now I'm learning to be a human being.
⸻
Later, by the campfire, Riveria carefully examined his body.
"You're not taking any magic damage?" Even the venomous punches slip off. What's it?
— Anti-magic. Skill. One of the three.
"And the others?"
The Hulk paused.
Then he looked into the fire.
— The power of the Hulk. She grows up when I'm angry. Without borders.
—And... violence." A skill that saves me from death when there's only one thing left to destroy.
Loki, who was watching him from the cliff where she had settled down to rest, grinned:
"You're a nightmare, big guy. Are you seriously thinking of staying with us?
He looked at her.
"I'm going to find the one who made a beast out of me." I'll destroy Taros. In the meantime... this is my place. With those who don't hide their eyes.
⸻
So the Hulk became part of Loki's Family Name.
Not like a slave.
Not like a monster.
Like a warrior.
But somewhere deep in the Dungeon…
Something woke up.
And it remembered the giant's roar.