Chapter 1498 1498: Mimics

After they recovered from their near-death encounter, everyone began discussing what happened at the end. No one understood why the chief suddenly stopped moving, or how it lost control over them.

Rosie remained silent, much to Arthur's relief. She seemed to have an inkling that he did something, but was also unaware of how he did it. She just looked at him from time to time, intrigued but not wanting to reveal what she knew.

The battle seemed to traumatize the group as they needed to rest for a while. A small camp was hastily built, and to Arthur's surprise, no one asked him to cook. Instead, it was one of the fangs who took out rations of food and began brewing some stew filled with nutritious meat accompanied by warm bread.

"What the hell was that beam? I never heard of an attack like that," said Rolling Flame, the warrior who fought the chief head-on. "If there are more monsters like that, we're going to be in big trouble."

"There has to be," the mage, who was the one cooking, interjected. "If there are over three hundred monsters here, then that was just the first of three. We have killed a hundred gargoyles so far."

"It seems that its attack doesn't always work," Alan said. "If we can understand what works and what does not, then we can formulate some plan."

"It's spiritual energy," Fay said. "The only method to block its attacks is to use spiritual energy, which not all people possess. But…"

She looked at Arthur.

The others followed suit.

Arthur was sitting on a trunk a little far away from the fire. A smile appeared on his lips when he found himself the center of attention again.

"What are you looking at him for?" Juan asked, oblivious to the fact that others agreed upon: Arthur was special, somehow.

"Can you protect us against the spiritual attacks?" Fay asked, her eyes still glued to Arthur and ignoring Juan. "We can give you a cut of the loot."

"Wait a second!" Juan shouted as he jumped out. "We are giving him a cut? For what? Standing around as we risk our lives?"

"I have no interest in the loot," Arthur said, fully aware that this was no longer a dream, but some sort of alternate, pocketed reality. He had tried to use his new legacy but failed, which meant that the legacy itself was creating this reality for him. "But I will block any spiritual attacks I can spot."

"Thank you," Fay said with gratitude. Juan was still huffing and angry that no one seemed to pay him any attention, but Arthur's refusal to take any loot dissuaded him from pursuing the matter.

After dinner was handed out and everyone was at their fill, they were about to resume their journey when the warrior turned toward Arthur. Rolling Flame looked between Fay, Arthur, and the rest.

"I think one of us needs to use the skill," the warrior said. "If we are about to face monsters just as strong as the chief, then we are in for a couple of nasty fights. The skill is clearly meant to help us."

"I agree," Juan said in a hurry. "I think we need to balance out our powers as well. But how are we going to decide who gets it?"

"I think I should get it," the warrior said. "I was the main fighter in the earlier fight. If not for me, everyone would have perished."

"I saw you using our abilities," Beatrice said with a scowl. "If you take the credit, then why would we willingly hand them out from now on?"

Arthur knew it would come down to this. His earlier actions of hiding the skill were not enough to dissuade them from fighting, but he knew that the only reason it appeared was to force this scenario.

Avarice was truly the Dungeon of Greed. He didn't lie earlier when he said that he knew the most about the dungeon, because he had researched it his entire life before he stepped into it. It was known to bleed out parties before they even met the monsters.

It was a test of their character. If the awakeners fall to their greed, they would all die here in the dungeon. Even if they succeeded in putting aside their differences and fighting together, everyone will think that one less contender for the loot means a bigger cut for them.

"I have to agree with Rolling Flame," Fay said with a frown. "It would be a nice addition to our arsenal against the next monsters, but I don't want it to cause infighting."

"You should tell that to him," Juan said while glaring at the warrior. "He thinks he has a claim for the skill when he was the most protected with our skills and stats earlier."

"It would bring out the most benefits with me," Rolling Flame said with a shrug. "If you want, we can duel for it."

Juan was about to protest when brilliant light emerged within the forest. Everyone turned to see the skill appear again in the hands of Arthur, who was looking at it with a smile.

"I will take you up on your offer, Fairy," he said with a grin. "This will be my cut of the loot."

"Don't!" shouted Juan. Beatrice was already rushing toward him, gliding over the clearing with her wings. Arthur grabbed the sphere, and the brilliant light exploded. Then, it dimmed as the sphere shattered.

"No!" Beatrice cried.

"What have you done?" Rolling Flame said while shaking in anger. "You damn…" he wanted to say something, but Fay gestured for him to stop.

Arthur shrugged and threw the shards from his hand. Then, he dusted off his hands and grabbed the backpack and threw it over his shoulders.

"Unless you want to kill me as some sort of revenge," Arthur said as he scanned the crowd. "We need to get going."

Everyone looked at him as if he was a lunatic. It was a wonder that none of them rushed forward to kill him, especially Juan, who looked like he would pop a vein.

Fay agreed and commanded them to advance. Everyone had to swallow their anger and follow after the crowd. Arthur was once again left behind the group, almost as if they wanted to ditch him.

The distance between them gave Rosie a chance to walk next to Arthur and look at him with a curious smile. "Why did you do that?" she asked.

"Because we would have killed each other if I hadn't," Arthur said with a smile as he looked at the group. "Anger is a lot easier to control than greed. The logical part of our brains opposes impulsive actions moved by anger, but supports ones moved by greed."

"How do you know that your actions weren't motivated by greed?" Rosie asked with a rare smile. Arthur looked at the woman, whose brown hair was tied back in elaborate dreadlocks.

"Because I didn't gain the skill," Arthur said with a grin. "I merely dissolved it."

"That's not possible," she said with a frown. "And why would you do that?"

"I can't absorb skills when I'm not even awakened. I can't use mana yet," he said with a shrug. "I only did it because the infighting was what he wanted."

"Who is he?"

"The Sin of Greed," he added.

"You really think that there's a human waiting for us at the end of this dungeon?" Rosie asked, doubtful.

"Not a human, but a monster," Arthur said with some hesitation. "But I can't tell how things are about to unfold from now on. Be careful when we fight the serpent. It will get ugly."

Rosie wanted to say something, but a cry from ahead made her pause. The two turned their attention to Juan, who was waving his sword at another Juan. The two of them looked identical, making the group surround them.

"Kill him! He's the imposter!"

"I'm not! Don't listen to this monster! He stole my skin!"

Everyone was alarmed as they backed away from the two. None of them seemed to know who the real Juan was, as if no one had seen the earlier events.

Arthur frowned as well. He didn't know that there were Mimics in this dungeon. They were monsters that could take the form and memories of other creatures. It was almost impossible to tell whether someone was a mimic or not after it took a form.

"What the hell is this?" Rolling Flame asked.

"A mimic," the mage answered. "Did anyone see when the monster appeared?"

"Juan was on the flank. It didn't see it," Beatrice said with a shake of his head. "How the hell are we supposed to decide?"

"Forget it!" shouted one Juan. "I'll kill it myself! It can't be as strong as the real deal."

Swords clashed against one another as the two Juans collided. Everyone backed away, unsure about what to do. Rosie seemed troubled before Arthur tapped her on the shoulder.

"Aim your spell at the one on the left," he said. "That's the mimic."

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