System Made Me a Tank [LitRPG-Evolution]

They began to turn sideways to pass through the narrow passage. The passage widened shortly after and they found themselves at a small cave entrance. Noemi cast a light spell to illuminate the surroundings.

"Wow," said Noemi in admiration. "This place might be bigger than we thought."

The cave entrance was covered with moss hanging from its walls and droplets of moisture. As they advanced, the ceiling rose and the cave began to widen. The floor sloped gently downward.

With slow and silent steps, they descended into the depths of the cave. The light spell illuminated interesting mineral formations and stalactites covering the walls. As they progressed, the cave branched into different tunnels and chambers.

"We need to make sure we don't lose our way," said Noemi anxiously. "This cave system looks quite complex."

Boran stopped. "Let's leave a mark at each junction," he said. "That way we can find our way back."

When they reached the first tunnel junction, Boran carved a small mark on the wall.

"Let's go left," said Boran.

The left tunnel took them even deeper, into the interior of the cave. The floor was now slicker and more damp, with small puddles forming. The ceiling was filled with stalactites of different sizes, some almost long enough to touch the ground.

"Did you hear that?" Noemi whispered suddenly.

Boran stopped to listen. From a distance came the faint sound of wings flapping. Also a shrill, high-frequency chirping—probably the sound the creatures used for echolocation.

"Yes, I heard it," said Boran. "We're getting closer. We need to be even more careful now."

After a few minutes, the tunnel opened into a large cave chamber. The room was filled with giant stalactites hanging from the ceiling and small pools formed by water dripping for years on the floor. The weak light from the spell wasn't enough to illuminate the entire room, but they could see dark shapes hanging from the ceiling.

"There they are," Noemi whispered excitedly. "Blind Shadowwings."

Dozens of creatures hung upside down from the ceiling. Their bat-like wings were wrapped around their bodies, but their size was much larger than a normal bat—about the size of a human child. Their skin color ranged from pale gray to dark purple, and they had no eyes on their faces—just smooth, flat skin.

"Great," Noemi said in a low voice. "What do we do now?"

"Fireball?"

"Fireball."

Noemi raised her wand, pointing at the target. Her eyes glowing with intense concentration, she murmured a single word: "Fireball!"

The spark quickly grew into a bright ball of orange and red flames. The fireball, suddenly illuminating the darkness of the cave, shot rapidly toward the creatures hanging from the ceiling.

When the Fireball reached its target, it exploded with a dazzling blast. Bright flames completely engulfed four Blind Shadowwings. The silent cave echoed with the creatures' painful screams. Their wings caught fire, smoke rose from their skin, and the smell of burning flesh filled the air. All four fell from the ceiling with severe burns, hitting the cave floor and lying motionless.

The explosion awakened the other Shadowwings on the ceiling. They began to fly, opening their wings and emitting echolocation to detect the danger. Dozens of pairs of wings flapped in synchrony, creating a humming sound wave in the cave.

Boran was waiting for this moment. He raised his sword, taking a step forward in his heavy armor. With his booming voice, he shouted: "Cowardly creatures! Do you know nothing but hiding in the dark? Come, face your hunter!"

Boran had used his Taunt ability. His voice echoed off the cave walls, but beyond that, the magic in his words touched the minds of the Shadowwings, making them instinctively respond to this challenge.

The creatures suddenly changed direction, the entire swarm beginning to rush toward Boran. Even with their eyeless faces, they targeted him perfectly. Their sharp claws and long, pointed teeth gleamed threateningly.

Seeing the approaching danger, Boran quickly activated his second ability: "Iron Stance: Bastion!" His body briefly glowed with a golden light. His skin hardened like steel, his muscles densified, and his armor clung more tightly to his body.

When the first Shadowwing reached him, Boran was ready. The creature hit his shoulder with its sharp claws, but thanks to his new armor and strengthened skin, Boran felt only a slight impact.

From within the crowd, he heard Boney drawing his bow. Extremely calm and focused, he had targeted a Shadowwing that Boran had effectively trapped. Boran caught the creature with his right hand, holding it relatively still to give Boney a clean shot.

Boney's first arrow pierced the creature's wing, tearing through the thin membrane. The second lodged in its chest, near the heart. The third arrow pierced its throat, turning the creature's final scream into a muffled gurgle. The Shadowwing trembled in Boran's hand and then went still.

Boran dropped the dead creature to the ground and quickly turned to the others with his shield. The crowd continued to come at him.

Three Shadowwings attacked him almost simultaneously, delivering quick and violent blows. Each time they made contact, invisible thorns shot from Boran's body and pierced their flesh. The creatures suddenly recoiled with unexpected pain, but their attack speed was so high that they couldn't help attacking again and again—and each time the Thorn ability caused them more damage.

The first Shadowwing fell to the ground after a few more attacks on Boran, having fatally wounded itself. The second and third creatures shared a similar fate; each making a few more attacks before falling heavily wounded to the cave floor from the recoil of their own attacks.

Boran looked at Noemi with a victorious smile. "Keep it up!" he called out, drawing another group of Shadowwings to himself.

Noemi nodded, preparing another spell in her hands. "Keep going! Keep drawing them to you!"

There was now complete chaos in the cave. Dozens of Shadowwings flew frantically in the air, some attacking Boran while others targeted Noemi and Boney. However, Boran's Taunt ability was successfully drawing all of them to himself.

"There are too many! Use Fireball!"

Noemi now trusted Boran almost completely and did as he said without questioning. As the Fireball flew through the air about to hit Boran, his shield changed. His newly acquired Scorched Metal shield suddenly appeared in his hand.

As the Fireball rapidly flew toward Boran, he suddenly turned his shield. He directed the metal surface toward the point where the fireball would explode.

When the fireball hit the surface of the shield, it exploded with a dazzling blast. But unexpectedly, the flames reflected off the shield's surface and spread out, expanding. The flames engulfed all the Shadowwings around Boran.

As the creatures screamed in pain, the smell of burnt skin and feathers filled the cave. More than a dozen Shadowwings fell to the cave floor with burning bodies, some still convulsing, others instantly dead.

Boran felt his right arm ache with a burning sensation—despite his shield's protective power, the force of the explosion had affected him. But this was much less damage than he had expected.

[You took 130 damage]

A confident smile appeared on his face. "Scorched Metal Shield—provides at least some resistance to fire."

"Why didn't you tell me earlier!" Noemi laughed. "Anyway, we managed to clear all of them in a very short time. I really didn't think it would be this easy."

"We're very effective against multiple enemies, but we struggle with DPS on single targets. Hopefully we can find a party member who will cover this weakness."

"I guess we're done here now," said Noemi, moving toward one of the Shadowwings lying on the ground.

The cave sank into silence. The soot rising from the decaying bodies of the creatures slowly disappeared into the height of the ceiling. Noemi raised her magically illuminated wand.

"We really did a good job," said Boran.

Noemi carefully moved among the Shadowwings lying on the ground. "Wait a minute..." she said suddenly, her voice changing. "There, on the cave wall, there's something strange."

Boran and Boney carefully looked in the direction Noemi was pointing. In the place illuminated by Noemi's light spell, they noticed another passage that had previously been overlooked. This section of the cave wall was carved quite differently from the natural formations—it had neatly cut edges and a distinct entrance. Although it was almost completely covered by mineral deposits and moss formed over centuries, it was clearly man-made. It was like an ancient passage that had once been deliberately hidden, then completely forgotten in the flow of time.