TravelingDreamer
patreon
B4—Chapter 20: Creaturology: Dungeon Field Guide, Part III
🕑 Added 2024-10-19 15:45:56 +0000 UTCThe next zone loomed ahead, and there they were—hornless rhinos, stomping around and shaking the ground. I took care of the visible ones and went looking for bait. I flew around, sighing when I saw no more slimes. Damn, I really should’ve cleared that area last. Slimes made the perfect bait. I rubbed the back of my neck, shaking my head at my blunder.
With a heavier sigh, I eyed a murderous cassowary, its beady eyes glaring back like it was daring me. “Alright, buddy,” I muttered, hoisting it up with three telekinetic spells. My mind split into four parts to keep the thing under control. It thrashed in the air like a fish out of water, wings flapping wildly, making me grit my teeth as I nearly dropped it—twice. But somehow, I got the feathery menace into the next zone and watched the rhinos’ reaction.
Two of them charged. But the cassowary? It darted away as fast as lightning. It was like watching the Roadrunner from those old cartoons, except this one was faster, meaner, and much less cute. The rhinos tried, but they couldn’t trample it. It didn’t matter, though—the bird had done its job, drawing them right into the open.
As they lumbered closer, I gave them their “fiery haircut,” then came the quill-bear bolts. I fired a few shots, each sinking into their thick hides, and sure enough, they slowed. But as I collected the bolts after converting the monsters into crystals, I couldn’t stop another sigh. Some bolts were twisted beyond repair, and the tips on a few others were straight-up missing.
I had plenty left, but they were dwindling. I’d have to be smart about it. No wasting them on anything that regular bolts or spells could handle—only targets like these damn rhinos with their ridiculously thick skin.
With the rhinos handled, I asked the wind, and it led me to three dungeon locations. At least they were all within reach—no need for excavation. One location looked shaky, though, like it was ready to crumble. I moved a few bigger stone plates and tested the structure with a few swift kicks. Despite appearances, it held firm. More stable than it looked.
The Portal of Doom led into a cave system with tunnels. They stretched ahead, narrow and twisting, the faint glow from fungi clinging to the walls just barely enough to make out where we were going. Then the smell hit—like a slap to the face—rotting garbage mixed with festering sewage, left to bake in the sun. I gagged, swallowing hard to keep my stomach in check.
Rue whined, rubbing his nose against my chest, clearly suffering. Poor boy—it must’ve been pure torture for him. I didn’t bother suggesting he sit this one out. I knew his answer before I even thought about asking. Instead, I tied a bandanna around his muzzle, hoping it would cut down on the stench. Judging by the wave of misery I got from him, it helped little.
“We’ve dealt with worse,” I said, mostly to cheer him up. One glance at his eyes told me I wasn’t convincing anyone.
The tunnels kept getting lower as we moved forward, forcing Al to duck more than a few times. It felt like walking through the insides of some long-dead beast. Then, as we rounded a corner, we hit the jackpot—a cave filled with massive, hairless rodents. Their red eyes glowed in the dim light, each one about the size of a small dog, with bared teeth ready to bite. They looked like rats, but with longer muzzles and teeth so large they couldn’t even close their mouths—no ears, no tails. Freaky.
I raised my hand and zapped the first one with a lightning bolt. It hit dead-on, dropping the rat in a twitching heap, but more poured out of the walls, swarming us like they had nowhere else to be.
Mahya and Rue shifted back, and Mahya called out, “Too many!”
We retreated toward the cave entrance, Al slamming his shield down in front of us. “Behind me!” he barked, his shield catching the brunt of the next wave, claws and teeth scraping against it.
I cast my shield behind his, reinforcing our defense, while Al braced his shoulder against his shield to hold back the tide. With one hand holding my shield, I used the other to blast lightning at the rats. The arcs jumped from one rat to the next, so I stuck with it, frying them in clusters. Mahya had pulled out her rifle and was firing nonstop. Rue and Al sent wind blades cutting through the swarm, taking down rats left and right.
But the rats just kept slamming into Al’s shield, their claws screeching as they piled on. “I can’t hold them off forever!” he grunted, his legs straining to keep his stance.
“Move!” I yelled, charging up a massive bolt of lightning. The energy crackled through the tunnel, frying a whole cluster of rats and buying us a moment to breathe. But then another wave burst out of the holes in the cave walls, and the battle was back on. This went on for over an hour. Every time their numbers dwindled, I dropped my shield to conserve mana. Then, when a fresh wave came, I’d throw it back up. With each minute that passed, I appreciated the Mana Siphon ability more. I should’ve run out of mana ages ago, but I was still going. My mana dipped dangerously low a few times, but it always bounced back just in time.
A few times, the rats blocked the area directly in front of our tunnel, giving us a bit of a breather. Al took the chance to catch his breath, shaking out his hand from the strain of holding the shield. When we were ready, all of us cast the harvesting spell to clear the passage. Eventually, after what felt like forever, the rats stopped coming.
We collected the crystals and slumped down in the tunnel, catching our breath. It hadn’t been dangerous, exactly—just mentally exhausting and mana-draining. Once we’d recuperated, we headed deeper into the dungeon. I braced for more caves like the last one, expecting more waves of rats, but I was wrong. We passed through plenty of caves, but no more rats.
“Looks like all the rats in the dungeon threw themselves at us in that first cave,” Mahya said, her tone a mix of relief and exhaustion.
“Good,” Al said with a grunt. “Less work for us.”
Finally, we reached the core room—and a giant rat. It didn’t stand a chance. Between lightning, bullets, and wind blades, we obliterated it in under five minutes.
We all touched the core.
Pouch of Rat Fur
A small pouch crafted from enchanted rat fur that grants a brief boost to stealth abilities. Ideal for sneaking past lesser creatures undetected for a few minutes.
It was so bad that I actually would’ve preferred gold. Mahya and Al looked just as disappointed, and Rue summed it up perfectly with, “Stupid, stinky, useless rats.” That pretty much nailed how we all felt.
“If it’s all the same to you,” I said, “I’d rather not dig around for anything else to harvest here. I don’t want to breathe this rat-infested air one more second.”
Thankfully, they didn’t argue. Mahya grabbed the core, and the dungeon spit us back out. That first breath of fresh air? It was like a glass of the finest wine, the scent of fresh snow, and the world’s best perfume—right until I caught a whiff of us. I shuddered. Three Clean spells later, we were no longer gag-inducing, but I still needed a long, scalding bath to feel truly clean.
I hate rats!
≿━━━━༺❀༻━━━━≾
After two days of rest, we dove into the next dungeon. The Portal of Doom dropped us into a massive arena—an ancient coliseum with towering stone walls surrounding us. The air felt thick, the stench of old blood and stone lingering heavily around us. Above, the sky had an eerie, unnatural glow that immediately put me on edge. This dungeon was different. There were no tunnels to navigate, no hidden passages. Just us, standing dead center in a sealed arena, completely enclosed with nowhere to go except back out through the portal of doom.
I glanced at Mahya—rifle steady, eyes already scanning the arena. Al stood beside her, fingers tapping his leg. Rue paced in front of me, his fur bristling, ears flicking with every distant sound.
“I don’t like this,” Al muttered, his voice tight.
The ground trembled, and a low, guttural growl echoed off the stone walls. Here we go.
A wave of monsters crawled out of the shadows—dozens of twisted, spider-crab hybrids, their jagged bodies low to the ground and covered in chitin. Their many legs moved in a rapid, unsettling rhythm, pincers snapping in eerie anticipation.
“Spiders,” Mahya muttered. “Just great.”
“They are fast,” Al warned, stepping back slightly, shield ready.
The creatures swarmed, skittering toward us with alarming speed. I raised my hand, casting a shield just in time to block the first few that lunged at us, their pincers clashing against the barrier. Mahya fired her rifle, her bullets slicing through the air and punching into the creatures, but a few shots just bounced off their tough armor.
“They’re not all going down!” she shouted, frustration creeping into her voice as more monsters closed in.
I shot a bolt of lightning, crackling from my hand and arcing through the front lines of the swarm. Electricity surged through the group, frying several at once. “Just don’t let them swarm you,” I called out, sending another blast of wind blades into the mass.
Mahya switched to her sword, the rifle no longer piercing their tough shells. She darted forward with incredible agility, leaping high over one creature and coming down with a mighty swing, cleaving it in two. For each one she brought down, more took its place.
Rue lunged, jaws snapping shut on one creature, crushing it with ease.
“They’re manageable,” I said, casting another bolt of lightning that ricocheted through their ranks. “But they’re overwhelming in numbers.”
The first wave fell quickly, their bodies littering the ground. The brief silence that followed didn’t last long. We harvested about half of them when the ground trembled again. This time, hulking figures emerged—gorilla-like creatures with stone-like scales. Their massive claws scraped the ground as they charged.
“Those things could tear us apart,” Al muttered, gripping his sword.
“And they probably will if we’re not smart about this,” Mahya said. “Focus on one at a time!”
The creatures slammed their fists into the ground, sending shockwaves rippling through the arena. I staggered, barely keeping my balance. Rue darted around their legs, snapping at their ankles but struggling to bring them down.
Mahya, already mid-air, soared over the first creature’s head, slashing at its neck. The sword barely left a scratch. “Blades aren’t cutting it!” she called back, jumping away as it swung a massive arm at her.
“Al, aim for the joints!” I shouted as I cast another round of wind blades, targeting the creature’s knees. The wind cut through the weak spot, and the beast stumbled.
Rue charged in, his jaws latching onto the creature’s throat, holding it still as I gathered my mana. I shot a bolt of lightning at its flank, the energy crackling through its body. With Rue’s last bite, the monster crashed to the ground. The biggest blessing in this specific battle was their speed, or more precisely, its absence. It took us longer to finish them, and we had to jump or run back several times, but finally, the gorilla brutes were down. Sadly, my mana was also low.
We didn’t even have time to harvest crystals when the ground shook again. Massive, spiked creatures, twice the size of the last, lumbered into view, each step sending tremors through the stone floor.
“This is getting ridiculous,” I grumbled, wiping sweat from my brow. “How do we stop these?”
“We slow them down,” Mahya replied. One beast swung its arm, sending a boulder crashing toward us.
“Move!” I shouted, throwing up a shield to deflect it just in time. The boulder smashed into the arena wall instead of us.
Mahya was already on the move, sword in hand, as she blasted wind blades at the creature’s legs. Al’s shots followed, aimed precisely at their joints. The combination of attacks caused the creature to stumble.
I cast the shield to slow their advance, giving us enough time to press the attack. Mahya leaped high again, her sword flashing as she came down, carving through its weakened joint. With a final push, we brought the beast down, its body slamming into the ground with a deafening crash. We worked as a group to bring the monsters one by one, and my mana was full again, so I could return to using lightning. This time, we had time to convert them to crystals and store them. It was annoying that the previous wave had already dissipated.
The fourth wave was different. Smaller, faster creatures darted in and out, their movements too quick to pin down. Behind them, the larger ones advanced, more coordinated this time.
“They’re working together,” Mahya said, her tone tense. “Take out the small ones first!”
The smaller creatures were relentless, darting between our attacks while the larger beasts pushed closer. Mahya moved like a blur, slicing through as many as she could, but they were too fast.
“They’re getting through!” Al called out, struggling to keep up with the swarm.
I unleashed a massive blast of lightning, frying several of the smaller creatures, but the larger ones kept coming, more dangerous with every step. When we finished with the small ones, we used the same strategy to work on the big monsters.
With a final effort, we defeated the wave, but the toll was heavy. We endured the wave, but it left us battered, low on mana, and exhausted.
The last wave emerged from the shadows, glowing faintly with eerie light. These creatures weren’t just strong—they were casting spells.
One of them raised a clawed hand, and a blast of fire shot toward us. I barely threw up a shield in time, the flames crashing against it, heat licking at the edges.
“They’re casting magic now?” I asked. “This is ridiculous.”
The creatures unleashed a barrage of magic—fire, ice, lightning—overwhelming us as I scrambled to deflect their attacks. Mahya parried an ice blast with her sword, but the creatures were relentless. In a window between attacks, Mahya tore a Lightning Rod scroll that captured the lightning. I used it to charge and tear a Frostbite scroll, cooling the fire-casting menaces. That slowed the attacks and gave us opportunities to retaliate. My lightning was useless against the lightning casters, but worked on the ice casters. Red Lightning worked better, but cost more mana. Wind Blades worked occasionally—if they hit, that is.
Mahya and Rue darted around or jumped, in her case, hitting the monsters from behind. My job was primarily shields to stop sure hits and occasional scrolls to give us a breather. Al stopped attacks with his shield and cut them down when he could. Al’s strikes were precise, but even he struggled to keep pace with the magical onslaught. Rue darted in and out, dodging spells while crushing limbs with his jaws. But for every one we took down, another spell flew our way.
Channeling a considerable amount of mana, I cast a whirlwind of red lightning and wind; the storm swirling through the battlefield. The creatures shrieked and disintegrated in the storm’s fury.
When the dust settled, the last creature collapsed, its magic fading away. The arena fell silent, leaving me panting and spent. It took me a few minutes to realize that I had weaved two spells together: red lighting and wind vortex. Thinking about it, I still had no idea how to do it consciously, not under pressure, but it gave me hope.
The arena floor opened, and I sprang to my feet, ready for another onslaught, but it wasn’t monsters. The core rose from the opening, hovering about a meter off the ground.
We touched it and got scrolls.
Blazing Orb
Summon a fiery sphere and launch it toward a target, causing an explosive burst on impact. The flames can melt basic defenses, making it ideal for groups or single targets. Use with caution—the blast affects everyone nearby.
“Finally, something good!” I exclaimed.
Mahya patted my back, laughing, but I had no clue what was so funny.
≿━━━━༺❀༻━━━━≾
We were sure the last dungeon in this zone would have the hornless rhinos. Our previous method worked so well that we planned to stick with it. I handed Al and Mahya a large supply of bolts from the quill-bears, and we hoped the dungeon would allow us to fly, instead of forcing us into a ground fight.
As we crossed through the portal of doom, we smiled. An extensive grassland with occasional low hills stretched out in front of us. This dungeon smelled good for a change—fresh air, flowers, and open nature. I took a deep breath, enjoying the welcome change.
In the distance, we spotted herds of rhinos—at least four, each with over twenty monsters.
“Well, let’s get to work,” Mahya said.
She climbed onto my back, while Al jumped on Rue. We turned invisible and lifted into the air. My job was to charge the scrolls and give the rhinos a fiery haircut. Al charged Rue’s scrolls, and Rue tore them with telekinesis. Mahya and Al shot them with bolts.
It took nearly five hours to clear the dungeon, and it was by far the easiest one yet. Our method worked like a charm.
The last rhino was three times the size of the others, but apart from that, it wasn’t much different. Two scrolls to singe off its fur, and a lot more bolts to bring it down. Other than that, nothing stood out.
After the cleanup, we rested in the dungeon. The atmosphere was peaceful. It wasn’t sunny, but the air was perfect—not too hot or cold. Grass, flowers, scattered trees, and even a small lake made it a pleasant spot to stay.
We spent three days there. At night, it just got dark—no moon, no stars, but nothing else changed. Two new rhinos would materialize every day, but I flew over and dealt with them easily. Al spent his time picking flowers and leaves while Rue ran around and rolled in the grass occasionally. Mahya worked on the jet ski, prepping it for the core, and I barbecued, read for fun, and rested both mentally and physically.
After three days, we touched the core and received ten gold coins. I wasn’t even a disappointment—the dungeon rewarded us in other ways. My core absorbed everything, Mahya stored the new core, and it dumped us back in the center of town.
I wished all dungeon runs would be like this.
Comments
TravelingDreamer
Thank you
barak zabari
I like the way that you push the dives together; it conveys the feeling of grind.
Angela Roberts
They're getting lots of practice which I'm sure will pay off in the future.
