ShanDeRad
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Chapter 30
🕑 Added 2024-04-20 17:59:57 +0000 UTCStanding in front of the cave entrance the next morning, Shaun had done the last of his preparations, he had attached the new and improved arrow heads to his braces and vest through the use of more salamander skin and practised moving them around from their resting places on his body. The moment he woke up he knew he was going to go into the cave, if for nothing else because his curiosity had gotten the better of him and the idea that if it was a dungeon then not going in now, not knowing how long each one would take to complete, was idiotic.
Failing the objective of completing three dungeons was not an option, he couldn’t stand the idea of entering the new world as nothing but one of the strongest people around, if only so he could find a place of his own, away from everyone else, where he would have no need to rely on anyone but himself.
Taking his first steps into the cave was terrifying, he thought that at any second he would be whisked away into a dungeon and given no warning as to where or what he should expect, but that wasn’t the case. He was about three quarters of the way through the cave when the unexpected happened and he was greeted by a prompt that actually gave him options.
*Welcome to the Heart of Fire Dungeon*
The dungeon, born in the heart of a volcano, will test whether you can survive the heat and flame of one of the base elements of the world.
Recommended that a full party of five enter at a minimum level of 20, once entered there will be no exit unless the boss is killed and the dungeon completed.
Award depends on performance within the dungeon.
One participant located, would you like to enter the dungeon?
He was given a choice as to whether he entered or not, it even gave him a good idea of what level he should be and that it was recommended for a full party of five. It also said that he would get a reward on completion and it would depend on his performance which was interesting. He was only level 15 right now and he was alone, the chances were that if he entered he wouldn’t make it out, still he had made his choice and decided to enter the dungeon regardless, he accepted the prompt and without much warning felt like the world around him simply shifted and he appeared within the actual dungeon from the entrance he was just moments ago standing in front of.
When he looked around what he saw shocked him, he was in a cave that connected straight into an underground cavern again, he really couldn’t avoid being underground since beginning in the tutorial, but instead of dark caves what he saw was lava pools around him, some even had lava flowing down the walls and into them, it provided light that made it easy for him to see but the heat also bore down on him, it was hotter than he could have ever imagined.
Sweat started to immediately coat his body, making his palms slick and the hair start to stick to his face, thankful that he had stocked up on so much water he immediately took out one of the sacks, had a long drink, knowing staying hydrated in here was going to be crucial and poured a little onto his head to slick back his hair cool himself down a little.
Turning his attention back to the cavern in front of him, he could see monsters spread out in front of him, using his echo to get a better count, he found 6 dispersed around the lava pools with one massive lava pool in the middle, moving forward to get a better look and identify them, he knew he was in over his head.
*Lava Lizard – Level 19*
Level 19 was the strongest level monster Shaun had ever seen, he didn’t care about the fact that they were lizards, in fact he welcomed that as he had experience fighting them, but the more he watched he saw one go from lazing around a lava pool to taking a dig in the lava itself, like it was taking a bath.
Expecting it to go up in flames and die, it was lava so there should be no way that it could survive that amount of heat, instead it was completely unharmed, it even looked to be rejuvenated from its little swim.
If he was fighting them one on one he might have a good chance to come out the victor, but with all six of the monsters being that strong and all in an enclosed area like the cavern there was little hope. This is why it recommends 5 participants. You would be able to split them up and if you were at level 20 they wouldn’t be as much of a problem to fight. But he was 4 levels under them and alone, the odds were against him but what was new. He couldn’t go back now.
Rather than charge in wildly Shaun started testing out a plan. The first thing he did was test his stealth skill, it was darker than the forest and he found it much easier to become one with the shadows around him, not as easy as the caves in stage 1 but he was still confident of being able to move unseen. He then tested moving into the cavern, walking around to get a better gage of the surroundings and to see if there was anything he could use to his advantage, there was some large rocks that he could easily hide behind and soon he had marked out different ways to move through the cavern, going between rocks and his original cave until he had a route to where each of the lizards were.
He had managed to do this all without the monsters being alerted to his presence which gave him a boost in his confidence. When he was back at his starting point he made his decision that he would wage guerilla warfare on them, he wouldn’t go for the closest monster but rather one that was towards the outer edge and would give him a clear line back to his little cave. He would attack, see what kind of damage he could do then retreat. More than anything he needed to know what they were capable of.
Moving closer to his target he found that they were not as big as he had thought, still larger than any lizard should be, but only seemed to reach his waist if they were standing up on all feat next to him. The first thing he wanted to test was how much damage one of his little arrow heads could do, he hadn’t tested these out in battle yet and wanted to know if they were going to be as effective as he thought. The thing that made Shaun doubt his plan though was that he didn’t know how strong the Lizards skin would be, it could be that they were only resistant to heat and flame or it could be that their skin was like the salamander skin that he had infused with Earth making them resistant to bladed attacks.
Once he was in position he used his echo ability again, making sure he could account for all six of the monsters and that none were moving in closer to his position. Relieved that none had made any signs of moving, he started to prepare for his attack, from his current position crouched behind a rock he could see around both sides if he leaned around a little and if he stood a little higher he could see above the top. Moving around to the side closest to where his retreat point was he readied one of his arrow heads and sent it flying.
At the angle the lizard was at he didn’t have a clear shot at its head but he was able to aim for the bulk of its body. When the arrow head reached the lizard he saw it sink deep enough that he could no longer see it, which was a good sign as it meant they could be weakened and killed using his blades. The bad news was that as soon as the lizard was hurt it stood up and hissed, loud enough for all the other lizards to hear and they all came rushing over in an instant.
Shaun didn’t attack again and instead hid behind the rock, continuously tracking the lizards throughout the cavern seeing if they would move closer to his position. He had gotten lucky as when they all congregated together they didn’t seem to do anything but look around the immediate area of the lizard he had attacked. They soon gave up when they failed to find anything and all went back to their original lava pools. The lizard that Shaun had attacked went and submerged itself in the lava, figuring this was a defensive mechanism he just waited for it to emerge from the pool, and when it did he would continue his attack and this time with a lot more fire power.
When the lizard did appear again it seemed like it wasn’t even bothered with the arrow head in its body, and on closer inspection it didn’t even look like it was hurt anymore. They regenerate and heal when they go into the lava? That changes everything. Shaun thought to himself. It would mean that he would need to take more risks in his attacks, as if he left one alive to retreat it would just heal in the lava and come back out unharmed, costing him his arrow heads and daggers.
He now only had 5 arrow heads left and that wouldn’t be enough to kill one of these things, thinking over his options he could use the rest of what he had as well as a dagger or two to see how he went or he could retreat and craft for a day or two until he was out of metal and had a stock of weapons. He really didn’t want to delay his progress in here as he was on a time limit, not in the dungeon itself but in completing the objectives.
Readying himself, he got back into the same position as before but this time put all but one of his arrow heads on the ground in front of him. He was going to use every single one of them as quickly as he could, but before he started with his attack he prepared an Empowered Strike skill on the dagger in his hand, which he would use for the final attack, and if that didn’t work he would need to go back and revise his plan.
Once he had used half of his mana powering the dagger he stopped and returned to connecting with each of the arrow heads on the ground. It was a strain on his mental energy but his stats were higher since he started levelling his profession so he was able to stretch his Willpower and Intelligence a lot more than he used to be able to.
Without delaying any longer he sent the first arrow head flying, quickly followed by the second. He waited a moment to see how the lizard would react, and like last time, called for help and started searching for its attacker. Shaun then sent the last two flying at the opposite side of the lizard's body to where the first two hit, wanting to spread out damage in the hopes that it would be weakened further.
By the time he was done the five other lizards had reached the one he had been attacking, moving quicker than last time, sensing the distress of their fellow monster. Rather than delay any longer he took control of his empowered dagger and sent it straight towards the injured lizard, like the time he had done this with the jaguar the ending result sent a wave of dispelled energy from where the dagger hit the lizard, blowing back all of the other monsters surrounding it. Shaun was still behind his rock so he only felt a small amount of the blast, but even to him it had an impact, it didn't move him but he felt it run through his body. He had put more mana and affinity into this attack than he had the jaguar, assuming that because the lizard was a higher level it would need more power behind it.
The result was better than expected and Shaun was pretty certain that the lizard he had been attacking was dead but the blast knocking all the other monsters back had an adverse impact on his overall plan. They no longer went back to their own lava pools but had been whipped up into a frenzy, not just looking around the area they were in but now started searching everywhere in the cavern.
One was getting pretty close to where Shaun was hiding and he had barely any mana left, so fighting wasn’t a real option with this one. Instead of staying in place, knowing that now that the lizards were actively searching for him and his stealth wouldn’t hold up to so much scrutiny, he went on the retreat. He had made it half way back to the cave before he was discovered by the lizard, rather than running he went in for the attack, not to kill, as he didn’t think he could win without using his mana, but to hopefully cause enough pain that it would get distracted for a moment to give him time to escape.
Using his sword he rushed right towards its face and he swung out with all of his strength, he didn’t make it in time to stop its hiss to the other monsters but he did manage to do enough damage that it was momentarily stunned afterwards. Using his last arrow head he shot this straight into the lizard's eye before turning and running to the next rock on his way to the cave.
He had used the last of his arrow heads but they had done what they needed to do and he had successfully made it to the rock without any of the monsters following him. He continued on quickly until he reached the safety of his cave and then waited. The lizards searched for a while but didn’t come close to where he was, thankfully after about 15 minutes they all retreated back to their lava pools, including the one he had hurt in his escape. It didn’t die and instead recovered in the lava until it was as good as new, Shaun had also not gotten any levels out of the fight.
*You have defeated a (Lava Lizard – Lvl 19). Bonus experience for killing an opponent above your level gained. 190 TE awarded*
When Shaun felt it was safe enough he went back to the body of the lizard he had killed, much slower than he could have but without all of his mana and lacking weapons he didn’t want to risk himself getting into another fight.
He needed his dagger back, and he hoped if he looted the body that the arrowheads would be returned to him. When he did get close enough he sneaked right up to its body and retrieved his dagger, he went back as far as he could from the body so that he would still be able to loot it and then accepted the prompt. Shaun assumed that the black smoke would alert the other lizards but they didn’t even seem to care, now that it was dead it was like they had completely forgotten about its existence.
*Skin from (Lava Lizard – Lvl 19) added to inventory*
*Claws from (Lava Lizard – Lvl 19) added to inventory*
Pretty standard loot, but very disappointing that he didn’t get any of his weapons back from its body. It now meant that he would have to spend time crafting more to use in the fights. Deciding that he would make enough for two fights at a time and then follow up with fighting at the end so that he always had a surplus available to him. He doubted that this was the only part of the dungeon, instead it was really just the beginning as he could see the exit on the other side of the cavern. He could sneak past them but that would be a waste of good experience and leaving monsters to his back could go wrong very easily. He now had a plan to take care of all the lizards and all he had to do was dedicate time to doing it, something that he was conscious that he didn’t have a lot of, but he didn’t have a choice, he got started.
