[DUNGEON DISCOVERED: Lost Abandoned Den]
Clear Condition: Eliminate all Giant Rats (0/100)
Time Limit: None
Exit Restriction: Cannot leave until clear condition is met
Rewards:
-Mystery Chest
-Random Rare-grade Equipment
-5 Free Mastery Points
Enter Dungeon? [Yes] [No]
…
Selecting yes, the world shifted around Yamamoto, and in an instant he was standing in a different space. It was still a cave, but this one felt more confined. This time the teleportation didn't feel particularly strange—had he adapted to it? Or this was just different? Who could really say?
Now that he was inside, and the place was somehow dark without much light, there was no way to tell when a rat would leap for an attack. He drew his sword first to be ready for anything, then began moving forward, carefully.
Just as he remembered it,, the cave system was almost like a maze, with branching tunnels and chambers scattered all around, most of them interconnected. Good thing was that he had the game map, so he wouldn't have to worry much about getting lost.
With the way the cave was set up however, it only meant the rats could come from any direction.
Not long after he began moving around, the first rat burst from the side tunnel close to him. From it, a giant rat the size of a medium sized dog jumped out, its eyes almost glowing red, with front teeth that were easily three inches long.
[Giant Rat Level 6]
Even though he knew the rats were fast, the speed it leapt at him was still surprising, but his agility was just enough. He sidestepped, and after avoiding it, his sword came around in a precise strike that caught the rat mid-leap, before it landed.
His blade easily bit through the thick hide, and the next moment, the rat fell to the ground, its body twitching for some seconds as its health depleted further until it died.
[Killed Giant Rat Level 6]
[+71 exp!]
[Giant Rat Left: 99/100]
'Alright, that wasn't too bad.'
Looking at the exp gained, it was also good, certainly because the monster was two levels above him. But his next level up should be close to the thousands in exp needed, so there was still a ways to go.
Slowly but surely, the dungeon turned into a nightmarish place, with rats attacking in groups from all places. After passing through the tunnel and coming into a chamber, it seemed to have triggered a wave attack. They came from above, from the sides, from behind, and their bites draining his HP steadily. Each bite inflicted a damage of 3 HP, and then his health would reduce by 3 HP every second for the next three seconds.
Luckily, his MAX HP was at 500, so instant death was impossible.
He fought the rats with a combination of skill and strategy, using his knowledge of their attack patterns to his advantage. He would have had much luck avoiding every attack, but knowing their attack patterns and actually executing them was different, and the major reason for that was the single fact that his visibility was very low. For those he could see, avoiding them was much easier, and for most of them, he brought them down in a single strike.
By the time he was done with the first chamber, he had killed around fifteen rats, and his HP had dropped down to 380. Yamamoto didn't panic though, he just retreated to a corner and pulled some bread from his inventory. It was a simple and hard meal to eat, but it restored his HP a good amount. He didn't want to touch the potions yet, saving them for dire times.
[Giant Rat Left: 84/100]
Instead of wandering around, Yamamoto just followed the route leading to the next chamber. In the tunnels he got attacked three times, and all three times it was an easy encounter with the level 4 giant rats. One-on-One, it was such an easy confrontation.
The moment he entered the second chamber, as though waiting for him, the rats swarmed him from all angles, easily twenty of them all at once!
Not even thinking too much about it, he took out a sticky bomb, throwing it in their midst. The explosion released a mass of adhesive goo that rooted the rats in place, at least most of them, since three managed to escape and rode on top the others, rushing towards him.
Yamamoto immediately followed up by tossing a Fire Bomb into the swarm. The explosion sent flames washing over the trapped rats, the continuous damage ticking away at their health bars while they couldn't escape.
The three that had escaped the Sticky Bomb charged at him, and within a few seconds, he took care of them without sustaining any damage.
In quick successions, the numbers and notifications poured in as the rats died:
[Killed Giant Rat Level 6]
[+71 exp!]
[Killed Giant Rat Level 5]
[+51 exp!]
[Killed Giant Rat Level 6]
[+71 exp!]
[Killed Giant Rat Level 4]
[+21 exp!]
[Killed Giant Rat Level 4]
[+21 exp!]
[Killed Giant Rat Level 4]
[+21 exp!]
[Killed Giant Rat Level 4]
[+21 exp!]
…
Eight rats burned to death before the adhesive wore off.
Surprisingly, Yamamoto found some rats to still be bound by a hardened adhesive that he theorized must have been the effect of the fire… a hidden effect that was never there, this was very good!
The remaining rats were now either weak from the burns, or weak and still trapped. He finished them all off with his sword, adjusting his plans on how else he may use the Sticky Bomb and Fire Bomb combo now.
…
His fight continued in similar fashion, and through out, he even had to use some HP and MP potions, until finally, he was faced with the final rat, as the metre read:
[Giant Rat Left: 1/100]
The final rat seemed to realize it was alone and backed away, squeaking frantically. Once agaon, Yamamoto could confirm that indeed, the monsters and beasts, no matter how dumb, had enough intelligence to advice themselves against powerful opponents.
Yamamoto didn't give it a chance to flee, though. He closed the distance in two strides and brought his sword down in a final, definitive strike.
[Giant Rat Left: 0/100]
Immediately, the clear message popped up:
[DUNGEON CLEARED: Lost Abandoned Den]
All enemies eliminated. Rewards granted.
You have gained 2000 EXP!
[LEVEL UP!] You are now Level 5!
[LEVEL UP!] You are now Level 6!
Rewards Received:
-Mystery Chest
-Rare-grade Equipment (Random)
-5 Free Mastery Points
…
"Finally…" He said to himself, heaving an exhausted sigh.
He didn't bother examining anything, he needed to get out of there rather than stay any longer. He couldn't risk further the possibility of running in Ludger.
This dungeon didn't give him a simple exit once cleared, he had to go back to the entrance. Once he was there, the exit restriction had lifted, so he passed through and came back outside, and to his surprise, while he expected the dungeon to disappear, instead, the black veil covering it lifted, and the dungeon was revealed to have become part of the normal cave… certainly a fascinating sight.
Yamamoto didn't have the luxury of marveling at it though, he made his way back quickly, bursting through the waterfall and back into the forest, making his way back to Salt Fish Town.
…
(A/N: Good day everyone, hope you're all doing well?
So quickly… Concerning things like showing exp for every kill, and little details as such, I had decided not to include them much, since the story won't be focusing much or relying on those small details—If you check you'll see there's no number for exp on the level display.
This decision is actually for two reasons:
-The first is that while being a god and nice aesthetic, it is not necessary for the story.
-The second and perhaps most important, is that this author, is bad with keeping track of numbers. Of course there is a factor of laziness to it, but more so because I honestly don't have the best memory in such things.
I am saying all this to say that, I will indeed try to include the little aesthetics that give the genre its unique feel, but in case you don't see it, please don't be disheartened and angry at this poor author… show kindness and mercy to understand my plight.
That aside, love you guys reading, and I hope to have and see you all the way to the book's end! Ciao!
-The End-)