"Aaahhhh!"
"My leg! My leg, it hurts so much!" Boj screamed in agony. The stone slab had crushed his right leg completely. He was totally stuck and could not even move an inch.
Dustin and everyone else ran toward him immediately. Dustin dodged two more stone slabs that were falling from the ceiling.
'What the hell is going on?' Dustin thought. 'What are all these earthquakes for? Is the new event starting right now?'
They quickly reached Boj and shielded him from the falling rocks until the violent shaking finally stopped.
"Arghhh!" Boj cried out again.
Dustin and Mark quickly lifted the huge stone that was pinning Boj's leg and threw it aside with a heavy thud. Boj was still screaming in pain.
"Quickly, everyone take out all your healing potions," Gareth commanded. He took a healing potion from his supply carrier, popped the cork, and helped Boj drink it.
Even after drinking the whole bottle, there was not much of an effect. Boj was still in agonizing pain.
"Let us give him more," Arina said. She helped Boj drink another bottle, but the effect was still incredibly mild.
"More."
"More."
"More."
Arina kept feeding the healing potions to Boj. After her supply ended, she took bottles from Gareth, then from Mark, and finally from Dustin. The effect of each bottle was very small and the recovery was painfully slow.
Finally, after drinking all seventeen bottles of healing potions that were available to the entire group, everyone let out a deep sigh of relief. The leg that had been completely crushed was finally restored to normal. Blood and torn flesh magically knitted back together.
"Should I buy more potions from the shop?" Dustin asked while opening his system section.
"No need," Boj said as he stood up with great difficulty. "I am fine. The potions will not work anymore due to an overdose, or at least that is what the system is telling me."
"But you can't still walk," Mark said worriedly.
"So there is a thing like an overdose," Dustin pondered. "What does it say exactly?"
"It says I have taken too many healing potions at once. Due to the over dosage, they will not work on me for the next three days. If I still take them, it might cause severe side effects."
"Since Boj was severely injured, let us just get out of here and leave this dungeon," Gareth said while pointing upward.
"But how?" Arina asked. "We have not cleared it, so how can we leave?"
"Oh," Dustin said. He looked at the massive hole in the ceiling where the stones had just fallen from. It opened up into a dark shaft.
"But how will Boj climb up there?" Arina asked.
"You guys just wait here. I have a way," Gareth said. He started climbing toward the ceiling by using the fallen stones as steps.
After just a few minutes, Gareth reached the top of a long rock that looked like a broken pillar. It was very close to the top hole. Gareth jumped from that pillar toward the opening and reached out his hands to catch the rocky ledge.
Buzz.
Just as Gareth touched the stone near the hole, an invisible shield stopped his hand. It burned his skin and let out a loud buzzing sound.
Gareth fell backward. He quickly used his magic to slow his descent and landed safely on the ground. He drank a healing potion to fix his burned hand.
"Are you okay?" Mark asked.
"I am fine," Gareth replied. "It seems we really cannot get out of here unless we complete the tasks."
"But Boj can barely walk, so how is he going to fight?" Mark said while helping Boj stay balanced. "We cannot just leave him here. It is much more dangerous."
"I totally agree, but we must get out of here before anyone else gets injured," Arina added. "Who knows how many times that earthquake is going to happen again. Do not forget we have a time limit of twenty-four hours to complete this dungeon. We do not even know what will happen if we fail to do so."
Everyone fell into a deep predicament. The current situation was not very good. They had less than half the time remaining to complete the dungeon task. If they failed, they could not leave the dungeon. Who knew what terrible penalty awaited them then?
If they went forward to kill the other two bosses, there were two massive problems. Firstly, it was very hard to find them. Just finding the first boss took them nearly twelve hours, which was half of their total time. Secondly, Boj was injured and could not fight effectively.
Should they just leave him behind? If not, what should they do? These questions appeared in everyone's mind and troubled them deeply. Even though they had not known each other for many days, fighting, resting, and talking together had formed a strong bond between them. Leaving a team member behind just because he was injured would cause serious discord among the rest.
"Mark, can you protect both yourself as well as Boj on your own?" Gareth asked. He had finally made a decision as the leader of the group.
"Yes, sir," Mark replied in a confident tone. "Just leave Boj's safety to me."
Boj looked slightly sad and disappointed. He did not think they would actually leave him behind like a burden. He knew he could not do anything useful in a boss fight, but he still stayed quiet. He also wanted to live, and nobody wants to just die in a dark cave. He could not help but look downward toward the ground as his eyes filled with tears.
Dustin saw Boj's expression but did not say anything.
"Let us go then," Gareth said. He moved ahead into the tunnel. "Everyone be extra careful from here on out."
After wandering in the dungeon for another few hours, the group came into a huge room. It looked somewhat similar to the one where they had fought the snake.
In one of the corners, there was a massive nest made from dried grass, thick branches, and crushed bones. Two giant goats were sitting right in the middle of it.
One of the goats was completely white in color. Its fur, its eyes, and its horns were all pure white. The other goat was completely pitch black. Each goat was over ten meters tall.
DING.
[ Dungeon Bosses Found (3/3) ]
[ Paired Mountain Goats ]
[ Level 51 (White) ]
[ Level 53 (Black) ]
[ Description: Paired Mountain Goats mostly live in pairs consisting of a male and a female. They are highly aggressive. If anything interrupts them during their personal resting time, they attack without any second thought. The white goat possesses ice-related powers and can shoot ice shards and frost from its mouth. The black goat relies on raw physical strength and loves close combat. ]
[ Loot: Goat Horns (Can be used as alchemy ingredients and act as a high-grade catalyst in any type of alchemy). ]
"Mark, take Boj out of the room and do not come in," Arina instructed.
The massive black goat suddenly roared and charged toward them.
Everyone scattered to take their fighting positions. Gareth used his magic to summon thick black vines. He grabbed one of the black goat's heavy legs and pulled hard to make it fall. The beast did not even stumble. In fact, the goat just flinched its leg and threw Gareth sideways across the room.
Arina charged directly toward the white goat. It was slightly weaker than the other one and preferred to fight from afar. She dodged most of the sharp ice shards that the goat shot from its mouth. She used her sword to block the few shards she could not dodge.
Dustin was also running toward the white goat from the other side. He activated his Silent Steps skill to mask his approach. He also thought taking out the white one was a bit easier and more efficient since it attacked from a distance and was slightly weaker.
DING.
[ Physical Strength: 63 ]
[ Vitality: 49 ]
[ Agility: 70 ]
[ Stamina: 56 ]
[ Endurance: 48 ]
[ Perception: 50 (maxed out) ]
[ Wisdom: 15 ]
[ Intelligence: 26 ]
Dustin used his remaining nine bonus points as he ran. He put five points into his physical strength, three into agility, and one into stamina.
Just as Dustin neared the white goat, he saw the black goat turn around and start running toward Arina from behind.
Instead of shouting, which would alarm the white goat of his hidden position, Dustin threw one of his daggers with full strength directly at the black goat.
Swoosh.
The dagger flew at a very high speed and left a faint red trail behind it. It hit the thick stomach of the black goat near its left front leg.
Even though the dagger struck with very high speed, it only made a slightly big injury. This sudden pain made the black goat even more angry.
"Damn it!" Dustin cursed inwardly. He ran even faster now. Arina was totally cornered from both sides.
Even though she was dodging the icy attacks of the white goat, the giant black beast was nearing her very quickly.
Just as the black goat lowered its horns to hit Arina, Dustin stepped directly into its path. He used his full physical strength to hold the beast back while Arina was busy blocking the ice shards.
But how could Dustin possibly block a charging giant? The black goat simply threw Dustin sideways into the dirt and moved toward Arina once again.
Suddenly, a thick black vine wrapped around the beast's neck like a collar and pulled it backward. Dustin quickly scrambled to his feet and grabbed the vine as well. He and Gareth both used their full strength to hold the black goat back. The monster was incredibly strong and dragged them forward.
While Dustin was holding the vine tight, Gareth prepared another powerful spell.
Fire Bird!
A tiny bird made of flame shot out from his hands at lightning speed. It was roughly the size of a teenager's pinky finger. It moved so fast that the black goat only saw something shining for a split second. In the very next moment, the fire bird hit its left eye and exploded.
Sizzle.
The black goat fell onto the ground and let out a terrifying cry of pain.
Dustin left the black vine and ran toward the white goat using his Silent Steps. This was a perfect time to take care of the ice user while the other beast was stunned.
Arina was still fiercely defending against the freezing attacks. She could not find any safe chance to strike back.
Dustin crept near the white goat and used his remaining dagger to make many small and big cuts across the goat's back legs. This sudden damage distracted the white goat and finally gave Arina a chance to attack as well.
Both Dustin and Arina started attacking the white goat from different directions with perfect coordination. The white goat quickly fell into a passive and defensive spot.
On the other side of the room, the black goat had stood back up. It was furious and fighting wildly with Gareth. Even though the black goat was blinded in one eye and heavily injured, it still held the upper hand. It did not give Gareth any time to cast another powerful spell. It just kept attacking without stopping.
After a few rounds of fighting, the black goat kicked Gareth squarely in the chest. Gareth went flying through the air and hit a solid stone pillar. He slumped to the ground and could not move anymore.
The black goat immediately charged toward Dustin and Arina. Arina and Dustin had the upper hand on the white goat, but after seeing Gareth fall, their morale started fluttering.
Due to this sudden distraction, Arina got hit directly by an ice shard. Her entire right leg froze solid. She could not move from her spot anymore.
Dustin did not see Arina get frozen as he bravely charged toward the incoming black goat. He had already used healing potions to recover his damage from before. He barely stopped the black goat's head-on charge, but he noticed the beast was slowing down. The poison on his dagger had finally started working.
He had taken a few bottles of common poison from Gareth earlier. Since Gareth was already above Level 30, he had access to the Veteran Shop Section and could buy much better goods than the Starter Shop offered.
Because of the intense fight with Gareth and the potent poison in its veins, the black goat had already lost most of its terrifying strength.
Swoosh.
A crimson red light shot through the cavern at an extremely fast speed. Just as the white goat was preparing to crush the frozen Arina, the crimson red light hit the white goat's head and pierced its skull.
But even after taking that deadly hit, the beast did not die instantly. It fell heavily onto the ground, but it still prepared one final, desperate attack. A powerful white globe of freezing energy formed in its mouth. The beast slowly turned its head to aim the blast right at Dustin.
Swoosh.
Another crimson red light flew through the air at extremely high speed. It hit the black goat directly in its leg, dropping the beast to its knees.
'It must be Boj,' both Dustin and Arina thought. They thanked the archer inwardly.
It turned out that a few minutes earlier, after seeing the team losing the battle from the hallway, Boj could not help but curse his own weakness. He had asked Mark to go into the room and help them, but Mark refused to move. Mark insisted that his only duty was to protect Boj.
After thinking frantically for a while, Boj came up with an idea. He borrowed all of the remaining points from Mark and bought a brand new archery skill from the shop section. He also upgraded that skill to Level 3 immediately and used it to shoot those powerful crimson arrows from the corridor to help Dustin and Arina.
Just as the dying white goat was about to shoot its freezing blast at Dustin, Arina swung her sword and struck its jaw. The heavy hit forced the white goat's head to jerk sideways. The attack misfired and narrowly missed hitting Dustin.
Crash.
The huge globe of freezing energy hit the wall of the cavern instead. The entire section of the tunnel instantly flash-froze into solid ice.
Arina kept attacking fiercely and finally killed the white goat. Just as the beast died, the magical frost on her leg melted away. Her leg became free to move once again.
Dustin used his poisoned dagger to cut the black goat's face from every direction after it fell to its knees.
After a brutal barrage of fast attacks, Dustin finally managed to kill it.
DING.
[ Dungeon Task Completed ]
[ Congratulations, you have defeated all Dungeon Bosses (3/3) ]
[ Rewards: 3500 points + Experience based on performance ]
The screen popped up in everyone's vision.
Everyone got their levels up from the massive experience payout. Dustin got his level increased by four levels because he had dealt most of the fatal damage, mostly due to the potent poison. Both Arina and Gareth got one level each.
Arina walked over, cut off the valuable horns, and put them into her supplies carrier as loot.
DING.
DING.
[ Physical Strength: 69 ]
[ Vitality: 56 ]
[ Agility: 75 ]
[ Stamina: 59 ]
[ Endurance: 52 ]
[ Perception: 50 (maxed out) ]
[ Wisdom: 15 ]
[ Intelligence: 28 ]
[ Bonus stat points: 12 ]
Dustin looked at his new stats and nodded at the massive increases. He then moved to the other screen that was flashing in his vision.
[ You have reached Level 22 and your Perception skill has maxed out. You have two options. Choose carefully, as this cannot be changed afterward. ]
[ Option 1: Upgrade to Advanced Perception. This will allow your current perception bubble to become more advanced and make it much harder for enemies to sneak up on you. This skill can be upgraded further. (Cost: 3500 points) ]
[ Option 2: Evolve to Super Sense. This new skill allows the user to greatly elevate senses naturally. This skill can also be upgraded afterward. (Cost: 4000 points) ]
Dustin thought for a moment and chose Super Sense without hesitation. He already had plenty of points from the recent boss kills. He chose it because the perception bubble only helped him sense things within a specific range. It was a good radar, but that was the only thing it could do. Evolving his actual senses like vision, smell, and hearing was clearly a much better choice for overall survival.
Gareth had finally healed himself to some extent. He used all his remaining strength to barely stand up from the floor.
"Let us get back to the camp and heal ourselves properly with the help of the healers," Gareth said while holding his bruised chest.
"Yeah, let us go. And thank you," Arina said to Dustin. She started moving toward the outer tunnel gate.
"What? Thanks for what?" Dustin asked. He did not say anything else and simply started walking with the other two.
After they walked down the corridor and reached the outer gate, they stopped dead in their tracks. They could not find Boj or Mark anywhere. All they saw was a huge pile of tunnel rubble completely frozen into a massive block of ice.
At that exact moment, the horrifying reality hit both Arina and Dustin. That final freezing blast from the dying white goat was not meant for Dustin at all. It was aimed blindly down the hallway.
Boj and Mark had died, crushed and frozen inside the rubble.
Dustin clenched his fist very tightly. The expressions on all three of their faces became totally solemn. They had not been together for very much time, but they had genuinely become good friends in the fires of combat.
Just as Gareth opened his mouth to say something, the earth suddenly started shaking heavily once again.
Rumble. Rumble.
All of them grabbed the walls to take cover. The terrifying earthquake lasted a long time. After twenty minutes, the violent shaking finally stopped.
DING.
[ The merge of all 5 tutorial grounds has finally been completed. ]
[ The Special Event 'Choose A Cicada' will begin in 24 hours. ]
[ The preparation for the event will begin now. ]
"What—"
Just as they finished reading the message, all three of them vanished from the spot.