10 Chapter 10: A-Ranked Dungeon

I stepped out of the green portal only to see a large cave with long stalagmites hanging from the ceiling. I ignored the closing portal in favor of summoning the Cloak of Serpopard and my two daggers. The Atlantean and Anubis Blades.

[ (!) NOTIFICATION ]

[ You cannot exit the dungeon. You must either defeat the dungeon Boss or use a Teleportation Stone. ]

It's dark. I looked around the pitch-black cave and let my eyes adjust to the darkness. It wasn't long before I could see everything around me. The rock walls stood a few feet from me. I turned down and saw the cracked floors underfoot. However, I couldn't see beyond twenty feet. I'm lucky I can see as well as I can. It must be my sense stat.

I marched forward and scanned my environment while keeping my head on a swivel. I was relying heavily on my hearing and smell as I walked. I slashed the air before me when I heard a soft whizzing sound head towards me. I looked down and saw a broken arrow on the floor. Archers. I dashed forward, and dozens of arrows flew towards me, intent on skewering me.

I moved from side to side and sliced any arrows that flew too close to me. Up ahead. I saw a small barricade made of scraps of wood and metal sheets. Behind those were several goblins dressed in armor. Three of them were knocking back arrows and shooting them at me. I dashed to the wall and began jumping back and forth toward the goblins like a pinball. The creatures were stunned by the movement and froze momentarily. That's when I finally reached their position and crashed into the center of their formation.

[ GOBLIN SOLDIERS ]

I ignored their silver titles and quickly slashed all ten goblins to pieces in a violent dance of blades and blood. When I was done, several mutilated green body parts and broken armor sat around the blood-covered floor. The goblins equipped with short swords never even had the chance to raise them in defiance.

"So weak." I looted their bodies and collected twelve goblin ears. I then saw an unlit torch leaning against the barrier. Once it was in my hand, I quickly swiped it across the floor and used the friction to light it on fire. With my new light source, I began heading deeper into the cave and saw several more goblin barricades.

More Goblins? How boring. I pulled back my arm and threw the torch down the hall like a torpedo. Illuminating the cave as it flew across it. All the Goblins followed the speeding torch like moths. That's when I began my assault. I dashed forward and began cutting all the Goblins in the cave in a flash. My stats were way above these creatures, and my blades tore them down like soft butter.

I slid to a stop and looked back to the long trail of carnage behind me. I must have taken down at least twenty-five more goblins. I ignored their loot and proceeded onward.

[ You have leveled up! ]

[ You have leveled up! ]

x x x

I leaned forward from the cave top and saw a small stream flowing to the right of a deep cavern. Along the cavern were a few torches hanging on the wall, lighting up the area below. Without much thought, I jumped twenty feet and landed with a roll. I stood up and looked left and right. Where to go, where to go?

I decided to go left and waddled through the small stream of water. After a few minutes, I saw two large wooden double doors with torches on both sides. Now that's a boss room if I've ever seen one. I kicked the doors off their hinges and saw a large man-like beast sitting in the center of a spacious brick-lined room with roots growing on the walls.

The creature had a huge pumpkin-shaped helmet on his head; it seemed to have no holes for its eyes or mouth. On his shoulders was an old, tattered green cloak. Below his torso was an old green cloth that covered his groin, and there were wooden shin guards wrapped with rope around his legs. In his hand was a large wood and steel flail with several spikes.

[ MAD PUMPKIN HEAD ]

Orange. The Mad Pumpkin slowly stood to his feet and looked over me with annoyance. Its large flail waved back and forth, roaring angrily in my direction. I jumped to my left as it slammed his flail where I once stood, and the floor beneath us shook briefly from the strike. He's Slow. I stepped forward and slashed my Anubis Dagger into its arm, causing it to roar in pain. Pumpkin Head swung the flail horizontally at me but missed as I jumped over his weapon.

While in midair, I performed a crosscut, which cut off his left arm entirely. Blood gushed freely from his bloody stump, and the creature roared in anger and pain. As soon as I landed, he performed a slow sidekick that I quickly dodged. I dodged his large, muscled leg and sliced across with the Atlantean Blade through his Achilles tendon.

"RAAGH!" Pumpkin Head roared and fell to one knee. I capitalized on this and hopped on his knee to deliver a powerful upward kick that sent his large helmet into the ground. A large crash echoed in the room, and I flipped my daggers into a reverse grip. With a mighty heave, I plunged deeply into his chest and sliced open his ribcage.

[ (!) NOTIFICATION]

[ You have defeated [ MAD PUMPKIN HEAD ] ]

[ You have leveled up! ]

[ You have leveled up! ]

[ You have leveled up! ]

[ You have received 1500G ]

I pulled out my blades and looked at the dead beast in apathy. Why do I feel so... so empty? I shook my head and scrunched my face in confusion. Where did that thought come from? As I was about to leave, I saw an old wooden chest poking out from a tattered green piece of cloth. Curious, I walked towards it and opened it.

[ (!) NOTICE ]

[ YOU HAVE OBTAINED [ RUNE STONE: WALL-CRAWLING ] ]

[ RUNE STONE: WALL-CRAWLING ]

[ TYPE: STONE ]

[ Breaking this stone will grant you a skill. ]

I grinned and crushed the stone to dust. A wave of power swelled inside me and vanished as fast as it appeared. Let's test this out! I walked over to one of the root-covered walls and slowly walked vertically on its surface. Holy shit! Spider-Man, eat your heart out! I ran along all four walls with a giant child-like smile. I hopped off the wall and left the room when I had my fill.

Considering the dungeon isn't closing, I'm going to assume that was a mini-boss. Makes sense. He wasn't all too strong. Before I could step back into the stream of water, I looked over to the wall and grinned. I ran alongside the walls, avoided getting my shoes wetter, and saw that the stream had turned into a waterfall. I peered down below and saw a small lake. The lake appeared to be glowing, illuminating the cavern below in a soft blue light.

I jumped into the lake with a splash and swam towards the rocky shore ahead. Before I could reach the rocky surface, something strong grabbed my leg and pulled me deeper into the water. As my body was pulled, I turned and saw a sizeable webbed hand holding onto my leg.

[ DEEP SEA DWELLER - DAGON ]

The monster was a cross between a human and a fish. Dark greenish-blue scales covered his highly muscular body. All the while, a long, thick tail swam quickly deeper into the water. The creature had a large, sharp head with beady white eyes. All along its mouth were thin, razor-sharp teeth. It turned to me and growled hungrily. A long purple tongue slithered out its mouth.

Fuck that! I slashed its hand off, and the Dagon roared in pain. Blood and bubbles filled my vision as I swam back from the underwater monster. I saw that its name was silver, but it might as well have been orange due to my current underwater location. I looked up at the surface and swam as fast as I could.

As I was about to reach the top of the lake and breathe much-needed air, A fast and powerful force tackled me to the side. All the breath in my lungs jumped out of my mouth in a flood of bubbles. I glared at the creature as it continued pushing me deeper into the water. I lifted my Atlantean blade and stabbed it deeply into the Dagon's neck, cutting his spinal cord and killing it immediately.

[ (!) NOTIFICATION]

[ You have defeated [ DEEP SEA DWELLER - DAGON ] ]

"HAAH!" I gasped intensely once I broke through the surface of the water. My lungs burned and ached as they took in breath after breath. I slowly swam to the rocky shore and rested. "Okay. No more jumping into bodies of water without thinking."

x x x

"Hah... that hit the spot." I looked around at the several Dagon corpses around me from my position on top of a stack of Goblins. I looked down at my empty stamina recovery potion and threw it to the side where several bottles of water and sandwich wrappings lay. It had cost me one thousand Gold for a meager twenty stamina points, but it was well worth it.

Once I had rested from my near drowning, several more Dagons popped onto the surface alongside a small army of goblins from the cavern's central opening. After ten minutes, I killed over sixty-five goblins and fourteen Dagons. The fishmen were relatively easy once they were above land. Once the fight ended, I managed to level up four more times, but my fatigue was starting to build up too high for my liking.

So, after several minutes of debating with myself, I gave in and bought three stamina potions from the shop, which brought my fatigue down to twenty-seven. My health was still over three-quarters of the way full, so I could continue grinding away for several more hours.

[ BOOTS OF THE SEA ]

[ TYPE: ARMOR]

[ CLASS: C ]

[ +10 Movement speed while in water. ]

[ Boots made from the hyde of the deep sea dweller, Dagon. ]

I did earn a cool piece of armor from the killer fish people; now, I'd be a lot faster in the water. I also discovered that once I put on a piece of armor, it would look like I wasn't wearing it. Completely invisible armor with all the benefits. So cool.

"Better get a move on." I stood up and headed to the opening from which the Goblins came. As I walked, I saw several small camps along the large cavern. Must be where all those Goblins were stationed. I looked through the Goblin's camps and found several items worth taking. That included several iron ores, wolf pelts, arrows, throwing daggers, some rope, a box with forty thousand Gold, and last but not least—another chest with a Rune stone. I won't admit it, but I jumped for joy when I saw it.

[ (!) NOTICE ]

[ YOU HAVE OBTAINED [ RUNE STONE: DANGER INTUITION ] ]

[ RUNE STONE: DANGER INTUITION ]

[ TYPE: STONE ]

[ Breaking this stone will grant you a skill. ]

Danger Intuition would allow me to perceive all forms of danger from those weaker than me. While not precisely the Spidey sense I hoped for, it would still alert me of any attack from a minor foe.

With my new skill added, I continued deeper into the rocky dungeon and saw several wooden stairs leading deeper into it. I quickly jumped down the walls and stairs and landed on the floor below. I turned around and saw that I had descended at least fifty feet from where I once was.

"Another mini Boss?" Straight ahead was a lowered wooden drawbridge spanning a ravine so deep I couldn't even see the floor below. Curious, I threw a large boulder into the ravine and waited for the inevitable crash. I heard it hit the ground a minute later. Okay, let's not fall in there.

On the other side of the bride was the entrance of a medieval cavern built into the side of the ravine wall. Several torches lit the entrance and its large halls beyond. As I crossed the bridge, I immediately felt a sense of dread. I knew then that whatever was inside this part of the dungeon was on a different level than all my previous encounters.

Walking through the brick-stoned caverns, I looked around nervously for any sneak attacks. However, none ever came. I came to the end of the cavern and found a wooden door. As I came out the other side, the floor beneath me broke apart, and I fell helplessly into a shallow body of water. Before I could crash into the water, I threw a dagger with a rope tied to its end onto the ceiling above. The dagger sunk deeply into the rocky ceiling; I felt my arm jerk as the rope stopped my fall.

If it weren't for my high strength stats, that would have most likely removed my shoulder from its socket. I dropped down onto the ankle-deep water and looked around. I was now in a large, carved-out circular pit. Thick tree roots lined the walls as several small candles lit the pit weakly in an ominous orange light.

I lifted my daggers and slowly looked around the pit. Thanks to my sense stat, I could pick up a soft splash of water behind me. I spun around and slashed the Anubis blade behind me. A loud clang of steel resounded through the pit, and a once invisible foe shimmered into existence. The figure was garbed in dark, thin armor that was serrated on its edges. Over the armor was a midnight black cloak that seemed to phase into the very air itself—however, much to my surprise. I found no one underneath the armor and cloak. It was as if a killer ghost was wearing the gear to give it a physical form.

[ BLACK KNIFE ASSASSIN ]

I dashed forward and swung my right blade across the Assassin's chest but missed when he vanished. He's gone! I moved to the side and scanned my environment wildly. I jerked back as a deep cut found its way into my chest. I grimaced and swung my blades in the air in front of me but found nothing but air. Shit, my new danger sense isn't going off! That meant whoever this ghost was was stronger than me.

That single cut he landed took away a quarter of my health. I spun around and searched for the Assassin. I can't take too many of his hits; I need to find him! It was then that I remembered how I first heard him. I looked below me and saw the water swishing and sloshing as I stepped. That's how!

I closed my eyes and relaxed my breathing. I had to focus on my hearing and relax my muscles. I didn't have to wait long as a barely audible splash echoed in front of me. I activated my dash skill and swiped vertically in the air. The sound of metal tearing in two sent a smile on my face. The Assassin materialized in front of me, stunned by my attack.

Take this! I moved at incredible speeds and slashed the Assassin's body repeatedly. Several of my attacks had landed successfully, but toward the end, the Assassin had found his footing and began to parry my attacks. I won't let you disappear! I kept attacking my opponent without pause; he would most likely disappear if I did. Unfortunately, I overextended one of my swings. Giving the Assassin enough time to vanish into the darkness.

"Show yourself." I whispered and waited. I lifted my blades across me and blocked a horizontal attack from the Assassin. I dropped my Anubis Blade and grabbed the Assassin's wrist with an iron grip. It tried to pull away, but I quickly began to stab into him. Growing angry, the Assassin swiped across my arm and cut deeply into my bicep muscle. Forcing me to let go.

[ You are afflicted with Death! ]

[ HP will decrease for the next ten seconds ]

For real!? I watched my health continuously decrease and looked for the Assassin with renewed haste. From the corner of my eye, I saw the water surface ripple slightly and threw my knife directly into the Assassin's head. Staggering it. I picked up my dropped dagger and jumped over the Assassin's back. Grabbing its shoulder tightly, I stabbed my dagger deeply into the base of its spine and felt it jerk in pain. It tried to vanish once again but failed. It must be because I'm holding on to him!

I let go of my Anubis Blade and reached over to the Atlantean blade stuck deep in the ghost's intangible face. I pulled it free and jabbed it down into its chest. As I did, the blade's critical hit came into effect and doubled my damage.

[ (!) NOTIFICATION]

[ You have defeated [ BLACK KNIFE ASSASSIN ] ]

[ You have leveled up! ]

[ You have leveled up! ]

[ You have leveled up! ]

We fell forward into the shallow water with a splash. I rolled off the dead Assassins back and looked up at the hole I fell through with tired eyes. I looked at my HP and saw it was a quarter of the way full. I sat up and looked over at my bleeding bicep and winced. Collecting my things, I looked over to my rewards.

[ BLACK KNIFE ]

[ TYPE: DAGGER ]

[ CLASS: A ]

[ +100 Attack ]

[ +10 Agility ]

[ Special Effect: Will drain enemies HP continuously for five seconds per strike. ]

[ Dagger can fire a blade-like projectile. ]

[ (!) NOTICE ]

[ YOU HAVE OBTAINED [ RUNE STONE: CAMOUFLAGE ] ]

[ RUNE STONE: CAMOUFLAGE ]

[ TYPE: STONE ]

[ Breaking this stone will grant you a skill. ]

"...Hell yeah."

I said tiredly and drank four health potions. Each of them cost me five thousand Gold. Spending this much is hurting my soul. With my health back up to three-quarters, I began dashing and wall-walking out of the pit.

I continued forward once I was back in the cavern. From that point on, until I finally reached the Boss room, I only encountered weak enemies ranging from more goblins to a few scattered knights. It was a welcome break, considering my fight with the deadly Assassin. I even earned five more levels.

I looked at the enormous double doors made of thick wood and Gold with a hint of trepidation. Whatever was behind these doors would push me to my very limits. So, to prepare for the incoming fight, I had spent all the points I'd earned from leveling up into my strength and agility stats.

[ STATUS ]

[ NAME: HACHIMAN HIKIGAYA ]

[ JOB: NONE ]

[ TITLE: UNDEAD SLAYER ]

[ HP: 5970/7530 ]

[ MP: 563/840 ]

[ LEVEL: 35 ]

[ FATIGUE: 42 ]

[ STRENGTH: 91 ]

[ AGILITY: 89 ]

[ SENSE: 69 ]

[ VITALITY: 68 ]

[ INTELLIGENCE: 64 ]

[ REMAINING POINTS: 0 ]

I pushed one of the massive doors open and saw the inside of a large stone prison. Moss and roots have overgrown large sections of the surrounding walls. All the iron bars from the cells have rusted over, and inside them lay the scattered remains of their prisoners. I walked deeper into the prison and looked around in anticipation.

A loud crash rattled the prison as the roof above the cell exploded in a dust, debris, and wood shower. A gigantic, red-colored wolf descended onto the ground with a monstrous thud. My body shook from the vibration as the room around me vibrated. The Wolf's fiery fur seemed to dance, almost as if it were alive. The hair along his legs shifted into dark hues of black, and long; sharp claws lined its large paws. A large, red title floated over the Wolf. I stepped back with a shaky grin and held my blades at the ready.

[ RED WOLF OF CHOAS ]

"Who's a good doggie?" I asked timidly. The Wolf howled loudly and jumped high into the air with a gracious spin. While in midair, a massive sword composed of flaming orange energy manifested in the Wolf's jaws. Its neck pulled back and slashed down on my position.

That Wolf's armed! I rolled forward and avoided being cut in two. I spun on my feet and cut across the Wolf's body with the Black Knife. Quickly following behind it was the Atlantean blade with a vertical slash. Marking the Wolf's hide with a deep, bloody X. The Wolf ignored the pain and debuffs in favor of conjuring its magical sword and slashed across where I stood.

I rolled back and felt the ends of my hair get cut off, and I pushed myself to my feet. I used the Camouflage skill and vanished into the darkness of the prison. The Wolf looked around wildly in search of me; I ran behind it and delivered four quick slashes before his hind legs struck me with a kick. I was launched through several cells and exploded from the outer wall into a large grass field. Several trees surrounded me as I landed outside the open space. The night sky loomed over me as I rolled to my stomach.

[ HP: 3590/7530 ]

"Okay." I gasped painfully. "Can't get hit like that again." The wall in front of me exploded into slabs of stone and dust; the orange-furred Wolf rushed at me with its spectral sword and swung downwards. I used my Dash skill, narrowly avoided certain death, and grabbed one of the midair slabs of stone. With a mighty toss, the stone found purchase on the Wolf's right eye. Crushing it under the force.

The Wolf howled in agony and howled into the air. As it howled, several blue magical swords sprang to life and flew at me. Funnels! Not fair! I jumped back and forth to evade the deadly swords. While in midair, I charged the Black Knife and launched a black and red slash of energy that shattered the magical swords. As the last sword exploded into particles, the Wolf lunged at me and swiped me across the air with its snout.

I landed on my feet and ran under its legs with a slide. As I slid, I sliced across its stomach. Opening it and causing several internal organs to fall out in a wet splat. I grinned contently, but it quickly vanished as the Wolf ignored its deadly injuries and sliced at me with its sword. I performed another roll and narrowly avoided a deep wound. I did, however, get a shallow cut across my calf.

That burns! I winced and dashed behind the Wolf after vanishing. I jumped onto its back instead of slashing at its hind legs again. Once seated, I squeezed my thighs together and felt the Wolf's bones creak under the pressure. I raised my daggers and began to slash away at its neck. Cutting through fur, skin, flesh, and bone with lightning-fast attacks.

The Wolf howled in agony and ran through the open forest. We crashed through trees and boulders in his attempt to remove me from his back. I was unperturbed as I continued to slice away at his neck. Determined to cut off the beast's head. "RAAAAAGH!"

[ HP: 1020/7530 ]

Finally, the Wolf jumped into the air and spun itself so that his bleeding stomach would face the sky. We crashed onto the ground, his large body crushing my own. I yelled in agony as I was crushed under the Wolf's heavyweight.

[ HP: 450/7530 ]

Springing to its feet, the Wolf turned its mutilated neck towards me. This caused his head to wobble back and forth as it now lacked the upper neck muscles to control itself properly. I stood up slowly and breathed quickly. Gasps of angry breath came out of my mouth in white wisps as I glared at the Wolf.

I was missing my left arm from the elbow down, and my right leg was now broken. The only reason I was standing was out of sheer rage and adrenalin. I raised the Black Knife into my mouth and bit down tightly. Summoning the Atlantean Blade back into my good hand, I lamely limped at the Wolf with a muffled battle cry. The Wolf tried to howl to summon its spectral flying swords but couldn't raise his head to the sky due to his missing muscles.

I jumped with my nonbroken leg and swung my head into the side of his bleeding neck. Stabbing the Black knife deeply into his flesh. Blood filled my mouth, but I didn't care. I jammed the Atlantean Blade into the Wolf's injured eye and sank it as deeply as possible. The Wolf howled in pain and shook his head violently. At least, he would have if he had all his neck muscles. Instead, what he did was bob his head weakly and whimpered.

My blade's Poison and Death buffs had been eating away at the Wolf's health throughout the fight. In addition, the Cloak of Serpopard stacked on bonus damage against four-legged monsters. My current build was what had gotten me as far as I did.

"FEKEN DEEHH!" I said, muffled. The Wolf whimpered and collapsed forward. I, however, continued driving my daggers in deeper out of sheer frustration. I didn't stop until its breath stopped completely with a gurgled, pained whimper.

[ (!) NOTIFICATION]

[ You have defeated [ RED WOLF OF CHAOS ] ]

[ You have leveled up! ]

[ You have leveled up! ]

[ You have leveled up! ]

[ You have leveled up! ]

[ You have leveled up! ]

I ignored the notifications in favor of looking at my HP. I felt a wave of ice run down my body as I breathed deeply on my spot on the Wolf's neck.

[ HP: 78/8400 ]

[ RED WOLF NECKLACE ]

[ TYPE: ACCESSORY ]

[ CLASS: A+ ]

[ +15 AGILITY ]

[ +15 VITALITY ]

[ (!) NOTIFICATION ]

[ The Player has reached the required level. ]

[ (!) NOTIFICATION ]

[ A Job change Quest has arrived. ]

[ (!) NOTIFICATION ]

[ Would you like to accept the Job change Quest? ]

[ ACCEPT] [ REJECT ]

"...job change?"