Chapter 55

"I don't think humans understand other human most times and the computer generated players in this world confuse me even more. Will you be leaving now, Firenze?"

"I shall accompany you to the edge of the forest to ensure that you will reach the safety of the castle."

"Hnn… nope, I'm not ready to go back yet. I came here this weekend to hunt Trolls and I'm not leaving until I find me a couple of Trolls against which I can test my current Skills. If I expect to survive long enough to beat this game, then I have to grow strong enough to face the rest of the monsters that this game will throw my way. I have no objection to you accompanying me while I Search though; it would be nice to learn more about the forest and the creatures that live here."

After studying the stars for several minutes, the centaur agreed to travel with Harry. Firenze even offered to lead Harry to the part of the forest where the weakest of River Trolls made their home (once Harry had collected the gifts that had been left for him by the Unicorn). As they traveled, the centaur taught Harry about the multitude of plants and animals that could be found within the forest; building upon everything that Hagrid had taught the eleven year old over the past six months and on what he'd learned in Herbology. Once they reached the trolls, Firenze stood back and watched as Harry fearlessly engaged an adult pair of the River Trolls in a fight to the death.

Unlike fighting the other dark creatures that filled the forest, fighting the two Trolls required a considerable amount of effort and Harry had to think on his feet to keep up with their counter attacks. While weak (when compared to other species of trolls), River Trolls were far from stupid (unlike their cousins the Mountain Trolls) and they learned how to anticipate Harry's various attacks (which meant that he couldn't use the same attack more than two or three times in a row before they became useless). The intense battle was just what Harry had needed though and it allowed him to assess his new Game Skills far more accurately than facing off against yet another Bugbear or Pixie nest.

When the fight was over, Harry was left with two clubs (one made of stone and the other made from oak) and several yards of Troll Hide. He also had several new bruises that he'd be feeling for a couple of days but he wasn't worried about them because they'd heal eventually. More importantly, Harry learned that his Spell Casting Skill still needed far more work and that he hadn't yet mastered those spells he'd need to face a stronger troll without taking some serious damage (both his HP and MP Bars had dropped down into the red zone, though his overall health remained mostly unchanged).

That also meant that he probably wasn't ready to face the Demon Dog that was waiting for him at the start of the dungeon.

He allowed Firenze to escort him out of the forest at that point, his mind trying to come up with the best way to improve his mastery over the spells he knew since there were only about four or five weeks left before the current school term ended. And he wanted, no needed, to tackle the Dungeon he'd found before the other students went home because he couldn't take the chance of being forced to repeat his first year if he didn't clear the Dungeon before the end of the year.

Harry said goodbye to the centaur a couple hours later with a promise to return the following weekend as usual.

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Thursday, June 2, 2022 6:00 PM

Harry placed the large basket of food he'd just collected from the House Elves into his Bag of Holding before he disappeared beneath his Cloak of Invisibility. Hedwig hissed in complaint (the occamy still disliked the way the fabric of the cloak slid over her scales and ruffled her feathers) but quickly settled down the moment Harry smoothed down her feathers before he ghosted through the hallways. He'd taken the last of his End-of-Year Exams earlier that afternoon and no one would come looking for him for at least three days since there were no classes in the morning on top of the coming weekend.

He believed that this would be his last chance to face the Dungeon and he'd trained hard over the past four weeks in order to improve his mastery of his Magical Skills (his only break on the twenty-eighth of May for his third Quidditch match against Ravenclaw – which Gryffindor had won).

In no time at all, Harry was standing outside the entrance to the Dungeon and he took a moment to equip his chosen weapons and armor and un-equip his Cloak of Invisibility. He then took out both his diamond wire and the crude silk rope he'd painstakingly created from the Spider Silk he'd collected before he used his wand to unlock the door. Ready to face his first real trial in this new game, Harry stepped through the door and allowed it to swing shut behind him. The huge three-headed dog scrambled up onto its feet and all three heads growled at him while Hedwig let out an angry screech.

Harry had just enough time to read the name of the creature (Fluffy – Cerberus Class Hellhound) before the creature attacked.

The brutal battle lasted three hours and Harry thought he'd cleared the Dungeon until he noticed the trap door sitting in the middle of the floor that had previously been hidden by the huge monster. Harry groaned in dismay as he realized that the Hellhound probably wasn't the Boss Monster he'd believed it to be at first. Knowing he couldn't just give up now that he'd started; Harry closed out the summary window (after he noted he'd collected Hellhound Teeth, Claws, and Hide, and Fluffy's Heart from the Item drop) and entered the trap door to face the next beast.

He was a bit disappointed to find the next challenge was nothing more than a thick bed of Devil's Snare (which was rather simple to defeat using a fire spell and netted him fresh potion ingredients in the form of Roots, Leaves, Vines, and Flowers). The locked room filled with hundreds of vicious flying keys presented more of a challenge but Hedwig was able to help him catch the key to the door while he dealt with the rest of the keys with a combination of fire and petrification spells (each defeat netting him a single knut).

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