Alan approached the entrance of the room housing the obsidian pillars and the anxiety-inducing skull door, but stopped several yards short of stepping across the threshold.
With plenty of time on his hands, Alan warily studied every inch of the room that he was able to see from his current vantage. Having only just survived another one of his stupid mistakes due to an unwise combination of cockiness and overconfidence, he had no intentions of walking obliviously into another trap.
He allowed himself the necessary time to wait for his decreased Regeneration rates to return to normal, and then activated [Tenacious Concentration] and [Trap Detection]. After double, and then triple checking everything he could see within the room, paying especially close attention to the obsidian pillars and door, Alan hadn't received even a tingle of worry from [Trap detection]. Before he proceeded Alan first carefully weighed his options.
With at least one more unexplored corridor remaining on his Mini-map, he knew he could always put this room off for later and go explore the rest of the floor. But at the same time, that strange 'Sixth Sense' had led him in this direction in the first place.
"Since I'm already here... Might as well get it over with." With his decision made, Alan stepped forward while continuing to mutter unintelligibly under his breath. With every ounce of concentration he could muster focused on the room before him, Alan failed to notice the trap set into the sandy floor directly underneath his feet
As he crossed the last few feet of sand separating him from the black and white tile covered floor, his haste to move ever onward once again saw him doing precisely what he set out to avoid in the first place. Walking obliviously into another trap.
With only a few feet of sand left to cover, as Alan's foot touched the ground he registered a slight clicking sound. Without giving him time to react, the undetected trap door activated. When the ground opened up beneath him, Alan was dropped over ten feet deep into a narrow rectangular hole. The bottom of which he soon discovered had been lined with ten remarkably thin, and needle sharp, five-foot long metal spears,. They were spaced evenly from wall to wall.
Remarkable! Your Skill (C)[Falling with Character] has grown to Level 2!
"What the fuuuu...AAARGGGGHHH!!! AWW SHIT MY LEG!" Caught by surprise, Alan tumbled into the spike pit. He landed with his head and shoulders on the ground, hanging from a spike by his leg in an awkward, backbreaking position. Luckily his new armor protected his torso and shoulder blade from being run through when he landed on the spikes. Unfortunately as he bounced off the needle-sharp surface and fell the last few feet the the floor, the meaty underside of his calf got caught up on one of the thin metal needles.
Remarkable! Your Skill (C)[Falling with Character] has grown to Level 3!
Already charred beyond recognition, his Tutorial armor failed to protect his leg from getting skewered. With the weight of his upper body pulling on his wounded leg and only making things increasingly more precarious, Alan inhaled a shaky breath and prepared himself to do whatever he must to get free.
His first thought was to cast [Water Jet] at the ground beneath him in an attempt to lift himself up and off the spike. However a sudden mental image changed his mind. Alan vividly saw himself being tossed forward by the intense water pressure and slammed face-first into a spike. This disturbing vision led him to switch up plans without looking back.
Instead of risking further impalement, Alan changed up his tactics and removed his Tutorial Dagger from inventory. Suddenly hesitant, he stared at the thick slab of thigh meat and muscle separating his blade from the unwanted leg piercing.
"Maybe I could... Dammit! No that won't work either." As he ran through different scenarios in his head, Alan came to the same conclusion each time. His best option would be to simply slice the back of his leg open and literally cut the spike out.
With his Hp Regeneration hard at work, the damage to his leg was already trying to repair itself. However the weight of his body simultaneously attempted to tear the wound open further. Caught in a constant loop of healing and taking further damage, and out of other viable options, Alan placed the edge of the dagger against the unsightly bulge the spike had made on the side of his leg.
He pressed the blade firmly into the remnant of the leather armor protecting his skin and pulled. As though cutting though nothing more than air, the knife easily slid through his armor and bit deeply into the skin and muscle hidden beneath.
Alan Grimaced in pain as blood began to flow freely from his thigh. He gave one final jerk and twist of his leg and the last few irritating strands of meat gave way. With nothing holding him up, Alan's legs joined the rest of his body in a tangled up pile of limbs on the floor.
"Well that sucked a big sack of bags full of asses.." Alan growled as he coughed out clumps of sand. While he waited for his leg to finish healing, his Emotional Stockpile finished draining away his rising anger. Once more feeling somewhat emotionally stable, he grit his teeth against the pins and needles feeling of his flesh knitting together.
Alan recalled that he still had 11 free Status Points that he'd yet to allocate. Feeling as though he could've avoided falling into the spike pit if only he had been a little faster to react, Alan placed five Points each into Perception and Agility. His final Point as always, went into Luck. While he had his PSA open, he decided to check the progress of his Stockpile.
*Unique*{Suit of Anger} Lvl 1 Current Emotional Stockpile: 57%
No wonder I'm feeling all jittery, Alan thought. My Emotional Stockpile is already more than halfway filled... It won't be long before I'm forced to stop ignoring it... Bahh whatever. I'll deal with it when it happens.
With all of his Points allocated, and not yet fully healed, Alan pulled up his Status tab. Having Leveled Up several times since the last time he viewed his Stats Alan was not at all let down when he reviewed the tab.
Name: Alan Robbins
Race: Human(G) LVL 16 EXP 3323/109473
Class:
Cultivation core: (dormant)
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
Titles: Dungeon Explorer, Novice Mage, Above Your Weight Class, Singularly Skilled, Surpassing Expectations, Peerless Mage, Prodigious Mage, Luck Of The Daemons, Unprecedented Entity, Twisted Trials 1, Aspiring Martial Artist, Entry Level Adventurer,
***STATISTICS***
Hp: 2379/2679
Mp: 2310/2610
Stamina: 2433/2733
Hp Regeneration: 399 per minute
Mp Regeneration: 389.5 per minute
Stamina Regeneration: 415.5 per minute
Strength: 78 (83)+5%
Constitution: 86 (96)+5%
Vitality: 85 (87)+5%
Endurance: 85 +5%
Perception: 80 +5%
Agility: 87 (93)+5%
Dexterity: 75 +5%
Intelligence: 85 +5% (+5%StEf)
Wisdom: 85 (89)+5% (+5%StEf)
Resistance: 75 (79)+5% (+5%StEf)
Willpower: 85 +5% (+5%StEf)
Luck: 111 +5% (+10%StEf)
Unallocated Status Points: 0
*** SKILLS***
(B)[Examine] Lvl 5
(C)[Multiversal Language Comprehension] Lvl 1
(C)[Falling with Character] Lvl 3
(U)[Steady hand of the Cartographer] Lvl 2
(B)[Dagger Utilization] Lvl 3
(C)[Throw Weapon] Lvl 3
(C)[How to Take a Punch] Lvl 3
(C)[Trap Detection] Lvl 2
(C)[Enhanced Cognition] Lvl 6
(U)[Tenacious Concentration] Lvl 4
(C)[Enhanced Pain Resistance] Lvl 1
(R)[Unburnt flesh of the Impure One] Lvl 2
(C)[Shock Resistance] Lvl 2
(C)[Mana Perception] Lvl 5
(R)[Advanced Spell Alteration] Lvl 2
(C)[Dual-casting] Lvl 6
(Unique)[Daemonfire of the Impure Realm] Lvl 1
(U)[Mana Regulation] Lvl 3
(C)[Blind Resistance] Lvl 1
(C)[Acid Resistance] Lvl 2
(C)[Bleed Resistance] Lvl 1
(B)[Stealth] Lvl 1
(C)[Stamina Conversion] Lvl 3
(C)[Mp Conversion] Lvl 3
(C)[Hp Conversion] Lvl 7
*** SPELLS ***
(U)[Healing Fog] Lvl 4
(B)[Water Jet] lvl 5
(B)[Lightning Strike] Lvl 6
(U)[Spectral Firebolt] Lvl 5
(B)[Banish Darkness] Lvl 1
(B)[Wind Blade] Lvl 2
(B)[Stone skin] Lvl 3
(C)[Aqua Shield] Lvl 3
(U)[Shocking water Cannon] Lvl 3
(R)[Spectral Plasma Storm] Lvl 4
(C)[Blessing of the Wind] Lvl 2
(R)[Gaea's Tempest] Lvl 1
***TECHNIQUES***
*Unique {Suit of Anger} Lvl 1
(C){Mirage Step} Lvl 1
Despite the situation, as Alan stood up, a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. It wasn't all that long ago that he'd been Level 0, and dragged kicking and screaming into the Sandstone Palace Dungeon. Only to then be told he had less than a .1 percent chance of survival.
Alan spit on the ground in displeasure at the thought as he pushed himself off the ground. Although surviving the Dungeon was far from guaranteed, his odds of successfully escaping had most assuredly increased by leaps and bounds.
Once again standing, Alan began the arduous process of tearing all ten thin metal spikes out of the ground and tossing them into a pile. He was unwilling to leave an active trap behind if he could prevent it. Each metal needle had been driven over three feet into the solid stone floor, so it took him quite a bit of work. After wasting nearly five minutes fruitlessly pushing, pulling and beating on the first of ten stubborn spears with no sign of progress, Alan had finally had enough.
So you're gonna make me do this the easy way huh? So be it!
Fed up with wasting time on a fools errand, Alan cast [Spectral Firebolt].
Once the flame materialized, instead of releasing the Spell, he let it hover in place. Alan crouched down next to the very same spike that had only just recently impaled his leg, and used his stationary Firebolt like a super-powered acetylene torch.
Alan focused his attention on the base of the spike, concentrating the flame where it exited the floor. The spike was only as big around as his pinky finger, so he expected his flames to make quick work of cutting through. So he was understandably confused when more than thirty seconds passed with no obvious change. Finally, after more than five minutes of bathing in spectral flames, over a foot of the metal rod had begrudgingly begun to glow an angry orange. Alan gave it another five minutes, waiting for it to begin to melt.
Here goes nothing.. Alan thought as he sat down. Sticking out his leg, Alan nudged the spike with the tip of his boot, just above where it glowed. The overheated metal folded under the slightest pressure, and the tip of the spike hit the floor with a dull thud, landing barely more than a foot away from him.
Alan touched the tip of the spike gingerly, expecting the entire rod to be scorching hot. Instead of heat, when his finger touched the metal it was strangely cold. Almost freezing. He looked in confusion at the pool of molten metal at the opposite end of the spike. Awash in his makeshift Spectral torch, even the floor beneath it had begun to smoke and char.
Because Alan had just been stabbed through the leg with this exact metal rod, he felt fairly confident that he'd remember it being cold. So either this metal had some kind of crazy-low thermal conductivity, or it was actively attempting to cool itself. Either way, he knew he wasn't leaving without the rest of this fascinating alloy.
On a whim, Alan placed the melting metal rod into his Storage Ring. He waited for a few seconds and pulled it back out. As he looked at the roughly four and a half foot long metal pole that was now clutched tightly within his grasp, he studied the molten end as it visibly cooled before his eyes.
Yeah.. it's definitely either got almost zero heat conductivity, or I'm dealing with real-life Magical Metal.
Guess I should probably just [Examine] it before making any more assumptions...
Alan rolled his eyes at himself and glossed over the description.
(Common) Roughly Crafted Spike- (Uncommon) Tier Mana-Steel crudely forged into shape by an unsupervised and under-qualified blacksmith. Although its materials were ranked as (Uncommon), the lack of craftsmanship has understandably resulted in a lower-tiered end result.
Mana-Steel huh? That sounds about right. I wonder if I can have this made into another weapon? Hells, I wonder what else Mana-Steel can do..
Alan imagined all kinds of possible uses for his new Mana-Steel. He stored the spike, and one after another, he melted the base of each remaining spike and stored them with the others in inventory.
No longer worried that an ill timed slip would dump him back down the hole to be impaled yet again, Alan dusted off his armor. Once he deemed he was sufficiently sand-free, he crouched down and launched himself into the air. His now-superhuman-like strength allowed Alan to easily jump up the 10-feet separating him from the floor above, as if it were no more than a small ledge.
For the first time in a long time, Alan realized, he was actually standing on something other than sand. Surprised at the level of satisfaction to be gained from once more standing upon solid ground, he bent down and ran his hand over the cool, smooth stone tiles.
It didn't take long for the novelty to wear off, and once it did, Alan made his way across the room, searching every nook, cranny and shadow with [Trap detection] active. He was able to cross the room without any further surprises and soon stood before the hideous obsidian door. When nothing unexpected happened, Alan reached out and lightly placed his hand on the door. The moment his fingers brushed the surface, he was immediately hit with another flashing red notification.
*WARNING*! You have not yet met the requirements to enter the 1st floor Boss Room. To gain access you must first defeat every Dungeon born monster located on the dungeons first floor. (94/100)
"Well shit.." Unable to proceed any further until defeating the last few monsters located on the first floor, Alan took another look around the room, hoping to find any loot boxes left behind by the Golems that had been guarding the door.
After searching every inch of the room, Alan was forced to assume that either the chests were destroyed along with the Golems, or the chests had never appeared at all. Possibly for the same reason the Golem's had never attacked in the first place.
And Alan could only make guesses as to why that had happened.