Dungeon Discovered
Dungeon Name: Shadow Den
Dominant Species in Dungeon: Shadow Wolves
Dungeon Rank: F
To clear the dungeon: Defeat the Alpha.
Fully stepping past the threshold means you accept the challenge.
Dungeon challengers are NOT allowed to exit dungeons before fulfilling clearance requirements.
Step back if you do not wish to undertake this challenge.
Nathan stared at the blue screen in confusion. The quest itself was easy to deduce, but the dungeon rank had him a little confused. What was the F supposed to mean—was it a level range, and if so, from what level to what?
He honestly didn't have to find out immediately. He could finish cleaning up Blood Rock and find his way back here whenever he was ready, but Nathan was the curious type.
Step forward or step back?
That was the question right now—would Nathan rather get into a dungeon or do a little cleaning? Like every other sane guy, he chose the obvious option: Nathan stepped forward.
Welcome Challenger.
The Shadow Den awaits.
Dungeon is locked and will remain locked until you fulfill the clearance requirement.
Clearance requirement: Kill the Alpha of the pack.
First things first.
Nathan turned back to see a transparent-ish blue barrier blocking the cave mouth, which meant there'd be no escape for Nathan today. He'd have to fight to the very end.
He turned to face the cave itself, dark and gloomy, and considering the name the system had assigned to the dungeon, Nathan had a feeling it wasn't going to get brighter anytime soon. Walking into the cave, he realized there was glowing moss sticking to the floor and walls—not bright enough to actually light the path but enough to indicate where a wall was.
The place wasn't much better than he imagined. Nathan raised a hand to his face and could barely make out the vague outline of his hands in the darkness. Was he really going to fight a pack of wolves—shadow wolves to be precise—in this kind of darkness?
I have to increase my Perception.
It seemed like it was time to use the emergency free point he'd been saving up; this was definitely going to turn into an emergency if he didn't use it.
Status
Name: Nathan Orion
Moniker: N/A
Level: 10
Archetype: Blood Berserker
Class: Blood Pawn
Imprints: Balls of Steel, SkullCrusher, Demon Slayer
Strength: 15
Dexterity: 10
Vitality: 11
Constitution: 10
Perception: 7
Dao: N/A
Faction: N/A
Ra'hal coins: 16,400
Free points: 1
One point to Perception.
Perception: 8
##
Free points: 0
Nathan closed the status screen, the change already taking effect. Holding up his hand to his face, Nathan checked the difference. He could now see a clearer outline of his hand—no specific detail, but still, it was better than nothing if you asked him.
"Alright, time to see what hole you jumped into this time."
He walked slowly through the cave, trying his best to be sneaky even though he knew it'd be useless. If imps could sniff him, then wolves would probably be able to pinpoint his location within seconds. They had all the cards right now.
I just need to be smarter, that's all.
With the confidence of a madman, Nathan resumed walking. The cave seemingly looked like a tunnel the more Nathan walked; it seemed to be sloping downwards rather than just being level ground as he'd assumed.
Nathan soon came into what was probably supposed to be a cavern or a hall within a cave—Nathan wasn't that good at geography. The moss by his sides had split in different directions, illuminating the confines of the cavern.
It was a big hall if the moss wasn't deceiving him, and other than that, he couldn't pick out anything as his eyesight wasn't that good. Nathan would have been fine with not being able to see anything, but not being able to hear anything left Nathan feeling nervous.
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
This place was supposed to house a pack of wolves. He had no idea how many wolves usually made up a pack, but he highly doubted it was one, and even if it was one, where was it? Why hadn't he heard it growl or howl? The silence was making him feel uneasy, and Nathan was starting to question why he'd even entered the stupid dungeon.
At the time, he just wanted to feel the thrill of battle. Right now, he wasn't so sure that he'd made the right choice between cleaning up and dungeoneering. Now he was stuck in a dungeon with predators in their natural habitat stalking him, and the worst part was that he'd done it of his own volition.
He hadn't been forced, coerced, hoodwinked, pulled the wool over his eyes, or whatever phrase his English teacher would've used to explain this situation. Since standing at the entrance wouldn't get him any answers, Nathan decided to walk towards the other end of the cavern. Maybe the challenge lay there.
Nathan had barely gotten to the center of the cavern before he felt claws digging into his back, causing him to yelp in surprise. The claws hadn't gone that deep, and it was nothing but a surface wound. He glanced around the darkness, squinting as he saw multiple dark blurs corralling him.
It's a trap.
The wolves had been there the whole time, deliberately letting him walk himself into a corner. The exit had already been blocked, and they either didn't know that or they were just creatures of habit—luring him into a false sense of security before revealing themselves to him. Nathan almost applauded the tactic but remembered that he had a sword in his hand, a sword that he'd happily swing instead.
With a grimace, Nathan pointed the blade at where the attack came from, waiting for the next one to arrive. He could see shapes moving about in the darkness, but he would've been hard-pressed to identify any one of them.
Identify any one of them.
Nathan focused on the dark blurs at the edge of his vision, waiting for his Analyze skill to kick in.
[Shadow Wolf
Level 7]
[Shadow Wolf
Level 6]
[Shadow Wolf
Level 8]
Shadow Wolves are pack monsters. The shadows are their biggest strength and light their greatest weakness.
Huh.
Nathan looked at the notification in confusion, staring at it like the words were alien to him. His lack of focus was punished by him getting clawed in the legs.
Light.
He needed light, and he had zero ideas on how he was going to get that. If he could somehow manufacture light or get a light source in here, then he'd immediately have the upper hand in the fight. As it was, he was struggling to see what was attacking him, but did he need to see to attack?
Nathan charged at a blur, trusting in his senses to deliver the wolf's head to him. That was the wrong move as he tripped over a paw, and the three wolves pounced on him, trying to tear his skin to shreds but only succeeding in giving him flesh wounds on his back.
When he'd fallen, his sword had bounced away, leaving Nathan defenseless—not really defenseless, more like without his primary weapon. He still had what the Monk Archetype had referred to as the most reliable weapon: his fists. He'd have to admit the Monk Archetype hadn't lied about the fists; if he survived this, he'd love to fight with a monk, just to see who would win and what their fighting style looked like.
Another claw went for his back, making Nathan realize that he was deep in thoughts mid-battle. To be honest, he didn't blame himself—he blamed his upgraded Constitution. It'd made attacks by monsters like these seem like paper cuts compared to what he'd had to endure from the system.
Biding his time as he tried to find the pattern of how the wolves were steadily clawing his back with their paws, he pounced, catching one's paw as he stood up, dislodging the rest from his back.
Time to test my Strength, eh?
Nathan's other free hand found purchase on another paw. The wolf tried to bite at him, going for his neck, but Nathan made it a lot more uncomfortable for the wolf, stretching its two legs in opposite directions even as the other wolves bit and clawed at him.
One even tried to bite his thigh, but its teeth couldn't penetrate deep enough, the act feeling like needles poking him. He had his full focus on the shadow wolf in front of him; even though Nathan couldn't see it because of the poor lighting, he could tell that it was certainly feeling the effects of being pulled apart slowly.
Crack!
That was the first sound Nathan heard before he pulled it apart completely, the wolf not even getting the chance to let out a whine before it was torn in half—at least Nathan hoped it was in half; he wasn't quite sure how that panned out.
Throwing the two halves of the corpse to different sides, he focused on the other two. Their deaths came much more swiftly than the one that had come before them. Nathan punched downward, catching one of the blurs in what was probably the head, his fist taking the head with it to the cavern floor as he turned it to mush. Pulling back his fist, Nathan got ready for the last remaining wolf.
It was the one that had been biting into his thigh, the wolf still at it despite the death of its kin. Maybe it even knew but probably didn't care enough to stop what it was doing, probably believing itself the one that was going to take Nathan down, or maybe it just didn't want to let the sacrifice of its kin go to waste.
Nathan hated to be the bearer of bad news, but he was going to have to inform the wolf that its efforts were in vain, and he delivered the news the only way he knew how to—with his fists. Two punches tore into the wolf from both sides, killing it instantly. Nathan had to pry its jaws open as the thing had died with its canines still embedded in Nathan's thighs.
A subtle wave of euphoria passed through Nathan after the death of the last wolf, signifying an upgrade in level. He felt the little cuts he'd gotten on his skin from the scraps with the three wolves close over. He did think it was a little odd how the euphoria that usually came with a level-up was somehow less powerful than the usual waves he got—was it because he was in a dungeon, or because he had way fewer injuries than usual?
Either way, Nathan couldn't dwell on that; he needed to get his head in the game. The cavern had gone silent with the only source of sound being Nathan's breathing, making him wonder: if the three wolves were all the minions left in the cavern, then what exactly would the alpha be at this time? Nathan tried to scan around, but he could barely make out anything. He needed to upgrade his Perception if he wanted to finish this fight.
Status
Name: Nathan Orion
Moniker: N/A
Level: 11
Archetype: Blood Berserker
Class: Blood Pawn
Imprints: Balls of Steel, SkullCrusher
Strength: 15
Dexterity: 10
Vitality: 11
Constitution: 10
Perception: 8
Dao: N/A
Faction: N/A
Ra'hal coins: 17,450
Free points: 2
Let's see what I'm going to do about my Perception.
Nathan had to decide between putting all his available free points into the Perception stat or leaving one behind for an emergency. In the end, he had to concede that his present situation constituted an emergency.
Two points to Perception.
Perception: 10
##
Free points: 0
It was almost as if Nathan was out in the moonlight when Earth was still Earth. He could see even though it was still dark; he could almost see his fingernails right about now.
Time to find that elusive wolf.
Shit!
Nathan noticed about eight to twelve wolves blocking the exits behind him, watching him without so much as a growl. A big and bad wolf in the center of the back was baring its fangs at him. Nathan wanted to pretend as though he hadn't seen anything, but the wolves must've sensed the change because the one Nathan had identified as the alpha let out a loud howl that seemed to shake the cavern before charging at him, the rest of the pack in tow.
Bollocks.