Time until the tutorial ends?
Planet Grade: F
Populating World... Time till completion - 1 [18:43:27]
Spawning Dungeons and Monsters... Time till completion - 1 [18:43:27]
Tutorial Ongoing... Time till completion - 1 [18:43:27]
Strongholds: 5
Huh.
The tutorial was set to finish in roughly two days, which meant the rest of humanity would be thrust into this new world. Nathan hoped for their sake that they were better prepared than he was because the world was way worse than when he'd started.
The monsters that now roamed the forest would have finished him on the first day in one strike. Heck, a half-strike would have done the job. Another way to think about it was the fact that maybe the system had transported him to a more monster-concentrated area—a suspicion which Nathan immediately dismissed, a snort of derision leaving him even as he trudged through the forest.
His eyes roved the notification as he searched for the next interesting item—strongholds. Apparently, another one had been created since when last he checked, which was pretty nice if you asked him. Humans had started to fight back, claiming territory for themselves.
Dismissing the screen, he focused more on his direction. The path was already sloping upwards as he made his way to the summit of the mountain. The reason behind that was that he'd decided to scout the remaining dungeons closest to the summit, find out their location, and see if he could maybe benefit from a couple.
The most important part of this exercise was getting the information on hand. He needed to know the ranks of the dungeons and then decide which ones he'd attempt. The gremlin and dwarf company had shaken him a little bit. Now, more than ever, Nathan needed to grow stronger, and he needed to do it fast too. With the looming threat hanging over him, he'd obviously picked his quickest route to power: dungeons.
As his feet hit the peak of the mountain, Nathan felt at ease. The wind all over him was like an old friend, blowing whichever way it wanted. The feeling brought a smile to Nathan's face. The wind had always signified freedom for him. It was always moving, never staying in one place, restless like him. Unlike him, it did whatever it wanted whenever it wanted, while he stood at a corner and flipped signs.
Ughhh, now I'm getting philosophical.
The boredom that came with isolation was starting to bug him a little. It wasn't like he needed human company, but sometimes it was nice to eavesdrop on conversations and spot other people surrounding you. His current situation was both a blessing and a curse.
Shaking his head, he got back to the matter at hand. A couple of rock protrusions told him the where. What Nathan needed to know now were their ranks. Descending off the mountain at a record pace, he began his investigation.
He counted six dungeons close to the summit. The dungeons ranged from rank F to rank D, with D being the highest. Five out of six dungeons had the generic "kill the boss to complete the dungeon" notification. The odd one was the rank D dungeon which required him to kill two bosses. As soon as Nathan saw the plural form, he peacefully stepped back to avoid accidentally activating the dungeon.
No thanks.
He still loved his life right about now. The investigation had pretty much cleared up one of Nathan's earlier suspicions: dungeons were meant to be handled by groups or parties. A high-level person could solo it, but to him, it looked a little less safe. Strength in numbers and all. After all, it wasn't like the dungeons got easier with each higher rank.
A simple survey around the area revealed that monsters were practically non-existent around surrounding dungeons. A fact that Nathan filed away for later. While he couldn't tell why forest monsters avoided dungeons like the plague, he was pretty sure that such information would come in handy.
Alrighty.
With his investigation done, Nathan was currently standing at the entrance of a dungeon. An F-ranked dungeon to be precise. He had to hold his lips with his fingers to avoid jinxing himself before the battle would even start. Holding his lips didn't stop him from thinking about it, though.
Easy peasy.
A grin covered Nathan's face as he took a step into the dungeon, not stopping to read the already familiar notification once he crossed the threshold. He paused to read the next one when he was fully in the dungeon.
Welcome Challenger.
The Nagas' lair awaits.
The dungeon is locked and will remain locked until you fulfill the clearance requirement.
Clearance requirement: Kill the Naga Queen.
Uggh.
Nathan dismissed the interface with a thought. Nagas were probably the snake women, half woman, half snake. The thought of it made him want to puke. Hell, the thought of snakes made him squirm, his skin crawling with the mental image.
That was one animal that Nathan couldn't even consider spending a day in a locked room with. Sure, lions and hippos could kill easily, but snakes on the other hand just outright freaked him out. And it seemed like he'd just stepped into a lair belonging to a bunch of them.
Time to conquer my fears.
Nathan gulped audibly at his reality before calmly looking around the dungeon. Unlike the shadow wolves' den, which seemed to be a cavern underneath the dungeon, the Nagas' lair gave Nathan the impression he'd been transported into another realm. For one, there was a free open sky with the familiar yellow light streaming into the creepy-ass-looking temple that was the dungeon.
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Sunlight.
It felt like it too. He could feel the warmth in the air. He'd thought he'd never see the familiar sight again. Who'd have known he just had to step into the nearest dungeon to get the normal experience?
Hiss
Hiss
Hiss
Hiss
Ughhh.
A shiver crept up Nathan's spine at the sounds. Turning around to face the direction of the sound, he wasn't disappointed to see that there were seven snake-looking ladies with one obviously bigger than the rest by far—Nagas. Not wanting to waste time, he quickly analyzed the seven.
[ Naga
Level 10]
[ Naga
Level 11]
[ Naga
Level 10]
[ Naga
Level 11]
[ Naga
Level 11]
[ Naga
Level 11]
[ Naga Queen
Level 14]
Easy peasy.
The rats he'd met out in the forest would have been more trouble than these... things. Since Nathan was pretty much on a time crunch at the moment, he charged. With his sword at his side, he hoped to get this fight over within moments. He had more important things to do today.
Hiss
Hiss
Thwack!
Zzzzzsss!
Two of the snake ladies shot a vile-looking green liquid from their fangs. Nathan had to throw himself at the last second to avoid the attack, whatever it was. It turned out that listening to his gut feeling that had told him to dive was one of the smartest decisions. The cobblestones he'd been running on moments before were dissolving before his very eyes. Wherever the liquid touched, it ate into it like acid.
Shit, they have acidic venom.
Nathan couldn't be doing this right now. This was supposed to be an easy in and out. Why the hell would snakes need acidic venom? Wasn't venom already bad enough?
Hiss
Hiss
Hiss
The snakes hissed at him, all displeased that he'd dodged the attack. But it was all seven that charged at him. With what Nathan had seen a couple of seconds ago, he quickly scrambled to his feet and began putting as much distance between himself and them as possible. He needed to re-strategize. He nee—
Thwuck!
Thwuck!
Thwuck!
Thwuck!
Nathan watched as the vile green acidic venom from four Nagas landed a few feet in front of him. While the sight of the acid eating up the stone was a little concerning, he was more focused on the fact that he'd gotten the first crucial information of the battle. The Nagas couldn't shoot venom past seven meters, at least the ones he'd seen. The Queen Naga hadn't participated in the attacks, so Nathan didn't know her range. He'd probably put it at around ten meters, but he'd stay a minimum of twelve away from them just to be safe.
It made his skin crawl watching the Nagas slither towards him with their lower snake body. The upper half itself wasn't anything to look at. He almost puked at the sight of green scales that covered their entire body.
Ughh.
He rapidly increased the distance between him and them. No way was he going to get up close and personal with those things. Yes, his constitution might be able to handle the acid, but Nathan didn't really want to use his skin to experiment right about now. Hot water left bruises and red marks on his skin. He wondered what acid would do. Improved constitution or not, he kept backing away till he hit a wall.
Shit.
Nathan had successfully backed himself into a corner. The Nagas had forced him backward almost back into the entrance of the dungeon. Meaning his only option was going for swift kills right now or to change trajectory and keep backing up until he hits the dungeon barrier. The Nagas were probably not going to make it easy for him as they were already spreading out, making sure he knew what his only options were.
Either through them or be pushed to the wall till he'd be taken care of, permanently. It was a no-brainer for Nathan. He had to stand and fight. He just needed to know which angle to go from.
Status
Name: Nathan Orion
Moniker: N/A
Level: 13
Archetype: Blood Berserker
Class: Blood Pawn
Imprints: Balls of Steel, Skull Crusher, Demon Slayer, Bronze-Dungeoneer.
Strength: 18
Dexterity: 10
Vitality: 11
Constitution: 13
Perception: 10
Dao: N/A
Faction: N/A
Ra'hal coins: 5,240
Free points: 1
It seems like it's time for that dexterity boost.
One point to dexterity.
Dexterity: 11
##
Free points: 0
Nathan knew it wasn't much in terms of stat increase, but it was all he had and it'd have to do until he leveled up. The monsters here would at the very least push him to the next level. With a thought, he closed the screen, his focus returning to the advancing Nagas.
Here goes nothing.
Nathan picked out the target at the extreme right, dashing as the Nagas spat out more venom at him. His improved dexterity helped him evade most of the acid, but a few droplets got on his skin, eating through it slowly. He didn't pause or slow down. Instead, Nathan gritted his teeth and willed himself to go faster.
A little pain now and victory later.
Shriek!
The first Naga let out a shrill shriek as Nathan's sword divided her into equal parts woman and snake. The Berserker was already moving on before the two halves hit the floor. Nathan accepted the venom with reluctance. It hurt like crazy, but he wasn't going to escape this battle without acid touching him. Maybe he'd have had a chance if he could execute ranged attacks, but he couldn't at the moment. That wouldn't stop him from making it work with what he did have—a freaking sword.
The closest Naga tried to execute multiple actions at once, hissing, spitting venom at him, and dodging Nathan's attack. Ultimately, it could only execute the first before its head rolled to the floor, its acid venom unable to launch itself.
Nathan kept an eye on the Queen Naga even as he began decimating the rest of its kin. He might have been going as fast as he could, but that didn't stop multiple attacks from landing on his skin. He could feel the acid eating into his body but held on to the faith that he'd be able to completely heal soon enough.
[Warning health below 75%]
The Queen Naga seemed to have distanced itself from Nathan's wild attacks. His entire being thrummed with conviction as he downed the fifth Naga with a swift thrust at where the heart presumably was. He made sure to swipe up his sword, tearing through muscle and breaking through the Naga's collarbone as he ripped it free from the Naga.
A wave of euphoria went through him even as he slashed at the sixth Naga, his sword diagonally dividing it as his wounds healed up. Nathan stared up, panting heavily. His entire visage at that point was the accurate poster for what a Berserker was supposed to look like. Blood covered him from head to toe.
With his blood still boiling, the thrill of the battle fueling him, Nathan charged at the Queen Naga, who was chanting something incoherently. But that didn't deter him. That thing had to die.
Queen Naga has cast Dead Weight (I).
Dead Weight (I): This is an area of effect spell. All entities within 30 meters of the spell will suffer a five percent debuff on their dexterity. Those with higher Dexterity than the Queen will be unaffected.
Duration: 3 minutes.
Timer: 2:59
Here we go again.