Chapter 88.

“The Dungeon.” Part 2

Kalysto didn’t even give a second glance to the fallen soldier, who like the other two level twenty soldiers who stood outside the cave guarding the carriage in which they had been brought here, were only there to see to it that they didn’t escape.

“Inspection!” she whispered as she jumped to the side, evading the bite of the level twenty-five worm.

[Earthworm

Level: 19

HP: 19000/19000

MP: 40/100]

Kalysto smiled as soon as she discovered that the third one was not only a bit smaller than the other two, but also one level below hers.

And after evading another attack from the level twenty-five worm, she pulled a sword from her inventory and buried it in the worm’s tail as he locked back into the earth, sliding into it like water. Kalysto spread her legs apart in an attempt to stand her ground and hold the position of the sword as she slashed at the enemy’s skin, taking advantage of the strength of the monster’s movements, while he finished burying himself completely in the earth. But she couldn’t do as much damage as she wanted as the third worm, the level 19 one, lunged at her.

Forcing her to take a couple of jumps backwards, away from its path, but putting her right on top of the point where the second worm sprang out of the ground, with its huge mouth open, ready to eat her alive.

“Ice blades! Water blades! Ice arrows!” She counterattacked and began to shoot arrows into his open mouth, into his wide tongue and palate. The next one she launched between a small gap between its sharp fangs Just in time, the worm partially closed its mouth to prevent the next group of arrows from burying themselves against its throat and Kalysto took the small opportunity given to her when her feet collided against the monster’s lower lip and jumped away from it.

As soon as she hit solid ground, she pulled out a pair of arrows with penetration stats and launched them at the third worm, wounding it in the side.

At this rate I’m going to run out of arrows with penetration stats and swords! she worried. So she began to shoot the arrows she had created with the quiver the elves had given her.

Unlike the ones she had been given for training, these at least seemed to be tougher and can penetrate the thick skin of the three worms.

Glad with her new discovery, she continued to shoot the arrows until the two of them returned to attack her from the sides. Burying themselves first in the ground and then launching at her at the last moment, as if they were sharks.

Kalysto, annoyed with sneak attacks waited until the last moment, before she jumped backwards, moving away from their range, so that as soon as they touched the ground again, while she kept throwing arrows at them so much that she could feel a small pulse of mana when they used their magic, she whispered:

“Dispel Ezhil!” And unlike the previous times, the earth under her feet did not respond to them, preventing them from burying themselves, and they both hit the ground full of stones.

Kalysto took advantage of that instant to pounce against the third worm that was still dazed by the surprise blow.

“Ice daggers!” She whispered, concentrating her mana in her hands. In each of them, a dagger made of ice materialized. Then Kalysto jumped onto the creature’s back. “Ice manipulation!” She muttered, lengthening the shape of her dagger sleeves as she buried them in the worm, piercing it through and through. “Water blades! Ice blades!”

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The earthworm jerked and groaned in pain at the attack as it desperately tried to shake it off, but Kalysto did not let go. Instead, as she held on tightly to one of the daggers, with her free hand she pulled out one of the many arrows she had frozen earlier to raise her control over the ice to a higher level, and buried it next to the daggers.

“Ice manipulation!” She whispered, causing the ice around the arrow to spread like a sharp knife towards the inside of the worm. And she performed the same strategy with three more arrows before the first worm hit them with its tail, hurting the third worm in the process and knocking her to the ground, knocking all the air out of her lungs.

“Cough... Cough! Cough...Cough," Kalysto coughed several times as she tried to catch her breath, but immediately the second worm pounced on her without giving her time to rest. “Ice creation!” She screamed, freezing the ground in front of her feet and then manipulating it into thick, elongated spikes of ice that buried themselves in the second monster.

And as she tried to catch her breath and try to buy some time while her skills cooled down, she began to shoot arrows at them taking turns between the three monsters in a desperate attempt to keep them away from her.

The first worm, annoyed at not being able to approach its prey again, buried itself in the ground bordering the layer of ice that Kalysto had created in front of it and with the intention of attacking it from the right, advanced in that direction.

Kalysto, suspecting what the monster was up to, whispered.

“Dispel Ezhil!” And immediately, the mound of earth that had been advancing in her direction stopped, as well as vanished the ice she had conjured earlier. Allowing her to run in the direction of the second wounded monster.

“Ice blades! Water blades!” She shot at it as she leapt onto the back of the massive creature and pulled out one of the enemy army’s swords and buried it on the monster’s back, followed by two others.

And as the elite worm twitched in pain, Kalysto jumped on the third one, and after pulling out two frozen arrows, she whispered:

“Ice manipulation!“ As she buried them into the creature’s skin and transformed its ice into elongated, sword-like blades. Then she drew another sword and began to cut into its flesh, burying the sharp blade every now and then. As the third worm jerked in pain, knocking her back to the ground.

But as soon as he did, Kalysto recovered quickly and attacked him viciously again. Until finally, the expected notification windows came to her.

[You have gained 4,900 experience points! ]

For all I suffered while killing him, the prize seems little to me. She thought. Still, she wasted no time and launched herself at the elite worm, before the first worm came out of the ground again.

“Ice creation! Ice manipulation!” She conjured, freezing not only the ground beneath her boots as she bent down and touched the ground but turning it into thick spikes of ice that buried themselves viciously into the creature’s skin, lifting it off the ground, and the harder the earthworm shook, the more gravity and its weight buried it between the thick spikes of ice.

And this time, despite how tired she was, as soon as the notification windows reached her, Kalysto was quick to leap onto the body, pull out a dagger and extract the crystal lying on its back.

[You have gained 15,000 experience points!]

[Does the user wish to absorb this earthworm core?]

[YES/NO]

She immediately selected yes.

But while she was excited at the prospect of learning a new skill, Kalysto didn’t notice the huge tail of the third worm that swooped towards her, throwing her against the hard rocks of the wall.

The pain spread throughout her body as the air was again forced out of her lungs and she began to cough vehemently.

She barely had time to breathe and look at her attacker, only to see the creature already lunging at her again with its mouth wide open.

“Ice blades! Water blades! Cogh... Water arrows! Ice arrows! Create...! Cogh...cogh...cogh... Water creation!” A powerful jet of water shot out of her hands as the creature was forced to close its mouth and Kalysto pushed all her mana into increasing the force of the jet, changing the monster’s trajectory. “Ice creation! Absorb!” She said, drying a small mana crystal from her inventory, while absorbing it with her left hand and continuing to create ice with her right hand. “Ice manipulation!” She then concentrated on pushing all the ice she had created and spreading it all over the mouth, and what she assumed was the monster’s head and neck, trying to suffocate it as the strength was gradually leaving her body.

And as black dots began to obscure her vision, notification signs caught her attention.

[Congratulations! The user has acquired a new skill: Earth Creation. Level 1!]

[Congratulations! The user has acquired a new skill: Earth Manipulation. Level 1!]

[You have gained 25,000 experience points!]

[Congratulations! The user has leveled up to level 21!]

[The user has reached level 21! You now have the level needed to learn the following water elemental magic skill: Basic Healing. Level 1.]

[Congratulations, the user has leveled up to level 22!]

Then her world was tinged with shadows, devouring everything around her.