I tried to devise a game plan for the dungeon while I waited for my hammering heart to slow down and panic to fade. I needed a plan for dealing with the ghouls. I wasn’t able to get a full count of the level but at least 12 were waiting for me on the other side of that door. I wasn’t sure if they would advance up the ramp or stay down at the bottom. Having to turn the corner at the bottom of the ramp introduced a level of complexity to clearing out that first group. I couldn't just sit back and line up my bow without being exposed to the ghouls. They moved slowly when I first saw them but I couldn’t count on that remaining. I had 5 bangers to work with and made them the core of my plan.

I tried to search the guide for more information on dungeons or ghouls but like most things in the guide you needed to experience them first before being granted any extra information. I pulled up the map to try to see if there was any more detail now on the second level but everything past the hallway remained black. I knew I was going to have to get back down there soon, there was a time limit on this level. Thinking of the time limit gave me the option to have it stay in my vision, I tucked it into the corner near where my notifications usually appeared.

23:30 remaining

I still had plenty of time to at least tackle this first group of ghouls, worst case I would take them down and then fail after getting the experience, both towards level 13 and real world experience of fighting the ghouls. I checked over my pack one last time and tried to take deep breaths to calm myself the way we were taught back in the academy before enacting our plans.

Inventory

Trippers

0

Poppers

2

Throwing Knife

8

Manglers

3

Banger

5

Smokers

8

Arrows

16

Thinking of the academy brought my mood down, I missed my friends, having my stryker team here would make this a breeze. I grabbed a few suitable branches from my woodpile to craft a makeshift torch and lit it. I turned the door handle and shoved the door in, throwing the first torch as far as I could. It sailed down the ramp until the end of the wall and hit the ground with a loud crash.

Preparing a banger in my hand I was ready to throw it and remotely detonate when the ghouls turned the corner. I waited for multiple breaths in complete silence, straining my ears to hear any movement. Nothing happened and the torch burned itself out, leaving the area at the bottom of the ramp in silence. It seemed as if I would have to trigger the ghouls myself by getting close to them.

I grabbed another torch and lit it, leaving the banger in my off hand, careful not to get it too close to the fire. I slowly crept down the ramp until I was even with the hallway around the corner, I lit my last torch and threw the rapidly burning down one in to the hallway. I could see the reflection of the ghouls eyes as they aligned on me and began shuffling forward with slow and heavy steps. I fought down my panic and knelt down to place the banger in the middle of the hallway. I slowly backed away, remaining in vision of the ghouls. I wasn’t sure if this was all of them in this area but it would have to do for now. I continued to slowly creep backwards away from the hallway and up the ramp, hoping the ghouls would continue to follow. When they reached the end of the hallway and turned the corner they stopped. It was like they hit an invisible wall and could go no further, it must have been the ramp. The first part of the level must be designated as a safe zone.

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The lead ghouls were standing right in front of the banger but the farthest ones back did not seem to be in the main blast radius. I did not want to waste this chance so I grabbed another banger out of my pack and got ready to throw it. I started at the lead ghoul again triggering Identify.

Ghoul - Beast - Level 6 - Health 50/50 - Old miners corpse repurposed by framework. Strong and sturdy but slow and stupid.

It was now or never, I took a deep breath and lobbed the banger towards the back of the group. I dashed over to the side of the ramp against the wall and triggered both detonations. An apocalyptic sound shook the dungeon. I was thrown to the wall and smashed harshly against my shoulder. I couldn’t hear anything except an intense ringing in my ears, I had a splitting headache and was disoriented.

My new skill of remote detonation allowed me to detonate both at the same exact time from a distance of roughly 200 feet. I could have ran back up to the main level but I had a feeling that would disqualify me for the experience. Notifications flooded into my vision but I didn’t focus on them, leaving them for later. I slowly got up and shook myself, trying to clear my head. I coughed loudly to clear my lungs from the massive amount of dust that was rising up in the hallway, I couldn’t even hear myself cough. I knew it would be dangerous to stay down here without being able to hear, I really wished I had another healing potion. I checked my health bar and it was only down a few points, this was an indirect form of damage.

I crept down towards the hallway and observed carnage on the other side. There were body parts everywhere, the hallway coated in a dark, sickly looking blood. I tried to trigger identify but I wasn’t sure there was even enough of any one ghoul to identify it anymore. I checked my combat log briefly to see that I had killed 14 ghouls in that one explosion, 2 more than I had even expected. I was torn between waiting for my hearing to heal and moving forward to explore, my adrenaline rushing and pushing me to keep moving forward. The old Sylar would have backed up to safety and waited, the new Sylar stepped forward into the gore laden hallway.

10 feet down the hallway was another series of doors directly across from each other, both remained locked. I kept moving and had the feeling I was passing dormitories, sleeping spaces for the old mining camps prior population. I wondered if these doors would unlock once the level was cleared or if it had to be the entire dungeon. I noticed that the bangers had obliterated the ghouls but had not damaged the structure of the dungeon at all. That was useful to know for the future, not having to worry about bringing down the mine on top of me after triggering an explosion. I moved slowly until I found another wide space to my right that was pitch black. My hearing was starting to return but it wasn’t back to normal quite yet. I backtracked to grab a torch off the wall, they apparently replaced themselves regularly on the ramp down. I needed to learn how to craft a better torch or light source soon if I was going to be down here often.

I made it back to the wide space and started to explore around the edge, keeping the wall to my back. I had another banger ready to throw in my offhand, I skirted around until I made it to another wall and turned to see eyes reflecting off the torchlight. I triggered Identify and found more ghouls of the same level, there looked to be about 10 of them and I had let them surround me. I could see eyes staring back at me from the hallway I had just left, they had waited until I entered the room to block off the exit. I mentally cursed my impatience to regain my full hearing and desperately looked around to come up with a plan. I was in a large room with a table in the middle, sitting at the table was the largest ghoul I had seen yet. I quickly triggered Identify.

Advanced Ghoul - Beast - Level 11 - Health 90/90 - Old Mining Camp Overseer repurposed by framework. Strong and sturdy, slow but definitely not stupid.

The ghoul was staring at me and hadn’t gotten up yet from his seat at the table. I had the inkling of a plan but needed a little more space and time to enact it. I grabbed 2 smokers and activated them, throwing them directly at the crowd of slowly advancing ghouls. I wasn’t sure if the smokers would obscure their vision completely but the framework had given them to me for a reason. I grabbed my bow and fired directly at the overseer, he took the arrow in the shoulder with a grunt and no other reaction.

There was no time to whittle him down with arrows. The table looked sturdy but it was made out of wood and I had a new strength of 18, I ran to the table and flipped it on its side. This made the overseer react and with a roar he began to advance. I drug the table back to the corner on its side and threw the banger directly at the overseer's face. Before it hit I grabbed my second to last one and threw it farther into the direction of the crowd. I ducked down behind the table and detonated both.

Violently slamming against the table and wall, I got another rush of notifications, this time I had covered my ears with my hands and didn’t feel that acute pain and loss of hearing. What I did feel however was a large piece of the wooden table that had broken off and stabbed itself right through the middle of my right leg. I stared at my leg for a moment before the pain hit and I screamed in agony. I glanced at my health bar and realized it was down to a fourth, blood was pooling around my leg.

I tried to stand, I needed to get back upstairs to safety. I took a step on my good leg and reached out to the wall for support, I missed the wall and crashed back down on my injured leg. I screamed out again as I lost consciousness and drifted away to darkness.